MY SCRIPTURE STUDIES

My Scripture Studies
Seek God. Engage with His voice in the Bible and start in the beginning.

August 20, 2008

Who is The One Called Jesus?

It's time to take a journey.

A trip of discovery to restore what's been lost in radition, transliteration, translation and time.

In my Scripture studies, I found five 3,000 year-old questions in the book of Proverbs in a discussion between four men...

דברי אגור בן־יקה המשא נאם הגבר לאיתיאל לאיתיאל ואכל

The words of Agur son of Jakeh, [man of] Massa; The speech of the man to Ithiel, to Ithiel and Ucal. 

כי בער אנכי מאיש ולא־בינת אדם לי

I am brutish, less than a man; I lack common sense.  

ולא־למדתי חכמה ודעת קדשים אדע

I have not learned wisdom, Nor do I possess knowledge of the Holy One.

מי עלה־שמים וירד מי אסף־רוח בחפניו מי צרר־מים בשמלה מי הקים כל־אפסי־ארץ מה־שמו ומה־שם־בנו כי תדע

Who has ascended heaven and come down? 
Who has gathered up the wind in the hollow of his hand? 
Who has wrapped the waters in his garment? 
Who has established all the extremities of the earth? 

What is his name or his son’s name, if you know it?

Agur's questions are found in Proverbs 30:1-4. 

A thousand years later, Jesus, well actually Yeshua of Nazareth, asked His talmidim students, aka the 12 disciples a question that's connected with Agur's questions. 

It is found in Matthew 16:15 as well as Mark 8:29 and Luke 9:20:

"Who do you say that I am?"

Those Jewish young men likely knew about Agur's proverb. 

Not only that, they never knew the name Jesus, yet had followed and walked with their Master Rabbi around the Galilee and beyond long before they were asked the big question. Simon Peter called Him Rabbi, as did Andrew, Nathaniel, Nicodemus, even a blind man that was healed. 

All the disciples did. For the proof text see Mark 8, Mark 10, Mark 11, John 1, John 4, John 6 and John 9.

Could they answered the question about their Rabbi without the Agur proverb?

Perhaps, but we can take the question out of context, we have to look at it from the perspective of the Jewish disciples. You may have not have heard or thought about that before today, but the student's point of view is a critical question. 

Their answer was molded by the Torah, the Prophets and the Psalms.

Not only that, for the disciples, those Scriptures would NEVER be thought of as an "Old Testament" like it is today.

Old???

For those disciples, the Hebrew Bible was not old, it is the living word of Almighty God written in the ancient language their Rabbi spoke (see Acts 26:14 for that proof text).

Not only that, at that time people in the land of Israel were looking for "the prophet" but which one?

None other than the prophet like Moses:
“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. 
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
Don't skip over the last words of the prophecy Almighty God gave to Moses to write down at Mount Sinai. The prophet prophecy was not revealed until Moses included it in his last sermon notes to the second generation that left Egypt.

If you are not listening to "the prophet" just yet, you need to because He has come and:

The LORD God will require it.

The Jewish disciples eventually understood the importance of family heritage, they knew Jesus was from the family of Judah and the family line of king David, but like you seen they never knew the name Jesus.

The reason: His name is Yeshua. 

The students of Rabbi Yeshua knew exactly what Elohim God had spoken to Moses after everyone had agreed to God's covenant before the Almighty One spoke to them. The disciples were well informed about the voice of the Prophets about the Messiah, the son of man noted in Daniel 7:13. 

We too must answer this question: 

"Who do you say that I am?" 

To answer, we should start with believe it or not, that Jesus Christ is not the Hebrew name or title. That means we can accept Him as Jesus, but to get to really know Him, we need to know Yeshua in context. 

During their yeshiva time along the hillsides of Israel and in synagogues, the Jewish disciples intently listened to Yeshua the Prophet and Rabbi from the Nazareth. 

At that time, He was known as Yeshua of Nazareth and for almost 2,000 years since, the name Yeshua has been lost in most church pews and modern English Bibles. 

How did the name get lost? 

All is not lost. The modern name Jesus is derived from the Hebrew name Yeshua or Y'shua, which means "the Lord is Salvation." His name was translated into Greek as Iesous and then into Latin as Iesus, and finally into English as Jesus about 400 years ago.  

Not only that, Christ is not a surname, but a title that means "the anointed one" - "the Messiah." It is a translation of the Hebrew word for Messiah which is מָשִׁיחַ Moshiach. It refers to the one who was chosen by God to deliver and lead His people.

Yet, there's more. In Hebrew, the name 'Yeshua' holds the meaning of "salvation."

The name Yeshua was not uncommon in Judea at the time, and it is related to another biblical name Joshua which is actually Yehoshua יהושע the son of Nun as first seen in the Torah in Numbers 13:16 when Moses gave Hoshea aka Joshua his new name Yehoshua. 

If you take look at Nehemiah 8:17 you'll see Yehoshua shortened to Yeshua ישוע.

We can see the name Yeshua again in Ezra 2:2 in the list of those that returned to Jerusalem with Zerubbabel. They include Yeshua, Nehemiah, Seraiah, Reelaiah, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispar, Bigvai, Rehum and Baanah.

That return name list is important just like other name lists in the Bible that appear to be boring. They are not because the name meanings deliver a big message pointing to Agur's question. 

Ezra's list starts with Yeshua: 
  • Yeshua "salvation"
  • Nehemiah "Yehovah comforts"
  • Seraiah "Yehovah is ruler"
  • Reelaiah "bearer of Yehovah"
  • Mordecai "little man"
  • Bilshan "eloquent"
  • Mispar "number"
  • Bigvai "in my body"
  • Rehum :compassion"
  • Baanah "in affliction"
By the way, Yeshoshua the son of Nun carries great meaning too. After all Nun carries the meaning of "posterity" or future generation.

Some 1500 years after Almighty God descended on Mount Sinai, Yeshua of Nazareth's teaching declared the goal of God's words that Moses wrote down for everyone there, now and in future generations. 

Yeshua showed people how to live out God's voice of instruction written in the Torah by Moses as the way to walk, talk and do in the Kingdom of God. 

Let's get back to the big question Yeshua had posed to the disciples: Who do you say that I am?

The disciples had witnessed many miracles. They know some of them promised in Isaiah 35:5-6 including the healings of both crippled and blind. They witnessed those miracle healings with a touch by a voice of faith as they journeyed across the Promised Land visiting synagogues everywhere they traveled.

So, it's time to put Jesus back in the synagogue. 

Yeshua of Nazareth wasn't Catholic, Anglican, Baptist, Lutheran, Methodist, Presbyterian or Protestant to name a few.

He was Yeshua the Master Rabbi, the promised prophet like Moses declaring God's word, preaching repentance and the gospel of God about the ways of the Kingdom of God and that believing the Bible as it is written as the sole source of authority. 

He didn't teach a new religion replacement theology and believe it or not He didn't attend Sunday school either. 

Yeshua was righteous and 100% written Torah observant. By the way, that translates to sinless. His sinless life witness fulfills the meaning of being made in the image of God.

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:
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 
Here's another thing. Did you know Yeshua wore a tallit as prescribed in Numbers 15 and Deuteronomy 22?

If you doubt the tallit and the tzitzit, consider the backstory of the woman that was healed in faith by touching the tzitzit fringe of Yeshua's tallit. The witness is described in Matthew 9. 

Like I said, it's time to put Jesus back in the synagogue. 

Did you know Yeshua instructed His disciples to follow the instruction noted in Leviticus 23:15-17? 

That Torah teaching is not old, it's embedded in Acts 1-2. 

Once again, it's time to put the One called Jesus back in the synagogue. 

Yeshua also celebrated wonderful Jewish traditions. One of them includes Hanukkah. That eye witness account is described in John 10. 

Not only that, the "last supper" wasn't the first communion or the last supper. 

Yeshua followed the traditional Jewish Passover seder of bread and wine that the early Gentile church relabeled as a last supper communion. As noted it was not the last supper, Yeshua said so (just read Mark 14:25).

Yeshua never stopped being Jewish despite being renamed in translations. 

If we put Jesus back in the synagogue we can see Yeshua lived and taught others to do what Moses had written, but it's a life teaching that is not often heard under a steeple or in a synagogue:
Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life? And he said to him, “Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. 
If you would enter life, keep the commandments.”  Matthew 19:16-17
Those commandments are The LORD's. Yet, it should go without saying that Yeshua opposed a few religious rulings of men that took away from or added to Almighty God's word recorded about the redemption purpose of the Sabbath. 

Traditional religious rulings were noted in advance by Isaiah. Yeshua admonished others with reference to Isaiah 29:13:
Then the Lord said, “Because this people approaches Me with their words
And honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far away from Me,
And their reverence for Me consists of the commandment of men that is taught...
Here's the proof:
You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.”
And he said to them, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition!” Mark 7:5-9
Now, let's step back and consider Agur's questions:

- Who created the earth?
- What is his name?
- What is his son’s name, if you know it?

Almost a thousand years ago, Rabbi Ibn Ezra, a Spanish born Jewish rabbi was born c. 1089AD. He was honored in Robert Browning's poem "Rabbi Ben Ezra." Browning had something to say about Ibn Ezra and it links to Agur's questions and the purity of The LORD God's voice as it is written:

כל אמרת אלוה צרופה - כענין: אמרות ה' אמרות טהורות והם המצות הצרופות כזהב המזוקק ובהם חכמת יראת השם ואין ראוי להתעסק בזולתה, על כן אל תוסף על דבריו אתה איתיאל, כענין לא תוסיף עליו ולא תגרע ממנו

Translated, Rabbi Ben Ezra gave the same advice as Yeshua on religious traditions that change God's sayings. Ben Ezra said: 

"Every saying of God is pure as a matter of fact: the sayings of God are pure sayings and they are the pure matzahs ​​like refined gold with the wisdom of reverence for God and it is not proper to deal with another, therefore do not add to his words you are Ithiel, as a matter do not add to it or subtract."

Rabbi Ibn Ezra is famous for a good reason. 

If you never heard of him, you have now. He was not only a rabbi, but a poet, but an astronomer too. Because of that fact, the "Abenezra Crater" on the moon was named to honor him. It's there for all the world to see, but you have to look up to see it. 

It's the same with God's words, if you want to understand the fine gold of God's words to Agur, look up

Ibn Ezra adhered to the written word of God. Like Yeshua, he taught against religious traditions that muffle the sound of God's voice.  Rabbi Ibn Ezra taught from the fine gold written word, he taught again  adding to or subtracting from the sayings of God. 

Now, let's look back again at the prophetic words in Deuteronomy 18:18-19. 

There we see the prophet promise that Almighty God gave Moses to write down for everyone. The promise given was that Almighty God will send a prophet speaking God's words just like Moses, not other's religious opinions and certainly not words infused with traditions of men that add or take away from the written Torah of God. 
"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."
We need to remember Moses was given a commandment to "write these words" that has been forgotten in religious traditions:
And the LORD said to Moses, “Write these words, for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.” Exodus 34:27
There's nothing there about oral law. From this command given at the top of Mount Sinai, we must know that the prophet to come would be like Moses declaring God's voice written down for all to see, not a tradition. 

We all should know more about Moses.

Did you know he carried God's covenant in stone that everyone heard, both native and sojourner down from the mountaintop two times?

Yes, you read that right. Twice, two trips down the mountain with the commandments! 

Two trips are critical to understand if we want to understand the prophet who would be "like" Moses.

If we believe God's words given to Moses, you just might see that the prophet to come like Moses would make two trips too and that He:

1. Is an Israelite.
2. Declares the Torah and teaches it as the gospel good will of God.
3. Intercedes between God and His people as a Torah teacher.
4. Leads both native born and sojourner from bondage with Passover salvation.
5. Delivers God's covenant twice so that it will be written on hearts not just scrolls...

Who is the One called Jesus?

He is Yeshua and by what He said and did during Passover and the week of unleavened bread around 30AD fulfills the answer to Agur's questions.

Yeshua taught the Torah of God should be kept – nothing added or taken away to turn the Kingdom constitution of God's Kingdom into a religion of men holding to the traditions of elders as if they are above God's voice.

If you are wondering why a few religious men opposed Yeshua, don't forget that in the wilderness, Korah and his crew wanted to be in charge and take Moses out. So did others as people were complaining left and right. They wanted their own religious rules, not God's, they they rejected Moses.

Fast forward to Yeshua's day. 

There we can find that takkanot (religious house rules) were held as authority by a few religious rabbis like the shepherds noted in Ezekiel 34, but not all were bad shepherds during the time of the Second Temple. Good men like Nicodemus sought the truth.

And, if you think takkanot is just a Jewish tradition, think again

Most church denominations have creeds or by-laws to "become a member."
  • Has anyone ever asked you, what church are you a member of? 
  • Have you ever asked anyone that question?
If you are a church member, have you read the membership by-laws?

Try this one on for size...
Rules, Regulations and By-Laws of Baptist Church Membership

Section. 1. Any person professing faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and giving evidence of a change of heart and adopting the beliefs of this church as set forth in the Declaration of Church Doctrine and after baptism, may be received as a member by majority congregation vote.

Section. 2. An applicant for membership and baptism shall be examined by the pastor and deacons and their approval must be given before the candidate is presented to the church for reception. The deacon vote on such member applicant shall not be taken in the presence of the candidate.

Section. 3. Any person excluded for membership may be restored to another vote by the deacons upon recommendation of the pastor following confession or errors and giving satisfactory evidence of repentance and making proper and acceptable reparation, if that is possible.

Section. 4. A member of another church denomination desiring to unite with this church, may only upon recommendation of the deacons, be received based on Christian experience and if such person has been baptized.
Much like  bylaws, some of the takkanot instituted by some rabbis in Yeshua's were rulings not based directly on the written commandments of God, but traditional opinion like they are today. 

Yeshua's first trip ministry was that of The Prophet to point us all back (in repentance) to the written Torah voice of God's gospel. Moses wrote:
"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. 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
Yeshua provides a life size demonstration of obedience to Deuteronomy 6:5-7:
“And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.  And these words which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart; and you shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up.”
That's what He did each day, every day.

Yet, His ministry has been twisted and disguised into a new religion that does away with the Old Testament at the cross.

Yeshua's message wasn't new, it was quite the opposite.

He opposed religious membership rules. He opposed adds and deletes to God's voice as it is written. His challenges to religious elitism was nothing new. His admonitions came straight out of Proverbs and is linked to Agur's question:
“Every word of God proves true;
He is a shield to those who take refuge in him.
Do not add to His words, lest He reprove you, and you proved a liar.” Proverbs 30:6 
Even the Pharisees knew that's what Yeshua taught, yet they contended with Him over their own house rules which included not paying a tax to Rome:
So they watched Him, and sent spies who pretended to be righteous, in order that they might catch Him in some statement, so that they could deliver Him to the rule and the authority of the governor. 
They questioned Him, saying, “Teacher, we know that You speak and teach correctly, and You are not partial to any, but teach the way of God in truth. 
Is it lawful for us to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” 
But He detected their trickery and said to them, “Show Me a denarius. Whose likeness and inscription does it have?” They said, “Caesar’s.” And He said to them, “Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” Luke 20:20-26
There are many other examples:

Some insisted on rabbinic authority and they tried to trick Him, Yeshua's response:
One of the scribes came and heard them arguing, and recognizing that He had answered them well, asked Him, “What commandment is the foremost of all?” Jesus answered, “The foremost is, ‘Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is one Lord; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ Mark 12:28-34
Some insisted on rabbinic rule redefining "work" on Shabbat, Yeshua's reply:
Departing from there, He went into their synagogue. And a man was there whose hand was withered. And they questioned Jesus, asking, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”—so that they might accuse Him. 
And He said to them, “What man is there among you who has a sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will he not take hold of it and lift it out?read more.

How much more valuable then is a man than a sheep! So then, it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” Then He *said to the man, “Stretch out your hand!” He stretched it out, and it was restored to normal, like the other. But the Pharisees went out and conspired against Him, as to how they might destroy Him. Matthew 12:9-14
It happened that when He went into the house of one of the leaders of the Pharisees on the Sabbath to eat bread, they were watching Him closely. And there in front of Him was a man suffering from dropsy. And Jesus answered and spoke to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?” But they kept silent. And He took hold of him and healed him, and sent him away. 
And He said to them, “Which one of you will have a son or an ox fall into a well, and will not immediately pull him out on a Sabbath day?” And they could make no reply to this. Luke 14:1-6
There's also a story about a Pharisee tradition that one must observe a specific hand washing protocol or the person becomes defiled and unclean. For those not familiar the religious hand washing process of the rabbi's, it goes like this: before you can eat you must to take a cup, then pour twice on the right hand followed by twice on the left hand. 

Take note of the  tradition as it includes this prayer: "Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, who has sanctified us with Your commandments, and commanded us concerning the washing of the hands."

Well, the thing is the Torah has no written commandment concerning the washing of the hands. That oral law tradition of the elders is what Yeshua was confronted with. Here's the account:
Now when the Pharisees gathered to him, with some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem, they saw that some of his disciples ate with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed. For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands properly, holding to the tradition of the elders, and when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. 

And there are many other traditions that they observe, such as the washing of cups and pots and copper vessels and dining couches. And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, "Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?" 

And he said to them, "Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, "'This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.' You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men." And he said to them, "You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition! Mark 7:1-9
Hand washing is good common sense, it' sanitary but there's nothing in the Torah saying if you don't follow a ritual known as neqtilat yadayim, you will have defiled hands, so Yeshua called them out on  violations of Moses' warnings against religious adds and deletes. 

Yeshua called adds and deletes "the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy":
Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples,  "The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses' seat, so do and observe whatever they tell you, but not the works they do. For they preach, but do not practice. 

They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger. They do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long, and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces and being called rabbi by others. Matthew 23:1-7 
Yeshua also criticized a few Pharisees and scribes for making long tassels and wide phylacteries for show, but He never faulted anyone for wearing them. He did as well. The woman that was healed by touching the corner of His garment reached out to touch the tassels commanded in Numbers 15:38 and repeated in Deuteronomy 22:12.

Let's shift gears...

Most people introduce themselves and tell you who they are. They will likely tell you if they are married, about their family and tell you where they are from, what school they attended and they will likely mention their career in the first minute or two. 

Have you ever noticed, most people will avoid any comment on their faith or lack of it for fear of some sort of social offense, but that's not true for a Jew.

What about the Jewish young men that followed Rabbi Yeshua? 

Those Jewish disciples (aka talmidim) knew their Rabbi as the Master Torah teacher and Torah doer. 

Many scholars say the people of Galilee were the most faithful Jews in the world at the time of Yeshua. The reason, they knew the Hebrew Bible, the Torah and the Prophets (aka the Tanach). 

Do you?

It's important to know they traveled and studied under Yeshua's leadership and teaching and saw that He lived out everything He taught from the Word of God. Yeshua didn't just talk about Torah, He did it. 
They also learned first hand that He did not add to God's instruction that Moses had written and never took away from it. 

Instead, He explained it and showed them how to put it on to their hearts.

The fact is, the twelve young men from Galilee were Jewish talmidim learning the heart of God from their Master Rabbi, so you would think they knew who Yeshua was before they ever choose to follow and devote themselves to life on the road with Him. 

Sure they knew His name, but that was not the answer to Agur's question.

That fact raises another important question: why did they go when He said: "follow me"?

Did they know His reputation for walking out God's commandments? Most likely, because they all grew up together in the same area around Lake Kinnereth aka the Sea of Galilee, but the important thing to understand is that their choice for their yeshiva journey likely began because Yeshua always proclaimed this: 
“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Matthew 4:17
They sought the Kingdom!!

They wanted to see the fallen tent of David restored, and they knew the promise that it would be restored.

That's why at the very end of their walk with Him they asked this big-time question
“Master, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?” Acts 1:6
In the beginning, Yeshua had called them out into faith beginning with repentance to return to the Torah way of life in a proper relationship with The Father and others. 

Yeshua, the prophet taught them how to understand the heart of God's voice, how to teach it and how to disciple others to repent back to God's Torah way of life. That's what prophets do.

On their question, He told them what they did not want to hear -- Israel's Kingdom restoration was not the assignment at that time.
He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Acts 1:7-8
They had learned first hand that repentance is the first step to restore the Kingdom way and sowing the Word of God on the hearts of others was the first assignment. 

In Hebrew thought and Jewish understanding, repentance means to return to God's covenant. That doesn't just mean feeling bad about sin and asking forgiveness. That's certainly a part of repentance but the walk of God's gospel Torah is the journey back to a restored relationship with Almighty God - as it was in the beginning. 

Don't freak out, but that means that Yeshua did not come to start a new religion. 

His first trip mission was the ancient Torah assignment of "the prophet" to declare God's Word and turn people oppressed in sin back to God ways!!

Not only that, had Yeshua sought to build a "new religion" He would have been a false prophet and the Jewish disciples, the talmidim that followed their Rabbi would have never stayed with Him long enough to hear this big question: 

"Who do you say that I am?"

New religion would have been a disqualification. Almighty God word says a prophet "like Moses." If you question who Jesus is, stop and rewind to the back-story promise given to Moses. 

We have two reconsider the proverb from Agur the son of Jakeh.

Religious confusion has created a counterfeit Jesus — and Scriptural blindness from a wild branch system of replacement theology whose New Testament filter blocks the root and fatness of the olive tree and does not hear or walk in Yeshua's faith:
"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven." Matthew 7:21
Before today, you may have never heard of Agur or the promise of the prophet like Moses, but now you have. Agur is the one that posed questions we all need to answer:
"Who hath ascended up into heaven, or descended? who hath gathered the wind in his fists? who hath bound the waters in a garment? who hath established all the ends of the earth? 
What is his name, and what is his son's name, if thou canst tell?" Proverbs 30:4
If you believe you know the answer to the first four questions, then Ahur's fifth question remains for you to answer: 

What is His son's name? 

Ahur is a big deal if you want to know: Who is The One Called Jesus? 

Yeshua.

Solomon is thought to have written most of the Proverbs but it was Agur that raised this question. 

Solomon gave us an important proverb too, it's about light. Solomon in God-given wisdom knew that light is a picture of linking God's will, aka His teaching and instruction to the soul lost in the ways of a dark world. 

Solomon declared the righteous will of The Father in the way of life: 
"For the commandment is a lamp; and the law (Torah) is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life..." Proverbs 6:23
Yeshua revealed the reproofs of instruction as the will of The Father. He taught as the light of life in this proverb to His Jewish talmidim. Their assignment was to shine the living light of the Torah to the world.

If you turn back and read the Genesis account of creation, you'll find that Almighty God created light on the fourth day. That's important because in Genesis, we are given a hint to learn that a day with The LORD can in fact be a thousand years. After all, Adam was told if he sinned he would see death in the "same day." He died in the same day (1,000 years) and at the age of 930 years (see Genesis 5:5). 

Adam's long day and the Genesis creation week connects a four day, 4,000 year leap forward to the repentant kingdom preaching of Yeshua, the light of the world. 

Yet, Yeshua referred to Himself as the son of man. Why? 

As the prophet "like" Moses, He was given an assignment directly from God. 

Miriam (Mary) was His Jewish mother, yet Yeshua was the only man that righteously walked daily and fully in God's will by living it.  In that way, His life is the one life of a man that remained in the image of God that Adam had lost, tossing it aside in a mix of good and evil not following the word and will of The Father. 

Even Moses made the same grave error, striking the rock to make the water flow instead of speaking to it just as The Lord said to do.

By living out the Word of God The Father and defining Himself as the son of man, Yeshua deliberately pointed the disciples back to Daniel's son of man vision noted in Daniel 7:13. 
“I saw in the night visions,
and behold, with the clouds of heaven
there came one like a son of man,
and he came to the Ancient of Days
and was presented before him.

And to him was given dominion
and glory and a kingdom,
that all peoples, nations, and languages
should serve him;
his dominion is an everlasting dominion,
which shall not pass away,
and his kingdom one
that shall not be destroyed."
Yeshua's son of man life is th proof of living 100% in God's image as a son and answers Ahur's ages old question. 

How do we know? 

Yeshua lived a sinless life walking in Torah and teaching God's will, never adding to or taking away from the teaching and instruction written by Moses. Yeshua explained it and connected the jots and tittles with the heart of the new covenant promise found in Jeremiah 31. 

It's true, Yeshua rejected religious membership traditions that did not align with God's will and voice in the written words of the Torah. Yeshua's yeshiva time, His ministry across the land of Israel also met the timeline required by God to begin to serve the duty of formal service in duty to do the work required in the tent of meeting. 

Think about that. Numbers 4 details the requirement the timeline for service is age 30. It's even repeated seven times. Not only that, there an age connection to king David: "David was thirty years old when he began to reign..." 2 Samuel 5:4

The record is found in the genealogy listed by Luke:
"Jesus, when he began his ministry, was about thirty years of age, being the son (as was supposed) of Joseph, the son of Heli..." Luke 3:23 
At about age 30, Yeshua declared the hidden Torah mystery about fourth day of creation in year 4,000 since Eden:
“I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” John 8:12
That declaration explains Genesis 1:14-19
"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 seasons, 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. And God made the two great lights--the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night--and the stars. And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day."
Following Yeshua is following Torah. Yeshua's self portrait is literally confirmed in the Torah of Genesis and creation. It explains why Elohim God waited until day four of creation to create life giving light for the planet to separate it from darkness. It also sheds some more light on Paul's account of his meeting during his dark grudge-journey to Damascus nearly 2,000 years ago. 

Paul's eyewitness account tells us he saw a blinding light, then...
"And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?..." Acts 26:14
In typical Jewish fashion, the Master Rabbi, the Torah teacher and doer spoke in Hebrew just as Paul (Saul) tells us. That's one reason it's important to get to know Jesus' Hebrew name Yeshua. After all in Hebrew it means salvation.

Look in any credible dictionary or encyclopedia and you will find that "Jesus" is a fairly new English name, its only a few hundred years old. It's a few translator's step from the original. The Anglicized name Jesus morphed from the Greek name "Iesous" and that Greek name is derived from  the Hebrew "Yeshua" a shortened from of Yehoshua. 

In modern Hebrew script, Yeshua is written as ישוע.  

As noted, Yeshua is the shortened Hebrew name of Yehoshua, much like Dan for Daniel or Sam for Samuel.

Yeshua's life conveys the meaning of Yehoshua and it it connects to God's gospel heart of Torah to "save" "rescue" and "deliver" the world from sin and death that begins with repentance. In the Hebrew Bible in Exodus 2:17-19 reveals save when Moses came to the well as he helped, rescued and saved the seven daughters of the priest of Midian. There's more, Moses even drew water for us and watered the flock.

When Yeshua met the woman at the well in John 4, He told her:
"Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again; but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never be thirsty; but the water that I will give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up to eternal life." John 4:13-14



Yeshua is the salvation name.

Look it up for yourself, believe it or not, the letter "J" only appeared in the English language and alphabet around the year 1633. That was 13 years after the Pilgrims arrived in America some 400 years ago. Wrap you head around that fact for a moment if you ask who is the one called Jesus?

He's Yeshua and that's the reason the name Jesus can't be found in the 1599 "Geneva" Bible. If you are not familiar with that Bible, it is the Bible the Pilgrims brought with them aboard ship to America on their marathon sea journey in 1620 under Mayflower master mariner Christopher Jones. 

The royal King James version authorized by the Church of England was left behind. 

You may find that hard to believe, but the Bible studied and cherished by the 53 survivors of that long, difficult Atlantic voyage to escape the tyranny of religious persecution never included the name Jesus.

Shocking?

Yes, but then again so is the real Yeshua.

The old English name in the Bibles aboard the Mayflower was written  as Iefus. It was derived from the Greek name Iēsous. 

Sound confusing? It's not.

As you've seen the Greek transliteration Iēsous came from the ישוע Yeshua, and as you've seen it's the shortened name of Yehoshua which means YHVH "saves." 

Today, we've even changed the name Yehoshua and rebranded it as Joshua. Needless to say, a lot is lost in translation and a lot has been lost between the pews about the one called Jesus, so its time to repent.

When the Greek Septuagint was translated from the Hebrew Bible some time around 200BC, the 70 man scribal team translated Yehoshua to its Greek form Iesous. 

I was shocked when I first learned that the disciples, or rather the tamidim of Yeshua of Nazareth never called their Master Rabbi, "Jesus." 

It blew me away to think that Mary (aka Miriam) never called her son Jesus. It was an eye opener for me  to realize that James (aka Yacob) never called his brother Jesus. I was distressed at first to realize that the new religion I thought was the name in my Bible was never known by the disciples. I was dumbfounded His name was never mentioned in the life and times of anyone living in the first, second or any other century until the 17th century, much less in Bethlehem, Nazareth, Capernaum or Jerusalem.

I could not believe translator's forgot Agur's question!!

Who is The One Called Jesus?

He is Yeshua the Jew from Nazareth both on Bethlehem of Judea and now you know His name. 

He's the Messiah the disciple Peter (aka Kepha) recognized by the prompting of the Holy Spirit. 

Yeshua is not a foreigner, sojourner or imposter, He is the promised prophet that kept and taught God's word and will declared in the written Torah that never added to God's word just as Agur said in Proverbs 30:5-6:
"Every word of God proves true; He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him. Do not add to His words, lest He rebuke you and you be found a liar." 
Don't fall out of your chair, Yeshua rebuked those that added in religion and did not start a new religion. 

When He told the woman caught in adultery "from now on sin no more" His message was to walk in Torah because sin ignores God's voice.

The Jewish followers of Yeshua, never converted to a new religion that declares God's voice old and done away with. They did the opposite, they repented and lived life as the Torah observant Jewish Rabbi from Nazareth taught them to do. 

Yet they also continued good Jewish traditions such as reading and studying the Torah and the Prophets each Sabbath. Acts 13 is the witness.

Did you know the Greek believers in Antioch were the first people called Christians. That fact is recorded in Acts 20:26.

Why is that? 

They were the ones in Antioch that chose to turn away from Hellenistic idol worship and Gentile paganism by the teachings of Jewish men about Yeshua their resurrected redeemer, the Messiah revealed in the Torah and the prophets who would proclaim repentance to usher in the Kingdom of God. 

The truth is they were believers because they believed God.

They were learning to walk in Torah faith just like Yeshua.

One reason they believed God is that they believed in faith that the suffering servant, the Messiah of Israel had come. 

The disciples believed Messiah would return at the end of days as King to restore all Israel in the Kingdom, the Olam Ha‑Ba "world to come." There was nothing new about that, it's a message as old as the Biblical Judaism they believed.

The promise of Melekh Mashiach מלך משיח‎ originated in the Hebrew Bible. It was not new at all in Judaism.  

The prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, Zechariah, Ezekiel, Hosea, and Micah all wrote of Melekh Mashiach as did Daniel, Moses and others. God first spoke of Messiah as the one to be bruised in Genesis 3:15 and the one to crush haSatan's authority of death over planet earth. The Messiah is the prophet to come in Deuteronomy 18:15. Many Psalms are written about Messiah including Psalm 2, Psalm 16, Psalm 22, Psalm 34, Psalm 69, Psalm 110 and others.

Did you know a key tenet of Judaism is that the Mashiach will usher in a series of events that have not yet occurred? 

Those promises include a Sabbath age, a time to come filled with justice and peace for all nations, including the Jewish people. Judaism teaches all nations will believe that the God of Israel is the one true God and Creator, and all others are false idols. What some forget is Ahur's age old question about the name of the son of God, but who can blame them

After all, when the Jewish disciples of Yeshua met their life's end in martyrdom, the Romans and Greeks took over re-inventing religion and turned people against the Jewish people.

These so-called church fathers turned Jesus the Jew into a Roman Christ that started a new religion headquartered in Rome. They rejected the Torah of God as old and done away with an in doing so ditched the Sabbath as God's day of rest that the disciples kept and erased the Feasts of the Lord off the calendar of creation.  

The church fathers formed a new church membership code that changed the unchanged and preached their new church ways replaced God's instruction that Yeshua kept and taught. 

Like the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, who seeks to keep Jews off the Temple Mount like an abomination of desolation where the disciples gathered, the second century church fathers forgot all about the counsel of a Pharisee by the name of Gamaliel:
"I say to you, stay away from these men and leave them alone, for if the source of this plan or movement is men, it will be overthrown; but if the source is God, you will not be able to overthrow them; or else you may even be found fighting against God.” Acts 5:38-39
Here's the problem, if the church amendments were true, the horrifying news is Yeshua of Nazareth would be ineligible to be the promised Messiah or the prophet like Moses!

The real Messiah is the lion of the tribe of Judah roaring with God's voice from the foundations of Biblical faith. Perhaps without knowing it Maimonides has written about Messiah Yeshua.  He said: "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."

The Talmud describes a lot about the real Messiah too. The Dead Sea scrolls call Him the branch of David, the Righteous One, Chosen One, Son of Man, the Son of God teaching the Torah as God's Servant and Prince of the Congregation. 

Orthodox Jews have always believed in the Messiah as well as life after death, and the restoration of the Kingdom of God. Yet, in a way like the early church fathers, they cannot see the real Yeshua has a two trip mission like Moses to bring the covenant up and down the mountain twice.

The horror story is the second century church fathers disguised Jesus relabeling the forever Passover Seder meal to a last supper.

A crack in that fault line is it's not the last according to Yeshua (see Matthew 26:29).

The idea of a new religion apart from the righteous Torah of God repeated by the Prophets that warned against ignoring it is ignoring Jesus. He gave this warning at the sermon on the mount:
“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. 
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. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 5:17-20
The new religion churchmen created an identity crisis founded in anti-Semitic replacement theology and hatred thinking the Torah was done away with. They confused their congregations about the Olam Ha‑Ba "World to Come." They forgot it will come on earth as it is in Heaven.  They forgot that forever has not ended and God has many instructions that He said were "forever." 

Eventually, over time church sermons morphed to the current popular theory that in the end, the church will be whisked away on a rapture cloud to a hideaway in Heaven. Meanwhile, the Jewish people will suffer grave tribulation on Earth for rejecting a Christ that did away with God's Torah, tossed out the forever Sabbath and forgot the Feasts of the LORD.

The rapture sermons reject the Heaven on Earth prayer teaching in Matthew 6:10:
Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Torahless rapture views leave the Jewish people left behind to suffer in direct opposition to Yeshua's own words to the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4:22: 

"You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews." 

People that gathered to hear the Master Rabbi teach were from all across Israel, some were like the Samaritan woman, others like the Jewish disciples. The believed His words because they were taught from God's written word that starts with forgiveness:
"For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions." Matthew 6:14-15
If you are still here with me, take a look at any modern map of the areas where the prophet like Moses walked and taught in Israel, and you will see that our modern maps reflect a similar identity crisis. 
Instead of seeing Judea and Samaria on a post 1949 map, we see imaginary green lines and an area marked off that the world's media calls the West Bank full of warning signs that Jews must not enter due to the dangers posed by the lack of security. 

It's not the West Bank, it's Judea and Samaria.

Not only that, if we just look, we can all see many areas in Israel that have lost their identity as the city names have been relabeled in Arabic. 

Take Hebron for example. Today, it has morphed into the Arabic name Qiryat Arba. Consider Samaria too, the Bible calls it Shomron but Josephus the historian reveals its name was changed to Sebastia by the Roman. The world has forgotten the Romans changed the name of Judea to Syria Palaestina and changed the name of Jerusalem to Aelia Capitolina. 

Let's get back to Agur's important question again. What is His son's Name?

His name is Yeshua ישוע.

Did you know that each Hebrew letter has a graphic meaning?

Hebrew helps us understand the depth of the names found in the Bible. This is especially true in the once forgotten name Yeshua ישוע that is not found in any Latin, Greek or English Bible until it was rediscovered - if you will - after the restoration of the Hebrew language in Israel in the fulfillment of God's promise found in Zephaniah 3:9. 

Hebrew was restored as promised just as the Jewish people returned from exile to Israel. Hebrew is now restored as the national language and it is the language of God, so it is important to know Moses wrote God's words in Hebrew, not Greek, Latin or English for that matter.

Thanks to the heart and leadership of a spirit filled Jewish man by the name of Eliezer Ben-Yehuda, this Hebrew language revival began incredible just a few short years before the re-birth of the modern state of Israel reversed the ancient curse of Babel. 

Amazingly, that language revival sheds another dimension on the prophetic proof of Yeshua's words to the Samaritan woman at the well: "Salvation is from the Jews." 

How does that fact link to Agur's quesions?

Agur asked Ithiel to name the son of God and Ithiel asked Ucal the same question. 

Believe it or not, the names of these three men point to Messiah! Their Hebrew names mean: "blameless" "God is with me" and "devoured." That's Yeshua's life story 2,000 years ago. He was blameless, God was with Him and His life was devoured for three days and nights a grave after a Roman execution.

Yet, He lives.

That miracle includes the First Fruits resurrection and the ascension on Omer day 40!

Hebrew is an amazing language. Did you know the Hebrew names in the Bible point to Messiah? 

The names lists seem to be boring, they are not. Open the Bible and you find many groups of names in the Hebrew Bible whose meanings point toward Messiah. I pray you'll stay tuned and return to more commentary in my Scripture studies as I discover the Hebrew truth that points to the identity of the Jewish Messiah of all Israel, both native born and sojourners with them. 

Yeshua is the one that gathered people to hear the Word of God explained with its promises as He preached of the Kingdom to come (Olam Ha‑Ba) that begins with repentance.

Bottomline, the cross was not the end.

If we think the Torah was hung on the cross we'll miss the Gospel of God message embedded in Leviticus. There we learn that sacrifice is not the death. The sacrifice is the "blood offering" before the presence of The LORD. Death is outside before the offering of atonement inside the Tabernacle.

By the quickening miracle life giving power of our Creator God, Yeshua lives in resurrection power and He has overcome the death of Adam. Yeshua, the second Adam lives interceding as King and High Priest in the Order of Melchizedek just as the book of Hebrews describes. 

Yeshua kept and is keeping the Torah of God, in High Priestly duty and privilege to enter the Holy of Holies of Heaven to expiate sins of the people of Israel wearing white linen garments, forgoing the elaborate priestly vestments just as Stephen saw the Kohen Gadol in the Holy of Holies in the Sanctuary on High standing before the very Divine Throne of Glory:
"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
Jesus aka 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. In death, resurrection, ascension and now in intercession, He is the... King and High Priest in the Order of Melchizedek.

David wrote about that... 
"The LORD has sworn and will not change His mind, “You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.” Psalm 110:4
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. 

Yeshua arose and ascended into the realm or dimension of Heaven at God's right hand of authority now interceding as King and High Priest in the Order of Melchizedek and Agur's questions will be answered once and for all when He returns to Jerusalem.

We must know Jerusalem is critically important, and today it has much to do with the process of restoration of the Kingdom of God. The thing is, Almighty God through the Holocaust resurrection of the Jewish people has millions of descendants of those Jewish people that perished back in His land. 

They are there with a God purpose to prepare the Promised Land of Israel for the return of Messiah whether they think it is the first or the second trip.

Just months before the 1948 rebirth of the nation in fulfillment of Isaiah 66:8, the world learned of the discovery of another resurrection if you will - that of the Dead Sea scrolls found by a young Bedouin shepherd with a stone's throw in 1947. Take note too, none of the scrolls found in the Dead Sea caves were written in Greek, Latin or English. They are are all scrolls written in the language of the Bible. 

Hebrew is alive and well. Thank God for Eliezer Ben-Yehuda!

In 1881, he was among the first to join the First Aliyah and immigrated from Russia to Jerusalem in while the land was ruled by the Ottoman Empire. He was involved in the development of the first Hebrew dictionary, a Hebrew newspaper editor and a driving force to restore the Hebrew language despite the opposition he received. In 1922 he dies and is buried in the huge cemetery below the Mount of Olives.

When we turn back (repent) and consider the Hebrew name Yeshua ישוע we need to know what Ben-Yehuda knew about Hebrew. It is important to note the first Hebrew letter of Yeshua' name is a י Yod, and in its original form it graphically represents "a hand." The next Hebrew letter is the ש Shin, which means "sharp." It is followed a ו Vav. That ancient letter represents a "stake." Finally, we have the letter ע Ayin, and its meaning is "to see."

Can you see it? 

Combining the graphic Hebrew letter meanings for י Yod, ש Shin, ו Vav and ע Ayin, portray the first trip of Yeshua ...
The hand held by the sharp stake that was seen. That is humble Yeshua ישוע !
As I pray you can see, Hebrew names and letters are very important. They let us break through the language barrier to the light of truth. They help point the way to the Messiah King of the Kingdom of God. That's the reason God used a Jewish man from Belarus to restore the Hebrew language in the land just as God had promised Zephaniah:
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. Zephaniah 3:9
Let's take a look at another important Hebrew word and its link to Messiah. It's found in Abraham's blessing. The Messiah marker as I call it is the word "behold." Throughout the Scriptures, it provides clues pointing toward Messiah. Take a look for yourself:
Then the angel (mal'ak aka messenger) of the LORD called to Abraham a second time from heaven, and said, “By Myself I have sworn, declares the LORD, because you have done this thing and have not withheld your son, your only son, indeed I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your seed shall possess the gate of their enemies. 
In your seed all the nations (gowy) of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.” 
So Abraham returned to his young men, and they arose and went together to Beersheba; and Abraham lived at Beersheba.
Now it came about after these things, that it was told Abraham, saying, “BEHOLD, Milcah also has borne children to your brother Nahor: Uz his firstborn and Buz his brother and Kemuel the father of Aram and Chesed and Hazo and Pildash and Jidlaph and Bethuel.”  Genesis 22:15-22
Do you see the Messiah themes?

Look closely and you'll see the humble Passover mission of Yeshua, the lamb of God that arose for this planet's redemption. Notice the "wood" as well as the "raised of God." After that word "behold" Genesis shows us why the Hebrew names of Milcah and Nahor's children are so important in the blessing of the lamb of God.
  1. Uz = "wooded"
  2. Buz = "contempt"
  3. Aram o = "exalted"
  4. Kemuel = "raised of God"
  5. Chesed = "increase"
  6. Hazo = "vision"
  7. Pildash = "flame of fire"
  8. Jidlaph = "weeping"
  9. Bethuel = "man of God"
Yeshua was tested and hung on the wood in contempt. Yet, as the lamb of God, His life blood was exalted on the wood, He was raised up to increase the bright flame of God's light and those that saw Him on that First Fruits day outside Jerusalem were weeping for the man of God (see Matthew 23).

He will return and fulfill all the words of Zephaniah 3. 

That return is part of the mystery of the restoration promise in the plan of God actually revealed by Moses. 

Because the first covenant was broken, Moses made two trips with the Ten Commandment covenant in hand and God's Gospel plan can be seen in the Feasts of The Lord noted by Zephaniah so you find another commentary on that down the road.

Here's another Hebrew word question: did you know Bĕ'er Sheba` means "well of the sevenfold oath?" 

Do you know that sevenfold oath? If not, it's time.

It comes form the promise given to Abraham that was retaught at Mount Sinai when Almighty God entered into a marriage covenant with the children of Israel and the sojourners with them given with the Ten Commandment outline. The oath is seen in Exodus 6:2-8. The seven-fold is the "I will" oath of Almighty God. It is like the husband's oath of the contract between Father God and all people that choose to be the children of God:
  1. I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians
  2. I will deliver you from their bondage
  3. I will also redeem you with great judgments
  4. I will take you for My people
  5. I will be your God; and you shall know that I am the LORD your God
  6. I will bring you to the land I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,
  7. I will give it to you for a possession; I am the LORD
The "I will do" spoken by all agreeing to the Ten Commandments is likened to a bride's oath of God's wedding contract.

Let's look back at another Biblical name that points to an old story many have heard, the story is Job's.

Did you know the name Job means "hated?" 

It's true. Yet, Job was upright, he was righteous and righteously followed God's Torah (teaching and instruction). He was hated by haSatan like Yeshua who taught repentance (turning back to righteousness) as it is written.  Like Yeshua, Job experienced tribulation because He never waivered into religion, He kept his faith in God's voice, not the opinions of men. 

Like Yeshua, Job was hated by the enemy of mankind, so that enemy sought to destroy not understanding the plan of Almighty God or the power of resurrection to eternal life. Not only that, Job was from Uz and that Hebrew word means "wooded." 

Do you get the picture?
There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job; and that man was blameless, upright, fearing God and turning away from evil. Job 1:1 
The LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, fearing God and turning away from evil.”  Job 1:8
Yeshua was blameless, a good shepherd, He was upright and righteous, a 100% Torah observant, kosher Jewish man fully living life and teaching the written word of God in the image of God as declared in Eden at creation.
 
Yeshua ignored traditions that added manmade rules called religion. 

Yeshua did not ignore good traditions though. For example, take the bread and wine at the Passover seder. 

He traditionally taught repentance as He turned people away from backsliding toward repentance and the promise of the Kingdom of God to come. As the son of man, He willfully gave His life as a life blessing exchange! Life was not taken from Him, He gave it willfully to annul what mankind brought on himself in Eden by sin.
"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. 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.” John 10:14-18
Many of the great prophets and shepherds of the Tanach (Hebrew Bible) gave their lives too for the truth they proclaimed in Jerusalem but unlike Yeshua they did not have the authority of resurrection. Because of that resurrection, Yeshua (Jesus) is the most famous prophet and person of all time and He is the only man to live out life following Almighty God's voice flawlessly.

His Jewish witness is powerful. He told the gentile Samaritan woman so at the well:
"You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews." John 4:22
So much so, His birth in Bethlehem (meaning house of bread) set a pivot point in history and our reckoning of time. After all, virtually every calndar on the planet dates history and counts back to His birth in Bethlehem. 

The reason, even without knowing it is that of all history is focused on the final redemption and restoration of the Kingdom of God.

The Hebrew Scriptures tell us many Jewish prophets were murdered because they proclaimed the Word of God and did not back down from the truth to save themselves. For examples read 1 Kings 18:4; 1 Kings 19:2; 2 Kings 9:7; Jeremiah 11:21; Jeremiah 2:30 and Nehemiah 9:26. 

Yeshua's death as the promised prophet was like theirs but greater as His was followed by resurrection after three days.

Who is the one called Jesus? He is the prophet declared by Moses (Deuteronomy 18:15) and the Messiah King and High Priest to come back.

Yeshua declared something you may have never noticed, He said Yeshua is from Yehudi: "...Salvation is from the Jews" (John 4:22).

Yeshua’s fulfillment of this statement is astounding. Jesus the Jew once posed an amazing question about David the king from the family line of Yehudi noted in Psalm 110:
"Why do they say that the Messiah is David's son?
David wrote this in the book we know as the Psalms: 'The Lord said to my Lord, "Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies the footstool of your feet.""

"David therefore calls him Lord, so how is he his son?" Luke 20:41-44

There is an answer to that question: the Messiah, anointed like David is the same son of man described in Daniel 7:13-14.

As we reconsider who is the one called Jesus, we must know God has another written word for us that was given to Solomon as you search in faith for your answer:
"[It is] the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honor of kings [is] to search out a matter." Proverbs 25:2
Jew or not, you can find Messiah in the Torah, the Prophets and the Writings. 

Believe it or not, it is the only Bible that Yeshua taught. The Hebrew Bible is not an Old Testament, it's alive like Yeshua. He never called it old, ever. The reason, it's God's everlasting written Word. That's why He taught it, and kept it.

Not only that, hold on to the pew, but as you should know by now, Jesus never attended church on Sunday. He never called His followers Christians, He called them disciples and brothers. His mother May never called Him Jesus and He never started a new religion.

Who is The One Called Jesus?

He is the One that never skipped an appointed pilgrimage Feast in Jerusalem. You should know too, He never ate bacon wrapped shrimp. Yeshua is the Jew whose name means Salvation, He attended and taught in synagogue every Sabbath as was His custom (see Luke 4:16). He admonished the leper He healed to honor the same commandments that Moses wrote as a written testimony about Him:
"See thou tell no man; but go thy way, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a testimony to them." Matthew 8:4
So if you should ask: WWJD, what would Jesus do? Can you imagine the answer Jesus would give? 

Do you want follow Him? If so, can you follow Him and say: I will honor God and His written Torah as my testimony of Jesus?

From the beginning of Yeshua's ministry yeshiva of teaching and miraculous healing, He taught the multitudes that followed Him, whether from Galilee, Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria or from beyond the Jordan, the greatest commandments of the Torah:
“YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND. 
This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’ 
On these two commandments depend the whole Law [Torah] and the Prophets.” Matthew 22: 36-40 
Yeshua lived and lives a perfect Torah life and teaches above all things, the meaning of the Torah, the Prophets and the Writings. It was, is and will be His testimony and by giving His life for others in complete obedience to God's Torah to eliminate the curse of sin, Yeshua is the answer to Agur's last question. 

He can be your answer too.

Yeshua, the good shepherd, has gathered many sheep to follow Him. If you want to follow, be like Him, listen to Messiah's voice and say: “All that the LORD has spoken we will do.” Exodus 19:8

Yeshua never turned away from this Torah. That is why He is the promised Messiah.

Now, let's take another view at that story of Yeshua's healing of the leper. You've probably heard the story, but did you "get" it? Yeshua told the leper after his healing to demonstrate to the priest that He is the Moshiach that has been concealed to many Jewish hearts today. He was not hidden to the Jews of first century. Had that happened you'd not be able to read this. Yeshua was revealed to the priests of the Temple. They too witnessed His obedience to God's written Torah first hand.

Many say Cornelius was the first Gentile to believe in Yeshua as the promised Messiah.

But the facts are: long before his name appears in the storyline of Acts, the scribe we know as Matthew tells writes that a Roman centurion recognized just who He was and asked that Yeshua heal his paralyzed servant and that all that was necessary was for Yeshua to command the healing, no need for a sick bed visit. 

That account is in Matthew 8:5-13 and the servant was healed. 

Then there's another Roman centurion described in Matthew 27:54. Before that Passover day when the Roman guard recognized Him for who He really was. 

The centurion at Golgotha likely without knowing it, declared the answer to Agur's question just outside the gates of Jerusalem.

Who heard that Golgotha centurion? They were the Jewish disciples, they recounted his words. 

That Roman centurion answered Agur before the resurrection and outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Shavuot Pentecost. The Roman believed Yeshua was the "Anointed" Moshiach he'd heard about and likely did not know there are many prophecy packed promises of the Bible about Him. 

It was the same for the Gentile woman of Syrophoenician descent. She [repeatedly] asked Yeshua to cast a demon out of her daughter according to Mark 7:24-30. 

He did because she believed.

The multitudes of Jewish crowds recognized Yeshua from the Tanach's testimony, the centurions from the Jews that spoke of Him and from his deeds.  The oracles that the Jewish crowds understood include Isaiah 43:3 Isaiah 47:15 Isaiah 49:26, Isaiah 53 and Isaiah 60:16 among others.

Get this... Did you know that Cornelius, the Roman centurion of the Italian cohort stationed in Caesarea never joined a church or cited a denomination's membership creed? 

Like the other centurions and the Samaritan woman at the well, Cornelius believed in Yeshua as the Jewish Messiah of Israel, the mighty one of Jacob. 

The belief blessing that Cornelius received is the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the words of Peter in Acts 10:  
"To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name."
Take a closer look at Isaiah 49:26, it says "kol basar" aka "all flesh" and take note "all flesh" speaks to both Jew and non-Jew, aka all mankind:
"...All flesh shall know that I the Lord am your savior, and your redeemer, the mighty one of Jacob.”
The word we find translated in Isaiah 49 as savior IS NOT the usual Hebrew word "yasha" ישע:
 כל בשר כי אני יהוה מושיעך וגאלך אביר יעקב
The Hebrew word most English translators print as "savior" following God's name Y-H-V-H  יהוה is the word Messiah מושיעך Moshiach!!

In the Greek language, Moshiach became Christos and that Greek is rendered today in most English Bibles as Christ, in just a few its Messiah. That's the Messiah way Tyndale translated it to English back in the 1500's. 

Tyndale knew Christ is not a last name, it is a rendering of the title of the Anointed One promised in the Hebrew Bible, the Tanach and the original title of the anointed: is Ha-Moshiach.

The word Christ is Messiah. In Hebrew, it's Moshiach מושיעך. It comes from the root word ישע yasha. The Savior and Redeemer who is מושיעך Moshiach. Amazingly, Moshiach aka Messiah is formed from letters in the Hebrew name Yeshua יְשׁוּעָ

The letters in מושיעך Moshiach include "mem" "vav" and "dalet." They mean water, stake and door. 

Do you get the prophetic Passover picture?

If not, see John 19:34 - at the stake, Yeshua was pierced, blood and water poured out.

Isaiah gives us another clue on the identity raised by Agur's question:
“Behold, God is my salvation [Yeshua],
I will trust and not be afraid;
For the LORD GOD is my strength and song,
And He has become my salvation [Yeshua].” Isaiah 12:2
Keep in mind and heart, these words as you read Isaiah 49:16 and reconsider the question:
 
Who is The One Called Jesus?

"... all flesh shall know that I Y-H-V-H יהוה am your Moshiach, and your redeemer, the mighty one of Jacob... And He has become my Yeshua."

That is the answer. Great indeed is this mystery of the mighty one of Jacob!!

Consider too, the anointed messenger of the great "I AM." He is the one "like a man" that appeared and gave His covenant promises to Abraham and lunched with him at Mamre before the judgment of Sodom.

Is Yeshua the one that wrestled with Jacob?

Is He the messenger of God in the burning bush that did not burn, the one that went before the pillar of fire Moses first describes in Exodus 13 as Pharaoh's army closed in on them?

Is He the one "like a man" the messenger that stood before the rock at Horeb as it too poured out water?

Scripture tells us the word of The LORD, the messenger of the living oracle of God appeared as the man of God before Manoah and his wife and he showed up with His sword drawn between Heaven and Earth over Jerusalem above David at the threshing place of Araunah the Jebusite. Was that Yeshua?

The messenger of God is the fourth one, "like the Son of God" that Nebuchadnezzar saw in the furnace that saved Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Is he the same "son of man" that Daniel saw in a vision with the clouds of heaven that came before the Ancient of Days?

This we can know. Yeshua is the anointed messenger, the Son of man - the angel man, the messenger voice of God declaring repentance to God's Torah and the Kingdom of God where people live as it was intended from the beginning, to live in God's image as He did. 

What if you will just listen and believe His testimony:
"Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I AM." John 8:58  
The Kingdom of God covenant promise was first given to Abraham, then Issac and Jacob. It's for you too if you choose to repent and follow Yeshua and not deny:
"The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his Son Jesus; whom you delivered up and denied him in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let [him] go." Acts 3:13
Yeshua יְשׁוּעָ is the firstborn son that walks in God Torah and provides salvation. 

The Jew from Galilee called Peter explains this beautifully with a blessing: 
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time." 1Peter 1:3-5
Paul described Yeshua, the messenger of God to Timothy. He's referencing Isaiah 49:26:
"He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory." 1Timothy 3:16
Those words manifested in the flesh provide the same message given in John 1:14 as the disciple zeros in on Isaiah 49:26:
"And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth."
But there's more.

It's about God's name that's been hidden for too long. The words "The LORD" in many modern English Bibles are a substitution for the great name our maker gives to Himself just as it is shown to us in Isaiah 49:26. It chills me to the bone to know that the name "Baal" which also translates as "lord" is found over 60 times in any English Bible translation.

Yet in Hebrew, YeHoVah יהוה is only found written in a Hebrew Bible.

Check this out from the language scholar James Strong. According to Strong's Concordance, Baal="lord."  Knowing that, it is sad when I read what God Almighty told Jeremiah:
"...their fathers have forgotten my name for Baal."
We've forgotten, but how? 

After all, the name יהוה is written in plain sight nearly 7,000 times in the Hebrew Bible Yeshua read and taught. Baal's name remains in every modern English Bible, yet the name of Elohim God Y-H-V-H יהוה is hidden as "The LORD." Elohim God Yehovah forgive us for forgetting your Almighty name!! 

Perhaps this began with a decree from Antiochus Epiphanes. This Syrian Greek tyrant was a murderer. He did a lot of damage that remains with us today. Some of his other decrees were to outlaw the Sabbath and the Feast Days of יהוה. Sound familiar?

God's name יהוה includes the four Hebrew letters are י Yod ה Hey ו Vav ה Hey. Scholars call this four letter name above all names, the Tetragrammaton, meaning ("consisting of four letters").

It is the same name we see in Scripture when the messenger (angel) told Jacob 'the man' he wrestled with (Genesis 32:24) is revealed as God (see it for yourself in Genesis 32:30). This is the same "One" his grandfather saw in a vision as described in Genesis 15:1:
After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Do not fear, Abram, I am a shield to you; Your reward shall be very great.”
Abraham not only saw Him in a vision, He saw recognized Him standing at the oak of Mamre with three others (look in for yourself in Genesis 18:1-2). Almighty God's incredible name Y-H-V-H appeared "as a man" wrestling with and blessing Jacob with a new name. The Creator's name is in plain sight in the same Scriptures that Yeshua יְשׁוּעָ read and taught from as the Master Rabbi.

Sit down and grab hold of something to steady yourself...

Yeshua יְשׁוּעָ only read and taught from the witness of the ancient Hebrew scrolls. In fact, if not for the Jewish people there would be no Bible and no Messiah! This is not new, it's a direct reference to Psalm 40:8
For had you believed Moses,
you would have believed me: for he wrote of me. John 5:46
Yeshua-Jesus lived out the prophetic promise of the Psalm of David:
Then I said, “Behold, I have come;
in the scroll of the book it is written of me:
I delight to do your will, O my God;
your law is within my heart.”

I have told the glad news of deliverance
in the great congregation;
behold, I have not restrained my lips,
as you know, O LORD. 
I have not hidden your deliverance within my heart;
I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation;
I have not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness
from the great congregation. Psalm 40:7-10
The Hebrew Bible begins with the scrolls that were inscribed by Moses called the Torah. The Torah reveals the prophecy of God appearing to man from the beginning, yet the Torah is are written "about" Messiah. Yeshua the Master Rabbi didn't need to write a thing, According to Luke 24:44  He taught the disciples because He read and spoke words from the Torah, the Prophets and the Psalms. 

Together, these three are now called the Tanach or TaNaK for Torah, Nevi'im and Ketuvim. 

Almighty God gives each of these as His unchanging teaching and instruction. They are His Kingdom constitution words for life yesterday, today and tomorrow because He loves all of us and teaches us His guidelines about how we are to live in His image. These are the principles that Yeshua expounded on, explained and kept as the perfecter of faith.

The son of man Yeshua is the only one to ever keep them all in righteousness without sin. Yeshua is the living Word of God embodied in a man. He declared the voice of Almighty God who is the same today, yesterday and forever. 

If we want to walk in faith like Jesus, act like Jesus, talk like Jesus, we must seek to do the same. It's the original message of the deceiver to fall for the idea that Almighty God does not mean what He says or that He changes His mind. Don't listen to that old lie any longer.

The book of Hebrews tells us how to endure the race of life, we are to look on Jesus, the founder and perfecter of faith (see Hebrews 12:1-2).

I was never really understood it as I grew up, but when you think about it, the disciples including the men we call Peter, James, John, Matthew, Luke and John never read and were never taught from a book we call the New Testament.

The reason is simple, it did not exist at the time. 

Their faith was perfected by the words and deeds of Yeshua. He taught the Tanach as His testimony from the scrolls the Hebrew Scriptures. In fact, the disciples' names we know today are not their real names. Everyone's name has been changed, veiling their Jewish identities. 

This realization was SHOCKING to me!

So, who is the One called Jesus?

He is the Jewish man whose name is Yeshua יְשׁוּעָ so let's re-phrase the big question from a Hebraic Tanach perspective... Who is Yeshua יְשׁוּעָ?

Let's start with the words of Yeshua יְשׁוּעָ recorded in the book we now call Luke:
"He said to them, "This is what I told you, while I was still with you, that all things which are written in the law [Torah] of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms, concerning me must be fulfilled." Then he opened their minds, that they might understand the Scriptures." Luke 24:44-45
To understand the Scriptures today we have to see Him in the words and context of the Torah as the messenger of things which are written. To understand we need to include the writings of the Prophets and the Psalmists as well. Reading again from the Psalm of David:
"Then I said, “Behold, I have come. It is written about me in the book in the scroll." Psalms 40:7
These words are quoted as a witness in Hebrews 10:7:
"Therefore when He comes into the world, he says... "Then I said, “Behold, I have come. It is written about me in the book in the scroll."
Paul asked a question we must ask today when he wrote Colossians 1:15-17:
"Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether [they be] thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist."
Almighty God created man to live in his image, this is the foundation stone of the Torah and the hidden story of Messiah Yeshua. Just as the Tabernacle was covered by animal skins for the indwelling of the Spirit of God according to Moses, Yeshua the son of man bore the image of our Creator in the flesh and walked in the true faith of Judaism without traditions added in or taken away from the Torah.

Yeshua-Jesus is the one anointed by God's indwelling Spirit on earth, a living, breathing Tabernacle showing the one and true faith in the One True God. Yeshua-Jesus is the living Torah, the personification of the living word of God in the flesh and a Jewish man with the name יְשׁוּעָ Yeshua.

His name means Salvation because He came to explain the purpose of the Tanach, and He is none other than the messenger of Almighty God in the tabernacle of flesh of a man.

Yeshua is not limited by our theology, theory, creeds or misunderstanding.

His first trip is the witness of the "living Word" of God because He lived it, fulfilling the teaching and instruction of the five scrolls of Torah, The Prophets and Psalms revealed in the Spring Feasts of The Lord. His second trip will fulfill the Fall Feasts.

Today many have forgotten, failing to realize Yeshua’s return as the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, as the King of all Israel is linked to salvation to the Jews, it's not what is taught in some Sunday sermons. He will return Messiah ben David when the Jewish people cry out, “Blessed is He who comes in the name of The LORD!”

God loves this family so much, that Yeshua will be sent back when the Jewish people cry out and call for Him.

Yet, Yeshua is not just for the Jew, like the Torah given to the "Ger" or the sojourners with Israel in the wilderness, Yeshua is for everyone that chooses to love and walk with Almighty God in His ways.

Yeshua-Jesus said "I am way, the truth." His Kingdom lifestyle of Torah is the way, the truth and the life for running the race of righteous life on Earth. Yet, our inclination ever since Eden is to believe a lie and reject what God says. So, like Jesus said, we must repent. We must confess and walk away from our sinful state in heart, mind and spirit. 

This is the purpose declared to Moses as he transcribed the instruction of God so that He may dwell among us.

The Torah is one Word but it has five parts: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. Is it any wonder Yeshua was pierced five times for our transgressions? Two feet, two hands and His side all shed His life blood blood for the sins of mankind. 

It is said that the foundation stone of the world lies in Jerusalem. That very city is where Yeshua the foundation stone of living Torah was laid to rest on 'the day' of Unleavened Bread before His resurrection glory on 'the day' of First Fruits and ascension to Heaven on the 40th day of the Omer Count to the right hand of The father interceding as the High Priest in the order of Melchizedek "King of Righteousness."

Open your eyes brother Judah! When you do Messiah will come. Judah there's a word for you:
"For if their rejection means the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead?" Romans 11:15 
Joseph you too need to know, Jesus came as a Jew and despite the false witness you may have heard, He never added anything new to the written Torah and He never took anything away from it. Yeshua didn't hang it on the cross. Yeshua came to make the Torah abound in meaning. 

We must plant the seed of Torah in our life to bear good fruit He explained that because the Torah reveals this truth in the record of Genesis 1:11:
And God said,
Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed,
and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind,
whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.
And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind,
and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself,
after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
Yeshua is the human essence of living out Torah and it is not by chance that: "God created humankind" in his image. Adam fell short in obedience, Yeshua did not.

The good news is we can understand that Yeshua יְשׁוּעָ taught others about Himself and the Kingdom constitution of God, His Torah. He is the fruit tree yielding much fruit after His kind. He is the bread of life and the living water shown in the book of life.

He is in every weekly parashah, hidden to be found in every portion of the Torah and the Prophets.

I love the manna story in the Torah portion called Beshalach "When He Sent." Here we see manna fell from heaven in the desert and sustained the Israelites, otherwise they would have all perished. That manna represents Yeshua’s body as an unleavened freewill offering of eternal life. In John 6:51 Yeshua said, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”

The manna appeared in the fourth week after leaving Egypt and it sustained them for 40 years. Do the Biblical math, Messiah Yeshua first appeared in the 4,000th year since Adam. The record is in the Bible for a reason.

The famous Psalm of Moses tells us that a thousand years is just a watch in the night (Psalm 90:4) so reconsider the sixth day assignment of the double manna harvest as we approach the end of year 6,000 before the promised seventh day of rest (millennium)... "And it shall come to pass, that on the sixth day they shall prepare that which they bring in; and it shall be twice as much as they gather daily."

God revealed more at Elim during the fourth week of the Exodus. The twelve springs of water represent the twelve tribes of Israel, the royal priesthood to the nations (Exodus 19:5-6). The seventy palm trees represent the nations. The twelve tribes (like the 12 disciples) are to draw on living water (Yeshua) for the nations in spirit and truth. Yeshua is living water for the healing of every afflicted person. (Exodus 15:26-27).
“Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.” John 7:38
In the Torah portion Beshalach, we see the battle with Amalek and there are two, Aaron (light bringer) and Hur (hole of a viper) on either side of Moses' outstretched arms... With this image in mind, consider Luke 23:39:
"One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, "Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us!""
The Torah of Beshalach is teaching of Messiah and instructing us to live like Him with ethical, Biblical moral behavior, loving God and living in peace and love with our sisters and our brothers. This is the focus of the Torah and the teaching of Yeshua. All we have to do is to search out the Scriptures to find Him there in the Torah scrolls...
"He said, "they are they which testify of me" (John 5:39); "Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law [Torah], till all be fulfilled" (see Matthew 5:18); "Scripture cannot be broken" (see John 10:35); ..."but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments" (Matthew 19:17); "Here is the patience of the saints: here [are] they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus" (Revelation 14:12); 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 5:19); "If ye love me, keep my commandments" (John 14:15)
The teaching from Messiah Yeshua of the least and the greatest in His Kingdom teaches us that Torah "keeping" does not bring salvation, the Torah is a servanthood. Only Yeshua gives eternal life in grace and mercy as our Savior, His words are for life, to renew our strength in God's Word.

Thank God His teaching (Torah) is not done away nor hung on a cross, because we must know as a surety that all Torah comes from the same living word of God. The disciple John (John 1:1-5) describes Yeshua as the Torah keeper, the One who is the living word of God. John admonishes:
"And hereby we do know that we know him if we keep His commandments. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoso keepeth His word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in Him. He that saith he abideth in Him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked." (1 John 2:6–7)
The reason:
"Therefore shall ye keep my commandments, and do them: I [am] YHVH". Leviticus 22:31.
It is awesome and fearful to understand who the 'One' called Jesus really is Messiah and that we are to keep God's Torah commandments in love and in the faith of Yeshua יְשׁוּעָ if we love God. That is how we show Him we love Him. We get to do Torah because we love Him.

Do you know the Messiah who said, “If you love me, keep my commandments” John 14:15 ?

To know Yeshua and who He is, let's look at just some of the 365 or so prophecies as witnesses of Messiah found in Scripture so that you can share them with others:
•Messiah would be born of a woman. Genesis 3:15, Matthew 1:20, Galatians 4:4
•Messiah would be born in Bethlehem. Micah 5:2-4, Matthew 2:1, Luke 2:4-6
•Messiah would be born of a virgin. Isaiah 7:14, Matthew 1:22-23, Luke 1:26-31
•Messiah would come from Abraham. Genesis 12:3, Genesis 22:18, Matthew 1:1, Romans 9:5
•Messiah would be a descendant of Isaac. Genesis 17:19, Genesis 21:12, Luke 3:34
•Messiah would be a descendant of Jacob. Numbers 24:17, Matthew 1:2
•Messiah would come from the tribe of Judah. Genesis 49:10, Luke 3:33, Hebrews 7:14
•Messiah would be an heir to King David's throne. 2Samuel 7:12-13, Isaiah 9:7, Luke 1:32-33, Romans 1:3
•Messiah's would be be anointed. Isaiah 61:1; Matthew 3:16, Psalm 45:6-7, Daniel 2:44, Luke 1:33, Hebrews 1:8-12
•Messiah would be called Immanuel. Isaiah 7:14, Matthew 1:23
•Messiah would spend a season in Egypt. Hosea 11:1, Matthew 2:14-15
•Messiah's birthplace would see a massacre of children. Jeremiah 31:15, Matthew 2:16-18
•Messiah's would be prepared by a messenger. Isaiah 40:3-5, Luke 3:3-6
•Messiah would be rejected by his own people. Psalm 69:8, Isaiah 53:3, Luke 22:37, John 1:11, John 7:5
•Messiah would be a prophet. Deuteronomy 18:15, Acts 3:20-22
•Messiah would be forsaken by His disciples. Psalm 88:8; Mark 14:50
•Messiah would be preceded by the voice of Elijah. Malachi 4:5-6, Matthew 11:13-14
•Messiah would be declared the Son of God. Psalm 2:7, Matthew 3:16-17
•Messiah would be called a Nazarene. Isaiah 11:1, Matthew 2:23
•Messiah would bring light to Galilee. Isaiah 9:1-2, Matthew 4:13-16
•Messiah would speak in parables. Psalm 78:2-4, Isaiah 6:9-10, Matthew 13:10-15, Matthew 13:34-35
•Messiah would be sent to heal. Isaiah 61:1-2, Luke 4:18-19, John 5:1-9
•Messiah would be a priest after the order of Melchizedek. Psalms 110:4, Hebrews 5:5-6
•Messiah would be called King. Psalm 2:6, Zechariah 9:9, Matthew 27:37, Mark 11:7-11
•Messiah would be praised by little children. Psalm 8:2, Matthew 21:16
•Messiah would be betrayed. Psalm 41:9, Zechariah 11:12-13, Luke 22:47-48, Matthew 26:14-16, John 13:18
•Messiah's price money would be used to buy a potter's field. Zechariah 11:12-13, Matthew 27:9-10
•Messiah would be falsely accused. Psalm 35:11, Mark 14:57-58
•Messiah would be silent before his accusers. Isaiah 53:7, Mark 15:4-5
•Messiah would be spat upon and struck. Isaiah 50:6, Matthew 26:67
•Messiah would be hated without cause. Psalm 35:19, Psalm 69:4, John 15:24-25
•Messiah would be crucified with criminals. Isaiah 53:12, Matthew 27:38, Matthew 24:48, Mark 15:27-28
•Messiah would be given vinegar to drink. Psalm 69:21, Matthew 27:34, John 19:28-30
•Messiah's hands and feet would be pierced. Psalm 22:16, Zechariah 12:10, John 20:25-27
•Messiah would be mocked and ridiculed. Psalm 22:7-8, Luke 23:35
•Messiah's garments would be gambled for. Psalm 22:18, Matthew 27:35-36, Luke 23:34
•Messiah's bones would not be broken. Exodus 12:46, Psalm 34:20, Zechariah 12:10, John 19:27-36
•Messiah would be the atonement for sin. Isaiah 53:5-12, Romans 5:6-8 •Messiah would pray for his enemies. Psalm 109:4, Luke 23:34
•Messiah's side would be pierced. Zechariah 12:10, John 19:34
•Messiah would be buried by the rich. Isaiah 53:9, Matthew 27:57-60
•Messiah would be resurrected from the grave. Psalm 16:10, Psalm 49:15, Hosea 6:2; Matthew 28:2-7, Luke 24:46, Acts 2:22-32
•Messiah would ascend. Psalm 24:7-10, Mark 16:19, Luke 24:51
•Messiah would be seated at God's right hand. Psalm 68:18, Psalm 110:1, Mark 16:19, Matthew 22:44
Let's look again at the words the Gospel writer John gives to us:
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him. Without Him was not anything made that has been made. John 1:1-3
Yeshua lived out the Word of God, that why is is called sinless. This is almost incomprehensible, but John 10:30 tells us Yeshua said: "I and The Father are One" because Yeshua was the ultimate attorney in fact. 

He is the King, the Messiah. Did you notice Messiah would be a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek, not Levi as shown in Psalms 110:4 and Hebrews 5:5-6?

Melchizedek's name is first seen in Genesis 14:18-20 "And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God. And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth: And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all."

Melchizedek was the King of Salem, the King of peace. 

Have you read the everlasting peace covenant shown in Ezekiel 37:26:
"I will make a covenant of peace with them. It shall be an everlasting covenant with them. And I will set them in their land and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in their midst forevermore."
Salem, in Hebrew Shalem שָׁלֵם means "peace" and the King of Peace brought forth bread and wine.

Yeshua was teaching His disciples about His kingship when he brought forth bread and wine (see Mark 14:22-25). The ancient people of Judea understood the importance of the bread and wine, yet some misunderstood John the Baptist's role as well as Yeshua's purpose in calling people to repent:
"For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, 'He has a demon.' The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, 'Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!' Yet wisdom is justified by all her children." Luke 7:33-35
The birth, death and resurrection of Yeshua were divine events connecting Heaven and Earth and instituting His forever priesthood according to the order of Melchizedek. He had no earthly Father and there are many people that deny this because they cannot understand it, but they have no witness to counter the testimony of Messiah foretold by the Moses and the Prophets. The witness of their written testimony is irrefutable. Yeshua was not conceived by a man but from the Heavenly Spirit of God, so He was not born of the image of Adam as a sinner, but of the image of Spirit of God Almighty, El Shaddai.

Adam and Eve broke God's divine instruction, they sinned and every person since has been born in the fallen image of Adam (mankind). Adam was made in the image of God and God breathed His Spirit into him, but he sinned and mankind is no longer born in the perfect glory image of God, but fallen of Adam. That is the problem with sin and the entropy that leads to death in a perfect creation.

But God provides the solution to a fallen world in Yeshua. He gives us the grace to be “born again” in resurrection by the Spirit of God which can restore us to the glorious image of God.

This is the prophetic word that Paul taught:
"For since by a man [Adam] came death, by a man [Yeshua of Nazareth] also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Messiah all will be made alive." 1Corinthians 15:21–22
Sin is the problem, it began in Eden with the a choice to ignore God about the fruit of a tree. That's why we see the story in Mark 11 as Yeshua cursed the fig tree in Bethany that bore no fruit. Remember, Adam and Eve had eaten the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil long before Yeshua destroyed the tree declaring to the world that the tree without fruit was subject to Him and He would destroy the root of all evil so that only the tree of life would remain.
"On the following day, when they came from Bethany, he was hungry. And seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to see if he could find anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. And he said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard it." Mark 11:12-14
Paul told the Corinthians of the parallels of Adam and Yeshua and the mystery of the miracle of restoration of our image and realtionship to God in the quickening of resurrection which is the fulfillment of renewed life. Paul's teaching is not about some secret, anytime, hide away rapture to avoid tribulation as many teach. Romans 6:5 shows that resurrection of the Believer is about a coming restoration, a resurrection to the incorruptible image. Acts 24:15 shows us this will be after the final Yom Kippur judgment because "there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust." Paul explains:
"And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam [was made] a quickening spirit. Howbeit that [was] not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. The first man [is] of the earth, earthy: the second man [is] the Lord from heaven. As [is] the earthy, such [are] they also that are earthy: and as [is] the heavenly, such [are] they also that are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed." 1 Corinthians 15:45–49
The mystery of the Bible tells us that we are all born first in the fallen image of Adam, earthy and corrupt by sin's nature to oppose God's instruction. But when the Believer and follower of Yeshua is “born again” we are spiritually reborn and redeemed. In salvation we can be restored to the image of God, redeemed by Yeshua and saved from corruption. 

Who is The One Called Jesus?

Let's repeat what we have learned.

Messiah Yeshua (Jesus) is the living word of the LORD, the messenger of "I AM" that spoke and walked with Adam, that gave the ship's design to Noah and shut the door to the ark before the flood judgment, that gave His covenant promises to Abraham and lunched with him at Mamre before the judgment of Sodom. He appeared before Isaac at Gerar and Beersheba. He wrestled with Jacob and spoke from the fire as Moses describes in Exodus. He appeared before Manoah and his wife.

Jesus is the Son of man, the angel messenger, the voice of God on Earth and rest assured that, He will speak to you if you will hear, listen and believe the testimony of God's Word:
"Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I AM." John 8:58
Yeshua יְשׁוּעָ is the firstborn of all creation and He is found everywhere in the Scripture, He isn't just found in the Gospels that confirm Him as the promised Anointed One.

In Genesis, Yeshua is shown as the seed of the woman, a descendant of Abraham, a king in the line of Judah in the line of David. He is the son like Isaac and a rejected brother like Joseph. Yeshua is the Passover lamb, the leader and deliverer out of slavery, a leader like Moses, He is like the manna from heaven, the rock that gives water, He is in the living Tabernacle. Yeshua is like the High Priest described  in Leviticus, His work personified by mediation at The LORD's righteousness hand.

God's plan of sanctification, redemption, judgment and restoration through Messiah are shown in Passover, Shavuot, Trumpets, Yom Kippur and Tabernacles. He is the healer lifted up and the prophet Like Moses. He is like the cities of refuge.

Yeshua is like the Lord of the army of Hosts, the captain Joshua saw as he entered in the Promised Land. Yeshua is the judge and lawgiver for the living and the dead. Yeshua is the kinsman redeemer for the descendants of Jacob like Boaz and those that are strangers like Ruth. Yeshua is the prophet of The Lord, a descendent of David and a faithful friend like Jonathan. Yeshua is the reigning King for the restored kingdom greater than Solomon. He is the one that heals lepers like Elisha.

Yeshua is the faithful one, the ultimate builder of the temple like Zerubbabel. Yeshua is the one that rebuilds the broken walls and the rebuilder of the walls of salvation like Nehemiah. In Esther, Yeshua can be seen like king Ahasuerus, the king that ordered the destruction of the evil one Haman and saved Esther's people. In Job, Yeshua is like the suffering one who obtains great blessings. Yeshua is is our shepherd, the resurrected one that was despised and crucified, hated for no reason, rejected but now at the right hand of God.

Yeshua is the un-named Son who has gone up to heaven and He will come down. What is his name, and what is the name of his son? Surely you know!

In Isaiah, Yeshua is the suffering servant, born of a virgin, He is Immanuel “God with us” the One with the seven-fold spirit upon Him. He healed the blind, lame and deaf. He is a light to the nations yet He was despised. He was whipped and beaten as a guilt offering for sin, but He lives resurrected forever.

Yeshua is the weeping prophet, the righteous branch. In Ezekiel Yeshua is described as the son of Man, a descendent of David. In Daniel, Yeshua is described in the vision as the Son of Man coming in the clouds of Heaven, establishing the everlasting kingdom. He will be revealed as the stone that will crush the kingdoms of the world and He is the fourth man that will incredibly saves those in the fiery furnace.

In Hosea, Yeshua is the bridegroom married to the harlot woman, the one that is faithful one to his adulterous bride. In Joel Yeshua as the one baptized with the Holy Spirit and offering salvation to all mankind. In Amos, Yeshua is like the burden bearer. In Jonah we see Yeshua. In fact, Jonah 2:9 declares something mind boggling:
"But I will sacrifice to You
With the voice of thanksgiving.
That which I have vowed I will pay. 
Salvation [Yeshua] is from the LORD [YHVH].”
In Micah, Yeshua is like the messenger with beautiful feet, the one born in Bethlehem yet from everlasting. In Nahum Yeshua is shown as the avenger of God’s elect. In Habakkuk, Yeshua is seen like the great evangelist crying for revival, the Messiah that will come from Teman at His return, full of glory with intercession and prayer for His people like Habakkuk. In Zephaniah, Yeshua is shown as the restorer of lost heritage. In Haggai Yeshua is shown like the cleansing fountain, who visited the Temple. In Zechariah, Yeshua is the pierced Son, a Priest and King who rode into Jerusalem on a donkey.

Yeshua is the Messiah who was pierced. In Malachi, Yeshua is described as the Son of righteousness rising with healing in the wings of His tallit, the Messiah who taught at the Temple and came in the spirit of Elijah.

God's Spirit is the invisible Creator whose Spirit indwells Messiah Yeshua, the Messiah of Israel, the Redeemer of God's children.

Paul explained to the Colossians that there more than grace:
"For this cause, we also, since the day we heard this, don’t cease praying and making requests for you, that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, that you may walk worthily of the Lord, to please him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all power, according to the might of his glory, for all endurance and perseverance with joy; giving thanks to the Father, who made us fit to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light; who delivered us out of the power of darkness, and translated us into the Kingdom of the Son of his love; in whom we have our redemption, the forgiveness of our sins; who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in the heavens and on the earth, things visible and things invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers; all things have been created through him, and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things are held together. He is the head of the body, the assembly, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence. For all the fullness was pleased to dwell in him; and through him to reconcile all things to himself, by him, whether things on the earth, or things in the heavens, having made peace through the blood of His cross." Colossians 1:9-20
There is more testimony that Jesus is the son of man, "the image of the invisible God..." Yeshua is the manifest Son of the invisible, heavenly YHVH who is light (see 1John 1:5).

Paul told the Galatians another great mystery of Scripture when he wrote:
"Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Messiah." Galatians 3:16
Proverbs 30:4 wraps it all for us about Jesus with the big question from Agur the son of Jakeh:
"Who hath ascended up into heaven, or descended? who hath gathered the wind in his fists? who hath bound the waters in a garment? who hath established all the ends of the earth? what is his name, and what is his son's name, if thou canst tell?"
You can know that the covenant promise of "the seed" that God Almighty gave Abraham is for all mankind. Let's look at this:
"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" Genesis 15:18
This is why Messiah Yeshua (Jesus) told the Pharisees:
"Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad"...I tell you the truth, before Abraham was born, I am!" John 8:58
He wanted them to understand that He was indeed “The One” that was the promised seed given to Abram that all the world would be blessed because in the end the Kingdom of God will be made up of “all nations, and kindreds, and peoples, and tongues” (Revelation 7:9).

He showed the Pharisees that He is the Messiah. They rejected His word, so they picked up stones to kill him but we need to behold the faith of Abraham and believe in the seed promised, which is Yeshua the Messiah. When we do, we become a part of the covenant promise given to Abraham and grafted into the family name of the Children of God - Israel. Because when you believe in Messiah as the seed you're grafted into the promises given Abraham. Paul taught the Galatians this:
"There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Messiah Yeshua. And if ye [be] Messiah's, then are you Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise. Galatians 3:28-29
To begin to comprehend who is the One called Jesus, you must know that He (Yeshua) taught about God's teaching and instruction - the Torah, because He literally lived out the Torah, the "message and will" of God. We need to do the same because we seek Messiah. Faith is doing, it is greater than belief which is why we are told:
"Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father in heaven." Matthew 7:21
I repeat again, our Creator made His covenant with Abraham so that you too can be a promised descendant, of faith. We are all lost, but Yeshua came to find the lost sheep of Israel and other sheep to adopt them into the family of God. You too are given the promise of Abraham when you believe and follow the One, who is Yeshua. He is the Messiah, the anointed one who gave His life blood so that He could provide redemption for sin, to keep the covenant with Abraham.

It is well worth repeating. God appeared and gave instruction to Adam in the garden, He made covenant from the fire to Abraham as He walked between the 12 sacrificial pieces, He spoke from the burning bush to Moses, He descended on Mount Sinai and His voice thundered from the fire to all Israel and their companions.

Messiah Yeshua came humbly as a man and He walked teaching, preaching, living out and fulfilling the life of God's Torah in Spirit and in deed. He was accused of blasphemy and willingly died on the cross, offering His life to break the curse of death and He now lives as King of all creation at the right hand (authority) of God. Soon He will return into this physical, visible realm of the Universe with commanding, awesome glory. He will return for the bride in Jerusalem, the place of God's name.

A brother in the faith of Messiah from the Promised Land of Israel shared this with me about Messiah's blood that was spilled on the dust of the earth at the cross:
"To understand what His blood does for us we need to know as His children we have been created out of the side of Messiah Yeshua and are 'bone of His bone and flesh of His flesh.' When His blood and water hit the ground at the cross 2,000 years ago it symbolically pictured His life going into man (His symbolic bride), who is made of the dust of the Earth."
Messiah Yeshua does not change the covenant given to Israel, He fulfills it.

Paul knew this:
That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. Galatians 3:14
He also writes:
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. Romans 11:1
That's why Yeshua proclaimed these mighty words:
"If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in His love. These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and [that] your joy might be full. John 15:10-11
The Bible tells everyone that chooses by faith to be His saved people - that we are to follow His teaching and instruction for living. When we know Messiah, God gives us salvation and redemption by grace and mercy. As a response, we are to live in His grace and walk in His path and live in His Torah.

Jesus lived and taught the Torah. Messiah's works are the reason prophecy was given to the Prophets. It is for this very reason He calls the writings of Torah and the Prophets "My Commandments" (see John 14:15-21 and John 15:10). He lived them out.

His call to duty is to obey God's Torah principles because they are for all those who love Him. This truth is reflected throughout all the Apostle's writings. How do we EVER dare think that "He hung God's law on the cross" or that the Torah does not apply to us today? We cannot if we truly know just Who is the one called Jesus, but DO NOT think for a moment that anyone can ever be saved by works, by doing His commandments. God saves by grace because we are all sinners.

The law of Messiah (Galatians 6:2) is the Torah without man's traditions. It is the Torah correctly interpreted and taught by Yeshua. Regarding the law, how could something so wonderful become flawed, especially in light of the fact that God spoke it?

What we must know, is that our redemption from the curse of death is Yeshua. He can free us from of the death penalty. The keys to Hades are His, they are able to overcome the curse of sin established in Eden. This redemption is only by Yeshua's shed blood.

We must also take note that the Apostle Paul wrote of "ordinances" being blotted out at the cross. The first ordinance is the first curse we bring on ourselves, the death penalty. The second is the divorce decree declared by God against those that turn and reject Him. Paul writes:
"Messiah hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed [is] every one that hangeth on a tree: That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith." Galatians 3:13-14

"And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; [And] having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it." Colossians 2:13-15
Paul wrote to the Roman believers telling them he was an Israelite:
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. Romans 11:1
Jeremiah declares God's divorce decree given in Deuteronomy:
And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also. Jeremiah 3:8
Deuteronomy tells us:
When a man hath taken a wife, and married her, and it come to pass that she find no favor in his eyes, because he hath found some uncleanness in her: then let him write her a bill of divorcement, and give [it] in her hand, and send her out of his house. Deuteronomy 24:1
Yet Jesus, the Messiah called Yeshua (whose name means Salvation) came for the lost, the divorced sheep of Israel:
But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Matthew 15:24
When you understand  these words you will begin to understand the critical mission of your assignment from Messiah as the shepherd of all Israel.

We have gone astray from these truths because we do not understand just "who" the lost sheep of Israel are in God's eyes:
My people hath been lost sheep... Jeremiah 50:6
The people God calls Israel, are the children of His promises. The prophecies of Messiah's visit as the pierced one is amazing and powerful. He came so that the harlot, the lost sheep can be restored! He had to die by God's own unchanging word given to Adam and Moses. God promised to finish that penalty in the beginning by crushing the head, the authority of the deceiver, an authority over the world given to him by Adam which is physical death.

God is life. His word, His Torah is the "book of life" we are given to live by. This life principle is one of the reasons we can read these words:
For I YHVH do not change, therefore you, O sons of Jacob are not consumed.
Malachi 3:6 
That is why Paul teaches about promise. Paul wrote of something MUCH worth repeating again…
"If ye be in Messiah, then you are Abraham’s seed and heirs according to the promise." Galatians 3:29
Yeshua overcame the ordinance of divorce from God's presence. He did this through His death and resurrection. After all, God's word declares that a bride may not remarry as long as the husband is alive. So, the great mystery of the ordinance that was 'hung on the cross' along with the ordinance of death by sin is also the ordinance of divorce declared by God in Deuteronomy.

So, how does God restore himself to you, to me and to all the children of His promise? By Yeshua's death and resurrection:
And “Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise.” Galatians 4:28
Now is a good time to look back at Mount Sinai, at the people Israel AND their companions had been redeemed and saved out of Egypt BEFORE they heard the voice of God as He gave His instruction of righteous living called Torah. When the Israelites left Egypt at Passover their firstborn were redeemed and saved from the death by obedience to God's instruction. How? He told them to put the blood of the Passover Lamb on their door posts. From this example, we too must understand that our salvation is only from the blood of the Lamb of God. When Yeshua said "If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love" He was restating words that were given at Sinai:
"And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments." Exodus 20:6
Through God's teaching, His Torah we can worship with Him just as Israel did in the wilderness. Yeshua is "the Rock" and Paul admonishes us to not be ignorant of this:
"Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; And did all eat the same spiritual meat; And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Messiah." 1Corinthians 10:1
Today, as many are returning to Torah, I believe Yeshua is giving us the promised spirit of Elijah before His return as Malachi prophesied:
"Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, [with] the statutes and judgments. Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse." Malachi 4:4-6
We have all missed the mark. This began with Adam and Eve. Consider "physics" again and think of it this way, they invoked the penalty of sin - death, which is the final entropy of our "physical" life. Because God said so, we physically die, due to sin. In this way, we can consider that Adam by his disobedience to God's word invoked entropy and death into our world.

Messiah provides salvation for all who choose Him. Don't remain ignorant of this truth, you too can be saved and be a part of the promise to "all Israel", all those that are redeemed in faith. And like Abraham, you can show your faith and love toward God by following His ways, His paths, His Torah just like Jesus did simply because you want to respond in love toward God and worship Him as he desires to be worshipped. Jesus tells us:
“Yet a time is coming when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth for they are the kind of worship the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.” John 4:23-24
Paul teaches:
"For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles {nations} comes in. And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Zion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: For this [is] my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins. Romans 11:25-27
Many disregard the full meaning of the "fullness" of the Gentiles" thinking it only means a time of full measure or count of Gentiles coming into the knowledge, belief and ways of Jesus the Jew. But that is just touching the surface of Paul's message. The word "fullness" is "plērōma" and it means a fulfilling as in keeping.
The fullness refers to keeping the way, 
the Torah walk of Messiah.

Paul was revealing an amazing prophecy of the time we are in today as non-Jews are returning to the Biblical roots of the way of the Jewish man, the Messiah. Gentiles must do this to turn and return to faith because:
“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

“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

“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
Our Creator God seeks a personal relationship, not religion.

Why NO religion? Because our way of religion is a system, a tradition of mankind by its very definition. You don't need to believe me, check it out for yourself. Many religious traditions are man's way of interpreting God's ways as our "way," but we must be careful to know the lesson of the golden calf - God has only one path, one way, His way, not man's.

Religion somehow confuses reality because it redefines belief and faith.

For example, our Creator God gave His Ten Commandments as His eternal instruction, a covenant to all mankind. They are not ten concepts of a religion. They are God's words, His covenant authority. Yet, across America, people seek to remove granite monuments of the Ten Commandments stating their display violates their constitution and the use of so-called government property to support any sect, church, denomination or system of religion. The thing is all the earht is the property of God, not government.

Yeshua's teaching is not a new religion, it is truth, and old one from the beginning. Jesus never started a religion, He explained the Torah. Knowing He is the Messiah is not a religious belief.

Can you see the truth?

Religious concepts are a set of beliefs defined by people that mix the matters of God's truth and spirit with our precepts, opinions and attitudes. God's instruction is not a sect, a church, a denomination practice or a system institutionalized ideologies defined by men. It's God's way, the way.

There is no gate into the Kingdom that is labeled by one's religion. There is no gate in the New Jerusalem described in Revelation 21 labeled for Judaism, there is no Christian gate either. There is no Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Shinto gate either. The gates are for Israel and the sojourners that join them. This "revelation" is explained by God to the prophet Ezekiel:
"So you shall divide this land among you according to the tribes of Israel. You shall allot it as an inheritance for yourselves and for the sojourners who reside among you and have had children among you. They shall be to you as native-born children of Israel. With you they shall be allotted an inheritance among the tribes of Israel. In whatever tribe the sojourner resides, there you shall assign him his inheritance, declares the Lord GOD." Ezekiel 47:21-23
Contrary to popular belief, Jesus never started a new "religion." James or rather Ya'cob, the half brother and disciple of Yeshua gives us the proper definition of religion that was known in the first century:
"Religion that is pure and un-defiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world." James 1:27
Throughout Scripture, God warns us of mixing words with what He has said, that is why Yeshua confronted the Pharisees time and time again. I know that some, including theologians and many others may disagree with this including you, but in the end, if you reject the teaching of Jesus of Nazareth, your argument and your debate no matter how well organized is with the Almighty Creator God - - not me. Yeshua taught exactly from Proverbs 30:5-9 and what Moses declared:
"Everything that I command you, you shall be careful to do. You shall not add to it or take from it." Deuteronomy 12:32
Yeshua יְשׁוּעָ means salvation, 
He is the anointed One, 
the Messiah and His life upholds 
Torah observance, the constitution of the Kingdom of God.

He did not come to bear our sin (Torah breaking) at the cross to start a new religion, but to fulfill the required humble role of servant Messiah that gave His life as an offering to fill the Torah with meaning for the redemption of mankind from Eden's death penalty of sin. 

As the humble Messiah prophet, Yeshua brings love, healing, salvation and eternal life bridging the separation of Earth from Heaven in order to fulfill the great suffering role of Messiah. He came to conquer a much greater enemy than the pagan Roman Empire and their legions of recruits. He came to suffer and through that suffering, destroy mankind's ultimate enemy -- death.

He did this in His resurrection.

Many Jewish rabbi's have taught about two Messiahs revealed in words of the TaNak (Hebrews Scriptures). The first is Messiah ben Yosef, son of Joseph, the humble suffering servant who will take the punishment for mankind's sin and covenant break from the Torah, the instruction of God. The second is Messiah ben David, the son of David, the conquering king who will judge the nations that oppose God and oppress His people, the Messiah that will regather and restore all Israel and the sojourners with them, He will also destroy Satan and sin by His authority restoring the unity of Heaven and Earth.

Consider the life of king David... His life consisted of two roles, the humble shepherd and the anointed King of Israel. Not only that David was anointed king by Samuel, yet Saul remained king of Israel and David was not yet recognized as the true king. David's anointment was for a future role, after his first anointing he remained a humble shepherd. And we must not forget, David's served twice as king. His tenure as king was interrupted by Absalom's revolt.

David left Jerusalem and hid in exile. He was not seen by Israel until he returned to Jerusalem but that only occurred when Judah's allegiance was secured. Judah had rejected David for Absalom, but in the end the elders of Judah finally asked David to come back to Jerusalem.

This is the same message seen in Matthew 23:37-39.

However, Judah only did this after David sent his two faithful witnesses, Zadok and Abiathaer to speak to the men of Judah, the king's own kinsmen to welcome their king back to Jerusalem. This is the same message seen in Revelation 11.

If you only see Yeshua as humble lamb or ignore Him as King you will be shocked when He returns from exile to fulfill His lion's role as King Messiah.

Yeshua has not finished or failed the heavenly assignment of Messiah, son of David.

Both Jew and now-Jew await the coming King of Israel who will arrive in power and great glory. Incredibly, both Christian and Jew wait for the very same Mashiach ben David that will destroy evil in the world and rule in righteousness from Jerusalem.

As we look forward to that day of The Lord, the apostle John shows how we are to be like Yeshua with this simple description:
"Here is the patience {steadfast perseverance} of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Yeshua." Revelation 14:12
We can't have one without the other, perseverance without keeping instruction.

In this often ignored or much misunderstood verse, we have all the advice needed for all "religions." Some reject Yeshua as Messiah while others believe in Jesus, but reject many of the commandments of God, believing they have been abolished despite Jesus' own words:
"Think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill." Matthew 5:17
Yeshua fulfills fulfills not only the Torah with meaning but the Prophets and the Writings.

Moses wrote these words about 'the Prophet' - to come - and The Lord will hold anyone in account if we do not listen to Him:
"The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him. For this is what you asked of the LORD your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly when you said, “Let us not hear the voice of the LORD our God nor see this great fire anymore, or we will die.” The LORD said to me: “What they say is good. I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their fellow Israelites, and I will put my words in his mouth. He will tell them everything I command him. I myself will call to account anyone who does not listen to my words that the prophet speaks in my name." Deuteronomy 18:15-19
In fact, the Hebrew word given to Moses קוּם "quwn" means "to be fulfilled." Messiah Yeshua, like Moses, lived as an Israelite and all will be held to account if we do not listen to Him.

The light and spirit of truth then is not really found in one's sect, church denomination or religion, but 'truth' is in the authority of the word of Almighty God taught by Messiah Yeshua. The advice and promise from God written by Moses then is to walk right behind Messiah - minus the extra traditions and religious opinions of men. God's words given to Moses are validated in the book of the Revelation of Yeshua יְשׁוּעָ which tells us in the end, we must keep the faith of Jesus-Yeshua AND the commandments of God.

Man's tradition is not in the vision. This is the narrow path without tradition that few will find (see Matthew 7:14) and for the salvation of the nations as taught by Moses in Deuteronomy:
"Keep them and do them, for that will be your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples, who, when they hear all these statutes, will say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’" Deuteronomy 4:6
This path is guided by the greatest command. Yeshua repeats the words given to Moses:
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 NIV
The instruction is also recorded in Mark 12:28-31 and  Luke 10:25-is witnessed in Deuteronomy 6:4–9, Deuteronomy 11:13-21, Numbers 15:37–41 and Leviticus 19:18.

Jesus repeats the commandment of love in Matthew:
"And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? [there is] none good but one, [that is], God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. Matthew 19:16-17
John recorded the vision of Revelation and he provided the same advice as a love we cannot ignore:
"Whosoever believeth that Yeshua is the Messiah is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him. By this, we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous." 1John 5:1-3
So, for a moment let's take our eyes off religion and denominations and let's look to God's word as it is written to find the light of His truth:
"This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth" 1John 1:5-6
Throughout this study we looked at Proverbs 30:4 and the big question Agur the son of Jakeh:
"Who hath ascended up into heaven, or descended? who hath gathered the wind in his fists? who hath bound the waters in a garment? who hath established all the ends of the earth? what is his name, and what is his son's name, if thou canst tell?"
If we look at the Talmud and the book of John we might envision the depth of what Jesus was teaching the Pharisee Nicodemus when He taught about begotten as in born again. It is likely not what you may have considered as a part of the question who is the one called Jesus?

Take a look at the account and take note of the reference to Proverbs 30:4:
"There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.  
Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and [of] the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.  
Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be? Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness. If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you [of] heavenly things? And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, [even] the Son of man which is in heaven. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.  
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. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. John 3:1-18 KJV
Nicodemus did not understand "begotten of the Spirit," so Jesus pointed him back to the Torah. "Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things?" 

Jesus was teaching on the prophecy of Nathan and promise given to David.

That restoration promise was given to Abraham as a blessing for all nations, more details on the kingdom promise were revealed to king David by Nathan. 

When Nathan spoke to David, it was after God spoke to Nathan revealing the big plan 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 Him a house. 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:
“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. 
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? 
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. 
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. 
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. 
He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 
I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. 
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.’ 
In accordance with all these words, and in accordance with all this vision, Nathan spoke to David.

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 this is instruction for mankind, O Lord GOD! 
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. 
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? 
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.’ 
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.
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." It points back to Leviticus 14:52 "cleanse the house," Numbers 8:7 "water of purification," and Ezekiel 45:18 "cleanse the sanctuary."

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.

Jesus was also pushing Nicodemus back to the lesson of Numbers 3:1-2 which says:

“These are the generations of Aaron and Moses..” the passage goes on to list Aaron's sons but none of Moses’s sons are noted here. There is a reason and if we consider the Talmud that teaches on this, we might begin to understand more about the Nicodemus discussion.

In the Talmud Sanhedrin 19b we can read about the meaning of begotten: “R. Samuel b. Nahmani said in R. Jonathan's name: He who teaches the son of his neighbour the Torah, Scripture ascribes it to him as if he had begotten him, as it says, Now, these are the generations of Aaron and Moses;  whilst further on it is written, These are the names of the sons of Aaron: thus teaching thee that Aaron begot and Moses taught them; hence they are called by his name.” In Numbers 3:1-2 we learn that Aaron begot his sons, but Moses taught them and thus they are called by Moses name."

In this commentary on Numbers (Bamdibar) we can see ithe commentary notes that Aaron's sons are the offspring of Moses because Moses taught them Torah. Physically, the boys were Aaron's own, but their actions and purpose were guided by Moses authority from God's voice so they were begotten of Moses.

Jesus was teaching Nicodemus that He was begotten by the Holy Spirit through the miracle conception of Mary, but if we dig in we might see that Jesus was teaching about the Torah as the constitution of life in the Kingdom of God. After all, Jesus teaching and preaching had a focus. It was always on the Kingdom of God and the Torah.

If we just look, we can see this in the sermon on the Mount:
“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. 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 
"But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you." Matthew 6:33
Jesus' goal was to bring people into a "restored" covenant relationship with The Father by teaching God's kingdom ways, God's teaching and instruction, God's Torah. Just as Moses was always teaching from Almighty God instruction, so was Jesus. The reason, Torah is the way of life in God's Kingdom.

Jesus referred to His responsibility as a good shepherd in John 10:11. Did you know that the crook of a shepherd's staff is a yoke? The staff is used in guiding sheep. Now that you know that, you know the rest of the story about what the Torah teacher called Yeshua tells us about God's word that He lived out and kept:
"For my yoke [is] easy, and my burden is light." Matthew 11:30
"If you love me, keep my commandments." John 14:15
Isn't it strange, if we just think about it, many Christians love God and many seek salvation at the blood of death on the cross but they ignore Messiah's way of life.

Yeshua taught, we can do God's commandments just as He did if we choose to love the Father as He did. That's what it means to be born again in Jesus' kingdom way of Torah life. God's instruction, unlike religion is an easy yoke when we love The Father.

So consider, by Christian tradition many have not only taken away but added to the Torah and rescheduled God's Sabbath, His seventh day of rest to suit ourselves and a new Sunday religion. Yet some that observe the instruction to walk in that path, ignore the Spirit of God's teaching in love.

We must remember, after speaking to God, Moses prophetically told "all Israel" including the sojourners and strangers that left Egypt with them that God's teaching and instruction was not just for those there in the wilderness but for those that were not present at that time and place:
"You stand this day all of you before YHVH your God; your heads, your tribes, your elders, and your officers, even all the men of Israel, your little ones, your wives, and your foreigner who is in the midst of your camps, from the one who cuts your wood to the one who draws your water; that you may enter into the covenant of YHVH your God, and into his oath, which YHVH your God makes with you this day; that he may establish you this day to himself for a people, and that he may be to you a God, as he spoke to you, and as he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. Neither with you only do I make this covenant and this oath, but with him who stands here with us this day before YHVH our God, and also with him who is not here with us this day..." Deuteronomy 29:10-15
Think about what Moses is saying.

Those were not there standing there before YHVH God some 3,600 years ago include you, whoever you are, wherever you, and thanks to God's promised blessing of restoration, there can be a great revival of understanding in the meaning of this Psalm:
"I remembered thy judgments of old, O LORD; and have comforted myself." Psalms 119:52
Do you remember the judgments of old as a comfort? Incredibly, long before the Newer Testament ever existed, Paul instructed Timothy on how to be begotten as a man of God just like Messiah:
"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 perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works." 2Timothy 3:16-17
The writer of Proverbs declared how we are to understand and respond to be a man of God, a saint:
"He keepeth the paths of judgment and preserveth the way of his saints. Then shalt thou understand righteousness, and judgment, and equity; [yea], every good path. When wisdom entereth into thine heart, and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul" Proverbs 2:8-10
When we understand Jesus lived a Torah life of righteousness, we can have wisdom and we have a better understanding who is the one called Jesus:
"Happy [is] the man [that] findeth wisdom, and the man [that] getteth understanding." Proverbs 3:13 "And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that [is] wisdom; and to depart from evil [is] understanding." Job 28:28
"Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Yeshua, whom ye have crucified, both YHVH and Messiah. Acts 2:36
Bottomline, we can all know who HE IS:
"Reprove not a scorner, lest he hate thee: rebuke a wise man, and he will love thee. Give [instruction] to a wise [man], and he will be yet wiser: teach a just [man], and he will increase in learning. The fear of the LORD [is] the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy [is] understanding. Proverbs 9:8-10

"We know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding, that we know him who is true, and we are in him who is true, in his Son Yeshua the Messiah. This is the true God, and eternal life." 1John 5:20
The Torah, the word of Almighty YHVH is the foundation of Jesus' teaching and instruction. God's Torah is Yeshua's wisdom, it is the Father's Kingdom constitution, God's charter of life in The Kingdom for a people who chose to be the children of God. God's Word is our instruction manual for life in His Kingdom:
"The ear that heareth the reproof of life abideth among the wise. He that refuseth instruction despiseth his own soul: but he that heareth reproof getteth understanding. The fear of the LORD [is] the instruction of wisdom; and before honor [is] humility." Proverbs 15:31-33
Before we can all be united before YHVH God as Moses taught and as Paul called "one new man" in the prophetic plan of Messiah's Kingdom (Ephesians 2:1), we must understand we are all are lost in our sin and we must own that. There is none righteous, except Messiah.

We are all the same before God. There are no advantages; we all are sinners no matter our lineage and we are all equally in need of our Savior, our Messiah Yeshua to show us the way to stand before The Lord God.

Take a look at the genealogy of Yeshua that is recorded in Matthew 1. There you will see both Jew and former Gentiles listed together in the family tree of Jesus. In the beginning there's Abraham of Ur of the Chaldees, then there's King David the son of Jesse, even Rahab of Jericho and Ruth of Moab. Like Abraham they all crossed over. What do I mean by that?

Noah Webster's 1828 Dictionary sheds some light that i'll continue to post in this website saying: 

"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."

Mr. Webster points us 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"

"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."

You may have not noticed it before, but Paul agrees with Noah Webster, he called the Ephesians “former Gentiles”… you once were separate, excluded "strangers" from Messiah and the identity of none other than… Israel!
“Therefore remember that formerly you, the Gentiles… 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
Can we have any better proof that God seeks the love of both Jew and Gentile and that The Father will bring both together as one new man in Messiah?

You can be a former Gentile, a part of Israel, you can be a son of Abraham, natural or adopted in faith as a child of God and heir to the Kingdom. This is not my idea:
"And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us." 1John 3:24 
And Jesus said unto him, This day is salvation come to this house, forsomuch as he also is a son of Abraham. Luke 19:9
You too can be counted among the saints, it's your choice that is critical, it's the same decison that Adam and Eve had, keep God's instruction or ignore it:
"Here is the patience of the saints: here [are] they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Yeshua. Revelation 14:12
If you love God, don't be mislead by those that say His Torah, His instruction that many call "the law" is not for you, if you are mislead you may not get to know just who Jesus really is. Get to know Him, don't get confused by the Babylonian babble:
"By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments
The one who says, ‘I have come to know Him,’ and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. 
By this we know that we are in Him: the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked" 1 John 2:3-6
I heartily recommend that you read the book of 1John - all of it and all in one sitting just as all the apostles letters were meant to be read as they were written. Then re-read again and again until the truth sinks in.

Now, if you claim that you know you have been saved by Jesus then take this as your assignment:
"Hear, O Israel! The LORD is 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. 
These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates" Deuteronomy 6:4-9
If you know Jesus, your honor is to do, just as the humble Moses told us:
"Now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require from you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways and love Him, 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?" Deuteronomy 10:12-13
John warned us about the spirit of babblers, those that say the Torah was “hung on the cross” or those that say the "Torah does not apply to all":
"Beloved, do not 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 that confesses that Yeshua Messiah has come in the flesh is of God." 1John 4:1-2
"This is He who came by water and blood--Yeshua Messiah; not only by water, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who bears witness, because the Spirit is truth. For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one. And there are three that bear witness on earth: the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three agree as one." 1John 5:6-8
The choice is yours... again, just as it was in the beginning.

You can choose to follow the words and teaching of The Creator, His simple do's and don'ts, the Torah of the Torah-Keeper Yeshua who was raised up to a restored life in resurrection by the almighty power of Elohim God. You can choose to believe the witness of Moses and the witness of John, or you can ignore the truth no matter the name of the witness.

Choose love for the God of Heaven and of Earth and keep His commandments, after all there is no Old and New Testament but the undivided Word of our unchanging God.

When Messiah Yeshua returns, He will return to judge mankind from the Temple Mount in Jerusalem as King and the Torah will be His standard. He will continue just as He did before from the paths of Torah instruction. He will shown the world that God's words that have not changed.

God Almighty told Micah this about this and the Messianic era:
"And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law [Torah teaching and instruction] shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig-tree; and none shall make [them] afraid: for the mouth of the LORD of hosts hath spoken [it]. For all people will walk every one in the name of his god, and we will walk in the name of the LORD our God for ever and ever. In that day, saith the LORD, will I assemble her that halteth, and I will gather her that is driven out, and her that I have afflicted; And I will make her that halted a remnant, and her that was cast far off a strong nation: and the LORD shall reign over them in mount Zion from henceforth, even for ever." Micah 4:2-7
God never planned a "half-time" for His instruction. He never intended a blank page to be in His Word separating old and new.

If you have opened a Bible you already know God starts His Word with a Torah scroll. He did not change His covenant, it is built on its foundation. He did not postpone the validity of our responsibility to choose to follow Him in His paths of instruction only to reinstate it again when Messiah returns as Micah promises.

Yes, just as God saved His people Israel at the Red Sea by love, grace and mercy before they received His word at Mount Sinai, you too can be saved by His love, grace and mercy but that does not abrogate the accountability to walk in the instruction of "the prophet" Yeshua. This is the very heart of the message that James gives in the newer Testament:
"But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect? And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God. Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only. Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers and had sent [them] out another way? For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also." James 2:20-26
Don't die in the wilderness! Israel was redeemed from slavery and death in Egypt, they were saved THEN before they received God's instruction manual of life from the fiery mountain but many died in the wilderness because they ignored God's word and chose their own path, their own religion if you will.

The Son of man came to Earth some 2,000 years ago and provided His life as salvation to those that seek Him past and present. Our greatest assignment is to believe Him. He will soon return to God's mountain in Jerusalem, the place of His name where Yeshua will continue teaching God's word, His Torah to all mankind.
"The saying is faithful and worthy of all acceptance, that Messiah Yeshua came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief. However, for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first, Yeshua Messiah might display all his patience, for an example of those who were going to believe in Him for eternal life. Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen." 1Timothy 1:15-17
If you believe Yeshua is the living word of God, then you must open your eyes and know that His word is... The Torah. It is God's instruction for mankind, for all Israel and for their companions.

How could He have ever done away with it?

When He returns, Yeshua will judge all mankind as a warrior King, He will invite everyone to fellowship in God's appointed Moed Feast Days just as the Torah instructs and Zechariah declares:
"And the LORD [YHVH] shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD [YHVH], and his name one." Zechariah 14:9

"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, [YHVH] Lord of hosts [armies], and to keep the feast of tabernacles. And it shall be, [that] whoso will not come up of [all] the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD [YHVH] of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain." Zechariah 14:16-17
Jesus was Jewish. He is the Redeemer promised by God. He is Yeshua haMashiach – circumcised on the eighth day, of the tribe of Judah. He observed the Torah of God perfectly throughout His life. Yeshua was crucified on Passover not Easter, He was in the grave on Unleavened Bread and resurrected on First Fruits and God sent the Holy Spirit on Shavu'ot [Pentecost].

He will return, announced as King announced by a future Day of Trumpets and His final judgment of evil at Yom Kippur will follow ten days of awe as Yeshua presides as High Priest and Messiah King. Yeshua will establish and restore God's authority and that Holy week of Sukkot will be a great celebration of the promise of prophecy including the promise of the seed given to Abraham, the restoration of the marriage covenant broken at Sinai, the resurrection described to Daniel and the restoration of the Tabernacle when The Lord again dwells among His people forever.

The ultimate Feast of Tabernacles will bring the purpose of all of the prophetic Feast Days described in the Torah with revelation about the two comings of Messiah required by the Torah as shown in the righteousness of Deuteronomy 17:6 and Deuteronomy 19:15, and how the Feasts reveal the Kingdom of God on earth as evil is purged from Earth and meets its end in death.

As disciples of Messiah, we "get to" learn and participate in God's Holy Days. These set apart times can be observed in the life of any believer whether Jew, non-Jew, native born, alien or stranger. Everyone is invited to share in God's holy times and just as Yeshua did.

In Revelation John confirms the vision of His return:
"And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him [was] called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes [were] as a flame of fire, and on his head [were] many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. And he [was] clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. And the armies [which were] in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he hath on [his] vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS." Revelation 19:11-16
Isaiah explains the amazing second "greater exodus" across the four corners of the Earth will include non-Jews and Jews to meet up with Him:
"And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious. And it shall come to pass in that day, [that] the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. Isaiah 11:10-12
At Passover, Yeshua gave these words to Pilate, even Pilate understood the promise of the King:
"You say rightly that I am a king." John 18:37
The Bible never says Messiah Yeshua came to establish a new religion; He came to announce the gospel of the restoration of God's Kingdom on Earth.

This is repeated over and again:
And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people. Matthew 4:23

And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. Matthew 9:35

And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come. Matthew 24:14

Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel. Mark 1:14-15
Yeshua is the King of Kings from Earth and Heaven whose authority is imparted to heal, to preach and to govern righteously, and that government requires wisdom and a constitution, God's Torah which is the everlasting Word that proceeds from the mouth of God.

So, it's critical to recognize Yeshua is "The One" that relied on the Torah given to Moses to overcome temptation. That's why He says:
"It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’" Matthew 4:4
We need to see understand the strength and power in this statement. The words that Yeshua used to over the deceiver were a repeat of what Moses wrote in Deuteronomy 8:3:
"So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of YHVH."
Yeshua is 'the One', the King Messiah that everyone needs to know to live in The Kingdom. He is the Word of God messenger.

Can we really live by every word that proceeds from God’s messenger if we believe for a moment that God's Word, His Torah constitution is done away with?

When times get tough and tougher we will need "patience", we will need to lean on God’s strength, His unchanging word - not man's opinions of them whether doctrine, religion, custom or tradition.

The Greek word “kai” καί is translated as “and” in Revelation 14:2. But did they (the translators) perhaps just miss something important in the full meaning of this word? It also means “indeed”...
“Here is the patience of the saints: here [are] they that keep the commandments of God, [indeed] the faith of Yeshua (Jesus).”
'Indeed', we are to keep the commandments of God [and] the faith of Yeshua. He used the law (Torah) to reprimand the liar Satan and He will use against him in the end:
And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him. Matthew 4:9-11

When he was come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed him. And, behold, there came a leper and worshiped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. And Jesus put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. Matthew 8:1-3
Receive Yeshua as Who He is, exalt His name in your mind, heart and soul today. Speak to Him, repent and ask that redemption be given through faith and knowledge of Yeshua as Messiah. He became unclean for you, He has borne your sin so that you may be clean, be forgiven. Speak to Him so he can hear your murmurings!
And Moses spoke to Aaron, Say to all the congregation of the people of Israel, Come near before YHVH; for he has heard your murmurings. Exodus 16:9
Unlike the burnt sacrifice of a lamb or heifer, Messiah lives in the First Fruits of eternal life. He reveals victory over death through his resurrection and He is The High Priest in the order of Melchizedek:
YHVH has sworn and will not relent, "You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. Psalm 110:4
When we understand the deep mystery of His accomplishment of offering His life blood for atonement and rebooting the covenant broken at Sinai we can begin to understand the Gospel of God and the glad tidings of salvation resurrection when Yeshua returns.

This Gospel reveals the mercy and grace that YHVH (Elohim) provides.

The Scriptures point to this plan of redemption through suffering in Isaiah 52-53. 

In Deuteronomy we see the promise of the gift of eternal life by God giving Himself:
For YHVH shall judge his people, and repent himself for his servants, when he seeth that [their] power is gone, and [there is] none shut up or left. Deuteronomy 32:36
And again in Isaiah:
He will swallow up death forever, and YHVH ELOHIM will wipe away tears from all faces; the rebuke of His people he will take away from all the earth; for YHVH has spoken. Isaiah 25:8
All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and YHVH hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. Isaiah 53:6
Also in Isaiah, we see the prophecy to preach the glad tidings of the gospel in the year of the Jubilee, to preach the acceptable year of YHVH (Jubilee – release from sin's captivity) as foretold by Moses in Leviticus. Be sure to note the word “me” יתא in Isaiah which is comprised of the three letters Aleph Tav and Yod:
And you shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land to all the inhabitants of it; it shall be a jubilee to you; and you shall return every man to his possession, and you shall return every man to his family. Leviticus 25:10

Then the priest shall reckon to him the worth of the estimation, to the year of the jubilee; and he shall give the estimation in that day, as a holy thing to YHVH. Leviticus 27:23
The Spirit of YHVH Elohim [is] upon me; because YHVH hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent (me) יתא to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to [them that are] bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of YHVH, and the day of vengeance of our Elohim; 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 YHVH, that he might be glorified. Isaiah 61:1-3
Yeshua-Jesus meets the qualification of Messiah in the heritage line of King David according to 2Samuel 7:12-16. His family tree is recorded in Matthew 1:1-16. He was born in Bethlehem meeting the requirement of Micah 5:2. This is recorded in Matthew 2:1-10. He fulfilled the words of Isaiah and we find the story in Luke:
And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written, The Spirit of YHVH [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 YHVH. And he closed the book, and he gave [it] again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears. Luke 4:17-21
There is One God, One Torah, One Savior, One Faith, One Redemption, One Grace, One Baptism of the Spirit for all. There is one Messiah. You see, the Messiah must meet the heritage and family line of David as declared by the Prophets.
Behold, the days come, saith YHVH יהוה, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, YHVH Our Righteousness צדקנו יהוה and on that name I trust. Jeremiah 23:5-6
Paul warns us:
"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. 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" Colossians 2:8-10
If you truly ask yourself: What Would Jesus Do (WWJD)? Then you must also ask yourself this about your Savior: What Did Yeshua Do (WDYD)?

In Isaiah 43:11, YHVH said, “I, even I, am YHVH, and there is no savior besides Me.”

What does this all mean?

Consider a prayer: Please, God, guide me as to what I should do.

I pray you too might see it is time for you to repent and return to God's word return to hear Messiah's voice and follow God's instruction to walk in faith. It is Jesus' Kingdom path so that you can ready your lamp for your coming assignment. 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 in Messiah.

Consider carefully what your life consists of, look at it and repent of your sin, ask His forgiveness and accept His gift of love. Do it now!

And follow His Spirit-filled path of light and drink from the water of life, all of it. Don't stay off in the shadows of dry darkness. Yeshua יְשׁוּעָ whose nickname is Jesus rose from the grave while in darkness to show He is the light of the world and the river of living water.
“Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.” 1John 3:2
He is coming back.

Shalom ya'll.