EXODUS: YESTERDAY AND TODAY

Romans 11:26-27

“The Deliverer will come from Zion, He will banish ungodliness from Jacob and this will be my covenant with them when I take away their sins."

Moses arrives in Goshen and tells Israel of God’s promises. He tells them that Hashem remembered the promises He made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and that intending to make good on them, He now calls on them to be their God and His people. The Israelites understand the message. Israel, who presently belongs to Pharaoh, the God of the world, is now being vied by another lover who says to her, "You are being abused, I will deliver you. You shall be mine now and I will take care of you”. Was Israel ready for the fight between two ‘bucks’ vying for the same female? As far they were concerned, they could be jumping from the frying pan into the fire!

The text then tells us that because of their broken spirit and the harsh slavery, the Children of Israel were not enthused at the message (Exodus 6:6-9). I like how the Hebrew text puts it. It speaks of Israel’s spiritual condition using the term, ‘ketser ruach’. The expression is an idiom for ‘despondency’. The literal meaning is ‘shortness of breath or of spirit’. They were spiritually exhausted. Their cruel bondage stole from them all strength for faith (Genesis 6:9). Hashem was going to have to do all the hard work!

How much like today. As it happened with Moses, who is also called in Judaism the ‘First Redeemer’ (thus making allusion to Messiah the Second Redeemer), we are watching the fulfillment of the promises God made to the patriarchs and the prophets concerning Israel. We have seen Him resurrect the country where Messiah is supposed to make His landing at the time they will all see Him (Zechariah 14). Just as in the times of the Exodus, Hashem today, spiritually and physically redeems Israel His people. Someone once told me, “If I were Jewish, I’d take the first plane out of exile, I’d be exited; why are they not?”

Same problem as with Moses! After 2,000 years of persecution first by the Romans, then the Catholics and the Spanish inquisition, followed by Luther’s Protestants, the Germans, Tsarist and Communist Russia, and now the Muslims who imported anti-Semitism from Europe, the Jewish people again seem spiritually exhausted on the 'Chosen People' idea. They seem to complain with Reb Tevieh (Fiddler on the Roof) “Why, why? I know, I know, because we are the ‘Chosen People … but sometimes couldn’t You chose somebody else?” Nevertheless God again saves His people with a great and mighty hand.

It is funny though. There are some who teach that because of their sins God forsook His people of old and replaced them with another: the Church. First, this doesn't add up with God's mathematics of covenant faithfulness, but also, He says that He only remembers the wickedness of fathers for three or four generations. As far I know, Hashem changes not and his covenantal promises are irrevocable (Malachi 3:6; Romans 11:29). The question is: Is our History of disobedience worse than their? And then, why would He forgive their sins but not ours? He either forgives or He doesn’t. If He forgives yours, He also forgave mine. But if he doesn’t forgive our unbelief, neither will He forgive yours! If He replaced us because of our sins, then he is also apt to replace you because of yours!

The Hebrew word ‘chesed’ translated as 'grace' means ‘covenant-keeping’. Our God is a gracious God. Unlike mankind, He keeps His covenant and His promises in spite of us. He keeps them for me, and He keeps them for you!

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'A Few Good Men'

1 Timothy 3:1

If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task.

Mankind is of a rebellious nature. We are small, weak, vulnerable and yet as ironic as it may seem, we strive for independence at any cost. Human history teaches us that our thirst for freedom from even God-appointed human leadership has solely been quenched by the spilling of much blood. Mahatma Gandhi is known to have said to British officials then controlling India that, “Every man would prefer to have his own bad government that the good government of others”. Whereas countries do have their own right to self-determination, in theology today this principle translates in that mankind prefers to be led by his own distilled spiritual errors than by the Truth taught him by a God-appointed leadership.

The Father knows that we need leadership that’s He inspired Jethro to advise Moses to establish a council of elders. This council was to be called the ‘Court of Judgment’ or ‘bet-din’ in Hebrew. Authority was granted to individuals to help people find answers interpreting the Torah by the Torah. This council would later become the Sanhedrin.

Just as people today refuse to answer to any human authority, it is not hard to imagine that there were some in the Children of Israel who resented that lower court in favor of wanting to solely refer to the higher court: of Moses (Torah). It is not hard also to imagine that a charismatic council member would draw much attention to himself thus provoking unbalanced loyalties from the people. These problems with human leadership exist today, and they certainly existed then; we see them plenty in the Bible.

This is why these needed to be men known for their integrity men from all the people, men who fear God, who are trustworthy and hate a bribe, men to whom Moses would teach the statutes and the laws of God. Moses had the charge to make them know the way in which they must walk and what they must do (Exodus 18:20-21).

The disciples of the Master established leadership in the Messianic congregations according to the same blue-print. We see how at a time of crisis they felt the need to established leaders in order to judge petty matters within the community (Acts 6:1). Again, as in the Horeb blue-print, these men were chosen for their integrity; men of good repute and full of the Spirit and of wisdom (Acts 6:3). Also Paul established leadership over each and every congregation according to the same parameters. Hear his advice to Timothy on how to choose congregational leaders: an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive … dignified, not double-tongued, not addicted to much wine, not greedy for dishonest gain … their wives likewise must be dignified, not slanderers, but sober-minded, faithful in all things (1 Timothy 3:1-12).

It is also noticeable that it was the people who chose these leaders who were afterward anointed and appointed by Moses or Paul.

A Mass Immersion for a National Rebirth

1 Corinthians 10:2

All were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea.

The Children of Israel could have left Egypt, traveled directly northward and be in Canaan in a few weeks. Instead, God had them make a small detour crossing the Red Sea by the Gulf of Aqaba. Were the reasons given for this route (Exodus 13:17-18) the only real purposes?

The Israelites had just spent several generations in Egypt. They now needed to be cleansed from idolatry and Egyptian culture. They needed to be reborn into God’s people, with a new life and a new culture. This is where the idea of ‘born-again’ came from; from two tractates from Jewish sages that say that total immersion into water (baptism) is like being born again. We go into a water and stop breathing which is like being in a grave where we do not have breath anymore, and we come out resurrected a new person. The sages mention the ‘born-again’ idea mostly in regards to converts to Judaism (Yevamot 47b nd 48b). They immerse in order to emerge a born-again new creature in God. This is what God had in mind in this nation-wide immersion through the Red-Sea (1 Corinthians 10:2).

When Yeshua told Nicodemus that he needed to be reborn, the modern-day ‘born-again’ movement did not exist, so Yeshua was using the term according to its Talmudic meaning, and this is why Nicodemus answered the way he did. What he said in essence was “Why do I need to convert when I am already Jewish?” To which Yeshua basically answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit” (John 3:5-6); in other words reiterating John the Immerser’s message that biological descent into God’s family was not enough, but repentance into a new for God was also needed (Matthew 3:9).

Yeshua continued by saying, “The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit." (John 3:8). Just like the wind cannot be seen and is only perceived though its effects, so we are. The new life that we now live, its positive influences on others and its reflection of God’s spirit, are the only testimony given to others of our rebirth.

As we claim to have been reborn, as we claim to have been immersed unto Yeshua, let the effects of our rebirth be felt by others. May we live and walk in the newness of life that He has given us to be God’s children, and as the healing reflection of His spirit on our poor world.

'You're Gonna have to serve Somebody'

John 8:36

So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

Our fathers were slaves in Egypt. Pharaoh ordered their lives. He told them what to work, where to work, and how to work; to serve Pharaoh and no other god. Pharaoh was to be obeyed and worshipped under pain of death. When they cried under the cruel oppression, the Almighty El-Shaddai heard them and by His mighty Right Hand delivered them. He delivered them, brought them to a mountain and bound them to Him and to His Laws. God’s Law then ordered our father’s lives. It told them what to work, where to work, and how to work; to serve Adonai and no-one else. Adonai was to be obeyed and worshipped under pain of death.

For those who have a tendency to think that living under the Torah is a form of bondage, it could be concluded that the Children of Israel went from one bondage to another; from slavery under Pharaoh to slavery under God. Indeed, judging by the way living under the commandments of Torah is viewed by Christianity today, these conclusions are inevitable.

Let me indulge in a mariner’s analogy. A sailor is at sea. He is in charge of an expensive vessel, he is responsible for a crew. He has a mission to accomplish. He is at the helm with a serious look on his face. He does not make a move, he does not take one decision without checking his compass. The compass determines the success or failure of his mission, the safety of his vessel; the life and death of his crew. I heard it said that if a sailor wants to enjoy the high seas, he must become slave to the compass.

My friend, thus it is with life. To accomplish the goal for which we were sent on the high-seas of life, to keep our traveling vessel worthy, to preserve the life of those entrusted unto us, we also must become slave to the ‘compass’, and in this case, the ‘compass’ is the Torah.

A famous American folk singer sang the words, ‘You’re gonna have to serve somebody; whether it may the devil or whether it may be the Lord, you’re gonna have to serve somebody’! We truly always have to serve somebody. We either serve the King of the land or we serve God. And when our lives are not regulated by external forces, we then become slaves to the worse bondage of all: the bondage to our own passions.

Serving God under His Torah is the most wonderful freedom of all. It is the freedom from human slavery, self-imposed or otherwise. It is the wings that free us from even the bondage of gravity to take us to higher ground. It is the very substance that delivers us from the fear of death to bring us to eternal life. If that is bondage, may I live under it all the days of my life.

The Last Exodus

1 Thessalonians 4:17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Adonai ….

After over two hundred years in Egypt, the people of Jacob who had come in for refuge from the famine were very influenced by Egyptian ways and culture. Through the plagues, in plain sight of the Egyptians and of Israel God took on each one of the main gods of Egypt to show the world His ultimate superiority. This was a shock to Pharaoh, and a reminder to the people of Israel of the story they had heard about the God of their ancestors.

A parallel lesson unfolds for God’s people in the fifth century B.C.E. Israel had already been invaded by Babylonian Emperor Nebuchadnezzar and the poor that were left in the Land were governed by Gedaliah’s provisional government. A plot from Amon caused Gedalliah to be killed so the people feared Babylon’s reprisals. Against Jeremiah’s strong counsel from God, the people decided to flee to Egypt for refuge. Once there, they sought Pharaoh’s protection and prayed to Egyptian gods. Nebuchadnezzar was now coming after them in Egypt, which he was going to also destroy. In the forty-sixth chapter of the Book of Jeremiah, God shows that through Nebuchadnezzar, His mighty was again going to destroy the Egypt in which His children trusted. He takes aim and mocks the futility of the gods of Egypt who are unable to do stand up and protect. He says, 'Stand ready and be prepared, for the sword shall devour around you.' Why are your mighty ones (Egypt’s idols) face down? They do not stand because the LORD thrust them down. He made many stumble, and they fell, and they said one to another, 'Arise, and let us go back to our own people and to the land of our birth, because of the sword of the oppressor.' Call the name of Pharaoh, king of Egypt (and self-proclaimed god), 'Noisy one (he is noisy but is powerless) who lets the hour go by (he is not there in time of need)' (Jeremiah 46:13-17) .

And what shall we learn from these? It seems that the Father is on a constant crusade against the false gods of this world. No matter what He seems to do to show us His great power, we always seem to fall to the lure of the sensual and indulging gods of this world. As it was then, so it is today.

Today again He is calling us to leave ‘Egypt’ and to never return. He is calling us away from the gods of this world, but how can we enter the ‘Land’ with an unregenerate heart?

At a future time, the mighty El-Shaddai will return. This time He will destroy ‘Babylon’ (Revelation 17-18). He will also show His great power not only to His children but to the whole world. He will expose the vanity of mankind and bring His people from all over the world unto Him. May we be ready at that time. Let us take off from our ears the ear buds that fill us with the sounds of this generation. May we then be able to hear the call. May we then be clean from our idols, a bride without blemish consecrated unto Messiah.

"You Shall TeachThem To Your Children"

Luke 17:2

It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were cast into the sea than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin.

One of the main prayers in Judaism tells us, You shall teach them (the commandments) diligently to your children, 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 (Deuteronomy 6:7). .As the Bible tells us of the Exodus events, several times the text refers to our children asking questions about it in the future. It says, And when your children say to you, 'What do you mean by this service' (Exodus 12:26)’? God wants us to teach our children. He wants to teach our children in a way that each generation feels as if they are the Children of Israel coming out of Egypt and meeting God at Mt Horeb. It seems in fact that the Father desires greatly that our children be included in all aspects of our religious life and that they be taught early on to have a healthy fear of the authority of God.

If we content ourselves to sit down and study the word but do not make it a requirement in our own lives to teach at least the elementary principles of Torah to our children, we commit spiritual and cultural genocide. The movement stops with us and we become responsible for it before the Father. The whole idea is for the message to be passed on so that the generation that arrives at the end of days can recognize good from evil, the Anti-Messiah against the real One. When we stop teaching our children the Word of Torah, we kill the last generation.

This commandment to teach our children presents us with inferred obligations. Children are great critics; in their simplicity they ‘smell’ hypocrisy. Children are also great mimics; they learn more by watching us than by listening to us. If therefore the life we lead is in contradiction with the sermons we preach, they will see it and will learn that the Words of the Bible are a cultural fairy tale that just like you do, they can chose to keep or dismiss. This commandment to teach our children is made to keep us on our spiritual toes. If by our sloppy sample we negate the importance of the Word in our children’s lives, we will be found guilty of relaxing its authority and as the master says, 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 (Matthew 5:19).

Our modern anti-God materialistic society presents many problems when it comes to teaching the principles of the Word to children. But if our teenagers go away from God, is it because of society, or because our sample as parents does not convey a message consistent with our words? These are serious things to think about as whereas in our rationalizing mind we may excuse ourselves, God may not excuse us.

May we take these things to heart and clean up our sample so that we may not be guilty of neglecting the greatest gift and responsibility the Father gave us: our children.

The Eternal Universal Passover

Luke 22:19

“Do this in remembrance of me."

While enslaved in Egypt, our fathers may have felt victim of a gross injustice. They hadn’t done anything wrong, yet they were persecuted. They were persecuted solely because of man’s fear and vanity; because of man’s innate and perverted desire to control the fate of others. As they finally enacted God requirements for freedom, as they killed the lamb and applied its blood to their doorposts, little did they know that they were part of a plan that would bring freedom not just to them, but eventually to the whole world.

Jewish Chassidic sages believed that the suffering of a righteous person accounted as atonement for the sins of the world. Couldn’t it be that when we go through negative experiences that seem totally random, we are actually going through something for the sake of others? It is certainly true that the suffering the Righteous One, of He who is called the ‘only begotten of the Father’ serves as an atonement for our sins.

About height hundreds later, Jeremiah the prophet spoke of the return from the Babylonian captivity in these terms, "Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when it shall no longer be said, 'As the LORD lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt,' but 'As the LORD lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the north country and out of all the countries where he had driven them.' (Jeremiah 16:14). The return from dispersion has been a long-held Messianic promise and Cyrus the Persian king did allow all tribes to return to Israel. In the days of the Master, there were representatives of all tribes in the Land, but like today, many remain in the dispersion.

Six hundreds years after Jeremiah, Yeshua was born. God gave the care of Him to another righteous man: Joseph. The last time Yeshua enacted the long-held tradition of the Seder meal which reminded the Jewish nation of the events of Egypt, as a shadow picture He put Himself the element of the Seder (Luke 22:19-20), thus helping the disciples to understand the teaching of the sages who taught them that ‘eating the Passover represents the suffering of the Messiah’ (Tractate Pesachim). In Egypt he who splashed the blood of the Passover lamb on his doorposts (Jew and non-Jew) was freed from Pharaoh to go and serve the God of Israel. In Jerusalem he who follows Yeshua (Jew and non-Jew) is freed from a greater Pharaoh. He is freed from the Prince of the Power of the air (Ephesians 2:2) who like Pharaoh refuses to let us go and worship our God.

The work of redemption has been done from the foundation of the world (Revelation 13:8). All the elements are in place. The only thing needed is our own free will to be freed from the seeming secure shackles of this world to go into the seemingly insecure spiritual wilderness of His service.

It can be a hot, a cold, a lonely windy scary place out there; but none other is more secure when following the footsteps of the Master.

Showdown with Pharaoh

Acts 17:30

The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent,

The show-down between God and Pharaoh in Egypt could be coined ‘The Contest of the Gods for the Souls of Man’.

The Great Almighty creator of the universe, He who only allows the nations to exist as long as they benefit His will gave a direct command to Pharaoh. He said, “Let My people go, that they may hold a feast to Me in the wilderness”, to which Pharaoh answered, "Who is the LORD, that I should obey his voice …” (Exodus 5:1-2). Boy was Pharaoh about to get an answer to his question. Egypt lost world dominance and never recovered.

Through the plagues, the Lord of Hosts challenged each and every god of Egypt. The God of Heaven showed His children and to the vain Egyptians that the gods of Egypt were nothing; that they didn’t owe their substance to the flow of the Nile nor to their abundant stocks, but ultimately to the God of the Hebrews whom they had enslaved. They had forgotten that it was through God’s blessing upon Joseph, a Hebrew slave, that the country had been saved from destruction through famine over two hundred years before.

For decades the Empire continued to partake of the blessing bestowed upon God’s children. But like Laban, Egypt wanted to keep the blessing prisoner. This reminds me of the story of a king who when he heard the beautiful song of a bird, he captured it and put it in a cage. Expecting to hear the beautiful heavenly music at will, this king was very disappointed when he realized that the bird couldn’t bless the king with his music while in captivity.

Now that Egypt had served its purpose of providing a place for God’s people to grow and multiply, God needed His children to go and establish the place that would eventually become the cradle of Messiah, the birthplace of He who wouldl bring the whole world to repentance.

The message is the same today. He that is in the similitude of the Passover Lamb calls us. He calls us to repent and let go of our sinful leaven, of the gods of pride and rebellion. He invites us to follow Him to a place of solitude far away from the vanity of this world; He desires to teach us His ways of love and humility.. When we hear the call and follow Him, in the same way that angels received and ministered to Jacob upon his return to the Promised Land, as a groom lifts his bride over the threshold of his house, so the Bridegroom Messiah lifts us up to carry us to His Kingdom where we will live with Him forever.

Shabbat Shalom

Matthew 12:12

“So it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath."

Due to ignorance of Jewish Law in the days of the Master, many have erroneously deprived themselves of one of the most beautiful gifts God gave to mankind: the Sabbath.

Most people, when reading the controversies between Yeshua and the Judean leadership conclude that Yeshua either abrogated not only the Sabbath but the whole Torah, or that He nullified the Jewish interpretation of Sabbath observance in favor of a more ‘mature’ sola-scriptura approach. Deeper readings though quickly prove both these notions wrong. The problem with reading the Bible is that many understand it anachronistically. They put into their reading of these events the whole Jew vs Christian and Law vs Grace conflicts which actually did not exist yet in the days of the Master. If Yeshua abrogated the Torah He couldn’t be the Jewish Messiah, and whereas He had authority to teach the right way to practice it, He did not move the ancient landmark that the fathers had set (Proverbs 22:28). Of the traditional teachings of His days He actually said, "The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses' seat, so practice and observe whatever they tell you--but not what they do (Matthew 23:2). Through these words, Yeshua may not have agreed with their practices, but condoned their teachings.

Having been a first-born, as a young man Yeshua studied the traditions and He was well aware of them. He knew that according to Jewish Law, life and death superseded commandment obedience. Moved by the great compassion of the Father (Exodus 34:6-7), Yeshua could also argue that the alleviating of human suffering was acceptable on the Sabbath. Last but not least, having done His homework, Yeshua also understood that in Jewish Law, when a positive commandment (you shall …) and a negative commandment (you shall not ...) conflict, the positive supersedes the negative one. Based on this accepted legal understanding, Yeshua could argue that the positive commandment of showing mercy, in this case by healing, overrides the Sabbatical prohibition to work. In this way, Yeshua neither broke the Sabbath, the Torah, nor brought anarchy in the country by undermining spiritual leadership which is actually an abomination to God (Proverbs 6:16-19). In asking whether or not it was permitted to do good on the Sabbath, Yeshua reminded the Judean leadership of their own teachings.

Sabbath observance is an anticipation of the World to Come, of the age when Messiah will reign on earth. It will be the time when Mercy will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea. We can live this anticipation today by following the Master‘s example and do good on the Sabbath.

May we spend God’s day with our children, friends and relatives, but may we also keep our eyes open for the blessing of doing ‘good’ on the Sabbath.

Shabbat shalom!

Messiah and the 'strong man'!

Luke 11:21-22

When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are safe; but when one stronger than he attacks him and overcomes him, he takes away his armor in which he trusted and divides his spoil.

Pharaoh as a strong man guards his house. Armed with soldiers, chariots, taskmaster, and priests he keeps control over his goods. The ‘strong one’ who possesses the souls of man keeps everyone in line much like we keep control over animals. He controls food supplies so everyone has to go to him for sustenance as well as the media which projects his autocratic worldview. Pharaoh rules … as long as no-one upset the fruit basket.

The world today is not much different. We are taught that away from the world’s authorized medical, educational, financial and religious institutions we are left unhealthy, ignorant, broke and without God. We learn that we have to submit to their social pressures to be accepted members of society. The system rules … as long as no-one upset the fruit basket.

Both Moses and Messiah come to change the dynamics and parameters of their day. They say that there is God in Heaven who is stronger than the system that controls us. They tell us that this God has the authority to free us from the ‘strong man’ (Exodus 5:1; John 8:36); to supply for us ‘bread from Heaven’ (Matthew 15:32-39; John 6:31-32) and real bread to, to heal, and to even free us from death.

Oh how the ‘strong man ‘fights! Like Pharaoh he tries to hold on to his prey. He does not let go easily. Like He did through Moses, God performs signs and wonders through His Messiah but like our fathers in Egypt, we still doubt. As Moses was determined to bring his people to the Father, it is only the Messiah’s determination that brings us, His brothers, back to the father from wherever we are in the world.

May we hear when He calls. May we follow when He goes. May we listen when we are instructed. May the Father grant us in His time to enter the Promised Land of His Kingdom on earth.

The Last Passover!

Luke 22:18

For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.

For two millennia, each year at the Passover Seder we drink the four cups of wine that tell the story of our Exodus from Egypt. It is a meal which uses foods and wine as descriptive elements of the story. It is a great tradition and children usually love it.

The four cups of the meal are: The Cup of Sanctification, the Cup of Deliverance, the Cup of Redemption, and the Cup of Praise. These cups define the four phases of the redemption of the Children of Israel from Egypt found in: “I will bring you out … I will deliver you … I will redeem you … I will take you to be my people, (Exodus 6:6-7). They did not celebrate Passover again until their last year in the desert.

King Solomon teaches us, “What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done” (Ecclesiastes 1:9). During His last Seder with His disciples, with a trace of melancholy Yeshua informs His friends that He will not eat again of the Passover Lamb until it is fulfilled in the Kingdom of God (Luke 22:16). After, He takes the first cup, the Cup of Redemption and says, “I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes" (Luke 22:18). This statement teaches us that there is another ‘Passover’ coming up on the schedule, a Passover complete with sanctification through election of the Bride, deliverance from deathly plagues, redemption through marriage to ultimately belong to the Almighty in His household.

Hear now: The Perfect Lamb has been chosen in the Heavenlies. Each day we hear the good news of His redemptive power. He even now stands knocking at the door of every heart (Revelations 3:20). What will it be for us when the plagues descend? Will we be of those protected in Goshen, or like those receiving the recompense of their evil deeds against the people of God? At the time appointed, will we be of those following Him to a desert place for a Marriage banquet, or will we be left behind? When the ‘wood hits the sand’ (Chariot adaptation of the expression: ‘when the rubber hits the road’), we will see. As is told in the story of old, many Israelites stayed in Egypt while many non-Israelites through their lot with God.

To be chosen and leave Egypt is not enough. The old Egyptian culture has to be replaced by God’s new culture. Before entering the Promised Land we must follow Him to the mountain and receive the Ordinances that should direct our new life.. We must spend time in obedience to these in order to be ready.

Just before entering the promised Land of Yeshua’s reign on earth, we will see again a Passover complete with plagues and blood (Revelations 19-20). At that time, we will recline with Messiah at the table where He will again drink wine with us.

See you there?

What's in the Name?

John 17:26

I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them."

While on Mount Horeb, Moses clearly hears the Voice of the Almighty Creator of the universe telling him to go to His children. Fully aware of the cynical nature of man, Moses. proceeds by asking the Voice, "If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is his name?' what shall I say to them?" (Exodus 3:13). The Voice cryptically answers, "I AM WHO I AM."…"Say this to the people of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.'"(Exodus 3:14). In those preceding words, the Mighty One reveals the fullness of His nature. Using a superlative conjugation of the Hebrew verb, ‘to be’, He calls Himself the Everlasting Existential One. This same connection with the verb ‘to be’ is also found in the etymological root of the tetragrammaton used in the Hebrew Bible for the Name of God.

Later on in the conversation the Almighty also tells Moses, “I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by my name the LORD (tetragrammaton in the Hebrew text) I did not make myself known to them (Exodus 6:3)”. This is strange because Abraham, praised the Father using the tetragrammaton (Genesis 22:14). Are those contradictions? To add to the confusion, Yeshua comes and claims to reveal the Name of the Father as if no-one ever knew it before (John 17:26).

No; these are not contradictions. When the Scriptures talk about the Name of the Father, they are not talking about a sound bite attributed to the Almighty to help us refer to Him in conversation. These statements about His Name are speaking of His nature, the character of His revelation which is different in every column of the Scroll. In Abraham, Adonai is the One who provides; in Moses, He is the Avenger; in Yeshua, He is the Savior, the Atonement, the Shield who covers with acceptable blood. How does Yeshua reveal the Name of God?

Like Joshua was to Moses and Elisha to Elijah, Yeshua is a model disciple of the Father. He was in such unity with the Father that He said they were one, meaning that he who saw Yeshua saw the Father. It didn’t mean that if you saw Yeshua in the market place you went home and said, “Hey, I saw God today in the market place today”, it simply meant that Yeshua followed the Father so close that He could be seen through His appearance. When Yeshua says that He came to reveal God’s Name, He simply says that by His lifestyle He revealed the Father’s nature to us.

Yeshua also said that we should be one with Him. That means that when people see us they should be able to see Him, and through Him, the Father (John 17:20-21). It’s a tall order for each one of us, but if we seriously live in the injunctions the Master gave us directly or indirectly through His apostles, we should be able to shine some of the light of the Farther on this poor earth.

Sabbath mercies

Matthew 12:8

“For the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath."

In His encounters with the religious body of Israel, the Master often discussed the details of Torah observances and most especially those concerning the Sabbath. It is the common interpretation of Christians to assume that Yeshua broke the Sabbath because He annulled the Instructions God gave at Sinai. The problem with that is that not only it flies in the face of His own teaching which says that, “whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments (The Torah) and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:19), but it also contradict God’s injunction that anyone who breaks the Torah not only cannot be the Messiah but is also a false prophet (Deuteronomy 18). Christian Sabbaterians also argue that Yeshua did not break the Sabbath, only the traditions of the scribes and the Pharisees, but even that does not make sense since the Master’s justification for His actions came from the same set of Oral Law teachings the scribes and the Pharisees used.

The verse, For the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath" (Matthew 12:8) sheds some light on the situation. Yeshua often referred to Himself using the expression ‘Son of Man’ (Daniel 7:13). A problem with that is that ‘son of man’, in Hebrew, ‘ben-adam’ also means ‘human being’ in general. In our text Yeshua seems to use the expression in a very general way. As a recognized Rabbi with disciples, it was perfectly legal for Yeshua to establish rulings on Sabbath observance. Even today in Judaism religious leaders differ in their opinions of details of commandment applications and people follow their favorite rabbi. The problem was that certain Rabbis (not all, as many honored Yeshua as in the case of Nicodemus) did not agree with Yeshua

This was a very serious situation which irritated Yeshua’s doctrinal opponents, but they could not do anything against Him because even His justifications came from the teachings of the Talmud. What the Master taught was that though it was already understood that any issues of life and death superseded Torah commandments, even the Talmud agreed that it is right to do good on the Sabbath, ‘good’ in this case meaning to alleviate human suffering such as hunger and disease provoked pain. What we have here is very common religious legal debate.

The Apostolic texts tell us that Yeshua is ‘the brightness of his (God’s) glory, and the express image of his (God’s) person (Hebrews 1:3).). What Yeshua teaches us through these encounters is that the Father in Heaven is full of mercy and compassion for His children (Exodus 34:6-7) and that the form of obedience He requires from us is not hard, rigid, and cold, but leaves room for what the Scriptures call the ‘weightier matters’ (more important) and elements of the Torah which are, ‘justice and mercy’ (Micah 6:6-8; Matthew 23:23).

As Yeshua perfectly emulated the Father so we could know His love, compassion, and mercy, may we also perfectly emulate Yeshua that the world around us may know the Father‘s love, compassion, and mercy.

The Thorns of Sinai

Mark 15:17

And they clothed him in a purple cloak, and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on him.

Thirty four hundred ago the Creator of the universe decided to appear to a man who would reveal Him to Israel and eventually the world. God had been watching the affliction of His people and was ready to bring them out to their grand destiny. The One who created us knows us; he knows we judge by appearances, so as a long awaited mysterious visitor He carefully prepared His grand entrance; everything had to be right, especially the form of His appearance as it carried His message.

In the Text, we read that the Creator appeared in a paradox: a bush that burned yet was not consumed. None of it was illusionary: the bush burned yet was not consumed. The Hebrew word for thorn is: ‘s’neh’ carrying the same etymological root as ‘Sinai’. According to a Jewish sage’s perspective, (Rabbi Yanni), God’s appearance in the midst of a thorn bush was emblematic of the anguish He suffered over Israel’s affliction. In that sense, the thorn bush was something akin to putting on sackcloth and ashes. The thorn bush represented a royal messianic statement: God’s empathy for Israel.

Through Isaiah our great Father unveils His emotional attachment to His people; He says, In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them; in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old (Isaiah 63:9). “This is to be compared to the situation with identical twins”, Rabbi Yanny says, “if one has a pain in his head the other feels it. Israel certainly had a pain in his head”, and eventually Mashiach wore the thorns of Sinai upon his forehead, again as an illustration of the Father’s empathy for His people (Mark 15:17).

A father naturally suffers when his child is afflicted, so the Father suffers when His people are afflicted. He takes upon Himself all their suffering until the time when in His fury He awakes and desires vengeance, yes vengeance on those who afflict Him through His people (Isaiah 63:3). As we are afflicted, He is afflicted.

As parents we love our children, but our parental love contains an element of hatred, hatred for our children’s evil behavior. Good parents should not be afraid of afflicting their children in order to set them straight. Parental love does so, and the great eternal Father is the greatest example of it. Thus the paradox returns: love, mixed with hate.

Once we have solved the paradox of the burning bush; once our finite mind feels comfortable with a God who loves us so but in His hatred of our sins can also let us suffer, that is precisely when we enter the greatest error of all. The Father reveals Himself to us in a paradox. This is the mystery of the burning bush; this is the Mystery of Messiah.

1 Timothy 4:12

Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.

Exodus 2:1-2 tells us, Now a man from the house of Levi went and took as his wife a Levite woman. The woman conceived and bore a son, and when she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him three months. From this verse we could imply that Moses was Amram and Jochebed’s first child, but later on we discover that it is their third after Miriam the oldest who was five, and Aaron who was three years old at Moses birth. Why this strange text rendition then?

A Talmudic tradition teaches that after Pharaoh’s decree, Amram felt that it was useless to attempt raising a family so he divorced his wife. Because he stood as a Levite, Amram’s decision created a snowball effect within the Israelite population. Miriam who was very young at the time rebuked her father telling him that he was worse than Pharaoh. Her reasoning was that whereas Pharaoh sought to kill all the Israelite male children, Amram, through his sample threatened to bring the whole nation to genocide. If the Israelites stopped raising families, their population will decrease to possibly come to a standstill and finally disappear. Miriam certainly had the gift of judging actions by their long term effect and she went on to become a great leader of Israel. The teaching tells us that Amram repented, remarried Jochebed, and sired Moses.

One can argue about the veracity of the story but true or not, it gives us a window on the ancient Israelites views on family and tribal dynamics, morality, goals, purposes and methods of judgment. The whole story with Moses who was a foreshadow of the first and second coming of Messiah and through whom was given the foundation stone of mankind’s redemption plan, could have been thwarted because of one act of despair from the older generation. In the mean time a youth with a fresh non-cynical look at life was able to see the calamitous results of such action and rebuked her father for giving up which provoked a reversal of action.

We complain much about youth today but could it be that perhaps they do not feel heard by the cynical so-called wise parental generation? We have our lives behind us but they have theirs in front of them and that without cynicism that often sadly accompanies age and experience.

In preparing for the future, may our children find their place. May we raise them in an atmosphere where they feel at liberty to change and prepare their future by being able to expose our shortcomings. May we have the humility of hearing the voice of conviction in their uncouth and unseasoned tone. What is it the prophet said? “A little child shall lead them (Isaiah 11:6). “

Hebrews 3:15

As it is said, "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion."

As the lone voice of God crying in the desert sent Moses to Pharaoh, so today the voice of Messiah cries unto the Adversary: ‘Let my people go that they may worship Me’. As the plagues of God’s judgments fell upon a defiant Egypt, so also the torment of God’s retributions afflict an arrogant world. As many of the Children of Israel chose to stay in the seeming safety of the culture of Egypt, many whom God calls choose to stay in the elusive ‘dream’ of this world. As a great multitude of other nations followed Israel to the mountain where it would learn a brand new way of life, so today a great multitude follows the chosen few desiring to apply the Words of the Creator of Heaven and earth onto their lives (Exodus).

From the foundations of the world the plan for man’s redemption was defined and played out (Hebrews 4:3). The lone voice of God’s Word is heard (Exodus 3); the paschal ransom of our freedom is paid (Exodus 12;3); we leave the old country (Exodus 12:51); and we immerse unto rebirth (Exodus 14:29; 1 Corinthians 10:2) to go and meet God in a lonely place where we learn the parameter of our new life in Him (Exodus 20). Finally, as a new rewired individual we enter the Promised Land (The Pentateuch).

The problem today is that, while many hear the lone Voice of the Word (Psalms 103:20), they covet the beautiful prospects of the Promised Land so they leave and immerse themselves out of the old country, but they never go to the mountain. They never go and learn how to live a life acceptable unto Him. They therefore remain forever stuck between their old culture and the new one. Not having completely rid themselves of their past, they are not entering into the future. They are like the bride who left her father’s house and never got married. She heard the voice of the bridegroom, betrothed him, prepared for the wedding, but never went to the wedding ceremony nor to the bedchamber to consummate the marriage. Why? She wanted what the bridegroom had to offer, but without really ever belonging to Him. Marriages today are much the same way. People live together without really belonging to each other.

Is that the way we are with God? Do we want the blessings of His treasury but do not want to be His? Do we want the protection of His Right Arm while we refuse the ways of His Kingdom? Do we want the clout of being called by His Name, yet do not want to live in His house?

Today again while the voice and culture of the world grows darker and darker, the voice of the Master calling His Bride is made clearer and clearer. Let us together follow the trail that leads to higher moral and spiritual grounds. Let us be immersed unto the new life God has for us and follow Him to the lonely bedchamber at the mountain of His choice. When there, let us t bask in his loving arms allowing Him to renew our minds and hearts so we can enter the Promised Land of His house His forever as new creatures, a light of everlasting Life and a well of Living Waters for the nations.

Revelation 12:5

She gave birth to a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron,

Believing the time of his departure was nigh, Jacob blesses his children. The pronounced words are not just blessings; they are insights of the future of Israel, and thereby, of the world. When comes Judah’s turn, Jacob says, The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until tribute comes to him; and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples (Genesis 49:10).

Judah’s ‘scepter’ takes a prominent place in the Torah from Genesis to Revelation. The Hebrew word for it is ‘Shevet’, word which is also related to ‘tribe’, each tribe being represented by the staff of the tribe leader.

In Genesis thirty-eight, Judah uses his staff as collateral; as a token of identity. It was most probably a shepherd’s staff, a tool that represents the ruling, shepherding, and even disciplining of the flock. Judah’s staff is a foreshadow of the Messiah’s scepter as it is said in the Psalms, The LORD sends forth from Zion your mighty scepter. Rule in the midst of your enemies (Psalms 110:2)! This staff/scepter represents Messiah’s ruling and disciplining of the disobedient as the psalmist says: You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel. (Psalms 2:9)". King David must have believed in this rod of discipline as his son Solomon often talks about it in his proverbs (Proverbs 13:24).

The ‘shevet’ of Messiah though is not only a tool of correction. It is also used for protection against those, the wolves that would eat us alive if they could. It is also Messiah’s instrument of comfort as is said, Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me (Psalms 23:4), and the sign of our passage into covenant with Him: I will make you pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant (Ezekiel 20:37).

The staff/scepter/rod/shevet of Messiah is powerful to chastise, to lead, and to comfort. Isaiah speaks of the ‘rod of His mouth’, but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked (Isaiah 11:4), indicating that this rod/staff/scepter/shevet is the spoken Word of the Master.

May we pay attention to His Word. May we obey them carefully and emulate Abba by emulating the Master. The word Judah or ‘Yehudah’ means to praise God. It is not enough to praise the Father in Words only, we praise Him best through our actions..Just as we as fathers feel praise and honor when our children emulate and obey us, the Father which is in Heaven is also praised and honored when we obey and emulate Him. It is our choice whether the Master's ‘shevet’ becomes the heavy a rod of iron and correction, or the gentle leading staff of the shepherd.

Luke 3:8

Bear fruits in keeping with repentance

As he undertakes the task of speaking for his brothers, Judah approaches Joseph (Genesis 44:18). For a reason only God knows, Judah recounts to the Egyptian Viceroy the story of their long lost brother and of the pain it inflicted on their father. Joseph listens intently to this inside information concerning himself. Jacob’s pain concerning Joseph seems to have been a crushing weight on that family. The biblical text implies that Jacob never found closure and mourned for twenty-one years, until the time when he was finally reunited with his son. As Judah makes his plea before the Viceroy, he reveals that he stands as safety for Benjamin in the eyes of his father (Genesis 43:9).

This is a pivotal moment for Judah and his family; this is the time of reckoning. Their sin has returned upon them and judgment from on high is about to be pronounced. They stand before Joseph as if it were before the court of Heaven. The verdict about to be pronounced until Judah makes the move that changes the wheels of justice: he offers himself as a ransom for the life Benjamin. He presents himself to become a slave so Benjamin can go free, and this is what Joseph was looking for: true repentance from a change of heart that is translates into godly acts.

To be repentant with the heart only is not enough. If this repentance does not become the force and the engine that puts the body into motion towards godly behavior and actions, this is not repentance; it is just being sorry which is legislatively useless. When Judah offered himself as a slave for Benjamin, he showed concerned for the father which he had before despised and that was acceptable unto Joseph. The idea here is that no matter how sorry we are, we cannot change the grade until we are faced again with the same test, with a similar situation, and have the chance to make different choices. In this case, Judah passed the test.

It is the same with us. We are daily faced with situations and choices. Some we pass, some we don’t and the Master keeps the grade. In the end we are told that Abba will judge the world according to the Master’s deciding (Acts 10:42). Jewish sages teach us that a judge is unfit to judge a man unless he can find that man’s sin within Himself. Yeshua who taught the same thing (Matthew 7:3-5) came and was subject to every temptation just as we are; he is therefore the Fit Judge and one day, we will stand before Him like Judah before Joseph and have to not only confess to repentance, but show fruits meet for repentance.

This is part of the restoration of our heart mind and soul. Restoration does not come by a stroke of magic that instantly reprograms our nature and character. It comes by meeting again the situations that made us fall; it comes by taking the test again and hopefully get a better grade. God is patient and also believes in ‘no child left behind’ (2 Peter 3:9). May we therefore be faithful to do our homework, to do our best to present ourselves to God as approved, workers who have no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth (2Timothy2:15).

Romans 9:1-3

I am speaking the truth in Messiah--I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit--that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Messiah for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh.

As he hears Judah’s impassioned plea for Benjamin (Genesis 44:18-31), Joseph perceives the change of heart in his brothers. For over twenty years Joseph swallowed his pain, his anger, his pride, his desire for vengeance, as well as his longing to be reunited with his family. As Egyptian Viceroy he could have himself engineered the reunion, but he preferred to wait for God to work.

This is the moment when the brother-in-exile-Egyptian-Viceroy is ready to reveal his identity. As tears choke his speech (Genesis 45:1-2), we hear the sorrow of Messiah Himself who after a long exile from Israel living among the gentiles longs to be reunited with his people. Jewish people today look at Yeshua as Jesus much like the Joseph’s brother’s looked at him as Pharaoh: as a despotic foreign ruler who cares little about them. Little do they know that like Joseph, Yeshua Himself longs to be reunited with His brothers and celebrate the feasts with them again. Like Joseph though, Yeshua will swallow His pain, His anger, His pride, and His desire for vengeance, and at an opportune moment of History, in a final master-stroke reveal, Himself to Israel. It was not the Egyptians who revealed Joseph to his brothers; the brothers did not figure it out themselves either. It was Joseph who while removing his Egyptian head-dress, speaking in their native tongue revealed himself to his brothers (Genesis 45:3-5). In the same matter, it is not the evangelical efforts of gentile believers or the Talmudic calculations of Jewish scholars who will reveal Messiah to Israel; it is Messiah Himself.

In the meantime, our Messiah is in exile. In the years preceding the destruction of the Temple, the rulers of Jerusalem persecuted the Jewish believers in Messiah. Just as Benjamin was not around to take part in the selling Joseph, the Jewish Messianic community was not around for the ‘selling’ of Yeshua (Matthew 26:15). Today Yeshua, the Messiah in exile is testing the heart of Israel with the Jewish Messianic communities sprouting up everywhere, even in the Land.

It is with the restoration of Israel under its rightful King and High-priest Yeshua the Messiah that the earth will be able to experience the World to Come. That is why we are constantly admonished to ‘pray for the peace of Jerusalem’ (Psalms 122:6), a peace that will not come until the restoration of the true Davidic King on the throne of Jerusalem.

Revelations 2:23

I am he who searches mind and heart, and I will give to each of you according to your works.

 

Before he was ready to bestow blessings upon them, Joseph tested his brothers. While far was from him the desire to exact vengeance on them, Joseph needed to test his brother’s spirits. They needed to experience a little of what he experienced, so Joseph created a set of circumstances that would serve as a litmus test of their character.

Joseph spent three days and three nights in the pit not knowing what would happen to him; so his brothers would spend three days and three nights in the jail not knowing if they would live or die. Trying to preserve their inheritance away from Rachel’s son, Leah’s children tried to rid themselves of Joseph. Now, Judah would have to sacrifice himself in order to save Benjamin, the second son of Rachel. All this showed Joseph that his brothers had truly learned and matured. Their repentance needed to be coupled with the fruits of behavior appropriate with their misdeeds.

As Joseph did, the Master spent three days and three nights in the earth because of us, His jealous brothers. He was later brought to God who like Pharaoh, established Yeshua over the gentiles, until such a time when a famine came that brought Joseph’s brothers to him for help.

Will there be a time of sore trouble for Jacob/Israel that will force him to his brother Yeshua for help? Will Israel spend three days and three nights in a pit? Will Messiah test the heart of Israel in the end of days? Will there be a Benjamin? Some speculate that the Holocaust was the trouble, because since then like Joseph did, Yeshua revealed Himself to many of our people. This new Jewish Messianic movement could represent Benjamin, the brother who did not despise Joseph! We can certainly see the end from the beginning in all these things.

Before sending them on their way to bring their father, Joseph had a festive royal meal with his brothers. This speaks to us of the Marriage Supper of the Lamb following the Revelation of Messiah spoken to us in Revelations (Revelations 19:9).

Even today, all our hearts are being tested. The approaching Feast of Chanukah should remind us of our brothers who stood firm refusing to compromise their faith with the corrupt standards of the world around them. May we be like those Maccabees of old who when tested came out without even the smell of smoke. May we refuse to assimilate to the ways of the world. May we bravely and zealously pass the test, come out clean on the other side, ready to recline for a festive royal meal at the table of the Master at the end of the age.

Acts 7:13

And on the second visit Joseph made himself known to his brothers, and Joseph's family became known to Pharaoh.

For centuries now the Jewish people have been accused of rejecting the Messiah, of being the force that provoked His execution. This accusation gains momentum each year in spring when people remember the crucifixion. This understanding of the Biblical by Christianity could simply have to do with the semantics of the English New Testament, mostly due to the repeated statements, ’And the Jews …’, which have hang on the Jewish nation for two millennia and have been the source of much atrocious persecution from the beginning of the second century C.E. on. Paul, the chosen emissary of the Master warned against this attitude of non-Jewish believers against the Jewish nation in his famous ‘do not be arrogant against the branches’ (Romans 11:18) olive tree analogy. Could there have been a misunderstanding? The aftermath of the story of Chanukah may bring us some illumination.

After pushing away the Syrian army, the Maccabees sat themselves on the throne of Jerusalem. Because many believed that only a son of David could sit on that throne (because the Messiah would be a son of David) this created a divide among the people. A Judean official begged Rome for help, which Rome obliged by taking over Judea and its government, including Temple appointments (Maccabees 1 and 2). At that time Herod, the Roman appointed King of Jerusalem persecuted many who were actually from the lineage of David, so they fled to Galilee. Many in Judea resisted this situation, mainly the Zealots and the Assenes, so it was only the few collaborators from the Judean leadership who had a problem with Yeshua; the rest of the people loved Him. Most Jewry also lived outside of Israel. Could then the, ‘and the Jews …’ refer to the Jewish nation in general?

In the narration of the story of Joseph we see how he concealed his true identity from both the Egyptians and his brothers. We also see that Joseph did not reveal himself to his biological family until Benjamin, the brother who did not persecute him as he was not part of the ordeal, was present (Genesis 41-45).

In the same manner, the Messiah today and for now 2,000 years has concealed His Jewish identity from the gentiles, and did not reveal Himself to His brothers either. He is waiting for the arrival of Benjamin, the brother who was not part of the persecution ordeal. Could ‘Benjamin’ be today’s Jewish Messianic movement? The Scriptures said that Joseph revealed himself to his brothers at the ‘second’ visitation. If the hardening in part (Romans 11:25) was part of the greater plan of the Almighty, persecutors of the people of God will have to answer to Abba for what they have done (Jeremiah 2:3).

Acts 7:13

And on the second visit Joseph made himself known to his brothers,

For centuries now the Jewish people have been accused of rejecting the Messiah, of being the force that provoked His execution. This accusation gains momentum each year in spring when people remember the crucifixion. This attitude has to do with semantics in the English New Testament. The repeated statement, ’And the Jews …’, have hang on the Jewish nation for two millennia and have been the source of much atrocious persecution from the beginning of the second century C.E. until our ‘modern’ days. Paul, the hand-picked emissary of the Master warned against this attitude of non-Jewish believers against the Jewish nation in his famous ‘do not be arrogant toward the branches’ (Romans 11:18) olive tree analogy. M.L.K. is known to have said, ‘Ignorance is the mother of bigotry’, and these negative assessments about the Jewish nation are certainly due to ignorance of both Bible and History. The aftermath of the story of Chanukah may bring us some illumination.

After defeating the Syro/Greek army, the Maccabee bothers sat themselves on the throne of Jerusalem. Because many believed that only a son of David could sit on that throne this created civil disturbances among the people of Israel. A Judean official begged Rome for help, which it obliged by taking over Judea and its government, including Temple appointments. By the time the Master came on the scene, Herod, the Roman appointed King of Jerusalem had persecuted away many who were actually from the lineage of David who fled to Galilee, including the family of the Master.

Many in Judea resisted this situation, mainly the Zealots and the Assenes. In most other parts of the country, Yeshua was very popular. In those days also, most Jewry lived outside of Israel and when Paul went to tell them about Yeshua, for the most part they understood. When the New Testament therefore mentions of the ‘Jews’ that were against Yeshua, it speaks mostly of the corrupted Judean leadership, not of the Jewish nation in general. To generalize it to the Jewish nation is like qualifying the American Army by what happened at Abu Ghraib.

Also, in the story of Joseph we see how the patriarch concealed his identity from his brothers. He only manifested himself to his biological family at the time of the ‘second visit’, when Benjamin, the brother who was not present at the time of Joseph’s troubles was with them. It is the opinion of this writer that in the same manner, whereas the Jewish nation knows the Messiah intimately as a brother, divine scheduling has decreed that He would only manifest His true identity to them at a later date that is, at the ‘second visit’, when the ‘brother’ who was not present at the time of Joseph’s trouble appears on the scene. Could this ‘brother’ be the lately born Jewish Messianic movement, which is present now in Israel, ready for the ‘second visit’? Abba is in charge of times and seasons; Do not be arrogant toward the branches’ (Romans 11:18).

Matthew 5:48

You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Jacob has left the house of Laban. He has reckoned with the Messianic Angel and with his estranged brother (yes, meeting Messiah should have the effect of creating improved relationships in our circle of family, friends and neighbors). The events at Sheshem left a bitter taste in his mouth (Genesis 34), but now the Father calls unto Jacob (Genesis 35:1). The God of Heaven initiates a rendez-vous with the patriarch at Mt Moriah, at the very same place Jacob laid his head on a stone and received the vision of the ladder (Genesis 28); the place that will later see the building of the temple.

See now the heart of an unassuming man, of a man who knows how to humble himself before his God. Like Abraham before him and like Moses after him, Jacob does not assume that the Creator of the universe calls unto him because of any sense of personal virtue. Jacob fears his God and in view of this awesome event decides to go on a spiritual house-cleaning. ”Oh no!” he says. “The Father wants to see us; He summoned us to His Presence. We must prepare; we must get ready; come on everybody; let’s get the house cleaned up, let’s wash up and put clean clothes on”. It’s a little bit like before you go on a date! We will see later that the way Jacob prepared for this very important encounter with the ‘Greatest V.I.P’ of all times, was the same way the Children of Israel’s prepared by Mt Horeb, and also corresponds to the way a priest would later sanctify himself before entering the Holy of the Temple.

Preparing for the special encounter Jacob also said, "Put away the foreign gods that are among you (Genesis: 35:2)”. We must not assume here that Jacob and his tribe had fallen into idolatry. Jacob’s whole family came from the household of idolatrous Laban, and whereas Jacob certainly did not consciously permit the worship of idols, as we saw in the case of Rachel (Genesis 31), people always carry extra ‘baggage’ with them.

So it is with us. The Messiah calls us. We are on a spiritual journey to Beth-El (the House of God). One day we will meet Him there on Mt Moriah when he reigns over the whole world. In the mean time, we are meant to prepare for this awesome rendez-vous. We are meant to purify and sanctify ourselves in the waters of the word; to clothe ourselves with humility and put away the foreign gods from among us. We live in an idolatrous world. Were instead of worshipping God, His times and His ways, people create unto themselves religions which fit more into their personal perverted sense of right and wrong; and whether we like it or not, like Rachel and the people in Jacob’s tribe, we all carry a little bit of that baggage with us.

In our walk towards the Promised Land, in our walk towards Beth-El, let us all like Jacob learn to daily take the wounding blessing from the concealed Messiah; reconcile with former enemies; clean and purify ourselves with the waters of the Word; and clothe ourselves with the humility of His righteousness. As we ready ourselves to physically meet with Messiah at the end of the age, let us also not forget to ‘put away the idols’, the worldliness, the vanity, the pride and the selfishness of the god of this world ‘from among us’.

2 Corinthians 5:17

Therefore if any man is in Messiah, he is a new creation.

As he makes ready to face Esau his brother and to enter the Promised Land, Jacob has another encounter to make. This will probably be the most important encounter in his life, the one that will change him forever and confirm his Messianic destiny.

While Jacob is alone, an angel, the Angel of the Lord, the Messiah who previously appeared to Abraham in the Plains of Mamreh, attacks him concealed in the dark of night. Jacob feels Its blows but does not see Him. He hears Him but cannot make out the face. Jacob is the victim of a wild man attacking him under the cover of night and probably presumes it to be Esau but when he hears the voice, it is the voice of God: (In the womb he took his brother by the heel, and in his manhood he strove with God (Hoseah 12:3)). It is almost like the words of his old father who said in the darkened sight of his old age, "The voice is Jacob's voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau" (Genesis 27:22) is returning to haunt Jacob in the form of this concealed adversary. Jacob’s attitude towards this Angel would determine the next day’s encounter with Esau. The Angel finally reveals Himself by changing Jacob’s name (something the Messiah does) and Jacob names the place: ‘Peniel’ which means: the Face of God (Genesis 32:30).

For 2,000 years our people have fought against a Messiah concealed in the dark of cultural misconceptions, a Messiah who like Joseph hid Himself under an ‘Egyptian’ cloak, who like Jacob hid himself under Esau’s disguise in front if his father. There comes a time though when the Messiah identifies Himself to ‘Jacob’.

Can Jews be accused of refusing the Messiah also called, the ‘’Word’ made flesh (John 1:14)? What ‘Word’ are we talking about? Yes; it is the Word of Torah. To be allegeable, the Messiah must be Torah observant, which Yeshua was. He said that He did not come to cancel the Torah, and that whoever teaches against it is called least in the Kingdom of Heaven (Matthew 5:17-19). But today Yeshua is described to Jews as one who cancels the very Torah who says that any prophet who talks about disobeying the Torah is to be put to death (Deuteronomy 13;5).

Jacob fought for what he knew was right and finally surrendered, inheriting a wound in his thigh. When Jacob met his ‘match’, it changed his life forever and sent him into his Messianic destiny (Genesis 32).

It is one thing to hear Messiah, but it is another to meet Him. You know you’ve met Him when your life changes, when ‘Jacob’ (the heel) is changed to ‘Israel’ (the Prince with God), a person who yields to God’s Word. When someone meets Messiah, he does not need to confess it with loud words in order to make the point to others; his altered very life is the loud testimony of the event. He is on his way to his Messianic destiny!

Have you heard Messiah? Have you also met Him? If so, can people around you testify of the event by just watching your changed life en-route to your Messianic destiny?

Luke 21:29-31

And he spake to them a parable; Behold the fig tree, and all the trees. When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand. So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand.

Does history must always repeat itself (Ecclesiastes 1:9)? Let’s hope it does!

When Abraham arrived in the Land with his family he was unpleasantly surprised by its Canaanite inhabitants. Even though divinely promised to him, Abraham could not possess the Land without warfare. Due to a famine, the patriarch left for Egypt where after the captivity of his wife he returned to the land with great wealth. The text doesn’t reveal it to us, but since the Canaanite still lived in the land, that must only mean that they made a compromise with Abraham. Maybe the fact that Abraham was now a wealthy and powerful enough to defeat five Amorite kings could have something to do with it (Genesis 13).

Our father Jacob also left the Land for a long exile at Laban’s house. When he returned with his big family, his brother who had adopted a Canaanite way of life only had evil intentions towards his returning wealthy and blessed brother Jacob. Esau intended to kill Jacob when they meet. Before the fatal show down, Jacob has a surprise encounter with the Messiah against whom he is not able to prevail. The Messiah blesses Jacob and calls him Israel. The patriarch is now able to use the wisdom and humility he acquired during his long exile to win his brother’s heart who then kisses him and allows him to come to settle again in his homeland.

When Moses, following in footsteps of Abraham and Jacob led the children of Israel from Egypt towards Canaan, the Amalekites pursued them from the rear (Exodus 17:8) and later in Kadesh Barneah Edom would not allow passage through his lands (Numbers 20:14-18). Eventually, each time God’s plan succeeded and Israel settled in Canaan.

Like Abraham, Jacob, and the Children of Israel in the desert, from around the world the Jewish people are now returning to the Land from where they have been exiled. Again, Esau the Canaanite who is fully knowledgeable of Jacob’s inheritance (even the Koran mentions that this Land belongs to the Jewish people) lays in wait for his brother to do him arm. Thank God that we know the end from the beginning.

We must only pray now that God’s will be done. We must pray that God gives ‘Jacob’ the wisdom that comes from the Messiah and His Word which ‘Esau’ will not be able to resist. In the mean time, we learn from history the soul of the Jewish people is like that of a homing pigeon. From wherever he is in the world, through hell and high water, he returns home to his ‘ground zero’, to the Land. So it is with the soul of man, the soul of all humanity. In the end, it must return to its Creator. Like a verse in a song I heard puts it, ‘the soul of man is like a waiting falcon; when it’s released, it’s destined for the sky’.

Romans 11:26

And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written, "The Deliverer will come from Zion, he will banish ungodliness from Jacob";

I can never wonder enough at the majestic heavenly foresight in the Word of Torah. We have seen so many times how the deeds of the fathers were portent to the children. This time in Jacob’s life is nothing but a direct prophecy; something that relates to us today; it shows us God’s plan and destiny for the world.

Deceiving Babylonish Laban owned everything. He had a big business that he ran sleazily without any scruples or apologies. Kill, steal, lie, cheat, everything was allowed to ‘make a buck’. He even sold his own daughters and consciously tried to manipulate God’s blessing in Jacob to his own advantage. On the other hand, for twenty-one years Jacob showed purity of spirit which owed him God’s blessing. Time and again he turned the proverbial ‘other cheek’ as he allowed himself be used and abused. Finally, like the gambler enthralled by the euphoria of several wins, Laban got so arrogant and sure of himself that he lost everything with one throw of the dice in his last attempt at treachery.

Jacob arrived in Babylon with nothing, but returned from this exile with the children that would later become the foundational families of the Kingdom of God. The sinner's wealth is truly laid up for the righteous (Proverbs 13:22). This same story was to be repeated a few hundred years later when Jacob’s children this time would live their Egyptian exile with spoils. Is this an indication of future events?

Our Master Yeshua said no less. He said that if we, those who belong to Him while in this Babylonish Laban-like adulterous and perverse generation, live by the virtue of the Word of Torah instead of by instinct vengeance and greed, we would inherit the Land. Just like in Egypt, the nations would bring us their glory (Matthew 5:3-10; Isaiah 61:6)).

The book where we find Jacob’s biography is called in Hebrew: ‘Bereshit’, meaning: ‘In the Beginning’. We know that, What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun (Ecclesiastes 1:9). In the story of Messianic patriarch Jacob, we see the redemption program of Messiah for Israel and the world.

Like Jacob, Messiah is exiled in the nations due to the wrath of His ‘brother’. Like Jacob, Messiah takes a wife from among His exiled relatives. Like Jacob then, with the spoil of the nations (Jacob had Laban’s sheep; Messiah has the people of the nations), Messiah eventually returns to re-establish and repopulate the Land.

Can you see the plan? Who do you work with today? Righteous Jacob, who was later renamed: Israel? Or wicked Laban who represents the wicked babylonish systems of this day? The choice is yours. Your future depends on it!

Luke 6:38

Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.

The patriarch Jacob arrives at the same place where many years before Eliezer his grand-father’s servant came to fetch his mother Rebecca. Eliezer finds a wife for Isaac at a well; Jacob meets his wife to be Rachel at a well; and Moses will also meet his wife Tzipporah at a well. There seems to be something special in the Scriptures about finding wives, or at least meeting women at wells. It could be because in those days, if you wanted to meet a woman, the most likely place to go to was the community well where they came to draw water.

When Rebecca met Eliezer, she exerted a very great effort if not supernatural strength in drawing about one hundred fifty gallons of water for Eliezer’s camels. This was done as an answer to the servant’s prayer, but also was to be considered as an act of kindness from the House of Nahor to the House of Abraham. Whether consciously or not, in the same manner Jacob now returns the favor from House to House and exerts a great effort if not supernatural strength in lifting the stone at the mouth of the well to water Rachel’s flocks.

And what does this teach us?

The other morning I was disappointed at my son’s disregard over something I had needed him to do. He is sixteen and half so rather than scolding him for disobedience and carelessness I wanted to stress the fear of our heavenly Abba into him. I proceeded then to explain to him that life really acts as a boomerang; that whatever we dish out is exactly what returns to us. In the same way he can today ignore demands made upon him, demands he makes for his need may one day be denied to him. This is a principle written in Heaven; a principle as infallible as the law of gravity.

Many people in this life seem lonely and poor and whereas we can feel sorry for them and help them, the question remains to be asked: how have they led their lives? Was it in friendship and generosity or in meanness and selfishness? An analysis of one’s life can easily be done by looking at their friend’s attitudes towards them, that is, if they even have friends.

Measure for measure, everything returns to us, Wise King Solomon expressed it so well when he said, Cast your bread upon the waters, for you will find it after many days. Give a portion to seven, or even to eight, for you know not what disaster may happen on earth (Ecclesiastes 11:1-2). Like many of the Almighty’s promises in His Words, this represents a principle that is at the same time comforting … and scary! Which is it for you?

John 11:25

Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live.

Let me indulge today in a Talmudic –style analogy. Throughout the Biblical text there are many repeated themes. These are usually the Heavenly Author’s way to get our attention towards some commonality. Twice in the Apostolic Writings we observe the rolling of a heavy or large stone: once in Bethany with Lazarus (John 11:39).and once at the resurrection of the Master (John 20:1). The common theme of these two events is obvious: resurrection.

When he arrives in the Land of the people of the East (Genesis 29:1), the patriarch Jacob gives us a preview of this ‘large’ stone. Jacob had just been given the promises bestowed upon the Abrahamic Messianic line (Genesis 28). Because he became a forerunner of the Messiah of Israel, the events of his life are to be observed for Messianic clues. His arrival in Paddan-aram is of utmost importance. The scene is set-up like a well-written screenplay. It is a skit, an analogy with a prophetic message for future generations (Genesis 29:1-12).

Jacob arrives near a well at about noon. Three flocks wait for water before going to pasture but it is not time yet as not all the flocks are arrived. The large stone also waits to be rolled from the mouth of the well. Rachel arrives. Jacob falls in love with her at first sight and opens the well for Rachel’s flocks. Having watered the flocks of Rachel the water is now available for those present and those still to come.

Search this analogy with me and see the beauty of the Father’s message in the life of Patriarch Jacob as reported in the Scriptures. The Messianic Redeemer is the One who opens the door to the waters of life giving resurrection. When He, Yeshua is manifested on the world’s scene, people are already waiting for the resurrection, others will be coming. First, the Messianic Redeemer had to be manifested coming out of what seems the wilderness of time to water ‘Rachel’s flock’ (Israel), then the water would be available to the waiting flocks and those still arriving. Rachel’s flocks were watered at noon day; all throughout the rest of the day other flocks will come to this water of life until such a time when night falls and the well is closed again.

Do you hear the cry of the prophet? He is calling to all the nations saying, "Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat (Isaiah 55:1)! Sad to say, many false teachers have fouled the Water with their feet (doctrines of man) (Ezekiel 34:18-19). City-folks drink stagnant water from a man-made reservoir filled with chemicals. At my house I have well drawing water straight from Mt Hood’s snowy reserves. City people come to fill up at our well. In these days when there is a famine and drought for the pure Words of the Father, we are commanded to be an oasis for the arriving flocks. Are you?

John 1:51

And he (Yeshua) said to him (Nathaniel), "Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man."

Jacob flees from the face of his brother Esau. The blessing he thought to receive turned into a curse where he now has to leave the Promised Land not knowing if he would ever return. On his way to Paddan-aram the patriarch makes a stopover for the night, he gathers a stone to use as a pillow and falls asleep.

During the night Jacob makes a strange dream. He sees a ladder with angels descending and ascending upon him (the Hebrew text says the angles ascended and descended upon Jacob), angels leaving the Heavens and returning. The message was clear: as Jacob left the Land, he would also return. The Lord stood above it and said, "I am the LORD, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. The land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring. Your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and in you and your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed. Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you" (Genesis 28:13-15). With these words Jacob is comforted and dedicates himself again to the Lord (Genesis 28:20-22).

This story constitutes for us the main elements of Jacob’s resume as a patriarch for the House of Israel, as the leader of the people. It is God’s irrefutable and undeniable endorsement of Jacob which has been fulfilled through the years. From Laban’s, Jacob returned rich to the Land where the same angels welcomed him (Genesis 32:1).

When Yeshua met Nathaniel, He introduce Himself making allusion to this story. He told Nathanael in essence that, ‘from where I came from, you will see Me return’. That fact was to be the proof of Yeshua’s Messianic claim, the sign by which all sincere Israelites with no deceit like Nathaniel should recognize Him (John 1:47).

Yeshua mentioned seeing Nathanael under the fig tree. Fig trees speak of the coming age called the Millennium (Micah 4:4) and were often used by people as the preferred place to pray and meditate.

As Nathaniel was, may we at His appearing also be found praying and watching (Luke 21:36) with sincere hearts and with no deceit in our mouth.

1 Corinthians 11:1

Be ye followers (imitators) of me, even as I also am of Messiah.

When Abraham arrived in the Land, an idol-worshipping Philistine ruler took notice of the patriarch’s godly ways. The relationship between the two men grew into a binding inter-generational covenant in the following terms, Now therefore swear to me here by God that you will not deal falsely with me or with my descendants or with my posterity, but as I have dealt kindly with you, so you will deal with me and with the land where you have sojourned" (Genesis 21:23).

Several years later, due to a famine, Isaac, the inheritor of Abraham, finds himself in the position of claiming the privileges of this covenant. There was a problem though; the new Philistines of that generation did not really know Abraham or Isaac, so they started plugging Isaac’s wells and contend with him. Finally, feeling threatened by Isaac’s prosperity the Philistines ask him to leave. For all good purpose, the covenant was broken and now invalid.

The Genesis narration continues. Phicol continued watching Isaac and his tribe. After awhile, the Philistine general came to the conclusion that the God of Isaac was the same as the God of Abraham so he asks for the treaty to be re-enacted as if nothing had happened with the wells. As ludicrous as it sounds, Isaac accepts.

This teaches us that the deeds of the parents are portent to the children. It teaches us that though we may automatically inherit the reputation and hard work of our fathers, we must show ourselves of the same spirit if we want to enjoy their privileges. In this case, it is not until Phicol carefully observed Isaac that he recognized that the God of Isaac was the same as the God of Abraham, therefore, Isaac could also be trusted with the same covenant.

Maybe this is a lesson for our people today: it may not be until the worldly powers in the land recognize the ways of Messiah in Israel that they will see in them the ways of the God of Abraham and that they will concede to the re-instatement of the covenant (John 8:56)!

Shlomo Carlebach, an Orthodox Rabbi was known in Israel and the U.S. as the singing and dancing Rabbi, but in Apartheid S. Africa he was known as ‘Master Jesus’. The black people of S. Africa surnamed Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach, ‘Master Jesus’. They did so because of his loving and caring inter-action with them. Just as by observing Isaac Phicol recognized the God of Abraham, the people of S. Africa saw Yeshua in the inter-actions of this Orthodox Rabbi who, not knowing Him personally (and who am I to even say that) knew about Messiah’s nature and character solely by studying the Word and obeying it.

Someone said one time that discipleship is the art of imitation. When was the last time someone mistaken you for Yeshua just because they observed the way you lived and couldn’t make out the difference?.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgkz6wbCcFo