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

Luke 3:4

'Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.’

This challenge from John the Immerser echoes the prophetic words of Isaiah, Go through, go through the gates; prepare the way for the people; build up, build up the highway; clear it of stones; lift up a signal over the peoples (Isaiah 62:10). In the same manner as John did, Isaiah was preparing the people of Jerusalem for the arrival of the promised Messianic King. This verse is actually written in the language of road improvement and reparation projects in view of the arrival of a great dignitary; projects that had to be started long before the onset of the event. Isaiah’s message continues in this way, "Behold, your salvation comes; behold, his reward, is with him, and his recompense before him." And they shall be called The Holy People, The Redeemed of the LORD; and you shall be called Sought Out, A City Not Forsaken (Isaiah 62:11-12).

In the ancient world a young maiden chosen to marry a king would also ready herself for sometimes up to a year (Esther 2:12); she would go through body ‘improvements and reparations’ so to speak. She would regularly immerse herself in baths filled with aromatic herbs and plants with skin cleansing properties. She was also given food from the king’s table until the appointed time when he would decide which one will be his bride.

We are this bride and we ought to behave as such. We are to make ourselves ready and immerse ourselves in the baths of repentance to present ourselves to Him in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that we might be holy and without blemish (Ephesians 5:27); betrothed to one husband, as a pure virgin (2 Corinthians 11:2).

Immersion in waters filled with His cleansing Words (John 15:3) is our preparation before we come to Him at the end of the age. May we let it clean us each day from the Canaanite culture that surrounds and snares us. As we do, may we sincerely and honestly pray in the same manner as King David, the great Messianic foreshadow did, Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin! Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you (Psalms 51: 1-2; 7; 10; 13).

Hebrews11:20

By faith Isaac invoked future blessings on Jacob and Esau.

Jacob’s ruse, the taking advantage of his father’s blindness to extort from him the blessing that would otherwise be wasted on his spiritually void brother lends itself to much speculating: does God endorse lying and deception? Certainly not! This text though can provide for the unspiritual soul an acceptable excuse for such practices. Far be it from Hashem to endorse the darkness of devilish lies; in presenting us with such a story, the God of Light actually reveals to us an eternal messianic truth.

The Jewish people had certain expectation for a Messiah, expectations that are right, and true. Many expected the Messianic Redeemer to be a great military hero like David or the judges of old, one who would deliver them from the tyrannical hand of Rome. The Messiah truly is all that, but as Balaam prophesied, I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not nigh (Numbers 24:17), the Messiah’s coming follows a pattern of concealment.

In musing on the coming of the Messiah we are reminded of Nehemiah. Before revealing his kingly mandate to rebuild Jerusalem, Nehemiah spent time under the cover of night to scout out Jerusalem incognito (Nehemiah 2:11-16). We see the same pattern in Queen Esther, who concealed her identity before she was able to put her life on the line to save the nation (Esther in Hebrew means: concealed). We also remember how Joseph received the brothers he would later save under the concealed identity of an Egyptian Viceroy so he could test them (Genesis 42-45).

Jacob shows us that the Messiah will initiate His mission in a concealed manner. We also learn from the patriarch that the Messiah will spend a long time in the exile of the nations until He finally returns in glory to the land of His birth.

The Messiah did come to His people to fulfill their deepest yearning and expectation, but His coming was concealed. Until this day He appears to them under the identity of a stranger but oh, what a rejoicing it will be for the whole world the day He reveals Himself to them. It will dwarf the rejoicing of Joseph’s brothers, even that of the Hebrew nation as they were saved from the clutch of Haman.

Far from teaching us to lie and deceive, the story of Jacob and Isaac teaches an eternal truth, a truth concealed under a seeming lie.

In our daily discoveries in the Words of Truth, may we do more than read and study; may Abba grant us also to understand the Truth that is concealed underneath the Words.

Romans 9:13

"Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated."

Jacob and Esau live in each of us. When in Rebecca’s womb, before they had even done anything right or wrong, Hashem had already judged between the two brothers. Their nature was within them from conception, a pattern left for us today to serve as a moral map.

Esau, the wild man whose sword is against everyone especially his brother, is the resurrection of Cain. He lives and fights against all that called righteous. His very nature is to defy, reject, and challenge whatever is of God and to endorse the very antithesis of everything that is good, true, and pure. We call him the ‘old self’ (Ephesians 4:22), the ‘mind that is set on the flesh’ (Romans 8:7), a small representation of the anti-Messiah that is within each of us (1 John 4:3). Rebecca’s complaint “If it is thus, why is this happening to me?" (Genesis 25:22) expresses the cry of every man and woman who fervently desires to follow God’s ways of righteousness yet as the Master’s apostle says, through trouble and persecution (2 Timothy 3:12).

Jacob is the one who allowed Hashem to search his heart. He allowed the Spirit, the Flame of the Almighty God in his heart to search him through and through, to clean him from deceit, corruption, and all other forms of unrighteousness. He lived for twenty-one years in exile in the house of idolatrous Laban and returned home purer than before. A camp of angels welcomed him as he returned to the Land with his family which he snatched from Babylon (Genesis 32:1). Though God had already accepted him (Genesis 27:26-29; 28:11-21), Jacob worked out his salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12), and when ‘graduation’ time came, Jacob took hold of the kingdom blessing with passionate love and violence (Genesis 32:24-32; Matthew 11:12).

None of us is a helpless victim of our generation and godless environment. Each one of us is given the choice to emulate Jacob or Esau, to yield to the ‘old self’ and the ‘flesh’ within us, or to combat our innate human nature in order to live in the resurrected new man who holds on to the Angel until the blessing is bestowed, even at a price. The choice is yours!

Galatians 5:6

… Only faith working through love ….

I recently read a story about the mother of an Israeli soldier in the I.D.F. Like all good Jewish mothers, she had for her boy ambitions that defied the rules of the possible (Matthew 20:20-23). When approaching the Chief Officer of her son’s battalion to make her motherly impossible request, the officer replied: ‘Jewish mothers are one step above army chief officers, so we’ll see what we can do’.

When she saw that God was ‘lingering’ in fulfilling His own Word, Sarah decided to help Him out (sarcasm intended) using the stratagem with Hagar. Rebecca who took over the role of matriarch after Sara’s death proved herself to be cut of the same cloth. She had received a personal prophecy that Jacob should receive Isaac’s blessing and not Esau, and she was going to make sure God did not ‘mess up’ (again, sarcasm intended!) about it.

First we can wonder about God; ‘What takes Him so long anyways?’ (Don’t our wives always get on case for procrastinating on ‘important’ projects, especially theirs?) It is easy also to wonder about these two women’s ways. Did they not trust God? Other questions beg to be asked though: ‘Did these women by their actions show unreserved dedication and faith in the prophetic destiny of their lineage, even at the cost of a seeming lack of integrity? Could they maybe have been more interested in the Word of God being fulfilled than in themselves and their own reputation?’ It takes a mother, a Jewish one at that, to fight with the devil himself on these kinds of terms.

We tend to judge people through the screening of personal virtue, but it seems that Hashem judges us more by virtue of the force of our dedication and love for him. About the kingdom of God, Yeshua did mention that we break into it through forceful determination. This is not to say that the ‘end justifies the means’. It is only to reiterate the words of dear Apostle Paul in which he explains that the most important element of our spiritual walk is a faith working through love (Galatians 5:6).

Our love for the Master (oh, could it ever match Hashem’s love for us (John 3:16)) needs to go beyond the concerns of our personal posture. Our love for Him needs to expand; it needs to live in utter abandonment, above and beyond the restricted borders of the acceptable, breaking through the narrow confines of the possible. Does it in your life?

Yeshua made Himself of no reputation for us. Can we, should we do the same for Him and what he asks us to do?

Luke 2:49

And he said to them, "Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?"

After Adam and Eve resolved to disobey they were afraid of the presence of Adonai. The Heavenly Presence came in the evening to fellowship with them as was His custom (Genesis 3:8) and looked for Adam. Being omniscient, Adonai already knew about the whole ordeal of the forbidden fruit but like any responsible parent would do, He wanted Adam to own up to his actions. “Adam where are you? He said (Genesis 3:9)”. Upon hearing the familiar voice, Adam presented himself and explained, "I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself." (Genesis 3:10).

After attending the Jerusalem Passover festivities, Joseph and Miriam started on their way back to Nazareth only to realize after one full day that they had forgotten their most important piece of ‘luggage’: Yeshua. People traveled in groups and families, Yeshua and John (later called: ‘The Immerser’) were cousins so they could have been hanging out together. Unlike Adonai, Joseph and Miriam didn’t know ahead of time where their son was. When they finally found Him among the sages of the Temple, they rebuked Yeshua for not telling them where He was to which He answered, "Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?" (Luke 2:49).

In the two stories, one is lost being away from the will of the Father, while the other is lost in the will of the Father. We thank our great Abba though because as it is with us today, the first Adam is ‘found’ by the second (1 Corinthians 15:22,45). Adonai puts on a new ‘covering’ on Adam: the ‘covering’ of the redemptive work of Messiah finished from the foundation of the world (Hebrews 4:3). Yes Adam still lost his Edenic home, but he was given the ‘way’ back. Redemption doesn’t mean that we do not need to do the hard work of learning our lessons (Philippians 2:12). So it is with us today: we are redeemed, but we learn our lessons as we find our ‘way’ back. How beautiful that the Father in His foresight had it all planned from the beginning.

When Adonai comes to find you in ‘cool of day’ at the end of the age; when he comes and says to you, “Where are you?”, where will you be? Lost out of His will, or lost in His will?

2 Corinthians 6:14

Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?

We have mused with the idea of Abraham’s son Isaac being a foreshadow of Messiah. Isaac was bound to the wood and destined to a certain death which God averted, thus he did not see corruption. Now, Isaac disappears from the text of Torah while Abraham does not return to Sarah his wife. Who knows, maybe he could not face her after what he had just done on Mt Moriah; would you go tell your wife? He only returns to bury her. Abraham’s next concern is the choice a wife for Isaac who is now nearing forty. Keeping our analogy in mind, let’s see how Abraham handles it.

Abraham sends his servant Eliezer with the task of finding a wife for Isaac. First the old patriarch extols two promises from Eliezer: to not choose a wife for Isaac from among the Canaanites around them, and to not take Isaac out of the land. Isaac was to stay pure from any worldly influences. Even though his wife would come from the area that would later become ‘Babylon’ (meaning: confusion), she would be from the same genealogic stock as Abraham. Isaac was to marry Rebecca, but he would not go to her, she would come to him from Babylon. It is Abraham’s servant Eliezer, which means in Hebrew: ‘the help of my God’ who goes to look for her.

Today, the Holy Spirit also runs to and fro through this confused world to gather the Bride. The Sprit is to bring to the Master a pure Bride undefiled. The Bride is to come out of Babylon; she is to clean herself from her Babylonish ways and culture in order to meet her husband in purity. Isaac does not go to Babylon and tries to assimilate to the culture so he can be agreeable to a potential bride. He stays in the land, sends a messenger and the bride comes and changes her ways for Isaac. This should teach us something about evangelism.

Paul’s injunction, ‘I have become all things to all people (1 Corinthians 9:22)’ may today have been taken to an extreme where today Yeshua has become a-cultural. It may provide great attraction, but from the minute we remove Yeshua from His Hebraic context, all that remains is an adulterated copy of the real thing. We take Him out of the biblical context and create a new ‘god’ out of him, which is what has happened. In the last 2,000 years, the world has created a Jesus as a white western person with western thoughts and ways, a Republican from the Bible Belt. We all want Yeshua to come and relate to us, but it is us who have to go to Him and become like Him, and whether we like it or not, He is Jewish.

Let us therefore learn to not only come out of Babylon but also not to carry Babylon with us. Let us rid ourselves of our Canaanitish/Babylonish/Helenistic Western ways and learn to endorse the culture of Messiah which is Torah culture: the culture of the Bible. Let us allow the Holy Spirit to teach us through the Word all the ways of the Master so that when we come to Him at the end of days, we are a pure bride, undefiled from the ways to the world.

Hebrews 11:14-16

For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.

A young man at a university was expounding to me his beliefs about the end of the world. He was very excited and convincing in his arguments that the end was coming soon and that we should get ready. He was explaining to me that there will soon be an economic collapse which will cause a downright breakdown of society; that seismic activities also were on the rise and that we should learn to survive. He was showing me that it was all in the Bible and that there was nothing we could do about it. When the conversation shifted gear, I asked him what he was presently studying. He said he was going for some sort of law degree in economics. This is the point I stopped listening.

This man may have been right in his conjectures I do not know, but whatever our beliefs may be, our arguments seem very hypocritical when our lifestyle is contrary, if not the downright opposite of our rhetoric. If this young man believed that the whole social and economic system was on the brink of collapse and that there was nothing he or I could do about it, why in the world was he going for a long set of studies on economics? Why doesn’t his lifestyle reflect his rhetoric?

We are taught in Scriptures that we are all in exile here. That our true home is in the ‘World to Come’, when all is restored the way it should be; that we are really here like the Children of Israel in the desert. We believe this but how much do we live it? Do we live like we are settling down in this world? Do we take part of its Canaanite culture? Do we let its influence shape our thinking? Do we get weighed down with extra unnecessary baggage which makes our journey heavy? Or do we live the lifestyle of the passing through pilgrim?

I heard one time a story about a poor Rabbi; I forgot his name. This Rabbi was so poor he had nothing in his house, just some straw he used for a bed. One day as he was visiting a wealthy neighbor, his host challenged his poverty and said, “But Rabbi, is it wrong for us to own things or to be comfortable?” The Rabbi said, “Of course not; King Solomon was the richest man on earth, but let me ask you a question now, ‘Do you always travel with all your things?’ “Of course not”, replied the host, “when I do, I usually travel light; but I am home now’. To the wise Rabbi then to answer, “Aaah, but I am not home yet!”

Are you ‘home’?

Hebrews 11:9

By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise.

Abram is ordered by God Himself to leave his cozy comfortable home in Babylon. God’s leads him, along with Lot, his nephew who decided to go with him to Cana’an, a land which already occupied. They settle south; are driven to Egypt by a famine; Abram’s wife is taken captive by Pharaoh; God sends a plague to Pharaoh, who releases Sarai and showers Abram with wealthy gifts; Abram returns to the Land; separates from Lot and it is then that God makes an eternal covenant with him. Abram then has to fight to keep the Land away from five foreign invaders and to free Lot his relative. He then meets with, tithes to and honors the King of Jerusalem.

After God renews and specifies His covenant with Abraham, Hashem gives him Isaac; destroys Sodom; has Sarah again taken captive; freed in the same manner as before; has Isaac miraculously born; then ‘resurrected’ (Hebrews 11:19); Sarah then dies.

Abraham now wants to buy a piece of land to bury his wife. His only ownership of the Land is in the promises of God, which sadly do not constitute currency in our world. Hephron the Hittite at first seems to make an altruistic offer, but pragmatic Abraham sees the ‘strings’ attached to the ‘gift’ and wants nothing of it so he yields to an exorbitant price for a piece of land in Hebron. Abraham wants this to be a closed undisputable affair. Along with two other such, since the covenant follows Isaac’s line, this biblically recorded transaction serves today as a record of the indisputable Jewish ownership of that Land. God allowed these to be recorded in His Word so there would be no doubt about it. .

Wonder today at the encrypted message in this story. The prophet Isaiah said it so well, Declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, (Isaiah 46:10).

Read with me in the lives of Abraham and Sarah the life and destiny of Jacob whom Mashiach renamed, ‘Israel’ (Genesis 32:28). Coming out of Babylon Jacob came to an occupied land. Israel was made captive in Egypt, freed through plagues then showered with gifts. When Israel returned to the Land, he still has to fight for control even through kings who wanted to dominate him. Israel is again taken in captivity, this time in Babylon from where he returns with gifts from the King of Persia. The whole story takes us to the miraculous birth of Yeshua and to His resurrection. Eventually, the Land will be legally owned by its God ordained inhabitant. …, for an exorbitant price!

Here is now the rest of that verse from Isaiah: 'My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,' (Isaiah 46:10).

Hebrews 6:10

For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister.

The itinerant prophet Elisha often traveled through the Jezreel Valley also called the Plain of Megiddo in the Northern Kingdom. A prominent childless woman from the village of Shunem noticed the that this oftentimes wonderer was a prophet of God, so her and her husband who were part of a small remnant of believers in the area decided to offer him hospitality whenever he passed through. They added an extra bedroom on the roof of their house which they equipped with a bed, a chair, a table, and an oil lamp. The first Hebrew letters of each of these elements in the room spell the word: Mishkan which is the term used for the area where the Ark of the Covenant used to rest. This teaches us the very important principle that he who practices hospitably transforms his house into a Sanctuary for the Divine Presence to dwell in. Our Master relates to this Shunamite woman when He said, The one who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet's reward, and the one who receives a righteous person because he is a righteous person will receive a righteous person's reward (Matthew10:41) .

Against the woman’s protests knowing how God rewards those who care for His saints without personal motives but just because they are God’s people, Elisha desired to reward the woman for her kindness. When Elisha’s servant pointed out to him that she was barren, the prophet proceeded to tell her that by next year, at the time of life (same Hebraic expression used by the angel who spoke to Abraham about Sarah in Genesis 18:10) she will embrace a son, a son which Elisha later raises form the dead.

These events not only carried an uncanny resemblance with those told in the Book of Genesis about Sarah after Abraham practiced hospitality to strangers, but they also followed closely those that Elijah, Elisha’s master performed in that very same area. These local stories were still recited in those towns of Israel when the Master arrived on the scene. They were still fresh and people encouraged each other with them as they waited for the final Messiah who would deliver them. They knew that He would do the same miracles and even more. What a surprised then it must have been for the people of Nain when this new prophet who was born not too far from them in Nazareth crashed one of their funeral procession and being moved with compassion brought a young man back to life (Luke 7:11-15).

If you want Hashem’s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven; if you desire to make a Sanctuary of your heart and of your house for the Presence of God to dwell in; if you want to see the life-giving blessings of the Almighty fill your life: practice hospitality, especially on the Sabbath.

Hebrews 11:10

For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.

At Mt Horeb, God instructed the people of Israel about the different types of offerings. The first one mentioned in the Book of Leviticus is the ‘burnt offering’ called in the Hebrew the ’olah’ or ‘ascent’ offering. This offering is fully burnt and dedicated to God; no-one takes a piece from it like with the other offerings. This is meant to speak of total abandonment to Hashem without reservations. This is what Abraham was asked to do with Isaac on Mt Moriah, which he did with the ram provided by Adonai.

This event took place at Mt Moriah. This was the place occupied by the city of Salem where Melchizedec was king. This was the place that later on hosted the angel that was destroying Israel because David sinfully decided to take a census of the nation (2 Samuel 24). Under the instructions of Gad the prophet, David bought the place to build an altar for Adonai. We must remember at this point that God had forbidden that altars should be built in random places. The only altar to be used so far was the one in Shiloh by the Ark. This was therefore a strange command from Gad. David also knew that at some point and time, God had a place in the Land of Canaan where He would write His Name. A traditional source tells us that in order to honor both Melchizedec and Abraham, David later renamed the place to be called, ‘Yireh-Salem’, or Jerusalem meaning: ‘He will provide peace’. What a name for a city that has seen more than its share of wars and conflicts, and still waits for ‘the big one’!

Oh but He will provide peace. Like Abraham we must not stop our eyes at this imperfect world. We must seek for our true homeland; desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. That’s why Hashem is not ashamed to be called our God, for He has prepared for us a city, a city that will finally see and know peace, a peace like no other city or even country in the world has ever known or seen. Not a ‘Pax Jerusalema’ enforced type of peace, but a peace from within originated by Yeshua the Messiah: the Prince of Peace Himself. This Jerusalem is the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is the Almighty God. Abba, the Father. He has the true peace-plan and road-map to peace in Jerusalem. Yes, Jerusalem will see peace; He promised it (Hebrews 11:10,16)!