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Acts 1:6
Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel? Through an undesired twist of fate, the patriarch Jacob found himself married to two sisters, Leah and Rachel, thus creating two main factions within Israel. Jacob favored Rachel and gave Joseph her firstborn the mantle of leadership over his whole household. The other brothers, the children of Leah, rejected Joseph’s authority. Reuben was the firstborn of Jacob and of Leah, but because of his actions and that of Simeon and Levy, the leadership of the house of Leah fell on Judah, Jacob’s fourth born. Israel’s History is punctuated by the rivalry between the House of Joseph and the House of Judah. Prophets have expressed the World to Come as the time when the two Houses are finally united in peace. Joseph had two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh. When Moses died, leadership of the newborn nation of Israel was given to the House of Joseph through the Ephraimite Joshua. Until the reign of Saul the Benjamite, leadership in Israel fell on Judges who were mostly from either the tribes of Ephraim or Manasseh, the House of Joseph. It is King David who united the tribes under one rule and started the Davidic dynasty that was to fulfill Jacob’s prophecy and usher in the Messiah (Genesis 49:8-12). At the end of the Solomonic reign, the country was again divided into two camps: the Ephraim and the Judah camps. Most of the tribes from the House of Leah joined with Ephraim and Judah was left alone with Benjamin. Ephraim became the Northern Kingdom, and Judah the Southern Kingdom, with Benjamin stuck in between the two. Eventually the Assyrian conquered and deported the Northern Kingdom and Nebuchadnezzar deported the Judeans to Babylon. At the end of the Babylonian exile, King Cyrus issued the order for all the captives of Israel from either North or South to be allowed to return to their land. In his prophecies of the ‘two sticks’, the prophet Ezekiel speaks to us of the Messianic Age as the time when the two houses of Israel are again united under the Judean Davidic leadership (Ezekiel 34-37). This comes in fulfillment of the Psalms which tell us: He (God) rejected the tent of Joseph; he did not choose the tribe of Ephraim, but he chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion, which he loves (Psalms 78:67-68). Ezekiel’s prophecy of the two sticks united (Ezekiel 37) is actually an echo of the reunification of the two houses foreshadowed by Joseph when he embraces his brothers lead by Judah as he reveals himself to them (Genesis 45). The reunification of the two houses is and has always been one of the main signs of the Messianic Age and of the coming of Messiah. Before Yeshua ascended to the Father, His disciples asked Him, "Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel (Acts 1:6)?" Which meant, “Will You at this time restore the twelve tribes as a sovereign nation? To which He answered, "It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority (Acts 1:7-8)." May it happen soon Abba, even in our days!
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Revelations 5:13
"To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!" Judah and Israel were as many as the sand by the sea ... And Judah and Israel lived in safety … every man under his vine and under his fig tree, all the days of Solomon (1Kings 4:20-21, 25). King Solomon prefigures the Messianic Age, the time when God’s Messiah will reign on the earth as King, Priest, and Judge; a time when Judah and Israel will finally live as one independent sovereign nation in peace and prosperity; a time when the nations will come to Jerusalem to learn God’s Word and offer tribute (Micah 4). It is said that at that time the Messiah will judge the earth with righteous judgments (Isaiah 11:1-5). The wisdom of Solomon was heard worldwide and made famous by the unorthodox way he revealed the truth during a difficult case, a difficult case because there were no witnesses, a must for any biblical court case (Numbers 35:30). Here is the case: two prostitutes lived in the same house and gave birth to a child. One night one of the babies dies and its mother exchanges it for the live baby. Now both mothers claim the living child (1 Kings 3:16-22). Here is how Solomon found the truth. "Bring me a sword …"Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one and half to the other." Then the woman whose son was alive said to the king, because her heart yearned for her son, "Oh, my lord, give her the living child, and by no means put him to death." But the other said, "He shall be neither mine nor yours; divide him." Then the king answered and said, "Give the living child to the first woman, and by no means put him to death; she is his mother (1 Kings 3:23-27). Today the question rages between two proclaimed ‘mothers’ of the movement of the followers of the Nazarene, two mothers also guilty of harlotry. Was Yeshua born of a Jewish or a Christian mother? Was He an Israeli Jew or a Greco-Roman Christian? Christians say that God has rejected His people in favor of them, that Jews need to ‘convert’ to Christianity to have the Messiah. On the other hand, Jewish believers stand on the everlasting promises of God’s merciful restoration, knowing that in the end, the world comes to Jerusalem to enter peace in Messiah (Micah 4). In other words, that it is the world that is grafted into Israel’s olive tree (Romans 11), not Israel grafted into the world’s Christmas tree! When Yeshua was brought to the Temple for the dedication of the firstborn ceremony, old Simeon told Miriam, "Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed (Luke 2:34-35)." The sword of Messiah is His discerning and revealing Word of wisdom (Hebrews 4:12-13). Solomon used this sword of judgment in order to reveal who is the true mother. When the Messiah comes, not only like Solomon will He rebuild the Temple, but He will also reveal and re-establish the rightful origins of the Nazarene movement. Matthew 3:8
Bearfruit in keeping with repentance What is repentance? What does a true change of heart look like? John the Immerser told some who came to him, Bear fruit in keeping with repentance (Matthew 3:8), meaning that even before a confession to repentance is accepted, it must be proven with works documenting the statement. In order to save their skin and inheritance, Joseph’s brothers did not hesitate to sell him breaking his and their father’s heart. As a foreshadow of Messiah, Joseph was sold to the gentiles upon whom he eventually became ruler. Many years later during a famine that threatened to extinguish their family, Joseph’s brothers sought help from Egypt. Unbeknownst to them, they had to deal with the Egyptian Viceroy who by a twist of ‘fate’ (so-called!) was actually Joseph, who chose the opportune moment to test his brother’s hearts. Through a well orchestrated ruse, Benjamin, Joseph’s full biological brother, was accused of stealing the Viceroy’s special cup. The Egyptian wanted to keep Benjamin as a slave, but Judah won’t stand for it and pleads for his brother. Judah takes the lead and pleads for the uncomforted heart of his father who still mourns Joseph’s loss. He pleads and offers his own self as a substitute for Benjamin’s, the brother who in fact did not sell Joseph. To his father Judah had said, I will be a pledge of his safety. From my hand you shall require him. If I do not bring him back to you and set him before you, then let me bear the blame forever (Genesis 43:9), and to the Viceroy he now says, how can I go back to my father if the boy is not with me? I fear to see the evil that would find my father (Genesis 44:33-34)." It is at this moment that Joseph finally decides to reveal himself to his brothers (Genesis 45:1-3). Even so today, while gentiles have acknowledged Him as Messiah, Yeshua’s true identity is hidden from his brethren, the Sons of Israel. Even today messianic believers in Israel suffer intense harassment and persecution from a small but very vocal minority of their brother Judah called the Haredim. The question we must ask ourselves is, will there be a test? Will there be a test where the ‘Judah’ community of those who refused Joseph/Messiah’s leadership and therefore sold him for silver in the end will at great cost come to the rescue of the ‘Benjamin’ community, of the messianic believers sons of Israel who believed in Joseph/Messiah and did not sell him away? The Israeli government is facing difficult choices about this issue. Will there be a time in the future when ‘Judah’ is fully put to the test? Judging from the story of Joseph it seems to be a plausible course of events. May at that time ‘Judah’, the repentant formerly unbelieving brother, make the right choice showing his true repentance by making right choices concerning ‘Benjamin’, his messianic believer younger brother rather than break his Father’s heart again! May it be soon Abba, even in our days! John 10:10-11, 22
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. At that time the Feast of Dedication took place at Jerusalem. It was winter, Tonight is the first night of Chanukah. This evening the majority of Jews around the world, believers and non-believers alike, will remember this joyous event by lighting the first candle of the nine branch candelabrum. Since this week we are also looking at the story of Joseph, let us find a connection. Just like there are many foreshadows of Messiah, there are also many foreshadows of the Anti-Messiah. Like many did before him and others continued after him, Antiochus Epiphanes established himself on the world of his day to bring darkness, fear, sorrow and perdition to God’s people. Joseph on the other hand was also established on the world of his day, but he brought light, safety, joy and redemption to God’s people. We could therefore think of the story of Joseph as a ‘Chanukah’ in reverse. Our Master Yeshua taught us that Chanukah was a foreshadow of events yet to come (Matthew 24:15-31). When He went to Jerusalem to celebrate this glorious festival He used the opportunity to teach us about the evil one, about the false shepherd and the thief that will one day manifest himself and devour God’s flock (John 10:1-22). Yes, there will be another ‘Chanukah’. Its story echoes the ones of Passover with Moses and of Purim with Mordechai and Queen Ester. At that time, may we remember then that as there was a Pharaoh, a Haman and an Antiochus Epiphanes who all willed the annihilation of God’s people if they did not conform to the world around them, there will also be a Moses, a Mordechai and a Mathias Maccabee who will rescue us away from the hands of the Evil One. Yes, at that time The Good Shepherd Our Messiah, like David of old who killed a lion and bear to protect the flocks (1 Samuel 17:34-36), will come and rescue God’s children from the hands the Evil One. May we at that time be found on the right side of History! Luke 11:13
“If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” The story of Joseph seems to be the story of our lives. As Joseph’s brothers did not recognize, and as they even despised the Heavenly Father’s workings in theirs and Joseph’s life, so we often do not recognize all the bounties of the Creator in our life through its divinely planned unfolding of events that seem to us oh so random. Yeshua warned us of it. He said, “What father among you if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion (Luke 11:11-12)?" Our Father’s ‘fish’ may look like ‘serpents’ and His eggs like scorpions. But no matter what happens, in spite of the turnout of events and relationship dynamics in our lives, we must always believe that Hashem is ultimately in control. We only see life through the limited lens of time and personal concerns. Abba on the contrary is the great Planner who sees the past, present and future of the whole world from the angle of the great eternal now. It is through that wider perspective that He orchestrates everything that happens, and our seeming ‘flukes’, tragedies, and disappointments often contribute to a greater purpose unseen by us (John 9:1-3). As we process the events that daily affect and even afflict us, we must always remember what has been coined as the ‘God factor’. When we do, we automatically understand and liberate ourselves from the fear that falls upon us when we realize that we ultimately really have only very small control (if any) over anything that happens in our lives. When we do not live lives subjects to God, this realization usually dawns on us the hardest as we get ready to die. Joseph, who also for a long time could not understand why his life seemed to unravel, finally understood Hashem’s purposes and told his brothers, As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today (Genesis 50:20). This agrees with the faith of our Master, of He who endured from sinners such hostility against himself (Hebrews 12:3) when He proclaims “If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him! Luke 11:13” May we learn today to discern the ‘good gifts’ of Hashem in our lives even when they look like ‘snakes’ or ‘scorpions’. 1Timothy 3:6 Not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil (KJV). It is easy to see Joseph the son of Jacob as a foreshadow of Messiah. Even classic Judaism presents Joseph as a Messianic figure. Because of the messianic destinies of both Joseph and Judah, Judaism believes in two Messiahs; a suffering one: Joseph, and a ruling one: Judah. We know now that the two ideas are resolved in Yeshua’s first and second coming. Joseph and Judah were the recognized heads over the families conceived by their respective mothers: Leah and Rachel. Tensions were high between the two brothers and resulted in the dividing of the country. From the onstart, Joseph seemed rather unwise. He flaunted his father Jacob’s preferential love strutting around in his princely coat. He also probably didn’t have to pull as much of a work load as his brothers. To add insult to injury, Joseph volunteered his seemingly narcistic dreams at which even Jacob was astounded. His brothers even surnamed him, ‘The Master of Dreams’, which proved in fact true, as the story confirms later (Genesis 37). Joseph was truly the ‘Master’ of dreams’, and he was to be established over his family and the world for that matter. But in order to fulfill his destiny he still needed the humiliations that only slavery and unjust incarceration could offer. It doesn’t seem to be good enough for Hashem that we fulfill our destiny for Him. If we are to represent Him through our life or even verbal messages, we are to represent Him properly by exerting a life of virtue He can be proud of. Before being finally given his God-given destiny, like Joseph, every man needs to go through rejection, slavery and unjust incarceration. Only the distress and humiliation of wrong and unjust treatment can provide the qualities needed for Godly leadership. Without it, any would-be leader of God’s people is prone to the pitfalls of novices. Come to think of it, the same was told of Messiah (Hebrews 5:8). Yeshua was not to be given the crown without the cross. As a nation, it is also true of God’s people. For centuries, like Joseph and Messiah, the nation of Israel as a whole was afflicted by the world without as cause, just for being Jews. We are told though that it is God who put ‘blindness’ on Israel for awhile so that the nations could have their time (Romans 11:25). This tierm of humiliation of Israel is probably to fulfill its priestly destiny in the World to Come (Exodus 19:6). As we approach the time of the fulfillment of the Messianic era, the true followers of Messiah will all be unjustly treated, just because they are God’s people (Revelations 12:17). May this coming tribulation, as it did with Joseph, heal our arrogance, pride and immaturity that we may be worthy to rule and reign with Him in the World to Come (Revelations 20:4). John10:16
And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. See Jacob by the well (Genesis 29:2)? where did he come from? Escaping his brother’s death threats he crossed the desert alone. On his way out of the Promised Land, on his way to Diaspora, Jacob received a vision. The vision reassures our lone traveler of the constant presence, even in Diaspora, of the One who creates all things (Genesis 28). Though it may have looked like a great defeat for the cause of God, Jacob now realizes that there is a greater and divine purpose in his flight to Laban’s in ‘Babylon’. Jacob arrives at the well, at the very place where his own mother Rebecca, destined to become the great matriarch, watered Eliezer’s camels. As Rachel arrives, Jacob’s heart is filled with love, a love which gives him supernatural strength to roll the stone from the mouth of the well and water Rachel’s flocks (Genesis 29:10). While being a favor returned, this story also sends a messianic echo through time, an echo which resounds until this day. Jacob is the messianic foreshadow. The seed of Messiah lies in him and as a teacher acting out a lesson or principle, Jacob’s life teaches us of the great messianic mission of our Master. Like Jacob, our Master escaped a death threat, a death threat that took Him out of Israel to look for a bride in Diaspora. The chosen one is a distant relative, one not all that unfamiliar with the Master’s own customs, but still one who comes from an idolatrous household. When Jacob sees her He waters her flocks. What a beautiful picture of our Messiah who, while rejected by the main leaders of Israel (a corrupt minority, as the common folks accepted Him gladly), takes His own body of Jewish disciples into Diaspora to water the flocks, the flocks made up of the other sheep which are not from ‘this fold’ (John 10:16). From this messianic water, from this foreshadow of the waters of the feast of Tabernacles, the whole nation of Israel would be born. Rachel birthed Joseph. Joseph, who was called ‘Savior’ by the Egyptians, married an Egyptian princess. In order to save his own people, God lifted Rachel’s son to a position where he was able not only to save his own family, but the world alongside with it. Jacob/Israel also birthed a Savior: Yeshua HaMashiach. As He poured His redeeming oil upon His people Israel, this oil overflowed on the world of the gentiles. This is not the end of the story. God’s blessings withdrew from Egypt as they started to persecute God’s children. May the world take notice today; because as they withdraw their hands and hearts from blessing the seed of Israel, they also incur a curse upon themselves, a curse that will destroy them with the same plagues that destroyed Egypt. Sad to say, it seems to be an unavoidable destiny, and John saw it in the revelation Yeshua gave him on the Isle of Patmos. James 1:23
For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror (the Torah). For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing. Jacob may have inherited the promises made to Abraham, but he nevertheless had to come clean before being mightily blessed by the Almighty. He had to face up his lies by meeting Esau; come to term with his own demons before meeting the angels on the way to the Promised Land (Genesis 32-33). These chapters may speak to us about the struggle Israel faces today as it returns to the Promised Land after a long exile ‘Babylon’, but it also tells us about our own lives. As believers in Yeshua the Messiah, each one of us inherits a share of the elements of the promises made to Abraham. The fact that we are inheritors though doesn’t mean that we are not asked to ‘work out this ‘salvation’ in fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12). We may be allegeable, but we still have to show our worthiness. This does not come in the form of ‘works’ in order to deserve the blessings, but as a statement of integrity, like an entrance exam after being found allegeable to enter the university. Grant it, life is a fight, life is a struggle, and there is no way around it. But if we are to labor, may we labor for that ‘meat which does not perish’ (John 6:27). If we are going to contend, may we contend for the incorruptible price, for that crown of life Hashem has promised to them who love Him (James 1:12). If we are going to be soldiers, may we fight for that city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God (Hebrews 11:10). Can we stand with Jacob and meet the Angel of the Lord in our lives? Can we meet He who puts us face to face with the lies we’ve ignored for so long, with the rationalizations that make us deny His Name daily in front of others through disobedience? Can we stand Him to bless us by crippling our pride forever, change our name and truly make us a new creature, not fashioned after the pride we so dearly hold on to, but after the meekness of those who inherit the earth (Matthew 5:5)? Jacob had to learn not to hold and a grudge; do you hold a grudge/grudges? Jacob had to learn to forgive his enemy; do you forgive your enemy/ennemies? Jacob had to learn to solely rely on God for vindication; do you try to vindicate yourself in front of others? We are always so concerned about straightening up others that we forget that our primary duty is to be faced daily with the Word of Torah, that we may learn to be fashioned according to the ways of God. May we accept what this Word tells us. May we allow It to even cripple us for life, take our pride and arrogance away, that we may inherit the eternal price. 1 Corinthians 3:13
But each one's work will be shown for what it is; the Day will disclose it. The knowledge that every act whether good or bad carries its own reward or punishment should create in us a certain fear of God. When I say 'fear of God' I do not mean just respect, but the actual fear of the consequences of breaking His rule. This system of measure for measure is actually meant to be a form of soul-policing imposed on us by the Holy Spirit. There are many who claim that since the time they have applied the blood of Yeshua upon their souls they are regenerated into sinless being and therefore are impervious to sin. They claim that through this process the Torah of God is written in their heart as it is said in Jeremiah (Jeremiah 33:31-33). I have no problem with that except that if it were true, with the amount of people in this nation, and in the world, who claim to have been regenerated we should see a substantial decline in crime and immorality, which is not the case. Instead, man seems to be receiving upon its own head the fruit of his own rebellious nature. Only one hope remains. In the End, at the time when judgment calls and the books are opened, we will each stand before God. In the presence of the Ancient of Days who created the heavens and the earth and all that is in it, we will stand on the scales of judgement and our lives will be measured and weighed for virtue (1 Corinthians 3:13). As the scales drastically tip to a negative balance, the accuser and prosecutor of our souls will shout, 'middah k'neged middah' or, 'measure for measure', this is the law of heaven. In the deep silence and awe of the courtroom, the Defender and Redeemer of our soul will then approach to step on the other side of the scales adding to the balance the righteousness earned by virtue of His stripes and innocent suffering. As the scales now tip to the other side He will then also claim, 'middah k'neged middah', 'measure for measure'. With a knock of His gavel, the Judge will then proclaim the final sentence: the measure has been met. I get saddened when I hear people talking flippantly about sin. Just because they don't pay for it they think that their redemption is so-called free. It is only free for them because someone else pays for it, and Yeshua paid the price in the measure of His suffering on the cross. |
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