YEDIDEI ADONAI MESSIANIC JEWISH FELLOWSHIP

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WHO IS BENJAMIN?

12/23/2012

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Revelations 19:7-8
Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure"-- for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.

Benjamin, 'the brother who did not reject Joseph' was only a young child when Joseph went to exile. He was unaware of the tensions between Joseph and his brothers. He was even unaware of what his brothers had done to Joseph. Where does Benjamin stand in the prophetic picture? We understand Joseph's messianic prefiguring role. We also understand Judah and his brothers representing Israel at the time of the Master. But what, or who does Benjamin represent in this midrashic picture? Could he represent Messianic Judaism? Could Benjamin prefigure the disciples, those sons of Jacob who not only didn't reject Joseph but loved him; those of Israel who accepted Yeshua?

As Yeshua said that His disciples would drink of His cup; so Joseph hid his cup in Benjamin's sac (Genesis 44:2; Matthew 20:22). The Jewish believers have certainly drunk of Yeshua's cup. As that of the Master's life on earth, our History is one of rejection and intense persecution by our brethren, and by the world. By the Middle-Ages Messianic Judaism had all but disappeared, only to resurrect in our days.

Benjamin ate from Joseph's table. Didn't the Jewish disciples of Yeshua eat at His table? We still do if as disciples we live by His bounty. Will we not eat at His table again and drink wine with Him at the end of this age? After revealing himself, Joseph gave extravagant clothing to Benjamin, a repeat of what his own father did for him. Will not Yeshua also clothe us in white raiment (Genesis 43:34; 45:22; Revelations 19:7-8).

For centuries, the two families birthed by the two sisters wives of Jacob warred against each other. At one point in time they even became two separate countries. The prophets and sages of Israel speak of the Messianic Era as a time of reunification of the two families. The disciples even brought it up to Yeshua before He left to sit at the right hand of the Father (Acts 1: 6). The geographical area of the tribe of Benjamin is situated almost like a buffer zone between Ephraim, the leader of the northern tribes, and Judah, the leader of the southern tribes. This should give us an idea of where we should stand as Messianic believers: as a neutral zone of reunification between the two.  It may just be coincidence, but the Temple which is to be rebuilt for the Messianic Era is positioned in the area of Benjamin (No; it is not in Judea; at the time of the Master, both the region and tribe of Benjamin had been assimilated by Judah). In the Messianic Era, the whole world will come to Jerusalem in Benjamin/Judea to bring their glory.

Though we can guess for some of them, except for Paul we do not know for sure the tribal origin of any of the disciples. When the Sacred Texts veer from a regular pattern, we must take notice. Paul was a Messianic Jew from the tribe of Benjamin. His mission by the Master was to bring the 'Good News' to Israel and to the Gentiles. May we learn to follow Messiah emulating Paul's passion, zeal, wisdom, and knowledge to bring the Master's 'Good News' to His brothers and to the worl
d.
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AARON, UNITY, AND THE SHEKINAH

12/20/2012

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Mark 11:26 (DHE)
But as for you, if you do not pardon, neither will your Father who is in Heaven forgive your transgressions.

When two brothers do not recognize each other, it is like each is exiled from the family unity. The sages taught us that God's Shekinah cannot dwell where there is no unity; in disunity, all are exiled. Joseph was exiled in Egypt, but it is also said that God's Shekinah does not abide on a mourning soul, so through Jacob's continual mourning for Joseph, his whole family was exiled from Hashem's Presence. Only joy, zest for life, and unity between brothers can bring it back down.

King David so beautifully expresses these thoughts in, Oh, how good, how pleasant it is for brothers to live together in harmony. It is like fragrant oil on the head that runs down over the beard, over the beard of Aharon, and flows down on the collar of his robes. It is like the dew of Hermon that settles on the mountains of Tziyon. For it was there that Adonai ordained the blessing of everlasting life (Psalms 133:1-3).

Aaron was known for being a peacemaking force who often worked reconciliation between people within the tribes of Israel. David knew that so he used the anointed High-Priest as a metaphor to tell us that unity between brethren is fluid. It flows everywhere positively affecting everything in its path. From the head, it descends to every part enveloping all with its shine, smoothness, and healthy properties. It is like two mountains on two opposite ends of a country, one sharing its proverbial abundant dew (material blessings) with the other who shares its divinely appointed blessing (spiritual wealth); everything working in perfect harmony.

This is the picture that we see in Joseph and his brothers kissing and reuniting with each other (Genesis 45:15). The son of Rachel acted as a true godly leader. Joseph revealed himself thus putting an end to the four generation old game of concealed identities. He also forgave his brothers stopping the never-ending returning measure of evil for evil. Unity is restored; Hashem is now able to bless Israel and send it to its destiny of growing into the powerful nation that will eventually teach the whole world about Him.

May we learn from this. As disciples of Yeshua, we have a job to do of sharing the Spirit of His mission to everyone. We therefore do not have the right to indulge in grudges; it is actually forbidden by the Torah (Leviticus 19:18). The sages mentioned that even entertaining grudges in our hearts was sinful, thus agreeing with the Master (Matthew 5:21) who even implied that holding grudges against our brothers nullifies our offerings and prayers (Matthew 5:23-24).

It is funny how in English we use the term 'holding' a grudge; all we have to do is let go of it!

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UNITY AT LAST!

12/19/2012

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Acts 1:6
Adon, 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 her firstborn Joseph the mantle of leadership over his whole household. The other brothers, the children of Leah, rejected Joseph’s authority and position. Reuben was in fact the firstborn of Jacob through Leah, but his actions cause him to lose the right of first-born. The same happened to the next ones in line: Simeon and Levy. Leadership of Israel then 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 born from Israel 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 Joshua the Ephraimite. 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 from Judah 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 the Land.

In his prophecies of the ‘two sticks’, the prophet Ezekiel speaks to us of the Messianic Age, 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 (Hashem) 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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BENJAMIN, JUDAH, AND ISRAEL

12/18/2012

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Matthew 3:8
Bear fruit 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 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’, 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! 

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ON JUDGMENT DAY ...

12/17/2012

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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 known to Hashem, 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 him and his father. Jacob’s pain concerning Joseph seems to have been a crushing weight on that family. As Judah makes his plea before the Viceroy, he reveals that he presently 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 is about to be pronounced. It is then that Judah makes the move that will change the wheels of justice: he offers himself as ransom for the life of Benjamin. This is exactly what Joseph was looking for: true repentance from a changed heart, repentance translated into acts of godliness.  

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, even into reversing a former misdeed, it is not repentance; it is just being sorry which while being emotionally somewhat comforting, is legislatively useless. When Judah offered himself as a slave for Benjamin, he showed concerned for both the father and the house of Rachel which he had formerly despised, and that was acceptable unto Joseph. The idea here is that no matter how sorry we are, we cannot improve the 'grade' until we are faced again with the same test, with a similar situation giving us the opportunity 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 speak repentance, but also show fruits meet for it.

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 (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 (2 Timothy 2:15). 

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FRUITS MEET FOR REPENTANCE

12/16/2012

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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 see Yeshua much like Joseph’s brother’s saw Pharaoh' Viceroy: 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, His Father's Appointed Days with them again. Like Joseph though, for a very long time 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 disciples of Yeshua. Just as Benjamin is the brother who did not persecute Joseph, the Jewish Messianic community, the Nazarene sect did not have a part in the ‘selling’ of Yeshua (Matthew 26:15). Joseph tested his brothers with Benjamin, so today Yeshua, the Messiah in exile tests the heart of Israel with the Jewish Messianic communities sprouting up everywhere 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. 

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SEEING LIFE FROM THE HEAVENLY PERSPECTIVE.

12/16/2012

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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 even balked at Hashem's workings in their family dynamics, so we often do not recognize all the bounties of the Divine Creator in our lives through the carefully 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)?"

Hashem'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 unfortunately only see life through the limited scopes 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 to us. 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 eventually 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’. 

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THE SWORD OF SOLOMON

12/14/2012

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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. This will be 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). 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 of Israel, knowing that in the end, the world comes to Jerusalem to finally 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 … 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 trough the Sword that comes out of His mouth, He will also reveal and re-establish the rightful origins of the Nazarene movement (Revelations 19:15).

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JACOB, JOSEPH, AND MASHIACH

12/13/2012

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 John 10:16
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? Fleeing his twin brother’s death threats, he crossed the desert alone. On his way out of the Promised Land, on his way to a long Diaspora, Jacob received a vision. The vision reassures our lone traveler of the constant presence, even in Diaspora, of the One who is in control of our fate and destiny (Genesis 28). Though the night before it may have looked like a great defeat for the cause of God, by morning Jacob realizes that there is a greater and divine purpose in his flight to Laban’s in ‘Babylon’.

Jacob arrives at the very well where his own mother Rebecca 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 sends a messianic echo through time, an echo resounding 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 Sadducee Temple leaders of Israel (while 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 Jacob's messianic waters, the whole nation of Israel would be born. From the Master's Word/Water, the Congregation of Messiah would birth.

Rachel birthed Joseph. Joseph, whom the Egyptians called ‘Savior’ married an Egyptian princess. To save His own people, Hashem lifted Rachel’s son to a position where he was able not only to save his own family, but the world alongside with it. In the same manner, as Yeshua the Anointed One 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.
 
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THE REVELATION OF MASHIACH

12/12/2012

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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 erroneous understanding of the Bible by Christianity has to do with an ignorance of History as well as with the semantics of English New Testaments which repeatedly use the expression, ’And the Jews …’ These sorts of statements 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 be a misunderstanding? The events following Chanukah may bring us some illumination.

After pushing away the Greco-Syrian army, the Maccabees sat themselves on the throne of Jerusalem. Because only a descendant of David could sit on that throne (Messiah being a son of David) this created great tension among the people of Judea. A Judean official begged Rome for help. Rome then 'obliged' by taking over Judea and its government, including Temple High-Priest 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, and wanted the return of the Davidic monarchy, of which Yeshua was allegeable. In the end, only a few Sadducee collaborators from the Judean leadership had a serious problem with Yeshua; the rest of the people loved Him and were glad to debate the Scriptures with Him as Jews always do. Most Jewry also lived outside of Israel. Could then the statement, ‘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 plot against Joseph, was present (Genesis 41-45).

In the same manner, the Messiah today and for now 2,000 years has concealed His true Jewish identity from the Gentiles. He also has not yet fully revealed Himself to His brothers. 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 for so-called 'unbelief will have to answer to Abba for what they have done (Jeremiah 2:3).

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