|
Matthew 24:15
So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand) … From Cain to Nebuchadnezzar, everyone who tried to conquer the Jewish, the People of the Covenant, did it forcefully through land and military conquest. In his Jewish Antiquities, Flavius Josephus gives a detailed account of Alexander the Great's visit to Jerusalem and the transpiring events that caused him not to invade and destroy it. Even though Alexander the Great did not conduct a military campaign against Jerusalem, the Hellenic empire is responsible for the historically most successful conquest of the People of God, and that through cultural assimilation. The Western philosophical Greek is as opposite to the Eastern covenantal Jew as day is opposite from night, but is commonly said, 'opposites attract!' When Israel had gotten truly addicted to Hellenism and even had a Greek appointed corrupt Jewish High-Priest, all Antiochus Epiphanes thought he had to do was to send his emissary with a list of reforms to put all of Judaism into his evil hands. He didn't expect the Maccabee revolt. From where I stand, the Maccabees may have won the war and rededicated the Temple, Antiochus Epiphanes may be dead, but the form of Anti-Semitism that he taught is still alive and vibrant. In his great graciousness and compassion Hashem gave us His Messiah. This Jewish, Righteous, and Torah-observant Messiah was high-jacked by Greco-Roman believers who in less than two hundred years displayed Him as a Roman god dressed as a Greek Adonis teaching Greek philosophy. Under a twisted ignorant interpretation of Paul's epistles, this identity theft of our Messiah included the same set of religious reforms initiated by Antiochus Epiphanes which are to stop observing the Sabbath, practicing circumcision, eating according to biblical dietary laws, and studying theology as per the Torah. As a Jewish believer, I find myself in awe that today, my non-Jewish brothers live by the same religious reforms as those pushed by Antiochus Epiphanes and even find myself shunned from their fellowship as one whose, to say the least, theology is overly influenced by Judaism. I wonder what Yeshua would think of the fact that if I want fellowship with non-Jewish believers, I have to live by Antiochus Epiphanes rules. It may be OK for others, but Jewish believers need another Chanukah revolt where with Matthias Maccabee we say "NO" to Antiochus Epiphanes' rules and live our faith in Messiah according to the terms of the covenant Hashem gave to His people. Maybe that Day will be the Day of Messiah. May Hashem give us another Matthias Maccabee who will stand for us and lead us into the cultural battle to defeat Antiochus Epiphanes once and for all! May it be soon Abba, even in our days.
0 Comments
1 Peter 1:14-16
As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, "You shall be holy, for I am holy." The idea of mankind reaching holiness can be quite a daunting conundrum. First we are told that we are in a constant unalterable sinless state (Jeremiah 17:9), but then we are required to be holy (Leviticus 11:44). Could it be that holiness is not about being sinless? What could or should a man do to attain holiness? Let’s use the Sabbath for example. Why is it holy; why is it sanctified? Does it possess any properties than differs it from the other days of the week? Does the Sabbath day have two suns or two moons? Does creation stops its work on that? Is there some sort of ‘magic’ that fills the air on the Sabbath day? No! The Sabbath day is a day like any other day; it is holy/sanctified on the sole authority of the Word of God who made it holy by His commandment to be holy. The words ‘holy’, ‘hallowed’, or from the Latin root ‘sanctified’ all come from the Hebrew ‘kadosh/kodesh’ which present the idea of being ‘set-apart’ or ‘separated’. The Sabbath day is separated from all the other days of the week solely because of a command that proceeded out of the mouth of the Almighty. It is holy simply because God said so. In the same manner therefore we are separated by the commandments of God. The injunction to be holy is mentioned as the conclusion of the dietary laws in Leviticus eleven. No other reason, health or otherwise is given to us in the Torah for following these food rules but to be holy. I am not saying that holiness is solely in following the dietary laws, but on a general level someone’s culture and even of fellowship boundaries are largely defined by what they eat and how they eat. In the same manner our dietary laws often separate (sanctify) us from society at large who is not always biblically particular about they eat. The solution the holiness conundrum could then be found in the most common of Jewish Hebrew blessings which refers to the Almighty as the One, ‘asher kideshanu bemitsvotav’ meaning: ‘Who has sanctified/separated us by His commandments’. Then, all that makes us holy is not some form of ascetic lifestyle, an ability to extreme self-denial or the performance of miracles, but simply obedience the commandments uttered by the mouth of God., and His commandments are given to us because of His grace and mercy, not because of our works or worth. Simplifying the equation further, we are holy solely because of His mercy and grace. |
Thanks for thinking of us... even a tiny donation is a blessing to us...
Order our new CD at: http://www.thelumbrosos.com/shop.html
Also available on itune. 
Our 'UNDER THE FIG TREE' atL:
http://www.thelumbrosos.com/shop.html 
Check our original judaica and other jewelery at:
http://www.thelumbrosos.com/shop.html Archives
May 2013
Categories
All
|
RSS Feed