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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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Romans 11:12, 18
Now if their trespass means riches for the world, and if their failure means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their full inclusion mean!? Do not be arrogant toward the branches. If you are, remember it is not you who support the root, but the root that supports you. “You find that as long as Sarah lived, a cloud hung over her tent … her doors were wide open … there was a blessing on her dough, and the lamp used to burn from the evening of the Sabbath until the evening of the following Sabbath …" In this scrap of tradition, Sarah’s tent is homiletically compared to Jerusalem typified by the Temple. The cloud is symbolic of the Shekinah of God’s presence, the doors of the temple being wide opened is an invitation to the world to the house of prayer (as Yeshua called it); the blessed dough is the showbread which miraculously never spoiled, and the lamp is the seven-branches candelabrum which burned continuously in the Holy Place. In the Book of Galatians Paul builds on this illustration. Using the concept that Judaism views Sarah as the great matriarch he says, But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother. Then, using Isaiah’s allegory and adding the fact that that Sarah was barren (not Hagar) He quotes, "Rejoice, O barren one who does not bear; break forth and cry aloud, you who are not in labor! Though Paul doesn’t quote it, the rest of the oracle says, Enlarge the place of your tent, and let the curtains of your habitations be stretched out; do not hold back; lengthen your cords and strengthen your stakes (Isaiah 54:1-2; Galatians 4:26).This is an illustration that Jerusalem, (the center of Jewish religion) is one day to open its doors to all nations. The next chapter of Isaiah goes on to call all nations to drink and be fed from the fountain of Jerusalem (Isaiah 55; Zechariah 14:16). Referring to modern history, I now will build on this concept. In their impatience while waiting on God to fulfill the messianic promise of the birth of Isaac, Abraham and Sarah brought Hagar into the picture. As Hagar bore fruit she despised and boasted against Sarah who was still barren and dry. In His own time, Hashem miraculously caused Sarah to bear the fruit of the messianic promise. In the end, though blessed by God because of beloved Abraham, Hagar paid for her attitude having to leave Sarah’s presence. For 2,000 years while waiting for the 19th century when Jerusalem would miraculously birth the present-day world-wide Messianic movement, the nations of the world, who did bear fruit unto Yeshua have done so while ‘boasting’ against the ‘natural branches’ in a doctrine called ‘Replacement Theology’, and even subjecting these ‘natural branches’ to horrible persecutions (or were silent in the face of it). Will the nations suffer the same fate as Hagar? The Text tells us that not, but that in the end Jerusalem will return to its rightful original owners, and that the nations will come and serve and worship God in Jerusalem, bringing in their glory (Isaiah 66; Haggai 2:7). For what it’s worth, there is an ancient Jewish teaching which suggests that Keturah, Abraham’s second wife after Sarah died, is actually Hagar returned (Genesis 25:1-6). Ephesians 2:14
For he himself (Messiah) is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility. Everything about the Tabernacle was designed to mirror immortality. It is the reason why offerings were salted and why honey and leaven were forbidden on the altar. Resinous shittim wood also like cedar is resistant to corruption. On the third after the offering meat turns rancid, so after two days (on the third day) any meat from peace offerings was to be burnt. Anyone who partook of the meat of a peace offering on the third invalidated the offering and was regarded as cut off (Leviticus 7:16-21). This brings us into the ‘third day’ reoccurring theme of the Scriptures. Rather than seeing corruption, on the third day meat from a peace offering put on incorruptibility through being burnt. The fire of the altar, a fire which originated from heaven, lifts the offering back to heaven in the form of smoke (Leviticus 9:23-24). In the story of Samson, we see an example of the ‘Angel of the Lord’, (who is really Messiah) rising back to Heaven through the smoke of a burnt offering called in Hebrew the ‘olah’ or the ‘ascent’ (Judges 13:20). The peace offering is the only one in which the offerer partakes. It is symbolic of communion and fellowship with God through a meal. Hospitality was a big thing in the East and to invite someone to eat showed great acceptance. In the same way eating with God shows He accepts us. Moses and seventy-three other people ate with God on the mountain and the whole congregation of Messiah’s people will eat with Him at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb (Exodus 24:11; Revelations 19:9). The Passover Lamb being a shadow of Messiah is a peace offering as people partake of it. Paul often used the imagery of the peace offering to describe Messiah’s role in our lives (1 Corinthians 10:18; Romans 5:1; Ephesians 2:14; Colossians 1:20). In the same way, His body was not allowed to see corruption (Psalms 16:10; 49:9) but as a proper peace offering, He rose from the tomb on the third day. Hoseah prophecied on the resurrection of Israel’s great Diaspora (exile) in the following words: "Come, let us return to the LORD; for he has torn us, that he may heal us; he has struck us down, and he will bind us up. After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him (Hoseah 6:1-2). Seeing as with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day (2 Peter 3:8), the prophet prophesied of the resurrection of Israel on the third millennium of the present exile, third millennium in which we are also witnessing the resurrection of the Jewish state which contains a strong Messianic first fruit element of believers which brings it incorruptibility. In this day, in our day, the peace offering is finally being consumed. At the time appointed, at the sound of the great shofar of the Last Day, it will rise to Him in immortality and find fellowship with God. All those who partake of Messiah’s offering of peace are part of this everlasting promise. Revelations 11:15
“The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever”. As Moses arrived at Mt Horeb with the people of God, his Father-in-law Jethro pays him a visit. Jethro by the way is not really his name. Jethro is a title defining a societal rank. His name was Reuel (Exodus 2:18). With Reuel’s visit, we realize the greater purpose for the Exodus program. Reuel was a descendant of Abraham through his third wife Keturah (Genesis 25: 1-2). It is recorded that Abraham gave that side of his descendance what is today called Saudi Arabia to settle in. It seems that they did not continue in the faith of Abraham but adopted the paganism of the area, thus we find Jethro, a descendant of Abraham as a pagan priest of Median. Jethro witnessed the life of Moses as a seeker. Like Abraham in Ur, Moses was not satisfied with he had learned in Egypt (Hebrews 11:8-16; 24-28). Moses was not going to put up with the magic tricks of the Egyptian priests. He wanted the real thing. He searched for God with all his heart; that’s why he found Him (Jeremiah 29:13). Jethro also was a seeker. He probably knew about the God of Israel but thought He was dead, or maybe asleep. Whichever the case, this God, this Creator of Heaven and earth was on the verge of doing something that would meet all His seekers for generations and generations even until today. He was about to make such a grand entrance on the scene of World History that it would not be forgotten for generations, not even until today. As Jethro received knowledge of all God had done to Egypt in order to free His people, he returned to the faith of his ancestor Abraham. He said, Blessed be the LORD, who hath delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of Pharaoh, who hath delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians. Now I know that the LORD is greater than all gods: for in the thing wherein they dealt proudly he was above them. And Jethro, Moses' father in law, took a burnt offering and sacrifices for God: and Aaron came, and all the elders of Israel, to eat bread with Moses' father in law before God (Exodus 18:6:12). A greater Exodus is coming, a time is coming when people will not say anymore, “blessed be the Lord who delivered His people from Egypt”, but rather, “Blessed be the Lord who brought back His people from all the nations where He scattered them”. This will have the same effect as the first Exodus. Like Jethro, the whole world will then know that God is the Lord of all the earth. In the greatness of His presence, in the acknowledgment of His greatness, our puny will our petty earthly concern seem; our like nothing will all the earthly objects of adoration of the earth will seem. May it be soon Abba, even in our days! Hebrews 11: 23-27
By faith Moses, when he was born, was hid three months of his parents, because they saw he was a proper child; and they were not afraid of the king's commandment. By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter; Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; Esteeming the reproach of Messiah greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible. One day, when Moses had grown up, he went out to his people … (Exodus 2:11). '. We are not born 'there'. We get 'there' by starting where we are. In essence, we all have to 'grow up' in order to get to the divinely ordained place we are meant to occupy, to that perfect place the Father created for us to gravitate to. To get 'there' is the compounding result of many of life's decisions, and sad to say, the reason why many don't get 'there' is wrong decisions. It is in old age or on the death bed that that realization suddenly strike. Moses followed the exact pattern the Father imposed on the patriarchs. Abraham went through it, Isaac also, and I like to compare Jacob's 'School of Laban' to the proverbial 'School of hard knocks'. They, and we, all had to experience a time of spiritual, if not physical Diaspora spending time in a place away from the perfect will of God in our lives. Diaspora probably helps us appreciate the "Promised Land' of His perfect will when it comes! It takes us a long time before we find that perfect place. We spend it in diverse groups and fellowships. Most of the time, we don't grow into it until our 50's (Proverbs 4:18). In this age, in this world, we are all in Diaspora from the Kingdom of God. We have been away from our spiritual home since Adam and Eve. We get glimpses of it when we study Torah, fellowship with brethren, pray, and praise the Father of us all. One day as the Children of Israel did, we will have 'grown up'. We will then enter the Promised Land of the Kingdom of God. Come to think of it, it is Friday today. Tonight we welcome the Sabbath which is a little bit of the Kingdom of God on earth, a foreshadow of the World to Come. We all spend the week in Sabbath Diaspora, but oh wonder of wonders, it always comes back, and when it does, what a joy! Romans 11:12, 18
Now if their trespass means riches for the world, and if their failure means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their full inclusion mean!? Do not be arrogant toward the branches. If you are, remember it is not you who support the root, but the root that supports you. “You find that as long as Sarah lived, a cloud hung over her tent … her doors were wide open … there was a blessing on her dough, and the lamp used to burn from the evening of the Sabbath until the evening of the following Sabbath …. In this scrap of tradition, Sarah’s tent is homiletically compared to Jerusalem represented by the Temple. The cloud is symbolic of the Shekinah of God’s presence, the doors of the temple being wide opened is an invitation to the world to the house of prayer (as Yeshua called it); the blessed dough is the showbread which miraculously never spoiled, and the lamp is the seven-branches candelabrum which burned continuously in the Holy Place. In the Book of Galatians Paul builds on this illustration. Using the concept that Judaism views Sarah as the great matriarch he says, But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother. Then, using Isaiah’s allegory and adding the fact that that Sarah was barren (not Hagar) He quotes, "Rejoice, O barren one who does not bear; break forth and cry aloud, you who are not in labor! Though Paul doesn’t quote it, the rest of the oracle says, Enlarge the place of your tent, and let the curtains of your habitations be stretched out; do not hold back; lengthen your cords and strengthen your stakes (Isaiah 54:1-2; Galatians 4:26).This is an illustration that Jerusalem, (the center of Jewish religion) was one day to open its doors to all nations. The next chapter of Isaiah goes on to call all nations to drink and be fed from the fountain of Jerusalem (Isaiah 55; Zecheriah 14:16).). Referring to modern history, I now will build on this concept. In their impatience waiting on God to fulfill the messianic promise of the birth of Isaac, Abraham and Sarah brought Hagar into the picture. As Hagar bore fruit she despised and boasted against Sarah who was still barren and dry. In His own time, Hashem miraculously caused Sarah to bear the fruit of the messianic promise. In the end, though blessed by God because of the seed of Abraham, Hagar paid for her attitude having to leave Sarah’s presence. For 2,000 years while waiting for the 19th century when Jerusalem would miraculously birth the present-day world-wide Messianic movement, the nations of the world, who did bear fruit through what is called Christianity, have done so while ‘boasting’ against the ‘natural branches’ in a doctrine called ‘Replacement Theology’, and even subjecting these ‘natural branches’ to horrible persecutions (or was silent while it happened). Will the nations suffer the same fate as Hagar? The Text tells us that not, but that in the end Jerusalem will return to its rightful original owners, and that the nations will come and serve and worship God in Jerusalem, bringing in their glory (Isaiah 66; Haggai 2:7). For what it’s worth, there is an ancient Jewish teaching which suggests that Keturah, Abraham’s second wife after Sarah died, is actually Hagar returned (Genesis 25:1-6). Revelation 19:11
Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. Moses foresaw that the establishment of Judges was not enough for the governance of the emerging country of Israel. A king would also be needed to enforce Torah and the ruling of the judges. There is nothing wrong with authority as long as that authority rules by the Torah. Under the inspiration of the Almighty, Moses commanded the people that any king appointed to rule over them should be a descendant from Jacob (Deuteronomy 17:14-15). It was later understood that the king of Judea should even be a descendant of Judah, maybe because of the prophetic blessing Jacob uttered upon His son Judah (Genesis 49:10). These form a background that is essential if we wish to properly understand the religious politics behind the life, death and resurrection of Yeshua, the true King of the Jews from the lineage of Judah. The king, though the legislative authority of the country, was not above the Torah. He himself had to be obedient to the rulings established by the Great One over whose people he ruled. To remind him of his responsibilities towards God, Moses commands, "… he shall write for himself in a book a copy of this law, approved by the Levitical priests. And it shall be with him, and he shall read in it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the LORD his God by keeping all the words of this law and these statutes, and doing them, that his heart may not be lifted up above his brothers, and that he may not turn aside from the commandment, either to the right hand or to the left, … (Deuteronomy 17: 18-20). Along with being a legislator and a soldier, this king of Israel was to be an expert on Torah matters; he was to live and rule by it. None of the kings of Israel or Judah have attained this level of obedience. The closest one would be David who as a soldier was also a legislator, a prophet, and a priest. The Father led him to build a new Tabernacle on Mt Zion, to revamp the priesthood and create liturgy. This was known as the ‘Tabernacle of David’ (Acts 15:16). But even king David broke the Torah, as we all do. Yeshua is the only One true King of the Jews who is sinless and is the Torah written in flesh. He is the One who did not come to His will but solely the will of the Father. When He comes to judge the world, he will do it according to torah law and He will not take bribes (Deuteronomy 16:19). Even the devil tried it and it didn’t work (Luke 4). Behold, the only true and legitimate King of Israel is coming and He will judge the world in the righteousness and justice of God’s Torah. May it be soon Abba, even in our days. "Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay everyone for what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega (The Aleph and the Tav), the first and the last, the beginning and the end" (Revelations 22:12-13). Ephesians 4:4-6
There is one body and one Spirit--just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call-- one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. When the Almighty Creator of heaven and earth revealed Himself to mankind, He thoroughly explained Himself, even to the point of what would seem to us redundancy. He said it, repeated it, and as if to prove His point, He made sure that people recorded the history of both those who obeyed and those who didn’t. If we would take the time to review the spiritual parameters established for us by Abba, we would avoid much confusion. From very early on, there was to be one central place where the Father would write His Name (Deuteronomy 12:5). People could love and worship anywhere, but one place had the altar and the Ark. One place was the spiritual center of the universe: the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. Ancient Jewish writings submit that God chose that place for His Name from the times of creation. When the children of Israel entered the land, they saw the pagans build altars, set up poles and worship by trees everywhere they pleased, but God told His people to not follow that example (Deuteronomy 12:2-7). He had one place and one form of worship in mind. This teaches us about centrality and leadership. The way God has it is that He is the Boss, and whereas He may have governors in provinces, His orders come from one central place, and people have to come to place at times of His choosing to worship, to hear Torah, and to offer gifts and tithes, all in the way that He commanded. Abba told the people before entering the Land, "You shall not do according to all that we are doing here today, everyone doing whatever is right in his own eyes, … But when you go over the Jordan … to the place that the LORD your God will choose, to make his name dwell there, there you shall bring all that I command you: … (Deuteronomy 12:8-11). It is the place where Abraham, through whom all the families of the earth should be blessed, offered Isaac; (Genesis 12:3). It is where Yeshua, who became light to the gentiles and glory to Israel (Luke 2:32) was crucified. It is also in Jerusalem that Mashiach will establish His central global reign on the earth forever. At that time not just Israel, but all nations will be required to come to Zion and attend the Feast of Tabernacles (Zachariah 14:16-19). Gone will be the spiritual anarchic madness of today where everyone likes to interpret the Word according to what is right in his own eyes (Deuteronomy 12:8). One of the saddest verses in the Bible may be ‘In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes (Judges 17:6; 21:25). The book of Judges is a testament against man left to his own devices without kingly central authority. Our world today is in the same predicament. We are waiting for the King to come and take central authority of His Kingdom. He will come; may it be soon, even in our days! LONG LIVE THE KING OF KINGS! |
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