Come away from the stress and anxieties of life, forget self and focus your mind and heart on being still before ADONAI.
These passages surpass all others, for they not only foretell of Yeshua’s birth but also reveal its fulfillment. Yeshua is God’s love-gift to mankind. God’s sacrificial Lamb foretold was fulfilled with the real gift, God’s ultimate love gift. A gift so priceless, when received, one is willing to give up self and his ways and receive God and His way – life through His Son, Yeshua Messiah.
performed by Mark Schultz
It’s sad to say that if events do not happen in the logical order that man perceives them then – THEY CANNOT BE! Since there are no boundaries for the One, all knowing, all omnipotent and Holy God, the Adonai of all things cannot and will not be put in a box based on what the mind of man perceives.
“For a Child is born to us, a Son is given to us; dominion will rest on His shoulders, and He will be given the name Pele-Yo’etz El Gibbor Avi-‘Ad Sar-Shalom {Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Father of Eternity, Prince of Peace}, In order to extend the dominion and perpetuate the peace of the throne and kingdom of David, to secure it and sustain it through justice and righteousness henceforth and forever. The zeal of Adonai-Tzva’ot will accomplish this.” Yesha’yahu 9:6-7 CJB
“For Unto Us a Child Is Born” from Handel’s Messiah
From Malachi to Matthew, a period of 400 years, there was silence from God and the prophets. This time brought about the rise and fall of the Grecian Empire, a period of Jewish revolt by the Maccabees, and the rise of the Roman Empire. The genealogy of Yeshua Messiah is the bridge from the old to the new. Upon the stage of mankind, the revelation of the Lamb of God, foretold by Isaiah the prophet, is personified!
Now let us look at the prophecy fulfilled concerning His place of birth. “But you, Beit-Lechem near Efrat, so small among the clans of Y’huda, out of you will come forth to me the future ruler of Isra’el, whose origins are far in the past, back in ancient times.” Micah 5:2
“In the countryside nearby were some shepherds spending the night in the fields, guarding their flocks, when an angel of Adonai appeared to them, and the Sh’khinah of Adonai shone around them. They were terrified; but the angel said to them, ‘Don’t be afraid, because I am announcing to you Good News that will bring great joy to all the people. This very day, in the town of David, there was born for you a Deliverer who is the Messiah, the Lord. Here is how you will know: you will find a baby wrapped in cloth and lying in a feeding trough.’ Suddenly, along with the angel was a vast army from heaven praising God:
The heavens announced His arrival. The brightness of the star led the way. The angels followed, praising and glorifying God; announcing peace on earth to the people of good will. The grand entrance was made, but there was no room in the hearts of men. Sorry, I have no room for you in the living-quarters, but there is a stable you can use.“Adore Him” performed by Kari Jobe
Then came love – the purest of loves, from the very heart of God; a part of Himself wrapped in swaddling cloths of forgiveness, mercy and grace. Yeshua came to love, forgive, heal and set the people free! Freedom! A word the people had only talked about, but very few had experienced… until a babe, innocent and perfect in every way, stepped down from His throne in heaven to become the Savior and Servant to a lost people. He came to show each one, first hand, of a love so amazing, so divine, so sincere, but only through knowing Him can it ever be experienced.
God’s Law Part II: Two Passover Lambs – Two Blood Covenants
Look! Listen! Focus! Pray that Jehovah God will open the eyes of your heart and your ears to hear the truth from His Word that you may experience the complete fulfillment of the prophecies foreshadowed by the Passover lamb in Egypt of the coming of God’s Sacrificial Passover Lamb, Yeshua in Jerusalem in 33AD.
The lamb represents innocence; doing no evil, free from sin or wrong, doing no harm, freedom from guilt, and not transgressing the law. Just as a young child who is not yet consciously acquainted with evil has done no wrong. The lamb must be without spot; no discoloration, as white as snow; the lamb without blemish; no bruises, cuts, or deformities.
“Open The Eyes of My Heart Lord”
performed by Mercy Me
1 ADONAI spoke to Moshe and Aharon in the land of Egypt; he said, 2 “You are to begin your calendar with this month; it will be the first month of the year for you. 3 Speak to all the assembly of Isra’el and say, ‘On the tenth day of this month, each man is to take a lamb or kid for his family, one per household – 4 except that if the household is too small for a whole lamb or kid, then he and his next-door neighbor should share one, dividing it in proportion to the number of people eating it. 5 Your animal must be without defect, a male in its first year, and you may choose it from either the sheep or the goats. 6 “‘You are to keep it until the fourteenth day of the month, and then the entire assembly of the community of Isra’el will slaughter it at dusk. 7 They are to take some of the blood and smear it on the two sides and top of the doorframe at the entrance of the house in which they eat it. 8 That night, they are to eat the meat, roasted in the fire; they are to eat it with matzah and maror. 9 Don’t eat it raw or boiled, but roasted in the fire, with its head, the lower parts of its legs and its inner organs. 10 Let nothing of it remain till morning; if any of it does remain, burn it up completely. 11 “‘Here is how you are to eat it: with your belt fastened, your shoes on your feet and your staff in your hand; and you are to eat it hurriedly. It is ADONAI’s Passover. 12 For that night, I will pass through the land of Egypt and kill all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both men and animals; and I will execute judgment against all the gods of Egypt; I am ADONAI. 13 The blood will serve you as a sign marking the houses where you are; when I see the blood, I will pass over [Hebrew: pasach] you.” Exodus 12
Blood is life; the life of the flesh is in the blood. In reading the passage above one sees the action of putting blood on the two sides and top of the doorframe, an exercise of faith to save the life of the firstborn. By faith, they believed and obeyed. God is complete truth and cannot lie. Obedience to God’s next passage, Passover in Jerusalem AD33, is also a matter of life and death.
7 Then came the day of matzah, on which the Passover lamb had to be killed. 8 Yeshua sent Kefa and Yochanan, instructing them, “Go and prepare our Seder, so we can eat.” 9 They asked him, “Where do you want us to prepare it?” 10 He told them, “As you’re going into the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him into the house he enters, 11 and say to its owner, `The Rabbi says to you, “Where is the guest room, where I am to eat the Pesach meal with my talmidim?” ‘ 12 He will show you a large room upstairs already furnished; make the preparations there.” 13 They went and found things just as Yeshua had told them they would be, and they prepared for the Seder. 14 When the time came, Yeshua and the emissaries reclined at the table, and he 15 said to them, “I have really wanted so much to celebrate this Seder with you before I die! 16 For I tell you, it is certain that I will not celebrate it again until it is given its full meaning in the Kingdom of God.” Luke 22
1 It was just before the festival of Pesach, and Yeshua knew that the time had come for him to pass from this world to the Father. Having loved His own people in the world, He loved them to the end. 2 They were at supper, and the Adversary had already put the desire to betray Him into the heart of Y’hudah Ben-Shim`on from K’riot. 3 Yeshua was aware that the Father had put everything in His power, and that He had come from God and was returning to God. 4 So He rose from the table, removed His outer garments and wrapped a towel around His waist. 5 Then He poured some water into a basin and began to wash the feet of the talmidim and wipe them off with the towel wrapped around Him.
12 After He had washed their feet, taken back His clothes and returned to the table, He said to them, “Do you understand what I have done to you? 13 You call me `Rabbi’ and `Lord,’ and you are right, because I am. 14 Now if I, the Lord and Rabbi, have washed your feet, you also should wash each other’s feet. 15 For I have set you an example, so that you may do as I have done to you. John 13
Yeshua came to serve and this example is the height of humility!
17 Then, taking a cup of wine, he made the b’rakhah and said, “Take this and share it among yourselves. 18 For I tell you that from now on, I will not drink the `fruit of the vine’ until the Kingdom of God comes.” 19 Also, taking a piece of matzah, He made the b’rakhah, broke it, gave it to them and said, “This is My body, which is being given for you; do this in memory of Me.” 20 He did the same with the cup after the meal, saying, “This cup is the New Covenant, ratified by My blood, which is being poured out for you.” Luke 22
The Passover meal has ended. Now the unveiling of the truth begins as we see the progressive revelation that began as a shadow in Egypt, being fulfilled in the reality of the once-for-all sacrifice of God’s loving Lamb – His Son, Yeshua!
Yeshua’s statement says it all:
And Yeshua took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body given for you; Do this in Remembrance of Me.” Luke 22:19
From this time forward, Passover has taken on a full and complete reality of truth; behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world.
17 As Yeshua was going up to Yerushalayim, he took the twelve talmidim aside by themselves and said to them, as they went on their way, 18 “We are now going up to Yerushalayim, where the Son of Man will be handed over to the head cohanim and Torah-teachers. They will sentence him to death 19 and turn him over to the Goyim, who will jeer at him, beat him and execute Him on a stake as a criminal. But on the third day, He will be raised.” Matthew 20
As we’ll see next, these exact events were prophesied by Isaiah hundreds of years before Yeshua’s birth.
13 “See how my servant will succeed! He will be raised up, exalted, highly honored! 14 Just as many were appalled at him, because he was so disfigured that he didn’t even seem human and simply no longer looked like a man, 15 so now he will startle many nations; because of him, kings will be speechless. For they will see what they had not been told, they will ponder things they had never heard.” Isaiah 52
Isaiah 53
1 Who believes our report? To whom is the arm of ADONAI revealed? 2 For before him He grew up like a young plant, like a root out of dry ground. He was not well formed or especially handsome; we saw Him, but His appearance did not attract us. 3 People despised and avoided Him, a man of pains, well acquainted with illness. Like someone from whom people turn their faces, He was despised; we did not value Him. 4 In fact, it was our diseases He bore, our pains from which He suffered; yet we regarded Him as punished, stricken and afflicted by God. 5 But He was wounded because of our crimes, crushed because of our sins; the disciplining that makes us whole fell on Him, and by His bruises we are healed. 6 We all, like sheep, went astray; we turned, each one, to his own way; yet ADONAI laid on Him the guilt of all of us, and in fellowship with Him 7 though mistreated, He was submissive – He did not open his mouth. Like a lamb led to be slaughtered, like a sheep silent before its shearers, He did not open his mouth. 8 After forcible arrest and sentencing, He was taken away; and none of His generation protested His being cut off from the land of the living for the crimes of my people, who deserved the punishment, themselves. 9 He was given a grave among the wicked; in His death He was with a rich man. Although He had done no violence and had said nothing deceptive, 10 yet it pleased ADONAI to crush Him with illness, to see if He would present himself as a guilt offering. If He does, He will see His offspring; and He will prolong His days; and at His hand ADONAI’s desire will be accomplished. 11 After this ordeal, He will see satisfaction. “By His knowing [pain and sacrifice], my righteous servant makes many righteous; it is for their sins that He suffers. 12 Therefore I will assign Him a share with the great, He will divide the spoil with the mighty, for having exposed Himself to death and being counted among the sinners, while actually bearing the sin of many and interceding for the offenders.”
Hebrews 8
4 Now if Yeshua were on earth, He wouldn’t be a cohen at all, since there already are cohanim offering the gifts required by the Torah. 5 But what they are serving is only a copy and shadow of the heavenly original; for when Moshe was about to erect the Tent, God warned him, “See to it that you make everything according to the pattern you were shown on the mountain.” 6 But now the work Yeshua has been given to do is far superior to theirs, just as the covenant he mediates is better. For this covenant has been given as Torah on the basis of better promises. 7 Indeed, if the first covenant had not given ground for faultfinding, there would have been no need for a second one. 8 For God does find fault with the people when he says, “‘See! The days are coming,’ says ADONAI, ‘when I will establish over the house of Isra’el and over the house of Y’hudah a new covenant. 9 “‘It will not be like the covenant which I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by their hand and led them forth out of the land of Egypt; because they, for their part, did not remain faithful to my covenant; so I, for my part, stopped concerning myself with them,’ says ADONAI. 10 “‘For this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Isra’el after those days,’ says ADONAI: ‘I will put my Torah in their minds and write it on their hearts; I will be their God, and they will be my people.
To the mediator of a new covenant, Yeshua; and to the sprinkled blood that speaks better things than that of Hevel. Hebrews 12:24
The God of shalom brought up from the dead, the great Shepherd of the sheep, our Lord Yeshua, by the blood of an eternal covenant. Hebrews 13:20
God is waiting for you to come to Him. Today, make this personal New Blood Covenant with Him. He has prepared the way, now is the time for you to choose.
- Know you are a lost sinner and have a need for salvation
- Humbly repent of your sins, for which Yeshua has already died. He has provided the way with His blood.
- Through your believing faith, ask Yeshua to save you and forgive you of your sins and become your personal Savior and Lord.
- Receive God’s Holy Spirit in your soul to comfort and direct your life.
- You are now a child of the King, Yeshua, with the Kingdom of Heaven as your eternal home.
24 By God’s grace, without earning it, all are granted the status of being considered righteous before Him, through the act redeeming us from our enslavement to sin that was accomplished by the Messiah Yeshua. 25 God put Yeshua forward as the kapparah for sin through his faithfulness in respect to His bloody sacrificial death. This vindicated God’s righteousness; because, in His forbearance, He had passed over [with neither punishment nor remission] the sins people had committed in the past. Romans 3
Several other scriptures relating to the blood of the Lamb are listed below.
18 knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, 19 but with the precious blood of Yeshua the Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. 1 Peter 1
Therefore, since we have now come to be considered righteous by means of His bloody sacrificial death, how much more will we be delivered through Him from the anger of God’s judgment! Romans 5:9
19 So, brothers, we have confidence to use the way into the Holiest Place opened by the blood of Yeshua. 20 He inaugurated it for us as a new and living way through the parokhet, by means of His flesh.
29 Think how much worse will be the punishment deserved by someone who has trampled underfoot the Son of God; who has treated as something common the blood of the Covenant which made him holy; and who has insulted the Spirit, giver of God’s grace! Hebrews 10
In union with Yeshua, through the shedding of His blood, we are set free – our sins are forgiven; this accords with the wealth of the grace. Ephesians 1:7
And from Yeshua the Messiah, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead and the ruler of the earth’s kings. To Him, the one who loves us, who has freed us from our sins at the cost of His blood. Revelation 1:5
And they sang a new song, “You are worthy to take the scroll and break its seals; because You were slaughtered; at the cost of blood You ransomed for God persons from every tribe, language, people and nation. Revelation 5:9
“Sir,” I answered, “you know.” Then he told me, “These are the people who have come out of the Great Tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white with the blood of the Lamb. Rev 7:14
11 But when Christ came as High Priest of the good things that are now already here, He went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not made with human hands, that is to say, is not a part of this creation. 12 He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but He entered the Most Holy Place once for all by His own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption. 13 The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. 14 How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God! 15 For this reason Christ is the mediator of a New Covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the First Covenant. Hebrews 9
“I Believe In A Hill Called Mount Calvary”
performed by the Gaither Vocal Band
Amir Tsarfati and Behold Israel
God commanded Moses to make a Golden Menorah for the wilderness tabernacle. Why? What happened to it after the Temple was destroyed? Where is the Menorah today? Is it important to have it again or was it only a mere shadow of something far greater? Will we have it in eternity at the New Jerusalem?
Enjoy this teaching by Amir Tsarfati from the Mt. of Beatitudes in Israel.
If you are interested in additional information on Amir, visit his website Behold Israel and you can find additional videos on his YouTube channel, Behold Israel.
About Behold Israel
Behold Israel is a non-prophet organization led by native Israeli Amir Tsarfati. Their mission is to provide reliable and accurate reporting on developments in Israel and the region. Amir’s live updates and teachings, based on God’s Written Word, sift out the truth on current 3events amidst global media bias against Israel.
Through the website, free app, social media and Amir’s teachings in multiple languages, we are able to reach communities worldwide. His teachings abroad and in the land explain the central role of Israel in the Bible as a blessing to the nations and a way to bring them to the Word of God and the Messiah.
Israel Unveiled Vol. 1 is a journey through 11 different sites in the land of the Bible with Amir Tsarfati.
Join us as Amir teaches the Sermon on the Mount from the Mt. of the Beatitudes. See additional locations at Behold Israel’s YouTube channel.
Amir Tsarfati
Amir Tsarfati is the founder of Behold Israel and lives in northern Israel. Since 1999, Amir has been invited to churches, prophecy seminars and conferences around the world, to teach on current events in Israel in light of Bible prophecy. Since 2004, Amir has been consultant to various law enforcement agencies and seminars on homeland-security issues.
Amir was born to a Jewish family in Jerusalem. He grew up in the Jerusalem area and heard about the Messiah while living with a foster family as a high school senior. It was when he saw the “Jesus” film by Campus Crusade that he accepted Jesus into his heart, the turning point in his life.
May you be blessed as you listen to Amir’s, “Jesus in the Old Testament.”
TO: All Hebrews
FROM: Jehovah God of the Hebrews
Hebrews Chapters 12 & 13
Hebrews 12:1-2 1Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses {believers}, let us, too, put aside every impediment – that is, the sin which easily hampers our forward movement – and keep running with perseverance in the race set before us, 2 Let us fix our eyes on Yeshua, the author and perfector of our faith, who, in exchange for obtaining the joy set before Him, endured execution on a stake as a criminal, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
The prophet Isaiah, in chapters 52 and 53, foretells one account of Yeshua’s crucifixion. Jehovah God is speaking of His only begotten Son, Yeshua.
Isaiah 52:13-15 “See how My servant will succeed! He will be raised up, exalted, highly honored! Just as many were appalled at Him, because He was so disfigured that He didn’t even seem human and simply no longer looked like a man, so now He will startle many nations; because of Him, kings will be speechless. For they will see what they had not been told, they will ponder things they had never heard.”
Isaiah 53 1 Who believes our report? To whom is the arm of ADONAI revealed? 2 For before him Yeshua grew up like a young plant, like a root out of dry ground. He was not well-formed or especially handsome; we saw Him, but His appearance did not attract us. 3 People despised and avoided Him, a man of pains, well acquainted with illness. Like someone from whom people turn their faces, He was despised; we did not value Him. 4 In fact, it was our sins He bore, our pains from which He suffered; yet we regarded Yeshua as punished, stricken and afflicted by God. 5 But Yeshua was wounded because of our crimes, crushed because of our sins; the disciplining that makes us whole fell on Him, and by His bruises we are healed. 6 We all, like sheep, went astray; we turned, each one, to his own way; yet ADONAI laid on His only Son, Yeshua, the sins of us all. In fellowship with God 7 though mistreated, Yeshua was submissive – He did not open His mouth. Like a lamb led to be slaughtered, like a sheep silent before its shearers, Yeshua did not open his mouth. 8 After forcible arrest, beatings and sentencing, He was taken away; and none of His generation protested His being cut off from the land of the living for the crimes of God’s people, who deserved the punishment themselves. 9 He was given a grave among the wicked; in His death He was laid in a rich man’s tomb. Although Yeshua, being perfect, had done no violence and had said nothing deceptive, 10 yet it pleased ADONAI to crush Him with suffering, to see if He would present Himself as the once-for-all guilt offering. If Yeshua does, He will see His offspring; and He will prolong his days; and at His hand ADONAI’s desire will be accomplished. 11 After the suffering of His soul, He will see the light of life and be fulfilled. “By Yeshua’s knowing pain and sacrifice, My righteous servant makes those who believe in Him righteous; it is for their sins that he suffers. 12 Therefore I will assign Him a share with the great, He will divide the spoil with the mighty, for having exposed Himself to death and being counted among the sinners, while actually bearing the sin of many and interceding for the offenders.”
The greatest act of forgiveness came from Yeshua as He was dying on the cross. Yeshua cried out, ”Father, forgive them for they no not what they are doing.” Luke 23:34
Why should we ever have trouble forgiving one another?
Read the account of Yeshua’s crucifixion from an earlier blog post “It Is Finished” and from the account found in Luke 23.
Drops of blood splattered the narrow cobblestone pavement in Jerusalem that lead to Golgotha, known as the place of the Skull, on Mt. Calvary.
Yeshua’s flesh was torn to the bone from the scourging. His appearance was disfigured beyond that of any man and His form marred beyond human likeness. Those who rejected Him inflicted mental and physical brutalities beyond comprehension upon Yeshua. A crown of thorns pierced His brow, which mocked and ridiculed His answer to Pilot, “My Kingdom does not belong to this world’s order of things.”
Yeshua’s last hours were filled with the deepest depth of sorrow and injustice beyond belief! Innocence, truth, love, and forgiveness were crucified. Yeshua’s blood flowed. Oh, the blood, the precious blood of the Lamb, Jehovah’s Lamb.
There is power in His blood: the power to overcome sin and save us from death and Hell, and the power of love that purifies and redeems. The Lamb is without spot or blemish. The Lamb that laid down His life, once-for-all, for whosoever chooses, so that we may be washed and justified from sin by faith believing.
“Power In The Blood” performed by Nicole C. Mullen
The Lamb was foreshadowed back in Egypt when the Israelites where told by Moses to put the blood of a lamb on the doorpost of their homes so that death would pass over.
Blood is life. The blood of Yeshua has the power of life over death and fills the hearts of those who receive Him with eternal life. The veil, which separated the Holy of Holies, was torn from top to bottom by Jehovah. This act reveals that we have direct access to Him through His Son, Yeshua the Great High Priest. Yeshua is our intercessor having accomplished His mission, given by His Father Jehovah, through fulfilling the law and establishing the new blood Covenant.
No one could see behind the Temple veil except the high priest. Today, only the veil of spiritual blindness stands between one’s seeing and believing Jehovah’s complete truth.
Worthy is the Lamb! In Yeshua, we have redemption through His blood and the forgiveness of sins. Ephesians 1:7 Jehovah gave His Son to pay the ultimate price. Yeshua was born to die so that you and I could have eternal life!
NEVER, NEVER, NEVER LET ANYONE TELL YOU THAT JEHOVAH GOD AND HIS ONLY SON, YESHUA, DO NOT LOVE YOU!
“Written In Red”
The 12th chapter of Hebrews begins with therefore. What is therefore – there for? It is to bring to a conclusion, from previous chapters, the major highlights of Jehovah’s revelation of truth through warnings {to those who reject Jehovah’s word of truth} and perseverance {those who accept Jehovah’s word of truth} in regard to His Son, Yeshua.
It is imperative that you, the Hebrew people, by faith believing, accept Jehovah’s truth by knowing His Son, Yeshua, as your personal Savior and Lord of your life.
It is evident that Jehovah God presents His truth to His Hebrew people. Let us review by taking a look as some key examples.
1) In the past, Jehovah spoke to your forefathers through His prophets.
2) In the last days, Jehovah spoke through His Son, Yeshua, whom He appointed heir of all things.
3) Yeshua will be King in the Kingdom of Heaven in the New Jerusalem forever and ever.
4) Jehovah’s warning: do not ignore such a great salvation!
5) Yeshua, Jehovah’s Son, was made like His brothers in order to become the merciful and faithful Great High Priest, making atonement for the sins of the people. Amen and Amen!
6) Yeshua is greater than Angels (messengers) or Moses, a servant in Jehovah’s house. Yeshua is the Son over Jehovah’s house.
7) Jehovah’s Holy Spirit speaks another warning: today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your heart. Listen! Seek Jehovah God with all your heart!
8) You have heard the Gospel preached; respond by faith believing in Yeshua Messiah the Christ – while it is today.
9) As a new believer, hold firm to the faith you possess. You know Jehovah’s truth and His truth sets you free.
10) Yeshua paid the price for your sins with His blood in order that you may have everlasting life through Him only.
11) Jehovah’s warning: do not fall away from the truth! Walk in the Holy Spirit and not in the flesh. All things spiritual!
12) Melchizedek foreshadowed Yeshua Messiah, the Christ and the Great High Priest forever and ever! No other priests are needed. Yeshua is your all in all and the only intercessor between you and your heavenly Father God.
13) Jehovah God’s Son, Yeshua, is the mediator of the New Blood Covenant, through His once-for-all blood sacrifice. He set those who choose Him free from sin with His promise of an eternal inheritance in the Kingdom of Heaven! Amazing love!
14) Trust in Jehovah God, for His Word is truth and He cannot lie. Exercise your trust in God by faith believing in Yeshua His Son for salvation. Stand firm in the faith.
ALL 14 examples can be summed up into one. Jehovah God warns, do not ignore such a great salvation – Do not ignore My Son, Yeshua.
Stand firm in FAITH.
F is for forgiveness. “In Yeshua we have redemption through His Blood, the forgiveness of sins.” Ephesians 1:7
A is for available for all. “For God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son, Yeshua, into the world that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.” John 3:16
I is for impossible. It is impossible for God to allow sin into Heaven. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23
T is for Turn. Turn is to repent from your self and sin and by faith believing, turn to Yeshua for salvation. “If My people, which are called by My name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from Heaven, and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” 2 Chronicles 7:14
H is for Heaven. The dwelling place, the eternal home for all believers, called the Kingdom of Heaven, the perfect place without sin, where Yeshua is the King of kings and Lord of lords forever without end! Yeshua told His disciples of this place. “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God and believe in Me. In My Father’s house are many places to live. If there weren’t, I would have told you because I am going there to prepare a place for you. Since I am going and preparing a place for you, I will return to take you with Me; so that where I Am, you may be also. Furthermore, you know where I’m going; and you know the way there.” John 14:1-4
By FAITH let us see. By FAITH let us believe in Jehovah’s Son, Yeshua. By FAITH let us receive Jehovah’s love gift of salvation through Yeshua, the One who paid the price for my sin and yours, through the shedding of His blood ONCE-FOR-ALL to those, who by FAITH believing in Yeshua, personally receive Him as Savior and Lord of their lives.
God is dealing with you as sons; regard your endurance as discipline.
1 So then, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us, too, put aside every impediment – that is, the sin which easily hampers our forward movement – and keep running with endurance in the contest set before us, 2 looking away to the Initiator and Completer of that trusting Yeshua, who in exchange for obtaining the joy set before Him, endured execution on a stake as a criminal, scorning the shame, and He sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Yes, think about Yeshua who endured such hostility against Himself from sinners, so that you won’t grow tired or become despondent. 4 You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in the battle against sin. 5 Also you have forgotten the counsel, which speaks with you as sons: “My son, don’t despise the discipline of ADONAI or become despondent when he corrects you. 6 For ADONAI disciplines those he loves and whips everyone He accepts as a son.” 7 Regard your endurance as discipline; God is dealing with you as sons. For what son goes undisciplined by his father? 8 All legitimate sons undergo discipline; so if you don’t, you’re a mamzer and not a son! 9 Furthermore, we had physical fathers who disciplined us, and we respected them; how much more should we submit to our spiritual Father and live! 10 For they disciplined us only for a short time and only as best they could; but God disciplines us in a way that provides genuine benefit to us and enables us to share in His holiness. 11 Now, all discipline, while it is happening, does indeed seem painful, not enjoyable; but for those who have been trained by it, it later produces its peaceful fruit, which is righteousness. 12 So, strengthen your drooping arms, and steady your tottering knees; 13 and make a level path for your feet; so that what has been injured will not get wrenched out of joint but rather will be healed. 14 Keep pursuing shalom with everyone and the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. 15 See to it that no one misses out on God’s grace, that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble and thus contaminates many, 16 and that no one is sexually immoral, or godless like Esav, who in exchange for a single meal gave up his rights as the firstborn. 17 For you know that afterwards, when he wanted to obtain his father’s blessing, he was rejected; indeed, even though he sought it with tears, his change of heart was to no avail. 18 For you have not come to a tangible mountain, to an ignited fire, to darkness, to murk, to a whirlwind, 19 to the sound of a shofar, and to a voice whose words made the hearers beg that no further message be given to them – 20 for they couldn’t bear what was being commanded them, “If even an animal touches the mountain, it is to be stoned to death”; 21 and so terrifying was the sight that Moshe said, “I am quaking with dread.” 22 On the contrary, you have come to Mount Tziyon, that is, the city of the living God, heavenly Yerushalayim; to myriads of angels in festive assembly; 23 to a community of the firstborn whose names have been recorded in heaven; to a Judge who is God of everyone; to spirits of righteous people who have been brought to the goal; 24 to Yeshua the mediator of the New Covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks better things than that of Hevel (Abel). 25 See that you don’t reject Jehovah God who speaks! For if those did not escape who rejected God when He gave divine warning on earth (Mount Sinai) think how much less we will escape if we turn away from Him when He warns from heaven (Mount Zion). 26 Even then, God’s voice shook the earth (Mt. Sinai); but now, God has made this promise: “One more time I will shake not only the earth, but the heaven too (Mount Zion)!” 27 And this phrase, “one more time,” makes clear that the things shaken are removed, since they are created things, so that the things not shaken may remain (eternal). 28 Therefore, since we have received an unshakeable Kingdom, let us have grace, through which we may offer service that will please God, with reverence and fear. 29 For indeed, “Our God is a consuming fire!”
“A Mighty Fortress” performed by Christy Nockels
Exhortations for all believers
1 Let brotherly friendship continue; 2 but don’t forget to be friendly to outsiders; for in so doing, some people, without knowing it, have entertained angels. 3 Remember those in prison and being mistreated, as if you were in prison with them and undergoing their torture yourselves. 4 Marriage is honorable in every respect; and the marriage bed kept pure for God will indeed punish fornicators and adulterers. 5 Keep your lives free from the love of money; and be satisfied with what you have; for God himself has said, “I will never fail you or abandon you.” 6 Therefore, we say with confidence, “ADONAI is my helper; I will not be afraid what can a human being do to me?” 7 Remember your leaders, those who spoke God’s message to you. Reflect on the results of their way of life, and imitate their trust – 8 Yeshua the Messiah is the same yesterday, today and forever. 9 Do not be carried away by various strange teachings; for what is good is for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods. People who have made these the focus of their lives have not benefited thereby. 10 We have an altar from which those who serve in the Tent are not permitted to eat. 11 For the cohen hagadol brings the blood of animals into the Holiest Place as a sin offering, but their bodies are burned outside the camp.p 12 So too Yeshua suffered death outside the gate, in order to make the people holy through his own blood. 13 Therefore, let us go out to Him who is outside the camp and share His disgrace. 14 For we have no permanent city here; on the contrary, we seek the one to come. 15 Through Yeshua, therefore, let us offer God a sacrifice of praise continually. For this is the natural product of lips that acknowledge His name. 16 But don’t forget doing good and sharing with others, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased. 17 Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your lives, as people who will have to render an account. So make it a task of joy for them, not one of groaning; for that is of no advantage to you. 18 Keep praying for us, for we are certain that we have a clear conscience and want to conduct ourselves properly in everything we do. 19 And all the more I beg you to do this, so that I may be restored to you that much sooner. 20 May the God of shalom, who through the blood of the eternal covenant, brought back from the dead our Lord Yeshua, that great Shepherd of the sheep,. 21 equip you with every good thing you need to do His will; and may He work in us whatever pleases Him, through Yeshua the Messiah. to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen. 22 Now I urge you, brothers, to bear with my message of exhortation; for I have written you only briefly. 23 Know that our brother Timothy has been released. If he comes soon enough, I will bring him with me when I come to see you. 24 Greet all your leaders and all God’s people. The people from Italy send greetings to you. 25 Grace be with you all.
Jehovah God has given you the light to see His complete truth revealed again in this amazing book of Hebrews, written to you His chosen. “TODAY, if you hear His voice, do not harden your heart as your forefathers did in the desert.” Yeshua is the way, the truth and the life. Yeshua is your light and your salvation. Yeshua is Jehovah’s Son, His sacrificial Lamb, born to die that you may live. The greatest mistake you will ever make in your life is refusing Jehovah’s only begotten Son, Yeshua, as your personal Savior and Lord of your life.
Amazing Love” performed by Chris Tomlin
In Remembrance of Me
Before reading this, please refer back to our Chapter 3 posting to the account taken from Exodus 12:1-13 of the Passover in Egypt, then read the following of the Passover in Jerusalem.
21 Indeed, this is what you were called to; because the Messiah too suffered, on your behalf, leaving an example so that you should follow in His steps. 24 He himself bore our sins in His body on the stake, O so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness – by His wounds you were healed.
18 You should be aware that the ransom paid to free you from the worthless way of life which your fathers passed on to you did not consist of anything perishable like silver or gold; 19 on the contrary, it was the costly bloody sacrificial death of the Messiah, as of a lamb without defect or spot. 20 God knew Him before the founding of the universe, but revealed Him in the latter days for your sakes.
There is only one more week, Passover week, then all sin will be atoned for and the Lamb, God’s Sacrificial Passover Lamb, God’s Perfect Lamb, God’s only begotten Son, once for all will pay our sin debt, with a pardon.
“Paid-in-Full” to the Kingdom of Heaven!!! Hallelujah and praise be to the Lamb!!
Even Messiah our Passover is sacrificed for us. 1 Cor. 5:7
“Who Am I”
performed and written by Casting Crowns
The last days leading up to Passover begin with Yeshua and His apostles stopping in Bethany on their way to Jerusalem to perform yet another miracle.
1 There was a man who had fallen sick. His name was El`azar, and he came from Beit-Anyah, the village where Miryam and her sister Marta lived. 2 (This Miryam, whose brother El`azar had become sick, is the one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair.) 3 So the sisters sent a message to Yeshua, “Lord, the man you love is sick.” 4 On hearing it, he said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory, so that the Son of God may receive glory through it.” 5 Yeshua loved Marta and her sister and El`azar; 6 so when he heard he was sick, first he stayed where he was two more days; 7 then, after this, he said to the talmidim, “Let’s go back to Y’hudah.” 8 The talmidim replied, “Rabbi! Just a short while ago the Judeans were out to stone you — and you want to go back there?” 9 Yeshua answered, “Aren’t there twelve hours of daylight? If a person walks during daylight, he doesn’t stumble; because he sees the light of this world. 10 But if a person walks at night, he does stumble; because he has no light with him.” 11 Yeshua said these things, and afterwards he said to the talmidim, “Our friend El`azar has gone to sleep; but I am going in order to wake him up.” 12 The talmidim said to him, “Lord, if he has gone to sleep, he will get better.” 13 Now Yeshua had used the phrase to speak about El`azar’s death, but they thought he had been talking literally about sleep. 14 So Yeshua told them in plain language, “El`azar has died. 15 And for your sakes, I am glad that I wasn’t there, so that you may come to trust. But let’s go to him.” 16 Then T’oma (the name means “twin”) said to his fellow talmidim, “Yes, we should go, so that we can die with him!” 17 On arrival, Yeshua found that El`azar had already been in the tomb for four days. 18 Now Beit-Anyah was about two miles from Yerushalayim, 19 and many of the Judeans had come to Marta and Miryam in order to comfort them at the loss of their brother. 20 So when Marta heard that Yeshua was coming, she went out to meet him; but Miryam continued sitting shiv`ah in the house. 21 Marta said to Yeshua, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 Even now I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you.” 23 Yeshua said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” 24 Martha said, “I know that he will rise again at the Resurrection on the Last Day.” 25 Yeshua said to her, “I AM the Resurrection and the Life! Whoever puts his trust in me will live, even if he dies; 26 and everyone living and trusting in me will never die. Do you believe this?” 27 She said to him, “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world.” 28 After saying this, she went off and secretly called Miryam, her sister: “The Rabbi is here and is calling for you.” 29 When she heard this, she jumped up and went to him. 30 Yeshua had not yet come into the village but was still where Marta had met him; 31 so when the Judeans who had been with Miryam in the house comforting her saw her get up quickly and go out, they followed her, thinking she was going to the tomb to mourn there. 32 When Miryam came to where Yeshua was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” 33 When Yeshua saw her crying, and also the Judeans who came with her crying, he was deeply moved and also troubled. 34 He said, “Where have you buried him?” They said, “Lord, come and see.” 35 Yeshua cried; 36 so the Judeans there said, “See how he loved him!” 37 But some of them said, “He opened the blind man’s eyes. Couldn’t he have kept this one from dying?” 38 Yeshua, again deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying in front of the entrance. 39 Yeshua said, “Take the stone away!” Marta, the sister of the dead man, said to Yeshua, “By now his body must smell, for it has been four days since he died!” 40 Yeshua said to her, “Didn’t I tell you that if you keep trusting, you will see the glory of God?” 41 So they removed the stone. Yeshua looked upward and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42 I myself know that you always hear me, but I say this because of the crowd standing around, so that they may believe that you have sent me.” 43 Having said this, he shouted, “El`azar! Come out!” 44 The man who had been dead came out, his hands and feet wrapped in strips of linen and his face covered with a cloth. Yeshua said to them, “Unwrap him, and let him go!” 45 At this, many of the Judeans who had come to visit Miryam, and had seen what Yeshua had done, trusted in him. 46 But some of them went off to the P’rushim and told them what he had done. 47 So the head cohanim and the P’rushim called a meeting of the Sanhedrin and said, “What are we going to do? — for this man is performing many miracles. 48 If we let him keep going on this way, everyone will trust in him, and the Romans will come and destroy both the Temple and the nation.” 49 But one of them, Kayafa, who was cohen gadol that year, said to them, “You people don’t know anything! 50 You don’t see that it’s better for you if one man dies on behalf of the people, so that the whole nation won’t be destroyed.” 51 Now he didn’t speak this way on his own initiative; rather, since he was cohen gadol that year, he was prophesying that Yeshua was about to die on behalf of the nation, 52 and not for the nation alone, but so that he might gather into one the scattered children of God. 53 From that day on, they made plans to have him put to death. 54 Therefore Yeshua no longer walked around openly among the Judeans but went away from there into the region near the desert, to a town called Efrayim, and stayed there with his talmidim. 55 The Judean festival of Pesach was near, and many people went up from the country to Yerushalayim to perform the purification ceremony prior to Pesach. 56 They were looking for Yeshua, and as they stood in the Temple courts they said to each other, “What do you think? That he simply won’t come to the festival?” 57 Moreover, the head cohanim and the P’rushim had given orders that anyone knowing Yeshua’s whereabouts should inform them, so that they could have him arrested.
This miracle illustrates the greatest upcoming event in the history of man! The miracle foretells the crowning proof of all- Yeshua Messiah’s own resurrection!
“Bring The Rain”
written and performed by MercyMe
A brief review of this account identifies Yeshua, yet again, as the fulfillment of the long awaited Messiah, the true Son of God. A powerful plea sent to Yeshua, “Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick”, yet He waited two more days before going to Bethany. Martha met Yeshua and said, “Lord if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” {This event happened that the Son of God might be glorified, giving perfect timing for Yeshua to work the glorious miracle; the raising from the dead.} Yeshua answered Martha, “I AM the resurrection and the life, do you believe this? “Yea, Lord” was her answer. Martha quotes, “ I have believed that You are the Christ Messiah, and therefore, I do believe this!
Therefore Martha believes and confesses that:
- Yeshua is the Christ Messiah.
- Yeshua is the Son of God.
- Yeshua is the prophesied One to come.
- Yeshua is the resurrection.
- Yeshua is the blessed Life.
- Yeshua is the light and truth.
- Yeshua is divine and faithful.
Yeshua then prayed to His living Father God in heaven with praise and thanksgiving for hearing Him. Prayer is connecting one’s soul with the very heart of God. After the prayer, Yeshua said in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth!” and he came forth – – perfectly!
Lazarus was Jewish, in the presence of many Jewish people, in order that they may witness the glory of God! Many of the Jewish people saw the things that Yeshua did and believed on Him. They had heard of the miracles, but now they had seen for themselves, first hand, and their unbelief changed to belief!
Other Jews were irritated by it, and hardened in their unbelief. Some went to the Pharisees and reported what they had seen. The Pharisees called the Council to order to inflame one another with rage against the Christ. What do we do? If we don’t silence Him, all men will believe on Him! (That would set up a new King, and the Romans would take away our place and nation). Then Caiaphas, the high priest, spoke, “You know nothing at all! You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish.” He did not say this on his own, but as high priest that year he prophesied that Yeshua would die for the Jewish nation, and not only for that nation but also for the scattered children of God, to bring them together and make them one. So from that day they plotted to take Yeshua’s life.
If I had been in the crowd that day, would I have seen and believed or would I have turned and walked away? Each one must choose.
1 Six days before Pesach, Yeshua came to Beit-Anyah, where El`azar lived, the man Yeshua had raised from the dead; 2 so they gave a dinner there in his honor. Marta served the meal, and El`azar was among those at the table with him. 3 Miryam took a whole pint of pure oil of spikenard, which is very expensive, poured it on Yeshua’s feet and wiped his feet with her hair, so that the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. 4 But one of the talmidim, Y’hudah from K’riot, the one who was about to betray him, said, 5 “This perfume is worth a year’s wages! Why wasn’t it sold and the money given to the poor?” 6 Now he said this not out of concern for the poor, but because he was a thief — he was in charge of the common purse and used to steal from it. 7 Yeshua said, “Leave her alone! She kept this for the day of my burial. 8 You always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.” 9 A large crowd of Judeans learned that he was there; and they came not only because of Yeshua, but also so that they could see El`azar, whom he had raised from the dead. 10 The head cohanim then decided to do away with El`azar too, 11 since it was because of him that large numbers of the Judeans were leaving their leaders and putting their trust inYeshua.
17 As Yeshua was going up to Yerushalayim, he took the twelve talmidim aside by themselves and said to them, as they went on their way, 18 “We are now going up to Yerushalayim, where the Son of Man will be handed over to the head cohanim and Torah-teachers. They will sentence him to death 19 and turn him over to the Goyim, who will jeer at him, beat him and execute him on a stake as a criminal. But on the third day, he will be raised.”
Yeshua’s torture, death and resurrection was prophesied by Isaiah in chapters 52 and 53.
13 “See how my servant will succeed! He will be raised up, exalted, highly honored! 14 Just as many were appalled at him, because he was so disfigured that he didn’t even seem human and simply no longer looked like a man, 15 so now he will startle many nations; because of him, kings will be speechless. For they will see what they had not been told, they will ponder things they had never heard.”
1 Who believes our report? To whom is the arm of ADONAI revealed? 2 For before him he grew up like a young plant, like a root out of dry ground. He was not well-formed or especially handsome; we saw him, but his appearance did not attract us. 3 People despised and avoided him, a man of pains, well acquainted with illness. Like someone from whom people turn their faces, he was despised; we did not value him. 4 In fact, it was our diseases he bore, our pains from which he suffered; yet we regarded him as punished, stricken and afflicted by God. 5 But he was wounded because of our crimes, crushed because of our sins; the disciplining that makes us whole fell on him, and by his bruises we are healed. 6 We all, like sheep, went astray; we turned, each one, to his own way; yet ADONAI laid on him the guilt of all of us. Or: and in fellowship with him 7 though mistreated, he was submissive – he did not open his mouth. Like a lamb led to be slaughtered, like a sheep silent before its shearers, he did not open his mouth. 8 After forcible arrest and sentencing, he was taken away; and none of his generation protested his being cut off from the land of the living for the crimes of my people, who deserved the punishment themselves. 9 He was given a grave among the wicked; in his death he was with a rich man. Although he had done no violence and had said nothing deceptive, 10 yet it pleased ADONAI to crush him with illness, to see if he would present himself as a guilt offering. If he does, he will see his offspring; and he will prolong his days; and at his hand ADONAI’s desire will be accomplished. 11 After this ordeal, he will see satisfaction. “By his knowing [pain and sacrifice], my righteous servant makes many righteous; it is for their sins that he suffers. 12 Therefore I will assign him a share with the great, he will divide the spoil with the mighty, for having exposed himself to death and being counted among the sinners, while actually bearing the sin of many and interceding for the offenders.”
These passages were prophesied hundreds of years before Yeshua was born.
Yeshua’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem as recorded in Matthew 21:1-9. (Known also as Palm Sunday)
1 As they were approaching Yerushalayim, they came to Beit-Pagei on the Mount of Olives. Yeshua sent two talmidim 2 with these instructions: “Go into the village ahead of you, and you will immediately find a donkey tethered there with its colt. Untie them and bring them to me. 3 If anyone says anything to you, tell him, `The Lord needs them’; and he will let them go at once.” 4 This happened in order to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet, 5 “Say to the daughter of Tziyon, `Look! Your King is coming to you, riding humbly on a donkey, and on a colt, the offspring of a beast of burden!’ 6 So the talmidim went and did as Yeshua had directed them. 7 They brought the donkey and the colt and put their robes on them, and Yeshua sat on them. 8 Crowds of people carpeted the road with their clothing, while others cut branches from trees and spread them on the road. 9 The crowds ahead of him and behind shouted, “Please! Deliver us!” to the Son of David; “Blessed is he who comes in the name of ADONAI!” “You in the highest heaven! Please! Deliver us!”
Continuing in Luke 19:39-44
39 Some of the P’rushim in the crowd said to him, “Rabbi! Reprimand your talmidim!” 40 But he answered them, “I tell you that if they keep quiet, the stones will shout!” 41 When Yeshua had come closer and could see the city, he wept over it, 42 saying, “If you only knew today what is needed for shalom! But for now it is hidden from your sight. 43 For the days are coming upon you when your enemies will set up a barricade around you, encircle you, hem you in on every side, 44 and dash you to the ground, you and your children within your walls, leaving not one stone standing on another – and all because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you.”
Yeshua entered Jerusalem and went to the temple. He looked around at everything, but since it was already late, He went out to Bethany with the Twelve.
The next day Yeshua clears the Temple.
12 The next day, as they came back from Beit-Anyah, Yeshua felt hungry. 13 Spotting in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to see if he could find anything on it. When he came up to it, he found nothing but leaves; for it wasn’t fig season. 14 He said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again!” And his talmidim heard what he said. 15 On reaching Yerushalayim, he entered the Temple courts and began driving out those who were carrying on business there, both the merchants and their customers. He also knocked over the desks of the money-changers, upset the benches of the pigeon-dealers, 16 and refused to let anyone carry merchandise through the Temple courts. 17 Then, as he taught them, he said, “Isn’t it written in the Tanakh, My house will be called a house of prayer for all the Goyimp But you have made it into a den of robbers!” 18 The head cohanim and the Torah-teachers heard what he said and tried to find a way to do away with him; they were afraid of him, because the crowds were utterly taken by his teaching. 19 When evening came, they left the city.
The withered fig tree
20 In the morning, as the talmidim passed by, they saw the fig tree withered all the way to its roots. 21 Kefa remembered and said to Yeshua, “Rabbi! Look! The fig tree that you cursed has dried up!” 22 He responded, “Have the kind of trust that comes from God! 23 Yes! I tell you that whoever does not doubt in his heart but trusts that what he says will happen can say to this mountain, `Go and throw yourself into the sea!’ and it will be done for him. 24 Therefore, I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, trust that you are receiving it, and it will be yours. 25 And when you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him; so that your Father in heaven may also forgive your offenses.” 26 But if you do not forgive, your Father in heaven will not forgive your offenses.”
Continues the same day. The authority of Yeshua questioned.
They went back into Yerushalayim; and as he was walking in the Temple courts, there came to him the head cohanim, the Torah-teachers and the elders; 28 and they said to him, “What s’mikhah do you have that authorizes you to do these things? Who gave you this s’mikhah authorizing you to do them?” 29 Yeshua said to them, “I will ask you just one question: answer me, and I will tell you by what s’mikhah I do these things. 30 The immersion of Yochanan — was it from Heaven or from a human source? Answer me.” 31 They discussed it among themselves: “If we say, `From Heaven,’ he will say, `Then why didn’t you believe him?’ 32 But if we say, `From a human source, . . . ‘” — they were afraid of the people, for they all regarded Yochanan as a genuine prophet. 33 So they answered Yeshua, “We don’t know.” “Then,” he replied, “I won’t tell you by what s’mikhah I do these things.” Yeshua continued teaching many parables in the Temple.
Continuing the week.
1 It was now two days before Pesach (that is, the festival of Matzah), and the head cohanim and the Torah-teachers were trying to find some way to arrest Yeshua surreptitiously and have him put to death; 2 for they said, “Not during the festival, or the people will riot.” 3 While he was in Beit-Anyah in the home of Shim`on (a man who had had tzara`at), and as Yeshua was eating, a woman came with an alabaster jar of perfume, pure oil of nard, very costly. She broke the jar and poured the perfume over Yeshua’s head. 4 But some there angrily said to themselves, “Why this waste of perfume? 5 It could have been sold for a year’s wages and given to the poor!” And they scolded her. 6 But he said, “Let her be. Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing for me. 7 For you will always have the poor with you; and whenever you want to, you can help them. But you will not always have me. 8 What she could do, she did do — in advance she poured perfume on my body to prepare it for burial. 9 Yes! I tell you that wherever in the whole world this Good News is proclaimed, what she has done will be told in her memory.” 10 Then Y’hudah from K’riot, who was one of the Twelve, went to the head cohanim in order to betray Yeshua to them.
Judas Iscariot – one of the Twelve – agrees to betray Yeshua
1 But the festival of Matzah, known as Pesach, was approaching; 2 and the head cohanim and the Torah-teachers began trying to find some way to get rid of Yeshua, because they were afraid of the people. 3 At this point the
Adversary went into Y’hudah from K’riot, who was one of the Twelve. 4 He approached the head cohanim and the Temple guard and discussed with them how he might turn Yeshua over to them. 5 They were pleased and offered to pay him thirty silver coins. 6 He agreed and began looking for a good opportunity to betray Yeshua without the people’s knowledge.
7 Then came the day of matzah, on which the Passover lamb had to be killed. 8 Yeshua sent Kefa and Yochanan, instructing them, “Go and prepare our Seder, so we can eat.” 9 They asked him, “Where do you want us to prepare it?” 10 He told them, “As you’re going into the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him into the house he enters, 11 and say to its owner, `The Rabbi says to you, “Where is the guest room, where I am to eat the Pesach meal with my talmidim?” ‘ 12 He will show you a large room upstairs already furnished; make the preparations there.” 13 They went and found things just as Yeshua had told them they would be, and they prepared for the Seder. 14 When the time came, Yeshua and the emissaries reclined at the table, and he 15 said to them, “I have really wanted so much to celebrate this Seder with you before I die! 16 For I tell you, it is certain that I will not celebrate it again until it is given its full meaning in the Kingdom of God.”
1 It was just before the festival of Pesach, and Yeshua knew that the time had come for him to pass from this world to the Father. Having loved his own people in the world, he loved them to the end. 2 They were at supper, and the Adversary had already put the desire to betray him into the heart of Y’hudah Ben-Shim`on from K’riot. 3 Yeshua was aware that the Father had put everything in his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God. 4 So he rose from the table, removed his outer garments and wrapped a towel around his waist. 5 Then he poured some water into a basin and began to wash the feet of the talmidim and wipe them off with the towel wrapped around him.
12 After he had washed their feet, taken back his clothes and returned to the table, he said to them, “Do you understand what I have done to you? 13 You call me `Rabbi’ and `Lord,’ and you are right, because I am. 14 Now if I, the Lord and Rabbi, have washed your feet, you also should wash each other’s feet. 15 For I have set you an example, so that you may do as I have done to you.
Yeshua came to serve and this example is the height of humility!
17 Then, taking a cup of wine, he made the b’rakhah and said, “Take this and share it among yourselves. 18 For I tell you that from now on, I will not drink the `fruit of the vine’ until the Kingdom of God comes.” 19 Also, taking a piece of matzah, he made the b’rakhah, broke it, gave it to them and said, “This is my body, which is being given for you; do this in memory of me.” 20 He did the same with the cup after the meal, saying, “This cup is the New Covenant, ratified by my blood, which is being poured out for you.
11 But when Christ came as High Priest of the good things that are now already here, he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not made with human hands, that is to say, is not a part of this creation. 12 He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption. 13 The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. 14 How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God! 15 For this reason Christ is the mediator of a New Covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the First Covenant.
During the Passover meal Yeshua said, “I tell you a truth, one of you will betray me. The Twelve began to ask, “Is it I, Lord?” Yeshua replied, “the one who dips his hand in the bowl with me, will betray me. Judas looked at Yeshua and said, “Surely not I, Rabbi.” Yeshua answered, “Yes, it is you. What you are about to do, do quickly. As soon as Judas had taken the bread, he went out – and it was night.
Yeshua conferred upon the apostles an honored position in His Father’s Kingdom.
Luke 22: 28-30
28 “You are the ones who have stayed with me throughout my trials. 29 Just as my Father gave me the right to rule, so I give you an appointment, 30 namely, to eat and drink at my table in my Kingdom and to sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Isra’el. When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.
The Passover meal has ended. This begins the unveiling truth of the progressive revelation that started as a shadow in Egypt, now, it is being fulfilled in the reality of the once-for-all sacrifice of God’s loving Lamb – His Son!
Yeshua’s statement says it all:
And Yeshua took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body given for you; Do this in Remembrance of Me.”
From this time forward, Passover has taken on a full and complete reality of truth, behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world.
The Passion of the Christ – The Last Supper
“Remembrance”
performed by Matt Maher
Colossians 1:18 Also Yeshua is head of the Body, the Messianic Community/the Church. Yeshua is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that Yeshua might hold first place in everything.
“The Love of God” performed by Mercy Me
10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. 11 “Blessed are you, when people insult you and persecute you and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for My sake! 12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad for great is your reward in Heaven, for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.”
Matthew 5 is a direct quote from Yeshua’s teachings of the Beatitudes to the Jewish crowds known as the Sermon on the Mount.
In relating to the prophets standing firm even in persecution and hardships, one account comes to mind: the prophet Daniel and his three friends (Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah) are captured and taken to Babylon. Orders were given to them to worship the gods of king Nebuchadnezzar and bow down to the golden image he had made, but they refused.
In Daniel 5, King Nebuchadnezzar tells the three, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, “If you do not serve my gods and worship the image of gold I have set up, you will be thrown immediately into a blazing furnace. Then, what god will be able to rescue you from my hand?”
Their reply to the king, “We do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the Jehovah we serve is able to save us from it, and He will rescue us from your hand, O king. But even if He does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”
Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah trusted in Jehovah God and defied the king’s command and were willing to give up their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own Jehovah God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The three were firmly tied and then cast into the blazing furnace, which was heated seven times hotter than usual. It was so hot that the flames of the fire killed the men that threw them in.
Then the king leaped to his feet in amazement and asked, “Wasn’t it three men that we tied up and threw into the fire?” “Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a Son of the gods!” The king told the men to come out! Come here! The crowd of royal advisors crowded around them. They saw that the robes were not scorched and there was no smell of fire on them. Then King Nebuchadnezzar said, “Praise be to the God of three young trusting Jewish men for their God sent his angel and rescued his servants! They trusted in Jehovah God and defied the king’s command and were willing to give up their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own.
The following is a dream of King Nebuchadnezzar interpreted by Jehovah’s prophet Daniel while in exile in Babylon in 586 B.C.
Daniel 2:31 “You looked, O king, and had a vision of a statue, very large and extremely bright; it stood in front of you and its appearance was terrifying. 32 The head of the statue was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its trunk and thighs of bronze, 33 its legs of iron, and its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. 34 As you watched, The Rock was cut out, but not by human hands. The Rock struck the statue on its feet made of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces. 35 Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were all broken into pieces which became like the chaff on a threshing-floor in summer; the wind blew them away without leaving a trace. But The Rock that struck the statue became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth.
As part of His Second Coming, Yeshua, The Rock, will destroy all manmade kingdoms of the earth and reign on Mt. Zion in Jerusalem forever and ever without end.
“The King is Coming” performed by The Gaither Vocal Band
For the Lord has chosen Zion, He has desired it for His dwelling: This is My resting place for ever and ever; here I will sit enthroned, for I have desired it.
1 “Now listen, Ya’akov my servant, Isra’el whom I have chosen: 2 Thus says ADONAI, who made you, formed you in the womb, and will help you: Don’t be afraid, Ya’akov my servant, Yeshurun, {Israel} whom I have chosen. 3 For I will pour water on the thirsty land and streams on the dry ground; I will pour my Spirit on your descendants, my blessing on your offspring. 4 They will spring up among the grass like willows on the riverbanks. 5 One will say, ‘I belong to ADONAI.’ Another will be called by the name of Ya’akov. Yet another will write that he belongs to ADONAI. and adopt the surname Isra’el.” 6 Thus says ADONAI, Isra’el’s King and Redeemer, ADONAI-Tzva’ot: “I AM the first, and I AM the last; besides Me there is no God. 7 Who is like me? Let him speak out! Let him show me clearly what has been happening since I set up the eternal people; let him foretell future signs and events. 8 Don’t be frightened, don’t be afraid – Didn’t I tell you this long ago? I foretold it, and you are my witnesses. Is there any God besides me? There is no other Rock – I know of none.”
1 In days gone by, God spoke in many and varied ways to the Fathers through the prophets. 2 But now, in the acharit-hayamim, God has spoken to us through His Son, Yeshua, to whom God has given ownership of everything and through whom He created the universe. 3 God’s Son, Yeshua, is the radiance of the Sh’khinah, the very expression of God’s essence, upholding all that exists by His powerful word; and after Yeshua had, through Himself, made purification for sins, Yeshua sat down at the right hand of HaG’dulah BaM’romim.
“Mary, Did You Know” performed by Mark Lowery
15 Yeshua is the visible image of the invisible God. Yeshua is supreme over all creation, 16 because in connection with Him were created all things – in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones, lordships, rulers or authorities – they have all been created through Yeshua and for Yeshua. 17 Yeshua existed before all things, and Yeshua holds everything together. 18 Also Yeshua is head of the Body, the Messianic Community, The Church. Yeshua is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that Yeshua might hold first place in everything. 19 For it pleased God to have His full being live in His Son 20 and through His Son to reconcile to Himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace through Yeshua, through having His Son shed His blood by being executed on a Cross.
22 Also, God has put all things under Yeshua’s feet and made Him head over everything for the Messianic Community {the Church}, 23 which is Yeshua’s body, the full expression of Yeshua, who fills everything in every way, all in all.
Let us define the Messianic Community, or Church as “one collective body of believers in Jehovah God through faith believing by accepting His firstborn and only begotten Son, Yeshua as personal Savior from their sin and choosing His way over their own.”
When and where did the church begin? Yeshua referred to the Church when He was on earth over 2000 years ago. Before the “Church Age,” also known as the 6th dispensation, the meeting place of Jehovah and His Chosen was referred to as the Congregation, Tabernacle, Synagogue, Sanctuary or Holy Temple.
Jehovah’s divine plan for man was carried out through His only begotten Son, Yeshua. The account is found in God’s Holy Word, the Bible. Yeshua is the Builder, Foundation, Rock, Chief Cornerstone, and the All-in-All.
Here is Yeshua’s decree for His Church:
13 When Yeshua came into the territory around Caesarea Philippi, He asked His talmidim, “Who are people saying the Son of Man is?” 14 They said, “Well, some say Yochanan the Immerser, others Eliyahu, still others Yirmeyahu or one of the prophets.” 15 “But you,” He said to them, “who do you say I Am?” 16 Shim`on Kefa answered, “You are the Mashiach, the Son of the living God.” 17 “Shim`on Bar-Yochanan,” Yeshua said to him, “blessed are you, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by My Father in heaven. 18 And I tell you that you are Kefa and on This Rock {Yeshua}, I will build my Church, and the gates of Sh’ol will not prevail against it.
Isaiah 26:4 Trust in ADONAI forever, for in Yah ADONAI, the ADONAI, is the Rock Eternal.”
Matthew 7:24 “So, everyone who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on The Rock. 25 The rain fell, the rivers flooded, the winds blew and beat against that house, but it didn’t collapse, because it had its foundation on The Rock.
Matthew 7 records the teachings of Yeshua to His disciples and to the crowds of Jewish followers. Found in chapters 5-7 is the account of The Sermon on the Mount in Israel.
1 Peter 2
4 As you come to Yeshua, the living stone, rejected by people but chosen by God and precious to Him, 5 you yourselves, as living stones (believers), are being built into a spiritual house to be cohanim set apart for God to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to Him through His Son, Yeshua the Messiah. 6 This is why the Tanakh says, “Look! I am laying in Tziyon a Stone, a chosen and precious Cornerstone; and the one who trusts in Yeshua will certainly not be put to shame.” 7 Now to you who believe, this Stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, “The very Stone that the builders rejected has become the Cornerstone.” 8 also, Yeshua is the Stone that causes men to stumble and the rock that makes them fall. They stumble because they disobey God’s Holy Word, which is also what they were destined for. 9 But you are a chosen people, the King’s cohanim, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of Yeshua, who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light.
21 In Yeshua Christ all the building (spiritual body of born-again believers/saints/disciples) is fitly held together, and is growing into a holy temple (spiritual) in the Lord. 22 Yes, in Yeshua Christ we are being built together as a body of believers into one spiritual (Holy Spirit) dwelling-place for God! All things Spiritual!
14 For this reason, I fall on my knees before the Holy Father, Jehovah God, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. 16 I pray that from the treasures of His glory He will empower you with inner strength by His Holy Spirit, 17 so that Yeshua Messiah Christ may live in your hearts through by faith believing. Also I pray that you will be rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp the breadth, length, height and depth of the love of Yeshua Messiah Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses ALL knowledge – that you may be filled to the measure with all the fullness of God. 20 Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we can ask or imagine, according to His power {Holy Spirit} that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the Messianic Community {Church} and in Yeshua Jesus Messiah Christ throughout ALL generations, for ever and ever! Amen!
Yeshua tells His disciples they will be hated by the world.
18 “If the world hates you, understand that it hated Me first. 19 If you belonged to the world, the world would have loved its own. But because you do not belong to the world — on the contrary, I have picked you out of the world — therefore the world hates you. 20 Remember what I told you, `A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will persecute you too; if they kept My word, they will keep yours too. 21 But they will do all this to you on My account, because they don’t know the One who sent Me. 22 “If I had not come and spoken to them, they wouldn’t be guilty of sin; but now, they have no excuse for their sin. 23 Whoever hates Me hates My Father also. 24 If I had not done in their presence works which no one else ever did, they would not be guilty of sin; but now, they have seen them and have hated both Me and My Father. 25 But this has happened in order to fulfill the words in their Torah which read, `They hated me for no reason at all.’ 26 “When the Counselor {Holy Spirit} comes, whom I will send you from the Father — the Spirit of Truth, who keeps going out from the Father — He will testify on My behalf. 27 And you testify too, because you have been with Me from the outset.
John 15 from the Gospel of John Movie, The Visual Bible
After Yeshua was crucified, buried, rose from the grave and returned to His Father, Jehovah God; the Holy Spirit was sent from Jehovah to the disciples, living within them and then all of those who become followers of Yeshua the Christ, to be their Counselor and Comforter for their lives.
The persecution of believers was an ongoing process. The apostles were given power from within by Jehovah’s Holy Spirit to bear witness of their new life in Yeshua through the testimony of eyewitness accounts, along with countless miracles of physical and spiritual healing. Click this link to review Chapter 17: The Power Within.
12 Meanwhile, through the emissaries {apostles} many signs and miracles continued to be done among the people. United in mind and purpose, the believers met in Shlomo’s Colonnade; 13 and no one else dared to join them. Nevertheless, the people continued to regard them highly; 14 and throngs of believers were added to the Lord, both men and women. 15 They went so far as to bring the sick into the streets and lay them on mattresses and stretchers, so that at least Kefa’s shadow might fall on them as he passed by. 16 Crowds also gathered from the towns around Yerushalayim, bringing the sick and those afflicted with unclean spirits; and every one of them was healed.
Those who openly step out and witness for Yeshua will see the onset of different degrees of persecution. The apostles were bold and openly witnessed in Solomon’s Colonnade. Guess who came calling?!?
17 But the cohen hagadol and his associates, who were members of the party of the Tz’dukim, were filled with jealousy. 18 They arrested the emissaries and put them in the public jail. 19 But during the night, an angel of ADONAI opened the doors of the prison, led them out and said, 20 “Go, stand in the Temple court and keep telling the people all about this new life!” 21 After hearing that, they entered the Temple area about dawn and began to teach. Now the cohen hagadol and his associates came and called a meeting of the Sanhedrin (that is, of Isra’el’s whole assembly of elders) and sent to the jail to have them brought. 22 But the officers who went did not find them in the prison. So they returned and reported, 23 “We found the jail securely locked and the guards standing at the doors; but when we opened it, we found no one inside!” 24 When the captain of the Temple police and the head cohanim heard these things, they were puzzled and wondered what would happen next. 25 Then someone came and reported to them, “Listen! The men you ordered put in prison are standing in the Temple court, teaching the people!” 26 The captain and his officers went and brought them, but not with force; because they were afraid of being stoned by the people. 27 They conducted them to the Sanhedrin, where the cohen hagadol demanded of them, 28 “We gave you strict orders not to teach in the name of Yeshua! Look here! you have filled Yerushalayim with your teaching; moreover, you are determined to make us responsible for Yeshua’s death!” 29 Kefa and the other emissaries answered, “We must obey God, not men. 30 The God of our fathersl raised up Yeshua, whereas you men killed Him by having Him hanged on a stake. 31 God has exalted Yeshua at His right hand as Ruler and Savior, in order to enable Isra’el to do t’shuvah and have her sins forgiven. 32 We are witnesses to these things; so is the Ruach HaKodesh, whom God has given to those who obey Him.” 33 On hearing this, the members of the Sanhedrin were infuriated and wanted to put the emissaries to death. 34 But one of the members of the Sanhedrin rose to his feet, a Parush named Gamli’el, a teacher of the Torah highly respected by all the people. He ordered the men put outside for a little while 35 and then addressed the court: “Men of Isra’el, take care what you do to these people. 36 Some time ago, there was a rebellion under Todah, who claimed to be somebody special; and a number of men, maybe four hundred, rallied behind him. But upon his being put to death, his whole following was broken up and came to nothing. 37 After this, Y’hudah HaG’lili led another uprising, back at the time of the enrollment for the Roman tax; and he got some people to defect to him. But he was killed, and all his followers were scattered. 38 So in the present case, my advice to you is not to interfere with these people, but to leave them alone. For if this idea or this movement has a human origin, it will collapse. 39 But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop them; you might even find yourselves fighting God!” They heeded his advice. 40 After summoning the emissaries and flogging them, they commanded them not to speak in the name of Yeshua, and let them go. 41 The emissaries left the Sanhedrin overjoyed at having been considered worthy of suffering disgrace on account of Yeshua. 42 And not for a single day, either in the Temple court or in private homes, did they stop teaching and proclaiming the Good News that Yeshua is the Messiah.
Persecutions and trials come to those who stand firm in the faith of knowing Yeshua the Christ.
Many accounts come to mind that reflect the persecution of the early Church, which began in Jerusalem by the apostles and believers who accepted Yeshua as Savior. Early believers met in homes and other locations, the Word of Jehovah spread and the number of disciples increased rapidly.
“Break Every Chain” performed by Jesus Culture
The apostles gathered all the disciples together and suggested that seven men from among them who were known to be full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom be chosen in order to reach out to those in need. A man named Stephen was one of the chosen. Stephen, being full of Jehovah’s grace and power, began doing great wonders and miraculous signs among the people. Opposition arose against him from Jews of Syrene, Alexandria, Cilicia and Asia, and members of a sect called Synagogue of the Freedom. They argued with Stephen, but they could not stand up against his wisdom or the Holy Spirit by which he spoke. They secretly persuaded some men to say, “We have heard Stephen speak words of blasphemy against Moses and against Jehovah.” The following is Stephens’ testimony to the Sanhedrin:
12 They stirred up the people, as well as the elders and the Torah-teachers; so they came and arrested him and led him before the Sanhedrin. 13 There they set up false witnesses who said, “This man never stops speaking against this holy place and against the Torah; 14 for we have heard him say that Yeshua from Natzeret will destroy this place and will change the customs Moshe handed down to us.” 15 Everyone sitting in the Sanhedrin stared at Stephen and saw that his face looked like the face of an angel.
1 The cohen hagadol asked, “Are these accusations true?” 2 and Stephen said: “Brothers and fathers, listen to me! The God of glory appeared to Avraham avinu in Mesopotamia before he lived in Haran 3 and said to him, ‘Leave your land and your family, and go into the land that I will show you.’ 4 So he left the land of the Kasdim and lived in Haran. After his father died, God made him move to this land where you are living now. 5 He gave him no inheritance in it, not even space for one foot; yet he promised to give it to him as a possession and to his descendants after him, even though at the time he was childless. 6 What God said to him was, ‘Your descendants will be aliens in a foreign land, where they will be in slavery and oppressed for four hundred years. 7 But I will judge the nation that enslaves them,’ God said, ‘and afterwards they will leave and worship me in this place.’ 8 And he gave him b’rit-milah. So he became the father of Yitz’chak and did his b’rit-milah on the eighth day, and Yitz’chak became the father of Ya’akov, and Ya’akov became the father of the Twelve Patriarchs. 9 “Now the Patriarchs grew jealous of Yosef and sold him into slavery in Egypt. But ADONAI was with him; 10 he rescued him from all his troubles and gave him favor and wisdom before Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who appointed him chief administrator over Egypt and over all his household. t 11 Now there came a famine that caused much suffering throughout Egypt and Kena’anu 12 But when Ya’akov heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent our fathers there the first time. 13 The second time, Yosef revealed his identity to his brothers, and Yosef’s family became known to Pharaoh. 14 Yosef then sent for his father Ya’akov and all his relatives, seventy-five people. 15 And Ya’akov went down to Egypt; there he died, as did our other ancestors. 16 Their bodies were removed to Sh’khem and buried in the tomb Avraham had bought from the family of Hamor in Sh’khem for a certain sum of money. 17 “As the time drew near for the fulfillment of the promise God had made to Avraham, the number of our people in Egypt increased greatly, 18 until there arose another king over Egypt who had no knowledge of Yosef. 19 With cruel cunning this man forced our fathers to put their newborn babies outside their homes, so that they would not survive. 20 “It was then that Moshe was born, and he was beautiful in God’s sight. For three months he was reared in his father’s house; 21 and when he was put out of his home, Pharaoh’s daughter took him and brought him up as her own son. 22 So Moshe was trained in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and became both a powerful speaker and a man of action. 23 “But when he was forty years old, the thought came to him to visit his brothers, the people of Isra’el. 24 On seeing one of them being mistreated, he went to his defense and took revenge by striking down the Egyptian. 25 He supposed his brothers would understand that God was using him to rescue them, but they didn’t understand. 26 When he appeared the next day, as they were fighting, and tried to make peace between them by saying, ‘Men, you are brothers! Why do you want to hurt each other?’ 27 the one who was mistreating his fellow pushed Moshe away and said, ‘Who made you a ruler and judge over us? 28 Do you want to kill me, the way you killed that Egyptian yesterday?’ 29 On hearing this, Moshe fled the country and became an exile in the land of Midyan, where he had two sons. 30 “After forty more years, an angel appeared to him in the desert near Mount Sinai in the flames of a burning thorn bush. 31 When Moshe saw this, he was amazed at the sight; and as he approached to get a better look, there came the voice of ADONAI, 32 ‘I am the God of your fathers, the God of Avraham, Yitz’chak and Ya’akov.’ But Moshe trembled with fear and didn’t dare to look. 33 ADONAI said to him, ‘Take off your sandals, because the place where you are standing is holy ground. 34 I have clearly seen how My people are being oppressed in Egypt, I have heard their cry, and I have come down to rescue them, and now I will send you to Egypt.’ 35 “This Moshe, whom they rejected, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and judge?’ is the very one whom God sent as both ruler and deliverer by God through the angel that appeared to him in the thorn bush. 36 This man led them out, performing miracles and signs in Egypt, at the Red Sea and in the wilderness for forty years. 37 This is the Moshe who said to the people of Isra’el, ‘God will raise up a prophet like me from among your brothers’ 38 This is the man who was in the assembly in the wilderness, accompanied by the angel that had spoken to him at Mount Sinai and by our fathers, the man who was given living words to pass on to us. 39 “But our fathers refused to obey him. On the contrary, they rejected him and in their hearts turned to Egypt, 40 saying to Aharon, ‘Make us gods to go before us; because this Moshe, who led us out of Egypt – we don’t know what has become of him. 41 That was when they made an idol in the shape of a calf and offered a sacrifice to it and held a celebration in honor of what they had made with their own hands. 42 So God turned away from them and gave them over to worship the star – as has been written in the book of the prophets, ‘People of Isra’el, it was not to me that you offered slaughtered animals and sacrifices for forty years in the wilderness! 43 No, you carried the tent of Molekh and the star of your god Reifan, the idols you made so that you could worship them. Therefore, I will send you into exile beyond Bavel.’ 44 “Our fathers had the Tent of Witness in the wilderness. It had been made just as God, who spoke to Moshe, had ordered it made, according to the pattern Moshe had seen. 45 Later on, our fathers who had received it brought it in with Y’hoshua when they took the Land away from the nations that God drove out before them. “So it was until the days of David. 46 He enjoyed God’s favor and asked if he might provide a dwelling place for the God of Ya’akov 47 and Shlomo did build him a house. 48 But Ha’Elyon does not live in places made by hand! As the prophet says, 49 ‘Heaven is my throne,’ says ADONAI, ‘and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house could you build for Me? What kind of place could you devise for my rest? 50 Has not My hand made all these things?’ 51 “Stiffnecked people, with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You continually oppose the Ruach HaKodesh! Was there ever a prophet your fathers did not persecute! 52 Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? They killed those who told prophesied the coming of the Righteous On, and now you have become His betrayers and murderers! – 53 you! – who receive the Torah that was put into effect through angels – but have not obeyed it!”
The Stoning of Stephen:
54 On hearing these things, they were cut to their hearts and ground their teeth at him. 55 But he, full of the Ruach HaKodesh, looked up to heaven and saw God’s Sh’khinah, with Yeshua standing at the right hand of God. 56 “Look!” he exclaimed, “I see heaven opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!” 57 At this, they began yelling at the top of their voices, so that they wouldn’t have to hear him; and with one accord, they rushed at him, 58 threw him outside the city and began stoning him. And the witnesses laid down their coats at the feet of a young man named Sha’ul. 59 As they were stoning him, Stephen called out to God, “Lord Yeshua! Receive my spirit!” 60 Then he kneeled down and shouted out, “Lord! Don’t hold this sin against them!” With that, he fell asleep.
1 and Sha’ul gave his approval to his murder. Starting with that day, there arose intense persecution against the Messianic Community/Church in Yerushalayim; all but the emissaries were scattered throughout the regions of Y’hudah and Shomron. 2 Some godly men buried Stephen and mourned him deeply. 3 But Sha’ul set out to destroy the Messianic Community/Church – entering house after house, he dragged off both men and women and handed them over to be put in prison.
Note: Sha’ul’s (Paul) one-on-one experience was with the very One who had given His life to save him, Jehovah’s only Son, Yeshua.
1 Meanwhile, Sha’ul, still breathing murderous threats against the Lord’s talmidim, went to the cohen hagadol 2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Dammesek, authorizing him to arrest any people he might find, whether men or women, who belonged to “the Way,” {Messianic CommunityChurch} and bring them back to Yerushalayim. 3 He was on the road and nearing Dammesek, when suddenly a light from heaven flashed all around him. 4 Falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, “Sha’ul! Sha’ul! Why do you keep persecuting me?” 5 “Who are you, Lord?” he asked. “I am Yeshua, whom you are persecuting. 6 Now get up, and go into the city, and you will be told what you have to do.” 7 The men traveling with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one. 8 They helped Sha’ul get up off the ground; but when he opened his eyes, he could see nothing. So, leading him by the hand, they brought him into Dammesek. 9 For three days he remained unable to see, and he neither ate nor drank. 10 There was a talmid in Dammesek, Hananyah by name; and in a vision the Lord said to him, “Hananyah!” He said, “Here I am, Lord.” 11 The Lord said to him, “Get up and go to Straight Street, to Y’hudah’s house; and ask for a man from Tarsus named Sha’ul; for he is praying, 12 and in a vision he has seen a man named Hananyah coming in and placing his hands on him to restore his sight.” 13 But Hananyah answered, “Lord, many have told me about this man, how much harm he has done to your people in Yerushalayim; 14 and here he has a warrant from the head cohanim to arrest everyone who calls on your name.” 15 But the Lord said to him, “Go, because this man is my chosen instrument to carry my name to the Goyim, even to their kings, and to the sons of Isra’el as well. 16 For I myself will show him how much he must suffer for My name.”
Acts Chapter 7
Who is this Yeshua Jesus Messiah Christ and Savior of all? Call on Him in repentance of sin, by faith believing and receive Him as Personal Savior and Lord of our lives.
Yeshua’s credentials are in perfect order. Born of Jehovah God, not of Adam, to the Virgin Mary, but not of human descent. He kept the Jewish Law and traditions, but He came to fulfill the Law, bringing love, forgiveness, mercy, grace and redemption from sin for whosoever believes and follows Him. Yeshua came and died on a cross for our sins.
O what a Savior! What love of the Father and the Son that they should do this for you and me! Yeshua established the Church and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it!
“Jesus Loves Me” performed by Chris Tomlin
Yeshua is our only way and foundation for eternal life. There is no other way whereby one can be saved from sin and have eternity in Jehovah’s Kingdom of Heaven without end! Yeshua is the way, the truth and the life! NO one comes the His Father Jehovah except through HIM. AMEN and AMEN.
The Battle of the Ages continues to be fought for the souls of men. Light vs. Darkness – Good vs. Evil. It is a choice we all make. Choose light and life everlasting by choosing Yeshua Messiah OR choose the darkness and evil of Satan and live for eternity in hell.
Therefore, listen! Be still! Jehovah God says call on Me and I will hear you and I will show you Truth and Life. Yeshua died for you and me. The very least we can do is to live for Him.
“It is Finished” performed by The Gaither Vocal Band
WHAT WAS WHAT IS WHAT WILL BE
Our subject matter now turns to What Is. According to Jehovah God’s scriptures in His Holy Bible events from the past are still relevant TODAY! These scriptures, as foretold by the prophets, give us the correct heading and direction in the present and a look forward to the What Will Be as the result of our choices.
Our current age, according to the scholars through their studies of times and events, is called the Age of Grace, or the 6th Dispensation, and is the last age for mankind as we know it. This timeframe began with the descent and dispensation of God’s Holy Spirit, who is present in the souls of all believers. This account is recorded in the book of Acts.
1 Dear Theophilos: In the first book, I wrote about everything Yeshua set out to do and teach, 2 until the day when, after giving instructions through the Ruach HaKodesh to the emissaries whom He had chosen, Yeshua was taken up into heaven. 3 After His death He showed Himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that He was alive. During a period of forty days they saw Him, and He spoke with them about the Kingdom of God. 4 At one of these gatherings, Yeshua instructed them not to leave Yerushalayim but to wait for “what the Father promised, which you heard about from me. 5 For Yochanan used to immerse people in water; but in a few days, you will be immersed in the Ruach HaKodesh!” 6 When they were together, they asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore self-rule to Isra’el?” 7 He answered, “You don’t need to know the dates or the times; the Father has kept these under His own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Ruach HaKodesh comes upon you; you will be my witnesses both in Yerushalayim and in all Y’hudah and Shomron, indeed to the ends of the earth!” 9 After saying this, Yeshua was taken up before their eyes; and a cloud hid Him from their sight. 10 As they were staring into the sky after Him, suddenly they saw two men dressed in white standing next to them. 11 The men said, “You Galileans! Why are you standing, staring into space? This Yeshua, who has been taken away from you into heaven, will come back to you in just the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”
I AM
performed by Mark Schultz
Do you believe in Jehovah God the “Always Present and the Great I AM” of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob? Do you believe Jehovah’s Holy Word of – What Was – What Is – What Will Be? If yes, then you do believe in Jehovah’s only begotten Son, Yeshua? Do you believe in the Trinity – the Three in One – Jehovah the Father, Yeshua His Son and Jehovah’s Holy Spirit indwelling all believers? All questions are complete in one simple answer: it is either Yes or No. There is no middle ground. You either trust and believe or you do not.
The deceiver Satan’s answer is yes. So what is the difference from his yes and your yes? Satan knows Jehovah’s truth but rejected it and chose to continue with his own agenda. You say yes to Jehovah’s truth, the sending of His Son Yeshua, and by repentance of sin and self, you serve and follow Him. Joshua said, choose you this day whom you will serve, as for me and my house we will serve the Lord. Let us go back and read the account of Moses and Joshua (who succeeds Moses).
14 ADONAI said to Moshe, “The time is coming for you to die. Summon Y’hoshua, and present yourselves in the tent of meeting, so that I (Jehovah) can commission him.” Moshe and Y’hoshua went and presented themselves in the tent of meeting.
Joshua was filled with Jehonah’s Holy Spirit of wisdom when Moses laid his hands on him. Joshua said to the people, this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says:
13 Then I gave you a land where you had not worked and cities you had not built, and you live there. You eat fruit from vineyards and olive groves which you did not plant.’ 14 “Therefore fear ADONAI, and serve him truly and sincerely. Put away the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and serve ADONAI! 15 If it seems bad to you to serve ADONAI, then choose today whom you are going to serve! Will it be the gods your ancestors served beyond the River? or the gods of the Emori, in whose land you are living? As for me and my household, we will serve ADONAI!” 16 The people answered, “Far be it from us that we would abandon ADONAI to serve other gods; 17 because it is ADONAI our God who brought us and our fathers up out of the land of Egypt, from a life of slavery, and did those great signs before our eyes, and preserved us all along the way we traveled and among all the peoples we passed through; 18 and it was ADONAI who drove out from ahead of us all the peoples, the Emori living in the land. Therefore we too will serve ADONAI, for He is our God.” 19 Y’hoshua said to the people, “You can’t serve ADONAI; because He is a holy God, a jealous God, and He will not forgive your crimes and sins. 20 If you abandon ADONAI and serve foreign gods, He will turn, doing you harm and destroying you after He has done you good.” 21 But the people said to Y’hoshua, “No, but we will serve ADONAI.” 22 Y’hoshua said to the people, “You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen ADONAI, to serve him.” They answered, “We are witnesses.” 23 “Now,” Y’hoshua urged, “put away the foreign gods you have among you, and turn your hearts to ADONAI, the God of Isra’el.” 24 The people answered Y’hoshua, “We will serve ADONAI our God; we will pay attention to what He says.” 25 So Y’hoshua made a covenant with the people that day, laying down for them laws and rulings there in Sh’khem. 26 Y’hoshua wrote these words in the book of the Torah of God. Then he took a big stone and set it up there under the oak next to the sanctuary of ADONAI. 27 Y’hoshua said to all the people, “See, this stone will be a witness against us; because it has heard all the words of ADONAI which He said to us; therefore it will be a witness against you, in case you deny your God.”
19 If there is such a person, when he hears the words of this curse, he will bless himself secretly, saying to himself, ‘I will be all right, even though I will stubbornly keep doing whatever I feel like doing; so that I, although “dry,” [sinful,] will be added to the “watered” [righteous].’ 21 ADONAI will single him out from all the tribes of Isra’el to experience what is bad in all the curses of the covenant written in this book of the Torah. 22 “When the next generation, your children who will grow up after you, and the foreigner who arrives from a distant land, see the plagues of that land and the diseases with which ADONAI has made it sick, 23 and that the whole land has become burning sulfur and salt, that it isn’t being sown or bearing crops or even producing grass – like the overthrow of S’dom, ‘Amora, Admah and Tzvoyim, which ADONAI overthrew in His furious anger – 24 then all the nations will ask, ‘Why did ADONAI do this to this land? What is the meaning of such frenzied, furious anger?’ 25 People will answer, ‘It’s because they abandoned the covenant of ADONAI, the God of their fathers, which He made with them when He brought them out of the land of Egypt. 26 They went and served other gods, prostrating themselves before them, gods they had not known and which he had not assigned them. 27 For this reason, the anger of ADONAI blazed up against this land and brought upon it every curse written in this book; 28 and ADONAI, in anger, fury and incensed with indignation, uprooted them from their land and threw them out into another land – as it is TODAY.’
4 Then the Sovereign Lord said to me, “Prophesy over these bones! Say to them, ‘Dry bones! Hear what ADONAI has to say! 5 To these bones Adonai ELOHIM says, “I will make breath enter you, and you will live. 6 I will attach ligaments to you, make flesh grow on you, cover you with skin and put breath in you. You will live, and you will know that I am ADONAI.”
11 Then ADONAI said to me, “Human being! These bones are the whole house of Isra’el; and they are saying, ‘Our bones have dried up, our hope is gone, and we are completely cut off.’ 12 Therefore prophesy; say to them that Adonai ELOHIM says, ‘My people! I will open your graves and make you get up out of your graves, and I will bring you into the land of Isra’el. 13 Then you will know that I am ADONAI – when I have opened your graves and made you get up out of your graves, my people! 14 I will put my Spirit in you; and you will be alive. Then I will place you in your own land; and you will know that I, ADONAI, have spoken, and that I have done it,’ says ADONAI.”
24 For I will take you, O House of Israel, from among the nations, gather you from all the countries, and return you to your own soil. 25 Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your uncleanness and from all your idols. 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit inside you; I will take the stony heart out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 I will put My Spirit inside you and cause you to live by my laws, respect my rulings and obey them. 28 You will live in the land I gave to your ancestors. You will be my people, and I will be your God. 29 I will save you from all your uncleanliness. I will summon the grain and increase it, and not send famine against you. 30 I will multiply the yield of fruit from the trees and increase production in the fields, so that you never again suffer the reproach of famine among the nations. 31 Then you will remember your evil ways and your actions that were not good; as you look at yourselves, you will loathe yourselves for your guilt and disgusting practices. 32 Understand,’ says Adonai ELOHIM, ‘that I am not doing this for your sake. Instead, be ashamed and dismayed for your ways, O house of Isra’el.’
21 Then say to them that Adonai ELOHIM says: ‘I will take the people of Isra’el from among the nations where they have gone and gather them from every side and bring them back to their own land. 22 I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Isra’el; and one king will be king for all of them. They will no longer be two nations, and they will never again be divided into two kingdoms. 23“They will never again defile themselves with their idols, their detestable things, or any of their transgressions; but I will save them from all the places where they have been living and sinning; and l will cleanse them, so that they will be my people, and I will be their God.
THE BEAUTIFUL LAND
D.E.H. 2014
“There is a place beyond the ocean
Whose land kisses the sea.
Its beauty is in the many stones
and the Sea of Galilee.
A thousand and a thousand years have passed since 70AD
Jehovah’s chosen people were scattered throughout the earth
and the nation of Israel was no more.
Then came that day, the greatest day, May 14,1948
The nation that was not was now born again!
Its people came from every country and from every land.
The people came from far and wide to settle again their beloved land.
With tears of joy, they kissed the ground
Their land to work, to build and to plan!
What a sight to see – the changing of a desert to a beautiful green!
The nation that was and was no more is again and better than before.
Along with their beautiful land, their Hebrew language was born again.
The language that was and was no more is again forevermore.”
The final step is confession and restoration with your Jehovah God. Will you pray along with the great prophet, Daniel, as he confesses his sins and the sins of Jehovah’s chosen, the people of Israel?
4 I prayed to ADONAI my God and made this confession: “Please, Adonai, great and fearsome God, who keeps His covenant and extends grace to those who love Him and observe His commands! 5 We have sinned, done wrong, acted wickedly, rebelled and turned away from your commands and laws. 6 We (Isra’el), have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our leaders, our ancestors and to all the people of the land. 7 “To you, Adonai, belongs righteousness; but to us today belongs shame – to us, the men of Y’hudah, the inhabitants of Yerushalayim and all Isra’el, including those nearby and those far away, throughout all the countries where you have driven them; because of our unfaithfulness to you. 8 Yes, ADONAI, shame falls on us, our kings, our leaders and our ancestors; because we sinned against you. 9 Adonai our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against Him. 10 We didn’t listen to the voice of ADONAI our God, so that we could live by His laws, which He presented to us through His servants the prophets. 11 Yes, all Isra’el flouted your Torah and turned away, unwilling to listen to your voice. Therefore the curse and oath written in the Torah of Moshe the servant of God was poured out on us, because we sinned against him. 12 He carried out the threats He spoke against us and against our judges who judged us, by bringing upon us disaster so great that under all of heaven, nothing has been done like what has been done to Yerushalayim. 13 As written in the Torah of Moshe, this whole disaster came upon us, yet we did not appease ADONAI our God by renouncing our wrongdoing and discerning your truth. 14 So ADONAI watched for the right moment to bring this disaster upon us, for ADONAI our God is just in everything He does, yet we didn’t listen when He spoke. 15 “Now, Adonai our God, who brought your people out of the land of Egypt with a strong hand, thereby winning renown for yourself, as is the case today – we sinned, we acted wickedly. 16 Adonai, in keeping with all your justice, please allow your anger and fury to be turned away from your city Yerushalayim, your holy mountain; because it is due to our sins and the iniquities of our ancestors that Yerushalayim and your people have become objects of scorn among everyone around us. 17 Therefore, our God, listen to the prayer and pleadings of your servant; and cause your face to shine on your desolated sanctuary, for your own sake. 18 My God, turn your ear, and hear; open your eyes and see how desolated we are, as well as the city which bears your name. For we plead with you not because of our own righteousness, but because of your great mercy and compassion. 19 Adonai, hear! Adonai, forgive! Adonai, pay attention, and don’t delay action – for your own sake, my God, because your city and your people bear your name!”
Read the repentant prayer and commissioning of Isaiah, Jehovah’s humble prophet.
1 In the year of King ‘Uziyahu’s death I saw Adonai sitting on a high, lofty throne! The hem of His robe filled the temple. 2 S’rafim stood over Him, each with six wings – two for covering His face, two for covering His feet and two for flying. 3 They were crying out to each other, “More holy than the holiest holiness is ADONAI-Tzva’ot! The whole earth is filled with His glory!” 4 The doorposts shook at the sound of their shouting, and the house was filled with smoke. 5 Then I said, “Woe to me! I [too] am doomed! because I, a man with unclean lips, living among a people with unclean lips, have seen with my own eyes the King, ADONAI-Tzva’ot!” 6 One of the s’rafim flew to me with a glowing coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 He touched my mouth with it and said, “Here! This has touched your lips. Your iniquity is gone, your sin is atoned for.” 8 Then I heard the voice of Adonai saying, “Whom should I send? Who will go for us?” I answered, “Here am I, send me!”
Here I Am
performed by Downhere
This should be the testimony of every believer! We have only TODAY to tell of Jehovah’s love and grace. Jehovah’s Son Yeshua gives believers the following command after His resurrection and as He was returning back to His Father, Jehovah God. The Great Commission – our marching orders from our Commander-in-Chief, Yeshua!
18 Yeshua came and talked with them. He said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, immersing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Ruach HaKodesh, (The Trinity) 20 and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember! I will be with you always, yes, even until the end of the age.”
1 In days gone by, God spoke in many and varied ways to the Fathers through the prophets. 2 But now, in the last days (acharit-hayamim,) He has spoken to us through His Son Yeshua, to whom He has given ownership of everything and through whom He created the universe. 3 This Son is the radiance of the Sh’khinah Glory of His Father God, the very expression of His (God’s) essence, upholding all that exists by His powerful word; and after He had, through Himself, made purification for sins, Yeshua sat down at the right hand of His Father God, the Majesty in Heaven (HaG’dulah BaM’romim.)
This is our time! TODAY is our day in history to carry on the truth and witness of our testimony in proclaiming the salvation available through Yeshua the Christ and Messiah to the lost people around us and throughout the world. Every believer is a missionary for Christ Messiah and every lost person is our mission field! Go tell it on the mountain, over the hills and everywhere, go tell it on the mountain that Yeshua, Jehovah’s only Son, was born to bring the message of love and eternal life to any who choose to follow Him!
“How Great Is Our God”
written by Chris Tomlin and performed by Joshua Aaron
Chorus:
Gadol Elohai
Shiru ki Gadol Elohai
Kol echad Yirei
Ki gadol Elohai
Bridge (Name above all names):
Shem me’al kol shem
Otcha raui le’halel
Libi yashir ki gadol Elohai
Israel's Ultimate Victory 