As my family and I sat together last night to have our family Bible Study, while observing The Sabbath, an interested thought came into my mind. Usually, as we read verses from The Torah, we will all kind of elaborate on what is being said. I do not remember exactly what verse we were on, or even who was speaking, but suddenly I had the urge to address something. I began to talk about how we as the church today have no idea who Yeshua is. Yes, I know, we all read our Bible’s, and we got to church, and we listen to our gospel music and strive to live as holy as we know how, but is this who Yeshua is? I began reflect on a scene from the Left Behind movies of the 90’s. One scene in particular that has always left me feeling bothered was the one where the Pastor from the church missed the rapture. I remember how upset he was, as he said how week after week, he preached The Word, and that he was even good at it. He goes on to say, he did it so good that his members were gone, but he was still here. Imagine that, you make it, but the same Pastor whom you put your confidence and trust in didn’t make it. But there is that parable Yeshua told about in Matthew 7:21-23. In this verse, as He speaks to these people, they are shocked that they were not allowed into His rest. As they plead their case to Yeshua, they point out how they did all these works in His name, and even cast out demons, yet to all this, His reply was “I never knew you”. In order to even do the things that they claimed to have done, they had to have lived some form of a set apart life. One that would cause them to think they were on the right path. Not only that, but the fact that Yeshua never denied their acts attest to the fact that even He acknowledged what they had done during their ministry. However, something just wasn’t quite right. I also find it interesting that He called the workers of “lawlessness”. This is a bit off point, but in 1 John, he defines lawlessness as violating Torah. I’ll delve in to that in future blogs though.
As I spoke to my family, I began to make a comparison between YHVH in the Tanakh (Old Testament), and Yeshua in the B’rit HaDashah (New Testament). Yehsua constantly told the people that if they have seen Him, they have seen the Father, and that He and His Father were one. Hold up, say what? There is a “revelation of a difference”, as my old Pastor used to say. It can’t be missed. When talking to un-religious people, even they recognized it. Most people point out that the God of the “Old Testament” was hard, judgemental, demanding and even cruel. I totally disagree with that assessment, but the point I am making is that when you look at the two, there are quite a few differences. These differences are noticeable enough to see that these two can’t be the same. Yet Yeshua assures the people that He and the Father are one. The Hebrew word translated as “one” is “echad”. Echad points to a single entity, made up of more than one part. In other word’s He is a part of YHVH. But if this the case, why do they seem so different? The answer to this question is found in the earthly ministry of Yeshua. The Jews of the day were in constant disbelief of who Yeshua was, not so much because He failed to fulfill prophecy, but rather because His coming would be in two parts. They were all waiting for Him to come in the role of a Conquering King to deliver Israel and restore all things, but instead they had this meek and lowly Suffering Savior. Most people, when looking at the character of Yeshua, they base their opinion on His suffering Savior ministry, as if to say that this how He will always be. Lets think about something. John the Baptist, called Him the Lamb of God, yet in the book of Revelation, we see Him being called the Lion of the Tribe of Judah. Looking at both the lamb and the lion, is there a difference? Of course, as different as night is from day. There is nothing at all intimidating about a lamb. In fact you could see a whole field of them and wouldn’t give a second thought. But let someone even hear the sound of a lion in the distance and everyone is on edge. We have seen Him in the Lamb of God role, but I assure you, His Lion of the Tribe of Judah will NOT be the same.
Most people today, when speaking on Yeshua, tend to give you their own ideas of how He may feel about certain things, or even what He will and will not accept. I have heard supporters of the LGBTQ movement site the verse God is love, as if to imply that because He is love, He will accept whatever they feel he should be given, apart from what He requires to be given. This is a huge error. When looking at YHVH in the Torah, He consistently and without fail, tells Israel what He wants, and how He expects it to be done. Anything short of His way is unacceptable. In Malachi He points out that how He was not at all pleased with how the people began to give Him unfit animals for sacrifices. They were bringing the lame, blind and flawed animals to Him, yet when giving to the king, or people in power, they brought the best of the best. When looking at His reaction to this, are we really so foolish as to think and believe that we can give to Him what we want, and expect Him to respect it apart from what He demands? What about Cain and Abel. One brought an acceptable offering according to His will, which was accepted, whereas the other brought an offering according to his own will and was rejected. If YHVH is the same yesterday today and forever, and changes not, how can we assume that yesterdays unchangeable has suddenly become today’s changeable? It is when we fail to really analyze the Scriptures that we begin to have a flawed outlook at the character of both YHVH and Yeshua. This is the reason LGBTQ uses certain verses to justify their lifestyles on the world, to include the church. I further believe that it is the churches obligation to not only understand the difference but to teach it as well. Failure to really understand the God we serve is the reason why the goats don’t make it in, despite all their works in ministry.
One really doesn’t have to look hard to see the Conquering King in Yeshua. The gospels record an event at the Temple, concerning the money changers and Yehsua’s reaction. From Matthew until John, this is the only instance where you see Yeshua, outraged at what people were doing. After seeing how the His Father’s house was being disrespected, He began to flip tables, yell and even began to whip people as He chased them out, citing how His Father’s house was to be a House of Prayer. So what can we learn from this? First that, He wasn’t concerned with how the people treated Him in that we see where He was talked about, ridiculed and even challenged. Yet when it came to the House of YHVH being disrespected, He became outraged. Looking at this, it could be further assessed that the disregard of the will of YHVH is taken very seriously by Yeshua. Keep in mind, He often said that He came to do the will of His Father. And Just what is the Father’s will? From the beginning, it has been the will of YHVH to have a covenant relationship, not just with Israel, but His entire creation. Although He established His own nation in Israel, it was never just about them, but He needed a model nation to be a light to the rest. It was therefore necessary for Yeshua to come as a suffering Savior first, otherwise had He come as a conquering King, no one could have been redeemed, including the Jews because even they weren’t ready. It was all a part of a divine plan from the beginning.
Let’s look at this Conquering King. To get a better glimpse of Him requires us to open up a book that most are afraid to glance into. The Book of Revelation is one of the most scariest, and misunderstood books of the Bible. What I have come to learn is that until you have a good understanding of the Torah, of the Feast Days, as well as the culture, you cannot fully understand the prophecies given. Since many churches teach replacement theology, that is, the belief in how the church has become the “new Israel”, they then try to view Revelation from a Western mindset, which simply cannot be done. On the otherhand, when understanding the Eastern mindset, it suddenly becomes clearer what is going on. In any case, this is why many steer clear from this amazing book. Anyway, within this book, we no longer see the Suffering Savior, but rather a Conquering King, speaking on how the church needs to fix a few things before He comes and removes their light. He speaks on areas where they are missing the boat and how He has a few things against them, and then begins to instruct and redirect them. In this new picture painted of Yeshua, He is no longer being sympathetic, but rather has expectations on this church He purchased in His blood. When looking at this side of Yeshua, one cannot help but see His Father in Him as well as the “echad” (oneness) we spoke on earlier. I would really encourage you to read Revelation again. Even if you can’t understand the prophetic aspect, just key in on the words of Yeshua with the intent of making a contrast between the two sides portrayed. Yeshua was radical! And when He comes back, I believe many of us will be in for a rude awakening when we see that what we thought would be acceptable to Him really isn’t. Again, I am not trying to paint a picture of some tyrannical dictator, but at the same time I am trying to show you the real Yeshua. YHVH is a holy God, and as such, His standards are very high. It was not in the nature of man to uphold those standards. We were all born in sin and shaped in iniquity. He gave us His Torah, which means His teachings or instructions on how to live, and it was from this Torah, that we were able to see our sin. Upon learning His Torah, sin was birthed, because failure to follow Torah led to sin which led to death. Yeshua came on the scene to fix what was wrong, and give us a chance so that YHVH’s creation could finally be fit for the relationship He wanted from the beginning. For this cause, Yeshua chose to come to us as a suffering Savior, to first show us through example what it was to live Torah. Secondly, He came to give His life in our place so that we would have another chance at this covenant that YHVH offered back on Mt Sinai. From His death, we were given the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit), who would help us to live Torah. It was prophesied that YHVH would write His Torah on our hearts, rather than stone tablets, and would cause us to follow them. What needs to be understood from all of this is that, the fact that YHVH is love is not a catch all phrase to excuse some sin that we desire to remain in. Don’t mistake Yeshua’s role as a suffering Savior for someone that will accept just any old thing. At the return of this Conquering King, all excuses will fade away. I believe deep down, those of us who are practicing some sort of sin, know it is sin, and not only that, but that it is not acceptable in the sight of YHVH. It is that same inward feeling, or conviction that causes some to lash out at others to get as many as possible to condone what they are into because the more that agree, the better you feel about what you are doing. It’s like the old saying, “misery loves company”. You can see this play out in LGBTQ. I use them a lot because right now in the midst of everything, they are making the loudest noise. Not only that, but they have boldly made an assault on the church, demanding that the Pastors and members not only embrace them, but allow them to serve in the church as if to say this lifestyle is ok. I find it interesting that some churches have done just that. Acceptance of this lifestyle is totally against Scripture, and when a church accepts that which the Bible rejects, you are ultimately, as an indirect representation of the voice of YHVH, confirming to them that YHVH is fine with this. This is the reason I love reading the Torah so much, because in it, you see the character of YHVH. Based on things going in during that time, and how He responded, you can safely deduce how He would react to things going on today.
I would like to make one thing perfectly clear. I am not a “homo-phobe”, nor do I hate anyone of the LGBTQ movement. My prayer is that YHVH would touch and deliver each and every one in that lifestyle. I may not personally agree with it, but it is not my place to judge any of them. However, as a believer, I base my views and opinions on something I believe to be concrete, the Bible. My views and opinions will always be based on Scripture as opposed to my own because as a man, I am subject to change. My feelings on an issue may be this way today but that way tomorrow. But the Bible, it is solid, it is eternal and it never ever changes. That being said, I prefer standing on something infallible and speaking from that perspective than from my own. As I wrap this up, I just want to reiterate, do not get the person of Yeshua mixed up. He only came as a suffering Savior to teach us what YHVH wanted and to become a sacrifice for us. But at His return, this Conquering King is looking for the fruit that should be in this church that He planted. When He returns, there will be chaff among the wheat, and He will immediately separate the two, and deal with them accordingly. The question is, which will you be? There will be no excuses, no justifications, just simply “enter in” or “depart from me”.
I would like to once again thank you all for your support of this blog project. It is still sort of new to me, but I tend to write as I feel led. I pray that the subject matter of these blogs bless, encourage and enlighten you as well. Blessings!
