Gullible or Credulous

 Before getting into this article entitled Gullible or Credulous, let’s define these two words. “Gullible” is based on having or showing too great a readiness to believe things.   “Credulous” is very similar; gullibility stresses being duped or made a fool of, suggesting a lack of intelligence, whereas credulity stresses forming beliefs uncritically, thus indicating a lack of skepticism and/or discernment. 

In between the two World Wars, and especially after the latter, in the wake of the establishment of the State of Israel, the West (including Israel) has had to deal with a very distraught and hostile Islamic world. The Arabs maintained that their lands had been stolen from their (now defunct) Caliphate. Being subjects to and of their superior-to-all-others religious system, it was and is incumbent upon them to try to convert all non-believers to Islam.  If met with resistance, it gives them the right to use force, or, in the event of being at a temporary disadvantage, negotiations are in place. All means are kosher in order to achieve the ultimate goal of dominance. Thus, when dealing with the “infidel,” it is obligatory to do so by the usage of cunning and deception. This approach is being applied today in the negotiations with the gullible peace-seeking Western world. Scripture points out that this kind of peace, “when there is no peace” (Jeremiah 6:14; 8:11) is futile and dangerous. Such is our reality today, with this credulous mindset being exploited very boldly. We, who are not naïve, see red lights flashing everywhere when, for example, an ISIS leader takes over the government in Syria and declares his desire to join the Abraham Accords. Strangely enough, though, even here in Israel, there are those whose eyes are still blinded to the enemy’s tactics, being gullible, credulous, and… stupid.  

A personal anecdote, veering somewhat off the subject but landing on the same spot….

Recently, I had to renew my American Passport. I sent it to the American Embassy in Jerusalem, but I had no idea, until I arrived, about the location of the compound in question. Getting off a city bus and having to walk a couple of blocks, I resorted to Google Maps, which showed that I was crossing the so-called “green line” (the 1949 armistice border) in order to arrive at my destination.  Once at the Embassy, it was hard not to notice that most of the staff were made up of Palestinians (Israeli residents from East Jerusalem, who are not citizens).  Was this situation, of chosen location and staff, indicative that in “real-life” this American representation venue is actually designed for a future Palestinian state? Over the past several decades, Jerusalem has been expanded to include this area, but was it ever intended as the site for a future American Embassy in Israel? By the way, the old Tel-Aviv one still functions, just like the new one.  

A show of strength, i.e., military power, may cause the enemy to allegedly negotiate a ceasefire or maybe even a peace treaty. However, that too is a war tactic to keep maintaining the upper hand.   Islamic leaders have had 1400 years of dealing with their Western enemies. This Islamic history has helped them advance their agenda. In the past 30 years or so they have made almost more strides forward, in subduing their western enemies than at any other era. Time is on their side. Even if Israel and the United States penalize them by force, they will still come out on top through their style of negotiations. Conversely, wars (even among themselves), for example, are a means for multitudes of refugees to flee to other countries, mainly western ones, and start the process of taking over by becoming landmines in the enemy’s homeland.  This has been the case for several decades, and everyone is in fear of stepping on one of these explosive traps. Humanitarianism has won the hearts of the ‘Christian’ world, blinding them to YHVH’s scriptural realities and solutions for His people’s future. Yet there is always a remnant that the Father will keep for His purposes.  May we be counted among them!

Compromise

If one is going to walk on the road toward Zion, the dwelling place of the Most High Elohim and His Son Yeshua, compromising the reality of identity to the promised seed of Abraham is out of the question. If one is going to bear the testimony of YHVH’s covenant-keeping faithfulness, then one cannot compromise the truth that Elohim raised Yeshua from the dead. The Messianic birthmark of our coming forth from Sarah is the faith of Abraham, who believed resurrection life from a dead womb (and also the ‘sacrifice’ of his only son Isaac). The latter foreshadowed the even more significant event, namely, the Life that came forth from the tomb.

The Abrahamic faith has been passed down, generation after generation, in seed form, as YHVH watched over its sowing until the fields were ripe for the harvest. The Word of Elohim strongly exhorts us that unbelief is tantamount to disobedience. “And to whom did He swear that they should not enter His rest, but to those who were disobedient? And so we see that they were not able to enter because of unbelief” (Hebrews 3:18-19).  Compromise is unbelief and will quickly lead one off of those narrow highways to Zion. Compromise is dangerously close to causing one to become a false witness to YHVH’s Covenant faithfulness.

“For when Elohim made the promise to Abraham, since He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself, saying, ‘I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply you.’ And thus, having patiently waited, he obtained the promise.  For men swear by one greater than themselves, and with them an oath given as confirmation is an end of every dispute. In the same way Elohim, desiring even more to show to the heirs of the promise the unchangeableness of His purpose, interposed with an oath, in order that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for Elohim to lie, we may have strong encouragement…” (Hebrews 6:13-18 emphasis added).  The Father’s anointed seed’s identity in this generation is bearing witness to His faithfulness in keeping His promise to Abraham and Sarah.  “For this is a word of promise: ‘At this time I will come, and Sarah shall have a son’" (Romans 9:9)…”for neither are they all children because they are Abraham's seed, but: ‘through Isaac [Sarah’s son] your seed will be named… the children of the promise are regarded as seed” (Romans 9:7-8).  “By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac; and he who had received the promises was offering up his only begotten son; it was he to whom it was said, ’In Isaac your seed shall be called’" (Hebrews 11:17-18).

 “He [Elohim] has remembered His covenant forever, the word which He commanded to a thousand generations, the covenant which He made with Abraham, and His oath to Isaac. Then He confirmed it to Jacob for a statute, to Israel as an everlasting covenant…" (Psalm 105:8-11). 

YHVH has been faithful to keep His promise to the forefathers’ seed; how much more will He be faithful to keep the New Covenant promise to the same seed. The Christian world is celebrating “resurrection day,” but little do they know that believing Elohim raised Yeshua from the dead (see Romans 4:24) is a declaration of Elohim’s faithfulness to the first Covenant made with their forefathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. “For those who are of the faith are all the seed of Abraham” (Romans 4:16). 

Judgment - Compassion - Resurrection

 Judgment – Compassion - Resurrection

During the Passover season, the figures of Elijah and Moses are highlighted. What do the scriptures say about these prophets and their relationship to the House of Israel today? Malachi, for example, concludes his book by saying that Elijah will come “before the great and terrible day of YHVH” and “will turn the hearts of the children to the fathers [Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob]” and vice versa, with the exhortation which precedes these words being, to “remember the Torah of Moses… and the statutes and ordinances for all Israel” (see Malachi 4:4-6). Of course, one would have to know that they are Israel - YHVH’s covenanted people - to heed this message and its warning. (Psalm 78 is a perfect Psalm for Passover.)

If this message to “all Israel to remember…” is ignored, the Father promises “to strike the earth with a curse” (Malachi 4:6). This is not to be taken lightly or fugitively!  This world is no stranger to scourges, and no doubt many more will follow, as there has been very little response to this call that has gone out, not only to the Jews but also to the believers in the New Covenant who, according to Paul, are the children of those forefathers (e.g., Romans 4:16).  Thus the prophetic word is equally applicable to both groups. The prophet Jeremiah announces the wrath and anger of YHVH in the last days: “The anger of YHVH will not turn back until He has performed and carried out the purposes of His heart; In the last days you will clearly understand it” (Jeremiah 23:20, emphasis added. See also Jeremiah 30:24).

On October 7th, 2023, we had a wake-up call in Israel. What took place here was already foreseen by the prophet Ezekiel and has been fulfilled many times ever since these words were uttered.  YHVH’s warnings and judgements came upon His adulterous people through the Assyrians, Babylonians, and Romans, to cite a few examples. There have been ample warnings for years, but they have fallen on deaf ears.  This is one reason our hearts must return to our forefathers, for they are our example (see 1^st Corinthians 10:1-11) and the bearers of YHVH’s promises. Paul reminds us of our forefathers’ rebellion in the wilderness and the consequences of their waywardness. Ezekiel also describes what can happen when we turn our backs on the prophetic warnings: 

"I shall also give you into the hands of your lovers, and they will tear down your shrines, demolish your high places, strip you of your clothing, take away your jewels, and will leave you naked and bare. They will incite a crowd against you, and they will stone you and cut you to pieces with their swords. And they will burn your houses with fire and execute judgments on you in the sight of many women. Then I shall stop you from playing the harlot, and you will also no longer pay your lovers” (Ezekiel 16:39-41).

The above scripture is uncannily descriptive of what took place on October 7^th. We all know by now that the enemy's main plan was for this to erupt on all fronts. But why did it happen in the first place? Could it be because His people who are called by His name fell into gross sin and iniquity by profaning YHVH’s name (e.g. Ezekiel 36:20) in a variety of ways, one of the worst being by mutual hatred?  History proves how we have incurred the wrath of Elohim for such attitudes and actions. But YHVH's feast of Passover promises that even though “we are faithless, He remains faithful; for He cannot deny Himself” (2^nd Timothy 2:13). 

Passover reminds us of Elohim’s great and undeserved love and mercy.  YHVH hears our cry and will come to deliver us no matter how deep and severe our bondage to sin is. This is the hope of resurrection life that Moses heard from the voice that spoke to him at the burning bush: "I am the Elohim of your father, the Elohim of Abraham, the Elohim of Isaac, and the Elohim of Jacob" (Exodus 3:6, emphasis added). Interestingly, in His address to Moses, YHVH mentioned each forefather, but notice “your father”, which is singular. The point is that our identity as Israel is a corporate identity of ONE life, ONE father, even though we have had many. Yeshua unveils the mystery behind the burning bush scene when he illustrates the principle of resurrection life in His dialog with the Sadducees, who did not believe that the dead can or will rise.  

"But regarding the fact that the dead rise again, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the passage about the burning bush, how Elohim spoke to him, saying, 'I am the Elohim of Abraham, and the Elohim of Isaac, and the Elohim of Jacob '?  He is not the Elohim of the dead, but of the living; you are greatly mistaken" (Mark 12:26-27). Resurrection is embedded in the principle of the seed. The seed falls to the ground and dies so that its life can grow and produce after its kind in time. Yeshua’s resurrection was the “beginning” of the new creation life, and Israel is the “first fruit” of the same (e.g., Jeremiah 2:3; Acts 2:1-4). Passover is the “feast of freedom”, away from the old bondages and into newness of life. It represents the Aviv, which is the new beginning of a seed that has fallen to the ground and now is in the season of spouting, embarking on its journey of new life, knowing that it will bear its fruit for YHVH’s harvest -   “… the old things passed away; behold, new things have come”(2^nd  Corinthians 5:17).

Finishing the Finished Work

 Last week we focused on the preparations that were made for constructing both the Tabernacle (Mishkan) in the wilderness, as well as Solomon’s Temple in Jerusalem. I also said the following, ending it with a question: “It is interesting to note that the glory filled the Tabernacle and the Temple when Moses and Solomon finished building them.  Now, what about the tabernacle/temple that Yeshua is building out of what His Father prepared for Him to build and finish?”

For the edifices mentioned above, Elohim, at times, provided the materials from unlikely sources. In the case of Solomon’s Temple, his father, David, had been gathering or assembling materials in a variety of ways, for example war booty (2^nd Sam. 8:7,8,1112), purchase (the site for the Temple, 2^nd Sam. 24:24), gifts (1^st Chron. 14:1), etc.  He then gathered everything together and made meticulous plans for the materials and the workmen (and later for the ministers’ roles), as enumerated in 1st Chronicles chapters 15-16. In chapter 22 of 1^st Chronicles, we read: “So David gave orders to gather the foreigners who were in the land of Israel, and he set stonecutters to hew out stones to build the house of Elohim. And David prepared large quantities of iron to make the nails for the doors of the gates and for the clamps, and more bronze than could be weighed;  and timbers of cedar logs beyond number, for the Sidonians and Tyrians brought large quantities of cedar timber to David”. This illustrates the thoroughness and all-inclusiveness of the plans, the preparations, and the assembly of the different elements and people involved in the setting up of the Temple, even before its actual construction.

To return to the question posed above (and last week) regarding the tabernacle/temple that Yeshua is building out of what His Father prepared for Him to build and finish, let us go all the way back to the beginning of Genesis (chapter 2 and verse 5): “Then Elohim blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which Elohim had created and made” (emphasis added). This verse seems to bring to an end to the process of creation as described in Genesis chapter 1. However, a closer examination of this text, as it appears in Hebrew, indicates a rather curious wording. What is translated as, “and made” is in the infinitive form, i.e., “to make”, thus presenting a somewhat different reality. The first chapter’s enumerated-chronology describes what Elohim prepared in order to start the process of making Man in His image and according to His likeness, which is what the following account (in chapter 2) delineates.   

“Now no shrub of the field was yet in the earth, and no plant of the field had yet sprouted, for YHVH Elohim had not sent rain upon the earth; and there was no man to cultivate the ground” (Genesis 2:5, emphasis added). Please note the citation of the man’s absence and also the fact that until now, Elohim’s name – Yod Hey Vav Hey – has not been used. The four consonants that make up this name are equivalent to the sound of breath or breathing (using onomatopoeia). All living things have breath because Elohim is breathing!

“But a mist used to rise from the earth and water the whole surface of the ground” (Genesis 2:6). This was part of the preparation for the making of earthy Man.

As we can see from 2:5-6, YHVH-Elohim’s actions are taking us back to the beginning of the 6^th day, where He starts the actual making of man after having created a proper place for him (the environment – celestial and terrestrial, spiritual and material) and will be gathering, as it were, the components and presenting directives/manual (the Torah) for his final “shape” – again, in the image and according to the likeness of Himself,  until we “grow up in all aspects into Him, who is the head, even Messiah” (Eph. 4:15). Therefore, one can observe throughout Scripture - “the works of YHVH Elohim”, making it evident that He is not resting yet.  His Breath/Word is the history of the sixth day of creation. The seventh day does not show up until the end of the complete revelation of Yeshua (see Revelation 19-22). These Revelation chapters are the grand finale of the seven ages of the sixth day of Creation. At this point in time, we are only at the end of the sixth age and will be entering the seventh age of the sixth day. (see Creation Revisted)

In the meantime, YHVH Elohim is still assembling His materials and shaping and preparing them. Before us is one aspect, or example, of His temple preparation. "Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness, who seek YHVH: Look to the rock from which you were hewn, and to the quarry from which you were dug. Look to Abraham your father, and to Sarah who gave birth to you in pain; When he was one I called him” (Isaiah 51:1-2 emphasis added).  Out of the soil of humanity (the ‘one Man’, see Gen. 2:7) YHVH queried a rock that contained precious stones which He hewed and is in the process of cleansing, chipping them into the shape that will cause each of them to fit perfectly into oneness, and readying them for polishing (the ‘one new Man’).  The twelve living stones, precious gems (seen on the breast plate of the High Priest) will make up YHVH’s Temple, that when finished will be filled with His glory - the full expression of the image and likeness of Elohim.  Just as with Moses and David, Yeshua, the Spirit of the Word, will finish His work and present it to Elohim the Father.  “And when all things are subjected to Him, then the Son Himself also will be subjected to the One who subjected all things to Him, that Elohim [the Father] may be all in all”(1 Corinthians 15:28).