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).