Category: Land Of The Living - Lindsey Neal Photography + Fine Art

Who was Isaiah?

3/20/2022

“Who was Isaiah?”

Excavations in Jerusalem have unearthed what may be the first extra-Biblical evidence of the prophet Isaiah. Just south of the Temple Mount, in the Ophel excavations, archaeologist Eilat Mazar and her team have discovered a small seal impression that reads “[belonging] to Isaiah nvy.” The upper portion of the impression is missing, and its left side is damaged. Reconstructing a few Hebrew letters in this damaged area would cause the impression to read, “[belonging] to Isaiah the prophet.”

If the reconstruction stands, this may be the signature of the Biblical prophet Isaiah—the figure we encounter in the Books of 2 Kings, 2 Chronicles, and Isaiah. Eilat Mazar of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem announced this exciting discovery in her article “Is This the Prophet Isaiah’s Signature?” published in the special March/April/May/June 2018 double issue of Biblical Archaeology Review.

Mazar’s team found the seal impression in an undisturbed area of Iron Age debris (dated to the eighth–seventh centuries B.C.E.) right outside the southeastern wall of the royal bakery, a structure that had been integrated into the city’s fortifications and had operated until the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem in 586 B.C.E. All of the excavated dirt from this area of the Ophel was wet-sifted, meaning that it was placed on a sifting screen and washed with water. This process revealed multiple finds—including Isaiah’s seal impression and an impression of the Judahite king Hezekiah—which had been missed during traditional excavation methods. Since each of these impressions has a diameter of about half an inch and is the same color as the dirt, it is easy to understand why they were not spotted in the field.

Isaiah’s seal impression—called a bulla—was created by first placing a soft piece of clay on top of a ligature tied around a linen bag. Isaiah’s seal was then pressed into the clay, thereby sealing the parcel with his personal signature. The clay hardened and survived through the centuries, thereby preserving Isaiah’s signature.

Although most of the upper half of Isaiah’s bulla is now missing and its left side is damaged, archaeologists have been able to identify its imagery and inscription from what remains. The bulla is divided into three registers. The remains of a grazing doe, a symbol of blessing, can be seen in the top register. Written in ancient Hebrew, the name Yesha‘yah[u] (the Hebrew form of Isaiah) appears in the middle register, and the letters nvy are visible in the lower register. If the Hebrew letter aleph were added to the end of the word nvy, it would then become the word nvy’ (“navy’”), which means “prophet” in Hebrew. It is likely that the Hebrew letter vav appeared at the end of the middle register, representing the final letter of “Isaiah” (the “u” of “Yesha‘yahu”). Further, if the definite article heh (“the”) were added to the end of the name Isaiah (after the vav), the seal impression would read “[belonging] to Isaiah the prophet.”

“Because the bulla has been slightly damaged at end of the word nvy, it is not known if it originally ended with the Hebrew letter aleph,” explains Mazar, “which would have resulted in the Hebrew word for ‘prophet’ and would have definitively identified the seal as the signature of the prophet Isaiah. The absence of this final letter, however, requires that we leave open the possibility that it could just be the name Navi. The name of Isaiah, however, is clear.”
The close relationship between the prophet Isaiah and King Hezekiah is reflected in the Hebrew Bible. Hezekiah, who ruled from c. 727–698 B.C.E., relied on Isaiah’s counsel throughout his reign—and especially when Jerusalem was besieged by Assyria.

When Hezekiah assumed the throne at age 25, Judah was a vassal-state of the Assyrian empire and paid tribute to Assyria regularly. Hezekiah stuck with this program for many years, but eventually he rebelled and stopped sending tribute. Anticipating an Assyrian attack, Hezekiah refortified Jerusalem. He strengthened its walls and, memorably, carved a 1,750-foot-long water tunnel from solid rock that ensured the inhabitants of Jerusalem would not be without water during a siege (2 Chronicles 32:2–4).

The Assyrian king Sennacherib responded to Hezekiah’s rebellion with force. He campaigned against Judah—destroying many Judahite cities, such as Lachish (depicted on the Lachish reliefs, panels from Sennacherib’s palace in Nineveh, now on display at the British Museum in London), and ultimately besieging the capital city of Jerusalem in 701 B.C.E.

The prophet Isaiah said that Jerusalem would not fall to the Assyrians, and it did not—despite the Assyrians’ military might. This victory helped solidify the idea of the city’s invincibility. Even on the Sennacherib Prisms, where King Sennacherib recorded his victories, he never claims to have conquered Jerusalem—only to have besieged it, received tribute, and locked up Hezekiah “like a bird in a cage.” 2 Kings 18:13–19:36 records that the Assyrians continue to assault Jerusalem even after Hezekiah pays them tribute; they do not withdraw until God sends a plague among them. The Sennacherib Prisms make no mention of a plague.

The seal impressions of Isaiah and King Hezekiah were found less than 10 feet apart in the Ophel excavations. If the recently identified bulla does indeed bear the prophet Isaiah’s signature, it seems fitting that it should be found so close to Hezekiah’s personal seal impression. Their legacy—together—continues even after death.

The 17th century Jewish historian, Raphael Levi, admitted that long ago the rabbis used to read Isaiah 53 in synagogues, but after the chapter caused “arguments and great confusion” the rabbis decided that the simplest thing would be to just take that prophecy out of the Haftarah readings in synagogues. That’s why today when we read Isaiah 52, we stop in the middle of the chapter and the week after we jump straight to Isaiah 54.

What happened to Isaiah 53, you might be wondering? That is exactly what this article is about.

In the Bible, in the book of Isaiah, chapter 53 the prophet prophesies about the Messiah that he would be rejected by his people suffer and die in agony and that God would see his suffering and death as an atonement for the sins of humanity. Isaiah lived and prophesied about 700 BCE. According to his prophecy in chapter 53 the leaders of Israel would recognize they had made a mistake at the end of days when they rejected the Messiah, so Isaiah put the prophecy in past tense and because he saw himself as part of the people of Israel he used third person plural (we).

AT THE END OF CHAPTER 52 ISAIAH WRITES AN INTRODUCTION TO CHAPTER 53:

“Behold, my servant shall prosper…”

The term “servant” is supposed to connect back to sections earlier in the book that speak of “the Servant of the Lord” (for example, in chapters 42, 49 and 50, where the Messiah is described as a servant that suffers).

“He will be high and lifted up and greatly exalted.”

This is to emphasize the eminence of the Messiah who would in fact rise from the dead, and ascend to the heavens and sit next to the Father. His actions would give him a higher status that every human king or ruler.

“Just as many were appalled at You—His appearance was disfigured more than any man, His form more than the sons of men.”

Before the Messiah is exalted he would suffer and be humiliated. His body would be abused and tortured so badly that he would be completely disfigured and unrecognizable.

“So He will sprinkle many nations. Kings will shut their mouths because of Him, for what had not been told them they will see, and what they had not heard they will perceive.”

Despite the horrific suffering the day would come when even kings would come to look to him with reverence.

AND NOW, LET’S DIVE INTO CHAPTER 53 ITSELF…

“Who has believed our report?”

This is describing the lack of faith among the people of Israel who don’t believe what they’ve heard.

“To whom is the arm of Adonai revealed?”

Isaiah calls the Messiah the “Arm of the Lord”. Earlier, in chapter 40 Isaiah declares that the “Arm of the Lord” would rule for him. In chapter 51 the gentiles put their hope in the “Arm of the Lord”, and the “Arm of the Lord” would redeem. In chapter 52 the “Arm of the Lord” brings salvation. Now, in 53, Isaiah reveals to us that the “Arm of the Lord” is in fact the Messiah. The Messiah is very much part of God himself.

For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot,
like a root out of dry ground.
He had no form or majesty that we should look at Him,
nor beauty that we should desire Him.

He was a shoot in spiritually dry ground – there had been no word from God for 400 years.

“He had no beauty that we should desire Him”.

He was not appealing to us. We didn’t want him. His appearance wasn’t particularly glorious or impressive, and the way he showed up didn’t cause people to desire him. In contrast to what rabbinic Halacha teaches today, according to this prophecy, the Messiah would not be born to a prestigious rabbinic family or grow up in the grand residences of wealthy rabbis. We can say with near certainty that the external appearance of the Messiah was nothing extraordinary at all.

He was despised and rejected by men,
a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief,
One from whom people hide their faces.
He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.

The life of the Messiah was characterized by pain, rejection and suffering. He didn’t get the honor due to the Messiah, but was despised and rejected by the leaders of his people. We considered him some kind of social misfit – someone we might hide our faces from when we pass someone on the street that we are embarrassed to see.
We didn’t think he was the Messiah. We didn’t even register it could be him.

Surely He has borne our griefs
and carried our pains.
Yet we esteemed Him stricken,
struck by God, and afflicted.

The Messiah suffered in our place – he carried our sicknesses, our suffering, our pain… and the sins we committed, while our people – while we – thought he was being punished, and that his suffering was God’s punishment for sins that he himself had committed. We didn’t understand that it was for OUR sin.

But He was pierced because of our transgressions,
crushed because of our iniquities.
The chastisement for our shalom was upon Him,
and by His stripes we are healed.

The Hebrew says wounded, pierced. He died. Like someone who has fallen wounded, or someone perforated with bullets – not for any fault of his own, but it was our wrongdoing. He was crushed because of our inequities, our sins – the punishment and discipline we deserved went to him. The “stripes” are hard blows that leave marks, and by his scars we are healed. In exactly this way, hundreds of years later, the prophecy was fulfilled. Yeshua was went to the cross in order to take the death we deserved.

We all like sheep have gone astray.
Each of us turned to his own way.
So Adonai has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.

The Hebrew talks of going astray like sheep wander off and get lost. We all, people of Israel, ignored him and went on our way, but despite this, God put all our sin and iniquity on him – on the Messiah.

He was oppressed and He was afflicted
yet He did not open His mouth.
Like a lamb led to the slaughter,
like a sheep before its shearers is silent,
so He did not open His mouth.

The Hebrew says he was exploited, abused… his dignity and right to a fair trial were taken from him. The Hebrew says he was afflicted – tortured – but he didn’t open his mouth. This shows that he did not resist his unjust sentence. He didn’t try to rebel or escape, and he didn’t take legal representation in spite of the fact he was facing a death sentence, but he was led like a sheep to the slaughter, or to be sheared without resisting the injustices being done to him.

Because of oppression and judgment He was taken away.
As for His generation, who considered?
For He was cut off from the land of the living,
for the transgression of my people--
the stroke was theirs.

They arrested him and took his to trial. As a result of the trial he was “cut off from the land of the living”. A death sentence. Not for his own crimes, but those of his people. In the Scriptures, “My people” always means the people of Israel. The Messiah would die not for his own sin but for the sin of his people – the people who should be taking the punishment for their own sins – but the Messiah took it upon himself. He is the one who died.

His generation wouldn’t care to bring him up in conversation, but would rather sweep his existence under the carpet. So for the last 2000 years, Yeshua the Messiah has been the best kept secret in Judaism, and this is precisely why he was labelled “Yeshu” in Judaism, which stands for “May his name and memory be blotted out”.

His grave was given with the wicked,
and by a rich man in His death,
though He had done no violence,
nor was there any deceit in His mouth.

Even though he was taken out to be executed like a criminal, even though he did nothing wrong, and never lied, in his death he was to be buried in the fancy tomb of a rich man. Yeshua really was killed on the cross and was buried in the grave of a rich man a member of the Sanhedrin, Joseph of Arimathea. It’s a clear symbol of the ironic situation in which the Messiah receives honor for the noblest deed of them all – taking the death sentence we deserve on himself.

Yet it pleased Adonai to bruise Him.
He caused Him to suffer.
If He makes His soul a guilt offering,
He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days,
and the will of Adonai will succeed by His hand.

So who is responsible for the death of the Messiah? “The Jews”? As so many Catholics have accused us of in the past? Maybe the Romans? They were the ones who actually crucified him? No.
“God was pleased to bruise him”. God is the only one able to forgive and bring salvation to the world and he turned himself into a sacrifice. What kind of sacrifice? A guilt offering. The death of the Messiah was no accident – God used his own stiff-necked people as priests in order to bring about the forgiveness of sins not only for his people Israel, but for the whole of humanity. In contrast to the Yom Kippur sacrifice which was only valid until the following year and just ‘covered over’ sin, the atonement of the Messiah took away our sin once and for all! None of us as human beings are perfect – we are not able to be that perfect sacrifice. Only God himself could do that.
After that comes a very interesting statement:

“He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days,”

In spite of the fact he would be killed, he would also prolong his days. He would rise again from the dead and would see the “fruit of his seed”, planted in his resurrection. By the way, we also have a video on the resurrection of Yeshua.

As a result of the anguish of His soul
He will see it and be satisfied by His knowledge.
The Righteous One, My Servant will make many righteous
and He will bear their iniquities.

The Messiah would see and be satisfied by his labor, because many would be made righteous by the suffering he endured, as a righteous man when he took on himself the sins and iniquities of many. All who recognize him as the Messiah will be his “seed” in a spiritual sense.

Therefore I will give Him a portion with the great,
and He will divide the spoil with the mighty--
because He poured out His soul to death,
and was counted with transgressors.
For He bore the sin of many,
and interceded for the transgressors.

The Messiah was the one interceding for us an advocate for us as sinners before a holy God. The Messiah took on his shoulders the sin of all who believe in him. It’s an encouraging prophecy of hope and a future. God is not just interested in forgiveness expressed in words but also demonstrated in actions. That’s why he took on the appearance of a servant and took the punishment that we deserve on himself.

THE JEWISH SAGES THOUGHT ISAIAH 53 WAS ABOUT THE MESSIAH

It’s important to understand we’re not just talking about a Christian interpretation here – the Jewish Sages of ancient times also always interpreted Isaiah 53 to be about the Messiah. In fact, the well-known term “Messiah ben Yosef” is actually from this very text.
In the ancient Jewish translation of Yonatan ben Uzziel (Targum Jonathan) from the first century opened the section with the words “The Anointed Servant” that is to say Ben Uzziel connected the chapter to the Messiah, the Anointed One.
Rabbi Yitzhak Abravanel who lived centuries ago admitted that “Yonatan ben Uzziel’s interpretation that it was about the coming Messiah was also the opinion of the Sages (of blessed memory) as can be seen in much of their commentary.”

The Book of the Zohar recognizes the principle of substitution that the suffering of the Messiah would come to take the suffering that others deserved for their sins. On the verse “Surely He has borne our griefs”, the Book of the Zohar says, “There is in the Garden of Eden a palace named the Palace of the Sons of Sickness. This palace the Messiah enters, and He summons every pain and every chastisement of Israel: All of these come and rest upon Him. And were it not that he had thus lightened them off Israel and taken them upon himself, there had been no man able to bear Israel’s chastisements for the transgression of the law.”

Midrash Konen in discussing Isaiah 53 puts the following words in the mouth of Elijah the prophet: “Thus says the Messiah: Endure the sufferings and the sentence your Master who makes you suffer because of the sin of Yisroel. Thus it is written, “He was wounded because of our transgressions, he was crushed because of our iniquities”, until the time the end comes.”
Tractate Sanhedrin in the Babylonian Talmud (98b), writes about the name of the Messiah
“His name is ‘the leper scholar,’ as it is written, “Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows yet we did esteem him a leper, smitten of God, and afflicted”.
In Midrash Tanhuma it says, “Rabbi Nachman says, it speaks of no one but the Messiah, the Son of David of whom it is said, here a man called “the plant”, and Jonathan translated it to mean the Messiah and it is rightly said, “man of sorrows, acquainted with grief”.
Midrash Shumel says this about Isaiah 53: “The suffering was divided into three parts: One for the generation of the Patriarchs, one for the generation of Shmad, and one for the King Messiah”.
The prayers for Yom Kippur, the ones we all know also relates Isaiah 53 to the Messiah. The prayer added for Yom Kippur by Rabbi Eliezer around the time of the seventh century: “Our righteous Messiah has turned away from us we have acted foolishly and there is no one to justify us. Our iniquities and the yoke of our transgressions he bears and he is pierced for our transgressions. He carries our sins on his shoulder, to find forgiveness for our iniquities. By his wounds we are healed.”

The deeper we go into this prayer for Yom Kippur the more significant it gets. The prayer brings the sense that the Messiah left his people. “The righteous Messiah turned [away]”. That is to say, the Messiah has already come and left. Also, the Messiah suffered in the place of the people, and the sins of people were put on him then after the Messiah suffered, he left them that was the reason for their concern and so the people are praying for his return. A large part of this prayer is taken straight out of Isaiah 53, so from this we can prove that up to the 7th century the Jewish perception – also among the rabbis – was still that Isaiah 53 was about the Messiah.
In Genesis Rabbah, Rabbi Moshe haDarshan says that God enabled the Messiah to save souls but that together with that, he would suffer greatly. Also Maimonides relates Isaiah 53 to the Messiah in his Epistle to Yemen. Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai wrote, “And Messiah of Ephraim died there and Israel mourns for him as it is written: ‘He is despised and rejected of men’, and he goes back into hiding, for it says: ‘and we hid, as it were, our faces from him’.”

Also in Tractate Sotah 14, Midrash Rabbah Parasha 5, Midrash Tanhuma, Midrash Konen, Yalkut Shimoni and actually the whole Talmud always related the chapter to the Messiah, as did all the rabbis until about a thousand years ago. Everyone agreed that Isaiah 53 prophesies about the Messiah.

RASHI’S REVISION IN THE MIDDLE AGES

Rashi lived, as we know, in Spain, at a time when Jews and Christians lived together and so naturally, arguments arose between them. Christian friends and neighbors of Rashi tried to convince him that Biblical prophecy pointed to Yeshua. Among other prophecies, they of course showed him Isaiah 53. Because the prophecy in Isaiah 53 is so sharp and clear, Rashi had no choice. He obviously didn’t want to admit that Yeshua was the Messiah, so he had to try to reinterpret the prophecy so that it was no longer about the Messiah but instead about the people of Israel. Rashi’s claim was that the suffering servant is a metaphor of the people of Israel who suffered at the hands of the gentiles.

Many different rabbis – Gaon Rabbi Saadia, Rabbi Naphtali ben Asher, and Rabbi Moshe Alshich adamantly opposed Rashi’s new interpretation, and demanded that the Sages of Israel should ignore him and return to the original interpretation, the most famous of among them was Mamonides, who categorically declared that Rashi was completely mistaken.

But today, it is Rashi’s interpretation that is accepted among the rabbis who also are not interested in admitting that Yeshua could have been the Messiah who was rejected, suffered and died exactly as Isaiah prophesied.
A good example comes from Rabbi Haim Rettig, who writes, “Is it possible that any Christian anywhere in the world could fit the description of the Servant of the Lord that is led like a sheep to the slaughter? It cannot be that Isaiah the prophet could prophesy about a Christian event rather than a Jewish one. The prophecy of Isaiah is talking about the people of Israel throughout the generations, the Israel has given itself to be the innocent lamb”. What irony! Despite the fact that rabbis twisted Yeshua’s name into “Yeshu the Christian”, changing his name didn’t turn him into a Christian. The official religion of Christianity was only established in the third century. Yeshua was in fact Jewish, from the line of David, who lived here in Israel.
Also, when Rabbi Rettig claims that the prophecy of Isaiah 53 is not about the Messiah but about Israel, that gave itself up as an innocent lamb, can we really say that the people of Israel could be described as “an innocent lamb”? Innocent lamb is a Biblical definition for one without sin, who is blameless, spotless, never does evil and would never sin, but is perfect, pure and clean from sin. Does the people of Israel really this description? It’s enough just to open the paper or listen to the news to get your answer.
And since we’re talking about Isaiah the prophet, we’ll let Isaiah answer this question as well. Notice the words to the people of Israel just six chapters after chapter 53:

“For your hands are defiled with blood and your fingers with iniquity. Your lips have spoken lies, your tongue mutters wickedness. No one sues justly, and none pleads a case honestly. Their feet run after evil. They rush to shed innocent blood. Their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity. Violence and ruin are on their highways. They do not know the path of peace, and there is no justice in their tracks. They have made their paths crooked. Whoever walks in them will not experience shalom.”

One thing’s for sure, as far as Isaiah’s concerned Israel was no “innocent lamb”!

HERE ARE A FEW MORE REASONS THAT MAKE IT IMPOSSIBLE FOR THE CHAPTER TO BE ABOUT ISRAEL

The Suffering Servant is consistently presented as an individual and not as a plurality or collective noun, like a people group. Verse 8 says, “For the transgressions of My people He was stricken”. What people was Isaiah part of? The people of Israel, of course. So “my people” refers to the people of Israel. Therefore Israel cannot be the Suffering Servant of the Lord. If the people of Israel was the Servant of the Lord here, who would be “my people”?
Moreover, the Servant of the Lord suffers willingly submissively and without objection. The people of Israel have never suffered willingly! According to the Torah, the suffering of Israel was a result of sin not because of their righteousness whereas the Servant of the Lord suffered as a righteous person not because he had sinned The Servant of the Lord was guiltless but according to the Torah the people of Israel were always punished and suffered because of their sin and the gentiles didn’t get healing from God because Jewish people were persecuted.

The Servant of the Lord died in our place as a sacrifice for our sin. The people of Israel, on the other hand, didn’t suffer for the gentiles but because of their wickedness.

The Servant rose from the dead, but the people of Israel were never “cut off” completely and so could not “rise from the dead”. If the Servant of the Lord is Israel and not the Messiah, the concept of “Messiah ben Yosef” suddenly disappears as if it never existed.
In summary, we did wrong, the Messiah was punished. We sinned, and he suffered. We deserve death, and he was crucified in our place. A perfect God took on the likeness of a Servant in order to reveal himself to us as one of us. He allowed us to humiliate him, reject him, and to torture him to death in order to take our sins upon himself. So it’s also up to us to suffer for the good of others who sin against us. If God who is perfect can forgive us, imperfect as we are, how much more should we forgive one another? This is the wonderful message of the Suffering Servant: The God who loves us has done for us what we could never do for ourselves!

Birth of Christianity...

7/5/2017

Starting as a small group of Jewish people in Judea, -The “word”- spread quickly throughout the Roman Empire. Despite early persecution of Christians, it later became the state religion. In the Middle Ages it spread into Northern Europe and Russia. During the Age of Exploration, Christianity expanded throughout the world; it is currently the largest religion of the world. Most of the first Christians were ethnically Jewish or Jewish proselytes. An early difficulty came from Within judiasm. There was the question if they had to "become Jewish" before becoming Christian. The decision of St. Peter, was that they DID NOT, and the matter was further addressed with the “Council of Jerusalem.” The doctrines of the apostles brought the Early Church into conflict with some Jewish religious authorities, and this eventually led to the martyrdom of SS, Stephen and James the Great, and “expulsion from the synagogues.” Therefore, there has always been a remenant of native jewish believers throught history.

Thus, Christianity got an identity distinct from Judaism. The name "Christian" (Greek Χριστιανός) was first used for the disciples in Antioch, as recorded in (Acts 11:26). Christianity is an all inclusive semetic religion and as long as judiasm views christianity as antisemtic, it will never understand its semetic meaning. For 2,000 years judiasm has been saying they arent willing to learn or acknowledge Jesus. Technically, that is anti-christian. By Judaism -claiming- that the “Semitic religion of christianity” is antisemitic, its really -being- “anti-christian of the Semitic religion.” I would also venture to say that a major stumbling concept is understanding the difference between humans being recognized for their identity, and humans recognized as having an ideology. You cant question the -legality or accuracy- behind someones ideology if that questioning appears like youre not accepting of them -because- of their identity. Those are two “separate” entities, “identity and ideology.”

Abraham, Moses, and Jesus all led us (people of the hebrew God) out of exodus and slavery. Jesus christ is the -only one- who is god, and -still lives today in spirit- among believers (who are also called to testify truth) through continuing his earthly ministry through the spiritual body (holy spirit or jesus) of the jewish messiah until the physical body returns to fully reclaim universal peace, restoring israel from spiritual bondage; [also known as the “era of peace” or “messianic age” in Judaism] This messianic age comes through the jewish messiah to restore peace in israel and all humanity. Christ believers are united through the Hebrew God of Israel’s message (word), not through heritage. And both are equal in value:) However, -true peace- comes through understanding.

The term antisemitism (which is 100% wrong-any kind of hatred or bigotry is unacceptable)- can be -misinterpreted and misused- when the hebrew text isnt fully understood as the new testament is fully Semitic- ultimately thats unfair and cant resolve feelings of victimization. shared knowledge leads to greater mutual understanding needed in human society. We have to consider what is ultimately causing tribal separation among the people of god to uniting people in god and how to achieve a withstanding unity that only god can provide. How can we progress in attaining ultimate peace? OneforIsrael is doing this through the ‘body of the jewish messiah’ for the first time in Israel, “uniting arabs, jews, and christians together” through “spiritual unity.” Only the gospel can do that. The gospel says this will happen, and it IS.

In a nutshell, this is the gospel redemptive story; how god is united in personal, direct relationship with humanity- purchased from unconditional grace through his sacrafical blood that was shed on the cross “hes the innocent lamb.” We are all seperate from Unity in god and each other without this. (in genesis god explains that no one is perfect and we all sin- we are incapable of being sinless (sin is separation from god) but god purchased that redemptive freedom through the death of his only son- the sacraficial lamb of jesus because he lived a sinless life in place of us, as the only human who was both god and man for those who have faith in his sacrifice). Theres many layers of symbolism, and in Gods creation, the apple symbolizes separation from god that can only be redeemed through the true mercy, grace, and forgiveness that he offers to all of his children. This is the redemption story that he is trying to reveal to israel, so that israel can come out of Egypt, out of bondage, and back into relationship with him.

Sharing is important-:) it will be coming to “light” more on days to come. For those who have met the messiah personally and -know him well- and know and understand the Hebrew Scriptures- its something that has to be shared (as beyond knowing its -accuracy- is the fact that i have had supernatural -encounters- that have ‘No other’ explanation than ‘confirming his identity.’ They happened before i knew anything in the New Testament.’ I thought people who were adamant on proclaiming jesus were kind of -closed- minded and it ‘appeared’ -exclusive- in so i experienced difficulty getting past that). But surprisingly, i didn’t -find it in a book or from ‘being told’ what to think. It was a ‘self discovery’- ‘revealed by our creator’- before i had read or heard anything- only -making sense- ‘afterward.’

Naively, i assumed people too easily believed what they were told without any -questioning- but i questioned, scrutinized and was very doubtful until i -read every book- there was from every -perspective- and i am -completely- certain. I was surprised to know so much about the hebrew scriptures. The New testament is only a portion of the hebrew scriptures but significantly -shed light- on everything prior as a cohesive unit. Its found in the meaning of the text- knowing the text, the meaning of the text in cultural context, what it is saying in its completion. Contrary to common jewish belief, the ‘concept of race, ethicity, culture or identity’ is not part of the new testament whatsoever or -seen as a separate- culture or ‘identity,’ because the -whole thing is jewish (so in historical terms- its progressing out of race division and legalism, into race inclusion for all humanity to be grafted into the “god of Israel,” family open to anyone who chooses to freely accept this grace covenant offered by God through faith in his son Jesus). The gospel, or (new testament, or renewed covenant) now allows freedom, and forgiveness of sin through the redeeming blood of the innocent lamb (Jesus who perfectly kept torah law).

This is a renewal of the moses covenant, which moses was renewal of the Abrahamic covenant- each renewed covenant symbolizes rebirth, deliverance from bondage, redemption, return from exile, a further ingrafting into relationship-with God). The Gospel “text is not “antisemitic,” its 100% Semetic!” The full jewish scriptures including the new testament explain how to include all of humanity through gods redemptive plan. The only message the gospel is communicating is hope, peace, love, faith, and truth and how to get there. [The second temple period is very significant, it includes the time of Jesus’ life, death, and ressurection, as well as the destruction of the jewish temple which led to much of judiasms scripture to be reconstructed primarily of order in a sense. This time includes a lot of roman rule and persection- hellenistic period- integrating more greek.}

Theres much dissinformation today about the historical accuracy of the birth of christianity, the development of believers and witnesses, and development of the new testament]. The believers in the jewish messiah and their split from judiasm slowly progressed over time- at least a couple hundred years. Part of jesus message during his ministry 2,000 years ago was to raise the ethical standards of the law. The writings from the apostiles and eye witnesses of the resurrection were written, but the actual publication of the “new testament” was first published about 70-100 years after ressurection- second generation apostles.

The labeling term christianity evolved in the 1/2nd century. Jesus was crucified by the romans under the premise of blasphemy ordered under his own religious leaders and law. The romans destroyed the second temple- not because of christianity, christianity wasnt a religion yet. The most recent barrier is the previous ww. The war atrocities and devastation during and after this historical time was a manifestation brought about by evil, inhumane dictators who used propaganda through abusing the ‘concept of religion’ as a vehicle to control human thought and action. The ‘truth of the religious text’ behind this isnt the -cause- for the indoctrination, the -indoctrination is caused by human ideology- disguised under religion). Since the beginning, the concept behind cultural labels and identities have caused division.

Theres is -no separation of people- and no one feels that way or wants that. Jewish followers of our Jewish messiah werent “labeld as Christian,” by their own doing, but the non believers in Christ ‘assigned that identity’ to the believers and christ witnesses to “assure their identity was separate,” from the term Jewish. As the followers of Christ- being Jewish, began to proclaim this “discovery,” the majority of people who accepted the message were not Jewish- so through time the practices, customs, and what not, in judiasm were lost, which makes sense because the “family of believers and -spirit of christ- consists of every culture, language and race.” (his spirit did -not die- with his physical body, its -alive today- in christ believers, continuing his ministry work here on earth through the -spiritual body of the messiah- by being his hands and feet to proclaim the “good news gospel” of truth in the resurrection- that “god is living through his word.” The “spirit of truth” speaks in many ways, often -through- human text)

Jesus embodies many things, his earthly ministry served Gods kingdom and people on earth, but also, his spirit supernaturally heals, frees, and reedems human beings through his reedeming powers, because humans arent capable of achieving what god can without God- which comes through the spirit of jesus, also known as the holy spirit. Which is why jesus is both fully human and God (confirmed in the eye witness testimonies of the physical resurrection at that time as well as living today through redemptive miracles). This fulfills the law- the new testament, the gospel of Jesus christ. All the law is fullfilled in the atoning work of the sacrificial cross- which- is “Grace” in other words, offering forgiveness of sins in the way god did- which brought the covenant of “man” into covenant of “god” or race into faith according historically speaking. The new testament doesnt replace the old testament- it fullfills and completes it. ❤️☺️

-His word- explains the -unity- and how god has been ‘trying to achieve that unity.’ I think the separation is coming from something else. The new testament is a -continuation of the same Hebrew scripture- studied Judaism- its just “interpreted differently.” And, after the -second temple fell- (during (after) the first coming) a lot had changed in the -chronological order- of the version used in Judaism which added to discrepancies. The first 70% of the Hebrew bible isn’t -clear in its “intended meaning behind the text,” especially if being interpreted by someone else and relying on different translations, but -God speaks directly to us in his word- to us. The priority of Israel has -rightfully- been to faithfully keep -sacred culture and tradition- so that -God was in control- of his return.

The -‘intent behind’- Jesus disciples is not one of conversion or to impose their views, they are assuring everyone that you can know him and that he indeed wants that relationship. The -purpose- of the Hebrew scripture is the attainment of that relationship and ‘unity with God.’ Theres -no separation- of people among identities, religions, or beliefs, its just a relationship with god- one god, one humanity. God is ALIVE and LIVING in us, Thats what JESUS does. Keeping the jewish customs, identity, community and practices isnt at odds with Jesus- thats ‘who he is. Hes jewish.’ All that can be in harmony! Its just -really really really really hard to see- that today without reading the whole thing. But no one can loose their god given identity.

We are in the end time of biblical prophecy. I know his return is near and his word reveals that he’s -calling his people back- to him- God REALLY loves the people of Israel. God set the Hebrew people apart as holy, infact they are the stars of his whole plan!! They are incredibly special and precious! He wants to be their savior and for them to search for him- God is funny, he thinks if he makes things more difficult for us we get a bigger reward. Anything that takes great hardship or struggle is rewarded greatly, especially when faithfully seeking his will.