The Gospel is impacting Israel like never before! As many in the Orthodox community are coming to faith, we were taken to court because of their family members who started following Yeshua. They sued Google and One for Israel ordering us to take down our videos. Will Israel uphold freedom of religion or will we be forced to shut our Israeli social media channels? Join us as Dr. Erez Soref shares about the legal battle and the results of this important case in Israel.
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Gods entire message to us is a story of #redemption- literally, physically, allegorically, symbolically, and spiritually. Thats the “#good #news.” In the NT Christ’s perfect life, death, and resurrection is the most prominent example of #redemption. This redemption he wants others to experience, which is why he commands his disciples to “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations.” Fifth, Jesus brought #restoration. The intertestamental period of about 400 years kept God’s people waiting. To #restore, means to fix what was #broken. God promises a #messiah repeatedly in the OT, and he finally comes in the *person and *work of #Jesus #Christ, although he did -not come- as they *expected him to. He came *humbly, riding on a *donkey. When he came, he started the restoration process which will finish when he returns- all things will be restored as God originally intended. What did Jesus do during his earthly ministry? He came to *reveal (himself), *redeem(God’s elect), and *restore(affects of sin). He also came to *fulfill OT prophecies *written -about him- and to bear #witness to the #truth. His -intentions- #reveal his *actions, and we can find these truths from reading the Gospels. What an amazing #Savior we have! Jesus Christ referred to the Holy Spirit as the Helper (Comforter, Advocate, Intercessor, Counselor), “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will -send- in My name, will teach you all things, and bring to your *remembrance all things that I said to you” (John 14:26). Just as it is necessary to -know who a person is- before we can “sincerely welcome” him, we need to know *who the -Holy Spirit- is before we can wholeheartedly *receive and *trust Him. The #Holy #Spirit is also referred to as the Spirit of Christ (Romans 8:9), the Spirit of truth (John 16:13), the eternal Spirit (Hebrews 9:14), and the “#Spirit of #grace” (Hebrew10:29). The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of #God, who *indwells, *guides, *teaches, *empowers believers to accomplish God’s *purposes. God the Spirit secures the #gift of salvation -through- the indwelling, sealing, and sanctifying -works in the life- of every Christ believer (John 14:16).
One beautiful title that Jesus calls the Holy Spirit is “the spirit of truth.” Take John 16:13 for example: “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will #guide you into all truth. He will *not speak on his *own but will tell you what he has *heard. He will tell you about the future.” What Jesus is telling us here is that when we have the Holy Spirit in our lives, He will guide us in the *direction we need to go. The Holy Spirit will not leave us in confusion but will #reveal the truth to us. He illuminates the dark areas of our lives to give us a clear vision of God’s purpose for us as indicated by Corinthians 14:33 “For God is not a God of confusion but of peace. The Spirit’s work is essential to the functioning of our Christian life, and his character and attributes are essential to our #understanding of God’s #nature. In order to commune with the Spirit, we must study who the Spirit is and how he works in our life. The Bible is clear that we are all sinful, incapable of our own righteousness and spiritual life. Our minds are hostile to God, and in our flesh, we cannot please him- How could someone who is blind see? Paul explains: “When the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, *not because of works done by us in righteousness*, but according to -his own- #mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly -through- Jesus Christ our #Savior (Titus 3:3–7). The believer is to be filled with the Spirit (Eph. 5:18), The righteousness we once hated is now delighted in and longed for, and the desires of the flesh may no longer be gratified (Gal 5:16). He empowers the believer to act in sacrificial service (1 John 4:10; Rom 5:8; Phil 2:5–8) towards their neighbour “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (Gal 5:22–23). The Spirit also works by distributing spiritual gifts as he wills (1 Cor 12:11). What we consider to be “spiritual gifts” are different kinds of service to God for the purpose of building up the body of Christ in love (1 Cor 12:5, 12–26). The Spirit works in Us to encourage, uplift, challenge, and edify each other. 🌱
What is unlimited, #eternal, merciful, sacrificial love? It is #found in #Jesus alone. #Christ Messiah suffered unbearably, and accepts the sufferings #willingly. (“Because he himself desires to bear them… and we esteemed that he would not take them himself but that he was stricken, smitten by God. But when the #time comes that he will be #revealed in all his majesty then all will #see and #understand how great is the strength of the one who suffers torments for that generation.”) Zechariah and Isaiah prophecies that the Messiah will die by the piercing or the stabbing of his body, and in his death, he will take our transgressions upon himself; [“And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of #grace and pleads for mercy, so that, when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn.”] “They shall look unto me’, for they shall lift up their eyes unto me in perfect repentance, when they see him whom they pierced, that is, Messiah, the Son of Joseph; …he WILL *take *upon *himself *all the *guilt of Israel.” [Zechariah12:10] God, when He #created the Messiah, gave him the -choice- whether to accept the sufferings for the sins of Israel- Jesus replied, “I accept it with *joy, so that *not a single *soul of Israel should perish.” [Jesus is the most well-known Jewish figure in all history and yet He was rejected, humiliated, and crucified. He is a Messiah with whom (historically) Jews can #identify, for their people were also rejected, humiliated, and (almost) destroyed]. The #goodnews is that God’s Word -doesn’t end- with the suffering and death of the Messiah, because in his #resurrection from the dead, we were given #complete #forgiveness, a new life with his holy spirit, sparking regeneration through the body of christ for ALL in the Messianic Age. The gospel is a message of #redemption on numerous coexisting levels, yet the ultimate redemption of the Gospel message lies in Israels #return to Gods #dwelling place.
The covenant concept is central of Scripture, establishing and defining God’s relationship with mankind in every *age of *history. The OT was established between God and the people of Israel after Freeing them from Egyptian slavery. Moses, leading them from captivity- served as mediator of this contract at Mount Sinai: (“Moses took the blood from the basins- splattered it over the people, declaring, “this blood confirms the covenant the Lord has made with you in giving you these instructions.(Exodus 24:8, NLT)” God promised Israel would be his chosen people, and he would be their God: (“I will claim you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God who has freed you from your oppression in Egypt(Exodus 6:7,)” God issued the Ten Commandments and laws in Leviticus to be obeyed- If they complied, he pledged prosperity and protection in the Promised Land). To address sins, God set up a system of “animal blood sacrifices.” That system lasted hundreds of years, but it was only temporary. Out of love, God sent his only Son, Jesus, into the world; This new covenant would resolve -the #fall- once and *for *all (Isaiah). For 3 years, Jesus taught throughout Israel about the kingdom of God and his -upcoming role- as #Messiah. To support his claim as Son of God, he performed many miracles, even raising people from the dead. By dying on the cross, Christ became #Lamb of God, the #ultimate #perfect #sacrifice, whose blood has the -power- to #redeem us #forever. Jesus freely #intercedes for us before God- We now -encounter God- ourselves; no longer needing a human to speak for us. Israel struggles to find closeness with God, but the gospel illustrates the covenant now through the power of Christ’s divine blood- sacrificial love- in -manifested- spirit through his *word. While God's grace frequently broke through in the OT, its #presence manifests in #spirit through the resurrected #living christ- The free gift of redemption in Christ is available to all who choose to #receive it. Israels restoration is in the-unity with christ #messiah- in the promise land- eternal #dwelling place.
The first mention of the ark of the testimony is in Exodus 25:10. God gave Moses specific instructions for building a tabernacle as they traveled in the wilderness. The tabernacle would be the place where the glory of God would dwell among His people (Exodus 25:8–9). Among hundreds of other descriptive instructions for this tabernacle, God told Moses to build an ark of the testimony, also called the ark of the covenant (Exodus 25:21–22). The words testimony and covenant both refer to the conditional agreement made between God and the children of Israel at Mount Sinai. An ark is, literally, a box or chest. So the ark of the testimony is the “box of the agreement.”
#7 often symbolizes #completion or #perfection. Numbers in Biblical times were symbolic of a deeper meaning- 7 appears over 700 times. From the 7 days of Creation to the many “sevens” in Revelation, 7 connotes such concepts as completion and perfection, exoneration and healing, and the #fulfillment of #promises and oaths. 7 also denotes completion at the Crucifixion, when Jesus spoke 7 statements from the Cross at the completion of earthly duties. The Lord’s Prayer contains 7 petitions: (Hallowed be thy name; Thy Kingdom come; Thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven; Give us this day our daily bread; #Forgive us our trespasses, as we *forgive those who trespass against us; Lead us not into temptation; and #Deliver us from evil). Jesus tells us He is: *The bread of life (John 6:35); The *light of the world (John 8:12); The gate to salvation (John 10:9); The good shepherd (John 10:11); The resurrection and the life (John 11:25-26); The way, the #truth, and the life (John 14:6); and The #vine (John 15:5). King David refered to Gods words, “like gold refined 7 times,” when Isaiah described the coming Messiah, he listed seven qualities the #Savior would embody (Isaiah 11:1-2). In Deuteronomy every 7th year, the Israelites were to cancel all debts with each other and free their slaves (Deut15:1-2, 12). We see 7s connection with exoneration when Peter asks Jesus how many times we are to *forgive, “seventy times seven” (Matthew 18:21-22). Here- Christ is instructing us to forgive *wholly. Jesus performed 7 miracles on the 7th day and healed 7 people on the 7th day. Faithful members of the Church have been correlated to the betrothed Bride of #Christ [i.e. Rev. 19, 6-9, Hosea 2]. (Sabbath of the bride is Shabbat Kallah). The symbolism here correlates entering into gods presence*. Kallah (bride) is also Ka’al –it is done, accomplished, completed. Believers in Messiah/Yeshua Ha Mashiach are His kallah /Calah; God’s purposes to #reveal His covenant and the deep close relationship Israel has with Him that began at Sinai as (bridegroom) katan (marriage); joining together in complete truth and spirit (bride of christ-unity with holy #spirit #dwelling of God)John 4:24.
I. The “personhood” of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is a personal being just as the Father and the Son. The Spirit is not an impersonal “it” or simply an influence. A. The Spirit has personal characteristics.
JOB of messiah- Insightful perspective- JOB was blameless, so God answered him by “revealing TRUTH.” Job was the HOLY SPIRIT- The holy spirit was with israel, then transfered during second temple period (crucifixtion-believers) and is RETURNING back to ISRAEL. Scripture refers to israel as “gods firstborn son,” then Yeshua as true son, then they merge to fulfill all the law which hangs the law and prophets redeeming Israel to zion, (homeland) DWELLING place of HOLY SPIRIT. The message being that God orders the spirit to do things -through- people to reveal yeshua messiah. So from a secular view point, it would appear to be a “preconceived notion” or “underlying bias” that needs to be changed, which in REALITY is untrue- its not coming from the humanistic perspective or secular realm, its coming from gods authority through the holy spirit for a deeper revelation- which is the “SOURCE☀️” …Only under the “authority of God.” And we fully TRUST God because he’s PROVEN to have all authority- which is why witnesses who ENCOUNTER God TESTIFY to the TRUTH under conviction of the holy spirit;
The Feast of Tabernacles, or Sukkot as it’s known in Hebrew, is a God-ordained feast with a fantastic point behind it. Or perhaps a range of very meaningful points. There’s the mysterious command of the four species of plant required, the aspect of inviting guests (ushpizin) into your sukkah, the harvest festival of rejoicing or the water libation ceremony to name a few. But here we’re going to look at one aspect in particular: those ramshackle little dwelling places – the sukkot themselves.
HE TABERNACLED AMONG US Our Earthly life in the flesh is likened to living in tents. so Jesus descended from glory to LIVE in an earthly "tent" of Human Flesh. ‘Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion! For behold, I am coming and I will live among you’—it is a declaration of Adonai. ‘In that day many nations will join themselves to Adonai and they will be My people and I will dwell among you.’ Then you will know that Adonai-Tzva’ot [the Lord of Hosts] has sent me to you. (Zechariah 2:10-11) God, THE LORD, says He’s coming to live among His people. And that God sent Him, if you can get your head around that. And like all of His words, it all came to pass exactly as He said. And the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us. We looked upon His glory, the glory of the one and only from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14) Jesus, who was God incarnate, came to live on earth with us… and was sent by God. This word incarnate means He in carne, meat, or flesh… God clothed in human skin. Paul the apostle talks about our life in the flesh like this: For we know that if the tent, our earthly home, is torn down, we have a building from God—a home not made with human hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling-- if indeed, after we have put it on, we will not be found naked. For we groan while we are in this tent—burdened because we don’t want to be unclothed but to be clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. (2 Corinthians 5:1-4) But surely that’s not what Sukkot is all about? Isn’t it to do with remembering the time of the desert wanderings after the Exodus from Egypt, on the way to the Promised Land? Aren’t these temporary dwellings to remind us of the fragility and transience of this life? That’s certainly the impression you get from the instructions in Leviticus 23 at any rate: You are to live in sukkot for seven days. All the native-born in Israel are to live in sukkot, so that your generations may know that I had Bnei-Yisrael to dwell in sukkot when I brought them out of the land of Egypt. I am Adonai your God. (Leviticus 23:42-43) TENT DWELLERS In Jeremiah 2, God talks about this time of desert wandering with the Israelites as a honeymoon period, after the official betrothal ceremony of the Sinai covenant. It was a seminal time in Israel’s story, and a part of the journey God doesn’t want us to forget. The building of temporary shelters is a very practical reminder. Not only were the children of Israel tent dwellers at that point, but their God also dwelt in a tent: the tabernacle, the Tent of Meeting. God had been very clear and specific about how His tent should be, according to the heavenly pattern, which He showed to Moses on Mount Sinai. But interestingly, the writer of Hebrews refers to this tabernacle as “the first tent”. In Hebrews 9:8 we are told that: “the way into the Holies has not yet been revealed while the first tent is still standing.” Initially God’s presence was housed in the desert tabernacle, by God’s own initiative. Later, King David would build the temple for God, but this was David’s initiative, not God’s. However, that same Shekinah glory would later dwell in the earthly tent of flesh – flesh from the house of David, no less. David really did help make a suitable home for God in more ways than one. WHY IS IT THE FIRST TENT? BECAUSE OTHERS FOLLOWED IT. Yeshua the Messiah, the Nazarene from the line of Judah, would be the THE LORD Himself tabernacling among us in a tent of human flesh. But there’s more! There are more than two tents. Before ascending again to the Father, Yeshua promised not to leave us as orphans but to send that same Holy Spirit, the Shekinah, to dwell in US! Yes – WE are now the tents, the tabernacles of the Lord. And Paul was a tent-maker. Like so many other key figures in the Bible (Gideon, David, Peter, and Jesus, to name a few) Paul’s profession was no accident. His income may have come from constructing tents in the natural, but spiritually, his job was to make people into spiritual “tents” too. Everyone he brought to faith becomes a miniature tabernacle, purified by the sacrificial blood of Messiah and made worthy of hosting the Lord of Hosts. The Shekinah, the very Spirit of the Lord, tabernacles in us today. As born-again believers we have all become miniature tabernacles, carrying the presence of God wherever we go. And one day we will tabernacle with Him in glory in the permanent home He has prepared for us. |
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