Antisemitism has never been constrained by time or religion – it has continued throughout history at the hands of atheists, Christians, Muslims and pagans alike. Whether Jewish people have assimilated into the culture or kept themselves to themselves in their own communities, they have been hated and persecuted wherever they go, and whatever they do. Whether in exile or in their own land, in Babylon or in Egypt, in Christian Europe, Atheist Russia or the Muslim Middle East, whether they’re following God or in rebellion against him, the attacks do not stop.
​
​
ANTISEMITISM,
​
THE OLDEST HATRED? 

Whenever there is an attack on Jewish people abroad, no matter what the motivation, there are always those who turn to blame Israel. “Absolutely appalling and a criminal act, but does it ever occur to… the present Israeli government that it’s [sic] actions against Palestinians may be reigniting antisemitism?” British lawmaker, Jenny Tonge, opined that Israel’s policies were the reason for the mass murder of Jews in Pittsburgh – an absolutely appalling act of antisemitism on her own part. But antisemitism goes back long before the troubles of the modern State of Israel ever existed. It was not the ‘occupation’ that was bothering Adolf Hitler… or the Spanish Inquisitors, or the perpetrators of the violent pogroms and Crusades that destroyed Jewish lives throughout the centuries in Europe and Russia. We can be confident it was not the settlements or checkpoints that got Haman’s goat in the story of Esther, or put the Amalekites’ nose out of joint to the degree that they tried to kill off the entire people group just after the Exodus. It is not that the State of Israel causes racism against the Jewish people, but rather, racism against the Jews that demonstrates the need for a Jewish state.

As long as there has been a people of God, chosen for His purposes, the attacks and annihilation attempts have been relentless. It is ludicrous to suggest that the State of Israel is to blame for violence perpetrated against the Jewish people.



THE TRUE OBJECT OF HATRED: THE GOD OF ISRAEL
​
What makes Jewish people Jewish? The God who called the nation into being for His own purposes. It was God who created the people of Israel. God changed Jacob’s name to Israel and ordained that his twelve sons would become the twelve tribes of Israel. His people. They were a people chosen by God, led by God, instructed by God, and precious to God. And they are called by His name.


“For you are a people holy to the LORD your God.

The LORD your God has chosen you

out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people,

his treasured possession.”

(Deuteronomy 7:6)



WHY DID GOD CHOOSE ISRAEL? =>
​Not only did they identify themselves with Him, but God identified Himself with them.


He is, and always will be,

The God of Israel


He refers to Himself in Scripture hundreds of times as the God of Israel. The God who delivered Israel from Egypt. One day, we learn from Jeremiah 16:14 and 23:7-8, we will know Him as the God who regathered Israel. Whichever way you look at it, God is inextricably linked to Israel, and always will be. This irks a lot of people. Some are bitter about the fact that God chose a particular nation at all, or the fact that Israel (like all of humanity) has always been so undeserving of God’s grace, or that God is the one in charge and gets to make such choices without consulting anyone. 
“Antisemitism stems from the inherently rebellious hearts of humans. As the people of God, the Jews are associated with God, and thus Jew hatred is sometimes subliminal but always due to an unregenerate heart.”
Christine Darg. Dr. Richard Bookers says in a similar vein that Jew hatred is God hatred because the Jews remind the world they are accountable to God for their lives and they don’t want to be reminded.


​
HOW CAN CHRIST  FOLLOWERS STAND AGAINST ANTISEMITISM?

“You cannot love God”, warned Corrie Ten Boom, “without loving the Jewish people”. It is shocking that this even needs to be pointed out, yet church history makes an extremely uncomfortable reading when it comes to the treatment of the Jews. What a sad misrepresentation of Christianity. 

I'm sure subconsciously, this gives the Jewish population an underlying judgment of all Christian's or Christianity. 

This may cause them to view Christian's
through a filtered lens, that sees separation and opposition

instead of unity and oneness.

The vast majority of Christian's cant relate to antisemitism, and aren't aware of it, because they were taught "there is no jew or gentile for we are all one." This could also cause a Jewish person to -wrongly- view anything not meant specifically because of Jewish identity as a "separate identity," and in turn, "misidentify" antisemitism. 

​

But what can Christians do to stand against

​antisemitism today?




1. PRAY

We cannot underestimate the impact of our prayers. Let’s pray for the bereaved, for the frightened Jewish communities facing antisemitism in the US, in France, in the UK, and all over the world. We must also pray for their enemies. Pray for those trapped in webs of bitterness and lies. Pray for Christians who are blinded to the truth about God’s heart for His people. You can be sure that your prayers will be reaching the Father’s heart, and we know that if we pray in accordance with His will, He hears, and He will answer.

You could also send a letter to a synagogue near you to let them know that you are praying for them, standing with them, and that you care.




2. PUBLICLY STAND UP FOR THE TRUTH
AND DENOUNCE LIES
​

The Body of Messiah has a prophetic ministry
to bring to light words or actions
that portray untruth

There are so many falsehoods defaming Israel and the Jewish people in circulation. It is simply not true that Israel is an Apartheid state, or that they are committing genocide. There are no Jewish plots in progress to take over the world, or even the Middle East. Israel will do everything it can to avoid killing civilians, especially children, and the lies that are perpetrated on these matters fuel the fires of antisemitic hatred. It’s important to investigate for yourself what is true and what is not, rather than believing one side or the other, but when you find solid facts, make them known.
Whether it manifests as Alt-Right racism or Far-Left hatred of Israel, antisemitism is fueled by conspiracy stories. Behind them lies the peddler of falsehoods and the spreader of fear: the father of lies himself.
​

We can help combat antisemitism

by uncovering

and proclaiming the truth.






3. REMIND PEOPLE THAT
​

JESUS IS JEWISH –PRESENT TENSE!
​

As Russell Moore put it so well in his piece in the Washington Post, “If you hate the Jews, you hate Jesus too”:
“I will often hear Christians say, “Remember that Jesus was Jewish.” That’s true enough, but the past tense makes it sound as though Jesus’ Jewishness were something he sloughed off at the resurrection. Jesus is alive now, enthroned in heaven. He is transfigured and glorified, yes, but he is still Jesus. This means he is still, and always will be, human. He is still, and always will be, the son of Mary. He is, and always will be, a Galilean. When Jesus appeared before Saul of Tarsus on the Road to Damascus, the resurrected Christ introduced himself as “Jesus of Nazareth” (Acts 22:8).



​Jesus is Jewish, present tense… 

He is of the

tribe of Judah.

He is of the

House of David…





As Christians, we are, all of us,
adopted into a Jewish family, into an Israelite story.” 

In the past it may have been misunderstood in the New Testament to think that Jesus was against the Jewish people as a whole. That is not Accurate.
But not only is Jesus Jewish,
his entire family, all his disciples, and
most of the early church were Jewish too.
The Bible teaches God is not done with Israel, and will never forsake the Jewish people (Romans 9-11).
True followers of Christ, know that
Jesus was standing up to the Pharisees- religious authorities,
oppressors of the common people in a fully Jewish community. 




4. IDENTIFY WITH THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL

It is important to stand with
the Jewish people especially in times like this –

to identify with the people of Israel as they are under attack.

During the Holocaust when the Nazis were making Jews wear a yellow star, the Danish king is said to have suggested to his finance minister,
Vilhelm Buhl,


"perhaps we should all wear it.” 


Such an act would completely negate the attempt to isolate and victimize the Jewish people. 
​
Similarly, when a brick came through the window of a Jewish family at Hanukkah time, the entire town of Billings, Montana, decided to
put Jewish Hanukkiahs in their windows in
solidarity. 

The attacks by the KKK soon stopped.

​It took courage for people to stand with their Jewish neighbors, knowing that they are making themselves a target too,
but it’s a powerful thing to do. 

For Gentile believers in Yeshua, identification with Israel is not a mere gesture, but an expression of reality – of the deep truth that you are grafted into the commonwealth of Israel. Ruth’s courageous love for Naomi’s people and their God did not go unnoticed, and neither will yours.
​
“Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there will I be buried. May the Lord do so to me and more also if anything but death parts me from you.” 
(Ruth 1:16-17)


Israel has no bigger support than that of

true followers of Christ.
​

Sadly, not all 'Christians" represent the cross well,
hence why we need more of him-
we are all flawed imperfect human beings navigating this existence
in

need of a savior. 


​The Scripture cannot state it more unambiguously than God’s promise to Abraham and his descendants in Genesis 12:3 –

“I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

https://www.oneforisrael.org/news/eruption-of-antisemitism/

In the final analysis,
antisemitism is more destructive to those who practice it
than to those who bear the brunt of it.
Hard as it may be to contemplate the anguish of Jewish people
who have suffered such cruelty at the hands of their
enemies throughout the centuries,
it is even more frightening to consider the
eternal judgment courted by those who are determined to hate what

God Himself loves.


As the character, Yakov Bok in Bernard Malamud’s award-winning novel The Fixer observes as he reads the New Testament his guards have given him, “If you want to be an anti-Semite, you must first hate Jesus Christ.”


No one loved his own people

more than 'Jesus.


As believers in Messiah,

we have a vital part to play to stem the tide of antisemitism.
Starting at home, we are charged with the task of
praying for the Jewish people
and demonstrating our support by coming alongside our Jewish neighbors with affirmation
as well as the encouraging words of the Gospel.

We must speak out against religious and ethnic
hatred wherever we find it – not only against the Jewish people but against anyone. This is something I have always personally and faithfully taken akin to, with a special admiration for Israel.


After all,
it is exactly what Christians were taught,
​and practice. 


In the Old Testament, the wonderful characteristics of God’s love were in a very clear way revealed to Israel.  This nation owes its entire existence to the love of God.
​

However, it was always meant to be a reciprocating love

in which the obligation rested on Israel
to respond to God’s love

by living in the right relationship with Him.




Moses said to his people:
​
“The LORD did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any other people, for you were the least of all peoples; but because the LORD loves you, and because He would keep the oath which He swore to your fathers, the LORD has brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you from the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Therefore know that the LORD your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments; and He repays those who hate Him to their face, to destroy them. He will not be slack with him who hates Him; He will repay him to his face” (Deut. 7:7-10). 

Every member of the nation who did not love the Lord and turn his back upon Him, would pierce himself through with many sorrows. He would be the sufferer. On the other hand, those who love the Lord will be richly blessed:
“And He will love you and bless you and multiply you; He will also bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your land… the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flock, in the land of which He swore to your fathers to give you. You shall be blessed above all peoples”
(Deut. 7:13-14). 


To qualify for these blessings,
there is only the demand of true love which
must also manifest in works of charity:

“And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments of the LORD and His statutes which I command you today for your good?” (Deut. 10:12-13). 


He would also protect them against the plots and attacks of their enemies, of which there were many. Balak, the king of Moab, hired Balaam to curse Israel:
​
“Nevertheless the LORD your God would not listen to Balaam, but the LORD your God turned the curse into a blessing for you, because the LORD your God loves you” (Deut. 23:5). 

Balaam advised Balak not to curse Israel or to fight against them because the Lord fights for them. He counselled Balak to befriend himself with Israel and invite them to the feasts of Moab’s gods. Should Israel agree to social and religious compromise with Moab, they would become untrue to God, despise His love and worship other gods.
​
The doctrine of Balaam is the doctrine of compromise with an apostate world, against which the New Testament church is also warned in Rev. 2:14.

This self-destructing compromise caused a big disaster in Israel.
They accepted an invitation to a Baal feast, participated in the sacrifices, and many Israeli men also took heathen wives in Moab.
In doing so, Israel didn’t honour their relationship of love towards God but instead committed treason against Him.
As a result, the wrath of God was kindled against Israel and He sent a plague over them in which 24 000 people died
(Num. 25:1-3, 9).

In spite of incidents of this nature,

in which Israel often in their history invited the anger of God,
the love of God for Israel

never changed.

Many individuals died as a result of their sins and rebellion, but that did not destroy God’s covenant with Israel. His love for them is comprehensive and all-embracing. It doesn’t only include promises about their spiritual revival and physical restoration in their land, but also the promise of His daily care to save them from all dangers and anxieties:
​
“But now, thus says the LORD who created you, O Jacob, and He who formed you, O Israel: Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; you are Mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, nor shall the flame scorch you. For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Saviour, I gave Egypt for your ransom, Ethiopia and Seba in your place. Since you were precious in My sight, you have been honoured, and I have loved you; therefore I will give men for you, and people for your life. Fear not, for I am with you; I will bring your descendants from the east, and gather you from the west. I will say to the north, Give them up! And to the south, Do not keep them back! Bring My sons from afar and My daughters from the ends of the earth – everyone who is called by My name, whom I have created for My glory; I have formed him, yes, I have made him” (Is. 43:1-7). 




The question may be asked:

Why does the Lord
have to gather this people
from the four corners of the earth
and bring the dispersed ones back to their land?


Why did they become unfaithful to the Lord and forfeited His blessings?
It is because of the hardening of their hearts.
Instead of worshipping the God of Israel they were deceived by Satan to live a life of licentiousness in which they also worshipped the Baals:

“But you have not called upon Me, O Jacob; and you have been weary of Me, O Israel. You have not brought Me the sheep of your burnt offerings, nor have you honoured Me with your sacrifices… but you have burdened Me with your sins, you have wearied Me with your iniquities” (Is. 43:22-24). 

To this licentiousness and lack of love Israel often committed themselves. They were warned that it would ultimately lead to great calamities and disaster, including the international dispersion of the nation:

“If you do not carefully observe all the words of this law
that are written in this book, that you may fear this glorious and awesome name, THE LORD YOUR GOD, then the LORD will bring upon you and your descendants extraordinary plagues… And it shall be, that just as the LORD rejoiced over you to do you good and multiply you, so the LORD will rejoice over you to destroy you and bring you to nothing; and you shall be plucked from off the land which you go to possess. Then the LORD will scatter you among all peoples, from one end of the earth to the other… And among those nations you shall find no rest, nor shall the sole of your foot have a resting place; but there the LORD will give you a trembling heart, failing eyes, and anguish of soul. Your life shall hang in doubt before you” (Deut. 28:58-66). 
​

Eventually Israel also rejected and turned their backs
upon their Messiah, the Lord Jesus,
who is the

personification of God’s love for them.


That was the final sin that filled the cup of their iniquities and gave rise to the international dispersion against which Moses warned them.



Jesus said:
“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! See! Your house is left to you desolate; for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, Blessed is He who come in the name of the Lord!” (Mt. 23:37-39). 

Of the international dispersion of Israel that would follow after they rejected the Messiah and would endure until they finally accept Him, Jesus said:
“And they will fall by the edge of the sword, and be led away captive into all nations. And Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled” (Lk. 21:24). 

Although the destruction of Jerusalem and the
diaspora of Israel constitute divine judgements,
it was never meant to be an absolute rejection of Israel and
the abrogation of God’s covenant with them.

The God of Israel says:
“Yet for all that, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not cast them away, nor shall I abhor them, to utterly destroy them and break My covenant with them; For I am the LORD their God. But for their sake I will remember the covenant of their ancestors, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations, that I might be their God: I am the LORD” (Lev. 26:44-45). 

Paul also confirms the fact that the Lord didn’t reject His people Israel.
​At the end of the times of the Gentiles, which is the end of the Church dispensation, the trampling of Jerusalem will be terminated and the people be restored physically and spiritually:

“I say then, has God cast away His people?

Certainly not!
For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham,
of the tribe of Benjamin.

God has not cast away His people whom He foreknew…
hardening in part has happened to Israel
until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.
And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written:


The Deliverer will come out of Zion,
and He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob;
for this is My covenant with them,
when I take away their sins”
(Rom. 11:1-2, 25-27). 


What we now see in Israel, as well as in the salvation of an increasing number of Messianic Jews who return to the God of their fathers through Jesus Christ, is confirmation of sure promises that God will never abandon Israel. His love for Israel is eternal and unchangeable.

Listen to what He says through the prophet Hosea about this forsaken woman, Israel, who wandered away from Him:
 
“I will punish her for the days of the Baals to which she burned incense… Therefore, behold, I will allure her, will bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfort to her. I will give her her vineyards from there, and the Valley of Achor as a door of hope; she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, as in the day when she came up from the land of Egypt… I will take from her mouth the name of the Baals, and they shall be remembered by their name no more” (Hos. 2:13-17). 

The prophets Isaiah also confirms the
restored relationship
of love between Israel and God:

“Do not fear, for you will not be ashamed; nor be disgraced, for you will not be put to shame; for you will forget the shame of your youth, and will not remember the reproach of your widowhood anymore. For your Maker is your husband, the LORD of hosts is His name; and your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel; He is called the God of the whole earth. For the LORD has called you like a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, like a youthful wife when you were refused, says your God. For a mere moment I have forsaken you, but with great mercies I will gather you. With a little wrath I hid My face from you for a moment; but with everlasting kindness I will have mercy on you, says the LORD your Redeemer” (Is. 54:4-8). 

To Hosea this wonderful prospect was also revealed, and he concludes his writings with a prophecy on the

restored relationship between Israel and their God:

“I will heal their backsliding,
I will love them freely, for My anger has turned away from him. I will be like the dew to Israel; he shall grow like the lily, and lengthen his roots like Lebanon. His branches shall spread; his beauty shall be like an olive tree, and his fragrance like Lebanon.

Those who dwell under his shadow shall return;
they shall be revived like grain, and grow like the vine”
(Hos. 14:4-7) 


The prophet Jeremiah emphasises the eternal love that God has for Israel:

“Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love, therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you. Again I will build you, and you shall be rebuilt, O virgin of Israel! You shall again be adorned with your tambourines, and shall go forth in the dances of those who rejoice.

You shall yet plant vines on the mountains of Samaria…
He who scattered Israel will gather him,
and keep him as a shepherd does his flock.
​

For the LORD has redeemed Jacob, and ransomed him from the hand of one stronger than he. Therefore they shall come and sing in the height of Zion, streaming to the goodness of the LORD… their souls shall be like a well watered garden, and they shall sorrow no more at all… for I will turn their mourning to joy, will comfort them, and make them rejoice rather than sorrow… Is Ephraim My dear son? Is he a pleasant child? For though I spoke against him, I earnestly remember him still; therefore My heart yearns for him; I will surely have mercy on him, says the LORD“ (Jer. 31:3-20). 

It is evident from God’s dealing with Israel that His love has a clear element of chastening. This love is so pure that it can’t allow people who have accepted it to compromise with a sinful world, or to be licentious and permissive as is the case in the humanistic love of fallen man.

A wayward child
who persists with his uncharitable conduct
must be reprimanded, disciplined, and chastised.
However, these disciplinary actions are instituted with
the best interests of the person(s) involved.
If you're a loving parent and your child's hair is on fire-
would that parent say, "that's okay, you're going in the right direction," or would they speak the truth in love?

I love you- you're running toward that cliff and your hair is on fire,


let's put the fire out and turn around.



The chastising of Israel is an act of love
as it is aimed at their

​return to the Lord.

Those who have
sorrow over their sins and truly
repent

from it will be

met by a loving, 

​forgiving Father.


He will also completely restore a repentant Israel:

​
“For I will take you from among the nations, gather you out of all countries, and bring you into your own land. Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you… I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgements and do them.

Then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; you shall be My people and I will be your God” (Ezek. 36:24-28). 

The day of Israel’s national conversion will be when the Messiah, Jesus, sets feet on the Mount of Olives at the end of the great tribulation.
He will then judge the nations and save the remnant of His people, Israel. Under strong conviction of sin, worked by the Holy Spirit, they will grieve over their sins, pray for pardon and mercy, and accept Jesus as Messiah and Saviour:

“And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they have pierced; they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn… They will call on My name, and I will answer them. I will say, This is My people, and each one will say, the LORD is my God” (Zech. 12:10 and 13:9). 


The bond of love that was broken by Israel
because of their sins,

will be fully restored:

​
“O Israel, return to the LORD your God, for you have stumbled because of your iniquity… Say to Him, Take away all iniquity; receive us graciously… [To these word of repentance God will say]:
I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely” (Hos. 14:1-4). 

Isaiah says: “In that day the LORD of hosts will be for a crown of glory and a diadem or beauty to the remnant of His people” (Is. 28:5).

All the nations will know about the spiritual revival of Israel
and gladly associate with them to share in the blessings:
​
“In those days ten men from every language of the nations shall grasp the sleeve of a Jewish man, saying,

Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you”
(Zech. 8:23). 

The saved remnant of Israel will be united in their love for God and serve Him with their whole heart.


​God says:
“This is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. No more shall every man teach his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD, for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more”
(Jer. 31:33-34). 

The dedication of Israel as a people will then be like that small group of exemplary men of God in the Old Testament.
The Lord will take pleasure in them like He took pleasure in David,

who was a man after God’s heart.


David declared his love for God by saying:
“I will love You, O LORD my strength”
(Ps. 18:1).
Another psalmist expressed his love for the Word of God:

“I love Your commandments more than gold, yes, than fine gold!…
Your word is very pure;

therefore Your servant loves it…
My soul keeps Your testimonies,

and I love them exceedingly”
(Ps. 119:127, 140, 167). 

Is your delight also in the word of God
and do you meditate on it day and night?
Are your footsteps anchored in the word of God,
and have you hidden His words in your heart
that you might not sin against Him?
Then the blessings of the Lord will surround you
and the Holy One of Israel will protect you.
God’s love for Israel will also be poured out in your heart.

You will pray for them and earnestly desire their salvation.


God says:

“For Zion’s sake I will not hold My peace, and for Jerusalem’s sake
I will not rest, until her righteousness goes forth as brightness,
and her salvation as a lamp that burns…

I have set watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem, who shall never hold their peace day or night. You who make mention of the LORD, do not keep silent, and give Him no rest till He establishes and till He makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth” (Is. 62:1, 6-7). 

Before this can happen,
a passionate love must be awakened in the hearts of Jews
for the land of their fathers and the city of Jerusalem. 
These convictions and feelings must induce them to return and prepare Jerusalem and its inhabitants for the

soon coming of the Messiah!

This awakening is finally occurring in our generation.

The gospel is being heard in

Israel again, after 2,000 years of exile. 


God loves Israel, declaring, “I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have drawn you with lovingkindness” (Jer. 31:3). God is eternal, and His love is eternal. To possess the love of God is to love that which he loves. One cannot claim to have God’s love, and simultaneously hate Israel,

His chosen people.


There is clearly no place for anti-Semitism in the heart of any Christian.



God called followers of Jesus to

​love and serve

Israel through the

message of the Gospel. 


As with the renewed covenant offered to Israel, our sins are removed freely  with faith in God's great sacrifice and work on the cross. The nation of Israel doesn't have that protection, but God promises to deliver them as a nation when they've gone too far from him. That's Israel's history, a pattern of national wandering from God, suffering, bondage, then redemption and deliverance. God's word says that greater sufferings bring greater rewards, because God- through Christ- compensates our weaknesses. The weaker we are, the greater he can demonstrate his greatness and faithfulness when called upon. If we are close to God, he will listen and answer. God always delivers Israel before it's too late, when they are far away, he promises to answer them from afar. The renewed covenant, the law of Christ, given by our God of Israel that made himself known to the beloved patriarchs, frees us from this bondage and is

freely offered to anyone who accepts it. 


Anyone who is under the law of Christ,

should love, honor, and praise Israel for nourishing the deep roots of the mosaic covenant long enough for the gentiles to have an opportunity to be in grafted into the one family of God. Judaism is a deep, rich, beautiful religion. The Jewish people are loving, kind, generous, and are zealous for God. But they are doing this from the wilderness, they haven't entered the promised land. They need a Shepard to draw nearer to God- that is Christ. God will eventually deliver Israel at the end of the age, through Jesus Christ- their savior, whom is very well active and alive in spirit today.

God calls followers of Christ to Shepard, love, and guide Israel through the Gospel. 

To love Israel is not a blanket endorsement of all their beliefs and behaviors. God, who loves Israel and chose them to be His people (Deut. 7:6-8), also called them to be holy (Ex. 19:5-6; Lev. 11:45), and promised blessing or cursing, based on their obedience to Him (Deut. 28:1-68). Israel can and does fail, often rejecting God’s love for them and walking in the ways of the world (see 2 Chron. 36:15-16; Jer. 7:25-26; 25:4-7; Ezek. 16; Matt. 23:1-39; Acts 7:51-53; 1 Thess. 2:14-16). The national rejection and crucifixion of Jesus (Matt. 27:22-23; Acts 2:22-23; 4:27-28), Israel’s promised Messiah (Deut. 18:15; Isa. 7:14; 9:6-7;53; 61:1; Matt. 1:1, 17; Luke 1:31-33), is their greatest failure. Did Israel act alone in crucifying Jesus, their Messiah? No! God foretold Israel’s Messiah would suffer and die (Ps. 22:11-18; Isa. 53); and, according to His sovereignty, He used wicked men, both Jews and Gentiles, to accomplish His will (Acts 22:22-23; 4:27-28).

If it be inquired, as constantly it is, who put Christ to death? It may be pointed out that He was offered by the Father (Ps. 22:15; John 3:16; Rom. 3:25), of His own free will (John 10:17; Heb. 7:27; 9:14; 10:12), by the Spirit (Heb. 9:14), and by men—Herod, Pilate, the Gentiles, and Israel (Acts 2:23; 4:27). To this may be added that part of His death was contributed by Satan (cf. Gen. 3:15).[1] 

Israel struggles with God and is disoriented. 
They get confused on what loving shepherding is, and can mistake it for antisemitism. The problem with Israel not knowing how to solve antisemitism, is that they don't know God's word. I've read a lot on Jewish sites/holocaust education sites that portray the religion of Christianity and the word of god very negative. It's also often incorrect or from a Jewish perspective which isn't a complete view. Communication is the only way to solve any misunderstanding, but Judaism doesn't want to listen to a Christian perspective. That can only last for so long, until it's no longer functional. 

Antisemitism is not caused by the New Testament, Christian doctrine, or beliefs that Jesus was killed by the Jews. If that is being used as a means for anti-semitism, it is a wrong understanding or representation of Scripture. God caused the death and resurrections of the messiah. There are dark and grievous period of history and antisemitism, which in order to truly fix, need to be understood as antisemitism needs to stop, and Israel can not accurately see how to fix it. Their messiah Jesus Christ is the only answer, but it's up to them when it occurs. Nothing like the holocaust should ever happen again, and it's up to Judaism to openly talk about it with whom may not agree with them, not just those who do agree with them. 

Resurrection is the key word-
meaning, Jesus is living and active today
through the Holy Spirit and body of Christ,
the spirit of truth.


Any governing policies in today's society that counteracts the spirit of truth causes disruption. God uses the body of Christ as vessels for the spirit of truth. 

     God, who loves Israel with an everlasting love, continues to keep His word to them. Israel has a future hope because of the promises and covenants God made through the patriarchs and prophets (Gen. 12:1-3; 15:18; 17:8; Deut. 30:1-10; 2 Sam. 7:16; Ps. 89:33-37; Jer. 31:31-33). Though unbelieving Israel is currently under divine discipline (Matt. 23:37-39), God’s covenants and promises are still in effect (Rom. 9:1-5), and will remain in force until Jesus returns and is accepted as their Messiah.
​
     It is wrong to think the church has replaced Israel, for “God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew” (Rom. 11:2), even though there is a “partial hardening” among them until Messiah returns (Rom. 11:25-27). Until then, unbelieving Israel is under spiritual darkness and divine judgment. The apostle Paul—a biological Jew himself—revealed that God’s promises and covenants are still valid for national Israel, and wished all would come to faith in Christ.

I am telling the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience testifies with me in the Holy Spirit, that I have great sorrow and unceasing grief in my heart [for unbelieving Israel]. For I could wish that I myself were accursed, separated from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh [to whom Paul is related biologically], who are Israelites, to whom belongs the adoption as sons, and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the Law and the temple service and the promises, whose are the fathers, and from whom is the Christ according to the flesh [i.e. Messiah], who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen. (Rom. 9:1-5)

Those who have the privilege of being witnesses to
the truth, have a responsibility to the truth.

     Today, Jews and Gentiles alike,
become partakers of the church, the body of Christ,
when they believe in Jesus as their Savior
(Gal. 3:26-28; Eph. 1:22-23; cf. 1 Cor. 10:32).
The church is looking forward to the return of Christ,
in which He will catch away
(ἁρπάζω harpazo – to seize, catch up, snatch away)
Christians to heaven (1 Thess. 4:13-17).

Until God resumes His prophetic plans for Israel,
the Christian is called to love them, pray for them,
and share the gospel of grace
that they may turn to Jesus as the Christ and be saved
(Rom. 1:16; 1 Cor. 1:18-24; 15:3-4).

​Antisemitism has only one sure antidote:
the perfect love of Messiah that “casts out fear”
(1 John 4:18).

​
The question “who are the seed of Abraham?”

can be answered several ways,
​and it is important to make some distinctions. There is the Seed of Abraham (Seed being singular); there is the seed of Abraham physically (descendants of Abraham according to the flesh); and there is the seed of Abraham spiritually(those who, like Abraham, have faith in God).

The (singular) Seed of Abraham is Christ, as Galatians 3:16, quoting Genesis 12:7, says, “The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. Scripture does not say ‘and to seeds,’ meaning many people, but ‘and to your seed,’ meaning one person, who is Christ.” The passage goes on to explain that an inheritance was promised to Abraham’s Seed (Christ) apart from the Law. Later, the Mosaic Law was introduced, but it did not annul the promises made to Abraham or to Abraham’s Seed (Christ).


There is a "mystery" the Bible speaks of in regard to ethnic Israel,

but when the signs of Christ's return are near,

it is clear that the Gospel

must be preached to the Jew first

then Gentile.

Another indication -why it hasn't been preached to Israel before-

out of respect,



​yet the time has come. 

​

Just as Abraham believed
God and his faith was counted as righteousness
(Genesis 15:6),


so are all today

who believe in God’s Son justified

apart from the Law.


In this way, Abraham is the “father” of all who believe
(Romans 4:11–17). “If you belong to Christ,
then you are Abraham’s seed,
and heirs according to the promise”
(Galatians 3:29).

Of course, the seed of Abraham can also refer to the Hebrew people who descended from Abraham through Isaac. Still more broadly, the seed of Abraham could include Arabs, who trace their lineage through Ishmael. This is the physical seed of Abraham.


The spiritual seed of Abraham

(believers in Jesus Christ)

is comprised of people of

all nationalities and ethnicities.


​
The Jewish religious leaders of the first century

took pride

in that they were Abraham’s seed.


They saw their physical connection to Abraham as a guarantee
of God’s favor.
This attitude kept them from seeing their need
for repentance of the heart--
and brought condemnation from John the Baptist,
who warned them to repent.
Anticipating their fallback argument that they were the seed of Abraham, John said, “Do not think you can say to yourselves,
"We have Abraham as our father.’ I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham”
(Matthew 3:9).


Jesus dealt with the same issue later.


In speaking to the unbelieving Jews,
Jesus emphasized their need to receive His words as truth
and obey His commands.

They replied, “We be Abraham’s seed”
(John 8:33, KJV).
Jesus then rebukes them for plotting ways to murder Him;
their stubborn response was again,
“Abraham is our father”
(verse 39a).

At this, Jesus makes a distinction between the physical seed of Abraham
and the true, spiritual seed of Abraham:

“If you were Abraham’s children . . .
then you would do what Abraham did” (verse 39b).

The conversation heats up as the Jews for a third time
reference their connection to Abraham:

"Are you greater than our father Abraham?”
​
they ask Jesus (verse 53).


Jesus provokes them further:
“Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day;
he saw it and was glad”
(verse 56).
​
The Jews’ are incredulous that Jesus would claim
to be a contemporary of Abraham,

and that’s when Jesus brings the exchange to a climax with
a claim to full deity:

“Very truly I tell you, . . .
before Abraham was born,
​
​
I am!”
​

(verse 58).
In a fury, the Jews attempted to stone Jesus (verse 59),
again proving that being the physical seed of Abraham is not enough--
they had to be born again (John 3:3).

Paul sums up the difference between the
seeds of Abraham
in Romans 2:28–29:
“A person is not a Jew who is one only outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical.

No, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the


heart, by the Spirit,


not by the written code.
Such a person’s praise is not from other people,
​
​but from God.”


​

Could you possibly imagine how MUCH Joy and delight
God would have if

his physical seed, also became his spiritual seed?

It's both full and in complete harmony!
Fulfilling "all the words of his law."
Together as one!
Israel returns to the father... Out of the wilderness,
the lost bride, reunited to the bridegroom.

That is God's Story!

So many hills and valleys,
a long and winding journey to the promised land,

reunited and home at last!

The lord is faithfully and patiently waiting for this day,
so that all the nations can rejoice together

in his re-unification with his lost bride, Israel,

his treasured possession,
​

the apple of his eye! 




​
Romans 11:12

 I ask then, did they stumble so as to fall beyond Recovery?
Certainly not!

Why? Because we have Jesus- the forgiver of all sins!
However, because of their trespass,

salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel jealous. 

But if their trespass means riches for the world, 
and their failure means riches for the Gentiles, 
​
​

​ How MUCH GREATER

​riches will

​their fullness bring! 



​

Cross References


​Acts 3:21
Heaven must take Him in until the time comes for the restoration of all things, which God announced long ago through His holy prophets.


Romans 11:25
I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you will not be conceited: A hardening in part has come to Israel, until the full number of the Gentiles has come in.


Treasury of ScriptureNow if the fall of them be the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fullness?


​Romans 11:15,33
For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead? … 

Romans 9:23
And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory,

Ephesians 3:8
Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ;
diminishing.

Romans 11:25
For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.

Isaiah 11:11-16
And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea… 

Isaiah 12:1-6
And in that day thou shalt say, O LORD, I will praise thee: though thou wast angry with me, thine anger is turned away, and thou comfortedst me…

​

​
​If anyone has been converted from one thing to another,
it is Gentiles who have been converted

to the Jewish faith in the God of Israel.


They have adopted the Jewish holy Scriptures, the Jewish understanding of God and his ways, and have been accepted and saved by the Jewish Messiah. It is Gentiles who have left paganism with false ideas of God (or gods) into the truth about the One Living God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob who made heaven and earth, as revealed in the Jewish Scriptures.

The book of Romans likens this Gentile “conversion” to the agricultural grafting process:

“And you, although a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing root of the olive tree… remember it is not you who support the root, but the root that supports you.”
(11:17-18)

It makes no sense to talk of a Jewish person being converted.

It has been their faith all along,
if you believe that Yeshua is the
Messiah spoken of in the Hebrew Scriptures.

The faith is rooted in Judaism.

When a Jewish person accepts Yeshua

they have a fuller understanding

of their own faith,
​
not somebody else’s.
​

And that is what we in ONE FOR ISRAEL are seeking to see.

At the beginning, the early believers were entirely Jewish. The disciples were all Jewish, the leaders were Jewish, the teaching was Jewish, and they were focusing only on Jews as their audience (Acts 11:19). The disciples were first known as “Christians” in Antioch (Acts 11:26) when Gentiles had also been brought into the kingdom. Were these “Christians” only Gentile? No. Did they believe something different theologically? No. Their sense of duty towards the law might have been different, but the New Testament is full of the message of freedom and a new way of relating to God. It is the new wineskin, and the old wineskin would burst if you put the new wine into it.

Although we know that every word of the Law
​still stands and has been fulfilled in Yeshua,

it is a struggle today, as it was back in Acts, to understand to what extent Jews and Gentiles who believe in Yeshua should be obliged to the mitzvot of the Torah. There are a variety different perspectives on this, but suffice to say that the New Testament emphasises freedom of conscience (see Galatians, 1 Corinthians, Acts) over forcing your own convictions on others. In Galatians 3 Paul talks about the law as a guardian, keeping custody over the Jewish people until the Messiah came:

“Before the coming of this faith, we were held in custody under the law, locked up until the faith that was to come would be revealed. So the law was our guardian until Messiah came that we might be justified by faith. Now that this faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian.

He then goes on to say this famous assertion of inclusivity:

“So in Yeshua the Messiah you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Messiah have clothed yourselves with Messiah. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Yeshua the Messiah. If you belong to the Messiah, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”
Now, I am a woman, and just because I belong to Yeshua does not mean that I am no longer a woman. I still very much a woman! But my standing before Father God is no less than that of a man. 

Our gender identity remains, and so does our ethnic identity. Jews and Gentiles remain as they were born (despite the foolishness of Gentiles trying to be Jewish and Jewish believers being wrongly told that they are now Gentiles) but our right to stand in the presence of our Father is equal because of Yeshua. 

We can rejoice in the identity God gave us, knowing that we have been made ONE BODY together in Messiah. Men and women do not lose their gender because they have been made one flesh in marriage – rather it is their difference that makes their union so glorious, and Jews and Gentiles do not lose their ethnic identity because they have been made one body in Messiah. It is a glory and a marvel that God has brought us together as one.

Again, in Ephesians 2:14-18 shows us God’s plan, desire and intention that we would be ONE:

“For he himself is our peace,
who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. 

His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. 

He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near.

For through him we both have access to the

​Father by one Spirit.”

What God has joined together, let not man separate! Years of persecution at the hands of the church has made it difficult for Jewish believers to call themselves “Christian” but God does not see two different streams in his body.

He sees one body.

We might have different culture and terminology but the essence of our beliefs and the basis of our salvation is exactly the same. Gentiles have been grafted in and are in the same tree.

Not a different one.
​
It is God’s desire to reach out to all nations with salvation

and his way of accomplishing that was through the people of Israel carrying the Scriptures, the experiences and the precious Seed of God. It is through the Jews that salvation has come, but this salvation brings us all into the one root, as he purposed from the beginning of time.
​

Jesus said, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished” (Matthew 5:17–18). This important statement of our Lord gives us insight into His mission and the character of God’s Word.


​https://www.biblestudytools.com/matthew/?amp
​

Jesus’ declaration that He came to fulfill the Law and the Prophets, not to abolish them, obviously contains two statements in one. There is something Jesus did and something He did not do. At the same time, Jesus emphasized the eternal nature of the Word of God.

Jesus goes out of His way to promote the authority of the Law of God. He did not come to abolish the Law, regardless of what the Pharisees accused Him of. In fact, Jesus continues His statement with a commendation for those who teach the Law accurately and hold it in reverence: “Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:19).

Note the qualities that Jesus attributes to the Word of God, referenced as “the Law and the Prophets”: 1) The Word is everlasting; it will outlast the natural world. 2) The Word was written with intent; it was meant to be fulfilled. 3) The Word possesses plenary authority; even the smallest letter of it is established. 4) The Word is faithful and trustworthy; “everything” it says will be accomplished. No one hearing Jesus’ words in the Sermon on the Mount could doubt His commitment to the Scriptures.

Consider what Jesus did not do in His ministry. In Matthew 5:17, Jesus says that He did not come to abolish the Law and the Prophets. In other words, Jesus’ purpose was not to abrogate the Word, dissolve it, or render it invalid. The Prophets will be fulfilled; the Law will continue to accomplish the purpose for which it was given (see Isaiah 55:10–11).

Next, consider what Jesus did do. Jesus says that He came to fulfill the Law and the Prophets. In other words, Jesus’ purpose was to establish the Word, to embody it, and to fully accomplish all that was written. “Christ is the culmination of the law” (Romans 10:4). The predictions of the Prophets concerning the Messiah would be realized in Jesus; the holy standard of the Law would be perfectly upheld by Christ, the strict requirements personally obeyed, and the ceremonial observances finally and fully satisfied.

Jesus Christ fulfilled the Prophets in that, in His first coming alone, He fulfilled hundreds of prophecies concerning Himself (e.g., Matthew 1:22; 13:35; John 19:36; Luke 24:44). Jesus Christ fulfilled the Law in at least two ways: as a teacher and as a doer. He taught people to obey the Law (Matthew 22:35–40; Mark 1:44), and He obeyed the Law Himself (John 8:46; 1 Peter 2:22). In living a perfect life, Jesus fulfilled the moral laws; in His sacrificial death, Jesus fulfilled the ceremonial laws. Christ came not to destroy the old religious system but to build upon it; He came to finish the Old Covenant and establish the New.

Jesus came not to destroy the Law and the Prophets but to fulfill them. In fact, the ceremonies, sacrifices, and other elements of the Old Covenant were “only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves” (Hebrews 10:1). The tabernacle and temple were “holy places made with hands,” but they were never meant to be permanent; they were but “copies of the true things” (Hebrews 9:24, ESV). The Law had a built-in expiration date, being filled as it was with “external regulations applying until the time of the new order” (Hebrews 9:10).

In His fulfillment of the Law and Prophets, Jesus obtained our eternal salvation. No more were priests required to offer sacrifices and enter the holy place (Hebrews 10:8–14). Jesus has done that for us, once and for all. By grace through faith, we are made right with God: “He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross” (Colossians 2:14).

There are some who argue that, since Jesus did not “abolish” the Law, then the Law is still in effect—and still binding on New Testament Christians. But Paul is clear that the believer in Christ is no longer under the Law: “We were held in custody under the Law, locked up until faith should be revealed. So the Law became our guardian to lead us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. Now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian” (Galatians 3:23–25, BSB). We are not under the Mosaic Law but under “the law of Christ” (see Galatians 6:2).

If the Law is still binding on us today, then it has not yet accomplished its purpose—it has not yet been fulfilled. If the Law, as a legal system, is still binding on us today, then Jesus was wrong in claiming to fulfill it and His sacrifice on the cross was insufficient to save. Thank God, Jesus fulfilled the whole Law and now grants us His righteousness as a free gift. “Know that a person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified” (Galatians 2:16).

​
Matthew 10:6 Parallel Verses;

Matthew 10:6, NIV: Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel.

Matthew 10:6, ESV: but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

Matthew 10:6, KJV: But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

Matthew 10:6, NASB: but rather go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

Matthew 10:6, NLT: but only to the people of Israel--God's lost sheep.

Matthew 10:6, CSB: Instead, go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.



​What does Matthew 10:6 mean?

Jesus has begun giving instructions about what He wants His twelve hand-picked apostles to do when He sends them out on their own (Matthew 10:1–4). He began by defining where they should not go: to any Gentile areas or Samaritan towns (Matthew 10:5). Instead, Jesus now says, He is sending His representatives to the "lost sheep of Israel." 

At the end of the previous chapter, Matthew described Jesus as feeling compassion for the people as He looked out over the crowds. Jesus saw that they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Those are the "lost sheep" Jesus is sending His disciples to reach with the good news of the Messiah and the kingdom of heaven. 

In saying this, Jesus was directing the good news to all the people of Israel, not just some. God's plan was that the good news of Jesus would first be preached to Israel and then later to the rest of the nations (Romans 1:16). 
​
Context Summary
Matthew 10:5–15 contains Jesus' instructions for His twelve apostles, for their missionary trip to the towns of Galilee, in northern Israel. Their mission will be to preach His message that the kingdom of heaven is near, while also healing people and casting out demons. The apostles must not take with them extra money or clothes. Instead, they will stay with those who are worthy in each town they visit. If nobody in a town believes their message, the disciples are to shake the dust of that town from their feet. Jesus will follow these instructions with a series of warnings and encouragements.


Chapter Summary
Jesus gives His authority over disease, demons, and even death to His twelve hand-picked apostles. He gives them instructions in preparation both for a short-term trip to the towns of Galilee and their ministry after He has left the earth. First, they will preach His message of the kingdom in Israelite towns as they heal and cast out demons to demonstrate His power. Later, they will suffer great persecution as they represent Him before both Jews and Gentiles. They should not be afraid, though, and trust their Father to be with them and to reward them.

Summary of the Gospel of Matthew_ this summary of the Gospel of Matthew provides information about the title, author(s), date of writing, chronology, theme, theology, outline, a brief overview, and the chapters of the Gospel of Matthew.

Although the first Gospel is anonymous, the early church fathers were unanimous in holding that Matthew, one of the 12 apostles, was its author. However, the results of modern critical studies -- in particular those that stress Matthew's alleged dependence on Mark for a substantial part of his Gospel -- have caused some Biblical scholars to abandon Matthean authorship. Why, they ask, would Matthew, an eyewitness to the events of our Lord's life, depend so heavily on Mark's account? The best answer seems to be that he agreed with it and wanted to show that the apostolic testimony to Christ was not divided.

Matthew, whose name means "gift of the Lord," was a tax collector who left his work to follow Jesus (9:9-13). In Mark and Luke he is called by his other name, Levi.

Date and Place of Writing_ Some have argued on the basis of its Jewish characteristics that Matthew's Gospel was written in the early church period, possibly the early part of a.d. 50, when the church was largely Jewish and the gospel was preached to Jews only (Ac 11:19). However, those who have concluded that both Matthew and Luke drew extensively from Mark's Gospel date it later -- after the Gospel of Mark had been in circulation for a period of time. See essay and chart, p. 1943. Accordingly, some feel that Matthew would have been written in the late 50s or in the 60s. Others, who assume that Mark was written between 65 and 70, place Matthew in the 70s or even later. However, there is insufficient evidence to be dogmatic about either view.

The Jewish nature of Matthew's Gospel may suggest that it was written in the Holy Land, though many think it may have originated in Syrian Antioch.
RecipientsSince his Gospel was written in Greek, Matthew's readers were obviously Greek-speaking. They also seem to have been Jews. Many elements point to Jewish readership: Matthew's concern with fulfillment of the OT (he has more quotations from and allusions to the OT than any other NT author); his tracing of Jesus' descent from Abraham (1:1-17); his lack of explanation of Jewish customs (especially in contrast to Mark); his use of Jewish terminology (e.g., "kingdom of heaven," where "heaven" reveals the Jewish reverential reluctance to use the name of God; see note on 3:2); his emphasis on Jesus' role as "Son of David" (1:1; 9:27; 12:23; 15:22; 20:30-31; 21:9,15; 22:41-45). This does not mean, however, that Matthew restricts his Gospel to Jews. He records the coming of the Magi (non-Jews) to worship the infant Jesus (2:1-12), as well as Jesus' statement that the "field is the world" (13:38). He also gives a full statement of the Great Commission (28:18-20). These passages show that, although Matthew's Gospel is Jewish, it has a universal outlook.

Purpose_ Mathew's main purpose is to prove to his Jewish readers that Jesus is their Messiah. He does this primarily by showing how Jesus in his life and ministry fulfilled the OT Scriptures. Although all the Gospel writers quote the OT, Matthew includes nine proof texts unique to his Gospel (1:22-23; 2:15; 2:17-18; 2:23; 4:14-16; 8:17; 12:17-21; 13:35; 27:9-10) to drive home his basic theme: Jesus is the fulfillment of the OT predictions of the Messiah. Matthew even finds the history of God's people in the OT recapitulated in some aspects of Jesus' life (see, e.g., his quotation of Hos 11:1 in 2:15). To accomplish his purpose Matthew also emphasizes Jesus' Davidic lineage (see Recipients, p. 1945).

StructureThe way the material is arranged reveals an artistic touch. The whole Gospel is woven around five great discourses: (1) chs. 5-7; (2) ch. 10; (3) ch. 13; (4) ch. 18;(5) chs.24-25. That this is deliberate is clear from the refrain that concludes each discourse: "When Jesus had finished saying these things," or similar words (7:28; 11:1; 13:53; 19:1; 26:1). The narrative sections, in each case, appropriately lead up to the discourses. The Gospel has a fitting prologue (chs. 1-2) and a challenging epilogue (28:16-20).
​
The fivefold division may suggest that Matthew has modeled his book on the structure of the Pentateuch (the first five books of the OT). He may also be presenting the gospel as a new Torah and Jesus as a new and greater Moses.
Outline

• The Birth and Early Years of Jesus (chs. 1-2) 
  • His Genealogy (1:1-17)
  • His Birth (1:18 -- 2:12)
  • His Sojourn in Egypt (2:13-23)
• The Beginnings of Jesus' Ministry (3:1 -- 4:11) 
  • His Forerunner (3:1-12)
  • His Baptism (3:13-17)
  • His Temptation (4:1-11)
• Jesus' Ministry in Galilee (4:12 -- 14:12) 
  • The Beginning of the Galilean Campaign (4:12-25)
  • The Sermon on the Mount (chs. 5-7)
  • A Collection of Miracles (chs. 8-9)
  • The Commissioning of the 12 Apostles (ch. 10)
  • Ministry throughout Galilee (chs. 11-12)
  • The Parables of the Kingdom (ch. 13)
  • Herod's Reaction to Jesus' Ministry (14:1-12)
• Jesus' Withdrawals from Galilee (14:13 -- 17:20) 
  • To the Eastern Shore of the Sea of Galilee (14:13 -- 15:20)
  • To Phoenicia (15:21-28)
  • To the Decapolis (15:29 -- 16:12)
  • To Caesarea Philippi (16:13 -- 17:20)
• Jesus' Last Ministry in Galilee (17:22 -- 18:35) 
  • Prediction of Jesus' Death (17:22-23)
  • Temple Tax (17:24-27)
  • Discourse on Life in the Kingdom (ch. 18)
• Jesus' Ministry in Judea and Perea (chs. 19-20) 
  • Teaching concerning Divorce (19:1-12)
  • Teaching concerning Little Children (19:13-15)
  • The Rich Young Man (19:16-30)
  • The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard (20:1-16)
  • Prediction of Jesus' Death (20:17-19)
  • A Mother's Request (20:20-28)
  • Restoration of Sight at Jericho (20:29-34)
• Passion Week (chs. 21-27) 
  • The Entry of Jesus into Jerusalem as King (21:1-11)
  • The Cleansing of the Temple (21:12-17)
  • The Last Controversies with the Jewish Leaders (21:18 -- 23:39)
  • The Olivet Discourse (chs. 24-25)
  • The Anointing of Jesus' Feet (26:1-13)
  • The Arrest, Trials and Death of Jesus (26:14 -- 27:66)
• The Resurrection (ch. 28) 
  • The Earthquake and the Angel's Announcement (28:1-7)
  • Jesus' Encounter with the Women (28:8-10)
  • The Guards' Report and the Jewish Elders' Bribe (28:11-15)
  • The Great Commission (28:16-2)

The tribe of Judah, its conquests, and the centrality of its capital in Jerusalem for the worship of the god Yahweh figure prominently in the Deuteronomistic history, encompassing the books of Deuteronomy through II Kings, which most scholars agree was reduced to written form, although subject to exilic and post-exilic alterations and emendations, during the reign of the Judahite reformer Josiah from 641–609 BCE.[1]

According to the account in the Book of Joshua, following a partial conquest of Canaanby the Israelite tribes (the Jebusites still held Jerusalem),[2] Joshua allocated the land among the twelve tribes. Judah's divinely ordained portion is described in Joshua 15[3]as encompassing most of the southern portion of the Land of Israel, including the Negev, the Wilderness of Zin and Jerusalem. However, the consensus of modern scholars is that this conquest never occurred.[4][5][6] Other scholars point to extra-biblical references to Israel and Canaan as evidence for the potential historicity of the conquest.[7][8]

In the opening words of the Book of Judges, following the death of Joshua, the Israelites "asked the Lord" which tribe should be first to go to occupy its allotted territory, and the tribe of Judah was identified as the first tribe.[9] According to the narrative in the Book of Judges, the tribe of Judah invited the tribe of Simeon to fight with them in alliance to secure each of their allotted territories. As is the case with Joshua, most scholars do not believe that the book of Judges contains reliable history.[10][11][12]

The Book of Samuel describes God's repudiation of a monarchic line arising from the northern Tribe of Benjamin due to the sinfulness of King Saul, which was then bestowed onto the tribe of Judah for all time in the person of King David. In Samuel's account, after the death of Saul, all the tribes other than Judah remained loyal to the House of Saul, while Judah chose David as its king. However, after the death of Ish-bosheth, Saul's son and successor to the throne of Israel, all the other Israelite tribes made David, who was then the king of Judah, king of a re-united Kingdom of Israel. The Book of Kings follows the expansion and unparalleled glory of the United Monarchy under King Solomon. A majority of scholars believe that the accounts concerning David and Solomon's territory in the "united monarchy" are exaggerated, and a minority believe that the "united monarchy" never existed at all.[13][14][15] Disagreeing with the latter view, Old Testament scholar Walter Dietrich contends that the biblical stories of circa 10th-century BCE monarchs contain a significant historical kernel and are not simply late fictions.[16]

On the accession of Rehoboam, Solomon's son, in c. 930 BCE, the ten northern tribes under the leadership of Jeroboam from the Tribe of Ephraim split from the House of David to create the Northern Kingdom in Samaria. The Book of Kings is uncompromising in its low opinion of its larger and richer neighbor to the north, and understands its conquest by Assyria in 722 BCE as divine retribution for the Kingdom's return to idolatry.[17]

The tribes of Judah and Benjamin remained loyal to the House of David. These tribes formed the Kingdom of Judah, which existed until Judah was conquered by Babylon in c. 586 BCE and the population deported.

When the Jews returned from Babylonian exile, residual tribal affiliations were abandoned, probably because of the impossibility of reestablishing previous tribal land holdings. However, the special religious roles decreed for the Levites and Kohanim were preserved, but Jerusalem became the sole place of worship and sacrifice among the returning exiles, northerners and southerners alike.

According to the biblical account, at its height, the tribe of Judah was the leading tribe of the Kingdom of Judah, and occupied most of the territory of the kingdom, except for a small region in the north east occupied by Benjamin, and an enclave towards the south west which was occupied by Simeon. Bethlehem and Hebron were initially the main cities within the territory of the tribe.

The lion is the symbol of the tribe of Judah. It is often represented in Jewish art, such as this sculpture outside a synagogueThe size of the territory of the tribe of Judah meant that in practice it had four distinct regions:[citation needed]

• The Negev (Hebrew: south) – the southern portion of the land, which was highly suitable for pasture.
• The Shephelah (Hebrew: lowland) – the coastal region, between the highlands and the Mediterranean sea,[dubious – discuss] which was used for agriculture, in particular for grains.
• The wilderness – the barren region immediately next to the Dead Sea, and below sea level; it was wild, and barely inhabitable, to the extent that animals and people which were made unwelcome elsewhere, such as bears, leopards, and outlaws, made it their home. In biblical times, this region was further subdivided into three sections – the wilderness of En Gedi,[18] the wilderness of Judah,[19] and the wilderness of Maon.[20]
• The hill country – the elevated plateau situated between the Shephelah and the wilderness,[dubious – discuss]with rocky slopes but very fertile soil. This region was used for the production of grain, olives, grapes, and other fruit, and hence produced oil and wine.

According to the Torah, the tribe consisted of descendants of Judah, the fourth son of Jacob and of Leah. Some biblical scholars view this as an etiological myth created in hindsight to explain the tribe's name and connect it to the other tribes in the Israelite confederation.[21] With Leah as a matriarch, biblical scholars regard the tribe as having been believed by the text's authors to have been part of the original Israelite confederation.[21]
​
Like the other tribes of the Kingdom of Judah, the tribe of Judah is entirely absent from the ancient Song of Deborah, rather than present but described as unwilling to assist in the battle between Israelites and their enemy. Traditionally, this has been explained as being due to the southern kingdom being too far away to be involved in the battle, but Israel Finkelstein et al. claim the alternative explanation that the southern kingdom was simply an insignificant rural backwater at the time the poem was written.[22]

Character

Many of the Jewish leaders and prophets of the Hebrew Bible claimed membership in the tribe of Judah. For example, the literary prophets Isaiah, Amos, Habakkuk, Joel, Micah, Obadiah, Zechariah, and Zephaniah, all belonged to the tribe.[citation needed]
The genealogies given in Matthew 1:1–6 and Luke 3:23–34 in the New Testament describe Jesus as a descendant of David, Matthew through Solomon and Luke through Nathan.[23]

Fate

The Lion of Judah on the municipal emblem of JerusalemAs part of the Kingdom of Judah, the tribe of Judah survived the destruction of Israel by the Assyrians, and instead was subjected to the Babylonian captivity; when the captivity ended, the distinction between the tribes were lost in favour of a common identity. Since Simeon and Benjamin had been very much the junior partners in the Kingdom of Judah, it was Judah that gave its name to the identity—that of the Jews.

After the fall of Jerusalem, Babylonia (modern day Iraq), would become the focus of Jewish life for 1,000 years. The first Jewish communities in Babylonia started with the exile of the tribe of Judah to Babylon by Jehoiachin in 597 BCE as well as after the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem in 586 BCE.[24] Many more Jews migrated to Babylon in CE 135 after the Bar Kokhba revolt and in the centuries after.[24]

The triumph or victory of "the Lion of the Tribe of Judah", who is able to open the scroll and its seven seals, forms part of the vision of the writer of the Book of Revelation in the New Testament.[25]
​
Ethiopia's traditions, recorded and elaborated in a 13th-century treatise, the "Kebre Negest", assert descent from a retinue of Israelites who returned with the Queen of Sheba from her visit to King Solomon in Jerusalem, by whom she had conceived the Solomonic dynasty's founder, Menelik I. Both Christian and Jewish Ethiopian tradition has it that these immigrants were mostly of the Tribes of Dan and Judah;[26] hence the Ge'ez motto Mo`a 'Anbessa Ze'imnegede Yihuda ("The Lion of the Tribe of Judah has conquered"), one of many names for Jesus of Nazareth.

​The most common word in the Hebrew Bible is the word את (et). The first letter is the א, called an aleph, and is the first letter of the Hebrew alephbet. The second letter in the word את (et) is the ת, called a tav, and is the last letter of the Hebrew alephbet. These two letters are the "first and the last," the "beginning and the end" and the "Aleph and the Tav".  You may know the translation: "the alpha and the omega," the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, in the book of Revelation. In the Hebrew language the word את (et) is used as a noun and as a preposition.
Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning hooks into spears; let the weak say, "I am a warrior."  It is silent.  There is no translation for it in English so it is left out of most translated Bibles.
(Joel 4:10; 3:10 in Christian Bibles)
The word "plowshares," in the passage above, is the Hebrew noun את (et), which appears in the Hebrew bible five times. A plowshare is the metal point of the plow which digs into the soil creating a furrow for planting seeds. When we examine the original pictographic script used in ancient times to write Hebrew, we can see a clear connection between the letters of this word and its meaning. The modern Hebrew form of the letter aleph is א, but is an evolved form of the original pictograph, a picture of an ox head. The ancient pictographic form of the letter ת is, a picture of two crossed sticks which are used as a marker. When these two pictographs are combined we have the meaning "an ox toward the mark." Fields were plowed with a plow pulled behind an ox (or pair of oxen). In order to keep the furrows straight the driver of the ox would aim toward a mark, such as a tree or rock outcropping in the far distance. As we can see, this meaning of driving the ox toward a mark, can be seen in the letters of the Hebrew word את (et).
The word את is also used as a preposition very frequently, over 7,000 times in the Hebrew bible and first appears in the very first verse of the Bible.

בְּרֵאשִׁית בָּרָא אֱלֹהִים אֵת הַשָּׁמַיִם וְאֵת הָאָרֶץ׃

In the beginning Elohiym filled את the sky and את the land
The word את is used as a grammatical tool to identify the definite object of the verb. In the example of Genesis 1:1 the verb is the Hebrew word ברא (bara), meaning "to fill," and the definite objects, the ones receiving the action of the verb, are the sky and the land and therefore the word את will precede these words. Just as the "ox" moved toward the "mark" when plowing, the word את (the plowshare) plows the path from the verb of a sentence (the ox) to the definite object (the mark).
Just as the phrase "heaven and earth" is a natural expression meaning "all of creation," the phrase "aleph and tav" is a natural expression meaning "the whole of the alphabet." 


The word "plowshares," in the passage above, is the Hebrew noun את (et), which appears in the Hebrew bible five times. A plowshare is the metal point of the plow which digs into the soil creating a furrow for planting seeds. When we examine the original pictographic script used in ancient times to write Hebrew, we can see a clear connection between the letters of this word and its meaning. The modern Hebrew form of the letter aleph is א, but is an evolved form of the original pictograph , a picture of an ox head. The ancient pictographic form of the letter ת is , a picture of two crossed sticks which are used as a marker. When these two pictographs are combined we have the meaning "an ox toward the mark." Fields were plowed with a plow pulled behind an ox (or pair of oxen). In order to keep the furrows straight the driver of the ox would aim toward a mark, such as a tree or rock outcropping in the far distance. As we can see, this meaning of driving the ox toward a mark, can be seen in the letters of the Hebrew word את (et).
The word את is also used as a preposition very frequently (over 7,000 times) in the Hebrew bible and first appears in the very first verse of the Bible.
Because the preposition את has no equivalent in the English language, it is not translated, but to demonstrate its meaning in this verse I will translate Genesis 1:1 into English, but retain the word את in its correct position.
In the beginning Elohiym filled את the sky and את the land

The word את is used as a grammatical tool to identify the definite object of the verb. In the example of Genesis 1:1 the verb is the Hebrew word ברא (bara), meaning "to fill," and the definite objects, the ones receiving the action of the verb, are the sky and the land and therefore the word את will precede these words. Just as the "ox" moved toward the "mark" when plowing, the word את (the plowshare) plows the path from the verb of a sentence (the ox) to the definite object (the mark).
Just as the phrase "heaven and earth" is an idiomatic expression meaning "all of creation," the phrase "aleph and tav" is an idiomatic expression meaning "the whole of the alephbet." It is the mission of the Ancient Hebrew Research Center to search out the history and meanings of the Ancient Hebrew alephbet, as well as the roots and words which are created out of them           ”In the beginning was את..."

The aleph and tav combination is either a grammatical particle that marks the direct object (the accusative) in a sentence or a preposition. The former is the explanation for Genesis 1:1. The aleph and tav mark the “heavens and earth” as the object of the verb “created” in the sentence. The two letters are not translated because they have a grammatical function only. They are not supposed to be translated.
As the search image in Figure 2 illustrates, this untranslated “accusative particle” occurs nearly 11,000 times in the Hebrew Bible. It’s very well known to Hebrew scholars and translators. They understand exactly what it is. There’s no mystery.

The very first verse in the Bible in Genesis 1.1, it is generally translated as: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. ” However, in the original Hebrew, it reads as:

Highlighted in the middle; when God was referred to, Elohim et, aleph tav was followed behind, and was untranslated. It simply cannot be translated because it is like AZ in the middle of the sentence. No translation will ever make any sense.



In another example, Zechariah’s prophecy on the future deliverance for Jerusalem; “Then I will pour out a spirit of grace and prayer on the family of David and on the people of Jerusalem. They will look on me whom they have pierced and mourn for him as for an only son. They will grieve bitterly for him as for a firstborn son who has died.   Zechariah 12:10   The me whom they have pierced, between me and whom, Aleph Tav appears. The verse then could be read as: “They will look on ME (Aleph Tav), whom they have pierced…”   Again, no translation of Aleph Tav will make sense.



But the light finally came on in New Testament times and the veil was finally removed.

In Revelation 1:8, “I am the Alpha and the Omega—the beginning and the end,” says the Lord God. “I am the one who is, who always was, and who is still to come—the Almighty One.” Lord God declared Himself to the the Alpha and the Omega-the beginning and the end. And in Revelation 22:13, the final chapter of the entire Bible, Jesus Christ Himself finally revealed that He is the Alpha and Omega!
“I am the Alpha and the Omega—the beginning and the end,” says the Lord God. “I am the one who is, who always was, and who is still to come—the Almighty One.”   Rev 22:13
I so love the “I am” Jesus/Yeshua referred Himself in the Bible.
While the book of Revelations may be written in Greek, Jesus probably spoke in Hebrew, which mean He probably said ” I am the Aleph and the Tav – the beginning and the end.” Yeshua is the start and the finish of everything! Looking back it all now make sense now. In Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning God (Aleph Tav-Jesus Christ) created the heaven and the earth…”  In Zechariah 12:10, “They will look on me (Aleph Tav-Yeshua) whom they have pierced …”

So whenever you see a Aleph Tav  in the Bible, it is the personal signature of Yeshua/Jesus Christ Himself! No one will and can ever use it because it simply cannot be used, only Jesus is big enough that can encompass the entire beginning and the end. So cool right! And since we know the very first verse in the Bible, you want to know the last verse?
The grace of our Lord Yeshua/Jesus Christ (the Alepha and the Tav) be with you all. Amen. Revelation 22:21
If you are familiar with the Greek language or church symbols, you might notice that the image above depicts the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet which are Alpha and Omega on each side of the cross. This is not in conflict with the Aleph and Tav in the title of this writing which are the first  and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet otherwise known as the Aleph-Bet.

This particular lesson will attempt to connect the dots that form a very obvious picture of the Alpha and Omega (Yeshua) in the New Testament to the, not so obvious, Aleph and Tav (Yeshua) in the Old Testament.
The New Testament was originally written in Greek, and the Old Testament was written in Hebrew which is why we will be looking at both languages, beginning with the New Testament's Alpha and Omega.
A quick note before we get started, all Hebrew fonts are to be read from right to left. The ability to read Hebrew won't be necessary but the letters referenced in the very short two letter word we are studying will be in that order, and it will be useful to know what they look like.

Alpha and Omega and Its First Two Mentions
The uses of the title of Alpha and Omega, in reference to Jesus, are four in total, and they are all contained in the Book of Revelation. They are much like bookends to the entire book of Revelation, in that, the first two mentions are at the very beginning of the book, and the final two are at the end.

The first two occurrences are in chapter one of Revelation and reveal four phrases that are all connected in concept: "Alpha and Omega", "Beginning and End", "Which is, was, and is to come", and the "First and the Last". Let's look at the first two.
I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, says the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.
— Revelation 1:8
. . . for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ
— Revelation 1:9
I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What you see, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches. . .
— Revelation 1:11

Sandwiched between these first two "Alpha and Omega" verses, John makes the connection to the Word of God, Jesus Christ. This being in the center is significant as we have learned in other lessons. This points to the main topic of the discussion.
Before we get to the final two Alpha and Omegas, there are two more mentions of "First and Last" that occur, but they are not accompanied by "Alpha and Omega, the first one revealing the Lord Jesus, also making it clear that He is the reference to these titles.
“Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last. I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death.
— Revelation 1:17-18
The other title "First and Last" unaccompanied by Alpha and Omega, is found in the second chapter of Revelation. It was the letter to be addressed to the suffering church of Smyrna.
“And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write, ‘These things says the First and the Last, who was dead, and came to life
— Revelation 2:8

Alpha and Omega and Its Last Two Mentions
The final two usages of Alpha and Omega are found at the end of the book of Revelation, connecting us with the creation account in the beginning as we will be the topic of this entire study.
And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.
And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, (recall Eden) and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.
And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.
And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.
And he said unto me, It is done. (recall Jesus words "it is finished) I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.
— Revelation 21:1-6
The Bible began with the creation of heaven and earth. Revelation ends with a new heaven and new earth. Once again we see bookend themes. In the beginning, we saw Eden prepared for God and man to dwell together, and now we see a Holy city coming down from above.

The fourth and final use of Alpha and Omega is found in the very last chapter of the Bible. Note the language in this portion of Scripture that is also very similar to the first couple chapters of Genesis.
And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. (rivers flowing from Eden)
In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. (tree of life in the garden)
And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him:
And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads.
And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God gives them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.
And he said unto me, These sayings are faithful and true: and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to shew unto his servants the things which must shortly be done. . .
. . . I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last
— Revelation 22:1-13
Jesus is telling John that He is the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last in each of the four uses of Alpha and Omega. In reading the final two occurrences, its obvious connection to the first chapters of the Genesis creation account cannot be denied.
Jesus also dictates a letter to the church of Laodicea, in Revelation chapter three, this very same truth.
These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God
— Revelation 3:14
The Gospel of John begins with this now familiar theme, that also is so very reminiscent of the creation report, and as we saw between the first two uses of Alpha and Omega, this connection with the Word of God.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. . .
— John 1:1-6
Later in John's Gospel Jesus is praying just prior to the passion that is about to occur and mentions that He Himself existed before the world was.
And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.
— John 17:5
Paul furthers this revelation of Jesus present at the creation beginning in his letter to the Colossians.
For by him (the Lord Jesus Christ referenced earlier in the chapter) were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.
— Colossians 1:16-17
The First and the Last
Before we look at the hidden places we will see Jesus the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world in the Old Testament, let's first connect Him with the more obvious mentions in the Old Testament.
We saw in the four mentions of Alpha and Omega above, from the book of Revelation that the phrases "first and last," or "beginning and end" are in partnership with it. So let's see where else we see these phrases and what and who they are connected to.
The first nine mentions of "first and last" are used in reference to the Acts of the kings of Israel beginning with King David...
Now the acts of David the king, first and last, behold, they are written in the book of Samuel the seer, and in the book of Nathan the prophet, and in the book of Gad the seer.
— I Chronicles 29:29
...and ends with good King Josiah.
Now the rest of the acts of Josiah, and his goodness, according to that which was written in the law of the Lord,
And his deeds, first and last, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah.
— II Chronicles 35:26-27
This gives us a clue that this phrase "first and last" concerns the works of a king and foreshadows a Messiah King, "Son of David," who would rule in the hearts of men.
The next bulk of references are in the book of Isaiah and directly prophesize this coming Savior Messiah King. The first one discusses one "raised up" from the east.
“Who raised up one from the east?
Who in righteousness called him to His feet?
Who gave the nations before him,
And made him rule over kings?...
...Who has performed and done it,
Calling the generations from the beginning?
‘I, the Lord, am the first;
And with the last I am He.’”
— Isaiah 41:1-4
The second one, once again mentions a king in connection with it.

Thus saith the Lord the King of Israel, and his redeemer the Lord of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.
— Isaiah 44:6
The third and final occurrence reveals where we are headed next with all of its connections to "the beginning."
I have declared the former things from the beginning; and they went forth out of my mouth, and I showed them; I did them suddenly, and they came to pass...
...I have even from the beginning declared it to you; before it came to pass I showed it you...
...You have heard, see all this; and will not ye declare it? I have shown you new things from this time, even hidden things, and you did not know them...
...Hearken unto me, O Jacob and Israel, my called; I am he; I am the first, I also am the last.
My hand also has laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand has spanned the heavens: when I call unto them, they stand up together.
— Isaiah 48:3-13
The end of this portion of scripture references the "First and Last" and His relationship and significant role in the creation of the heavens and the earth.
Right in the middle of the above declarations of the "First and the Last" God tells us that He declares the end from the beginning.
Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me,
Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure.
— Isaiah 46:9-10 

Jesus Was in the Beginning
Somewhere "in the beginning" is where we will find Jesus Christ, the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last, the Lamb that was slain from the foundation of the world.
Jesus alludes to this when He confronts the religious rulers for not acknowledging that He is the very Messiah they had been waiting for, and of whom the Scriptures had foretold.
You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me.
— John 5:39
Jesus tells them also in chapter eight of John
Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad.”
Then the Jews said to Him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?”
Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.”
— John 8:56-58
Consider that the Scriptures at the time of John's writing consisted of only the Old Testament. He is making it clear that He, the one Who is, Was, and Is to come, the great "I Am" is in the Old Testament.
The writer of Hebrews expounds on this reference in the New Testament as it pertains to the Lord Jesus who would be sent to be a sacrifice for sin
Therefore, when He came into the world, He said:
“Sacrifice and offering You did not desire,
But a body You have prepared for Me.
In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin
You had no pleasure.
Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come--
In the volume of the book (Tanakh - Torah Prophets and Writings) it is written of Me--
To do Your will, O God.’”. . .
. . . By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
— Hebrews 10:5-10
Jesus also reveals to His disciples where it is written of Him.
Then He said to them, “These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses (Torah - first five books) and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me.” And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures.
Then He said to them, “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And you are witnesses of these things. Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.
— Luke 24:44-49
Jesus is saying that this event of His suffering, death, and resurrection were all recorded in the Old Testament.
The One Who Was and Is and Is To Come
The book of Revelation once again confirms that Jesus is the eternal one from the beginning four times using the phrase "who was and is and is to come" The first is used in Christ's address to the seven churches
Grace to you and peace from Him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne
— Revelation 1:4
The text between verses four and eight, and the second use of this phase, is so relevant to our topic of Christ the lamb slain from the foundation of the world and the foretelling of this from the beginning, as well as His Kingship, that I can't help but include the text introducing this phrase.
and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth.
To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen.
I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,”“who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.
— Revelation 1:5-8
The third occurrence is included in a scene set in the throne room of heaven and connects us again with creation.
The four living creatures, each having six wings, were full of eyes around and within. And they do not rest day or night, saying:
“Holy, holy, holy,
Lord God Almighty,
Who was and is and is to come!”. . .
. . . “You are worthy, O Lord,
To receive glory and honor and power;
For You created all things,
And by Your will they exist and were created.
— Revelation 4:8, 11
The fourth and final use really summarizes all of them together, revealing the entire plan and purpose God had from the beginning.
Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!” And the twenty-four elders who sat before God on their thrones fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying:
“We give You thanks, O Lord God Almighty,
The One who is and who was and who is to come,
Because You have taken Your great power and reigned.
— Revelation 11:15-17
So, where is Jesus "in the beginning"?
The Aleph Tav
It was noted earlier in the book of Luke that Jesus showed His disciples where it was written of Him in the Scriptures. It was also noted that the only Scriptures at that time would have been the Old Testament otherwise known by the Jews as the Tanakh (Torah, Prophets, and Writings). These Scriptures were written and read in Hebrew. We are about to discover why that matters.
Within the Hebrew Scriptures is a tiny little two letter word "et" (אֵ֥ת), spelled with two Hebrew letters aleph and tav which are the first and last letters of the Hebrew aleph-bet. This word many times doesn't get translated into English at all because of the lack of clarity to its meaning.
There are some speculations that this word is a pointer to the direct object in the sentence which is true in some cases but not all. As we shall see it is more likely the sign of the covenanted presence of the Lord Jesus as it concerns the events of the text.
The very first mention of this word is in the very first sentence of the Bible and in fact, it is mentioned twice.
בְּרֵאשִׁ֖ית בָּרָ֣א אֱלֹהִ֑ים אֵ֥ת הַשָּׁמַ֖יִם וְאֵ֥ת הָאָֽרֶץ
The literal word for word rendering of the above verse in Hebrew, when reading from right to left in English, is "in beginning created, Elohim, 'et' (Aleph-Tav in bold) the heavens and 'et' (Aleph-Tav in bold) the earth."
Recall that Jesus is revealed as the "Alpha and Omega", "The First and the Last" The Beginning and the End", "The One Who is and was and is to come", and with this understanding we can now say He is also "The Aleph and the Tav" which is the equivalent of all of these titles. Aleph and Tav, recall, is the first and last, and the beginning and end, of the Hebrew aleph-bet just as alpha and omega are the first, last, beginning and end of the Greek alphabet as understood from the book of Revelation. So we have the Bible beginning with the Aleph Tav and ending with the Alpha and Omega.
The pictograph meanings of these two letters are very confirming to understanding how "et" (אֵ֥ת Aleph-Tav) in the Scripture is representative of the presence of Christ and the concept of covenant.
Hebrew in it's most ancient form is a pictograph language in which the letters are actually symbols of things that can help describe the concepts being conveyed in the meaning of a word. It might be useful, therefore, to take a look at what these symbols might reveal as it concerns this study.

Aleph - Ox
The first letter in the "aleph-tav" letter combination is, of course, "aleph" and this letter is imaged by an ox. The chart above shows the development of this letter in ancient eastern languages. The Hebrew font I have been using thus far in this presentation is the form that developed during the time of the Babylonian captivity at which time it adopted a cuneiform look. These are the present day letter forms used in Israel today. I will continue to use these modern forms, as I don't have a way to copy the ancient pictographs in the text. As you can see this letter in its early images clearly displays an ox.

An ox is noted as a strong, trustworthy, and dependable workforce. Oxen were the animal of choice for early American pioneers who were headed west for this very reason. Horses were faster but oxen were stronger, more steady, and dependable.
The ox in the context of this word is an illustration of Jesus. Their power is exhibited in their ability to bear and pull large burdens.
He (Savior Messiah) bore the sin of many,
And made intercession for the transgressors.
— Isaiah 53:12
Ancient living was dependent upon such animals as is noted by the writer of Proverbs who makes note of its strength.
. . . much increase comes by the strength of an ox.
— Proverbs 14:4
An ox is a domesticated animal that is quite cooperative and obedient when tamed and trained. The ox gives us an example of the Lord Jesus in the following.
. . . though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered. And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him.
— Hebrews 5:8-9
...who was obedient to the Father even unto death.
. . . being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.
— Philippians 2:8

Most often the work that is accomplished by this animal is by the bearing of a yoke to which a cart, plow, or burden of some kind is attached.
Yokes are predominantly made of wood. The yoke that Christ wore to bear our sin burden (Lamentations 1:14) was a wooden cross and most likely the horizontal beam of the crucifixion device.
And He, bearing His cross, went out to a place called the Place of a Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha.
— John 19:17



Although a single animal can be yoked, most yokes are designed to join more than one animal. However, one animal is always the leader and therefore a stronger more experienced ox. Christ the leader has chosen to yoke Himself with us in our humanity and invites us to come under His leadership. He leads by His own example of submission to the yoke of His Father.
Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.
— Matthew 11:28-30
It should also be noted, in reference to the above verse that oxen, in spite of their powerful abilities, are a gentle creature. In reference to Christ, the apostle Paul notes in his second letter to the Corinthians...
Now I, Paul, myself am pleading with you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ.
— II Corinthians 10:1


Tav - Cross
The second letter in the "aleph-tav" letter combination is "tav" and it is imaged by a cross.
The chart heading this section shows the development of this letter in ancient eastern languages. It is undeniably a cross as we know it.
This ancient symbol was a sign of a covenant long before the Romans used crossed wooden beams as a tool of execution, which once again confirms the Word, in the beginning, the Christ, in the beginning, the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. It happened before it happened through the one who declared the end from the beginning.
The writer of Hebrews informs us that...
the works were finished from the foundation of the world.
— Hebrews 4:3
It was embedded and coded into the earliest of languages.


All Together Now
If we combine these two concepts it could be concluded that et (aleph-tav), the untranslated word, is pointing to the strong, dependable, powerful one who, in His humble obedience, bore our burden of sin through a blood covenant on the cross to settle our heavenly debt. Roman crosses were designed for the execution of criminals of which Christ was not but...
who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness.
— I Peter 2:24
Just as Isaiah foretold He would
He poured out (made naked) His soul unto death,
And He was numbered with the (et אֵ֥ת) transgressors,
And He bore the sin of many,
And made intercession (to strike a covenant to make peace, caused our punishment to fall upon Himself) for the transgressors.
— Isaiah 53:12
We see in this portrait the horizontal aspect of this covenant as he connects Himself with transgressors through a burden bearing, sin paying, covenant on the cross, as shown by the "et" (אֵ֥ת) in the middle of the second line. The "et" (אֵ֥ת) shows us who accomplished this, that is the one and only Alpha and Omega, the strong sin bearer on the cross.
Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.
—Phillipians 2:5-8
The writer of Hebrews gives us the vertical aspect of this strong covenant cross beam.
Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
— Hebrews 4:14-16
With this in mind lets go back and see how this fits with the very first sentence of the Bible. Recall the literal word rendering including the Aleph-Tav
". . . in beginning created, Elohim, et (אֵ֥ת) the heavens et (וְאֵת) the earth. . ."
Notice that the second "et" (אֵ֥ת) has an extra letter added to it. That particular additional letter is a "vav" and is a letter used to join and link the subjects or clauses. It would technically read v'et. In this case, the "vav" is connecting the heavens and the earth. And what is the Hebrew word pictograph for vav? It is a nail or peg, which is an instrument of joining, attaching, and securing things. Christ connected the heavens and the earth through His death and resurrection, as it was in the beginning and foretold it would be again by the prophet Isaiah.
‘Then it shall be in that day,
That I will call My servant Eliakim (God raises) the son of Hilkiah (Yah is my portion or possesion);
I will clothe him with your robe
And strengthen him with your belt;
I will commit your responsibility into his hand.
He shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem
And to the house of Judah.
The key of the house of David
I will lay on his shoulder;
So he shall open, and no one shall shut;
And he shall shut, and no one shall open.
I will fasten him as a peg (nail) in a secure place,
And he will become a glorious throne to his father’s house.
‘They will hang on him all the glory of his father’s house.
— Isaiah 22:20-24
God's humble servant and obedient Son nailed to the cross was a covenant act that connected us to our Heavenly Father. The writer of Hebrews informs us that it was this very Son through whom He made the worlds.
God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.
— Hebrews 1:1-3

Urim and Thummim
One final "aleph" and "tav" reveal, is found in Exodus at the induction instructions of the priesthood. The following passage discusses specifically a preparation for the high priest's clothing.
So Aaron shall bear the names of the sons of Israel on the breastplate of judgment over his heart, when he goes into the holy place, as a memorial before the Lord continually. And you shall put in the breastplate of judgment the Urim and the Thummim, and they shall be over Aaron’s heart when he goes in before the Lord
— Exodus 28:29-30
"Urim" begins with an "aleph" and "Thummim" begins with a "tav". "Urim" means "lights" and "Thummim" is rooted in a word that means "perfect completion" or "to finish". We studied how light is the beginning element of the creation account and very well connected with Jesus the Light of the World, and He also is the author and finisher of our salvation.
Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
— Hebrews 12:1-3
No one is exactly sure what these objects looked like but they were mainly used to discern the will of God in certain matters. Here again, we see Jesus our High Priest, the Word of God, Alpha and Omega, the Urim and the Thummim discerning the hearts of men.
For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
— Hebrews 4:12

Conclusion
I conclude with one final note on "aleph-tav" as it concerns its use in the rest of Scripture. The "aleph-tav", in exclusive combination, occurs a little over 7000 times in the Old Testament and can be most often seen in relation to some kind of covenant events where God is directly involved. We saw that the first two mentions were given in creating and connecting heaven and earth. The third use of (et אֵ֥ת) occurs at the scene of the bringing forth of light.
Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. And God saw (et אֵ֥ת) the light, that it was good.
— Genesis 1:3-4
John obviously understood this connection of the beginning and the end as he wraps up the first few verses of Genesis in the following writing at the opening of the fourth Gospel, and relates them to the Lord Jesus Christ.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men...That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through Him..And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. . .
— John 1:1-5,14
Why is this important? It is important because God who knows all things planned and purposed for every possible outcome from the very beginning that we might be given the opportunity to live with Him eternally.
God told Jeremiah...
Before I formed you in the womb I knew you.
— Jeremiah 1:5
Paul adds to this conversation that...
For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.
— Romans 8:29
This means that God knows the end from the beginning and has left nothing undone. He had a plan all along that included all possibilities, and the choice is ours as to whether we harden our hearts or hear His voice and seek Him while He may be found.
His bottom line desire is this...
The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.
— II Peter 3:9

Why is only Peter mentioned out of the twelve?

Why is he singled out?
It is because Jesus thrust upon Peter the responsibility of strengthening the other disciples after he repented.

We have to understand that Satan desired to sift them all, but Jesus only addresses Peter, giving him the responsibility to buck everybody else up.
​
Why Peter? Why did He not say, "John, you son of thunder, I want you to be a rod of lightning to these men and encourage them after these things happen." No, he says this to Peter. He does not say to John, "I want to you to work with your brother and strengthen him." He says it to Peter because Jesus had given him the responsibility to be the bulwark of strength (humanly speaking) amongst the Twelve.
​
Jesus was crucified on Passover (Mark 14—15). The Passover, itself, is not a Sabbath. It was to be celebrated in the evening, and in the morning people were allowed to go home (Deuteronomy 16:7). The day after Passover is the first day of the weeklong Feast of Unleavened Bread (Leviticus 23:4–8). The first and last days of the feast are high days, that is, holiday-Sabbaths, during which no normal work may be done. Legally, the disciples could have started for home the morning of Passover, but the trip was several days long, and Jesus was on trial and then being crucified. That evening the Sabbath started, and they could not travel again until it was over. 

Saturday evening, at dusk, the Sabbath is over. Sunday morning, the women find the empty tomb. They return to the disciples and give them the angels' message. Shortly after, Peter and John check for themselves (John 20:1–9). 

In the forty days Jesus ministers between the resurrection and the ascension (Acts 1:3), Jesus will meet the disciples in Galilee (John 21) as He promised before the crucifixion (Mark 14:28). Later this day, however, He travels with two disciples on the road between Jerusalem and Emmaus, inspiring them to return to Jerusalem (Luke 24:13–34). This evening, He meets with ten of the remaining Twelve, as Thomas will be absent (John 20:19–24). He will also see a few others in Jerusalem (Luke 24:36–49). 

Peter is mentioned as one who specifically needs to be told the angel's message.
Once the Twelve's self-appointed spokesman (Matthew 15:15; Mark 8:32; 9:5; 11:21; Luke 8:45; 9:20; 18:28), he has been hiding in shame since he denied Jesus at the trial before the Sanhedrin (Mark 14:66–72). Peter had a very strong idea of who Jesus was and what Jesus would do for him. Now, Peter thinks himself a cowardly traitor, that Jesus is dead, and all is lost. 

Jesus will take the time to reconcile with Peter in particular, evidently both privately directly following the resurrection
(Luke 24:34; 1 Corinthians 15:5)
and more publicly sometime later (John 21:15–19). Jesus will come to seven of the disciples while they are fishing at the Sea of Tiberias. After providing a miraculous catch of fish, reminiscent of His calling of some of these same disciples described in Luke 5, He feeds them breakfast. Jesus then asks Peter twice if he loves Him with full, self-sacrificial love (agape). Peter will humbly respond that he loves Jesus with the lesser love of affection (phileo). Jesus will accept that answer, asking Peter the third time if he loves Jesus with phileo love and then proceeding to commission Peter after he responds in the affirmative. Peter finally acknowledges that he cannot give Jesus all He deserves, and he does not deserve what Jesus gives to him.

Still, Jesus gives Peter the commission of "feeding His sheep,"
knowing Peter finally has the humility to
accept the Holy Spirit who will fill what Peter lacks
(Acts 2:1–4, 14–41).

Mark 16:1–8 proclaims that Jesus is alive!
After telling the disciples, several times over three years, that He will die and rise again, Jesus' work is finally done.

​
Throughout their history in the Promised Land,
the children of Israel struggled with conflict among the tribes. The disunity went back all the way to the patriarch Jacob, who presided over a house divided. The sons of Leah and the sons of Rachel had their share of contention even in Jacob’s lifetime (Genesis 37:1-11). 

The enmity among the half-brothers continued in the time of the judges. Benjamin (one of Rachel’s tribes) took up arms against the other tribes (Judges 20). Israel’s first king, Saul, was of the tribe of Benjamin. When David was crowned king—David was from the tribe of Judah (one of Leah’s tribes)—the Benjamites rebelled (2 Samuel 2–3). After a long war (2 Samuel 3:1), David succeeded in uniting all twelve tribes (5:1-5). 

The frailty of the union was exposed, however, when David’s son Absalom promoted himself as the new king and drew many Israelites away from their allegiance to David (2 Samuel 15). Significantly, Absalom set up his throne in Hebron, the site of the former capital (v. 10). A later revolt was led by a man named Sheba against David and the tribe of Judah (20:1-2). 

The reign of David’s son Solomon saw more unrest when one of the king’s servants, Jeroboam, rebelled. Jeroboam was on the king’s errand when he met the prophet Ahijah, who told him that God was going to give him authority over ten of the twelve tribes of Israel. God’s reason for the division of the kingdom was definitive: “Because they have forsaken me . . . and have not walked in my ways.” However, God promised that David’s dynasty would continue, albeit over a much smaller kingdom, for the sake of God’s covenant with David and for the sake of Jerusalem, God’s chosen city. When Solomon learned of the prophecy, he sought to kill Jeroboam, who fled to Egypt for sanctuary (1 Kings 11:26-40).

After Solomon’s death, his son Rehoboam was set to become the next king. Jeroboam returned from Egypt and led a group of people to confront Rehoboam with a demand for a lighter tax burden. When Rehoboam refused the demand, ten of the tribes rejected Rehoboam and David’s dynasty (1 Kings 12:16), and Ahijah’s prophecy was fulfilled. Only Judah and Benjamin remained loyal to King Rehoboam. The northern tribes crowned Jeroboam as their king. Rehoboam made plans to mount an assault on the rebel tribes, but the Lord prevented him from taking that action (vv. 21-24). Meanwhile, Jeroboam further consolidated his power by instituting a form of calf worship unique to his kingdom and declaring that pilgrimages to Jerusalem were unnecessary. Thus, the people of the northern tribes would have no contact with the tribes of Judah and Benjamin.

“So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day” (1 Kings 12:19). The northern kingdom is called “Israel” (or sometimes “Ephraim”) in Scripture, and the southern kingdom is called “Judah.” From the divine viewpoint, the division was a judgment on not keeping God’s commands, specifically the commands prohibiting idolatry. From a human viewpoint, the division was the result of tribal discord and political unrest. The principle is that sin brings division (1 Corinthians 1:13, 11:18; James 4:1).

The good news is that God, in His mercy, has promised a reuniting of the northern and southern kingdoms. “He will raise a banner for the nations / and gather the exiles of Israel; / he will assemble the scattered people of Judah / from the four quarters of the earth. / Ephraim’s jealousy will vanish, / and Judah’s enemies will be destroyed; / Ephraim will not be jealous of Judah, / nor Judah hostile toward Ephraim” (Isaiah 11:12-13). When the Prince of Peace—Jesus Christ—reigns in His millennial kingdom, all hostility, jealousy, and conflict among the tribes will be put to rest.
​

Then all the trees of the field will know
​
that I am Yahweh.
I bring down the tall tree,
and make the low tree tall.
I cause the green tree to wither
and make the withered tree thrive.
I, Yahweh, have spoken
and I will do it.

Ezekiel 22:14
Can your heart endure, or can your hands be strong in the days that I will deal with you? I, the Lord, have spoken and will act.

Amos 9:11
“In that day I will raise up the fallen booth of David,
And wall up its breaches;
I will also raise up its ruins
And rebuild it as in the days of old;

Ezekiel 24:14
I, the Lord, have spoken; it is coming and I will act. I will not relent, and I will not pity and I will not be sorry; according to your ways and according to your deeds I will judge you,” declares the Lord God.’”

1 Samuel 2:7-8
“The Lord makes poor and rich;
He brings low, He also exalts.

Job 5:11
So that He sets on high those who are lowly,
And those who mourn are lifted to safety.

Job 40:12
“Look on everyone who is proud, and humble him,
And tread down the wicked where they stand.

Psalm 75:6-7
For not from the east, nor from the west,
Nor from the desert comes exaltation;

Psalm 89:38
But You have cast off and rejected,
You have been full of wrath against Your anointed.

Psalm 89:45
You have shortened the days of his youth;
You have covered him with shame. Selah.

Psalm 96:11-12
Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice;
Let the sea roar, and all it contains;

Isaiah 2:13-14
And it will be against all the cedars of Lebanon that are lofty and lifted up,
Against all the oaks of Bashan,

Isaiah 9:6-7
For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us;
And the government will rest on His shoulders;
And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.

Isaiah 11:1-9
Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse,
And a branch from his roots will bear fruit.

Isaiah 26:5
“For He has brought low those who dwell on high, the unassailable city;
He lays it low, He lays it low to the ground, He casts it to the dust.

Isaiah 55:12-13
“For you will go out with joy
And be led forth with peace;
The mountains and the hills will break forth into shouts of joy before you,
And all the trees of the field will clap their hands.

Ezekiel 12:25
For I the Lord will speak, and whatever word I speak will be performed. It will no longer be delayed, for in your days, O rebellious house, I will speak the word and perform it,” declares the Lord God.’”

Ezekiel 21:26
thus says the Lord God, ‘Remove the turban and take off the crown; this will no longer be the same. Exalt that which is low and abase that which is high.

Matthew 24:35
Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.

Luke 1:33
and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.”

Luke 1:52-53
“He has brought down rulers from their thrones,
And has exalted those who were humble.

Luke 21:33
Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.

1 Corinthians 1:27-28
but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong,



Parable Of Two Eagles And A Vine

7 “But there was another great eagle with great wings and much plumage; and behold, this vine bent its roots toward him and sent out its branches toward him from the beds where it was planted, that he might water it. 8 It was planted in good soil beside abundant waters, that it might yield branches and bear fruit and become a splendid vine.”’ 9 Say, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Will it thrive? Will he not pull up its roots and cut off its fruit, so that it withers—so that all its sprouting leaves wither? And neither by great strength nor by many people can it be raised from its roots again.


Numbers 14:41
But Moses said, “Why then are you transgressing the commandment of the Lord, when it will not succeed?

2 Kings 25:4-7
Then the city was broken into, and all the men of war fled by night by way of the gate between the two walls beside the king’s garden, though the Chaldeans were all around the city. And they went by way of the Arabah.

2 Chronicles 13:12
Now behold, God is with us at our head and His priests with the signal trumpets to sound the alarm against you. O sons of Israel, do not fight against the Lord God of your fathers, for you will not succeed.”

2 Chronicles 20:20
They rose early in the morning and went out to the wilderness of Tekoa; and when they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Listen to me, O Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, put your trust in the Lord your God and you will be established. Put your trust in His prophets and succeed.”

Isaiah 8:9-10
“Be broken, O peoples, and be shattered;
And give ear, all remote places of the earth.
Gird yourselves, yet be shattered;
Gird yourselves, yet be shattered.

Isaiah 30:1-7
“Woe to the rebellious children,” declares the Lord,
“Who execute a plan, but not Mine,
And make an alliance, but not of My Spirit,
In order to add sin to sin;

Isaiah 31:1-3
Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help
And rely on horses,
And trust in chariots because they are many
And in horsemen because they are very strong,
But they do not look to the Holy One of Israel, nor seek the Lord!

Jeremiah 21:4-7
‘Thus says the Lord God of Israel, “Behold, I am about to turn back the weapons of war which are in your hands, with which you are warring against the king of Babylon and the Chaldeans who are besieging you outside the wall; and I will gather them into the center of this city.

Jeremiah 24:8-10
‘But like the bad figs which cannot be eaten due to rottenness—indeed, thus says the Lord—so I will abandon Zedekiah king of Judah and his officials, and the remnant of Jerusalem who remain in this land and the ones who dwell in the land of Egypt.

Jeremiah 29:4-7
“Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon,

Jeremiah 32:5
and he will take Zedekiah to Babylon, and he will be there until I visit him,” declares the Lord. “If you fight against the Chaldeans, you will not succeed”’?”

Jeremiah 37:10
For even if you had defeated the entire army of Chaldeans who were fighting against you, and there were only wounded men left among them, each man in his tent, they would rise up and burn this city with fire.’”

Jeremiah 52:7-11
Then the city was broken into, and all the men of war fled and went forth from the city at night by way of the gate between the two walls which was by the king’s garden, though the Chaldeans were all around the city. And they went by way of the Arabah.

Ezekiel 17:10
Behold, though it is planted, will it thrive? Will it not completely wither as soon as the east wind strikes it—wither on the beds where it grew?”’”

Ezekiel 17:15-17
But he rebelled against him by sending his envoys to Egypt that they might give him horses and many troops. Will he succeed? Will he who does such things escape? Can he indeed break the covenant and escape?




River Of The Temple,
Division Of The Land And Its Boundaries

11 But its swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they will be left for salt. 12 By the river on its bank, on one side and on the other, will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither and their fruit will not fail. They will bear every month because their water flows from the sanctuary, and their fruit will be for food and their leaves for healing.” 13 Thus says the Lord God, “This shall be the boundary by which you shall divide the land for an inheritance among the twelve tribes of Israel; Joseph shall have two portions.

English(KJV) Strong's Root Form Definition Usage
And the remnant H7604 שׁאר 
Sha'ar  leave , remain , remnant , let , rest , 134
that is escaped H6413 פּלטה פּליטה 
P@leytah  escape , deliverance , remnant 28
of the house H1004 בּית 
Bayith  house , household , home , within , temple , prison , place , family , families , dungeon , 2053
of Judah H3063 יהוּדה 
Y@huwdah  Judah , Bethlehemjudah 648
shall yet again H3254 יסף 
Yacaph  more , again , add , increase , also , exceed , put , further , henceforth , can , continued , give , 208
take root H8328 שׁרשׁ 
Sheresh  root , bottom , deep , heels 33
downward H4295 מטּה 
Mattah  beneath , downward , underneath , very , low , under , down , less 19
and bear H6213
do , make , wrought , deal , commit , offer , execute , keep , shew , prepare , work , do so , perform , get , dress , maker , maintain , 0
fruit H6529 פּרי 
P@riy  fruit , fruitful , boughs , firstfruits , reward , fruit thereof 119

English(KJV) Strong's Root Form Definition Usage
And God H430 אלהים 
'elohiym  God, god, judge, GOD, goddess, great, mighty, angels, exceeding, God-ward , godly 2600
said H559
said, speak, answer, command, tell, call, promised, . 0
Let the earth H776 ארץ 
'erets  land, earth, country, ground, world, way, common, field, nations, wilderness 2504
bring forth H1876 דּשׁא 
Dasha  spring, bring forth 2
grass H1877 דּשׁא 
Deshe'  grass, herb, green 15
the herb H6212 עשׂב 
`eseb  herb, grass 33
yielding H2232
H6213 זרע 
Zara` 

sow, yielding, sower, bearing, conceive, seed, set 
do, make, wrought, deal, commit, offer, execute, keep, shew, prepare, work, do so, perform, get, dress, maker, maintain, 56
0
seed H2233
H2233 זרע 
Zera` 
זרע 
Zera`  seed, child, carnally , carnally, fruitful, seedtime, sowing time 
seed, child, carnally , carnally, fruitful, seedtime, sowing time 229
229
and the fruit H6529 פּרי 
P@riy  fruit, fruitful, boughs, firstfruits , reward, fruit thereof 119
tree H6086 עץ 
`ets  tree, wood, timber, stick, gallows, staff, stock, carpenter , branches, helve, planks, stalks 329
fruit H6529 פּרי 
P@riy  fruit, fruitful, boughs, firstfruits , reward, fruit thereof 119
after his kind H4327 מין 
Miyn  kind 31
whose H834
which, wherewith, because, when, soon, whilst, as if, as when, that, until, much, whosoever, whereas, wherein, whom, whose 0
is in itself, upon the earth H776 ארץ 
'erets  land, earth, country, ground, world, way, common, field, nations, wilderness 2504

Source: https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/Genesis/1/11



The Creation

10 God called the dry land earth, and the gathering of the waters He called seas; and God saw that it was good. 11 Then God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees on the earth bearing fruit after their kind with seed in them”; and it was so. 12 The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing fruit with seed in them, after their kind; and God saw that it was good.

According to Its Kind
Bear Fruit
Let There Be
Put Forth
Cross References

Hebrews 6:7
For ground that drinks the rain which often falls on it and brings forth vegetation useful to those for whose sake it is also tilled, receives a blessing from God;

Genesis 1:29
Then God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you;

Genesis 2:5
Now no shrub of the field was yet in the earth, and no plant of the field had yet sprouted, for the Lord God had not sent rain upon the earth, and there was no man to cultivate the ground.

Genesis 2:9
Out of the ground the Lord God caused to grow every tree that is pleasing to the sight and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Genesis 2:16
The Lord God commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely;

Job 28:5
“The earth, from it comes food,
And underneath it is turned up as fire.

Psalm 1:3
He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water,
Which yields its fruit in its season
And its leaf does not wither;
And in whatever he does, he prospers.

Psalm 65:9-13
You visit the earth and cause it to overflow;
You greatly enrich it;
The stream of God is full of water;
You prepare their grain, for thus You prepare the earth.

Psalm 104:14-17
He causes the grass to grow for the cattle,
And vegetation for the labor of man,
So that he may bring forth food from the earth,

Psalm 147:8
Who covers the heavens with clouds,
Who provides rain for the earth,
Who makes grass to grow on the mountains.

Jeremiah 17:8
“For he will be like a tree planted by the water,
That extends its roots by a stream
And will not fear when the heat comes;
But its leaves will be green,
And it will not be anxious in a year of drought
Nor cease to yield fruit.

Matthew 3:10
The axe is already laid at the root of the trees; therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

Matthew 6:30
But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith!

Matthew 7:16-20
You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they?

Mark 4:28
The soil produces crops by itself; first the blade, then the head, then the mature grain in the head.

Luke 6:43-44
For there is no good tree which produces bad fruit, nor, on the other hand, a bad tree which produces good fruit.

James 3:12
Can a fig tree, my brethren, produce olives, or a vine produce figs? Nor can salt water produce fresh.



Isaiah Brings A Prophetic Response
​
29 ‘Then this shall be the sign for you: you will eat this year what grows of itself, in the second year what springs from the same, and in the third year sow, reap, plant vineyards, and eat their fruit. 30 The surviving remnant of the house of Judah will again take root downward and bear fruit upward. 31 For out of Jerusalem will go forth a remnant, and out of Mount Zion survivors. The zeal of the Lord will perform this.


Bear Fruit
House of Israel
House of Judah
Israel
Judah

2 Chronicles 32:22-23
So the Lord saved Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib the king of Assyria and from the hand of all others, and guided them on every side.

2 Kings 19:4
Perhaps the Lord your God will hear all the words of Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent to reproach the living God, and will rebuke the words which the Lord your God has heard. Therefore, offer a prayer for the remnant that is left.’”

Psalm 80:9
You cleared the ground before it,
And it took deep root and filled the land.

Isaiah 1:9
Unless the Lord of hosts
Had left us a few survivors,
We would be like Sodom,
We would be like Gomorrah.

Isaiah 10:20-22
Now in that day the remnant of Israel, and those of the house of Jacob who have escaped, will never again rely on the one who struck them, but will truly rely on the Lord, the Holy One of Israel.

Isaiah 27:6
In the days to come Jacob will take root,
Israel will blossom and sprout,
And they will fill the whole world with fruit.

Isaiah 37:31-32
The surviving remnant of the house of Judah will again take root downward and bear fruit upward.

The Branch's Righteous Reign
1 Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse,
And a branch from his roots will bear fruit.
2 The Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him,
The spirit of wisdom and understanding,
The spirit of counsel and strength,
The spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.

Bear Fruit
Stem of Jesse
Stump Of Jesse
David
Jesse
Messiah

Isaiah 11:10
Then in that day
The nations will resort to the root of Jesse,
Who will stand as a signal for the peoples;
And His resting place will be glorious.

Isaiah 4:2
In that day the Branch of the Lord will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth will be the pride and the adornment of the survivors of Israel.

Isaiah 53:2
For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot,
And like a root out of parched ground;
He has no stately form or majesty
That we should look upon Him,
Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him.

Jeremiah 23:5
“Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord,
“When I will raise up for David a righteous Branch;
And He will reign as king and act wisely
And do justice and righteousness in the land.

Zechariah 3:8
Now listen, Joshua the high priest, you and your friends who are sitting in front of you—indeed they are men who are a symbol, for behold, I am going to bring in My servant the Branch.

Zechariah 6:12
Then say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, “Behold, a man whose name is Branch, for He will branch out from where He is; and He will build the temple of the Lord.

Revelation 5:5
and one of the elders *said to me, “Stop weeping; behold, the Lion that is from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome so as to open the book and its seven seals.”

Isaiah 9:7
There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace,
On the throne of David and over his kingdom,
To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness
From then on and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this.

Revelation 22:16
“I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.”

Ruth 4:17
The neighbor women gave him a name, saying, “A son has been born to Naomi!” So they named him Obed. He is the father of Jesse, the father of David.

1 Samuel 17:58
Saul said to him, “Whose son are you, young man?” And David answered, “I am the son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite.”

Jeremiah 33:15
In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch of David to spring forth; and He shall execute justice and righteousness on the earth.

Matthew 1:6-16
Jesse was the father of David the king.David was the father of Solomon by Bathsheba who had been the wife of Uriah.

Luke 2:23-32
(as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male that opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”),

Acts 13:22-23
After He had removed him, He raised up David to be their king, concerning whom He also testified and said, ‘I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My heart, who will do all My will.’

Romans 15:12
Again Isaiah says,
“There shall come the root of Jesse,
And He who arises to rule over the Gentiles,
In Him shall the Gentiles hope.”

fruit bear branch shoot spring roots stem

And there shall come forth H3318 יצא 
Yatsa'  ....out, ....forth, bring, come, proceed, go, depart, 1068
a rod H2415 חטר 
Choter  rod 2
out of the stem H1503 גּזע 
Geza`  stock, stem 3
of Jesse H3448 אישׁי ישׁי 
Yishay  Jesse 42
and a Branch H5342 נצר 
Netser  branch 4
shall grow H6509 פּרה 

Parah  fruitful, increased, grow, beareth, forth, bring fruit, make fruitful 29


Jeremiah's Complaint

1 Righteous are You, O Lord, that I would plead my case with You;
Indeed I would discuss matters of justice with You:
Why has the way of the wicked prospered?
Why are all those who deal in treachery at ease?
2 You have planted them, they have also taken root;
They grow, they have even produced fruit.
You are near to their lips
But far from their mind.
3 But You know me, O Lord;
You see me;
And You examine my heart’s attitude toward You.
Drag them off like sheep for the slaughter
And set them apart for a day of carnage!

Isaiah 29:13
Then the Lord said,
“Because this people draw near with their words
And honor Me with their lip service,
But they remove their hearts far from Me,
And their reverence for Me consists of tradition learned by rote,

Jeremiah 11:17
The Lord of hosts, who planted you, has pronounced evil against you because of the evil of the house of Israel and of the house of Judah, which they have done to provoke Me by offering up sacrifices to Baal.

Titus 1:16
They profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny Him, being detestable and disobedient and worthless for any good deed.

Jeremiah 45:4
Thus you are to say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Behold, what I have built I am about to tear down, and what I have planted I am about to uproot, that is, the whole land.”

Ezekiel 17:5-10
He also took some of the seed of the land and planted it in fertile soil. He placed it beside abundant waters; he set it like a willow.

Ezekiel 33:31
They come to you as people come, and sit before you as My people and hear your words, but they do not do them, for they do the lustful desires expressed by their mouth, and their heart goes after their gain.

Matthew 15:8
‘This people honors Me with their lips,
But their heart is far away from Me.

Jeremiah 3:10
Yet in spite of all this her treacherous sister Judah did not return to Me with all her heart, but rather in deception,” declares the Lord.

Ezekiel 19:10-13
‘Your mother was like a vine in your vineyard,
Planted by the waters;
It was fruitful and full of branches
Because of abundant waters.

Mark 7:6
And He said to them, “Rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written:
​
‘This people honors Me with their lips,
But their heart is far away from Me.


Thou hast planted H5193 נטע 
Nata`  plant, fastened, planters 58
them, yea, they have taken root H8327 שׁרשׁ 
Sharash  ...root, root out 8
they grow H3212 ילך 
Yalak  go, walk, come, depart, ...away, follow, get, lead, brought, carry, bring, 0
yea, they bring forth H6213
do, make, wrought, deal, commit, offer, execute, keep, shew, prepare, work, do so, perform, get, dress, maker, maintain, 0
fruit H6529 פּרי 
P@riy  fruit, fruitful, boughs, firstfruits , reward, fruit thereof 119
thou art near H7138 קרב קרוב 
Qarowb  near, nigh, at hand, neighbour, next, kin, approach, short, kinsfolk, kinsmen, 77
in their mouth H6310 פּה 
Peh  mouth, commandment, edge, according, word, hole, end, appointment, portion, tenor, sentence, 497
and far from H7350 רחק רחוק 
Rachowq  off, far, long ago, far from, come, afar, old, far abroad, long, space 85

In Genesis 11 
we read the account of the tower of Babel, where the people, attempting to build a tower that reaches to heaven, have their language confused and are scattered across the whole face of the earth by God.
The Lord said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.”

Jeremiah 2:27
Who say to a tree, ‘You are my father,’
And to a stone, ‘You gave me birth.’
For they have turned their back to Me,
And not their face;
But in the time of their trouble they will say,
‘Arise and save us.’

Jeremiah 13:24
“Therefore I will scatter them like drifting straw
To the desert wind.

Job 27:21
“The east wind carries him away, and he is gone,
For it whirls him away from his place.

Psalm 48:7
With the east wind
You break the ships of Tarshish.

Jeremiah 32:33
They have turned their back to Me and not their face; though I taught them, teaching again and again, they would not listen and receive instruction.

Jeremiah 46:21
“Also her mercenaries in her midst
Are like fattened calves,
For even they too have turned back and have fled away together;
They did not stand their ground.
For the day of their calamity has come upon them,
The time of their punishment.

Hosea 13:15
Though he flourishes among the reeds,
An east wind will come,
The wind of the Lord coming up from the wilderness;
And his fountain will become dry
And his spring will be dried up;
It will plunder his treasury of every precious article.

Deuteronomy 28:25
“The Lord shall cause you to be defeated before your enemies; you will go out one way against them, but you will flee seven ways before them, and you will be an example of terror to all the kingdoms of the earth.

Deuteronomy 28:64
Moreover, the Lord will scatter you among all peoples, from one end of the earth to the other end of the earth; and there you shall serve other gods, wood and stone, which you or your fathers have not known.

Deuteronomy 31:17
Then My anger will be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them and hide My face from them, and they will be consumed, and many evils and troubles will come upon them; so that they will say in that day, ‘Is it not because our God is not among us that these evils have come upon us?’

Deuteronomy 32:35
‘Vengeance is Mine, and retribution,
In due time their foot will slip;
For the day of their calamity is near,
And the impending things are hastening upon them.’

Judges 10:13-14
Yet you have forsaken Me and served other gods; therefore I will no longer deliver you.

Proverbs 7:25-26
Do not let your heart turn aside to her ways,
Do not stray into her paths.

Source: https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/Jeremiah/18/17

I will scatter H6327 פּוּץ 
Puwts  scatter, scatter abroad, disperse, spread abroad, cast abroad, drive, break to pieces, shake to pieces, dash to pieces, retired 67

Ezekiel 19:12
‘But it was plucked up in fury;
It was cast down to the ground;
And the east wind dried up its fruit.
Its strong branch was torn off
So that it withered;
The fire consumed it.

Ezekiel 17:10
Behold, though it is planted, will it thrive? Will it not completely wither as soon as the east wind strikes it—wither on the beds where it grew?”’”

Genesis 41:52
He named the second Ephraim, “For,” he said, “God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction.”

Genesis 49:22
“Joseph is a fruitful bough,
A fruitful bough by a spring;
Its branches run over a wall.

Jeremiah 4:11
In that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem, “A scorching wind from the bare heights in the wilderness in the direction of the daughter of My people—not to winnow and not to cleanse,

Genesis 48:19
But his father refused and said, “I know, my son, I know; he also will become a people and he also will be great. However, his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his descendants shall become a multitude of nations.”

Deuteronomy 33:17
“As the firstborn of his ox, majesty is his,
And his horns are the horns of the wild ox;
With them he will push the peoples,
All at once, to the ends of the earth.
And those are the ten thousands of Ephraim,
And those are the thousands of Manasseh.”

Job 18:16
“His roots are dried below,
And his branch is cut off above.

Psalm 1:4
The wicked are not so,
But they are like chaff which the wind drives away.

Psalm 109:13
Let his posterity be cut off;
In a following generation let their name be blotted out.

Isaiah 14:21
“Prepare for his sons a place of slaughter
Because of the iniquity of their fathers.
They must not arise and take possession of the earth
And fill the face of the world with cities.”

Isaiah 17:13
The nations rumble on like the rumbling of many waters,
But He will rebuke them and they will flee far away,
And be chased like chaff in the mountains before the wind,
Or like whirling dust before a gale.

Isaiah 41:16
“You will winnow them, and the wind will carry them away,
And the storm will scatter them;
But you will rejoice in the Lord,
You will glory in the Holy One of Israel.

Jeremiah 20:5
I will also give over all the wealth of this city, all its produce and all its costly things; even all the treasures of the kings of Judah I will give over to the hand of their enemies, and they will plunder them, take them away and bring them to Babylon.

Jeremiah 51:36
Therefore thus says the Lord,
“Behold, I am going to plead your case
And exact full vengeance for you;
And I will dry up her sea
And make her fountain dry.

Daniel 11:8
Also their gods with their metal images and their precious vessels of silver and gold he will take into captivity to Egypt, and he on his part will refrain from attacking the king of the North for some years.

Hosea 4:19
The wind wraps them in its wings,
And they will be ashamed because of their sacrifices.

Hosea 9:11
As for Ephraim, their glory will fly away like a bird--
No birth, no pregnancy and no conception!

Hosea 10:1
Israel is a luxuriant vine;
He produces fruit for himself.
The more his fruit,
The more altars he made;
The richer his land,
The better he made the sacred pillars.

Nahum 2:9
Plunder the silver!
Plunder the gold!
For there is no limit to the treasure--
Wealth from every kind of desirable object.



​The Tower of Babel

was built to prevent the people from scattering across the earth. Because the people would not scatter themselves, God scattered them. 

The Tower of Babel (Hebrew: מִגְדַּל בָּבֶל‎, Migdal Bavel) narrative in Genesis11:1–9 is an origin myth meant to explain why the world's peoples speak different languages.[1][2][3][4]
According to the story, a united human race speaking a single language and migrating eastward, comes to the land of Shinar (שִׁנְעָר‎). There they agree to build a city and a tower with its top in the sky. Yahweh, observing their city and tower, confounds their speech so that they can no longer understand each other, and scatters them around the world.


Various Dialects

In the account of the Tower of Babel the text seems to indicate that the various dialects had not appeared yet and that everyone on earth had one language and vocabulary. The Lord understood the motive and ambition of the people. Because the people had built a tower in defiance of Him, God then caused the one language on the earth to be confused. Once the languages were confounded the people scattered. Many questions arise concerning this account. 

One Language?

Did they all speak the same language? There are some people who feel the biblical text does not demand that there was only one language at the time. They point to the preceding chapter, Genesis ten, which divides the table of nations based upon the various languages. However, we must not assume a chronological sequence here. Allen P. Ross writes: 

At the beginning of chapter 11 the whole world is of 'one language' and one vocabulary. But chapter 10 has already divided the nations according to peoples and tongues. . . Probably 11:1-9 explains how the arrangement in chapter 10 came about. Genesis often goes outside the chronological order to arrange the material thematically (Allen P. Ross, in The Bible Knowledge Commentary, Editors John Walvoord and Roy Zuck, Wheaton, Illinois: Victor Books, 1985, p. 44).

How did God scatter them? Was it a change in their organ of hearing? Was it a change in their speech? Or was it a deeper change in the mind itself? We simply do not know. 

Babel And Pentecost

There is an obvious contrast between Babel and Pentecost. At the tower of Babel the languages were confused and the people were scattered. At Pentecost God supernaturally allowed the people to speak languages and dialects they had not previously learned to testify to the glory of God. Pentecost was the reversal of Babel. 

Final Uniting Of Languages

The prophet Zephaniah speaks of a final uniting of the languages. 

For then I will restore to the peoples a pure language, that they all may call upon the name of the Lord, to serve Him with one accord. From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia my worshipers, the daughter of My dispersed ones, shall bring my offering. In that day you shall not be shamed for any of your deeds in which you transgress against Me for then I will take away from your midst those who rejoice in your pride, and you shall no longer be haughty in My holy mountain (Zephaniah 3:9-11).

​1 Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. 2 And as they migrated from the east,[a] they came upon a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. 3 And they said to one another, "Come, let us make bricks and fire them thoroughly." And they had brick for stone and bitumen for mortar. 4 Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves; otherwise we shall be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth." 5 The LORD[b] came down to see the city and the tower, which mortals had built. 6 And the LORD said, "Look, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do; nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. 7 Come, let us go down and confuse their language there, so that they will not understand one another’s speech." 8 So the LORD scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. 9 Therefore it was called Babel,[c] because there the LORD confused the language of all the earth, and from there the LORD scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.
— Genesis 11:1–9 NRSVUE[7]

The phrase "Tower of Babel" does not appear in the Bible; it is always "the city and the tower" (אֶת-הָעִיר וְאֶת-הַמִּגְדָּל‎) or just "the city" (הָעִיר‎). The original derivation of the name Babel (also the Hebrew name for Babylon) is uncertain. The native, Akkadianname of the city was Bāb-ilim, meaning "gate of God". However, that form and interpretation itself are now usually thought to be the result of an Akkadian folk etymology applied to an earlier form of the name, Babilla, of unknown meaning and probably non-Semitic origin.[8][9] According to the Bible, the city received the name "Babel" from the Hebrew verb בָּלַ֥ל (bālal), meaning to jumble or to confuse.[10]

The narrative of the tower of Babel[11] is an etiology or explanation of a phenomenon. Etiologies are narratives that explain the origin of a custom, ritual, geographical feature, name, or other phenomenon.[12]: 426  The story of the Tower of Babel explains the origins of the multiplicity of languages. God was concerned that humans had blasphemed by building the tower to avoid a second flood so God brought into existence multiple languages.[12]: 51  Thus, humans were divided into linguistic groups, unable to understand one another.
​
Deuteronomy 29:22-28

The last phrase of verse 28, “as is clear today” (New English Translation [NET]) is an important time marker. The GNT renders it, “where they are today.” The New Living Translation [NLT] has it, “where they still live today.” Translator Robert Alter puts it, “as on this day.”

In the light of that phrase, consider that the people to whom Moses spoke were not then scattered, not uprooted. Their land was not one of “brimstone, salt, and burning debris.” Nor does that description fit the lands to which the Assyrians exiled the ancient House of Israel, for the areas south of the Caspian Sea are reasonably well-watered. Further, the terminology of the passage cannot describe the lands to which Israel migrated, lands that are among the most favored on earth: the productive lands of Northern Europe, North America, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa.

By using this short phrase, Moses indicates that he speaks of a “generation to come” (verse 22), one in the distant future, even beyond Israel's circumstances today. He is seeing into the time of Jacob's Trouble, when Israel's land, ravaged by war, would become environmentally degraded in the extreme. Only then, in this period of extreme distress, will the lands Israel occupies come to resemble ancient Sodom, destroyed by God long ago (Genesis 19).

Those of the “generation” of which Moses speaks, whether Israelite or Gentile, understand that the vast desolation they witness is the result of Israel's idolatry, in violation of the covenant (verses 25-26). Moses describes a time beyond our present circumstances when God will have “uprooted” apostate Israel from the lands to which He scattered her centuries before, the lands to which ancient Israel migrated. In short, Moses sees a land that has “vomited out its inhabitants” (Leviticus 18:25).

The verb “uprooted” (verse 28) evokes the striking image of pulling up plants from their roots. It virtually always appears in contexts of God's wrathful action against a sinning people, as in Ezekiel's lamentation for the princes of Israel, recorded in Ezekiel 19:10-14:

Your mother was like a vine in a vineyard planted by the water, fruitful and full of branches by reason of abundant water. Its strong stems became rulers' scepters; it towered aloft among the thick boughs; it was seen in its height with the mass of its branches. But the vine was plucked up in fury, cast down to the ground; the east wind dried up its fruit; they were stripped off and withered. As for its strong stem, fire consumed it. Now it is planted in the wilderness, in a dry and thirsty land. And fire has gone out from the stem of its shoots, has consumed its fruit, so that there remains in it no strong stem, no scepter for ruling. (English Standard Version [ESV])

In verse 12, God angrily plucks up the vine whose stems have grown into “rulers' scepters,” towering above others. The image of the highly productive, well-watered vine—perhaps “influential” might fit as well—transplanted into a “dry and thirsty land” (verse 13), is reminiscent of the Sodom-like land Moses mentions in Deuteronomy 29:23.
​
It is clear, then, that Deuteronomy 29 describes God's future scattering, His uprooting of Israelites from their burned-out land during the time of Jacob's Trouble.

​https://biblehub.com/ezekiel/36-19.htm

The Bible’s first mention of blindness involves the restraining of physical eyesight, but in the environment in question, spiritual sight is also absent:
But the [angels] reached out their hands and pulled Lot into the house with them, and shut the door. And they struck the men who were at the doorway of the house with blindness, both small and great, so that they became weary trying to find the door. (Genesis 19:10-11)

In this instance, the violent Sodomites, determined to assault Lot and his angelic guests sexually, were physically blinded. God used the two angels He had sent to deliver Lot as instruments to take the men’s sight.

Angels are not the only servants of God used to blind those who oppose Him. On occasion, His human servants have prayed for Him to restrain the sight of enemies, and He has answered. For example, Elisha asked for God to blind the Syrian army, and He did so temporarily (II Kings 6:18-20). In Acts 13:11, Paul called on God to blind Elymas the sorcerer for a time, which He did. Famously, Christ Himself struck Paul blind on the road to Damascus, and the apostle’s temporary blindness potently portrayed the spiritual blindness in which he walked to that point (Acts 9:3-9).

Exodus 4:11 underscores God’s sovereignty over human physical and spiritual abilities: “So the LORD said to [Moses], ‘Who has made man’s mouth? Or who makes the mute, the deaf, the seeing, or the blind? Have not I, the LORD?’”
In responding to Moses’ resistance to His summons to service, God declares that He is responsible for the organs that work and those that do not. Whatever speech difficulties Moses had were entirely in God’s hands. Moses had claimed he was “slow of speech,” and if so, God counterclaims to be the source of that impediment and also the potential solution to it. Such a minor problem could not impede God’s ability to work through him.

Likewise, whether one sees or is blind is in God’s hands. Although God refers directly to physical capabilities here, His sovereignty certainly extends into spiritual ones as well. He governs humanity’s ability to see (and hear) spiritually. As Solomon observes in Proverbs 25:2, “It is the glory of God to conceal a matter.”
​
​John 9 records Christ’s healing of the man born blind, and the story teaches that blindness can be a result of sin, but at other times, blindness happens because God has willed it for another purpose He is working out. This principle applies to both physical and spiritual blindness.

As part of God’s warning to the Israelites against sin, He promises to hobble their ability to understand, reason, and think things through:

The LORD will strike you with madness and blindness and confusion of heart. And you shall grope at noonday, as a blind man gropes in darkness; you shall not prosper in your ways; you shall be only oppressed and plundered continually, and no one shall save you. (Deuteronomy 28:28-29)
​
God promises madness, blindness, and confusion of heart for disobeying His voice and failing to observe His commandments and statutes carefully (Deuteronomy 28:15). This curse shows the other side of the principle, that understanding comes with following His commandments (Psalm 111:10). Conversely, breaking the commandments destroys understanding.

The physical curses in Deuteronomy 28 are painful enough, but the mental blindness in verse 28 creates a dreadful situation. Amid the other curses, a person can at least analyze what is happening and perhaps find a way to deal with it. But this blindness—an inability to discern rationally—makes the person’s plight far worse! He cannot even understand what is occurring, let alone identify a real solution like repentance and returning to God.

The nations of Israel are suffering under quite a few curses right now, yet because they are blind to the cause-and-effect relationship, there is little—if any—thought that national immorality is the cause of their problems. Those God curses with “madness and blindness and confusion of heart” can only grope aimlessly for solutions, and those they choose cannot work because they exclude God. God’s willingness to take away understanding and wisdom makes many uncomfortable. They do not believe He would actually do such a thing. They do not believe He means what He says.

Some people have a similar and related disbelief regarding scattering, another curse of God (Leviticus 26:33; Deuteronomy 4:27; 28:64). God scattered the post-Flood people at the Tower of Babel because of their rebellion against Him (Genesis 11:8-9). He likewise scattered the children of Israel for the same reason, just as He had promised (Deuteronomy 30:3; I Kings 14:15; Psalm 44:11; 92:9; Jeremiah 9:16; etc.).

Yet, it is God who promises and claims scattering. Because of His sovereignty, He is the only One who can bring about what happened to Babel, to Israel, and to His church. On the other hand, Satan can only do what He allows him to do (see, for instance, Job 1:6-12; 2:1-7).

Do we believe that God will respond today to immorality, presumption, and spiritual neglect as He did in the past? True, God’s chastening of His saints is of a different quality than His punishment of Israel, but the principle of cause-and-effect has not disappeared. God’s scattering of the church differs from Israel’s in that it has been organizational rather than geographical and catastrophic. Yet, we are still scattered because God is faithful to His Word. Rather than being immune to God’s chastening, the church is even more accountable because of its privileged position (see Luke 12:48; also the principle in Amos 3:2).

Scattering relates to blinding in that it illustrates why it is so critical to have a correct concept of God so that we can recognize the respective actions of God and Satan. God’s actions do not always match our assumptions. He says that He will cause madness, blindness, and confusion of heart when His people walk contrary to His way. We might think Satan would be the source of these works, yet God claims responsibility for them.

The New Testament also demonstrates God’s willingness to blind the mind. As mentioned earlier, John 9 contains the story of the man born blind. After healing the man, Jesus says, “For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may be made blind” (John 9:39). The Pharisees and others of the Jewish leadership were confident that they could see, yet Jesus declares that part of His ministry was to make some blind while opening the eyes of others.

John claims for Jesus the same prerogative in John 12:37, 39-40:
But although He had done so many signs before them, they did not believe in Him. . .. Therefore they could not believe, because Isaiah said again: “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, lest they should see with their eyes, lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, so that I should heal them.”

After three-and-a-half years and countless miracles, the Jews maintained a high level of disbelief, particularly among the religious leadership. Notice that the source of their doubt was God Himself! Isaiah’s prophecy says He had blinded their eyes, and He had hardened their hearts. The reason for this is that if they turned to Him, He would heal them, which may also strike us as odd if we assume that it is alwaysHis will to heal.

Perhaps His actions seem unkind or mean-spirited to us, but this passage shows that it was not His will to heal the nation at that time (see also Matthew 13:11-15). The people were still disobeying His commandments and statutes and thus still under a curse. To heal them without repentance would reward their wickedness. God’s curse of blindness was so effective that, though Jesus declared them to be blind, they were confident that they saw clearly (John 9:40)! They had no reason even to consider repenting, and therefore, the blindness and other curses continued.

In his letter to Roman Christians, the apostle Paul explains more about Israel’s blinded condition:

What then? Israel has not obtained what it seeks; but the elect have obtained it, and the rest were blinded. Just as it is written: “God has given them a spirit of stupor, eyes that they should not see and ears that they should not hear, to this very day.” And David says: “Let their table become a snare and a trap, a stumbling block and a recompense to them. Let their eyes be darkened, so that they do not see, and bow down their back always.” . . . For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. (Romans 11:7-10, 25; emphasis ours throughout)

Paul explains the fundamental reason for God’s current blinding of Israel: God is working with the elect in a way He is not working with Israel yet. Thus, He has blinded Israel until He calls those Gentiles that He has determined to convert. Israel was disobedient, so He scattered and blinded her, intending to regather her and restore her understanding in the future. Then she will recognize her Savior and learn what a relationship with Him truly entails.


The God of This Age

The following passage, II Corinthians 4:3-4, is commonly quoted with little consideration as to who it is truly describing:

But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.
Considering the verses and principles we have already seen, who did this blinding? Because the translators use a lowercase g, we assume that Satan receives the title of “god of this age” or “god of this world.” But could this be another case of mistaken identity?

On a technical note, many translations use the phrase “god of this world,” but the NKJV is more accurate with its rendering of “god of this age.” The word is aion, which refers more to time (for example, “eon” or “age”) than to place.
We have seen clear and definitive scriptures in which God declares that He will blind and that He has blinded. The Bible contains additional scriptures on blindness, as well as ones about eyes being closed, that consistently show that the true God closes and opens eyes (see Deuteronomy 29:4; Job 17:4; Matthew 11:25-26; Luke 10:21; 19:41-42). He blinds, and He also heals the blindness that either He has caused or that men have chosen. But in no other place in Scripture is Satan said to blind or is shown blinding or closing eyes. If II Corinthians 4:4 is about Satan, it is a significant anomaly.

Rather than blinding, Satan deceives. He works to distort vision (rather than take it away) to influence people to sin, but the Bible never shows him opening or closing eyes, physically or metaphorically. Some may argue that this is a distinction without a difference. However, deceiving and blinding are indeed distinctive. Satan’s deceptions are active oppositions to truth, while God’s blinding is usually a temporary state in which He chooses to withhold complete understanding. God embodies truth, but He does not give all truth all at once. He is under no obligation to do so. He blinds, either temporarily or for judgment, but Satan actively opposes and distorts the truth.

In addition to God blinding men, numerous verses show that people can blind themselves, as Part Three will examine. As we have all experienced, the truth can be discomforting, and if we are not resolutely devoted to it, we will close our eyes to those parts to which we do not want to submit.

II Thessalonians 2:10-11 speaks of those who lack love for the truth and God sending them strong delusion. In other words, these people prefer a state of blindness, and God gives them what they want. So, while we cannot open our eyes to greater truth without God’s involvement, we can close our eyes to what truth is available to us and thus blind ourselves.
​
​
“No God Besides Me”

A second reason Satan does not fit in II Corinthians 4:4 is that nowhere else is Satan referred to as the god of anything. Undoubtedly, Satan fits within the general classification of false gods, referring either to idols or the demons behind them, or both (see I Corinthians 10:19-20). However, even though people may worship those idols and demons as gods, Scripture also maintains that these so-called gods are not truly gods:
» “. . . so that whoever comes to consecrate himself with a young bull and seven rams may be a priest of things that are not gods?” (II Chronicles 13:9)
» “Has a nation changed its gods, which are not gods? But My people have changed their Glory for what does not profit.” (Jeremiah 2:11)
» “Your children have forsaken Me and sworn by those that are not gods.” (Jeremiah 5:7)
» “Will a man make gods for himself, which are not gods?” (Jeremiah 16:20)
» “But then, indeed, when you did not know God, you served those which by nature are not gods.” (Galatians 4:8)

In I Corinthians 8:5, God inspired Paul to call the demons—which would include Satan—“so-called gods”: “For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as there are many gods and many lords) . . ..” He then clarifies his description with a contrast in the next verse: “. . . yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.” In other words, even though people worship demonic principalities—whether deliberately or inadvertently—the perspective of God and His servants is that they are not gods.

Paul tells the Gentile Galatians in Galatians 4:8 that, prior to their conversion, they served “those which by nature are not gods.” He immediately describes them as “weak and beggarly elements” to which they were again turning (verse 9). Did this same apostle then bestow upon Satan the title “god of this age” when writing to the Corinthians? God answers this in Isaiah 45:5: “I am the LORD, and there is no other; there is no God besides Me.”

Of course, Isaiah 14:14 records Satan as saying that he wants to “be like” (or even “to be”) the Most High. The translators of II Corinthians 4:4, perhaps uncomfortable with God’s attributes and guided by Reformation tradition, may have given Satan his desire to be called a god. Similarly, Ezekiel 28 is about the prince of Tyre, a type of Satan, and God’s controversy with the prince is that he had set his heart as the heart of a god (verse 2). He is far greater in his own estimation than he is in reality.

But the true God never names the Devil as a god of anything. If II Corinthians 4:4 is about Satan, it is a highly significant exception to the pattern, and exceptions invite us to dig deeper. So, how does Scripture characterize him?
Instead of calling Satan a “god,” the gospel accounts consistently call him a “ruler.” He is “the ruler of the demons” (Matthew 9:34; 12:24; Mark 3:22; Luke 11:15; see Ephesians 6:12), and three times in the book of John, Jesus calls him “the ruler of this world” (John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11). Paul calls him “the prince [or ruler; it is the same Greek word] of the power of the air” (Ephesians 2:2). The Devil has authority, intelligence, and capabilities far above man, and we should never underestimate him (see Matthew 24:24). Yet, he in no way approaches God’s level, except in his own mind! While God rules supremely, the highest title Satan can legitimately claim is “ruler” over something but never “god.”

As mentioned, the word aion in II Corinthians 4:4 refers to this age rather than this world. God has not made Satan a god over this age—only a ruler with limited authority. Ephesians 1:21 declares that Christ is far above all principality and power, which includes Satan. Contrariwise, as we saw, Satan could only afflict Job with God’s permission, and likewise, he had to ask Jesus if he could sift Peter like wheat (Luke 22:31).

Luke 22:31

​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.

By looking at the covenants of the Bible we see God has a plan of redemption that works in time and space, history and geography. And it is not finished!

A typical believer might think it goes like this:
God chose Abraham and his descendents, there was the people of Israel, the land of Israel, the law, the prophets and poets which summarises the Old Testament, all culminating in Jesus – the cross, resurrection, ascension, the coming of the Holy Spirit and the birth of the Church. Now it is the role of the Church to evangelise and become more like Jesus in this darkening world. Then Jesus will come back. 
​
Prevalent as it may be, the outline above is incomplete. It misses the vital component of the continuing place of the Jewish people in God’s redemptive strategy, their ongoing connection with the Land of Promise and the dynamic synergy with the nations. The key to addressing this issue lies in our understanding of the Biblical Covenants.

This view typically sees the Bible as a story of two covenants – the old covenant given to the people of Israel at Mount Sinai, and the other which replaced it; the New Covenant in the blood of Jesus. 
But the problem is that there are actually five major covenants in the Bible, not just two. 

EACH COVENANT IS A BUILDING BLOCK
covenants are the building blocks of God’s purposes, and each one has a part to play in the unfolding of God’s redemptive plan. Understanding the framework that God chose to hang this story upon is critical to understanding God and his story. The framework he has chosen is Israel – four out of the five covenants are with the people of Israel, and the fifth was given within the people and land of Israel too. What many do not realise is that most of these covenants with Israel are still in action as God’s plan continues to unfold.
We will never understand the ongoing significance of the Jewish people and the Promised Land if we simplistically break the Bible down into two covenants. 
In order to understand all these covenants it’s important to ask the following questions:

• Who is the covenant with?
• What is offered?
• Is it conditional, or unconditional?
• Temporary or permanent?
• What is its purpose?

When we answer these questions about the first four main covenants with Noah, Abraham, Moses, and David, we can much better understand God’s grand purposes and the new Messianic covenant.

Only the third covenant – the Mosaic covenant made with the people of Israel at Sinai – has been fulfilled and superseded by Jesus’ first coming. Hebrews chapter 8 explains it this way, quoting the prophecy from Jeremiah 31:
But now Yeshua has obtained a more excellent ministry, insofar as He is the mediator of a better covenant which has been enacted on better promises. For if that first one had been faultless, there would not have been discourse seeking a second. For finding fault with them, He says,
“Behold, days are coming, says Adonai, when I will inaugurate a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt. For they did not remain in My covenant, and I did not care for them, says Adonai. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says Adonai. I will put My Torah into their mind, and upon their hearts I will write it. And I will be their God, and they shall be My people. And no more will they teach, each one his fellow citizen and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know Adonai,’ because all will know Me, from the least of them to the greatest. For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and their sins I will remember no more.”

In saying “new,” He has treated the first as old; but what is being made old and aging is close to vanishing. (Hebrews 8:7-13)
​

WHICH IS THE “OLD” COVENANT?When the writer of Hebrews talks about the “old” covenant, is he referring to the covenant that God made to Noah (Genesis 8:20 – 9:17)? God promised he would never flood the earth again, and produced a rainbow to seal the deal. Nope. That covenant is still in place – it will last for all generations.

“I will remember My covenant that is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all flesh.” (Genesis 9:15)

Could it have been the covenant that God made with David (2 Samuel 7:12-16)? God promised that there would always be a descendant of the House of David on the throne, for all time. Well, we know that Jesus was from the House of David, and that He now rules and reigns at the right hand of the Father. This covenant is still standing today.

Don’t you know that Adonai, God of Israel, has given kingship over Israel to David forever—to him and his sons by a covenant of salt? (2 Chronicles 13:5)
Perhaps it was the covenant that God made with Abraham? God promised Abraham firstly that he would be the father of many, secondly that he would inherit the land of Israel, and thirdly that through him the whole world would be blessed. He made the very same three promises to Abraham’s son Isaac (Genesis 26:3-5), and then again to his grandson Jacob (Genesis 28:12-15) father of the twelve tribes of Israel, just to be sure. This covenant still stands according to Psalm 105:8-11

He remembers his covenant for ever, the word that he commanded, for a thousand generations, the covenant that he made with Abraham, his sworn promise to Isaac, which he confirmed to Jacob as a statute, to Israel as an everlasting covenant, saying, “To you I will give the land of Canaan as your portion for an inheritance.”

How about the Mosaic covenant? The covenant God made with Moses at Sinai had a specific purpose – it was to show us how far we fall short of the standards of God. According to Galatians 3:19, the Law is like a “schoolmaster” to help lead us to the Messiah by showing us our need for him, and our incapacity to live how God wants us to. It shows us how we need the law to be written on our hearts, and we need forgiveness and supernatural power to live a life that pleases him. 

This law was a temporary and conditional covenant, and the New Covenant does not erase it, but fulfills it. Jesus completed the law for us, because we could not.

So which covenant has been replaced by the coming of the Messiah? Only one. The Mosaic covenant.
The coming of the New Covenant radically changed how we understand the Mosaic covenant today, but it did not change God’s promises to Noah, Abraham or David.

The crucial question now is, are God’s purposes in the Abrahamic Covenant (creating the people of Israel, placing them in the land of Israel, and making them a blessing to the whole earth) supposed to continue on for some reason? 

​
THE ONGOING ABRAHAMIC COVENANT

when we look at the promises that God makes not only to Abraham, but that he reiterates to Isaac and also to Jacob, we can see that there is no sense in which the promise to inherit the land has a time limit. Quite the opposite. But why was it important to give them that land?

We start to see that there are things foretold in the Bible concerning places and events that have simply not happened yet, but they will come to pass – not only in a spiritual sense, but also in a real, geographical and historical sense. He used a real nation and a real land to bring us our very real Messiah in a specific location and time in history. In the same way, his purposes are continually being unfolded and fulfilled, just as he promised. 
​
Whole areas of scripture are transformed and come alive once we recognise that the Abrahamic covenant has not been terminated by Messiah’s coming. This particularly applies to huge amounts of prophecy about God’s dealings with the Jewish people through exile for disobedience and then restoration and blessing. God means what he says.

When we see the Bible in this manner – reading it as if it really means what it says – we see familiar passages in an amazing new light. The twentieth century saw the fulfilment of several promises prophesied in scripture – the regathering of Israel, the revival of the Hebrew language, restoration of the shekel as currency, the speeding up of global travel and an explosion of knowledge to name just a few. There is much yet to come, but are we ready for it? Do we know what the prophets have said? Or did you think that the Old Testamentwas not important any longer?

Jesus was in the area of Tyre and Sidon, a coastal region in extreme northeastern Galilee (Matthew 15:21) when a Canaanite woman came to Him with a request to heal her demon-possessed daughter. For a while, Jesus did not respond to the woman’s entreaties, and she followed Him and continued to beg for mercy. Finally, the disciples, feeling that the woman was a nuisance, asked Jesus to send her away. Then Jesus said, “I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Matthew 15:24).

We should understand Jesus’ words here not as an outright rejection of the Gentiles—moments later, He heals the woman’s daughter (Matthew 15:28)—but as a fulfillment of prophecy, a setting of priorities, and a test of the woman’s faith.

In Jeremiah 50:6, God calls Israel His people and “lost sheep.” The Messiah, spoken of throughout the Old Testament, was seen as the one who would gather these “lost sheep” (Ezekiel 34:23-24; Micah 5:4-5). When Jesus presented Himself as a shepherd to Israel, He was claiming to be the fulfillment of Messianic prophecy (Mark 6:34, 14:27; John 10:11-16; see also Hebrews 13:20; 1 Peter 5:4; and Revelation 7:17).

Jesus’ words to the Canaanite woman also show an awareness of Israel’s place in God’s plan of salvation. God revealed through Moses that the children of Israel were “a holy people to the LORD . . . chosen . . . a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth” (Deuteronomy 7:6). It was through the Jews that God issued His Law, preserved His Word, and sent His Son. This is why, elsewhere, Jesus tells a Samaritan that “salvation is of the Jews” (John 4:22). In Matthew 15, when the Jewish Messiah says that He was sent to “the house of Israel,” He is simply connecting His presence with God’s purpose in Old Testament history. Christ was “born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law” (Galatians 4:4-5).

Every ministry must have priorities, and Christ’s ministry was no exception. When Jesus sent His disciples to preach the good news of the kingdom, He expressly told them, “Do not go into the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter a city of the Samaritans. But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Matthew 10:5-6). Jesus did not forbid their preaching to all Gentiles; He did, however, narrow their focus to the areas which should be most receptive—those who knew the Law and were expecting the Messiah. Paul, in his missionary journeys, followed the same priority of preaching to the Jews first (Romans 1:16).

Finally, Jesus’ words to the Canaanite woman served as a test of her faith. She came to Jesus believing that He was the “Lord,” the “Son of David,” and the giver of mercy (Matthew 15:22). His delayed answer and seemingly exclusionary statement brought from her a further, passionate, public expression of her faith in His unlimited power (Matthew 15:27).

This act of compassion and healing of a Gentile is a beautiful picture of Christ’s ministry to the whole world—the Jewish Messiah is also the Savior of all who will believe (Matthew 28:19; John 10:16; Acts 10:34-36; Revelation 5:9).
​

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.