2011

Is GRACE a spiritual concept brought to the earth for the first time by the Messiah? Or, did it exist in “Old Testament” times with Noah, Abraham, and Moses? If grace didn’t exist before the Messiah came, then how did the previous saints get saved? I ask these questions because many churchmen have differing answers. They view GRACE and LAW as separate things, almost contradictory. But are they really?

Thus the heavens and the earth were completed, and all their hosts. And by the seventh day God completed His work which He had done; and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.

Genesis 2:1-3

When God called Abraham and directed him to leave his father's house and land, He set about to form a new family in a new land. We know that God chose Abraham to be the father of this new family with the ultimate goal that through Abraham God's blessing would extend to "all the families of the earth." We also know that the land promised to Abraham and his descendants is the land of Israel. Just as Abraham's family, though small, was the beginning for "all the families of the earth," so we have learned that the "promised land of Israel" was only the down payment for God to own the whole earth.

The fall holidays of Trumpets (Rosh Hashanah), Atonement (Yom Kippur), and Tabernacles (Sukkot) are fast approaching. Another Hebrew year is coming to a close and the new one is emerging. So, where are we now in God's end-time plan? Many of us are closely watching numerous current events and examining the prophecies to see if the words describe the events of our day. Additionally, we are trying follow the sequence of events historically that had brought us to this day.

The Torah is the story of one generation – the generation who left Egypt with Moses by God's mighty hand of judgment, who then received the Torah to transform them from slaves to free men and prepare them to enter the land promised to their fathers. The first book, Genesis, explains where they came from and why they went to Egypt to begin with; but the Torah does not end with that generation entering the promised land. Instead, in the last book of Deuteronomy Moses looks forward and speaks to another generation – the final generation at the end of the ages.

The Bible speaks of a time when the believers will have to flee their homes and cities and survive in the "wilderness of the peoples." It a time referred to as the Great Tribulation. It begins at a future Passover and concludes three-and-a-half years later at the fall holiday of the Feast of Trumpets. Those who do not escape, survive, and endure to the end do not see the physical return of the Lord. Instead, they perish earlier attempting to fight or being taken captive by the enemy. The prophet Ezekiel describes this greater exodus of the nations and our survival during that time.

Not everyone who says to Me, “‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven.” Many will say to Me on that day, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?” And then I will declare to them, “I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.”

Matthew 7:21-23

The spring of 2011 has been quite memorable so far. In fact, I do not recall any other time in my life that there has been so much interest in the "end of the ages" and the "end of the world as you know it." Even the news media, including print and video, have programs addressing this subject.

Yeshua's disciples asked Him what we should expect to see before His return at the end of the age. The question came about when the disciples marveled at the beauty and size of the temple in Jerusalem. Yeshua warned them that soon "not one stone will be left upon another." It is only reasonable that they would then think that Yeshua was referring to the end of the age and the Day of the Lord! Surely, God would not allow the temple to be disturbed unless everything was coming to an end...

Passover – the Feast of Redemption – is a day of reckoning! Do you know what purpose it serves? Do you know it is one of the commanded feasts? Do you know it is an eternal feast that we will celebrate in the kingdom?

Passover (also named Pesach in Hebrew) comes this year on the evening of April 17, 2011. For those keeping the Jewish Diaspora calendar it will be observed on the evening of April 18, 2011. The slight difference is based on differences in perceiving when the New Moon occurs and the beginning of the month of Nisan; however, there is also the difference between the Pharisaic tradition of keeping Passover on the 15th of the month (the first day of Unleavened Bread) and Moses actually instructing us to observe the Passover on the 14th at twilight. ...

And when He had finished speaking with him upon Mount Sinai, He gave Moses the two tablets of the testimony, tablets of stone, written by the finger of God.

Exodus 31:18

When God spoke and then wrote the ten commandments with His own finger on tablets of stone, man received the first Scripture. Moses then continued to write God’s instructions and we had the beginning of the Torah and the Bible. One could argue that the first words of the Bible are not “In the beginning...” but, “I am the Lord your God...”

Is Yeshua the Messiah truly YHVH God? This is a critical matter to understand, because without a clear understanding of who Yeshua is, He and His ministry is misunderstood, under-appreciated, and for many disbelieved. For most Christians in the world, Jesus (Yeshua) is the Christ (Messiah) and Jesus Christ is God. They accept this because it is the standard "party line" of the church. Judaism, on the other hand, does not believe that Jesus (Yeshua of Nazareth) is or was the Messiah. They don't believe that He fulfilled the prophecies of being the Messiah; their expectations were that He would establish the Kingdom and bring back the scattered exiles of Israel. Further, Judaism does not hold to the deity of Yeshua. …