Yeshua, the True King

So far, I have avoided posting about the elephant in the room.

I'm talking about the 'Rona.

I've been watching, praying, and taking it all in, ever since Covid 19 disrupted the planet over a year and a half ago.

Has there ever been anything that has affected the whole world in this way, in such a short time?  In my opinion, even World War 2 did not affect the world with such suddenness and entirety. This virus literally shut down the planet almost overnight.

For a long time, I have been pondering a connection between Covid and the white horse of Revelation 6:  And I looked, and behold, a white horse!  And its rider had a bow, and a crown was given to him, and he came out conquering, and to conquer.

The word that was standing out to me was crown.  The Greek word is stephanos, but the Latin word in the vulgate (scriptures translated into Latin by Jerome in the year 405 AD) is corona.

As I meditated on the possible connection, I sensed a strong whisper in my spirit from the Lord, "Corona is not king, I am."  This whisper occurred in the spring of 2020, in the early days of lockdown.

This whispered truth has been my constant reminder of Who is in charge. It is a reminder to bow down to Him only, and not to the virus and all its, um, stuff.

Anyway, back to the white horse.  Most scholars agree that the white horse here in chapter 6 is a picture of deception.  Revelation 19:11 depicts our TRUE King seated on a white horse when He returns to conquer His enemies, and in that passage He is called Faithful and True.  

White is the color of purity and also of victory.  It is interesting to note that in ancient times, Roman Generals entered their conquered cities in chariots drawn by white horses.

Our enemy the devil is the Father of Lies and can only mimic and deceive.  So it is no surprise that scripture portrays his deception by the use of a white horse.  And he is going to try and conquer, but he will get only so far.

Wisdom is needed, saints.

If we look back to 2 Thessalonians 2, the context is the Day of the Lord, and the return of our King.  Verse 3 warns believers not to be deceived: Let no one deceive you in any way.  For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction.

Further on in the chapter, we are told about the great deception that will take place on earth: The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders,  and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

Dang.  So much of this seems to be taking place right under our noses. 

Ok, let's go back to our white horse in Revelation 6, so that I can geek out with more original language stuff.

What is this bow that the rider is holding? The Greek word is toxon.  I will let Wikipedia define the origin of the word toxon:  

The modern terms "toxic" and "toxin" derive from the ancient Greek word for "bow", toxon, from Old Persian *taxa-, "an arrow". ... In the Kingdom of Kush, arrows were often poison-tipped. There is some indication that poisoned arrows were used in battle against the Romans from 27 BC to 22 BC.

Chew on that idea for awhile.  Is there a modern (or moderna) equivalent of something that will stab us and contains poison?  I'm not going to be dogmatic about this, but it is definitely worth considering.  Is there a current worldwide campaign to convince us to take a poisonous skin prick? Are people with dissenting opinions silenced?  I think the answer is obvious.

There is one more biblical word I want to geek out on.  It is found in Galatians 5:20, Revelation 9:21, and Revelation 18:23.  The Greek word is pharmakeia, and the ESV translates the word as sorceries.  But let's look at the outline of Biblical usage as found in Blue Letter Bible:

Let those definitions sink in.  And then I urge you to pray,  seek the Lord, and ask for wisdom in all these matters. 

Because He is the King, He is in charge, and He is coming soon... on a white horse.

I want to end this post on a high note, so let's look at Psalm 45. It is easy to see the coming King and Kingdom in this beautiful psalm:

For the director of music. To the tune of “Lilies.” Of the Sons of Korah. A maskil. A wedding song.

(A WEDDING song!  Did you catch that?  Our bridegroom is coming soon!)

My heart is stirred by a noble theme
as I recite my verses for the king;
my tongue is the pen of a skillful writer.

You are the most excellent of men
and your lips have been anointed with grace,
since God has blessed you forever.

Gird your sword on your side, you mighty one;
clothe yourself with splendor and majesty.

In your majesty ride forth victoriously (on a white horse?)
in the cause of truth, humility and justice;
let your right hand achieve awesome deeds.

Let your sharp arrows pierce the hearts of the king’s enemies;  

(the arrows of the TRUE king)
let the nations fall beneath your feet.

Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever;
a scepter of justice will be the scepter of your kingdom.

You love righteousness and hate wickedness;
therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions
by anointing you with the oil of joy.

All your robes are fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia;
from palaces adorned with ivory
the music of the strings makes you glad.

Daughters of kings are among your honored women;
at your right hand is the royal bride in gold of Ophir.

Listen, daughter, and pay careful attention:
Forget your people and your father’s house.

Let the king be enthralled by your beauty;
honor him, for he is your lord.

The city of Tyre will come with a gift,
people of wealth will seek your favor.

All glorious is the princess within her chamber;
her gown is interwoven with gold.

In embroidered garments she is led to the king;
her virgin companions follow her—
those brought to be with her.

Led in with joy and gladness,
they enter the palace of the king.

Your sons will take the place of your fathers;
you will make them princes throughout the land.

I will perpetuate your memory through all generations;
therefore the nations will praise you for ever and ever.

And since I want to end on a high note, I will look at the next three horses in a future post...

How To Study the Scriptures

I have so many ideas for blog posts currently running through my head, and this was not one of them.

However, I thought it would be good to lay down some principles that can help tremendously in making sense of God's word.  These days, it seems that so many people have just given up, saying that we can't understand it, or even worse, saying that it's not really God's word and that it was just a bunch of ancient writings written by a bunch of ancient men, doing the best they could in their cultural context.

This is tragic, because the scriptures were written over a 1500 year period, by 40+ authors, and the result is a unified story that points to Yeshua the Messiah... including a huge amount of prophecy that CAME TO PASS-  and continues unfolding - as His return approaches, right on schedule.  This is impossible from man's perspective.

Try playing the campfire game with 10 friends and see if you get the same result.  You know, where someone starts the story, and then one by one each person adds to it.  The story is always ridiculous.

Anyway, I digress.  

The Word of God is like a tapestry.  We need to learn to look beyond the knots and chaos that can be seen on the back of the canvas. Sometimes, things are messy and make no sense until we look at the finished work.  (Another analogy would be Shrek's onion.  There are layers and layers of Biblical truths, just waiting to be peeled!)

Corrie Ten Boom used to hold up this tapestry as she 
traveled the world, speaking to groups
about her experiences during the Holocaust.

Let's jump in with some good Bible study precepts.

Number 1:  Context!

Perhaps you've heard the expression, "context is key."  Well, it is.  It's way too easy to rip a verse out of context and use it in a way that suits your own purposes but doesn't necessarily convey what the author was trying to say.  

Jeremiah 29:11 is a great example.  Now if that is your life verse, don't panic.  It's a lovely verse, and you can keep it.  But I don't know many people who zoom out to get the whole story.  Jeremiah is addressing the Jews who are about to be exiled into Babylon.  He is saying, "go, and thrive while there.  God will be with you while you are there and He will bring you back out someday...  Oh, and if you don't go, He will send sword and pestilence and make you like rotten vile figs."  (I've never met anyone who claims Jeremiah 29:17 as their life verse).

When you are examining the context of a passage, expand to the surrounding verses (or even chapters) as much as necessary to get a handle on what is being said.  Ask yourself these questions:

• Who is the author?
• When did he write?
• To whom did he write it?
• How would the recipients have received it then?
• And finally, how does this apply in my life today? 

Number 2:  Word Studies

Did you know that the scriptures were never written using a single word of English? Oh, the insights you can gain when you do biblical studies! The Tanakh (aka Old Testament) was written mostly in Hebrew with a bit of Aramaic as well. The New Covenant Scriptures were written in koine Greek, which was the ancient, every day language spoken by many people in the Roman Empire.

I first learned how to do word studies via a class taught by a friend.  He demonstrated how to use resources such as an interlinear Bible, a concordance, and a lexicon.  These books were extremely helpful, both in studying the Word and using as door stops.  They were extremely heavy.  It was like being in high school again, schlepping all those heavy textbooks from class to class in a backpack.

Fortunately, today there are tools that are much easier to access and schlepp around, right there in your phone.  My favorite app is Blue Letter Bible.  There are other good resources out there too, such as E-sword or Logos.  I stick with Blue Letter because I know the format and can move around it pretty quickly.  AND, they recently added Septuagint links!  (That may only mean something to you if you are a Bible nerd like me).

The Septuagint was written about 200 years before Yeshua.  It is the Hebrew scriptures (aka Old Testament), translated into Greek by seventy Hebrew scholars.  I recently discovered that the Greek work euangelion (or a form of it) is used many times in the Old Testament.  Most English New Testaments translate that word as gospel. This will be the subject of an upcoming post, so stay tuned for that.  It's truly mind-blowing to me.

Number 3:  Look for the Pictures

Snapshots - the scriptures are filled with them!  When you see one (and they are everywhere), ask yourself what it means.  Blood on the doorpost.  Rahab's red cord.  The serpent on a pole in the wilderness (more on that in a sec).  The tabernacle.  Lamb of God.  Tree of life. Water from a rock.  Bread from heaven.  Sun, moon, and stars.  Moses' outstretched arms.  Yeshua's outstretched arms. Wait, a connection! Which leads me to the next premise:

Number 4:  Follow the hyperlinks

What does that mean?  This is somewhat related to precept 3, as you are considering the pictures.  It involves rabbit trails as you compare scripture to scripture.  A great example is John 3:16.  It is used so often by itself to try and convey the gospel, but if you look at the previous two verses, it refers to Moses lifting the serpent on a pole in the wilderness.  This just begs for a journey back to the source to see what is going on.  And there you can find another hyperlink to the serpent in Genesis 3.  Following these hyperlinks can give you the Big Picture!

Another great resource for studying the scriptures is the Bible Project team.  They offer these amazing free videos on You Tube that give overviews and breakdowns of each book of the Bible.  They also create thematic videos that do a great job following the hyperlinks.  In fact, I borrowed the hyperlinks word directly from them because they use it so much.  They have a one year bible reading plan that uses their videos, which you can find on the You Version app.  They also have podcasts available.

If you have not spent much time studying God's word, I encourage you to jump in.  The scriptures have the power to change your life.

Three Shavuots This Year?

First of all, happy Shavuot! Today we celebrate the giving of the Holy Spirit, and the fulfillment of God's law that had been written on stone to the Israelites in the wilderness; now written on our hearts.

Last week, I posted a Shavuot/Pentecost greeting on Facebook, because all my Messianic/Jewish roots friends were celebrating.  And so were my Orthodox Jewish friends.  It didn't occur to me that it wasn't actually the biblical Shavuot until a Christian friend replied, "Isn't Pentecost next Sunday?"  

My whole point in that post was to point out that for much of Christendom, the holiday passes with nary a mention (even though Christianity claims that day as the "birth of the church").  But my friend's response was a good reminder for me to go back to the Word of God and do the math myself.

Leviticus 23 is the one place where all seven of the LORD's appointed times are listed together.  Let's look at that passage and do the math.

Verses 9 through 14 explain the feast of Firstfruits, which celebrates the barley harvest in Israel - the first harvest of the agricultural year.  The spiritual fulfillment of this feast occurred when Yeshua rose from the dead.  1 Corinthians 15:20 tells us, But in fact Messiah has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep (that means died).  He is the spiritual fulfillment of the first harvest of the year in Israel - barley.

Leviticus 23:15-16 continues into the next appointed time:  You shall count seven full weeks from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering.  You shall count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath.  Then you shall present a grain offering of new grain to YHVH.

These 50 days are known as "counting the omer" (which means sheaf in Hebrew).  To count, you had to look back to the starting day, which is the Feast of Firstfruits, aka the resurrection of Yeshua.  He rose from the dead on the day after the regular weekly Sabbath that fell during the Passover/Unleavened Bread week.

The confusion arises due to different counting methods. Sometime between the resurrection of Yeshua and the destruction of the temple, the Pharisees began counting the omer from the day after the special Sabbath that occurs on the first day of Unleavened Bread - the day which follows the one-day commemoration of Passover - instead of starting the counting from the day after the regular weekly Sabbath.

This special Sabbath is explained in Leviticus 23:6-7:  And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the Lord; for seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall not do any ordinary work.

Understanding the biblical feasts is key here. 

Passover is one day long, and then Unleavened Bread is seven days long, creating a total 8-day celebration. The first day of the Unleavened Bread (the day after Passover) is the special Sabbath.  John 19:31 mentions this special Sabbath - Yeshua's body could not remain on the cross for that special Sabbath, which was to begin at sundown... Since it was the day of Preparation, and so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken and that they might be taken away.

Are you confused yet?  I had to study this for a long time before I feel like I had a handle on all these dates.

The Jewish reckoning of Shavuot continues to this day by beginning their omer-counting on the day after the special Sabbath.  But this method disregards the context of the counting in Leviticus 23.  The context is seven regular Sabbaths!

I understand why the Jews who did not believe that Yeshua was the Messiah wanted to separate Shavuot from the Feast of Firstfruits, which so clearly points to Yeshua.  But I don't understand why Messianic Jews do it, too.

So this year (2021), Jews celebrated Shavuot on Sunday, May 16.  However, Passover this year began on the evening of Saturday, March 27 after sunset and lasted all day Sunday, March 28.  The special Sabbath of Unleavened Bread began after sundown Sunday and lasted all day Monday, March 29.  The day after that special Sabbath began Monday night and lasted all day Tuesday, March 30, which would have been their reckoning of the Feast of Firstfruits.  If you count 7 weeks and a day (50 days) from that day, Shavuot lands on Wednesday, May 19 (beginning at sundown the night before).  I'm not sure why the Orthodox and Messianic Jews moved it back three days this year.

(Are you totally confused yet? I totally understand!)

The church calendar, however, got it right this year.  Counting back 50 days to the Feast of Firstfruits (Resurrection Sunday) brings us to Sunday, May 23 - the day of this post.

And I am delighted to report that my pastor spoke of Pentecost/Shavuot today.

Shavuot (pronounced sha -vu OTE) is the celebration of the next harvest in the land of Israel - the wheat harvest.  Yeshua was the firstfruits of the barley harvest, and when Peter preached at the temple on that day in Acts 2, the new believers, 3000 of them, fulfilled the firstfruits of the wheat harvest.

Back to Leviticus to see what I'm talking about.

Chapter 23:17 says, You shall bring from your dwelling places two loaves of bread to be waved, made of two tenths of an ephah. They shall be of fine flour, and they shall be baked with leaven, as firstfruits to YHVH.

Two loaves?  With leaven?  Messiah was a representation of Unleavened Bread.  He was without sin.  (Leaven often represents sin in scripture).

So here we are, at the next harvest, with those two loaves full of leaven.  Who do those loaves represent?  Jew and Gentile, sinful people full of leaven, yet redeemed by our sinless Messiah, who began to pour out His Holy Spirit on believers that day.

It is interesting to note that the Jewish people read the book of Ruth during Shavuot, even though the story takes place during the barley harvest - thus connecting the two celebrations. The relationship of Ruth the Moabite and Boaz the Israelite is such a beautiful picture of the bride of Messiah!  And Jew and Gentile together, no less!  

Six then Seven

For years, I have been observing biblical patterns that occur over and over again, from Genesis to Revelation.  God's patterns are woven so deeply into the very tapestry of the scriptures that it would be impossible for the 40+ authors, writing over a period of 1500+ years, to have come up with them on their own. 

 I woke up this morning with an insight that is so obvious that I wonder how it never occurred to me before.  As the title of this post suggests, it has to do with the pattern of six and then seven, which is probably my favorite biblical pattern.

This pattern is established right off the bat in Genesis with the account of creation.  God did the work of creation in six days, and then He rested, instituting the Sabbath day.  Six then seven.

The observance of the Sabbath was written into the Sinai Covenant.  To this day, the Jewish people (and many non-Jews) work six days and then observe a day of rest.  Six then seven.

Biblically speaking, human history can be traced back just about six thousand years to Adam and Chava (Eve).  The bible also speaks of a coming millennium of rest (see Revelation 20:1-7).  Six then seven.

The Israelites marched around the walls of Jericho for six days, and on the seventh day, they circled the wall seven times and then God took the walls down when they sounded the shofars.  Six then seven.

Six is the number of man. Man was created on the sixth day.  Man is incomplete without God.

Seven is the number of perfection, or completeness.  The number seven points to Him.  God rested from His work on the seventh day.  I believe that God and man began to fully enjoy their relationship that day, before Adam's sin came along and messed everything up.

The thought that woke me up this morning was this:  Yeshua hung on the cross for six hours.  For six hours, He travailed in order to pay for our sin.  At the end of six hours, He said "It is finished," and took a final breath. As the seventh hour began, He rested from that incredible work that now reconciles us to Himself.  Just as God worked for six days in order to create fellowship with mankind, so too He worked for six hours to restore fellowship with mankind.

In Matthew 11, Yeshua declares, Come to me, all 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.

The book of Hebrews elaborates on the idea of Yeshua being our ultimate rest. The context begins in chapter 3, speaking of the unbelief of the Israelites, and then chapter 4 says, For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken of another day later on.  So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God's rest has also rested from his works as God did from his.

In Leviticus 23, YHVH entrusted the Israelites with His seven appointed times, all of which point to the work of the Messiah and tell the story of human redemption.  These seven appointed times culminate with the Feast of Tabernacles, when Yeshua will once again dwell on earth in peace with His people.

Six then seven.

Salvation and the First Three Biblical Feasts

About eight years ago, I wrote a post on the triple nature of man, how we are made up of three parts (body, soul, spirit, see 1 Thess 5:23), and how each part is saved through the redeeming work of the Messiah. You can click here to read it.

When sin entered the world, so did death. The immediate death was spiritual - the severing of the bond that God had with man. It was a one time deal. Spiritual death.

Death continued to take a toll on mankind as people descended into depravity, their minds becoming more and more corrupt. Death of our souls. An ongoing death.

The final death to come to man is of course physical death at the end of life. Death of our physical bodies. 

This threefold nature of death is reversed in the same threefold manner when we are redeemed by Yeshua.

Salvation of our spirit: this happens the moment we receive Yeshua as our savior. It’s an instant redemption, a one-time deal, and we are given the Holy Spirit as a downpayment. Justification.

Salvation of our soul (our mind, will, and emotion): this is an ongoing, lifelong process; walking with Messiah, taking thoughts captive, day by day becoming more like Him. Sanctification.

Salvation of our body: this happens on the day of resurrection. We get new, imperishable bodies (and I have come to believe that the Spirit of God that was breathed into Adam will be fully restored at this time as well... The fulfillment of that Holy Spirit down payment). Glorification. The final restoration.

Because Passover is upon us, I have had some thoughts swirling around in my mind this week.  I’m just putting them down here in virtual paper.

I’ve been marveling how these the appointed times clearly demonstrate our complete salvation.

Passover, a one day feast, represents our justification. It is the appointed time of Messiah’s death as our Passover Lamb. 

The feast of Unleavened Bread begins the day after Passover and lasts seven days. This appointed time points to our sinless Messiah, our Bread of Life, being buried in the ground - just as a grain of wheat must fall to the  ground and die before new life is possible. In the same way, the seven appointed days of Unleavened Bread represent our lifelong process of dying to self and becoming more like our Messiah every day as the sin (leaven) is rooted out of our lives. This feast demonstrates our sanctification. (Seven is the number of completeness).

The third appointed time takes place in the middle of Unleavened Bread, on the day after the sabbath. This little-taught Feast of Firstfruits was fulfilled on the most important day of human history... when Yeshua defeated death and rose from the grave. This glorious appointed time also looks forward to the day that Yeshua will return for his bride and we too will be resurrected with glorified, imperishable bodies. The Feast of Firstfruits foreshadows our glorification. On that day, our salvation will be complete.

These Biblical appointed times are so rich and full of meaning, and they all point to the Messiah. They are worth knowing.