Kingdom of God
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The Prophets Speak
A Prophet Like unto Moses In Deuteronomy 18:15-19, Moses told the covenanted people of Israel that the LORD (YHVH) their God would raise up unto them a prophet from the midst of them, of their brethren, like unto him, and the people were instructed to hearken unto him. Moses told them that YHVH would put His words in his mouth and he would speak unto them all that YHVH commands him. And that it would come to pass, that whosoever would not hearken unto YHVH’s words which the prophet would speak in His name, YHVH would require it of him. Over the centuries that followed, many men were raised up to…
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The Meaning of Christ: The Anointed
The Greek word “christos” (G5547) translated as “christ”, and the Hebrew word “mashiyach” (H4899) translated as “messiah” in English both mean “anointed”. In the Old Testament, it was customary for men chosen by God to be anointed with oil to serve in either of two particular positions: priest and king. During the days of Abram, Genesis 14:18 introduces Melchizedek as the king of Salem and the priest of the most high God. This was an example of a single man holding both offices. 18 And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God. 19 And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and…
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Do This in Remembrance of Me
I was recently asked about Yeshua’s remarks concerning “do this in remembrance of me”, whether or not I understood that to be a reference to communion. In Luke 22 it reads: 14 And when the hour was come, he sat down, and the twelve apostles with him. 15 And he said unto them, With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer: 16 For I say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God. 17 And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, Take this, and divide it among yourselves: 18 For I say unto you, I will…
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Why Does Jesus Call Himself the Son of Man?
Throughout the New Testament Jesus refers to himself as the Son of man1. Why is that? Let’s start at the beginning of the Bible and work our way through it to see if we can find the answer to that question. Genesis 1:26-27 reads: 26 And God said, Let us make man2 (“adam” H120) in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. 27 So God created man (“adam” H120) in his own image, in the image of…
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When Shall These Things Be?
Jesus/Yeshua makes a bold prophetic prediction during his ministry concerning the pride and joy of Jerusalem: the buildings of the second temple standing in the first century. In Matthew 24 we read: 24 And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple. 2 And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down. Clearly, Jesus/Yeshua is speaking to his disciples, who are physically in his presence, about structures that are physically standing at that time:…
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The Book of Revelation: Future, Present or Past?
The book of Revelation opens with the following verses: The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John: 2 Who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw. 3 Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand. Please note the emboldened text. And then the book concludes in this way (chapter…
- Creation, Encouragement / Advice, Kingdom of God, Walking in the Ways of the Creator, YHVH Elohim/God
What is the Will of God?
Growing up in Christianity, I came to understand the Will of God to essentially consists of loving God with your whole heart, soul, mind and strength & loving your neighbor as yourself. And we do the latter by applying the Golden Rule: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Loving Your Neighbor As Yourself When I was young, I had a hard time with the phrase “as yourself” in the loving your neighbor part, because I struggled with negative feelings of self-worth. I remember when I was in middle school, at the age of 12 or 13, I had this notion that other people were more…
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Heavenly Thrones
After publishing my post, The LORD Said to My Lord, I began looking into the Hebrew word, most often translated as throne, kisse (H3678). It comes from the verb root kasa (H3680) which means to cover, according to Brown-Driver-Briggs. And the noun kisse (H3678) means seat of honour, throne, and it appears 135 times in the Old Testament. Of these mentions, we see priests, kings (& the mother of a king: Bathsheba), and YHVH (& even Haman in the book of Esther and a foolish woman in the book of Proverbs) seated on them. Primarily, though, they are mostly reserved for kings and priests. In the New Testament, the Greek…
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The LORD Said To My Lord
Many refer to the following passage to support the notion that Jesus is not the physical son of David, but rather, he is God, the Son. (Never mind the fact that the Bible never says that Jesus is “God, the Son”.) “41 While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, 42 Saying, What think ye of Christ? whose son is he?“They say unto him, The son of David.“43 He saith unto them, How then doth David in spirit call him Lord, saying, 44 The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool? 45 If David then call him Lord,…
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The End of An Age
When I hear things like the Day of the LORD is quickly approaching & Jesus/Yeshua is coming back, I have to ask, what exactly are people expecting to see in the physical realm with these notions? When the New Testament speaks of the Day of the LORD, I believe it is referring to the fall of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. (with the destruction of the temple/power structure & accompanying power/control figures, which Yeshua prophesied would come to pass), and that has obviously passed. There was a physical remnant of people that were spared from physical death in that generation — they had to figure out how to live outside the…