Genesis 1:1-5

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was unformed and void, darkness was on the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God hovered over the surface of the water. 3 Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and God divided the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. So there was evening, and there was morning, one day.

 

After creation God transformed Earth from a condition of “unformed and void” to one that is filled with life by the power and authority of His words.

יהוה YHVH God is the creator of life.

יהוה YHVH God laid the foundations of the Earth we are currently living on today.

God intended for man to populate Earth and be in everlasting state of shalom (שָׁלוֹם‎) with Him through obeying His words and keeping covenant with Him.

However, our living environment on Earth today is saturated with pervasive lack of peace and endless human strive, not according to what was created to be. The world today is heading towards being more chaotic and overflow of spiritual darkness.

 

WHAT HAPPENED?

 

Man lost shalom (שָׁלוֹם‎) with God due to acts of disobedience against God’s words.

Disbelieve in God’s words leads to willful rejection of God’s law and deliberate resisting of God’s judgement which leads to acts of disobedience and sin.

Sin against God is in human act of disobedience against God’s words. Sin darkens our understanding, depleted our knowledge of truth, and crippled our ability to express righteousness and justice as how God created us to function. And the result being Man separated from the eternal presence of God and forfeited of shalom (שָׁלוֹם‎) with God. And the whole Earth suffered the consequences of humanity’s sin against God’s words.

 

WHAT MUST WE DO TO RECOVER SHALOM (שָׁלוֹם‎) WITH GOD?

 

God provided redemption for those who will turn away from sin in order to obey His words. And God’s provision for redemption is humanity’s only hope and path to shalom (שָׁלוֹם‎).

God’s way of redemption for Man is revealed and recorded in Holy Scripture to show to us there is one designated path and pattern to redemption from sin and death and it is the only way for Man to fully reconcile with יהוה YHVH God.

 

NOAH, ABRAHAM, MOSES and A HOLY NATION

 

NOAH – Noah and his three sons survived the Generation of The Flood when God judged the world.

 

Genesis 6:5-10

5 And יהוה YHVH God saw that the people on earth were very wicked, that all the imaginings of their hearts were always of evil only. 6 And יהוה YHVH God regretted that he had made humankind on the earth; it grieved his heart. 7 And יהוה YHVH God said, “I will wipe out humankind, whom I have created, from the whole earth; and not only human beings, but animals, creeping things and birds in the air; for I regret that I ever made them.” 8 But Noach found grace in the sight of יהוה YHVH God.

9 Here is the history of Noach. In his generation, Noach was a man righteous and wholehearted; Noach walked with God. 10 Noach fathered three sons, Shem, Ham and Yefet

 

Noah’s lived in obedience to God’s words and his practice established a pattern of redemption designated by God.

God separated and selected Noah for redemption due to Noah’s trust and obedience in God’s words. Through Noah’s living testimony, God expressed His approval for righteous living but executed His wrath and judgement on those who continued living in sin.

יהוה YHVH God redeemed Noah from The Flood and the Earth was again populated from the line of Noah’s three sons with the expectation they keep convent with God.

 

Genesis 10:32 – These were the families of the sons of Noach, according to their generations, in their nations. From these the nations of the earth were divided up after the flood.

 

ABRAHAM – Abraham from the line of Shem one of the sons of Noah separated and chosen of God to inherit The Promised Land.

 

Genesis 17:1-8

When Avram was 99 years old יהוה YHVH God appeared to Avram and said to him, “I am El Shaddai [God Almighty]. Walk in my presence and be pure-hearted. 2 I will make my covenant between me and you, and I will increase your numbers greatly.” 3 Avram fell on his face, and God continued speaking with him: 4 “As for me, this is my covenant with you: you will be the father of many nations. 5 Your name will no longer be Avram [exalted father], but your name will be Avraham [father of many], because I have made you the father of many nations. 6 I will cause you to be very fruitful. I will make nations of you, kings will descend from you.

7 “I am establishing my covenant between me and you, along with your descendants after you, generation after generation, as an everlasting covenant, to be God for you and for your descendants after you. 8 I will give you and your descendants after you the land in which you are now foreigners, all the land of Kena‘an, as a permanent possession; and I will be their God.”

 

When יהוה YHVH God called Abraham to leave his land (אֶרֶץ erets), his birthplace (מוֹלֶדֶת moledeth), and his father’s house (בּיִת אָב ab bayith), that move revealed and affirmed a pattern of ongoing division, separation, and selection, to build up a set-apart people under obligation to keep covenant with יהוה YHVH God.

Abraham was separated and chosen for redemption and blessing due to his acts of obedience to God’s words and teachings. And Abraham was noted to be the first of the Hebrews.

From the time of Abraham the blessing of receiving possession of The Promised Land as an everlasting inheritance from God is reserved for those who are called and chosen to keep covenant with God, following the pattern and example of Abraham’s walk with God.

 

MOSES – Moses separated and chosen of God to deliver (נָצַל natsal) the children of Israel from Egypt.

 

Exodus 6:2-8

2 God spoke to Moshe; he said to him, “I am יהוה YHVH God. 3 I appeared to Avraham, Yitz’chak and Ya‘akov as El Shaddai, although I did not make myself known to them by my name, Yud-Heh-Vav-Heh [יהוה]. 4 Also with them I established my covenant to give them the land of Kena‘an, the land where they wandered about and lived as foreigners. 5 Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the people of Isra’el, whom the Egyptians are keeping in slavery; and I have remembered my covenant.

6 “Therefore, say to the people of Isra’el: ‘I am יהוה YHVH God. I will free you from the forced labor of the Egyptians, rescue you from their oppression, and redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments. 7 I will take you as my people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am יהוה YHVH your God, who freed you from the forced labor of the Egyptians. 8 I will bring you into the land which I swore to give to Avraham, Yitz’chak and Ya‘akov — I will give it to you as your inheritance. I am יהוה YHVH God”

 

By the time of Moses the children of Israel had grown in multitude but were living as sojourners in Egypt since the days of Joseph.

יהוה YHVH God fulfilled His promise to Abraham in delivering the children of Israel from bondage in Egypt to inherit The Promised Land. The children of Israel leaving Egypt were to receive possession of The Promised Land with the condition they keep covenant with God as Abraham did and be a holy nation set-apart for God.

 

Exodus 19:1-6

In the third month after the people of Isra’el had left the land of Egypt, the same day they came to the Sinai Desert. 2 After setting out from Refidim and arriving at the Sinai Desert, they set up camp in the desert; there in front of the mountain, Isra’el set up camp.

3 Moshe went up to God, and יהוה YHVH God called to him from the mountain: “Here is what you are to say to the household of Ya‘akov, to tell the people of Isra’el: 4 ‘You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. 5 Now if you will pay careful attention to what I say and keep my covenant, then you will be my own treasure from among all the peoples, for all the earth is mine; 6 and you will be a kingdom of cohanim for me, a nation set apart.’ These are the words you are to speak to the people of Isra’el.”

 

Israel as a kingdom of priests and a holy nation is to be prepared for the reign of God’s anointed Mashiach (מָשִׁיחַ).

 

MASHIACH AND THE MESSIANIC ERA

 

The Mashiach chosen of God is to reign from Zion.

The Messianic Era will commence with the rule of the Mashiach chosen of God and the magnification of God’s decree (חֹ֥ק choq) already revealed in Holy Scripture.

Psalm 2 revealed the reign of the Mashiach

 

Psalm 2

Why are the nations in an uproar, the peoples grumbling in vain?

2 The earth’s kings are taking positions, leaders conspiring together, against יהוה YHVH God and his anointed (מָשִׁיחַ).

3 They cry, “Let’s break their fetters! Let’s throw off their chains!”

4 He who sits in heaven laughs; יהוה YHVH God looks at them in derision.

5 Then in his anger he rebukes them, terrifies them in his fury. 6 “I myself have installed my king on Tziyon, my holy mountain.”

7 “I will proclaim the decree: יהוה YHVH God said to me, ‘You are my son; today I became your father. 8 Ask of me, and I will make the nations your inheritance; the whole wide world will be your possession. 9 You will break them with an iron rod, shatter them like a clay pot.’”

10 Therefore, kings, be wise; be warned, you judges of the earth. 11 Serve יהוה YHVH God with fear; rejoice, but with trembling. 12 Kiss the son, lest he be angry, and you perish along the way, when suddenly his anger blazes. How blessed are all who take refuge in him.

 

The appointed Mashiach chosen of God will be of the seed of Abraham to receive possession of The Promised Land as an everlasting inheritance from God.

 

Genesis 17:7 – And I will establish My covenant between Me and between you and between your seed (זֶרַע zera) after you throughout their generations as an everlasting covenant, to be to you for a God and to your seed after you.

 

The person and identity of the Mashiach have been highly anticipated, debated, disputed, and will remain a divisive issue till the day The Messianic Era begin with the Mashiach reigning from Mount Zion.

 

Yeshua of Nazareth

 

Matthew 1:1 – This is the genealogy of Yeshua the Messiah, son of David, son of Avraham

Yeshua of Nazareth who is of the line of King David and seed of Abraham had been identified but rejected and disputed by those who expect another Messiah.

Matthew’s writing identify Yeshua of Nazareth as the seed (זֶרַע zera) of Abraham who will be the final recipient of God’s covenant as an everlasting covenant.

The birth of Yeshua of Nazareth followed a similar pattern of Isaac, both identified as the son of promise, both of supernatural works of God.

Both Yeshua of Nazareth and Isaac were tested in similar pattern. The Akedah “binding of Isaac” was noted to be Abraham’s ultimate test of obedience. At that time Isaac was a mature adult about 30 years of age and he submitted to Abraham knowing that Abraham submit to God in obedience. Yeshua of Nazareth submitted to the will of God through the path of suffering, death, and resurrection.

The Akedah “binding of Isaac” foretold the suffering of the seed of Abraham in fulfilling God’s will and more details revealed in the prophetic writings of Isaiah which points to the afflictions of the Mashiach at the hands of the unrighteous

 

Isaiah 53

Who believes our report? To whom is the arm of יהוה YHVH God revealed? 2 For before him he grew up like a young plant, like a root out of dry ground. He was not well-formed or especially handsome; we saw him, but his appearance did not attract us. 3 People despised and avoided him, a man of pains, well acquainted with illness. Like someone from whom people turn their faces, he was despised; we did not value him.

4 In fact, it was our diseases he bore, our pains from which he suffered; yet we regarded him as punished, stricken and afflicted by God. 5 But he was wounded because of our crimes, crushed because of our sins; the disciplining that makes us whole fell on him, and by his bruises we are healed.

6 We all, like sheep, went astray; we turned, each one, to his own way; yet יהוה YHVH God laid on him the guilt of all of us.

7 Though mistreated, he was submissive — he did not open his mouth. Like a lamb led to be slaughtered, like a sheep silent before its shearers, he did not open his mouth. 8 After forcible arrest and sentencing, he was taken away; and none of his generation protested his being cut off from the land of the living for the crimes of my people, who deserved the punishment themselves. 9 He was given a grave among the wicked; in his death he was with a rich man.

Although he had done no violence and had said nothing deceptive, 10 yet it pleased יהוה YHVH God to crush him with illness, to see if he would present himself as a guilt offering. If he does, he will see his offspring; and he will prolong his days; and at his hand יהוה YHVH God’s desire will be accomplished.

11 After this ordeal, he will see satisfaction. “By his knowing [pain and sacrifice], my righteous servant makes many righteous; it is for their sins that he suffers. 12 Therefore I will assign him a share with the great, he will divide the spoil with the mighty, for having exposed himself to death and being counted among the sinners, while actually bearing the sin of many and interceding for the offenders.”

 

MASHIACH THE SEED OF ABRAHAM AND THE AFFLICTIONS OF THE RIGHTEOUS

 

Isaac’s life was offered through Abraham’s act of obedience to God’s word and a ram (אַיִל ayil) was killed as burnt offering (עֹלָה olah) to יהוה YHVH God.

Yeshua of Nazareth offered his life in complete obedience to God’s will but was killed by order of Pontius Pilate (governor of the Roman province of Judaea serving under Emperor Tiberius) and motivated by the Sanhedrin of that time.

The birth, life, suffering, and death of Yeshua of Nazareth fulfilled Scripture of unwavering trust and obedience in doing God’s words but suffered affliction by the hands of the unrighteous.

Yeshua of Nazareth being raised from the dead caused even more division and dispute about the identity of the Mashiach because Israel remained under subjugation to Rome and the Second Temple (reconstructed, refurbished, and overhauled by Herod) destroyed in 70 AD.

There is the expectation that the appearing and appointment of the Mashiach should coincide with the start of The Messianic Era and Zion being established as the center of governance for the Mashiach chosen of God.

However our human understanding of God’s appointed time (מוֹעֵד moed) for specific future event can be severely lacking and limited until it is fulfilled.

Kefa a disciple of Yeshua of Nazareth testified at the festival of Shavu‘ot following the resurrection of Yeshua on Pesach

 

Acts 2:22-36

22 “Men of Isra’el! Listen to this! Yeshua from Natzeret was a man demonstrated to you to have been from God by the powerful works, miracles and signs that God performed through him in your presence. You yourselves know this. 23 This man was arrested in accordance with God’s predetermined plan and foreknowledge; and, through the agency of persons not bound by the Torah, you nailed him up on a stake and killed him!

24 “But God has raised him up and freed him from the suffering of death; it was impossible that death could keep its hold on him.

25 For David says this about him: ‘I saw יהוה YHVH God always before me, for he is at my right hand, so that I will not be shaken. 26 For this reason, my heart was glad; and my tongue rejoiced; and now my body too will live on in the certain hope 27 that you will not abandon me to Sh’ol or let your Holy One see decay. 28 You have made known to me the ways of life; you will fill me with joy by your presence.’

29 “Brothers, I know I can say to you frankly that the patriarch David died and was buried — his tomb is with us to this day. 30 Therefore, since he was a prophet and knew that God had sworn an oath to him that one of his descendants would sit on his throne, 31 he was speaking in advance about the resurrection of the Messiah, that it was he who was not abandoned in Sh’ol and whose flesh did not see decay. 32 God raised up this Yeshua! And we are all witnesses of it!

33 “Moreover, he has been exalted to the right hand of God; has received from the Father what he promised, namely, the Ruach HaKodesh; and has poured out this gift, which you are both seeing and hearing. 34 For David did not ascend into heaven. But he says,

35 ‘יהוה YHVH God said to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.”’

36 Therefore, let the whole house of Isra’el know beyond doubt that God has made him both Lord and Messiah — this Yeshua, whom you executed on a stake!”

 

Acts 3:18-21

18 But this is how God fulfilled what he had announced in advance, when he spoke through all the prophets, namely, that his Messiah was to die.

19 “Therefore, repent and turn to God, so that your sins may be erased; 20 so that times of refreshing may come from the Lord’s presence; and he may send the Messiah appointed in advance for you, that is, Yeshua. 21 He has to remain in heaven until the time comes for restoring everything, as God said long ago, when he spoke through the holy prophets.

 

According to the witness and testimony of Kefa the Messiah had already appeared and He will return. Yeshua of Nazareth being raised from the dead is pattern of things to come when God will brings about the ultimate restoration of His chosen and redeemed and the start of The Messianic Era.

The person and identity of the Mashiach will continue to be sharply debated and disputed, and will remain a divisive issue till the day The Messianic Era begin with the Mashiach reigning from Mount Zion but we have received instructions to be ready

 

Deuteronomy 29:28(29)

“Things which are hidden belong to יהוה YHVH our God. But the things that have been revealed belong to us and our children forever, so that we can observe all the words of this Torah.

 

Scripture revealed יהוה YHVH God designated pattern of division, separation, selection, based on doing God’s words and being chosen for redemption and restoration and we are to observe God’s appointed time (מוֹעֵד moed) and be prepared for the Messianic Era.

 

DAVID Z