A PICTURE OF THE MESSIAH OF ISRAEL
by Avram Yehoshua
(Footnotes are in red numbers and their notes appear at the end of the
text)
I once 'knew about God' having been born in Brooklyn and raised in New
Jersey, but when I was in my early 20's, God didn't have any bearing on
my life. Yes, I knew He existed, but I really didn't know Him. Or, at
least I thought He existed. Only when I gave myself to Yeshua the
Messiah, at 24 years old, did I come to know the Shalom of God, the True
Peace of the LORD. What I had always been looking for, 'in all the wrong
places but could never put my finger on,' I found in Messiah Yeshua.
Only He truly satisfies the heart's longing for God.
Come my friend. I want to introduce you to the Messiah of Israel. The
One who has come to not only set you free from sin, guilt and death
eternal, but to fill you with His Holy Spirit of Love, Joy and Peace.
You might say to me, 'Avram, I don't want to lose my Jewishness. I was
born a Jew and I will die a Jew.' I understand. People tell me that
you're either a Jew or a Christian. And the two 'don't mix.' But can you
tell me how belief in the Jewish Messiah can make you not Jewish? (There
are many Gentiles who tell me that they're Jewish because of their
belief in the Jewish Messiah Jesus, nu?)
The Truth is that Yeshua the Messiah will transform you into the Jew you
were meant to be. And that when the End comes, you'll gladly take your
place alongside Fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Not for anything you
have done, but because of what God has done for you. Yahveh Tzidkaynu.
The LORD is our Righteousness.1
And how does the LORD become our
Righteousness? Of our own righteousness, Yahveh tells us that the very
best we have to offer Him, is as filthy rags.2
The Shadow Pictures
I was walking on a street at night once, and happened to notice a bare
light bulb in the porch of a house I was passing. You know how something
like that can catch your attention, and then looking at it, you're sorry
you did, for the light is very glaring. Looking away immediately into
the opposite direction, my eyes rested on the outline of a tree across
the street, actually the shadow of the tree, on the wall of the
building. The tree was about 30 feet from the wall. The shadow was made
by the light from the porch. I noticed how perfect the outline of the
tree was, to the tiniest branches and limbs. It was winter, and so there
were no leaves on it. And I was struck with how awesome our God is. I
could tell from the shadow, that it was a tree I was looking at, and not
say, a tiger or a car.
In the Tenah (the Hebrew Bible), there are many such 'shadows' of the
Messiah. God has placed them there so that those who have eyes to see,
will understand who the Messiah of Israel is. These shadows help us to
understand the Heavenly Reality. From these shadows we can describe Who
the Messiah would be, what He would do, and how He would be received.
Who the Messiah Would Be
The first shadow that comes to mind is the one found in Micah the
Prophet. '...with the rod they will strike on the cheek the Judge of
Israel. But you, Bethlehem Ephrata, least to be among the clans of
Judah, from you He will come out for Me, to be Ruler in Israel, and His
origin is from the ancient past, the days of eternity.'3
Who would be able to strike the Messiah (Judge, Ruler) of Israel upon
the cheek with a rod? And more importantly, why would the Messiah allow
such a thing to happen? The Prophet Isaiah confirms this when he records
about Messiah, 'My back I offered to the ones beating Me and My cheeks
to the ones pulling out My beard from my face. And I didn't hide from
their mocking and spitting.'4
Before Yeshua was pierced to the tree, to be the Sacrifice that would
set us free, He was spit upon, His beard pulled out and His back ripped
open with the lash of the Romans. A crown of thorns was forcefully put
on His head also, and His face was beaten with a rod.5
It was because of the prophecy of Micah that the Rabbis declared that
the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem, the town where King David was
born. Yeshua was born in Bethlehem.6 Bethlehem means, 'House of Bread'
and Yeshua said that He was the Pure Bread from Heaven. And that any Jew
who ate of Him (trusted in Him for Righteousness and Eternal Life),
would live forever.7
Since the Messiah would be the Ruler (or King) of Israel, it would be
appropriate for Him to have been born in the town of King David. But
it's the origin of the Messiah that pinpoints Who He is. The Ruler is
said to be 'from the ancient past, the days of eternity.' The word in
Hebrew for 'the ancient past' (sometimes translated, 'from of old'), is
O|-?'"'I (mih-keh-dem) which literally is 'from the east' but has the
connotation of something that existed before the Dawn of Time, from the
beginning or 'ancient time.'8 It also describes the Creation.9
The next phrase of Micah, which compliments our first word, is
translated, 'the days of eternity' (or, 'from ancient times') and in
Hebrew is me-may oh-lam, and is literally, 'from the days of the Distant
Past.'10 It has the meaning of, 'forever, everlasting...ancient'11 and
means, something that points, 'to what is hidden in the distant future
or in the distant past.'12 It is used of Yahveh in Genesis 21:33 as El
olam, the Eternal God.'13
What Yahveh is telling us through Micah the Prophet, is that the Ruler
of Israel, the Messiah, the Judge, was in existence before He would have
offered His face to His tormentors. Way before. Only deity fits that
description.14 The use of the same concept twice 'from the ancient past,
the days of eternity' signifies that Yahveh is very emphatic about His
Messiah being deity.
In Psalm 2 it speaks of the Messiah being the Son of God15 and in
Proverbs 30:4 it asks if you know 'His Son's Name.'16 Yes, the Messiah
of Israel would be deity, but again, why would deity subject Itself to
humiliation and death?
What the Messiah Would Do
Another shadow comes from the Prophet Zechariah. He tells us that the
Messiah of Israel would cleanse us from sin and impurity.17 Most of the
Jewish People 2,000 years ago, believed that the Messiah would deliver
them from Roman bondage, the way that Moses delivered us from Egyptian
bondage. But God threw us a curve ball. God sent the Messiah to give us
a new heart, to liberate us from sin within, to deliver us from a
bondage much greater than that of Rome's. A bondage to sin and death
that we could not change, no matter what we do.
What do you have to offer Yahveh in exchange for Him forgiving your
sins? Can you offer Him a million dollars? Can you offer Him a life
dedicated to doing good? What can you give Him that will make you free
from your sin? Acceptable to Him. That on Judgment Day, He would
pronounce you, 'righteous.' Can you offer to die for your sin?
Even if you were to give all the money you could ever make and save; do
only good all your life, and in the end, offer your life as atonement
for your sin, it would not be enough. That's right. All you could ever
give and do would not make you like Yahveh. For He is the Holy One of
Israel. It is our sin nature that stains and defiles everything we do or
say.
Our sin nature makes us enemies of God, even when we strive to be
otherwise. Let me give you an illustration. Sin is like iron. You know
those metal detectors they have at the airports to keep weapons from
entering planes? If you have any kind of metal on you, the alarm will go
off and they won't let you through until they find out if you're
carrying a weapon or not. When we stand in front of God on Judgment Day,
our rebellious heart will be revealed.
It says in the Bible that our God is a consuming Fire.18 Anyone who is
not protected from this Fire will be destroyed eternally. The only
protection is the Blood of Yeshua. His Sacrificial Death is the only
sacrifice that is acceptable to Yahveh for your sins and your sin
nature. A nature that immediately consigns us to Hell, for we can not
live in the Presence of Yahveh, without being like Him. He is totally
different.
So how do we exchange our filthy rags, for God's Righteousness? By
trusting in what Yahveh has done, in sending His Son, Yeshua the
Messiah, to die for you and me. God's Righteousness is a Gift to us, for
no one could do anything to become like Yahveh is. He is Holy.
Only two of the same kind can marry or come together.19 A man could only
marry after his own kind; another human being, not a monkey or a sheep,
etc. And God can only marry someone like Him. We are the Bride, and He,
the Messiah, is the Groom. Is there anything that we could do that could
make us to have the same Nature as Yahveh? Nothing. Only Yahveh can
transform us into His Nature of deity. And He has chosen to do this
through the Blood Sacrifice of His Son, Yeshua. This is the New
Creation, the New Heavens and Earth, the New Jerusalem. God dwelling
among and within Man, One with Mankind. Hear Oh Israel!
This has been what God's Plan was all along. To be in union with His
Creation through the Blood Sacrifice of His Son, that cleanses us and
transforms us into His Likeness and Being. Someone that He is able to be
One with. Someone He is able to marry. The Rabbis tell us that God
married Israel at Sinai, the Covenant or Torah being the Ketubah, the
Jewish Wedding Certificate. But this was only a picture shadow of the
Marriage of His Son to Israel, both Jew and Gentile, by His Sacrificial
Blood.
It was only through the Mosaic Sacrifices that a person could be
forgiven of their sin.20 The life of the flesh (of the animal), was
given up in response to the sin of the person.21 Yahveh was placing in
motion, the picture of what He would have His Messiah to do: to
sacrificially lay His Life down and show us His Love. To offer His very
Life's Blood for the cleansing of both Jew and Gentile.22 He's wooing
you now.
His Blood is what covers us and allows us to be declared, 'Not Guilty,'
as to our sins and offenses against Yahveh. But the Power of the Blood
of Yeshua does not stop there. In the days of Moses and King David, the
sacrifice for sin was effective to the forgiveness of sin. But it did
not touch the sin nature. Man's nature remained the same: stubborn and
sinful to the core.
The Precious Blood of Yeshua, the Son of God, transforms our very being,
our nature, into His. When I stand before my God on Judgment Day, I will
know Him as He is, for we will be one. At that time I will be instantly
changed into what He is now: the Glorified Son of God. He, who was once
dead, is alive forevermore. He has taken upon Himself human nature, that
I might be given His Divine nature. And then Man will be what God has
always intended Man to be: One with Him, having a Bride who truly loves
and cherishes her Husband. The Pure and True Israel of God.
For those who despise what the God of Israel has done in sending His
Son, there will be Eternal Death. They will stand before the Messiah,
the Judge of the whole Earth23 and realize that their sin nature
excludes them from union with God. The Creator can not be in union with
sinful, rebellious, stubborn people. He is Holy.
How Messiah Would Be Received
Isaiah writes how we Jews would reject Yeshua 1970 years ago.24 Even though there were tens of thousands of Jews who believed that Yeshua was
the Messiah then,25 the nation as a whole rejected Him. Today there are at least two hundred thousand Jews who trust in Yeshua for
Righteousness. We have come to know the tender, intimate Love that our
God has for us, for He Himself is teaching us who He is.26
Can you see the Picture? The Shadow has become Reality. Yeshua died that
humiliating death because that was our punishment. And He gives us His
Righteousness because there was no other way for us to obtain it. Come
to Messiah Yeshua and know the God of Israel. E mail me and I'll share
His Love with you.
Footnotes:
1. Jeremiah 23:6: 'In His days Judah will be saved and Israel will dwell
securely. And this is His Name by which He will be called, Yahveh (is)
our righteousness.'
2. Isaiah 64:6: 'For all of us have become like one who is unclean. And
all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment. And all of us wither
like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.'
3. In the Tenah the cite is Micah 4:14b-5:1 and in the Christian Bible;
Micah 5:1b-2.
4. Isaiah 50:6
5. Matthew 26:63-28:10
6. Matthew 2:1
7. 'Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has Eternal Life. I am
the Bread of Life. Your Fathers ate the manna in the wilderness and they
died. This is the Bread which comes down out of Heaven, so that one may
eat of it and not die. I am the Living Bread that came down out of
Heaven. If anyone eats of this Bread, he will live forever, and the
Bread also, which I will give for the life of the world, is My Flesh.'
(John 6:47-51)
8. R. L. Harris, Editor, Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, vol.
2 (Chicago: Moody Press, 1980), p. 785.
9. Ibid.
10. Ibid. p. 672-673.
11. Ibid. p. 672.
12. Ibid.
13. Ibid. p. 673.
14. One might say that angels could fit into that category also, but no
angel is ever spoken of as having been from the eternal past.
15. Psalm 2:7: 'I will surely tell of the decree of Yahveh. He said to
Me, 'You are My Son. Today I have begotten You.' Psalm 2:12: 'Do homage
to the Son, that He not become angry, and you perish in the way. For His
wrath may soon be kindled. How blessed are all who take refuge in Him!'
16. Proverbs 30:4: 'Who has ascended into Heaven and descended? Who has
gathered the wind in His fists? Who has wrapped the waters in His
garment? Who has established all the ends of the Earth? What is His Name
or His Son's Name? Surely you know!'
17. Zechariah 13:1: 'In that day there will be a Fountain opened for the
House of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and impurity.'
18. Deut. 4:24: 'For Yahveh your God is a consuming Fire, a jealous
God.' Hebrews 12:29: 'for our God is a consuming Fire.'
19. Ex. 22:19: 'Whoever lies with an animal shall surely be put to
death.' Lev. 18:23: 'Also you shall not have intercourse with any animal
to be defiled with it, nor shall any woman stand before an animal to
mate with it; it is a perversion.' Lev. 19:19: 'You are to keep My
statutes. You shall not breed together two kinds of your cattle; you
shall not sow your field with two kinds of seed, nor wear a garment upon
you of two kinds of material mixed together.'
20. Lev. 4:35b: '...Thus the priest shall make atonement for him in
regard to his sin which he has committed, and he will be forgiven.' (See
also Leviticus 4:20, 26, 31; 5:6, 13, 18; 6:7)
21. Lev. 17:11: 'For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have
given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is
the blood by reason of the life that makes atonement.'
22. Isaiah 49:6: 'He says, 'It is too small a thing that You should be
My Servant, to raise up the Tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved
ones of Israel. I will also make You a Light of the nations so that My
Salvation may reach to the end of the Earth.'
23. John 5:22-27: 'For not even the Father judges anyone, but He has
given all judgment to the Son, so that all will honor the Son even as
they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the
Father who sent Him. Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word,
and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into
judgment, but has passed out of death into life. Truly, truly, I say to
you, an hour is coming and now is, when the dead will hear the Voice of
the Son of God, and those who hear will live. For just as the Father has
life in Himself, even so He gave to the Son also to have life in
Himself; and He gave Him authority to execute judgment, because He is
the Son of Man.'
24. Is. 53:1, 3, 8, 10-11: 'Who has believed our message? And to whom
has the Arm of Yahveh been revealed?' 'He was despised and forsaken of
men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And like one from whom
men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.' 'By
oppression and judgment He was taken away. And as for His generation,
who considered that He was cut off out of the land of the living for the
transgression of my people, to whom the stroke was due?' 'But Yahveh was
pleased to crush Him, putting Him to grief, if He would render Himself
as a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His
days. And the good pleasure of Yahveh will prosper in His hand. As a
result of the anguish of His soul, He will see it and be satisfied. By
His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, as
He will bear their iniquities.'
25. Acts 2:38-41; 21:20ff
26. Jer. 31:34: 'Behold, days are coming,' declares Yahveh, 'when I will
make a New Covenant with the House of Israel and with the House of
Judah, not like the Covenant which I made with their Fathers in the day
I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My
Covenant which they broke, although I was a Husband to them,' declares
Yahveh. 'But this is the Covenant which I will make with the House of
Israel after those days,' declares Yahveh, 'I will put My Law within
them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and
they shall be My People. They will not teach again, each man his
neighbor and each man his brother, saying, 'Know Yahveh,' for they will
all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,' declares
Yahveh, 'for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will
remember no more.'
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