THE SHRIEK
by Avram Yehoshua
I told Miryam that her life was like the empty glass that was sitting in front of her. She didn't quite know what to make of my words. Ten minutes earlier she had knocked on our front door, wanting to sell us something. It was 9:00 PM. I thought she looked a little weary and offered her a drink of water. She invited herself in and asked if she could sit at our table. Ah...the subtlety of the salesperson.
As she was presenting her product, I told her that we really weren't interested but that I had a question for her. I asked, 'Do you believe in God?' She said that she was Jewish and that she believed in God. I said, 'What is the Name of your God?' That took her back a little. I continued, 'All religions have gods. All the gods have names. And so does the God of Israel. What is the Name of your God?'
She was about 19 years old and I expected her to say something like, 'The Lord' or, 'Adonai' or, 'HaShem' which aren't names at all, but titles. She couldn't give me anything though. She told me that she wasn't religious but she believed in 'God.' (We Jews are so much better off in America, aren't we?). I asked her, 'How can you believe in God and you don't even know His Name? She said that there was just 'some Power out there' that she believed in. She then began telling me about how her product was better than I thought. I politely told her again that I wasn't interested.
In the best tradition of sales, she didn't let my lack of interest in her product phase her one bit. She began to tell me of other benefits and costs that I simply couldn't refuse. I told her that about four months ago, a young man from her company had come to our home and told us everything about it. In the end, we both realized that I had it better without his product. This didn't deter her in the least and she went off in another direction.
After listening for a moment or two, I asked her if she had ever gone on a spiritual journey to find out if God was real. She thought about it and said that one time she had for a little while. I asked her what had become of it and she said that nothing happened. I was about to ask her how or what she did to initiate it, but she began to defend herself by again saying that she was not religious. She also added that she was 'happy with her life.' She was going to make a lot of money and make something of herself! Ah, the blessedness of ignorance and self-sufficiency.
I told her that her striving for the Almighty Dollar, to fulfill her deep spiritual needs was like 'grasping at a cloud. 'You might be able to get your hand on it, but it'll vanish before your eyes. One day, you'll stand before the Living God and have to give account for all your sins and if you can't, you'll be sent to Hell. It won't matter if you found the cure for cancer, won the Nobel Prize, became President of the U.S., made a trillion dollars in business, brought 'peace' to the Middle East, was voted 'Mother of the Century', took in stray cats and was kind to drunks.'
She asked me if I was telling her that she was going to die soon because she wasn't religious. I told her that I had no idea when she was going to die, only God did. No one is guaranteed that they will wake up tomorrow. I pointed to her now empty glass and said that her life was like that empty glass. 'Miryam, you don't even know the Life that God has for you but you sit there and tell me that you are happy running after a cloud that you'll never catch. Your life will never change for you unless you seek the God of Israel and find out what He has done for you. He wants to fill up your glass with Living Water so that deep in your soul you'll be satisfied.' 'God sent His Messiah, whose Name is Yeshua, to Israel 2,000 years ago, to die for you that you might have the Life of God. Only in Yeshua will you feel clean and will your sins be forgiven. Only Yeshua can do this for you. Without Him, you will always be like that empty glass!'
The Name of Yeshua didn't cause any hostile reaction. I didn't think it would as Miryam wasn't a religious Jew but one can never tell until 'the Name' is mentioned. Many 'secular' Jews go ballistic at 'the Name' also, as I have personally found out in Tulsa and other places. Why? More Jews have been murdered 'in the Name of Jesus,' than all other names combined. How could this be? Not all who say they 'believe', give their hearts to Yeshua for Him to transform. On THAT day, they too will be cast into Hell Fire. God is not mocked. Whatever we sow, that shall we reap. Not that all religious Jews are hostile to the Name, but some are. So much for 'tolerance' and 'inter-faith dialogue.' Miryam seemed to have no knowledge of Christian anti-Semitism or Jewish education. Ah...Amer-ree-ka! Where all the streets are paved with gold!
I asked Miryam if she knew what the definition of sin was. She answered and said that, 'Sin was disobedience to God.' I was pleasantly surprised. I told her that she was right and she began to tell me that she really didn't care as she had her life to lead and she didn't think that there was anything wrong with what she was doing. So much for the depth to her 'belief' in God. Her 'god' was of her own making. I said, 'Anytime we don't line up with the Law of Moses, we sin against God. Doesn't matter if we do it in ignorance ('But I didn't know! Doesn't that count for something?!'), or intentionally ('I don't care what God thinks!), which is called rebellion. Both are sin and keep us enslaved to Satan. It's truly in your best interests to fall in line with God.'
When we sin, we place ourselves in death and darkness. I said, 'The power of sin is that it deceives us most of the time. Do you like drinking mud? All that Satan gives us tastes great at first; but it turns to mud in our throats. You sit there and tell me that you feel you're alright, and you don't even realize that you're drinking mud. You have no discernment as to what is good for you and what will cause you misery and grief.' She didn't know what I meant by 'discernment'.' I pointed to an imaginary glass in front of me and said that it held clean water. I pointed to a second imaginary glass next to it and told her, 'This one contains water with deadly poison in it. Not having any discernment you tell me that it doesn't matter which one you drink!'
She understood 'discernment.' 'The Bible speaks of those who disobey Yahveh, the God of Israel, as living in slavery. You are enslaved to Satan and you don't even realize it.' I told her that the Prophet Ezekiel said that silver and gold made the Sons of Israel stumble into sin (Ezk. 7:19). What do you think will happen to all your money on THAT day? Will you offer it to God to spare your soul? This country was built on the spirit of freedom and independence. But God calls it rebellion. The 'fruit' of that 'freedom'? More than 30 million unborn babies have been murdered; murder of teens and teachers in school; men hot after men and women lusting after women. Some call it an 'alternative lifestyle.' God says it's an abomination and those that practice such will be damned in Hell Fire forever. There is a way out though.
God made a Covenant with Israel through Moses at Mt. Sinai. In other words, He bound Himself to Israel. It's comparable to a marriage. He provides for Israel and raises her to a place of honor among the nations. Her proper response is one of gratitude, love and obedience to His Word, His Law, His Blessing for Israel. Instead, Israel continually ignores God and pursues vanity for lovers. This is betrayal or spiritual adultery. 'You are part of that people Miryam.' She was listening to me now, interested in what I was saying about her way of life and where it was leading her.
I asked her about her mother and father. She told us that she didn't know her father much. Her mother had raised her. I told her that I was very sorry. 'Sin is very, very costly, Miryam. Because your mother and father couldn't get along in their sin, you suffered much pain.' That's the real curse of sin; someone always suffers. Her eyes told me she understood. 'Because sin hardens the heart, people are not wanting to forgive and to love the other. Sin is selfish and wants its way and could care less about your needs, even though sin might say, 'I love you.' Remember, sin is very deceptive. And how can you know when you sin, if you only measure your life according to your own wisdom?' I said that Yeshua wanted to touch her heart, to heal all her pain and to set her free to love others in a way that would give her the Joy of the Lord.
In the ancient Tabernacle of Moses, God literally dwelt above the Ark of the Covenant. The High Priest, once a year on the Day of Atonement would come into God's Presence with the blood of a goat. Before the goat was sacrificed, the sins of Israel were placed 'on its head.' That goat would die, with the sins of Israel on it, and God said when that ceremony was done, the people would be cleansed, free from sin (Lev. 16). That law has never changed for Israel.
All Israel was cleansed from their sin before God on THAT day. All the people, except the ones that despised God in their hearts. That was what the other goat was for. It was called the scapegoat. The sins of Israel were also placed on its head and it was taken out to a desolate spot in the Wilderness and left there to wander alone and die, outside the Presence of Yahveh and His People. (It also pictures all those wicked Christians who hated and murdered Jews.) Why? They did not submit their hearts to Yeshua and so carried their own sin and guilt themselves. They tell Him, 'I am in charge of my life. I don't need You!' On THAT day, they will be placed in a most desolate place: Hell.
What's your way of dealing with Yahveh and sin? Or do you just act as though God and sin weren't real? If your life doesn't line up with God's Standard, you're going to have a very big problem on THAT day. Where is your blood sacrifice to atone for your sins (Lev. 17:11), so you can stand 'clean' before Yahveh, the God of Israel? Has your rabbi told you that you don't need it now? You'll both find yourselves in that desolate place on THAT day. God's Word is True and cannot be broken even if all the Rabbis say differently. On THAT day, the deception will be unmasked. No Jew who believes in Moses can stand before the Living God on THAT day without the Blood of Messiah Yeshua. That's the Way that Yahveh has made it.
The pure gold lid on the Ark pictured Yahveh. The earth where the blood was sprinkled pictured Israel, as Adam was made from the dust of the earth. The 'box' part of the Ark being wood overlaid with gold, pictured Yeshua as God the Son (gold), and the perfect Jewish Man (wood). He is now the Heavenly High Priest of Israel who intercedes for us before Yahveh. The blood that reconciled or brought sinful Israel back into right relationship with Yahveh, pictured the Blood of Yeshua our Messiah. This is why Messiah had to die; to reconcile Israel with God, in a greater way than Aaron could ever do. Read Isaiah 53. Those sacrifices that were done every year by the High Priest were a picture of what God would do in sending His Son to die for you and me and any Gentile that we might have the Righteousness of Yahveh (Jer. 23:6). The ONLY Remedy for sin is God's Forgiveness and the ONLY way to get this is by accepting in the deepest part of your heart, the Blood Sacrifice of Messiah Yeshua. This is the Way that God has chosen to not only forgive your sins, but to reveal to you His heart of love for you, and for you to be able to walk in His Love. For what person would voluntarily die for you? Your mother or your father perhaps? But would your father or mother voluntarily die for people that hate you and them? Would their love extend that far? God's does. He offers forgiveness to all those that hate Him and His Son, that we might come to understand just what God's Love is all about.
About a month ago, my wife and I were waiting at the airport for a friend to arrive. As the passengers filed into the waiting area, there were the usual hugs and tears, kissing and embraces, mock signs of affection, etc. As one father came into view, his two oldest sons, perhaps six and four, ran to him. The father bent over, picked them up and hugged and kissed them. The mother, who had been holding the youngest son, who was about one year and eight months old, put him down. He hadn't seen his father yet and just began to wander off in the direction that he last saw his two brothers running in.
All of a sudden the little boy saw his father. The high pitched shriek of Joy that the boy let out was one of pure delight! It caught the attention of everyone in the area. His father, still with the two older sons in his arms, reached down and picked him up as well, the little one trying to wrap his arms around the chest of his father. My eyes began to water. The deepest part of my heart had been touched by that little boy's reaction upon seeing his father.
'Miryam, can you imagine that father ever allowing anything to harm his son? With his last ounce of strength he would fight any and every human being or wild beast who wanted to harm his precious child. Now, why would Papa God allow evil men to beat and to murder His Son, Yeshua? He could have stopped the torture and the death process. He didn't though. Why not? So that you would know that in Papa God's eyes, that you are so precious to Him, that He would offer His Son as a blood sacrifice that you might be able to stand in His Presence on THAT day.'
God doesn't want to force you to love Him. He has humbled Himself so that your heart might be pierced with His Love for you. He thought that if you knew that the way for the your sins to be forgiven, was through the Sacrifice of His Son, that it would break your heart. There is nothing greater that He could have done 'to call you home.' Like the goat sacrificed, Yeshua laid down His life for you, that you might be forgiven for all your sins and come to know Papa God by His Spirit. If you give yourself to Yeshua, you too will know the shriek of Joy, when one day, 'out of the blue,' you will see the Face of your Father. If you don't, then you will carry your own sins before God. No one can live in His Presence with their sins, no matter how good they think they are.'
I asked if she'd like a Bible with a New Covenant in it, so she could read about her Messiah. She hesitated at first, asking if she had to return it. I told her that we wanted her to keep the Bible as a gift. And that if she had any questions about it, she could call us or come over.
Don't think your sin is that great? Not many do. That's part of the deceptive power of sin. Most people think they are, 'good people.' But the standard that they use is their own, not God's. Sin must be 'paid for' with a blood sacrifice (Lev. 17:11). Nothing else will do; not prayer or fasting or good deeds or attendance in the synagogue on Yom Kipor. These are all good things, but God requires the Blood of His Son for forgiveness of our sin.
Seek with all your heart to find out Who Yeshua is. He is our Joy and our Strength. He is our Wisdom and our Understanding. In Him there is forgiveness of sins and Power to live this life out. And on THAT day, only He can fill your soul with the Shriek of Joy when you see your Father, and not the dread of despair.
Email Avram — avramyeh@gmail.com
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