Tag: kingdom of God

It’s Not Too Late

What can a prostitute teach us about the Kingdom of God?

Audio only below

What can a prostitute teach us about the Kingdom of God?

If you’re just picking up a bible for the first time or you are just now considering Christianity, you might wonder why to follow a Messianic ministry instead of mainstream Christianity or some other faith. Well, there are many answers to why and I’m going to give you three easy ones. The first is a question: Where do you want to spend eternity? Saving our own hides is not a bad motivator for deciding to learn the truth. Christianity has a lot of fanciful notions about the afterlife and how to get there, but if you follow this ministry, you will get a much better understanding of the events that are coming, what you are supposed to be doing, and what that afterlife really looks like. Hint, it’s not floating around on clouds.

The second is another question: How is your life now? Are you at peace with your neighbors? Do you have anxiety about the future? Are you stressed? Are you questioning how to respond to situations that make you uncomfortable in this fallen world? The bible defines morality. It establishes boundaries and lets us know how to love God and how to love our neighbor. A great many of the values our society used to hold dear, values our country has strayed from, come straight from the Bible. The concept of having a justice system that treats everyone the same regardless of status or wealth is from the Torah, for instance. The concept of building safe buildings is from the Torah. The concepts of manslaughter and how to make people whole after an injury are also from the Torah. These are the more subtle things. The definition of marriage and sexual sins are also defined in the Bible, both in the Old and New Testaments, which are things our nation needs badly today. The Bible also speaks of running our houses well, financially, and otherwise. If we follow these and other tenets of the scriptures, from Genesis to Revelation, we will have a better and more peaceful life today.

The third point I want to hit on is dealing with our own sins and shortcomings. Of course, everybody wants to make it into the afterlife and have a good life today. But how do you deal with the day-to-day ups and downs? How do you make it right when you offend or do someone wrong? And how do you deal with the guilt for the problems you have created with bad behavior, which the Bible calls sin? When you accept Yeshua as the Messiah, Jesus as the Christ, you realize that He bore our iniquities. He absorbed them, yes even in advance. He provides a way out of the depression and guilt we incur for being the fallen humans that we are.

This brings me to why we study the whole Bible, from Genesis to Revelation. The theme of redemption is not established in the New Testament, it’s displayed in the New Testament through the sacrifice of Yeshua. Redemption, forgiveness, and having a way out of the messes we’ve created begins in Genesis at the fall where Yahweh makes garments to cover the shame of Adam and Eve. Then these things are built upon throughout the Old Testament, culminating in the ultimate sacrifice Yeshua, the Son of God, whose death pays the penalty for the sins of all who accept Him as the Messiah.

A great example of the Gospel in the Old Testament in Joshua 2 where the Israelites send spies to the land of Canaan before the invasion. These guys do their spying and end up hiding out at a prostitute’s house who lives on the wall in Jericho. The Israelites were to destroy everything and everyone when they invaded Canaan. Some find this to be problematic, but these people were destroyed because of their sins and their sinful culture. Jericho was an enormous walled city that was scheduled to be destroyed. Rahab is the name of this prostitute who hides the spies. This is the beginning of the Gospel story because she decides to welcome the children of God and she makes a choice to ally with them. She says that she’s heard of the mighty deeds of Yahweh and knows He is the real God. She makes the spies swear to spare her and her family at the invasion, which they do, and the family is saved miraculously.

The word gospel means “The Good News” and, by extension, The Good News of the Kingdom of God. Israel was coming into Canaan to establish the Kingdom of God. Rahab realizes this and wants in. She allies with the people of God and is miraculously saved in the turmoil.

Rahab wants to save her family from the tribulation as well. Don’t we all want to save our family from the wrath to come? And there’s something else, she likely doesn’t want to be a harlot anymore. She wants to leave that life behind. The destruction of her world provides for that. She lived on the wall, which hints that she didn’t actually want to be there. It hints at her yearning for a new life, looking for a way out. Somebody who wants to be in that city lives in the middle of it, but she lives on the edge.

This is the same as us. We have to live in this fallen world but we don’t have to like it. We yearn to be in a peaceful and righteous world. And we long to leave our sins and bad pasts behind.

How long do you think it was between Rahab helping the spies and her redemption? From Jericho to the Jordan river is about 10 miles, not that far. But for two million people, it probably took a couple weeks to get there. They had to cross the Jordan, circumcise themselves, recover, and keep Passover. So it took a little bit of time. Rahab had to trust the spies to keep their word. She had to watch as Israel’s huge army march right up to Jericho and then march in a circle for 6 days. Was she scared? Probably. Did she worry about the spies keeping their bargain? Probably. But this is analogous to faith, which is unseen. We have to have faith that Yeshua died for our sins and is holding up His end of the bargain. As the world gets crazier, more violent, and more sinful, we have to be strong in our faith that we, too, will be saved in the midst of the chaos. We also know our world is ultimately going to be destroyed and we will need to keep our faith until the end, through tribulation the world has never seen. And everybody in Jericho was destroyed except a sinner and her family, saved in the storm.

You see, the Kingdom of God is coming. If you want to be in it, it’s not too late. But it will be at some point. Don’t put it off. And if you want to have a more peaceful life with a strong sense of what’s right and what’s wrong, then read your Bible from cover to cover. And then join us as we wait patiently for the return of the Messiah, who is bringing the Kingdom of God, where we will experience true peace. Would you like to know something else that’s very interesting? Rahab the harlot is in the genealogy of Yeshua the Messiah. In Joshua 6 at verse 25, it says that Rahab and her family remained in Israel “to this day” after they were saved. They joined the family of God, just like we do when we are baptized. And with her being in Yeshua’s line, that means not only can we relate to Rahab, we are related to her, too.

You Can’t Tell Me What to Do!

We in the west are conditioned to be convinced of everything. We have no concept of authority, let alone the authority we will be under in the kingdom of Yahweh. Are you willing to shed your liberty for salvation or are you in the “You can’t tell me what to do!” camp?

Audio only below

US society is based on individual liberty. Without a lengthy civics lesson, that I would need to refresh on anyhow, this nation was founded as a clean break from the feudal systems of Europe and residents of this new country became citizens instead of subjects. It’s not the first time in History that this happened. Rome had citizens and not subjects, for instance. In general, a citizen has a say in how they are governed while a subject does not. A subject is someone who is ruled by a monarch, where the only sovereign individual in that government/country would be the king and all others subjected to his rule. The residents of western countries that retained their monarchies while adopting parliamentarian democracies have mostly become citizens because their monarchies have either restrained themselves or have become ceremonial offices. Becoming a citizen of the United States culminates in swearing an oath to our constitution, a document that was ratified by the people as an agreed foundation of governance. In a pure monarchy, becoming a subject would be to swear allegiance to a crown and the wearer of that crown. Britain is the country we most relate to in this regard and you can see that even though they use the word citizen in their oath of citizenship, the reality is that those become British citizens literally become subjects. For reference Citizenship ceremonies: guidance notes (English and Welsh) – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) and BBC NEWS | UK | Magazine | Are we subjects or citizens?

I’m bringing this up to discuss a practical and a theological point of view. In our faith, we are looking forward to being in the Kingdom of Yahweh, where we will be subjects. Being raised in the United States, or most anywhere in the west, we largely have no idea how to be ruled. In fact, we are conditioned from birth to not be ruled and that we can ultimately do whatever we wish. We are raised that we must be convinced of everything. This is by design. Our country elects representatives who represent either a set population of a state or entire states, who then have to be convinced to pass laws and spend money. We lobby our representatives to support or oppose issues. So this idea of being convinced of things is foundational to our upbringing. Our president is the commander in chief of the military, but we are not supposed to go to war without the consent of Congress. In history and in the bible, kings were the leaders of the militaries, and they answered to nobody but God. I refer you to King David being a brutal military commander and his heirs were expected to be the same. Hence why the disciples were so ready to take up arms for Yeshua, being He is the Son of David as well as the Son of Yahweh.

With the only possible exception I can think of being those who have served in the military, we find ourselves in a place where we are almost completely ignorant of how to be subjects. We’re supposed to have some reverence for the elected offices, not necessarily the people who hold them, but with the advent of social media, we don’t even do that anymore. We’ve arrived at a place where not only do we not respect offices, but we also often believe the opposite of what a person in authority says just because we figure they are all either wrong, lying, or both.

Slide 2 “And at that time many will fall away, and they will betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will rise up and mislead many people. And because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will become cold. But the one who endures to the end is the one who will be saved. This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.” (Mat 24:10-14)

We are in a very strange place today because of a lack of authority, or rather, a lack of respect for authority. Just ten years ago, could you imagine there being even one drag show at an elementary school, let alone a controversy about this being appropriate? Could you ever imagine men pretending to be women so they could win trophies in women’s sports and even force young ladies to allow these men into their locker rooms? We even have men who protect others from violent criminals being arrested and the violent criminals being protected by the law. This present state of lawlessness has come about because we don’t have anybody willing to say “no”. This has gotten to the point where states are making drugs legal that are federally illegal and nobody is willing to say “no” or, gasp, change the federal law. Brothers and sisters, for most of my time in this walk I was told that the Sabbath was the commandment of lawlessness. That the Sunday keepers purposely breaking that one commandment was the sign of lawlessness. That is because for most of our lives, for most of the last 1500 years, the other 9 commandments were a given. Today, most recoil at the word commandment at all, because Jesus set us free, don’t you know, so nobody can tell us what to do!

Last week, the Torah portion brought us to a pretty obscure passage for most believers that I really like to use to illustrate the problem we have with authority. Check it out.

Slide 3 YHVH spoke further to Moses, saying, “Make yourself two trumpets of silver, you shall make them of hammered work; and you shall use them for summoning the congregation and breaking camp. Now when both are blown, all the congregation shall meet you at the entrance of the tent of meeting. But if only one is blown, then the leaders, the heads of the divisions of Israel, shall meet you. And when you blow an alarm, the camps that are pitched on the east side shall set out. Then when you sound an alarm the second time, the camps that are pitched on the south side shall set out; an alarm is to be sounded for them to break camp. When convening the assembly, however, you shall blow the trumpets without sounding an alarm. The sons of Aaron, moreover, the priests, shall blow the trumpets; and this shall be a permanent statute for you throughout your generations. And when you go to war in your land against the enemy who attacks you, then you shall sound an alarm with the trumpets, so that you will be thought of by YHVH your Elohim, and be saved from your enemies. Also on the day of your joy and at your appointed feasts, and on the first days of your months, you shall blow the trumpets over your burnt offerings, and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings; and they shall be as a reminder of you before your Elohim. I am YHVH your Elohim.” (Num 10:1-10)

Chatsoserah not shofrot. These are very special metallic trumpets. Only two people could blow them and then their descendants. This is part of the kingdom/authority stuff I’m talking about today. The trumpeters were the trumpeters, and nobody else’s lips would ever touch those special trumpets. Ever. Shofrot are animal horns that all of us can have. They are common, not holy, but could be used for holy purposes. YHVH took the Levites to be set apart and gave them sets of specific tasks, to the point of specific descendants doing very specific tasks. That’s how a kingdom works. They were subjects and YHVH was the King. Only the Kohen Gadol, the High Priest could say when these trumpets were blown and for what purpose. If they were blown to move out, out they moved. If they were blown for a new moon, it was the new moon. What somebody in the camp thought about a sliver or whatnot meant nothing. The Kohen Gadol determined the new moon and that was that. These metallic trumpets were a reminder of who was in charge and that was YHVH. By respecting the Levitical priesthood, the people were showing reverence and respect to Yahweh who set that system up.

Guess what? We’re going back to something like this when Yeshua returns.

Slide 4 Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. (1Co 15:50-52)

The last trumpet is something we have likely never heard in our lifetimes, but I bet you it’s something made of a metal we have never seen before. Paul is telling us the kingdom of God begins with the sound of a trumpet. From Revelation, it seems there will be a series of trumpet blasts leading up to it. When these sounds happen, will we be ready? Will we be ready to submit to our king, Yeshua, who is coming back with legions of angels? Are we going to submit to His rule and be ready to serve however He commands? Because that’s how it works in a kingdom. There will be one last choice for us, which will be very similar to this one:

Slide 5 “Now, therefore, fear YHVH and serve Him in sincerity and truth; and put away the gods which your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve YHVH. If it is disagreeable in your sight to serve YHVH, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve YHVH.” (Jos 24:14-15)

Joshua is using monarchy language here. Serving Yahweh as the King of the Universe that He is. He is Melech ha olam, but also Melech ha ba, which is the world to come. He is asking the people if they will put away their gods and submit to Yahweh. The choice at the return of Yeshua will be similar, but with worse consequences for failure.

The sound of Yeshua’s return will begin with the blast of a Trumpet. Will that be a welcome sound to us or will it bring terror?

How will we know if it’s really Him or some imposter? Through study and the power of the Holy Spirit, the Ruach Ha Kodesh.

The real Messiah is coming back and will usher in a 1000 year reign of Torah with Him ruling from Jerusalem. And mankind will have one last chance to say “you can’t tell me what to do”. For most of us, the time to choose is right now. To become a subject in the kingdom of Yahweh, you have to submit to Him and acknowledge that He, and His Son, can indeed tell you what to do. And you’re going to do it. And you learn what they want us to do by reading their Word, the Bible, from cover to cover.

Putting this off this submission until the end is the worst decision a person could make. Those who choose “you can’t tell me what to do” will not like the consequences. But as for me and my house, we will serve Yahweh and His Son, Yeshua.