Showing posts with label biblical. Show all posts
Showing posts with label biblical. Show all posts

Friday, October 27, 2017

Bubonic Plague Spreading From Madagascar, Sparking Fears of End-of-Days Epidemic and Today's Top Stories - Breaking Israel News

BIN HeaderBiblical ProphecyJerusalemEnd of DaysIDFBible CodesTemple Mount

Is a Terrifying Biblical Plague Returning Despite Science’s Best Efforts?

 

Vice President Pence Will Make First State Visit to Israel on Hanukkah

“Happy is the man who finds refuge in You, whose mind is on the [pilgrim] highways.” (Psalms 84:6)
 

The Year 1948

Currently, we are living in the Hebrew year 5778 of creation. Did you know that Abraham was born in the year 1948 of creation? Abraham was the first Jew! Abraham was also the first Jew to immigrate to the Land of Israel! Thousands of years later, the modern State of Israel was established in the gregorian year 1948! In this year, Jews from around the world flocked to the land in the fulfillment of Biblical prophecy. Is the year 1948 a coincidence here? Definitely not!
 
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House Unanimously Passes Bills Targeting Iran Terror Proxy Hezbollah

“Justice done is a joy to the righteous, To evildoers, ruination.” (Proverbs 21:15)
 

White House Denies Reports of ‘Sharp’, ‘Ambitious’ New Peace Plan

“You must not carry false rumors.” (Exodus 23:1)
 

Jordan Reportedly Furious Over Palestinian Reconciliation Deal

“A dullard vents all his rage, But a wise man calms it down.” (Proverbs 29:11)
 
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Ethiopian Jews Are Coming Home

This season will see hundreds of Ethiopian Jews returning home after thousands of years in exile. On Wednesday night, 200 new immigrants landed in the Jewish State.
 

EZEKIEL 33:3

The ram’s horn, in Hebrew shofar, has been a central symbol of Jewish life since Biblical times. The Bible describes many occasions in which the shofar is sounded. As in the above verse, the shofar was blown as a call to war...
 

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Wednesday, April 12, 2017

Is It Biblical for Christians to Host Passover Seders? - RON CANTOR MESSIAH'S MANDATE

Did Jesus eat the Seder meal with His disciples? Should Christians host Passover Seders now? (Wikimedia Commons)

Is It Biblical for Christians to Host Passover Seders?

RON CANTOR/MESSIAH'S MANDATE  charisma news
I was a little surprised that Christianity Today published an article written by two rabbis, Yehiel Poupko and David Sandmel, who reject Yeshua as the Messiah, claiming that Yeshua did not eat a Passover Seder with his disciples. Furthermore, they exhorted Christians to stop hosting Passover Seders. I want to respond their arguments, because I strongly disagree with both points. But first, let me share where I agree with them—and maybe this is the reason that Christianity Today allowed them the platform.

Where I Agree

Something has changed.
About 25 years ago, when I began to travel as a Messianic Jewish teacher/evangelist, I never felt any animosity against me because I continued to live as a Jew or because I didn't connect to Christian holidays like Christmas and Easter (but also don't condemn those who do). However, over the past several years, I see more and more confusion over Messianic Judaism. Most of the confusion stems from non-Jewish believers feeling compelled to live as Jews or as ritually Torah observant—and then seek to "confront and convert" friends and family members, often with a less-than-humble attitude, to the point of alienation. I have received so many emails from wounded family members over the years.
The Hebrew Roots and One Law/Torah movements (click here to learn more about these movements) have stained the reputation of Messianic Judaism because the average Christian assumes we are one in the same. The main difference between Messianic Judaism and these other groups is this—Messianic Judaism encourages:
  1. Jewish people to embrace Yeshua.
  2. Jewish believers to continue to live as Jews, as the disciples did.
  3. Non-Jewish believers to feel free to worship with us as equals in the kingdom, without having to embrace Jewishness (Acts 15).
The Hebrew Roots and One Law/Torah movements seek to compel non-Jews to forsake all extra-biblical traditions and embrace Torah, meaning, to keep the Sabbath on the seventh day, celebrate Jewish feasts and holy days, keep kosher (Mosaic dietary laws), celebrate New Moons and to understand the Scriptures from a Hebraic mindset. I do agree with the last point, that the church would do well to have a more Jewish understanding of Yeshua (that is why I wrote Identity Theft), but I don't believe that non-Jewish believers are to be compelled to live as Jews.
The influence of this movement is working its way into our churches and seminaries. It's dangerous in its implication that keeping the Old Covenant law is walking a "higher path," and is the only way to please God and receive His blessings. Nowhere in the Bible do we find Gentile believers being instructed to follow Levitical laws or Jewish customs. 
While I agree with the quote, it does seem Paul is encouraging the Corinthians to celebrate Passover (1 Cor. 5:7-8), and when Yeshua returns, all nations will celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles (Zech. 14:16). It is not my place to tell people what they can and cannot celebrate. Non-Jews are free to embrace Jewish holidays, but should not be coerced. At the same time, I do understand the rabbis' concern.

Misusing the Symbols of Another

The rabbis wrote, "adopting another's ritual shows a lack of respect. Even when pursued with the best of intentions, taking another faith's sacred ritual and transforming it into an expression of one's own tradition displays a misunderstanding of the complex nature of faith traditions." I recorded a video a few years back called, "Shofar Abuse" to express concern that many were not treating the sacred symbols of Judaism with proper respect.
For example, when I walk into a church and see a woman wearing a Jewish prayer shawl, I tremble inside, understanding that for an Orthodox Jew, this is extremely disrespectful. I am sure that the woman loves Israel and the Jewish people and has no idea she is being a stumbling block. However, a prayer shawl or tallit is given to a Jewish boy at his Bar Mitzvah. It should not touch the ground and must be treated with respect. In orthodox synagogues, a woman would not wear one.
Can you see why the rabbis who wrote this article might have a point?

Where I Disagree

Was the most famous Passover meal a Seder?
It is ironic that while rabbis admit there is no Passover meal more famous than the Last Supper, they claim it was not a Seder—that the Seder, as we know it today, only came about after the destruction of the Temple. It is true that Judaism went through a massive post-Temple reform in the years following 70 C.E.
Yochanan Ben Zakai led the movement to recreate Judaism in a way that the Temple would not be essential, as it was destroyed. Over time, the oral traditions were codified and put into writing. The rabbis correctly state, "The Seder ritual, as it is practiced today, did not exist at the time of Jesus. It was only fully developed by the rabbis in the years following the destruction of the Temple in 70 C.E."
However, their conclusion that this means Yeshua did not participate in a Seder is absurd. This was just 40 years before 70 C.E.—where do they think these customs came from? They were not all simply invented in the years following the Temple's demise. We see in Yeshua's Seder many of the same things we see in a modern Seder. Apologist Michael Rydelnik agrees:
Some examples include ritual hand washing, the breaking of bread or matzah, the use of red wine, reciting the Hallel psalms (they sang a hymn after the meal), the anticipation of the messianic kingdom (Jesus said I won't drink of this cup until I drink it with you in the kingdom), eating ground-up bitter herbs (called the sop that Jesus passed to Judas). The great scholar Joachim Jeremias, in the Eucharistic Words of Christ, notes 14 of these clear associations with the Passover Seder. So, even if the Last Supper was not a Seder as practiced today, it certainly was an incipient Seder, as practiced before 70 CE.
How can the traditional Haggadah (the book that guides us through the Passover Seder) claim that traditions go back to Rabbi Hillel, who died almost a decade before Jesus was born, if indeed everything started in 70 C.E.?
Eating matzah, maror and haroset this way reminds us of how, in the days of the temple, Hillel would do so, making a sandwich of the Paschal lamb, matzah and maror, in order to observe the law "You shall eat it (the Pesach sacrifice) on matzah and maror." 
The New Testament also records that they were reclining as they ate: "While they were reclining at the table eating... (Mark 14:18, NIV). The Haggadah asks, "On all other nights, everyone sits up straight at the table, why on this night do we recline and eat at leisure?" Clearly this was a Seder. He breaks the matzah before the meal—just as we are to do—and then Yeshua takes wine after dinner, just as the Haggadah prescribes a third cup after the meal—the cup of redemption, and He would become our ge'ula, redemption. 

A Better Question

My question to the rabbis is this: How did such an overtly Messianic/Christian theme end up in the traditional Jewish Seder? I am referring to the Afikoman:
Prior to the meal, this matzah was broken, wrapped in linen, and hidden away. Following the dinner, the matzah reappears. For the Messianic Jewish community, the afikomen symbolically represents the Messiah, as Jesus' body was broken, wrapped in linen, buried and raised on the third day.
Not to mention that matzah is unleavened bread. Leaven represents sin. Yeshua was the "lamb without blemish and without spot" (1 Pet. 1:19, MEV)—without sin.

Can you Separate Passover from Yeshua?

I know the rabbis are walking a tightrope in their article. On the one hand, they don't want to offend their Christian audience by saying, "Jesus was a fraud," (However, the truth remains that if traditional Judaism is correct—that the Messiah has not come—then Christianity is idolatry and Jesus was a counterfeit Messiah. Only one can be correct.) but neither do they want you to think it is possible for a believer to be inspired in their faith in Yeshua through a Jewish Passover Seder. They speak highly of Christianity, as well as traditional Judaism, while seeking to claim something akin to: "You have the Eucharist and we have the Passover meal—don't confuse them."
They correctly state, "For most of Christian history, the celebration of the Lord's Supper, the Eucharist, replaced the Jewish Passover Seder." But that doesn't mean it was correct. They see Christianity as many who embrace replacement/reform theology do. They assume that all believers embrace the idea that the church has replaced Israel. We don't. And most of these replacements were done by anti-Semitic leaders, like Emperor Constantine, who sought to rid Christianity of any Jewish influence or St. John Chrysostom, who was so concerned about Judaism's influence on believers that he taught, "It is every Christian's duty to hate the Jews."
The first Christians, Jewish and Gentile, were certainly aware of the Hebrew calendar. Jewish Christians, the first to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus, timed the observance in relation to Passover. Direct evidence for a more fully-formed Christian festival of Pascha (Easter) begins to appear in the mid-2nd century. 
That was more than 100 years after the resurrection. Early Christians were familiar with the Passover story, as Paul refers to Yeshua as the Passover Lamb when writing the non-Jews in Corinth. John calls him the "Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29), and Peter uses the lamb symbolically to explain how Yeshua purchased us with His blood (1 Pet. 1:18-19). When explaining baptism as going from death to life, Paul uses the imagery of the Israelites passing through the Red Sea, from the old life of slavery to the new life of freedom.
You simply cannot separate Christian or Messianic theology from the Passover story. Yes, Yeshua fulfills the Passover, but he doesn't cancel the traditional Passover. He would come to Jerusalem every year to celebrate, and it was no mistake He was crucified on Passover.

Identifying as Messianic Jews?

And what about Jewish believers? Can we still celebrate Passover? Is it no longer our history if we believe Yeshua to be the Messiah? Many Chabad Jews believe that their deceased Rebbe is the Messiah (I saw a sign today that said of him, "Long live King Messiah"), but no one is telling them they can't celebrate Passover. And, of course, I love their description of Messianic Jews:
In evangelical settings, the promotion of Christian Seders by those who identify as Messianic Jews and other such affiliations has also contributed to its growth.
I don't identify as a Messianic Jew, in the way that a transgender may be male but identify as female. By using this terminology, they are gently saying there is no such thing as a Messianic Jew—only one who identifies as such.

Conclusion

If I put myself in the place of the rabbis, I do understand their concern. They feel that a much larger worldwide movement is kidnapping their religious ceremonies and rituals, and adding Jesus. However, you cannot deny:
  1. That without Judaism there is no Christianity.
  2. Yeshua's original followers were Passover-celebrating Jews.
  3. He established Passover as clearly pointing to His death and resurrection by taking the unleavened bread and saying, "This is my body."
Therefore, yes, Christians can and should celebrate Passover (as they did in the early church). At the same time, they should be very sensitive to the Jewish people so as not to dishonor the Passover. The Church is called to provoke Israel to jealousy, not merely provoke her. 
Ron Cantor is the director of Messiah's Mandate International in Israel, a Messianic ministry dedicated to taking the message of Jesus from Israel to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8). Cantor also travels internationally teaching on the Jewish roots of the New Testament. He serves on the pastoral team of Tiferet Yeshua, a Hebrew-speaking congregation in Tel Aviv. Follow him at @RonSCantor on Twitter.
This article originally appeared at messiahsmandate.org.
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Thursday, July 14, 2016

New Shocking Poll Released on Evangelical Pastors' Involvement in Politics - BOB ESCHLIMAN CHARISMA NEWS

Rob McCoy
Pastor Rob McCoy of Calvary Chapel in Thousand Oaks, Calif., not only encourages his congregates to be politically engaged, he's run for office twice himself. He's currently a local city councilman, but according to a recent survey, he is in a very small minority of conservative evangelical pastors. (Reuters photo)

New Shocking Poll Released on Evangelical Pastors' Involvement in Politics

BOB ESCHLIMAN  CHARISMA NEWS
Our religious liberty and foundational freedoms are at stake, biblical marriage is under constant attack, the LGBT agenda is advancing at a worrying pace and evangelical pastors are backing away from politics?
That was the findings of a new survey conducted by the Barna Group on behalf of the American Culture & Faith Institute. Barna called the results "nothing short of astounding," and he didn't hold back in his critical analysis of the findings.
"In an election year where nothing has been normal so far, the apparent choices of conservative pastors may be the most abnormal thing of all," he said. "This is clearly a time when Christian and conservative voters need their spiritual leaders to help them make sense of what is happening and how to respond biblically to the chaos and uncertainty.
"The fact that tens of thousands of conservative pastors—even more than during the mid-term election cycle—are planning to ignore this crucial election and have followers of Christ play little-to-no role in the electoral process is shocking. The message that conservative pastors are sending to congregants is their Christian faith should have no influence on this election and therefore they should be passive bystanders while people with opposing worldviews and values make critical governance choices for Christians.
"With all due respect, that is both a mind-boggling lack of leadership and a startlingly bold example of poor citizenship."
First, the not-so-surprising findings:
  • By a two-to-one margin (44-22 percent), the conservative pastors interviewed felt that Republican nominee-in-waiting Donald Trump is likely to defeat his likely Democratic counterpart, Hillary Clinton.
  • However, more than one-third (35 percent) said they did not know who is most likely to win.
  • As for their personal preference, they preferred Trump over Clinton by a 6-to-1 ratio (60 to 10 percent), while the remainder preferred someone else (13 percent), refused to vote (6 percent), or were still undecided (11 percent).
These perceptions of the current state of the 2016 presidential election were the basis for responses to questions about how these pastors were specifically taking action to prepare their congregations for November. This would be the shocking part of the findings.
Each pastor was asked about eight specific courses of action they may have taken during the 2014 mid-term election, and could take during the 2016 cycle. They indicated "limited" activity in 2014, and even less of each activity in 2016:
  • Sponsor a voter registration drive at your church—21% in 2014, 12% in 2016
  • Actively encourage get-out-the-vote efforts—9% in 2014, 7% in 2016
  • Invite candidates to speak at your church prior to the election—5% in 2014, 3% in 2016
  • Preach at least one sermon about a public policy issue—37% in 2014, 21% in 2016
  • Offer printed or online voter guides to your congregation—45% in 2014, 36% in 2016
  • Include election-related information on your church website—5% in 2014, 4% in 2016
  • Encourage members of your church to get actively involved in a campaign—29% in 2014, 20% in 2016
  • Speak to your church about the importance of voting—78% in 2014, 62% in 2016
Barna, asked about why there is such a lack of engagement by conservative evangelical pastors in 2016, was equally frank. Pointing to the Rev. Franklin Graham's comments made prior to an event in New York earlier this year at which Trump later spoke, he said many pastors do not want to be judged for supporting a candidate who is morally imperfect.
"But the truth is that none of us—these pastors included—are morally perfect, which is why we need Jesus to save us," he said. "Both of the major party candidates this year are flawed, but all candidates have always been morally flawed—they're human! In the meantime, we need to work together to elect leaders who will allow the church to follow Christ with as much freedom and as little government interference as possible.
"Pastors should not ask congregants to place their full and eternal trust in a political candidate, but rather to choose the best person for the job since someone is going to be elected whether we participate in the process or not. How can conservative pastors justify sitting out the election when so much is at stake for the church itself? And please notice that theologically liberal churches are much more engaged in the electoral process."
Barna also stated the 2016 election is, in many ways, the easiest for churches to engage in going back more than a generation. He said the policy differences between Trump and Clinton—particularly on social, moral, and religious issues—are "more distinct this year than at any time since the Reagan-Carter election in 1980."
"The fact that conservative pastors choose to not get involved, while also refusing to preach about the biblical foundations for thinking about the major issues, suggests that perhaps our church leaders do not know what they and the Bible believe on these matters," he said. "Why else would they not exploit the opportunity to use the election as a reason to engage, instruct, and challenge God's people on His truth?"
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Tuesday, September 22, 2015

Since last Yom Kippur, millions of Jews have begun searching for the Messiah - Joel Rosenberg

Over the past year since the last Day of Atonement, millions of Jews around the world have begun a quest to find the Messiah.
Over the past year since the last Day of Atonement, millions of Jews around the world have begun a quest to find the Messiah.


New post on Joel C. Rosenberg's Blog

A big, untold story: Since last Yom Kippur, millions of Jews have begun searching for the Messiah, and for atonement for their sins. The media isn’t reporting this. But it’s worth examining.

by joelcrosenberg
At sundown, we begin Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. This is the highest holy day on the Jewish calendar, and one of great Biblical and historic and cultural importance to my people.
I so wish I was home with Lynn and our sons in Israel tonight. Instead, I am in the U.S. speaking at a number of events, from Dallas to San Luis Obispo to Washington, D.C. to Toronto. I am speaking about the darkness that is falling in our world. But I am also explaining to people about a fascinating phenomenon that I'm observing.
Since last Yom Kippur, millions of Jews have begun a quest to find the Messiah. For reasons I cannot fully explain, Jews are suddenly searching for answers to the deepest and most important questions concerning life and death and God and atonement and eternity, in numbers unprecedented in history. Some are searching through the Hebrew Scriptures for answers. A stunning number are actually reading the New Testament, most for the first time. They are searching on Google for information about the Messiah. They are even watching a new series of videos by Jews who claim to have found the answers. The videos -- some of which have gone viral -- were produced and posted on a new website called www.imetmessiah.com.
To me, these are fascinating developments. They certainly aren't being reported by the media. But they are worth examining. That said, more on all that in a moment.
First, a few thoughts about Yom Kippur itself.
In the Scriptures, the Israelites were commanded by the Lord to fast and pray and bring their sacrifices to the Temple in Jerusalem, and then to ask for the Lord’s forgiveness for all the sins they and their nation had committed that year. And the Scriptures were clear: only the sacrifice of a perfect animal -- a sacrifice performed with a humble, repentant, sincere heart, and with faith in God’s mercy and grace -- could bring about forgiveness of sins.
  • “For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one’s life.” (Leviticus 17:11)
  • “In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.” (Hebrews 9:22)
But here's the problem we Jewish people have face since the destruction of the Temple: What does one do to receive atonement in the modern age, without a Temple?
How can one make sacrifices, and thus receive forgiveness of sins — and thus the right to enter the holiness of heaven and live with the Lord in heaven forever and ever — without being able to sacrifice a perfect lamb at the Temple in Jerusalem, where the Lord designated all sacrifices to occur?
The destruction of the Temple by the Romans in 70 A.D. was a huge blow to Judaism for many reasons, but chief among them because it deprived us of the one place to receive atonement from God.
The good news was found in Daniel 9:24-26. The Hebrew prophet Daniel explained to us that:
  • someday the Messiah (or “Anointed One”) would come to us
  • when the Messiah came, his purpose would be “to atone for wickedness” and “to bring in everlasting righteousness”
  • the Messiah would then be “cut off and will have nothing”
  • after the Messiah was "cut off," then Jerusalem and the Temple would be destroyed
  • Daniel specifically noted that foreign invaders “will come and will destroy the city and the sanctuary”
Think about that. Daniel told us something extraordinary — that a coming Messiah would bring atonement for our sins before the Temple would be destroyed. That, in retrospect, makes sense, right? Why would the God of Israel take away the Temple before providing a new way for atonement?
Now, add in what the Hebrew prophet Jeremiah explained to us that not only was the Messiah coming to the Jewish people, but that He would bring a "new covenant," a new and exciting and God-ordained way by which we would have a personal relationship with the Lord our God.
The Hebrew Prophet Isaiah gave us still more details about this coming Messiah. He explained that the Messiah would serve as King of the world eventually, but first the Messiah would be our "Suffering Servant." That is, He would be rejected by the people, would suffer, and then die as our atoning sacrifice.
Consider these extraordinary passages from Isaiah 53:
3 He was despised and rejected by men,
a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering.
Like one from whom men hide their faces
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
4 Surely he took up our infirmities
and carried our sorrows,
yet we considered him stricken by God,
smitten by him, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,
and by his wounds we are healed.
6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to his own way;
and the LORD has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
7 He was oppressed and afflicted,
yet he did not open his mouth;
he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,
and as a sheep before her shearers is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.
8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away.
And who can speak of his descendants?
For he was cut off from the land of the living;
for the transgression of my people he was stricken.
9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked,
and with the rich in his death,
though he had done no violence,
nor was any deceit in his mouth.
10 Yet it was the LORD’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer,
and though the LORD makes his life a guilt offering,
he will see his offspring and prolong his days,
and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand.
11 After the suffering of his soul,
he will see the light of life and be satisfied;
by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many,
and he will bear their iniquities.
13 Therefore I will give him a portion among the great,
and he will divide the spoils with the strong,
because he poured out his life unto death,
and was numbered with the transgressors.
For he bore the sin of many,
and made intercession for the transgressors.
Who does that sound like to you?
When I was younger, I tried to process these and other Hebrew prophecies of the Messiah. Among them:
  • the Messiah will born in Judea, near Jerusalem, in Bethlehem Ephratah (Micah 5:2)
  • the Messiah will live and minister in the Galilee (Isaiah 9:1-2)
  • the Messiah will teach in parables (Psalm 78:2)
  • the Messiah will enter Jerusalem on a donkey (Zechariah 9:9)
  • the Messiah will be the Savior of the Jews but also a “light to the nations” (Isaiah 49:5-6)
These were fascinating, specific, detailed clues as to the identity of the One the Lord was sending to save and rescue our people. Each piece of the puzzle was helpful, but two clues I found especially interesting -- first, that the Messiah had to be born in Bethlehem Ephratah, the city of David; and second that the Messiah absolutely had to come to bring atonement and righteousness to His people before the Temple and Jerusalem were destroyed in 70 A.D. Why? Because the God of Israel told us so through the Hebrew prophets.
I came to the conclusion that Jesus (Yeshua) of Nazareth is, in fact, the Messiah that Moses and the prophets spoke of. His death and resurrection were foretold by the prophets, and they prove that He is who He said He is: the “Way, the Truth and the Life, and that no one comes to the Father except through Him” (John 14:6). Jesus’ shed blood provides the only atonement for sins for Jews and Gentiles today. Jesus brought us the “New Covenant” — the new deal, as it were, between God and man — that the Hebrew Prophet Jeremiah told us to wait for.
True, many Jewish people have rejected Jesus over the centuries. But have we really stopped to examine what Moses and the prophets said, and how Jesus of Nazareth fulfilled every single one of those prophecies?
By God's grace and kindness, my eyes were open. I received Jesus as Messiah, Savior and Lord when I was young. I humbled myself, confessed my sins to God the Father, believed in my heart by faith that Jesus died on the cross, and was buried, and rose again, according to the Scriptures. I confessed with my mouth that Jesus is the Lord. And so, as He promised, Jesus atoned for my sins. He washed them away, all of them, never to be remembered or held against me for all of eternity. He gave me eternal life. He -- the King of the Universe -- adopted me into His royal family. He gave me peace that passes all understanding. He gave me hope as an anchor for my soul. He gave me a purpose and a meaning for me life.
Why? Because I deserved it? No. Because I earned it? No. Because I could buy it? No. He gave all this to me for free, because He loves me, because He wanted to rescue me. And so I received Him into my heart by faith. For as the Scriptures explain so clearly, “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name.” (John 1:12)
When my father, who was raised an Orthodox Jew in Brooklyn, discovered in 1973 -- after a careful study of the Gospel According to Luke -- that Jesus of Nazareth is the long-awaited Jewish Messiah, and received the Messiah by faith, my father thought he was one of the first Jews in history who believed this. He had never met a Jewish believer in Jesus. He had never heard of such a person. And in 1973, there were fewer than 2,000 Jewish people on the planet who were followers of Jesus.
But today, some 300,000 Jews around the world are followers of Jesus. And millions of Jews are searching for the Messiah and thus reading the Hebrew prophecies, and comparing them with the writings of the New Testament, and trying to decide whether Jesus really is the Messiah we have desperately longed for over so many centuries.
More than 10 million people have watched these videos just in the past few months.
Remarkably, more than 900,000 Hebrew speakers have watched the Hebrew-language versions of these videos in just the past four months. Given that there are only about 7 million Hebrew speakers in the world today, this means that nearly 1 in 7 of them have recently watched videos by Israeli Jews explaining how they came to discover that Yeshua is our Messiah.
The website is www.imetmessiah.com. Please visit, watch the videos, share them with family and friends, think about them and discuss them. And then I encourage you to humbly pray to God and ask Him to show you whether Jesus -- Yeshua -- is, in fact, the Anointed One who came to rescue and redeem us and atone for our sins and write our names in the Book of Life.
It is my earnest hope you will discover — or rediscover — Jesus for yourself this Yom Kippur and the days that follow. I’m praying for you to find His amazing love, grace and forgiveness, and the hope and joy that only He can give us.
May the God of Israel and His Anointed One bless you and your family beyond what you can hope for, dream of, or imagine.
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joelcrosenberg | September 22, 2015 at 12:24 pm | Categories: Uncategorized | URL:http://wp.me/piWZ7-3mW