CAN YOU EXPOUND THE essential meaning of the “gospel” (εὐαγγέλιον) in a single (and preferably short) sentence?  How about “Yeshua the Messiah came into the world to save sinners” (1 Tim 1:15), or perhaps, “For our sake he made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor. 5:21)? Of course “unpacking” the meaning of these sentences is where things get more difficult, but a succinct expression of faith can often provide us with a starting point…

“He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed” (וּבַחֲבֻרָתוֹ נִרְפָּא־לָנוּ). “For in him all the fullness (πᾶν τὸ πλήρωμα) of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the message (εὐαγγέλιον) that you heard” (Col 1:19-23).

“For the Messiah also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous (δίκαιος ὑπὲρ ἀδίκων), that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit” (1 Pet. 3:18). “And God is so rich in mercy (מָלֵא רַחֲמִים) and who loves us with such intense love (בְּרב אַהֲבָתוֹ אֲשֶׁר אָהַב אתָנוּ), even when we were dead because of our acts of disobedience, he brought us to life along with the Messiah- it is by grace that you have been delivered (בַּחֶסֶד נוֹשַׁעְתֶּם). That is, God raised us up with the Messiah Yeshua and seated us with him in heaven, in order to exhibit in the ages to come how infinitely rich is his grace, how great is his kindness toward us who are united with the Messiah Yeshua. For you have been delivered by grace through trusting, and even this is not your accomplishment but God’s gift” (Eph. 2:4-8).

And of course there is always the old “stand by” verse of John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only and unique Son, so that whoever trusts in Him should not be destroyed, but have eternal life” (John 3:16).

Here are a few other simplified expressions of our faith (I am sure you can come up with some others, friends): “He has freed us from our sins by his blood” (Rev. 1:5); “he that has the Son has life” (1 John 5:12); “Yeshua died for our sins, was buried, rose again on the third day, and forever reigns” (1 Cor. 15:3-4,25).

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Let’s push this approach a bit further.  How about just four words?

• “Mercy triumphs over judgment” (James 2:13)
• “Righteousness and peace kiss” (Psalm 85:10)
• “Saved by his life” (Rom. 5:12)
• “You have been healed” (1 Pet. 2:24)
• “Name above all names” (Phil. 2:9)
• “In Him is life” (John 1:4)
• Angel of the LORD (מַלְאַךְ יְהוָה)
• Branch of the LORD (צֶמַח יְהוָה)

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Three words?

• “Yeshua loves me”
• “God saves sinners” (Luke 19:10)
• “God is love” (1 John 4:16)
• “God is Light” (1 John 1:5)
• “It is finished” (John 19:30) – this can be one word: “tetelestai!”
• “No other Name” (than Yeshua/Jesus) – Acts 4:12
• Stone of Israel (אֶבֶן יִשְׂרָאֵל)
• Creator of Israel (בּוֹרֵא יִשְׂרָאֵל)

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Can we find just two words?

• “Messiah Crucified” (המָּשִׁיחַ הַנִּצְלָב)
• “Jesus Saves” (ישוע מציל)
• “My help” (בְּעֶזְרָתִי)
• Everlasting Father (אֲבִיעַד)
• Wonderful Counselor (פֶּלֶא יוֹעֵץ)
• Consuming Fire (אֵשׁ אֹכְלָה)

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Or how about just one word?

• LORD (יהוה)
• Yah (יָהּ)
• Amen (אָמֵן)
• Chesed / love (חֶסֶד)
• Grace (חֵן)
• Abba (Father)
• Avi / Father (אֲבִי)
• Ehyeh (I AM, אֶהְיֶה)
• Hakedoshim (הַקֳּדָשִׁים)
• Judge (הֲשֹׁפֵט)
• Healer (המרפא)
• Refuge (מַחְסֶה)
• Rock (הַצּוּר)
• Helper (הַעוֹזֵר)
• Lover (מְאַהֵב)
• Spirit (הָרוּחַ)
• Truth (הָאֱמֶת)
• Faithful (אֵמוּן)
• Hope (תִקוָה)
• Beloved (אָהוּב)
• Friend (חבר)
• Salvation (יְשׁוּעָה)
• Deliverer (מוֹשִׁיעַ)
• Redeemer (גּוֹאֵל)
• Mediator (מְתַוֵך)
• Priest (הַכֹּהֵן)
• Messiah (הַמָּשִׁיחַ)
• Moshia – Savior (מוֹשִׁיעַ)
• King (הַמֶּלֶךְ)
• Wonderful (פֶּלִאי)
• Jesus / Yeshua (יֵשׁוּעַ) – the answer is found in Him

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Finally – dare I suggest it? – how about no words at all? To paraphrase Francis of Assisi, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel – and sometimes use words.” Of course words are important, but by themselves they are never enough, and very often they are unnecessary (James 2:18)… There is a language of love (“the works of love”) that goes beyond any diction the tongue may express. This is why the Name of the LORD always is something more than a mere word, concept, or idea… The Name of the LORD is God’s love and power and glory and grace and kindness and mercy and passion as He Himself knows it to be real, true, and utterly invincible in all things…

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Hebrew Lesson:

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• Psalm 85:10 Hebrew page (pdf)

 

 

Any doubt that the USA (and the entire world) is being prepared for divine judgment can be removed by considering the various evils that have conspired to create the perfect storm of impending disaster for the nations. We are on the edge of the Great Tribulation…

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Shalom friends. Our Lord foretold that in the “end of days” there would be perilous times — moral, political, ethnic, and spiritual chaos throughout the world, “as it was in the days of Noah.” Of Noah’s generation the Torah says: “The LORD saw that the wickedness of humanity was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually, so that it grieved the LORD to his heart” (Gen. 6:5-6). Indeed, Paul’s description of the character of people before the time of the end is chillingly accurate of our present generation (see 2 Tim. 3:1-7).

With the increasing rise of anarchy and godless tyranny throughout the nations, the Scriptures further foretell the rise of a governmental system that would oppress and subjugate the entire world, using surveillance systems and devices to control every aspect of life, so that no one would be able to buy or sell without being tagged as an compliant member of the system. Once a global (cashless) currency system has been established, the prophesied “man of sin” would then arise to embody the presence of Satan on the earth, in mimicry of the advent of the true Messiah.

At first this “man of sin” (איש החטא) will seem to be a man of peace but after his reign is secured, his malice will be revealed by openly persecuting those who still believe in the one true God, causing great tribulation, particularly for the Jewish people. The rise of this “Messiah of Evil” or the “anti-Christ” will be in accordance with the great vision of the prophet Daniel, wherein the final “week” of “seventy weeks of years” is fulfilled…

Presently we are living in the “gap” between the 69th week and the 70th week of years, but we see signs that the gap is now closing, and soon the world will enter into the “tribulation” period… As things get closer to the time of great judgment (יום יהוה), followers of Messiah will be forcefully removed by God’s hand (i.e., raptured) either before the tribulation proper begins (“pre-trib”), or perhaps just before the Great Tribulation period (“mid-trib”), the later view being argued because followers of Yeshua will see the rise of the man of sin (2 Thess. 2:3-4). Either way, however, God has not appointed his followers to undergo the unleashing of his wrath upon the world system during the last half of the seventieth week (1 Thess. 5:9), so “post-trib is not a sound eschatological option. The rapture will occur as we are gathered together with the LORD to meet him in the air (1 Thess. 4:16-17).

The 70th week of the vision will begin when the “man of sin” appears to make a “covenant” with the people of the world, though he will later set up an “abomination” and force all world citizens to bow down to its image (perhaps similar to Nebuchadnezzar’s insanity to force people to bow down before the golden image of himself; at this time the rapture of followers of Messiah may occur). Like Daniel’s three friends who refused to bow down before the image, many will refuse to comply and outright worldwide persecution of the Jewish people will take place. This is called the “time of Jacob’s trouble” and the “Great Tribulation.” Satan will rule only “until the end that is decreed is poured out on him” and then the great Day of LORD will seal his doom with the second coming of Yeshua (as described in Rev. 19:11-21).

So, in light of this (very brief) sketch of what is coming — and as the world system becomes more and more tyrannical as it prepares for the arrival of the “messiah of evil” — how are you walking out your faith? Spiritual warfare is not “optional” for the follower of Yeshua. How are you keeping free of fear or anger? How are you preparing for the days ahead?

Remember that the evil one “lives” to devour souls, as it is written: “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1 Pet. 5:8). The apostle Paul lists the panoply of armor required for our struggle: “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication” (Eph. 6:11-18). In another place Paul refers to this as the “armor of light” (Rom. 13:12). James the Righteous (יעקב הצדיק) gives us remedy by saying: “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7).

We are to walk “in truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left” (2 Cor. 6:7). Let us wear the armor of light (ὰ ὅπλα τοῦ φωτός), being sober (i.e., νήφω, “calm and of sound mind”) putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation” (1 Thess. 5:8). “Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Yeshua the Messiah” (1 Pet. 1:13).

 

Hebrew Lesson:

 

• Zeph. 1:14a Hebrew page (pdf)

Shalom friends. Soren Kierkegaard understood the “self” – that is, what is most essential to what you really are – to be a “dialectical relationship” you have with your own inner life, namely, with your thoughts, your feelings, and so on. He famously said: “The self is a relation which relates to itself, or that in the relation which is its relating to itself. The self is not the relation but the relation’s relating to itself” (Sickness unto Death). This might seem like a nonsense statement, but what Kierkegaard meant was that you are always having a conversation with yourself, and there – in that dialog or “dialectic” – you are always deciding what matters most to you, what you really want, what you choose to believe, and so on. As strange as it may sound, “you” are always in relationship with yourself – both as speaker and hearer, and you are also the one who reasons and makes judgments about what to do in the midst of the ongoing conversation… Now what is most significant about this inner discourse, this “court of decision,” is both the reasons for or against something, as well as the moral competence and authority of the judge. How could the “divided self” be unified, after all, if it made decisions that were not based on reality and truth?

Of course much of the time we are not conscious of what we are thinking, but we act from impulse acquired through unreflective habit and the passive acquiescence of worldly “assumptions” made about the meaning of things. This is the mode of the “mass mind” that has gone asleep and no longer bothers to ask searching questions about what is real… However, since whatever is thought is indeed based on assumptions, it is important to discern what those assumptions are and to question their veracity.

For example, you might “find yourself” feeling upset over the political affairs of the world, anxious about the future, and so on. “The world is falling apart,” you might say, or “everything is coming undone!” It is wise, in this case, to discover the assumptions being employed that give reasons for your fear. What “argument” is being made within yourself that leads you to conclude that fear (or outrage or despair) is the appropriate response? What “axioms” or premises are at work in your thinking? Perhaps you assume that “God takes care of those who take care of themselves” and therefore you must “take control,” you must fight against evil, and that you are responsible (somehow) for the state of the world, and so on.

If you take time to honestly examine your reasons for believing that your fear (or anger, or despair) is justified, you will eventually encounter foundational assumptions that are paradoxical and contradictory, such as notions that you are (both) responsible for everything yet nothing is within your control, or that you are (both) “free” yet determined by necessity, that God is (both) distant and yet very near, and so on. And this is where things get interesting and vitally important: in the midst of these tensions, in the midst of the “dialog” you have with such ultimate questions, in the midst of such ambiguity, you (both) must make a practical decision and yet you are unable to do so. Though you “hear” the arguments pro and con within your heart, you are simply unqualified to make a decision about what you should do: you are “double minded, unstable in all your ways.”

It is not hopeless, however, because you were never meant to be the judge and moral authority of your life, since that role belongs to God alone who is the Sovereign LORD over all reality, and the only one who truly defines what is “good” and what is “evil.” The original sin, after all, was the usurpation of God’s authority over our lives. When Adam ate from the Tree of the knowledge of good *and* evil, he sat himself upon the throne of the heart as the god of his own life. The dreadful fall…

Healing comes through teshuvah, or returning to God as the true Authority of our lives. In the midst of the inner dialog of the self, your ego or “false judge” must abdicate the throne before the LORD, sincerely submitting to God’s wisdom and truth. Doing so presents another “Voice” to the inner conversation of your self, namely the Voice of God’s presence, power, and authority as the true Judge and Lord of our lives. This is the deeper meaning of “Shema,” that is, to listen to God, to submit to his terms of reality, and to engage this within the deepest recesses of the self. Doing so yields “shalom” because you rest in God’s wisdom and care for your life, instead of anxiously debating about what to do in the midst of the ambiguity and confusion of this world. Let’s face it, you make for a poor god…

When you are tempted to despair, friend, when you seek to lose yourself in distractions of rage or fear, turn to God and ground yourself in what is real. Pray. Ask for divine wisdom; ask for truth in the midst of your inner conflict and uncertainty (Heb. 4:16). Then listen. Open your heart and ready yourself to hear the “still small voice” that will guide you. Doing so will purify your heart and transform your mind. “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to You, O LORD, my Strength and my Redeemer” (Psalm 19:14).

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Hebrew Lesson
Psalm 19:14 Hebrew reading and commentary:

 

• Psalm 19:14 Hebrew card (pdf)

When the disciples asked Yeshua how they should pray, he began with the words: “Our Heavenly Father, sacred is your name; may your kingdom come, may your will be done…” (Matt. 6:9-10).  You might overlook it, but these words imply that God’s kingdom is not naturally within us, and indeed, as Yeshua taught elsewhere, what is “naturally” within the heart is just the opposite: “For from within, out of the heart of a person, come evil reasonings (οἱ διαλογισμοὶ οἱ κακοι), adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within and defile a person” (Mark 7:21-23). So when Yeshua told the Pharisees that the kingdom of God is “within you,” he meant that the kingdom is a matter of a heart that has been reborn by the Spirit – not that people are naturally endowed with a divine “spark” (ניצוץ) within them. No, the default condition of the unregenerated heart is one of selfish autonomy that refuses to submit to God’s right to reign. Its creed is: “I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul” (Henley). The natural man is a rebel against God; a usurper of the prerogatives of God, and therefore he “eats from the apple” to define “good” and “evil” in his own self-serving terms….

The “default” condition of the soul is one of “spiritual death,” an appearance of life that is actually “cut off” or alienated from the truth of God, and is therefore devoid of eternal life. As Yeshua told Nicodemus, “unless a person is born again (i.e., γεννηθῇ ἄνωθεν, “born from above”), they cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3). The spiritual seed of the kingdom must be planted within the heart by the Spirit of God. “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit” (John 3:6-8).

The miracle of new life comes through a supernatural conception, “from above” (ἄνωθεν), which means that we are entirely powerless in our natural state to impart life to ourselves. And that, of course, is the essential problem of human nature — that despite our natural desire to be “godlike,” we are monstrous in our estate, and therefore what we most need is “deliverance from ourselves,” that is, salvation from the horrors of selfish existence.

Read more “The Hidden Kingdom…”

It is remarkable that the traditional morning blessing recited at synagogues around the world begins with words attributed to Balaam, the enigmatic and self-styled prophet: Mah Tovu: “How lovely are your tents, O Jacob; your dwelling places, O Israel!” (Num. 24:5). The sages say that the word “tent” (אהֶל) refers to the inner life – how we really feel inside – whereas the word “dwelling” (מִשְׁכָּן) refers to the outer life – our place or circumstances. Together, the inner and the outer mark the quality of our lives, but the inner is the starting point, since we must first learn to live in peace with ourselves. This is vital: we must first tolerate our shortcomings and practice compassion toward our frail humanity… This is sometimes called shalom ba’bayit, “peace in the home” (of the self). Such inner peace is the greatest of blessings, since without it we will cling to pain, fear, and anger, thereby making us unable to find our place at the table in God’s kingdom of love.

 

Hebrew Lesson:

 

• Num. 24:5 Hebrew page (pdf)