The Scriptures Faith (Emuna)
Faith is the Hebrew word “emuna.” It means “believe and obey”. Believing but not obeying is not being a true believer. Faith isn’t casual. It’s active. It produces fruit. A fruit of a true believer is obedience. If we say we believe, but don’t obey we are hearers of the word only, not doers of the word (James 1:22-25). John 3:36 says “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.” Rom 2:8 says, “but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury.” James 2:19 says “You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!” Demons don’t obey. They are rebellious and prideful. However, believers are supposed to be obedient and humble. In Matt 7:21-24, Yeshua said “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and, in your name, perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you workers of lawlessness!’ Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.” Many people will think they are going to be with Yeshua in the Kingdom, but Yeshua gives us this harsh passage along with the parable of the 5 wise and 5 foolish virgins. The 5 foolish virgins thought they were going with the bridegroom, but they weren’t prepared. Their faith wasn’t true. They didn’t obey. They weren’t righteous. We are called to live in holiness and righteousness. We are “set apart.”
The Gospel
The gospel is that God restores ALL things.
He restores us to Him through Yeshua. It is the gospel of God. “All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation;” 2 Cor 5:18. Yeshua is our minister of reconciliation. He is the Passover Lamb that was slain, the aleph or the bull that was sacrificed for the sins of all the people, the High Priest. Col 1:22 says “—yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach.” Yeshua came as God and man to die so we could live. His blood cleanses us from sin, and He gave us the Holy Spirit to administer the New Covenant, to make us holy, to write God’s Law on our minds and our hearts, to cause us to obey God’s statutes (John 14:26, John 16:7, John 20:22, Acts 2:33, Jer 31:31-34, Ez 36:22-32).
He restores the earth. He restores everything the way He created it to be. There will be no more death, no more tears, no more sorry. The earth will pass away. “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
The New Covenant
The New Covenant is in Jer 31:31-34 and Ezekiel 36:22-32. The New Covenant is made with the house of Israel and the house of Judah (the two houses). It’s not made with Gentiles, but Gentiles can be grafted in. This is the same as it was in the days of Moses when a “mixed multitude” left Egypt: Israelites and Gentiles. There is no “church” that replaces Israel, because there are no temporary covenants with God. His covenants are eternal. Jeremiah 31:33 says, “But this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord. I will put My Law (Torah) in their minds and write it on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. How is the New Covenant accomplished? It was sealed with Yeshua’s blood. Luke 22:20 says, “In the same way, after supper He took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is poured out for you.” Yeshua had to shed His blood for the New Covenant to be instituted. He sent the Holy Spirit which was God’s promise for the New Covenant. Ezekiel 36:26-28 says, ”And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God.”
The New Covenant is that God will write His Torah/Law on our minds and in our hearts (Jeremiah 31) and He will put one Spirit (the Holy Spirit) within us to CAUSE us to obey His statutes (Ezekiel 36). Yeshua sealed the New Covenant in His blood (Mark 14:24, Luke 22:20). Yeshua sent the Holy Spirit to give us counsel, teach and cause us to obey God as Yeshua did. He was the perfect Passover Lamb, and He kept the Torah perfectly. We lose the life we wanted in the world for the life God has planned for us (Luke 9:24). This means to do what He did. We keep the Law/Torah of God. We lay our lives down, surrender our will, take up our cross and follow Yeshua.
Justification and Sanctification
We are justified by grace through faith. Our keeping the Law can never atone for sin. We need a Savior. We need to be forgiven for our sin we’ve already committed. In Rom 5:1, Paul says, “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Rom 5:9-10 says, “Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.” Gal 2:16 says, “nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified.” Rom 3:20 says, “because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.” Romans 3:24 says, “being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus;” Titus 3:7 says, “So that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” We have a better covenant with better promises—the promises of the covenants God made to Abraham and our ancestors, plus the promise of eternal life! But Paul taught that the Torah stood. It was still to be kept. He said in Rom 3:31, “Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law.” The Law has not been overthrown. The Greek word for uphold is “istemi”, and it means “to cause or make to stand, to make firm, fix, establish.” This is the process of sanctification. This is the process of our lives—to learn God’s Torah and to uphold it, establish it, keep it and guard it.
James and Paul taught that we are justified by doing the Law and by our works, not by faith alone. James says in chapter 2:21 “Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar?” In verses 24-25, he says “You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone… was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way?” In Rom 2:18, Paul says “for it is not the hearers of the Law who are just before God, but the doers of the Law will be justified.”
It seems like the New Testament contradicts itself. However, it could be because the word “justified” in Greek has several meanings. The Greek word is “dikaioo”. It means “(1) to render righteous or such he ought to be, (2) to show, exhibit, evince, one to be righteous, such as he is and wishes himself to be considered, (3) to declare, pronounce, one to be just, righteous, or such as he ought to be.”
We know that we were rendered righteous when we professed faith in Yeshua. This is God’s grace by faith. But to show our faith, to exhibit it, we do works (righteous works). This is how we show the evidence of our faith. Observing God’s Torah is how we walk in holiness and righteousness. God sanctifies us in our learning process. We begin to obey more and more and this leads to holiness and being like Yeshua. We follow Him like this.
T’shuva
T’shuva is the Hebrew word for “repentance.” It means to turn from sin and to return to God. Sin separates us from God and if we believe Yeshua is the Messiah, we will repent of our sins and return to God and His ways, which are found in the Torah. God told the people in 2 Chronicles 7:14, “If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” Matthew 4:17 says, “Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” In Acts 3:19, the disciples told the people: “Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out.” Yeshua said in Luke 13:3 “No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” God wants all to repent according to 2 Peter 3:9: “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.”
The Body of Christ (the Church, the Assembly)
the body of Christ is made up of Jews and Gentiles who have accepted Yeshua (Jesus) as their Savior and made Him the Lord of their lives. Gentiles are grafted in and their identity is Israel (Gal 3:29, Eph 2:12-20). The remnant is Israel, the seed of Abraham (Gen 17:7-8) and the seed of the woman (Gen 3:15, Rev 12:17), those who keep the commandments of God and have/hold to faith/testimony of Yeshua (Rev 12:17, 14:12).
Currently, the body isn’t unified. Why?
- The Body of Christ has a veil over its eyes. The veil is God’s Torah/Law. We think that Yeshua came to teach a different gospel and that he abolished or changed the Law. He Himself said He didn’t come to do that. He kept it perfectly. He had to. He was the Messiah, the perfect Passover Lamb (John 1:29). The Son of God would not come to make us lawless. Yeshua taught that many would stand before Him on that day and say “Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in Your name, cast out demons in Your name and do many wonderful works in Your name?” And He will say “I never knew you, depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.” Yeshua is God, and as God, He hates lawlessness, just as God hates it.
- The Jewish people (physical Israel) has a veil over its eyes. The veil is Messiah. They don’t know that He came as the suffering servant and that He’s coming back as the Lion of Judah. The Jewish added onto the Law by writing Talmuds, Mishnahs, the Zohar, and the Kabbalah, which is mysticism. This is demonic and Satan is behind it. They added on to the Word of God and took away from it. God commanded us not to do this in Deut 4:2 “You shall not add to the word that I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God that I command you.” They don’t read Isaiah 53, the best Messianic prophecy is the Tanakh. It is called the “forbidden chapter.” It’s forbidden by the rabbis, who don’t want people to believe in Messiah.
Much of this falls on the church. The church has been keeping the commandments of men, making void the Law of God by their traditions: Sunday worship, Easter, Christmas, which are all pagan celebrations. God hates syncretism, mixing pagan worship with worship of Him. The Jews don’t believe their Messiah would break God’s Law or Torah (instructions), so they can’t believe a gospel that is focused on the Messiah changing the Law. They are right. The church needs to come back to following the ways of God so we can provoke the Jews to jealousy. All of Israel will be saved!
God alone is Immortal
1 Tim 1:17 “Now to the King eternal, immortal (apthartos), invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.” 1 Tim 6: 15-16 says “He who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and the Lord of lords who ALONE has immortality (athanasia—deathlessness, immortality) dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see to whom be honor and everlasting power. Amen.” The Bible is clear that God ALONE is immortal.
The Millennial Kingdom
The Millennial Kingdom will be here on earth and Yeshua will be the King of the earth. Isaiah 2 says, “It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be lifted up above the hills; and all the nations shall slow to it, and many peoples shall come, and say: ‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.’ For out of Zion shall go forth the Law (Torah), and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He shall judge between the nations and shall decide disputes for many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.” The Torah will be re-established as the Law of the earth. In Ezekiel 37:24-28, God gives a covenant to us of peace, and it is an everlasting covenant. In this, it talks about the blessing that all children will be taught by Yeshua. This will be a time of peace for all nations and learning the Torah for God’s people. We will return to the land of Israel promised to Abraham and his descendants. God says in Ezekiel 11:17, 36:24, Jeremiah 23:3 and Zechariah 14 that He will gather us from the nations and return us to the land of Israel. Zechariah 14 says that Yeshua’s feet will stand on the Mount of Olives. Yeshua comes to do the gathering and take us to Israel.
He’s not taking us to heaven. He’s taking us with Him to Israel, because we will receive the promises from the covenant He made to Abraham to give him/us the land. This is confirmed by Rev 20:6-10. “Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years. And when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison and will come out to deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle; their number is like the sand of the sea. And they marched up over the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints (Israel) and the beloved city (Jerusalem), but fire came down from heaven and consumed them, and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.” Let’s break these verses down: Those of us who are priests of God and Yeshua will reign with Yeshua for 1,000 years. We can see that His Kingdom is on earth because Satan is released from his prison and goes out to deceive the nations that are at the 4 corners of the EARTH. There are still people living on the earth outside of the Kingdom of Israel. Satan goes to gather the people to battle and their number is like the sand of the sea. They march up over the broad plain of the earth, so we aren’t in heaven and they aren’t in hell! But fire comes down from heaven and consumes them! From heaven to the earth! And the devil will be thrown into the Lake of Fire. He won’t be thrown into hell. At this point, there’s no one in heaven or hell. Everyone alive is on the earth.
The Feasts of the LORD
the Feasts are a prophetic picture of our future redemption. In Exodus 12, we first see the command regarding keeping Passover. This Passover was the deliverance of the children of Israel from Egypt. The second time we see mentions of a feast, God gives His commands for keeping all of His appointed times. In Leviticus 23, these feasts/appointed times of God are listed.
- The Sabbath—the 7th day of the week is a day of rest, no work, and a holy convocation.
- Passover—the 14th day of the 1st month on God’s calendar (today we aren’t on God’s calendar—we’re on the Gregorian calendar). Yeshua is the Passover Lamb that was slain for the sins of the world.
- The Feast of Unleavened Bread—a 7 day feast from the 15th day of the 1st month until the 21st day. Yeshua is the only one who has lived as a man who was without sin. We are reminded to get the sin out of our lives.
- The Feast of Firstfruits—the day after the Sabbath during unleavened bread. Yeshua is the firstfruits of the dead (1 Corinthians 15:28)
- Shavuot (Pentecost)—the 50th day after the Sabbath of unleavened bread. It is the day Moses received the Law on Mt. Sinai and the day the Holy Spirit fell of the followers of Yeshua, the promise of the Holy Spirit for New Covenant believers.
Yeshua fulfilled the first 4 feasts at His first coming.
- Feast of Trumpets—the 1st day of the 7th month. This is a day of blowing the trumpets/shofars. This points us to the day Yeshua will return with the sound of the trumpets.
- The Day of Atonement—the 10th day of the 7th month. This is the only day the High Priest could enter the most holy place of the Tabernace. It is the day that Yeshua was sacrificed for the atonement of sins. When He returns, there will be a day when Israel will mourn for Him and realize He was the Messiah, the one they pierced. This is found in Zechariah 12:10.
- Feast of Tabernacles/Booths/Sukkot—the 15th day of the 7th month until 21st. There is a great 8th day at the end of the feast, pointing us to the great 8th day when we will tabernacle with the Father. This is found in Revelation 22. The children of Israel had a tabernacle for God and His presence was with them. Yeshua came and tabernacled with us. He gave us His Holy Spirit to tabernacle with us. We will tabernacle with Yeshua for 1,000 years. All of this is building up to the great 8th day when eternity begins!
The Feasts are perpetual commandments for Israel.
The Scriptures
“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” 2 Tim 3:16-17. We are not complete yet. We are being sanctified. The Tanakh is the Old Testament (the Hebrew Bible). Man is the one who divided the Word of God into the “Old” and the “New” Testaments. At the time Paul wrote to Timothy in the verses above, the only Scripture they had was the Tanakh. They knew who Messiah was because they studied it. They knew the gospel, because they studied it. Yeshua taught them many things, but their foundation was the Tanakh. “For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.” Rom 15:4. The New Testament is the writings of the disciples and Paul, followers of the Tanakh and Yeshua. The New Testament confirms the Old Testament. It doesn’t teach something new. Yeshua and Paul taught the same gospel from the Old Testament: repent and return to God and His ways.
The Torah (Instructions)
The purpose of the Law/Torah is sanctification. Yeshua (Jesus) came to redeem us from our sins in our past, and to show us how to live, so we would not live in sin any longer. We are “in the world, but not of the world.” Much of the Torah was known before it was written down. Exodus 16 is an example. Israel already knew about the Sabbath. The knew not to work, to rest and keep it holy as God did in the Garden of Eden. God gave His commandments in Exodus 20, but the punishment for breaking the Sabbath was the same PRIOR to the giving of the 10 commandments. There has always been one Torah/Law for Israel and foreigners (Gentiles) according to Numbers 15:16 and Deut 31:12. We are supposed to be take great care to obey the Torah, we’re not supposed to turn to the right or left. We’re supposed to “observe” it, keep it, guard it.
God makes us a promise: If we observe His charge to keep His regulations, commandments, rulings and instructions in accordance with the Torah, we will succeed in all we do and wherever we go (1 Kings 2:3, 2 Kings 17:13, 34, 37). If we rebel and disobey, God will bring curses and death, but obedience results in blessings and life (Deut 30:19, James 1:25). We are supposed to establish the Torah (2 Kings 23:24, Rom 3:31. Acts 5:29) according to the Tanakh and Paul in Romans 3:31. That is the role of Israel, to be a light to the nations, set apart, a priesthood, a peculiar people. Israel is to be a holy nation, not like the world, which is not holy. Keeping the Torah (the Law) demonstrates if we love God or we don’t (Luke 11:28, John 14:15-21, 1 Jn 2:4, 2 Jn 1;6, Rom 1:5). 1 John 5:3 says. “For this is the love of God; that we keep His commandments, and they aren’t burdensome.”
The Torah is the Law of God’s eternal Kingdom. In Yeshua’s Millennial Kingdom, “the Torah will go out from Zion.” (Michah 4:1-3) Yeshua will rule His Kingdom by it, just as God has ruled by His Torah for 6,000 years.
New Covenant Responsibility
If we are New Covenant believers, we will seek God will all of our hearts, love God with all of our hearts and obey God. What does this mean? It means obey His Torah. It means follow Yeshua. The Bible says that the remnant of God, the saints, are those that keep the commandments of God and have the faith/testimony of Yeshua.
Yeshua is coming back for a bride. He’s not coming for a harlot. Most of the church has followed the ways of the Roman Catholic church, the whore who has changed times and laws and led the church astray from the ways of God. They are the origin of “the Law has been done away with”, “the Sabbath has been done away with” and many false doctrines.
As covenant believers, we must study the Word of God diligently and obey God, not men. Yeshua rebuked the Pharisees for this. He said to them: “thus making void the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And many such things you do.” Mark 7:13. “In vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.” Matt 15:9.
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Yeshua the Messiah
“For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16 He is the Son of God Ps 2:7, Prov 30:4). The Old Testament has promises and prophecies about the Messiah who would come. Yeshua fulfilled 324 prophecies from the Old Testament perfectly! He did miracles that only God could do: He raised the dead to life, He healed blind people and they could see, He healed leprosy, He healed paralytics and other people. Yeshua was a Jew. He was from Israel. He was from the tribe of Judah. His mother was Mary and His father was Joseph, but He conceived of the Holy Spirit. He is the root of Jesse according to Isaiah 11:1. He confirms this in Revelation22:16, when He says, “I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.” Gen 3:15 predicted (this is the 1st prophecy spoken in the Bible, and God spoke it) He would go through something harmful. “And enmity I will set between you the Woman and between your seed and her seed. He will bruise you (to) the head and you shall bruise him [of] the heel.” He was prophesied as the suffering Son is Psalms. “For ‘dogs’ have surrounded me, the Synagogue of Evil Men encircle me. They have pierced my hands and feet. They can count all my bones. They behold me and gawk. They separate my garments among themselves, and they cast lots for my clothing.”
Isaiah 7:14 prophesied that a virgin would conceive, and this would be the sign. “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” The name Immanuel means “God with us.” This showed that He was God and the Son of God. Zechariah prophesied about the day Israel would look on Yeshua and mourn. Zechariah 12:10 “They will gaze upon the One whom they have pierced. .. And there will be bitter lamentation in grief as over a firstborn son.”
He is the Word made flesh (John 1:14). He was the once for all atoning sacrifice for the sins of humanity (Heb 9:6-10, 18, 1 John 2:2). He humbled Himself by taking the form of a servant in human form (Is 53, Phil 2:7-8). He died, rose on the third day (1 Cor 15;3-7) , ascended to heaven (Acts 1:9-11, 20:30-38, Eph 1:19-23) and is seated on the throne with God the Father (Matt 22:44, Luke 22:69, Eph 1:20, Heb 1:3, Rev 3:21).
The Character of God: Grace and Mercy/Wrath and Judgement
These are attributes of God’s nature. We first see them in the Garden of Eden. Eve ate the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil and Adam ate with her. God did not destroy them. Instead He had a plan before He created the world to save them. Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Israel received God’s grace over and over again. God never changes. He does not give us what we rightly deserve (death), but instead gives us what we do not deserve (salvation, blessings, life). Lamentations 3:22-23 says, “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” The grace of God gave us Messiah, and because of Messiah, we can be born again. Eph 2:8-9 says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.”
God has to judge sin. He told the children of Israel that if they obeyed Him, there would be blessings, prosperity, and life. But, if they disobeyed Him, there would be curses and death. He told them to observe all His regulations and commandments (Deuteronomy 6). He said that obeying the commandments would be righteousness. God said that He was humbling and testing the children of Israel in order to know what was in their hearts. This was determined by them obeying or disobeying (Deuteronomy 8). Before the children of Israel went into the promised land, He told them not to rebel against Him. However, they did. 1 Corinthians 10 tells us “Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come. Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall.” Paul is warning us not to fall from faith because we will face the wrath and judgment of God.
John 3:36 says, “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.” Obedience is living in God’s grace and mercy. Paul tells the Roman church “Consider therefore the kindness and the severity of God—severity to those who have fallen, but God’s kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off.” Paul is telling them that just like the children of Israel were cut off because of unbelief, they too will be cut off if they don’t obey.
Death
many people disagree about what happens when we die, but the Bible is clear. God said this in Genesis 3:19. “From dust you are and to dust you shall return.” We were created to live for eternity with God, but sin came and the wages of sin is death. This means death of the body and the entire being (nephesh). We are mortal. Job 17:16 confirms that we return to dust. “Will it go down with me to Sheol (the grave)? Shall we together go down into the dust?” Psalm 22:15 “And You lay me in the dust of the earth.” David knew he would be laid in the earth.” The grave is a place of silence. Psalm 6: 5 says “For in death there is no remembrance of you; in Sheol (the grave) who will give you praise?” The grave is a place of decay. Psalm 16:10: “For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol (the grave), nor will You allow Your Holy One to undergo decay.” You can go to the grave alive. We see that this occurred in Korah’s rebellion in Numbers 16:22-23. “And the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, with their households and all the people who belonged to Korah and all their goods. So they and all that belonged to them went down alive into Sheol (the grave), and the earth closed over them, and they perished from the midst of the assembly.” Death is a place of silence and souls are conscience of nothing. Psalm 115:17-18 (NLT): “The dead cannot sing praises to the Lord, for they have gone into the silence of the grave (sheol).. Rev 20:14-15 says, “We cannot go anywhere but the grave when we die, because the Bible says, “Just as man is appointed to die once, and after that to face judgment.” We don’t face judgment when we die, which means we don’t go to heaven or hell when we die. In Psalm 146:4, David talks about death. He says “When his breath departs, he returns to the earth. On that very day his plans perish.” He says that man returns to the earth.” The scripture confirms this in Revelation 20:14-15. “Then death and Sheol were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death.” Most translations in English say, “death and hell were thrown into the lake of fire”, but this is not a good translation. Hell, Hades, comes from Greek mythology, not the Bible and the Bible has been infiltrated with spiritualism. Sheol, the grave, will be thrown into the Lake of Fire. Death and Sheol (the grave) are thrown into the Lake of Fire after the Great White Throne Judgment. We are NOT sent to anywhere (heaven or hell) BEFORE THE JUDGMENT.
When we die, we’re in the state of sleep. Psalm 13:3 says, “Consider and hear me, O Lord my God: lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death.” David said that death was a sleep. He was crying out for God to hear him so he wouldn’t die/sleep. Dan 12:2 says, “And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.” This verse tells us what the state of the dead is. Those who have died are asleep in the dust of the earth. We will awake, some to everlasting life, and some to everlasting contempt (scorn).”
The Resurrection
The first resurrection will be when Yeshua returns. The Hebrew concept of the resurrection is: the restoration of the dead back to life and a new permanent, glorified body. The gospel is the good news that God will restore all things! Even life! The first resurrection is for those who have citizenship in heaven. Isaiah 26:19 says, “Your dead shall live; together with my dead body they shall arise. Awake and sing, you who dwell in the dust. For your dew is a dew of light, and the earth will give birth to the dead.” Phil 3:20-21 says, “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Yeshua Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.” This resurrection is for the seed of the woman (Genesis 3:15) and according to Revelation 12:17 are those who “keep the commandments of God and have the testimony/faith (or hold to it) of Yeshua.” Revelation 14:12 confirms that they are the remnant or the saints. These are the people, along with those who are alive, that will rule and reign with Yeshua in the Millennial Kingdom. In this resurrection, our bodies will be transformed into glorified bodies.
The second resurrection occurs after the Great White Throne Judgment. This is the resurrection of darkness, because those who have not lived righteously will be judged and thrown into the lake of fire. John 5:28-29 “Do not marvel at this. For the hours IS coming (hasn’t come yet) in which all who are in the graves WILL hear His voice and come forth and those who have done good to the RESURRECTION OF LIFE, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of darkness.”
1 Cor 15:51-54 says “We shall not all sleep, but we shall 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 incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on immortality. So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: ‘Death is swallowed up in victory.’”
1 Cor 15:12-13 says “Now if Christ is preached that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen.” Paul was talking about THE resurrection, he wasn’t talking about a resurrection that takes place when you die. This is not what he taught about the resurrection. He did not teach a perpetual resurrection. Vs 20-28 says “But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam ALL DIE, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. (The keywords are “shall be.” Paul isn’t teaching a perpetual resurrection.) But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ’s AT HIS COMING. THEN comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet.” The firstfruits is a concept from the Feast of Firstfruits, one of the 7 Feasts of the Lord. Yeshua is the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. So, we learn 2 things: (1) the dead are asleep, and (2) Yeshua is the firstfruits of those who resurrect. And AFTERWARD, those who are Christ’s at His coming—He doesn’t resurrect us before. For ‘He has put all things under His feet’ says “It is THEN that this mortal will put on immortality, not before, but when Yeshua has put ALL enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will destroyed is death. Yeshua will defeat death at the after the Satanic rebellion has been crushed. After the 1,000-year millennial reign of Yeshua, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations. God will devour them with fire. He will cast Satan into the lake of fire where the beast (antichrist) and the false prophet are. Then the great white throne judgment will occur. The unrighteous dead will be judged according to their works. The sea will give up the dead who are in it, and death and the grave (not hell) will be cast into the lake of fire. (Rev 20:7-15). The incorrect translations say death and hell will be cast into the lake of fire, but we’ve already addressed that. So death will be destroyed after the great white throne judgment! If death was destroyed for us when we died, God would not be true to what He says. No one goes to heaven or hell before the great white judgment because the judgment of those who aren’t saved won’t happen until then. The judgment won’t happen for those who are saved because the dead in Christ will be raised at Yeshua’ second coming (the first resurrection). We have been saved (passed over) because of the blood of Yeshua.
The Sabbath
The Sabbath was instituted in creation in Genesis 2, was already being kept by God’s people before the 10 commandments were given in Exodus 20. In Exodus 16, God tested the people to see if they would keep His Sabbath holy. He gave instructions for gathering extra manna on the 6th day so they had enough for the Sabbath. Some went to gather manna, and God said, “How long will you refuse to keep My commandments and My Torah?” This was known prior to Exodus 20. It’s the only commandment that starts with “Remember”. God knew it would be forgotten. God gave His Torah/Law to Israel to set them apart so they could be light to the nations. He said in Ezekiel 20:12 “Moreover, I gave them my Sabbaths, as a sign between Me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord who sanctifies them.” Yeshua said in Matthew 12:8, Mark 2:28, and Luke 6:5 that He was “Lord of the Sabbath.” He said that Sabbath was made for man. That doesn’t mean man doesn’t have to keep it! God gave the Sabbath as a sign that people who kept/keep it are His covenant people! This is one way we can be light to the nations. This is one of the ways God sanctifies us. It is a sign between God and His people forever, because God is a God of eternal covenants. In Exodus 30:16-17, God said “wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath through their generations, for a perpetual (everlasting) covenant. It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever.” Believers of God and followers of Yeshua in the Old and New Testaments kept the Sabbath. God never commanded us to keep Sunday as a day to celebrate the resurrection. He did commanded us to keep one day per year holy to celebrate the resurrection. This is the Feast of Firstfruits. But He did not command us to do it weekly. He commanded us to keep the 7th day holy EVERY WEEK. The Sabbath is a delight! Isaiah 58:13-14 says, “If you turn back your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on My holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight and the holy day of the Lord honorable; if you honor it, now going your own ways or seeking your own pleasure, or talking idly; then you shall take delight in the Lord, and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth; I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” This is the most beautiful promise in the Bible, in my mind. But I want you to notice something else: God calls the 7th day Sabbath HIS HOLY DAY, and He never calls Sunday a holy day. He never even calls it by name. God deals in the holy, not the common, and He is making it very clear that the Sabbath is His holy day. So the “Day of the Lord” in Revelation can’t be Sunday, because God would say so. Many people build their doctrine about the Day of the Lord being Sunday on ONE VERSE which NEVER EVEN MENTIONS SUNDAY! Yeshua said that “whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” I want everyone in this ministry and everyone who reads this to be called great in the kingdom of heaven. Hebrews 4:9 says, “So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God.” The people of God are still required to keep the Sabbath to be in covenant with Him.
Our Identity in Yeshua (Messiah)
Our identity in Yeshua is spiritual Israel (Eph 2:12-20, Gal 3:29, Rom 11:17-24). If we were Gentiles (the wild olive tree), we are now Israel. If we were Jews (the cultivated olive tree), we are Israel according to Romans 11. We are the commonwealth of Israel. The root of the tree is Yeshua. Isaiah 11:1 and Romans 15:8-13 say that Yeshua is the root of Jesse. In Revelation 22:16, Yeshua says “I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the radiant and brilliant Morning Star.”
The covenants and promises given to Israel are ours by faith IF we continue in the faith (Col 1:21-23). Continuing in the faith means being faithful to God. Being faithful means believing and obeying.
Lev 11:45 says, “For I am the Lord who brought you up from the land of Egypt to be your God; thus you shall be holy, for I am holy.” Lev 19:2 says this as well: “You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.” Peter quotes this in 1 Pet 1:16: “For it is written: ‘Be holy, for I am holy.’” Peter was quoting the Old Testament as Scripture and we should do the same thing today.
Lev 20:26 says, “You are to be holy to me because I, the Lord, am holy, and I have set you apart from the nations to be my own.” Yeshua said, “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” 2 Tim 1:9 says “He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time.” Romans 12:1 “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.” John 4:24 says, “God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”
Ex 19:6 says, “And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.” 1 Pet 2:9 says, “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” Peter was addressing believers in the church. The disciples taught that our identity as believers in Yeshua is Israel. This is our identity: a kingdom of priests, a holy nation, a royal priesthood. This means we act holy and we do holy things.
We want all believers to come to this knowledge and to live holy lives, following Yeshua, our King who is coming back to rule the earth. Hallelujah!!!!
