Christianity can be condensed into four words: Admit, Submit, Commit and Transmit. -Samuel Wilberforce«
Showing posts with label yeshua. Show all posts
Showing posts with label yeshua. Show all posts
Monday, October 24, 2016
LIVING WATER OF YESHUA -ISAIA 12:3
Christianity can be condensed into four words: Admit, Submit, Commit and Transmit. -Samuel Wilberforce«
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Friday, October 14, 2016
The Day of Atonement
Christianity can be condensed into four words: Admit, Submit, Commit and Transmit. -Samuel Wilberforce
The Day of Atonement
Tuesday, October 11th at sunset starts the Day of Atonement, also known as Yom Kippur. In Acts 27:9, it is referred to as “the Fast.” This Feast day is much different from the other Feasts. On the other Feasts, you eat the choicest foods possible and rejoice. This day is different in that it is a day of fasting, repentance, and reflection. The fast is from sunset to sunset and is abstaining from both drink and food.
It is on this day in Ancient Israel, atonement was made for the sins of the people. For this reason, the Day of Atonement is calledShabbat Shabbaton or the Sabbath of Sabbaths. It is the holiest day of the year on the Hebrew Calendar because of its significance.
On the Day of Atonement, the High Priest would first wash with water and put on the sacred linen garments from Exodus 28. He was to offer a bull for his own sins and the sins of his household. This shows us that before the high priest could make atonement for others he had to make atonement for himself. The blood of that bull was then applied to the Ark of the Covenant and the Altar of Incense.
Two goats were then chosen and lots would be cast between the two of them. One goat was chosen as a sin offering and the other goat was chosen as the azazel goat or scapegoat. A red thread was tied to each of these two goats and another thread tied to the doorpost of the temple. The goat chosen for the sin offering was brought to the High Priest. The High Priest would then slaughter the goat and then apply its blood to the Ark of the Covenant and the Altar of Incense. This goat was slain for the nation.
When these sacrifices were completed, the priests would bring forward the goat chosen as the scapegoat. The high priest would place his hands on this goat and confess over it all the sins and wickedness of the Israelites. A chosen man would then chase this goat over a cliff. This was done to keep the goat from bringing the sins of the people back into the camp. As this process took place, the red thread at the doorpost of the tabernacle would turn white. This was to let them know that the Lord had covered their sins. As the Bible says, “though my sins be red as scarlet, you shall make them white as snow.”
After all this was done, the high priest washed in water and changed back into his normal priestly garments. The high priest then left the Holy Place and made more burnt offerings to the Lord. The fat from the sin offerings used in the Most Holy Place and the Holy Place were to be offered with these burnt offerings. Atonement for the people was then complete.
This ritual, performed once a year, atoned for the sins of the Israelites and allowed God to walk in the camp among them. The sacrifices made on this day were made with animals. As the writer of Hebrews explains, the sacrifices of bulls and goats were not sufficient to take away or cleanse sin (Hebrews 9:12-14). They were just an annual reminder for the people that they were sinful and needed Atonement.
That is why Christ had to come and be our atonement. An annual reminder is totally insufficient to wipe away the iniquity and rebellion from our sins. We needed something better than the blood of bulls and goats; we needed the blood of the Son of God.
When the high priest made Atonement for the Israelites, he entered a sanctuary made by the hands of men. Because this original ritual was on earth, it could not give us the standing we need to appear before the Father in Heaven. When we sin, we are deserving of the second, spiritual death. Christ’s sacrifice saves us from the second death in the Lake of Fire if we receive it! In order for us to stand before the Father in Heaven, Christ had to take His perfect blood into a Temple that was not earthly, but spiritual.
In Hebrews 9:23-26, the Bible says, “It was necessary, then, for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.” Jesus didn’t have to make atonement for His household. He is perfect. Just as the high priest entered into the earthly temple and sprinkled the goat’s blood on the Ark of the Covenant and Altar of Incense, so Christ did the exact same thing with His own blood in Heaven.
There is one aspect of this Atonement ceremony that has yet to come to pass! In this ritual of Atonement, there was a second goat, which was called the azazel goat or the scapegoat. The High Priest confessed all the sins of the people on this goat and a chosen man then chased it off a cliff. This second goat represents Satan, who will have all the sins of mankind confessed over Him by our High Priest, Christ. Christ will then send a chosen angel to bind him for the millennial reign. John was shown this event in Revelation 20:1-3.
Now, let’s look at this special day on a personal level. The Day of Atonement is the last of the 10 days of Awe. God is going to decide your upcoming year on this day. He is going to make the final decision about whether or not you live or die; He is going to decide the general course of events for your life.
He is also going to decide the final course of our nation. So many people think that the right political candidate can fix our country.Nothing is farther from the Truth. Only God Almighty can save us!He is the only one who can turn things around. We must repent and turn whole heartedly to God. With our current national situation, we need God more now that ever.
Just as the High Priest in Leviticus 16 had to make Atonement for his own household, the change in our nation starts with SELF. We must look at our own lives and how we conduct our lives in private. We can’t look to people to save us; we cannot blame the sins of other groups and hope that changes things. Only when every person takes personal accountability for his or her own sins. This is true revival.
“…if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:14)
There are four steps to this process – humility, praying, seeking, and turning from sin. It will require all four to receive a change in our country.
Today, your name will be placed in the Book of Life or the Book of Death. May it be inscribed in the Book of Life.
Source: The Day of Atonement
Saturday, April 23, 2016
OUR PASSOVER LAMB
Christianity can be condensed into four words: Admit, Submit, Commit and Transmit. -Samuel Wilberforce
OUR PASSOVER LAMB
OUR PASSOVER LAMB
Passover is the time of year that the Jewish people remember their miraculous release from slavery in Egypt. It was instituted by God and the details are very specific as recorded in the Book of Exodus. “And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you.” Exodus 12:1-2. This should get our attention. The first month on the Jewish calendar is Nissan and on the 10th day of Nissan a lamb was to be chosen. “Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats” Exodus 12:5. The lamb was to be perfect and was to be cared for. On the fourteenth day of Nissan the chosen lamb was to be killed and his blood put on the side posts and the upper door post of each household where the lamb was to be eaten. That night the Lord would move through the land of Egypt and the firstborn of both man and beast would die. The blood of the lamb was the only protection for the household. Only obedience to God would allow the firstborn of a household to be protected. “And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to the LORD throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever.” Exodus 12:14. It all happened just as God said and the Israelites were freed from bondage. God wanted them to remember what He did for them. Passover is celebrated to this day but there is a much deeper meaning to Passover. It was fulfilled by Jesus.
The Passover story is familiar to us and it is prophetic. Like all of the Jewish feasts, Passover is about Jesus. This important feast celebrates the Israelites being set free from Egyptian bondage, but by allowing Himself to be sacrificed, Jesus set us free from the bondage of sin and death. When He rode into Jerusalem on the colt of a donkey He fulfilled many prophecies, including one in Daniel which foretold the exact day He would be hailed as the Messiah. “Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.“Daniel 9:25. Calculations based upon this prophecy reveal that Jesus rode into Jerusalem on the exact day foretold in Daniel. When He traveled to Jerusalem on that final journey He knew that the time was right and He would be hailed as the Messiah, but then He would be sacrificed…crucified. Years before this John the Baptist had recognized Him as the Lamb of God, and Jesus truly is our perfect Lamb“The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” John 1:29. Jesus truly was the once for all sacrifice to take our sin away. There is no more monumental event in history than Jesus’ crucifixion, except for His resurrection.
Jesus rode on a donkey colt into Jerusalem and the people hailed Him as Messiah…the people had chosen Him. Unlike the Passover lamb that was treated gently from the time of selection until its quick sacrifice, Jesus would not be treated kindly. In those final few days He would have disputes with the Jewish leaders and ultimately be betrayed by one of the twelve men who followed Him. After His arrest He endured beatings, scourging, mocking, and pure brutality. They spit on Him, pushed a crown of thorns onto His head, and put a purple robe on Him to mock His claim to be King. Pilate stood Him before a crowd of angry people and asked them if he should set Jesus free or a robber named Barabbas. The crowd called for the release of Barabbas, but gave the frenzied cry“ Crucify Him!” when Pilate asked them what he should do with Jesus. Then, the Lamb of God was sent to the slaughter. “And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha: where they crucified him, and two other with him, on either side one, and Jesus in the midst.” John 19:17-18. The Passover lamb was slaughtered quickly, but “Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” was beaten unmercifully and then nails were pounded into His hands and His feet. He hung on the cross for hours, dying slowly. He looked down at His mother and gave the responsibility for her care to John and He watched as the Roman soldiers gambled for His garments. In spite of all that was done to Him, His love and forgiveness was not shattered. “Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots.” Luke 23:34. His forgiveness is still available to us today.
Jesus had gone to Jerusalem knowing full well what He faced there, but He went willingly. At the last meal He shared with His disciples, He told Judas to go and do what he had to do…to go and betray Him. He kept silence during the illegal trial and the beatings. He carried His cross to His own crucifixion. Jesus, God the Son, had never been separated from God the Father because He was sinless and perfect, even in His human form. But as He hung on that cross He took our sins upon Himself and for the first time ever the perfect Lamb of God felt separation from God the Father because sin separates us from God. “And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which is being interpreted, My god, my God, why has thou forsaken me?” Mark 15:34. The sin that you and I should be condemned for was fully paid for on the cross. Jesus’ blood was shed for each and every person who has ever lived and who ever will live. It’s up to each of us individually to accept or reject that gift of salvation. That gift is free for the asking, but cost Jesus dearly.
Jesus fulfilled prophecy with precise timing, and after all things were accomplished, He chose the timing of His death. “After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst. Now there was set a vessel full of vinegar: and they filled a spunge with vinegar, and put it upon hyssop, and put it to his mouth. When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head and gave up the ghost.”John 19:28-30.It was finished. The blood of the Lamb was shed for you and me. We can look back and see the fulfilled prophecies and know that only His blood can redeem us. Those who followed Him were not so sure. They had followed Him and believed He was the Messiah, but now He had died. They feared that they would be the next ones crucified because they had followed Him.
For many reasons the burial was swift and they were unable to tend to His body the way they should have. At the first hint of light on the first day of the week a handful of women went to care for the body. Their grief was heavy as they walked to the tomb. A large stone had been placed at the entrance and they weren’t sure how they would be able to move it, but on they went. When they reached the tomb they were met with an astonishing sight. The stone had been rolled away! “And entering into the sepulchre, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a long white garment; and they were affrighted. And he saith unto them, Be not affrighted: Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: he is risen; he is not here: behold the place where they laid him.” Mark 16:5-6.Can you imagine their joy! Jesus was risen from the dead! He’s alive!!
From Exodus to Daniel to the Resurrection, the date is clear. God has gone to great lengths to establish when the Passover is to be celebrated and therefore when Christ was hailed as the Messiah, offered as the perfect sacrifice, and resurrected. In spite of that most Christians choose to celebrate Christ’s victory over the grave on a different day called Easter. That day is not related to the Jewish Passover. It occurs on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the Spring equinox. That day is based upon a pagan celebration and the traditions surrounding it have nothing to do with Christianity. Is it wrong to celebrate Christ’s Resurrection on this pagan holiday? Each person needs to decide individually. “Let no man therefore judge you in meat or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.” Colossians 2:16-17. We belong to Christ and therefore we have freedom. Jesus fulfilled the Law and we need to be careful that we don’t return to the Law because that is not where salvation is found, but the date of His final entry in to Jerusalem, the day of the crucifixion, and the day of the Resurrection all seem important to God. We need to pay attention. Salvation is through Christ, but we need to honor Him in all our ways. Does coloring eggs and eating chocolate bunnies make you a pagan? No, but you need to be sure that you are identifying with Christ. We know that His sacrifice was during the Passover celebration which foreshadowed Him. It seems important to God that we know when Christ’s victory over death occurred. This year, 2016, Passover begins at sundown on April 22. Take time to read through Exodus chapter 12 and then read the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ final week and also read through the Resurrection. Christ took our sins upon Himself and won the victory over death. Never forget that or take it lightly.
The blood on the door posts of the Jewish households so long ago protected them from death on that night of the first Passover. The blood of “…the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” applied to your heart is the only means by which you can be protected from eternal death. Celebrate our true Passover Lamb.
God bless you all,
Nathele Graham
Ron Graham’s previous commentaries archived athttp://www.raptureready.com/featured/graham/graham.html
All original scripture is “theopneustos” God breathed
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