Showing posts with label Messianic Jews. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Messianic Jews. Show all posts

August 27, 2014

end times church witnessing 2014: Samuel saves Israel

Jeremiah 44:4 English Standard Version (ESV)
Yet I persistently sent to you all my servants the prophets, saying, ‘Oh, do not do this abomination that I hate!’
And all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and those who came after him, also proclaimed these days.
All this took about 450 years. And after that he gave them judges until Samuel the prophet.
 
Hebrews 11:32-35 English Standard Version (ESV) 32 And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets— 33 who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. 35 Women received back their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life.
1 Samuel 7 English Standard Version (ESV)
And the men of Kiriath-jearim came and took up the ark of the Lord and brought it to the house of Abinadab on the hill. And they consecrated his son Eleazar to have charge of the ark of the Lord. From the day that the ark was lodged at Kiriath-jearim, a long time passed, some twenty years, and all the house of Israel lamented after the Lord.

Samuel Judges Israel

And Samuel said to all the house of Israel, “If you are returning to the Lord with all your heart, then put away the foreign gods and the Ashtaroth from among you and direct your heart to the Lord and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.” So the people of Israel put away the Baals and the Ashtaroth, and they served the Lord only. 1samuel 7
Then Samuel said, “Gather all Israel at Mizpah, and I will pray to the Lord for you.” So they gathered at Mizpah and drew water and poured it out before the Lord and fasted on that day and said there, “We have sinned against the Lord.” And Samuel judged the people of Israel at Mizpah. Now when the Philistines heard that the people of Israel had gathered at Mizpah, the lords of the Philistines went up against Israel. And when the people of Israel heard of it, they were afraid of the Philistines. And the people of Israel said to Samuel, “Do not cease to cry out to the Lord our God for us, that he may save us from the hand of the Philistines.” So Samuel took a nursing lamb and offered it as a whole burnt offering to the Lord. And Samuel cried out to the Lord for Israel, and the Lord answered him. 10 As Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to attack Israel. But the Lord thundered with a mighty sound that day against the Philistines and threw them into confusion, and they were defeated before Israel. 1samuel-7-10
11 And the men of Israel went out from Mizpah and pursued the Philistines and struck them, as far as below Beth-car.
12 Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen[a] and called its name Ebenezer;[b] for he said, “Till now the Lord has helped us.” 13 So the Philistines were subdued and did not again enter the territory of Israel. And the hand of the Lord was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel. 14 The cities that the Philistines had taken from Israel were restored to Israel, from Ekron to Gath, and Israel delivered their territory from the hand of the Philistines. There was peace also between Israel and the Amorites.
15 Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life. 16 And he went on a circuit year by year to Bethel, Gilgal, and Mizpah. And he judged Israel in all these places. 17 Then he would return to Ramah, for his home was there, and there also he judged Israel. And he built there an altar to the Lord.

Footnotes:

  1. 1 Samuel 7:12 Hebrew; Septuagint, Syriac Jeshanah
  2. 1 Samuel 7:12 Ebenezer means stone of help
Psalm 99:5-7 English Standard Version (ESV)
Exalt the Lord our God;
    worship at his footstool!
    Holy is he!
Moses and Aaron were among his priests,
    Samuel also was among those who called upon his name.
    They called to the Lord, and he answered them.
In the pillar of the cloud he spoke to them;
    they kept his testimonies
    and the statute that he gave them.
Jeremiah 15:1-3 English Standard Version (ESV)

The Lord Will Not Relent

15 Then the Lord said to me, “Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my heart would not turn toward this people. Send them out of my sight, and let them go! And when they ask you, ‘Where shall we go?’ you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord:
“‘Those who are for pestilence, to pestilence,
    and those who are for the sword, to the sword;
those who are for famine, to famine,
    and those who are for captivity, to captivity.’
I will appoint over them four kinds of destroyers, declares the Lord: the sword to kill, the dogs to tear, and the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth to devour and destroy.  Jesus-Paid-It-All-Cross-PictureIsaiah 44:1-5 English Standard Version (ESV)

Israel the Lord‘s Chosen

44 “But now hear, O Jacob my servant,
    Israel whom I have chosen!
Thus says the Lord who made you,
    who formed you from the womb and will help you:
Fear not, O Jacob my servant,
    Jeshurun whom I have chosen.
For I will pour water on the thirsty land,
    and streams on the dry ground;
I will pour my Spirit upon your offspring,
    and my blessing on your descendants.
They shall spring up among the grass
    like willows by flowing streams.
This one will say, ‘I am the Lord‘s,’
    another will call on the name of Jacob,
and another will write on his hand, ‘The Lord‘s,’
    and name himself by the name of Israel.”

August 20, 2014

What kind of house could you build for God ?


Isaiah 66 Complete Jewish Bible (CJB)
66 “Heaven is my throne,” says Adonai,
“and the earth is my footstool.
What kind of house could you build for me?
What sort of place could you devise for my rest?
2 Didn’t I myself make all these things?
This is how they all came to be,”
says Adonai.
“The kind of person on whom I look with favor
is one with a poor and humble spirit,
who trembles at my word.
3 Those others might as well kill a person as an ox,
as well break a dog’s neck as sacrifice a lamb,
as well offer pig’s blood as offer a grain offering,
as well bless an idol as burn incense.
Just as these have chosen their ways
and enjoy their disgusting practices,
4 so I will enjoy making fools of them,
and bring on them the very things they fear.
For when I called, no one answered;
when I spoke, they did not hear.
Instead they did what was evil in my sight
and chose what did not please me.”
5 Hear the word of Adonai,
you who tremble at his word:
“Your brothers, who hate you and reject you
because of my name, have said:
‘Let Adonai be glorified,
so we can see your joy.’
But they will be put to shame.”
6 That uproar in the city,
that sound from the temple,
is the sound of Adonai repaying
his foes what they deserve.
BibleGateway
Revelation 6 Complete Jewish Bible (CJB)
6 Next I watched as the Lamb broke the first of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living beings say in a thundering voice, “Go!” 2 I looked, and there in front of me was a white horse; its rider had a bow and was given a crown; and he rode off as a conqueror to conquer.
3 When he broke the second seal, I heard the second living being say, “Go!” 4 Another horse went out, a red one; and its rider was given the power to take peace away from the earth and make people slaughter each other. He was given a great sword.
5 When he broke the third seal, I heard the third living being say, “Go!” I looked, and there in front of me was a black horse, and its rider held in his hand a pair of scales. 6 Then I heard what sounded like a voice from among the four living beings say, “Two pounds of wheat for a day’s wages! Six pounds of barley for the same price! But don’t damage the oil or the wine!”
7 When he broke the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living being say, “Go!” 8 I looked, and there in front of me was a pallid, sickly-looking horse. Its rider’s name was Death, and Sh’ol followed behind him. They were given authority to kill one-quarter of the world by war, by famine, by plagues and with the wild animals of the earth.
9 When the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been put to death for proclaiming the Word of God, that is, for bearing witness. 10 They cried out in a loud voice, “Sovereign Ruler, HaKadosh, the True One, how long will it be before you judge the people living on earth and avenge our blood?” 11 Each of them was given a white robe; and they were told to wait a little longer, until the full number of their fellow-servants should be reached, of their brothers who would be killed, just as they had been.
12 Then I watched as he broke the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake, the sun turned black as sackcloth worn in mourning, and the full moon became blood-red. 13 The stars fell from heaven to earth just as a fig tree drops its figs when shaken by a strong wind. 14 The sky receded like a scroll being rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved from its place. 15 Then the earth’s kings, the rulers, the generals, the rich and the mighty — indeed, everyone, slave and free — hid himself in caves and among the rocks in the mountains, 16 and said to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us, and hide us[a] from the face of the One sitting on the throne and from the fury of the Lamb! 17 For the Great Day of their fury has come, and who can stand?”

July 28, 2014

the first Spirit-filled witness speaks again

Stephen – Thy Witnessby T. Austin-Sparks
An Appeal for Spiritual Christianity
Acts 22:20 (Acts 6 & 7)
It would be difficult to find a Christian who did not hold Stephen in very high esteem. The reading of the account of his martyrdom, as that of a young man of great gifts and unimpeachable character, stirs every kind of emotion into intense reaction. Sorrow, grief, admiration, anger, contempt, hatred, are all mingled in the tears which are very near when we hear his last words and see his last look. Our heads go down when we seem to see in the darkness of the night the torches of the “devout men” and hear their hushed tread as they go out to recover and bury that mangled body – “And devout men buried Stephen, and made great lamentation over him”. A young, brilliant, brave, and beautiful life has been taken away by brutal, vicious, bestial fury. The cause we shall examine, but view the event.
True, Stephen had flung some serious charges at the Jewish rulers present. He had supported those charges by long Jewish history and Scripture, but prejudice will never listen to the best documented argument. So, at a given point, they stopped their ears, gnashed at him with their teeth, and rushed upon him, dragging him outside the city. The place for stoning was a ramp higher than a man. The first witness against Stephen threw him from the ramp in such a way that he fell on his back. Then a large stone was thrown with great force on his heart. The blow did not kill him, so, according to the Law (Deut. 17:7) it was the people’s turn. The men took off their white mantles and laid them at the feet of Saul, who was present in an official capacity to support the proceedings. The stones rained upon Stephen who, at a point, raised himself to his knees and prayed for their forgiveness, and, as the horrible work reached its climax, he just said, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” The deed was done. The mangled body lay motionless.
But, from that point, we have to begin our enquiry. What did it all amount to? What was
THE SIGNIFICANCE OF STEPHEN?
Was Stephen just the first martyr for the faith, to be followed by many more, and so to be JUST ONE of the Noble Army of the Martyrs? Or was there something special and different about Stephen? We answer that in an affirmation, and then proceed to uncover that particular significance.
Stephen was making spiritual history. What Stephen was fighting for to the very death was something in Christianity that even the chief Apostles – Peter, James, John, and the rest – had not yet seen and come to. It was something different, even in Christianity.
That is the affirmation; now for the explanation. The explanation will be found, firstly in his own discourse, and then in what eventuated from his death.
1. STEPHEN’S DISCOURSE
In his discourse to the Jewish rulers and his other accusers, Stephen ranged the history of Israel with a single definite thought and object before him. He started with their racial or national father, Abraham, and went on through Isaac; Jacob; Joseph; Moses; the people – in Egypt; the Exodus; the Wilderness; Joshua; David; Solomon; the Prophets.
In what he had to say about all these, one feature and factor runs through all and was governing everything. That factor is that God is ever moving on, and that nothing but disaster can come to those who do not go on with Him. This going on of God, Stephen pointed out, was not just in the progress of history, even the history of a chosen people, it was more essentially a spiritual going on. To Abraham the command was “Get out”; and then, WHEN he was out, a life of pilgrimage to the end; no settling down or taking root. Stephen is quite detailed on this.
When, through Jacob, the national family and potentially the twelve tribes were secured and the possibility of a stop, an arrest, and death by famine was threatening, the continuance and going on was secured by Divine sovereignty as told in the fascinating story of the life of Joseph. From Joseph Stephen went on to Moses – his birth, preservation, education, escape, commission, and the Exodus. God was going on.
At this point some of the strongest and most terrible things are said by Stephen. He is dealing with Israel in the wilderness and he exposes the hidden causes of retarded progress.
Remember that progress is Stephen’s subject: God was ever moving on and man ever contrary. Stephen indicates that the retarded progress and the extension of a few days into forty years was due to one thing; it was that, while they were out of Egypt, Egypt was not out of them. Not only were they ever literally looking back to Egypt and inclining to return there but the spirit and principle of idolatry was still strongly in their hearts. This came out in the demand for the golden calf; but Stephen – quoting Amos – said something even more terrible, namely, that, in some mystic way, the very Tabernacle and Temple were, in their souls, associated with Moloch and Rephan – gods of the stellar bodies; and their sacrifices had the same subtle link. While ostensibly Jehovah was the object of worship, actually He was mixed up, in their worship, with other gods. If this is what Stephen meant and what Amos was actually dealing with when this thing in the heart had come out to find exposure in the latter days of the Monarchy, it fully justifies his charge of ‘resisting the Holy Ghost’.
But Stephen goes on far beyond the wilderness with the same people. He touches lightly on Joshua, but implies the same spirit. We know that Joshua in type postulated God’s movement, ever on, ever up: the going on to exploit the inheritance ever more fully. But, again, that incorrigible disposition to settle down too soon and not go on to fullness marked and marred the history of the conquest.
On Stephen goes to David and to Solomon. David’s desire to build a house for God on earth received a very reserved and non-committal response from Him, and was met with the answer that God would build a house of a different order, for
“The Most High dwelleth not in houses made with hands…
The heaven is my throne,
And the earth the footstool of my feet:
What manner of house will ye build me? saith the Lord:
Or what is the place of my rest?
Did not my hand make all these things?”. (Acts 7:48,49).
What Stephen saw, and what is stated, intimated, and implicit in the New Testament (a monumental document on the matter is ‘the Letter to the Hebrews’), was that Solomon was – at most – but a figure of a greater ‘Son’, and his temple, with all its glory, wealth, and beauty, was only a pointer ONWARD to “A house not made with hands”; what Peter – after a difficult and painful transition – called, God’s SPIRITUAL house.
Stephen concludes with a comprehensive gathering of all this history into “the Prophets”, and virtually says that the spirit of prophecy was related to this ever-future, onward, and ultimate SPIRITUAL goal of God.
What again, then, does all this amount to? On the one side, it is a mighty exposure and denunciation of the incorrigible habit and disposition of GOD’S PEOPLE to bring what is essentially heavenly down to earth and fasten it there; to make of the spiritual something temporal; to make of the eternal something which will not – and cannot – abide; to make form, means, orders, and technique all-important. In a word, to have things fixed and boxed, so that the Holy Spirit is thwarted and frustrated in His ever-onward and ever-sovereign movement and innovation, if He so choose. The most dominant note, the most imperative cry of the New Testament is “Let us go on”. But the context of this cry is – “outside the camp”. The writer of those words in the Letter to the Hebrews, who has so much in common with Stephen, makes it abundantly clear that “outside the camp” means outside of all that which in its Judaistic nature systematizes and crystallizes CHRISTIANITY into a set and settled form: into something earth-bound and final.
On the other side, all this is a revelation of how fierce and terrible will be the opposition of such systems to a purely and definitely SPIRITUAL testimony. Unless there is a conforming, there will at least be ostracism, and at most martyrdom.
2. THE EFFECT OF STEPHEN’S TESTIMONY
Now we have to go back to Jerusalem and look into the real meaning and effect of Stephen’s testimony, and consider its particular meaning for Christianity.
Stephen had – at the cost of his life – dared to touch the Temple, and the Temple as the heart and sum of the Jewish system and hierarchy. The effect of his pronouncement was to repudiate that whole system and its earthly centre. He had seen that it had been but a pointer to the heavenly and spiritual which was reached and realised in the entry of Jesus Christ into this world. He had been spiritually immanent in all the aspects of that system and that history, dominating all its features and represented in all its constituents. They had never been the REALITY, the ESSENTIAL, but only ways and means by which the real was signified; they were signs not realities. That which they had signified had now come in fullness and finality, therefore, EARTHLY, material, and localised Temples, Priests, Sacrifices, Vestments, Forms, Names and Titles, Cults, Orders, Times and Seasons, and everything else that made up such a system had, at least, served its purpose, and, at worst, become an empty shell, and a hindrance to the spiritual.
Stephen, in statement and implication, said this, and said it in no uncertain terms and manner. There was no equivocation in his declaration, and he made it quite clear that to have been blind to the spiritual significations of their history, and to continue in that blindness now that the One signified had come was nothing less than ‘resisting the Holy Spirit’.
Very well, then, that is so far as Jewry was concerned; but there was a twilight transition period in Jerusalem. While the Apostles and disciples had seen that Jesus fulfilled so much of the Scriptures (as see Luke 24), they certainly had but a very limited apprehension of His full significance as to the old system. They were still ‘going up to the Temple’, and that, AT THE HOUR OF THE SACRIFICE.
Their last recorded question to the Lord before His ascension shows that they were still clinging to the Jewish hope of a temporal Messianic kingdom on the earth, in spite of His parable of the lord returning after A LONG TIME, and all His teaching on the Holy Spirit, etc.
Is that why, when those who stood on Stephen’s ground were, after his death, “all scattered abroad”, the Apostles were excepted. They had not wholly repudiated Judaism, circumcision, the Temple, the sacrifices, etc., as Stephen had.
Why did Saul of Tarsus immediately seek out, in Jerusalem (Acts 9:13) and unto ‘distant cities’ (Acts 26:11), those who had identified themselves with Stephen’s position, and leave the Apostles alone? True, the Apostles were having a hard time with the rulers, but not on Stephen’s ground. James seems to have been able to hold things together with a group on a partial Judaistic ground, a compromise; and Peter and John were, for some time, with him, as ‘Acts’ shows. In Jerusalem the Christian Church was largely Judaistic, within the covert of the Temple and the ordinances. But, the Holy Spirit was moving on, and a point is reached where it is A QUESTION FOR CHRISTIANITY whether it was going on or going to stand still, which would mean going back.
The fact is that Stephen had caused a division – the first division – in Christianity, a division which has characterized Christianity right down the centuries into our own time.
The Holy Spirit was moving sovereignly toward a position of utter spirituality and heavenliness; the very essentials of Christ now being in Heaven and the Holy Spirit being here as the characteristic of this dispensation. Peter, himself, was caught up in that sovereign movement in the episode of the house of Cornelius. He prevaricated under the influence of James and “certain” others; but his letters show that he made the transition. This was also abundantly true of John.
But the great event in the sovereign movement of the Holy Spirit was the ‘apprehending’ of the super-Stephen, Saul of Tarsus. It was he who, in the seeing of Christ in a blaze of illumination, saw all the implications of Stephen’s testimony. Henceforth the battle between both the immovable Judaisers and the twilight Christians on the one hand, and an utterly spiritual Church and Christianity, on the other, would focus upon him, until that full revelation had been embodied in his letters and he also fell fighting. Paul’s spiritual position, as opposed to a temporal or a semi-mundane system was called “a heresy” (Acts 24:24, margin), and was referred to as a “sect which is everywhere spoken against” (Acts 28:22).
If we are prepared to call Paul’s position a “heresy” or a “sect”, let us remember that it was that for which Stephen died, and let us see clearly what he and his great successor really stood for, and for which he died. It is something very searching. It reached the first Apostles. It sifted the Church at its beginning. It lies at the root of very much Christian history. It explains many spiritual tragedies. It accounts for much loss of power. It is the meaning of much talk about ‘schism’, ‘sectarianism’ and ‘divisiveness’.
It would be a vain hope to expect that all Christians – even evangelical Christians – would see the distinction that is presented, or that, if they did see it, would pay the price of accepting it. But there is no doubt or question that the most vital consequences for Christianity are bound up with this issue.
Shall we continue in or revert to what is VIRTUALLY a semi-Judaistic Christianity: an earth-tied, man-managed, system? Shall we fall into that pseudo-spiritual mistake which leads only to limitation – at least; the mistake of collecting from the New Testament, either in actualities or by deductions, certain forms and procedures, ‘methods’, and technicalities, and shaping them into a ‘New Testament’ formula, ‘blueprint’, and ‘pattern’? Shall we attempt that vain thing of making a fixed mould from ‘New Testament methods’ and pour everything into it? Shall we constitute OUR churches on the basis of popular votes, majorities against minorities, natural selection, etc., etc.
Or shall we see what Stephen and Paul saw, that the only Prototype of the Church and the churches is Christ Himself; that the revelation of Jesus Christ by the Holy Spirit is the only true way of building: that the anointing of the Holy Spirit and the qualification by spiritual gift is the Divine way of ‘office’, function, and responsibility: that this is the true ORGANISM springing and forming out of spiritual LIFE: that it is conception and not imitation, birth and not manufacture: that prayer and definite guidance coming out of it and not the ‘Board Room’ or its equivalent is the Holy Spirit’s ‘method’?
Stephen was the only one in the New Testament who used Christ’s chosen title for Himself – “the Son of man”, and in that designation all the universality and super-national, super-denominational, and super-racial features are embodied.
What we have written CAN be a key to the Bible, especially the New Testament, and while we believe profoundly that it represents the mind of the Spirit, we can only trust that there will be found a sufficient spiritual concern to lead to a re-reading of Scripture with Stephen’s testimony in mind.
No one, we trust, will think that there is any intention of FORCING division in mind or act. As we said in our heading, this is an appeal for spiritual Christianity. Christianity has had, and still has, its battles with heathenism and paganism, and this has meant many martyrs. But this does it no spiritual harm. Where real harm is done and loss is suffered, is in the battle within itself against retrogression, downward spiritual gravitation, traditionalism, legalism, and natural-mindedness. It is the battle against superficiality; which often masquerades as ‘simplicity’, a fear of depth.
Yes, this battle is a costly one, and has not infrequently brought the heavy stones against those who have stood for the essential spiritual character of this dispensation.
From “A Witness and A Testimony” magazine Jan-Feb 1963 Volume 41-1
 

February 24, 2014

2014 Jerusalem Gates series -Prophesy to the breath, prophesy

Prophesy to the breath, prophesy. Read and be blessed. Today is the critical day for God’s elect people in the holy land. All who follow God’s heart must pray and ask God how to pray now for this group of God’s first choice in this time when the number of the Gentiles are closer to the fulfillment of God’s number. The number for the Messianic Jews are rising as never before in history. What is God saying now to His own? O watchman round the globe, rise up and listen and intercede like never before!
http://kzlam36.wordpress.com/tag/jerusalem-gates/ (overall category: here you will find a variety of resources. But you may click the following links which are more specific and lead to you to the subject as named.)
http://kzlam36.wordpress.com/2014/02/05/hope-for-this-pivotal-generation-since-jesus-came-into-my-heart/
http://kzlam36.wordpress.com/2013/07/25/shana-tova-greetings-listen-to-the-prophets-message-2/
http://kzlam36.wordpress.com/2012/10/06/6189/  (PRAY, PRAY, PRAY MORE!!! )
http://kzlam36.wordpress.com/2012/09/26/prophecies-of-messiah/
http://kzlam36.wordpress.com/2012/07/12/end-time-church-witnessing-back-to-the-ancient-way-how-to-hear-gods-voice/
http://kzlam36.wordpress.com/2012/06/27/end-times-watchmans-bible-study-again-the-word-of-the-lord-of-hosts-came-to-me-6/
http://kzlam36.wordpress.com/2011/08/13/more-clues-and-strategies-on-end-times-economy/
http://kzlam36.wordpress.com/2010/10/02/end-times-witnessing-lift-up-a-banner-to-the-nations/
http://kzlam36.wordpress.com/2010/10/01/end-times-witnessing-sing-o-barren/
http://kzlam36.wordpress.com/2010/09/27/end-times-witnessing-how-wine-taster-nehemiah-won-the-war/
http://kzlam36.wordpress.com/2010/09/20/end-times-witnessing-signs-and-times-revealed-to-watchman-1/
http://kzlam36.wordpress.com/2010/09/19/how-the-watchman-spent-this-year%e2%80%99s-yom-kippur/
http://kzlam36.wordpress.com/2010/09/18/the-watchman-heard-on-that-day/
http://kzlam36.wordpress.com/2010/09/16/reverent-fear/
http://kzlam36.wordpress.com/2010/09/15/but-where-is-the-lamb-gen-227/
http://kzlam36.wordpress.com/2010/09/08/end-times-witnessing-a-spiritual-journey-of-faith-in-action/
http://kzlam36.wordpress.com/2010/08/27/end-times-witnessing-rebuilding-your-old-gate-he-laid-the-foundation-of-the-earth/
http://kzlam36.wordpress.com/2010/08/25/end-times-witnessing-rebuilding-your-fish-gate-why-are-men-made-like-fish-of-the-sea/
http://kzlam36.wordpress.com/2010/08/24/end-times-witnessing-rebuilding-the-sheep-gate-of-your-jerusalem-wall/
http://kzlam36.wordpress.com/2010/08/18/a-watchman-prays-today/
http://kzlam36.wordpress.com/2010/01/02/ari-and-great-grandmother%e2%80%99s-gold-%e2%80%93a-prereview/
http://kzlam36.wordpress.com/2009/08/29/chapter-twenty-eight-be-prepared-and-watchful-at-the-horse-gate/
http://kzlam36.wordpress.com/2009/08/26/chapter-twenty-seven-the-great-water-gate-revival-revelation/
http://kzlam36.wordpress.com/2009/08/21/chapter-twenty-six-valley-gate-revisited-and-more-mystery-revealed-judgement-and-mercy/
http://kzlam36.wordpress.com/2009/08/18/chapter-twenty-five-jerusalem-fish-gate-mystery-revealed-revised/
http://kzlam36.wordpress.com/2009/08/05/chapter-twenty-two-come-and-drink-life-from-the-water-gate/
http://kzlam36.wordpress.com/2009/08/04/chapter-twenty-one-be-filled-with-the-fountain-gate/
http://kzlam36.wordpress.com/2009/07/29/chapter-twenty-beware-of-the-jerusalem-serpent-well-and-dungrefuse-gate/
http://kzlam36.wordpress.com/2009/07/20/chapter-nineteen-narrow-gate-and-difficult-way-to-heaven/
http://kzlam36.wordpress.com/2009/07/16/chapter-nine-walking-through-the-valley-gate-and-not-fear-evil/
http://kzlam36.wordpress.com/2009/07/16/chapter-eightwhy-breakthrough-the-old-gate-of-jerusalem/
http://kzlam36.wordpress.com/2009/07/16/chapter-six-mystery-revealed-on-the-jerusalem-sheep-gate/

January 4, 2014

journey on: see the great and awesome God who keeps his covenant of unfailing love

Zechariah 9:10-12

New Living Translation (NLT)
10 I will remove the battle chariots from Israel
    and the warhorses from Jerusalem.
I will destroy all the weapons used in battle,
    and your king will bring peace to the nations.
His realm will stretch from sea to sea
    and from the Euphrates River to the ends of the earth.
11 Because of the covenant I made with you,
    sealed with blood,
I will free your prisoners
    from death in a waterless dungeon.
12 Come back to the place of safety,
    all you prisoners who still have hope!
I promise this very day
    that I will repay two blessings for each of your troubles. 

“I will confirm my covenant with you and your descendants after you, from generation to generation. This is the everlasting covenant: I will always be your God and the God of your descendants after you.
Genesis 17:6-8 (in Context) Genesis 17 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations

“Today I call on heaven and earth as witnesses against you. If you break my covenant, you will quickly disappear from the land you are crossing the Jordan to occupy. You will live there only a short time; then you will be utterly destroyed.
Deuteronomy 4:25-27 (in Context) Deuteronomy 4 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations
2 Kings 8:19
But the Lord did not want to destroy Judah, for he had made a covenant with David and promised that his descendants would continue to rule, shining like a lamp forever.
2 Kings 8:18-20 (in Context) 2 Kings 8 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations
 
Then they entered into a covenant to seek the Lord, the God of their ancestors, with all their heart and soul.
 
Nehemiah 1:5
Then I said, “O Lord, God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps his covenant of unfailing love with those who love him and obey his commands,
Nehemiah 1:4-6 (in Context) Nehemiah 1 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations
 
Psalm 103:17-18
17 But the love of the Lord remains forever
    with those who fear him.
His salvation extends to the children’s children
18     of those who are faithful to his covenant,
    of those who obey his commandments!

September 17, 2012

I will pour out My Ruach [Hakodesh] upon all basar

Yoel 228 (3:1) And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out My Ruach [Hakodesh] upon all basar; and your banim and your banot shall prophesy, your zekenim shall dream chalomot, your bochurim shall see chezyonot (visions): 29 (3:2) And also upon the avadim and upon the shefachot in those days will I pour out My Ruach [Hakodesh, see Ac 2:1-42].


  1. Yochanan 1:32
    And Yochanan gave solemn edut, I have seen the Ruach Hakodesh descending like a yonah out of Shomayim and remaining upon him. (YESHAYAH 11:2)
    Yochanan 1:31-33 (in Context) Yochanan 1 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations
  2. Yochanan 1:33
    And I did not recognize him, but the One who sent me to give the mikveh mayim’s tevilah said to me, Upon whomever you see the Ruach Hakodesh descending and remaining, this is the One giving the tevilah in the Ruach Hakodesh. [YOEL 3:1 (2:28)]
    Yochanan 1:32-34 (in Context) Yochanan 1 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations
  3. Yochanan 3:5
    In reply, Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach said, Omein, omein, I say to you: unless someone is born of mayim (TEHILLIM 36:10 [9]) and Ruach Hakodesh [YECHEZEL 36:25-27; 37:14], he is not able to enter into the Malchut Hashem [Lk 17:21].
    Yochanan 3:4-6 (in Context) Yochanan 3 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations
  4. Yochanan 3:6
    That which is born of basar is basar, and that which is born of the Ruach is ruach.
    Yochanan 3:5-7 (in Context) Yochanan 3 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations
  5. Yochanan 3:8
    The ruach (wind, Spirit) blows where it wishes, and the sound of it you hear, but you do not have da’as of where it comes from and where it goes [KOHELET 11:5]; so it is with everyone having been born of the Ruach Hakodesh. [YECHEZKEL 37:9]
    Yochanan 3:7-9 (in Context) Yochanan 3 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations
  6. Yochanan 3:34
    For he whom Hashem sent speaks the Divrei Hashem, for He gives the Ruach Hakodesh without measure. [YESHAYAH 42:1]
    Yochanan 3:33-35 (in Context) Yochanan 3 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations
  7. Yochanan 4:23
    But a sha’ah is coming, and now is, when those of the true avodas kodesh will worship HaAv in the Ruach Hakodesh and in Emes, for indeed [Elohim] HaAv is seeking such to worship Him.
    Yochanan 4:22-24 (in Context) Yochanan 4 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations
  8. Yochanan 4:24
    Hashem is Ruach (Spirit) and it is necessary for the ones worshiping Him to worship in Ruach and Emes. [Ezek 36:26-27; 37:14]
    Yochanan 4:23-25 (in Context) Yochanan 4 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations
  9. Yochanan 6:63
    The Ruach Hakodesh is that which is making alive, the basar does not profit anything. The dvarim which I have spoken to you are as Ruach and they are as Chayyim (Life).
    Yochanan 6:62-64 (in Context) Yochanan 6 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations
  10. Yochanan 7:39
    But this he said about the Ruach Hakodesh which the ones having emunah (faith) in him were about to receive, for the Ruach Hakodesh had not yet been given, because he had not yet received kavod. [YOEL 2:28 (3:1)]
    Yochanan 7:38-40 (in Context) Yochanan 7 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations
  11. Yochanan 14:17
    The Ruach HaEmes, which the Olam Hazeh is not able to receive, because it does not see Him nor have da’as of Him. But you have da’as of Him, because He remains with you and He will be in you.
    Yochanan 14:16-18 (in Context) Yochanan 14 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations
  12. Yochanan 14:26
    But the Melitz Yosher (Praklit, Advocate, Counselor, Helper in Court), the Ruach Hakodesh which HaAv will send b’Shem of me, He will teach you all things and will remind you of all things which I told you.
    Yochanan 14:25-27 (in Context) Yochanan 14 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations
  13. Yochanan 15:26
    But when the Melitz Yosher (Praklit, Advocate, Counselor, Helper in Court) comes, whom I will send to you from HaAv, the Ruach Hakodesh, the Ruach HaEmes, who proceeds from HaAv, that one will gives solemn edut (testimony) about me.
    Yochanan 15:25-27 (in Context) Yochanan 15 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations
  14. Yochanan 16:7
    But I tell HaEmes (the truth), it is better for you that I go away. For if I do not go away, the Melitz Yosher (Praklit, Advocate, Counselor, Helper in Court) will not come to you. But if go, I will send Him (the Ruach Hakodesh) to you.
    Yochanan 16:6-8 (in Context) Yochanan 16 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations
  15. Yochanan 16:13
    But when that One has come, the Ruach Hakodesh, the Ruach HaEmes, He will guide you in all truth. [TEHILLIM 25:5] For He will not speak on His own authority, but what things He will hear, He will speak, and the things that are to come He will announce to you.
    Yochanan 16:12-14 (in Context) Yochanan 16 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations
  16. Yochanan 20:22
    And having said this, Moshiach breathed on them and says to them, Receive the Ruach Hakodesh.
    Yochanan 20:21-23 (in Context) Yochanan 20 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations 
  17. Gevurot 1:2
    Until HaYom, when he made aliyah ascent to Shomayim, having given Moshiach’s mitzvot through the Ruach Hakodesh to the Shlichim whom he chose,
    Gevurot 1:1-3 (in Context) Gevurot 1 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations
  18. Gevurot 1:5
    "For Yochanan gave a tevilah of teshuva with a mikveh mayim, but you will receive a tevilah in the Ruach Hakodesh not many yamim from now." [YOEL 3:1;(2:28)]
    Gevurot 1:4-6 (in Context) Gevurot 1 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations
  19. Gevurot 1:8
    "But you will receive ko’ach when the Ruach Hakodesh has come upon you, and you all will be the Eidus (the Witness) of me, in Yerushalayim, and in all Yehudah, and Shomron and as far as ad ketzeh ha’aretz."
    Gevurot 1:7-9 (in Context) Gevurot 1 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations 
  20.  Gevurot 2:4
    And all were filled with the Ruach Hakodesh, and they began to speak in leshonot acherot as the Ruach Hakodesh was giving the utterance to them.
    Gevurot 2:3-5 (in Context) Gevurot 2 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations
  21. Gevurot 2:18
    ‘And upon My avadim and upon My shfakhot in BAYYAMIM HAHEMMAH ESHPOCH ES RUCHI ("in those days I will pour out my Ruach Hakodesh") and they will speak dvarim hanevu’ah:
    Gevurot 2:17-19 (in Context) Gevurot 2 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations
  22. Gevurot 2:33
    "Having been exalted to the right hand of Hashem and having received the havtachah of the Ruach Hakodesh from [Elohim] HaAv, Moshiach poured out this which you also see and hear.
    Gevurot 2:32-34 (in Context) Gevurot 2 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations

April 30, 2012

End Times Watchman Bible Study: “But you remain guilty because you claim you can see.”

Today’s message is “FREEDOM”. THE LORD SAYS, “WHEN THE SON OF GOD SETS YOU FREE, YOU ARE FREE INDEED!” BUT BEFORE YOU ARE SET FREE, YOU NEED TO ADMIT YOU ARE BLIND. IF YOU SAY YOU CAN SEE (GOD) THEN YOU ARE DECLARED “GUILTY!” BECAUSE YOU ARE LYING.

On the other hand, those who admit they cannot see God, they are telling the truth. God looks for a repentant, humble heart. A humble heart and a contrite spirit the Lord does not overlook. What did Jesus do to the blind man? He set him free, giving him his sight supernaturally. How wonderful it is to be able to see supernaturally, led by the Holy Spirit, walking in the power of God!

John 9 (The watchman’s comments are in brackets)

New Living Translation (NLT)

Jesus Heals a Man Born Blind

9 As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man who had been blind from birth. “Rabbi,” his disciples asked him, “why was this man born blind? Was it because of his own sins or his parents’ sins?”

(Disciples are humans who have no knowledge of the spiritual reality of matters of God and therefore rely on their knowledge and practice in the natural physical realm and come to conclusions based on human traditional belief and teaching).

“It was not because of his sins or his parents’ sins,” Jesus answered. “This happened so the power of God could be seen in him. We must quickly carry out the tasks assigned us by the one who sent us. The night is coming, and then no one can work. But while I am here in the world, I am the light of the world.”

(Jesus corrected them. He told them about the “power of God”, in the spiritual realm and how he spiritual reality could affect the physical reality).

Then he spit on the ground, made mud with the saliva, and spread the mud over the blind man’s eyes. He told him, “Go wash yourself in the pool of Siloam” (Siloam means “sent”). So the man went and washed and came back seeing!

(The humble materials used in the physical realm showed that physical resources do not matter at all in this miraculous divine healing. The blind man believed and obeyed Jesus. So he received his sight. He could not see what Jesus had done in the spiritual realm but he believed. So he was healed.)

His neighbors and others who knew him as a blind beggar asked each other, “Isn’t this the man who used to sit and beg?” Some said he was, and others said, “No, he just looks like him!” But the beggar kept saying, “Yes, I am the same one!” 10 They asked, “Who healed you? What happened?” 11 He told them, “The man they call Jesus made mud and spread it over my eyes and told me, ‘Go to the pool of Siloam and wash yourself.’ So I went and washed, and now I can see!” 12 “Where is he now?” they asked. “I don’t know,” he replied.

(A miracle arouses a lot of interests. No miracle can be hidden. People like to hear a good story. But they asked and listened without really wanting to know the truth behind the story. The same truth about God who came to this world, that set free the blind man can set them free too if they believe. But they were not seeking God. They were not interested in God.)

13 Then they took the man who had been blind to the Pharisees, 14 because it was on the Sabbath that Jesus had made the mud and healed him. 15 The Pharisees asked the man all about it. So he told them, “He put the mud over my eyes, and when I washed it away, I could see!” 16 Some of the Pharisees said, “This man Jesus is not from God, for he is working on the Sabbath.” Others said, “But how could an ordinary sinner do such miraculous signs?” So there was a deep division of opinion among them. 17 Then the Pharisees again questioned the man who had been blind and demanded, “What’s your opinion about this man who healed you?”

(The Pharisees-religious leaders who were not led by the Holy Spirit responded with blatant unbelief towards the spiritual reality of God. Though seeing the physical evidence, they were not only not interested to know God, but they were ‘haters of God’. They reacted violently to the works of God, accomplished by the power of the Holy Spirit, demonstrating the might of God, in the person Jesus, the son of God, the Messiah.)

The man replied, “I think he must be a prophet.” 18 The Jewish leaders still refused to believe the man had been blind and could now see, so they called in his parents. 19 They asked them, “Is this your son? Was he born blind? If so, how can he now see?” 20 His parents replied, “We know this is our son and that he was born blind, 21 but we don’t know how he can see or who healed him. Ask him. He is old enough to speak for himself.” 22 His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders, who had announced that anyone saying Jesus was the Messiah would be expelled from the synagogue. 23 That’s why they said, “He is old enough. Ask him.”
24 So for the second time they called in the man who had been blind and told him, “God should get the glory for this, because we know this man Jesus is a sinner.” 25 “I don’t know whether he is a sinner,” the man replied. “But I know this: I was blind, and now I can see!” 26 “But what did he do?” they asked. “How did he heal you?” 27 “Look!” the man exclaimed. “I told you once. Didn’t you listen? Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples, too?” 28 Then they cursed him and said, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses! 29 We know God spoke to Moses, but we don’t even know where this man comes from.”
30 “Why, that’s very strange!” the man replied. “He healed my eyes, and yet you don’t know where he comes from? 31 We know that God doesn’t listen to sinners, but he is ready to hear those who worship him and do his will. 32 Ever since the world began, no one has been able to open the eyes of someone born blind. 33 If this man were not from God, he couldn’t have done it.”

(Even the ex-blinded man knew that God has healed him, and that Jesus was from God. He knew and believed the spiritual credential of Jesus who has the power of the Almighty and holy God! Indeed he found it strange that the religious leaders did not recognize this truth. His belief in and personal encounter with the true God gave him the courage to stand up and witnessed the truth regardless of what men could do to him physically. On the other hand his parents could not because they did not encounter God first hand, so they feared men more than they feared God.)
34 “You were born a total sinner!” they answered. “Are you trying to teach us?” And they threw him out of the synagogue.

Spiritual Blindness

35 When Jesus heard what had happened, he found the man and asked, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”
36 The man answered, “Who is he, sir? I want to believe in him.”
37 You have seen him,” Jesus said, “and he is speaking to you!”
38 “Yes, Lord, I believe!” the man said. And he worshiped Jesus.

(The first reaction when a man encounters God is to worship God immediately. The man had no doubt and had no option but to worship God when he realized that he had met God. This is the same experience the watchman had when he first encountered the might of God in the Holy Spirit. He attended a Spirit-led and Spirit-Filled worship and the moment he heard the Spirit song being sung he knelt down and was in awe of the presence of God. He knew God in his mind previously. But that was the first time he met God Who is Spirit just as Jesus said in John 4:22-23)

39 Then Jesus told him, “I entered this world to render judgment—to give sight to the blind and to show those who think they see that they are blind.”
40 Some Pharisees who were standing nearby heard him and asked, “Are you saying we’re blind?”
41 “If you were blind, you wouldn’t be guilty,” Jesus replied.“But you remain guilty because you claim you can see.

(This is a very serious charge. The truth is only God knows who can see. Some see and some do not. How do we see God? Jesus said only the pure in heart can see God. The watchman sees in his spirit by faith. He does not rely on vision (though sometimes he saw visions) to prove that he sees. He just believes. He advises his class to see in their spirits, by faith, through believing in the word of God.
The time when he was alone with God, in the small hours of the day, when all else are quiet and slumbering, he could perceive the closeness with the Father in heaven. When he knelt down or sat on the floor at his little corner, he believed he could perceive the presence of God. He was never disappointed with the promise that Jesus made to everyone who follows Him, “Ask and you will receive, seek and you will find,  knock and the door will be opened to you.” Luke 11:9-10)

April 14, 2012

End Times Watchman Bible Study: Be in union with the Messiah Yeshua!


TODAY'S MESSAGE: CONSIDER YOURSELVES DEAD (TO SIN), ALIVE TO GOD - BE IN UNION WITH THE MESSIAH YESHUA!
 

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