One Torah for All
One Torah shall be to him that is home-born, and unto the stranger that sojourneth among you. Exodus 12:49
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As a Hen
Matithyah [Matthew] 23:37
37 “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, that kills the prophets, and stones them that are sent to her! How often would I have gathered your children together, even as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you would not!”
Jerusalem: the city of YHWH our Elohim. Jerusalem: the city where YHWH’s name used to dwell. Jerusalem: the city which kills the prophets of Elohim. Jerusalem: the city which YHWH loves, but which has not yet returned that love to Him.
Please note that when YHWH states He compares Himself to a hen gathering her chicks, He is describing feminine characteristics within Himself. It is important to see that Elohim has both feminine as well as masculine characteristics; but that topic is for another study.
Yeshayah [Isaiah] 62:1
“For Zion's sake will I not hold My peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until her righteousness goes forth as brightness, and her salvation as a lamp that burns.”
YHWH will continue to work in Jerusalem until His righteousness is seen in her and goes forth from her, and all the nations of the world see her as YHWH desires: for her to be a light to the nations.
Yeshayah [Isaiah] 52:1
“Awake, awake, put on your strength, Tzion; put on your beautiful garments, Jerusalem, the set-apart city; for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean.”
YHWH is working to restore Ephrayim in our day. We are coming up to the time when this prophecy will be fulfilled! There are those in Ephrayim who teach others that it is not necessary for a man to be circumcised. However, there is coming a day in which Mashiach will reign in and from Jerusalem; and in that day, if a person is not circumcised, he will not be able to go up to Jerusalem to keep the feasts of YHWH! Mark the words of this prophesy well!
Yeshayah [Isaiah] 49:5
“And now says YHWH that formed me from the womb to be His servant, to bring Ya’aqov again to Him, and that Israel be gathered to Him; for I am honorable in the eyes of YHWH, and my Elohim is become my strength.”
YHWH has sent many tzadaqim (righteous men) and prophets to Jerusalem in attempt after attempt to get the people to repent of their wicked ways. Jerusalem has repented at times for a season, but the end result has pretty much been for them to follow their own hearts, rather than following YHWH by listening to and obeying His Voice.
Ivrim [Hebrews] 11:32-38
32 And what shall I more say? For the time will fail me if I tell of Gideon, Barak, Shimshon, Yephtah; of David and Sh’muel and the prophets:
33 who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions,
34 quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, from weakness were made strong, waxed mighty in war, turned to flight armies of aliens.
35 Women received their dead by a resurrection; and others were tortured, not accepting their deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection;
36 and others had trials of mockings and scourgings, yes, moreover of bonds and imprisonment;
37 they were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were tempted, they were slain with the sword; they went about in sheepskins, in goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated
38 of whom the world was not worthy, wandering in deserts and mountains and caves, and the holes of the earth.
Such is the record of Scripture concerning these prophets and righteous men of old.
There is one other passage of Scripture concerning Jerusalem we need to place in front of us this day.
Zecharyah [Zechariah] 14:2
“For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the rest of the people shall not be cut off from the city.”
Israel is at war! Jerusalem is under siege! Some of those who do battle against Israel and Jerusalem are within the Israeli government itself. YHWH has told us in advance His city will be divided again. Brethren, the division of Jerusalem is coming as surely as Yeshua Himself will again return!
A Desolate House
Matithyah [Matthew] 23:38
“Behold, your House is left to you desolate.”
In order to understand this conversation which occurred between Yeshua and His talmidim, we need to understand that the word “house” in this context is referring to the Temple. What Yeshua was saying, was that this House/Temple was going to be destroyed. This is further borne out in the fact that the talmidim came to Him privately to make remarks about the Temple. Yeshua then spells out exactly what was to come concerning the Temple.
Yeshua seems to be referring to the following passage.
Yermeyah [Jeremiah] 22:5
“But if you will not hear these words, I swear by Myself,” says YHWH, “that this House shall become a desolation.”
We know from history that in 70 AD, the Roman general Titus, captured Jerusalem and razed the Temple. The destruction was so complete, that not one stone of the house was left upon another. Thus, the prophetic words of Yeshua came to pass!
Till You Say
Matithyah [Matthew] 23:39
“For I say to you, you shall not see Me henceforth, till you shall say, ‘Blessed is He that comes in the name of YHWH.’”
It would seem from this passage that we will not see the return of Yeshua until the house of Yehudah makes this general proclamation. When Yehudah recognizes that Yeshua is Mashiach, and that He came in His Father’s name “YHWH,” then we will see His return, but not until that happens. Until that happens, His return cannot be, and is not, imminent. There are many other things that must come to pass as well before He can return, but those will have to wait for another time. If you are interested in reading more, you may download the e-book, Behold, I Have Told You In Advance, and read chapter 12, “The Imminence of the Second Advent,” which discusses this in detail. Go to www.onetorahforall.com and you will find this e-book on the Teachings page. There are many other teachings on the topic of the “end times” as well under that heading that the student of prophecy may find helpful and enlightening.
Not One Stone
Matithyah [Matthew] 24:1-2
1 And Yeshua went out from the temple, and was going on His way; and His disciples came to Him to show Him the buildings of the temple.
2 But He answered and said to them, “Do you not see all these things? Amein, I say to you, there shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.”
Today, many people go to the Kotel to pray at the Western Wall, also known as the “Wailing Wall.” This wall of massive stones was part of the foundation of the Temple Mount. It was a retaining wall to allow for the top of the Temple Mount to be leveled off for the building of the Temple. This wall was not a part of the Temple itself.
As these stones were not a part of the actual Temple itself, they remained untouched by Titus when he was razing the Temple. Thus, the prophetic words of Yeshua were fulfilled completely by this Roman general.
Please, Tell Us!
Matithyah [Matthew] 24:3
And as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when shall these things be? And what shall be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the world?”
Now, we must understand that this may have been one of the most upsetting things Yeshua ever said to His talmidim. If we keep in mind that they were mostly under the impression that Yeshua was about to set up the earthly kingdom and sit upon the throne of David, we can see that this just did not jive with the pictures they had in their minds. After all, how could Yeshua reign from the throne of David if the Temple were destroyed?
One thing that I have never quite figured out is why many commentators say the talmidim asked two questions. No matter how I looked at it, I always saw three questions, each question being the logical extension of the question before it. They are as follows.
We know that the first question has already come to pass. We also know that the other two questions have not yet come to pass. The second question is perhaps the one that is the most difficult to answer. The answers to that question cover that gambit of: from now, to a thousand years from now. Recently as I was reading, studying, and meditating upon His Word, YHWH brought the following passage to my mind.
Matithyah [Matthew] 25:6
“But at midnight there is a cry, ‘Behold, the bridegroom! Come forth to meet Him.’”
Now, what came to my mind was the timing of this call. In Hebrew culture, let us remember that a day is reckoned from sunset to sunset. So this understanding places this call, which came at midnight, towards the beginning of the day. Now, it is not at the very beginning of the day, because from sunset to dark there is still light, and it is not actually considered night yet until it is dark. Sometime after dark, in the midst of the night, the call goes forth that the Bridegroom has come.
There is a lot of discussion today as to when Yeshua will return. Will He return at the beginning of the Millennium or will He return at the end of the Millennium? I have been struggling with this question for decades and have never come to a satisfactory answer because I can see passages of Scripture that could be interpreted as either way.
Let us also consider another passage of Scripture.
Yochanan [John] 9:4
“We must work the works of Him that sent Me, while it is day; the night comes, when no man can work.”
When the darkness and night of the coming holocaust descends upon the world, perhaps it will be in the midst of that great darkness that Yeshua will break forth in all His glorious light!
A Warning
Matithyah [Matthew] 24:4-5
4 And Yeshua answered and said to them, “Take heed that no man lead you astray.
5 For many shall come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Messiah; and shall lead many astray.’”
One of Yeshua’s greatest concerns about His talmidim was of their being led astray by those who claim to be His shepherds, but in truth are only wolves in sheep’s clothing. In this discourse to His talmidim, Yeshua gave this warning three different times and in three different ways. Let us also look at the other two warnings.
Matithyah [Matthew] 24:11
“And many false prophets shall arise, and shall lead many astray.”
If there was ever a time when we should carefully guard ourselves from those who come in His name, teaching things that appeal to the flesh, it is now! Brothers and sisters in Messiah, we need to be careful to prove all things, and to make sure that when someone quotes Scripture, he is quoting it properly and keeping it in context! Don’t just believe me, prove it! Don’t just believe any other, test it!
Matithyah [Matthew] 24:23-27
23 “Then if any man shall say to you, ‘Behold, here is the Messiah’, or, ‘Here’; do not believe it.
24 For there shall arise false Messiahs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect.
25 Behold, I have told you in advance.
26 If therefore they shall say to you, ‘Behold, He is in the wilderness’; do not go forth; or, ‘Behold, He is in the inner chambers’; do not believe it.
27 For as the lightning comes forth from the east, and is seen even to the west; so shall be the coming of the Son of man.”
In the space of nineteen sentences, Yeshua uses eight of those sentences to express His concern, and warns us, His talmidim, of false Messiahs and false prophets. These words are thrown around a lot today with one group calling another group or teacher a “false” prophet, etc. Let us prayerfully consider this next passage.
Devarim [Deuteronomy] 13:1-4
1 “If there arise in your midst a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and he gives you a sign or a wonder,
2 and the sign or the wonder comes to pass, whereof he spoke to you, saying, ‘Let us go after other gods, which you have not known, and let us serve them;’
3 you shall not listen to the words of that prophet, or to that dreamer of dreams; for YHWH your Elohim is testing you, to find out whether you love YHWH your Elohim with all your heart and with all your soul.
4 You shall walk after YHWH your Elohim, and fear him, and keep His commandments, and obey His voice, and you shall serve Him, and cleave to Him.”
The truth is, YHWH sends among us men and women who try to entice us to go after other gods to worship them. They are from YHWH. So, stating that a false prophet is not from YHWH is misleading and incorrect and not according to what the above passage clearly states. Our speech and communications with each other should be deliberate and with meaning, and backed up with Scripture. If we do not do this, then our speech will be sloppy, and we will unintentionally communicate wrong messages to those who listen to us and perhaps even unintentionally communicate lies.
How do we tell if a person is leading us away from, or leading us towards, YHWH our Elohim? First, it is imperative that we have an up-to-date relationship with YHWH and know Him well. In addition to this, we need to be filled with His Spirit. In this way, when a person says to us, that this is YHWH our Elohim, and it is not, we can see it as being something of his making.
Shemot [Exodus] 32:4
And he received it from their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, and made it a molten calf; and they said, “These are your gods, Israel, which brought you up out of the land of Egypt.”
We do not know specifically who said that this golden calf was YHWH, but this was a false statement. The thing about prophets who lead astray is that I have never known one to make a completely false statement. Rather, what these prophets who lead astray do is to mix in a little bit of error with a whole lot of truth. In this way, it makes it easier to deceive others, and for the people to overlook that which is false. Now mind you, those who do this may have the best of intentions, but moving away from YHWH our Elohim, whether intentional or not, is still moving away from YHWH our Elohim! Therefore, such a person should not be listened to or followed!
Today there are many who claim to worship YHWH, and claim to be teaching in His name. Brothers and sisters, we need to measure every word of these teachers with His written word. What we do not want to happen, is for us to be led astray after a god of our own making! We want to worship YHWH our Elohim and only Him! When we encounter error, we need to do what we can to correct the error. This helps to not only protect us, but to protect His people as well. Who knows, the error we are seeing may be in ourselves instead of what we are reading or hearing. And if you are like me, then you want that error to be removed as soon as possible.
ABBA YHWH, we ask that you test us in the fires of life and remove all the dross that is not pleasing to You; in the Name of Yeshua our Mashiach. Amein.
Zerubbabel ben Emunah
www.onetorahforall.com
zerubbabel@onetorahforall.com
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