Rella
"Daughter of the King"
- Joined
- Jul 30, 2023
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- 799
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- Christian
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- USA
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- not-married
- Politics
- YES. Always looking right.
He called out a Gentile man named Abraham and said, “I have chosen him, so that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice.” (Genesis 18:19)
God shows Abraham the Stars, by Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld
He later gave the Israelites a code of laws in the Torah and a commission: “You will be for Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” (Exodus 19:6)
The way of Israel was to be the way of holiness, a light to the nations. But many of them navigated their way to worship other gods. The Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
“They have quickly turned aside from the way which I commanded them. They have made for themselves a molten calf, and have worshiped it and have sacrificed to it and said, ‘This is your god, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.’” (Exodus 32:7–8)
Again, God wanted to destroy them all, but Moses interceded.
Throughout Israel’s history, God had to speak through the prophets to remind the people of His way: Obedience, righteousness, holiness, justice, peace, perfection, truth, the fear of God, and uprightness (Deuteronomy 32:4; Isaiah 58:8, 64:5; Hosea 10:13; Ezekiel 18:24; Psalm 18:30)
The one who walks in God’s ways fears Him (Psalm 128:1) and “rejoices in doing righteousness.” (Isaiah 64:5)
A fresco of King David dancing before the Ark by Johann Baptist Wenzel
This is why God had been preparing the people for a coming Messiah. Someone who would take them off Satan’s road to death and place them back on His road to life. Part of that preparation included a messenger:
“I will send My messenger ahead of you, who will prepare Your Way — a voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the Way for the Lord, make straight paths for Him.’” (Malachi 3:1; Isaiah 40:3; Mark 1:2)
This preparation involved repentance!
Yochanan the Immerser Sees Yeshua from Afar, by James Tissot
Repentance is what all the prophets continuously called Israel to do, including John the Immerser, who “appeared in the wilderness, preaching a mikvah (baptism) of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
“The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were immersed by him in the Jordan River.” (Mark 1:5)
And this is part of our own commission as well: “that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.” (Luke 24:46; also Mark 6:11-13)
Yeshua gave us a “new and living way” to restore our relationship with God permanently — by His perfect unblemished blood. (Hebrews 10:19–20; see also Isaiah 53)
During the three years in Arabia, Sha’ul (Paul) searched the Hebrew Scriptures, and came to the conclusion that accepting the sacrificial blood of Yeshua to cover his own sins was the only way to eternal salvation.
And that is what Paul preached as a full-fledged member of the Way.
Paul Preaching in Athens (1515), by Raphael
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That Gentile hostility gave rise to Jews being forcefully prohibited from maintaining their Jewish customs, some of which were actually commands of God.
By the 4th century AD, Constantine made Christianity the official religion of his empire and deemed it illegal for followers of Yeshua to celebrate the Jewish feasts, including Passover which commemorates the very day of Yeshua’s sacrifice.
Instead, he officially instituted Easter as an obligatory holy day, separate and apart from Passover.
Today, it is rare to find Christians who truly understand how the Hebrew Festivals and Scriptures, such as Passover, are connected to Yeshua’s death.
This is a sad reality, since the Passover is a fulfillment of Isaiah 53, a key Messianic prophecy designed by God and central to understanding His plan of redemption.
Children hunt for Easter eggs.
Most of the Jewish traditions that Yeshua and His apostles practiced have been replaced with foreign “Christian” traditions and doctrines. Today, there are thousands of Christian denominations in the world.
Just as Sha’ul (Paul) had to discard his ways of understanding Messiah in light of Judaism, Christians today also need to relearn what they have been taught.
God shows Abraham the Stars, by Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld
He later gave the Israelites a code of laws in the Torah and a commission: “You will be for Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” (Exodus 19:6)
The way of Israel was to be the way of holiness, a light to the nations. But many of them navigated their way to worship other gods. The Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
“They have quickly turned aside from the way which I commanded them. They have made for themselves a molten calf, and have worshiped it and have sacrificed to it and said, ‘This is your god, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.’” (Exodus 32:7–8)
Again, God wanted to destroy them all, but Moses interceded.
Throughout Israel’s history, God had to speak through the prophets to remind the people of His way: Obedience, righteousness, holiness, justice, peace, perfection, truth, the fear of God, and uprightness (Deuteronomy 32:4; Isaiah 58:8, 64:5; Hosea 10:13; Ezekiel 18:24; Psalm 18:30)
The one who walks in God’s ways fears Him (Psalm 128:1) and “rejoices in doing righteousness.” (Isaiah 64:5)
A fresco of King David dancing before the Ark by Johann Baptist Wenzel
Preparing the Way of the Lord
But, of course, no one could fulfill these high standards perfectly — not Moses, not David, not even Rabbi Sha’ul, who said he was a Pharisee of Pharisees.This is why God had been preparing the people for a coming Messiah. Someone who would take them off Satan’s road to death and place them back on His road to life. Part of that preparation included a messenger:
“I will send My messenger ahead of you, who will prepare Your Way — a voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the Way for the Lord, make straight paths for Him.’” (Malachi 3:1; Isaiah 40:3; Mark 1:2)
This preparation involved repentance!
Yochanan the Immerser Sees Yeshua from Afar, by James Tissot
Repentance is what all the prophets continuously called Israel to do, including John the Immerser, who “appeared in the wilderness, preaching a mikvah (baptism) of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
“The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were immersed by him in the Jordan River.” (Mark 1:5)
And this is part of our own commission as well: “that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.” (Luke 24:46; also Mark 6:11-13)
The Way of Salvation
Repentance has always been part of God’s plan of salvation along with the sacrifice of unblemished lambs, goats, and bulls to temporarily cover sin.Yeshua gave us a “new and living way” to restore our relationship with God permanently — by His perfect unblemished blood. (Hebrews 10:19–20; see also Isaiah 53)
During the three years in Arabia, Sha’ul (Paul) searched the Hebrew Scriptures, and came to the conclusion that accepting the sacrificial blood of Yeshua to cover his own sins was the only way to eternal salvation.
And that is what Paul preached as a full-fledged member of the Way.
Paul Preaching in Athens (1515), by Raphael
What Happened to the Way?
By the time the last Jewish apostle, Yochanan (John), died around AD 99, many Gentile leaders of the “Christian” faith who were Greeks and Romans harbored some hostility toward the Jewish people because they had advocated that Yeshua (Jesus) be put to death.Reserve your free bible now
That Gentile hostility gave rise to Jews being forcefully prohibited from maintaining their Jewish customs, some of which were actually commands of God.
By the 4th century AD, Constantine made Christianity the official religion of his empire and deemed it illegal for followers of Yeshua to celebrate the Jewish feasts, including Passover which commemorates the very day of Yeshua’s sacrifice.
Instead, he officially instituted Easter as an obligatory holy day, separate and apart from Passover.
Today, it is rare to find Christians who truly understand how the Hebrew Festivals and Scriptures, such as Passover, are connected to Yeshua’s death.
This is a sad reality, since the Passover is a fulfillment of Isaiah 53, a key Messianic prophecy designed by God and central to understanding His plan of redemption.
Children hunt for Easter eggs.
Most of the Jewish traditions that Yeshua and His apostles practiced have been replaced with foreign “Christian” traditions and doctrines. Today, there are thousands of Christian denominations in the world.
Just as Sha’ul (Paul) had to discard his ways of understanding Messiah in light of Judaism, Christians today also need to relearn what they have been taught.
