Prophets of the Bible - 05/27/2018

PROPHETS OF THE BIBLE

MAY 27, 2018

By Pastor Kim Hickcox

The next person on our list is Noah. Now, for some reason you will not find Noah on any Prophet list – except mine. And why did I add him? Well, what would you call someone God told to build a huge boat in the middle of dry land so the he would be safe when rain came, before rain had been invented as it were, and THEN told to spread the warning to everyone else for 120 years (see Jasher pg 13) telling them what was coming? I call him Prophet.

And actually we can add his grandfather Methuselah to that list too. Jasher page 13 says, that in the 1536^th year after Creation: For thus saith the Lord, ‘Behold I give you a period of one hundred and twenty years; if you will turn to Me and forsake your evil ways, then will I also turn away from the evil which I told you, and it shall not exist,’ saith the Lord. And Noah and Methuselah spoke all the words of the Lord to the sons of men, day after day, constantly speaking to them.

Of course, we know the results, But the sons of men would not harken to them, nor incline their ears to their words, and they were stiffnecked. 

NOTE: Want to know some really cool trivia?  Noah married one of Enoch’s daughters. Her name was Naamah. She was 580 and he was 498 when they married according to Jasher. (pg 13)

Now Genesis doesn’t give us this insight, but knowing the merciful nature of God, I tend to stand by its authenticity. Genesis 6:9-17 says, “These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations. Noah walked with God…¹³And God said to Noah, ‘The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence through them and, behold, I shall destroy them from the earth…¹⁷And, behold, I AM, even I, am bringing a flood of waters, upon the earth to destroy all flesh, in which is the breath of life, from under heaven, and everything that is on the earth will die.’”    

Now there are some who call Abraham a prophet due to Genesis 20:3-7 “But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night and said to him, ‘Behold, you are but a dead man for the woman whom you have taken, for she is a man’s wife.’ ⁴But Abimelech had not come near her and he said, ‘Lord, will you slay also a righteous nation? ⁵Did he not say to me, ‘She is my sister?’ And she, even she herself said, ‘He is my brother.’ In the integrity of my heart and innocency of my hands have I done this.’…⁷Now therefore restore the man’s wife for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you will live, but if you do not restore her, know that you will surely die, you and all that are yours.”

So the Lord established Abraham as a prophet and he was told of the four hundred year Egyptian captivity of his heirs so, according to man’s definition as well as God’s Abraham was a prophet. Isn’t it nice when we all agree?

He is also known as an Evangelist in Hebrew history. In the One New Man, Genesis 14:14 reads, “And when Abram heard that his brother was taken was taken captive, he armed his disciples, born in his house, three hundred eighteen, and pursued them to Dan.” 

Next I believe is Balaam. Now, Balaam was a mess! An absolute mess! His name means Foreigner, so right off we know he wasn’t a Hebrew. He was a Mesopotamian prophet and although he heard from the One True God, he didn’t necessarily listen to Him, as he frequently flopped from Mammon to God to Man to Mammon to God, and so on. (By Mammon I mean the god of money.)

But I have to say, Balaam has the most unique story I’ve ever heard! And it shows that God can and will use ANYTHING that is necessary to help His people and get His point cross. His story is in Numbers 22:5-25:9.

He was a travelling kind of guy, but his Biblical journey was primarily tossed between the service of Balak, king of Moab and YehWah, King of the Universe.  

We start with Balaam conferring with the elders of Moab and Midian bringing rewards of divination or bribes for him. And their intro was, “Behold, a people came out from Egypt. Behold, they cover the face of the earth and they live next to me. Now therefore, I pray you, curse these people for me, for they are too powerful for me.” (Numbers 22:5) Now, I don’t know about you, but I hear satan’s influence there. Nobody knows who they are, but because there are so many of them, they are perceived as a threat. Not a potential ally, but automatically a threat. So let’s just put a curse on them and we can sleep easier, because he was a reputation of being accurate with his blessings and curses.  So Balaam says sure, see you tomorrow. 

So Balaam prays and the Lord answered him in Genesis 22:12, “And God said to Balaam, ‘You will not go with them! You will not curse the people, for they are blessed.’” So Balaam goes back to his potential employers and says no. The Lord refuses to curse them, so there’s nothing I can do and I’m not supposed to go with you either. (As they were planning an attack either presently or after they returned with reinforcements.)  

So they upped the ante: a promotion, honor, and a royal house filled with silver and gold. So Balaam thinks on it another night. So Balak sees him the next day eagerly anticipating another answer. “And when he came to him, behold, he stood by his burnt offering, and the princes of Moab with him. And Balak said to him, ‘What has the LORD spoken?’ ¹⁸And he took up his parable, and said, ‘Rise up, Balak, and hear! Listen to me, you son of Zippor: ¹⁹God is not a man that He should lie, nor the son of man, that He should be sorry. Has He said that He will not do it? Or has He spoken that He will not make it good? ²⁰Look, I have taken the message to bless. And He has blessed and I cannot reverse it. He has not beheld iniquity in Jacob, nor has He seen evil deed in Israel. The LORD his God is with him and the shout of a king is not among them.’” Numbers 22:17-20.

Now this passage tells me that Moab wanted to follow the LORD, however, only when He agreed with their thoughts on life. 

In the meantime, Balaam decided to keep in touch instead of just walking away, I’m sure mulling everything over in his mind. And this is when his story gets miraculously weird: “And God’s anger was kindled because he went out, and the angel of the LORD stood in the road to be an adversary against him. Now he was riding on his donkey and his two servants were with him. ²³And the donkey saw the angel on the LORD standing in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand and the donkey turned aside out of the way and went into the field, and Balaam struck the donkey, to turn her into the road. ²⁴But the anger of the LORD stood in the path of the vineyards, a wall being on this side and a wall on that side. 

“²⁵And when the donkey saw the angel of the LORD, it thrust itself to the wall and crushed Balaam’s foot against the wall and he struck it again. ²⁶And the angel of the LORD went further and stood in a narrow place, where there was no way to turn to either the right hand or to the left. ²⁷And when the donkey saw the angel of the LORD, she fell down under Balaam, and Balaam’s anger was kindled and he struck the donkey with his staff. ²⁸And the LORD opened the mouth of the donkey and it said to Balaam, ‘What have I done to you, that you have hit me these three times?’

“²⁹And Balaam said to the donkey, ‘Because you have mocked me and I wish there were a sword in my hand, for now I would have killed you.’ 

“³⁰And the donkey said to Balaam, ‘Am I not your donkey, upon which you have ridden ever since I was yours to this day? Did I ever attempt to do so to you?’ 

“And he said, ‘No.’ ³¹Then the LORD opened Balaam’s eyes and he saw the angel of the LORD standing in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand and he bowed down his head and fell on his face….” Numbers 22:22-31

So, two things about this that struck me instantly:

First is that Balaam never flinched when his donkey started to talk! Now, I talk to my cat all the time and he talks to me too, but you can bet that if he ever spoke English I’d probably have to change! But Balaam just kept going like it was an ordinary occurrence! 

Second, he still asked permission to keep going! Even though the angel just told him he would have killed him had his donkey not veered out of the way!! (Makes me want to quote Forest Gump!)  

But even with what I consider a stern warning, to say the very least, did he stop? NOOO! And did Balak stop? NO! “And Balak said to Balaam, ‘Come, pray you, I shall bring you to another place; perhaps it will please God that you may curse them for me from there.’ ²⁸And Balak brought Balaam to the top of Peor that looks toward Jesimeon.” Numbers 23:27

Well, take note of what the LORD said in 22:20, “He has not beheld iniquity in Jacob, nor has He seen evil deed in Israel.” When Balak and Balaam looked down on the entire camp of Israel, do you know what they saw? They saw them camped, with the tabernacle in the center and the tribes encamped around it facing north, south, east and west in the shape of the cross! THAT was how they travelled and that was how they set up camp every time they stopped.

“What God has cleansed, you must not declare unclean.” Acts 10:15. In the desert, the Hebrew people were declared righteous even with their complaining and idolatry. Why? The Blood and the coming of the Cross. They had the blood of bulls and goats, we however, have the eternally righteous Blood of the Savior. The Blood of God Himself! So rise up and know who you are in Christ! Because when He looks at you, He sees His Son! Sometimes I think of myself standing behind Y’shua and the Father’s [x-ray] vision being able to see me, even though I’m hiding. But I’m not hiding fromHim, I’m hiding from everyone/everything else. I’m staying where it’s safe. Not where it’s necessarily easy, but it’s totally safe! Eternally safe! Ultimately safe! 

Stay where it’s safe. “He that dwells in the secret place of the Most High will abide under the shadow of the Almighty. ²I will say of the LORD He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in Him will I trust. ³Surely He will deliver me from the snare of the fowler and from the destructive pestilence. 

“⁴He will cover me with His feathers and under His wings I will find refuge; His truth will be my shield and buckler. ⁵I will not be afraid of the terror by night, nor the arrow that flies by day, ⁶nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, nor of the destruction that wastes at noonday. 

“⁷A thousand will fall at my side and ten thousand at my right hand, but it will not come near me. ⁸Only with my eyes will I behold and see the reward of the wicked. ⁹Because I have made the LORD, Who is my refuge, the Most High, my habitation, ¹⁰there will no evil befall me, neither will any plague come near my dwelling.

“¹¹For He will give His angels charge over me, to keep my in all Your Ways. ¹²They will bear me up in the palms if their hands, lest I dash my foot against a stone. ¹³I will tread upon the lion and the adder; the young lion and the serpent I will trample under my feet. 

(Fill in the blanks with your name) “¹⁴‘Because ______ has set his/her love on Me, therefore I will deliver him/her. I will set him/her on high because he/she has known My name. ¹⁵_____ will call upon Me and I will answer him/her. I AM with _____ in trouble. I will deliver him/her and love him/her. ¹⁶With long life will I satisfy ______ and show him/her My salvation.” (Psalm 91) AMEN & AMEN!

SHALOM!!

Prophets of the Bible - 5/19/2018

PROPHETS OF THE BIBLE

MAY 19, 2018

The Old Testament is described by Hebrews as the Torah, the Prophets and the Writings; and they are divided up and in this order:

TORAH:        Genesis                                 WRITINGS:       Psalms

                        Exodus                                                            Proverbs

                        Leviticus                                                         Job

                        Numbers                                                         The Song of Songs

                        Deuteronomy                                                  Ruth

                                                                                                Lamentations

PROPHETS:                                                                           Ecclesiastes

                        Joshua God is Salvation                                          Esther                       

                        Judges                                                             Daniel

                        1^st Samuel His Name Is God/Asked of God                            Ezra

                        2^nd Samuel                                                      Nehemiah

                        1^st Kings                                                         1^st Chronicles

                        2^nd Kings                                                        2^nd Chronicles

                        Isaiah YahWeh Is Salvation

                        Jeremiah YahWeh Throws

                        Ezekiel God Strengthens/Strengthened by God

                        Hosea Salvation

                        Joel YahWeh Is God

                        Amos Burden/Burden-Bearer

                        Obadiah Worshipper of YahWeh/Servant of YahWeh

                        Jonah Dove

                        Micah Who Is Like YahWeh?

                        Nahum Comfort/Consolation

                        Habakkuk One Who Embraces

                        Zephaniah YahWeh Hides

                        Haggai Festival of YahWeh

                        Zechariah YahWeh Remembers

                        Malachi My Messenger

However, there are more prophets than those whose writings we read in God’s Word under their own name.  We will take them in Biblical or Chronological order to see how often our gracious God attempted, as He still does, to speak to and through His people.

                                                                                       

The very first Prophet, surprisingly enough was the victim of the first murder. And that, I think, is a prophetic message in itself, which Y’shua substantiates in the verses we are going to look at in Luke in a bit. His name was Abel. He was killed by his jealous brother Cain, as recorded in Genesis 4. 

Cain and Abel were the first two men born of a woman. The second generation on earth, but the very first generation born on earth as opposed to being created from scratch, so to speak. The first two people who proved that the Creator knew what He was doing – as if that needed to be proven, but you know what I mean. AND the first demonstration of what the fruition of sin will lead to:

“And the LORD said to Cain, ‘Why are you so angry? And why has your countenance fallen? ⁷Behold, if you do well, you will be accepted. And if you do not do well, sin sits waiting at the door, and its desire if to possess you, but you can rule over it.’” Genesis 4:6-7

But alas, he did not rule over it. “And Cain talked with Abel his brother, and I happened when they were in the field that Cain rose to Abel his brother and slew him. ⁹And the LORD said to Cain, ‘Where is Abel your brother?’ And he said, ‘I did not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?’” Genesis 4:8-9. 

Cain’s response tells us that he didn’t know what had happened to him after he attacked his brother and what the results were. He obviously didn’t kill him in the same manner that he saw Abel offer his sacrifice to the Lord, so he must not have had any idea why God couldn’t find him. However, he figured it out as soon as he heard the Lord’s response, “And He said to him, ‘What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood cries to Me from the ground. ¹¹And now you are cursed from the earth, which opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your own hand.’’ Genesis 4:10-11

Seems that Abel’s blood was the real prophet. And Y’shua mentioned him when He was rebuking the Pharisees and Scholars in Luke 11, which is how Abel received his status as Prophet: “Woe to you, because you are building the tombs of the prophets, and your fathers killed them. ⁴⁸Now you are witnesses and you approve of the works of your fathers, because they indeed killed them, and indeed you are building their tombs. ⁴⁹Because of this the wisdom of God also said, ‘I am sending prophets and apostles among them, and they will kill some of them, and they will persecute others, ⁵⁰so that the blood of all the prophets, that which has been shed from the foundation of the world, would be required from this generation, ⁵¹from the blood of Abel until the blood of Zechariah, who was killed between the altar and the House: indeed I say to you, it will be sought out, required from this generation.” (vss 47-51, the House being the Temple) 

He, Abel, is mentioned in Hebrews 11:4 also, “By trusting, Abel, contrary to Cain, bore a better offering to God, through which he was testified to be righteous, when God witnessed his gifts, and through it he is still speaking, although he died.”

The Ancient Book of Jasher sheds a little more light on this in that it actually records their final conversation in the 1^st chapter, which is entitled Creation to Abel. In a nutshell, time had passed after the sacrifices were made, which, it is recorded was approved by God in that He set fire down from heaven to consume Abel’s offering, but didn’t for Cain’s; which would clear up the question of how Cain knew he was being disapproved of. 

Then, they went out to do their thing one day and Abel’s sheep walked all over Cain’s field and started eating his grass, so they started arguing. Cain got mad, Abel got snotty, Cain picked up the iron blade of his plow and voila no more brother. However, it also says that he knew what he did, repented, cried over him and buried him. 

I can’t believe he repented, due to the way God reacted to his crime, but this isn’t Scripture, so…

At any rate, Abel is noted as the first prophet. And he did (as far as Jasher recorded) tell his brother that God would know what he did if anything happened to him and know his brother’s motive, so if nothing else, that would qualify. 

Next on the list is Enoch. He is the 7^th generation and Genesis records this about him: “And Enoch lived sixth-five years and begot Methuselah. (Noah’s grandfather) ²²And Enoch walked with God walked with God three hundred years after he begot Methuselah, and begot sons and daughters. ²³And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty-five years. ²⁴And Enoch walked with God, then he was not, for God took him.” Genesis 5:21-24

Again, Jasher says a lot more about Enoch than Genesis does. (However, he has his own book also, which, unfortunately, is rather boring.) Seems that he was the first monk; in that he separated himself from everyone after a while and just prayed and communed with the Lord every day. 

After a while an angel of the Lord appeared to him and told him to go and teach the people about God, so he did and they made him king. At one point Jasher says that 800,000 people were hanging on his every word. 

Genesis 5:24 is described also, although the whole process took seven (7) days. After Enoch was translated into heaven, his son Methuselah was crowned king and he walked with the Lord and taught the people just like his dad did. However, after a few years they all turned from the Lord which makes sense, as we know that when the Flood came “every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was continuously only bad. ⁶And the LORD was sorry the He made man on the earth, and it grieved Him in His heart.” Genesis 6:5-6

And it must have been twice as heart breaking to see how everyone turned from love to loathing when He is so consistently loving, gracious and merciful. But that is the way of the unregenerated heart, which is why God hates sin and we need to too. Let’s always remember that it is NEVER people that we need to fight against! It is always people that we have to fight FOR! Whatever their behavior, whatever their sin. Whatever their weaknesses, whatever their bondages or whatever their deceptions, we always need to fight FOR them! God loves them and the further they are from Him, be they saved or not, the worse off they are, “because the wrestling for us in not with blood and flesh, but with the rulers, with the powers, with the world rulers of this darkness, with the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenlies.” (Ephesians 6:12) 

It’s SIN we fight against and the author of it – satan!! His time is short, so he’s rearing his ugly head more and more. So keep praying saints! Keep pulling people out of his grasp! Keep witnessing with love, compassion, generosity and understanding! And use words only when you have to. We may be the only Jesus someone will ever see! Let’s make sure we portray Him as the glorified and all-loving God that He is!!

SHALOM!

The Two Covenants 5/12/2018

THE TWO COVENANTS

May 12, 2018

(All Scripture taken from One New Man Bible unless otherwise noted)

There are so many of God’s children that do not understand what He actually did for us. We can quote the words and passages but as far as totally or personally understanding that those words truly mean – we struggle. I understand this because I was one of those children for a long time! I totally accepted that I was saved by His grace and that all my [past] sins were forgiven. 

I could even grasp, at least in my head, that; as His sacrifice was in 33AD and I wasn’t even born until nearly 2000 years in the future, that all future sins were forgiven too. But were MY future sins forgiven? How could they be? I now knew better, right? I had God living inside of me! How could I still act like such a schmuck? How could I have done whatever is was that I was struggling with? 

I was good with His unconditional love, because I received that from my parents (thank You Y’shua), so I was always able to give as well as receive that. But the regret which quickly turns into shame! That was a TOTALLY different story! And do you know that that leads to? That leads to turning into a Pharisaical Galatian. 

Pharisaical in that you beat others up when they fall short. And Galatian in that you’re counting on being able to do everything yourself now that  you’ve crossed the spiritual threshold into salvation. “O foolish Galatians, to whom before your eyes Y’shua Messiah was clearly portrayed as crucified, who bewitched you? ²Only this one thing I wish to learn from you: did you take the Spirit from works of legalism or from hearing in faith? ³In this way you are foolish, although you began in the Spirit will you now be made complete in the flesh?” (3:1-3)

And before the revelation hits you’re pretty miserable; both on the inside and the outside. You’re one of those finger-pointing Christians that can give His love to sinners, but not for brothers and sisters (who should know better just like you do)! 

So before we go any further, I would like to pray: Heavenly Father, I ask that Your Holy Spirit will touch everyone reading this message, that I believe came straight from You, and set them free! That we can fully remove all the barriers that keep us from living the life Your Son Y’shua died to give us! We know that it grieves Your Heart to see Your children living [still] shackled to either their past or their present! Set us free Y’shua, set us free! Free to shine Your agape, free to share Your compassion, free to show others who doubt You that not only are You real, but truly the epitome of LOVE that we tell others You are. Because if we can’t reflect that, how can they believe it? 

Give us the revelation of Your total work forus and in us, so we can with no holds barred, advance Your kingdom by allowing You to also work through us – 100%. In Your holy name Y’shua set us free to fully know You and witness You in ALL our actions, thoughts and words! AMEN 

Ok, here it goes! You have heard me say many times before that God’s method of work has ALWAYS been grace. That Old Covenant or New Covenant, He always accepts us back to Him when we accept His existence, because He cannot change. If He did, He would have had to have been imperfect either before He changed or after, right? Perfection is perfection and any change at all would change that status. 

The word repent means to change direction or change your mind. Be it to change your mind about what is and is not sin, or to change your mind as to Who God is, it simply means to change the way that you were either going or thinking. 

So here is a revelation I received June 4, 2013 that I wrote in the front of my Bible to keep me on track:

God is the same yesterday, today and forever according to the writer of Hebrews (13:8). [And although it is written as Y’shua is the same yesterday, today and forever, as He IS God this re-wording is 100% accurate.] This is truth #1.

It therefore also holds that if He is the same yesterday, today and forever, that His plan for salvation has ALWAYS come by His grace through or because of our faith in it. 

What has changed is our sacrifice TO Him and its result:

OT: Animal – yearly or as needed. Covered but not cleansed. Animals are innocent and therefore qualify to be sacrificed. With faith in God’s grace after the sacrifice was made, you were forgiven. Why? Because they had faith in His Word that told them so.  

NT: A sincere heart of confession under Y’shua’s sacrifice. As He is God and therefore even more innocent as an animal that couldn’t sin, in that He was also a Man and therefore had the choice to sin but never did, He qualified also. He also qualified legally because as the first man, Adam, gave his authority over to satan, when Y’shua became a Man, He could legally take it back; hence His name as the second Adam in 1^stCorinthians 15:45-46.

And more than qualified, because He is God therefore He is eternal and because He is eternal [never-ending], His sacrifice is also eternal. And THIS is Y’shua’s fulfillment. “Do not think that I came to do away with, or to bring to an incorrect interpretation to, the Torah or the Prophets: I did not come to do away with but to bring spiritual abundance, for the Torah (Teaching) to be obeyed as it should be and God’s promises to receive fulfillment.” Matthew 5:17

ALL the religious ceremonies of the OT were set up and mandatory as a SYMBOL of what Messiah would accomplish. If they (His believers, mainly the Hebrew people) didn’t constantly have the reminder in front of them they would never recognize Him when He came. 

However, when their symbols became their only reality, their hearts hardened toward the Body that had always cast the Shadow their symbols represented. 

They therefore rejected the Shadow Caster and remained in the Shadow which then became darkness instead of the Promise of the coming Light. 

My revelation ended with this warning: Don’t fall into that trap too! Because since the Light has been revealed, the shadow is now NOT the Promise of the coming Light, but the promise of eternal darkness if we remain in it!

I believe that our confusion concerning our heavenly or spiritual status comes (in all innocence, I might add) from the passage quoted earlier by Y’shua in this revelation, so let’s finish it:

“Do not think that I came to do away with, or to bring to an incorrect interpretation to, the Torah or the Prophets: I did not come to do away with but to bring spiritual abundance, for the Torah (Teaching) to be obeyed as it should be and God’s promises to receive fulfillment. ¹⁸For truly I say to you: until the sky and the Earth would pass away, not one yod or one vay could ever pass away from the Torah (Teaching), until everything would come to pass. ¹⁹Therefore, whoever would break one of the least of these commandments, and would teach people this way, will be called least in the Kingdom of the Heavens: but whoever would do the commandments and would teach them, will be called great in the Kingdom of the Heavens. ²⁰For I say to you that unless your righteousness would be present in abundance more than that of the scribes and Pharisees, you could not enter the Kingdom of the Heavens.” Matthew 5:17-20

So let’s dive into this warning of His, shall we? First we need to note that He never said anything about NOT getting into the Kingdom of the Heavens if you didn’t keep the commandments. He said you would have a lesser position there (vs 19). 

Then He said that unless we have more righteousness than that of the scribes and Pharisees we won’t even get there! Well the [bulk of the] scribes and Pharisees didn’t believe He was Messiah, did they? Therefore, they were counting on their ownrighteousness to get them in – plus I’m sure being one of Abraham’s descendents and therefore being entitled to enter. 

And you thought that entitlement was just a modern issue – but nooo! As the wisest man who ever lived once said, “The thing that has been, it is that which will be, and that which is done is that which will be done and there is no new thing under the sun.” (Ecclesiastes 1:9) As it was 3000 years ago, so it shall be now.

Entitlement always has and always will prove to end in nothing but disappointment. The scribes and the Pharisees were counting on their animal sacrifices as well as their own good works to get them in. And they, above ALL people should have realized that because of Genesis 2:6-7 noting the fall of man, that “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23. And though I know that Paul (or Saul, rather) had not received that Word yet, there was always 1^st Kings 8:46, “…for there is no man who does not sin.” 

But with them accepting the temporary purity an animal gave them, they couldn’t see the eternal purity Messiah was offering them. I’m SO GLAD I have His righteousness and don’t have to count on my own, aren’t you? THAT is what they WOULDN’T have and THAT is what kept them out. “But it was not written that it was counted to him for his sake only [speaking of Abraham in Genesis 15:5] ²⁴but also for us, to whom it is going to be counted, who believe in the raising from the dead of Y’shua our Lord, ²⁵Who was given over because of our sins and raised because of our need for righteousness. ^5:1Therefore, since we have been made righteous by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Y’shua Messiah ²also through Whom we have had access by faith into this grace in which we stand and we boast in hope of the glory of God.” Romans 4:23-5:2 (bold mine for emphasis).

And lastly, we need to understand what Y’shua meant when He used the word commandments in verse 19. In Matthew 25:35-40 He gives us His priorities, “For I was hungry and you gave Me to eat, I was thirsty and you gave Me to drink, I was a stranger and you took Me in, ³⁶and I was poorly clothed and you clothed Me, I was sick and you visited Me, I was in prison and you came to Me…⁴⁰Truely I say to you, in so much as you did anything for one of these, the least of My brothers, you did it for Me.”

For which He drew from what He spoke to Isaiah (58:6-10) centuries earlier about proper fasting “Or is it not this, rather, the fast that I have chosen? To loosen, and remove, the chains of wickedness, to undo the bands of the yoke, and to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? ⁷Is it not, rather, to share your bread with the hungry, and that you bring the poor, who are cast out to your house? When you see the naked, that you cover him; and that you hide not yourself from your own flesh?

“⁸Then your light will break forth as the morning, and your health will spring forth speedily, and your righteousness will go before you. The Glory of the LORD will be your rear guard. ⁹Then you will call and the LORD will answer. You will cry and He will say, ‘Here I am!’ if you take the yoke away from your midst, the finger-pointing and wicked speaking ¹⁰and you draw out your inner being to the hungry and satisfy the afflicted person, then your light will rise like the sun in obscurity and your darkness will be like the noonday.”

So His commandments consist of ministering to others: feeding the hungry, visiting the sick and imprisoned, clothing the poor and also by not judging others, but loving our neighbors by truly caring about them and praying for them. 

And did you notice the finger-pointingmentioned in Isaiah? Well in my Pharisaical days, I was ok with that. Even when Pastor Nick said that when we point one finger at another person, we have 3 pointing back at us, because I figured I deserved it. 

But thanks be to Y’shua and His Holy Spirit I now truly know in my spirit as well as in my head that I have HIS righteousness, because mine falls short. ALL THE TIME! And I will continue to pray that each of you that need this revelation will get it too – SOON!!

“Now to the One Who is able to keep you without stumbling and to stand before His glory blameless in extreme joy, ²⁵to the only God, our Savior through our Lord Y’shua Messiah, be glory, majesty, strength, and power before every age, both now and forever, amen.” Jude 24-25

SHALOM!!