Author: 1gratefulheart

WHAT LIES BENEATH … Ancient Urusalima?

Ever wondered what exactly is under that golden Dome on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, Israel?

MMM takes A DEEPER DIG Under The Dome of the Rock; (“Kippat ha-Sela” in Hebrew; (“Qubbat al-Sakhrah” in Arabic).It is front and center almost every time we look at a panoramic view of Jerusalem. Often dismissed as something, not of much importance to believers in Jesus Christ/Yeshua HaMashiach, yet there remains a measure of curiosity and there is great significance to the location we may have overlooked or forgotten…..

…And what is the mysterious “Well of Souls”?

The Dome of the Rock is an Islamic shrine and the Temple Mount is referred to as Haram al-Sharif (the Noble Sanctuary).

Situated in the Old City of Jerusalem, it was built by the Umayyad caliph ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Marwān.

The construction was initially completed in the late 7th-century, approx. 691 CE; (only 1300 years ago). According to the Islamic tradition, here Prophet Muhammad flew with the archangel Jabrail and met prophets Ibrahim, Musa and Isa (Abraham, Moses and Jesus respectively).

A rock rises towards the roof of the Dome. From this rock, according to legend, Muhammad ascended to Allah. Today, the Temple Mount is a home for the Al-Aqsa Mosque with the Dome of the Rock architectural complex. The mountain is open to tourists at certain times which are not related to the time of Muslim worship.

So why is it of any importance to us?

This mystery connects to events that have taken place over the last 5,000 years, thousands of years prior to the construction of the ‘Dome’.Then it was called Mount Moriah, on which was also located the mysterious city Urusalima, the forerunner of Jerusalem, (Salem).

For more on the picture above click links https://www.minimannamoments.com/more-than-one-palm/

https://www.minimannamoments.com/i-will-put-my-name-part-2/

Salim/Salem/Jerusalem is inscribed in the Tell el-Amarna Letters, an archaeological find dated to the 1400s BC.

The original name of Jerusalem was Babylonian, Uru-Salim, “the city of Salim,”or the city of Salem.

” Jebus” makes its appearance for the first time in the Old Testament (Judges 19: 10,11).In Hebrew, Yerushalayim. 

Mount Moriah is the name of the elongated north-south ridge of rock that rises from the junction point of the Hinnom (Hagai) and Kidron valleys between Mount Zion to the west and the Mount of Olives to the east.It rises through the City of Davidand reaches its highest elevation just northeast of the Damascus Gatein the Old City.

The Temple Mount today covers about 45 acres and is built around the outcropping of the bedrock under the Dome of the Rock.

It is about 118 feet lower than the highest point of Mount Moriah.

Hinnom valleyKidron Valley

Jewish tradition holds that it is the very same site where God gathered the dust to create Adam before placing him in the garden.and in Genesis 22. where the Binding of Isaac for sacrifice by Abraham took place believed by many biblical scholars to be the same mountain in the region of Moriah mentioned in the Book of Genesis.There is a grotto inside the Dome of the Rock where limestone forms into a cave.In 1 Chronicles 21 it is identified as The Jebusite “Zion” was situated on the southern slope of Mount Moriah, above the Gihon Spring.

After King David captured the city he made it his capital and named it for himself: the ‘City of David’. The northern area of the mountain’s summit lay desolate for long after Zion’s capture by David. It was in fact still the private property of Araunah, the city’s former Jebusite king.For various reasons David did not confiscate the site of the Jebusite threshing floor but preferred to buy it from Auranah for full value: “So David paid Ornan ) the Jebusite [Auranah] for the site 600 shekels’ worth of gold.And David built there an altar to the Lord and sacrificed burn offerings and offerings of well-being” 1 Chron. 21:25, and a slightly different version at 2 Sam. 24:18-25.

The very same threshing floor where Ruth and Boaz were.

This purchase is an important fact since it demonstrates that the Jews received this area through a legal transaction. They have never sold the rights to Mount Moriah.King David said to Ornan, “No, but I will buy them for the full price. I will not take for the Lord what is yours, nor offer burnt offerings that cost me nothing.” So David paid Ornan 600 shekels of gold by weight for the site; and David built there an altar to the Lord and presented burnt offerings. – 1 Chronicles 21:24, 25 

The Old Testament describes how an army led by David, the second king of ancient Israel, breached the walls of Jebus around 1000 B.C. David then built a palace nearby and created his capital, Jerusalem. At the site of a threshing floor atop the mountain, where farmers had separated grains from chaff, David constructed a sacrificial altar unto the Lord, and offered burnt and peace offerings.It was here that King David brought the Ark of the Covenant, which contained the tablets with the Ten Commandments.

In the course of time the mountain had acquired an aura of sanctity and was the subject of many traditions. Indeed, its sacred status may date back to the early Canaanite period, when it perhaps was the cultic center of “El Elyon,” god of Melchizedek, king of Salem:‘And Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought out bread and wine; he was a priest of God Most High [=El Elyon].’ Hebrew 7:1-3(Salem ancient name of Jerusalem). Gen.14:18.He blessed him, saying, Blessed be Abram of God Most High, creator of heaven and earth” Gen 14:18.

The Bible calls Yeshua, Jesus, the Great High Priest.

Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.

 Hebrews 7:17

For he testifieth, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.

Isaiah 9:6

The tradition of “Jacob’s Dream” is also identified with Mount Moriah: “He came upon a certain place and stopped there for the night, for the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of that place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place. He had a dream; a stairway was set on the ground and its top reached to the sky, and angels of God were going up and down on it. And the Lord was standing beside him… Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, … “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the abode of God and that is the gateway to heaven” Gen 28:10-18.

This is perhaps the most colorful representation of the essential nature of the site which some would later claim was the “navel of the world”.At the summit of Mount Moriah, traditionally, is the “Foundation Stone,” the symbolic fundament of the world’s creation, and reputedly the site of the Temple’s Holy of Holies, the supreme embodiment of the relationship between God and the people of Israel.According to the Second Book of Kings and the First Book of Chronicles, David’s son, Solomon, built the First Temple (later known as the Beit Hamikdash) on that site.Then Solomon began to build the house of the Lord in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the Lord had appeared to David his father, at the place that David had appointed on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. – 2 Chronicles 3:1Solomon dedicates the Temple.

Upon the completion of King Solomon’s Temple, famed for its sumptuous splendor, the Ark of the Covenant was placed within its confines.

The sanctity of the site is reflected in the graphic description provided by the Book of Kings: “the priests came out of the sanctuary for the cloud had filled the House of the Lord and the priests were not able to remain and perform the service because of the cloud, for the Presence of the Lord filled the House of the Lord…” 1 Kings 8:11.Solomon built his palace in the “miloh” (infill), area which separated the summit of the mountain and the Temple from the city below. This was also a concrete expression of the divine inspiration that was attributed to his kingship. Other palaces were also built nearby, such as the “House of the Forest of Lebanon” and the House of Pharaoh’s Daughter. 

Solomon used dirt to fill in this east-west lateral rift, hence the area’s name: “miloh” (infill), or Ophel , from a Hebrew word referring to the road that ascended to the Temple from the city which at that time was topographically lower and seen as a name on some maps.

King Solomon, according to the Bible, built the First Temple of the Jews on this mountaintop circa 1000 B.C., only to have it torn down 400 years later by troops commanded by the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar, who sent many Jews into exile. In the first century B.C., the Babylonian Army destroyed the First Temple in 586 B.C. The ark of the covenant disappeared, possibly hidden from the conquerors. Following the conquest of Jerusalem by the Persians in 539 B.C., the Jews returned from exile and, according to the Book of Ezra, constructed a Second Temple on the site.

At the summit of Mount Moriah, the supreme embodiment of the relationship between God and the people of Israel was realized. Upon the completion of King Solomons Temple, the Ark of the Covenant was placed inside, it contained the tablets with the Ten Commandments, the Jar of Manna and Aarons Rod that budded.

In the first century B.C., King Herod undertook a massive reshaping of the Temple Mount. Herod expanded and refurbished a Second Temple built by Jews who had returned after their banishment. He filled up the slopes surrounding the mount’s summit and expanded it to its present size. He enclosed the holy site within a 100-foot-high retaining wall constructed of limestone blocks quarried from the Jerusalem Hills and constructed a far more expansive version of the Second Temple.

It is here that, according to the Gospel of John, Jesus Christ lashed out against the money changers (and was later crucified a few hundred yards away). The Roman general Titus exacted revenge against Jewish rebels, sacking and burning the Temple in A.D. 70.

We are familiar with the much photographed Western Wall, it’s one that’s easily recognizable together with the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.The Western Wall is the holiest site for Jews. Thousands of people — Jews and non-Jews alike — come to this wall every day to pray.

But the commonly known religious site and tourist destination represents only the tip of the Western Wall complex. Its main treasures are found inside a tunnel excavated by Charles Warren from 1864 to 1870.

The tunnel follows the street level of the first century, which lies about 30 feet (9 meters) below the current level of the Western Wall plaza where the tourists and worshipers usually gather. It exposes magnificent stones measuring 45 by 9.8 by 11 feet (13.7 by 3 by 3.3 meters) and weighing 520 metric tons. The stones comprised the foundation of a retaining wall that King Herod ordered so he could create a level platform for the temple complex. 

A significant site is found 150 feet (46 meters) inside the tunnel. Above picture is the sealed-off gate, close to the place where the temple’s most Holy place, KOTEL – the Holy of Holies, is believed to have been located. The site of the Western Wall and its tunnel are managed by the Western Wall Heritage Foundation.

The upper part of the Temple Mount where both temples once stood is controlled by the Jerusalem Islamic Waqf foundation, financed by the Kingdom of Jordan. Arabs refer to the place as Haram al-Sharif, or the Noble Sanctuary. The complex includes the golden Dome of the Rock, which stands on the supposed spot on Mount Moriah where Abraham prepared to offer his son Isaac as a sacrifice.

The area controlled by the foundation also includes the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the third-holiest site for Muslims who believe it was here that the Prophet Muhammad ascended to the “Divine Presence” on the back of a winged horse—the Miraculous Night Journey, commemorated by one of Islam’s architectural triumphs, the Dome of the Rock shrine. A territorial prize occupied or conquered by a long succession of peoples—including Jebusites, Israelites, Babylonians, Greeks, Persians, Romans, Byzantines, early Muslims, Crusaders, Mamluks, Ottomans and the British—the Temple Mount has seen more momentous historical events than perhaps any other 35 acres in the world.

The Old City of Jerusalem and its Walls are classified as a World Heritage Site.

 During the time of Solomon and of Nehemiah, the walls also encompassed the City of David, an area south of theTemple Mount.

So what exactly is under the golden dome?

The bedrock, or the actual stone, of the top of Mount Moriah. known as the Foundation Stone where all the aforementioned events took place.

(According to a medieval Islamic tradition, the Stone tried to follow Muhammad as he ascended, leaving his footprint here while pulling up and hollowing out the cave below. The impression of the hand of the Archangel Gabriel made as he restrained the Stone from rising, is nearby.) The Stone — known as Even haShetiya in Hebrew and es-Sakhrah in Arabic — is considered the holiest site in Judaism and the third holiest in Islam.)It can be seen covered by the Muslim’s Dome of the Spirits.

This is about 285 feet north of where the Ark of the Covenant would have sat on similar bedrock in the Jewish Temple. Today the Muslim’s Dome of the Rock covers that location.

The Well of Souls, also known in Christianity and Judaism as the Holy of Holies, is a partly natural, partly man-made cave located inside the Foundation Stone under the Dome of the Rock.

Below The Sakhra (rock) in the Dome and shows the possible location of the ark lower left part of exposed rock surface.

This is a closer view of the actual bedrock, or the original rock, from the top of Mount Moriah. It is located under the Muslim’s Dome of the Spirits and is located just outside the Dome of the Rock. Abraham would have walked across parts of this rock when he came up here to sacrifice Isaac.

This would be close to where the Jebusite threshing floor would have actually been located when David purchased Mount Moriah.

Looking across the pavement that has been built over Mount Moriah to create a level surface. This is the site of the ancient Jewish Temple Mount. The golden Dome of the Rock stands where the Jewish Temple formerly stood.Notice the location of Mount Moriah on this map showing Jerusalem’ topography.

In a cave under the sacred rock, there supposedly is a mysterious Well of Souls from which the spirits of the dead can be heard.

Whether it is true or not, the Temple Mount is a place of veneration of believers of the three world religions and has a unique energy that can be really perceived.  The Well of Souls is a supernatural dimension that is guarded by the Archangel Azrael. It is said to hold power over life and death, and it acts as a receptacle for the souls of the departed. From a purely biblical standpoint, the Well of Souls is referenced as Sheol, the pit where un-regenerated souls are held until judgment.

The Foundation Stone in the floor of the 

Dome of the Rock shrine in Jerusalem. 

Photo above showing:

1 The cage-like structure just beyond the hole covers the stairway entrance to the cave beneath the rock

2 The round hole at upper left penetrates to a small cave, known as the ‘Well of Souls’, below.

3 Rock (Al Sakhra) where Muslims believe Muhammad ascended to the heavens.

The Well of Souls (Arabic: بئر الأرواح ‎ Bir al-Arwah; sometimes translated Pit of Souls, Cave of Spirits, or Well of Spirits in Islam), also known in Christianity and Judaism as the Holy of Holies, is a partly natural, partly man-made cave located inside the Foundation Stone under the Dome of the Rock shrine in Jerusalem.

The name Well of Souls derives from a medieval Islamic legend that at this place the spirits of the dead can be heard awaiting Judgment Day.  The name “Well of Souls” has also been applied more narrowly to a depression in the floor of this cave and to a hypothetical chamber that may exist beneath the floor. The famed 19th-century British explorer Sir Charles Warren could neither prove nor disprove the existence of a hollow chamber below the cave. They believed the sound reportedly heard by visitors was simply an echo in a small fissure beneath the floor.For Believers, the site is known as the Holy of Holies (alluding to the former inner sanctuary within the Temple in Jerusalem) .

Both Jewish and Muslim traditions relate to what may lie beneath the Foundation Stone, the earliest of them found in the Talmud in the former and understood to date to the 12th and 13th centuries in the latter.

The Talmud indicates that the Stone marks the center of the world and serves as a cover for the Abyss (Abzu) containing the raging waters of the Flood.Muslim tradition likewise places it at the center of the world and over a bottomless pit with the flowing waters of Paradise underneath. A palm tree is said to grow out of the River of Paradise here to support the Stone.Noah is said to have landed here after the Flood. The Mosaic floor covers the opening to the well of souls.

The souls of the dead are said to be audible here as they await the Last Judgment, although this is not a mainstream view in Sunni Islam.

The Foundation Stone and its cave entered fully into the European Christian tradition after the Crusaders recaptured Jerusalem in 1099 and converted the Dome of the Rock into a church, calling it the Templum Domini, (Latin for the Temple of the Lord).They made many radical physical changes to the site at this time, including cutting away much of the rock to make staircases with 16 marble steps and paving the Stone over with marble slabs.

They certainly enlarged the main entrance of the cave and probably are also responsible for creating the shaft ascending from the center of the chamber. The Crusaders called the cave the “Holy of Holies” and venerated it as the possible site of the announcement of John the Baptist’s birth, since Luke says it happened in the Temple.

  (Modern scholarship indicates that the Temple Holy of Holies was probably on top of the Foundation Stone, not inside it.)Here the original granary, (similar to picture above), where the corn was threshed or rather trodden out, upon the plain on either side, and winnowed from the Rock.The entrance to the cave is at the southeast angle of the Foundation Stone, beside the southeast pier of the Dome of the Rock (Sakhrah) shrine. On the way down, bedrock masses project in towards the stair; the one to the right is called “the tongue”. (because, according to legend, when Caliph Umar thought he had discovered the stone which was Jacob’s Pillar in his vision at Bethel, he exclaimed, “Es Salámo Alaykúm” (“Peace be unto thee”), and the stone answered Caliph Umar, “Alaykúm us Salám, wa Rahmat-Ullahi” (“Peace be to thee, and the mercy of God”).To the left (south) as one descends is a prayer niche where David prayed. 

To the right is a shallower, but ornately decorated, prayer niche dedicated to where Solomon traditionally prayed; and where Abraham and Elijah and Mohammed met on the occasion of his night flight upon El Borak.

This mihrab is certainly one of the oldest in the world, considered to date at least back to the late 9th century. (Some even suggest that it dates back to the 7th century and to the time of Abd al-Malik, builder of the Dome of the Rock — making it the oldest in the world — but this is disputed.

The cave chamber is roughly square, about 6 meters on a side, and ranges from 1.5 to 2.5 meters (about 4.9 to ~8.2 feet) high.

At the center of the ceiling is a shaft, 0.46 meter in diameter, which penetrates 1.7 meters up to the surface of the Stone above. It has been proposed that this is the 4,000-year-old remnant of a shaft tomb. Another theory is that it represents a Crusader “chimney” cut for ventilation to accommodate lighted shrine candles.Still others have tried to make a case that it was part of a drainage system for the Temple altar of Sacrifice; that the cave was the cistern for the blood, which ran off by the Bir el Arwáh, (Well of Souls) into the Valley of Hinnom.

There are no rope marks within the shaft, so it has been concluded that it was never used as a well, with the cave as cistern. The ceiling of the cave appears natural, while the floor has been long ago paved with marble and carpeted over.So now we know what is under that golden dome and next time we see a photograph it will serve as a reminder of its place in our history and that it reveals another of the reasons for its ownership and possession being such hotly disputed territory. 

Shalom..

Please don’t leave this page before making certain Jesus/Yeshua is your Redeemer, Savior, Lord and soon returning King and that you have a personal relationship with Him.

You are greatly loved and precious in His sight.

It’s all about Life and Relationship, not Religion.

NOT SURE? YOU CAN BE..

You can have His love – His Forgiveness – His Grace and His Compassion and live like Royalty in the Womb of His Mercy..

SAY THE FOLLOWING FROM YOUR HEART RIGHT NOW…Don’t put it off one more day…

Heavenly Father I come to you in the Name of Jesus asking for forgiveness of my sins for which I am truly sorry. I repent of them all and turn away from my past.

I believe with my heart and confess with my mouth that Jesus is your Son and that He died on the cross at calvary to pay the price for my sin, so that I might be forgiven and have eternal life in the kingdom of Heaven. Father I believe that Jesus rose from the dead and I ask you to come into my life right now and be my personal Savior and Lord and I will worship you all the days of my life. Because your word is truth I say that I am now forgiven and born again and by faith I am washed clean with the blood of Jesus. Thank you that you have accepted me into your family in Jesus’ name. Amen.You are now Born Again by the Holy Spirit of the Living God and you are part of the ever growing family of believers. You will never be the same again!

Shavuot 2 x 3000 = A Marriage Made in Heaven – Conclusion

According to the scriptures, at the Beginning when God’s relationship with His creation was broken through disobedience/sin, He had to send them out of His presence. However He was already working on the plan of redemption and restoration, which was declared in Genesis, the book of Beginnings.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Berashit bara Elohim ET את Ha Shamayim V’ET ואת Ha Aretz.

When Jesus/Yeshua said “I am the Alpha and the Omega” Greek (Alef Tav את in Hebrew/Aramaic) (Rev.22:13), He was possibly meaning much more than just that.

Was He saying He was there in the beginning?

(This can be said to be true, if we believe that He said, If you have seen Me you have seen the Father and I and My Father are One.)

to see more on this click link below

NAIL I AM

Continued from Part 1:

Before The Lord/Adonai could fulfill the promise of a Redeemer, He made various covenants with people of faith including Noah, Abraham and Moses. Each time His people chose to worship/serve other gods and betrayed their relationship with Him.

Often described in scripture terms as equal to adultery committed in a marriage covenant relationship.

Each time it did not end well and their enemies conquered them, exile and captivity ensued. After the years of bondage and slavery in Egypt He answered their cry and prepared Moses to lead them to freedom where He wanted to bring them into a stronger covenant relationship; which was the equivalent, in mutual commitment, to a covenant of marriage.

This was completed at Sinai.

This legal agreement enabled Adonai to instruct the building of the Ark for His presence to dwell with them and fulfill His part of the covenant in many ways.

After generations of living in the promised land, Israel was again unfaithful to their commitment and again enemies conquered and led them captive. Adonai was waiting to fulfill the promise of a re-new-ed covenant; a better one that would not require continual animal sacrifices of blood to atone for sin. It could be said in other words that He wanted a fresh start and to re-marry Israel.

However from the original decrees, the only way for an individual to remarry was if a spouse died. So to betroth Himself once again to His people, the redemptive plan was that He came and died and then made the new covenant in His own blood, so that once and for all time it would pay the required price for sin. According to scripture, we are part of His espoused bride-to-be; we are in covenant with Him and engaged to Him, waiting on the return of our bridegroom, to complete His purpose and reunite us with Him.

Shavuot 2 x 3000 = A Marriage made in Heaven – Our God is a consuming fire. Conclusion and connections:

We too have been set free and received salvation to serve Him, to follow Him to embrace His Word, His Will, His Way and in our submission to His will, we become part of His purposes and plans. To receive His salvation and then continue to live our own lives, our way, is tantamount to a child receiving a gift in return for the promise of doing a task; who then takes the gift but never fulfills the promise of the commitment they made in agreeing to do their part.

The Hebrew understanding of Believe is that of change. Although repentance basically means to change your mind; it means to turn around and head the opposite direction. We are to be not only hearers but doers also.

The fire of God brings cleansing. Malachi tells us it’s a spirit of burning. Why do we need it? Because in Jeremiah 17:9 the word says

I the LORD search the heart, I test the mind, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.

This fire of judgment in the re-new-ed covenant is to burn away all that will stand between us and His continuing Presence.

 

Those who have walked through the fire leave sparks of light everywhere they go.

The Holy Spirit creates the passion of God in our hearts. After the two traveling disciples talk with the resurrected Jesus, they describe their hearts as “burning within us” (Luke 24:32).

After the disciples receive the Ruach/Spirit at Shavuot/Pentecost, they have a passion that lasts a lifetime and compels them to speak the word of God boldly (Acts 4:31). Even unto death, as all except John were killed.

As we invite Him, to sit with us, (spiritually speaking), and open the scriptures to us. As we read His word, our hearts will burn within us. 

The prophet Malachi 3:1-6 wrote that the Lord would send His messenger of the covenant, and asks who will be able to stand, to endure in that day, … He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

For He is like a refiner’s fire and … by the ministry of His Word and the convictions of His Spirit/Ruach..

For He will be like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap. … It says in Malachi 4:5, … “If by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body you will live.”

Like a refiner’s fire, which separates the precious metal from the refuse.

So according to Malachi, God will begin refining us with fire, … the Spirit of God is in us, refining us, this is what the fire of Pentecost is and does for us. Many refer to it as baptism in the Holy Spirit.

There are several main parallels between the 2 events:

One parallel is fire. At both Shavuots, fire was present. At Mt. Sinai, we are told that God Himself descended as fire. He was the fire that engulfed the mountain. In the Upper Room, He was in ‘tongues of fire’ descending upon the disciples.

We can deduce from the texts that if He descended on the mountain as fire, it’s a safe conclusion that He was also the fire that descended on the disciples in the Upper Room.

A common misconception is that until that day, the Holy Spirit was not present in the world. Yet we read at various places in the Bible where it is clearly stated that the Spirit of God was present before the outpouring at Shavuot.

Some of these instances, include the creation of the world (and specifically the creation of man), the Psalms consistently declaring the praises and wonders of His Spirit, and references in Haggai, Nehemiah, Zechariah, and Isaiah that the Spirit of God taught and directed Israel.

In addition, the Spirit of the Lord filled the people with the knowledge of how to build the Temple and its furnishings. The Spirit instructed Moses how and whom to appoint as the 70 elders. Joseph, Joshua, Saul, David, the Judges of Israel, and the prophets of Adonai are all said to have had the Spirit of God upon them. These are just a few, of the many examples, to show how extensively the Holy Spirit of God was present in the world before the Upper Room.

Fire is also a commonality because it is typically related to cleansing and judgment.

Think of all the times we see fire used as a tool of God.

Is it possible these times were also instances of the Holy Spirit of God? What does it tell us about the connection between judgment, His Spirit, and cleansing/purification?

Another parallel is that, in both cases, after the Spirit of God appeared, He then presents His people with the Torah/Teaching/Instruction/Scripture. Holy Spirit was present at Sinai and Shavuot filling the people with knowledge.

At Mt. Sinai the Torah was given twice on stone tablets through Moses. In the Upper Room, the Torah was written on the hearts of believers directly through His Spirit.

Deuteronomy 31:16-21 

Here these verses indicate that God knew the covenant written on stone tablets would be broken. He knew before they ever sinned against Him that their necks would be stiff and their hearts would be hard.

However, God also foretold of a time when He would renew this covenant with His people and would write His Torah on their hearts.

“See, the days are coming,” declares The Lord, “when I shall make a renewed covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, … I shall put My Torah in their inward parts, and write it on their hearts. And I shall be their Elohim, and they shall be My people. Jeremiah 31:31-34

Adonai says that He is going to make a new – or renewed – covenant with the House of Israel. Notice, however, that the Lord’s new covenant still involves Torah. The new covenant that we as believers are part of still requires us to guard and observe God’s Word/ Torah/Teaching/Instruction/Scripture.

It is common doctrine in today’s churches that Christians no longer have to keep ‘Torah’ as part of the new covenant under grace. But clearly, it seems The Lord never actually said that. He tells us that He intends to release His people from their captivity (of sin) and that He would then write His Torah in our inward parts and on our hearts. Why would He do that if it was no longer pertinent to salvation and relationship with Him?

He is essentially saying that He will make Torah a part of us; that it will be so precious to us and so inseparable from our lives that it actually becomes part of our makeup; and that we can never be separated from His Torah/Teaching/Instruction/Scripture.

Hence the Word was made flesh and lived among us. He is the Living Word the Bread from the Heavens, The Bread of Life. In the beginning was the Word….. John 1:1

Messiah Jesus/Yeshua told us to ‘Eat My Flesh’ meaning to take Him into ourselves. He is our daily Manna. We are to chew, ponder/think on and digest/absorb Him/His Words.

Tradition has it that when the Torah was given on Mt. Sinai, it was given in 70 different languages.

Perhaps this is also a foreshadowing of the division at Tower of Babel into 70 languages and of the captivity in many nations which Israel would find herself in generations later? Is it because of this captivity foretold by The Lord that it became necessary for the disciples to speak in many languages? Jesus/Yeshua had to send the disciples out to the nations because that is where the captives of Israel were! This is why it so important to believe that we are part of Israel…just as Ruth did.

Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures… just as He did in Emmaus. Saying that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in His Name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And you are witnesses of these matters. And see, I am sending the Promise of My Father upon you, but you are to remain in the city of Jerusalem until you are clothed with power from on high. Luke 24:44-49

See post https://www.minimannamoments.com/seeing-jesus-on-the-way/

Malachi called prophetically for the WAY to be Prepared

One more connection that now makes sense, is with John who in his call to repentance, makes us aware of our need for a Savior. Scripture refers to this again when it states that Mark says that “John came, baptizing in the desert region and preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” Mark goes on to say that “this was his message: ‘After me will come one more powerful than I, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.’” (Mark 1:4,7,8)

Usually when we think of the call for us to repent, we think that it means that we are to be sorry for our sins. But this is not repentance. It is choosing to turn away from our sinful ways and head in a different direction. And this is precisely what John the Baptist called for the people of his day, and also calls for us, to do.

The Israelites passing through the Reed/Red sea was the prophetic shadow of being immersed by water baptism.

John is telling us of the need we have. He is reminding us that we like to head off in wicked, (out of harmony with God’s), directions and down other trails, like Emmaus roads and the one back to Egypt. He is sharing with us our need to repent. He is preparing us and our hearts for Messiah Jesus by reminding us of our spiritual situation.

John isn’t giving us the answer to the problem, he is just reminding us of the problem. He is reminding us that we are sinful beings, in need of a Savior. John’s message prepares us for Messiah Jesus’ message, then He enters the scene and meets the needs that John has reminded us we have.

Messiah Jesus/Yeshua, through His incarnation, through His life and teaching, through His death and resurrection, offers us the path to true repentance. Messiah’s death and resurrection doesn’t make sense if you don’t understand our need for it as John shares it. John’s call to repentance is impossible to truly follow if we don’t have Messiah Jesus to live that out for us and sacrifice Himself for us.

Acts 2: 1-8, 12-21, 37-41

And when the Day of the Festival or Feast of Weeks, [Shavuot], Pentecost had come, they were all with one mind in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from the heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.

And there appeared to them divided*tongues, as of fire, and settled on each one of them.

And they were all filled with the Set-apart Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them to speak.

Now in Jerusalem there were dwelling Jews, dedicated men from every nation under the heaven. And when this sound came to be, the crowd came together, and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language. And they were all amazed and marveled, saying to each other, “Look, are not all these who speak Galileans? And how do we hear, each one in our own language in which we were born?”

*(Divided tongues was with reference to clean /unclean animals so more than likely this was a sign to confirm to them that it was a kosher spirit of holiness.)

And Peter said to them, “Repent, and let each one of you be immersed in the Name of Yeshua Messiah for the forgiveness of sins. And you shall receive the gift of the Set-apart Spirit. (The Ecclesia the called out ones the congregation of believers in Jesus, Messiah Yeshua.) For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are far off, as many as The Lord God our Elohim shall call.” And with many other words he earnestly witnessed and urged them, saying, “Be saved from this crooked generation.” Then those, indeed, who gladly received his word, were immersed. And on that day about 3000 beings were added to them.

Back to Malachi 3 again.  It begins by talking about a messenger who will prepare the way but then it tells us that, “suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come.” This is a different messenger.

This messenger of the covenant is Messiah Himself. And His coming isn’t necessarily going to be the wonderful thing that we all look forward to. Let us continue in Malachi, “who can endure the day of His coming? Who can stand when He appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver.”

It doesn’t sound like the most comfortable process! And yet this is what we are told that Jesus is and does for us. Again, this only becomes the good thing that it is when we accept John the Baptist’s message that tells us of our need to repent. Moreover when we do repent, when we do turn ourselves over to Jesus, we discover that He is a launderer’s soap, that He is a refiner’s fire. And for a brief time this whole Discipleship life doesn’t seem like the most wonderful thing we imagine. However without our enduring some heat how could there be refining fires? Many do not make it…

Some people are lost in the flames of the fire and some are built from it.

This refiner’s fire: Not only is Jesus the refiner’s fire, He went through it Himself. The refiner’s fire that Jesus puts us through; He went through it and suffered and died for our sake so that we would not have to deal with the flames. In becoming the type of the sacrificial red heifer that was burned, Jesus took that fire upon Himself, though He did not have to, and Jesus offers us salvation from our sins because of what He did.

He then tells us that if we truly want to follow Him, we are going to have to go where He leads? Jesus doesn’t promise us complete prosperity and ease of life. What Jesus does promise, is a life that will have suffering in it, a life that will have difficulty, a life of pain and trouble, but a life that is good. He offers us a chance to follow Him, but He tells us that this will be like sending us through a refining fire, like brushing us with a hard soap.

We need to realize that the difficulty, the fire, the soap will not be there to destroy us or to hurt us. It will be there to make us stronger, to help us grow closer to Him. If we pay attention to the message of John the Baptist, we realize our need for Jesus. If we accept John’s words we acknowledge our need for refining. And when Jesus comes and offers us a life of following Him we discover that though this life may be hard, it is the most wonderful thing we can do to follow Him.

By the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning.–The word for “spirit” Ruach, is better understood in its more literal meaning, as breath or blast, as in Isaiah 30:27-28; Isaiah 40:7.

The word for wind, breath or blast (same as, breath of life God breathed into Adam.)

(Psalm 18:15 Then the channels of waters were seen, and the foundations of the … by the breath of his nostrils. Exodus 15:8,10 And with the blast of your nostrils the waters were gathered together. Ex 14:21 And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the LORD caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided.

God opens the sea with a blast of His nostrils!

‘There went up a smoke out of His nostrils, and fire out of His mouth devoured: coals were kindled by it.’

2 Sam 22:14-16 The Lord thundered from heaven, and the Most High uttered His voice. 15 He sent out arrows and scattered them; lightning confused and troubled them. 16 The channels of the sea were visible, the foundations of the world were uncovered at the rebuke of the Lord, at the blast of the breath of His nostrils.

Fire and Wind together.

Ruach has another meaning it also means the Spirit. In Hebrew Holy Spirit is the Holy Wind/Holy Breath. And just like trying to press against the wind, it gets harder, for it creates drag and we get tired when we walk against the spirit. He creates a drag on our lives.

Because the Spirit of God is Holy, it blows in the direction of the Holy and against the direction of the unholy. Consequently, when you turn around and walk back the same way you came, you are walking in the direction the wind is blowing, so the wind actually helped you walk. Similarly, if we turn around, change our course, if we repent, the drag will disappear. Then the spirit will empower us and we will move forward much easier, as the Holy Spirit of God will always be at our backs. The wind is always at our back. He is our rearguard.

A big measure of Holy fire comes in the baptism.

Matthew 3:11-12  …He [Jesus] will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire … gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.

 Matthew 3:11 also indicates that the baptism with the Spirit will have the effect of burning out the chaff. So again, this Holy Spirit fire also has a beneficial cleansing effect in our lives.

The more the wind of the spirit blows, the hotter the fire burns.

The Holy Ghost baptism is an impartation of Spirit-fire! When the 120 were baptized in the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, the tongues of fire that appeared upon them was further evidence of this being an impartation of Holy Ghost fire.

The purpose of this Holy fire, of this Godly passion, is expression.

But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. Acts 1:8

It must not, it “cannot”, be held in.

The prophet experienced an inner pressure to speak, to declare, to express the name of God and the word of God.  The bottled-up word of God was “like a fire”inside him, and he could not hold it in.

Jeremiah 20:8-9  …if I say, “I will not mention him or speak any more in his name, his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot.”

If you bottle up fire, pretty soon it dies out, no oxygen, no breath of life. So open up!  Speak out His word from within you. Two things will happen: (1) the fire will touch others; and (2) God will feed and increase the fire within you.

Live a life of spiritual readiness.

Tend your inner fire, keep it burning.

Otherwise, it will fade out and end up being only faintly glowing embers.

Treasure the Holy Spirits anointing… stir it up.

Fix your eyes on Jesus. Let Him talk to you and open His Word to you.

Share the fire, express it, give it out, speak up.

Do these things, and God will keep His holy fire burning within you. And you will find yourself continually bearing fruit for Him, both in your own life and in the lives of others.

In the waiting in Jerusalem their strength was to sit still they had to be patient. Patience undergirds faith, for it is the basic building block of faith, an absolute necessity in the foundation and life of every believer in order to really and fully know God.

Here is a reason for the days of the Omer. The disciples were not sitting around doing nothing, they were spending their days immersed in the Word of God/Torah.

Following God’s directions, according to the annual Appointed Times. To be at the right place at the right time at the conclusion of the Omer. The 50 days the time of preparation making ready to receive Holy spirit.

After meeting with Jesus, the two on the Road to Emmaus were turned back to where they had been told to wait. He had said, wait here in Jerusalem, they chose to leave and go another road.

Temptations of the flesh (‘carnal christianity’) Do we do it OUR WAY, when faced with:

Despair – do we just give up?

Precipitancy – Do we do something to stir ourselves – ‘we’ must be doing, ‘we’ must do it?

Presumption – Expect a miracle march into the sea asking God to bless ‘our’ going?

Or Cowardice – the world’s WAY – Retreat – go back to the worlds WAY of action and what we were familiar with.

Or THE WAY/HIS WAY – Wait on the Lord, which is the posture of an upright man/of righteousness. Ex 14:13 Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord.

The fire of God came to them in person and opened their eyes, when He opens your eyes, no man come close them. In which direction are we traveling on the Emmaus Road?

Are we on the Emmaus Road A-WAY from Jerusalem or on THE-WAY to meet with Him and be empowered?

Let’s make sure we are headed for the place He told us to be. The place where He will meet with us and impart to us all that we need, to be His disciple and to fulfill our call.

Another parallel is that, in both cases, after the Spirit of Adonai appeared, there was redemption and restoration; which we learned from the story of Ruth and Boaz. 

And in a final parallel:

it can be seen in both of these examples of Shavuot, that we are the first-fruits being offered to The Lord/Adonai. It is a time of the giving of the harvest. We are the harvest that is being offered. But we cannot bear fruit if we are not first connected to the Vine.

“I am the true vine, and My Father is the gardener. Every branch in Me that bears no fruit He takes away. And every branch that bears fruit He prunes, so that it bears more fruit. You are already clean because of the Word which I have spoken to you. Stay in Me, and I stay in you. As the branch is unable to bear fruit of itself, unless it stays in the vine, so neither you, unless you stay in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who stays in Me, and I in him, he bears much fruit. Because without Me you are able to do naught! If you guard My commands, you shall stay in My love, even as I have guarded My Father’s commands and stay in His love.” John 15:1-5, 10

The Holy Spirit /Ruach haKodesh, has always played an important role in Shavuot and, as seen from these examples, Holy Spirit /Ruach haKodesh is an integral part of the covenant between Most High God/El Elyon and Israel.

Once we allow the fire of Adonai to cleanse, judge, and declare us purified, only then are we able to receive the Torah of Adonai that keeps us from sin and allows us to draw near to El Elyon. It is El Elyon’s desire that we love and guard His Torah to such a degree that it becomes inextricable from our very being. 

Torah becomes who we are; it becomes the very essence of our being.

 Once we hear and receive this message of Torah and redemption in our own language, then we become the ‘redeemed of Israel’ and are restored to our rightful place under the covering of the Most High God –El Elyon! It is only then that we can offer ourselves as first-fruits to Adonai to serve in His Kingdom and to declare the Good News: that the captives of Israel have been freed by the power and blood of Yeshua haMashiach – Yeshua the Messiah!

Offering ourselves to the Lord/Adonai is the ultimate gift of love we can offer Him. “No one has greater love than this: that he would lay down his life for his friends.” By giving Him our lives, our hopes, our fears, and everything that we will ever become, we are saying “I choose you. I choose all that You are and all that You have for me. You will never cease to be more than enough for me; You are all I will ever need or desire. I choose to love You and obey You. I choose to lay down my life for You.”

This “sacrifice” becomes our wedding vow to our King. And that is the real love story of Shavuot.

At the beginning of His ministry He met with John the Baptist and He was baptized even though He had nothing to repent for.

And at the end of His ministry He died the death of a criminal though He had done no criminal act.

This is the real message of Shavuot:

No one has greater love than this — that he should lay down his life for his friend.

It is the love story between The Lord/Adonai and Israel.

In examining the parallels between the first Shavuot that occurred at Mt. Sinai and the Shavuot that took place in Jerusalem in the Upper Room.

Both of these events have to do with a marriage.

The law has to do with Israel being married to the Lord (the Torah functions as a ketubah, a marriage contract between Jehovah and Israel, just as the New Covenant does for the Church, the bride of Christ). 

For this reason,  it is traditional for the book of Ruth to be read in the synagogue every year during this festival. Wouldn’t it be just like the Lord to call His bride home on such a special day as this? If not this year, maybe next…. One thing is certain.. He will fulfill His Word and Keep His Promises.

3000 died and 3000 lived… both were ‘marriage covenants’.

The fulfillment of ours with Him will be in the Heavens/Ha Shamayim.Revelation 19:7,  “Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come and his bride has made herself ready.”

For the spirit and the bride say come! Rev. 22:7

2 x 3000 = a marriage made in the Heavens!

Ruth, Boaz, Moses, Israelites in wilderness, Torah, Spring Feasts, Pentecost, Shavuot, Ketubah, 10 Commandments, Power, Fire, Wind, Reed Sea, Sinai, Malachi, John the Baptist, Cleansing & Purification, Baptisms, Yeshua, Emmaus Road, Disciples, Preaching the Gospel, Covenants, Ruach HaKodesh, Hearts, and Weddings…Genesis to Revelation.. Everything is connected!

Other references…

First Fruits

50 Days Later-An Earthly and Spiritual Harvest: Pentecost-Shavuot

See post https://www.minimannamoments.com/seeing-jesus-on-the-way/

Please don’t leave this page before making certain Jesus/Yeshua is your Redeemer, Savior, Lord and soon returning King and that you have a personal relationship with Him.

You are greatly loved and precious in His sight.

It’s all about Life and Relationship, not Religion.

NOT SURE? YOU CAN BE..

SAY THE FOLLOWING FROM YOUR HEART RIGHT NOW…

Heavenly Father I come to you in the Name of Jesus asking for forgiveness of my sins for which I am truly sorry. I repent of them all and turn away from my past.

I believe with my heart and confess with my mouth that Jesus is your Son and that He died on the cross at calvary to pay the price for my sin, so that I might be forgiven and have eternal life in the kingdom of Heaven. Father I believe that Jesus rose from the dead and I ask you to come into my life right now and be my personal Savior and Lord and I will worship you all the days of my life. Because your word is truth I say that I am now forgiven and born again and by faith I am washed clean with the blood of Jesus. Thank you that you have accepted me into your family in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Who Exactly Was Cleopas?

First Things First:

Ephesians 6:2

Mothers are mothers 24/7, 365 days a year, every year. Mothers and single Dads, should be remembered every day! Thank you Adonai/Lord, for Mothers who know and love you and teach their children that Jesus/Yeshua IS THE WAY. (This includes all spiritual Mothers too!)

And also…

‘Who has seen such things? 

Can a land be born in one day?

Or can a nation be brought forth in a moment?’ Isaiah 66:8 was fulfilled on 5 Iyyar 5708; 14 May 1948. 

Mazel Tov YISRAEL!! 

Congratulations Israel!

It’s your 70th Birthday!! 

  Iyyar 29, 5778 is 14th May 2018 and 44th day of the Omer.

It is 70 years since the independent State of Israel was established.

70 Years is a Biblical generation and has a significant connection to the words of Messiah Yeshua in Matthew 24:32-34: concerning the generation that would see the budding of the fig tree, (the blossoming/establishing of Israel). “Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.” (70 years from 1948 is 2018). This could indicate that anyone who clearly remembers the establishing of Israel in 1948 will have to be 70+ years of age in 2018 and could be the generation that will ‘not pass away’, until all these things in scripture are fulfilled.

He is near, even at the door! Maybe closer than we think!

“The Israeli Declaration of Independence, formally the Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel (Hebrew: הכרזה על הקמת מדינת ישראל‎). It was proclaimed on 14 May 1948; (5 Iyar 5708) by David Ben-Gurion, the Executive Head of the World Zionist Organization and Chairman of the Jewish Agency for Palestine. It declared the establishment of a Jewish state in Eretz-Israel, to be known as the State of Israel, which would come into effect on termination of the British Mandate at midnight that day. The event is celebrated annually in Israel with a national holiday Independence Day on 5 Iyar of every year according to the Hebrew calendar”

Also noteworthy, is the Embassy of USA is slated to be moved to Jerusalem and will officially open on May 14, just days after Israel celebrates the 51st anniversary of the Six Day War and the reunification of Israel’s capital.

……………….

Seeing Jesus/Yeshua 

ALL along

THE WAY... The Emmaus WAY!

On the  Hebrew calendar we are in the 50 days between Passover/Pesach and Pentecost/Shavuot. This is the time when the disciples were acutely feeling the loss and had questions and doubts. This is just one of the times that Jesus/Yeshua appeared to the disciples after His resurrection.

At that time, it must have felt to them like that door to life, to any kind of future, had closed forever. All of their hopes and dreams of a Kingdom of God had been drowned in death and terror. Jesus/Yeshua of Nazareth – who brought healing in body, mind and spirit to so many; then inexplicably, He had been crucified and buried.

Simon and Cleopas were facing the emptiness of a world without Jesus/Yeshua and the future they once envisioned had, it seemed, been buried with Him. The same injustice and oppression of the past and present looked as if  it was all that the future now held. Anyone daring to say otherwise would most certainly end up like Jesus/Yeshua; betrayed by His fellow countrymen, tortured and then executed by the Romans.

To set a scene: It would have been very late in the afternoon on the first day of the week when Cleopas and his friend left Jerusalem to go home to Emmaus.They’d heard the morning’s disquieting talk among Jesus’/Yeshua’s disciples: the Master’s body has disappeared from the tomb and it made no sense at all. Did the Romans desecrate the tomb and remove Jesus’/ Yeshua’s body because it was their idea to prevent the tomb from becoming a martyr’s shrine and the body from becoming a religious relic?Jesus/Yeshua seemed to isolate and focus on those who are in the greatest need and He appeared to them first.

These men were in deep grief and confusion, as was Mary.

Sometimes in life, Jesus’/ Yeshua’s first effort is to help us focus on what His word says, so our faith will be established.Sometimes He hides Himself while He points us to the Bible and its scriptures, because God’s Word is the only true foundation for faith.Along the road, an hour or so into their walk, a stranger overtook Cleopas and his companion. Jesus/ Yeshua entered the men’s conversation by asking what they were discussing as they walked along. It was very odd that, coming from Jerusalem, this stranger seemed to know nothing of the bloody end of Jesus/ Yeshua of Nazareth; yet he talked like he’s a disciple of Jesus/Yeshua but they didn’t recall seeing him among Jesus’/ Yeshua’s disciples.

As the three walked toward Emmaus, Luke says, “They stood still, their faces downcast.”Then Cleopas asked, “Are you only a visitor to Jerusalem and do not know the things that have happened here in these days?” How is it possible you don’t know what has happened?
“What things,” Jesus asked?“About Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied, “He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. The chief priests and the rulers handed Him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified Him; but we had hoped that He was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place” (vs. 18-21).These disciples express the deep longing and belief all Jesus’ disciples’ had cherished, that He was the long looked-for Messiah. But, they said, all their hopes are dashed.
The two go on to report incredulously, that some of the women had described seeing angels and other disciples had seen the empty tomb, but they didn’t know what it all meant.Here are some of the most powerful words in the New Testament: “He said to them, ‘How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter His glory?’ And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scripture concerning Himself” (vs. 25-27).The stranger shares an interpretation of scripture that the two disciples, in their grief, have been unable to understand. Luke doesn’t tell us which scripture passages the stranger refers to, however, it’s not hard to guess which ones they were.

Beginning with the writings of Moses (Genesis through Deuteronomy), and continuing through the writings of the Hebrew prophets, Jesus/Yeshua points out the Scriptures that foretold His ministry, suffering, death, and resurrection.

Maybe He started in Genesis 3, with the messianic interpretation of what God said to the serpent: ‘I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.’ (v. 15)Next the stranger may have turned to the words of Moses in Deuteronomy 18: 17a, 18-19. ‘Then the Lord replied to me…I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their own people; I will put my words in the mouth of the prophet, who shall speak to them everything that I command. Anyone who does not heed the words that the prophet shall speak in my name, I myself will hold accountable.’Almost certainly the stranger would have quoted from Psalm after Psalm, including Psalm 68 and 22, the opening line of the verse was prophesying that the Messiah would cry out from the cross: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” After that maybe He opened the treasure trove of prophecies about the Messiah and His suffering, for Cleopas and his companion, especially Isaiah 9:6-9, 53 and 61 and Zechariah 12 and 13?He told them that, Messiah/Jesus’/Yeshua’s, death and resurrection, had been clearly foretold in the Hebrew Scriptures. He had tried often to explain this to them, but the disciples’ minds were clouded with popular beliefs that contradicted the messianic prophecies; beliefs that turned the Messiah into a powerful earthly ruler, who would conquer kingdoms and lead Israel to national glory.There must have been a deeper earnestness in Jesus’ voice as He opened the scriptures to them. Quoting Isaiah 53 which not only predicted the manner of Jesus’ death, but clearly described His resurrection too: “After the sufferings of His soul, He will see the light of life and be satisfied” (v. 11). “Though the Lord makes His life a guilt offering, He will see His offspring and prolong His days, and the will of the Lord will prosper in His hand” (v. 10).
 

Daniel said the Messiah, “the Anointed One,” (v. 26) would be “cut off ” (killed) in the middle of the final week (7 years) of the 70 Week Prophecy, but after His death, He would confirm the covenant with many” (9:27). In other words, He would die, then be resurrected to continue His covenant establishing work with His people.Cleopas and his friend had been mournfully nursing their dashed hopes, but as this stranger helped them understand that what had just happened, was exactly what God predicted, and planned for since before the foundation of the earth; they begin to feel an amazing hope. By the time the stranger had connected the dots, the two disciples’ hearts were on fire. In (v. 32), the men said, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?” They have a new understanding of what God has done in Jesus/Yeshua of Nazareth.

There is no record of how long He walked and talked with them so we don’t know, but as they neared Emmaus, it was late in the evening, and concerned for their friend’s safety, they urged Him to stay with them for the night. Luke says, “Jesus acted as if He were going farther. However they urged him strongly, ‘Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over. So he went in to stay with them” (vs. 28-29).They brought out food for dinner, and when Jesus/Yeshua took the bread BLESSED AND BROKE IT with them at dinner in Emmaus,the two disciples understand not only what the stranger has said, but who the stranger is.“Their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and He disappeared from their sight” (v. 31).Imagine their shock and amazement. They have just been walking and talking with the resurrected Messiah! The two men jump up from the table. They can’t contain their excitement and joy, They’re on fire;  and in the gathering darkness, they must return to tell the other disciples what has happened and they rush back the seven miles to Jerusalem .It would have taken them several hours to return the 7 miles –not a safe and sensible trip to be making in the dark. Nor is their destination a safe and sensible one if you’ve been a follower of Jesus of Nazareth.But nothing can restrain them any longer.

The transformation of their lives that has occurred this evening is one destined to be replayed in group after group of Jesus’ followers.

When Jesus/Yeshua opens our eyes we SEE clearly for the first time in our lives.There is an amazing change that comes over Cleopas, his traveling companion, Peter and the other disciples, as they go from fleeing and hiding to boldly proclaiming that the one who was Crucified lives again. It’s not a safe thing to say and it will cost many of them their lives. But they cannot remain silent.

Somehow, Jesus of Nazareth – who is supposed to be dead, now has an existence outside of time and space and it lies beyond scientific observation or human understanding.Yet it affects thought and action, time and space. A new future, one filled by the risen Messiah, springs out of the ruins of a future, that seemed empty of all life and hope. The future belongs to God and God is there, calling us forward into a new existence.

There are many lessons in this beautiful story for us today.

Luke wrote his gospel, so that we may know the certainty of the things that we have been taught. Luke 1:4

Below the charts indicate, who was there, and how their questions were answered by the certainty of the things they’d been taught.

Jesus/Yeshua cares for all His followers. There are no “insignificant” disciples to Him. We must never feel we are unimportant to God or Heaven Plan. He gives equal care to all His children, and special care to those who are in greatest need.

So Who Was Cleopas??

Not everyone agrees!… so here are some options:

One tradition has it (and it is possible) that Cleopas was the brother of Joseph, husband of Jesus’ mother, Mary.Another claims Cleopas’ companion on the road to Emmaus in Luke 24:13-35 may have been his own wife? Cleopas wife may have been Mary, (John 19:25) ‘the wife of Cleopas who stood at the foot of the cros’.And she was the same Mary that was the mother of James the Lesser and Jude.Luke 24:34 identifies Peter as one of the two on the road. Luke 24:34 1611 KJV: Saying, The Lord is risen indeed, and hath appeared to Simon.

1 Corinthians 15:5. And that he was seen of Cephas — As mentioned Luke 24:34 , who saw him before any of the other apostles. He appeared, indeed, after his resurrection, first of all to Mary Magdalene: and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same.1 Corinthians 15:5. And that he was seen of Cephas Or Simon Peter; for Cephas was a name given him by Christ, ( John 1:42 ) .

However rabbi Paul states that Yeshua was seen of Cephas before He was seen of all twelve, which agrees with the fact that Luke mentions that it was the “them” that were with the “apostles” (verse 33) that mentioned Simon’s sighting, not the Emmaus “they” of verse 35. (1 Corinthians 15:5). This was not another Cephas, one of the seventy disciples, as Clemens suggests {g}, but the Apostle Peter himself, to whom it is certain the Lord appeared.Or was Cleopas a woman, the wife of the second person returning to Emmaus? The reference to appearing to Peter in Luke 13:35 was Simon Peter and was he the companion traveller? verse 18 names Cleopas as the other disciple.While most people assume Cleopas is a man, the Greek spelling has a feminine genitive (possessive) ending so that some scholars speculate that this could have been Peter’s wife on the road to Emmaus with him. It appears that they were going back to where they lived as indicated in the verse ‘The man came in unto their home’.

The Greek spelling of Cleopas Luke 24:19 is Kleopas while the spelling of Clopas in John 19:25 is Klopa. The letter o in klopa is omega, while the letter O in KleOpas is an Omicrom. Both words are in the genitive case with Klopa = masculine and Kleopas = feminine.Some say “Cleopas” name in high Greek (HaLane`Katara) means: “Glorious Father,” but Cleopas’ name is an abbreviated form of “Cleopatros,” a more common Hellenistic name at the time of Yeshua meaning: “son of a renowned father.”

 ?????

The fact remains there were 2 travelling back to Emmaus, which is 7 Miles from Jerusalem. Luke 1:26-38; 2Peter 2:4-11

The journey – walking and not recognizing!

Jesus/Yeshua wants to ground our faith in His word, the Scriptures, even more than giving us the emotions of joy, Jesus/Yeshua may reveal Himself to you in seemingly special ways, but never contrary to what His word teaches.The fact they did not recognize Him may have been due to His new Resurrected body being perfect, not looking anything like He was the last time they saw Him. Or maybe He could adjust His outward appearance, now He was not constrained by space and time and had supernatural qualities?
     Lastly, one can wonder what would have happened if the two disciples from Emmaus had not urged Jesus/Yeshua to stay with them.

Would they have missed the opportunity to know it was Messiah who had been talking to them?

Messiah agreed to stay only when they urged Him to do so.

Do we need to urge Jesus/Yeshua to be with us more than we do?

Not because He is unwilling, but because He never forces Himself on anyone?

How many blessings have we missed because we haven’t been more serious about seeking God, or because we haven’t urged Him to stay with us on our Emmaus journey of discovery and relationship?

What blinded them, is the same thing that sometimes blinds us, which is ??  

The Appearance to the 10 Disciples ‘While they, [Emmaus travelers], were telling these things, He Himself stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace/Shalom be to you.”’

Revelation – eyes open…Joy on return..

Can people SEE that we have been with Messiah?Gospel readings have given us accounts of people who looked at Jesus, walked with Jesus, and talked with Jesus but did not recognize Him.  

What is it that kept them from recognizing Him? What blinded their eyes?  What stopped their ears?

Could it be that they, had an idea, of who Jesus/Yeshua was supposed to be. They had formed Him in their minds in their own image and likeness. Yet their image and ours puts limits on the man who is essentially, God.

 So, when this man appeared to them in the garden and on the road they did not recognize Him.He didn’t fit the image they had formed.  He far exceeded it and it makes them, in a way, blind and deaf, if only for a time.In some ways seeing is deceiving.

Matthew 9:27 ‘As Jesus went on from the two blind men followed him calling and saying, take pity on us son of David.’

These two blind men began following Jesus. How could they follow Him if they were blind? Blind from birth they no doubt knew their way around the local area and were able to follow along with the crowds. And really, why would they follow him? They have not seen any miracles or witnessed any great wonders. Yet in the Scripture above they seem to be the first to recognize that He WAS the son of David, THE Promised long awaited Messiah. They heard what was happening as people were being healed and they surely heard the words that He spoke.These two blind men following Jesus could not rely on their eyesight for anything yet all their senses testified that they were in the midst of the one they have been waiting for, the great deliverer of Israel.

How often do we ignore what our senses are plainly telling us. Sometimes our faith can be so one-dimensional that we are unable to see the truth even when it’s standing right before us.

Seeing as how blind men can follow the Messiah, perhaps we too would do well to occasionally close our eyes.. And see what we can see.

The two disciples don’t recognize Him until the breaking of the bread.  Many commentators say that they saw the wounds in His hands at that time and they knew it was the Lord.  It may have been the wounds, however it was more likely what He said.  Perhaps what He said were once again, those life changing, universe shaking words, unparalleled in the history of creation: “This is my body which is given for you.  Do this in remembrance of me.”

Whether it was the words of Our Lord, the action of His Breaking Bread or His physical appearance, we do not know for sure.  What we do have is a record of the reaction of the two men, “…they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem…”  The seven mile walk from Jerusalem to Emmaus became a seven mile jog from Emmaus to Jerusalem – on that same day!The reaction was to run and tell others.  Mary ran too, at the Lord’s command, to tell others. Miriam of Magdala, we know her as Mary Magdelene, was by the empty tomb weeping over the death of her teacher/ rabbi. As She turned around and saw him standing there she did not realize it was Him and apparently thinking that He was the Gardener she said, tell me where you put Him and I’ll get Him. He replied by speaking her name, Miriam. She answered, Rabboni, meaning teacher/rabbi. All she could think about was that her beloved rabbi/ teacher was gone and yet He was standing right there beside her.In our day to day walk, it is easy for us to get bogged down by problems, or by what we think is missing in our lives, what we don’t have, or what we long for. We can easily end up like Miriam, so filled with sorrow, focusing on what we don’t have in our lives, blind to seeing the treasure that is right in front of us each and every day.

So, do you and I walk around kicking stones like the men/women on the road to Emmaus, or are we like the men/women on the road back to Jerusalem?  He has risen indeed!Let us run to everyone crying out, “I have seen the Lord!”

Each of us at some time in our life will find ourselves on the road to Emmaus. We each have been told fanciful stories of grace and mercy that are often more than we can believe. We have been told of stories of power beyond comprehension.Many have heard personal witnesses from others who have claimed to have seen the Savior or who have felt the presence of His love and power. The question will be that while we journey upon our own road of mortal life, how will we respond?

Will we believe those who have testified of the Savior and accept his redeeming blood, or will we lack the faith required to believe? When the Lord comes to us through the service of others will we invite them in to sup with us and to partake of those things of which we have been blessed?

Though these two disciples at first did not believe, it seems that because they were so willing to serve, that the Lord allowed their eyes to be opened and their hearts to be softened, so that the presence of the Lord would abide with them.In that moment of faltering faith and fear, that must have filled their hearts that day as they walked to Emmaus; they had not forgotten the words of their Master, to serve others. In their attempt to follow the Lord, He blessed them beyond description.Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. 

And they realized that they had been with Jesus. — Acts 4:13

The Apostles Peter and John were men who were like Jesus.  One day when they went to the temple to pray, they healed a man who had been lame since birth.  Then they preached with such boldness that 5,000 people believed that same day (Acts 3–4).It was unmistakable.  Even their enemies could see that Jesus/Yeshua had profoundly impacted these men.  Could a statement like that be said of us? Could it be said of us, that we have been with Messiah Jesus?

Seeing and being with Jesus/Yeshua on THE WAY.

The greatest blessings we could ever know or have in our life, we already have.

 

Jesus/Yeshua is the answer, He IS

the way the truth and life

and He’s standing right beside us –

we just have to open the eyes of our hearts, to see the blessings and treasures that already fill the Emmaus WAY of our lives. 

The WAY begins at the Genesis, Chapter 1, verse 1 and continues through to Revelation 22:21; for the WAY, is the whole of scripture and the WAY we should go.

Complete restoration and new direction –

Forward and upward.

It is THE Truth and THE Road that leads to LIFE EVERLASTING PS.139:24.

It’s the Emmaus WAY – His Way of Being, Living and Doing, not ours and

letting Him walk with us when He chooses to come alongside and joins Himself to our journey. Then He opens the scriptures to us and in so doing, He opens the eyes of our understanding. Eph 1:17-19 that we might SEE and KNOW Him.

I AM THE BREAD OF LIFE – THE BREAD THAT CAME DOWN FROM HEAVEN.

Shalom Haverim/Chaverim –

Friends,  חברים  

Phonetic Spelling: Kha-ve-ri

and Family – Mishpachah מִשְׁפָּחָה

Phonetic Spelling: mish-paw-khaw’

Shalom Friends and Family!

Shalom Haverim/Chaverim, Mishpachah

               ומשפחה חברים שלום

SHäˈlōm Kha-ve-ri, mish-paw-khaw’

Please don’t leave this page before making certain Jesus is your Redeemer, Savior, Lord and soon returning King and that you have a personal relationship with Him.

You are greatly loved and precious in His sight.

Its all about Life and Relationship, not Religion.

NOT SURE? YOU CAN BE..

SAY THE FOLLOWING FROM YOUR HEART RIGHT NOW…

Heavenly Father I come to you in the Name of Jesus asking for forgiveness of my sins for which I am truly sorry. I repent of them all and turn away from my past.

I believe with my heart and confess with my mouth that Jesus is your Son and that He died on the cross at calvary to pay the price for my sin, so that I might be forgiven and have eternal life in the kingdom of Heaven. Father I believe that Jesus rose from the dead and I ask you to come into my life right now and be my personal Savior and Lord and I will worship you all the days of my life. Because your word is truth I say that I am now forgiven and born again and by faith I am washed clean with the blood of Jesus. Thank you that you have accepted me into your family in Jesus’ name. Amen.