For thus says YHWH to the house of Israel, “Seek Me [dir’shuni]that you may live”… …Seekgood and not evil [dir’shu tov w-al ra], that you may live; and thus may YHWH God of hosts be with you, just as you have said! Hate evil, love good, and establish justice in the gate!
To truly live
we need to turn our eyes towards our Heavenly Father.
Amos 5:4
SEEK Me and live
Do we want to live?
Both here and now in the
olam ha-zeh
liter-ally “this world”
and in the future
olam Ha-ba
עוֹלָם הַבָּא.
literally,
“the coming world“
Do we desire to truly live?
then we must
SEEK Him
and when we do we will not only find Him
but all that He is and has and can impart to us
..peace, joy, love and the fullness of the abundant life
חי
chai = chet (ח) and yud (י)
(chaim/chayim – lifes) חיים
…the life He made available through His cross.
when we SEEK Him with our whole heart, we will find Him
and the life for which He paid the ultimate price.
Like all our Fathers promises, this is also conditional
and if we have not already done so….
It is time to SEEK the Lord.
For it is time to SEEK and SEARCH diligently for the Lord [and to long for His blessing]
Until He comes to rain righteousness and His gift of salvation on you. Hosea 10:12,13.
The scripture encourages us to SEEK the Lord while He may be found. This implies that there may be a time when He cannot be found!
“Seek (Darash) ye the LORD while He may be found, call ye upon Him while He is near.” Is. 55:6
And it behooves us to
SEEK Him today
because the Word says when you SEEK you will find.
We are to ask, SEEK and knock…
Luke 11:9-10 & Matthew 7:7-8
“So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; SEEK, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and he who SEEKs, finds; and to him who knocks, it will be opened.”
Everything will be open… the Kingdom of our Father/YHWH is open to us, but we have to SEEK it.
We can’t just sit back and say, “I’ll want it when I get there”.
We have to want it now.
Seek the Father/YHWH and search for Him with all your heart:
Jeremiah 29:11-14a
“For I know the plans that I have for you,” declares YHWH, “plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.
You will seek Me [u-viqash’tem]
and find Me when you
search for Me [investigate Me: tid’r’shuni]
with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares YHWH…
There are two main Hebrew words for seeking or searching and they often are found in the same verse.
Baqash/Darash:
What does it mean to Seek the LORD?
Why is there more than one Hebrew word that can be used to describe this act of seeking?
The two Hebrew words for seek are found in the same verse in Psalm 105:4
“SEEK the LORD, and his strength: SEEK his face evermore.”
In the English translation the same word SEEK is used both times however in Hebrew
The first seek is the word Darash
and
the second seek is the Hebrew word Bakash.
What is the difference between the two words?
Strong’s Hebrew: 1245. בָּקַשׁ (baqash) — to seek
Search or consult, ask, beg, beseech, desire, enquire, get, make inquisition, procure,
A primitive root; to search out (by any method, specifically in worship or prayer); by implication, to strive after — ask, beg,
This word has been used to describe seeking something that’s lost or missing, to seek one’s face, or to aim at, devote oneself to, and be seeking to find or take something.
Strong’s Hebrew: 1875. דָּרַשׁ (darash) — to resort to, seek
Definition. to resort to, seek, seek with care, inquire, require. (Qal) to resort to, frequent (a place), (tread a place) to consult, enquire of, seek 1a. of God
Greek/Hebrew Definitions. Strong’s #1875: darash (pronounced daw-rash’) a primitive root; properly, to tread or frequent; usually to follow (for pursuit or search); by implication, to seek
דָּרַשׁ ( dāraš ),
darash. דְּרַשׁ is the third element of the acronym פרד״ס pardes, which refers to the four approaches to biblical exegesis which we looked at in a previous post.
This is not the only place in scripture that this occurs because
the prophet Jeremiah also uses both of these two Hebrew words in the same verse. He writes:
“And ye shall SEEK me, and find me, when ye shall SEARCH for me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:13
The first seek in this verse is Bakash and the second,which is translated here search, is Darash.
1245 baqash: to seek
Original Word: בָּקַשׁ Part of Speech: Verb Transliteration: baqash Phonetic Spelling: (baw-kash’) Definition: to seek
1875 darash: to resort to, seek
Original Word: דָּרַשׁ Part of Speech: Verb Transliteration: darash Phonetic Spelling: (daw-rash’) Definition: to resort to, seek
The theme is similar in both of the verses above and the reader is encouraged to SEEK and SEARCH for the Father, not as a one time event but as an ongoing and consistent Way of life seeking His face/presence and to receive His strength imparted into our lives. However the result has a condition Our Heavenly Father can only be found by us when we
SEARCH is with our whole heart.
It is a reminder of the caveat in
Revelation 3:16 ‘So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth.
This verse is a warning that if we are not fully committed to following God, He will reject us.
One thing that is interesting in the Hebrew translation is that David puts the word Darash before Bakash in his verse and Jeremiah has them in the opposite order.
Does this mean there is a difference?
It begins with usual Hebrew meaning of
Darash which is: to SEEK with care
and with the word
Bakash
the seeking is that of a more prayerful request directed to the Father.
In Jeremiah his verse is inverted but really starts the same way:
seek or Darash YaHVeH/God first.
Then comes a seeking in the sense of Bakash.
Why is this important or significant?
In Darash we
SEEK with care
and in this scripture the one reading is directed to:
SEEK The Father Himself
and then with the word Bakash:
we are SEEKing the Father with a more prayerful request, specifically to Him.
We should ask ourselves…
What are we seeking?
Who are we seeking?
Why are we seeking?
Don’t follow the gentiles who SEEK after all these worldly things.
SEEK after Me – Follow Me.
Matt. 4:19
Matt. 6:33 Amp.
But first and most importantly SEEK (aim at, strive after) His kingdom and His righteousness [His way of doing and being right—the attitude and character of God], and all these things will be given to you also.
This surely is a completely crazy statement??? yet who is saying it?
Why would Jesus/Yeshua tell us to do something beyond our ability to comprehend and complete?
SEEK first the kingdom of God… so then how do we live, make money, clothe and feed ourselves and our families?
For most the reality is that the great concern of our lives is not the Kingdom of God, but how we are going to take care of ourselves in order to live. In essence it’s the selfish first thoughts of self preservation. Jesus/Yeshua reverses the order purposely, by telling us to get the right relationship with our Heavenly FatherFIRST; and maintaining it as the primary concern of our lives and never to place our concern on taking care of the other things of life.
In6:25do not worry about your life,from His perspective it’s completely unreasonable for us to be anxious and worry how we will live.He didn’t say to totally ignore these things He taught that we must make our relationship with God the dominating focus of our life and to be cautiously carefree about everything else compared to that relationship.
What He was indicating is that we are not to make food, drink and things the controlling factors in our lives, but to be focused absolutely on our Heavenly Father.
There are some who are careless about what they eat and their bodies suffer physically from those choices. Some are careless about the way they dress and have no business looking the way they do, not being a good example of how a disciple of Messiah should present themselves. Many are careless with earthly and worldly matters and scripture says that our Father will hold individuals accountable for their behavior and how they obey or disobey His Word concerning such issues.
We are responsible before Him whether we choose to believe it or not.
The greatest concern of our lives is to place our relationship with our Heavenly Father first place and everything else second. It is undoubtedly the most difficult yet critical discipline of the life of a true disciple; yet we must choose to allow His spirit of Holiness to bring us into absolute harmony with the teaching of Messiah in these verses.
Matthew 10:39. He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.38 And he who does not take his cross [expressing a willingness to endure whatever may come] and follow Me [believing in Me, conforming to My example in living and, if need be, suffering or perhaps dying because of faith in Me] is not worthy of Me. 39 Whoever finds his life [in this world] will [eventually] lose it [through death], and whoever loses his life [in this world] for My sake will find it [that is, life with Me for all eternity].
Those who seek to save themselves…
Luke 17:33
Whosoever shall seek to gain his life shall lose it: but whosoever shall lose `his life’ shall preserve it.
Religion does not answer the questions people have and consequently, they become dissatisfied and then they bend the scripture to fit their preferred way life, instead of the other way around. This leads to a life of compromise.
In todays’ drive through, fast food, microwave, instant, quick fix, that sadly, engenders impatience and self-satisfying fulfillment of carnal desires and cravings. This has given rise to a generation unwilling to wait for anything; it’s a now need, not a now faith. Faith needs patience to have its’ perfect work in us and quick and easy answers are not ingredients for walking in the footsteps of Messiah.
This means a life of SEEKing.
Yes, we will get answers and yet seemingly these answers create more questions; however, this is by our Fathers’ design, for it is to be line upon line and precept upon precept.
The life we now live in Messiah, is a life long process of SEEKING Him in order to know Him more deeply, because of Who He is. He is unfathomable to our finite mind and it will take more than a lifetime on this earth to fully know Him; if indeed that is even a possibility.
Heb. 11:6. And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must first believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who SEEK Him.
Baqash– to seek, search, or consult. This word has been used to describe seeking something that’s lost or missing, to seek one’s face, or to aim at, devote oneself to, and be concerned about something. As previously noted is the word baqash used in Jeremiah 29:13, “And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.”
When we lose our keys or wallet/purse, we do not stop searching until we find it. That is precisely the kind of fervor God wants us to have when seeking/searching for Him. Scripture tells us to acknowledge God in all of our ways. That’s impossible to do without constantly asking for His input. e.g. “What do you want me to do?” “How do I deal with this situation?” “How can I serve today?”
Darash– to seek, inquire, consult, ask, or require. We can find an appearance of this word more than 160 times in the Old Testament. Often, it represents avenging offenses against the LORD or the shedding of blood. For example this is the term used in Ezekiel 33:6,“But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, and the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at the watchman’s hand.”
Frequently, it’s used to mean, inquire of God.
It can mean
privately seeking God in prayer, or
contacting a prophet who would speak to God for them.
However, darash can be used to describe: inquiring of a spirit that is not God. For instance, King Saul went to ‘inquire of’ the medium.
The Hebrew words for ‘seek’ (in reference of seeking God) mean ‘to go after, chase down, search for, ask, or consult.’
If you want want to seek God, make Him a priority and don’t stop chasing after Him even when you feel satisfied.
Darash is searching, but more in the way of investigating or inquiring about something:
Psalm 34:4
I sought [inquired of: darash’ti] YHWH, and He answered me, and delivered me from all my fears.
It’s a fine and subtle line of difference, but these two Hebrew words (seeking/searching/investigating) can be found about 389 times in the Scriptures.
As we saw with Jeremiah, the prophets used this word when telling others to SEEK the LORD.
Chaqar– to examine intimately.
Used in Job 13:9: “Will it be well when He searches you out? Or can you mock Him as one mocks a man?”
Qirah– an encountering.
Found in Exodus 19:17, “And Moses brought the people our of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain.”
Shachar– be (up) early at any task; to search for (with painstaking). Isaiah 58:8 states,
“Then your light shall break forth like the morning,
Your healing shall spring forth speedily,
And your righteousness shall go before you;
The glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard.”
The Greek words for SEEK:
anazeteo- to seek carefully and diligently. Used when searching for a human being, implies difficulty in the effort. Anazeteo is used to describe the kind of search Joseph and Mary endured when they lost Jesus (see Luke 2:43-44).
ekzeteo- 1. to seek the favor of God; Romans 3:11, “There is none who understands; there is none who seek after God.”
investigate; 1 Peter 1:10-11,“Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you, searching what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow.”
crave; Hebrews 12:17,“For you know that afterward, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought it diligently with tears.”
demand (require). Luke 11:49-51, “Therefore the wisdom of God also said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill and persecute,’ that the blood of all the prophets which was shed from the foundation of the world may be required of this generation, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah whop perished between the alter and the temple. Yes, I say to you, it shall be required of this generation.”
epizeteo- to seek after or desire. You can find this word in Matthew 6:32, “For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.”
zeteo- to seek for, to require or demand.
Found in Matthew 21:46, “But when they sought to lay hands on Him, they feared the multitudes, because they took Him for a prophet.”
These terms for seek in the Greek language are similar to the definitions we found in the Hebrew.
lack and suffer hunger; But those who seek the Lord shall not lack any good thing.”
-Psalms 34:10
We are called to SEEK out God for ourselves and investigate the Word that has been given to us… not to just rely on a message/sermon.
Psalm 119 incorporated both darash and baqash. It began by showing how the Psalmist had investigated God and His precepts repeatedly, and then ended by asking God to SEEK/look for him, because he felt lost, although he had never forgotten God’s commandments:
How blessed are those who observe His testimonies, who SEEK Him [investigate Him: yid’r’shuhu] with all their heart…
…With all my heart I have SOUGHT You [I have investigated You: d’rash’tika]; do not let me wander from Your commandments…
…And I will walk at liberty, for I SEEK [I investigate: darash’ti] Your precepts…
…I am Yours, save me; for I have SOUGHT [I have investigated: darash’ti] Your precepts…
Our flesh brain is limited and in the light of eternity, we are momentarily confined to the physical constraints of this existence; but when our final deliverance comes, then we shall be more like unto His glorious body and we will be like the One Whom we have been SEEKING!
Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body,
Phil. 3:21.
Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. 1John 3:2.
We won’t need faith then…
we will know.
Seeking – focusing – looking after….
and though we have so many questions, He is not a complete mystery because He reveals Himself to us through His Word; and it’s through this process of seeking, that the refining process occurs and is worked in us. Then the set apart life we are called to begins to take effect; through it we grow in the most important aspect –
our relationship with our Heavenly Father.
He imparted His chaim/lives to us, and
the ability to fulfill our calling by His indwelling ruach/spirit.
The same life was breathed into His disciples then as now.
John 20:22
And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Spirit ruach haKodesh
In Gal 2:20 Paul said: The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
It’s only by His power/His Spirit in us.
Questions and more questions, yet the mysteries of His kingdom are revealed to those who seek Him for you shall find Him when you seek Him with all your heart. He wants us to seek Him more and more and then to seek Him again. It is true that all the answers are in Yeshua/Jesus. Jesus/Yeshua is the answer, now what is your question?
All answers are fulfilled in Him but only when we submit to the process He has designed…
seek, find and then seek again.
And the word of the Lord will be to them. precept upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little
Is 28:10
Line upon line, here a little …and we are not discouraged
Because our knowledge of Him and His ways increases; and as He draws us by His spirit/ruach, we want more and more of Him. Our desire for Him increases and so He becomes the focus of our life, not merely slotted into our busy schedule at a convenient time to us.
Relationship takes time and effort.
He gladly and willingly paid the price so shouldn’t we be also?
Let’s SEEK and live the abundant life, SEEK to know Him and the power of His resurrection that we may become fully partakers of His divine nature. SEEK the kingdom and His righteousness first…..
Today is the day of salvation by His grace and mercy, today we have another opportunity to SEEK … let’s not waste that precious gift to:
SEEK Him and live.
Are you a seeker?
What or Who are you seeking?
Now we know what the Hebrew meanings of the words are…
let;s seek Him and Live…
because those who seek to lose their lifes/chaim
will find their lives and Him too.
Shalom aleikhem
chaverim/friends and mishpachah/family!
Shavua Tov, Have a blessed week,
you are greatly loved and prayed for daily.
Please don’t leave here without assurance of your salvation
Not sure ..you can be…
Make certain Messiah Jesus/Yeshua is your Redeemer,
Savior, Lord, and soon returning King
and that you have a personal relationship with Him.
It’s all about Life and Relationship, NOT Religion.
You are very precious in His sight.
SIMPLY SAY THE FOLLOWING MEANING IT FROM YOUR HEART..don’t delay one more minute, SAY IT RIGHT NOW…
Heavenly Father I come to you in the Name of Jesus/Yeshua 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/Yeshua 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/Yeshua 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/Yeshua. Thank you that you have accepted me into your family in Jesus’/Yeshua’s name.
Original Word: קֹדֶשׁ Transliteration: qodesh Phonetic Spelling: ko’-desh
Holiness Unto The Lord
written in Hebrew
‘Kodesh L’ADONAI’
HOLINESS (holy) UNTO THE LORD;
Sanctum Domino (Vulgate);
Ἅγιον τῷ Κυρίῳ παντοκράτορι (Septuagint).
This was the inscription upon
the golden plate on the mitre of the high priest.
Mitre in Hebrew: mitsnepheth,
something rolled round the head;
the turban or head-dress of the high priest
Exodus 28:4 Exodus 28:37
Exodus 28:39; 29:6.
Exodus 39:30 And they made the plate of the holy crown of pure gold, and wrote upon it a writing, like to the engravings of a signet, HOLINESS TO THE LORD.
Leviticus 8:9
Leviticus 19:1-2
The Israelites were commanded to be
Holy
on account of their relationship with
The Holy One of Israel
K’dosh Yisrael or Qedosh Yisra’el
הקדוש של עם ישראל
The term Holy One of Israel
is used more than 30 times in the Bible.
Bible references: 2 Kings 19:22; Ps. 71:22; 78:41; 89:18; Isa. 1:4; 17:7; 30:11; 41:14; 43:3, 14; 45:11; 47:4; 48:17; 54:5; Jer. 50:29; 51:5 and a total of about forty five times.
Against the Holy One of Israel! 2 Kings 19:22.
The English translation of the word, does not very clearly convey the acurate meaning, as seen in Hebrew. In the English language, the words
one and of
are added to the translation
הקדוש של ישראל,
meaning: the Holy Oneof Israel.
In Hebrew, it is written as:
Holy Israel – קדוש ישראל,
and the difference is significant.
The English language conveys:
a belonging to,
but also
a distinctly separate association.
The Hebrew, however, communicates
oneness.
Indicating the Shema.
The Lord is One.
In other words, Holy Israel is another name given to Adonai.
He is Holy, and He is also Israel/Yisrael.
The implication is that Yeshua/Jesus,
Who is the Word of God revealed in the flesh,
is called Holy Israel,
and therefore it could be said,
He and Israel are inseparably one.
The Holy One –
The One set apart
as completely perfect and unique,
transcending the realm of the finite, the fallen,
and the imperfect.
Only God is worthy of worship, for He alone is Holy.
qadosh {kaw-doshe’}; from qadash; sacred (ceremonially or morally); (as noun) God (by eminence), an angel, a saint, a sanctuary — holy (One), saint. HEBREW qadash.
1Peter 1:13-16; 1Cor. 6:9-20.
The Torah defines a
Holiness Code
that contains more commandments for His children concerning practical ethics beginning with Lev. 19 1-2.
His Spirit is the Ruach Ha Kodesh
the Holy Spirit
Hebrew: רוח הקודש ,
ruach ha-kodesh
Literally: spirit of Holiness Who will always guide us into the Truth and into the Fathers presence by WAY of Messiah Yeshua HaMashiach.
is frequently translated as holy, which is an abstract word.
When we use the word holy, as in a holy person, we usually associate this with a righteous or pious person.
If we use this concept when interpreting the word holy in the Hebrew Bible, then we are misreading the text, as this is not the meaning of the Hebrew word qadosh!
Qadosh literally means:
to be set apart for a special purpose.
A related word, qedesh,
is one who is also set apart for a special purpose
but not in the same way we think of holy. Deut 23:17.
Israel was qadosh
because they were separated from the other nations as:
servants of Elohiym.
The furnishings in the tabernacle were also qadosh, as they were not to be used for anything except for the work in the tabernacle.While we may not think of ourselves as holy, we are in fact
set apart from the world to be Elohiym’s servants
and His representatives/ambassadors.
Holiness could be described as a:
state of consecration produced by ethical separation from profane culture when viewed in practical terms relating to human beings and their relationship to the Father.
Kadosh
encompasses the whole sphere of the sacred and
set apart things that are totally separate
from anything that is profane and sinful.
According to
Isaiah 57:15/Is 40:25
this means:
elevated and lofty and
beyond all comparison
and utterly unique, entirely righteous
Is 57:15 glorious and awesome
Ps 99:3 full of light and power
Is 10:7 and is chosen and favored as Gods own
Ezek 22:26.
Holiness is a name for the Lord Himself:
Ha kadosh barukh hu – the Holy One blessed is He.
Isa. 40:25
The idea of holy therefore suggests: separation..
meaning:
the realm of the holy
is entirely set apart from
the common, the habitual, or the profane.
The holy is singular, awe inspiring, even terrible or dreadful.
Neh 1:5 Ps 68:35
As the Holy One, God is
utterly unique, distinct, sacred and set apart as
the only One of His kind.
Only God is worthy of worship, for He alone is Holy – Kadosh.
As the Holy One ( ha’kadosh ),
the Lord of Hosts ( Adonai Tzeva’ot)
He alone is worthy of true worship and adoration, since He alone is peerless, without rival and stands in relation to the world as Creator and Lord.
Only the Lord is infinitely and eternally
known to Himself as Anochi.
Ezek. 3:15
I am that I am.
Holiness then implies more than an abstract separation as is often suggested but rather means:
separation from that which is common, mundane or evil,
(evil meaning: out of harmony with God).
In other words
holiness implies: absolute moral goodness and perfection.
God is not just Holy…
He is
Holy, Holy, Holy!
Isaiah 6:1-3
In the year of King Uzziah’s death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple. Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.
And one called out to another and said,
“Holy, Holy, Holy, is YHWH of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory.”
In Scripture, finding the same three words in a row is rare. Two other instances are in Jeremiah and Ezekiel.
This use of this grammatical emphasis, is most often with double words and occurs frequently in the Hebrew scriptures. It is a way of emphasizing the point and by repeating the same word; it was like putting an exclamation mark today. Seeing the same three words one after the other, was like shouting.
In the B’rit Chadashah/New Testament, John/Yocahannes used this word repetition too, and he experienced a vision similar to Isaiah’s:
Revelation 4:8
And each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around and within. Day and night they never stop saying: “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come!”
Kadosh – Holy, holy, holy As the Holy One ( ha’kadosh ), the Lord of Hosts ( Adonai Tzeva’ot)
We are to be a reflection of Our Heavenly Father God’s Holiness!
Holy is not a word that we should flippantly and disrespectfully throw around, like the terms of exclamation like: “holy cow” or “holy guacamole”.
Holy is rich in meaning and it is one of the main descriptors of Our Heavenly Father/God. To those who have a relationship with Him, it is a descriptor of us too. WHY? Because He calls us to be Holy and because we are to be a representation of His glory on earth. That’s a great responsibility which we should not take lightly!
Leviticus 19:2-4
“Speak to all the congregation of the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘You shall be holy, for I YHWH your God am holy.’
Every one of you shall reverence his mother and his father, and you shall keep My sabbaths; I am YHWH your God. Do not turn to idols or make for yourselves molten gods; I am YHWH your God.”
Leviticus 20:26
‘Thus you are to be holy to Me, for I YHWH Am Holy; and I have set you apartfrom the peoples to be Mine.’
The Call to Holiness
Various practical commandments are given in the Torah through which His people were sanctified or set apart, to be kadosh/holy; and therefore prepared to enter a relationship with God.
God is not unreachable because He encompasses all of creation but those who are called into presence must be holy themselves.
Practical holiness results in sanctification which is gained through obedience to His commandments. These commandments include both those directing us to do something and those telling us to stop from doing something. In addition decrees are given that further separate the Israelites from the customs and profanity of the nations surrounding them.
The call to holiness is given
3 times in Leviticus 19:2; 20:7; 20:26.
Because the Lord is Holy, the Israelites could not be in relationship with Him if they had been involved in idolatrous or profane practices.
They were
called to be separate
from all that was unholy
Lev. 22:44-45.
The call to holiness was based on the fact that they were Gods possession because He had separated them from the Nations.
Lev. 20:26
Yes, we are to be Holy, but how do we live up to that?
Are we worthy enough to be His reflection on earth?
Messiah Yeshua/Jesus was.
He was, and is, the perfect reflection of God.
Throughout the B’rit Chadashah /New Testament, Yeshua /Jesus is referred to as the
Holy One of God,
from the very announcement of His birth:
Luke 1:28-35
“How can this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”
The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the Holy One to be born will be called the Son of God.
We are called to holiness through the letters of Shaul/Paul in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20a
Do you not know that your body is a temple of the HolySpirit who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price.
and reminded of holiness once again in Revelation, where those around the throne cry
קָדוֹשׁ. Qadosh holy.
and from the prophets statements…
“In that day shall there be upon the bells of the horses, HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD; and the pots in the LORD’S house shall be like the bowls before the altar. Yea, every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be holiness unto the LORD of hosts.” Zechariah 14:20-21
The word holy in the Hebrew means to set-apart or separateness. While godly behavior is the result of being made holy unto the Lord, IT IS NOT a requirement to receive salvation, we come as we are.
When we become born again by His Holy Spirit, Yeshua HaMasiach/ Jesus Christ’s righteousness and holiness isIMPUTED to us.(meaning it is accredited to our account.)
We are set apart unto the Lord as vessels for His use, in the same way as God set apart pots and vessels under the old testament/Tanakh, to be used in his service.
The Holy Spirit is called theSpirit of holiness, because He is the sanctifier of all our Father’s vessels and makes them acceptable for His use by the washing of the word and regeneration of His Spirit of Holiness.
When the scriptures say:
Without holiness, no man shall see God. Heb. 12:14.
This means being born of His Holy Spirit into new life in Yeshua/Jesus. Without being born again of the Spirit of holiness one cannot be made Holy and therefore we would have no inheritance in the kingdom of God.
God’s indwelling Spirit empowers His children to live lives that please Him. The scriptures tell us that all who seek to be justified by the law are not holy but defiled, defiled by the sinful nature whose works are as filthy rags in God’s sight.
Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God IMPUTETHrighteousness without works. Romans 4:6
IMPUTED: attributed/given on behalf of another.
Yeshua/Jesus places His righteousness on our record,
when we trust upon Him for salvation
and this is what makes us holy
and not our behavior, whether we are good or bad.
Holy is the Greek is hagios
which means:
to be in awe, venerate, regenerated.
When we are regenerated and set free from sin, we become holy vessels unto the Lord.
Faith in Yeshua/Jesus is our righteousness
and our fruit is then holy.
Lev. 20:26 you shall be holy to me for I the lord am holy and have separated you from the peoples that you should be mine.
Western Christianity has sadly earned the title of being a cheap religion. For onlookers, many so called christian lifestyles do not look any different from the non believers in the world.
This world revolves around and caters to the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life. These things may please the flesh in the short term, but they work death. The Bible says that the pleasures of sin are only for a season. They are short lived. They do not satisfy. They do not give peace. They end in death. They fool us. Satan is the ruler of this world. The world that we are living in is his kingdom.
Keeping the 10 sayings is not impossible as the scriptures tell us the rich young ruler had kept them from his youth, and Elizabeth and Mary among others had also kept them.
Yet today so many say that we aren’t able to keep them and we are under grace not law!
We are to be perfect as our Father in heaven is perfect and it is possible through Jesus/Yeshua,
if we will choose to follow Him.
Though many say, no one is perfect, it’s really a way out, and to condone sin and compromise away from the standard Messiah sets for all who would be His talmidim/disciples. And in His words, how are we to do greater works than these, if we are not walking as He walked? We have His spirit within us now, since Pentecost; before then all generations who kept Torah did it without His indwelling spirit… so we have little to no excuse today. Not a welcome statement for those who still choose to live their own life on their own terms and still believe they are saved in their own understanding of salvation based on their own terms.
It is impossible that the Holy One could tolerate sin since this would invalidate the distinction between the sacred and profane and thereby weaken the nature of Holiness itself. That which is Holy, is in total opposition of the profane and therefore the Lord God has to hate and oppose that which violates the sacred and holy.
Where there is no fundamental change and no sacrificial putting away of ungodly habits and behavior, there can be no holiness. Many claim salvation and holiness by grace alone; neither understanding, nor appreciating, the cost involved and the seriousness of our precarious position before a Holy God; before Whom no sin can be present. It is only through Jesus/Yeshuas’ sacrifice that we can even dare to think that we can approach the Holy Creator and King of the universe. This was only possible by way of all the statutes and ordinances in the Torah until He died and shed His blood in our place.
We take this relationship so lightly and often without the reverential respect which we should willingly show from a humble, repentant and grateful position.
We are called to holiness, just as the priest wore upon his head the band with that word inscribed upon it; we are grafted in by His mercy and grace, into the family of His chosen children. This is a Hebrew Book and He is the Hebrew Messiah. Salvation is of the Jews, it was given to them first and we are privileged to be among those gentile nations offered the gift of eternal life and restoration relationship with a Holy God.
Now as the scripture says, we are priests unto the Lord, called to minister to and for Him while we remain here on the earth.
Are we truly making ourselves able to wear the band upon our foreheads, saying, Holiness unto the Lord?
Are we doing all that we are required to do? We are not to throw out the commandments He gave, but to apply them to our lives and to walk a set apart sanctified life before Him. Don’t let’s be of those accused of following a cheap religion with no cost to ourselves. We are to lay down our life, to lose it for Him and for the gospel; and in so doing find it through a life of being
Definition: to wrap oneself, enwrap, envelop oneself.
In the passage from 1Peter, the call to holiness is established on the hope that will be brought to us at the revelation of Messiah in the end of days and in 1Cor., Paul outlines the same moral restrictions that determine
a called out people of God.
Believers in the Jewish Mashiach/Messiah are to be free from sin that pervades surrounding culture and in particular from sexual immorality, which is idolatry. The follower of the Mashiach Yeshua/Jesus, is not exempt from
the call to personal holiness
since Messiah and His Father are the
same yesterday today and forever.
Our carnal nature always will lean to a meaning and understanding that ‘let’s us off the hook’ so to speak; one that makes it easier for us to live a compromised lifestyle and still think we can get all the blessings and benefits here and now and also eternal life in heaven.
We need to wake up toreality and count the true cost of Who and what we truly believe and follow.
As the days grow darker and the morals of the world become increasingly in complete opposition to all that our Heavenly Father requires for His family; there is a call for sobriety and being genuine, we must make the effort to be authentic in our lives and to walk in the fullness of the calling upon us.
That call is to
Shalom aleikhem
chaverim and mishpachah!
Shavua Tov, Have a blessed week,
you are greatly loved and prayed for daily.
Please don’t leave here without assurance of your salvation
Not sure ..you can be…
Make certain Messiah Jesus/Yeshua is your Redeemer,
Savior, Lord, and soon returning King
and that you have a personal relationship with Him.
It’s all about Life and Relationship, NOT Religion.
You are very precious in His sight.
SIMPLY SAY THE FOLLOWING MEANING IT FROM YOUR HEART..don’t delay one more minute, SAY IT RIGHT NOW…
Heavenly Father I come to you in the Name of Jesus/Yeshua 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/Yeshua 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/Yeshua 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/Yeshua. Thank you that you have accepted me into your family in Jesus’/Yeshua’s name.
Matthew 24:3 Jesus sat on the Mount of Olives and His disciples came to Him and asked, “Tell us, when will this be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the close of the age?”
And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the Disciples came unto him privately, saying,
Tell us, when shall these things be? (regarding the destruction of the Temple)
And what shall be the sign of thy coming (His return)
and of
the end of the age. (His Reign following all things being completed.)
The second two questions are the same ones believers ask today!
What shall be the sign of thy coming?
and
when is the close/end of the age?
The olam hazeh עולם הזה is this world age
Pronounced: oh-LAHM hah-ZAY.
olam haba הָעוֹלָם הַבָּא is The World to Come
The spiritual afterlife is referred to in Hebrew as
Olam Ha-Ba
Pronounced: oh-LAHM hah-BAH.
There are other references to this age and the age to come:
Matthew 12 :32 Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in
this age – olam hazeh עולם הזה ;
or in
the age to come – olam haba הָעוֹלָם הַבָּא
He was speaking of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit/His spirit of Holiness/Ruach haKodesh.
The original words in Greek,
ουτε εν τουτω τω αιωνι, ουτε εν τω μελλοντι,
may be rendered,
neither in this age, or dispensation,
nor in the age, or dispensation, to come,
(οὐ μὴ ἀφεθῇ).
Neither in this world (age, aioni), neither in the world to come.
Who shall not receive manifold more in this present time/olam hazeh, and in the world to come/olam haba, life everlasting. Kjv.
1John 5:10-13. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life/chayai olam, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.
John 17:3 And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.
Hebrews 6:5. 4. It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5who have tastedthe goodnessof the wordof Godandthe powersof the comingage/olam haba, 6and then have fallen away—to be restored to repentance, because they themselves are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting Him to open shame.…
Olam Hazeh –
This World – עוֹלָם הַזֶה
is the world in which we live, where each of us is given the opportunity to honor the Name of the Lord by performing
Mitzvot
מצוות
Mitzvot is the plural of mitzvah,
and means: commandment.
People in Israel often use mitzvot as a kind of shorthand for being observant of traditional Jewish laws and traditions.
This means being a doer of the things/teachings/commandments.James 1:22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
DO what it says.
Luke 11:28 He replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.”
Luke 8:21 But He replied, “My mother and brothers are those who hear the word of God and carry it out.”
John 13:17 If you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.
John 6:27 Labor not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed.
The single most important mitzvah of all of Scripture is
to trust in Yeshua/Jesus as our LORD and Savior.
Everything else centers on this.
The two great commandments are the Ve’ahavta
Love the LORD with all your heart
and the obligation to love others as yourself
For the Hebrew the
heart or lev
is
the centre of being where all parts of our soul existence converge.
The lev/levav /heart, is not the seat of emotion.
The heart is
the point of convergence for all aspects of the human existence,
while it manifests emotion
it is NOT the sole domain of emotion.
Therefore, we understand heart to mean core being.
Thus when the Scripture says
The heart of man is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked (Jeremiah 17:9)
it does not mean
The emotion of man (alone) is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked,
rather it means:
Humanity now has a fallen nature that is manifested within the core of its existence.
In terms of rabbinical definition this sin affected aspect of our nature is called:
Yetzer ha-ra – inclination of the evil.
The lev/levav /heart…..
…the convergence of our entire being.
We now know His Glory,
and even though our EYES fail us,
our hearts, the convergence of our entire being,
SEEs beyond the power of death to the Olam Haba/world to come.
This is ahava/love, because this is what remains and while we live in this fallen world we have faith, hope and love however, in the world to come/olam haba, only love will remain. Why? because faith is belief against fear and doubt, in the Olam Haba there will be neither. Hope is the assurance of things unseen, in the Olam Haba ALL will be revealed.
(Matt. 22:36-40). 36 “Rabbi, which of the mitzvot in the Torah is the most important?” 37 He told him, “‘You are to love Adonai your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.’[a]38 This is the greatest and most important mitzvah. 39 And a second is similar to it, ‘You are to love your neighbor as yourself.’[b]40 All of the Torah and the Prophets are dependent on these two mitzvot.”
Basically the meaning is that, if you do the above
you will not lie to, covet, or steal
what belongs to your neighbor;
you will not murder him,
nor commit adultery with them.
It includes ALL that is incorporated in the 10 sayings.
He did not come to abolish the law but to fulfill it
and the greatest commandment is love not sacrifice.
Matthew 5:17. Do not think that I came to destroy the law or the prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. 18 For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.
This He completed perfectly.
The greatest act of love is to lay down one’s life for a friend. He called us His friends and laid down His life and it should follow that if He is our friend then we are to be willing to do the same for Him.
This is what we are told to be doing with our life by Messiah, our Lord and Savior Yeshua HaMashiach/Jesus the Christ.
Why do we keep questioning and discussing who is called and who is not?
We are all called ….it is simply up to the individual whether we hear; and when we do, do we accept and answer the call, or continue with our own life?
People continually ask what is the will of God for me? It is so clear in Messiahs own words… It’s just that most choose to ignore it saying and thinking it’s for someone else to do.
This is what we are to be doing in Olam Hazeh
it will determine our future in Olam Haba.
Those things that Yeshua/Jesus told us to occupy our time with are all listed in…
Matthew 25:35-40 and Matthew 28:19. Amp. Bible. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations [help the people to learn of Me, believe in Me, and obey My words], baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
And we are to be occupied with learning and teaching His Word, according to his or her gifts, and behaving in an honest and decent manner with our fellow human beings.
1 Timothy 3:16.
Remembering that how we treat others and what we do to them; or what we do for or against them, we are in fact doing it to Yeshua/Jesus in both word and deed. Matt.25:40.
In Judaism and classical Jewish theology
Olam ha-zeh – עולם הזה – this world,
is a concept of: the real world.
Olam hazeh means: the everyday world that we live in.
Life in this world – olam ha’zeh; is also called:
Chayei Sha’ah – חיי שׁעה – Fleeting life.
So called, because it is absorbed in the physical and social structures of this worlds’ systems: working, eating, pursuing pleasures, etc., etc.
The ideas about Olam Hazeh and Olam Habah are to be understood rather as cosmic and metaphysical.
Why?
Because they relate to the universe outside of ourselves and they are in terms of the all encompassing goal, pattern and plan, that our Heavenly Father has put in place for His creation.
From the point of view of the human soul, these are experienced as
Chayei Sha’a – fleeting life and
חיי שׁעה
Chayei Olam – eternal life, respectively.
John 17:3 In the New Covenant/Testament/brit Chadashah,
eternal life/chayei olam,
is identified as:
the knowledge of the one true living God. The One Who sent His Son Yeshua into the world /Olam as the Messiah.
Eternal life/chayei olam, is having and maintaining a conscious relationship with the Father/God, through His Messiah, Jesus/Yeshua. Because our Father abides in eternity this means we are to live in the here and now by faith and have the understanding, the reality, that the eternal elements of the unseen realm of the spirit exists all around us.
We could say that our faith SEEs the Olam Haba/the world to come, and is preparing us to enter into its reality even while we are still in the Olam Hazeh/This world.
Heaven in Judaism – Shamayim שָׁמַיִם šāmayīm, the Hebrew word for heavens, (literally heavens, im for the plural), identifies one element of the three-part biblical cosmology.
Which comprises:
Heavens, Earth, and the underworld.
The Hebrew Bible depicted a three-part world, with the
heavens – shamayim above,
Earth – eres in the middle,
and the
underworld – sheol below.
After the 4th century BCE this was gradually replaced by a Greek scientific cosmology of a spherical earth surrounded by multiple concentric heavens.
Revelation 5:13 And every creature which
is in heaven,
and on the earth,
and under the earth,
and such as are in the sea,
and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever. King James Version (KJV
John is recording his vision in the book of Revelation when he writes, And no man
in heaven,
nor in earth,
neither under the earth,
was able to open the book. Rev. 5:3
Philippians 2:10 in the New King James Version says, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
of those in heaven, and
of those on earth, and
of those under the earth.
The Hebrew word for heaven is
שמים shamayim.
Strong’s Hebrew: 2319. חָדָשׁ chadash – new
Strong’s Hebrew: 776. אָ֫רֶץ erets – earth, land
ארץ חדש
in Jewish theology,
olam ha-ba/the world to come,
is either
the world after death
or
the new creation
or
restoration of the world that is to follow
the messianic millennium.
Because this latter interpretation came from the teachings and exhortations of the prophets, it was especially popular during the period of the Second Temple in Jerusalem (516 BC–AD 70). Whatever the interpretation of ʿolam ha-ba, for Jews it meant the end of uncertainty, miseries, and strife.
In Jewish literature olam ha-ba and olam ha-zeh/this world, are in contrast to one another. They believe that olam ha-zeh/this world, is a time to prove oneself worthy of participating in the world to come. Their understanding of the resurrection of the dead is that it will occur in the messianic age, a time referred to in Hebrew as the Olam Ha-Ba, the World to Come, but that term is also used to refer to the spiritual afterlife. For them, when the Messiah comes to initiate the perfect world of peace and prosperity, the righteous dead will be brought back to life and given the opportunity to experience the perfected world that their righteousness helped to create. The wicked dead will not be resurrected.
We understand that Messiah has already come and are awaiting His soon return.
Following the millennium, it describes a time after the world is perfected under the rulership of Messiah.
This term also refers to the afterlife where the soul passes after the death of the body.
It can be contrasted with olam hazeh, this world.
Ephesians 1:21
Yochanan/John Chapter 3:3 speaks of
SEEing the kingdom of God
Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot
SEE the kingdom of God.
The kingdom of heaven [of God]
resembles a concept in rabbinic Judaism called
tikkun ha-olam,
which literally means:
mending the world.
Tikun Olam – Repairing/mending the World.
When one enters (or joins) the kingdom of heaven, one becomes a partner with God in spreading redemption throughout a hurting world. That person goes out and feeds the hungry; clothes the naked; visits those who are in hospital and prison; prays for the sick and defends the rights of the orphan and widow. A person who has entered the kingdom of heaven gets involved in people’s lives. He or she pursues a lifestyle characterized by
tikkun ha-olam
or mending our world:
where there is hatred, he or she bestows love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.
In John 3 we see Yeshua/Jesus discussing aspects of this with Nicodemus:
“If one is not fathered, born from above, he cannot have power, permission, ability to see the kingdom, dominion, rule, royal power, kingship of the God.”
There are many points to this teaching; in essence Yeshua/Jesus is saying that the Kingdom of God/Malkut Shamayim, cannot be gained through Torah observance alone. He is also saying that being born physically into the sin affected world is a death sentence, unless… one is born anew from above by His Spirit.
He is also indicating to the power/Spirit/ruach of God being essential in order to walk continually in righteousness and to enter into the Olam Haba/World to come.
The sight, He is referring to is, spiritual sight that can only be received from Our Heavenly Father by His Spirit and through His Son the King, Messiah Yeshua/Jesus.
All of this teaching is directly opposed to the teaching that says that repentance, Torah observance, mitzvot, and prayer alone can earn one entry into the Olam Haba. Therefore, unlike the rabbis of the Talmud,
Yeshua/Jesus does NOT teach that conversion to Judaism will birth a person anew, instead, that:
ONLY repentance and salvation through the redemptive work of God through His Messiah, will bring newness of life to the individual. Kingdom of the God –
Malkut Shamayim – Kingdom of the Heavens
Dan. 4:3; 1 Chr. 29:10-12,
This points to our Heavenly Father’s divine reign over the present world made new; rid of all sin and evil etc.; and it’s a more correct understanding than the traditional and extra Biblical, Christian concept, of a heaven somewhere in the clouds.
Instead, by the tikun olam/repairing of the world,
it indicates that the present world will be
cleansed, restored, and renewed
by
God
through the atoning Blood
of His Son Yeshua/Jesus,
and He will transition it into the
Olam Haba/world to come.
Interestingly this is supported by both the Old Tesament/Tanakh and the New Testament/Brit Ha-Chadashah. Messiah simply points to the physical birth first and says that both it and a spiritual birth are needed. He doesn’t tell Nicodemus that he is incorrect and continues to explain that everyone is born through the mothers waters breaking, but something more is needed if we are to enter God’s Kingdom/Malkut Shamayim.
We must be born of God’s Spirit,
born anew,
from above.
The words water and Spirit can be found in both
the
tevilot/immersions/baptisms of
Yochanan/John the Immerser /Baptist
and Messiah/Yeshua/Jesus.
Water represents the tevilah/baptism of repentance
and
The Spirit the tevilah/baptism of Spirit and Fire from above.
Without Messiah Yeshua/Jesus’
tevilah/baptism of death and His resurrection
we are unable to receive His Spirit.
In Him alone we have access to what is needed for our Salvation, His very own Spirit, and the Spirit of His Father in us.
His Spirit births in us the desire to repent/teshuvah/turn around, to turn back to God. Then only through Messiah are we able to receive the fullness of the gift of His Holy Spirit/Ruach haKodesh/Spirit of Holiness
Who births us anew from above
into a life reconciled to God.
Born out of water refers to the breaking of a mother’s waters at physical birth and it speaks of being born into this world/God’s creation affected by sin. And of the Spirit refers to being born anew, fathered by God through His Spirit. In the same way that physical birth breaks water and through blood brings new life into the present world, so too spiritual birth breaks the living waters of MessiahYeshua/Jesus and through His blood atonement, it births anew the soul of a human being into the Olam Haba/world to come.
This means that an individuals entry into the Olam Haba/world to come, starts at the moment of being born anew by His Spirit through Messiah Yeshua/Jesus and continues all the way through physical death and into everlasting living.
This is why Messiah said: I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believes in me, though he dies, yet shall he live: And whosoever lives and believes in me shall never die.
John/Yochanan 11:15-16 In the previous verses the earthly things are explained and show the progression from physical birth, through spiritual renewal and into the Olam Haba. It seems that Messiah is not making a separation between the physical and the spiritual as some might think, instead, the earthly things include spiritual things and are the explanation of a merging between the physical birth and the spiritual birth from above. Here is appears Yeshua/Jesus’s teaching shows the final shape of tikun olam/repairing of the world. The Bible clearly teaches a renewed heavens and earth and New Jerusalem descending from heaven at the end of the age.
Through Yeshua/Jesus, as His children, we are empowered to begin the work that will be completed by Messiahs return and the Father dwelling with His own/ finally fulfilled in Tabernacles/Sukkot.
This we must understand will be under a renewed heavens and not in some Greco-Roman, gnostic inspired, heavenly kingdom in the sky.
Those who accept God’s redemptive offer have already begun to live eternally v.16.
Those who refuse God’s redemptive offer are already dying eternally v.18.
All creation is offered an opportunity to receive Our Heavenly Father’s offer of redemption and to be born anew from above.
11. Do this, knowing that at thepresent time/olam hazeh, it is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep;
Verse 11 begins a repetition of metaphors which contrast evil and good: sleep/death and salvation, night and day, darkness and light.
When a person with a hebraic mindset reads, Present time, he understands it to refer to the olam hazeh/present world, our current existence within time and space. Here Paul/Shaul, compares the present state of the world to death, using sleep which was a metaphor common to the rabbis teaching, and was also used by Yeshua/Jesus Himself as a reference for death/temporal death while awaiting final judgment.
Paul/Shaul told them to:
Stop living as though you are still dead like those living under wrath, you’re not, you’re a new creation, act like those who are awake/already alive eternally in Messiah. For now salvation/Yeshua/Jesus, is nearer to us than when we first believed. 12 The night/olam hazeh/the present world subject to wrathis almost gone, and the day/olam haba/the world to comeis near.
This salvation is the final resurrection and the
olam haba/world to come,
the physical return of
Salvation/Yeshua/Jesus/Himself.
The night, a symbol for this present age/olam hazeh
and the dark acts of humanity, is almost finished.
The day, a symbol for the world to come/olam haba,
is very close in terms of our Heavenly Father’s plan for the reconciliation of creation.
Sometimes it may seem so far off, however, we are cautioned that we should understand our position from His perspective. This present darkness is only temporary, and just like any night, it will end and if, as Paul/Shaul tells us, it is near, then we are now quickly approaching the dawn.
Here we are informed that there are clearly two worlds:
the olam hazeh,
literally translated as: world this one,
and olam haba
world the coming or the world to come,
meaning: eternity.
In Messiah Yeshua/Jesus, we need not fear what comes next because what comes next is:
the Olam Haba/world to come
which is, through Him.
In Messiah Yeshua/Jesus,
we are assured of everlasting life,
not because we won’t die physically
but because having died to self, we will live in Him.
No longer do we need to surrender to the power of death which is the fear of the unknown because the promise of Our Heavenly Father is that we are known in Him and that through His Son we will exist in right relationship with Him for all eternity and in Him there is no unknown.
Any religion that teaches we can repair the world by our own efforts is a religion of anti-Christ.
The true tikun olam is impossible without
the redeeming work of the King Messiah Yeshua/Jesus
at His first coming;
and
the renewing work of the King Messiah Yeshua/Jesus
upon His return.
Maybe if we understood the Hebrew mindset and language better, the incomplete verbal action which is associated with the
olam ha’ba; we would recognize that it is
already but not yet,
in exactly the same way that we talk about the role of Messiah Yeshua/Jesus being completely finished….
already but not yet!
It becomes evident that this idea of the olam ha’ba
helps greatly to redirect our motivation and energy on the mission here in the olam hazeh
because the two are not totally separated from each other and Hazeh will become Ha’ba in our Heavenly Father’s perfect timing.
If the olam ha’ba is coming,
then the really serious issue in our chaim/lifes
is whether or not we will be ready for His and its arrival?
שָׁלוֹם עֲלֵיכֶם,
Shalom aleikhem
chaverim and mishpachah!
Shavua Tov, Have a blessed week,
you are greatly loved and prayed for daily.
Please don’t leave here without assurance of your salvation in the
olam ha’ba/world to com…
Not sure ..you can be…
Make certain Messiah Jesus/Yeshua is your Redeemer,
Savior, Lord, and soon returning King
and that you have a personal relationship with Him.
It’s all about Life and Relationship, NOT Religion.
You are very precious in His sight.
SIMPLY SAY THE FOLLOWING MEANING IT FROM YOUR HEART..don’t delay one more minute, SAY IT RIGHT NOW…
Heavenly Father I come to you in the Name of Jesus/Yeshua 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/Yeshua 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/Yeshua 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/Yeshua. Thank you that you have accepted me into your family in Jesus’/Yeshua’s name.
Recorded as Medeba in the translation; spelled with the vowel e in place of a Recall no vowels in the original text it would have been m d b
מ ד ב
But we have cast them down, Heshbon is ruined as far as Dibon, Then we have laid waste even to Nophah, Which reaches to Medeba.
Numbers 21:30
from Aroer, which is on the edge of the valley of the Arnon, with the city which is in the middle of the valley, and all the plain of Medeba, as far as Dibon;
Joshua 13:9
Their territory was from Aroer, which is on the edge of the valley of the Arnon, with the city which is in the middle of the valley and all the plain by Medeba;
Joshua 13:16
So they hired for themselves 32,000 chariots, and the king of Maacah and his people, who came and camped before Medeba. And the sons of Ammon gathered together from their cities and came to battle.
1 Chronicles 19:7
They have gone up to the temple and to Dibon, even to the high places to weep. Moab wails over Nebo and Medeba; Everyone’s head is bald and every beard is cut off.
Isaiah 15:2
The
Madaba מֵידְבָ֖א
Map,
also known as the
Madaba Mosaic Map,
is part of a floor mosaic
in the early Byzantine church of Saint George
a
19th-century basilica,
in
מֵידְבָ֖א/Madaba,
Jordan
Yarden/The Descender.
This intricate floor mosaic of the Holy Land is believed to have been created in the 6th-century A.D.; being made between 542 and 570 as the floor of the church.
The mosaic was rediscovered in 1884, when the local community in Madaba, Jordan, made an incredible discovery, which has proved to be the oldest Holy Land map in the world.
It was unearthed during the construction of a new Greek Orthodox church on the site of its ancient predecessor.
This floor is the single most important piece of Byzantine Christian mosaic art in the East.
In 614, Madaba was conquered by the Sasanian Empire. During the eighth century, the ruling Muslim Umayyad Caliphate had some figural motifs removed from the mosaic. In 746, Madaba was largely destroyed by an earthquake and subsequently abandoned.
Because the mosaic map of Madaba is the oldest known geographic floor mosaic in art history, it is used significantly for confirming the position and location of biblical sites. E.g. In 1967, excavations in the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem revealed the Nea Church and the Cardo Maximus in the very locations suggested by the Madaba Map.
The floor mosaic is located in the apse of the church of Saint George at Madaba.
An apse is a semicircular recess,
often covered with a hemispherical vault.
It is not oriented northward, as modern maps are, but faces east toward the altar in such a fashion that the position of places on the map coincides with the compass directions.
Originally, it measured 21 by 7 m and
contained more than two million individual tiles
The mosaic map depicts an area from
Lebanon in the north to the Nile Delta in the south,
and from the Mediterranean Sea
in the west to the Eastern Desert.
Among other features,
it depicts the Dead Sea
with two fishing boats,
a variety of bridges linking
the banks of the Yarden/Jordan,
fish swimming in the river
and receding from the Dead Sea;
Made almost unrecognizable by the insertion of random tiles/tesserae during a period of during a period of opposition to and destruction of, religious images known as Iconoclasm;
is a lion hunting a gazelle in the Moab desert, (top left of picture);
palm-ringed Jericho (at the bottom and below),
Bethlehem, and other biblical sites.
Below, place where
John the Baptist was at Yeshua/Jesus’ immersion
at the mouth of the Yarden/Jordan,
Bethabara
and the (nearly-obliterated) lion hunting a gazelle.
The map may have served to help pilgrims’ orientate themselves in the Holy Land.
All the landscape areas are labeled with explanations in Greek and depict approx. 150 towns and villages.
Ancient church buildings were positioned 180 degrees from the Temple in Yerushalayim/Jerusalem. The Holy of Holies was entered from the East with the ark of the covenant in the west.
Byzantine church buildings were entered from the west with the “altar” in the east. Because of this, the Madaba map is oriented so that those sitting in the pews can look ahead to see the map, then look beyond the map and see the pulpit or “Altar”.
The map is read from the west.
While modern maps are labeled as if one is standing on the south pole and looking north, the Madaba map is labeled from the north looking south. This means that the lettering of the map is upside down to how we would orient the map on paper. It’s like looking at a map of a country at 180 degrees/upside down.
The Madaba map is not to scale.
Yerushalayim/Jerusalem is greatly enlarged and distances are greatly distorted in comparison to what we would expect from an accurate map; because the map was for devotional purposes, not science and geography as we would like it to have been from a modern perspective.
When they built the map, one 1/2 inch cube of stone mosaic at a time, they surely never thought they were working on what would be the most important ancient map in existence!
The largest and most detailed element of the topographic depiction is Jerusalem (Greek: ΙΕΡΟΥΣΑ[ΛΉΜ]), at the centre of the map. The mosaic clearly shows a number of significant structures in the Old City of Jerusalem: the Damascus Gate, the Lions’ Gate, the Golden Gate, the Zion Gate, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the New Church of the Theotokos, the Tower of David.
This post on
Madaba
and its amazing mosaic map has an important place
in verifying the location of Yeshua/Jesus’ immersion
from our previous 2 posts.
Passing through the waters may have a much deeper meaning than we first thought on reading the Bible the
Jordan/YardenRiver
has a major part in many of the prophetic scriptures.
From as far back as Abraham…
Abraham entered the Promised Land through the gateway of the Jordan River Valley when he first journeyed from Ur of the Chaldeans (Gen. 12:1–9).
The Book of Genesis refers to the
patriarch Abram as:
ha-ivri הָעִבְרִי
or
the Hebrew.Gen. 14:13.
…to those which were fulfilled in John/Yocananan and Jesus/Yeshua’s day.
Recall an earlier post concerning the meaning of the word
Hebrew – ivri
עברי
ivri means: to cross over.
pronounced: eevriy
The actual definition of the word is:
one who has crossed over, passed over or beyond
ivri or ivrim
depending on whether you’re speaking
of an individual or a group.
From the root word ivr עבר
to cross over, or pass through.
An IVRI one who crosses over into both a promised land and a life of divinely determined service. One who crosses over (ovr) boundaries and obstacles, and in particular the obstacle of meaninglessness and despair.
He was the first Hebrew (Ivrit)
or
one who crossed over.
Crossing over means going from
being a worldly Babylonian
to
becoming the Israel of Elohim.
Gal 6:16; Eph 2:1.
Abraham crossed over
from false gods to the one and only true God.
He crossed over
physically by leaving his homeland
He forsook Babylon and
crossed over
the Euphrates and
Yarden/Jordan Rivers
in his journey westward en route
to the Promised Land as he followed YHVH’s leading.
The Israelites were delivered from the Egyptians as they
crossed over
through the Red/Reed Sea, and then they
crossed over
through the Jordan River into the Promised Land.
All these acts are pictures of deliverance and salvation.
We also
crossed over
from death to life through Messiah.
Origin of the word Hebrew:
From the time of the Abraham until the time of Jesus Christ, the world knew the Israelites as עברי (Erverh)
The Israelites wrote their name in their language with the letters עברי. The letters I V R I represent עברי in English.
The name ‘Hebrew,’ is the English translation of the name pronounced Erverh from Latin. The name “Hebrew,” is the result of translating the Latin “Hebraicus,” into English.
Thus, the name, “Hebrew” is the result of a double translation of the original name עברי, (Erverh). Had the translation been from the original texts with the name, עברי, we’d never have heard the name Hebrew.
The proper pronunciation in the native language of the ancient Israelites’ designation, commonly known, as “Hebrew” in English is “IVRI” pronounced Erh-Verh. Because most modern Bibles are direct translations or carbon copies of the Latin translation, the result is all modern Bibles carry the name Hebrew. Derived from the Latin name Hebraicus. Without the Latin name “Hebraicus,” a direct translation from the original Dead Sea scrolls would read “Erverh,” instead of Hebrew.
The name “Hebrew,” is the English translation from the original ancient texts of the name עברי (IVRI) pronounced Erh-Verh. (Ever or eber.)
One final thought as to the name
Jorden – Yarden – Descender:
In modern Hebrew letters reads:
ירדן
nun-dalet-resh-yod
(Recall, Hebrew- ivri, reads from right to left and there are no vowels like our alphabet: i.e. no aeiou).
And in Paleo Hebrew Pictographs
Yod = Y = A hand closed or closing upon, to work, a deed done, a finished work.
Reysh = R = A head, a person, what is the highest, the most important, chief.
Daleth = D = A door, a path, a way of life, movement into or out of.
Nun = N = A fish, to sprout, to spread, offspring, descendant, action, life, heir to the throne, faithfulness.
The meaning of
Jordan/Yarden
could be said to be:
A visible tangible representation of His Hand opening and closing the waters and as the most important and highest Authority giving His instructions which when applied declares He is the door. The only WAY in is by recognizing the authority which results in our exemption and freedom, release from past sins. As heir to the throne, He is our deliverance He is our life.
Isa 43:2 When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.
Our Descender Yeshua/Jesus
will never leave us nor forsake us…ever!
He is our LIFES/CHAIM
Hallelujah!! He is with us always!
שָׁלוֹם עֲלֵיכֶם,
Shalom aleikhem
chaverim and mishpachah!
Shavua Tov, Have a blessed week, you are greatly loved and prayed for daily. Please don’t leave here without assurance of your salvation or without our Heavenly Fathers’ shalom ENVELOPING you and the deep inner knowing that you are sealed to the day of redemption by the Blood of Messiah Jesus/Yeshua.
Not sure ..you can be…
Make certain Messiah Jesus/Yeshua is your Redeemer, Savior, Lord and soon returning King and that you have a personal relationship with Him.
It’s all about Life and Relationship, NOT Religion.
You are very precious in His sight.
SIMPLY SAY THE FOLLOWING MEANING IT FROM YOUR HEART..don’t delay one more minute, SAY IT RIGHT NOW…
Heavenly Father I come to you in the Name of Jesus/Yeshua 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/Yeshua 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/Yeshua 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/Yeshua. Thank you that you have accepted me into your family in Jesus’/Yeshua’s name.
Bible references: 2 Kings 19:22; Ps. 71:22; 78:41; 89:18; Isa. 1:4; 17:7; 30:11; 41:14; 43:3, 14; 45:11; 47:4; 48:17; 54:5; Jer. 50:29; 51:5 and a total of about forty five times.
Olam Hazeh עולם הזה
One final thought as to the name 
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