The Hidden Mystery of the Kallah

The Hidden Mystery of the Kallah כַּלָּה ; phonetically pronounced (kal-law’).

These days there is much chatter about the signs of the times, end of days and Jesus soon return. The catching away from 1 Thessalonians is often termed the rapture.

Also called the Parousia and the blessed hope of Titus 2:13

 The rapture is an eschatological term used by certain Christians, particularly within branches of American evangelicalism, referring to a end time event when all Christian believers will be “caught up”, translated into the clouds, in a moment in time, to join the Lord in the air. 

In fact the specific word ‘rapture’ itself does not appear anywhere in the scripture text however It has become a much used by word and originated right out of the Latin Vulgate translation of the Bible.

…deinde nos qui vivimus qui relinquimur simul rapiemur cum illis in nubibus obviam Domino in aera et sic semper cum Domino erimus.. –1 Thessalonians 4:17 (Latin Vulgate)

In the New American Standard Version, the English phrase, “caught up,” is used. The same phrase is used in the King James and New International Versions. .” In the Latin Vulgate, one of the oldest Bibles in existence, the appropriate tense of rapio appears in verse 17. (Raptus is the past participle of rapio, and our English words “rapt” and “rapture” stem from this past participle.)

So this term “Rapture” comes from a Latin word, “rapio,” that means “to catch up, to snatch away, or to take out.” It is, in turn, a translation of the Greek word, “harpazo. the Harpz, the “snatching up” of the Church.

The Latin equivalent of the Greek Harpazo is the Latin verb rapio, “to take away by force.

The very definition of the word “harpazo” that we get the word “rapture” from, is: to openly and forcibly snatch something from someone.

Strong’s Greek Concordance #726 harpázō – properly, seize by force; snatch up, suddenly and decisively – like someone seizing bounty (spoil, a prize); to take by an open display of force (i.e. not covertly or secretly).

Notice in the preceding definition, “harpazo” means to “openly seize” – not covertly or secretly.

 Used in the late 16th century (in the sense ‘seizing and carrying off’): from obsolete French, or from medieval Latin raptura ‘seizing,’ partly influenced by rapt. This post is not attempting to focus on or to prove/disprove any of the options proffered by believers. Intended only to show Messiah’s use of and reference to ancient Israel and the Jewish/Hebrew wedding and how it relates to forthcoming events; and to those that have already occurred, including the fulfillment of the promise which our Lord confirmed at the Last Supper: John 14:1-3

This is a wide subject however this focus is on the wedding part.

The elements of a Jewish wedding normally include the following: one chosson (the groom), one kallah (the bride), and a ceremony sometimes referred to as kiddushin. Separate steps usually accompany a traditional wedding: Shidduch – it’s a match! Vort – formal engagement; Ketubah – or Betrothal marriage contract.

We the believers in Jesus the Messiah/Yeshua Ha Mashiach are His kallah /Calah. kallah /Calah is Hebrew for bride. (Seems both spellings are used.)

It may be easier for ladies than for men, in identifying with being a bride. The likeness is simply for God’s purposes, and to reveal His covenant and the deep close relationship that the children of Israel have with Him; which would be a reminder for them beginning with Moses at Sinai.

This mystery is hidden in the Hebrew covenant of a marriage and the wedding ceremonies in which the focus was originally more on the groom than the bride!

Looking at Isaiah 62:5: “For as a young man marries a virgin, so shall thy sons marry thee. And as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee.”

In the first part of this verse in Isaiah it appears that Israel is playing the role of a bridegroom rather than a bride if we consider the word sons as male. Then in the second part he is addressing Israel as if they were to be a husband to God, as this second part of the verse declares that the ones he is addressing are now the bride to God who is in the role of the bridegroom.

The word bridegroom here is katan, which is another word for marriage. This word for marriage has the idea of joining together in complete truth and honesty.  When God as the bridegroom is married to us He is joined to us in complete truth.  Remembering here Jesus words, “They that worship God must worship Him in Spirit and in truth.”  John 4:24.

So that is God’s side of the deal, He is the bridegroom, but what are we as the bride or Kallah? In it’s primitive form the word Kallah has a double lamed which represents prayer with uplifted hands.

Hebrew letter Lamed

This word is a picture of reaching up to your lover with an open empty heart asking him to fill your heart with his presence.   The root word is a little strange because it means both a filling or completion and a wasting away.  However, the sages chose this word to represent a bride because a bride is to fill her heart with the desires of her bridegroom while her own desires waste away. Hard for us to understand, as this flies in the face of our modern thinking.

 God gave us a marriage relationship to help us understand our relationship with Him.  It cannot be just one sided, looking to God as a bride to a bridegroom, there is the other side of the coin to consider, our beloved God has a heart similar to the heart He breathed into us.

Just as our hearts can be broken, so too can we break His heart. He has chosen to make Himself vulnerable to those He loves and love Him in return.

We must make sure we do not break His heart.

כַּלָה is the Hebrew word for bride is Kallah, (Calah) which comes from the root word Kalah meaning; to finish, complete, prepare, to make perfect (in the sense of totality rather than of being unblemished) and to consume. (Strong’s #3618 and 3634).

There is also the meaning in this word of something fulfilling its purpose. Also means daughter in law.

From the Cross Jesus said, “It is finished” or in keeping with our Hebrew word for completed/fulfilled.

Jesus returns to initiate the catching away of believers.

Lekhah Dodi means “come my beloved,” and is a request of a mysterious “beloved” that could mean either God or one’s friend(s) to join together in welcoming Shabbat that is referred to as the “bride“: likrat kallah (“to greet the [Shabbat] bride“).

Chatan: Hebrew word for groom.

Strongs 2860 Chathan חָתָן

phonetic pronounced (khaw-thawn’) חָתָן

The biblical word chatan means both son-in-law and bridegroom, (most scholars believe that the initial meaning was only son-in-law, and that bridegroom was a later development) and ‘ka•la’ also means daughter-in-law.

In the Hebrew wedding song: “The voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom [hatan] and the voice of the bride [kalah].” the voice of those who shall say, Praise the Lord of Hosts; for the Lord is good; for his mercy endures for ever; and of those who shall bring the sacrifice of praise to the house of the Lord. For I will cause to return the captivity of the land, as at the first, says the Lord’.

Jeremiah 33:11

The wedding in Jesus day began with an agreement between the bride and groom, like engagement today. The bridegroom Journeys to the bride’s house for the covenant is made at her house.

Applying the process to believers, the Bridegroom has already made his visit! We are engaged, we are betrothed to Him.

At the time of this agreement a formal document called the Ketubah , was signed.

The Ketubah Agreement or covenant of marriage/ betrothal, included a price to be paid for the bride. In Hebrew the Mohar/Mohair.

We sometimes know it as a Dowry.

It was considered that the husband and his family were gaining an asset and the bride’s family were losing one.  And the price was according to the wealth of the Groom’s Father. The choice of whom the Bride would be and the Bride price or Mohar as it was called, was to reflect the Father of the Groom’s honor, integrity and stature; His future generations were at stake. Even if the Bride’s family was not wealthy, if the Groom’s Father was, the price was to reflect his wealth.

At that time the couple was considered to be married, even though the marriage was not consummated. She belongs to him now, for she has been “bought with a price’, and this purchase has been witnessed and confirmed.

Matthew 26: 27-28
“Then having taken a cup, after He gave thanks He gave the cup to them saying, “You must all drink from this, for this is My blood of the covenant, which is being poured out on behalf of many for forgiveness of sins.”

Luke 22:20
“This is the cup of the New Covenant in My blood which is being poured out on your behalf.”

Considering the stature and wealth of the heavenly Father, what would be a better fitting price for the Bride of Christ, the Church other than the life of His Son.

Jesus already paid the ultimate price for us His bride. By giving up his life for us at Calvary’s cross. The father of the bride may accept the bridal price.  If he does, then it is up to the bride to accept the offer of marriage.  She (the bride to be) accepts his offer when she drinks from the cup filled with wine or grape juice.

In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the renewed covenant in My blood. As often as you drink it, do this in remembrance of Me.”  For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the death of the Master until He comes.  1 Corinthians 11: 25-26

After the wine is drunk, the young man says the words in John 14:2-3:  “In My Father’s house are many rooms.   I go to prepare a place for you.  And, if I go to prepare and place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself, that where I am, there you may be also”.

This is not so we can have a mansion of our own and do nothing but sit around. It is so we can be with Him and to share eternity with Him and be a part of the future He has planned for us.

The groom then went back to where he came from, his father’s house. He prepared a place, usually on family property, for the couple .

This Ketubah has 2 parts involving a shared cup of wine, with one at the initiation of the agreement and the other at the consummation.

The first part happens at the initial acceptance of the agreement with the sharing of the first cup of wine.The second part happens when the wedding actually happens with the sharing of the second cup of wine. 

The groom steps on the glass breaking it to indicate that this is a serious commitment and just as serious as the shattered glass is not repairable. 

Notice how Jesus says to do the New Covenant, Communion, in remembrance of Him. He is the Groom going away. But He will return for His Bride and bring her unto Himself.

I Corinthians 11:25-26
“Likewise also the cup after supper saying, “This cup is the New Covenant by means of My blood: you must regularly do this, as often as you would drink it, in remembrance of Me.”  For as often as you would eat this bread and you would drink the cup, you are proclaiming publicly the death of the Lord until He would come.”

Mark 14:24-25
“And He said to them “This is My blood of the covenant which is being poured out on behalf of many. Truly I say to you that never again am I drinking from the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the Kingdom of God.”

When we take the Cup, Communion, we are remembering Him, the price He paid with His Body and His Blood; this is symbolic of the first cup of the Ketubah.

We should also stop, pause and rejoice in that: The next time the Lord takes the cup of wine again, it will be with us, His Bride. This will be symbolic of the second cup of the Ketubah. We should take Communion in honor of Him as He has asked, but also with the comfort and intent of someday, being with and sharing the Wedding Cup with Him at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. 
The entire New Testament (New Marriage Covenant) is a reflection of the Ancient Jewish Wedding, whereby Yeshua, the Bridegroom, will one day come back for His Bride (all 12 tribes and those grafted into the olive tree, One New Man).

Right now He is preparing many dwelling places in his Father’s house (John 14:2) for his Bride.

When we choose to accept the offer of the Lord, as Lord and Savior, we enter into a covenant relationship.  We are betrothed to the Lord spiritually and we reject all other gods and idols and stay faithful to Him. We are like the Bride of those days, in that we have all the legal rights of being betrothed, even though the marriage is not complete until the final ceremony. 
Having been bought with a price, the Bride now keeps herself for him.

During this time, the Bride is to be eagerly awaiting his return.

Then the Father of the Groom will tell his Son to go snatch up his bride.

1 Thessalonians 4:16, 17

It is important to realize that in the Ancient Jewish Wedding, there is no date set for the wedding unlike in our western world.  The custom back then was that the date was to remain a mystery and only the father of the groom had an idea of when the wedding would take place.

Only when everything was completed to the fathers satisfaction would he tell his son to go and get his bride.

This is where at the reference (Matt 24:36).  that no one knows the day nor the hour when he will become for his bride, but the father only.

Because neither the bride nor groom knew when the father would say it was good enough, it was critical that they both needed to be ready as the finishing touches were about to be completed.

This prophecy is a reflection of the Fall Appointed Feast Days of Yom Teruah (The Feast of Trumpets) as it is accustomed for the High Priest to say, “No man knows the day or the hour.”  The reason for this saying is that no one would know on which day the sighting of the crescent moon would appear that would be necessary in order to initiate the feast day celebrations starting with Yom Teruah.  Here we see the connection with the wedding as well as with Yom Teruah.

Scriptures attributed to Yom Teruah are (1Thess 4:16-17)(Rev 19:7-9).

The couple do not see each other again until the day of the wedding but spend their time in preparation for it.

As was the custom, the bride was to prepare herself for the wedding ceremony that would take place from one to two years from the acceptance of the proposal.

(For us it has been 2000+ years (1000 years as a day?) and we are still waiting for Him to come and get us, His Bride). There is much anticipation of this event and it is meant to be a surprise for the Bride as the Bridegroom comes as a thief in the night at the Appointed Time/Feast (Mow’ed).

For the bride, life seems the same, she lives with her family doing daily activities, she is married but What has changed? Everything! For she is now CALAH.

God came to our house as Jesus 2000+ years ago and made a covenant with us if we said yes to Him. Then the bridegroom according to the Hebrew custom leaves to return to His home, His Father’s house. Jesus returned to heaven and where we are now, these are the days of separation. The bride in her house, Earth. The groom in His House, heaven.

John 14:2-3:  “In My Father’s house are many rooms.   I go to prepare a place for you.  And, if I go to prepare and place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself, that where I am, there you may be also”.

We are still in this in the present world, still in the same House, everything seems the same it looks unchanged. But, something unseen has changed, not the exterior House or the world around us. However, we have changed inside, and we are no longer OF this world even though we are still IN it.

The time of preparation:

Again, it’s important to realize that the custom was, the wedding date was to remain a mystery and only the father of the groom had an idea of when.

The wedding was a prophetic type of the coming Messiah set in for the children of Israel as a symbolic preparation of the spiritual life enacted as the marriage process. The wedding, the covenant, the betrothal, the holy convocation, the rehearsal. This was on purpose so every time two individuals became a couple they enacted God’s eternal plan out in their own lives.

Just as many modern Western ceremonies today, have a rehearsal dinner or Church rehearsal meetings to go through the order of ceremony to be performed at the appointed time. So the cycle of 7 appointed times of the Lord throughout the year are also a rehearsal and a preparation for the fulfillment of God’s plan of the ages through Jesus and His coming as Messiah in fulfillment of those prophetic events.

So is the wedding a type and shadow of His relationship with us and why He referred so much to it. The people of His day who were around Him listening to Him were familiar with such events and understood the process. It made sense to them and it’s why He used it to explain His mission, Ministry and ultimate future in relationship to us, His Calah.

After the building of the wedding chamber/room is complete, and after the father has determined that his son is ready, then the father would send His son back to where the bride would be eagerly awaiting his return from her hometown (Earth) to retrieve her for the Wedding.

“Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Master is coming. Matt 24:42

Then the groom would go for the bride, often at night and she would have to be ready.

The guests too would be notified at the last minute.

At that time, there would be a procession led by the bridegroom back to where the bride is from (Earth).  The processional wedding party would stop outside the town, and there would be a cry made for the bride with the sounding of the shofar to go out to meet the Bridegroom.

14 For if we believe that יהושע died and rose again, so also Elohim shall bring with Him those who sleep in יהושע.

15 For this we say to you by the word of the Master, that we, the living who are left over at the coming of the Master shall in no way go before those who are asleep.

16 Because the Master Himself shall come down from heaven with a shout, with the voice of a chief messenger, (archangel) and with the trumpet (Yom Teruah) of Elohim, and the dead in Messiah shall rise first. 

17 Then we, the living who are left over, shall be caught away together with them in the clouds to meet the Master in the air – and so we shall always be with the Master. 1 Thess 4:14-17

50. And this I say, brothers, that flesh and blood is unable to inherit the reign of Elohim, neither does corruption inherit incorruption.

51. See, I speak a secret to you: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,

52. in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet shall sound,

and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.1 Corinthians 15: 50-52

 

The following is a parable by Yeshua describing how there will be those who would not be made aware of the times of His second coming and will miss this moment.

“Then the reign of the heavens shall be compared to ten maidens who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.” (Matt 25:1-13)

 

“Now while the bridegroom took time, they all slumbered and slept.

6. “And at midnight a cry was heard, ‘See, the bridegroom is coming, go out to meet him!’  (Matt 25:5-6)

At the voice of the Bridegroom calling them up, Messiah Yeshua comes out of heaven with a trumpet blast, to gather His whole Bride for the wedding, and the 7 days in the chuppah. The “bride has made herself ready”.  He collects His Bride who is alive and waiting for Him on the earth. As betrothed brides, they were supposed to be preparing for their wedding, sewing the various garments, purifying, learning, etc. in anticipation of the Big Day… but 5 grew drowsy and were sleeping.

They were to keep a light in the window during the nighttime and have more oil on hand, ready to make the journey to meet the Groom.

Without a light in the night, how would they find their way to meet the Groom? They would stumble and fall, stray off the path being unable to navigate in the dark.

They were to “meet up” with the Groom and head for the Wedding Ceremony, Honeymoon and Marriage Supper.
Five of the betrothed made it, Five did not…. All ten had the opportunity. 

Five had their heart in it were focused and kept to their purpose. These 5 stayed on course with well supplied lamps, trimmed wicks and fresh oil on hand. This is how we must be as the betrothed Church waiting for our Groom, Messiah Jesus/Yeshua.

Only the “prepared ones” will make it. There will not be any second chances.

Those arriving late will be locked outside the door. We must remain passionate for our Lord and be able to stay on course through the darkness, and many times that darkness can seem very heavy.

We must set our hearts and live our lives as the prepared Bride of the Lord.

The parable of the wise virgins, of Matthew 25:1-11, shows us that only the prepared Bride gets to go into the chuppah with Him.  The guests are shut out.

“And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast, and the door was shut.  (Matt 25:10)

The bride, and her family would go out to meet the bridegroom.  The bridal company (bridesmaids) would join the procession back to the bridegroom’s hometown (Heaven). It is clear in 1 Thessalonians 5:1-5 that Paul was speaking to a Jewish audience who understood the cultural idoms of the day.

The true meaning is to “take by surprise.” And the Lord makes it clear to His church through His Word, that He does not want us to be taken by surprise but on the contrary for us to be faithful, alert and watching.

The phrase is not about the Lord being like “the kind” of a “thief” that would come in the night by sneaking in and sneaking out. In the day and age of Jesus and the apostles, most people lived in one or two room houses. Anyone would know when someone came in or out, including in the night. Jesus will be coming “like” a “thief in the night” in that “He will take the world by surprise” when He comes to get His church.

When he spoke of, “as a thief in the night,” those listening would realize that he was possibly speaking about the Captain of the Temple that may have been the high priest.  The Captain’s job was to make sure that the watchman or guards were not sleeping but rather doing their job. If the Captain of the Temple found any guards asleep, then he would set their garments on fire with his torch. ‘Not found naked’, as he would have ripped off his clothes to save from being burned.

Thus, the Captain of the Temple was known as a Thief in the Night.  The term/idiom, A Thief in the Night, was used by Jesus/Yeshua Himself and is used to identify a sleeping or dead church.

1 Now, brothers, as to the times and the seasons (mow’ed), you do not need to be written to. 2 For you yourselves know very well that the day of יהוה comes as a thief in the night. 3 For when they say, “Peace and safety!” then suddenly destruction comes upon them, as labour pains upon a pregnant woman, and they shall not escape. 4 But you, brothers, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. 5For you are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. (1 Thess 5:1-5)

Returning to the wedding reference:

and when his father approved of the apartment or house, the son would come for his bride and the wedding ceremony would take place. Today the ceremony takes place under a chuppah, a prayer shawl over 4 supports representing the room that was prepared.

Once the ceremony is over, the two would go into the bridal chamber (chuppah) for 7 days (now known as a honeymoon). The tradition of a husband staying home with his new wife for the first year of marriage symbolizes the millennial reign the 1000 years, (1day=1000 years), when we rule and reign with Him

Revelation 14:1-3; 20:1-4; Romans 8:17

Picture this: It was in the early morning while it was still dark, the Morning Star Shone upon his opening tomb.

Everyone was sleeping as it was still during the hours of darkness and rest for the inhabitants of Jerusalem. Jesus arose, His rising did not disturb the slumbering citizens. The watchmen of the night saw and heard nothing to alert them that in the spiritual realm everything has changed. For them it was just another early morning and that they would begin in the natural realm just like any other.

It may well be that it is very early in the morning while it is still dark, when 1 Thess 4:16 occurs; when only the morning star is shining that the believers who make up Messiahs body on earth shall be called up to Him joining the dead in Christ who have been raised exactly a twinkling of an eye before them.

Like Him, somewhere in the earth His saints will awake, while the children of the night and darkness are still sleeping. Not one will be disturbed and as on that morning in Jerusalem, the rest of the world will not hear the voice of the archangel, nor the trumpet that calls them to His side.

He will awaken each one when the hour arrives. The words of Isaiah 26:19 Will accompany the quickening. ‘awake and sing you that dwell in dust.’

 What does the phrase “in the twinkling of an eye” mean? Many say it is “faster than a blink.” Whatever it means, it’s very very fast! The next question is, “what happens in the twinkling of an eye?” This verse in 1 Corinthians 15, may be one of the most misquoted verses of all time.

“Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed– in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” 1 Corinthians 15:51-52

It says “we shall be “changed” in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye. It does not say that the Rapture happens in the twinkling of an eye.
In the previous verses..

“As was the man of dust, so also are those who are made of dust; and as is the heavenly Man, so also are those who are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man. Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed– in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet.

 For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changedFor this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.”

This whole section of scripture seems to be about “how we shall become like the Lord.” How “corruption” is not fit for heaven. The flesh and blood bodies that we now have are mortal and of corruption.

Both the bodies of the saints in heaven and those who are still alive, must be made “fit for heaven.” It is about the speed of the changing of the bodies and remains, not about the speed of the Rapture.

Our very DNA miraculously revived and made alive supernaturally as the power of the risen Savior re-creates all bodies new and in His image.

The first rays of the sun penetrate the darkness of each saints grave, one massive unprecedented miracle around the globe simultaneously re-creating each and every child of God who died in faith believing in His return.

The rays of His glory will penetrate each one, pouring into the depths and as the shadows of the morning and the eastern clouds slide away hope is rewarded and mortality is flung aside and all at once the uprising glorified bodies changed at the speed of light, faster than an eye blink we meet Him in the air, the Lord of glory, Creator of the heavens and the earth, the King of the universe.

(From quantum physics considerations, this transformation, “in the twinkling of an eye,” will possibly occur digitally in 10-43 of a second.) 

His Glory like the Star of Bethlehem which heralded His first coming and shone beams of light guiding those seeking Him into His presence;the star of the morning will again shine beams of light to direct us Heavenward. A new path for us but also the last leg of the journey along life’s Way, in the Truth and to the everlasting Life He promised.

The sleeping church, or believers who do not understand the Appointed Feasts, may miss the wedding!

1“And to the messenger of the assembly in Sardis write, ‘He who has the seven Spirits of Elohim and the seven stars, says this, “I know your works, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead.

2“Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works complete before Elohim.

3“Remember, then, how you have received, and heard. And watch and repent. If, then, you do not wake up, I shall come upon you as a thief, and you shall not know at all what hour I come upon you.  (Revelation 3:1-3)

The wedding takes place and the bride and the bridegroom are married in the bridegroom’s hometown (Heaven).

(Maybe under the grooms prayer shawl/ chuppah)

The bride and the bridegroom would consummate the marriage in the bridal chamber built by the bridegroom at their new home, while the entire wedding party would wait outside the bridal chamber. 

Once the consummation had taken place, there would be a great celebration as the wedding party would last for 7 days or less. (Marriage supper of the Lamb 7 years)

And he said to me, “Write, ‘Blessed are those who have been called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!’ ” Revelation 19:9

“Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him praise, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife prepared herself.”

8And to her it was given to be dressed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteousnesses of the set-apart ones.

9And he said to me, “Write, ‘Blessed are those who have been called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!’ ” And he said to me, “These are the true words of Elohim.”  Revelation 19: 7-9

After 7 days or less of celebration, a processional of the entire wedding party would return back to the Bride’s hometown (Earth) to continue with the celebrations. (Messiahs second Coming.)

They really DO live happily ever after!

 The Archangel whether it be Michael, Gabriel, Rafael or another, whose voice we shall hear is like a morning call for all of us. It’s time to wake up to arise, weeping may endure for a night but joy cometh in the morning of our resurrection.

Encourage one another with these words.

He will receive us and so shall we ever be with Our Messiah.

“He came among His own people, but His own did not take* Him. And so many as did receive Him, He gave them authority to become children of God, to those who believed in His name, they are not from blood and not from the desire of flesh and not from the will of man but were begotten from God. ” John 1:11-13

*take: This word means to take as your betrothedspeaking of the intimate relationship Y’shua came to seal.

Jesus did not come just to be lightly received. He came from the Father to bring us back to Him. To “take Jesus, to receive Him,” meant to “believe in His Name in a life changing manner.” It was (and is) entering into a Covenant relationship with our Holy God. Because He called us out, chose us. Note it says, He gave them authority to become children of God, not just became children of God.

 “The coming of the Lord” will be “unexpected” by those who “are not watching and waiting” for Him.

This great day will surprise the lost “as” a “thief in the night.” But God’s people – who are not of the night nor of darkness – will be looking for Him. God’s people know the signs and nearness of His coming and are watching for Him.

The Amplified Bible has verse 4 as this: “But you are not in [given up to the power of] darkness, brethren, for that day to overtake you by surprise like a thief.”
There may not be much more time to trim the lamps or seek more oil… We should decide which of the groups we are a part.

For the bridegroom cometh and when ever He comes, let‘s make sure that we are awake, prepared and ready to go with Him.

The wedding process is already in motion and we are His Calah/Kallah, כַּלָּה,  pronounced (kal-law’).

Even so, maranatha, come Messiah!

Extra Point of interest to explain what were Jewish Night Watches:

The Jewish people in the Old Testament divided the 12 hour night into three military watches instead of hours. Each watch was 4 hours long.

The first or “beginning of the night watches” was from sunset (or for practical purposes, 6pm) until 10pm and was mentioned in Lamentations 2:19.

The “middle watch” is from 10pm until 2am and was mentioned in Judges 7:19.

The “morning watch” was from 2am until 6am and was mentioned in Exodus 14:24 and 1 Samuel 11:11.

“Night watches” are also mentioned in Psalm 63:6 and Psalm 119:148.

Each new 24 Jewish day began at sundown (or 6pm.) That is why the Jewish Sabbath begins at sundown.

In contrast our Roman days begin at midnight.

Jewish Daytime began at 6am; and ends at 6pm for counting hours. The first hour is therefore 7am; the second hour is 8am; the third hour is 9am, the sixth hour is noon or 12pm; and so forth.

Examples of some time references

Matthew 27:45, Mark 15:33, Luke 23:44 – “from the sixth hour” refers to noon and “until the ninth hour” refers to 3pm

Matthew 20 – In verse 3 “third hour” refers to 9am/ “Sixth and ninth” hours in verse 5 refers to noon and 3 pm/  “eleventh hour” in verse 6 refers to 5pm

Acts 2:15 – “third hour of the day” is 9am

Acts 3:1 – “ninth hour” is 3pm

Acts 10:3 – “ninth hour” is 3pm

Acts 10:9 – “sixth hour” is noon

Acts 10:30 – “during the ninth hour” is 3-4 pm

Acts 23:23 – “third hour of the night” is 9pm

 Roman Night Watches: Rome takes over in the time period between the Testaments and rules the Jewish people. The Romans broke their number of military watches into four 3-hour watches. These were called:

First Watch, also called Evening Watch  – sundown, 6pm to 9pm

Second Watch, also called Midnight Watch – 9pm to midnight

Third Watch, also called Cock-crow or Cock-crowing Watch – midnight to 3am

Fourth Watch, also called Morning Watch – 3 am to sunrise, 6am

Some Roman watches are mentioned in the New Testament:

Matthew 14:25 – “fourth watch of the night” refers to 3-6am

Mark 13:35 – “evening”“midnight”“when the rooster crows”“morning”

Luke 12:38 – “second watch” refers to 9pm to midnight and “third” refers to midnight to 3am

Note this was the reference to Peters 3 denials by Jesus!

 Older versions of the Bible say the Gospel of John used Roman time. (Again, Roman time is how we keep time.) Newer versions of the Bible say the hours mentioned in John are Jewish time. Looking at the context of the verses, I would agree with Jewish time.

John 1:39 – “the tenth hour” could refer to the Roman time of 10am or the Jewish time of 4pm.  (4pm makes more sense.)

John 4:6 – “the sixth hour” is perhaps Roman time of 6am or Jewish time of noon  (The heat of the day at noon makes more sense.)

John 4:52 – “the seventh hour” is either 7am Roman time or 1pm Jewish time.  (Again, Jewish time makes more sense.)

It’s not clear why scholars of the newer versions have decided it is Jewish time in the Gospel of John. Matthew, Mark, and Luke were written between AD 58-67. John was written about AD 80-90 when the Roman Empire ruled and the Jewish people had been scattered after the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem in AD 70. Perhaps when John wrote the gospel most people kept time by Roman standards and that is why older versions say it was written with Roman time. But John being Jewish, the advancement in scholarship of ancient texts and the context of the verses makes the thought feasible that he wrote using Jewish hours.

When reading the Bible is it critical to know the Jewish hours and the Roman watches? Not really, but it helps with context of the passage. For instance in Matthew 14:25 when Jesus comes walking to the disciples on water it was the “fourth watch” or 3:00 to 6:00am. Matthew 14:22 tells us Jesus had the disciples get into the boat and go before Him. Verse 23 tells us Jesus went to pray and then evening came. This means the disciples had been in the boat over nine hours and may have been battling the storm a long time before Jesus came to them. That would be enough time to become really terrified! Is that crucial to the text to know that? No, not really – you get the point of the passage without that knowledge, however knowing the context makes your understanding richer. 

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.

More Than One Palm

As this iswhich of course it is referring to the day also called into Jerusalem and the branches of the palm trees. This is the day that palm fronds were waved by the crowds and together with Tallits, (prayer shawls/garments), were laid along the road for Messiah Jesus/Yeshua to ride over.What do Palm branches remind us of …? A tropical beach, southern climates, an oasis in the burning desert, children part of a procession dancing and singing Hosanna to the Son of David?

12 The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. 13 So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!” 14 And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written, 15 “Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your king is coming,
 sitting on a donkey’s colt!” (John 12:12-15 ESV)

The custom of palms traditionally at the end of ‘Lent’ in the Christian Church Calendar, can serve to remind us of a certain day in the month of Nisan, over 2000 years ago; because it has its roots in the Judeo/Christian and Hebrew Appointed Times/ Feasts of the children of Israel.In Jewish culture, palms were used for such an event because they are symbols of victory. As Jesus rides into Jerusalem amid shouts of praise and symbols of victory we clearly see the connection.

In the reference to the branch in Isaiah 11:1 Messiah Jesus IS the branch from the stem of Jesse growing out of his roots/stump.

Little did the people know that the victory Jesus would win was neither political nor military in nature but salvation victory.On His way to the cross, Jesus is riding into Jerusalem amid the shouts and palm branches where He won the victory for us over sin, death, and the power of the devil at the cross. The palms also representing the victory that Messiah Jesus/Yeshua won over our sinful, corrupt nature.

Click Link for https://www.minimannamoments.com/palm-sunday-nisan-the-appointed-time-of-the-lamb/

However as our English language often has the same word for two different meanings there is another connection here. Palm doesn’t just mean a certain type of tree, or the branch of that tree; It also refers to the part of our hands from the wrist to the base of the fingers.Our English word palm came from the Latin word for the tree or branch. One source says the word travelled to Northern Europe (where the English language developed) via the Christians bringing the word for the tree they used on Palm Sunday in celebration of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem.The English word palm, meaning the part of the hand, is used in an Old Testament Bible passage.

Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands. 

Isaiah 49:16

In Isaiah 49:16 this is a reference declaring that we are written, inscribed, or engraved in the palms of His hands. God says this to us to remind us that He has not – and never will – forget us. Sometimes in stressful situations, it may ‘feel’ that He has; but God says this to us to remind us that He has not – and never will – forget us.And in Ps 31:15Our times are in His HandsWE are in HIS HAND –

Written on His hand.

Isaiah 49:16.See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me. The word “engraved”, it is an eternal reminder, not just written, but ENGRAVED.

Behold I have graven

I have inscribed chaqaq חַקֹּתִ֑יךְ

(khaw-kak’) chak·ko·tich; to cut in, inscribe, decree; to hack, i.e. engrave (Judges 5:14, to be a scribe simply); by implication, to enact (laws being cut in stone or metal tablets in primitive times) or (gen.) prescribe.

Hebrew word for engrave is haqaq, meaning to mark out, inscribe, portrayed.

Portrayed means a representation of something, or in other words a picture, a picture of us engraved on the hands of the LORD. We look at our hands multiple times a day. When we worship Him they are open before Him, usually with our palms facing upwards in an attitude of openness and humility; giving of our love and gratefulness and also a readiness to receive. 

Our names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. Is it possible that our names are written in His Book of Life not with ink, but with the Holy and Precious Blood of Messiah Jesus/Yeshua?

Is it possible that on that day of Triumphal entry, He knew the deeper significance of the word PALM? His Blood was shed on the cross when He died for our sins. Are our names written with the Blood of Jesus that flowed when nails where driven through the palms of His hands – thus marking Him for eternity??As scripture tells us, Jesus is ever interceding for us before the throne of God.. maybe with His hands open in prayer, pointing to them and saying, ‘Look at this one engraved on My palm, look at this picture of them portrayed on my palms. I love them, and I am praying to you Father for them, keep them safe for they are in covenant with Us.’For example a wedding ring on someone’s finger whenever they glance down at it, it is a constant reminder that they are married to someone, they will always think of the one they are married to when they see their wedding ring. However, it is only a temporary token, but to have someone engraved on the palm of the Lord’s hands it is eternal.

I have engraved thee upon the palms of my hands.

 We are on the palms כַּפַּ֖יִם

Hebrew: kaph כַּ (kaf)

The hollow hand or palm, so of the paw of an animal, of the sole, and even of the bowl of a dish or sling, the handle of a bolt, the leaves of a palm-tree); figuratively, power.

kap·pa·yim hollow or flat of the hand, palm, sole (of the foot), a pan from kaphaph Kaf כַּ, meaning Palm, Open hand cover, Allow.

Your walls are ever before me.Isaiah 49:16

Behold, I have graven (8804) thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me. [of My hands]; Your walls חֹומֹתַ֥יִךְ

cho·v·mo·ta·yich

חוֹמָה Entry for Strong’s #02346 – wall – chômâh   kho-maw’  

In the time in which this was written, walls were used as writing tablets to record the chronological detail of someone’s life, and to display a person’s life achievements, identifying who they were and what they did, including if they had a family, or what kind of possessions they owned.

This amazing verse highlights how interested the LORD is in every detail of our lives. Not only are we engraved upon the palms of His hands, but our lives, ‘the wall of our life’ is before Him.

Nothing is hidden from the Lord, yet he still loves us with an everlasting love.By engraving our names on the palms of His hands He reveals the depths of His love towards us. We need to better understand the meaning of that word ‘engrave’, Its like tatooing. You cannot take it out. Once it is engraved, it is the part of the skin..There is no way to separate both. So our lives with all its boundaries are constantly viewed by God; and because of this promise, we are to have childlike faith and be anxious for nothing.Everything we lack, everything we are, our limitations, our expectations, our hopes and dreams, our brokenness…everything is like an open book before Him. He knows what we are going through, He knows our limits too.

The LORD will never let go of us.Why He has engraved us on His palms?…it’s because He wants to see us everyday, every moment of our lives…because each one of us is precious in His sight. Imagine, the creator of this world, has us on His palms. What else do we need in life? This is to remind us that there is a greater love than all the other relationships that we have on this earth. It is the love of Jesus.

He is the only one who chose to die for us. He shed his blood for us.He suffered the shame and pain to make us His own and we are engraved on His palms. Nobody else or any kind of situation can remove us from there unless we choose to leave, we are constantly in His presence.

He loves us and is constantly praying for us and thinking of us. Listen to tender words of love from Psalm 139:17 (NIV), ‘How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them!’

This Passover season and as we celebrate Palm Sunday remember you were in His thoughts as He prepared to go to the cross.

We were and are Engraved in the palms of His hands, the same hands that were pierced through for our sorrows.

There is another fascinating connection to God, Palms and Israel….

Below a flattened out map shows Israel in the center.The most amazing thing is that the area around Jerusalem, Israel as seen from above, resembles a hand. (Almost like a glove or mitten.)Here are some pictures which seem to reveal that He has His hand positioned on, in and over Israel.Topographic Map of Jerusalem (2 Samuel 5.6-10)

But I have chosen Jerusalem, that my name might be there; and have chosen David to be over my people Israel. 2 Chronicles 6:6

Is the Name of God Hidden on The Mountains of Israel?

A satellite picture made several years agoshows some Hebrew letters formed from the shadow of mountains on top of Israel.

This was looked at in depth in a previous post click link

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

Significance has been applied to the fact that there are three valleys that comprise the city of Jerusalem’s geography. This also has a connection to palm/hand.The Valley of Ben Hinnom, Tyropoeon Valley, and Kidron Valley, and that these valleys converge to also form the shape of the letter shin, the Temple in Jerusalem located approx. where the dagesh, the horizontal line is.This is seen as a fulfillment of passages such as Deuteronomy 16:2 that instructs the Israelites to celebrate the Pasach at ‘the place the LORD will choose as a dwelling for his Name’. (NIV).

The first letter of ‘Shaddai’ in Hebrew is the letter shin (pronounced ‘sheen’). It is the 21 st letter of the Alef Bet (alphabet). See earlier posts for more.

The pictograph behind it is fire and teeth.

The word shin is spelled, shin-nun, (S N) from 

the Hebrew word for tooth is, shen and has the exact same spelling. Deut 9:3 

It is very significant and because of its importance to Shaddai one of the Names of God, a kohen (priest)  forms the letter Shin with his hands as he recites the Priestly Blessing.

Shaddai, meaning ‘the keeper of the doors of Israel’ and is also inscribed on the mezuzot placed on all the doorways of Jewish homes.The letter Shin is often inscribed on the case containing a mezuzah, a scroll of parchment with Biblical text written on it.

The text contained in the mezuzah is the Shema prayer, which calls the Israelites to love their God with all their heart, soul and strength. The mezuzah is situated upon all the door frames in a home or establishment. Sometimes the whole word Shaddai will be written.

 is said over the people, found in Numbers 6:24-26.

It is fairly well-known. However, lesser known, is the deeper meaning found
in the pictorial language of the ancient Hebrew.
It is not necessary for salvation to know and to search for the deeper meaning
but when we dig a little deeper, we are able to see additional beautiful pieces of the picture our Heavenly Father has been wanting us all to understand that we have all missed out on for so many generations.  In the following the information is:

Hebrew word(s)
English word
Ancient pictorial Hebrew language symbols
Name of the above symbols
Meaning found in the above symbols
Pictorial meaning of the word.

May YHVH bless you..and keep you…YHVH make His face..shineto you (upon you)and be gracious to youYHVH lift upHis countenanceto youand give youpeace.

 It could also be read this way:

YHWH, the head of the house with His own work 
strengthens His own hand

by His work He binds and overpowers the destroyer 
using the authority in His hand

YHWH, the Chief Ruler, He secures life and order, 
His teaching strengthens,

His work secures the hedge of strengthening life-

YHWH’s strong pressing hand lifts up, His work adds living utterance,

He strengthens authority, His hand destroys chaos,

His authority covers destroying the authority attached to chaos.

And we have His Name written upon our hands too, represented as the letter shinis seen in the lines of our palms.

And finally His very Name,Yeshua is also written upon your right hand. (In Hebrew letters):

 the Yud ” י ” (thumb),

the Shin ” ש ” (index/middle/ring),

the Vav ” ו ” (baby)

and the Ayin ” ע ” (palm to wrist).

In Hebrew: Yeshua ישוע (Jesus) אֲדֹנָי .

So everytime we look at our hands during the day remember God specifically tells us that He will not forget us. In fact, He says He cannot forget us because every time He looks at His hands, He remembers us. He has engraved us on the palms of His hands as a reminder of us, as a reminder to us of how much He loves us, as a reminder of what He did because He loves us; and amazingly His Name is recorded on ours! Right palm out and centered over head is our affirmation of Yeshua/Jesus Name. Particularly this coming week, as it is the week leading up to Passover… let’s remember what He did for us recalling His Palms of promise.Of all weeks in the year this is a perfect time to share the gospel message and make certain your family and friends are saved.

 Please don’t leave this page without the certainty in your heart that you are ENGRAVED IN HIS PALM.NOT SURE?

SAY THE PRAYER AT BOTTOM OF PAGE.

See other posts for details on Passover and His Spring Appointed Times/Feasts.

Not Passing Over

A Final P.S. Hand Of God Spotted By NASAs NuSTAR Space Telescope!

Make 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 CERTAIN? 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 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.

https://www.minimannamoments.com/welcome-come-taste-some-bread-of-life-bread-from-heaven/life-changing-information-guaranteed/

IF….

…. Jesus/Yeshua Had Not Come… there would be no New Year according to the Gregorian calendar.

So-called because it was introduced in October 1582 by Pope Gregory Xlll, as a reform of the Julian calendar. It’s a solar-based calendar of 365 days, it was only adopted by Britain and its colonies 260 years ago! The biblically based lunar Calendar is the one still followed in Israel.It is 2018 only because of Jesus!

The year is dated because of His birth and even non believers reference His coming every time they say or write the year!

However if Jesus had not come our calendar would be as the calendar still is today in Israel counting from creation. According to that the year is 5778 but it would still be B.C.(Before Christ) or (AM = Anno Mundi meaning years since creation).Remembering that in Israel, the fall appointed time of Rosh Hashanah means “head of the year” and that’s why it’s called The Jewish New Year (also known as Yom Teruah and often translated as Feast of Trumpets.)

This is not at all like the New Years celebrations in the western world. It occurs on the first day of the 7th month of the year.

When the Israelites were in Egypt, the Lord changed the beginning of their year from the fall to the spring month of Nisan for Passover/Pesach to be the start of the spiritual year. (Exodus 12:1-2)

However, since Jewish tradition holds that the birth of the world took place in the fall, they kept the New Year observance where it was. So in effect, they are celebrating the world’s birthday on Rosh Hashanah and have a second beginning in the Spring Appointed Times. (The Seasons are represented as Cyclical not linear.)A very interesting point is, the Hebrew year 5778 coincides with 2018 on the Gregorian calendar and is significant because it was in the year 2018 BC (or AM) that God made the first covenant with Abraham. (This was 70 years after Abraham’s birth in 1948 BC (AM).

Then we see the new independent state of Israel was established by the UN in 1948 (Gregorian calendar), so 2018 will also be a 70 year time frame (or a generation, see Psalms 90:10) Just imagine, if Jesus had not come, the Bible would end at Malachi or if read in chronological order it would stop after 2 Chronicles.It would probably only be available in the Hebrew language and maybe still only on kosher scrolls.The complete set Hebrew Scrolls Tanakh

Among other things too numerous to mention or count: There would be no New Testament, no churches or denominations, no choirs, Christian charities, no Christmas trees, no carols and symphonies, no one would be born again and there would be no evangelists, no missionaries.No ‘communion’ (as in bread and wine celebration) outside of Passover, Pesach.This was celebrated as part of the commemoration of their liberation by God from slavery in ancient Egypt and their freedom and rebirth as a nation under the leadership of Moses. There would however still be the Holy Land and the children of Israel, the tribes and their descendants and the Jewish people. The term having come from the tribe of Judah – Yehudi – Judahite and shortened to Jew. It is written that all tribes will want to say they are from Judah collectively and not so much as individual tribes an example is Mordecai in the book of Esther, he was from the tribe of Benjamin but was known as Yehudi.That Hebrew language would be still intact as it is today and so is their faith that one day Messiah will come as promised in prophecy.

There would still bethere would still beTorah, Prophetic, Poetic and Historical Writings.

The history of God’s plan since creation would still be as it is.

How important is the old Testament then!

How foundational.

How significant are the Hebraic roots of our faith for they would stand even if Messiah had not come yet.

It makes one wonder if we would have converted to the faith of the Old Testament Patriarchs?

For if Jesus had not come we would be numbered among the heathen lost! 

Still the Jewish people would be, and are still, serving the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, celebrating the seven annual feasts, preparing and rehearsing for His promised appearing and keeping their covenant commandments.So what are we doing? Have we disregarded the Old Testament foundation in favor of ‘Penthouse’ believing? Are we guilty of thinking that somehow we are more ‘entitled’ by our new Testament faith in Jesus?

He came in fulfillment of the Jewish Scriptures not as a replacement, not instead of, but in addition to.A world without Jesus/Yeshua would be a world without born again believers, both Messianic Jews and Christian believers. No Christmas holiday or carols, no Turkey’s, presents or all the worlds commercialized accessories and distractions.

However we would still have the greater part of the Bible and could live by its instructions and guidance.The biggest obvious consideration is that our sins have to be paid for and that by a blood sacrifice.A life for a life. And the life is in the blood, so an innocent must die for each and every individual.

If Jesus had not come, believers in the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob would still be continuing to offer the necessary sacrifices today.

HoweverAnd by His life and death and resurrection, He fulfilled the promises in the bible of a coming Redeemer. One man’s life blood – God Himself, paid the price for our sins. Once for all and no more individual sacrifice is necessary.

However do we really comprehend it?

Do we appreciate it?

Do we understand it?

And do our lives reflect our appreciation and gratitude for what He did?

Or have we just grown accustomed and complacent with our faith and too easy-going in the gift of grace for the righteousness/ right-standing before the God of Heaven and earth?Do we have a deep remorse and hatred of the way we were before He graciously accepted us into the beloved. We are grafted in by His compassion He is calling the Goyim, the heathen, to be His own.Is living for our self the way we show Him our love? Is building our own reputation and kingdom/empire really part of His plan for us?

We aspire to be something, a somebody, to make a name for ourselves. It didn’t work out so well for those who tried it on the plains of shinar. Self-deception is subtle and is an easy slippery slope, the biggest problem being we don’t believe we are deceived or that we can be.

We help God out, because it’s taking too long or not going the way we want, we put words in His mouth, to justify our actions and decisions, and twist the truth of Scripture to fit our not so straight path.We use the tools of the world and its commerce to fulfill desires based on covetous, selfish ambition and aspire to a comfortable way of life.

Whatever we choose to believe will never change truth, for He said, I am the way the truth and the life.

For believers it should be His way or no way.

His way is clear, we are to live our lives as Jesus did and do the works of Him who called us and saved us.We are to preach the good news, make disciples, visit the prisoners and the sick, bring healing to them, deliver the oppressed, set spiritual captives free, feed the hungry, give to the poor, house the homeless, which of these did we do today? Which of these did we do this ChristmasWe are to bind up the brokenhearted, raise the dead, calm storms.

Christianity is not just a free ticket to heaven to then go ahead and live as we please. Grace is not free and neither is salvation, for we are set free to serve Him and further His kingdom, not ourselves in our own.If Jesus had not come we may have something of a legitimate excuse, that we don’t know any better but He did come and so we are without excuse.

As we begin 2018 Anno Domini on the Gregorian calendar take a moment to think how it would be if Jesus had not come!Time is one of the greatest gifts we have been given. What we do with it will have a huge impact on our final destination.

This time of year people make resolutions to improve their lifestyles, let us start learning to live in His presence, and to operate out of His shalom, where love abides and faith matures.

If God was in a hurry He would have not said over 2000 years ago, ‘I’m coming soon’.

He exists outside of our time and space and that is hard for us to comprehend.

We live our lives by the clock and without realizing it, it can bring us into bondage.

But in due season. Gal 4:4

But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, Romans 5:6. For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.

We will be accountable for how we spent the time we have been given according to 2.Cor. 5:10

 It is a phrase that has the connotations of ‘satisfaction.’ Abraham died as a man at peace with himself, at peace with God and at peace with the world. He was contented with all that God had done with him and in him, at an old age that was good and mature and content. In verse7 ‘Now these are the days of the years of Abraham which he lived.’ For it implies that he had lived every day to the full in the will of God not one day was wasted of the days that had been given him. According to The JPS Torah Commentary on Genesis, the meaning of this phrase in Genesis 25:8 is “old and contented.” The commentary continues, “Such a summation of a life is found with no other personality in biblical literature. The phrase describes not his longevity, which is otherwise mentioned, but the quality of his earthly existence.”

And also in Job 42:17 so Job died, being old and full of days /years.

The civil year of 5778 according to Israel began in October at Rosh Hashanah and the spiritual new year according to scripture, begins in April at Passover with the sacrificial death of an innocent lamb.  As we go forward into ‘2018’ and continue in 5778, let any resolution we make begin with a grateful heart of thanks that HE CAME; and let the number of this year reminds us how long ago that was.Let’s try to remember that, ‘New Beginnings’ come from the Grace of God, not from dates or resolutions.

That they come from His Mercies, that are new each day. Not the day itself.

Let the next year be 365 days be FULL according to the will of God for us.

It may not be what we wanted to hear but its what we need to hear!

It’s a rallying call to the troops, time to renew our commitment to the Lord. It’s an alarm bell to wake up the sleeping ‘ecclesia’, we are the ‘called out ones.’

For the day is far spent.. Luke 24:29 Now is the time to let Him in, to abide with us and your salvation/redemption is nearer now than when you first believed. Rom 13:11

The times are serious and so is God!

Then as we realize Jesus did come, let’s make this year one where our resolution is; to spend more time in His presence and in doing His will. Fulfilling His plans and purposes instead of our own.

Let’s not be too busy this year. God is obviously not in a hurry, He has no daily rush hours. He is not driven, desperate or in a panic and looking for a way to make things happen!His presence is now, believing in faith is for now.

Today is the day of salvation, so share the gospel with that person you keep meaning to!

He is the ever present God. I am that I am.

He is Jehovah Shalom.

He moves, acts and abides in Shalom. Where there is nothing missing or broken.

He doesn’t rush through life.

He is life.

It is impossible to live life as we were meant to live it, if we are too busy rushing around.

We are too busy because of the decisions we have made, that brought us to where we are at this moment.

So this year we have an opportunity to make decisions that will enable us to be less busy. It’s our choice.

Choose this day.. choose life.  The treasures revealed from His Word, are not simply for information but include messages to be lived and ways to develop a relationship with the Father.

They are to be experienced which is the most important aspect. Let God impress upon our hearts the precious truths which are essential to the life of every believer who truly desires to follow Jesus/Yeshua our Messiah.

Lets pray that we comprehend all that it means to be a disciple. And as we learn about Him, let our central focus be, to know Him and the power of His resurrection in our personal relationship with Him, for we are required to apply His words to our lives, daily.

Thank God Jesus Came!

May His Shalom surround guard and keep you year in and year out!

 

Who Lights Up OUR Life?

Its that season again everywhere we look there are lights!Even in the nations in the southern hemisphere, where Christmas is in the summer season, there are still lights to celebrate the ONE,

 WHO WAS and IS and always will be, the light of the world. Jesus, whose Hebrew Name is Yeshua.

The birth of the Messiah over 2000 years ago is what we remember at this time of the year.

It is the celebration that heralded salvation for mankind, which was prophesied 700 years before inand fulfilled in 

Matthew 4:12-17; Mark 1:14-15; Luke 4:14-15)

There is another ‘Festival of Lights’, at this time in Israel’s Calendar; called by a Hebrew word, phonetically transliterated as both, Chanukah or Hanukkah.

The Hebrew word means ‘dedication’ and is therefore also called the Feast of Dedication.

Although Chanukah/Hanukkah is thought of by most as an exclusively Jewish holiday found in the Old Testament, in reality the only place it is mentioned is in the Gospel of John 10:22,23

‘At that time it was the Feast of Dedication in Jerusalem, it was winter, and Yeshua/Jesus was walking in the temple, on Solomon’s porch.’So it would seem the most famous person ever to celebrate the festival of Chanukkah was Jesus, the one who is the light of our lives.We all called to be the light of the world and not hide it under bushes or anything else for that matter!

so lets take a look at what Chanukkah is and how it involves a menorah!
In a nutshell, Hanukkah is historical and documents record that the first Chanukah/Hanukkah Was performed on the 25th of Kislev in 164 BC.

This feast commemorates the Jewish peoples freedom from Greek rule and the purification and rededication of God’s house, the Temple in Jerusalem in 164 BC.

This victory climaxed with the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem in 164BC Not surprisingly Israel’s national symbol on their parliament building the knesset and their National Seal is the seven branched menorah.

It was described in Exodus and stood in the Holy place and it’s not the star of David symbol, that is usually associated with the nation.Israel is called to be a light to the nations. Are we living a life full of light?Are we constantly filled and refilled with Holy oil, so we can stand in the Holy place in worship and then take the light to those around us?It’s our heritage and our national calling to live life as a holy menorah of the Lord.Jesus said, ‘I am the light of the world’; and we are to let the light of His indwelling presence shine forth and then, He can draw all people to Himself Hebrews 1:9.

We must be filled up with the oil of His Holy Spirit and the fire of His will must burn brightly in every one of us.Olive oil symbolizes knowledge of Torah which provides spiritual illumination. We are to be the heavenly light in the world’s darkness.Whether you are Jewish or not, if you are born again you are grafted into the Olive tree of Israel you are a citizen and a part of Israel.   Ephesians 2:14, 15Whether you know it,

or believe it,

or not;

that’s what the Scriptures say.Jesus was Jewish, descended from the children of Israel. You cannot separate Him from His roots, any more than we can deny our own families heritage, or the Judaeo-Christian/Hebrew roots of our faith.Hanukkah is a time to appreciate all we have to be thankful for.We express our thanksgiving to God for protecting us and providing for our needs.Chanukah begins on the twenty-fifth day of the Jewish month of Kislev. The Jewish calendar is primarily based on the lunar cycle, and its dates fluctuate with respect to other calendar systems.Thus the first day of Chanukah can fall anywhere between November 28th and December 26th. this year it , begins at sundown on Tuesday, 12 December 2017. The Jewish festival of rededication, also known as the Festival of Lights and the feast of dedication and It is referred to one time in Scripture in the Gospel of John 10:22,23Both Christmas and Chanukah are actually known as the “Festival of Lights.”  The focus of each holiday is about God showing His salvation and supernatural miracles that lasted eight days and continues to illuminate our lives even now.For believers, Christmas celebrates the miraculous virgin birth of Jesus/Yeshua, the Light of the World, who was born to save the world from their sins.

Mary and Joseph were traveling to Bethlehem to register during a Roman census, and the shepherds still had their flocks out by night (Lk.2:1-8). Shepherds would likely not have had their flocks out at night in December because it is too cold, which is an interesting point.

(food for thought!)It’s also unlikely that any ruler would compel people to travel many miles mostly on foot or riding animals, to register for a census when the likelihood of bad weather would have made such an effort self-defeating. Some scholars say it is possible that Jesus was born on one the appointed festival dates, likely in the fall around the time of Sukkot, and not in the winter, as His coming then and in the future are in fulfillment of the promises foreshadowed in the annual cycle of feasts of the Lord. (All 7 Feasts are discussed in earlier posts.)

 However, the history of Chanukah is very interesting because it celebrates two miracles:

Chanukah celebrates the miraculous salvation of Israel as a tiny group of Israelites liberated the Temple from the mighty army of a vast Greek empire 164 years before Messiah Jesus/Yeshua’s birth. The second miracle was God’s provision of Holy oil for the Temple Menorah.

If the Jews had been wiped out during the warfare, the Messiah would not have been born, which in itself is a great reason to celebrate.

This 2nd century BCE victory of a small, greatly outnumbered and out-armed army of Jews, known as the “Maccabees,” over the mighty Greek army that occupied the Holy Land. The rebellion was in response to the Greek attempt to force a Hellenistic Godless lifestyle on the Jewish inhabitants of Israel.

The Maccabean Revolt was a Jewish rebellion, lasting from 167 to 160 BC, led by the Maccabees against the Seleucid Empire and the Hellenistic influence on Jewish life.The name Maccabee may come from the Hebrew word for hammer, or for hitting. It is also an acrostic for Mi Kamocha Ba-Elim Hashem! (Who is like You among the mighty, O God!) In the Hebrew, Chanukah is pronounced with the letter chet. The chet’s “ch” sound is not enunciated like the “ch” in child; rather it’s a guttural, throaty sound—like the “ch” in Johann Bach—which does not have an English equivalent. The letter “H” is the closest, but it’s not really it. So while some people spell and pronounce it “Chanukah” and others settle for “Hanukkah,” they really are one and the same.Chanukah means “dedication” or “induction.” Following their victory over the Greeks, the Maccabees rededicated the Holy Temple and its altar, which had been desecrated and defiled by the pagan invaders.

The word Chanukah can also be divided into two: Chanu—they rested, and Kah—which has the numerical value of 25. On the twenty-fifth day of the Hebrew month of Kislev the Maccabees rested from their battle, and triumphantly marched into the Holy Temple in Jerusalem, ready to rededicate it.

The chanukkah menorah has 9 branches for lights the weekly Shabbat Sabbath menorah has 7 branches for lights. In addition to the eight main lights, the menorah has an extra helper candle called the “Shamash.” Since the Shamash does not count as one of the eight regular lights, your menorah should have the Shamash set apart in some way ― either placed higher than the other candles, or off to the side.On each of the eight days of Chanukah, the menorah is lit, a nine-branched candelabra, after nightfall (aside for Friday afternoon, when the candles are lit shortly before sunset). On the first night kindle one light plus the shamash (attendant or servant candle), on the second night kindle two lights plus the shamash, and so continue until the eighth night when all eight lights are kindled, plus the shamash. The menorah lights can be either candles, or oil and wicks.

The ninth candle is called the ‘shamash’, ‘servant’ or ‘attendant’ candle. It is used to light the other ones.This is significant as representing Jesus who as Servant and the Light of the world lights every other light.

Around 170 BC the Greeks under Antiochus the 4th Epiphanies, desecrated the temple

by sacrificing a pig at the altar. Idols were set up in its courts and it became in effect a pagan temple filled with degradation.Antiochus tried to eliminate Judaism, not so much by killing the Jews as by forbidding the practice of Judaism.. Reading Torah was forbidden, along with circumcision, honouring the Sabbath, and celebrating the seasons of the Lord. In 167 BC a priest by the name of Mattityahu Hasmonea started guerrilla warfare along with his sons and a few followers.As previously noted, his motto was from Exodus 15:11; Who is like you Lord among the gods? Mi camokha ba’elim Adona’y.

The initials of those words spell Maccabee which is the name that was later applied to Judas and his followers. Although spelt differently in Hebrew, their Hebrew word for hammer sounds like Maccabee. Therefore he was called the hammer, so the books of Maccabees history written in the apocrypha were about their successful wars. In 164 BC they took over the Temple.This was the first war fought over a principal, religious freedom, and was the first successful guerrilla war. And they drove out the invaders.

The Temple had been defiled and desecrated during the Greek rule but once the Maccabees recaptured it, they needed to repair cleanse and re-dedicate the Temple right away that is why it is called the Feast of Dedication.They removed the idols, cleansed its courts, repaired its chambers, restored its vessels, and went to rekindled its holy lampstand in preparation to rededicate it to God. The kindling of a seven-branched Menorah (candelabra) was an important component of the daily service in the Holy Temple.But a problem arose on that joyous day!

When the Maccabees liberated the Temple from the hands of the Greek invaders, they found only a small cruse of pure and undefiled olive oil fit for fueling the Menorah.

Dedication is an eight-day process that requires the use of sanctified oil for the menorah in the holy place, first room of the sanctuary. Tradition says that they could only find one day supply of oil, and it would take eight days to produce new pure oil. Rather than wait eight days to sanctify more, they began the temple sanctification process with a one-day supply. The Lord through a creative miracle made that one day supply last for eight days. For this reason and it is also called the Festival of lights.   

That gave the priests enough time to make more oil.
Historical documents record that the first Chanukah/Hanukkah Was performed on the 25th of Kislev in 164 BC.

This feast commemorates the Jewish peoples freedom from Greek rule and the purification and rededication of God’s house, the Temple in Jerusalem in 164 BC.This victory climaxed with the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem in 164BC.God has another sanctuary another Holy dwelling place He has created for His Presence. Each of us was created to be the dwelling place of God’s presence, the Holy sanctuary /Temple of his glory.

Man was created to be God’s temple but now the world is filled with the sanctuary /temples of desecration. Every life is made to be a sanctuary /temple filled with God’s presence but without God’s presence we become a sanctuary /temple desecrated, defiled, darkened, filled with idols, a sanctuary /temple created to be Holy but fallen from its true purpose.

We are to open the doors of our life and let God come in. We are to let him take out our idols, cleanse our impurities, restore our purpose, right at the heart, and fill our life with His presence. And when we rededicate and re-consecrate the sanctuary /temple to God, He will fill it with His Glory. Then, when we become the sanctuary /temple of God, life, our life becomes Chanukah/Hanukkah.

Ezek. 36:25–27; Jn. 10:22,23; 1Cor.3:16; 2 Cor. 6:16–7:1

The festival of lights commemorates the victory of God’s people over evil. There’s more to it, as it contains mystery. It’s not only a commemoration but a prophetic shadow.

It begins when an evil king set up an idol in the Holy place, causing the desecration of the temple, the abomination desolation.Messiah Jesus, speaks of an abomination desolation yet to come in the last days. So Chanukah contains a prophetic blueprint of that which will take place at the end of the age.

The account begins with the apostasy of God’s people. The people who know God and who were to keep His ways, even His ministers, turned away from God, and embraced the weight of the Godless and so it is now, the current spirit of the age.

And so it will be in the last days. There will be a great falling away, a great apostasy. The account goes on to document the rise of a world culture that seeks to merge all cultures into one and to compel everyone to abandon their faith. Any culture, Faith, people, or person, that stands in its way, it seeks to stamp out.

So it will be at the end of the age, a global culture, and the persecution of God’s people, a civilization that criminalizes the ways of God, abolishes the word of God, overturns the order of God, blasphemes the name of God, desecrated the sacred things of God and wars against the people of God, so it will be at the end days.Back then, even though most went along with the apostasy and the darkness; there was a remnant, who would not go along with it, who held strong and they became the resistance, the Maccabees. God anointed them and empowered them to overcome the darkness and to let in the light, so it is the Festival of lights.

We need to learn the Maccabee blueprint and follow its keys!

When we light the lights of the Menorah, during this weeks festival, this is how we overcome.

We fight the darkness by shining into it, the light of God; we stand with Him and will not be moved. We fight the fight by lighting up the darkness.

Dan. 11:32; Zech. 9:1314; Eph. 6:10–20; Rev. 12:11.
Jesus

Yeshua

is the Light that cannot be hidden.The Scriptures attest that Yeshua is the true Light (אוֹר אֱמֶת) that comes from eternity to give light and revelation for all mankind:

הָאוֹר הָאֲמִתִּי הַמֵּאִיר לְכָל־אָדָם
בָּא אֶל־הָעוֹלָם

ha’ohr · ha’amiti · ha’me’ir · lekhol · adam
ba · el · ha’olam

“[This is] the true light that shines to all men
who come into the world”
(John 1:9)

῏Ην τὸ φῶς τὸ ἀληθινόν, ὃ φωτίζει πάντα ἄνθρωπον
ἐρχόμενον εἰς τὸν κόσμον 

In the Gospel of John it is recorded that Yeshua said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (i.e., ᾽Εγώ εἰμι ἡ ὁδὸς καὶ ἡ ἀλήθεια καὶ ἡ ζωή). The Greek word translated “truth” in this verse is aletheia (ἀλήθεια), a compound word formed from an alpha prefix (α-) meaning “not,” and lethei (λήθη), meaning “forgetfulness.” (In Greek mythology, the “waters of Lethe” induced a state of oblivion or forgetfulness.)

Truth is therefore a kind of “remembering” something forgotten, or a recollecting of what is essentially real.  Etymologically, the word aletheia suggests that truth is also “unforgettable” (i.e., not lethei), that is, it has its own inherent and irresistible “witness” to reality. People may lie to themselves, but ultimately the truth has the final word… “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:5). Greek scholars note that the word lethei itself is derived from the verb lanthano (λανθάνω), which means “to be hidden,” so the general idea is that a-letheia (i.e., truth) is non-concealment, non-hiddenness, or (put positively) revelation or disclosure.  Thus the word of Yeshua – His message, logos (λόγος), revelation, and presence – is both “unforgettable” and irrepressible.

Jesus/Yeshua is the Unforgettable One that has been manifest as the express Word of God (דְּבַר הָאֱלהִים).

Jesus/Yeshua is the Light of the world (אוֹר הָעוֹלָם) and the one who gives us the “light of life” (John 8:12). Though God’s message can be suppressed by evil and darkened thinking, the truth is regarded as self-evident and full of intuitive validation. (see Rom. 1:18-21).The Hebrew word for truth (i.e., emet: אֱמֶת) comes from a verb (aman) that means to “support” or “make firm.”  There are a number of derived nouns that connote the sense of reliability or assurance (e.g., pillars of support). The noun emunah (i.e, אֱמוּנָה, “faithfulness” or “trustworthiness”) comes from this root, as does the word for the “faithful ones” (אֱמוּנִים) who are “established” in God’s way (Psalm 12:1).

A play on words regarding truth occurs in the prophet Isaiah: אִם לא תַאֲמִינוּ כִּי לא תֵאָמֵנוּ / im lo ta’aminu, ki lo tei’amenu: “If you are not firm in faith, you will not be firm at all” (Isa. 7:9; so Faith Establishes the Sign). Without trust in the LORD, there is no stability… Truth is something trustworthy, reliable, firm, certain or sure.  In colloquial English, for example, this idea is conveyed when we say, “He’s a true friend…”, indicating that the loyalty and love of the person is certain. The familiar word “amen” likewise comes from this root. Speaking the truth (dibbur emet) is considered foundational to moral life: “Speak the truth (דַּבְּרוּ אֱמֶת) to one another; render true and perfect justice in your gates” (Zech. 8:16).

Jesus/Yeshua repeatedly said, “Amen, Amen I say to you….” throughout His teaching ministry, to stress the reliability and certainty of God’s truth (Matt. 5:18, 26, etc.). Indeed,

Jesus/Yeshua is called “the Amen, the faithful and true witness” (Rev. 3:14).

The relationship between the Hebrew and the Greek ideas seems to be that the revelation of God – the aletheia – is reliable and strong. The source for all truth in the universe is found in the Person and character of the LORD God of Israel. The self-disclosure of the LORD is unforgettable – both in the factual and moral sense – as well as entirely trustworthy. Aletheia implies that truth is something that should never be forgotten. Hence we are regularly commanded and encouraged not to “forget” the LORD (Deut. 8:11, Psalm 103:2, etc.), to “remember” His covenants, to “keep” His ways, to “guard” His precepts, and so on.During this Chanukah Season, and always, may the LORD God of Israel help us walk in the unforgettable and irrepressible radiance of His glory.

May God help us shine with good works that glorify God’s Name (Matt. 5:16). “For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness’ (יְהִי אוֹר וַיְהִי־אוֹר), has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the Glory of God in the face of Jesus/Yeshua the Messiah” (2 Cor. 4:6).
כִּי־עִמְּךָ מְקוֹר חַיִּים
בְּאוֹרְךָ נִרְאֶה־אוֹר

ki · im·me·kha · me·kor · cha·yim
be·or·kha · nir·eh · ohr

“For with You is the fountain of life;
in Your light do we see Light”
(Psalm 36:9)There seems to be some confusion surrounding the actual spelling of Chanukah. Part of the reason for this confusion may be due to the fact there is no exact English translation of the Hebrew word for Chanukah.

mmm received numerous emails requesting whether these different spellings might also be different holidays. To help clear up some of the confusion here are a number of the different spellings one might encounter Chanuka; Chanukah; Chanukkah; Channukah;  Hanukah; Hannukah; Hanukkah; Hanuka; Hanukka;  Hanaka; Haneka; Hanika; Khanukkah

While in the West, the most common spellings are “CHANUKAH” or “HANUKAH“, rest assured that they are all the same celebration.

Whether lighting the lights or not, Happy Hanukkah to every reader!More details can be found on last years posts at

https://www.minimannamoments.com/chanukah-or-hanukkah/

Hanukkah/Chanukah and Believers Today

Hanukkah/Chanukah and Believers Today