WHAT DID JOHN SEE THAT WE MISSED?

WHAT DID JOHN SEE THAT WE MISSED?

As this week began with Resurrection Day, let’s say, (or sing) with Job, ‘For I know that my Redeemer liveth’ and echo the statement in 2Timothy 2:12 ‘For I know whom I have believed.’

Turn up the volume and take a moment to immerse your soul in His presence…. 

The 16th Nisan was the 2nd day of the week of Passover/ Pesach/Unleavened Bread Chag HaMazot and continues for 7 days (vs.18 In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at even, you shall eat unleavened bread, until the one and twentieth day of the month at even.)

16 Nisan was also 1st day of the Omer: (click link https://www.minimannamoments.com/counting-our-blessings-with-omer/or see the very bottom of the Homepage for more).

Here is the extra study as mentioned in the post ‘In His Deaths’, as this whole Passover week we are celebrating the fact that He is Risen;

He is Alive forevermore and…

An important note concerning the content of this post.

Readers who have been following mmm over the previous 15 months are aware that we are concerned not to pass on information just for the wow effect alone. This site is for scriptural informational subject matter and not sensational and because of this MMM takes extra time to ensure the accuracy of the material shared plus the reliability of each source.

For some years a very meaningful and poignant story has been ‘doing the rounds’ with some slight variations at each retelling; and the intention was to add it as a paragraph at the end of last weeks post. Even though initially some stories may sound wonderful, in the long term they do not aid in the maturing of our faith. It is the truth that will make us free. MMM heart is to share those truths and not to mislead or misdirect in anyway and it is not our intention to perpetuate any inaccuracies if at all possible. MMM decided to do due diligence before publishing.

Interestingly in the process of confirming the material included, some surprising information was revealed. The findings are presented below in a post of its own for your consideration and all readers are encouraged to be like Bereans recorded in Acts 17:11 check it out for yourselves.

Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.

While many today might say they were being critical or judgmental, Luke commended the Bereans for wanting to make sure that what they were being taught was biblical. Many of the details in focus are not critical to our salvation but rather enhance our understanding of scripture content.

As Solomon said there is nothing new under the sun, it is only new to us because we haven’t heard it before.

…because He is alive.. we live.

This week highlights that this is, THE message, of hope, freedom and eternal life. If we live as He taught us, ‘His deaths’, have made us resurrection recipients. He completed the work He came to do. We live because He is Risen and the cross and the tomb were and are empty…except for what did John see that we missed….it may not be what we thought!

The tomb… the shroud…. A folded cloth.. Was it Jesus’s Prayer Shawl/Yeshua’s tallit?

First we need to set the scene:

The preparation for the burial was initiated by Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea.

It was risky to ask for the body as a crucified criminal was denied a proper burial and unceremoniously tossed into a mass grave which was little more than a trench or ditch.

Joseph of Arimathea already had a brand new tomb cut in preparation for himself as he was a wealthy man.

He was a secret disciple who did not consent to the Sanhedrin condemning Yeshua. Nicodemus was a Pharisee a member of the ruling council and also a secret follower of Yeshua.

 He offered his tomb and they brought a burial shroud

and linensLinen strips

and about 75lbs (100 lbs in KJV) of myrrh and aloes in which to wrap Messiahs body.

This was a huge amount this much was usually only used for burying Royalty.

To understand where we are headed… first some pictures are included of the wrapping of a body according to Jewish custom old and modern.

This will aid in visualizing what John saw. Before the Diaspora they did not use coffins so the body shape is very obvious.

There are some pictures showing the way we thought it was. The way we assumed it was, and the way it more than likely was.

ציצת

Prayer Shawl and Bible Manners and Customs

The Prayer Shawl, (aka. tallis, tallit, talis) is a religious symbol, a garment, shroud, canopy, cloak which envelops the Jew both physically and spiritually, in prayer and celebration, in joy and sorrow.

While some other Jewish garments or objects might be treated more casually, the tallit is a special personal effect, generally used for many years or a lifetime and never discarded. Most Jewish men (and some women) own very few tallitot in their lifetimes.

Knotted Tachrichim

A threadbare tallit is treated with great respect, as if it had a mantle of holiness, acquired from years of use. Although there is no mandatory tradition, in Conservative, reform, and otherwise non- religious families a tallit, as well as tefillin, is likely to be given as a special gift, from father to son, from father-in-law to son-in-law, or from teacher to student. It might be purchased to mark a special occasion, such as a wedding, a bar/bat mitzvah, or a trip to Israel. When a man dies, it is traditional that he be buried dressed only in his kittel, with his tallit is draped over him.

Anyone attending an orthodox synagogue today will see that the men are all wearing prayer shawls. It is a very important part of Jewish life and would have been in the life of Jesus /Yeshua too..

It is used at all major Jewish occasions: circumcisions, bar mitsvahs, weddings and burials. It protects the scrolls of the Torah when they are moved.

They are wrapped in it when they are buried.After a ritual washing of the body, called taharah it is dressed in a kittel (shroud) tachrichim and then a tallit.

Before the tallit is placed on a body for burial, one of the sets of fringes, the tzitzit, is cut off to demonstrate that the person is no longer bound by the religious obligations of the living.

In the Land of Israel, burial is without a casket, and the kittel and tallith are the only coverings for the corpse. In addition to tahrihim, the shroud, some Jews are wrapped in the prayer shawl (tallit) in which they prayed.

Every tallit is tied with four sets of knotted fringes (tzizit), which symbolize the commandment (mitzvot) incumbent upon Jews.

Meaning of the knots and zitzit.

Back to Jesus’s/Yeshua’s burial.

He was laid in Josephs tomb

 The stone was rolled in front of the entrance

often needing 4 or more men to move it

The tomb was sealed

close up of wax seals

and Roman soldiers guarded the entrance until there was an earthquake and the soldiers were in fear for what they saw.

John 20:1 Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came early to the tomb, while it was still dark, and saw the stone already taken away from the tomb.

Matthew 28:1 Now after the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to look at the grave.

Matthew 28:2 And behold, a severe earthquake had occurred, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled away the stone and sat upon it.

 John 20:1 and Mark 16:3 They were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?” think they should’ve remembered the words of our Lord and simply trusted Him.

Meanwhile, the women who stayed at the Tomb, went into the Tomb to investigate it, and they met the angel sitting inside the Tomb!

Matthew 28:5-8: But the angel answered and said to the women, Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified.

HE IS NOT HERE; for HE IS RISEN, as He said. Come, SEE the PLACE WHERE the LORD LAY. 
And go quickly and tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead, and indeed He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him. Behold, I have told you. So they WENT OUT quickly FROM the TOMB with fear and great joy, and ran to bring His disciples word

 Mark 16:5-8 records the same event: ENTERING the TOMB, they SAW a young man clothed in a long white robe SITTING ON THE RIGHT SIDE; and they were alarmed. But he said to them, Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. HE is RISEN! He is NOT HERE. SEE the PLACE WHERE they LAID Him. But go, tell His disciples, and Peter, that He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him, as He said to you. So they WENT OUT quickly and fled FROM the TOMB, for they trembled and were amazed. And they (initially) said nothing to anyone for they were afraid.

These passages give us some very specific information about the Tomb, which shows that it was not entirely typical for its time. Mark 16:5 says that as they entered they saw the angel (who looked like a young man) SITTING ON THE RIGHT SIDE. This is a very significant statement, for it reveals the layout of the Tomb, a layout that is unusual for a First Century Tomb. Normally, you would walk through the entrance into the Weeping Chamber,and then you would go down further into the Grave area, which would straight ahead, just as with Lazarus’s tomb in Bethany,  but in this case, the angel, who was sitting by the Place where Jesus was laid, was on the right hand side, as they entered through the Doorway into the Weeping Chamber. It was only because of this arrangement that later on from the door, John could see the grave-clothes where He lay. 

The Arrival of the Second Group of women led by Joanna: It is Luke, (who tells the story from Joanna’s viewpoint), who describes the arrival of the 2nd Group of women at the Tomb. They had come from Herod’s Palace, and arrived just after the others had left in a hurry, after their encounter with the angel.

Luke 24:1,2: Now on the 1st day of the week (Sunday), very early in the morning, they (the women described in Luke 23:55,56), and certain other women with them (under Joanna).

 Looking at the Garden Tomb above, (and also next picture), there’s a small window in the upper right-hand face of the Tomb, above the modern block-stone. It was cut into the Rock-Face as an original feature of the Tomb, when it was first built. It is too narrow to be another entrance.This was a nephesh (lit. “soul” hole), through which, by Jewish tradition, the spirit of the dead departed after 3 days in the Tomb. The morning sunlight shining through this window illuminated the Tomb, so that Peter and John could see into what otherwise would have been a dark Tomb interior.

So, because of the light shining through the window, as they stood at the door and looked to the right, they would have clearly seen where Christ had been laid. They saw His grave cloths lying by themselves where His body had been, but there was no body. They could see the Tomb was empty. 

When Peter and John (who, most scholars agree, was “the other disciple”) heard the excited report of Mary Magdalene, they rushed to the tomb. John “outran Peter and reached the tomb first.

He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there, but did not go in” (John 20:4-5).

John looked into the tomb, but did not enter. The Greek word used here for “look” is blepo, “which denotes simple sight” [Dr. Alvah Hovey, An American Commentary on the NT, p. 396], as distinguished from a deeper perception of that which is seen by the eyes.

In other words, John’s eyes saw what was before him, but he didn’t yet fully grasp “how to interpret the phenomenon” [The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, vol. 9, p. 189].

Peter, on the other hand, when he got to the scene, went immediately into the tomb, and “he saw the strips of linen lying there, as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus’ head. The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen” (John 20:6-7, NIV).

Peter “saw” — this is the Greek word theoreo, meaning “to gaze upon, contemplate, consider; to view with interest and attention; to come to a knowledge of” [The Analytical Greek Lexicon of the NT, p. 194].

It was a “closer and more careful, vivid, and instructive gaze” than that of John [The Pulpit Commentary, vol. 17, pt. 2, p. 465].

John glanced at the scene; Peter gazed at it.

“The bolder Peter is rewarded with bright evidence of what had happened” [Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Practical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, p. 1076].

“The change of word seems to have been intentional. Peter’s survey of the tomb was more searching and exact than that of John” [Dr. Hovey, p. 396].The Tomb and its contents could have been for the disciples to believe because we are told in John 20:9

“Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed; for as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that He must rise from the dead.

Then the disciples went back to their homes” (John 20:8-10). Like Peter, John now “saw” — which resulted in belief. This is yet a third Greek word employed in this passage: eidov (a form of horao), meaning “to perceive; to observe with understanding.”

We see a powerful progression here from seeing to scrutinizing and contemplating to understanding, which then results in belief. Peter and John were still struggling with the events of the past few days, and their faith was not yet firm, as they still had questions and doubts, but they could not deny the reality of what was before their eyes: Jesus was not just away, He was arisen!

There was something in the scene before them that convicted them of this truth: not just an empty tomb, but something to do with the burial garments, proclaimed a powerful, convincing message of resurrection.

What exactly was the message of the garments they found within the tomb of our Lord that morning of the first day of the week?

With regard to the ‘burial clothes’ of our Lord, there were two different parts. 

First, we find the “strips of linen” (NIV) that were used to wrap the body of Jesus. The practice at that time was to take a number of strips of cloth and wrap the body with these strips, binding it up much like a mummy.

“Aromatic spices were strewn between the layers of linen, and these layers, one wound over the other, were numerous, so that all those spices could be held between them” [R.C.H. Lenski, The Interpretation of St. John’s Gospel, p. 1342].

This would have greatly limited the movement of the body (although few expected a dead body to actually move)!

We see this in the coming forth from the tomb of Lazarus. When he came out, “his hands and feet were wrapped with strips of linen, and he had a cloth around his face.” Therefore, Jesus said, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go” (John 11:44). 

Secondly, as noted in the account of the resurrection of Lazarus, there was, in addition to the body wrappings, a covering for the face/head. The Greek word used for this item is soudarion, and it is used in both John 11:44 and 20:7. It denoted “a headcovering for the dead” [The New Strong’s Expanded Dictionary of Bible Words, p. 1372].

It was a “piece of cloth, a yard or so square” [Dr. James Hastings, Dictionary of Christ and the Gospels, vol. 2, p. 226], that was used to wrap around the head of the deceased: a head shroud. A picture of just such a head cloth can be seen in the accompanying picture.When Peter, and then later John, entered the tomb they found something intriguing about these burial garments: something so utterly astounding that it erased their doubts and established their faith in our Lord’s resurrection from the dead.

They did not see the body of Jesus; but they did see the grave clothes…. And they saw the clothes in a certain order. 

John covers the exact arrangement of the clothes. It is the sole purpose of nine verses of the Gospel history. Why so great a detailed account? It was the linen strips that caused him to believe. Scripture clearly tells us that when John “saw the arrangement of the grave clothes, he believed, beyond all doubt, that Jesus was risen.”

These grave garments were arranged in a unique way. When John saw “the linen clothes lying,” he believed. The word “lying” does not merely refer to the fact that they were “remaining on the floor of the sepulcher,” but rather, the word used, means that they were 

“lying precisely as the body had lain in them.” 

The grave clothes were in exactly the position the body had occupied.

They “saw the strips of linen lying there, as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus’ head. The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen” (John 20:7, NIV).   In reading this statement, we may not find much to astound us; but, most translations have not really captured, in their English rendering of the text, what Peter and John were beholding and perceiving in that tomb. Indeed, in some translations, the wording is even misleading.

For example, there are a few versions where the face/head wrap is referred to as a “napkin”, the sort used to wipe the mouth while eating a meal. (King James VersionAmerican Standard VersionRevised Standard VersionYoung’s Literal TranslationNew English Bible).

These are major translations that have greatly influenced our religious language. Another unfortunate rendering of the Greek term is “handkerchief” (New King James VersionDarby Translation, the modern translation by J. B. Phillips, and even the version by Hugo McCord).

Most versions, however, simply render the Greek term as “the wrapping” or “the cloth.” The words “napkin” and “handkerchief” leave the wrong impression in our minds, and can lead to some strange interpretations (such as the alternate story/account/eRumor, making the rounds on the Internet in which a “folded napkin at the dinner table” is supposed to convey to a servant that the master is coming back –

As mmm heart is for truth and no evidence was found to coroborate the reference to the napkin at the dinner table; only that (“2000 yrs ago as there was no such Jewish custom in that day; such “dinner napkins” were not even used by rough fishermen, and a number of Orthodox Jewish rabbis and scholars in Jerusalem, when questioned about this, stated they had never even heard of such a thing”).   It may have been a custom of the Roman Elites and of Royals. The way of life, lack of internal plumbing and European/western etiquette are things we take for granted but it was not as we are today; and many countries are still struggling for the basic necessities of life. Our Greek mind set and mistranslations may have helped to paint a not so accurate picture. 

Presented below are some referenced studies from original texts, which reveal a truly amazing possibility!

This was not a napkin or handkerchief, but as already stated it was probably either rather a large linen cloth that was wrapped around the head of the deceased and/or His tallit.

Some translators also did not serve their readers well by translating the Greek word entulisso as “folded” (New International VersionDarby TranslationEnglish Standard VersionHolman Christian Standard BibleNew Century VersionNew King James VersionNew Living Translation, and a few others).

Most translations have “wrapped up” or “rolled up.” The Greek word entulisso only appears three times in the NT (Matt. 27:59; Luke 23:53; John 20:7). The word itself means “to roll up; to wrap together” [Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon of the NT, p. 219].

The picture above may not be exactly what they saw… the one below maybe nearer the reality..

So it was Not This…

But this is what they saw!!!!

“It implies that the cloth had been wound around the head into the shape of a sphere and not folded flat like a table napkin. In the NT this word is used only in the description of Jesus’ entombment” [The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, vol. 9, p. 189].

Thus, the text is actually suggesting that what Peter and John saw was NOT a “folded napkin,” but rather the head shroud still in its “wrapped up” condition, only with no head in it.

The same was the case with the burial linens. 

They were there, still “lying in place” as they had been, with the head wrap separate from the body wrap, but the body was gone.

“Unfortunately, neither the Authorized Version nor the Revised Version gives the exact translation of the Greek text. The literal rendering of the passage makes it clear that the cloth which had been placed about Christ’s head before burial was discovered by the two disciples lying where His head had been, in the undisturbed form of a coiled or twisted head-wrapper …

just as if His head had somehow slipped out of it.

This rendering of the passage is confirmed by the impression made upon the two disciples by what they witnessed on entering the tomb. It is said that they ‘saw and believed’ — saw something, that is, which persuaded them so completely that their Master was risen from the dead that their doubts were immediately resolved” [Dr. James Hastings, Dictionary of Christ and the Gospels, vol. 2, p. 227].

Dr. H. A. Ironside concurs: “They saw the linen cloths just as they had been wrapped around the body, like the shell of the chrysalis after the butterfly has emerged. The cloths were there, but the body had gone!” [Addresses on the Gospel of John, p. 861].

“This means the headcloth still retained the shape that the contour of Jesus’ head had given it, and that it was still separated from the other wrappings by a space that suggested the distance between the neck of the deceased and the upper chest, where the wrappings of the body would have begun” [The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, vol. 9, p. 188].

Esteemed Jewish scholar Simon Greenleaf, founder of Harvard Law School, meant to use his “laws of evidence” to challenge the theory of the resurrection, and became a believer.

LINEN THAT COULDN’T LIE

Linen clothes, refer to the manner in which they prepared the body for burial in that day. They would wrap the body with a wide long cloth, somewhat like a bandage is applied to an injured leg or arm; the wrappings continued until they reached the neck. This was the method they used to prepare the body of Jesus for burial. Like a giant bondage, these wrappings were wound around the body of our Lord, beginning at the feet, and ending at the head. John saw these ‘linen clothes lying’ undisturbed, just as they had been when the body of Jesus lay within them, but now there was no body, the linen clothes were empty!

John 19:39-40 tells us that Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea brought about a 100 pounds of myrrh and aloes spices and wound the body of Jesus in the cloth wrappings with the spices. As they wrapped the cloth strip around and around Jesus’ body, they poured in 100 pounds of spices into the wrappings and upon the body. 

LIQUID SPICES SETTLED AND SOLIDIFIED AROUND THE BODY SHAPE!

All these liquid spices would soon harden and would cause the cloth wrappings to become an encrusted cocoon around the body of Jesus.

All the wrappings followed the contours of the body; it would be a tight solid covering that would protect the body, and from which the body could not be pulled by any human means. 

The only way, humanly speaking, a body could be removed from such encrusted wrappings, would be by cutting the cloth from end to end and laying back each side so the body could be pulled from its wrappings.

PROOF – THE BODY COULD NOT HAVE BEEN STOLEN

It is inconceivable that the body had been stolen, and that enemies would have spent the time to abstract the body from the clothes and so arrange them as to look like a body was still there. Who would do that and why?

When the disciples saw the “linen clothes lying” –- uncut, undisturbed, lying just as they had been, yet they were empty –- it convinced them that the body had been miraculously, supernaturally removed. Had some human hand stolen the body, he would have been forced to slit open the bindings in order to remove the body. 

Likewise, Greenleaf concluded, HAD JESUS REVIVED AND EXITED THE TOMB HE COULD NOT HAVE LEFT THE WRAPPING UNDISTURBED.

The Greek words translated, “wrapped together” in John 20:7, actually mean, “twisted together” or “rolled up” –- it speaks of a fixed position – much like a cocoon. The linen cloths were “wrapped” or “rolled together,” however the body was missing.

The “linen clothes” had not been unfolded, loosed or disturbed in any way!

They just lay there!

An empty shell of the linen clothes that had been wrapped around and around the body of Jesus. 

The primary point of this physical testimony was to thwart the lie that was going to be spread abroad that the body of Jesus had been stolen (either by His disciples or unnamed others). Because guards were posted at the tomb, and the entrance was sealed, even if robbers managed to distract the guards, they would still have to snatch the body in haste and make off with it, which would not allow them time to leave the burial wrappings in such a condition.

Indeed, they would most likely steal the body fully wrapped, rather than carefully unwrap it, remove the body, then rewrap the linen pieces to its previous shape, making off with a corpse. It wouldn’t make any sense, nor would they have the time. If they did choose to remove the burial wrappings, it would have been done in haste, and the cloths would be strewn about the tomb.

This was not the case. Clearly the hand of God was involved for the body to be gone and the wrappings to be preserved in this condition, and given the fact that the tomb was sealed and guarded. Peter and John took in the whole scene … and believed! He was risen!

“The grave clothes were left as if Jesus had passed right through them. The headpiece was still rolled up in the shape of a head, and it was at about the right distance from the wrappings that had enveloped Jesus’ body.

A grave robber couldn’t possibly have made off with Jesus’ body and left the linens as if they were still shaped around it” [footnote in the Life Application Bible, p. 1926]. As Dr. W. Robertson Nicoll rightly observes, in The Expositor’s Greek Testament, “Had the authorities or anyone else taken the body, they would have taken it as it was” [vol. 1, p. 862]. Matthew Henry’s point is well-taken: “Anyone would rather choose to carry a dead body in its clothes than naked” [Commentary on the Whole Bible, e-Sword].

(Naked in the Hebrew means except for a loincloth.)

Thus, the condition of burial garments “became the fullest proofs against the lie of the chief priests: that the body had been stolen away by the disciples. If the body had been stolen away, those who took it would not have stopped to strip the clothes from it, and to wrap them up” again [Adam Clarke, Clarke’s Commentary, vol. 5, p. 656].

“Peter must have been wondering why the grave clothes were left in this position if the body had been stolen. A robber would not have left them in good order. He would have stripped the body completely, leaving the clothing in a disorderly heap; or he would have taken the body, grave clothes and all” [The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, vol. 9, p. 188].

These linen wrappings, and the condition in which they found them, convinced Peter and John “that this was no violent grave robbery or the grave clothes would have been tossed in a heap or carried off with the body. The careful arrangement impressed the sensitive apostles with the marvelous truth that their Lord had risen from the dead” [The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible, vol. 4, p. 373].

THE ‘COCOON’ WAS EMPTY…

The tomb was empty…

What do you think? A Mmmm moment!

(Makes the analogy of the butterfly’s lifecycle even more interesting as ‘the worm’ exits the cocoon in a brand new body and flies away.) 

Dr. Lenski sums up what we find in this passage, and the marvelous truth it proclaimed to Peter and John … and us: “They lay just as they had been wound about the limbs and the body, only the body was no longer in them. … No human being wrapped round and round with bands like this could possibly slip out of them without greatly disturbing them.”

“They would have to be unwound, or cut through, or cut and stripped off. They would thus, if removed, lie strewn around in disorder or heaped in a pile. … If the body had been desecrated in the tomb by hostile hands, this kind of evidence would appear. But hostile hands would have carried off the body as it was, wrappings and all, to get it away as soon as possible and to abuse it later and elsewhere.”

“But here the linen bands were. Both their presence and their undisturbed condition spoke volumes. Here, indeed, was a sign to behold. It corroborated what the women had told Peter and John on the way out to the tomb: Jesus was risen from the dead!” [The Interpretation of St. John’s Gospel, p. 1342].

Final thoughts…

Is this Proof of Resurrection that Jesus folded his Tallit when he arose from the dead?

Yeshua, the Messiah, also was put in the tomb with His prayer shawl about His head/covering His Body as was the custom of burial. The TALLIT, (which the KJV calls the napkin), is one of the many great infallible proofs, as Jesus showed Himself ALIVE after his death on the cross.

As Peter and then John entered the empty tomb, they saw something that immediately convinced them that the resurrection of Jesus/Yeshua was irrefutable fact.

This is just a single small example of the richness of the proof of the resurrection. It also shows why Gentiles should rejoice that the Jewish Roots of the Gospel are being restored by the modern Messianic movement.

Jesus/Yeshua knew that when Simon Peter burst into the tomb and found it empty, Peter would think the Romans had somehow disposed of the body.

Is that why Jesus/Yeshua, at the time of His resurrection, on Saturday, the Sabbath, Nissan 17, three days and nights after His death on the cross on Wednesday, Nissan 14, 30AD, took the time to precisely fold His prayer shawl, His Tallit, and lay it apart from the other grave wrappings?

When Peter saw the tallit, as only Jesus/Yeshua would fold it, he knew that the Romans did not take the body; because, if they had, it is not at all likely would they have folded, or even known how Jesus/Yeshua folded His tallit. Jesus/Yeshua MUST be alive to have folded His tallit, in the precise way that Peter and John were familiar with.

So in perfect conclusion for Passover week let the music minister to us… Shalom as He raises us up! We are each and every one precious in His sight and greatly loved.

How appropriate..Yeshua began and ended His earthly life in swaddling clothes! WOW!As today is key to understanding the faith of believers… Please don’t leave this page without assurance that your resurrection day is set. In days of uncertainty, here, there is complete confidence that we can trust the words of His promises and be encouraged in the hope and future of life eternal in the presence of a loving Heavenly Father…

Who gave His life for us.

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 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.

The Mystery of ‘In His Deaths’…

The Mystery of

‘In His Deaths’…

and

Resurrection.

Barach means to bless and also means to kneel. Kneeling is an act of submission. We are submitting to the one we are kneeling before. It means to lower ourself, to humble ourself. It’s an act of our free will.God’s nature is to barach /bless and the greatest blessing He gave, was the blessing of salvation through Messiah Jesus/Yeshua. If to bless is to barach and to barach is to kneel and to kneel is to lower our self;

it follows therefore that for God to give us the blessing of salvation He had to lower Himself.

In order to give us the greatest blessing, it would require the greatest lowering, that of Himself, the greatest descending.This is why He came down, descended and lowered Himself, humbling Himself in human form. And as to kneel, also means to submit, He did that too. He submitted willingly to the abuse, false accusation, mockery, condemnation and betrayal; further submitting willingly to judgment, crucifixion and to death.Tasting death so that by choosing to receive His gift, (in Hebrew, Mincha) of salvation we would never have to.This was in fact Hashem, YHWH, God, kneeling, a cosmic kneeling by the Creator of the Universe, the ultimate lowering/ submission for us.The miracle is in His kneeling. Here comes the barach/ the blessing. He who kneels is He who blesses, and by His kneeling we are blessed.

So, for there to be a resurrection, there first has to be a death, and as we saw above a willing submission to death.

In Hebrew   maveth,  מָוֶת, meaning death (4194)

Strong’s Hebrew: 4191. מוּת (muth) to die

It’s not a subject that is a first choice at any gathering. It’s something we would rather not talk about. We even try to focus more on the Resurrection part of the Passover story because it’s more palatable.

MiniMannaMoments is dedicated to helping us understand things not usually talked about. Goals are to perceive deeper truths behind hidden meanings in the original texts; and to view the familiar from a heretofore unnoticed point of view. To reveal a perspective that’s maybe overlooked because we think we know the basic story having heard it so often.The Word of God is like a Jewel, a precious stone cut with multi facets. The same rock but when the Sonlight hits each surface, it reflects a different angle and gives the reader another vantage point, enabling us to see alternative angle and yet another side of the whole.When light hits a dark area or a place in shadow, we suddenly can see details that were previously obscured from our viewpoint. Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light unto my path. As we continue to travel along His Way, the Light of Truth shines, and we see more clearly as Eph 1:18 tells us, the eyes of our understanding being enlightened.

To save repetition here, the links below cover many of the wonders of Passover week and the Spring Feasts.

https://www.minimannamoments.com/not-passing-over-passover-week/

https://www.minimannamoments.com/midweek-mannabite-secrets-of-the-seder-plate/

https://www.minimannamoments.com/unleavened-bread-matzot-week/

https://www.minimannamoments.com/a-lot-can-happen-in-a-week/

 

 

 The rest of this post will focus on the Mystery of ‘In His deaths …. and resurrection’ and will conclude with …What did John see that we missed?

It’s helpful at times to put aside all we think we know and look with fresh eyes at the scriptures. No one understands everything and even what we do cannot be compared with the glory yet to be revealed. Eph 1:17

Death, and the fear of death, holds many all their life in bondage Hebrews 2:15.

“Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, He also Himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage” Hebrews 2:14 – 15.

Yet the Lord Jesus /Messiah Yeshua, became a man specifically so that He could die, and become the greatest kneeling/baruch of all time; and “that through death He might destroy him that had the power of death” Hebrews 2:14. Death has been conquered by Jesus Christ/Yeshua HaMashiach.

Death was swallowed up in victory because the grave could not hold the Lord Jesus.

His resurrection is the guarantee of our resurrection.

Someday death will be completely conquered, yet it is the very last enemy on God’s time schedule to be defeated. “The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death” 1 Corinthians 15:26.

However according to the scriptures, as believers, we have done all the dying we will ever have to do, as to be absent (death) from the body, is to be present with the Lord. Death has lost its sting because Yeshua took the keys and…So with this in mind some fascinating facts are revealed.

Death means “separation” regardless of the type of death involved. Death is never cessation of existence, nor is it cessation of consciousness. James 2:26 says: “the body without the spirit is dead.” Whenever there is a separation of the spirit of a person from their body, at that moment physical death of the body takes place. Just as long as the spirit and soul of a man inhabits the body and is not separated from it, there is life.

Isaiah 53:9 Romans 5:18; 2 Corinthians 5:14, 15

Isaiah prophesies of Jesus the Messiah’s death and His manner of death. It says His death will be linked to wicked men and also to a rich man. He was indeed crucified between two wicked men, criminals, and was buried in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea.Isaiah was describing the suffering servant. However there is a mystery hidden in the original Hebrew text where most other translations of Isaiah 53 say ‘in his death’, and the original it says ‘in his deaths’.Recall the rule; that in the Hebrew language when a word that should be singular is rendered plural. It is often a sign, that the reality behind the word is so unique, so intense, so extreme, so huge, that the word alone cannot contain it.

Messiah’s death was so unique. It was a reality of such an extreme, intense and huge proportions, that the singular word ‘death’ cannot even begin to express the fullness of what it means.

 The death of Messiah goes beyond all our abilities to express or understand with our finite thinking.Here a singular is combined with a plural and here is a mystery revealed.

If it said ‘in His death’, it would make sense as a singular statement, indicating as one death. So also would the statement, ’in their deaths,’ as in multiple, more than one, being a statement in the plural. However it does not say either of these in the original Hebrew. It says ‘in His deaths’. It breaks all rules of language and how we say things. So it appears like someone wrote it incorrectly and maybe why the translators, ‘amended the statement’ so it sounded right.

Here is the revealing prophesied by Isaiah, that Messiah would not die just His death\ one death, but many deaths, more than one. He would not and did not die just for Himself but for all. Each of us and everyone who reads or hears the words. Every death is contained inside the plural. Wow!

Isaiah 53:12 declares: this death in the Hebrew is because He has laid opened His very being to death.

The Death of Death…

This is a Hebrew idiom (idiom is a figure of speech) that makes the statement very emphatic. … The Meaning of Death. … and with the rich in his death [plural, ‘deaths’] Is 53:9

There are three important types of death in the Word of God: spiritual death, physical death and eternal death. Each death is separation and is the result of sin, and all have their remedy in Jesus.

Spiritual death is “separation from God in time.”

God’s work is (Eph 2:6), to undo the work of sin and death, and the remedy for spiritual death is spiritual life. The word “quickened” is an old English word meaning “to make alive.” John 5:24 confirms our everlasting life.

Physical death is the separation of the spirit and/or soul from the body. James 2:26  says, “the body without the spirit is dead.” Whenever the soul leaves the body, physical death ensues.“Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned” Romans 5:12.

Physical death in the world is the result of the sin of one man, Adam.And here we have to take a moment and go back to the very beginning where it all started, as everything is connected.

This is the reason Jesus had to come to fix the sin problem and why in 1Cor 15:45 He is also called the last Adam. He is the fulfillment of the promise in Genesis to crush the serpents head…and He is also the English, Beginning and the End, the Hebrew Alef and Tav, the Greek Alpha and Omega of Revelation 22:13

(There is a whole mystery revealed in the Alef-Tav but that will have to wait for an another post!)

In Genesis 2:17

The Hebrew of .  תמות מות . “thou shalt surely die” is “in dying thou shalt die.” It is a Hebrew idiom (idiom is a figure of speech) that makes the statement very emphatic. Adam understood this or else Adam would also have been deceived. Since he was not deceived 1Timothy 2:14 it follows he did understand. However, he may not have fully understood all of the ramifications of his act of disobedience.

Death was something totally foreign to God’s creation. Until Abel was murdered by Cain, they had not seen or experienced a human death, nor probably that of anything around them.God is life and He had constructed the world in accordance with His own nature of being. The world that God had made was “very good”—a statement that could not be made when death entered upon the scene. What a change was brought into the world by man ‘eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil!’ God has said, “in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” “At the moment in time that you do what I have commanded you not to do, dying you shall die.” Death was the instantaneous result of disobedience. Adam and Eve began to realize something of the consequences of sin when God made for them coats of skins. In order for this to be done innocent animals, animals that had done nothing wrong, gave their life in order to provide an acceptable covering for the man and the woman.

Adam and Eve saw the first physical death when these innocent animals died to provide for them “coats of skins.”The consequences of sin coming into the world are not fully understood until one sees the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ as “the lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world.” He died that we might be clothed with His righteousness.   2 Corinthians 5:21Here is the sacrifice of the innocent One who knew no sin, did no sin, in Him was no sin, for us who are sinful. He died as our substitute, in order to provide an acceptable blood covering for us before God. The full consequence of sin entering into the world is understood only in the light of Calvary.

It is the central theme in all who spoke prophecy throughout scripture.

(left to right: Abraham, Isaiah, David, Moses, Elijah, Queen Ester, John The Baptist, Daniel)

As in Adam all die; in Messiah Jesus, all shall be made alive.

Part of the redemption work was prophesied in Genesis 3:15

Paul wrote: “For if by one man’s offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ” Romans 5:17.

Because Jesus Christ lives, we shall live also John 14:19.

Even though we may die, we await that future day of our resurrection or the complete redemption of our body. Romans 8:23.

God’s remedy for physical death is resurrection.

Thirdly The Eternal or Second Death:

This death is spoken of in Revelation 20:12 –15, and it refers to “eternal separation from God.”

The scripture tell us Eternal death is the result of rejecting the Lord Jesus Christ, and failing to believe that He is the Savior of the world.This state is spoken of as that of perishing.

14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; 15 that whoever believes may in Him have eternal life. 16 For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life John 3:14 – 16

In each of the cases through scripture where people were raised from the dead, (here in this example Lazarus,) the person was restored back to life again, only to die at some other later time.

Their restoration was to physical life.

Not one of these had gone through death into life so that they could not die again.But Messiah Jesus/Yeshua did.

He was not restored to life.

He was resurrected to life.

The life He enjoyed as a resurrected being was not a life subject to death. He came out of death into life. Death had no more power over Him.Thus we read in Romans 6:9,  “Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him.”

And in 2Timothy 1:10, “Our Savior Jesus Christ … hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.”

How did Messiah Jesus/Yeshua abolish death?

He did so by going ‘through death.’

The only One who ever passed “through death” into eternal life is Jesus the Messiah. In doing so He conquered death. He has the keys of death.

It is for this reason that the Lord Jesus is called “the firstborn from the dead.” Col 1:15,18; Rev 1:5

In His Deaths

The Deaths He Died

Scripture speaks of three kinds of death: spiritual, physical and eternal. When Messiah died, He took care of the problem of death. He dealt with spiritual, physical and eternal death. In order to do so, He died twice; or He experienced two separate and distinct deaths.

He experienced physical death, but He also experienced spiritual death. (Remember spiritual death is the reality of experiencing separation from His Father when He cried ‘Why have you forsaken Me’.) He did this so we would never have to. It was a complete and perfect work.Thank God for the deaths Messiah Jesus/Yeshua died. He tasted death for every person. He through death has conquered death, and stands the Victor over death.

He is the One who could say:

“I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die” John 11:25 – 26. He said: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep my sayings, he shall never see death” John 8:51.

Messiah Yeshua has changed death for every believer.Because He was an Infinite Being, He went through physical death, and today there is a man with a glorified resurrected body in eternity. Physical death is conquered. There is a man in glory who is the guarantee that all believers will also be there someday in the presence of the Father.Salvation is available for man; it is not available for the devil or his angels.

It is available because of the deaths Messiah Jesus died.

It is striking that in the Hebrew of Isaiah 53:8 and 9 two plurals are used. It says: “He was cut off out of the land of the living [plural]: for the transgression of my people was he stricken. And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death [plural, ‘deaths’].”

It is often true that the Hebrew uses abstract qualities in the plural, but it is also true that the Lord Jesus Christ was cut off from the land of the living both Godward and then manward.The living God was separated from the Son in the darkness of the cross; He was cut off for the first and only time in all eternity from the living God. Then He was cut off from those living on earth. This would signify He died twice and that is exactly what the next phrase says.

In the first death he made His grave with the wicked for He hung between two thieves. His second grave, (that which was physical) was with the rich. He was buried in a rich man’s tomb. Thus the prophet prophetically sees both His grave with the wicked and His grave with the rich in the deaths He died. Only God could write it so exactly.During the period of darkness, we see God’s night when His wrath was poured out on His own Son and which was the only time in eternity in which there was separation between the Father and the Son

Remember that it is the death Messiah Jesus/Yeshua experienced on the cross of spiritual separation from the Father which provides eternal salvation for us. It is not just the physical death of Jesus that saves anyone, but His spiritual death.Our message is about a cross, this is what we are to preach, not a tomb.The physical death is not the most important death. Messiah Jesus/Yeshua had to go through physical death even as He went through the incarnation and birth. Yet He came out of death being raised from the death. Nevertheless the death He endured and tasted that is significant to our salvation is His spiritual death with the Father and the Holy Spirit.The only way that God the Son could die would be to assume the nature of man. God cannot die, but someone who is both God and man could die. But being both God and man, the Lord Jesus Christ could not only die, He could conquer death and so become its new master. He conquered death so that death was subject to Him and not He to it. Death is now the Messiah Jesus’s servant, and He is its Master and Lord.

Thus we read in Romans 6:9,  “Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him.”

And in

2 Timothy 1:10,  “Our Savior Jesus Christ … hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.”

The children of Israel were told to celebrate Passover every year so that they would remember and never forget how the Lord save them out of Egypt. Exodus 21

At the end of his life, Paul called himself the biggest sinner, once that was true he had opposed the gospel vehemently, that his life as an enemy of God was long over and even long forgotten. He had been in the Lord for decades and was known throughout the world as a saint.

However at the end of his life he tells the story of getting saved as if it were yesterday.

This principle is as old as Passover.

If we want to get to the promised land, we must never stop thanking God for taking us out of Egypt.

Never forget how He saved us.

Peter wrote that those who lack godly qualities are those who have forgotten their salvation. Let’s give thanks to the Lord for saving us out of Egypt as if it just happened, and one day we’ll give thanks to the Lord for bringing us into the promised land.

Practice the principle of Passover by giving thanks; for how God saved us and delivered us from bondage and live as if you just got saved to day. 2 Peter 1:9

This is such an important meaning of Passover …

and of this part of His journey from the cross to the throne.

Coming soon the conclusion with possible answers to the question…What did John see that we missed?

Happy Passover – Chag Sameach to all MMM family, friends, followers and visitors!

 

This Passover Please…

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.

THIS IS LIFE CHANGING Information- Guaranteed

The Mysterious Secret of How a Worm Preached The Gospel

  The Secret of How a Worm Preached The Gospel.

 Yesterday was Nisan 1 and the first day of the Hebrew month that begins the Spiritual New Year and Passover/Pesach is on 14 Nisan (March 31st). This will be the first of the 7 annual Appointed Times of the Lord.

(Click links below for more details on the Feasts)

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

https://www.minimannamoments.com/not-passing-over-passover-week/

https://www.minimannamoments.com/midweek-mannabite-secrets-of-the-seder-plate/

https://www.minimannamoments.com/unleavened-bread-matzot-week/

https://www.minimannamoments.com/first-fruits/

Passover is followed immediately by Unleavened Bread; then First Fruits with Pentecost 50 days later.

Mentioned in previous posts, is how everything is connected and that seemingly unconnected events should not be viewed in isolation. A great comparison is that of a jigsaw puzzle with all the pieces that seem to be scattered about in confusion. Taking the time to focus, we discover the pieces start to come together. Then, as we put the last piece into place, we realize everything we needed to understand was right in front of our eyes all the time.A seemingly random reference, in this case is a tiny worm, which has a more significant meaning than on first glance.

Having examined many aspects of the scriptures over the months, it’s time to tie some of them together… so this post promises to be a hearty meal…

Digging deeper, it becomes clear that the story of the Gospel, Jesus (Yeshua) dying on the cross (for the Lost Sheep of Israel and as the gentiles are grafted in with them making one new man); is told in the life cycle of a specific type of tiny worm. 

Several times in scripture, man is referenced as nothing more than a worm.

There are however two words used in Hebrew for the two instances of the word “worm”. Rimmah and Towla; they both have different meanings.

The first, Rimmah, means maggots. This is symbolic, as we see maggots when something is rotting or decaying. In the Bible, mankind is considered rimmah, not because they are the smallest, and most repulsive of all worms, but because of the decay that man is constantly undergoing.

We start dying from the moment we are born! It does not denote our lowliness, but rather our mortal sorrow in terms of our ever-present knowledge and fear of decay, and death. Reading in Genesis, mankind is decaying because of our sin.

There is a group of people who hold to ‘worm theology’ and only consider its literal translation of ‘maggot’. They believe this is how God literally sees us. This is untrue as we are God’s favorite creation, made in His image; God does not look upon Himself as a worm.

However, within this ‘worm’, is a secret message hidden for those who love to dig and it has nothing to do with our self-esteem. The message that everyone is missing out on is  that we are to seriously refrain from sin; yet (1John 2:1) when we do sin, we have an advocate with the Father in Jesus… Here’s how the worm preaches the gospel of the kingdom.

The second Hebrew translation of worm is Tola, Tolaat, Towla or Tow la ath, and is translated scarlet, which is not the normal Hebrew word for worm as the usual word for worm is rimmah (maggot); found in Psalm 22:2-6

But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people.

Vs. 6 but I am a worm (strongs number 8438 (towla).

08438   //  elwt  //  towla`   //  to-law’  //  and (fem) 
  //  helwt  //  towle`ah   //  to-lay-aw’  //  or 
  //  telwt  //  towla`ath   //  to-lah’-ath  //  or 
  //  telt  //  tola`ath   //  to-lah’-ath  //  

from   03216  ; TWOT – 2516b; n m 

AV – scarlet 34, worm 8, crimson 1; 43 

worm, scarlet stuff, crimson 

1a) worm – the female ‘coccus ilicis’ 

1b) scarlet stuff, crimson, scarlet 

1b1) the dye made from the dried body of the female of the 

worm “coccus ilicis” 

2) worm, maggot 

2a) worm, grub 

2b) the worm “coccus ilicis” 

The picture below is of many worms. They are collected for their body fluids the color of which is indicated by its name, the Crimson/Scarlet Worm.

Extracting this dye is a very difficult task, making it extremely valuable. It would have been used only for royal or Holy garments, and palace or temple decorations.In some cases, it has been recorded that it was even used as rent money.Here the worms are harvested.Each worm was carefully removed from the tree, taken back home,and they would crush the worm’s body over a glass of boiling water.

It is interesting to note that the harvesting of the worms prevents it from fulfilling its reproductive cycle.

The scarlet thread which was tied to the scapegoat at Yom Kippur and was also tied to the Temple doors. It turning miraculously white, when the annual sacrifice for sin had been accepted by the Lord on the Day of Atonement; after  the High Priest offered the sacrifice. Yeshua is our High Priest. (As this subject is also connected, see extended explanation at end of this post.)Wool dyed scarlet, a symbol of sin using the tola’at shani – the crimson worm,
(Latin – armenian conchial).
Jesus truly proved that He was the towla / scarlet when they stripped Him, and put on Him a scarlet robe.    Matthew 27:28

(Adding yet another piece of the puzzle ***see extra note at end.)

Psalm 22 was written almost 1000 years before the crucifixion. However as we read the entire Psalm, it is clear that it is a prophetic event that would take place one day in the future.

In this Messianic Scripture, it parallels Jesus’s/Yeshua’s crucifixion so much, that many Bible scholars and theologians consider the entire prophetic chapter to be Messiah’s own words.If Psalm 22 is supposed to be Messiah’s own words, why would He say that He was a worm? Was Messiah a worm theologist? No absolutely not! Messiah would not associate Himself with the maggots that represent a sinful life symbolized by the word ‘rimmah’; but rather the Tolaath as the name of a specific worm. This Crimson or Scarlet worm is found in the Mediterranean and the Middle East and Israelites would have been familiar with it.

Psalm 22:6 but I am a (worm), Tow la ath, and no man, a reproach of men, and despised of the people.

In Matthew 27 and in Mark 15 we find Messiah reciting scripture, (as He taught us to do during temptation while suffering. Matt 4, Luke 4) Jesus is on the cross crying out to God, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” “Why have you forsaken me?!”

God cannot look on sin, so for a brief moment Jesus felt the separation that sin brings between man and God. The very definition of hell – being eternally separated from God’s presence.

Our Heavenly Father knows the future better than we can remember the past and He made sure that it was carefully recorded that His only Begotten Son would bear the punishment for our sin and become the redemption for those who would believe and receive His sacrifice.

A thousand years later, every detail was revealed and unfolded as the prophecy came to pass.

The tremendous truth revealed by this description is not obvious until we begin to study the lifecycle and characteristics of the Crimson or Scarlet worm.

It’s full name is Tola’at Shani; or Scarlet Worm (Coccus Ilicis.)

 This worm is actually a pea sized scarlet insect that feeds on tree sap.The scarlet or crimson worm is of a family of insects that live on oak trees. Its lifespan is about 4–14 weeks. For about the last four weeks of its life, the female is ready to be fertilized and lay eggs. It searches for a specific tree called the Kermes Oak, which is very symbolic of its destiny.

Then it chooses willingly to climb on to the tree, there is nobody forcing it to do so. Remembering that Jesus was not forced to go on the cross it was an act of His free will. Jesus fully obeyed a command from His Father to lay down His life for sinners and take it again as He died to display His love for the saints.

John 10:17 says Therefore, doth my Father love me,because I lay down my life, that I might take it again; No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.

He died for all of us, seemingly rejected and alone even though He could have called 12 legions of angels from heaven to come to His aid and save Him.  Matt 26:53        (A legion was approx. 6000)

The Scarlet/Crimson worm climbs up the tree knowing that it will never come down alive. Its sole purpose is to go up the tree to give birth to a family and the only way it can do that is by dying.

Jesus/Yeshua of course knowing everything, He too was willing to die on a tree, (the cross made of wood) to give birth to a family.

Having climbed up, the Crimson worm attaches her body to the tree, fixing herself securely and permanently in place, virtually impaling herself on the tree; because when the babies are born her body will become a safe place in which the offspring will shelter. She remains still until death.

During the birthing process, the mother produces and secretes a Crimson gel or red fluid dye which covers and stains not only the eggs she lays, but also her entire body beneath which the eggs are kept safe.

As she dies, this gel or red fluid dye leaves a stain on the tree, which remains even with the passage of time.

Wind can’t fade it, the rain can’t wash it out.

Below is a picture of a kermes oak tree. The permanent red stain left by the Crimson worm can clearly be seen. The Blood of Jesus stained Him, the cross, and all of us, which are saved as the children of God.

The Bible proclaims in Hebrews 13:8 that Jesus the Messiah, (and His blood shed at the cross), is the same yesterday, today, and forever.As the young mature inside the mother, the body swells until it bursts—killing the mother in the birth process and leaving the dark-red stain upon the tree. The newborn young then feed upon the remaining body of the deceased mother; until they finally emerge and enter their own life cycle.

A further connection is to the Hebrew word for “sign” (owth) also means “a banner!” That banner is the “scarlet thread” that was placed on the hand of Tamar’s twin when he stuck his hand out in Genesis 38:29-30.

Bereshiyth (Genesis) 38:28 And it came to pass, when she travailed, that the one put out his hand: and the midwife took and bound upon his hand a scarlet thread, saying, This came out first.This twin is named Zarah or “Zerach” in Hebrew (#2226), and he is a prophetic “type” of Messiah whose name means “rising of light.” On Yom Teruw’ah, the first sliver of the crescent moon is rising until it reaches it’s full light on the 15th of the month (at it’s peak) on the Feast of Tabernacles. But this twin stuck his hand out first as a “sign” or a banner that he was the “first-born!”

That first-born son of Tamar was a prophetic picture of the “first-born” son of Miryam who also became the “first-born” from among the dead.

The first-born son of Tamar bore the scarlet thread to symbolize our Messiah who is also the first-born from among the dead.

His blood flowing out of his hands when he was nailed to the tree was the scarlet thread:This female insect is an illustration of the woman giving birth to a man-child with the scarlet thread!

Meanwhile, something truly amazing occurs. This blood stain actually creates a thick, sticky film and for the three days following her death the worm and the crimson gel can be scraped from the tree. A colored dye can be made from this gel also.

It is the same dye that was used both for the garments of the High Priest and in the Tabernacle!

(Exodus) 35:25 And all the women that were wise hearted did spin with their hands, and brought that which they had spun, both of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet, and of fine linen.

The garments were Red/Scarlet, Purple and Blue and for specific meaning:

Blue represented Torah/Scripture and the Heavens where Gods throne is.The color Red represents the Blood of the lamb which atones for sins.

The Blue color came from the cerulean mussels were very difficult to find in the sea and thus the dye was very expensive and reserved only for the wealthy and royalty.

Click link for more on Tekhelet snails, the origin of the blue dye, which is the traditional color for Messiah.   https://www.minimannamoments.com/mysterious-secret-of-the-hilazon/

The color Purple is the product of these two colors mixed together, red & blue.

Purple is the color of royalty, as kings often wore purple as a sign of wealth.

Our Messiah symbolizes this worm whose color is mixed with the blue to produce the purple color of royalty; in other words the office of Melchizedek, both king and priest.

The Kings of Judah wrote their own copy of the Scriptures/Torah, (pronounced Towrah), by hand before taking office, so the color of the king is blue, for he executes judgment with the Word of God/Towrah. The priests offered up blood sacrifices for the nation of Yisra’el, hence the color red symbolizes the priesthood.

After the three days the young worms are ready to leave the safety of the shells.The mother is still attached to the shells and to the tree.

On the morning of the fourth day the worm has pulled her head and tail together and is now in the shape of a heart on the tree and begins to change its Crimson color.

When the blood finally dries, as weather affects it, the worm turns into wax which is as white as snow.

The snow white wax resembles a little patch of wool on the side of the tree and it begins to flake off and drop to the ground like snow (or manna).A perfect picture of our saviour! A humble man who should be royalty, leaving a scarlet stain on a tree so that our hearts may become white as snow and as we ‘eat Him’ we receive our daily manna.This wax can also be harvested and made into shellac that is a wood preservative. Just as the resurrection, which serves as the preservative of the message of the cross.The parallel is very clear, Jesus, as the Tolaath, suffered His WAY up the side of Moriah and was attached to the surface of a tree. His Blood stained the tree with a precious, dark crimson. From this sacrificial death, His offspring were given life. 

…knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things… but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. I Peter 1:18-19 

On the cross, Jesus quoted the first verse of Psalm 22, thus directing the reader to another interesting discovery… 

My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? Why are You so far from helping Me, And from the words of My groaning? O My God, I cry in the daytime, but You do not hear; And in the night season, and am not silent…But I am a worm, and no man; A reproach of men, and despised of the people. 

The word “worm” in this text is the word Tolaath. This word was specifically used to illustrate what was actually happening in this mournful cry as He experienced separation from the Father. It was taking our sin upon Himself that separated Him and this is the ‘spiritual death’ the severing; i.e. eternal separation from God’s Holy presence.Yes there is death; yes, there is sorrow; yes, blood is shed; but through it all, new life in abundance is born. 

Jesus said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God… That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.” John 3:3-8 

After the emergence of the young, they then feed upon the body of the mother so that they may gain initial sustenance. This picture now brings clarity to the words of Jesus as He institutes the partaking of the communion. Then He took a loaf of bread; and when He had thanked God for it, He broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, “This is My body, given for you. Do this in remembrance of Me.” Luke 22:19 So, by His death, the ecclesia, the called out ones, the Congregation of believers, was born. His body and blood sustain us in our newborn state. 

“This wine is the token of God’s new covenant to save you—an agreement sealed with the blood I will pour out for you.” Luke 22:20 

But what if the Tolaa/ Tolaath worm was not to die. Like all maggot larva, it slowly consumes and devours all that is in its path. Not only is there a slow consumption, there is also no new life given. 

“And if your hand makes you sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed, than having two hands, to go to hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched; “…where ‘ their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.’ “And if your foot makes you sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame, than having two feet, to be cast into hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched; “…where ‘ their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.’ “And if your eye makes you sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire; “…where ‘ their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.'” Mark 9:43-48 

Three times Jesus refers to a worm that never dies, but lives on to consume and devour its captive for eternity. Jesus is actually quoting a description of hell described in the final verse of Isaiah. 

“They shall go forth and look upon the corpses of the men who have transgressed against [the Lord]. For their worm does not die, and their fire is not quenched, they shall be an abhorrence to all flesh.” 

The word worm used in this quoted passage is once again the Tolaa/ Tolaath. This Tolaa/ Tolaath, however, is different in that it has never died. 

Instead of giving birth through its death, it remains alive as an eternal tormentor. 

Every living human being who has ever heard of Jesus dying on the cross as a payment for our sins has a Tolaa/ Tolaath. This Tolaa/ “Tolaath”, is a reference to knowing that salvation is available and that new life can be ours by receiving this free gift offered. This presents us with a choice. 

Either.. Reject Jesus as our personal savior, thus allowing the Tolaa/ Tolaath to live forever. This would be the knowledge in your conscious memory that you rejected the good news in order to live life according to your own desires and your own worldview. 

Or Receive Jesus as your personal savior, thus being part of a new birth that results from His sacrificial death. As you emerge from this Tolaa/ Tolaath, you will be covered and stained with the very blood that brought you forth. 

If the Crimson worm does not die on the tree, her children cannot LIVE.

Hebrews 2:10 For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.

If this tola worm (Jesus) dieth not; we cannot be resurrected into heaven. Hebrews 10:26 For if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins. If we reject what Jesus did on the cross for us, that’s what Mark 9:48 is referring to! Without the Tola’s sacrifice, her children are unable to hatch! Can you imagine burning in Hell, fully understanding you blew it!? You had your chance, but instead rejected your only chance at salvation; which was a sacrifice by someone else?

The similarities are that an individual willingly climbs on to a tree in order to die and birth a family. Jesus willingly went to cross to die so that we can live as His family with Him eternally. The newborn baby worms are covered with the red fluid of the dying mother worm just as we are covered with Jesus red blood and are washed as white as snow. Is 1:18 though they be red like Crimson (tolaath) they shall be as wool.

Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” Is 1:18

In Isaiah 1:18 the words scarlet and crimson refer to red colors that come from certain dyes. Ancient cultures placed great importance on dyes, especially those used for sacred or ceremonial purposes, such as burial clothing or purification rituals (see Leviticus 14:6). The point of a dye is that it is not only colorful but also colorfastmeaning that its rich color will stick to the cloth and not fade or wash away.

Scarlet and crimson are: Bright red, because of the vibrancy of their redness, they are emblems that stand out.

Red has a strong psychological effect on people, and it can be reminiscent of blood, which is sometime a symbol of guilt.

Our sins can can be grievous and obvious. 

Permanent: The colorfast nature of scarlet and crimson dyes is similar to our sins, and the Lord cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance. According to the great plan of the Eternal God there must be an atonement made, or else all mankind must unavoidably perish. The Hebrew words for scarlet (shani) and crimson (tola) signify where the colors were derived from—a worm.

Just before the eggs were to hatch, these female insects were gathered, dried, and boiled. Alum was added as a mordant (a chemical that helps the dye stick to the cloth by combining to form an insoluble compound), and the resulting dye was used to make red-colored cloth.

Snow/Wool. Snow is rare but not unheard-of in most areas of Israel.In the northern part of the country, Mount Hermon is covered in snow every winter (there’s even a ski resort there today).

Wool was one of the most common fabrics in ancient Israel, and raising sheep was a common occupation. To make it a purer and brighter white in preparation for dyeing, wool was commonly soaked and washed in a strong soap.

Snow and wool are: Pure, bright white. White represents purity. When Isaiah says that the Lord can change our sins from scarlet or crimson to snow or wool, he is saying that the Lord can do something that is impossible for us to do on our own. A cloth dyed red stays red. But regardless of the stain of our sins, the Atonement of Messiah Yeshua can make us pure again if we repent.

The statement by the Lord when He calls Himself “a worm” is astounding.

At first glance, we know the worm has always portrayed depravity. It was in Gehenna where we are told in the Bible the worm dieth not and it was a worm that Job likened himself unto because he felt the lowliest of all creation.

“How then can man be justified with God? or how can he be clean that is born of a woman? Behold even to the moon, and it shineth not; yea, the stars are not pure in His sight. How much less man, that is a worm? and the son of man, which is a worm?” Job 25:4-6

Picture above of Jonah who was used as bait like a towla worm as he was thrown from a ship and is swallowed by a great fish reminds us about Jesus as the towla worm.

Jonah 1:15 says ‘So they took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea, and the sea ceased from her raging’. Jonah 1:17 goes on to say, ‘Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights’.

How does the above picture of Jonah being used as a towla worm for a great fish to swallow relate to Jesus?

The answer can be found at Matthew 12:40 where it says ‘For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly (defined as a sea monster or devil’s belly), so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.’

     Jonah as a type of towla worm was swallowed by the devil sea monster or great fish. Jesus also as a towla worm was swallowed by the devil at the cross. But, in like manner Jonah, when Jesus was ‘swallowed by the devil,’ Jesus destroyed the devil at the cross and after three days the devil had to let loose of Jesus and of Jonah.

Ephesians 4:9 that says ‘Now that He (Jesus) ascended, what is it but that He also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that He might fill all things.’

     The devil thought he had defeated Jesus at the cross but Jesus turned the tables on the devil and destroyed the work of the devil at the cross.

Hebrews 2:14 says ‘that through death He (Jesus) might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil.’

Jesus totally stripped the devil of his power and proclaimed it in..

Revelation 1:18 ‘now I have the keys of hell and death and I am He that liveth and was dead, and behold I am alive forevermore; Amen, and have the keys of hell and death.’

The worms also had their part in the death of the wicked king as recorded in the book of Acts. However, we also know that Jesus was sinless! He was never touched by the depravity, which is a part of our nature. He was tempted, yet without sin! Therefore, when He refers to Himself as a worm there must be a deeper meaning and there is!

Worm in Latin it is the “Coccus Illicus” coccus ilicis. (n.d.). Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary.

  1. The dried bodies of the females of a scale insect (Coccus ilicis), allied to the cochineal insect, and found on several species of oak near the Mediterranean. They are round, about the size of a pea, contain coloring matter analogous to carmine, and are used in dyeing. They were anciently thought to be of a vegetable nature, and were used in medicine.

    (Bot.) A small European evergreen oak (Quercus coccifera) on which the kermes insect (Coccus ilicis) feeds. –J. Smith (Dict. Econ. Plants). 

The crimson worm is also very fragrant when it is crushed. Like the crimson worm Jesus was crushed for our sin. 

Ephesians 5:2 ‘and walk in love as Christ also has loved us and has given himself for us as an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savour.’And 2 Cor 2:16 To those who are perishing we are a fearful smell of death and doom. But to those who are being saved we are a life-giving perfume.

In the research of this post, it was discovered in

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary.

that the crushed worm is also used to make medicine.

But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. Isa 53:5 NIV

“… the crushed ìcoccus ilicisî contains a chemical that is an anti-bacterial agent which is why it was used in two types of purification ceremonies:

  1. When there was a plague, scarlet was included in the purification of the house. And he shall cleanse the house with the blood of the bird, and with the running water, and with the living bird, and with the cedar wood, and with the hyssop, and with the scarlet. (Lev 14:52).

  2. The scarlet worm was also used in the formula with the ashes of the red heifer. And the priest shall take cedar wood, and hyssop, and scarlet, and cast it into the midst of the burning of the heifer. (Num. 19:6)

These ashes were used to cleanse a person when they came into contact with a dead body (a host for bacteria). This crimson, the worm coccus ilicis, was necessary to make one clean, which is symbolic of the blood of Jesus removing the sin of disease and death from us.

“But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised [crushed] for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? (Is 53:5, Heb 9:13-14).

The word “finished” in the original Greek means “paid in full”.  “We owed a debt we could never pay” and Jesus “paid a debt He didn’t owe” for us.  Sin no longer has dominion over us if we accept His sacrifice for us, Rom. 6:14.

John 19:30 So when Jesus received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.

Jesus’ last act was to sacrifice His life for us. His last words were, “It is finished”.

“““

Sometimes we are willing to accept interesting stories that we think are evidence justifying our faith, will glorify God, or they just find inspiring, and then pass them on to others, without ever doing a fact check. Hopefully this reference has passed the test of scrutiny with reliable sources referenced for the insect facts and Hebrew language.

Everyday the Holy Spirit will reveal and enlighten to us the Scriptures as we sow them in our heart, we should continue to be thrilled at the new things He shows us in His Word. There is nothing new under the sun but there are some things that suddenly seem to come to life as we read them. Personal research is profitable and always encouraged. The same word Towla is also found in Num 19:6 And the priest shall take Cedar wood and hyssop and Scarlet (towla), and cast it into the midst of the burning of the heifer. (Notice anything unusual about the cow?!)And the priest shall take Cedar wood and hyssop and Scarlet (towla), and cast it into the midst of the burning of the heifer.Three objects were burned with the heifer: cedarwood, hyssop and Scarlet (towla) thread from the sacrificial goat designated as the sin offering.

The Hebrew phrase for “red heifer” is פרה אדומה” – “parah adumah” and literally means “red cow,” however in the verses quoted above, we read the term “red heifer” because a heifer more specifically describes the kind of cow which was to be brought to Moses and Aaron. A heifer is defined as “a young female cow over one year old that has not produced a calf.” It was to be a particular kind of cow and it was to be a particular color as well, red.The red heifer that the children of Israel were to bring to Moses and Aaron had to meet all of the criteria that the LORD specified:

  1. “unblemished” – “תמימה” – “temimah” – “whole” or “complete”

  2. “no defect” – “אין בה מום” – “ein bo mum” – “no spot or defect in it”

  3. “on which a yoke has never been placed” – “אשר לא עלה עליה עול” – “asher lo alah alei’ah ol” 

This young, female, red cow had to fit these specifications exactly. She could never have worked a day in her life. She needed to be whole and complete, without any spot or defect in anyway. She had to be a perfect, red heifer.

For Jesus to be the red heifer sacrifice, these elements needed to be present at his sacrifice and they were.

     THE WOOD OF THE TREE; THE HYSSOP WITH THE SPONGE AND THE SCARLET ROBE; PLUS HE WAS WITHOUT SPOT OR BLEMISH MEANING HE WAS INNOCENT AND SINLESS.

The Red Heifer was the one mystery hidden even from Solomon who couldn’t understand its significance.Red hyssopWe can declare daily that we are crucified with Messiah and the Blood of Jesus/Yeshua covers us and by which we defeat and overcome the devil as we praise and worship Jesus/Yeshua as God. We believe the blood of Jesus is our most powerful weapon to destroy the works of the enemy and will give us victory daily in our lives. The Blood of Jesus will never lose its power. It continually speaks for us and cries ‘mercies’ -‘rachamim’. Thank you Lord Jesus/Adonai Yeshua, for forever covering your saints with the Blood of Your Covenant that will never fade away.

If you are not sure you are saved..

Please don’t leave this site without assurance in your heart, see prayer at bottom of page.

***Extra note as promised for those still a little hungry:

Miracle Of The Crimson Cord On The Temple Doors…

The Talmudic references (Hebrew commentaries) to the mystery of the scarlet cloth that was tied to the scapegoat and failed to turn white for 40 years after Yeshua died, until the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple in 70 AD. In the same story the Temple doors would open every night until the temple was destroyed. click link below:

 https://www.minimannamoments.com/mystery-of-the-hekel/

In the book of Leviticus chapter 15, the Lord/Adonai/Hashem/The Name; instructed Moses and Aaron to select two goats every year for an offering. One was to be used as a sin offering to atone for the sins and transgressions of the people.Once killed, its blood was to be sprinkled on the mercy seat on the Ark of the Covenant. There Hashem would view the blood of the sin offering and have Mercy on the people and forgive their sins. The high priest would then lay hands on the second goat which was allowed to live and he would confess the sins of the people putting them on the head of the goat. The goat would then bear the blame of all the transgression of the people and would be set free into the wilderness, where Hashem would remember their sins no more. The goat became known as the scapegoat.

Jewish history records that it was common practice to tie a red strip of cloth to the scapegoat. The red strip represented the sin of the people which was atoned for by the red blood on the mercy seat. According to the Jewish Talmud this red strip would eventually turn white, signaling Hashem’s acceptance of the offering.
There is an amazing reference in the Talmud that verifies that after Yeshua was crucified, Hashem no longer accepted the sin offering and the scapegoat offered by the Jewish high priest.

The Talmud states
       “Forty years before the Temple was destroyed (30 A.D.) the chosen lot was not picked with the right hand, nor did the crimson stripe turn white, nor did the westernmost light burn; and the doors of the Temple’s Holy Place swung open by themselves, until Rabbi Yochanon ben Zakkai spoke saying: ‘O most Holy Place, why have you become disturbed? I know full well that your destiny will be destruction, for the prophet Zechariah ben Iddo has already spoken regarding you saying: ‘Open thy doors, O Lebanon, that the fire may devour the cedars’ (Zech. 11:1).’  Talmud Bavli, Yoma 39b
 
It is important to note that this event recorded in the Talmud occurred approx. 40 years before the destruction of the Temple which was destroyed in 70 AD. The date of this amazing event was approx.30 AD, the same time that Yeshua shed his blood as the final scapegoat offering.

The Day of Atonement in Bible Times. In the ceremony of the two goats, the two goats were considered as one offering. A crimson sash was tied around the horns of the goat marked azazel. At the appropriate time, the goat was led to a steep cliff in the wilderness and shoved off the cliff. In connection with this ceremony, an interesting tradition arose that is mentioned in the Mishnah. A portion of the crimson sash was attached to the door of the temple (Beit HaMikdash) before the goat was sent into the wilderness. The sash would turn from red to white as the goat met its end, signaling to the people that G-d had accepted their sacrifices and their sins were forgiven. This was based upon Isaiah (Yeshayahu) 1:18. As stated earlier, the Mishnah tells us that 40 years before the destruction of the temple (Beit HaMikdash), the sash stopped turning white. This, of course, was when Yeshua was slain on the tree.

But Adonai came as High Priest..not with the blood of lambs, goats and calves,but with HIS own blood

He entered the Most Holy Place once and for all, setting people free forever. 

…And according to the Scriptures/Torah almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is not remission…so Adonai offered once to bear the sins of many.

To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation…For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goat could take away sins… By that while we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Yeshua once for all….this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God…For by one offering He was perfected for ever those who are being sanctified ..says the LORD: I will put My laws in their hearts, and in their minds I will write them,” then He adds, “Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.”   Hebrew 9:11- 10:17

Shalom and Happy Spiritual New Year. If a worm can reveal so much of the Gospel how much more should we!

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 SURE?

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/

A MIRACLE in TIME

IT ALL BEGAN

with

A MIRACLE IN TIME and WINE.

Here are some extremely interesting aspects of a well known incident in John 2:6.

Some we may not have fully understood or appreciated.It is without doubt a fact that God’s ways are not our ways, or His thoughts ours. So it would follow that His actions may also hold mysteries that we do not see clearly at first glance.

For a description of the levels of revealing in His Word click link

https://www.minimannamoments.com/the-rules-of-pardes/

What was Jesus really trying to show us and tell us at the wedding at Cana? Cana today. Surely it was not the freedom to drink alcohol to a point of intoxication and giving His consent and agreement for drunken behavior.

Those who live in the modern western world do not catch the full significance of Jesus’ promise. This is due to the fact that in His promise Jesus was drawing an analogy from Jewish marriage customs in biblical times and those marriage customs help us to grasp the full significance of the promise.

Payment of the purchase price. –

Set apart (sanctified)

Bridegroom departs to Father’s House. –

Prepares room addition. –

Bride prepares for imminent return.

They were companions of the bridegroom, who went with him to bring the bride from her home to his home.

Marriage feasts lasted 7 days, but the woman was considered a bride for 30 days.

Unlike Western weddings, which are paid for by the bride’s family, in Eastern weddings, the groom was responsible for the expenses of the celebration.

In western weddings, the bridegroom comes in first, then the bride, the prominent one, enters. However in Eastern weddings it is the bridegroom who is the prominent one. We see no mention of the bride in John’s account of the wedding at Cana because the body of believers, the Ekklesia, the called out ones, also called the bride of Messiah, was not yet in the picture. In Jewish life, the wedding marked the culmination of the betrothal period. During that period, which often lasted for several months, up to one year. Again the western tradition of a 1- year engagement.

The bride never knew when the groom would come because after the marriage covenant had been established, called the ketubah (becoming betrothed, the equivalent of western engagement).

The groom would leave the home of the bride and return to his father’s house.

There he would remain separate for the whole year.

The young man goes to prepare a chador (chamber) in his father’s house, sometimes called a “chuppah” (place for the honeymoon).

Just as Jesus has gone to prepare a place for us in His Fathers House and then He will come and take His bride to Himself. (Eph. 5:22-23).

Some translations have talked about the many mansions in God’s house and our western culture has us all pictured on our own grassy hill in a Mansion. That would have been foreign to that society. The word actually just refers to a dwelling. Based on culture, if Jesus is giving us a literal picture of what eternity is like then we’re all living together in one attached house. It’s a picture of being brought into the family.

The couple was considered legally man and wife and only a divorce could terminate the betrothal. (This may shed some light on Mary and Josephs situation). They did not, however, live together or consummate the marriage during that period.

The father of the groom had to approve the prepared room and when he was satisfied then he would tell his son to go and get his bride. She had to be ready for he could come anytime even in the middle of the night and take her away to her new home. 1Thess.5:2Just as we are always to be ready for Jesus to come for us. Matthew 24:36 and only the Father knows that time.

As a result the groom’s arrival would be preceded by a shout. In the same way that the Jewish groom’s arrival was preceded by a shout and the blowing of a shofar, so Christ’s arrival to take the Church will be preceded by a shout (1 Thess. 4:16).

This shout and shofar sounding would forewarn the bride to be prepared for the coming of the groom. After the groom received his bride together with her female attendants, (parable of the 10 virgins).

The enlarged wedding party would return from the bride’s home to the groom’s father’s house. Which is the grooms hometown, (heaven).

Just as the taking of the Jewish bride was accomplished by a procession of the groom and male escorts from the groom’s father’s house to the home of the bride, so the taking of the Church will be accomplished by a procession of Christ and an angelic escort from Messiah’s Father’s house in heaven to the home of the Church (1 Thess. 4:16).

Upon arrival there the wedding party would find that the wedding guests had assembled already.  In the same manner as the Jewish wedding party found wedding guests assembled in the groom’s father’s house when they arrived, so Christ and the Church will find the souls of Old Testament saints assembled in heaven when they arrive. These souls will serve as the wedding guests.On the night of the ceremony, (usually the 4th day, Yom R’vi’i, a Wednesday);

the groom and his friends would go to the bride’s house. They would then escort the bride and her attendants to the groom’s house, where the ceremony and banquet would be held.The whole celebration, which could last up to a week followed the short marriage ceremony, and then the Bride and Groom retired to the place he had prepared (Huppa/Wedding Chamber), and the friend of the groom, the best man, stood by the door. Prior to entering the chamber the bride remained veiled so that no one could see her face. Reading the Ketuba.

When the marriage had been consummated, the Groom would shout in his joy and the friend of the groom would relay the good news to the guests.This was the beginning of a week-long celebration and the first week of the couple being alone together in the bridal chamber. This is where we get the western week long honeymoon. This also sheds light on another reference in John 3:29-30.“The one who has the bride is the bridegroom: and the friend of the bridegroom is the one who stands by, then when he hears his joy he rejoices because of the voice of the bridegroom. Therefore this joy has been fulfilled in me. It is necessary for that One to increase, and for me to decrease.”The wedding ceremony takes place under the chuppah (canopy), a symbol of the home that the new couple will build together. It is open on all sides, just as Abraham and Sarah had their tent open all sides to welcome people in unconditional hospitality.

The bride traditionally gifts the groom a new prayer shawl (tallit). In some communities he wears it under the chuppah, and sometimes it is draped over both him and the bride.

Western weddings exchange vows and the couple sign the registry.

It is easy to see where many of our western traditions have their origins!

And how everything is connected.

So Yeshua and the Church will experience spiritual union after their arrival at His Father’s house in heaven, thereby consummating their relationship that had been covenanted earlier.During the seven days of the wedding festivities, which were sometimes called “the seven days of the chuppah,” the bride remained hidden in the bridal chamber. Many scholars believe that this period of seven days corresponds to the Church remaining hidden for a period of seven years after arrival at the Father’s house in heaven. While the seven year Tribulation Period is taking place on the earth, the Church will be in heaven totally hidden from the sight of those living on the earth. At the conclusion of these seven days the groom would bring his bride out of the bridal chamber, now with her veil removed, so that all could see who his bride was. So Christ will bring His ‘church’, the ecclesia, the congregation of called out ones, out of heaven in His Second Coming at the conclusion of the seven year Tribulation Period in full view of all who are alive, so that all can see who the true church is (Col. 3:4). John 2:2-3 And both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage. 3 And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine.The mother of Jesus was at this particular wedding. That both she and Jesus attended suggests the wedding involved relatives or friends of the family (Jesus’ brother?). That would explain why Mary seems to have been more than just a guest, but apparently had some responsibility for helping with the celebration. For example, she was aware of the situation regarding the lack of wine, and took the initiative to solve the serious problem.

A major crisis loomed at the wedding celebration when the wine ran out because the supply was insufficient for whatever reason. Such an embarrassing faux pas could have stigmatized the couple and their families for the rest of their lives for failing to meet their responsibilities. Thus Jesus’ turning the water into wine was not just a sensational miracle.All of His miracles met specific needs, such as opening blind eyes or deaf ears, delivering those oppressed by demons, feeding hungry people, or calming a storm. This miracle also met the genuine need of the family and their guests, who otherwise faced a social catastrophe. This first miracle Jehovah-Jireh – the LORD will provide. The LORD sees what we need ahead of time and has the provision ready.

Mary informed Jesus of the situation and had high expectations for Him to help. Maybe she was remembering what Gabriel had told her before she conceived.

Jesus’ reply, ‘what have I to do with thee?’ (lit., What to Me and to you?) is an idiomatic expression which asks rhetorically what the two parties in question have in common, and has the effect of distancing them. It was the Hebrew way of saying, ‘You don’t understand’.The statement, coupled with Jesus’ addressing Mary as ‘Woman’ instead of ‘Mother,’ politely but firmly informed her that what they had in common in their relationship was no longer to be what it had been while He was growing up in Nazareth. His public ministry had begun, and earthly relationships would not determine His actions.

Mary was to relate to Him no longer as her son, but as her Messiah, the Son of God, and her Savior (Matt 12:47-50; Mark 3:31- 35; Luke 11:27-28).Jesus did not say,‘No’ to her. He was telling her that what she was asking would not accomplish what she was hoping for.

Mary was asking for literal wine for the people of the marriage supper, but Jesus was talking about the wine, which was His shed blood, for the marriage of the Lamb.Jesus made it clear that He would act according to God’s timetable, decreed before the foundation of the world, not hers or any mans. (John 7:2-8). It was not the appointed time for Jesus’ full messianic glory to be revealed; yet the miracle He would perform would make His divine power unmistakable, and preview His glory to come.

The dark hour of the cross would precede the full revelation in His glorious messianic kingdom where wine, emblematic of joy and gladness, will never run out. Undeterred by the mild rebuke (Matt 15:22-28), and aware that He was not saying no to the request, Mary said to the servants, ‘Whatever He says to you, do it.’The most significant point of this miracle is TIME and any vineyard owner will tell you that for grapes to be made into wine is a process that often takes years to produce a great vintage.

There are specific stages from planting the seed to bottling.The list sounds familiar to the scriptural descriptions of disciples and the kingdom of Heaven.

Wine cannot age without TIME.

So for the wine Jesus produced at Cana to be the best that was served, how could it age in an instant?TIME maybe an important point He was trying to make, as a precursor to what He was here to accomplish; what His life was meant to show; and what He was about to do in revealing who He really was.

Wine is only wine if it’s aged, but this wine had no time in which to age. It did not have any time in which to complete the long process.

THIS WINE HAD NO PAST

it only had a future.

 So in this sense it had to be given a new past. Can this be possible?

For us on earth, time moves forward, not backwards and neither does it stand still. However the Lord who created the heavens and the earth brought time into existence for the purpose of our earthly experience. And probably also as a means to keep constraints around the devil and a boundary for his cohorts; as they are now contained within Earth time and subject to its limitations.

Rev.12:12 the devil knows he has but a little time. How so, if he is an eternal spirit?

God is Spirit and exists outside of our dimensions and is not bound by the time He created. He is the same yesterday today and forever. So for Him to change a past, or remove it and replace it, is indeed possible. Every miracle of Jesus is a short circuit of a natural process. When God’s power enters the picture, it is not just simply any king; it’s the Creator of the Universe entering, the King of nature and all its processes.

Jesus transformed a non- living, inorganic compound (water) into a living, organic compound (wine) and it is a picture of His resurrection and of ours to come.

This first miracle teaches us that salvation is through the Word of God.

It is the key to understanding all miracles. Matter is pliable and subject to change within His presence. For the power of His glory has the ability to alter change and transform matter at the molecular level, of which everything is constructed. If we could really grasp this reality, seeing people get healed would be more commonplace.

He is the Lord of creation, the king of the universe and the author of Time. He is the Alef and Tav; the Alpha and Omega; the Beginning and End; the Start and the Finish.

He is YHVH, God, Adonai of TIME.We cannot change the past nor give something a past that does not have one… but He can and the water to wine was a demonstration of such a plan.

He gave the wine a past, where there was no past.

This is the promise of a future for all mankind, for the one who can give a past where there was none, can also remove a past that is no longer wanted or relevant. This is His salvation. It is not simply that everything is the same and we’re forgiven in spite of our sin but it’s as if we never sinned in the first place.The scripture promises that one day God will wipe away sin and wash away guilt.

This cannot be achieved without changing the past and without undoing what was done. However it is not simply justified, (just as if we never sinned) because in His redemptive sacrificial death the impossible becomes the possible; and the reality is the guilty become innocent.

The rejected become accepted and the scarlet sin becomes white as snow. A person’s wedding day is comparable to his or her personal Yom Kippur, on which all sins are forgiven. For the chatan, (Hebrew for groom), and kallah, (bride), on this day all their past mistakes are forgiven, as their lives merge together, becoming one….under His wings.We cannot make scarlet sins turn white. Sin is already committed and they are part of the past and the past is gone. The only way to change that sin would be to change the past in which it occurred.

This is the true miracle of salvation, He has removed all past as far as the east is from the west. If God can give a past where there was no past, if He can do that for wine in Cana, then He can certainly remove a past where there was one.

Isaiah 1:18; Luke 7:37, 47; 2 Cor. 5:21; 1 John 1:8–9.

He has taken the scarlet cord of your life’s sinful past and has made it white.Your life is like the stone jar of water, now changed, transformed. We are the new wine within and cannot be contained in the old wine skins of our past lives. We need to be changed from glory to glory to become a stable container (so we don’t burst or explode). Then out of us, His power can flow forth.The old is gone, the new is come. We are new creations, the old has passed away and we are to walk in newness of life.

The Cana miracle of transformation was a most prophetic picture, indicative of what was to come for those who would believe; both in this life and in the ultimate future of eternity in His presence.

With a new incorruptible body.

This is the first miracle that Jesus performed. Moses’ first miracle was turning water into blood. Moses was a type and shadow of Yeshua. Delivering Israel out of bondage.Compared with the ministry of Moses who turned water into blood as a sign of God’s judgment (Ex.7:14–24), Jesus is a bringer of joy and celebration by the Spirit because He delivers us from the moment.

He is the God of time by turning water into wine immediately, bypassing agricultural and fermentation processes.

Moreover, this was no ordinary wine, for as the host remarked, “You have saved the best till now” (v 10).But neither was it ordinary water.

Since its purpose was “for ceremonial washing” (v 6), the miraculous transmutation suggests the old order passing away, law metamorphosing to gospel. He is the new wine of the kingdom.The jars were for purification and He turned all 6 of them red like the blood that would purify all believers removing all our sins and sorrows foreverThe ceremony was held in a synagogue and they were there for a week.In Israel, the streets are stone,

the walls are stone, the houses are stone, In the first century even the furniture, the baths, and many cooking pots, jugs, bowls, and disheswere all made of stone. (obviously the modern drill image is for reference) Stoneware cores, cup bored plugs showing iron spinning hole saw rings lines drilled raw and unfinished. Ritual Purity First Century.

Equivalent of a large metal plastic or wooden barrels today compared to Stoneware Vessels used for Ritual-Purity in 1st-Century.  This was no small container they would each hold twenty to thirty gallons,such jars would need to be about three feet tall and be cut from a single block of stone weighing at least half a ton. Quite aside from the miracle itself, the sheer quantity of new wine created is astounding—equivalent to about a 1,000 bottles! We know this because so many ancient stone vessels have been found in Israel, many of them roughly fashioned, but the best ones turned on a lathe and smoothed, polished, and decorated.

The practical reason for all this stoneware stems from the Jewish laws of ritual purity. Stone vessels could easily be cleaned with water, whereas if an earthenware pot became ritually unclean it had to be broken. Hence the high incidence of stone vessels is peculiar to ancient Israelite culture, as non-Jews normally didn’t bother with this costly and cumbersome material when ceramics were much more convenient. The Jews used stone waterpots to hold the water used for ritual purification because they believed that, unlike earthenware pots (Lev 11:33), they did not become unclean.This seemingly insignificant detail, that the water was up to the very top, shows that nothing was added to the water, and that what followed was indeed a transformation miracle.

By ordering the jars to be completely filled before He transformed the water in them into wine, Jesus also displayed His generous grace. Six signifies work and wine signifies blood. The stone waterpots represent Christ’ body. Without the shedding of blood, there is no cleansing (purifying).Exodus 17:6 “Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the Rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the Rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink…”

In The Old Testament was is Concealed, is Revealed in the New Testament !

Proverbs 25:2 “It is the Glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honour of Kings is to search out a matter.” He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.

1st Corinthians 10:4 “And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.”Jesus the Messiah is the true Rock that the water of salvation comes from, and the Rock in Horeb merely was a shadow, casting a spiritual picture of it.

And that is why these waterpots in John chapter 2 from where wine would come, are purposely pointed out as being of stone.True purification is from Jesus/Yeshua the Messiah. Six Stone water pots signifying that it is by the work of Christ’s blood that the people will have this purification. The blood is the true wine of which Christ spoke, which was not yet ready for the Woman (the Church). It was not yet Christ’s hour to go to the cross. If the number six represents the days of creation, then Jesus’ miracle constituted a wonderful blessing of fertility on this marriage— not only on the couple but on their family for generations to come, a tribe of perhaps hundreds, thousands, even millions of people. More than a show of power, this was a blessing conferred upon a relationship—indeed upon the central relationship of all, the one that best represents the covenant between the Lord and His people.  Following the ceremonial proceedings of the Huppa, is the marriage banquet, also sometimes called the wedding feast or marriage festival.This was the joyful celebration of the union of the couple with all their family and friends. For us as believers, after the Catching away,the blessed hope,

we have one very important banquet to look forward to with our Lord and King. All the called out ones, the bride of Messiah, will join the Lord at the Wedding Supper of the Lamb.The Lord will take the long awaited cup of wine and we will all share it together with Him and enjoy the heavenly festivities He has planned. Rev. 19:7-9

The mundane and the ordinary can become infused by the power and the glory of God –

if we are prepared to respond in faith to the same challenge of Mary to the servants and to

“DO WHATEVER HE TELLS YOU”.

Messiah Yeshua began His ministry on this earth at a wedding.

The wedding was the first act and as He came to marry the believers to Himself in a covenant by His own body to fulfill the marriage covenant that was first entered into by Moses and Israel at Sinai. He ratified this renewed covenant in His own blood.

He will conclude it, as far as the body of believers are concerned, with a wedding also the consummation of a covenant between the Lamb and His bride, the elkklesia.

 The last chapters of John convey some of the final words of Jesus to His disciples. He is leaving them, but only for a season. He is reassuring them of His return – as a groom eagerly returns for his bride.

This first miracle was so prophetic and was indeed right on and in TIME.

We have that same reassurance. In giving a reNEWed covenant, Jesus used the most intimate language available. God loves us and is creating a place in the family for us to live forever.

Shalom!

Please don’t leave this site without knowing you are saved and assured that you belong to Him; with a deep conviction that you know where you will go, when your body can no longer sustain you in this realm. 

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 SURE?

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. You are now assured of heaven..rejoice and give Him glory for this is THE most important miracle.

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