The Book of Romans: Verse by Verse – Part 9
06/25/16 (4/19) Video Broadcast
The Book of Romans: Verse by Verse – Part 9 - Study
Part 9 - Comments and Questions
The Book of Romans: Verse by Verse – Part 10 - Study01:43:19
Part 10 - Comments and Questions01:59:03
The Book of Romans: Verse by Verse – Part 11 - Study01:48:08
Part 11 - Comments and Questions02:41:41
The Book of Romans: Verse by Verse – Part 12 - Study01:35:34
Part 12 - Comments and Questions01:44:35
We are now into part nine,
The Book of Romans Verse
by Verse.
I'm anticipating three
more parts according to
Yahweh's will, of course.
But we are now in the
ninth segment of The Book
of Romans Verse by Verse
and then, we will be going
through parts 10 to 12
in the coming weeks.
But right now at this
moment we happened to be
in the Book of Romans
Chapters 10 and 11 and
these are key chapters in
today's broadcast where I
get a little prophetic
here, going to some
prophecies and things like
that regarding Jews and
Gentiles and Yahweh's plan
of salvation for both.
And we are going to be
talking about that today.
So, anyway, to get started
we know Yahweh judged the
Jewish people
for disobedience.
But who was he judging among Israel? Was it all of the Jewish people or was it just certain people from among the Jewish people that he was judging? There is a remnant that never fell out of favor at all with Yahweh. And those are the ones who were humble.
The ones who had pride, Yahweh could not reach their hearts. We see here in Romans Chapter 10, we shared in our former segments, Paul writes, "Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer for Elohim -- to Elohim for Israel is that they may be saved. For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for Elohim, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of Elohim's righteousness --" that's the righteousness we receive through Messiah. If you missed that last week please, I'm not going to rehash the whole thing over again. Please do watch last week's segment. They are not aware of Elohim's righteousness and they're trying to establish their own righteousness because they rejected messiah. They've not submitted to the righteousness of Elohim. "For the messiah is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes." So, the law of Yahweh is not where we get our righteousness from. We who believe understand our righteousness does not come from the law and so because we understand that, we operate accordingly. Now, it doesn't mean that the law of Yahweh is no longer the standard of righteousness, it just means the law of Yahweh cannot give you righteousness. For Moses writes about the righteousness which is of the law, the man who does them, who does those things shall live, that has have eternal life by them. But the righteousness of faith speaks in this way, this is both Torah and Messiah quotation from Deuteronomy Chapter 32, "Do not say in your heart, 'Who will ascend into heaven?' " That is to bring messiah up from the dead. What does it say? The word is near you in your mouth, your heart,
that's the word of faith which we preach both Torah and Messiah. That if you confess with your mouth to Master Yahshua believe in your heart that Elohim has raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness. and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. And so we are able to be completely righteous through the Messiah Yahshua. For the scripture says, "Whoever believes in him will not be put to shame." That's how we have it in our Greek text. The actual Hebrew says, "Whoever believes will not act hastily." And Yahshua is that tried stone, that precious corner stone that sure foundation. He has to be your foundation. If the law of Yahweh was our foundation apart from the Messiah, we would be on a shaky ground because our own disobedience would result in our condemnation. But if the Messiah is our foundation, his righteousness is our foundation then, we won't be so quick to run to some other foundation.
Now, this latter part of this reading here, "Will not act hastily," is from the Septuagint. In my estimation, there -- you know, I looked at Dead Sea Scrolls, pretty much reads differently than the Septuagint, reads according to Nazareth text. So I think there's something about this Greek word that's translated shame, which has a connotation of hastiness, perhaps our modern lexicons are missing out on the element, but it's certainly there in the Hebrew. Now, I'm thinking perhaps the hastiness spoken of here is the sense that were not going to be so quick to run to some other thing to try and cover up our sins, because Messiah has taken away our shame. Now, if you look at the context of Isaiah 26, which we don't have the time to go into today, but Israel is looking for other things and they had this covenant with death, which we'll see in the context there. I'm sorry, it's actually Isaiah 28, not 26. Yahweh said there covenant with death would be annulled. And so Paul is basically pointing out that whoever -- whoever Jew or Gentile believes on him would be saved. As we continue in Romans 10, there's no distinction between Jew and Greek. The same master overall is reached to all who call upon him. That's calling upon the name of Yahweh. "For whoever calls on the name of Yahweh shall be saved," Joel 2:32.
"How they shall they call in him in whom they have not believed, and how shall they believe in him whom they haven't heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher, and how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written how beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things." So, both Jew and Greek are appointed to call upon the name of Yahweh for salvation. And we are the ones that Yahweh has appointed to preach this to all nations, both Jew and Gentile. And this is what's he's trying to point out, whoever calls on the name of Yahweh shall be saved.
And so this is a quotation from Isaiah 52:6-8, "So
therefore my people, my people shall know my name. Therefore they shall know in that day that I am he who speaks behold as I, behold how beautiful, I'm sorry, how beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who proclaims peace." That's the good news of Yahshua that proclaims peace, who brings glad tidings of good things, who proclaims salvation, who says to see on your mighty one reigns. He's on the throne, not man, not your own righteousness, Yahweh reigns. "Your watchmen shall lift up with their voices; with their voices, they shall sing together, for they shall see eye to eye when Yahweh brings back zeal." There's a time when he is going to restore Israel. We're in the beginnings of that already. But I'm pointing out here that his people are gonna call upon his name. They'll know his name and they're calling upon it. And that's all interconnected here with the good news of salvation. And Yahweh sent people, told them to walk out, to
go to the places and proclaim this good news of salvation to all the world. Continue reading here, "Bring forth in the joy, sing together you waste places of Jerusalem for Yahweh has comforted his people, he has redeemed Jerusalem. Yahweh has made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations." This holy arm here, you might remember a former segment, is the Messiah. And he made bare his only holy arm, in where? The eyes of all the Gentiles. And all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of the mighty one. So the Gentiles received this good news, that's all predicted, it's all written ahead of time, long before this all happened. Where the Jews have not received the Messiah and the Gentiles did, that is all predicted in the prophets. Right here, "Depart, depart, go out from there. Touch no unclean thing. Go out from the midst of her, be clean, you who bare the vessels of Yahweh for you shall not go out with haste nor go out by flight. For Yahweh will go before you and the mighty one of Israel be your real guard. Behold my servant shall deal prudently." This is the messiah. "He shall be exalted and extolled and be very high." That's the scripture says, "All powers given to me heaven and earth." "Just as many were astonished at you, so His visits was marred more than any man." This is his suffering. "And His form more than the sons of men, so shall He sprinkle," and this Hebrew word has to do with sprinkling the blood of animals. "He shall sprinkle, He shall sprinkle many nations, Kings," that's gentile, "shall shut their mouths at Him for what have not been told and they shall see." They'd never been heard of these things before. They'll see it. And what they had not heard they shall consider. And that's the part of why Yahshua spoke to Pilate, Paul spoke to Caesar once, perhaps twice. He approached Caesar, if you've studied that. And so this is all predicted and then, he goes, "But who has believed our report?"
To whom has Messiah, the arm of Yahweh been revealed?
He asked that question, because what did they do to him? He grew up before Him as a tender plant, as a root out of dry ground he has no form or comeliness. He wasn't the best looking man in the world. When we see Him, there's no beauty there that we should desire Him. So, He was despised and rejected by men who only look at the outward appearance and don't look at the heart. A man of sorrows, acquainted with grief, and we hid as it were our faces from him. He was despised, we did not esteem him. This is Israel. The Jewish people did not esteem him. All predicted. It's all part of the plan. Yahweh knew it would happen. So go back to Romans. He says there is not distinction between Jew and Greek, the same master overall has reached to all who call upon him, for whoever, Jew or Gentile, calls on the name of Yahweh shall be saved. How then shall they call on him in whom they've not believed? How shall they believe in him of whom they've not heard? The Gentiles and the Jews. And how shall they hear without a preacher? But they have not all obeyed the gospel. And he pulls out that same verse we just read as went through Isaiah 52 and 53, "Master, Yahweh he was believed our report, so then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Elohim." Faith comes by hearing. But the only way you can really hear is by the word of Elohim, that's Yahshua HaMashiach. He's what opens our ears to hear. But Isaiah, they not heard, yes, they had -- indeed, their sound has gone out to all the earth, their words to the ends of the -- end of the world." This is Psalm 19 where we talked about earlier in chapter of Romans. The nations in the world are without excuse. Because all have heard, all know down deep. "Heavens declare the glory of Elohim. The firmament shows his handiwork. Day unto day utter speech, night unto night reveals knowledge." There is no speech nor language where there voice has not heard. Their line or their sound -- this speech, this language has gone out to all the earth, their words to the end of the world. And so the heavens alone declare His glory.
Either way the message is the same, the heavens and indeed all of creation actually points to the message in scripture, even every principles of how things function, the death of one resulting in the life of another. Every one of us eat, hopefully, you know, three meals a day. Whatever you ate is there because whatever you're eating died, whether it's the cells in a vegetable or an animal. And so, the death of one gives life to another. That's how it functions. That's how it is at the physical realm. In the spiritual realm, in many ways, is a copy or a reality that's seen. This is the death of one, enables us to live physically, the Messiah's death enables us to live spiritually. And so, that's why we partake of Him at Passover, the master supper, because it is a spiritual application of the very thing we do every day. So think about that next time you sit down for a meal. This is a parable of life in Messiah. His death brings us our life. Just as this animal that died or some meat we're eating, it died so that we could live. Messiah died so that we could live.
And so He says, "But I say, Did Israel not know? First Moses says, 'I will provoke you to jealousy by those who are not a nation. I can move you to anger by a foolish nation.'
" Interestingly He's quoting from the Song of Moses, the Song of Moshe here. And Deuteronomy 32:20 to 21, he said, "I will hide
my face from them, I will see what their end would be, for they are a perverse generation, children in whom there is no faith." We must have faith. They're relying upon works. Furthermore, 21, "They have provoked me to
jealousy by what is not Elohim. They have moved me to anger by their foolish idols, but I will provoke them to jealousy by those who are not a nation.
I will move them to anger by a foolish nation." That's the Gentiles. Because they have pursued idols like the Gentiles pursued idols and because they choose not to have faith, we have idolatry going on.
He's going to provoke them to jealousy. He's going to provoke them to anger. But listen, in the first century, we know Israel had set aside the idols of wood and stone, but they
put something else in its place, men. The leaders had placed themselves on the pedestal. That's who they essentially wanted as their king and so that's what they got instead of Messiah. Just as those who wanted Gentile idols, they got what they wanted, but they won't save you in the day of trouble. Many times He says, "Oh run to your idols now. They can't save you." Yahshua one day, the message is gonna be, "All your Rabbis, all your teachers, they're not going to save you in the day of trouble." There is a king who wants to save you, but you've not chosen him as your king. They made idols out of themselves and they're quote, "Rabbis." Actually the word rabbi means my great one.
And I have spoken with Jewish people who were not believers, some of them came to Messiah, some though are so tide into the rabbis, they can't think outside rabbitical thinking. There in their mind the rabbis said, that's it; that has to be correct.
And so, the same thing actually happened in Christianity. Those who were in the lead in Catholicism, the pope, the bishops, the cardinals, the whatevers, they were placed in this rabbinical like position,
and so all this focus on man being the idol has led us to a culture of humanism.
Spiritually speaking I really believe humanism is the end result of those who claim to believe in Yahweh focusing instead on the traditions of man and what man thinks and what man's opinion is and what does this man say about that and that man say about this and so, just as you placed man in a position of idols, so it will be done to you. And here we have secularism and humanism. It's rampant in Israel, 60 some percent of Jewish people are actually secular. It's also rampant in Europe, where the end result of all this man-made religion brought humanism. It's coming very soon here in America as well. We're seeing it happen. And so all those man-made, man focus, that's where it leads. We need to be focused on the Messiah. We focus on Yahweh and the things of Yahweh and his words. His words are what matter. And so, this text here is part of the Song of Moshe, the Song of Moses. So the actual rejection of the Messiah was alluded to here and in fact the Gentiles would see it. But their lack of faith in Yahweh calls them to turn to what's not Elohim, and so Yahweh said, "Just as they provoked him in jealousy by their foolish idols, by what's not Elohim, he would take these Gentile nations and provoke them to jealousy and provoke them to anger." That's what happened. Israel pursued righteousness but they didn't pursue Yahweh's righteousness. They had a zeal but it wasn't a zeal according to the knowledge of the truth and when Messiah came and told them they would reject him but Gentiles would receive him, they got so angry, so angry. Luke Chapter 20:14 says, "When the vine- dressers saw him," he's giving this parable to the Jewish people, he's saying, "The vine-dressers saw him, he said, 'Here's the heir, come let's kill him and the inheritance may be ours.' " So they cast him out of vineyard and killed him. Therefore, what the owner of the vineyard do to them, he will come and destroy those vine-dressers and give their vineyard to others and when they heard of this, they said, "Certainly not." There's that same phrase in the Greek strong as possible objection. How could Yahweh reject his own people and embrace these other nations? They know what He was talking about when he gave this parable. They understood it. He was talking about them. Then, he looked at them him and says, "What then is this what is written? The stone was to build and rejected to become a chief cornerstone. Whoever falls on that stone will be broken, but on whomever it falls, it will grind them to powder." The chief priest describes that very hour sought to lay hands on Him but they feared the people because they're people pleasers, for they knew He had spoken this parable against them. So even Paul himself said, actually, earlier, Yahshua
said, "Look for," he said, "I tell you truly many widows were in Israel in the days of Elijah when the heaven was shut up three years and six months and there was great famine throughout all the land but none of them, to none of them was sent -- to none of them was Elijah sent except to Zarephath." This is of Gentile woman in the region of Sidon to one who was a widow. And many lepers were in Israel at the time of Elijah the Prophet, and none of them was cleansed except this Gentile, Naaman the Syrian. So when all -- all those in synagogue when they heard these things were filled with wrath even the thought of it. He rose up and toss him out of the city and they led him to the brow of the hill on which the city built, that they might throw him down over the cliff where they throw him over a cliff and kill him right there on the spot, but he escaped.
Paul himself said, Acts 22:20 says, "And when the blood of your martyr Stephen was shed, I also was standing by consenting to his death and guarding the close of those who were killing him." Then Yahshua said to Paul, "Depart for I will send you far from here to the Gentiles." And this crowd that he was addressing as he's describing his conversion, they listen to him until he said that word right there, until he said, "I'll send you to Gentiles." And then they raised their voices and said, "Away with such a fellow from the earth for he's not fit to leave." And as they cried out and tore off their clothes and throwing dust in the air and so on, we have another example in Acts 13:44 says, "The next Sabbath almost the whole city came to gather to hear the word of Elohim. The context here is the Gentiles begged to hear Yahweh's word about the Messiah in the next Sabbath. And so almost the whole city comes to hear about Messiah when the Jews saw the multitudes they were filled with envy and jealousy, contradicting and blasphemy, they oppose the things spoken by Paul. So, this is all predicted in the Song of Moshe, you know, the scriptures. And it was because, you see, Paul he was actually falsely accused of bringing Gentiles in the temple area, but even the thought of Gentiles entering a picture at all provoked anger and jealousy, all these things were already predicted. Romans 10:19, "By the State of Israel not know, first, Moshe says, "I will provoke you to jealousy by those who are not a nation. I will move you to anger by a foolish nation." This is not a nation that Yahweh established but a foolish nation instead. Isaiah is very bold saying, "I was found by those who did not seek me, I was made -- manifested to those who did not ask for me." So this is from Isaiah 65, "I was sat by those who did not ask for me, Gentiles. I was found by those who did not seek me, Gentiles. I said, 'here I am, here I am' to a nation that was not called by my name." This is to the Gentiles, but this is to the Jewish people. He says, "I will stretch out my hands all day to rebellious people who walking away is not good according to their own thoughts," in the context, he goes on to talk about idolatry. So according to what we just read in Romans 10, this is to the Gentiles, and this is to Israel, the next verse is to Israel. And so, this is Gentiles up here and this is Israel down here. Gentiles were not called by Yahweh's name, that makes perfect sense, because of the sins. Seeing Isaiah 65:2 and the verses that follow, "Idolatry," Yahweh said he sought out to Gentiles just as he predicted in the Song of Moshe just like the scripture said what happened. And it did.
So moving on here, looking into Chapter 11.
I say, then, has Elohim cast away his people?
Certainly not, for I also am an Israelite of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. Elohim has not cast away his people whom he for knew or do you not know what the scripture says of Elijah how he pleads with Elohim against Israel saying, "Yahweh, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars, I alone have left and they seek my life." But what does the divine response say to him? "I have reserved for myself 7,000 men who have not bound their knee to Baal or Baal. So, not all of Israel rejected Messiah, Paul points out he himself was an Israelite. Sometimes I think in traditional Christianity all the apostles mentioned in the scripture, hey, guess what, they're Israelites, they're Jewish men. I think that gets lost somewhere in all these doctrines. They were Jewish men that believe in Messiah and Yahshua actually never intended to start a whole new religion, he intended to reform Judaism to the extent that they would set aside tradition and receive him. But we know they didn't, some did, others didn't;
the remnant did, the others didn't.
And so, there were some Jews like the apostles who saw the Gentiles coming into the faith as something that would be glorious to Yahweh.
Like in Acts 21, Paul went in with us to James, and the elders were present. When he greeted them he told in detail those things that Elohim had done among the Gentiles to his ministry, and when they heard it, they glorified Yahweh and they said to him, "Hey, that's great, Hallelujah." Well guess what, all these myriads of Jews are coming to faith also. How many myriads of Jews there are who have believed and they're all jealous for the law.
These men were the remnant. They had received both Messiah and the Torah.
And Yahweh used messengers of the good news, announcers of peace, proclaimers of Messiah to reach the remnant among Israel and the Gentiles. Now, this word translated myriads, it's a very interesting word, Marias, 10,000 is the main
definition or enumerable multitude, unlimited number, enumerable hosts. In fact, it's translated 10,000 times 10,000. And so, this word is fascinating because it's used actually in a Septuagint, which is a Greek translation of the Old Testament that predates Messiah by about 300 years. And it's used in a Septuagint to describe David, remember I said Saul signed his thousands but David his Marias or 10,000. And so tens of thousands of Jewish believers in Messiah in the first century. There was a remnant there. We just don't see James ministry all that often when we are reading the Book of Acts. So, there are a lot of converts and you ever wonder where they all go?
Well, as we often know, it's the victors who get to write the history books and the Gentiles were then politically advantageous position. And so, they write the history books and the Gentiles when they came in chose to be arrogant and didn't want nothing to do with Jewish people, especially after the destruction of Jerusalem with its temple in 70 A.D. and the amount of anti-Jewish sentiment and the Gentile world was accelerated and we'll talk about that more later but, looking back at our text here. Has Elohim cast away his people? No, he has not. Among Israel there is and always has been a remnant, Elijah the Prophet thought he was by himself but there is 7,000 who had not bound their knee to Baal. Do you ever feel like Elijah the Prophet -- you wonder is there anybody else out there? Yeah, actually the name of this website elijah.com,
you know, I took on this chat handle many years ago and that's how the name elijah.com was birth because my chat handle was Elijah. I'll go into different chat rooms under this name Elijah and that's how I would minister. I liked it because the name Elijah means my mighty one is Yahweh. Well, like Elijah the Prophet you call upon the name of Yahweh in Mount Carmel, I believe, it's important that we call upon the name of Yahweh like scripture says. Now as a side note, the word Baal actually means lord. And Elijah, he says to the prophets of Baal, he says, "You call the name of your mighty ones, I would call the name of Yahweh, I guess, it matters." And the mighty one who answers by fire he is Elohim as well the people who answered is well spoken. Now, Elijah sent to the prophets of Baal, "Choose one Baal for yourselves and prepare it first, for there are many and call the name of your god to put no fire under it."
And so, interestingly, the prophets of Baal actually in the Hebrew it doesn't say prophets of Baal, it actually says prophets of The Baal or the Lord. So, Elijah against the prophets of The Lord, the word Baal means Lord in Hebrew. And so, Eliyah was calling on the name of Yahweh and
these people worshipping a completely different deity were calling on The Lord. Now, in line to this, I think, it's curious to me that those who otherwise seem to have a love for their creator and Messiah will take Yahweh's name out of the Bible and put The Lord in there instead. Now, I don't want to participate in such things and that's one of the reasons I like the name Elijah and what it means My mighty one is Yahweh. And so, there are all those people in those days who are calling on the name of The Lord, but Elijah was calling on the name of Yahweh. Now, I don't accuse anybody today of worshipping a false god, but I don't want to share any characteristics of those who pursuit Yahweh and put this Baal or The Lord character in front of
them and worship that instead. In fact, we see Jeremiah 23:26 says, "How long will this be in the heart of prophets, who prophecy lies and be there prophets of deceit in their own heart who try to make my people forget my name by their dreams which everyone tells his neighbor as their father's forgot my name for Baal, Lord. So, anyway, I don't want to carry any of those characteristics of paganism.
So I want to memorialize Yahweh's name like Elijah the Prophet did, not forget it even if I'm one of only 7,000 people left who are willing to do that, m I want to do that because what matters is Yahweh and his word. So, even so then that 7,000 at this present time there is a remnant, there is a remnant, the remnant is Paul and the apostles and those ten thousands of
people that were believing in Messiah and so on. And according to the election of grace, and if by grace it's no longer of works, otherwise grace is no longer grace. But it is of -- if it is of works, it is no longer grace otherwise work is no longer work. So, as we shared in the previous segment there are some who Yahweh chooses to give mercy to and some who are not recipients of his mercy, some have the election and some do not. So, who are those who have the election?
He's one to grant mercy and grace, he offers it to everybody but only those who humble themselves and seek righteousness by faith are going to receive it. So then, it's not of works, it's of faith. Faith and works which is going to say this, faith, not our works but faith. So, it's by his grace, it's not our work that saves us, it's his working in us that saves us.
What then? Israel has not obtained what it seeks, the elect have obtained it and the rest were blinded just so as it's written as it is written, Elohim has given them a spirit of stooper eyes that they should not see, ears that they should not hear to this very day. And so, Yahweh's election is based on the willingness of men to seek righteousness by faith, by receiving his righteousness rather than trying to achieve their own righteousness through him and effort. And that's not a new thing, not at all.
What shall we say then that Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have obtained their righteousness, even though righteousness of faith. But Israel pursuing the law of righteousness has not obtained the law of righteousness, why, because he did not seek it by faith. But as it were by the works of law for they stumbled at the stumbling stone. And so, the difference here was in the decisions of men what they decided to do, were they going to pursue righteousness by faith or by works?
Those who saw it by faith were approved, those who sought it by works were not approved and this is not a new doctrine here. Yahweh's election is based on where men is going to put their trust, in themselves, in their own works, or in Yahweh and what he does for them. Habakkuk 2:4 says, "Behold the proud, the soul is not upright in him but the judge shall live by his faith." For us to live we must go according to faith.
To have a life, to have eternal life we must walk by faith. The prideful ones did not have the upright soul.
His soul is not considered upright or just, it is those who seek justness or righteousness by faith
that will live.
So, it's not just a New Testament of doctrine but one found in Old Testament scripture as well, but some of the Jewish people in the first century were unwilling to put their faith in the Messiah, the one that actually enables us to be righteous before Yahweh as to faith in him that we are made righteous. And those in former times who arrogantly proclaim their own righteousness would not have been justified before Yahweh but those in former time the remnant like David who humbled themselves before Yahweh and cried out for mercy he says, you do not desire sacrifice or else I would give it. You do not delight and burn offering the sacrifices of Elohim or a broken spirit, a broken and can try it hard, these Elohim you will not despise.
Psalm 51:15 through 17. Isaiah 57:15 where that says the high and lofty one who inhabits the eternity whose name is holy, I dwell in the high and holy place with him who has a contrite and humble spirit. To revive the spirit of the humble, to revive the hard and contrite ones, this is a high and holy place, a man who has the contrite and humble spirit and Yahweh will revive such a person.
Many Jewish people of the first century were not willing to have that kind of heart, a contrite and humble heart and acknowledge their need for the Messiah, there was and is a remnant though who have that willingness, we do have that freewill and Yahweh grants election based on whoever is willing, and this is the complete picture. One who believes we have no freewill at all is forced to take these few verses out of Romans and build a whole doctrine out of it, but taken in context with the rest of scripture it could not be any clear that we do have a choice to humble ourselves in the side of Yahweh and let him lift us up. And that's the only way we can reconcile freewill choice with election is that Yahweh bases his election on his decision to call us but also our willingness to humble ourselves before him. So he says even that so then at that time, in the present time there is a remnant according to the election of grace just like it was in Elijah the Prophet, there is now a remnant according to the election grace. There were some who will say like David, Samuel, others who reject it like Sol and many others. So Israel if by grace has no longer works, otherwise
grace is no longer grace but it's of works, it's no longer grace, otherwise work is no longer work. So, it has to be by grace. What then? Israel has now obtained what it seeks, but the elective obtained it, the rest were blinded. Just so as it is written Elohim has given them a spirit of stooper, eyes that should not see -- that they should not see, ears that they should not hear to this very day.
So echoing the verse from Isaiah I shared in the last segment, Yahweh resist and blinds the proud but gives grace to the humble and -- but as we're going to be sharing here shortly the Gentiles can also be blinded. And David says, "Let their table become a snare and a trap, a stumbling block, any recompense to them.
Let their eyes be darken so they do not see and bow down their back always." It's a quotation from the Psalm of David here which is used a number of times in the New Testament as referring to Yahweh says they gave me gull for my food and for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink, Isaiah's or Psalm 69:21. Let their table, the table of those who rejected him become a snare before them and their well-being a trap. I think everything is going well and their table which is the table of men, the words and doctrines of men became a snare because they were not able to see the Messiah. Let their eyes be darkened so they do not see and their loins -- make their loins shake continually, pour out your indignation upon them and let your wrathful anger take hold of them. Let their dwelling place be desolate, let no one live in their tents. This is all exactly what happened, Yahshua predicted that the Jewish people would be blinded, their eyes would be darkened, and their table was a snare, and ultimately in 70 A.D Jerusalem was destroyed.
And so Paul says, "I say that have they stumble that they should fall, have they stumbled that they should fall or are they like a lost cause here?" No, certainly not, there's that word again, strong as
a possible objection available in that language but through their fall to provoke them to jealousy, salvation has come to Gentiles. Now, if their fall is richest for the world and their failure is richest for the Gentiles, how much more their fullness. So their failure resulted in a Gentiles' coming to messiah, but if they came back, how glorious would
that be?
For I speak to you Gentiles in as much as I am in a puzzle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry if by any means I may provoke to jealousy those who are my flesh and save some of them.
So he is literally magnifying this ministry that Yahweh gave him. With the hope and the intent that the Gentile
conversion would result and the Jewish people be provoked to jealousy and ultimately becoming saved.
And so, he says, their rejection would result in richness for Gentiles, imagine what would happen if they received them. So Paul in hope of that expectation of a greater blessing upon the Jewish people, one of the driving forces for magnifying his ministry was that he was hoping to save some Jewish people through that, just like the Song of Moshe said, what happened? He said that he will provoke them to jealousy
as like they would provoke Yahweh to jealousy, there would be some who'd be provoked to jealousy among Israel by these foolish nations. And so, you know what, this is like the perfect plan, I mean, in many ways because it's like two children, the two children are competing for attention, and the one child who normally messes up all the time does everything wrong actually finds some new thing and he does something right and he gets a lot of attention for it. And the other child's over here normally considered to be the well-favored one. He has a choice of that point, he wants to maintain his position of being how he favored. This other child all of a sudden was coming around and getting all of his attention because of something that he did to gain the favor. And so, is this child over here the normally favored one, normally favored, is he going to humble himself and do the thing that then normally this favored child has done or is he going to act like, oh, I don't need that and go on by his business even though his own heart and refuse to humble himself.
And that's what's happening on a national level, the Gentiles normally considered to be the total mess and the Jews were arrogant and prideful against the Gentiles and when they saw the Gentiles getting all these attention now and grace being given to them and wonderful things happening to them, well the humble ones in Jew they were like, wow, yeah, I'll do that, I'll get the blessing too, I want that blessing.
But the prideful ones in Judah were going to about in old business and even to their own heart, they refused to humble themself and say, "Oh, I don't need that." It really is like a couple of children but on a national level, this was happening in ultimately on an individual level, who was going to humble themselves and say, I got to admit, Gentiles over here, they got something. And normally, not very favorable towards the Gentiles but they've got something over there and I want it too, I want all that Yahweh has for me. But then, there are others are like, oh, who are those people over there, there's just a bunch of wasted -- waste of space a waste of breath on the land, they hated their hatred and their bitterness did not result in this change in their heart. And so that was -- that's what was happening on a national level. Here comes the Gentiles anger and jealousy to the -- to the ones who are not the remnant, just anger, to the ones who were the remnant, jealousy and let me do this. And so, this beautiful thing here is happening, this exposing of who the remnant really were in the first century. And so Paul is saying, you know, "If by any means I may provoke the jealousy, those who were my flesh and save some of them for, if they are being cast away is the reconciling of the whole world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead." He's thinking, "Wow, if through the rejection of the Messiah and him being dying on a tree and everything results in Gentiles coming in and being reconciled to Yahweh, imagine if they would be accepted, how beautiful that would be?" They would accept Messiah, how beautiful that would be? And we see how beautiful it was in the life of Paul.
For if the first fruit is holy, the lamp is also holy, if the root is holy so are the branches. What's he talking about here? Paul gives us a parable here.
Because Paul, in a hope and expectation of even greater blessing, uses this as one of the driving forces for magnifying his ministry because he saw, "Wow, what could that be like?" So, now he doesn't have a Jew and Gentile perspective here in terms of holiness.
He says, "For if the first fruit is holy, the lump is also holy."
Now, Israel, as a nation, were the first fruits in the sense that they were the first nation or people to be a holy nation before Yahweh but is and was Messiah that made them holy.
The sacrificial animals are not what cleanse Israel their sins, it was the very thing of those sacrifices pointed to, Yahshua HaMashiach. He is the lamb slain from the foundation of the world. He is the one who ultimately made Abraham and Isaac and every son of Israel holy.
And since his body is the bread we partake of a Passover and we become a part of his body, we are this lump that's also holy. And if Abraham and Ancient Israel, the root and Messiah who sanctified that root are holy, then
the lump is holy and the branches are holy, do we understand this? It's very important we understand Yahshua is the embodiment of Israel. He is everything that Yahweh ever hoped Israel would be. And so, the same a Messiah, the perfect one who sanctifies us also sanctified every human being ever lived, particularly Israel who were the chosen nation, so that they would be a holy root but they had to be joined the Messiah.
So Messiah is the root, yes, and Israel is the root, yes, they're both the root and both are holy. And the branches that came out of that, you know, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, sons of Israel goes on and on and on, all these branches coming forth out of this root are holy.
The root can only be made holy if it's through Yahshua, the ultimate Israelite. The embodiment of all that Yahweh wanted Israel to be. And so, who are we? If we're a Gentile, what does it say? We are grafted in. Some of the branches were broken off and you being a wild olive tree were grafted in among them and with them became partaker of the root and fatness of the olive tree. So, there are Gentiles who were grafted in, there are some Jews who were broken off. And so, we need to remember who we are, therefore, remember that you once Gentile's in the flesh that means one time you were and you no longer are. Who were called on circumcision by a witch by what's called the circumcision made in the flesh by hands. At that time, back when you were a Gentile, back then, you use to be a Gentile, you were without Messiah. You were aliens, strangers from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without Elohim in the world.
But now a Messiah Yahsua you who once were far off aliens, strangers from the commonwealth of Israel
have been brought near. Near to what? The commonwealth of Israel. What he's talking about? By the blood of Messiah, his life being in you, he's an Israelite. And if it's no longer you who live, a messiah who lives in you, you've now taken on a new identity. You'd taken on Messiah's identity, and he is the ultimate Israelite. That's why the scripture says, "If you are Messiah's, then you are Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise," because Messiah is Abraham's seed, he is an Israelite and so, you are joined to Israel through him.
So looking back here, Romans 11. If some of the branches were broken off and you, being the wild olive tree, were grafted among them, you become a partaker now of the root and fatness of the olive tree, think about that. There were some of the branches that were broken off because they're not willing to be holy. The Jews in the first century were not willing to be a part of this holy tree.
It's Messiah who had made them holy but they were not willing to be holy because you're not willing to receive holiness through the Messiah that makes all of Israel holy. And so, they were broken off. And the Gentiles were over here, these unholy people, this wild olive tree. You know, wild olive trees don't normally bear very much fruit. It's the cultivated olive trees that bear much fruit. And so, they get grafted in among them. Who is them? Israel, the remnant of Israel.
The remnant of Israel. Paul and the apostles were part of the remnant. Now, while olive trees don't normally bear much fruit but it's the cultivated trees that produce the most fruit, Israel is the cultivated tree. And the Gentiles were like this olive tree that's done out there producing much fruit at all. But because the branches were not willing to be holy through the Messiah Yahshua who that makes us all holy, Yahweh broke those branches off.
They weren't willing to bear fruit through him. Since those among the Gentiles were willing to be holy by receiving the Messiah Yahshua, Yahweh took these wild olive trees and he grafted them into the holy tree.
So that they could partake of that root and fatness of the olive tree through the Messiah Yashua and ultimately bear fruit.
We understand that. The way they would do olive trees in Israel, they break off the branch, they put another branch in its place. Now, the way they would do it was they would take actually a wild tree and they had to cut off all those branches and put cultivated branches on it so that the wild olive tree with all its good, you know, solid roots and everything would be able to feed it. But what Yahweh did was he took a cultivated tree, one he planted, one he caused to grow, one that he cause to be awesome and having lots of fruit bearing, he took these unfruitful branches and planted them in and grafted them in to this olive tree of which he planted, Israel. Israel is the tree. So that now those who were once Gentiles could be brought near to the body of Messiah and those who were not a seed of Abraham could become a seed of Abraham. And so, Paul warns the Gentiles, he warns them now. Okay, they were arrogant, they were prideful, guess what?
Do not boast against the branches. Remember those branches, the ones that were broken off. But if you do boast, remember, you don't support the root, the root supports you. Do we understand that?
You being Gentiles, you came in after the fact.
And the root is supporting you not the other way around. So, you will say then, "Branches were broken off that I might be grafted in." Well said because of unbelief they were broken off because they didn't have faith. They were seeking righteousness by works. And you stand by faith do not be haughty, but fear. For if Elohim did not spare the natural branches, he may not spare you either.
So, what happened, my brothers and sisters? What happened? The Gentiles who came in, what did they do? Were they humble toward the other branches?
Is that the history of the Christian church? They were so humble and loving toward the Jewish people? Sadly it was not. They did not heed Paul's warning, "Don't boast against the branches, don't be haughty, fear."
Back to our parable of school children, but normally this favored child you got favor and blessings started to get arrogant and prideful putting down the other child who was too proud to receive the blessing and then he can also fall out of favor. And that results in situation where both children are operating in pride and haughtiness, and they hate each other. And that can result in a situation where Yahweh doesn't choose to spare any of them, neither one. And so, that there is actually a remnant among the Gentiles too.
Now again, we see he's basing his election on the people's actions whether they choose to be humble before him or be arrogant and haughty and Paul warns the Gentiles, "Do not be haughty, but fear for Yahweh can easily break you off. You're not even part of the natural branches."
But sadly that's what many Gentiles were doing. They receive the Messiah and then they became haughty and boastful and arrogant against the Jewish people, and hatred came about as a result. What Constantine said? Constantine says, "Let us then have nothing in common with the Jews who are our adversaries." He said, "We may no more have anything in common with these parasites and murderers of our Lord. No single point in common with the perjury of the Jews." They were so far gone at this point. The reason why Constantine did this was he doesn't want to set the date of Passover according to Jewish calendar. And so, he wanted to completely divorce himself from any Jewish calendar, anything dealing with the biblical calendar. And so, he started to set as Easter date according to their own whims rather than the biblical Hebrew calendar from which Passover comes and everything else kind of flew it out. So, and then, we see another man, he said,
"Jews are venomous beasts, vipers, disgusting scum, candors, devils and carnet." He said, "Their private houses must be destroyed and devastated. They could be lodged in stables. Let the magistrates burn their synagogues and let whoever escapes be covered with sand and mud. Let them force to work, and if this avails nothing, we will be compelled to expel them like dogs in order to not expose ourselves to incurring divine wrath and eternal damnation from the Jews and their lies. We are at fault for not slaying them rather we allow them to live freely in our midst." Did you know Martin Luther wrote this? He sounded like a man who was humbled toward the
Jewish people. You know, this book was widely circulated by the Nazis. Martin Luther was a German man. And I would lay at least his words as probably responsible for the holocaust because with these kinds of attitudes coming from Christians like Martin Luther who had power and influence, the Nazis would quote his writings, "We're at fault for not slaying them, let them live freely in our midst," and they justify themselves. The holocausts were justified.
And so, it's no wonder what this hatred toward Jews and Jewish things that we have a heritage in Christianity that has rejected certain parts of the law that look Jewish. Like Sabbath-keeping on the seventh day of the week, like peacekeeping, like eating cleaning, wearing tsitsit [tassels], things that would make you look Jewish.
He stripped those things out of the walk and the end result is rejection of Yahweh's commitments of the Torah. The end result is we have two religions who have been at war at each other for 2000 years and they both missing a key element.
Here is the patience of the saints, Revelation 14:12, "Here are those who keep the commitments of Elohim and the faith of Yahshua," both.
And who's the - who is saint really after? He's enraged with the woman that went to make war what the rest of her offspring who do what? Keep the commandments of Elohim and have a testimony of Yahshua Messiah. Here's Judaism, they think they're keeping the commitments although they're not. And here is historical Christianity, they think they're walking in the testimony, in the faith of Yahshua but they're lacking because they're not walking his example, they're not - their faith - there just no works accompanying their faith. And so this boasting against the branches, this haughty and arrogance ultimately resulted in a rejection of Yahweh's wisdom, his Torah, do we understand that? This boasting against the branches that caused people to delve into anti-Semitism have a superiority complex against Jews in the same way the Jews has superiority complex against the Gentiles now for century, to the extent that the Jews would not receive the Messiah and the tradition - those in traditional Christianity would not receive the Torah. Anything that looked Jewish was rejected.
They boasted against the branches.
So because if unbelief, Romans 11:20, they were broken off, you stand by faith. Do not be haughty but fear for if Elohim did not spare the natural branches he did not spare you either, therefore, consider the goodness and the severity of Elohim, on those who fell, severity but toward with you, goodness. If you, you, if you continue in his goodness.
Otherwise, you also be cut off, continue in goodness.
Brothers we have to continue in his goodness, His righteousness which is seen. But, what made Yahshua righteous to begin with was his keeping of Yahweh's commandments, the Torah. We must continue in that goodness, not be high-minded, not be conceited, what is good? Tell me, what is good?
Therefore, the law, the Torah is holy, a commandment holy, just and good.
So, if we want to walk in holiness, if we want to be a part of that holy lump, if we want to walk in justice, we want to walk in goodness, we're going to pursue obedience to Yahweh's law and we are going to cleave to the Messiah for any areas where we have failed to be obedient to Yahweh's law because it's His sacrifice that cleanses us from our sins. And so if you want to continue in goodness, the word His is not in the Greek, if you want to continue in goodness, do what the law tells you to do because the law is holy, and just, and good.
That's what it is. He did not continue in his goodness or goodness. So back to Romans 11, verse 23, "And they also,
if they do not continue in unbelief, will be grafted in, for Elohim was able to graft them in again." Even though they're broken off, he can graft them right in if they choose to believe, choose to walk by faith. "For if you were cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, who are natural, be grafted into their own olive tree?" It's their own olive tree which is the seed of
Abraham, the Messiah, the true Israel, the remnant
of Israel. "For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, that you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part is happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in." There's so many times our doctrinal errors arise out of spiritual problems, character problems, and because of the haughtiness and arrogance found among those in traditional Christianity, becoming wise in their own conceits, the Gentiles boasting against the branches, they want to hold on their Gentile identity. They couldn't fathom the idea of being called Hebrews or Israelites, didn't mind being called that in a sense that they saw themselves as replacements for Israel, like in replacement theology, but they rejected and divorce themselves from any true genuine Israelite identity if they saw something in the Bible that would be clearly identify them the public way as being Jewish, they will reject it. And so they -- just as they desire, so it was done to them. Just as Israel want to make idols out of men and reject the Messiah, they got what they wanted. And just as some Christians wanted nothing to do with the Israel, so it was done to them. They rejected the Torah, therefore, they did not continue in Yahweh's goodness, and so the Gentiles became haughty and boasted against their branches, and became wise in their own conceits. Anti-Semitism crept into the Gentile congregations and stripped them of all the elements of the law. So they becoming wise in their own deceits, in
their own opinion, here comes anti-Semitism, into Gentile congregations, stripping them of all the elements of Yahweh's Torah that made them look Jewish. And so a Gentile want to be -- because they did not want to receive -- they didn't want to receive persecution, certain parts of the law were rejected.
But if a Gentile really wants to join themselves to Israel, they're going to have to take the whole thing. They want to be a partaker of the olive tree, and so let's do things, peace keeping, Sabbath observant, yes, observe the dietary laws, do the things that were, okay, it's a Hebrew sounding name, but guess what? That's the root. So the Christian church, well, it usually did teach repentance, it did teach faith in Messiah which are two necessary elements for the one to be saved.
And I'm thankful that some Protestant saw that, it boasted against the branches, they became blinded in some areas. And from what I'm reading in the prophets, I'm going to expand what Paul is saying here. "Not only was the blindness of Israel predicted, but also the blindness of the church."
Take a look at here Isaiah chapter 42. "Behold my servant, whom I uphold; My elect one in whom My soul delights. I have put My Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice or righteousness to the Gentiles." To the Gentiles. This is the Messiah talking here. "He will not cry out nor raise His voice, nor cause His voice to he heard in the street. A bruised reed He will not break. A smoking flax he will not quench. He will bring forth justice for truth. He will not fail nor be discouraged, till he has established justice in the earth, the whole earth. The coastlands shall wait for his Torah." Beautiful. Talking about the Gentiles waiting for his Torah which is the same Torah as Yahweh. Yahweh's Torah, they're not variant with each other. "Thus says Elohim Yahweh, he created the heavens and stretched them out, He spread forth the earth and that which comes from it, who gives breath to the people on it, and spirit to those who walk on it. I, Yahweh, have called you in righteousness, and will hold your hand, I will keep you and give you, Messiah, as a covenant to the people and what else as a light to the Gentiles." It was all predicted. "To open blind eyes, to bring out prisoners from prison. To those who sit in darkness from the prison house." The people in His generation were in prison houses. The synagogues were prison houses. Were doctrines of men took the higher position than the doctrines of Yahweh. Yahweh says though, "I am Yahweh, that is my name, my glory I will not give to another." No human -- no man on the earth is He going to give His glory to and neither is he going to give his praise to carved images, neither to idols in the form of wood and stone nor idols in the form of man. He will not give his glory to another, and so He took -- he took their possession away from them. "Behold, the former things have come to pass and new things I declare; before they spring forth I tell you of them, sing to Yahweh a new song." This is the song of the lamb, the song of Moses and now is the song of the lamb. "And his praise from the ends of the earth, you who go down to the sea and all that is in it, you coastlands and you inhabitants of them," talking about the Gentiles here, "sing to Yahweh the song of the land." "Let the wilderness and its cities lift up their voice, the villages that Kedar inhabits," this sons of Ishmael here. "Let the inhabitants of Sela sing." This is the sons of Adam. "Let them shout from the top of the mountains, Gentiles. "Let them give glory to Yahweh and declare his praise in the coastlands." That's the Gentile nations. "Yahweh shall go forth like a mighty man. He shall stir up his zeal like a man of war. He shall cry out, yes, shout out loud. He shall prevail against his enemies. I have held my peace a long time, I have been still and restrain myself. Now I will cry like a woman in labor, I will pant and gasp at once. I will lay waste the mountains and hills and dry up all their vegetation's; I will make the rivers coastlands and I will dry up the pools. I will bring the blind by a way that they did not know, I will lead them in paths they've not known," talking about Gentiles. "I will make darkness light before them and crooked places straight. These things I will do for them, and not forsake them. They shall be turned back, they shall be greatly ashamed, who trust in carved images, who say to the molded images, you are our Elohim. Hear, you deaf and look, you blind, that you may see. Who is blind, but my servant." Now wait a minute, the servant was the one that was a covenant to the people, right? It can't be Yahshua who is the blind one, he was not blind. "Or deaf, as my messenger whom I send? Who is blind as he who is at peace?" The word "shalam" translated perfect there but -- "And blind as Yahweh's servant?" Who's the blind servant? The blind servant, the blind messenger whom Yahweh would send a messenger, that was blind. The only one I can see fitting the description is 2000 years of traditional Christianity who gave the message of salvation but they themselves were blind and deaf. They had the message, the basic message needed to bring salvation to a human -- to a human soul, repentance and faith in Messiah, and they still do
but they have some blindness too, they have some blindness, but Yahweh sent them anyway. And so they were blind and yet they're His messenger.
To them, he said, "Seeing many things, but you do not observe; opening the ears, he did, they open their ears but they themselves lacked hearing." So -- now we're talking about Yahshua in verse 21. "Yahweh is well pleased for his righteousness' sake," only Yahweh's righteousness and Messiah can make one pleasing to anybody. "He will exalt the law and make it honorable. But this is a people robbed and plundered; All of them are snared in holes, they are hidden in prison houses, church walls. And they are for prey, and no one delivers, for plunder, and no one says, restore!" So he -- Yahshua came and exalted the law and made it honorable but what did the leaders do about people right back into these denominations, these sects, C-E -- S-E-C-T-S, sectarianism and
denominationalism, the same thing that snared and gave so much trouble to the Jewish people that the Gentile, believers in Messiah, came in and did the same thing. So when Yahshua came he hammered Israel he said, "Look, you try to keep your tradition." He exalted the law, he made it honorable again.
But just as Israel were hidden in prison houses and synagogues, we have people today who are still hidden in prison houses, can find by the doctrines and commandments of men in this church buildings, this is -- there is synagogue buildings, both are missing truth, both are putting tradition in first place, and Yahweh's word in second place. Do we see it? Tradition keeps Jews from being enlighten to the busting of the Messiah, and tradition keeps Gentiles from being enlighten to the blessing of the Torah. Revelation 14:12 says we need both. This is all predicted. This is all -- it's not new stuff here. Yahweh said this is all going to happen and it has, it's all happened just like he said.
So who are we? Oh, remnant of Israel I'm talking to you.
No one's saying "restore".
Are you going to join with me and say, "restore"?
I'm not saying that all those who follow traditional Christianity are lost and going to hell because they do have the message.
Have a repentant heart, receive the Messiah Yahshua. They have that message down, they got it down. Yahweh can save them.
But who wants to be a blind messenger? I don't.
"So who will listen to the call to restore? Who will listen and hear for the time to come? Who gave Jacob for plunder, and Israel to the robbers? Was it not Yahweh, He against whom we have sinned? For they would not walk in His ways, nor were they obedient to His law.
Therefore, He has poured on him the fury of His anger and the strength of battle. It has set him on fire all around, yet he did not know; it burned him, yet he did not take it to heart." When they destroyed Jerusalem it was like, "Oh, well, okay, Jerusalem is done. Going on about our business." Yahweh judged the Jewish people for the disobedience but Gentiles come along, they get grafted in, don't take it to heart. They don't pay attention, neither did the Jews. And everyone's haughty towards each other.
Jewish hitting Gentiles, and Gentiles hitting Jewish. He destroyed Jerusalem in the fury of his anger and yet no one takes it to heart. They're blinded for sure. But Yahweh sent out a messenger and the messenger himself was actually blind as well, as Yahweh's servant but he was blind. Now the blindness of Israel is a temporary blindness because the time is coming and maybe now is
that they, again, see. Romans 11:25, "For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion; that blindness in part has happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written, the Deliverer will come out of Sion, he will turn away unrighteousness from Jacob, for this is my covenant with him, when I take away their sins." "Until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in." So all Israel talking about this remnant will be
saved, the ones who are truly Israel will be saved. Not the wicked, hateful men among Israel. But this is a prediction in the prophets that Yahweh would also -- would ultimately save Israelites.
Now, what is this fullness of the Gentile thing? What is that all about? Luke 21:24, Yahshua says, "They will fall by the edge of the sword," talking about the destruction of Jerusalem, "and be let away captive into all nations. And Jerusalem will be trampled by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled." May I ask you this question, are -- is Jerusalem now trampled by Gentiles? Who owns -- who runs and gains full control of Jerusalem? Ultimately the Jewish people now as a nation, as
of 1967 gained control of Jerusalem. Now I see that as either a fulfillment or a
pre-fulfillment to this times of the Gentiles. And I've noticed that ever since that time, in
traditional Christianity as serious change in regards to how they look at and perceive and see the Jewish people, it seems to me in recent years, that pride and arrogance and haughtiness are going -- since be going away. And those in traditional Christianity today, particularly those in Evangelical Christianity, are acknowledging this as a fulfilled prophecy that the Gentile people are no longer there and here comes Jewish people gaining control of Jerusalem. So what's happening, I think, as a result of this, is those who were so against the Torah are now
going, you know, them, Jewish people I don't want to hate them, I want to love them, I want to love them. And there is like the spirit is just being poured out in Christianity particularly in the Evangelical community that it just seems like, I mean, you turn on Christian TV today, it seems like all these different programs are talking about Hebrew roots, Perry Stone. And all these, I mean, normal Christians that you would think, what are they doing? And yet they're talking Hebrew roots. Now they may not embrace Torah but there is -- the tide has changed to some, to where -- I mean, listen, when I first came to this walk, I gave my life to Yahshua. Using Hebrew names in 1989, 1990 I kept my first Passover, at that time you could hardly find any of us but what's happened now is, wow, I mean, we had 350 people at the Feast of Tabernacles last year. I could never have imagined that in my wildest imaginations. And so all these people are having their eyes open. And as this haughtiness and pride, and arrogance departs, and as the Jewish, the Gentile people or perhaps even somehow related to Israel as well, coming in to the knowledge of the Torah and practicing Torah, there are Jewish people who are going, what is this? What is this all about? And Messianic synagogues were popping up in almost every major city across the United States, in the Canada, and spreading to the world, even in the land of Israel. And so as the pride and haughtiness stops, and the love begins. We begin to see something else happening, tens of thousands "myriads" of Jews coming to the Messiah even today. And I say tens of thousands. Never since the first century had we seen it quite like this and they're all zealous for the law.
And to me it's beautiful, it's amazing, it's exciting. And we get to live in this time. We get to be the voice saying, "Restore."
I joined with chorus of thousands of people who are saying, "Restore."
So back to the first century.
He is talking about, "the Deliverer will come out of Sion, he was going to turn away unrighteousness from Jacob, this is my covenant with him, when I -- when I take away their sins." That's a new covenant. Yahshua ultimately is going to come back and that's when I really going to see it because then
since the tribe of the earth will mourn and they will weep and then they all know, all of them will know he is the Messiah. And they will all be destroyed because Yahshua returns he says he will come and establish Israel
and that peace will be observed and from one Sabbath to another, one new moon to another, all flesh will come and worship before Him. He will take from the Israelite people, some don't even know they're Israel, they'll take from them Levites and Priests. And then the temple will re-established and the worship therein will be reestablished. So that's the time period, I think, we're talking about the fullness of Gentiles, I mean, that one's really going to happen. We're seeing the beginnings and the ramblings of that happening already. And to some extent it has happened in a physical, in a more spiritual sense, and a more full sense is going to happen when Messiah returns. Just like we say we're saved, we say all these things, ultimately our salvation is when Messiah comes and all who are in the graves hear his voice and they're resurrected. And so there's just -- this thing is just -- this thing starting in motion and we're alive to see it. Wow. All right. Concerning the Gospel, they are enemies for your sake, talking about the Romans, who says they're against them because during the election they are beloved for the sake of the fathers, for the gifts of -- and the calling Elohim are irrevocable so he has not forsaken, that's the question that was asked, has he forsaken his people? No. He still has a plan for them. He still does. And what a beautiful plan it is. What a beautiful, beautiful plan.
So who is Israel?
They are not all Israel who have Israel nor they're all children because they're seed of Abraham. So when He says all of Israel we got to realize what He's talking about. Not everybody who says they're Israel is actually Israel. For as you were once disobedient to Elohim you have now obtained mercy through their disobedience even so these also have now been disobedient that fit through the mercy shown to you, they may also obtain mercy. For Elohim has committed them all to disobedience that he might have mercy on all.
All of the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of Elohim how unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out. When He says, on all, He's saying on both Jew and Gentile. His goal is to show mercy to all. And so may I ask you a question, the Jewish people they see you keeping Christmas and Santa Claus and Easter bunnies and rejecting the Sabbath day and keeping your own day and doing all these things and have him the Easter hams and all these things, are you provoking Him to jealousy? If that's what you're doing, are you provoking him to jealousy? No, there's no provoking happening. They all see you even being in the picture.
But when you're a believer of Messiah and you're keeping Torah, it picks their interest. I know, I've been in Israel, and they saw me and they had questions. Yahweh brought them to me. I didn't go around having a hand attract out anybody. They were asking me questions.
Somewhere in castles and everything and the beard and they were like, "What do you believe?" They don't see a kippah or anything on my head so they know we're not in the tradition. So it's an amazing plan. So what's happening is the Gentile people are once
disobedient but by Yahshua he caused them to become obedient. And then when the Gentiles become obedient and obtained mercy, then the Jews say, "Oh, wait a minute. Gentiles are getting all of this grace and mercy and I want to get that too but if we're walking around, you know, with lard dripping off our fingers, I mean, they're not going to get provoked to jealousy. And so all these stuff is just bitterness. And for 2000 years just a bunch of bitterness, and probably because of the haughtiness and arrogance of the Gentile believers in Messiah.
So it's a -- it's a huge plan and Yahweh is using it to separate the prideful ones and the humble ones. And the humble ones I dare say among Judah today will listen on what you have to say and become a believer in Messiah. But they have to take the idols out of their heart. And I hate to say it, just as the Catholic priest are the idols to some those -- some of those in Christianity and the pastors and the leaders who become idols, the rabbis, so-called rabbis, and sages become idols to those in Judaism, I say let's get rid of the idols. Let's just go straight to the word. Let Yahweh be our mighty one, our councilor, our wisdom. And embrace the fullness of Messiah and the word which is one and the same. For who has known the mind if Yahweh who has become his councilor or to who or who has first given to Him and shall be repaid of Him, for Him, and through Him, and to Him are all things to whom be the glory forever. Amen. Here's unsearchable things going on here.
Deep, deep things going on here in the spirit. I think Yahweh have showed me a few of these things, I don't know everything. But I agree with him. Unsearchable are His ways. But this is the time we're living in, I see it, the time we're living in. Let's listen to what the prophets have spoken and let's not be like some on the first century who were hard to believe, hard headed would not believe it, slow to believe what the prophets had spoken, let's listen to what they've spoken because
what they spoken is exactly what happened. That's all part of Yahweh's glorious plan to
humble the exalt and ones they're exalting themselves and exalt the ones who are willing to be humble. Let's be the humble ones. Oh, Yahweh, we humble ourselves before You. We received the fullness of everything that you have given from heaven. We received your Torah. We received your Messiah, Yeshua Hamashiach, that You've given your anointed one, the one You anointed, Yeshua Hamashiach.
And we thank You that our eyes are open to this. We pray, Father, you had open our eyes toward anything that we are blinded to still.
We just want You and Your word to be performed through us. We love You. And we want to be all You've called us to be. And we praise You and we thank You for what You've done already. Our eyes have been open to see wondrous things who are coming forth out of Your words. Eyes have been open to see all the ways that You deserve our praise and our thanksgiving.
And we praise You. And we thank You for all You've done. And for this glorious plan. Let us be among those who are saying, "restore." Let us not be the blind messenger. We want to be seeing all the wonderful things that You've done for us. And we want to proclaim it to all nations. I pray, Father, for those who are sitting in a comfort of their chair and not doing anything in terms of ministry, that you would open their eyes and empower them and let them see the thing that you are doing in this age, the amazing work that you are doing, the revival that you are doing, get them off of their easy chairs and let them be a part of those who are crying out "restore", through serving, through loving, through living as Messiah lived. He didn't live for himself but lived a life of love and service to others. And through His great name that we pray all of these things, and Yahshua's great name, for truly Yours is the kingdom and power and glory and majesty and all praise, honor, and worship belongs to you. Yahweh Elohim forever and ever.
In Yahshua's name we pray. Amen.
But who was he judging among Israel? Was it all of the Jewish people or was it just certain people from among the Jewish people that he was judging? There is a remnant that never fell out of favor at all with Yahweh. And those are the ones who were humble.
The ones who had pride, Yahweh could not reach their hearts. We see here in Romans Chapter 10, we shared in our former segments, Paul writes, "Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer for Elohim -- to Elohim for Israel is that they may be saved. For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for Elohim, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of Elohim's righteousness --" that's the righteousness we receive through Messiah. If you missed that last week please, I'm not going to rehash the whole thing over again. Please do watch last week's segment. They are not aware of Elohim's righteousness and they're trying to establish their own righteousness because they rejected messiah. They've not submitted to the righteousness of Elohim. "For the messiah is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes." So, the law of Yahweh is not where we get our righteousness from. We who believe understand our righteousness does not come from the law and so because we understand that, we operate accordingly. Now, it doesn't mean that the law of Yahweh is no longer the standard of righteousness, it just means the law of Yahweh cannot give you righteousness. For Moses writes about the righteousness which is of the law, the man who does them, who does those things shall live, that has have eternal life by them. But the righteousness of faith speaks in this way, this is both Torah and Messiah quotation from Deuteronomy Chapter 32, "Do not say in your heart, 'Who will ascend into heaven?' " That is to bring messiah up from the dead. What does it say? The word is near you in your mouth, your heart,
that's the word of faith which we preach both Torah and Messiah. That if you confess with your mouth to Master Yahshua believe in your heart that Elohim has raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness. and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. And so we are able to be completely righteous through the Messiah Yahshua. For the scripture says, "Whoever believes in him will not be put to shame." That's how we have it in our Greek text. The actual Hebrew says, "Whoever believes will not act hastily." And Yahshua is that tried stone, that precious corner stone that sure foundation. He has to be your foundation. If the law of Yahweh was our foundation apart from the Messiah, we would be on a shaky ground because our own disobedience would result in our condemnation. But if the Messiah is our foundation, his righteousness is our foundation then, we won't be so quick to run to some other foundation.
Now, this latter part of this reading here, "Will not act hastily," is from the Septuagint. In my estimation, there -- you know, I looked at Dead Sea Scrolls, pretty much reads differently than the Septuagint, reads according to Nazareth text. So I think there's something about this Greek word that's translated shame, which has a connotation of hastiness, perhaps our modern lexicons are missing out on the element, but it's certainly there in the Hebrew. Now, I'm thinking perhaps the hastiness spoken of here is the sense that were not going to be so quick to run to some other thing to try and cover up our sins, because Messiah has taken away our shame. Now, if you look at the context of Isaiah 26, which we don't have the time to go into today, but Israel is looking for other things and they had this covenant with death, which we'll see in the context there. I'm sorry, it's actually Isaiah 28, not 26. Yahweh said there covenant with death would be annulled. And so Paul is basically pointing out that whoever -- whoever Jew or Gentile believes on him would be saved. As we continue in Romans 10, there's no distinction between Jew and Greek. The same master overall is reached to all who call upon him. That's calling upon the name of Yahweh. "For whoever calls on the name of Yahweh shall be saved," Joel 2:32.
"How they shall they call in him in whom they have not believed, and how shall they believe in him whom they haven't heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher, and how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written how beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things." So, both Jew and Greek are appointed to call upon the name of Yahweh for salvation. And we are the ones that Yahweh has appointed to preach this to all nations, both Jew and Gentile. And this is what's he's trying to point out, whoever calls on the name of Yahweh shall be saved.
And so this is a quotation from Isaiah 52:6-8, "So
therefore my people, my people shall know my name. Therefore they shall know in that day that I am he who speaks behold as I, behold how beautiful, I'm sorry, how beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who proclaims peace." That's the good news of Yahshua that proclaims peace, who brings glad tidings of good things, who proclaims salvation, who says to see on your mighty one reigns. He's on the throne, not man, not your own righteousness, Yahweh reigns. "Your watchmen shall lift up with their voices; with their voices, they shall sing together, for they shall see eye to eye when Yahweh brings back zeal." There's a time when he is going to restore Israel. We're in the beginnings of that already. But I'm pointing out here that his people are gonna call upon his name. They'll know his name and they're calling upon it. And that's all interconnected here with the good news of salvation. And Yahweh sent people, told them to walk out, to
go to the places and proclaim this good news of salvation to all the world. Continue reading here, "Bring forth in the joy, sing together you waste places of Jerusalem for Yahweh has comforted his people, he has redeemed Jerusalem. Yahweh has made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations." This holy arm here, you might remember a former segment, is the Messiah. And he made bare his only holy arm, in where? The eyes of all the Gentiles. And all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of the mighty one. So the Gentiles received this good news, that's all predicted, it's all written ahead of time, long before this all happened. Where the Jews have not received the Messiah and the Gentiles did, that is all predicted in the prophets. Right here, "Depart, depart, go out from there. Touch no unclean thing. Go out from the midst of her, be clean, you who bare the vessels of Yahweh for you shall not go out with haste nor go out by flight. For Yahweh will go before you and the mighty one of Israel be your real guard. Behold my servant shall deal prudently." This is the messiah. "He shall be exalted and extolled and be very high." That's the scripture says, "All powers given to me heaven and earth." "Just as many were astonished at you, so His visits was marred more than any man." This is his suffering. "And His form more than the sons of men, so shall He sprinkle," and this Hebrew word has to do with sprinkling the blood of animals. "He shall sprinkle, He shall sprinkle many nations, Kings," that's gentile, "shall shut their mouths at Him for what have not been told and they shall see." They'd never been heard of these things before. They'll see it. And what they had not heard they shall consider. And that's the part of why Yahshua spoke to Pilate, Paul spoke to Caesar once, perhaps twice. He approached Caesar, if you've studied that. And so this is all predicted and then, he goes, "But who has believed our report?"
To whom has Messiah, the arm of Yahweh been revealed?
He asked that question, because what did they do to him? He grew up before Him as a tender plant, as a root out of dry ground he has no form or comeliness. He wasn't the best looking man in the world. When we see Him, there's no beauty there that we should desire Him. So, He was despised and rejected by men who only look at the outward appearance and don't look at the heart. A man of sorrows, acquainted with grief, and we hid as it were our faces from him. He was despised, we did not esteem him. This is Israel. The Jewish people did not esteem him. All predicted. It's all part of the plan. Yahweh knew it would happen. So go back to Romans. He says there is not distinction between Jew and Greek, the same master overall has reached to all who call upon him, for whoever, Jew or Gentile, calls on the name of Yahweh shall be saved. How then shall they call on him in whom they've not believed? How shall they believe in him of whom they've not heard? The Gentiles and the Jews. And how shall they hear without a preacher? But they have not all obeyed the gospel. And he pulls out that same verse we just read as went through Isaiah 52 and 53, "Master, Yahweh he was believed our report, so then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Elohim." Faith comes by hearing. But the only way you can really hear is by the word of Elohim, that's Yahshua HaMashiach. He's what opens our ears to hear. But Isaiah, they not heard, yes, they had -- indeed, their sound has gone out to all the earth, their words to the ends of the -- end of the world." This is Psalm 19 where we talked about earlier in chapter of Romans. The nations in the world are without excuse. Because all have heard, all know down deep. "Heavens declare the glory of Elohim. The firmament shows his handiwork. Day unto day utter speech, night unto night reveals knowledge." There is no speech nor language where there voice has not heard. Their line or their sound -- this speech, this language has gone out to all the earth, their words to the end of the world. And so the heavens alone declare His glory.
Either way the message is the same, the heavens and indeed all of creation actually points to the message in scripture, even every principles of how things function, the death of one resulting in the life of another. Every one of us eat, hopefully, you know, three meals a day. Whatever you ate is there because whatever you're eating died, whether it's the cells in a vegetable or an animal. And so, the death of one gives life to another. That's how it functions. That's how it is at the physical realm. In the spiritual realm, in many ways, is a copy or a reality that's seen. This is the death of one, enables us to live physically, the Messiah's death enables us to live spiritually. And so, that's why we partake of Him at Passover, the master supper, because it is a spiritual application of the very thing we do every day. So think about that next time you sit down for a meal. This is a parable of life in Messiah. His death brings us our life. Just as this animal that died or some meat we're eating, it died so that we could live. Messiah died so that we could live.
And so He says, "But I say, Did Israel not know? First Moses says, 'I will provoke you to jealousy by those who are not a nation. I can move you to anger by a foolish nation.'
" Interestingly He's quoting from the Song of Moses, the Song of Moshe here. And Deuteronomy 32:20 to 21, he said, "I will hide
my face from them, I will see what their end would be, for they are a perverse generation, children in whom there is no faith." We must have faith. They're relying upon works. Furthermore, 21, "They have provoked me to
jealousy by what is not Elohim. They have moved me to anger by their foolish idols, but I will provoke them to jealousy by those who are not a nation.
I will move them to anger by a foolish nation." That's the Gentiles. Because they have pursued idols like the Gentiles pursued idols and because they choose not to have faith, we have idolatry going on.
He's going to provoke them to jealousy. He's going to provoke them to anger. But listen, in the first century, we know Israel had set aside the idols of wood and stone, but they
put something else in its place, men. The leaders had placed themselves on the pedestal. That's who they essentially wanted as their king and so that's what they got instead of Messiah. Just as those who wanted Gentile idols, they got what they wanted, but they won't save you in the day of trouble. Many times He says, "Oh run to your idols now. They can't save you." Yahshua one day, the message is gonna be, "All your Rabbis, all your teachers, they're not going to save you in the day of trouble." There is a king who wants to save you, but you've not chosen him as your king. They made idols out of themselves and they're quote, "Rabbis." Actually the word rabbi means my great one.
And I have spoken with Jewish people who were not believers, some of them came to Messiah, some though are so tide into the rabbis, they can't think outside rabbitical thinking. There in their mind the rabbis said, that's it; that has to be correct.
And so, the same thing actually happened in Christianity. Those who were in the lead in Catholicism, the pope, the bishops, the cardinals, the whatevers, they were placed in this rabbinical like position,
and so all this focus on man being the idol has led us to a culture of humanism.
Spiritually speaking I really believe humanism is the end result of those who claim to believe in Yahweh focusing instead on the traditions of man and what man thinks and what man's opinion is and what does this man say about that and that man say about this and so, just as you placed man in a position of idols, so it will be done to you. And here we have secularism and humanism. It's rampant in Israel, 60 some percent of Jewish people are actually secular. It's also rampant in Europe, where the end result of all this man-made religion brought humanism. It's coming very soon here in America as well. We're seeing it happen. And so all those man-made, man focus, that's where it leads. We need to be focused on the Messiah. We focus on Yahweh and the things of Yahweh and his words. His words are what matter. And so, this text here is part of the Song of Moshe, the Song of Moses. So the actual rejection of the Messiah was alluded to here and in fact the Gentiles would see it. But their lack of faith in Yahweh calls them to turn to what's not Elohim, and so Yahweh said, "Just as they provoked him in jealousy by their foolish idols, by what's not Elohim, he would take these Gentile nations and provoke them to jealousy and provoke them to anger." That's what happened. Israel pursued righteousness but they didn't pursue Yahweh's righteousness. They had a zeal but it wasn't a zeal according to the knowledge of the truth and when Messiah came and told them they would reject him but Gentiles would receive him, they got so angry, so angry. Luke Chapter 20:14 says, "When the vine- dressers saw him," he's giving this parable to the Jewish people, he's saying, "The vine-dressers saw him, he said, 'Here's the heir, come let's kill him and the inheritance may be ours.' " So they cast him out of vineyard and killed him. Therefore, what the owner of the vineyard do to them, he will come and destroy those vine-dressers and give their vineyard to others and when they heard of this, they said, "Certainly not." There's that same phrase in the Greek strong as possible objection. How could Yahweh reject his own people and embrace these other nations? They know what He was talking about when he gave this parable. They understood it. He was talking about them. Then, he looked at them him and says, "What then is this what is written? The stone was to build and rejected to become a chief cornerstone. Whoever falls on that stone will be broken, but on whomever it falls, it will grind them to powder." The chief priest describes that very hour sought to lay hands on Him but they feared the people because they're people pleasers, for they knew He had spoken this parable against them. So even Paul himself said, actually, earlier, Yahshua
said, "Look for," he said, "I tell you truly many widows were in Israel in the days of Elijah when the heaven was shut up three years and six months and there was great famine throughout all the land but none of them, to none of them was sent -- to none of them was Elijah sent except to Zarephath." This is of Gentile woman in the region of Sidon to one who was a widow. And many lepers were in Israel at the time of Elijah the Prophet, and none of them was cleansed except this Gentile, Naaman the Syrian. So when all -- all those in synagogue when they heard these things were filled with wrath even the thought of it. He rose up and toss him out of the city and they led him to the brow of the hill on which the city built, that they might throw him down over the cliff where they throw him over a cliff and kill him right there on the spot, but he escaped.
Paul himself said, Acts 22:20 says, "And when the blood of your martyr Stephen was shed, I also was standing by consenting to his death and guarding the close of those who were killing him." Then Yahshua said to Paul, "Depart for I will send you far from here to the Gentiles." And this crowd that he was addressing as he's describing his conversion, they listen to him until he said that word right there, until he said, "I'll send you to Gentiles." And then they raised their voices and said, "Away with such a fellow from the earth for he's not fit to leave." And as they cried out and tore off their clothes and throwing dust in the air and so on, we have another example in Acts 13:44 says, "The next Sabbath almost the whole city came to gather to hear the word of Elohim. The context here is the Gentiles begged to hear Yahweh's word about the Messiah in the next Sabbath. And so almost the whole city comes to hear about Messiah when the Jews saw the multitudes they were filled with envy and jealousy, contradicting and blasphemy, they oppose the things spoken by Paul. So, this is all predicted in the Song of Moshe, you know, the scriptures. And it was because, you see, Paul he was actually falsely accused of bringing Gentiles in the temple area, but even the thought of Gentiles entering a picture at all provoked anger and jealousy, all these things were already predicted. Romans 10:19, "By the State of Israel not know, first, Moshe says, "I will provoke you to jealousy by those who are not a nation. I will move you to anger by a foolish nation." This is not a nation that Yahweh established but a foolish nation instead. Isaiah is very bold saying, "I was found by those who did not seek me, I was made -- manifested to those who did not ask for me." So this is from Isaiah 65, "I was sat by those who did not ask for me, Gentiles. I was found by those who did not seek me, Gentiles. I said, 'here I am, here I am' to a nation that was not called by my name." This is to the Gentiles, but this is to the Jewish people. He says, "I will stretch out my hands all day to rebellious people who walking away is not good according to their own thoughts," in the context, he goes on to talk about idolatry. So according to what we just read in Romans 10, this is to the Gentiles, and this is to Israel, the next verse is to Israel. And so, this is Gentiles up here and this is Israel down here. Gentiles were not called by Yahweh's name, that makes perfect sense, because of the sins. Seeing Isaiah 65:2 and the verses that follow, "Idolatry," Yahweh said he sought out to Gentiles just as he predicted in the Song of Moshe just like the scripture said what happened. And it did.
So moving on here, looking into Chapter 11.
I say, then, has Elohim cast away his people?
Certainly not, for I also am an Israelite of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. Elohim has not cast away his people whom he for knew or do you not know what the scripture says of Elijah how he pleads with Elohim against Israel saying, "Yahweh, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars, I alone have left and they seek my life." But what does the divine response say to him? "I have reserved for myself 7,000 men who have not bound their knee to Baal or Baal. So, not all of Israel rejected Messiah, Paul points out he himself was an Israelite. Sometimes I think in traditional Christianity all the apostles mentioned in the scripture, hey, guess what, they're Israelites, they're Jewish men. I think that gets lost somewhere in all these doctrines. They were Jewish men that believe in Messiah and Yahshua actually never intended to start a whole new religion, he intended to reform Judaism to the extent that they would set aside tradition and receive him. But we know they didn't, some did, others didn't;
the remnant did, the others didn't.
And so, there were some Jews like the apostles who saw the Gentiles coming into the faith as something that would be glorious to Yahweh.
Like in Acts 21, Paul went in with us to James, and the elders were present. When he greeted them he told in detail those things that Elohim had done among the Gentiles to his ministry, and when they heard it, they glorified Yahweh and they said to him, "Hey, that's great, Hallelujah." Well guess what, all these myriads of Jews are coming to faith also. How many myriads of Jews there are who have believed and they're all jealous for the law.
These men were the remnant. They had received both Messiah and the Torah.
And Yahweh used messengers of the good news, announcers of peace, proclaimers of Messiah to reach the remnant among Israel and the Gentiles. Now, this word translated myriads, it's a very interesting word, Marias, 10,000 is the main
definition or enumerable multitude, unlimited number, enumerable hosts. In fact, it's translated 10,000 times 10,000. And so, this word is fascinating because it's used actually in a Septuagint, which is a Greek translation of the Old Testament that predates Messiah by about 300 years. And it's used in a Septuagint to describe David, remember I said Saul signed his thousands but David his Marias or 10,000. And so tens of thousands of Jewish believers in Messiah in the first century. There was a remnant there. We just don't see James ministry all that often when we are reading the Book of Acts. So, there are a lot of converts and you ever wonder where they all go?
Well, as we often know, it's the victors who get to write the history books and the Gentiles were then politically advantageous position. And so, they write the history books and the Gentiles when they came in chose to be arrogant and didn't want nothing to do with Jewish people, especially after the destruction of Jerusalem with its temple in 70 A.D. and the amount of anti-Jewish sentiment and the Gentile world was accelerated and we'll talk about that more later but, looking back at our text here. Has Elohim cast away his people? No, he has not. Among Israel there is and always has been a remnant, Elijah the Prophet thought he was by himself but there is 7,000 who had not bound their knee to Baal. Do you ever feel like Elijah the Prophet -- you wonder is there anybody else out there? Yeah, actually the name of this website elijah.com,
you know, I took on this chat handle many years ago and that's how the name elijah.com was birth because my chat handle was Elijah. I'll go into different chat rooms under this name Elijah and that's how I would minister. I liked it because the name Elijah means my mighty one is Yahweh. Well, like Elijah the Prophet you call upon the name of Yahweh in Mount Carmel, I believe, it's important that we call upon the name of Yahweh like scripture says. Now as a side note, the word Baal actually means lord. And Elijah, he says to the prophets of Baal, he says, "You call the name of your mighty ones, I would call the name of Yahweh, I guess, it matters." And the mighty one who answers by fire he is Elohim as well the people who answered is well spoken. Now, Elijah sent to the prophets of Baal, "Choose one Baal for yourselves and prepare it first, for there are many and call the name of your god to put no fire under it."
And so, interestingly, the prophets of Baal actually in the Hebrew it doesn't say prophets of Baal, it actually says prophets of The Baal or the Lord. So, Elijah against the prophets of The Lord, the word Baal means Lord in Hebrew. And so, Eliyah was calling on the name of Yahweh and
these people worshipping a completely different deity were calling on The Lord. Now, in line to this, I think, it's curious to me that those who otherwise seem to have a love for their creator and Messiah will take Yahweh's name out of the Bible and put The Lord in there instead. Now, I don't want to participate in such things and that's one of the reasons I like the name Elijah and what it means My mighty one is Yahweh. And so, there are all those people in those days who are calling on the name of The Lord, but Elijah was calling on the name of Yahweh. Now, I don't accuse anybody today of worshipping a false god, but I don't want to share any characteristics of those who pursuit Yahweh and put this Baal or The Lord character in front of
them and worship that instead. In fact, we see Jeremiah 23:26 says, "How long will this be in the heart of prophets, who prophecy lies and be there prophets of deceit in their own heart who try to make my people forget my name by their dreams which everyone tells his neighbor as their father's forgot my name for Baal, Lord. So, anyway, I don't want to carry any of those characteristics of paganism.
So I want to memorialize Yahweh's name like Elijah the Prophet did, not forget it even if I'm one of only 7,000 people left who are willing to do that, m I want to do that because what matters is Yahweh and his word. So, even so then that 7,000 at this present time there is a remnant, there is a remnant, the remnant is Paul and the apostles and those ten thousands of
people that were believing in Messiah and so on. And according to the election of grace, and if by grace it's no longer of works, otherwise grace is no longer grace. But it is of -- if it is of works, it is no longer grace otherwise work is no longer work. So, as we shared in the previous segment there are some who Yahweh chooses to give mercy to and some who are not recipients of his mercy, some have the election and some do not. So, who are those who have the election?
He's one to grant mercy and grace, he offers it to everybody but only those who humble themselves and seek righteousness by faith are going to receive it. So then, it's not of works, it's of faith. Faith and works which is going to say this, faith, not our works but faith. So, it's by his grace, it's not our work that saves us, it's his working in us that saves us.
What then? Israel has not obtained what it seeks, the elect have obtained it and the rest were blinded just so as it's written as it is written, Elohim has given them a spirit of stooper eyes that they should not see, ears that they should not hear to this very day. And so, Yahweh's election is based on the willingness of men to seek righteousness by faith, by receiving his righteousness rather than trying to achieve their own righteousness through him and effort. And that's not a new thing, not at all.
What shall we say then that Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have obtained their righteousness, even though righteousness of faith. But Israel pursuing the law of righteousness has not obtained the law of righteousness, why, because he did not seek it by faith. But as it were by the works of law for they stumbled at the stumbling stone. And so, the difference here was in the decisions of men what they decided to do, were they going to pursue righteousness by faith or by works?
Those who saw it by faith were approved, those who sought it by works were not approved and this is not a new doctrine here. Yahweh's election is based on where men is going to put their trust, in themselves, in their own works, or in Yahweh and what he does for them. Habakkuk 2:4 says, "Behold the proud, the soul is not upright in him but the judge shall live by his faith." For us to live we must go according to faith.
To have a life, to have eternal life we must walk by faith. The prideful ones did not have the upright soul.
His soul is not considered upright or just, it is those who seek justness or righteousness by faith
that will live.
So, it's not just a New Testament of doctrine but one found in Old Testament scripture as well, but some of the Jewish people in the first century were unwilling to put their faith in the Messiah, the one that actually enables us to be righteous before Yahweh as to faith in him that we are made righteous. And those in former times who arrogantly proclaim their own righteousness would not have been justified before Yahweh but those in former time the remnant like David who humbled themselves before Yahweh and cried out for mercy he says, you do not desire sacrifice or else I would give it. You do not delight and burn offering the sacrifices of Elohim or a broken spirit, a broken and can try it hard, these Elohim you will not despise.
Psalm 51:15 through 17. Isaiah 57:15 where that says the high and lofty one who inhabits the eternity whose name is holy, I dwell in the high and holy place with him who has a contrite and humble spirit. To revive the spirit of the humble, to revive the hard and contrite ones, this is a high and holy place, a man who has the contrite and humble spirit and Yahweh will revive such a person.
Many Jewish people of the first century were not willing to have that kind of heart, a contrite and humble heart and acknowledge their need for the Messiah, there was and is a remnant though who have that willingness, we do have that freewill and Yahweh grants election based on whoever is willing, and this is the complete picture. One who believes we have no freewill at all is forced to take these few verses out of Romans and build a whole doctrine out of it, but taken in context with the rest of scripture it could not be any clear that we do have a choice to humble ourselves in the side of Yahweh and let him lift us up. And that's the only way we can reconcile freewill choice with election is that Yahweh bases his election on his decision to call us but also our willingness to humble ourselves before him. So he says even that so then at that time, in the present time there is a remnant according to the election of grace just like it was in Elijah the Prophet, there is now a remnant according to the election grace. There were some who will say like David, Samuel, others who reject it like Sol and many others. So Israel if by grace has no longer works, otherwise
grace is no longer grace but it's of works, it's no longer grace, otherwise work is no longer work. So, it has to be by grace. What then? Israel has now obtained what it seeks, but the elective obtained it, the rest were blinded. Just so as it is written Elohim has given them a spirit of stooper, eyes that should not see -- that they should not see, ears that they should not hear to this very day.
So echoing the verse from Isaiah I shared in the last segment, Yahweh resist and blinds the proud but gives grace to the humble and -- but as we're going to be sharing here shortly the Gentiles can also be blinded. And David says, "Let their table become a snare and a trap, a stumbling block, any recompense to them.
Let their eyes be darken so they do not see and bow down their back always." It's a quotation from the Psalm of David here which is used a number of times in the New Testament as referring to Yahweh says they gave me gull for my food and for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink, Isaiah's or Psalm 69:21. Let their table, the table of those who rejected him become a snare before them and their well-being a trap. I think everything is going well and their table which is the table of men, the words and doctrines of men became a snare because they were not able to see the Messiah. Let their eyes be darkened so they do not see and their loins -- make their loins shake continually, pour out your indignation upon them and let your wrathful anger take hold of them. Let their dwelling place be desolate, let no one live in their tents. This is all exactly what happened, Yahshua predicted that the Jewish people would be blinded, their eyes would be darkened, and their table was a snare, and ultimately in 70 A.D Jerusalem was destroyed.
And so Paul says, "I say that have they stumble that they should fall, have they stumbled that they should fall or are they like a lost cause here?" No, certainly not, there's that word again, strong as
a possible objection available in that language but through their fall to provoke them to jealousy, salvation has come to Gentiles. Now, if their fall is richest for the world and their failure is richest for the Gentiles, how much more their fullness. So their failure resulted in a Gentiles' coming to messiah, but if they came back, how glorious would
that be?
For I speak to you Gentiles in as much as I am in a puzzle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry if by any means I may provoke to jealousy those who are my flesh and save some of them.
So he is literally magnifying this ministry that Yahweh gave him. With the hope and the intent that the Gentile
conversion would result and the Jewish people be provoked to jealousy and ultimately becoming saved.
And so, he says, their rejection would result in richness for Gentiles, imagine what would happen if they received them. So Paul in hope of that expectation of a greater blessing upon the Jewish people, one of the driving forces for magnifying his ministry was that he was hoping to save some Jewish people through that, just like the Song of Moshe said, what happened? He said that he will provoke them to jealousy
as like they would provoke Yahweh to jealousy, there would be some who'd be provoked to jealousy among Israel by these foolish nations. And so, you know what, this is like the perfect plan, I mean, in many ways because it's like two children, the two children are competing for attention, and the one child who normally messes up all the time does everything wrong actually finds some new thing and he does something right and he gets a lot of attention for it. And the other child's over here normally considered to be the well-favored one. He has a choice of that point, he wants to maintain his position of being how he favored. This other child all of a sudden was coming around and getting all of his attention because of something that he did to gain the favor. And so, is this child over here the normally favored one, normally favored, is he going to humble himself and do the thing that then normally this favored child has done or is he going to act like, oh, I don't need that and go on by his business even though his own heart and refuse to humble himself.
And that's what's happening on a national level, the Gentiles normally considered to be the total mess and the Jews were arrogant and prideful against the Gentiles and when they saw the Gentiles getting all these attention now and grace being given to them and wonderful things happening to them, well the humble ones in Jew they were like, wow, yeah, I'll do that, I'll get the blessing too, I want that blessing.
But the prideful ones in Judah were going to about in old business and even to their own heart, they refused to humble themself and say, "Oh, I don't need that." It really is like a couple of children but on a national level, this was happening in ultimately on an individual level, who was going to humble themselves and say, I got to admit, Gentiles over here, they got something. And normally, not very favorable towards the Gentiles but they've got something over there and I want it too, I want all that Yahweh has for me. But then, there are others are like, oh, who are those people over there, there's just a bunch of wasted -- waste of space a waste of breath on the land, they hated their hatred and their bitterness did not result in this change in their heart. And so that was -- that's what was happening on a national level. Here comes the Gentiles anger and jealousy to the -- to the ones who are not the remnant, just anger, to the ones who were the remnant, jealousy and let me do this. And so, this beautiful thing here is happening, this exposing of who the remnant really were in the first century. And so Paul is saying, you know, "If by any means I may provoke the jealousy, those who were my flesh and save some of them for, if they are being cast away is the reconciling of the whole world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead." He's thinking, "Wow, if through the rejection of the Messiah and him being dying on a tree and everything results in Gentiles coming in and being reconciled to Yahweh, imagine if they would be accepted, how beautiful that would be?" They would accept Messiah, how beautiful that would be? And we see how beautiful it was in the life of Paul.
For if the first fruit is holy, the lamp is also holy, if the root is holy so are the branches. What's he talking about here? Paul gives us a parable here.
Because Paul, in a hope and expectation of even greater blessing, uses this as one of the driving forces for magnifying his ministry because he saw, "Wow, what could that be like?" So, now he doesn't have a Jew and Gentile perspective here in terms of holiness.
He says, "For if the first fruit is holy, the lump is also holy."
Now, Israel, as a nation, were the first fruits in the sense that they were the first nation or people to be a holy nation before Yahweh but is and was Messiah that made them holy.
The sacrificial animals are not what cleanse Israel their sins, it was the very thing of those sacrifices pointed to, Yahshua HaMashiach. He is the lamb slain from the foundation of the world. He is the one who ultimately made Abraham and Isaac and every son of Israel holy.
And since his body is the bread we partake of a Passover and we become a part of his body, we are this lump that's also holy. And if Abraham and Ancient Israel, the root and Messiah who sanctified that root are holy, then
the lump is holy and the branches are holy, do we understand this? It's very important we understand Yahshua is the embodiment of Israel. He is everything that Yahweh ever hoped Israel would be. And so, the same a Messiah, the perfect one who sanctifies us also sanctified every human being ever lived, particularly Israel who were the chosen nation, so that they would be a holy root but they had to be joined the Messiah.
So Messiah is the root, yes, and Israel is the root, yes, they're both the root and both are holy. And the branches that came out of that, you know, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, sons of Israel goes on and on and on, all these branches coming forth out of this root are holy.
The root can only be made holy if it's through Yahshua, the ultimate Israelite. The embodiment of all that Yahweh wanted Israel to be. And so, who are we? If we're a Gentile, what does it say? We are grafted in. Some of the branches were broken off and you being a wild olive tree were grafted in among them and with them became partaker of the root and fatness of the olive tree. So, there are Gentiles who were grafted in, there are some Jews who were broken off. And so, we need to remember who we are, therefore, remember that you once Gentile's in the flesh that means one time you were and you no longer are. Who were called on circumcision by a witch by what's called the circumcision made in the flesh by hands. At that time, back when you were a Gentile, back then, you use to be a Gentile, you were without Messiah. You were aliens, strangers from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without Elohim in the world.
But now a Messiah Yahsua you who once were far off aliens, strangers from the commonwealth of Israel
have been brought near. Near to what? The commonwealth of Israel. What he's talking about? By the blood of Messiah, his life being in you, he's an Israelite. And if it's no longer you who live, a messiah who lives in you, you've now taken on a new identity. You'd taken on Messiah's identity, and he is the ultimate Israelite. That's why the scripture says, "If you are Messiah's, then you are Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise," because Messiah is Abraham's seed, he is an Israelite and so, you are joined to Israel through him.
So looking back here, Romans 11. If some of the branches were broken off and you, being the wild olive tree, were grafted among them, you become a partaker now of the root and fatness of the olive tree, think about that. There were some of the branches that were broken off because they're not willing to be holy. The Jews in the first century were not willing to be a part of this holy tree.
It's Messiah who had made them holy but they were not willing to be holy because you're not willing to receive holiness through the Messiah that makes all of Israel holy. And so, they were broken off. And the Gentiles were over here, these unholy people, this wild olive tree. You know, wild olive trees don't normally bear very much fruit. It's the cultivated olive trees that bear much fruit. And so, they get grafted in among them. Who is them? Israel, the remnant of Israel.
The remnant of Israel. Paul and the apostles were part of the remnant. Now, while olive trees don't normally bear much fruit but it's the cultivated trees that produce the most fruit, Israel is the cultivated tree. And the Gentiles were like this olive tree that's done out there producing much fruit at all. But because the branches were not willing to be holy through the Messiah Yahshua who that makes us all holy, Yahweh broke those branches off.
They weren't willing to bear fruit through him. Since those among the Gentiles were willing to be holy by receiving the Messiah Yahshua, Yahweh took these wild olive trees and he grafted them into the holy tree.
So that they could partake of that root and fatness of the olive tree through the Messiah Yashua and ultimately bear fruit.
We understand that. The way they would do olive trees in Israel, they break off the branch, they put another branch in its place. Now, the way they would do it was they would take actually a wild tree and they had to cut off all those branches and put cultivated branches on it so that the wild olive tree with all its good, you know, solid roots and everything would be able to feed it. But what Yahweh did was he took a cultivated tree, one he planted, one he caused to grow, one that he cause to be awesome and having lots of fruit bearing, he took these unfruitful branches and planted them in and grafted them in to this olive tree of which he planted, Israel. Israel is the tree. So that now those who were once Gentiles could be brought near to the body of Messiah and those who were not a seed of Abraham could become a seed of Abraham. And so, Paul warns the Gentiles, he warns them now. Okay, they were arrogant, they were prideful, guess what?
Do not boast against the branches. Remember those branches, the ones that were broken off. But if you do boast, remember, you don't support the root, the root supports you. Do we understand that?
You being Gentiles, you came in after the fact.
And the root is supporting you not the other way around. So, you will say then, "Branches were broken off that I might be grafted in." Well said because of unbelief they were broken off because they didn't have faith. They were seeking righteousness by works. And you stand by faith do not be haughty, but fear. For if Elohim did not spare the natural branches, he may not spare you either.
So, what happened, my brothers and sisters? What happened? The Gentiles who came in, what did they do? Were they humble toward the other branches?
Is that the history of the Christian church? They were so humble and loving toward the Jewish people? Sadly it was not. They did not heed Paul's warning, "Don't boast against the branches, don't be haughty, fear."
Back to our parable of school children, but normally this favored child you got favor and blessings started to get arrogant and prideful putting down the other child who was too proud to receive the blessing and then he can also fall out of favor. And that results in situation where both children are operating in pride and haughtiness, and they hate each other. And that can result in a situation where Yahweh doesn't choose to spare any of them, neither one. And so, that there is actually a remnant among the Gentiles too.
Now again, we see he's basing his election on the people's actions whether they choose to be humble before him or be arrogant and haughty and Paul warns the Gentiles, "Do not be haughty, but fear for Yahweh can easily break you off. You're not even part of the natural branches."
But sadly that's what many Gentiles were doing. They receive the Messiah and then they became haughty and boastful and arrogant against the Jewish people, and hatred came about as a result. What Constantine said? Constantine says, "Let us then have nothing in common with the Jews who are our adversaries." He said, "We may no more have anything in common with these parasites and murderers of our Lord. No single point in common with the perjury of the Jews." They were so far gone at this point. The reason why Constantine did this was he doesn't want to set the date of Passover according to Jewish calendar. And so, he wanted to completely divorce himself from any Jewish calendar, anything dealing with the biblical calendar. And so, he started to set as Easter date according to their own whims rather than the biblical Hebrew calendar from which Passover comes and everything else kind of flew it out. So, and then, we see another man, he said,
"Jews are venomous beasts, vipers, disgusting scum, candors, devils and carnet." He said, "Their private houses must be destroyed and devastated. They could be lodged in stables. Let the magistrates burn their synagogues and let whoever escapes be covered with sand and mud. Let them force to work, and if this avails nothing, we will be compelled to expel them like dogs in order to not expose ourselves to incurring divine wrath and eternal damnation from the Jews and their lies. We are at fault for not slaying them rather we allow them to live freely in our midst." Did you know Martin Luther wrote this? He sounded like a man who was humbled toward the
Jewish people. You know, this book was widely circulated by the Nazis. Martin Luther was a German man. And I would lay at least his words as probably responsible for the holocaust because with these kinds of attitudes coming from Christians like Martin Luther who had power and influence, the Nazis would quote his writings, "We're at fault for not slaying them, let them live freely in our midst," and they justify themselves. The holocausts were justified.
And so, it's no wonder what this hatred toward Jews and Jewish things that we have a heritage in Christianity that has rejected certain parts of the law that look Jewish. Like Sabbath-keeping on the seventh day of the week, like peacekeeping, like eating cleaning, wearing tsitsit [tassels], things that would make you look Jewish.
He stripped those things out of the walk and the end result is rejection of Yahweh's commitments of the Torah. The end result is we have two religions who have been at war at each other for 2000 years and they both missing a key element.
Here is the patience of the saints, Revelation 14:12, "Here are those who keep the commitments of Elohim and the faith of Yahshua," both.
And who's the - who is saint really after? He's enraged with the woman that went to make war what the rest of her offspring who do what? Keep the commandments of Elohim and have a testimony of Yahshua Messiah. Here's Judaism, they think they're keeping the commitments although they're not. And here is historical Christianity, they think they're walking in the testimony, in the faith of Yahshua but they're lacking because they're not walking his example, they're not - their faith - there just no works accompanying their faith. And so this boasting against the branches, this haughty and arrogance ultimately resulted in a rejection of Yahweh's wisdom, his Torah, do we understand that? This boasting against the branches that caused people to delve into anti-Semitism have a superiority complex against Jews in the same way the Jews has superiority complex against the Gentiles now for century, to the extent that the Jews would not receive the Messiah and the tradition - those in traditional Christianity would not receive the Torah. Anything that looked Jewish was rejected.
They boasted against the branches.
So because if unbelief, Romans 11:20, they were broken off, you stand by faith. Do not be haughty but fear for if Elohim did not spare the natural branches he did not spare you either, therefore, consider the goodness and the severity of Elohim, on those who fell, severity but toward with you, goodness. If you, you, if you continue in his goodness.
Otherwise, you also be cut off, continue in goodness.
Brothers we have to continue in his goodness, His righteousness which is seen. But, what made Yahshua righteous to begin with was his keeping of Yahweh's commandments, the Torah. We must continue in that goodness, not be high-minded, not be conceited, what is good? Tell me, what is good?
Therefore, the law, the Torah is holy, a commandment holy, just and good.
So, if we want to walk in holiness, if we want to be a part of that holy lump, if we want to walk in justice, we want to walk in goodness, we're going to pursue obedience to Yahweh's law and we are going to cleave to the Messiah for any areas where we have failed to be obedient to Yahweh's law because it's His sacrifice that cleanses us from our sins. And so if you want to continue in goodness, the word His is not in the Greek, if you want to continue in goodness, do what the law tells you to do because the law is holy, and just, and good.
That's what it is. He did not continue in his goodness or goodness. So back to Romans 11, verse 23, "And they also,
if they do not continue in unbelief, will be grafted in, for Elohim was able to graft them in again." Even though they're broken off, he can graft them right in if they choose to believe, choose to walk by faith. "For if you were cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, who are natural, be grafted into their own olive tree?" It's their own olive tree which is the seed of
Abraham, the Messiah, the true Israel, the remnant
of Israel. "For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, that you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part is happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in." There's so many times our doctrinal errors arise out of spiritual problems, character problems, and because of the haughtiness and arrogance found among those in traditional Christianity, becoming wise in their own conceits, the Gentiles boasting against the branches, they want to hold on their Gentile identity. They couldn't fathom the idea of being called Hebrews or Israelites, didn't mind being called that in a sense that they saw themselves as replacements for Israel, like in replacement theology, but they rejected and divorce themselves from any true genuine Israelite identity if they saw something in the Bible that would be clearly identify them the public way as being Jewish, they will reject it. And so they -- just as they desire, so it was done to them. Just as Israel want to make idols out of men and reject the Messiah, they got what they wanted. And just as some Christians wanted nothing to do with the Israel, so it was done to them. They rejected the Torah, therefore, they did not continue in Yahweh's goodness, and so the Gentiles became haughty and boasted against their branches, and became wise in their own conceits. Anti-Semitism crept into the Gentile congregations and stripped them of all the elements of the law. So they becoming wise in their own deceits, in
their own opinion, here comes anti-Semitism, into Gentile congregations, stripping them of all the elements of Yahweh's Torah that made them look Jewish. And so a Gentile want to be -- because they did not want to receive -- they didn't want to receive persecution, certain parts of the law were rejected.
But if a Gentile really wants to join themselves to Israel, they're going to have to take the whole thing. They want to be a partaker of the olive tree, and so let's do things, peace keeping, Sabbath observant, yes, observe the dietary laws, do the things that were, okay, it's a Hebrew sounding name, but guess what? That's the root. So the Christian church, well, it usually did teach repentance, it did teach faith in Messiah which are two necessary elements for the one to be saved.
And I'm thankful that some Protestant saw that, it boasted against the branches, they became blinded in some areas. And from what I'm reading in the prophets, I'm going to expand what Paul is saying here. "Not only was the blindness of Israel predicted, but also the blindness of the church."
Take a look at here Isaiah chapter 42. "Behold my servant, whom I uphold; My elect one in whom My soul delights. I have put My Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice or righteousness to the Gentiles." To the Gentiles. This is the Messiah talking here. "He will not cry out nor raise His voice, nor cause His voice to he heard in the street. A bruised reed He will not break. A smoking flax he will not quench. He will bring forth justice for truth. He will not fail nor be discouraged, till he has established justice in the earth, the whole earth. The coastlands shall wait for his Torah." Beautiful. Talking about the Gentiles waiting for his Torah which is the same Torah as Yahweh. Yahweh's Torah, they're not variant with each other. "Thus says Elohim Yahweh, he created the heavens and stretched them out, He spread forth the earth and that which comes from it, who gives breath to the people on it, and spirit to those who walk on it. I, Yahweh, have called you in righteousness, and will hold your hand, I will keep you and give you, Messiah, as a covenant to the people and what else as a light to the Gentiles." It was all predicted. "To open blind eyes, to bring out prisoners from prison. To those who sit in darkness from the prison house." The people in His generation were in prison houses. The synagogues were prison houses. Were doctrines of men took the higher position than the doctrines of Yahweh. Yahweh says though, "I am Yahweh, that is my name, my glory I will not give to another." No human -- no man on the earth is He going to give His glory to and neither is he going to give his praise to carved images, neither to idols in the form of wood and stone nor idols in the form of man. He will not give his glory to another, and so He took -- he took their possession away from them. "Behold, the former things have come to pass and new things I declare; before they spring forth I tell you of them, sing to Yahweh a new song." This is the song of the lamb, the song of Moses and now is the song of the lamb. "And his praise from the ends of the earth, you who go down to the sea and all that is in it, you coastlands and you inhabitants of them," talking about the Gentiles here, "sing to Yahweh the song of the land." "Let the wilderness and its cities lift up their voice, the villages that Kedar inhabits," this sons of Ishmael here. "Let the inhabitants of Sela sing." This is the sons of Adam. "Let them shout from the top of the mountains, Gentiles. "Let them give glory to Yahweh and declare his praise in the coastlands." That's the Gentile nations. "Yahweh shall go forth like a mighty man. He shall stir up his zeal like a man of war. He shall cry out, yes, shout out loud. He shall prevail against his enemies. I have held my peace a long time, I have been still and restrain myself. Now I will cry like a woman in labor, I will pant and gasp at once. I will lay waste the mountains and hills and dry up all their vegetation's; I will make the rivers coastlands and I will dry up the pools. I will bring the blind by a way that they did not know, I will lead them in paths they've not known," talking about Gentiles. "I will make darkness light before them and crooked places straight. These things I will do for them, and not forsake them. They shall be turned back, they shall be greatly ashamed, who trust in carved images, who say to the molded images, you are our Elohim. Hear, you deaf and look, you blind, that you may see. Who is blind, but my servant." Now wait a minute, the servant was the one that was a covenant to the people, right? It can't be Yahshua who is the blind one, he was not blind. "Or deaf, as my messenger whom I send? Who is blind as he who is at peace?" The word "shalam" translated perfect there but -- "And blind as Yahweh's servant?" Who's the blind servant? The blind servant, the blind messenger whom Yahweh would send a messenger, that was blind. The only one I can see fitting the description is 2000 years of traditional Christianity who gave the message of salvation but they themselves were blind and deaf. They had the message, the basic message needed to bring salvation to a human -- to a human soul, repentance and faith in Messiah, and they still do
but they have some blindness too, they have some blindness, but Yahweh sent them anyway. And so they were blind and yet they're His messenger.
To them, he said, "Seeing many things, but you do not observe; opening the ears, he did, they open their ears but they themselves lacked hearing." So -- now we're talking about Yahshua in verse 21. "Yahweh is well pleased for his righteousness' sake," only Yahweh's righteousness and Messiah can make one pleasing to anybody. "He will exalt the law and make it honorable. But this is a people robbed and plundered; All of them are snared in holes, they are hidden in prison houses, church walls. And they are for prey, and no one delivers, for plunder, and no one says, restore!" So he -- Yahshua came and exalted the law and made it honorable but what did the leaders do about people right back into these denominations, these sects, C-E -- S-E-C-T-S, sectarianism and
denominationalism, the same thing that snared and gave so much trouble to the Jewish people that the Gentile, believers in Messiah, came in and did the same thing. So when Yahshua came he hammered Israel he said, "Look, you try to keep your tradition." He exalted the law, he made it honorable again.
But just as Israel were hidden in prison houses and synagogues, we have people today who are still hidden in prison houses, can find by the doctrines and commandments of men in this church buildings, this is -- there is synagogue buildings, both are missing truth, both are putting tradition in first place, and Yahweh's word in second place. Do we see it? Tradition keeps Jews from being enlighten to the busting of the Messiah, and tradition keeps Gentiles from being enlighten to the blessing of the Torah. Revelation 14:12 says we need both. This is all predicted. This is all -- it's not new stuff here. Yahweh said this is all going to happen and it has, it's all happened just like he said.
So who are we? Oh, remnant of Israel I'm talking to you.
No one's saying "restore".
Are you going to join with me and say, "restore"?
I'm not saying that all those who follow traditional Christianity are lost and going to hell because they do have the message.
Have a repentant heart, receive the Messiah Yahshua. They have that message down, they got it down. Yahweh can save them.
But who wants to be a blind messenger? I don't.
"So who will listen to the call to restore? Who will listen and hear for the time to come? Who gave Jacob for plunder, and Israel to the robbers? Was it not Yahweh, He against whom we have sinned? For they would not walk in His ways, nor were they obedient to His law.
Therefore, He has poured on him the fury of His anger and the strength of battle. It has set him on fire all around, yet he did not know; it burned him, yet he did not take it to heart." When they destroyed Jerusalem it was like, "Oh, well, okay, Jerusalem is done. Going on about our business." Yahweh judged the Jewish people for the disobedience but Gentiles come along, they get grafted in, don't take it to heart. They don't pay attention, neither did the Jews. And everyone's haughty towards each other.
Jewish hitting Gentiles, and Gentiles hitting Jewish. He destroyed Jerusalem in the fury of his anger and yet no one takes it to heart. They're blinded for sure. But Yahweh sent out a messenger and the messenger himself was actually blind as well, as Yahweh's servant but he was blind. Now the blindness of Israel is a temporary blindness because the time is coming and maybe now is
that they, again, see. Romans 11:25, "For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion; that blindness in part has happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written, the Deliverer will come out of Sion, he will turn away unrighteousness from Jacob, for this is my covenant with him, when I take away their sins." "Until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in." So all Israel talking about this remnant will be
saved, the ones who are truly Israel will be saved. Not the wicked, hateful men among Israel. But this is a prediction in the prophets that Yahweh would also -- would ultimately save Israelites.
Now, what is this fullness of the Gentile thing? What is that all about? Luke 21:24, Yahshua says, "They will fall by the edge of the sword," talking about the destruction of Jerusalem, "and be let away captive into all nations. And Jerusalem will be trampled by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled." May I ask you this question, are -- is Jerusalem now trampled by Gentiles? Who owns -- who runs and gains full control of Jerusalem? Ultimately the Jewish people now as a nation, as
of 1967 gained control of Jerusalem. Now I see that as either a fulfillment or a
pre-fulfillment to this times of the Gentiles. And I've noticed that ever since that time, in
traditional Christianity as serious change in regards to how they look at and perceive and see the Jewish people, it seems to me in recent years, that pride and arrogance and haughtiness are going -- since be going away. And those in traditional Christianity today, particularly those in Evangelical Christianity, are acknowledging this as a fulfilled prophecy that the Gentile people are no longer there and here comes Jewish people gaining control of Jerusalem. So what's happening, I think, as a result of this, is those who were so against the Torah are now
going, you know, them, Jewish people I don't want to hate them, I want to love them, I want to love them. And there is like the spirit is just being poured out in Christianity particularly in the Evangelical community that it just seems like, I mean, you turn on Christian TV today, it seems like all these different programs are talking about Hebrew roots, Perry Stone. And all these, I mean, normal Christians that you would think, what are they doing? And yet they're talking Hebrew roots. Now they may not embrace Torah but there is -- the tide has changed to some, to where -- I mean, listen, when I first came to this walk, I gave my life to Yahshua. Using Hebrew names in 1989, 1990 I kept my first Passover, at that time you could hardly find any of us but what's happened now is, wow, I mean, we had 350 people at the Feast of Tabernacles last year. I could never have imagined that in my wildest imaginations. And so all these people are having their eyes open. And as this haughtiness and pride, and arrogance departs, and as the Jewish, the Gentile people or perhaps even somehow related to Israel as well, coming in to the knowledge of the Torah and practicing Torah, there are Jewish people who are going, what is this? What is this all about? And Messianic synagogues were popping up in almost every major city across the United States, in the Canada, and spreading to the world, even in the land of Israel. And so as the pride and haughtiness stops, and the love begins. We begin to see something else happening, tens of thousands "myriads" of Jews coming to the Messiah even today. And I say tens of thousands. Never since the first century had we seen it quite like this and they're all zealous for the law.
And to me it's beautiful, it's amazing, it's exciting. And we get to live in this time. We get to be the voice saying, "Restore."
I joined with chorus of thousands of people who are saying, "Restore."
So back to the first century.
He is talking about, "the Deliverer will come out of Sion, he was going to turn away unrighteousness from Jacob, this is my covenant with him, when I -- when I take away their sins." That's a new covenant. Yahshua ultimately is going to come back and that's when I really going to see it because then
since the tribe of the earth will mourn and they will weep and then they all know, all of them will know he is the Messiah. And they will all be destroyed because Yahshua returns he says he will come and establish Israel
and that peace will be observed and from one Sabbath to another, one new moon to another, all flesh will come and worship before Him. He will take from the Israelite people, some don't even know they're Israel, they'll take from them Levites and Priests. And then the temple will re-established and the worship therein will be reestablished. So that's the time period, I think, we're talking about the fullness of Gentiles, I mean, that one's really going to happen. We're seeing the beginnings and the ramblings of that happening already. And to some extent it has happened in a physical, in a more spiritual sense, and a more full sense is going to happen when Messiah returns. Just like we say we're saved, we say all these things, ultimately our salvation is when Messiah comes and all who are in the graves hear his voice and they're resurrected. And so there's just -- this thing is just -- this thing starting in motion and we're alive to see it. Wow. All right. Concerning the Gospel, they are enemies for your sake, talking about the Romans, who says they're against them because during the election they are beloved for the sake of the fathers, for the gifts of -- and the calling Elohim are irrevocable so he has not forsaken, that's the question that was asked, has he forsaken his people? No. He still has a plan for them. He still does. And what a beautiful plan it is. What a beautiful, beautiful plan.
So who is Israel?
They are not all Israel who have Israel nor they're all children because they're seed of Abraham. So when He says all of Israel we got to realize what He's talking about. Not everybody who says they're Israel is actually Israel. For as you were once disobedient to Elohim you have now obtained mercy through their disobedience even so these also have now been disobedient that fit through the mercy shown to you, they may also obtain mercy. For Elohim has committed them all to disobedience that he might have mercy on all.
All of the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of Elohim how unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out. When He says, on all, He's saying on both Jew and Gentile. His goal is to show mercy to all. And so may I ask you a question, the Jewish people they see you keeping Christmas and Santa Claus and Easter bunnies and rejecting the Sabbath day and keeping your own day and doing all these things and have him the Easter hams and all these things, are you provoking Him to jealousy? If that's what you're doing, are you provoking him to jealousy? No, there's no provoking happening. They all see you even being in the picture.
But when you're a believer of Messiah and you're keeping Torah, it picks their interest. I know, I've been in Israel, and they saw me and they had questions. Yahweh brought them to me. I didn't go around having a hand attract out anybody. They were asking me questions.
Somewhere in castles and everything and the beard and they were like, "What do you believe?" They don't see a kippah or anything on my head so they know we're not in the tradition. So it's an amazing plan. So what's happening is the Gentile people are once
disobedient but by Yahshua he caused them to become obedient. And then when the Gentiles become obedient and obtained mercy, then the Jews say, "Oh, wait a minute. Gentiles are getting all of this grace and mercy and I want to get that too but if we're walking around, you know, with lard dripping off our fingers, I mean, they're not going to get provoked to jealousy. And so all these stuff is just bitterness. And for 2000 years just a bunch of bitterness, and probably because of the haughtiness and arrogance of the Gentile believers in Messiah.
So it's a -- it's a huge plan and Yahweh is using it to separate the prideful ones and the humble ones. And the humble ones I dare say among Judah today will listen on what you have to say and become a believer in Messiah. But they have to take the idols out of their heart. And I hate to say it, just as the Catholic priest are the idols to some those -- some of those in Christianity and the pastors and the leaders who become idols, the rabbis, so-called rabbis, and sages become idols to those in Judaism, I say let's get rid of the idols. Let's just go straight to the word. Let Yahweh be our mighty one, our councilor, our wisdom. And embrace the fullness of Messiah and the word which is one and the same. For who has known the mind if Yahweh who has become his councilor or to who or who has first given to Him and shall be repaid of Him, for Him, and through Him, and to Him are all things to whom be the glory forever. Amen. Here's unsearchable things going on here.
Deep, deep things going on here in the spirit. I think Yahweh have showed me a few of these things, I don't know everything. But I agree with him. Unsearchable are His ways. But this is the time we're living in, I see it, the time we're living in. Let's listen to what the prophets have spoken and let's not be like some on the first century who were hard to believe, hard headed would not believe it, slow to believe what the prophets had spoken, let's listen to what they've spoken because
what they spoken is exactly what happened. That's all part of Yahweh's glorious plan to
humble the exalt and ones they're exalting themselves and exalt the ones who are willing to be humble. Let's be the humble ones. Oh, Yahweh, we humble ourselves before You. We received the fullness of everything that you have given from heaven. We received your Torah. We received your Messiah, Yeshua Hamashiach, that You've given your anointed one, the one You anointed, Yeshua Hamashiach.
And we thank You that our eyes are open to this. We pray, Father, you had open our eyes toward anything that we are blinded to still.
We just want You and Your word to be performed through us. We love You. And we want to be all You've called us to be. And we praise You and we thank You for what You've done already. Our eyes have been open to see wondrous things who are coming forth out of Your words. Eyes have been open to see all the ways that You deserve our praise and our thanksgiving.
And we praise You. And we thank You for all You've done. And for this glorious plan. Let us be among those who are saying, "restore." Let us not be the blind messenger. We want to be seeing all the wonderful things that You've done for us. And we want to proclaim it to all nations. I pray, Father, for those who are sitting in a comfort of their chair and not doing anything in terms of ministry, that you would open their eyes and empower them and let them see the thing that you are doing in this age, the amazing work that you are doing, the revival that you are doing, get them off of their easy chairs and let them be a part of those who are crying out "restore", through serving, through loving, through living as Messiah lived. He didn't live for himself but lived a life of love and service to others. And through His great name that we pray all of these things, and Yahshua's great name, for truly Yours is the kingdom and power and glory and majesty and all praise, honor, and worship belongs to you. Yahweh Elohim forever and ever.
In Yahshua's name we pray. Amen.