5-18-24 Message to Congregation in Ndola – Emor (say)
Torah Portion; Emor Lev 21:1 – 34:23
Haftarah: Ezek 44:15-31
Suggested Acheron K’tuvim: Eph 2 (entire chapter)
You are Not Second Class
Central question of this message: Are you allowing the lies of Satan make you believe you are inferior?
This week we are in parasha Emor. The title is taken from the command to Moses to “speak” to the priests, the sons of Aaron.
Lev 21:1-4
21 Then the Lord said to Moses, "Speak to the priests, the
sons of Aaron, and say to them: 'No one shall defile himself
for a dead person among his people, 2 except for his relatives who are nearest to him, his mother and his father and his son and his daughter and his brother, 3 also for his virgin sister, who is near to him because she has had no husband; for her
he may defile himself.
What Moses said to the priests, to give them instruction on proper behavior so as to maintain a holy separation, fills this parasha.
You have seen in previous parashiot how similar the regulations are for the Mishkhan (and later the Temple) as compared with those of the Millennial Temple, in which Yeshua shall rule as King of Kings and L-rd of L-rds.
Some people who teach in the churches might have suggested to you, or to people you know, that because of one’s skin color, or because of the tribal affiliation, you are forever stuck in a certain lower level of society.
Those same teachers seem to raise themselves up to a higher level of society, as they push others lower. That teaching is against G-d’s word.
This teaching cannot pass beyond Isa 56 and 66.
Then there is another teaching that I see gaining popularity. It is that Israel has been pushed aside by G-d and replaced by the people of the normative church. And that the promises and covenants to Israel as a people now belong to those in the church. That teaching is also against G-d’s word, and cannot persist past the clear teachings of the prophets regarding Israel in the present and future, and most certainly cannot persist past Romans 11.
There is an outgrowth of that erroneous teaching which also seems to be gaining strength in the normative church. And it is that if you find a promise in Scripture, and you proclaim that promise over yourself, and you believe in it strongly enough, then G-d will make it true for you.
Since all promises in Scripture are directed toward Israel as a people, and since the church has not replaced Israel in G-d’s eyes, those promises and covenants in Scripture which apply to Israel are not transferred, nor are they transferrable to others, outside of Israel. Those who “declare” this or that, and those who “name and claim” this or that are acting in pride and presumption. And G-d never rewards nor blesses pride nor
presumption. Thus, there are some churches today with high levels of
showmanship and self-glorification, but with little fruit and power in the Spirit.
So, how can you, being of one of the tribes in Africa, partake in some of the rich promises which are reserved for the Jewish people? G-d has made a way, and I am here to show it to you today.
I want you to understand three important concepts as a foundation for today’s teaching.
1. G-d is far too big to be the G-d of only one people group.
2. G-d is always in the process of gathering people unto Him, to be His people.
3. You can decide how connected to G-d you will be, and how
much of His blessing you will know. The level you reach in
His blessing and power is entirely up to you, and you alone.
1.
G-d is far too big to be the G-d of only one people group.
As G-d’s plan of ingathering continues, He will be known among all nations of the earth, the entire earth will praise Him. The plan by G-d to have a single nation be His testimony to the nations of the earth produces fruit, and all nations then will join the Jewish people as the “people of Gd.”
Ps 67
67 God be gracious to us and bless us1,
And cause His face to shine upon us — Selah.
2 That Your way may be known on the earth,
Your salvation2 among all nations.
3 Let the peoples praise You, O God;
Let all the peoples praise You.
4 Let the nations be glad and sing for joy;
For You will judge the peoples with uprightness
And guide the nations on the earth. Selah.
5 Let the peoples praise You, O God;
Let all the peoples praise You.
6 The earth has yielded its produce;
God, our God, blesses us.
7 God blesses us,
That all the ends of the earth may fear Him.
Ps 86:8-10
8 There is no one like You among the gods, O Lord,
Nor are there any works like Yours.
1 The Jewish people.
2 Lit. “Your Yeshua”
9 All nations whom You have made shall come and worship
before You, O Lord,
And they shall glorify Your name.
10 For You are great and do wondrous deeds;
You alone are God.
2.
G-d is always in the process of gathering people unto Him, to be His people.
His commission to Abraham was not even completed, when people from the nations were already becoming believers in our G-d, and were joining themselves to Abraham to be in his family.
Gen 12:4-6
4 So Abram went forth as the Lord had spoken to him; and
Lot went with him. Now Abram was seventy-five years old
when he departed from Haran. 5 Abram took Sarai his wife
and Lot his nephew, and all their possessions which they had
accumulated, and the persons which they had acquired in
Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan; thus they came to the land of Canaan.
The English translation above and even the interlinear below both seem to miss the point somewhat. In the Hebrew, the passages literally says, “The souls that he had made.”
Can one man “make a soul?” It is a Hebrew idiom, suggesting that those people who went with Abraham had attached their souls to the G-d of Abraham, and thus they found themselves foreigners in their own land. It was natural then, that they went with Abraham when he left to go to the Promised Land. These people were folded into the family of Abraham.
This pattern continued in a large way at the Exodus, beginning at the first Passover.
Ex 12:43-49
43 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, "This is the ordinance
of the Passover: no foreigner is to eat of it; 44 but every
man's slave purchased with money, after you have
circumcised him, then he may eat of it. 45 "A sojourner or a
hired servant shall not eat of it. 46 "It is to be eaten in a
single house; you are not to bring forth any of the flesh
outside of the house, nor are you to break any bone of it. 47 "All the congregation of Israel are to celebrate this. 48 "But if a stranger sojourns with you, and celebrates the
Passover to the Lord, let all his males be circumcised,3
and then let him come near to celebrate it; and he shall be
like a native of the land. But no uncircumcised person
may eat of it. 49 "The same law shall apply to the native as
to the stranger who sojourns among you."
Ex 12:37-39
37 Now the sons of Israel journeyed from Rameses to
Succoth, about six hundred thousand men on foot, aside from
children. 38 A mixed multitude also went up with them,
along with flocks and herds, a very large number of
livestock.
Who were these in the “mixed multitude?” They were others from Egypt who were from other nations, who determined that the G-d of Israel was the One true G-d, and they wished to be part of this people.
3 The act of circumcision is one of the final ceremonial actions that brings one into the covenant relationship with Gd as part of the Jewish people.
It is important to note that by the time that this great multitude stood at the foot of Mt. Horeb, to receive the Torah, that they were all called “children of Israel” by G-d. He recognized that they had been ingathered into the Hebrew family, and His Torah applied to all the people there.
The most iconic expression of the desire to leave one people group’s heritage and join into the Hebrew people’s identity and heritage is found in the statement of Ruth.
Ruth 1:15-18
15 Then she [Naomi] said, "Behold, your sister-in-law has
gone back to her people and her gods; return after your sisterin-law." 16 But Ruth said, "Do not urge me to leave you or
turn back from following you; for where you go, I will go,
and where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my
people, and your God, my God. 17 "Where you die, I will
die, and there I will be buried. Thus may the Lord do to me,
and worse, if anything but death parts you and me."
This very passage has become part of the ceremony during which a person from among the nations transfers from his people group into the Jewish people.
The story of the Ethiopian eunuch shows the final act of joining the Jewish people. He has already believed in G-d, he has already dedicated his heart fully to the Jewish people. He has even learned to read Hebrew, and is traveling with the scroll of Isaiah. What he lacks is the final ritual mikvah which seals him into the Jewish people.
Acts 8:26-40
26 But an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip saying, "Get up
and go south to the road that descends from Jerusalem to
Gaza." (This is a desert road.) 27 So he got up and went; and there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of Candace,
queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure;
and he had come to Jerusalem to worship, 28 and he was
returning and sitting in his chariot, and was reading the
prophet Isaiah. 29 Then the Spirit said to Philip, "Go up and join this chariot." 30 Philip ran up and heard him reading
Isaiah the prophet, and said, "Do you understand what you are reading?" 31 And he said, "Well, how could I, unless
someone guides me?" And he invited Philip to come up and
sit with him. 32 Now the passage of Scripture which he was
reading was this:
"HE WAS LED AS A SHEEP TO SLAUGHTER;AND AS A
LAMB BEFORE ITS SHEARER IS SILENT,SO HE DOES
NOT OPEN HIS MOUTH. 33 "IN HUMILIATION HIS
JUDGMENT WAS TAKEN AWAY;WHO WILL RELATE
HIS GENERATION?FOR HIS LIFE IS REMOVED FROM
THE EARTH."
34 The eunuch answered Philip and said, "Please tell me, of
whom does the prophet say this? Of himself or of someone
else?" 35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning from
this Scripture4 he preached Jesus5 to him. 36 As they went
along the road they came to some water; and the eunuch said,
"Look! Water! What prevents me from being baptized6?"
37 [And Philip said, "If you believe with all your heart, you may." And he answered and said, "I believe that Jesus Christ
is the Son of God."] 38 And he ordered the chariot to stop;
and they both went down into the water, Philip as well as the eunuch, and he baptized him. 39 When they came up out of
the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; and the eunuch no longer saw him, but went on his way rejoicing.
4 At this time the term “Scripture” included only the Torah and Neveim (prophets).
5 He already had a faith in G-d. but lacked the final understanding of Yeshua as Messiah and Savior.
6 Lit. “mikveh” which is the ritual immersion spoken of in Tanach. Because the eunuch had learned Hebrew, and since all Sceripture was written in Hebrew, they were certainly speaking Hebrew, and reading Hebrew. They did not use the Greek word baptismo.
From this moment forward, having accomplished the final act of the process of joining the Jewish people, the Ethiopian was considered a Jew for all purposes.
Paul described the process of joining the Jewish people as a “grafting-in.” But first, he makes an important point. Regardless of the Jewish people’s national rejection of Yeshua, there are yet many Jews who have not only been steadfast with G-d, but who also have been fully committed to Yeshua as the Messiah and Savior.
Rom 11:1-6
11 I say then, God has not rejected His people, has He?
May it never be! For I too am an Israelite, a descendant of
Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. 2 God has not rejected
His people whom He foreknew. Or do you not know what
the Scripture says in the passage about Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel? 3 "Lord, THEY HAVE KILLED
YOUR PROPHETS, THEY HAVE TORN DOWN YOUR
ALTARS, AND I ALONE AM LEFT, AND THEY ARE
SEEKING MY LIFE." 4 But what is the divine response to
him? "I HAVE KEPT for Myself SEVEN THOUSAND
MEN WHO HAVE NOT BOWED THE KNEE TO BAAL."
5 In the same way then, there has also come to be at the
present time a remnant according to God's gracious
choice.7 6 But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace is no longer grace.
And Paul continues to describe how those from among the nations can join the Jewish people, and be partakers of the promises to them.
Rom 11:11-30
11 I say then, they did not stumble so as to fall, did they?
May it never be! But by their transgression salvation has
come to the Gentiles, to make them jealous. 12 Now if their
transgression is riches for the world and their failure is riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their fulfillment be! 13 But I am speaking to you who are Gentiles. Inasmuch then as
I am an apostle of Gentiles, I magnify my ministry, 14 if
somehow I might move to jealousy my fellow countrymen
and save some of them. 15 For if their rejection is the
reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? 16 If the first piece of dough is holy, the lump is also; and if the root is holy, the branches are too.
7 G-d has always preserved unto Himself in every generation those who are fully devoted to Him, and to his Messiah.
17 But if some of the branches were broken off, and you,
being a wild olive, were grafted in among them and
became partaker with them of the rich root of the olive
tree,8 18 do not be arrogant toward the branches; but if
you are arrogant, remember that it is not you who
supports the root, but the root supports you. 19 You will
say then, "Branches were broken off so that I might be
grafted in." 20 Quite right, they were broken off for their
unbelief, but you stand by your faith. Do not be conceited,
but fear; 21 for if God did not spare the natural branches,
He will not spare you, either.9 22 Behold then the kindness
and severity of God; to those who fell, severity, but to you, God's kindness, if you continue in His kindness; otherwise
you also will be cut off. 23 And they also, if they do not
continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again.10 24 For if you were cut off from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and were grafted contrary to
nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these
8 The rich root of the olive tree is available to those who like Ruth have said your G-d shall be my G-d, and your people my people.
9 The fact that G-d can rip a grafted-in branch out of His olive tree shows us that the “once saved always saved” doctrine is false.
10 The Jewish people, as a nation, will repent of their rejection of Messiah, and will mourn for Him as for an Only Son.
who are the natural branches be grafted into their own olive
tree?
25 For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this
mystery — so that you will not be wise in your own
estimation — that a partial hardening has happened to
Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in;11 26
and so all Israel will be saved; just as it is written,
"THE DELIVERER WILL COME FROM ZION,
HE WILL REMOVE UNGODLINESS FROM JACOB."
27 "THIS IS MY COVENANT WITH THEM,
WHEN I TAKE AWAY THEIR SINS."
28 From the standpoint of the gospel they are enemies for
your sake, but from the standpoint of God's choice they are
beloved for the sake of the fathers; 29 for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.
Paul spoke also of the dividing wall that been established by G-d’s command that we be a “called-out” people, and be separated from the other nations of the earth, so as to be holy to our G-d. That command
11 G-d has allowed the Jews who have rejected Yeshua to continue in that pathway, to see that it does not lead to life.
They are living-out the consequences of that national decision to reject Yeshua.
created a bit of division (enmity) between other people groups and Jewish people. But G-d is working to make that wall more porous, so that the people from the nations who wish to be grafted-in to the Jewish people have greater access to do so.
Eph 2:11-22
11 Therefore remember that formerly you, the Gentiles in the
flesh, who are called "Uncircumcision"12 by the so-called
"Circumcision,"13 which is performed in the flesh by human
hands — 12 remember that you were at that time separate
from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel,
and strangers to the covenants of promise,14 having no
hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ
Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near
by the blood of Christ. 14 For He Himself is our peace, who
made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of
the dividing wall, 15 by abolishing in His flesh the enmity,
which is the Law of commandments contained in
ordinances,15 so that in Himself He might make the two into
12 Signifying those who reject G-d’s covenant
1313 Those who have accepted G-d’s covenant and His ways.
14 The covenants of promise were made only to Israel, not the nations.
15 The Torah was not abolished, but the dividing wall was being made porous from the side of the nations.
one new man,16 thus establishing peace, 16 and might
reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by
it having put to death the enmity.17 17 AND HE CAME AND
PREACHED PEACE TO YOU WHO WERE FAR AWAY,
AND PEACE TO THOSE WHO WERE NEAR; 18 for
through Him we both have our access in one Spirit to the
Father. 19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens,
but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of
God's household,18 20 having been built on the foundation
of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the
corner stone, 21 in whom the whole building, being fitted
together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, 22 in
whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of
God in the Spirit.
Sadly, this process of making the dividing wall porous from the side of the gentiles – so that they can pass more easily into the Jewish people by grafting-in – has been reversed. Now, the church seems to have rebuilt the wall, and made it quite solid. They seem to not wish to become grafted-in at all, but rather to declare that they are now the “chosen people”, and that the wall of separation must be maintained to keep the
16 This represents a compete and total grafting-in of others, so that there is no difference between the two groups.
17 Yeshua removed the prohibition of going into the nations as missionaries, so as to increase the ingathering of all.
18 Those who have been fully ingrafted into the Jewish people and who have adopted G-d’s ways are no longer “gentiles.”
Jews (and the Jewish ways of worship) out of the church. They seem to have rejected any “grafting-in” but have insisted on remaining in their own wild olive tree, with its own chaotic forms of worship. The modern church, as a whole, has said only part of the confession of Ruth that expresses the fullness of the grafting-in process. The church has eagerly said, “Your G-d shall be my G-d.” But at the same time have refused to say, “Your people shall be my people.” Thus, the church’s branch still is either attached to its own wild olive, or is lying on the ground detached from most of the pagan ways of the wild olive, but not at all being able to draw any sap from the cultivated olive tree of G-d. Thus, they find themselves full of theological error (that they even today refuse to recognize) and shunning the knowledgeable Jewish teachers of
righteousness who they themselves pushed aside. Thus, the gulf between normative Judaism and the normative church grows wider, and Satan laughs with glee over this victory.
But there are still a few who are seeing the light, and who are choosing to join the Jewish people as Ruth did. The process of people from the nations joining the Jewish people has proceeded much as in this fashion for many generations. A few here, and a few there. But that won’t always be the case.
There will be a great judgment by G-d upon all the evil ones in the earth, and their torment shall be great. While that is occurring, G-d will send “missionaries” from the Jews who have survived the holocausts into the nations – to the entire earth – and the harvest of souls shall be without number. And those souls are joining themselves to G-d fully, and as did the ”mixed multitude”, Ruth, and the Ethiopian, have been fully graftedin to Israel.
Isa 66:16-24
16 For the Lord will execute judgment by fire
And by His sword on all flesh,
And those slain by the Lord will be many.
17 "Those who sanctify and purify themselves to go to the
gardens, Following one in the center,
Who eat swine's flesh, detestable things and mice,
Will come to an end altogether," declares the Lord.
18 "For I know their works and their thoughts; the time is
coming to gather all nations and tongues. And they shall
come and see My glory. 19 "I will set a sign among them
and will send survivors from them to the nations: Tarshish,
Put, Lud, Meshech, Tubal and Javan, to the distant coastlands
that have neither heard My fame nor seen My glory. And
they will declare My glory among the nations. 20 "Then
they shall bring all your brethren from all the nations as
a grain offering to the Lord, on horses, in chariots, in
litters, on mules and on camels, to My holy mountain
Jerusalem," says the Lord, "just as the sons of Israel
bring their grain offering in a clean vessel to the house of
the Lord. 21 "I will also take some of them for priests and
for Levites," says the Lord.
22 "For just as the new heavens and the new earth
Which I make will endure before Me," declares the Lord,
"So your offspring and your name will endure.
23 "And it shall be from new moon to new moon19
And from sabbath to sabbath,20
All mankind21 will come to bow down before Me," says
the Lord.
24 "Then they will go forth and look
On the corpses of the men
Who have transgressed against Me.
For their worm will not die
19 G-d’s calendar will once again be the official calendar of the kingdom, and men’s calendars will be discarded.
20 The various sabbaths are found described in Lev 23.
21 The reason that “all mankind” will now bow is because those who refused to join themselves to G-d are now dead.
And their fire will not be quenched;
And they will be an abhorrence to all mankind."
Zech 8:20-23
20 "Thus says the Lord of hosts, 'It will yet be that peoples will come, even the inhabitants of many cities. 21 'The
inhabitants of one will go to another, saying, "Let us go at
once to entreat the favor of the Lord, and to seek the Lord of hosts; I will also go." 22 'So many peoples and mighty
nations will come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem
and to entreat the favor of the Lord.' 23 "Thus says the
Lord of hosts, 'In those days ten men from all the nations
will grasp the garment22 of a Jew, saying, "Let us go with
you, for we have heard that God is with you."'"
After the ingathering, those from all nations will join as one people in Jerusalem to worship and offer sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving.
Isa 56:1-8
22 What sets a Jew apart from others, regarding his garment? The tzitzit, as found described in Numbers 15:38.
56 Thus says the Lord, "Preserve justice and do
righteousness, For My salvation23 is about to come And My
righteousness to be revealed.24 2 "How blessed is the man
who does this, And the son of man who takes hold of it; Who
keeps from profaning the sabbath, And keeps his hand from
doing any evil."25 3 Let not the foreigner who has joined
himself to the Lord say, "The Lord will surely separate me
from His people. "Nor let the eunuch say, "Behold, I am a
dry tree." 4 For thus says the Lord, "To the eunuchs who
keep My sabbaths, And choose what pleases Me, And hold
fast My covenant, 5 To them I will give in My house and
within My walls a memorial, And a name better than that of
sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name
which will not be cut off.26 6 "Also the foreigners who join
themselves to the Lord, To minister to Him, and to love the
name of the Lord, To be His servants,27 every one who keeps
from profaning the sabbath And holds fast My covenant; 7
Even those I will bring to My holy mountain And make them
joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be acceptable on My altar; For My house will
23 Lilt. “My Yeshua.”
24 Yeshua showed by His life what the righteousness of G-d should look like in practice.
25 In other words, keeping Sabbath, and keeping Torah.
26 The eunuchs will be welcomed into the family of G-d, just as those of sound body are.
27 This refers to the people who are chosen to be priests and levites as seen in Isa 66.
be called a house of prayer for all the peoples." 8 The
Lord God, who gathers the dispersed of Israel,
declares,"Yet others I will gather to them, to those
already gathered."
3.
You can decide how connected to G-d you will be, and how much of His blessing you will know. The level you reach in His blessing and power is entirely up to you, and you alone.
There will be a ranking in the kingdom of G-d. There will be high, and low. And that ranking is NOT based upon anyone’s skin color, nor their tribal affiliation, nor their gender as man or woman, nor any other differential that people seem to want to use.
Matt 13:3-9
3 And He spoke many things to them in parables, saying,
"Behold, the sower went out to sow; 4 and as he sowed,
some seeds fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate
them up. 5 "Others fell on the rocky places, where they did
not have much soil; and immediately they sprang up, because
they had no depth of soil. 6 "But when the sun had risen,
they were scorched; and because they had no root, they
withered away. 7 "Others fell among the thorns, and the
thorns came up and choked them out. 8 "And others fell on
the good soil and yielded a crop, some a hundredfold, some
sixty, and some thirty. 9 "He who has ears, let him hear."
The explanation was given. The seed is the Word of G-d, and we determine what soil we shall be.
Matt 13:18-23
18 "Hear then the parable of the sower. 19 "When anyone
hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his
heart. This is the one on whom seed was sown beside the
road. 20 "The one on whom seed was sown on the rocky
places, this is the man who hears the word and immediately
receives it with joy; 21 yet he has no firm root in himself,
but is only temporary, and when affliction or persecution
arises because of the word, immediately he falls away. 22
"And the one on whom seed was sown among the thorns, this
is the man who hears the word, and the worry of the world
and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it
becomes unfruitful. 23 "And the one on whom seed was
sown on the good soil, this is the man who hears the word
and understands it; who indeed bears fruit and brings
forth, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty."
Yeshua used other analogies as well to describe how we might treat the Word of G-d.
Matt 5:13-19
13 "You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless,28 how can it be made salty again?29 It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled
under foot by men.
14 "You are the light of the world.30 A city set on a hill
cannot be hidden; 15 nor does anyone light a lamp and put it
under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. 16 "Let your light shine before men in
such a way that they may see your good works,31 and glorify
your Father who is in heaven.32
28 A better translation here would be “polluted with dirt.” The point is to illustrate how mixing evil with our righteousness makes the combination detestible.
29 You can’t separate fine sand and dirt from salt grains, so just throw it out.
30 In Jewish thought, light represents the holiness of G-d as expressed in the lives of those who follow His ways.
31 Our light shining is our lifestyle of holiness. The term “good deeds” is a Hebrew idiom, masim tovim, which means proper observance of Torah’s instructions. We are not free to ourselves decide what is, and what is not, a “good deed” as some insist. Only G-d makes that determination, and our decision is whether to follow Him.
32 Those who do “good deeds” so that they might be held up in the eyes of others are prideful, and are not honored.
17 "Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the
Prophets;33 I did not come to abolish34 but to fulfill.35 18
"For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away,36
not the smallest letter or stroke37 shall pass from the Law
until all is accomplished.38 19 "Whoever then annuls39 one of the least of these commandments,40 and teaches others to do
the same,41 shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven;
but whoever keeps and teaches them,42 he shall be called
great in the kingdom of heaven.
So, now we can clearly see that there is a ranking in the kingdom, but that ranking depends entirely upon you, your heart for G-d, and the choices that you make which either honor… or dishonor… Him.
And in the kingdom, there will be no group of people who are called “gentiles.” That term universally represents people who are not “grafted-
33 Torah and Neveim, two of the three divisions of Tanach which were canonized at that time.
34 The Hebrew idiom to “abolish the law” means to disregard the true meaning and purpose of the commandments.
35 The Hebrew idiom to “fulfill the law” means to keep Torah, and demonstrate its proper application.
36 Heaven and earth are still here, thus the following sentence still applies today.
37 Not even one letter, or even one of the decorative markings on them, in Torah. He declares permanence.
38 Given the large amount of unfulfilled prophecy in Scripture, much has yet to be accomplished in the future.
39 Personally declares that the Torah command is irrelevant. As Satan said in the garden, “Did G-d really say?” 40 Commandments of Torah
41 There are some teachers who are doing this very thing today, they will be at the bottom of the kingdom ranks.
42 Those who not only live the precepts of Torah, but teach others to do so, will be at the top ranking in the kingdom.
in” to the Jewish people. There will be no such group in the kingdom on earth.
If you carefully read the description of the Temple that will be on the earth when Yeshua reigns as King, as found in Ezekiel 40-45, you will see that there is no “Court of the Gentiles” This can only be true because there is no such people group any longer. There is one group in that Temple, and they are simply known as the “people of G-d”. Nobody who has not been circumcised in flesh and in heart shall enter the Temple. Thus, only the truly “grafted-in” shall come in.
Ezek 44:9
9 'Thus says the Lord God, "No foreigner uncircumcised in
heart and uncircumcised in flesh, of all the foreigners who
are among the sons of Israel, shall enter My sanctuary.
And someday in the future we will stand together in unity and behold the Temple that Ezekiel only saw in a vision. That Temple will be manifested in stone and mortar. We will be able to place our hands on those cool stones and know that prophecy comes true.
And in that day, all those who are circumcised in flesh and in heart (fully grafted-in) will each have a place in that Temple – within its courts – and there will be no dividing wall there, for there are no second-class believers at all. So, since we can be assured of a place within His Temple (regardless of our national heritage or bloodline), shouldn’t we be preparing ourselves today?
But even with this good news, some of you have been reading today’s parasha, and have noticed that there is a glaring disqualification for service in the Temple.
It pertains to those persons whose bodies are not acceptable, due to injury or even a birth condition that was not under their control. We have seen in Isa 66 that some of those gathered who are living at that time will be crippled, maimed, or otherwise disqualified for Temple service.
And we see the despair of the eunuch in Isa 56, and the promise of the Lrd that the disfigurement will somehow not be a barrier.
Since the rules for service won’t change, and since G-d is the ultimate expression of fairness and love, how will He make it so that injured or maimed people can serve in His Temple?
We have the answer in Scripture. Yeshua gave it to us during His earthly ministry. You see, he conducted a great rehearsal – a partial fulfillment of a much greater event – while He walked the earth.
Matt 9:35-10:1
35 And Jesus was going about all the cities and the villages, teaching in their synagogues, and proclaiming the gospel of
the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every
kind of sickness. 36 And seeing the multitudes, He felt
compassion for them, because they were distressed and
downcast like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then He said to
His disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. 38 "Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest." 10 And having summoned His
twelve disciples, He gave them authority over unclean
spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every kind of disease
and every kind of sickness.
Yeshua may well pass through the crowd of people coming to His holy Temple, healing them as He did before, and turn none away.
But there may be more. He gave authority to perform healings to the disciples of that former age, and He well may do so again. The Twelve will be with us in resurrected bodies and so will be available for another similar delegation. And we will be available as well.
Now consider that there will be so many believers coming to the Temple from the corners of the globe that even the twelve can’t get to all those who need the help.
Might He choose some of us? I envision that some of you are not only chosen to serve as priests and levites in the Temple, but will also be selected to receive a special healing power. He seems to have predicted that this could be the case.
John 14:12-15
12 "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do (Yeshua healed thousands – will you heal tens of
thousands?); because I go to the Father. 13 "And whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 "If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do
it.
The “in My name” statement is widely misunderstood and misused by the church. It does not mean that one should end every prayer with “In the Name of Jesus”, or words to that effect. It is a Hebraic idiom which means “with the authority of”. When Yeshua gives us authority to do a thing, and we do it “in His name”, then it happens – and the Father is glorified. And nowhere in Scripture does it suggest that any person is to “take authority.” Authority is conferred, not snatched from the hand of the one with it.
So, my sweetest friends, seek excellence in your preparation… don’t let Satan convince you to settle for mediocrity. You are not second-class.
You have the power to rise to the highest levels of authority in the kingdom to come. It is all up to you. Begin today!
My highest desire for each of you is that I will on that great day see each of your names listed under the category of “great” in the Kingdom. And it is my desire that some of you shall also be called “Great Healer” as well.
