Caught up with Harpazo, and some brief thoughts on the Apocalypse.

By Elon Moreh

This originally appeared in the Moriel Bulletin of Nov. 2014

I just acquired Jacob's latest book Harpazo only a few days ago. Harpazo is no trivial read, it weighs in at 270 pages when read in A4 format on my computer; or nearly 600 at standard book size. I thought I would share some of my impressions of it and some thoughts arising from that.

Harpazo is not one of those mental-candy or sensationalist prophecy books that you can breeze through in an afternoon. Though written at a popular level, this book is serious, detailed stuff and Jacob covers a lot of material. It needs to be read with a highlighter, a notebook and some time for rumination. But don't be put off, it is an absolute gold-mine. I will have to go through this book several times myself, but I do believe it is Jacob's best book to date.

One thing that staggered me was the book's comprehensiveness and exhaustive (not to be confused with exhausting) nature. I was expecting a book about timing of the Rapture, but Harpazo is really much more about the hermeneutics of prophecy and our approach to Scripture, than about Rapture timing alone, and is therefore, much more significant and far-reaching. It represents a move towards greater consistency in our interpretive approach; letting Scripture speak for itself in a more wholistic and integrated manner; harmonising exegesis and typology more coherently;--a great pulling together of many different threads to try and form a unified picture. I believe that Harpazo is going to be an important book, not just because of what is in it, but because of where we are in history, when the Lord is wanting to conform our eschatological thinking more closely to his Word.

Finding the Keys.

I wish that books like this had been around when I when I first came to know the Lord, and when I read the book of Revelation for the first time. In the early 1980's (as it then was), at least in my circles, there was a growing interest to understand things prophetical. Unfortunately all that was around at the time were tabloid-exegesis books like "The Late, Great Planet Earth", or "The 1980's; Countdown to Armageddon" etc. Though these books did ignite in me an awareness of the nearness of Christ's Return (which is a good thing), however, even then, though I was very young in the Lord, they appeared sensationalistic and some of the interpretations were very arbitrary and far-fetched to say the least, and looking back, I can see how much error and bad hermeneutics they contained.

Consequently, for a long time the Apocalypse did not make sense to me at all. My approach then was to read it like a story, in a strictly linear fashion. So I thought the Tribulation began with the Seven Seals, then they are followed by some more events, then these are followed by the Seven Trumpets and some more events etc.

This approach left me with more questions than answers. For example, in Revelation chapter 6 we read:

And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;  And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.  And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;  And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:  For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?

One of the questions these verses raise; is why, (according to a linear approach which would see this as near the start of the Tribulation as in Pretribulationism) everyone is terrified hiding in the rocks and caves; but only some chapters later, everyone is running around buying and selling, and the terror seems to have evaporated! I could see no reason why these terrified people should emerge from their underground shelters and begin commercial activities if they were so terror-struck by the approaching day of wrath; particularly as the later events of the trumpets and seals indicated an escalation of those terrifying eschatological events.

Babylon has fallen, er, hasn't it?

Another example is the fall of Babylon. In Rev. 14:8 Babylon has fallen because the hour of God's judgement is come.

And I saw another angel flying in mid heaven, having eternal good tidings to proclaim unto them that dwell on the earth, and unto every nation and tribe and tongue and people; and he saith with a great voice, Fear God, and give him glory; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made the heaven and the earth and sea and fountains of waters. And another, a second angel, followed, saying, Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, that hath made all the nations to drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication. And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a great voice, If any man worshippeth the beast and his image, and receiveth a mark on his forehead, or upon his hand,

Then we have the outpouring of the Seven Last Plagues in Chapter 15.

But in chapter 16:

And the seventh poured out his bowl upon the air; and there came forth a great voice out of the temple, from the throne, saying, It is done: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunders; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since there were men upon the earth, so great an earthquake, so mighty. And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and Babylon the great was remembered in the sight of God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath. And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. And great hail, every stone about the weight of a talent, cometh down out of heaven upon men: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof is exceeding great.

But wait a minute; didn't Babylon fall in chapter 14? But then we read in Rev. 17:8:

And the woman whom thou sawest is the great city, which reigneth (present tense) over the kings of the earth.

After these things I saw another angel coming down out of heaven, having great authority; and the earth was lightened with his glory. And he cried with a mighty voice, saying, Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, and is become a habitation of demons, and a hold of every unclean spirit, and a hold of every unclean and hateful bird. For by the wine of the wrath of her fornication all the nations are fallen; and the kings of the earth committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth waxed rich by the power of her wantonness. And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come forth, my people, out of her, that ye have no fellowship with her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues:

Taken in a strictly linear manner, Babylon falls in Rev. 14, there is an intermission for the plagues in chapter 15, God remembers Babylon again in Rev. 16:19 to give her the cup of the wine of his wrath; but by Revelation 17:8 she is reigning (present tense) again, over the kings of the earth, and by Revelation 18 the people of God are warned to come out of her so as not to receive of her plagues (Why are they still there?--did they forget to come out of here on the previous three occasions?). At this point, for a city under judgement in chapters fourteen, sixteen and seventeen, Babylon is looking remarkably healthy, although appearing to have been destroyed about four times! Obviously reading the text like this makes nonsense of it. When we come across problems like these, we should realise, that this indicates a deficiency in our hermeneutical approach, not a problem with Scripture itself.

Some good sense from the 19th Century.

It was inconsistencies like these that used to puzzle me when reading Revelation, until some years ago, I read that some of the visions were chronologically parallel to each other, rather than merely linearly sequential. This began to open up new ways of looking at the book, but that article did not express the reasoning behind it. What was a "light bulb" moment for me, was when I began to read some of the 19th Century authors like S. P. Tregelles and B. W. Newton, (who, though contemporaries of J. N. Darby, and connected with the revival of prophetic interest at that time, stood against his eschatological "innovations"). What Tregelles and Newton understood was that the Book of Revelation worked like the book of Daniel in particular (but also Zechariah and parts of Isaiah) and possessed shared characteristics.

As regards the order of arrangement, two things should principally be noticed. This part of the Revelation consists of several separate visions, each complete in itself; none commencing previously to the time when God begins to visit the nations in anger, but each terminating as soon as it arrives at the period appointed for the manifestation of the Lord Jesus in glory. Many times in this part of the Revelation, are we led on to the moment when Christ's glory is to be made manifest; but as soon as that point is reached, the vision closes. His mission in glory, although referred to, is not described; nor the events which follow thereon declared: the narration ceases, and a new vision begins; in which new vision, we find the same period retraced and presented in fresh aspects. In this respect, the Revelation, in its structure, closely resembles the prophecy of Daniel; that also consisting of many separate visions, each complete in itself.
The early visions are wide and comprehensive; the later more specific; all belonging (to speak generally) to the same period, but presenting different features of that period: the wide and general statements of the earlier visions, leading to enquiries which the more specific descriptions of those that follow, answer. It is thus that these two books of prophecy may be made in great measure exponents of themselves.
Nothing can be more important in interpreting the Scriptures than carefully to observe this habit of recurrence. It is found throughout the whole of the Sacred Writings. Indeed in all narration, whenever the subject treated of has various branches, it is necessary, after we have brought one part of our narrative to its conclusion, to return again and pursue the subject through another of its divisions; for, in no other way, can all the various features of a complex subject be fully and distinctly given. The same period therefore may thus be many times retraced; and the successive divisions of our narrative become, as to time, concurrent, and not chronologically subsequent to each other. The very earliest part of Scripture affords an example of this. The first chapter of Genesis brings us to the seventh day of rest, when all creation had been finished and God rested from all His work which He had created and made. The creation of man, both male and female, had been on the sixth day. This is mentioned in the first chapter; yet nothing there is said respecting the peculiar manner in which Eve was created. The description of her creation is not found until the second chapter, which consequently returns, and retraces the same period that had previously been considered. No one would think of reading the second chapter of Genesis throughout, as chronologically subsequent to the first; for, in that case, it would be necessary to say that Eve was created after creation had been finished. Yet mistakes no less strange have been made in reading prophetic Scripture, from neglect of this obvious principle. . . . . . The Book of Zechariah, in like manner, consists of many separate visions not chronologically successive. So likewise the Book of Daniel. The first vision, which is that of the Image, leads us on to the time when the Image is smitten, ground to powder, and the stone which smites it becomes a great mountain and fills the whole earth. No subsequent vision in Daniel describes anything beyond this limit. They all retrace, and develop other features belonging to the same period. The Revelation is written on the same principle. The chapter before us, which is the first in the series of prophetic visions, brings us to that final hour, when men shall call "upon the rocks to hide them and on the mountains to cover them," because the great day of the Lamb's wrath will have come. The subsequent visions, on to the nineteenth chapter, do but retrace; until, in the end of that chapter, we find the manifestation of the Lord in glory and the actual inflictions of His wrath described. Yet the Revelation has been constantly expounded, as if each vision followed, in order of time, that which had preceded; and hence hopeless perplexity has been the result.1

We could call this today understanding the genre, and applying that knowledge in the hermeneutical (interpretive) process as we approach the biblical text. Tregelles and Newton recognised that there were certain distinctive and shared features between certain of the prophetical books and that of Revelation, which, if not taken into account would distort our understanding of the book; as indeed has happened with certain populist eschatalogical schemes. The very fact that Harpazo is entitled "The Intra-Seal Rapture", reveals that this important interpretive principle is woven into the very fabric of Jacob's approach to Revelation.

The shock of knowing where you are.

Something that sparked my thinking when reading Harpazo, was Jacob's observation that the preconceptions of how we expect certain prophecies to be fulfilled, can blind us to the actual fulfilments when they appear.

This reminded me of my first visit to Israel in '93. At that time, I had not even been abroad for 20 years, and had never flown either. Geographically I knew certain features about Israel, having read about them in my Bible, (You know those black and white photos of the Galilee and Jerusalem in your Bible which were taken about 1901), and looked up places on the map. So one of the biggest shocks I received was when the Egged bus wound down the road into Tiberias;--I was expecting a little fishing village with wooden boats; instead I saw the enormous twenty-storey Jordan River hotel, and a bustling, incredibly noisy city. If I didn't know I was in the right place, I would not have recognised it;--because my preconceptions about it were all wrong.

Today I am an Israeli citizen (how that happened worked against all my preconceptions also!), I support Israel's right to be here, there is no doubt in my mind that the rebirth of Israel as nation in 1948 is of immense prophetic significance; I believe that God will perform all that he has promised, and will fulfil all of his word regarding the Land etc., but it may not happen in the way that we think it should. We need to beware that our preconceptions do not blind us. I say this, because sometimes I think we can be over hasty in applying certain prophecies of Israel's return and settlement of the Land to our State at present without looking at the wider context, and this can lead to the creation of the very kind of preconceived ideas that can lead us astray. For example, two texts that I have often heard misquoted are:

And I will bring again the captivity of my people of Israel, and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them.  15 And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given them, saith the LORD thy God. (Amos 9:14-15)

"He shall cause them that come of Jacob to take root: Israel shall blossom and bud, and fill the face of the world with fruit. " (Isa. 27:6)

Contextally both these passages are connected to the day of the LORD and its aftermath, the beginning of the Millenium;--not Israel as it is now. The fruit that Jacob will fill the earth with, is not a prophecy about Jaffa oranges, it is something that will only happen after the Great Dragon mentioned in Isa. 27:1 is punished.

Because of the terrible judgements and horrible events, particularly the persecution of Jews and the devestation which will be wrought in the Land at the hand of the Antichrist; many will be fleeing the Land during the Tribulation to escape being massacred. This seems clear from Rev. 12:--there are also a number of other scriptures which indicate a scattering at that time. Believers also, are commanded to flee Judea and Jersusalem when the Abomination is erected in the Temple. It seems reasonable to conclude then, that at some point, in some manner, a loss of Jewish national sovereignty will once again occur, at least for some period of time, certainly during the Tribulation, when the Antichrist assumes control. We are promised in Joel, that immediately prior to the Lord's Return, Israel will be overrun and devastated by the invading hordes.

Patterns and Foreshadowings.

One of the things that Harpazo is very strong on, is that not only do we have explicit predictions that are exegetically driven, but we also have typological foreshadowings that will help us to prepare for coming events and recognise them when they occur, and we need to take all these things into account much more than we have in the past when we interpret prophecy. This got me thinking that loss of control could occur before then as part of God's humbling process and as a judgement on us. There has been a tendency to think of our modern State of Israel as a kind of prolepsis of the Millennium, and to apply Millennial scriptures indiscriminately, as I mentioned above, and to imagine that our IDF will always be granted victory. I used to think, that barring the Tribulation, it would be a continuous (with the odd war or two) straight sailing for the Jewish State until the Millennium. But it may well be that our situation is more akin to that of the Jewish sovereignty acquired after the Maccabean victories. God made no promises to that kingdom as to everlasting sovereignty (quite the reverse in fact, Gen. 49:15), and national sovereignty declined and was eventually lost to the Romans; but Jewish presence in the Land and some small degree of religious autonomy, plus the existence of a functioning Temple continued; as they were necessary preconditions for the fulfilment of the prophecies regarding the Messiah's First Coming. Even so, the prophecies regarding events prior to Jesus's Second Coming necessarily infer that certain situations, events, peoples, structures etc. must exist for the prophecies to be fulfilled. It is an uncomfortable thought, and I hope I am wrong, but I am not sure that Jewish national sovereignty and complete autonomy is neccesarily one of them. Loss of or reduction of these, in like manner to that which occurred years before the First Coming, should not be ruled out as an impossibility before the 70th week, providing all the necessary conditions are met for prophetic fulfilments. Prior to the Maccabean era, due to its national sin, the sovereignty in the kingdom of Judah was severely degraded prior to the sack of Jerusalem in 586. BC. Judah had effectively become a vassal kingdom; first to the Egyptians, and then to the Babylonians well before 586 (2 Chro. 36, 2 Kgs. 24-25). In fact it was Zedekiah's breach of the vassal treaty that resulted in the Babylonian invasion.

There may be a scriptural pattern here that could apply to us; because since the foundation of the State in 1948, we have heaped up our sins against the LORD, as high if not higher, than those of Manasseh who "filled Jerusalem with blood." The sin of murdering the unborn in the womb here is appallingly prevalent; babies can be legally aborted for non-therapeutic reasons, even in the last week of pregnancy; it is a scandalous wickedness. God has always judged these things in the past, and he does not change. So, if, because of the sin of Manasseh, God's judgement could not be turned away, then how much more is it coming our way?

If the Babylonian invasion, seige and burning of Jerusalem is a type or foreshadowing of events connected with the day of the LORD, then some of the biblically recorded historical events prior to that invasion may also typically apply as well. Namely the decline of the kingdom in power and the giving over of it to be dominated by other nations. Israel has one of the best armies and airforces in the world. We are very proud of our army, and grateful for our young people who serve in it. However, we know from Daniel, that at some point our national pride, strength and stubborness will be utterly smashed; because nothing less than that will humble us and bring us to national repentance. We know what the great end time events are, but that we don't know is exactly what every future intervening event will look like; e.g., what political events, wars, national crises etc. will set up the conditions for the signing of the Treaty and the rebuilding of the Temple, for example. The future may contain a number of surprises for all of us in the way God works out his purposes. However, whatever may happen in the future, even if we as a state suffer serious reverses; just as happened in the kingdom of Judah; we must not think that the promise of God has failed, and all, ultimately, will be made clear in the course of time (Dan. 12:4). He will bring us to that glorious day when Israel will look upon Him whom they have pierced. Whatever happens, we must not forget, that the only kingdom that is promised to last forever is the one that belongs to our righteous Messiah-King (Psa. 45:6) and that is the one we are all waiting for.

Some thoughts on Israel and the lifting of the veil.

By Elon Moreh

This originally appeared in the Moriel Bulletin of Jan 2013

I was considering this matter recently and because of upcoming events, I thought this might be of interest (please note this is not intended to an exhaustive treatment).

But their minds were hardened: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which vail is done away in Christ. But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart. Nevertheless when it (or he; the verb is 3rd person masculine singular) shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away. Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. (2 Cor. 3:12-18)

There are certain things about this passage that used to puzzle me. However chief among them was 'when it (or he referring either to an individual here or Israel as a whole) shall turn to the Lord the vail shall be taken away.' Now I used to think, 'The vail is the hardening and needs to be lifted first so that people can see the Lord and turn to Him?' But this is not correct. Paul knew exactly what he was saying; the turning to the Lord comes before the lifting of the veil (the hardening).

The problem with Israel in the wilderness, in Paul's day and even today in the context of Jewish evangelism is not one of revelation but an issue of the heart.

In the wilderness the children of Israel had plenty of revelation. Just think about it. They saw the mighty hand of God at work in Egypt, a miraculous deliverance at the Red Sea, the cloud of glory and the pillar of fire, God's daily provision of the manna. Yet they moaned, griped, tested the LORD and rebelled. At the very moment of Moses receiving the Law on Mount Sinai, they were cavorting around the Calf of gold. The Psalmist comments on that time in the wilderness.

To day if ye will hear his voice, Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness: When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my work. Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and said, It is a people that do err in their heart, and they have not known my ways. (Psa. 95:8-10).

From this we can see that even then in the wilderness the Israelites were already hardening their hearts.

In Isaiah 6 we read:

And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed.

Isaiah wrote this some 700 or so years after the Israelites left Egypt (approx. 1500 BC). It wasn't that the LORD had unconditionally decreed before time began to harden Israelites so they wouldn't be able to listen. Not at all, this was the LORD's response to 700 years of rebellious behaviour and apostasy. The Israelites hardened their hearts first, then when repentance was not forthcoming the LORD hardened them some more until they ate the fruit of their doings,¹ for we see in verse 11:

Then said I, Lord, how long? And he answered, Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate, And the LORD have removed men far away, and there be a great forsaking in the midst of the land.

Israel was devastated and left desolate. But it was not for ever, only until repentance was forthcoming. When the remnant returned from Babylon, it was a chastened people, done with the kind of blatant idolatry that had plagued Israel in the past. However it was not too long before they began hardening their hearts again in different ways. By Yeshua's time in place of true heart-faith in God, there had been a drift into religious formalism, and works-righteousness; tradition and commandment keeping became more important than the Creator to whom the Torah was designed to point us. This is a far more subtle and deadly form of idolatry and has a heart hardening effect. Note Jesus' comments in Matthew 13:

And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath. Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive: For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.

We see here that the people had closed their own eyes, LEST they should see. They didn't really want the truth, or to be convicted of their sin, that they could be forgiven ('heal' here is a metaphor for 'forgive'', see Mark 4:12). If we look at John 6:26 we see that the minds of most of them were fixed completely on the material. Because of this Jesus spoke the Word to them in hidden fashion.

Scripture teaches us that when we persistently harden our hearts and refuse to repent God may add to that hardening. Interestingly Matthew's quote differs somewhat from Isaiah 6; the different wording is because in NT times the Hebrew text was still unpointed (unvowelled) and in its unpointed form the Hebrew admits either the possibility of the Israelites hardening their own hearts; or being hardened by an outside agency, all depending on how one vocalises the text. The LXX followed one option and the Massoretes another, thus the same passage teaches about hardening from the human and divine perspectives. Be that as it may; the effect of hardening is to make us blind to the Word of God.² In Romans 11 Paul alludes to Isaiah 6 in regard to God's hardening activity:

According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day.

He thus links Isaiah 6 with Isa. 29:10 which stated the following;

For the LORD hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes: the prophets and your rulers, the seers hath he covered. And the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I cannot; for it is sealed: And the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I am not learned. Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as (i.e Because) this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men: Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder: for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid.

If anything describes Rabbinic Judaism, that is it. I have no doubt that Rabbbinic Judaism is one of the mechanisms that God used to harden or blind Israel to her Messiah. The impression left when reading Rabbinic literature is 'so near but so far'. Especially in regard to Messianic prophecy; it is clear that they understood some things but were unable to 'join the dots' and were groping in the dark because of their rejection of divine truth on certain critical issues. Even though it has been this way for 2000 years, this should not leave us despondent. While God hardens in response to wilful and persistent unbelief and rejection. He promises:

And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. (Jer. 29:13)

The Word of God will be opened to willing and responsive hearts. I think many who love and pray for Israel believe that for some time we have been seeing the beginning of Israel's turning to the LORD; though it may come in fulness only on the wings of terrible national distress, when Israel comes to an end of herself and is forced to cry out to Him. We would ask your prayers for this year, that as we scatter the seeds here that the LORD's grace would go before us and it would find those seeking Him with all their heart.

Footnotes

1. This is exactly the same pattern as we see in God's dealings with Pharoah. First he hardened his heart and refused to repent so God hardened it, until he was broken.

2. There is not space to speak of it here but the NT passages (Rom. 9-11, John 6:36-44 etc.) mangled by Augustine, (whose impositions on scripture were later continued and systematised by Calvin); when restored to their proper context are set against this background; that is, God's hardening and blinding of His people being a response to their unbelief not the cause of it.

Satan's Greatest Weapon

By Elon,

This was originally published in the Moriel Bulletin of Nov. 2011.

“Study (Gr. Be diligent) to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing (handling) the word of truth. “ (2 Tim.2:15)

Some months ago, I was talking to a lady in a congregation in our area. I fail to remember the question she asked, but I do remember my answer began with “Yes, but you have to look at those verses in context..” “What's that?” she replied. I began to answer, but an impatient look came over her face and she cut in with a superior air “Oh I don't need all that, I simply take what the Holy Spirit gives me”. I was quietly somewhat taken aback that anyone could come out with such an irrational and silly statement -especially someone who had been a believer for so long. I could see that there was something of a problem here with this woman's perception of the Word of God.

In the Olivet Discourse, we see, that above all other things, the chief sign of the End Times that Jesus warned about, was not the earthquakes, plagues and persecution, but spiritual deception. Satan already has the unbeliever and the liberal false church in his grasp. But Jesus was addressing true believers here, who don't normally fall for that kind of nonsense. Let's face it, we are bible believers and we have the Word of God, -don't we? But actually, this is where one of our problems is going to come from. Satan's greatest weapon against the born-again bible believing saint, can, at times, be the very Word of God itself. That is to say, -the Word of God misunderstood, misapplied, mistreated and misused.

Satan has used this approach right from the beginning. In the Garden, he twisted what God had said in order to deceive Eve, and while twisting God's sayings he also took time misrepresent the character of God in the process, (his other favourite tactic). He tried it on Jesus in the wilderness too, but that time he did not succeed.

A true saint will naturally revere the Word of God and accord it, and teaching that he believes to be derived from it, due authority. So, if Satan can lure us into believing off-centre or twisted interpretations, he can not only hold us in bondage, but in blindness as to our enslaved state as well, as we will believe that his false ideas are actually God's commandments and will for our life.

How do we avoid these snares? Well a good working knowledge of the Bible's contents is a good start, but knowing how to interpret and apply what we already know is equally important. There are many believers who know the contents of their Bibles very well, but nevertheless have been seriously deceived at some point, -why? Because they did not know what correct use of the Word is, -consequently they did not perceive misuse when they saw it either.

Now it is not my intention to go into great detail on the subject of biblical interpretation, only to share with you one aspect of this subject which I was thinking on recently. That is, -context. I hope that you will find it interesting.

Fortune Cookie Christians

The approach many believers take to the Bible is what I would call atomisation. This is ripping it out of it's immediate context, ignoring the surrounding verses, breaking scripture into little disconnected bits. I would also call this the “promise box” or “fortune cookie” interpretive method. This is a common fault mostly among hyper-charismatics, but with some other groups too. “Never mind what it means, just find a verse that mentions some words that fit our purpose”. The lady above would fall into the “fortune cookie Christian” category. I would hope that none of us handle the Word of God in this way, and would not be deceived by simple straightforward errors like this. However misuse of the Bible is not always so obvious.

Don't Underestimate Your Enemy

It is only over the last few years, that I have gained a healthy respect for just how well Satan knows the Word of God and how adept he is at misusing it. There are some deceptions that require more than just knowing the chapter surrounding the verse in question. These are days when we need to start becoming much more familiar with the teaching and original historical context of whole books plus a knowledge of what issues were being addressed, and in addition to this, the great themes and overall narrative of Scripture. In this article I want to mention just one thing to be aware of that may assist us in this.

Paul And Jesus Didn't Do "Sound Bites"

Politicians are always complaining that some reporter or other “took my words out of context”. In our days we live in the age of the “sound bite” when we want the informational equivalent of fast food. We haven't got the time to listen to or read through “all that stuff”, we want something short, that doesn't tax our gnat-sized attention span, preferably a one-liner. A politician that doesn't realise this will probably get cut off mid-sentence as the news presenter flicks to the next story.

Though all true believers love God and His Word, sometimes we handle it like the T.V news reporter deals with the politician he thinks is droning on too long. How many times have we read a New Testament passage, noticed that the author is quoting from the Old Testament and:-

• a) Carry on reading, just assuming that Jesus or the Apostles are using that O.T verse as a one-liner because it's words fit his subject nicely.
• b) Think “Oh yeah, that's from Isaiah or something, yeah, I know that passage” and carry on reading.
• c) Look up the O.T. Passage just to check the wording is the same as in the New Testament, because that's what the Bereans did right? Then carry on reading.

One of the favourite ploys of Jewish anti-missionary groups, is to accuse the N.T writers of either being ignorant and too stupid to quote the Tanakh properly in context, or crafty and deceitful people who deliberately misquoted it, hoping that their poor ignorant audiences wouldn't notice or go back and check. Now of course these anti-missionary groups are particularly noted for being economical with the truth themselves,. but their approach serves to illustrate a perceptional problem with how many believers approach the N.T writers usage of the Tanakh.

Recognising The N.T Writers Depth Of Understanding

The N.T writers didn't just use a passage or quote a verse because it “seemed to fit nicely”, or provide a convenient “one-liner” to underscore a point, not at all. These people were not ignorant and unlearned men unskilled in the word of righteousness. They were men throughly steeped in the Scriptures and the overall biblical narrative. When they referred to an O.T scripture, for the most part they did so being keenly aware of both the immediate and the wider context in the book they were citing from, and the great and overarching themes of Scripture. Not only so, but they expected and assumed, particularly their Jewish audiences, to be aware of this as well. Very often they would quote a verse as a kind of “shorthand” expecting the reader to understand it's meaning and surrounding context.

An Example From Matthew

Below is one of my favourite examples of Jesus' use of the Old Testament. I like this one because it is so striking.

And when he was come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, Who is this?  And the multitude said, This is Jesus the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee.  And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves,  And said unto them, It is written,
“My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves.“ 

And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple; and he healed them. And when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying in the temple, and saying, Hosanna to the Son of David; they were sore displeased,  And said unto him, Hearest thou what these say? And Jesus saith unto them, Yea; have ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise?  And he left them, and went out of the city into Bethany; and he lodged there.  Now in the morning as he returned into the city, he hungered.  And when he saw a fig tree in the way, he came to it, and found nothing thereon, but leaves only, and said unto it, Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever. And presently the fig tree withered away.  (Matthew 21:10-19)

Now of course the high priests and the Temple authorities were corrupt, they had a monopoly on what was allowed to be sacrificed in the Temple, and they were probably colluding with the vendors to keep out produce from “unauthorised” places, so they could receive “commission” from the vendors who sold at inflated prices. So the phrase den of thieves was certainly apt. But there's more to it than that. Let us look at the context of what Jesus was quoting. Space is insufficient to reproduce both chapters here, but I think you will get the general idea.

Judgements On The Leaders And The Temple

“Thus saith the LORD, Keep ye judgment, and do justice: for my salvation is near to come, and my righteousness to be revealed.  Blessed is the man that doeth this, and the son of man that layeth hold on it; that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and keepeth his hand from doing any evil.  Neither let the son of the stranger, that hath joined himself to the LORD, speak, saying, The LORD hath utterly separated me from his people: neither let the eunuch say, Behold, I am a dry tree. For thus saith the LORD unto the eunuchs that keep my sabbaths, and choose the things that please me, and take hold of my covenant;  Even unto them will I give in mine house and within my walls a place and a name better than of sons and of daughters: I will give them an everlasting name, that shall not be cut off.  Also the sons of the stranger, that join themselves to the LORD, to serve him, and to love the name of the LORD, to be his servants, every one that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and taketh hold of my covenant;  Even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer: their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine altar; for mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people.  The Lord GOD which gathereth the outcasts of Israel saith, Yet will I gather others to him, beside those that are gathered unto him. All ye beasts of the field, come to devour, yea, all ye beasts in the forest. His watchmen are blind: they are all ignorant, they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber. Yea, they are greedy dogs which can never have enough, and they are shepherds that cannot understand: they all look to their own way, every one for his gain, from his quarter.  Come ye, say they, I will fetch wine, and we will fill ourselves with strong drink; and to morrow shall be as this day, and much more abundant”.

We can see here at least 3 themes:

• The coming near and revealing of God's righteousness and salvation. See also (Rom. 30:20-23)
• The in-gathering of the Gentiles to share in the covenant given to Israel, or as Paul described it (in Eph. Ch.3) to be fellow-heirs, of the same body and partakers of God's promise in the Messiah.
• The one most pertinent to Temple situation, -the judgement of God against a corrupt and spiritually blind religious leadership.

Now let us turn briefly to Jeremiah:

“Is this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, even I have seen it, saith the LORD.  But go ye now unto my place which was in Shiloh, where I set my name at the first, and see what I did to it for the wickedness of my people Israel.  And now, because ye have done all these works, saith the LORD, and I spake unto you, rising up early and speaking, but ye heard not; and I called you, but ye answered not; Therefore will I do unto this house, which is called by my name, wherein ye trust, and unto the place which I gave to you and to your fathers, as I have done to Shiloh.  And I will cast you out of my sight, as I have cast out all your brethren, even the whole seed of Ephraim.  Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up cry nor prayer for them, neither make intercession to me: for I will not hear thee”.  (Jer. 7:2-16)

In the book of Jeremiah the unrepentant apostasy and wickedness had made judgement unavoidable as God's messengers were rejected time and time again. The LORD is particularly sensitive to that which represents His name becoming a locus of corruption and sin. In the time of Samuel, there was a house of God at Shiloh. and Eli the high priest's sons were a bad lot, who stole from the offerings and slept with the female worshippers. The LORD will not tolerate unrepentant behaviour of this nature in that on which He has placed His name. By the time of Jeremiah, once again a situation of national stubbornness and religious apostasy existed, and the national and religious leadership attempted to silence the prophetic voices of repentance. On both occasions God swept away His house in judgement. In utilising these scriptures Jesus was not just remarking on the current state of affairs in the Temple courtyard, but saying, judgement was coming on the nation, because its spiritual leadership had become corrupt and complacent, and instead of repenting, was setting itself against the LORD, consequently the Temple would once more be taken away and the nation scattered.

In Isaiah 56, judgement is pronounced against the background of the wonderful moment when God's salvation and righteousness were coming near and being revealed, and the offer of salvation would be going out to the Gentiles. Isaiah shows us that at this glorious moment the national leadership of Israel and the people at large would be mostly blind to it and without understanding. This is a peculiarly tragic and poignant moment in Israel's history. Luke understood this well, see how he relates the same events as Matthew:

“And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it,  Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes.  For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side,  And shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation.  And he went into the temple, and began to cast out them that sold therein, and them that bought;  Saying unto them, It is written, My house is the house of prayer: but ye have made it a den of thieves.  And he taught daily in the temple. But the chief priests and the scribes and the chief of the people sought to destroy him”, (Lk. 19:41-47)

Luke, in his narrative, positions the cleansing of the Temple as something immediately following Jesus' lament and prophecy over Jerusalem; indicating that for him they are intimately connected in some way. Luke's account confirms that he understood exactly why Jesus cites those Scriptures and so reveals his depth of perception of Jesus' intended meaning. See how Luke remarks specifically on the spiritual blindness and lack of understanding, both the things that Isaiah mentioned and the impending destruction that Jeremiah referred to.

Slowing Down A Little

I know what I am advocating here will appear very simple and obvious, at least in its practical outworking, that as part of learning to become skilful in the Scriptures we need to slow down and carefully ponder the N.T use of the O.T in our readings and study. But its consequences can be profound. Not just in enjoyment of the greater beauty and depth that comes from observing the O.T chapters around the quotations in their original literary and historical context. But, -as we understand what was really being said in the Old in those passages referred to in the New, it can radically affect our perception of what Jesus and the Apostles are actually saying, and even correct our thinking where it is amiss. For example, a complex and well disguised deception that has been passed off as orthodoxy, such as Calvinism (the laughingly termed “doctrines of grace” now in resurgence), rather than being tolerated, would then be recognised for it is, an extremely serious de-contextualisation of numerous scriptures and a hideous misrepresentation of God's character. Satan succeeds in Calvinism and similar sophisticated deceits in using the Word of God against the Church, precisely because we lack the skill in the Scriptures that we should have, often do not pay attention to context -even in the New Testament, and are even less diligent in following up context in Old Testament citations in the New. Not only so, we are often ignorant of many of the overarching themes of Scripture, the result being that our knowledge of certain N.T passages (e.g Romans 9 often used as a chief Calvinistic proof text) is often very superficial. We need to discern the difference between the plain meaning of Scripture and the seemingly obvious meaning, the latter being that which leaves us vulnerable to the distorted doctrines of the “restless and reformed” or other seemingly biblically-based errors which indeed quote a lot of Scripture but are seriously askew. Some delusions require a greater degree of understanding to analyse, inspect and discern, than the simplistic and frankly moronic nonsense of the Toronto Blessing, Biker Boot granny basher Todd Bentley, or the Word of Faith and Prosperity Gospels.

In Acts 17, the Bereans were commended not because they received Paul's message unhesitatingly, but because they searched the Scriptures daily to see if the Gospel was in fact biblical. This teaches us that discernment takes time, the time needed to examine things in context and within the overall biblical narrative. As we grow in the LORD so should not only our knowledge of the contents of the Scriptures, but our understanding of those contents in their proper context and of the Bible's great themes, and hence our ability to handle the texts correctly. Mere knowledge without understanding of correct use leaves us in an unbalanced and dangerous state, -like the lady in the introduction. 

Sometimes we misapprehend the role of teachers in the Body Of Christ. We think that they are there only to teach us what to believe. Actually it is equally true to say, they are there to teach us how to believe, how to grasp and handle the truth for ourselves, that we might grow in our understanding and application of the Word to the extent that we can teach others.

For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.  For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe.  But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. (Heb. 5:12-14)

Inadequate discernment is directly linked to unskilfulness in the word of righteousness. May we all mature in our understanding and learn how to rightly handle the word of truth for ourselves!

A Hebrew conundrum: -the Saviour who needs to be 'saved'.

By Elon Moreh

This originally appeared in the Moriel Bulletin.

Here in Israel sometimes issues arise that probably would never come up in an English believing environment; for example I was discussing recently with a friend the significance of Zechariah 9:9 and I thought it might be of interest also to our readers:

Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.

My friend was translating an English book into Hebrew, and its exposition of this Messianic prophecy was heavily dependent on the wording of the English bible version being used. For this exact reason my translator friend had hit a problem and said something like this to me: 'his whole point depends upon where the English says “having salvation”; but it doesn't say that in Hebrew'. My friend was quite correct -it doesn't say that in Hebrew. The underlying text in Hebrew is 'נשע' (NoSha) and is clearly a passive form of the verb 'ישע' (YaSHa), from which we get the word 'ישועה' Yeshuah 'salvation' and the name 'ישוע' -Yeshua. 

Strictly speaking this verb in the form it occurs in Zechariah 9:9 does not quite mean 'having salvation' at all, but 'saved'. The rendering 'having salvation' is a bit of a fudge. The English translators did not want to render this passive verbal form (in which the subject the recipient of the action) as an active form -'saviour', for they did not want to misrepresent the underlying Hebrew. On the other hand they were uncomfortable with the idea of a Messiah that needed 'saving'; hence they opted for something betwixt the two. So we have a conundrum here; in English we wouldn't even notice this, it has been 'lost in translation', but in Hebrew it exists.

Consequently this is not the right verse to use to demonstrate that the Messiah is Saviour if you are speaking to Israelis. All right, you might say; but if the Messiah needs 'saving' wouldn't this undermine what Scripture teaches us about the his sinlessness? This is where we hit another problem, a form of one-dimensional Christian thinking, which tends to always think of 'ישועה' 'salvation' only in terms of 'salvation from sin'; however that is not its primary usage in the Old Testament, where it is more often seen in contexts of victory over, or salvation from enemies or deliverance from a bad situation. Now if we take this information into account and start to look at some other messianic passages we can actually see that they support this idea of the Messiah needing or receiving 'salvation' e.g. Psalms 21, 22, 118; Isa. 49:1-12; Heb. 5:7 etc.

A very good example from these is psalm 22 particularly verse 19-21 where the same verbal root is employed:

But be not thou far from me, O LORD: O my strength, haste thee to help me.  Deliver my soul from the sword; my darling from the power of the dog.  Save me ('הושיעני' from the same root 'ישע') from the lion's mouth: for thou hast heard me from the horns of the wild oxen. 

In the Servant Song of Isaiah 49 we see both ideas combined, the Messiah is presented as both Saviour and a recipient of salvation. He is presented as one who raise up the tribes of Jacob, restores the preserved of Israel, is the light of the nations and the LORD's salvation to the end of of the earth. He is also described as the One who is given for a covenant of the people who would bring the prisoners out of darkness; but in the very same breath God says to the Messiah 'in an acceptable time I have heard thee and in a day of salvation have I helped thee'. If we look back to passage from Psalm 22 we see the same terms 'salvation' and 'help' occurring together also.

So putting it all together; the Gospels show us that Zechariah 9:9 is speaking of the Messiah in his first coming as the Suffering Servant king, Moshiach ben Yosef; of his humbling himself and laying aside his glory for our sakes; of his total dependence on the Father for all things, including deliverance out from death; now the idea of the Messiah being 'saved' actually makes perfect sense when seen this way. The Messiah of course had no sin to be saved from, but in his first coming he relied totally on the Father to save, preserve, help and sustain him to the end of his task, and ultimately raise him up from the dead (Rom. 6:4); and now mission accomplished he has become 'מושיע', Moshia --Saviour; and author of eternal salvation to all who trust in him (Heb. 5:9).

A Few Puzzling Phrases.

By Elon Moreh.

This originally appeared in the Jan 2012 Moriel Bulletin.

There are some phrases in Scripture that at first glance seem puzzling. Sometimes it's good to follow the rabbit trails of Scripture and search out things that interest us. I thought I would just share with you one rabbit trail I went down recently, and hope that it interests you too.

“Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh; And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead:”

“Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Messiah.” (Acts 2:36)

The first question that comes into our mind here might be: “Hasn't Jesus always been the Son of God from eternity?” and hasn't He always been the Messiah from eternity too; why did He need to be made Messiah and declared Son of God?” Yes, of course that is absolutely true. Jesus always has been God. One reason that we can have problems with a text is because sometimes we approach it thinking what it ought to say, without letting Scripture speak for itself. Not every scripture about sonship or Messiahship is dealing with the same aspect of it, and we also need to properly define the terms “Son” and “Messiah” before we rush to interpreting the text.

I would say Peter is almost certainly referring here to Psalm 2. “The kings of the earth stand up and the rulers take council together against the LORD and against His Anointed (Messiah)”. As for Paul, in Acts 13 is an example of one of Paul's sermons, albeit in somewhat compressed form, and we actually see Psalm 2 again in connection to this very concept of resurrection, ascension and Sonship:

“And when they had fulfilled all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree, and laid him in a sepulchre. But God raised him from the dead: And he was seen many days of them which came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are his witnesses unto the people. And we declare unto you glad tidings, how that the promise which was made unto the fathers, God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again; as it is also written in the second psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee. And as concerning that he raised him up from the dead, now no more to return to corruption, he said on this wise, I will give you the sure mercies of David.”

At first glance this passage seems a strange one to teach of the resurrection of the Messiah from the dead, and this is a separate and very interesting question in itself. However on a merely human level, the term “son” is used of Israel's king in some contexts in the Scriptures, just as Israel is termed the LORD's 'son' in some passages. This usage of the term in some contexts implies a covenantal rather than natural relationship.. We can also see that some of Jesus's contemporaries understood this passage as referring to kingship at least in a human sense (unfortunately they understood it only in this way). If we take a look at Jesus's trial we see the following:

“But Jesus held his peace. And the high priest answered and said unto him, I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Messiah, the Son of God. Jesus saith unto him, "Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven." Then the high priest rent his clothes, saying, He hath spoken blasphemy; what further need have we of witnesses? behold, now ye have heard his blasphemy. What Think ye? They answered and said, He is guilty of death.”

Notice the words: “tell us whether thou be the Messiah The Son Of God”. The only place in the OT where the terms Messiah and Son appear closely together is in Psalm 2. Jesus was charged on oath to declare as to whether he was the promised Messiah King of Psalm 2 or not. The Sanhedrin clearly understood Psalm 2 and “Thou art my Son this day have I begotten Thee”, in light of the previous verse “Yet have I set my king on my holy hill”. In other words they recognised it as referring to an appointment to kingship. It is probably because of this reason that Jesus avoided using the term “Son of God” in certain company, because it would have created unhelpful expectations in the people. The problem with the Jewish authorities was that their understanding stopped there, they did not join up the dots with Psalm 2's companion psalm.

Jesus however did.

Notice also how Jesus pulls in another term “seated at the right hand of power”. This is a clear allusion to Psalm 110 long recognised even then as a Messianic psalm.: “The LORD said unto my Lord, sit thou at my right hand until I make thine enemies the footstool of thy feet”. Jesus made it even more explicit as to what He meant by referring to Daniel 7's “Son of Man” motif. The Sanhedrin tried to “stitch up” Jesus before Pilate on the grounds that He claimed to be a king in opposition to Caesar, but this was not the grounds on which they themselves condemned Him. They condemned Him for blasphemy when He claimed to be Messiah and Son of God, not just in the human sense of being king of Israel (as they understood it), but in the fullest sense of the word (see Hebrews 1), -posssesing divine nature and authority, the very Son of Man whose kingdom and dominion is everlasting, who comes on the clouds of heaven and who sits at the right hand of power, the One who is both David's Lord and also priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek (Psalm 110:4).

Jesus was the first to connect Psalm 2 and 110 together to give a fuller understanding of the nature of the Messiah, and thereafter we see them repeatedly referred and alluded to by the Apostles.

If we understand parts of both Psalm 2 and 110 in terms of taking up of authority and office, it connects well with Daniel 7:12-13 which Jeus referred to in His trial: “One like the Son of Man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him” this also corresponds to what we find in Acts 2, which at first glance seemed a little strange because it says Jesus was “made” both Lord and Messiah and lo and behold, we see Psalm 110 also.

“This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses. Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear. For David is not ascended into the heavens: but he saith himself, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, Until I make thy foes thy footstool. Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Messiah.” (Acts 2:32-36)

And we see also this appointment concept in Hebrews 5:5-6:

“So also the Messiah glorified not himself to be made an high priest; but he that said unto him, Thou art my Son, to day have I begotten thee. As he saith also in another place, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.”

The author of Hebrews weaves the “thou art my Son etc..” originally connected with kingship in Psalm 2, together with “a priest after the order of Melchisedec” in psalm 110, thus showing us that Jesus ascent to kingship and priesthood are linked, in the Apostles thinking, and indeed, from Peter and Paul's sermons and letters we see that this appointment was connected with Jesus resurrection and ascension. If we remember also Jesus's own words where he likened Himself to someone who went on a journey to receive a kingdom. (Lk 19:12), then we can see from that in one aspect Romans 1:4 “declared to be Son of God”could refer to his receiving of His kingdom and entering into His High Priestly ministry. The problem is that we are used to seeing Messiah as a title only, but it also describes a state of being, or office, so in many places it is translated “Anointed”, thus Saul was described by David as “His (that is the LORD's) Anointed (Messiah)” using exactly the same construction in Hebrew as in Psalm 2:6. If we remember that both kings and priests were “anointed” into office this adds the finishing piece to our puzzle as how Jesus was “made” Messiah and “declared” to be Son of God.

The Succah And Its Fruits.

By Elon Moreh 

This originally appeared in the Moriel Buletin Oct. 2011.

The Autumnal Feasts have come and gone, Yom Kippur is now past, and the Mediterranean has turned from a calm still blue, to an often tempestuous and dangerous body of water. In ancient times sailing during the winter season (after Yom Kippur see Acts 27:9) was a perilous undertaking, as recorded in the book of Acts. Rainy season is here and the temperature has dropped by around 10 degrees or more indoors, and an another visible sign of the season, is that all around town you can see the remnants of the succot (booths) put out for the municipality to dispose of. When people construct a succah, very often they hang all manner of things up inside. Recent innovations include tinsel and fairy lights! But traditionally people hang up different fruits. This is because Succot is also the Festival of Ingathering, of the final harvest of the year. Of course the festivals and the Biblical year teach us of the whole history of redemption, and Succot speaks of the “Word who came and tabernacled amongst us”, and also the time of the Millennial Kingdom, and beyond into eternity when God will tabernacle with us and He will be our God and we will be His people -for ever. (Rev. 22) However there is another message of Succot and another meaning of the succah, and that one of a more individual nature. The imagery of the succah is used in a number of places to refer to the mortal human body in its fragility and temporality.

“For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven: If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked. For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life. Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit. Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: (For we walk by faith, not by sight:) We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord. Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.” 2 Cor 5:1-10

A friend once told me that at the end of Succot he came to take down the succah and the fruit which had been hung up there were still good, ripe and perfect to eat. The palm leaves and fronds are withered, but the fruit remains. This is a lovely illustration of a profound spiritual truth. That when our tabernacle of this body is taken down, the only thing that we will take into eternity is the fruit that remains.

"Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain:" (Joh 15:16).

What is then the fruit that remains?

May I suggest that it is none other than character of Christ within us, our conformity to the image of the Son. (Rom 8:29) Christ in us the hope of glory! (Col 1:27). Eye hath not seen nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man what God hath prepared for those who love Him, there is a glorious future awaiting those who die in the Lord. But we must also not forget the words of warning and exhortation that accompany Paul's message in 2 Cor 5.

"Wherefore we labour, that whether present or absent we may be accepted of Him, for we must all appear before the judgement seat of Christ, that every one may receive the things done in his body according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad."

Peter, in his 2nd Epistle, uses the selfsame imagery and gives the selfsame message, but even more clearly.

"Giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall: For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though ye know them, and be established in the present truth. Yea, I think it meet, as long as I am in this tabernacle, to stir you up by putting you in remembrance; Knowing that shortly I must put off this my tabernacle, even as our Lord Jesus Christ hath shewed me .”

It is perfectly possible to have a genuine calling from God and be genuinely gifted from the Holy Spirit, yet still conduct oneself in a fleshly manner. It is possible to "serve the LORD" after a fashion for many years, but still be a spiritual infant, wallowing in carnal behaviour like the Corinthian Church. It is possible to have been a believer for many years, but have walked most of them as Paul said "as [mere] men" (1 Cor 3:3). It is possible to know the Bible very thoroughly, and be fully cognizant of its doctrines, but never to have allowed it to impact our lives or change us one jot. I know a number of people who are like this and despite having been many years in the Lord, whose behaviour is that of a spoilt willful child, unable to accept any will other than their own and utterly unteachable, whose responses to what happens to them are not what one would expect of a disciple of Christ. May God deliver us from ever being like this!

Yakov has often spoken about the problems inherent in Calvinism. One of which is an unbalanced approach to the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints. This doctrine is popularly referred to as “OSAS” or “Once Saved Always Saved”, or "Unconditional Eternal Security". To produce this doctrine certain passages of Scripture have to be glossed over or “card-sharped” away. The end result of this is that we have an unhealthily large number of people filling churches who are in such a state of carnal security that they think that after having “made a commitment” or “prayed the prayer”, their subsequent conduct has no bearing at all on their eternal condition. This however is not the teaching of the Apostles or of Jesus. The Scriptures are replete with warnings to believers, which would be totally unnecessary if it was impossible to fall away, to which we would do well to take heed, in the perilous times in which we live. We must always take into account the whole counsel of Scripture on a subject.. Tabernacles and its fructic imagery has a lot to teach us in this regard.

John the same disciple who recorded Jesus' words above in John 15, writes in his first letter:

“Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.” (I Jn 3:2)

A glorious hope indeed. But he prefaces it in the previous chapter by:

“little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.” (I Jn 2:28)

Is not this an echo of Jesus' words in John 15:

"If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned."

To abide in Christ means that you have to have been in Him in the first place. We should remember that both the wise man and the foolish man heard the teachings of Jesus, but it was the wise man who actually obeyed the word, and in so doing built his house upon the rock (Matt 7). As a recent speaker at our congregation remarked, "If you are not obeying the Word of God then you have not really understood it at all." We need to take stock of ourselves and see if we are walking “as men” or as sons of God. There are a number of believers who will receive a nasty shock at the judgement seat of the Messiah. Many who were, seemingly full of good works from a distance, will have little but ashes left, because these were wrought in strife and vainglory as these individuals never really submitted to the Lord. Let us be absolutely clear, we can take nothing physical out of this world, nor anything that is of the flesh, such as the approval of men. We are not called to be emperors of our own little domains, but stewards of our heavenly King. We are not to camouflage our own ambitions under the cloke of serving Him, but to serve Him and Him alone, applying the Cross to all that is of the flesh. The only thing that we can carry from this life into the next is the character of Christ outworked in us by the Holy Spirit as we submit to the Word of God and apply it to our lives. Nothing but the gold of Jesus' nature can will abide the fire of God's holy presence. The message of Succot is a glorious one, but it also exhorts us to take the Lord seriously, to work out our salvation with fear and trembling because it is God that worketh in us, to follow after holiness without which no man shall see the Lord, to give diligence to add those qualities of which Peter speaks, to abide in Him and His word in us, that we may bring forth much fruit.

Staying Moist

By Elon Moreh

This originally appeared in the Moriel Bulletin for July 2011.

Summer is most definitely upon us. Mercifully the heat and humidity began late this year. We had our last rain shower on 28th June, very late indeed. It says of Moses that when he died, “his eye was not dimmed nor his natural force abated” (Deut.34:7). The Hebrew word translated “natural force” is “לח” (lakh: moisture) from which same root we get the modern Hebrew word “לחות” (lakhut: humidity). Moisture in the context of Moses, meant freshness and vigour. Here on the coast with humidity at 65% and 32 Degrees Celsius in the shade, our moisture certainly has not abated, but our freshness and vigour certainly have. Even slight exertions result in your clothes being completely saturated with your own perspiration and at night here the building walls release the heat absorbed from the sun during the day, so our bedroom (unfortunately the hottest room in the house) is 33-35 Deg. Celsius, plus humidity. If you want to retain your friends frequent changes are de rigeur and it helps to carry a roll-on or spray with you (Summer here is heaven scent for the deodorant manufacturers). Punning apart it's really important in this country to stay moist, now in August we are perspiring so much that we drink about 3 litres a day each of liquid. It's important when you go out for a walk, you either take water with you, or make sure that you pass by somewhere you can obtain it.

I wrote last time about the wadis in the desert, the dry river beds, that can in the rainy season turn into raging torrents and destroy the unwary. These same rivers can kill you in the Summer too. In ancient times, travelers through desert areas would plan their routes to move from water source to water source, be that source oasis, well or river. Imagine the horror of being out of water, arriving at a well or oasis on your planned route, and then finding that the well is dry or the river is no more. We see this in Job 6, where he reproves his “comforters” using this as an illustration.

“My brothers have been as treacherous as a seasonal stream, and as the riverbeds of the intermittent streams that flow away. They are dark because of ice; snow is piled up over them. When they are scorched, they dry up, when it is hot, they vanish from their place. Caravans turn aside from their routes; they go into the wasteland and perish. The caravans of Tema looked intently for these streams; the traveling merchants of Sheba hoped for them. They were distressed, because each one had been so confident; they arrived there, but were disappointed.”

Disappointed seems almost an understatement, totally gutted seems more like it. It is beneficial to look up some of the underlying Hebrew words used here in their usage elsewhere, as they express important spiritual ideas. However here we have:

1. “הביטו” (from root hibit here translated “to look intently”, see its interesting usage in Zech 12 “look unto me” and regarding Lot's wife as she “looked back” towards Sodom)
2. “קוו” (from root kavah to wait or hope for)
3. “יחפרו” (from khapar translated “disappointed” meaning to blush with shame)
4. Job accuses his comforters of “dealing deceitfully” (A.V) or “treacherously” from “בגד” (bagad to betray). Job had certain expectations of his friends in his crisis, which were unrealised. These expectations turned out to be false, deceitful even, and he was disappointed (to say the least) in his friends. The modern Hebrew word for disappointment is “אכזבה” (akhzavah) it comes from the same biblical root translated lies, deceit and falsehood when describing the utterances of the false prophets, those who deluded the people by presenting a false hope. We see it in Psalm 89:35:

"Once have I sworn by my holiness that I will not lie (from root khazav) unto David."

The LORD promised David that He would not lie to Him, or delude Him with false hope. This should encourage us too.

A false hope is like expecting water in the place where you thought it would be, and finding none. In desert navigation a false hope can kill you. The same principal applies in spiritual things too, bad navigation and believing in false oracles or false hopes can destroy you. But;

“The LORD is good to those who wait (kavah see above) for Him, to the soul that seeketh Him” (Lam.3:25)

Sometimes life deals us a blow. We had expectations that were not met, or desires that are unfulfilled, situations that cause us pain, and sometimes these can go on for a long time. We arrive at the river and find dry sand. We can become resentful of the situations or people that we perceive to be the cause of our disappointments or even bitter and hateful. I know of people who became very bitter and angry against the LORD because they never found a spouse. They became  totally obsessed with this one issue and spent years wallowing in self-pity and resenting the Redeemer, remaining barren and unfruitful in their walk with the LORD, never able to get past this issue, constantly doubting God's love and wisdom. This is self-destructive behaviour and it not only displeases the LORD, but it also only hurts us in the end. I mention this because not long ago I suffered a personal disappointment myself that was quite hurtful to me. It took me a while to "process" what had happened, and to prayerfully come around to see the LORD's perspective. What I felt the LORD spoke to me, I thought might also help others.

• Sometimes we are disappointed because though walking in the general direction which the LORD is leading us, our fleshly imagination fills in the blanks and we get big ideas and deceive ourselves, rather than patiently waiting for Him to reveal what we do not yet see clearly.
• Disappointment will persist with us and grown into resentment, self-pity and bitterness if we are not prepared to bow the knee to His Lordship, submit our own plans, desires, hopes and expectations to Him and let them be nailed to the cross.
• If we have the attitude that "He must increase and I must decrease" (Jn. 3:30)and "not to seek great things for ourselves" (Jer.45:5) then the dashing of our fleshly hopes will become tools and opportunities to shape and conform us the image of His Son. If our goal in life is not to have our hopes realised, but rather that His will may be fulfilled in our lives, and that HE alone becomes our hope, then when we come to a place expecting, and find a dry riverbed or waterless well, we can know that we have a Rock who follows us (1Cor 10:4) and from whom living waters will flow if we will but speak (Num. 20:8)to Him.

I am not saying this is easy or some kind of magic, pain-free, instant-victory, formula. It involves taking up our cross and following Him, but He is the fountain of living waters, even of life itself, and He will never disappoint forsake or fail us. This is the only way stay moist when our hopes dry up.