How Israel keeps faith in one God and His Messiah

LftLD

God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” The woman said to Him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When He comes, He will tell us all things.” Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am He.”  John 4.24-26  #ChurchLeadership #faith #jesus #jesuschrist #judaism #Messiah #salvation  https://lightforthelastdays.co.uk/articles/jesus-and-judaism/how-israel-keeps-faith-in-one-god-and-his-messiah/

Transcript

00:00They're without ephod or teraphim.

00:04So what is the ephod?

00:06You've got the high priest's garment there, and on his chest you've got the ephod,

00:11by which you can discern what is called the Urim and the Thummim.

00:15According to Numbers chapter 27, it says,

00:17He, that's the high priest, he shall stand before Eleazar the priest,

00:22who shall inquire before the Lord for him by the judgment of the Urim.

00:25And at his word they shall go out, and at his word they shall come in,

00:30he and all the children of Israel with him, all the congregation.

00:34Now we're not actually sure how this worked,

00:36but there appeared to be some means by which they could discern the will of God

00:40through the breastplate on the high priest,

00:43through what is called the Urim and the Thummim,

00:45some ways of discerning God's will,

00:48which speaks to us somehow of the prophetic word of God being revealed,

00:51that God could reveal to them direction how they should live, how they should behave.

00:56Now, I say we don't know exactly how this worked,

00:59but it's applied in the scriptures there.

01:02They would discern the will of God.

01:04And it speaks to us also of the prophetic office.

01:08If you put all these things together, you've got the Messiah

01:10as the priest, the prophet, and the king,

01:13all fulfilled in Jesus the Messiah.

01:17Without him, you've got a long silence,

01:20long period of prophetic silence,

01:22in which the warnings of the prophets have been fulfilled,

01:25but no further prophetic word is given from the Lord.

01:30Apart from through Yeshua, Jesus the Messiah.

01:33They're also going to be without teraphim.

01:37There's a picture of the teraphim.

01:38They're the speaking oracles of the heathen,

01:40the idols, the household gods, which are used in paganism.

01:43And according to research,

01:47we've found out that the pagans used to try to use

01:49these household gods to discern the will of the gods,

01:53or so which way they should go.

01:56And one of the famous stories about the teraphim,

01:58you'll find in Genesis chapter 31,

02:00where Rachel stole the teraphim of Laban,

02:04the household gods,

02:06and hid her under a cell phone.

02:09She was in the way of women,

02:11which I think means she was menstruating.

02:13And said, don't look under me,

02:14because that's how it is.

02:16But that's where the teraphim were hidden

02:18when Laban came to find them.

02:20According to one rabbi,

02:22Abed Ezra,

02:23he says that Laban,

02:25she stole these things,

02:27that Laban might not be able to discover

02:29the direction of their flight

02:30by means of these oracles.

02:33Whether that's the case or not is interesting,

02:35but there is a tradition

02:36that somehow you could discern things from God

02:39through using these teraphim.

02:42And they're associated with Israel's apostasy

02:44and worship of false gods

02:45in Judges chapter 17 and 18.

02:48And Isaiah condemns Israel for using them.

02:51In Isaiah 18, he says,

02:53Isaiah 8 verse 19,

02:55when they say to you,

02:56seek those who are mediums and wizards,

02:58who whisper and mutter,

02:59should not a people seek their God,

03:01should they seek the dead on behalf of the living,

03:03to the law and to the testimony,

03:05if they do not speak according to this word,

03:06it is because there is no light in them.

03:12So,

03:12Hosea is saying that these things

03:16are going to be missing in Israel.

03:18And by and large,

03:19since the Babylonian captivity,

03:21idolatry,

03:22using these kind of household gods

03:24has not been ever part of Israelite worship.

03:27They have kept faith in one God

03:29through rabbinic Judaism.

03:31They have kept an identity separate from the Gentiles.

03:34They have kept the Torah as far as they could.

03:36They have upheld moral and family values.

03:40In many ways,

03:40a great achievement.

03:42And although I am,

03:43in some ways,

03:43being a bit critical of rabbinic Judaism,

03:45one has to say that

03:46the preservation of the Jewish people

03:47down through the ages

03:48has been because of

03:50the influence of

03:51Judaism,

03:52of the Torah,

03:53on the people

03:54keeping them together

03:55as a people.

03:57And often keeping them together

03:58under situations

03:59of intense persecution

04:00and

04:01terrible things being done,

04:05sadly,

04:05often in the name of

04:06Jesus the Messiah,

04:07who is the one they should be believing in

04:09to get the answer

04:10to all these things.

04:11But they preserved Israel

04:13and the Jewish people

04:15in very trying circumstances.

04:19And

04:19because of the false witness

04:21of the church,

04:22the majority of Jewish people

04:23are alienated from Jesus

04:24and the New Testament.

04:27And many will not read

04:28the New Testament,

04:29will not enter into a church building,

04:31nor even read one of our pamphlets

04:33as we give it to them.

04:36And that's probably the greatest tragedy

04:37in the history of the church

04:39because Yeshua

04:40is the Jewish Messiah.

04:43And he's the one

04:43to whom

04:44who came,

04:45our salvation comes from

04:46the Jewish people

04:47and we should return it to them.

04:50Instead,

04:50the church has done the opposite.

04:51But he's the one

04:53who's fulfilled

04:54and will fulfill

04:54the positive side

04:55of all these three couplets.

04:57He's the rightful kingdom,

04:59rightful king.

05:00He's the true

05:01and the final sacrifice.

05:03He's the one

05:03who mediates

05:04the new covenant

05:04and the word of God

05:05to us by the Holy Spirit.

05:07And so we should pray

05:08for Israel

05:09to be saved.

05:11He fulfills

05:12all of the positives.

05:14He's the prophet,

05:15the priest,

05:15and the king.

05:17He's the prophet

05:18like unto Moses

05:19who brings us

05:19the living word of God

05:20to direct our lives.

05:22See Deuteronomy 18

05:23and Acts chapter 3

05:25verse 18 to 26.

05:27He's our great high priest

05:29who's offered himself

05:29as his final sacrifice

05:30for sin.

05:32Hebrews chapter 9.

05:34And he's our coming king

05:35to take up his role

05:36as king of the Jews

05:37reigning from Jerusalem

05:38in the coming time

05:39of restoration

05:40of all things

05:41at his second coming.

05:43See Zechariah 14

05:44and also Revelation

05:4619 to 20.

05:48And he's the one

05:49who brings us

05:50whether we're Jewish

05:50or Gentile

05:51to the God of Abraham,

05:52Isaac and Jacob,

05:53the true God,

05:54the creator

05:54who's revealed in the Torah

05:56and in the prophets

05:57and the writings

05:58of the Tanakh

05:59and who's made manifest

06:01in the pages

06:02of the new covenant.

06:03of the new covenant.

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