10-Key Teachings of Yeshua Messiah Leading Up To Passover

Sabbath Thoughts and Reflections–Episode 55

The week leading up to His sacrifice on the execution stake, Yeshua Messiah delivered a number of key teachings to us, contained in the Gospel Record. I selected 10 of those teaching upon which to reflect in this posting.

Divorce and Remarriage

1. Divorce and remarriage—

“The Prushim tempted Him, ‘Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife’…For the hardness of your heart he (Moshe) wrote you this precept, but from the beginning of the creation Yahovah made them male and female. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife, and the two shall be one flesh. So then they are no more two, but one flesh. Therefore what Yahovah has joined together let no man put asunder (reference Genesis 2:24)…And I say unto you, whosoever shall put away his woman, except it be for fornication and shall marry another, breaks wedlock: and whoso marries her which is put away breaks wedlock” (Mark 10:2-12)

Reference:

“When a man has taken a woman and married her and it come to pass that she find no favour in his eyes, because he has found some uncleanness in her: then let him write her a cepher of divorcement and give it in her hand and send her out of his house. And when she is departed out of his house, she may go and be another man’s woman. And if the latter man hate her, and write her a cepher of divorcement and gives it in her hand and sends her out of his house or if the latter man die, which took her to be his woman; her former man, which sent her away, may not take her again to be his woman after that she is defiled; for that is abomination before Yahovah and you shall not cause the land to sin which Yahovah Elohayka gives you for an inheritance” (Deuteronomy 24:1-4–Cepher)

The Renewed Covenant

2. The Last Supper occurring the evening before Passover/Pesach Day–The Renewed Covenant Revealed

The breaking of the bread and the drinking of the wine was a illustration of the renewed covenant that had been rehearsed by the people of Yahovah since Melchizedek brought bread and wine out to Avraham. This ceremony of the breaking of bread represented the healing of the nations and the drinking of wine symbolized the renewed covenant that was brought about through the shedding of innocent blood for remission of sin. (Y’shua did not drink of that wine but stated that He would not do so until the marriage supper of the lamb (Luke 22:20))

This renewed covenant was prophecied in Yirmeyahu (Jeremiah):

“Behold the days come, says Yahovah, that I will make a Renewed Covenant with the house of Yisra’el and with the house of Yahudah. Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Mitsrayim (Egypt); which my covenant they broke, although I was a husband unto them, says Yahovah. But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Yisra’el; After those days, says Yahovah, I will put my Torah in their inward parts and write it in their hearts; and will be their Elohiym and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor and every man his brother, saying, know Yahovah: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, says Yahovah: for I will forgive their iniquity and I will remember their sin no more” (31:31-37)

The covenant Father made with us at Sinai was a blood covenant that if broken meant death to us. We broke that covenant and the death penalty cannot be annulled. But the covenant could be renewed with either the death of the guilty party or death of a substitute. Y’shua’s sacrifice would serve to pay the death penalty and re-establish the broken covenant. He was the substitute for us as He was the innocent sacrifice the restored the covenant.

The Weightier Matters of the Law

3. The weightier matters of the Law such as judgment, mercy and faith are more important than the minutia of the Law that we tend to capitalize upon in the Faith

“Woe to you, sages and Prushim, you hypocrites! You pay tithe of mint and anise and cumin but you have omitted the weightier matters of the law: judgment, mercy and faith. These tithes you ought to have done, but you should not have left the other undone. You blind guides (that is, a teacher of the ignorant and inexperienced)!” (Matthew 23:23)

Killing the Prophets of Yahovah

4. The Parable of the vineyard–Y’shua’s indictment against the Jewish religious system–Matthew 21:33-46

“There was a certain landowner who planted a vineyard. He hedged it round about, chiseled a winepress in it, built a tower and then leased it out to sharecroppers and went away into a far country. When the time of the harvest drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants that they might receive his share of the harvest. The tenants took his servants and beat one and killed another and stoned another. He again sent even more servants than he did at the first and they did to them likewise. Last of all he sent his son to them, think, ‘They will respect my son.’ But when the tenants saw the son they said among themselves, ‘This is the heir! Come, let us kill him and seize his inheritance.’ They caught him, dragged him out of the vineyard and slew him. When the owner of the vineyard comes, what do you think that he will do to those tenant farmers? They replied to him, ‘He will utterly destroy those miserably wicked men and will lease out his vineyard to other sharecroppers who will deliver the fruits of their seasons.’ Yeshua said to them, ‘Did you never read in the Scriptures, ‘The stone which the builders rejected, the same has become the head of the corner! This is Yahovah’s doing and it is marvelous in our eyes!'”

The kingdom of Yahovah is taken from the Jew and given to gentiles who will bring forth the fruits of the kingdom:

“Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of Yahovah shall be taken from you and given to gentiles who bring forth the fruits of the kingdom”–replacement theology? Not quite

Rejecting the True Messiah

5. The blindness and fear of those who choose not to accept

“He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts that they would not see with their eyes nor understand with their hearts, nor be converted, lest I should heal them…Nevertheless there were also many among the rulers who did not believe in him but because of the Prushim they did not openly confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of Yahovah. (John 12:40-43)

The Parable of 2-sons

“Truth I say to you, tax collectors and whores will enter the kingdom of Yahovah before you do. Yochanan ben Zecharyah came to you preaching the way of righteousness and you would not believe him, but violent men and whores believed him. Even after you saw their response, you still refused to repent and believe him” (Matthew 21:31, 32)

Commandment Keeping

6. The criteria for eternal life–commandment keeping and following Messiah–The Rich Young Pharisee Ruler approaches Y’shua about gaining eternal life (Matthew 19:13-20:16; Mark 10:13-31; Luke 18:15-30)

A relationship with both the Creator and the Son is absolutely essential to receiving eternal life:

“This is life eternal, that they might know you, the one true Elohim and Y’shua the Messiah, whom you have sent” (John 17:3) In so establishing this unique relationship, we are transformed and we are no longer citizens of this world (John 17:16)

The Economy of the Kingdom of Yahovah

7. Heaven’s economy–first shall be last (Reference Matthew 19:30; Luke 13:30; Mark 10:31)

A Widow gives 2-mites that Master teaches is more than the wealthy gives (Mark 12:41-44; Luke 21:1-4)

The prohibition against referencing a fellow believer as Rabbi or Father as we are all brothers and sisters in the Faith.

“Don’t allow anyone to call you Rabbi–because you all have just one Great One–Messiah–and you all are brothers. Do not call any man your Father upon the earth. Only one is your Father and He is in heaven. Do not allow anyone to call you ‘the Teacher’ for there is only one who is the Teacher–Messiah. He that is greatest among you shall be your servant. He who exalts himself shall be abased but he who humbles himself in service to others shall be exalted” (Matthew 23:8-12)

After dinner Y’shua washes His disciples’ feet to teach them the Kingdom servant’s attitude (Luke 22:24-30; John 13:1-22)

“If I then, your Rabbi and Master, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s fee. I have just given you an example that you should do as I have done to you. Truth, I say to you, the servant is not greater than His Master; neither he that is sent greater than He that sent Him. If you know these things, happy are you if you do them. I speak not of you all. I know whom I have chosen but that the Scripture may be fulfilled, He that eats bread with me has lifted up his heel against me. Now I tell you before it comes to pass, so that when it does come to pass, you will believe that I am the One” (John 13:14-19)

Sp;iritual Blindness

8. Y’shua inspects the religious leaders and finds them sorely lacking and unworthy–but worthy for destruction for they are unable to identify the true Messiah

Alludes to Psm 110–proof positive that Y’shua is NOT Yahovah. Yahovah gave Y’shua His name and a title and power and authority.

“While He taught in the Temple, Yeshua asked: “How is it that the sages say that Messiah is the Son of David? David himself said by the Ruach Kodesh, Yahovah said to adoni (meaning Lord), sit though on my right hand till I make your enemies your footstool. But Davidd himself then called Messiah Yahovah? So how is Messiah His son?” (Matthew 12:35-37)

Rood’s commentary on Matthew 22:45:

“The Aramaic Targumim of the Pharisees actually reads YHVH (by their code yyy) in this very instance. Whether Adonay actually replaced the original reading of the sacred name YHVH or the sages of antiquity collectively understood it, David went from ‘YHVH saying to adoni (my Lord) sit at my right hand’–to–‘YHVH sitting at the right hand of YHVH striking through kings in the day of His wrath’ (speaking of the Master’s advent in the last days and returning to earth to take care of business). This is the enigmatic corner into which the sages found themselves boxed and unable to respond without impugning themselves. In retrospect, we can now see that the YHVH’s anointed (Ps. 2:2)–my king (Ps 2:6)–my Son (Ps. 2:7)–and the Son whose wrath will be kindled but a little’ (Ps. 2:12). It is obvious that the Son is not the Father, but the Father gave the Son his title, his power, and the authority to judge the nations and rule over them with a rod of iron until all is subdued under his reign (I Cor. 15:22028; Zech. 14:16-21; John 20:26-29; Acts 2:29-36). This is not a positive prospect for those who were conspiring to belittle, arrest and quietly dispose of Y’shua.”

The fact that Master says He does not know the day or hour, but only the Father knows, is clear and definitive proof that Y’shua is NOT Yahovah–this Master made clear throughout His week of teaching at the Temple and the surrounding area

The End Times

9. The End Times will not bode well for us as the True Torah Observant Believers of Y’shua Messiah. Many of us will be ensnared in a great deception. Others of us will be killed by angry and scorned Christians who realize they are not going to be raptured to heaven. Still, others of us will be afforded the opportunity to testify before various peoples of the world and Y’shua will speak through us and deliver us–Matthew 24:3-14; Mark 13:3-13; Luke 21:7-19

We are warned to not be ensnared by false teachers–thus the importance of learning and understanding this prophecy

The entire planet will see Y’shua when He returns and has His elect snatched from the 4-corners of this planet by Yahovah’s angels. This will strike the greatest of fear in the hearts of men as well as anger as they are not part of those who are carried away

The abomination of desolation is the pivotal, key event, when all hell will break lose upon the earth and Israel (the nation) will come within inches of its existence. This is the time when Father fights for Israel and He tribulates against those who tribulated His elect (Roodism)

The Parable of the Fig Tree is prime fascia that we must stay informed and observe the signs of the times

Matthew 24:12,13:

“Because those who are without Torah will multiply, the love of many will grow cold. But those who endure to the very end <telos> shall indeed be saved”

He in no way came to destroy the Torah (Matthew 5:17) and His judgment will be based upon compliance to Torah (Matthew 7:13-23). Those found lacking, despite their erroneous perceptions that they were serving Jesus and the Kingdom, these same will be “ejected from the eternal kingdom” (Rood)

Matthew 24:25-27 describe prophetically that many will seize upon the opportunity to defraud people into going out to remote areas of the world (Petra??) to find Y’shua there waiting. The world will see Y’shua in due time. Therefore, do not fall for that ruse. For many will fall for the ruse, including saints–skandalidzo-such that these will be destroyed by those who are captured therein. Could this portend of a governmental sting to draw Natzariym into a place of capture? This is a teaching and instruction that will save lives if the hearers and readers take heed. The false Messiahs and false prophets will practice signs and wonders that will seduce, if it were possible, even the elect. Indeed, the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light; the stars in heaven will fall; the powers of the heaven will be shaken.

Some believe this portends a massive nuclear war that blackens the skies and prevents the sun’s and moon’s light from shining through the nuclear fallout. Others believe that this will be a natural darkening of the sun and consequently the moon as the sun’s internal engine cools down and the sun begins a process of implosion

Y’shua will return in the clouds with great power and glory (Mark 13:26) and will dispatch the angels to the 4-corners of the globe to retrieve His elect. Yet everyone on the planet will see Him and His sign in the sky (Mark 13:26). This flies contrary to the secret-rapture teachings of so many in nominal churchianity. Certainly, the world will not be a calm and peaceful place when this happens, as many will likely die simply from fear and overwhelming stress.

We are thus warned and commanded by Y’shua to be aware, watch and pray for we know not when the time will come (Mark 13:33). This to me is an indictment against those who choose not to stay abreast of world events and to inquire into that which is going on around them. Those who stick their heads in the sands of life and the secular world will be caught unawares when the Master returns.

The Parable of the Fig Tree is a prime teaching that we must be cognizant of the signs of the times. There is a second abomination of desolation coming that will trigger the telos–the final ending of the time of man. That event some associate with a rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem (Temple 3) and the Ark of the Covenant being found and placed into the Holy of Holies where the enemy will desecrate it. Still others have other sundry and various theories. Bottom line, no one really knows how this is going to play out. For now I’m sticking with Temple 3 and the finding of the Ark of the Covenant until such time Father reveals more of these time ahead which I believe He shall as we get closer to this period of history

These prophetic events are not fairy tales nor are they fictional concepts that won’t really come to light. Master obviously felt these events are vital for His believers of that time to know. Thus He admonishes us to become soberminded in life and not be taken with “frivolity and intoxicated with the cares and pleasures of this temporal life” (Luke 21:34). If we do, we will be completely oblivious when it overtakes us–the Day of Yah that is. In order to be counted worthy to stand before Master, having escaped all that which will come in the end times, we must watch and pray. Our community must wake up as I fear that we are too caught up in things that will not amount to anything in the end–lunar sabbaths; flat earth; illuminati, the minutia of Torah and falling into the traps of Kabbalah and Messianic Judaism

Discipleship

10. The Essence of True Discipleship–something that nominal churchianity and many in Hebrew Roots fail to understand and practice

Belief in Y’shua and an understanding of who He is, is essential for entering into true discipleship.

“Truth, I say to you, he who believes on me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to my Father. Whatever you ask the Father in my name, that I will do that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you shall ask anything in my name, I will do it. If you love me, keep my commandments.” (John 14:12-15) “He who has my commandments and keeps them, is one who loves me. He who loves me shall be loved by my Father and I will love him and I will manifest myself to him.” (John 14:21) “If a man loves me, he will keep my Torah and my Father will love him. We will come to him and make our abode in him. He who does not love me does not keep my Torah. The Work which you hear me speaking is not my word, but the Torah of the Father who sent me…But the comforter which is the gift of the Ruach Kodesh, which the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will bring all the things that I have spoken to you back to your remembrance” (John 14:23-26)

Reference:

The Chronological Gospels by Michael Rood