1. The Heavenly Messiah and the Father are One (Echad)
2. The Eternal Temple
3. The Beginning of the New Creation
4. Inside first, then outside
5. The Court of the Women
6. Messiah and our Heavenly Father

The Heavenly Messiah and the Father are One (Echad):

אותה עת חגגו בירושלים את חג החנכה. חרף היה. כאשר התהלך ישוע בבית המקדש באולם שלמה, הקיפוהו פרושים ואמרו לו: “עד מתי תחזיק את נפשנו במתח? אם אתה המשיח, אמר לנו בברור.” השיב להם ישוע: “אמרתי לכם ואינכם מאמינים. המעשים שאני עושה בשם אבי – אלה מעידים עלי, אך אתם אינכם מאמינים משום שאינכם מצאני. צאני שומעות את קולי ואני מכיר אותן; הן הולכות אחרי ואני נותן להן חיי עולם; ולא תאבדנה לעולם, אף לא יחטף אותן איש מידי. אבי שנתן אותן לי גדול מכל ואין איש יכול לחטף אותן מיד האב. אני והאב אחד אנחנו.” שוב הרימו אבנים כדי לרגם אותו. השיב להם ישוע: “מעשים טובים רבים הראיתי לכם מאת האב; על איזה מעשה מהם תרגמוני?” ענו לו: “לא על מעשה טוב נרגם אותך, אלא על חלול שם שמים ועל שבהיותך אדם אתה עושה את עצמך אלהים.” השיב להם ישוע: “כלום לא כתוב בתורתכם, ‘אני-אמרתי אלהים אתם’? אם הוא אמר ‘אלהים’ לאלה אשר דבר אלהים היה אליהם – ואת הכתוב אי אפשר להפר – האם תאמרו אתם לזה אשר האב קדשו ושלח אותו אל העולם, ‘מגדף אתה’, משום שאמרתי ‘בן-אלהים אני’? אם אינני עושה את מעשי אבי, אל תאמינו לי. אבל אם אני עושה, אף אם אינכם מאמינים לי, האמינו למעשים, למען תכירו ותדעו שהאב בי ואני באב.” אז נסו שוב לתפס אותו והוא חמק מידם. הוא הלך ושב אל עבר הירדן, אל המקום אשר שם הטביל יוחנן בראשונה, ונשאר שם. רבים באו אליו. “יוחנן לא עשה שום נס”, אמרו, “אך כל מה שאמר יוחנן על האיש הזה היה אמת.” ורבים האמינו בו שם.פ

It was Chanukkah (Kislev 25-Tevet 2) in Yerushalayim and it was winter time. The Salvation of Adonai, Yeshua, was walking in the Temple in the stoa (portico) of Shlomoh (Solomon). The Yehudim [religious leaders] surrounded him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are Ha-Mashiach, say it now so we can hear with our own ears!” Yeshua answered them, “Yes, I have told you but you did not believe me. The works that I do in the name of my Father testify about me. But you will not believe because you are not from my flock, just as I have said to you. My flock hears my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I will give them eternal life, and they will not perish for eternity. No one will snatch them from my hand. The Father who gave them to me is greater than anyone; therefore, no one will snatch them from the Hand of my Father. I and my Father are one (אֶחָד-echad), one essence, one unity.” Then the Yehudim picked up stones again as before to stone him. Yeshua responded to them, “I have shown you many good deeds from my Father. Which deed will you stone me for?” The Yehudim answered him, saying, “We will not stone you on account of a good deed, but on account of your blasphemy of Adonai, in that you are a human, but you make yourself Elohim [of one essence with God.] Yeshua answered them, “Is it not written in your Torah, ‘I have said, you (plural) are *elohim’? The scripture cannot be violated. How can you say to the one that the Father sanctified and sent into the world, ‘You are a blasphemer,’ because I said I am the ben-Elohim, son of God? If I do not do the works of my Father, do not believe me. If I am doing so, even if you do not believe me, believe my works, so that you may know and believe that the Father is in me and I am in Him.” Again, they sought to capture him, but he escaped from their hand. He left and returned to the other side of the Yarden, Jordan to the place where Yochanan (ben Zecharyah) originally immersed him, and he stayed there. Many came to him and said, “Yochanan did not perform a sign, but all that Yochanan spoke about this man is true.” Many believed in him in that place.

The Messiah ben Yosef is referencing Psalm 82:6 where it reads:

א‍ני־אמרתי אלהים אתם ובני עליון כלכם׃

אֲֽנִי־אָמַרְתִּי אֱלֹהִים אַתֶּם וּבְנֵי עֶלְיֹון כֻּלְּכֶֽם׃

I said, “you are gods (elohim), and all of you are sons of the Most High.”

Judges are elohim (lower case): This psalm refers to the judges in Israel (השופטים בישראל) acting as adjudicating proxies, proximate judges (elohim, lower case) acting in the place of Ha-Shofet (Ha-Elohim, upper case) who is El-Elyon, the God Most High. The Messiah Yeshua ben Yosef is saying that in accord with the precedent setting words of Psalm 82:6 specifically, and other sections of Psalm 82 generally, his use of the titles Son of God and Son of the Most High are valid.

האמינו למעשים, למען תכירו ותדעו שהאב בי ואני באב.” פ“

“Trust in My deeds, know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.”

Put him to the Test: Messiah our Tzadik (צדיק) rightfully asserts his references to himself as the Son of God, Son of the Most High, and Ha-Shofet (the Judge). These titles are all well attested to in the scriptures and are even further validated by the many signs and wonderful miracles he has performed. The Messiah is simply saying here: It is all right for his fellow Jews to put him to the test so that they/we may experience for ourselves individually and collectively that the Father is in the Son, and the Son is in the Father; that the Father and the Messiah exist together as are a unity (echad).

Ask Adonai, “Is Yeshua the Messiah?”: It is all right to put our earthly and heavenly Messiah to the test by asking the Avinu Shebashamayim to further reveal to us who he really is and what our Divinely assigned relationship to him is. This request for discernment of God’s truth can include the performance of signs, miracles, and wonders. Trust this fact: God our Father who indwells the Messiah is more than willing today to do signs, wonders, and anything else that is required to assist our people (Israel) in believing in His Messiah who He has sent to us.

The Gift of Living Torah: Through His heavenly Messiah God has sent to us His gift of Living Torah; the true Oral Torah—-the indwelling Presence of the Spirit of the Holy One. The Messiah is the Memra, the Logos, the D’var Ha-Shem. He is the manifestation of the Holy One. He is God cloaked in the human form of His only begotten Son; The Word become flesh. God our Father does not change. God exists in a state of intact wholeness and perfection.

The Memra, the Logos: Change is in no way desired or necessary to God’s existence. He does, however, have a manifestation of Himself that has always been with Him. The ancient Jewish theologians call this manifestation of God the Memra. The philosopher Philo called this hypothetical manifestation of God the Logos.

Wisdom Personified: King Solomon called the Memra-Wisdom; as a kind of personified wisdom—a theophany. The elder Yochanan ben Zebeyah, who knew the Messiah better than anyone including Shaul ben Benyamin, translated all of his theological and intellectual insight about the Messiah into a very simple and elegant one word revelation—HaDavar (The Word). The mystery unfolds when we ask the question: How can God create anything if He is unwilling to disturb His state of complete perfection?

The answer is quite simple with God there has always been a manifestation of God. You can see the pre-existence of the Word that is cloaked in the human form of our brother Rabbeinu Yeshua in his following communication to his Father and his God:

אני נתתי להם את הכבוד שנתת לי, למען יהיו אחד כמו שאנחנו אחד. אני בהם ואתה בי כדי שישלמו להיותם אחד, למען ידע העולם כי אתה שלחתני ואהבת אותם כמו שאהבת אותי. אבי, אלה שנתתם לי רצוני שיהיו גם הם אתי באשר אני, למען יחזו בכבודי אשר נתת לי, כי אהבת אותי מלפני הוסד תבל.פ

אֲנִי נָתַתִּי לָהֶם אֶת הַכָּבוֹד שֶׁנָּתַתָּ לִי, לְמַעַן יִהְיוּ אֶחָד כְּמוֹ שֶׁאֲנַחְנוּ אֶחָד. אֲנִי בָּהֶם וְאַתָּה בִּי כְּדֵי שֶׁיֻּשְׁלְמוּ לִהְיוֹתָם אֶחָד, לְמַעַן יֵדַע הָעוֹלָם כִּי אַתָּה שְׁלַחְתַּנִי וְאָהַבְתָּ אוֹתָם כְּמוֹ שֶׁאָהַבְתָּ אוֹתִי. אָבִי, אֵלֶּה שֶׁנְּתַתָּם לִי רְצוֹנִי שֶׁיִּהְיוּ גַּם הֵם אִתִּי בַּאֲשֶׁר אֲנִי, לְמַעַן יֶחֱזוּ בִּכְבוֹדִי אֲשֶׁר נָתַתָּ לִי, כִּי אָהַבְתָּ אוֹתִי מִלִּפְנֵי הִוָּסֵד תֵּבֵל. פ

The Pre-existent Ha-Davar: This insight into the revelation of the prior existence of The Word that created the form of Yeshua ben Yosef ben David our brother Who actually walked among (pre-existed) our ancestors can be seen before He cloaked Himself in the human form of Yeshua. He is seen prophetically through the eyes of King Solomon; so it is written (cf. Proverbs 8):

ה’ קנני ראשית דרכו קדם מפעליו מאז׃ מעולם נסכתי מראש מקדמי־ארץ׃ באין־תהמות חוללתי באין מעינות נכבדי־מים׃ בטרם הרים הטבעו לפני גבעות חוללתי׃ עד־לא עשה ארץ וחוצות וראש עפרות תבל׃ בהכינו מים שם אני בחוקו חוג על־פני תהום׃ באמצו שחקים ממעל בעזוז עינות תהום׃ בשומו לים חקו ומים לא יעברו־פיו בחוקו מוסדי ארץ׃ ואהיה אצלו אמון ואהיה עשעים יום יום משחקת לפניו בכל־עת׃ משחקת בתבל ארצו ושעשעי את־בני אדם׃

ה’ קָ֭נָנִי רֵאשִׁ֣ית דַּרְכֹּ֑ו קֶ֖דֶם מִפְעָלָ֣יו מֵאָֽז׃ מֵעֹולָם נִסַּכְתִּי מֵרֹאשׁ מִקַּדְמֵי־אָֽרֶץ׃ בְּאֵין־תְּהֹמֹות חֹולָלְתִּי בְּאֵין מַעְיָנֹות נִכְבַּדֵּי־מָֽיִם׃ בְּטֶרֶם הָרִים הָטְבָּעוּ לִפְנֵי גְבָעֹות חֹולָֽלְתִּי׃ עַד־לֹא עָשָׂה אֶרֶץ וְחוּצֹות וְרֹאשׁ עָפְרֹות תֵּבֵֽל׃ בַּהֲכִינֹו שָׁמַיִם שָׁם אָנִי בְּחוּקֹו חוּג עַל־פְּנֵי תְהֹֽום׃ בְּאַמְּצֹו שְׁחָקִים מִמָּעַל בַּעֲזֹוז עִינֹות תְּהֹום׃ בְּשׂוּמֹו לַיָּם חֻקֹּו וּמַיִם לֹא יַֽעַבְרוּ־פִיו בְּחוּקֹו מֹוסְדֵי אָֽרֶץ׃ וָֽאֶהְיֶה אֶצְלֹו אָמֹון וָֽאֶהְיֶה שַׁעֲשֻׁעִים יֹום יֹום מְשַׂחֶקֶת לְפָנָיו בְּכָל־עֵֽת׃ מְשַׂחֶקֶת בְּתֵבֵל אַרְצֹו וְשַׁעֲשֻׁעַי אֶת־בְּנֵי אָדָֽם׃

“Adonai  possessed me at the beginning of His way, the first of His works of old. I was established from eternity, from the beginning, before the earth existed. When there were no deeps, I was brought forth; when there were no springs abounding with water. Before the mountains were settled, before the hills, I was brought forth; while as yet He had not made the earth or the open fields, nor the first of the dust of the world. When He established the heavens, I was there; when He drew a circle upon the face of the deep. When He made firm the skies above, when the fountains of the deep became mighty. When He assigned to the sea its limit, so that the waters would not transgress His command, when He marked out the foundations of the earth. Then I was beside Him, like a *little child existing at the side of Him in a state of abiding trust and confidence; and I was daily His delight, playing, always before Him playing (משחקת, שחק) in the world, His earth, and having my delight in the sons of men.”

*Playing, rejoicing and more playing! The Hebrew phrase וָאֶהְיֶה אֶצְלוֹ אָמוֹן (va’ehyeh etzlo amon) can be translated as “and I was like a little child by His side” or “one brought up with Him.” The exact translation depends on how you interpret the final, highly debated word אָמוֹן (amon). If amon is derived from the root aman (אָמַן), which means “to support,” “nourish,” or “be faithful,” it can take on a passive meaning (amun). In this sense, it means “a nursling,” or “one brought up with” a parent. The verses immediately following describe Wisdom as “playing/rejoicing always before Him”, which perfectly mirrors a carefree child playing in front of its father.

Use your Common Sense: Ask yourself how has Adonai been able to do everything He has done or ever will do without changing at all, in any way whatsoever? The answer is His Memra, His Logos, His Word. Our heavenly Father has a Divine Self that moves around and does things and this counterpart of God that is God does all of this without compromising in any way the perfect, complete, intact, unchanging, ineffable state of GOD. Everything that God our Father has made He has accomplished through His Memra, Logos, and Word. Nothing has been made without His Word.

“God of the Beginning”: When did God first manifest Himself through His Word in a visible form? Elohei Kedem, “God of the Beginning” first manifested Himself in the Shekinah—-the Glory Cloud. When was the second time God manifested Himself in a visible form? When He had His Word take the form of a new sinless Adam—-our Messiah ben Yosef ben David. Therefore, the Son of Adam (Man) is the eternal power and the wisdom of God. The Word become flesh. And as the perfect manifestation of the one true God The Word came to earth and dwelt among us in human form. In Him we can see the visible Image of the invisible God.

The Strong One came to save the weak: HaDavar took our form to deliver us from our sins and our estrangement from God. The Strong One stooped down to save the weak. He took the form of lowly man to sacrifice Himself for the sake of all of humankind. For we are too weak to save ourselves.

The heavenly Messiah: And so after He had secured our redemption, He conquered death, and ascended into heaven. So now The Word who became cloaked in the form of a man is now in His new form as the glorified heavenly Messiah, and he is seated at the right hand of the Father. Therefore we believe as long as you sincerely seek God’s help:

You believe in God: God will convince you that all of His Divinity dwells bodily in the heavenly Messiah Yeshua ben Yosef ben David. Now that the anger of the Holy One is finally subsiding. For we unknowingly rejected God our Father and His Spirit when we rejected His Son. Now we may ask of our Father anything; even miracles. Yet we must ask without doubt. For if we do not even believe in God then how can we expect any response from Him at all? Even to attest whether or not Yeshua is the earthly and heavenly Messiah?

Now believe in His heavenly and earthly Messiah: So first believe in God, then He will reveal to you that the Messiah is Yeshua ben Yosef ben David. Believe in Adonai first, then He will personally reveal to you that He Indwells His Messiah (Meshicho) just as He did His Glory Cloud. Ask first for the gift of faith so that you might receive insight from Ruach Ha-Chokmah, the Spirit of Wisdom, and then shed your ignorance and become rich in the knowledge of God.

The Eternal Temple:

The true Temple of Adonai is not an actual tent or a building. The true Temple of God our Father is His human family. God resides forever in the hearts of His children.

House of God – Beit-El: We are the Eternal Temple of Avinu Shebashamayim; Beit-El (בֵּֽית־אֵ֑ל). Adonai, HaEL-Beit-El (הָאֵל֙ בֵּֽית־אֵ֔ל) is the God of the Eternal Temple (us). The Hebrew words son and daughter, ben (בֵּן) and bat (בַּת), along with the word for house, beit (בַּיִת) all come from the root word “benah” (בָּנָה). Benah means “to build” (לִבנוֹת) and this word applies to the making of children.

From Chanukkah to Sukkot: So the festivals of Light (Sukkot and Chanukkah) both illustrate what kind of temple our loving heavenly Father (El-Beit-El) wants His children to be and the kind of kingdom on earth He wants us to establish. Therefore, by examining the meaning of Sukkot we are able to see an important part of our heavenly Father’s blueprint for raising His children and how He plans to establish His kingdom here on earth. Chanukkah to Sukkot, conception to birth, developmentally depicts the eternal light within and witout the Temple.

The Beginning of the New Creation:

The Number Eight: In the Hebrew Scriptures the number eight is the number of new beginnings. Our Jewish festivals teach us that the Messiah is the Light of the World. The beginning of the new creation starts with the Messiah’s conception (Chanukkah), birth (Sukkot), and earthly redemptive ministry. The earthly ministry of the Messiah our HaGo’el (הגואל), Redeemer includes his atoning death (Pesach), life giving resurrection (Yom HaBikkurim), and victorious ascension into heaven—40th day of Counting the Omer.

The Salvation of Adonai dwelt among us: In him the Messiah ben Yosef (Suffering Messiah) was life and the life was the light of men. The Salvation of God dwelt among us and we beheld His glory, glory as the only begotten from the Father, “full of grace and truth.” This is true because the One who Indwells the Messiah, the Spirit of the Holy One, is the Source and Sustainer of all life. He is the Life and the Light of the World (אור העולם).

A New Beginning and Eternity: Sukkot celebrates the Messiah’s ministry of a new beginning. In Judaism the number eight speaks of the infinite. The number seven indicates completion and the number eight speaks of new beginnings and eternity. There are four messianic festivals that employ the use of an eighth day:

Festival #1.  Eight days of Chanukkah, where the eighth day completes the fullness of the festival (Kislev 25-Tevet 2).
Festival #2.  Eight days of Ezekiel’s Rosh Hashanah where the Messiah is installed on the eighth day as the eternal High Priest-King (Nisan 1-8).
Festival #3.  Eight days of Pesach that includes Chag HaMatzot and Yom HaBikkurim (Nisan 15-22).
Festival #4.  Eight days of Sukkot including an extended day of Shemini Atzeret  and Simchat Torah (Tishri 15-22).

Inside first, then outside:

Sukkot what happens at the End: At the end of the Jewish ecclesiastical year, is the Festival of Sukkot. Sukkot represents the visible completion of the Messiah’s work outside the temple. The light that is celebrated inside the temple on Chanukkah is  hidden from public view. Only the very small lights that peek out from the Holy Place (היכל-Hekhhal) could be seen from outside in the adjacent temple courtyards. Chanukkah represents the beginning of the work of the Messiah of God from inside the temple of Adam—Humankind.

The Court of the Women:

Birth happens at the End: Nine months—exactly 285 days or forty weeks later after Chanukkah—the light that is celebrated in Sukkot visibly appears outside the temple. The Light shines out from the Court of the Women in the form of four enormous golden outdoor lampstands. These four towering lampstands were so large that ladders had to be used to fuel and ignite their flames.

And Birth is A New Beginning! This period of slightly over forty weeks from Chanukkah to Sukkot represents the procreative work of the life of Messiah ben Yosef ben David. It is a graphic picture of how the entire kingdom of God is being re-created, re-birthed by and through the life of the earthly and heavenly Messiah of God.

Messiah and our Heavenly Father:

See and Believe: Without consciously knowing it we Jews have been celebrating the miraculous work of Messiah’s life. All of our festivals beautifully witness to the life of the heavenly Messiah Yeshua ben Yosef ben David. One time while our Rabbi Yeshua was observing Chanukkah he said:

אם אינני עושה את מעשי אבי, אל תאמינו לי. אבל אם אני עושה, אף אם אינכם מאמינים לי, האמינו למעשים, למען תכירו ותדעו שהאב בי ואני באב. פ

Believe for the Works: If I do not the works of my Father, don’t believe me. But if I do, even if you do not believe me, believe the works, so that you may  know and understand that the Father is in me, and I am in the Father.”

NEXT, THE MESSIAH’S BIRTH AT BEIT-LECHEM ON SUKKOT…

Messiah in Sukkot Chapter 19 >>