Messiah in Rosh HaShanah II & Chanukkah II Chapter 7

  1. WORDS TO THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL
  2. “Amen, amen I say to you”
  3. Expend your efforts on what will last forever!
  4. Trust in the Messiah whom the heavenly Father has sent
  5. Believe and See! Instead of see and believe
  6. Avinu Shebashamayim gives you the true Bread out of Heaven
  7. Adonai (the LORD) is the Source and the Sustainer of all life
  8. Eternal versus temporal satisfaction
  9. The 1st century Yehudim were rebuked for their lack of faith
  10. Call of the Spirit of the Holy One
  11. The Messiah repeats His claim of His Heavenly origin
  12. The promise of a new Heart that will never fail and eternal life

WORDS TO THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL

Yeshua answered them and said, “Amen, amen, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled. Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you, for on Him the Father, Adonai, has set His seal.” [FIRST QUESTION]  Therefore they said to Him, “What shall we do, so that we may work the works of Adonai?” Yeshua answered and said to them, “This is the work of Adonai, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.” [SECOND QUESTION]  So they said to Him, “What then do You do for a sign, so that we may see, and believe You? What work do You perform? Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, HE GAVE THEM BREAD OUT OF HEAVEN TO EAT.” Yeshua then said to them, “Amen, amen, I say to you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread out of heaven, but it is My Father who gives you the true bread out of heaven. For the bread of Adonai is that which comes down out of heaven (He who comes out of heaven), and gives life to the world.” Then they said to Him, “Lord, always give us this bread.” Yeshua said to them, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen Me, and yet do not believe. All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.”

“Amen, amen I say to you:”

Yeshua began with the solemn words, “Amen, amen I say to you.” The Messiah spoke these words four times in the discourse (1, 2, 3, 4). This drew attention to the importance of what He was about to teach. He rebuked them for their materialistic motivation and their lack of spiritual perception. They saw miraculous signs, but to them it was only an easy meal. They failed to see what each sign spiritually signified.

Expend your efforts on what will last forever!

“Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you, for on Him the Father, Adonai, has set His seal.” When the Messiah said, “Do not work for the food which perishes,” He was not condoning laziness. Rather He was saying that people should expend their efforts for what will last forever. “Man does not live by bread alone but on every word that proceeds from the mouth of Adonai.” Physical food is short lived in its nourishment but spiritual food leads to eternal life. The Son of Man who has access to heaven will give the people this spiritual food, which ultimately is the Messiah Himself; especially His Mind. The Mind of Messiah, His conscious life, is supernaturally communicated to us through the Power and Presence of the Spirit of Holiness. Abba Avinu Himself authenticates the Messiah’s claim that He is truly heavenly food by His sending His Spirit to lead us and guide us into all truth.

Trust in the Messiah whom the heavenly Father has sent:

[FIRST QUESTION]  “Therefore they said to Him, ‘What shall we do, so that we may work the works of Adonai?’” The people realized that Yeshua was saying that Adonai had a requirement for them. They would do the requirement if Adonai would inform them what it was. The people believed that they could please Adonai and thus obtain eternal life by doing good “works.” “Yeshua answered and said to them, ‘This is the work of Adonai, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.’” The Messiah’s response to the people’s question was a flat contradiction of their thinking. They could not please Adonai by doing their good works. There is only one work of Adonai that He requires and that pleases Him. The people were required to put their trust in the One the heavenly Father had sent. Because of their sin the people cannot please Adonai by doing their good works for salvation. Adonai requires that the people recognize their inability to save themselves and receive His gift.

Believe and See! Instead of see and believe:

[SECOND QUESTION]  “So they said to Him, ‘What then do You do for a sign, so that we may see, and believe You? What work do You perform? Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘HE GAVE THEM BREAD OUT OF HEAVEN TO EAT’” (Exodus 16:4; Nehemiah 9:15; Psalm 78:24, 25). In response the people demanded a miraculous sign:

The people thought Abba Avinu’s order is see and believe; instead of believe and see.

The people did not have faith or spiritual perception. However, they did understand that the Messiah was proclaiming something new and different from what the Prushim rabbinate had been teaching. His coming was claimed as an advance over Moses. They reasoned, “If you are more than Moses, do more than Moses did.” The crowd that asked for a sign from the Messiah must have felt that the feeding of the 5,000 (approximately 10,000 counting the women and children) did not compare with Moses’ gift of manna from heaven (Exodus 16; Numbers 11:7). They believed Messiah’s feeding of them was less significant because Moses fed the whole nation for 40 years.

Avinu Shebashamayim gives you the true Bread out of Heaven:

“Yeshua then said to them, ‘Amen, amen, I say to you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread out of heaven, but it is My Father who gives you the true bread out of heaven.’” In a solemn revelation the Salvation of Adonai (Yeshua) corrected the mis-perception of the people in three ways: first, Adonai gave the manna from heaven; not Moses; second, our Father in heaven (Avinu Shebashamayim) was still giving manna to His people; not just in the past but now in the present; third, the true Bread out of Heaven nourishes for an eternity; not just 40 years. This is the spiritual manna of Messiah. Not the physical manna which was only a temporal symbol of the eternal manna to come. Thus the supposed superiority of Moses and his sign vanishes before the actual Presence of Adonai that is cloaked in the humble form of the obedient Messiah (His Servant). Manna was food for the body. It was useful. However, the Messiah is Adonai’s full provision for people in their eternal existence. Adonai our Father, therefore, five times (through the Messiah, His Voice)  says in this discourse that He is the One who has come down out of heaven (1, 2, 3, 4, 5).

Adonai is the Source and the Sustainer of all life:

“For the bread of Adonai is that which comes down out of heaven (He who comes out of heaven), and gives life to the world.” Adonai is the Source and Sustainer of all life. The Messiah has life in Himself. He has come in the Name of Adonai to give real and lasting life to the people. Sin cuts us off from Avi Avinu. He is Life and apart from His Life we die spiritually and physically. The Messiah “comes down out of heaven” to give life to the world. The Messiah is the genuine Bread of Adonai who gives eternal life to all who believe in Him.

Then they said to Him, “Lord, always give us this bread!”

As yet, the crowd did not perceive that the Salvation of Adonai (Yeshua) is the genuine Bread of Adonai which He had been describing. Like the woman at the well (cf. Messiah in Rosh HaShanah & Yom Teruah, Chapter 33): The people asked for this better eternal food. And they wanted it continually (always). They wanted the manna that would be provided to them forever and not just forty years.

Eternal versus temporal satisfaction:

“Yeshua said to them, ‘I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst.’” “I AM the Bread of Life.” This declaration by the Messiah corrected two more errors in the people’s thinking: first, the food of which the Messiah spoke refers to a Person. Not a commodity; second, once the people were in right relationship to the Messiah they would find satisfaction which is everlasting, not temporal. This “I AM” is the first in a series of momentous I AM revelations (ten references: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10). “Bread of Life” means bread which provides life.  The teaching of the Messiah is our essential staple. It is Israel’s necessary food. Messiah is the Bread of Life. Adonai promises us that if we come to Messiah in faith believing in His Word we will never be spiritually hungry or thirsty again.

The 1st century Yehudim were rebuked for their lack of faith:

But I said to you that you have seen Me, and yet do not believe.

The Messiah rebuked the crowd for their lack of faith. The 1st century people of Israel (our wayward ancestors) experienced the great privilege of hearing and seeing the Messiah and yet they “did not believe.” Physical hearing and believing does not necessarily lead to spiritual hearing and believing. Spiritual receptivity requires the help of the Father of Spirits (Avi HaRuchot). Each one of us must first be receptive to Adonai at the core of our being—in our spirit—before any of us will understand anything in our conscious awareness (our mind). It is Abba our Father (Abba Avinu) who reveals the Messiah to each one of us. Pray to Avi HaRachamim and He will show you the truth. The Father Himself is the Source and Sustainer of our believing in the Messiah. In truth the Father “gives” us to the Messiah. Of this truth the Messiah says: “All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out.”

Call of the Spirit of the Holy One:

Abba Avinu works sovereignly in people’s lives. There is an election of Adonai which is Abba Avinu’s gift to the Messiah, His Individual Son and Israel as a whole which is His National Son. The Individual Son has no concern that His work will be ineffective. The Individual Son is the Head of the entire Assembly of Israel (Rosh Ha’edah). Abba Avinu enables His people to come to the Messiah through the call of His Spirit. The problem has not been that the Messiah has somehow temporarily rejected His People. The problem is the people have rejected the Messiah. The Holy One is waiting for the Assembly to be reunited with His Messiah, who He has assigned as the Head of All things (Rosh l’khol-ha’edah). When any one of Israel’s children comes to the Messiah He will of a certainty welcome you. The Messiah will never “cast out” (away) any child of Israel who comes to Him; who is sent to Him through the call of the Spirit (i.e. through the will of the Father).

The Messiah repeats His claim of His Heavenly origin:

“For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day.” The Salvation of Adonai (the Messiah) repeats His claim about His heavenly origin. The reason He “came down from heaven” was to do the will of the Father who sent Him. Abba Avinu’s will is that those who He gives to the Messiah will not suffer any loss of their salvation but by His grace “all” will be raised up to eternal life on the day of resurrection. Therefore, our eternal security is not based on our fallible works but on the unfailing, perfect works of our Father in heaven who has sent the Messiah to redeem us from our sins and infuse in us the Gift of His righteousness. The Gift of the Righteous Father is the eternal Indwelling Presence of the Spirit of Holiness. He is the Holy One who is responsible for changing us from the Inside-Out. This transformation of the Spirit is to be made complete on the day of the resurrection.

The promise of a new Heart that will never fail and eternal life:

“For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.” This statement repeats and reinforces all of the previous narrative of the Messiah. The one who hears, understands, and obeys the Messiah already possesses eternal life because the one who receives Him has received eternal life already. We have received the Indwelling Presence of the Holy Spirit of Adonai. He is our eternal life, Ruach Elohim Chayim (the Spirit of the Living God). The Spirit of Promise (בְּרוּחַ הַהַבְטָחָה), The Holy Spirit (רוּחַ הַקֺּדֶשׁ) is the One who guarantees that we will be raised to eternal life on the day of resurrection.

Torah of Adonai. Part I.  Under the Covenant of the Convicting Law of Adonai (administered by Moses) every Hebrew man, woman and child is assured that the Presence of the Spirit of Adonai will be “with us” from the moment of our conception to the end of this mortal life.

Torah of Adonai. Part II.  However, only under the Covenant of the Delivering Grace of Adonai (administered by the Messiah) are we assured that the Presence of the Spirit of Adonai will be “in us” forever! The Brit Chadashah of Jeremiah and Ezekiel speaks of this when the prophets say (Jeremiah 31:31-34; Ezekiel 36:26-27): “Behold, days are coming,” declares Adonai, “when I will make a Brit Chadashah (בְּרִ֥ית חֲדָשָֽׁה-New Covenant) with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them,” declares Adonai.  “But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares Adonai, “I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their All-Mighty One, and they shall be My people.” “Moreover, I will give you a New Heart (לֵ֣ב חָדָ֔שׁ) and put a New Spirit (ר֥וּחַ חֲדָשָׁ֖ה) within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.  I will put My Spirit within you.” It is for the implementation of this New Covenant of the Spirit, wherein the Spirit Of Adonai is actually made to live “within” us forever that the Messiah came down from heaven. The New Covenant administered through the Spirit of Holiness is the necessary means by which the Messiah is able to promise us that we will one day be raised up to eternal life (a life of a new kind) on the day of resurrection.

NEXT, WORDS TO THE RABBIS OF ISRAEL…

Messiah in Rosh HaShanah II and Chanukkah II Chapter 8 >>