Messiah in Rosh HaShanah II & Chanukkah II Chapter 5
- MESSIAH IN THE NEW FESTIVAL OF ROSH HASHANAH II AND CHANUKKAH II
- The Grand Central Station of the Testimony of Ha-Mashiach
- The Synagogue of Heaven that has come to earth
- Prophetic Narrative #1:”The Pesach of the Yehudim was near”
- Prophetic Narrative #2: “Now the Pesach, the Feast of the Yehudim, was near”
- Prophetic Narrative #3: “The Pesach of the Yehudim was near”
- Prophetic Narrative #4: Messiah is anointed on the 8th day of Nisan (6 days before Pesach)
MESSIAH IN EZEKIEL’S NEW FESTIVAL OF ROSH HASHANAH II AND CHANUKKAH II
What follows in this chapter are four prophetic narratives that are found in the Besorah (Good news) of the Endowment of the Grace of Adonai (the LORD). All four of these prophetic narratives are providentially tethered to the same Jewish calendar dates as is Ezekiel’s new yet future Festival that will be observed in the messianic kingdom (the future thousand year reign of Messiah).
Messiah’s overall narrative of “Cleansing the Temple” applies to all four of these narratives. Why?
Answer: Because the time-frame for all of these narratives is when “The Pesach of the Jews was near” and “The Pesach, the Feast of the Jews, was near” (references 1, 2, 3, and its close equivalent 4: “six days before Pesach”). The phrases “Pesach was near,” “Pesach, the Feast of the Jews, was near” and the close related equivalent, “Six days (שִׁשָּׁה יָמִים) before Pesach” are each a rabbinnic “tell” (prophetic marker) subtly and expertly employed by the Beloved Disciple Yochanan.
Unlike in poker, the “tell” that is expressed by the writer is intended to be seen by the believing (and be hidden to the unbelieving).
What we are seeing in the “Pesach was near” and “six days before Pesach” phrases is a Nisan 1-7 and Nisan 8 (springtime) prophetic depiction. The Spirit of Revelation (Ruach he-Chazon) is using Messiah’s prophetic teaching in the 1st century to unveil to us in the 21st century what the soon coming messianic kingdom of Adonai is really all about.
The Grand Central Station of the Testimony of Ha-Mashiach:
More than mere rabbinical doctrine is communicated here. Eternal life is communicated!
Especially in Messiah’s teaching on the loaves and fishes (the body and soul) we see a kind of Grand Central Station where all of the combined truth of Moses, the Prophets, and the Writings intersect to provide us with one unified nexus of all truth, the Testimony of Messiah. The Messiah Himself is the visible expression of the invisible HaShem. Messiah is the Temple of the Eternal One. He is the location (place) of all truth. All of the Spirit of Truth of Adonai rests in the place of Messiah’s body.
Therefore the Messiah is the place where both the Divine (ELOHIM-Bethel) and human (Bethel) realms meet.
Therefore, the Messiah is the material point of contact between temporal physical reality (earth) and eternal spiritual reality (heaven). The Salvation of Adonai’s (Yeshua’s) own body is the meeting place of both these realms (of humankind and HaShem). Messiah is the only place where our physical being can commune with the eternal being of Adonai. The following events occur mainly in Jerusalem at the rebuilt Second Temple and at Capernaum in the Synagogue. Near the time of Pesach (Passover) these two sacred places remind us of three Divine directives:
Divine Directive #1. We are required by our Father in heaven to believe in the messianic sacrifice that atones for our sin and cleanses us of all unrighteousness. This is truly the cleansing of the Temple that Avinu Shebashamayim desires. For with the Messiah, who is the Head of the Assembly (Rosh Ha’edah), our lives can form-up together to become the Living Temple that our heavenly Father wants most to live in forever.
Divine Directive #2. We must receive the gift of the Indwelling Presence of the Spirit of Holiness who will gradually change us from the Inside-out and perfect us on the day of our resurrection.
Divine Directive #3. Once we are forgiven and cleansed of our sins and receive the gift of the Father which is the Indwelling Presence of the Holy Spirit (the New Heart), then it is necessary that we meet in a place where we might hear the D’var HaShem and the Living Torah of Adonai taught to us. This is required so that we might grow in the knowledge and wisdom of our Father in heaven, who has not only atoned for our sin and reconciled us to Himself, but He has sent His Spirit into our hearts that one day we might become perfect (shalom) as He is Perfect (Shalom).
The Synagogue of Heaven that has come to earth:
We are to assemble at the Synagogue of Heaven to receive the Living Torah of our Messiah—the Rabbi of Heaven.
There we must receive the Living Torah of the Rabbi of Heaven whom our Father has so graciously sent to us. He is the Voice of Adonai in these last days. His words are Divinely sourced and they are timeless, eternal truth and life-giving. So let us go in the following chapters to the Village of Comfort and Consolation, to the Kefar-Nachum Synagogue, to hear (partake, ingest, consume) the words of the living D’va HaShem Himself, who is the fulfillment of all the Written Torah and Living Oral Torah of Adonai. Abba Avinu’s words (d’varim) distributed to us by the Mashiach is food that endures to eternal life.
His words will never decay or spoil but will only nourish us with His perfect virtue and eternal life.
In the following teaching Messiah repeats, using more sophisticated symbols (i.e. bread and wine; i.e. body and life of the Spirit), what he taught us previously in His narrative encounter with the Samaritan woman regarding the spiritual water that comes from El-Shaddai; who is the All Sufficient One (cf. Messiah in Rosh Hashanah & Yom Teruah, Chapters 32-34).
His Living Water is the saving-perfecting works of the Spirit of Life that is freely given to all.
Therefore, Adonai has promised through the Messiah, “Indeed, the water I give a person will become in that person a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” What do we really hunger and thirst for? Do we long for the goodness, righteousness and truth of the Spirit of Adonai? If we do hunger and thirst for Adonai then we will receive not only His Living Water but also His Bread of Heaven and His Wine.
Prophetic Narrative #1:”The Pesach of the Yehudim was near:”
1st Cleansing of the Temple:
The Pesach of the Yehudim (Jews) was near, and the Salvation of Adonai (Yeshua) went up to Jerusalem. And He found in the temple those who were selling oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables. And He made a scourge of cords, and drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen; and He poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables; and to those who were selling the doves He said, “Take these things away; stop making My Father’s house a place of business.” His talmdim (disciples) remembered that it was written:
‘Zeal for Your House will consume ME.’
The Yehudim then said to Him, “What sign do You show us as your authority for doing these things?” Yeshua answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” The Yehudim then said, “It took forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?” But He was speaking of the temple of His body. So when He was raised from the dead, His disciples remembered that He said this; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Yeshua had spoken.
Prophetic Narrative #2: “Now the Pesach, the Feast of the Yehudim, was near:”
Five Thousand Fed:
After these things the Salvation of Adonai (Yeshua) went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee (or Tiberias). A large crowd followed Him, because they saw the signs which He was performing on those who were sick. Then Yeshua went up on the mountain, and there He sat down with His talmidim. Now Pesach, the feast of the Yehudim, was near. Therefore Yeshua, lifting up His eyes and seeing that a large crowd was coming to Him, said to Philip:
“Where are we to buy bread, so that these may eat?”
This He (the Messiah) was saying to test him, for He Himself knew what He was intending to do. Philip answered Him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, for everyone to receive a little.” One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to Him, “There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are these for so many people?” Yeshua said, “Have the people sit down.” Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand. Yeshua then took the loaves, and having given thanks, He distributed to those who were seated; likewise also of the fish as much as they wanted. When they were filled, He said to His disciples, “Gather up the leftover fragments so that nothing will be lost.” So they gathered them up, and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves which were left over by those who had eaten. Therefore when the people saw the sign which He had performed, they said, “This is truly the Prophet [like Moses] who is to come into the world.”
A. Yeshua Walks on the Water:
So the Salvation of Adonai (Yeshua), perceiving that they were intending to come and take Him by force to make Him king, withdrew again to the mountain by Himself alone. Now when evening came, His talmidim (disiples) went down to the sea, and after getting into a boat, they started to cross the sea to Capernaum (lit. Village of Comfort and Consolation). It had already become dark, and Yeshua had not yet come to them. The sea began to be stirred up because a strong wind was blowing. Then, when they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Yeshua walking on the sea and drawing near to the boat; and they were frightened. But He said to them:
“It is I; do not be afraid.”
So they were willing to receive Him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going. The next day the crowd that stood on the other side of the sea saw that there was no other small boat there, except one, and that Yeshua had not entered with His disciples into the boat, but that His talmidim had gone away alone. There came other small boats from Tiberias near to the place where they ate the bread after the Lord had given thanks. So when the crowd saw that Yeshua was not there, nor His talmidim, they themselves got into the small boats, and came to Capernaum (Village of Comfort and Consolation) seeking Yeshua. When they found Him on the other side of the sea, they said to Him, “Rabbi, when did You get here?”
B. “Do not work for the food that perishes:“
The Salvation of Adonai (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 ben Ha’adam (Son of Man) will give to you, for on Him the Father, Adonai, has set His seal.” 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.”
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, and gives life to the world.” Then they said to Him, “Lord, always give us this bread.”
C. “I am the Bread of Heaven”
The Salvation of Adonai (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.”
D. The Jewish religious rulers were grumbling about the Mashiach:
Therefore the [rulers of the] Yehudim were grumbling about Him, because He said, “I am the bread that came down out of heaven.” They were saying, “Is not this Yeshua, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does He now say, ‘I have come down out of heaven’?” The Salvation of Adonai (Yeshua) answered and said to them, “Do not grumble among yourselves. No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day. It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught of Adonai.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father, comes to Me. Not that anyone has seen the Father, except the One who is from Adonai; He has seen the Father.
“Amen, amen, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life.”
I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread which comes down out of heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down out of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread also which I will give for the life of the world is My flesh.” Then the Yehudim began to argue with one another, saying, “How can this man give us His flesh to eat?” So the Salvation of Adonai (Yeshua) said to them: “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the ben Ha’adam and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”
The flesh of Messiah is a symbol of the living Word (D’var HaShem). His blood at the last is a symbol of the gift of the eternal life of the Indwelling Presence of the Holy Spirit. Therefore. at the first we partake of the redemptive death of the Messiah that we might be cleansed of sin. Once cleansed, however, at the last we receive the gift of eternal life, the life of the Holy Spirit.
The Messiah is not saying that we should literally eat His mortal flesh and drink His mortal blood, as unfortunately millions of Gentiles mistakenly believe. Messiah is talking about our being cleansed of sin so we can daily drink in the spiritual life of the Spirit of the Holy One. This is obvious by the fact that after His resurrection:
The immortal, glorified body of the Messiah possessed no blood whatsoever, only the eternal life of Elohim Chayim!
“For My flesh [the D’var HaShem] is true food, and My blood [sacrificed life and gift of the Living Spirit] is true drink. He who eats My flesh [My Living Word] and drinks My blood [accepts My atoning sacrifice and the gift of the Indwelling Presence of the Ruach Olam] abides in Me, and I in him. As the living Father [Chayim HaAv is Spirit and not a man with flesh and blood] sent Me, and I live because of the Father [Who is Spirit and not a man], so he who eats Me [the D’var HaChayim], he also will live because of Me. This is the bread which came down out of heaven; not as the fathers ate [temporal physical substance] and died; he who eats this bread [eternal spiritual substance] will live forever.”
E. Words to the Jewish Talmidin
These things He said in the synagogue as He taught in Capernaum. Therefore many of His talmidim, when they heard this said, “This is a difficult statement; who can listen to it?” But the Salvation of Adonai (Yeshua), conscious that His talmidim grumbled at this, said to them: “Does this cause you to stumble? What then if you see the ben Ha’adam ascending to where He was before?
הָרוּחַ הִיא הַמְחַיָּה; הַבָּשָׂר אֵינוֹ מוֹעִיל כְּלוּם. הַדְּבָרִים שֶׁדִּבַּרְתִּי אֲלֵיכֶם רוּחַ הֵם וְחַיִּים.פ
“It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life” But there are some of you who do not believe.”
For Yeshua knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who it was that would betray Him. And He was saying, “For this reason I have said to you, that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted him from the Father.”
F. Shimon’s Confession of Faith:
As a result of this many of His talmidin (followers) withdrew and were not walking with Him anymore. So Yeshua said to the twelve, “You do not want to go away also, do you?” Shimon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life. We have believed and have come to know that You are Kedosh Ha-Elohim (the Holy One of Adonai).” Yeshua answered them, “Did I Myself not choose you, the twelve, and yet one of you is a devil?” Now He meant Judas the son of Shimon Ish-Kariot (full name means literally: “Praise of Hearing, Understanding, and Obeying the Village of Man”), for he, one of the twelve, was going to betray Him.
Prophetic Narrative #3: “The Pesach of the Yehudim was near:
Just before the 2nd Cleansing of the Temple:
Now the Pesach of the Yehudim was near, and many went up to Jerusalem out of the country before the Pesach to purify themselves. So they were seeking for the Salvation of Adonai (Yeshua), and were saying to one another as they stood in the temple, “What do you think; that He will not come to the feast at all?” Now the chief priests and the Prushim (Pharisees) had given orders that if anyone knew where He was, he was to report it, so that they might seize Him.
Prophetic Narrative #4: Messiah is anointed on the 8th day of Nisan (6 days before Pesach):
The Messiah, therefore, six days (Nisan 8) before Pesach (Nisan 14), came to Bethany where He had raised Lazarus from the dead. So they prepared supper for Him there, and Martha was serving; but Lazarus was one of those reclining at the table with Him [on Shabbat, Nisan 8]. Mary then took a pound of very costly perfume of pure nard, and anointed the feet of Yeshua and wiped His feet with her hair; and the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. But Judas Iscariot, one of His disciples, who was intending to betray Him, said:
“Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and given to poor people?”
Now he said this, not because he was concerned about the poor, but because he was a thief, and as he had the money box, he used to pilfer what was put into it. Therefore Yeshua said, “Let her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of My burial. For you always have the poor with you, but you do not always have Me.” The large crowd of the Yehudim then learned that He was there; and they came, not for Yeshua’s sake only, but that they might also see Lazarus, whom He raised from the dead. But the chief priests planned to put Lazarus to death also; because on account of him many of the Yehudim were going away and were believing in the Salvation of Adonai—the Messiah Yeshua.