Messiah in Yom HaBikkurim Chapter 94 Part 4
- Part 4: His disciples propose to send the people away
- At the end of the day
- Jewish Calendar Nisan 3789-Nisan 3790
- A House of Prayer for all peoples
At the end of the day:
At this juncture, after Yochanan ben Zechariah ben Aaron had been executed on Nisan 1, therefore, less than two weeks before Pesach (Nisan 14), the disciples of the Messiah had returned from their mission to tell their fellow Yehudim (Jews) about the good news of the Kingdom of HaShem; and they had informed the Messiah that the prophet Yochanan had been executed by Herod Antipas by beheading. Thereafter, Yeshua ordered his twelve chosen disciples to a secluded place on a mountainside near the city of Bethsaida (Beit Tzaida; meaning, house of the fisherman; also house of the Hunter).
A great crowd of Yehudim (Jews) followed the Messiah and found Him.
Because of the miracles that He had performed many of the people in the crowd were convinced that Rabbi Yeshua was the Messiah. However, most of the people in the crowd were just fans of the great Teacher; therefore, only a minority of the crowd had actually left everything they had and become his disciples.
Messiah saw the crowd and although he very much wanted to take some time to rest, out of his compassion for the people he began to teach them about the Kingdom of HaShem. Like Moses before him the Messiah delivered his teaching on the Kingdom of HaShem from a mountainside.
At the end of the day there were thousands of hungry and tired people present.
Most of the people in the crowd were exhausted. They had to expend a great deal of their energy just getting from one side of the Lake of Galilee, from where the Messiah was previously, to where he was now. The disciples wanted to send the people away. Logically, the disciples saw no other practical alternative. The people needed to find their own lodging and feed themselves. Then the Messiah did what he oftentimes did. He confounded his disciples by making a very impractical, irrational, unnatural request of them:
The Messiah ordered His disciples to feed the entire crowd of thousands of people.
How were the disciples supposed to feed thousands of hungry people? As already discussed the time of this special event was in the spring-time; just before the time we Jews celebrate Passover (Pesach). At this time the Messiah was thirty-two years of age. He would become thirty-three years old in just six more months in the fall, on the first day of Sukkot (Tishri 15). At this point two and one-half years have transpired since the Messiah first began His ministry. Most importantly, in just one year (and one week) from this time the Messiah ben Yosef ben David will have fulfilled his redemptive mission here on earth.
On Pesach, Nisan 14/15 the Messiah sacrificed His life to secure permanent forgiveness and cleansing for our sins.
Three days later, after his atoning death, on Yom HaBikkurim (Nisan, 16/17), the body of the Messiah was triumphantly raised from the dead as a sign of God’s promise of the resurrection for all who believe. Then after another forty days, on the fortieth day of our Counting the Omer (Iyyar 25/26), the Messiah ascended into heaven.
There in heaven the resurrected, ascended Ha-Mashiach remains to this day until his second coming when he shall return to us (Modern Israel) as the glorified Messiah ben David (the Conquering Messiah). Then will the Messiah finally permanently establish the Kingdom of HaShem (our Father and our God) here on earth, in a fully restored nation of Israel (and an International Commonwealth of Israel).
Jewish Calendar Nisan 3789-Nisan 3790 (29-30 CE):
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. Jewish Calendar Nisan 3789-Nisan 3790 (29-30 CE) |
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| תבורך |
Date |
Events |
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1. |
Nisan 1 3789 |
Yochanan Ben Zekaryah is beheaded. |
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אשרי | ||
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2. |
Nisan 1-8 (CE 29) |
5,000 men fed; Messiah walks on the sea. |
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3. |
Debates Prushim; talks to Gentile woman. |
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4. |
Visit to Decapolis; miracles; 4,000 men fed. |
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5. |
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Warns of leaven of Prushim; blind healed. |
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6. |
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Peter’s confession and rebuke. |
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7. |
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Transfiguration; epileptic boy. |
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8. |
Tishri15-22,3790 |
Observance of Sukkot and Shemini Atzeret. |
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9. |
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Activities in Capernaum. |
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10. |
70 sent out; Messiah visits Miryam & Martha. |
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11. |
Kislev 25-Tevet 2 |
Observance of Chanukkah in Jerusalem. |
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12. |
Tevet-Adar (CE 30) |
Lazarus raised from dead; Messiah rests. |
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13. |
Nisan 1-7 |
Final sojourn to Jerusalem. |
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14. |
Nisan 7 |
Messiah arrives in Bethany |
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15. |
Nisan 8 |
Anointed by Miryam; spends night at Bethany. |
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16. |
People come to see Messiah and Lazarus, |
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17. |
Entry into Jerusalem |
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18. |
Nisan 9 |
At Bethany; visits Jerusalem; curses fig tree. |
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19. |
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Messiah weeps over the city of Jerusalem. |
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20. |
Nisan 10 |
*Messiah’s Second Cleansing of the Temple. |
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21 |
. . *Rabbi Yeshua ben David drives out all who are buying and selling in the Temple area that is reserved for use by the Gentiles. He sees the inappropriate merchandising of the Temple sacrifices. He reacts with righteous indignation. He is angry that the heavenly Father’s “House of Prayer for All Peoples” (ביתי בית-תפלה יקרא לכל-העמים) had become a “cave of robbers” (למערת פריצים).
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22. |
Cleansed Temple, healed the blind and lame. |
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23. |
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Messiah teaches in the Temple. |
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24. |
Nisan 11 |
Spends night in Bethany. |
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25. |
The cursed fig tree is withered. |
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26. |
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Question about authority. |
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27. |
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Question about paying taxes to Caesar. |
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28. |
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Question about the resurrection. |
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29. |
The Great Commandment. |
(10:25-28) |
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30. |
Question about David’s Son. |
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31. |
Messiah denounces the religious leaders. |
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32. |
Messiah’s lament over Jerusalem. |
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33. |
The impoverished widow’s generous offering. |
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34. |
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Jewish leaders plot to kill the Messiah just as Gentiles are seeking him out. |
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35. |
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Olivet prophecies: Signs of the future return of the Messiah. |
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A House of Prayer for all peoples:
“For zeal for Your house has consumed me, and the reproaches of those who reproach You have fallen on me.”
Because the Messiah took exception to the merchandising of the sacrificial system, he drove out all who were buying and selling in the Temple area. He declared these Jewish business persons were making the Father’s “House of Prayer” for all peoples into a “den of robbers.” The phrase for all peoples is a quote from Isaiah (56:7):
“For My house shall be called a House of Prayer for all peoples”
(Ki veti Beyt-Tefila yikare’ lecho haamim).
The sacred Temple area that was being used as a den of robbers was the Court of the Gentiles. This meant that the corrupt-greedy business practices of the Temple had taken over the area of the Temple that was set aside for outreach to the gentile nations and peoples. This commercial take-over of the Court of the Gentiles meant that there was no place where the gentiles could go to worship the God of Israel. This offensive behavior was a direct violation of the will of the heavenly Father that His House should be a House of Prayer for all peoples!
The Messiah did not wish to destroy the Temple only to cleanse it.
After Messiah cleansed the Temple area, He healed the blind and the lame. These words and actions were prophetically anticipated in the writings and the prophets of the Tanakh: “For zeal for Your house has consumed me, and the reproaches of those who reproach You have fallen on me” (Psalm 69:9) “These I will bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my House of Prayer; their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house shall be called a House of Prayer for all peoples” (Isaiah 56:7).
“Has this house, which is called by My name, become a den of robbers in your sight? Behold, I, even I, have seen it,” declares HaShem.
“Behold, I am going to send My messenger, and he will clear the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple; and the Messenger of the Covenant, in whom you delight, behold, he is coming,” says HaShem Tzevaot. “But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap. He will sit as a smelter and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, so that they may present to HaShem (the NAME) offerings in righteousness.” (Malachi 3:1-4)