Wake Up Call

Sometimes Adonai wakes me up in the morning with a message He wants me to share. I often am burdened and anguished by what I see happening in the "church" today and the watered down gospel that is presented to the masses. 

Honestly, it frightens me. It frightens me that millions of church goers are hearing a gospel message that is antithetical to the Word of God. There is a distinct and overwhelming lack of preaching and teaching that totally leaves out holiness, repentance and the cost of discipleship that Yeshua clearly laid out in the Word. 

Supposedly 1/3 of the world's population is "christian". Hmmm. I find that totally suspect. Yeshua said many would come claiming He is the Messiah and they would lead MANY astray. Matthew 22:4 " And Yeshua answered them, 'See that no one leads you astray. For many will come in my name, saying, 'I am the Messiah', and they will lead many astray."

In many of His parables, such as the parable of the net, Yeshua described a separation between those who are evil and those who are righteous WITHIN HIS KINGDOM. He was not talking about those who are claiming to be unbelievers, but those who claim to believe in His name. "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and gathered fish of every kind. When it was full, men drew it ashore and sat down and sorted the good into containers but threw away the bad. So it will be at the close of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." (Matthew 13:47-50).

Before Yeshua came on the scene, the soil was being prepped for planting by the message of John the Immerser. What did John come preaching? Did he preach the message we hear today? Did he say, "God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life if you just say this prayer, you will be saved and go to heaven"? No. He didn't say that. He simply preached a message of repentance for the Kingdom of Heaven was at hand.  (Matt 3:2, Luke 3:2-9) He in fact said some pretty drastic things to the crowd such as "Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire". Let me try to paraphrase this. What I believe John was saying was this..."you can call yourself a lover of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, but the proof of whether or not that is true is in the way you live your life".  What would happen if preachers in congregations across the land would preach that message? Where's the fruit? We need to do what the Scriptures say and examine ourselves to see whether we are really in the faith! James says clearly that faith without works is dead faith. Faith is NOT assenting that something is true, it is an OUTWARD expression of in INWARD belief.

Why was the Kingdom at hand? Because Yeshua, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords was on the scene! You can't have a Kingdom without a King! You can't live in that Kingdom without obeying the rules of the Kingdom.

Yet what I see happening in the preaching of the gospel is only half the gospel. Yes, God loves you and He desires none to perish. But Yeshua came preaching the same message John preached...one of repentance and counting the cost of following Him. Often He managed to talk people OUT of following Him. You don't see that much in churches...but the opposite...giving people what they want to hear so that they will sit in a pew.  Messiah Yeshua wasn't concerned about numbers of how many were following Him. He wanted true disciples who understood the cost of following Him.

We have glorified the cross. We have polished the image of the cross and hung them around our necks as an image of beauty...but the cross is really an image of death and torture! What Yeshua said is "take up your electric chair/guillotine/instrument of torture and follow me!" Wow. That is radical. I don't see many people hanging those images around their necks. Now I understand the beauty of the cross in the way that is represents Yahweh's love for me. But if I am to walk the road of dying to my flesh....it just ain't a pretty picture. I mean, let's be real honest here. Those of you who are walking that road with me can certainly say AMEN to this. It's messy. It involves anguish and tears. Laying down MY will, MY desires, MY wants in exchange for HIS will, HIS desires, HIS wants. Well, that sounds lopsided like I am giving up all this stuff in exchange for what?

How many times does Yahweh lay it all out in the Word for all to see...that the key to a victorious life is obedience to His Word. Plain and simple. Really not complicated at all if we have eyes to see and ears to hear what He is saying. You want to live a victorious, abundant life? Then you have to lay yours down and walk in obedience. This is a major theme throughout the Word from Genesis to Revelation, but let me give you just one passage from Psalm 81:13-14 where Yahweh is pleading with His people to walk in obedience and heed His voice, "Oh, that MY PEOPLE would listen to me, that Israel would walk in my ways! I would soon subdue their enemies and turn my hand against their foes."  Can you hear His heart?

I am involved in several outreaches in the community where there is much suffering. Lack of food, poverty, disease, unhealthy and ungodly relationships, etc. What I think many don't realize is that some of this suffering comes because of a lack of repentance and just a result of natural consequences that come from a life of walking contrary to the Word of God. What grieves me is that often the message that is preached in outreaches is just the love of God. Yes, we need to know the depth of His love for us, but the depth of His love reaches so much farther than we realize. There is incredible blessing when we come under His wings of authority as our true Lord and master and do things His way...that is when blessings really flow and where He is able to show us the love He really wants to shower on us. He won't ever force us to come under that protection that He is longing to provide, but He yearns to do that for us and He waits for us to submit to His Lordship in every area of our lives so we can experience His joy and pleasure of walking in His perfect will.

All sin leads to death in body, mind or spirit. When we walk contrary to God's Word, we are walking in sin. There is protection from our enemies and particularly the enemy of our souls, hasatan, when we come under His wings. Yeshua said, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not!" (Matt 23:37-38). This is the cry of an anguished Father wanting desperately to protect His children from the storms of life but finding His children unwilling to come under the authority of His covering and protection. One of the saddest Scriptures in the entire Word to me.

If my child comes to me and says, "I love you Mom!" But I see that this child is constantly ignoring my words, not doing their chores and generally disobedient, am I going to believe the child really loves me? Or will his actions prove/disprove his words? 1 John 5:3 tells us the proof that we really love God is in the keeping of His commandments and that keeping them is not burdensome. Wow. I think some who see what I do by eating only clean food (no pork, shellfish, etc), keeping a 7th day Sabbath and keeping the Feasts of Yahweh in Lev 23 would say that it sounds burdensome to them. But it isn't burdensome to me! "For everyone who has been born of God OVERCOMES the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world- our faith." (1 John 5:4).

In a Kingdom there are rules of the house and the King has a right to make those rules. My job isn't to question that, but to have faith in His Word and simply obey. Noah obeyed and everyone mocked him and laughed at him and thought he was nuts. But his act of obedience, born out of faith in Yahweh's word, saved his family! Yeshua said it will be like the days of Noah at the end. I wonder if part of what he meant is the criticism and mocking I have endured for being obedient to Scriptures most believers say I can now ignore? Being radically obedient will bring persecution by others. That is nothing new.

When I walk in obedience to His commands, the blessings flow and I see victory over my enemies. That is the gospel of repentance and faith that Yeshua calls His followers to preach and teach and make disciples of...commanding them to walk as the Torah observant Yeshua did, not as a lawless one who just "believes" God loves him and now can ignore the commands in the Bible. Did Yeshua suffer and die so we could now ignore His Word and walk contrary to it? Does that make sense? It may sound agreeable...this kind of feel-good-gospel message, but it really is just fashioning a god into our own image of who we want him to be and isn't the true gospel message of salvation.

True salvation, blessing and victory are only found in obedience to His Word.

 Revelation says repeatedly in the letters to the seven congregations that those in the congregations that overcome or are conquerers (these are believers who are radical in their walk of faith and obedience to His Word)...they are the ones that will eat of the tree of life, not be hurt by the second death, be given hidden manna and a white stone with a new name, be given authority over the nations to rule with Messiah, be clothed in white garments and never be blotted out of the book of life, be a pillar in the temple of God in which the name of God, the city of God and Messiah's own new name is written, and sit with Messiah on His throne.

Are you an overcomer? Are you awake and responding to the true gospel message and walking in obedience? May He find us faithful.

Jesus or Yeshua - What's In a Name?

Do names matter? More importantly, are names important to Elohim (G-d)? I am going to take you on a journey of discovery of sorts, and talk about names in general, but more specifically the name of the Messiah, the Word made flesh that came to dwell among us. This is pretty exciting stuff, so hold on to your proverbial hat!

Let me preface this with saying that I believe names DO matter and that they also very much matter to Elohim. I will attempt to point out a few examples of why I believe this, but I also want to point out first and foremost that I grew up learning, believing, calling and submitting to a Messiah whose name is Jesus.  Now, I realize people "get saved" by that name every day and to some extent it doesn't matter, yet for the purpose of continuity between the Old and New Testaments or Covenants, it does matter and more so I think it matters in witnessing to Jews.  You see, the name that most Christians know as "Jesus" appears in the Tanakh (Old Testament) over 200 times! Surprised? Yeah, I was too.

Without even digging too deeply into the scriptures, I can think of examples in which Elohim told parents to name their child a specific name or changed their names.  A few examples of name changes commanded and ordained by Yahweh are Avram (Abram) to Avraham (Abraham), Yaa'kov (Jacob) to  Yisra'el (Israel) and Sarai (Sara) to Sarah. Now I am going to make a very simple (and maybe too simple to some) observation here. If Elohim didn't think names were important, He would not have changed them or given people new names! Names are somehow tied to your destiny. I am not going to pretend I understand this fully, but I do recognize this as truth any way.  Names are important and precious to Elohim. The Word, the very alphabet and more specifically the Hebrew alphabet is powerful. There is something about the spoken Word, living and active. Words have power to tear down or build up! Elohim spoke the very universe and all that you see into existence by speaking words, His Word. So, it isn't hard to think that names are important to Him. In Genesis 17 we read that Avram (exalted father) had his name changed to Avraham (father of many) and that Sarai (mockery) was changed to Sarah (princess). He was changing their names to match their destiny!  Do you ever wonder about your name? Some believers have been given a new name from Adonai. Wouldn't that be a neat prayer request? "Give me a new name that matches my destiny and speaks to who I really am."

Okay, real quick, here is a short list of some of the names of G-d that I frequently use and their English equivalents or meanings. I prefer to use the Hebrew names for G-d and so here are a few of them:

• Adonai = Lord which means "Master" (when you see this capitalized in your Bible, it is the tetragrammaton, the Hebrew name of G-d consisting of the four letters, Yud-Heh-Vav-Heh).
• Elohim = G-d
• Yahweh or YHWH = a most likely imperfect representation of the Name Elohim gave to Moshe (Moses) which is the Yud-Heh-Vav-Heh) but I use it anyway. Imperfect in that there is an ongoing mystery as to how to pronounce the tetragrammaton.
• Mashiach = Messiah or annointed one. I prefer this over "Christ" for various reasons.

The third command prohibits taking G-d's name in vain. It seems clear to me that this command shows us the importance and sacredness of His name. David Stern in the Complete Jewish Bible explains, "Already by Yeshua's time, no one ever spoke G-d's name exept the cohen hagadol (high priest) when he entered the Most Holy Place in the temple to make atonement for the sins of Israel on Yom Kippur. So strictly was this rule enforced that when the Masoretes wrote down the vowel points for the Torah, they did not write the actual vowels to be used in pronouncing the tetragrammaton." Contrast this attitude of reverence for G-d's name today, which is used flippantly and frequently as a cuss word.

The first mention of the word Yeshua is in Genesis 49:18. In the Hebrew it says, "Liyshu'atekah quytiy YHWH" which is translated, "I wait for thy salvation O YHWH." The meaning behind Yeshua is SALVATION! So, right here where Jacob is blessing his sons, we have this scripture. The very definition of Yeshua's name is salvation. He IS salvation. Period. Let's just insert this Hebrew name Yeshua in place of the word salvation in Luke 2:29-30, "Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word; For mine eyes have seen thy Yeshua!" Simeon's declaration of identifying the Messiah when he was just a little babe as "Yeshua" or salvation takes on new meaning when connected to the Tanakh, as again, this word is used over 200 times in these kind of salvation/Messianic passages! Let's go a little deeper into the word picture in the word Yeshua.

Behind each letter of the Hebrew alephbet is a word picture, that when put together, form the complete meaning of the word. Brad Scott explains in his book, The Tanakh: The Dictionary of the New Testament, "The word yeshua is formed from three consonants. These consonants are the yod, the shin and the ayin. Each of these letters has a primitive form and a primitive meaning behind each one. The primitive forms are not in use today. However, they formed the basis for the early round script which eventually became the modern, more square look. The early form of the yod looked like a hand, and its meaning was a deed or action. The early form of the shin was teeth, and its meaning was to consume or to destroy. The early form of the ayin was an eye, and its meaning was to cast our eyes or to look upon. To the Torah observant early Hebrews, this order of the letters helped to form their understanding of the meaning of the whole word. To be saved was to begin with a deed or action - a rescue- followed by the destruction of the thing you were rescued from, and ultimately concluded by a devotion, or casting your eyes upon, that which delivered you." That is the word picture behind the Hebrew letters for the Messiah - Yeshua! This kind of stuff amazes me! Yeshua came to destroy and rescue me from sin and death and now I am casting my eyes upon Him, in total devotion and love for saving me. In this definition, we not only see what Yeshua did, we also see our response which is the complete picture of salvation.

We casually throw words around and forget their meaning. Salvation is one of those words. We ask, "Are you saved?" or say, "I was saved in 1985." I don't want to get too sidetracked on this thought, but because it is the meaning of Yeshua's name and is a crucial concept to understand, I think it is important. How do we understand what this word means? We look to the source of course and not just the New Testament, but the other 39 books of the Word that defined it quite clearly. Why? Because when Mattityahu (Matthew) said that Yeshua would save us from our sins, the hearers of that message at the time were not told what save or sin meant, because they already had the Book and definitions. They already knew the meaning. Let's look at the first example of save in the Tanakh.

The first occurrence is in Sh'mot (Exodus) 2:16-17, "Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters; and they came and drew water, and filled the troughs to water their father's flock. And the shepherds came and drove them away; but Moses stood up and helped them, and watered their flock." I love Brad Scott's explanation, "Here is the first example of someone being saved. The daughters of the priest of Midian had come to water their flock, but the shepherds came not only to take their water, but to drive them away. Moshe takes action. He rises up against the shepherds and drives them away.  This is implied from the use of the word vayyaqam, which means to rise up, as in to rise up against. Moshe then gives the women what the thieves came to take. The result is that one of them is given to Moshe in marriage. Imagine, a Hebrew man goes into the territory of the nations, drives off thieves (see Yochanan or John 10:10), gives his future bride water from the well, and takes her as his own! He then has the chutzpah to go back to his own people with her, to a life contrary to her nature. Then he takes her out on a date to a Passover Seder. Hmmmm." Okay, are you seeing the pattern and description of salvation and how it matches what Messiah said and did?!! Yochanan 10:10 says, "The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly." The thief is HaSatan, the enemy of our souls, that is who we have been rescued from and now we are "not our own", we have been bought with a price. We enter into this betrothal with Messiah Yeshua in a covenant/Ketubah and there will be a wedding banquet, a celebration, yet to come! Oh, and He is coming again on a white horse...soon! "And the Spirit and the bride say, "Come!".  Are you longing for His return as much as I am? Long engagements or betrothal's are difficult, aren't they?!

From this and many other examples of salvation in the Tanakh, we see that salvation is made up of parts. And I am seeing three. Hmmm. Yet one. Hmmm. 1)rescue 2)destruction of enemies 3) dedication to the rescuer by the one being saved. It seems that modern Christian thinking is only concerned with this first part, being rescued. But is the enemy destroyed when we don't allow the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) to sanctify us through obedience to His Word? We get the victory over sin and the consequences of it when we obey His Word! Believe, by the way is not just a "knowing"of something it is an ACTION word, much like love is an action word, not just a warm and fuzzy feeling. (But that is another post!) Is our dedication to Yeshua, our rescuer, a mere occasional "thanks a lot" but yet we go on living the same lives? It seems to me that the concept of salvation has been greatly watered down in our day. This word "save" in the Tanakh says Brad Scott, "involves a literal rescue from the circumstances, a deliverance from enemies, a return to Elohiym's word, a desire to be clean and not to depart from His word, gratitude and praise, and finally a casting of ones eyes upon YHWH for strength. Is it any coincidence that He is rescuing His people from all the lands in which He scattered them, that He will destroy their enemies, that they will look upon Him who they have pierced, and then all Israel will be saved?"

David Stern in his preface to the Complete Jewish Bible says this, "In Matthew 1:21 an angel of ADONAI tells Yosef (Joseph) that Miryam (Mary), his betrothed, will give birth to a son, 'and you are to name him Yeshua, because he will save his people from their sins.' In English the reason explains nothing - why not name him 'George, because he will save his people from their sins'? Likewise in Greek - the name Iesous has nothing to do with soter, the Greek word for 'save'. Only in Hebrew or Aramaic does the explanation explain. The Hebrew name Yeshua, which is the masculine form of the word yeshu'ah (salvation), is based on the same root (yod-shin-'ayin) as yoshia, which means 'he will save'."

Now, I am not a linguist or translator, but I do think it is interesting that the name Jesus is a transliteration of the Greek name Iesous, which is kinda funny because there is no "J" sound there at all and for the most part it seems to me a man-produced name. It is my understanding that translators added the j sound because they needed a consonant. The question I have is why translate a name so far from the original as to make it sound totally different?  Honestly, I don't get this! When McDonald's builds a restaurant in China, or Russia or Zimbabwe, they do not transliterate the name McDonalds into something else, it remains "McDonalds" because that is what the original owner named it. Why did His wonderful name get translated and obscured in the Word of G-d? Why not use the name Elohim gave the Messiah in the Hebrew and leave it at that? I can only guess at answering this question. My guess is because names are important and HaSatan knows that. I also think it takes the Jewishness OUT of the Jewish names! Crazy to even say it, but it does. When you read the scriptures using the names of all the people and places with their Hebrew names, it reminds you that it is a Jewish or Hebraic book! There seems to me a bit of (okay a lot of) antisemitism in this translation business, whether intentional or not. As I am fully embracing my Hebrew roots and heritage, I am  embracing these precious names.

After all the years of using the (poorly) transliterated name of my Messiah, I am very much enjoying using his given name, Yeshua. Do I still use the name Jesus? Well, after decades of using this name, yes, it slips out. Is it a big deal? No, it really isn't. Either way, I know who I am talking to or about. Yet, can you imagine if everyone around you kept calling you a name that wasn't your given name? I don't know about you, but it would bother me to be called Matilda (or whatever) instead of my given name, Gail.  No offence to the Matilda's of the world, but please don't call me Matilda!

Now I realize there are different spellings for Yeshua and I am not one of those people that insists it has to be spelled a certain way. I am just happy that it is much closer (than "Jesus" is) to the name He was born with and destined to be called. Ideally, yes, I would love to learn and read the actual Hebrew language (something I am very slowly doing), but for now, I am trying to get back to at least the original names and places (proper nouns) given in the Word because names are very important. Every time I use the name Yeshua, it reminds me of who He is and what He came to do. Save. He completely and perfectly fulfilled His destiny and His name testifies to just that. I LOVE IT!

So, there you go. A very imperfect explanation of why I love and now use the name Yeshua instead of Jesus!

NOTE: After reading more about translating versus transliterating, I have come to understand that proper nouns, such as names for G-d, places, etc, should not be translated but transliterated. Apparently the difference is translating will bring the word closest to the original meaning and transliterating will bring the word in the new language closest to it's original sound by using the available sounds in the other alphabet. Proper nouns should be transliterated not translated as it then keeps the word closest to the original sound of the name. Brad Scott on his Wildbranch website has a 4 part series on this if you want to read more, go to www.wildbranch.org/teachings/lessons/lesson150.html  With this in mind, I have changed a few things in this post! I am always learning...