Yeshua (Jesus) read Biblical Hebrew.

“And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and as was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read.
And the book (scroll; written in Biblical Hebrew) of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him.  And He opened the book (scroll) and found the place where it was written,

“THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON ME,
BECAUSE HE ANOINTED ME TO PREACH THE GOSPEL TO THE POOR.
HE HAS SENT ME TO PROCLAIM RELEASE TO THE CAPTIVES,
AND RECOVERY OF SIGHT TO THE BLIND,
TO SET FREE THOSE WHO ARE OPPRESSED,
TO PROCLAIM THE FAVORABLE YEAR OF THE LORD.”

And He closed the book, gave it back to the attendant and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him. And He began to say to them, ‘Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.’”   (Luke 4:16-21)

Yeshua of Nazareth had been reading from Isaiah chapter 61, a Messianic passage.

The Hebrew word for “Nazareth” is nitzehret, and it is not surprising that the modern Hebrew word for “Christians“–followers of Yeshua of Nazareth, is ‘notzrim’. (These words have the same Hebrew root consonants: nun, tsadke and resh–sounds like ‘n’, ‘tz’ and ‘r’.)

Did you know that ‘notzrim’, the modern Hebrew word for “Christian”, is found in the very powerful prophetic chapter, Jeremiah 31?

First, please note that this chapter in Jeremiah declares:

1. There will be a New Covenant made with the House of Israel and the House of Judah. (vs. 31-34)  This promise is repeated in the New Testament Book of Hebrews chapter 8!
2. The LORD’s everlasting love for Israel. (v. 3)
3. There will be a worldwide regathering of the Jewish people back to their land. (vs. 8-14)
4. The guarantee of Israel’s preservation as a nation. (vs. 35-37)

Sandwiched between these awesome promises,
we find the word “Notzrim” in verse 6:

כִּי יֶשׁ־יֹום קָרְאוּ נֹצְרִים בְּהַר אֶפְרָיִם קוּמוּ וְנַעֲלֶה צִיֹּון אֶל־יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵֽינוּ׃ פ

I’ll transliterate the verse:  “Key yesh yom karoo notzrim b’har Ephraim koomoo vehnaahleh Zion el Adonai eloheinu.”

“For there shall be a day,
that the watchmen shall call upon the mount Ephraim:
‘Arise ye, and let us go up to Zion,
unto the LORD our God’.” (Jer 31:6 Jewish Publication Society translation [JPS])

There are three Biblical Hebrew (root) words for “watchman”:

natsar נצר; tsaphah צפה; shamar  שמר

The more common Biblical Hebrew (root) words for ‘watchman‘ are:

1. ‘tsaphah’ (Strong’s Hebrew Dictionary [SHD], entry 6822)–to look out, spy;
2. ’shamar’ (SHD, entry 8104) –to keep, watch, preserve.  By the way, the word used for God as the “Keeper of Israel” is shomer, which comes from shamar.

But, the word used in Jeremiah 31 for ‘watchmen’ is notzrim. As just stated, the modern Hebrew word for ‘Christians’ is notzrim. I asked an Israeli friend of mine about this and he was baffled.  I showed him the passage.  He did a double-take.  He said he would speak to someone he knew, who had been in the Ministry of Education in Israel, to see if it could be explained.  I have not received an answer.

So, the third (and less common) Biblical Hebrew (root) verb from which we get ‘watchmen’ is ‘natsar’ (SHD entry 5341) — which has a primary root meaning “to watch, guard, keep”; and out of which comes the word, notzrim.

(Not to bore some of you, but here’s a quick Hebrew lesson:  Hebrew verbs are based on a root system, where generally three consonants comprise the root of a particular verb.  When certain vowel points or a prefix and suffix are added, the verb becomes a noun.  For instance, the verb,’to guard’, and the noun,’watchman’, share the same root.)

“Notzrim” appears three times in the Hebrew text.  It’s found in Job 27:18, describing the temporary nature of the house of the wicked as being like “a hut which the watchman has made.”    It’s found in a negative context in Jeremiah 4:16 where “watchers (notzrim) come from a far country, and give out their voice against the cities of Judah.”

And, it is found in the Jeremiah 31:6 passage we have been discussing.

Another Biblical Hebrew word which is derived from ‘natsar’ (from which we get the word ‘notzrim‘) is ‘netser’ (SHD entry 5342).
It means “sprout” or “shoot”, literally “branch”.

So what’s the connection between “branch, sprout, or shoot” and ‘watchman’?  What does this mean to people of faith?

The prophetic Messianic passage in Isaiah 11: 1-6 (JPS Translation) declares:

“And there shall come forth a shoot out of the stock of Jesse (King David’s father),
And a twig (branch) (netsar, entry 5342) shall grow forth out of his roots.
And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him,
The spirit of wisdom and understanding,
The spirit of counsel and might,
The spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD.
And his delight shall be in the fear of the LORD;
And he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes,
Neither decide after the hearing of his ears;
But with righteousness shall he judge the poor…”

Netsar is only used two other times in the Hebrew Scriptures:

The first is in Isaiah 14:19, speaking of the demise of one fallen from heaven who had said in his heart that he would raise his throne above the stars of God and make himself like the Most High.  Most biblical scholars conclude that this is speaking of satan (Hebrew ’satan’–deceiver, adversary).

“But thou art cast out of thy grave like an abominable branch (netsar) …” (King James Version)

The other time we find netsar is in Isaiah chapter 60.  The context is Israel’s condition when Messiah returns:

“Thy people also shall be all righteous,
They shall inherit the land for ever;
The branch (netsar) of My planting,
The work of My hands,
Wherein I glory.
The smallest shall become a thousand,
And the least a mighty nation;
I the LORD will hasten it in its time.” (Isa. 60:21-22 JPS)

Immediately after this Isaiah 60 passage, we obviously come to Isaiah 61– the same section wherein Yeshua read in the synagogue in Nazareth (nitzehret)!

So, this unusual root Hebrew word (nun, tsadke, resh) is spoken of in the context of Messiah, Israel, satan, enemies of Judah,  and in modern Hebrew:  Christians!

Therefore, who are the watchmen -notzrim- mentioned in Jeremiah 31:6, who say: “Arise, and let us go up to Zion, unto Yahweh our God?”

Notwithstanding that in the Isaiah 62 passage,  “I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem…” — the word for “watchmen” is from the root shamar; could the watchmen mentioned in Jeremiah 31 verse 6 prophetically be today’s Christians, who intercede day and night for the LORD to watch over Israel and make Jerusalem a praise on the earth?

Please note: This verse about watchmen (notzrim) saying “Arise, let us go up to Zion, unto the LORD our God”, is followed by a command to “sing with gladness for Jacob, and to announce ye, praise ye, and say, “O LORD, save Thy people, the remnant of Israel.“” (Jeremiah 31:7)

Is this remnant, which is described as weeping as it returns to the Land of Israel, the Holocaust survivors?

Who is commanded to rejoice with Jacob (Israel; the Jewish people) in verse 7?

How could it be Jacob that rejoices with a broken Jacob that is described in verse 9 as returning to the Land (v.8) with weeping?

That does not make sense.

I offer that it was Gentile believers in Yeshua, true Christians, who knew the Holy Scriptures and the promise of restoration for the Jews.  These are the modern day watchmen for Israel:  The ‘Notzrim’!

History notes that this modern regathering, which began in the late 1800’s, was preceded by Christian Zionists who spoke out, even before Theodore Herzl, about God’s promises to restore Zion!

We welcome your thoughts on the matter!

In thinking about the uncertainty of these times, I recalled something from college physics:  “The Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle”.   It states that it is impossible to know both the exact position and the exact velocity of an object at the same time.  The effect is minute and only noticeable on a subatomic level.

You many be thinking, “Who cares?”

But wise King Solomon offered an “uncertainty principle” that everyone of us in 2009 can relate to. He wrote in Ecclesiastes chapter eight verse seven, “If no one knows what will happen, who can tell him when it will happen?”

Talk about uncertainty!  Not even the wisest man knew what lay ahead.

We do know that uncertainty is certain!

So how does one prepare for a bad eventuality if one does not know the what or the when of that eventuality?

The answer for the very real anxiety surrounding the uncertainties of life is to have faith in The Master of the Universe, Who is not uncertain and never will be uncertain of His knowledge of events, people or places.

He knows where everyone and everything is, and knows the when of life.  His awesome power, divine purposes, and overarching love for mankind, as demonstrated in His giving the Messiah, His Son, for us, is the “what” we each must count on in this time of brewing storms.

When Yeshua of Nazareth (Jesus) was speaking to a crowd of people, He said:  “The Queen of the South (The Queen of Sheba)…came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, something greater than Solomon is here.” (Matt. 12:42; Luke 11:31)

Yeshua affirmed His ability to have things under control by saying:  “In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33b KJV)

He also affirmed this, when speaking of His life and impending crucifixion, by saying:  “No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again…” (John 10:18 KJV)  He was in full control.

Talk is cheap.  Yeshua said He overcame the world.  How did He prove it?

Through His resurrection, a verified historical fact, He proved His Messiahship and power over our greatest enemy — death.

Yes, uncertainty is certain.

But, God’s love for you, and His power to sustain each of us, is more certain.

Run to Him for true security.  As the Scripture says, “The name of the LORD (YHVH) is a strong tower; The righteous runs into it and is safe.” (Prov. 18:10)

But, what if you are not certain that the Scriptures are the word of God?

What if you aren’t even certain that God exists, let alone loves you?

Here are some critical certainties to consider:

1. Millions of lives, and Western societies, have been positively transformed by the Bible. (Do note that when those societies discounted the authority and wisdom of the Scriptures they “decayed”.)
2. Hundreds of prophecies have been specifically fulfilled regarding the birth, life, death, resurrection and purpose of the Messiah. (See Micah 5:2, Psalm 22, Isaiah 53, for example.)  It is a mathematical impossibility that all these prophecies could have been “fulfilled” by chance.
3. Scores of biblical prophecies about the scattering and regathering of the Jewish people back to the Land of Israel, after two thousand years, have been authenticated and borne out by history.  Think May 1948.

So, take a chance.  Tell the Master of the Universe, the God of the Bible, that you want to know Him and the certainty of His love, and the plan and promise of eternal life.  He promised to draw near to those who draw near to Him.  All you have to lose is your uncertainty.

P.S.  Please see some earlier Prophetic Prints posts to learn the “details” on how to freely receive the LORD’s gift of eternal life, grace, mercy, love, etc.

Several years ago we were moving and did not want to keep a treadmill.  So we placed an ad in the local newspaper.  We got a call from a German man who had slurred speech.  Evidently he had had a stroke, so his wife got on the phone to complete the call.  They wanted to see the treadmill and said they would come over.

They had given me their last name, a long German one.  It complemented their pronounced German accent.  I wondered, “What is their feeling toward Jews?”  You see, in the nineteen eighties I had been introduced to a friend of a friend, who after speaking with me a while, confided, “My dad is a Nazi.”  Thus, I was a bit wary.

This older couple came to our home.  I don’t know why the wife, out of the blue, began to mention Jesus as a master.  I surmised she was into New Age thinking.  I spoke about deception; that people are searching for truth, and in their openness open themselves up to lies.  I explained that the true Jesus, Yeshua, was not a founder of a religion, or a means to some form of peace, but was the One who proved to be the Messiah and Savior of the world, by fulfilling the prophecies of the Hebrew Scriptures, rising from the dead, and afterward appearing to more than five hundred people; clearly He has been setting millions of people free from bondage over the past two millennia.  He is the Prince of Peace, not merely the means to peace.

Then she told me her story.  She was Jewish and was one year old when the Nazis came into power.  She had been hidden in a subway for an entire year as an infant!  I began to cry because of the pain she related.  I also felt badly because I had presumed. I had been wrong.

Her heartache caused her to search for meaning.  Unfortunately, her vulnerability emotionally and spiritually drew her into a pit–the pit of deception.

We spent four hours talking.  It was a profound time.  I had the privilege of telling them about the Messiah, who heals the brokenhearted and bore our sins in His body, on the tree.  I told them Messiah surely bore their griefs and carried their sorrows. He carried all the sorrows of the Holocaust.   What love, what compassion.  But there is even more amazing thing to contemplate:  That Messiah bore the profound evil that every Nazi committed against the Jews and all humanity…”He died once for ALL, the just for the unjust to bring us to God.”

I gave her a biography I had just read about a Jewish doctor who likewise learned not to prematurely judge people.  During the Holocaust this doctor had a very moving experience.   While in a monastery to which he fled after escaping Sobibor, a concentration camp, he masqueraded as a Catholic for several months.  He finally went to confession and told the priest.  To his great surprise and comfort, the priest led him in the Shema, in Hebrew! (Shema Yisrael Adonai Eloheinu, Adonai Echad–Hear, O Israel, The LORD our God the LORD is one.)  The priest had suspected all along that the doctor was Jewish!   The doctor never expected this Polish priest would have a special love for the Jewish people!

Back to the treadmill story:  I did not expect that the potential buyer for my treadmill was a Holocaust survivor.  I also did not expect to hear her German Gentile husband  speak of his deep love and compassion for the Jewish people, which he did that day.

There are times we simply judge situations too quickly and do not  know to whom we are talking. The LORD is leading us in paths of righteousness for His name’s sake, and everyday events are the context for His gaining glory!

Well, the couple bought the treadmill and we drove thirty miles to get it to their home.  We set it up.  We prayed together.

We had touched history, and the God of all comfort had touched each of us!

How to get off the treadmill of searching here and there for peace and truth and meaning, and get onto the sure road of life:

1. Speak to the Creator.  His name is Yahveh…the God of Israel…the God of the Bible.  The call is free!
2. Agree with Him that you deserve to be judged for actions, thoughts and/or words that you have done that have violated His law.
3. Tell him about those actions, thoughts and/or words.  This is what the word “confession” means:  “to agree with”; you agree with Him that these things violated His Holy standard and are worthy of judgment. Reviewing the 10 Commandments may help jog your memory. (See Exodus Chapter 20 verses 1-17)
4. The first commandment says, “I am the LORD, you shall have no other gods before me.”  Tell Him about other gods–false religions or other types of idols you may have had in your life.
5. Acknowledge your rebellion toward Him and that in many respects you did not realize that in HIM you live, and move, and have your being.
6. Believe that Yeshua the Messiah, loved you so much that He gave His sinless life for you.  Acknowledge that His work alone, not your good deeds, are sufficient to soothe a Holy God, who, though HE IS LOVE, must punish sin.
7. In prayer, receive Messiah Yeshua into your life and heart.  (Say audibly:  “Messiah Yeshua, I believe You died for my sins,(Your death atoned for my sins), and I receive You now into my life and heart”)
8. Tell someone else what happened.  For it is written in Romans chapter 10, verse 9 – 13:  “that if you confess with your mouth Yeshua as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.  For the Scripture says,  “WHOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED.”  For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him; for “WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD (YAHVEH) WILL BE SAVED.”

*Picture above is of the Sobibor Railway Station. Picture from the Wikipedia Commons, courtesy of Jacques Lahitte.

Some twenty years ago while on business in a rural area, we passed a honey farm.  It was about 4:45 in the afternoon.  The owner said he was closing in fifteen minutes.  We got into a nice conversation, having learned that we attended the same university years before.

Ten minutes into the conversation, an orthodox Jewish man and his wife walked onto the farm.  I could not tell from his clothes if he was Orthodox or Hasidic.  He looked at me.  There I was in short sleeves and slacks.  Normally Hasidic men do not speak with women (other than those in their families), let alone one that is not “appropriately” dressed in a long skirt/dress and long sleeves.  Summoning the courage to speak with him, I asked: “Are you Orthodox or Hasidic?”.  He said, “Hasidic.”  I told him that my ancestors were Hasidic and mentioned the family name.  He said, “I just completed the artistic genealogy of that family name!”  “But, beside being an artist, I am also a rabbi”, he added.

Sensing I was in a “divine appointment” with a Hasidic rabbi in the middle of nowhere, I asked what he thought about Messiah.

“Messiah will come in on a white donkey,” he said firmly.  He then added, “But, we do not know when He will come.”

Tears came to my eyes.  The rabbi thought I was in need of his counsel.  I was overcome with emotion because I saw how my steps had been directed in the middle of nowhere to this rabbi, who under normal circumstances, might never have had the chance to hear about the love of God through Messiah Yeshua.

Through my tears I said, “Rabbi, Messiah has come.  His name is Yeshua.”  I then offered the English translation (Jesus), so he did not think I was speaking about a Messiah named “Joshua”.  (Please note that the names Joshua, Hosea and Isaiah all come from the same Hebrew root, and have the meaning “salvation” or “Yah saves”.  Incidentally, when I was growing up, I thought Jesus was his first name, Christ was his last name, and Mr. and Mrs. Christ had a son, Jesus.  ”Christ” is actually the anglicized form of the Greek “Christos”, which means “anointed one”.  This is translated from the Hebrew word for Messiah, “Mashiach”.  In another post I will discuss how Yeshua of Nazareth was so far removed from his Jewish roots after the first century, that many Jewish people could not recognize or embrace Him as one of their own.)

The rabbi was a little taken aback, but was not hostile.  I asked him, “How would you recognize the Messiah when He came?”  Are you aware that there are many prophetic clues in the Hebrew Scriptures that identify Messiah.  For instance, the Hebrew prophet, Micah, (who prophesied in the 700s BC (BCE))(chapter 5 verse 1 (Hebrew Bible; vs. 2 in other translations)) states the where of Messiah’s birth: “But thou, Bethlehem Ephrathah, which art little to be among the thousands of Judah, out of thee shall one come forth unto Me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth are from of old, from ancient days (literally, ‘eternity’–Hebrew word is “Olam”). The ruler of Israel, was said to be from eternity, and yet was to come out of Bethlehem.  It’s common knowledge that Yeshua was born in Bethlehem.  The Hebrew prophet, Daniel, (chapter 9 verses 24 -27) states the when of Messiah’s coming:  Messiah will be cut off, and then the city and the sanctuary will be destroyed. (summary)  The city is Jerusalem; the sanctuary is the Temple.  Both were destroyed in 70 AD (CE) by the Roman Titus.  Messiah thus had to be “cut off” before 70 AD (CE).  Yeshua was “cut off” in 33 AD (CE).

Back to the story…We spoke for a half hour.  I was able to distill down the main difference between a Messianic Jewish believer in Yeshua, and a Hasid or Orthodox Jew who did not acknowledge Yeshua as the Messiah.  “Basically,” I said, “it breaks down to two things:”

1. I KNOW I have the blood atonement (I know my sins are forgiven and on Yom Kippur every year I don’t have to hope that God forgives me for I have been forgiven completely and forever when I trusted Messiah’s atoning work on my behalf when he was led like a lamb to the slaughter 2000 years ago and died for me, “the Just for the unjust to bring me to God.”) 
2. I also KNOW I have the Ruach HaKodesh, the Spirit of God, living in me. This gift of the Holy Spirit was imparted when thirty five years ago I came into a personal relationship with Yeshua as my Savior and Messiah.

While acknowledging our differences, he then shared what had happened earlier that day:  “My wife took a nap in the afternoon.  About a quarter to five she awakened and insisted we go to the honey farm.  For sixteen years, every summer, we stay at a (Hasidic) camp next door to this farm. In all those years, we have never been to this farm before!”  I replied, “I know that happened because the G-d of Israel loves you and wanted you to hear about Messiah.”  He answered, “Maybe it was to bring you back to Judaism.”  I said, “On the contrary, I know whom I believe…I didn’t find a religion but a person.”

Seven years later I searched and located him.  I sent him one of my Prophetic Regathering of Israel lithographs and a Jeremiah 31 print (these can be seen in our gallery on this site). The latter print contains the words, “Behold, days come saith the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the House of Israel and the House of Judah, not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, which, my covenant, they broke.  But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel:  After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law within them, and write it in their hearts, and will be their God, and they shall be my people.  And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD, for they shall all know Me from the least of them to the greatest; for I will forgive their iniquity and I will remember their sin no more.”  (Jeremiah 31:31-34 Jewish Publication Society translation.)  Clearly, the basis of “knowing” the LORD is to have the problem of personal sin dealt with.  The basis of forgiveness is through faith in the atonement provided through the death of Messiah Yeshua.

He responded by sending me a six page letter filled with hostility.  Most of it was not against me personally, but directed against the New Testament and people who believe in that book.  This is not hard to understand.  Please note that the Hasidic Jews have suffered greatly over the past few centuries, with whole populations wiped out in Europe during pogroms and the Holocaust.  Clearly this rabbi grouped the perpetrators of the crimes against our people, who claimed to be “Christians”, with the New Testament.  He never read that Yeshua wept over the Jewish people, as did Rav Shaul (also known as the Apostle Paul) who said “I am telling the truth in Messiah, I am not lying, my conscience testifies with me in the Ruach Hakodesh (Holy Spirit), that I have great sorrow and unceasing grief in my heart For I could wish that I myself were accursed, separated from Messiah for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh, who are Israelites, to whom belongs the adoption as sons, and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the Law and the Temple service and the promises, whose are the fathers and from whom is the Messiah according to the flesh, who is over all, God blessed forever.”  (Romans 9:1-3)

Readers, I share the same grief.  Pray for the Jewish people, and all people everywhere, to find peace and healing through Messiah.

Welcome to the Prophetic Prints blog!  May the content bring you a measure of encouragement, peace and joy…and cause you to open your heart to the love and wisdom of the Living God.

For over thirty-five years I have drawn water from the “wells of salvation” (Isaiah 12:3b)!  This blog will thus focus on what I have drawn from these wells.

The context of ‘wells of salvation’ is as follows:

“I will give thanks to You, O, Yahveh (Hebrew for LORD); For although You were angry with me, Your anger is turned away, And You comfort me. Behold, God is my salvation (Hebrew: Yeshuati), I will trust and not be afraid; For the LORD God (Hebrew: Yah Yahveh) is my strength and song, And He has become my salvation! Therefore you will joyously draw water from the wells of salvation.“  Isaiah 12:1-3

Today’s passage in Isaiah Chapter 12 shows us the progression from being separated from a Holy God (Yahveh) to being comforted, strengthened and refreshed:

1. “Yahveh was angry with me”

For some, the idea that the Master of the Universe is angry with you is outrageous and unrealistic because you doubt the very existence of a Supreme Being.  For others, you carry a heavy weight of sensing deep in your psyche, every day, that He is angry with you.  Most of us hope there is, in reality, a God who is indeed personal…so personal that He could touch us in the empty places of our hearts and lives.  The fact is He does know us and is indeed intimately acquainted with all of our ways (Psalm 139:3)  He also knows where we have blown it…come short of His holy standard (not your pastor’s, rabbi’s, priest’s, mother’s, friend’s standards). The God revealed in Scripture is indeed angry with sin and sinful, unredeemed mankind.  HOWEVER…Please note the tense of the action:  was angry.

2. “Your anger is turned away”

How is His holy wrath turned away?  Let me use the truths drawn from the Passover story (Exodus Chapters 3 – 13) to illustrate.  For those unfamiliar with the facts related to the Jewish feast of Passover, I’d like to give you a brief summary: Thirty five hundred years ago, the Israelites were enslaved in Egypt for 400 years.  Moses, whose name means “drawing out of water”, was instructed by the One whose name is I Am That I Am (In Hebrew called Yahveh, Yehovah, Yod Hey Vav Hey, the tetragrammaton and commonly referred to by the name “LORD” in English) to deliver the Israelites out of bondage.  Thus he commanded Pharoah, the ruler of Egypt, “Let My people go!”  Nine plagues were inflicted on the land and people of Egypt, in response to Pharoah’s hardness of heart and refusal to let the Israelites go.  The final plague was the killing of the firstborn son of all the Egyptians.  Sadly, the consequences of bad leadership can affect an entire nation.  In Exodus Chapter 12, the LORD instructed Moses to tell the Israelites to take a lamb on the tenth day of the first month (Nisan–in the Spring), an unblemished male a year old; they were to examine it and keep it until the fourteenth day of the first month.  Then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel was to kill it at twilight.  They were then instructed to “take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses in which they eat it.”…The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live; and when I see the blood I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you.”  (Ex. 12: 7, 13)

Sometimes we excuse ourselves from adhering to G0d’s standards by thinking that we are sincere, relatively good people, we have a relative who is a rabbi, pastor or priest, or we’ve already suffered enough in life.  However notice, it was not enough to be sincere, to be related to Moses, or to claim that years of suffering should exempt one from this plague. Unless the blood was (1) on the doorpost of the house in which they abided,  and (2) the first born was in the house, the first born would have been destroyed.  Intellectual assent was not enough.  Action was required (go in the house).  Have you gone into the house?Also, In the Torah, in Leviticus Chapter 17, verse 11, it says:  “For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood by reason of the life that makes atonement.”

In the New Covenant (Testament), Yeshua (Jesus) is called the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29) by John the Baptist (who was not a Baptist, but an Essenic Jew).  Yeshua is also called the Passover Lamb (1 Corinthians 5:8).  In 1 Peter 18-19, we read:  “…we are redeemed from our futile way of life with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, of Messiah.”

Are you aware that Messiah Yeshua (Jesus the Messiah) was presented as the Passover Lamb to be slaughtered on the fourteenth day of the month (Nisan) approximately 2000 years ago?  As a Jewish child, I used to wonder why the Christians had their holiday (Easter) around the time of Passover.  It’s because the atonement and the resurrection were accomplished by the Jewish Messiah during this Jewish Feast in Israel!

In summary, the sacrifice of the Lamb (seen through the Passover story) is the means Yahveh (the LORD) initiated to atone for our sins and soothe His very real wrath.

3. “You comfort me”

In Revelation 7:13-17, we learn that those who had suffered (in the great tribulation) “have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. For this reason, they are before the throne of God; and they serve Him day and night in His sanctuary; and He who sits on the throne will spread His tabernacle over them.  They will hunger no longer, nor thirst anymore; nor will the sun beat down on them, nor any heat; for the Lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd and will guide them to springs of the waters of life; and God will wipe every tear from their eyes.” Note here that the believers are cleansed.  They are comforted.  They are shepherded by the Lamb Himself.  Yeshua the Messiah is the same: yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews chapter 13 vs. 8). This same Lamb can cleanse, comfort, and shepherd you today.

4. “I will trust and will not be afraid for the LORD my God is my strength and my song”

Trust has to be earned.  The Living God can be trusted because He proved His love for us: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son (the Lamb of God) that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16) The reward of trusting God as your strength and song is your not being afraid! Hundreds of times in the Scriptures we are exhorted to not be afraid, because God is with us, God is for us, God Himself fights for us. Many times He commands us not to fear.  Why? Because He loves us, knows us, is with us, and wants to help us.  What a promise!  It is important to note that the basis of being fearless in this life is to change the object of our fear/fears: To fear (and reverence) the LORD rather than life, the economy, people, etc.”Do not fear, for I AM with you.  Do not anxiously look about you for I AM your God.  I will strengthen you, surely I will help you.  Surely I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”  (Isaiah 41:10).  Messiah is the One seated at the Father’s right hand.  He became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14) and has been touched with the feeling of your infirmities (Hebrews 4:15 KJV) and knows the basis of your fears.  Trust Him.

5. “He also has become my salvation”

Notice however, that Isaiah says “Yahveh (the LORD) my God, is my strength and my song.” (Isaiah 12:2, italics mine)  This is not just an intellectual thing.  Yahveh must become your LORD, my LORD.  As Bob Dylan rightly sung a few decades ago, “You gotta serve somebody.”  We are all serving/trusting someone or something to make us feel valued, or simply feel better in this painful world. The Great Someone is the Master of the universe, whether we acknowledge Him or not.  “In Him (the Creator) we live and move and have our being/existence. (Acts 17:28).  To be disconnected from the Source of life is like an electronic device that is not plugged in.  It doesn’t work!

6. “Therefore you will joyously draw water out of the wells of salvation”

We already noted, in Revelation 7:17,  that the Lamb guides us to the springs of the waters of life.  However, He Himself is the well of salvation! The word “salvation” in Hebrew, as already noted, is “yeshua”/Yeshua (these translations have the same Hebrew root letters: yod, shin, ayin).  Indeed, Yeshua said in John Chapter 7, verse 37, on the last day of the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot):  “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink.  He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’”

Are you thirsty?  Has life dealt you many heavy blows where you have felt sadness, disappointment and the lack of love?  Come to the Well of salvation.  “Whoever is thirsty let him come to Me and drink!”  (John 7:37)  This is a personal invitation from the One who proved His love for you!

Here’s what to do: Acknowledge the truth that your thoughts and actions, like mine, have offended a Holy God–the God of Israel.  “…if you confess with your mouth (acknowledge/declare) Yeshua as Lord, and believe in your heart that Yahveh raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses (literally ‘agrees with, acknowledges’), resulting in salvation.  For the (Hebrew) Scripture says (in Joel 2:32), “Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed” (literally ‘put to shame’).  For there is no distinction (with respect to how we are saved and sanctified) between Jew and Greek (Gentile); for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him; for ‘Whoever will call on the name of the LORD (Yahveh) will be saved’.”  (Romans 10 verses 9-13)

Please write and let us know if you went to the Well today in humble repentance.  There is much more to know about your inheritance as a child of the Living God!

Blessings and shalom!

P.S. There’s a simple Israeli folk dance called “Mayim”, which means ‘water’.  Many of you know it. The Hebrew words sung to the music are, “U-shav-tem mayim besasson, mi ma-ah-ney ha-yeshuah”.  Most of us did not know that what we were singing was, “With joy you will joyously draw water out of the wells of salvation!”