Light from the Word

The Everlasting Covenant (part 2)

(The Covenant of Love)

When God created man, He entered into the covenant with him by commanding him to observe the rule of not eating of the tree of knowledge and good. He said to him, You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and blessing and calamity you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die (Gen. 2:16-17). That’s all he had to do to keep covenanting with God. Adam however, broke the covenant with God by willful disobedience. Knowing what is right and not doing it, one commits sin, according to the Word of God. While Adam followed the command of God, he was in agreement with the covenant and there was a relationship between God and him. But when Adam chose to disobey God, he not only died spiritually but brought himself under the curse of sin and the world with him. So, by the sin of one man, we all sinned and have become short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23). God, in His mercy, however, not only promised them the covenant of love through the death of His Son (Gen. 3:15) but clothed them with skins when they saw that they were naked (Gen. 3:19). From that time on until YAHSHUA came, man was to offer sacrifice to God for the remission of their sins according to what the Word of God says: without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins. God’s covenant of love is beautifully expressed through the words of His Son, YAHSHUA: For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son, whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life (John 3:16). When YAHSHUA died, He offered salvation to every individual person. As the letter to the Hebrews said. The covenant of love was extended to all whosoever will accept Him. The covenant of love annuls and brings to naught the devil and his power of death. YAHSHUA came in the flesh and blood, partaking of man’s nature so He would go through death, in order to conquer it, defeat the devil and set men free from his power.

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The Answer That Determined YAHSHUA’S Death

(Matthews 26:63-68)

After agonizing in the Garden of Gethsemane, YAHSHUA was taken by a crowd with swords, and clubs guided by Judas, sent from the chief priests and elders of the people. He was taken to Caiaphas, the high priest, where the scribes and the elders had assembled (Matt. 26:47,57). YAHSHUA’S six illegal trials started then. The chief priests and the whole council sought to get false witnesses to testify against Him, so that they might put Him to death but they found none, though may witnesses came forward; until two men came forward testifying that YAHSHUA had said, I am able to tear down the sanctuary of the temple of God and to build it up again in three days. YAHSHUA remained silent to the accusation until the high priest stood up and said, Have You no answer to make? What about this that these men testify against You? YAHSHUA continued silent until the Hight Priest said to Him, I CALL UPON YOU TO SWEAR BY THE LIVING God, and tell us whether you are the Messiah, the Son of God (Matt. 26:57,59-63). That was a request that demanded the verdict that YAHSHUA was the Messiah, the Son of God, the King of Israel. In purity and honest truth, in sincerity of heart, YAHSHUA said, You have stated (the fact). And He added, more than that, I tell you: You will in the future see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Almighty and coming on the clouds of the sky (Matt. 26:64). His answer covered the present and the future, prophesized in the book of Daniel 7:13-14: “I saw in the night visions, and behold, on the clouds of the heavens came One like a Son of man, and He came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before Him. And there was given Him dominion and glory and kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away, and His kingdom is one which shall not be destroyed.” That was the complete answer they did not expected. But if they were familiar with the prophecies, found in their possession, they should have remembered this one and feared for their lives.

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The Everlasting Covenant (part 1)

Covenant, in its secular demand, binds and establishes a relationship between two parties. However, God’s covenant establishes a relationship with men through his obedience. His covenant is not bilateral, but unilateral. For He is the One Who initiated, and He is the One Who determines the principles of it. Men are subjected to His commands in order to be recipients of the blessings He offers through His covenant. When God covenanted with Adam, He instructed him not to eat of the certain fruit from the garden. To maintain the relationship with God Adam had to obey God’s covenant’s instruction. When Adam failed what the covenant demanded, he died spiritually, as God told him he would. However, right then, God’s covenant went as far as to promise a Savior to restore the human race into covenant with Him through His Son. Speaking to Satan, He said, And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her Offspring; He will bruise and tread you under underfoot, and you will lie in wait and bruise His heel (Gen. 3: 15). God’s covenant was never annulled in spite of Adam’s disobedience, for He in His mercy, provided a way for the covenant relationship to exist between Him and men through the death of His Son.

God covenanted with Noah when He told Him to build an ark. He followed God’s orders and God promised him to establish His covenant (promise, pledge) of salvation with him when His wrath would pour over the entire earth. Noah and his family were delivered in the shelter of the ark God told him to make when he entered into the covenant relationship with God in obedience to the demand of the covenant (Gen. 6). God’s covenant with Abraham was a covenant of promise which was to continue through Abraham’s generation, that is, through his son Isaac, the son of the promise. For the covenant of promise to have affected, or to have bound to him, Abraham was to act in faith and in obedience. Abraham showed faithfulness to God’s covenant, when he satisfied the demand of the covenant in the sacrifice of his son, as he was told, believing that God would raise him from the dead, to fulfill His covenantal promise. Abraham found favor with God and the confirmation of the promise was then literate in God’s own words, I have sworn by Myself, that since you have done this and have not withheld or begrudged your son, your only son, in blessing I will bless you and in multiplying, I will multiply your descendants like the stars of the heavens and like the sand on the seashore. And your Seed YAHSHUA will possess the gate of His enemies. And in your Seed (YAHSHUA) shall all the nations of the earth be blessed and [by Him] bless themselves, because you have heard and obeyed My voice (Gen. 22). We are recipients of this blessing because Abraham obeyed the demands of God’s covenant. Abraham’s blessings have a prophetic perspective, embracing the entire world.

In Exodus 19 we see God covenanting with Israel, a nation which He created to covenant with Him and thus bless it. When Israel arrived at the wilderness of Sinai, God appeared to them. Moses, as their mediator, received the instructions before they were to appear before God. God, then covenanted with Israel by saying, You have seen what I did to the Egyptians and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself. Now, therefore, if you will obey My voice in truth and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own peculiar possession and treasure from among the above all peoples; for all the earth is Mine. And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests, a holy nation. These are the words you shall speak to the Israelites. And all the people answered together, and said, All that the Lord has spoken we will do. And Moses reported the words of the people to the Lord (vs. 3-8). There, the Lord gave the nation of Israel the Ten Commandments- the written covenant. Israel came to a mountain that was ablaze with fire and to gloom and darkness and a raging storm, with a blast of a trumpet and a voice whose words make the listeners beg that nothing more be said to them for they could not bear the command that was given; if even a wild animal touches the mountain it shall be stoned to death. In fact, so awful and terrifying was the sight that Moses s aid, I am terrified (Heb. 12:19-21). That was Israel’s experience when God covenanted with them.

The covenant God made with King David is a covenant comprised of promises. He covenanted with David by saying, I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, to be prince over My people Israel. I was with you wherever you went, and have cut off all your enemies from before you; and I will make you a great name, like [that] of the great men of the earth. (II Sam. 7: 8-9). David’s subjected himself to the covenant saying, what more can David say to You? For You know Your servant, O Lord God. Because of Your promise and as Your own heart dictates, You have done all these astounding things to make Your servants know and understand. Therefore, You are great, O Lord God; for none is like You, nor is there any God besides You, according to all [You have made] our ears to hear… You have established for Yourself Your people Israel to be Your people forever, and You, Lord, became their God (II Sa. 7: 21-22,24).
Until YAHSHUA’S coming to earth, the nation of Israel was under the covenant of the law. But YAHSHUA came to fulfill it, since there was no one who could perfectly and accordingly to God’s demand, fulfill it. He came while the old covenant was in effect, and not only fulfilled the old covenant, but brought the new covenant with Him. This new covenant was predicted by Moses, Jeremiah, and Ez ekiel. (Deut. 29:4; Jer. 31:33; Ezekiel 36: 26-27). YAHSHUA was the mediator of the new covenant. His death carries the fulfillment and the basis of His promise. Before His death, He established the new covenant with those with Him and with those who would believe in Him: He took the cup after supper saying, This cup is the new testament or covenant [ratified] in My blood, which is shed for you (Luke 22:20). With His death, YAHSHUA made the first covenant obsolete. He did not abolish the law, but he fulfilled the law and taught us to observe the summary of the Law: love God with all our heart, soul and mind and love our neighbor as ourselves. That is the summary of the entire law because where there is love, there is no stealing, adultery, murder, coveting, etc. The old covenant was then replaced by the new: For if that first covenant had been without defect, there would have been no room for another one or an attempt to institute another one (Heb. 8:7).

YAHSHUA established the new covenant while He was shedding His blood when being beaten, when a crown of thorns was put on His head and when on the cross. As a Mediator, He connected us to God in the covenant of blood. His demands in His covenant are that we dwell in Him, bear fruit, abide in His love, keep His commandments, obey His instructions, and His principal commandment: love God, love one another, just as He loved us (John 15). The old covenant was written on a stone, but the new one was written in our hearts with the blood of YAHSHUA. The Prophet Jeremiah prophesized concerning this new covenant many years before the coming of YAHSHUA to establish it. Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. Not according to the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was their Husband, says the Lord. But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel: After those days, says the Lord, I will put My law within them and on their hearts will I write it; and I will be their God and they will be My people (Jer. 31:31-33).

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Out of the Womb of the Morning

Out of the womb of the morning is where the day starts; it is the beginning of things. Everything has a beginning from somewhere, or from someone. The womb of a woman holds her child for over nine months – a secure place where life starts and develops, provided the baby is not aborted. Life springs forth from the womb; the morning springs forth the day in its arrays of light sparkling on the dew, as the earth makes its turn, making it possible for a new day to be visible. In the spiritual sense, the death and resurrection of our Messiah YAHSHUA sprang forth the birth of His church. We are born again from His Spirit, for what is born of flesh is flesh; and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. (John 3:5-6). A new beginning, He gave to men through His death. He had to die to bring forth life everlasting to all who will. As the seed must die before it becomes a tree, He died that we might have life. His life was shared with us through His Holy Spirit. Out of the womb of His sufferings, His church was born and became His bride. We must be born again, YAHSHUA said to Nicodemus. For it is from Him that salvation springs forth. The Prophet Isaiah prophesized about His death many years before it happened. He said, He (YAHSHUA) shall see [the fruit] of the travail of His soul and be satisfied; by His knowledge of Himself shall My righteous one, My Servant, justify many and many and make many righteous, for He shall bear their iniquities and their guilt (Isaiah 53:11).

Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning (Ps. 30:5b). The anguish that embraces the soul is felt in the night. However, in hope we wait for our morning to arrive, when its womb will spring forth joy. Morning does not have to be a specific time, but it is that time when relief comes rescuing us from our troubles. In trials, we must always remember that there from out of a womb of a morning, joy will spring forth sooner or later. YAHSHUA was in the heart of the earth three days and three nights; His morning came with His resurrection and unspeakable joy to all His disciples, and to all of us who would accept His gift of life. YAHSHUA said, blessed are you who weep and sob now, for you shall laugh (Luke 6:21b). The Patriarch Job did not see his morning for a long time. The womb of the morning stayed closed for him until God opened it in His time. And then, the Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning (Job 42:12), for the Lord will not cast off forever; but though He causes grief, yet will He be moved to compassion according to the multitude of His loving-kindness and tender mercy (Lam. 3:31-32). The dew of a morning is life sustaining for the green of the earth; it is life expressed in the beginning of a new day, springing forth from the womb of a morning. The dew, in the spiritual sense, is resurrection of the Lord’s saints at the rapture. Isaiah said, Your dead shall live; the bodies of our dead shall rise, You who dwell in the dust, awake and sing for joy! For the Lord’s dew is a dew of light; and the earth shall cast forth the dead [to life again; for on the land of the shades of the dead You will let Your dew fall] (Isaiah 26:19). The Lord’s supernatural dew will spring forth from the womb of that glorious day in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet call. For a trumpet will sound, and the dead [in Christ] will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed (I Cor. 15:52). For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a loud cry of summons, with the shout of an archangel, and with the blast of the trumpet of God. And those who have departed this life in Christ will rise first (I Thess. 4:16). Therefore, comfort and encourage one another with these words (I Thess. 4:18).

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For Every Victory, a Psalm

When we read the book of psalms, we can easily associate with the psalmists in every aspect of their sorrows. The book of psalms is the psalmists open heart to God; in sincerity of their cries, they confine all their troubles in the form of prayers, reaching out to the One Who can comfort and provide the balm for their hurts. David, the writer of seventy-three psalms, was a warrior; a hero, a courageous man, when confronting his enemies. His life was completed with battles. He fought even a bear and a lion to protect his sheep, and killed both of them. With five small stones and a sling, he killed a mighty giant, who came to fight with Israel. He was just a young lad at that time, but that did not stop him from going forwardly to confront the giant armored for war, while the nation of Israel panicked at his intimidation. But David, however, not once fainted at the looks of that Palestinian giant. Victory was certain in his mind, for his faith, the anointing of the Lord, and his zeal for God lead him to success. He wrote Psalm nine after victory over Goliath. In verses 3-5 he says, When my enemies turned back, they stumbled and perished before You, for You have maintained my right and my cause; You sat on the throne judging righteously, You have rebuked the nations, You have destroyed the wicked; You have blotted out their names forever and ever; sing praises to Zion to the Lord, who dwells in Zion! Declare among the peoples His doings! Vs. eleven. He proclaimed and celebrated his victory by giving God the glory. In Psalm 144:1-2 he says, Blessed be the Lord, my Rock and my keen and firm Strength, Who teaches my hands to war and my fingers to fight; My Steadfast Love and my Fortress, my High Tower and my Deliverer, my Shield and He in Whom I trust and take refuge, Who subdues my people under me. King David’s heart was always filled with praises to the Lord, acknowledging His faithfulness, mercy and loving-kindness. He fought the Ammonites, the Philistines and Syrians and was victorious. He wrote Psalms 20 and 21 celebrating his victories saying, Now I know that the Lord saves His anointed; He will answer him from His holy heaven with the saving strength of His right hand. Some trust in and boast of chariots and some of horses, but we will trust in and boast of the name of the Lord our God; they are bowed down and fallen, but we are risen and stand upright. O Lord, give victory; let the King answer when we call (Ps. 20:6-9); The king shall joy in Your strength, O Lord; and in Your salvation how greatly shall he rejoice! He asked life of You, and You gave it to him-long life forever and ever more; for the king trusts in the Lord, and through the mercy and steadfast love of the Most High he will never be moved. Be exalted, Lord, in Your strength; we will sing and praise Your power (Ps. 21:1,4,7,13). David, the anointed of the Lord, was a powerful warrior; but he gave God the credit and praised Him for all his victories.

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God’s Forgiveness Opens the Door of Heaven

For God so loved the world (you and me) that He gave His only begotten Son, for whosoever believes in Him, shall not perish, but have everlasting life (Jn. 3:16). This is a well-known verse among the Christian community. The message it conveys is rich and assuring of God’s deep love for humankind. How can God, holy and perfect in every way love a world so unholy and voided of love for Him? It is hard to understand the unconditional love that He has for all of us, for “we all have sinned and have become short of His glory.” What did it mean to us in the situation we were in before our Lord remediated? The glory of God is His goodness. In that, we became unworthy of His glory toward us. We were separated from Him and hopelessly lost in sin, and under His condemnation. For the Jewish nation, under the Law, they sacrificed animals to atone for their sins. However, the time came when that was no longer satisfactory to God. That’s when His Son, YAHSHUA volunteered to take the place of animals to redeem the human race. The letter to the Hebrews says, For since the Law had merely a rude outline of the good things to come-instead of fully expressing those things-it can never by offering the same sacrifices continually year after year make perfect those who approach [its altars]. Because, the blood of bulls and goats is powerless to take sins away, hence, when He [Christ] entered into the world, He said, Sacrifices and offering You have not desired, but instead, You have made ready a body for Me[to offer]. In burnt offerings and sin offerings You have taken no delight. Then I said, Behold, here I am, coming to do Your will, O God- [to fulfill] what is written of Me in the volume of the Book (10:1,4-7).

The Law, from the beginning, pointed to the One Who would fulfill it to the letter. “A shadow of things to come,” Paul said. But when YAHSHUA laid down His life as a sacrifice once and for all for the entire world, this act of love poured forgiveness for all those who turned to Him by repenting of their sins. As many as received Him, the Bible says, He gave the authority to become the children of God, that is, to those who believe in His name (Jn.1:12). YAHSHUA’S death opened the way for men to be reconciled with God. In His death-His demonstration of love, forgiveness flowed from His heart to men’s. Now, no longer under God’s condemnation, and short of His glory, men are free through His forgiveness. It is a powerful and unselfish act of love toward those who received the gift of YAHSHUA’S sacrifice. Through forgiveness, they “are constantly being transfigured into YAHSHUA’S own image in ever increasing splendor and from one degree of glory to another…” (II Cor. 3:18). That’s the process of their sanctification through the Holy Spirit of YAHSHUA. How beautiful, is the work of the Holy Spirit in each one of us who desire His touch of sanctification! So, God’s forgiveness restored men to Himself and men became sharers of God’s glory once again. God’s goodness is so important in one’s life; it would be hard to live without the benefit of it. Because being separated from God’s glory is to be without hope and voided of God’s promises, although available to all. The Bibles says that the god of this world has blinded the unbelievers’ minds, preventing them from seeing the illuminating light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ, Who is the Image and Likeness of God, for God Who said, Let light shine out of darkness, has shone in our hearts so as [to beam forth] the light for the illumination of the knowledge of the majesty and glory of God in the face of YAHSHUA the Messiah. (II Cor. 3:4,6). We believers, who stand in the presence of the Lord, must shine His glory to the world, as Moses shone God’s glory to Israel, when coming down the mountain, after spending time with Him. From glory to glory, Moses, the servant of the Lord, experienced God face to face, and it showed on his face.

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Can You Tarry with Me Through the Night

The place- a garden; the occasion- YAHSHUA’S coming trial and death. After the Passover supper, they headed to the place where they customed to go- the Garden of Gethsemane. While He went a little further, leaving the apostles a stone’s throw, taking Peter, James and John with Him, He knelt down and prayed. This time, was not only to pray, but to agonize His last hours before He would be betrayed into the hands of the Jewish authorities and ultimately into the Romans’ hands. The Garden of Gethsemane was witnessing the suffering of Messiah on His way to deliver mankind from the hands and power of Satan. I just wonder if that was the same or approximate location of the Garden of Eden, where Adam and Eve first sinned. The first scene was the fall of men and a sentence given them and to the serpent. It was then that God gave Adam and Eve the promise of salvation, and to the serpent He uttered its destination saying, Because you have done this, you are cursed above all animals and above every living thing of the field; upon your belly you shall go, and you shall eat dust all the days of your life; and I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her Offspring; He will bruise and tread your head underfoot, and you will lie in wait and bruise His heel (Gen. 3:15). He began to be struck with terror and amazement and deeply troubled and depressed. He then said to them, My soul is exceedingly sad so that it almost kills Me! Remain here and keep awake and be watching, and going a little farther, He fell on the ground and kept praying, that if it were possible the [fatal] hour might pass from Him; He said, Abba, Father, everything is possible for You, Take away this cup from Me; yet, not what I will, but what You will (Mark 14:32-36). The disciples, not understanding the urgency of the moment, were overwhelmed with fatigue and fell asleep, leaving Him alone agonizing. Three times YAHSHUA woke them up to pray and warned them to watch and pray, but of no avail, until the time came for the betrayer to come with a band of guards from the Jewish authorities to arrest Him.

At the Garden of Gethsemane, Satan was bruising YAHSHUA’S heel, while the disciples slept, powerlessly, for not remaining in prayer, as they were told. YAHSHUA’S words, “Abba, take away this cup from Me; yet, not my will, but what You will” shows the extent of temptation He was going through alone. That was the opportune time for Satan to come back to tempt Him. At the beginning of YAHSHUA’s ministry, He spent forty days and forty nights at the wilderness, and when at the end when He felt hungry, Satan came to tempt Him. According to Luke, Satan left YAHSHUA after he ended every temptation, until another more opportune and favorable time (4:13). The opportune and favorable time had come to Gethsemane Garden, when the devil showed up to tempt YAHSHUA once again, at the point of His weakness. YAHSHUA aware of it, warned the disciples to be in prayer. But when He returned to them three times, He found them sleeping. That’s when YAHSHUA asked a very solemn question worthy to consider: Have you not the strength to keep awake and watch with Me for one hour? Keep awake and watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak (Mark 14:37-38). YAHSHUA continued agonizing, but the disciples continued sleeping, not taking into consideration the severity of the moment that YAHSHUA was going through. They heard the words YAHSHUA expressed to them; but their hearts were far from sharing the Savior’s pain in their lack of understanding. The third time when YAHSHUA found them sleeping instead of going back to praying, He then said, It is enough. The hour has come. The son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinful men; get up, let us be going! See My betrayer is at hand! (Mark 14:41).

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The House Built on the Rock

(Matthew 7: 24-28)

So, everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts upon them, will be like a sensible man who built his house upon the rock. This comparison of illustration takes us to the parable of the Sower, who sowed his seeds on different soils; but only one fell on good ground, which produced fruit in abundance. YAHSHUA then said, For whoever who has, to him will more be given and he will be furnished richly so that he will have abundance; bur him who has not, even what he has will be taken away (Mat. 13:12). What does it tell us? Listening to the word of God with the heart and understanding, it will make us wise and fit to face the storms of life, because our faith is firmed on YAHSHUA, the Author and Consummator of it. More knowledge and more understanding will come to those who hide the Word of God in their heart in order to follow and to depend on it. You see, the house here is our faith. Faith on God, on His word, His promises without waving or doubting, but believing with confidence. Do not therefore, fling away your fearless confidence, for it carries a great and glorious compensation of reward; for you have need of steadfast patience and endurance, so that you may perform and fully accomplish the will of God, and thus receive and carry away what is promised (Heb. 10:35-36). The strength of our faith will prove itself in times of trials; Its genuineness will shine when tested. Our faith is the building block of and YAHSHUA, the foundation, the Rock on Whom our faith is built.

Comparing this to a physical house, we well know the importance of location, materials and the foundation for the building of a house in order to be strong and to endure storms of any kind. “There is no place like home” it is said and experienced when we are away for a while. The feeling of security one feels at home, not only for the strength of its foundation, but for the warmth of family nested in that home. A house is never a home, unless it is filled with family members. For a house, it is only an empty structure with divisions to accommodate the needs of the family or person. In any case, it is good to be found in a place where the roof does not leak in times of heavy rain, where the foundation does not rattle when the winds hit it. It is all together comfortable knowing that. YAHSHUA’S illustration of comparison should have hit the understanding of those who were hearing Him, for it was a very practical illustration; it touched everyone’s understanding of the matter.

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YAHSHUA, Like a Shepherd, Leads Us

(Ezekiel 34; John 10)

“The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want.” He meets all my physical, emotional, and spiritual needs. When our Shepherd makes us to lie down in green pastures, He is satisfying our physical and spiritual needs; when He leads us to the quiet waters, He is restoring our soul- emotions, intellect and will, after long days in our journey, facing problems and trials; when He leads us to the path of righteousness, He is sanctifying us. Through life’s journey, He is ever with us; when passing through the valley of death, which is our transition from earth to our heavenly home, He will be with us. The enemies of our soul will forever be defeated, when at our victory, our Shepherd will prepare us a table in their presence. He will anoint us with oil, granting us our position with Him as His children; He has raised us up together with Him and made us sit down together in the heavenly sphere in Messiah YAHSHUA (Eph. 2:6). He calls each one of us and chooses those who will listen to Him. He molds us to be more like Him in His process of sanctification. Every step that we take here on earth, must be a step closer to our Shepherd, no matter how hard and steep the road is, for He gives His sheep “hind’s feet” to be able to go to high places close to Him. He has equipped His sheep with all that they need to make the journey.

The closer that His sheep stays to Him, the more that they will be able to hear His voice. As He said, The sheep that are My own hear and are listening to My voice; and I know them and they follow Me (Jn. 10:27). That’s a close relationship with His sheep. Always guiding them with His staff, showing them the way, always teaching. The word, listening, in the gerund form, indicates to be paying attention to in a continuous form of the verb; showing an action to being a focus point. It is constant and progressive listening to the voice of their Shepherd. There is a special benefit for those who stay close to the Shepherd. They will not only hear His voice, but will be called His friends, because, He said, I have made known to you everything that I have heard from My Father (Jn. 15:15). YAHSHUA’S apostles had that position with Him. To them He interpreted the parables, bringing them to the light of understanding them. Psalm 25:14 says: The secret of the Lord have they who fear Him, and He will show them His covenant and reveal to them its deep meaning.

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Opportunity Today, Gone Tomorrow

The uncertainties of life are measured by lost opportunities, in many cases. They come to us in ways we do not realize at first, until it is gone. “I wish I had known it” is the regret of many of us at the perception of the reality. Opportunities, present themselves as chances to perform a task at a good time with possibilities to advance to better things. It is life’s one time, not realized, chance. YAHSHUA, seeing the spiritual condition of Jerusalem wept over it exclaiming, Would that you had known personally, even at least in this your day, the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes, for a time is coming upon you when your enemies will throw up a bank about you and surround you and shut you in on every side, and they will dahs you down to the ground, your [Jerusalem] and your children within you; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not come progressively to recognize and know and understand the time of your visitation [that is, when God was visiting you, the time in which God showed Himself gracious toward you and offered you salvation through Christ] (Luke 19:42-44). Those days were the days when God was showing favor to the nation; they were days when the prophecy of Isaiah 61 was being fulfilled. That was the passage YAHSHUA read in the synagogue, when it was handed to Him the scroll of the book of Isaiah. He read verses 1 and 2: The Spirit of the Lord [is] upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the good news to the poor; He has sent Me to announce release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to send forth as delivered those who are oppressed, to proclaim the accepted and acceptable year of the Lord… And He began to speak to them: Today the Scripture has been fulfilled while you are present and hearing (Luke 4:17-19, 21). So great was the incredulity of the Jewish nation, that at the end of YAHSHUA’S teaching, they tried to kill Him by trying to hurl Him headlong down. Israel rejected YAHSHUA’S messages, they ignored the signs and wonders He performed among them; they handled Him to Rome to be crucified, at their request, even though, the death by crucifixion was not practiced by their Law. Isaiah’s prophecy Who has believed our message? was then fulfilled. At the ultimate opportunity presented to them to repent, they rejected and shouted, Away with Him! Crucify Him! Let His blood be on us and on our children! (Matt. 27:25b). Israel put themselves under condemnation of God’s judgment and suffered the consequences for having rejected His Son and ignored their opportunity to be saved.

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