A Fish and a Shekel

(Matthew 17:24-27)

When YAHSHUA arrived in Capernaum, the collectors of the half shekel [the temple tax] went up to Peter and said, Does not your Teacher pay the half shekel? He answered, Yes. And when he came home, YAHSHUA spoke to him first, saying, What do you think, Simon? From whom do earthly rulers collect duties or tribute from their own sons or from others, not of their own family? And Peter said, From other people not of their own family. YAHSHUA said to him, Then the sons are exempt. However, in order not to give offense and cause them to stumble, go down to the sea and throw in a hook. Take the first fish that comes up, and when you open its mouth you will find there a shekel. Take it to them to pay the temple tax for Me and for yourself.

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Go Into the Plain and I Will Talk to You There

(Ezekiel 3:22-27)

The Prophet Ezekiel was one of the prophets who received from YAHWEH difficult tasks to represent the spiritual conditions of the nation Israel. He grew up in the environment of the temple, having been born in the priestly family. Unlikely some prophets, he grew up knowing the things of God firsthand.  He was only thirty years old when YAHWEH called Him while he was in the midst of idolatrous surroundings of Babylon. In chapter one of his book, he describes the vision given him. He starts by saying, the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God (Ezekiel 1:1). After seeing the vision in its completeness, he was instructed in three things: to hear what YAHWEH was telling him; not to be like those rebellious people, and to eat the words given him. Meanwhile, the Lord warned him that the people were not going to listen to his message, for they were a rebellious nation. Ezekiel’s responsibility, however, was to warn them, listening or not, otherwise, he would be held responsible for the blood of that person. The instructions how to deliver YAHWEH’S message were difficult for one to follow. Ezekiel, however, had no complaint, except for one. He willingly did exactly what the Lord commanded Him. Arise, YAHWEH told him, go forth into the plain and I will talk with you there (Ezekiel 3:22b).

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Understanding the Context of the Fig Tree Episode

(Mark 11: 13-15; Matt. 21:18-22)

A week before His death, YAHSHUA rode on a young colt as the ultimate expression of His kingship or messiahship. The people, in return, cried out with voices of happiness, they spread their garments on the road, and others [scattered a layer of] leafy branches, and those who went before and those who followed cried out, Hosanna! Praised and blessed is He Who comes in the name of the Lord; Praised and blessed in the name of the Lord is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest (Mark 11: 7-9)! What was going on here? Had the people accepted Him as their Messiah? Of course, not. The people wanted Him to overthrow the Romans and become their physical king. They were not interested in the spiritual aspect of His Messiahship. That week was very important for YAHSHUA. In a few days, His ministry as all knew it, would come to an end. He entered Jerusalem riding on a colt fulfilling Zachariah’s prophecy of long ago: Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion! Shout, daughter Jerusalem! See, your King comes to you righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey (Zach. 9: 9-10). Slowly, He rode to Jerusalem, the city that kills their prophets, and soon, He too, was going to face His death at their demand. He was their rejected and condemned King, riding on to face His death in His city- Jerusalem, the city of the great King. A lot was happening at that time while He was fulfilling the last things before His death without the people around Him knowing or perceiving them.

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The Law Served as a Guide to Lead Us to Christ (Part 1)

(Galatians 3)

The Israelites, while living in Egypt, were undefined as a nation. They were a family composed of twelve brothers, whose numbers grew greatly, as God was preparing them to make a nation out of them. The 430 years that they remained in Egypt, they grew to a staggering number, causing the Egyptians to kill their babies and force hard labor on them, bringing them to a slave’s status. Jacob, his wives, and sons were living in Canaan before they sojourned to Egypt until the famine took them to Egypt in search of food. These were days of uncertainties in the mind of Jacob, as he made decision to move to Egypt, a distance of 121 miles from Canaan, their Promised Land; they were already there, but not in fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham in the space of time ordained for it to happen. Many years had to pass, many things had to happen in their lives, including in Moses’ life.  A nation to be a nation is required for a good number of people to fill the spaces. A nation, out of seventy people is hardly enough to be formed into one. God’s plan was for them to grow and multiply before He took them out of Egypt for the purpose to form a nation unto Him- a royal race.

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Rahab, a Woman of Importance in History- Past and Future

The Bible gives us a short synopsis of Rahab’s life just enough for us to know whom that woman was. In the book of Joshua we find the accounts about her as a prostitute and one who saved the Israelite spies. In doing so, she exercised faith and belief in the God of Israel. Rahab acknowledged to the spies what they all had heard concerning God’s supernatural deliverance of Israel from Egypt. Although, she lived among pagans, she confessed her faith in the true God- the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob,  by saying, “ The Lord your God is God in heaven above and on earth beneath” (Jos.2: 9-11). Her faith expanded to action to protect the spies, as a gesture of fear and respect for Israel’s God. She was chosen for that time with God’s purpose not only to save Israel, but to display His plan far off into the future. Sometimes, in our feeble mind, we get lost in our understanding of how God fulfills His plans. In the case of Rahab we wonder why a prostitute. Remember YAHSHUA’S reaction toward the Pharisees when they brought a sinful woman to Him, condemning her?  He bent down and went on writing on the ground with His finger; when YAHSHUA raised Himself up, He said to her, Woman, where are your accusers? Has no man condemned you? She answered, No one, Lord! And YAHSHUA said, I do not condemn you either. Go on your way and from now on sin no more (John 8: 8,10-11). No one is without sin, no matter the size of it. Rahab’s heart was right with God and when the opportunity presented itself, she chose to obey the Lord.

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Picture of the Rapture

(Exodus 12)

The Lord’s deliverance of Israel before judgement fell on Egypt is a type of the rapture. In it we see the consistency of our God saving His people before judging nations. Israel had been in Egypt for 400- 430 years. From the time of famine in the land and their deliverance by their brother, Joseph, Israel never went back to Canaan. According to the words the Lord God spoke to Jacob, Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will there make of you a great nation; I will go down with you to Egypt and I will also surely bring you up again.. (Gen. 46:3-4).  In obedience, Jacob moved to Egypt with his family of seventy total.  That’s when the 430 years stated for Israel’s permanency in Egypt. Thirty years of freedom and 400 hundred years of slavery. That was to be fulfilled according to what God had told Abraham when covenanting with him (Gen.15:13). God said to Abram, Know positively that your descendants will be strangers dwelling as temporary residents in a land that is not theirs, and they will be slaves there and will be afflicted and oppressed for 400 years (Gen. 15:13).

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It Was About The Sixth Hour

(John 4)

Amidst the rumor that YAHSHUA was baptizing more disciples than John was, He decided to go back to Galilee from Judea. The Bible says that it was necessary for Him to go through Samaria, a distance approximately of forty- two miles from Jerusalem. There was an important task for our Lord to do in going to Galilee through Samaria embedded in the word “necessary.”  The fact that Jews and Samaritans did not get along did not reflect the Lord’s way of thinking. He was a Jew, yes, but independent from all that was against His nature. To start with, He came from backgrounds that included Jews and Gentiles. The difference existent between Jews and Samaritans did not represent the purpose for which YAHSHUA had come to accomplish. The time had come when He had to visit the neighbor province of Samaria. The Samaritans were Jews who intermingled with foreigners and had embraced their cultures and their gods. So they were considered half-breeds and dogs.

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On the Road to Emmaus

(Luke 24:13- 34)

It was evening on that third day after YAHSHUA had been crucified and buried. Sadness echoed in the voices of His disciples the emptiness of His presence. They remained in hiding, afraid of the Jewish authorities, afraid of persecution after the death of their Messiah, as prophesized, Smite the shepherd and the sheep shall be scattered (Zach. 13: 7b). In His priestly prayer, YAHSHUA prayed for the protection of His disciples from the evil one. He protected and guarded those given to Him while with them. The disciples well knew but lacked understanding why had the Son of YAHWEH come to earth. They so expected Him to deliver Israel physically from the Romans and were terribly disappointed with the outcome, although, time, after time, YAHSHUA warned them of His death followed by His resurrection after three days. They heard, but they did not listen. Their emotional disappointment would have been mild, had they understood the true meaning of YAHSHUA’S warnings.

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Who Will Believe Our Message?

(Isaiah 53)

Who is there among you who will give ear to this? That was a question the Prophet Isaiah made that echoed throughout the ages. What message was he talking about? The message concerning Messiah YAHSHUA Who was to come to carry men’s burden of sins through His sufferings unto death. His message carried a weight of responsibility upon all of us who heard it. The only way that the message would be profitable was through hearing and listening to believe. The prophetic message was all about love- the love of God. When YAHSHUA volunteered to be the replacement for bulls and other animals used for sacrifice, He did for love of the human race, which was lost and at the mercy of eternal punishment. The blood of bulls could never offer salvation or redemption for men whose condition was being condemned to hell. Isaiah so prophesied: He was despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and pains, and acquainted with grief and sickness; no appreciation was shown for His worth, for Who He was. He, by His love for all humankind, carried our griefs; He carried our sorrows and pains. Although His action was of pure love, men thought Him to be stricken by God and continuously, made fun of Him, and beat Him the more. He received the wounds in His body because of man’s transgression. Transgression means to overstep the law, to go beyond its limits. The act of transgressing shows pride and un-submissiveness and chaos. Take for example the traffic laws. When one runs the red light accidents and even death occur. For that type of sin, YAHSHUA was wounded. He was bruised for our guilt and iniquities. He was bruised deeply in His Spirit for our guilt and iniquities. Guilt, when not dealt with, can bring remorse and ultimately suicide to the person who has not been able to forgive him/herself, neither accept God’s forgiveness, as it was in the case of Judas. Iniquity is the sin of unrighteousness, and wickedness which passes from generation to generation. Isaiah saw YAHSHUA being bruised in His Spirit in dealing with our guilt and iniquity. This sin nature is the one that will take one to hell. It is sin at its worst. It is the premeditated and continuous sin. It lodges itself in the genes of men, robbing him of power to overcome it. Only by the blood of YAHSHUA, one can be liberated from its power.  To bruise is to crush one’s emotion and spirit.  It goes beyond skin deep to the most inner being. YAHSHUA so suffered for that type of sin.

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Blurring the Meaning of Passover

On the fourteenth day of the first month at twilight is the Lord’s Passover.  (Lev. 23:5)  Passover is the most important celebrated or remembered holiday for the Christian Church. It has its beginning when Israel was freed from Egypt’s bondage. The deep meaning behind it lived for thousands of years without the Jewish people realizing its embedded prophetic message. It was to the nation of Israel a time to abstain from leaven bread, a time to sacrifice animals destined for sacrifice to atone for the nation’s sin. They were to keep the lamb or kid until the fourteenth day of the month and kill them on the evening of that day.  (Exodus 12:6)   The (animal’s) blood (the Lord said) shall be for a token or sign to you upon [the doorposts of] the houses where you are, [that] when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague shall be upon you to destroy you when I smite the land of Egypt (Exodus 12: 13). And this day shall be to you for a memorial. You shall keep it as a feast to the Lord throughout your generations, keep it as an ordinance forever (Exodus 12:14). Passover was to Israel a memorial, a celebration to the Lord.

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