LOCATING THE ORIGINAL TEMPLE MOUNT

Locating The Original Temple Mount

By CMI Director, Reggie Lisemby

The Temple is usually referred to as Solomon's Temple or the Solomonic Temple. However, it was more accurately David’s Temple since David originated the dream and plan for YHWH a house. Shlomo built the ancient Wonder of the World, the largest man-made platform in the ancient world, near 145 acres. Efforts to locate the site rely primarily on two written sources, and one scientific source beyond the Holy Scriptures. The written sources are Josephus, the Jewish historian, and a Jewish tractate of the Mishnah. The scientific source is archaeology with the work of explorer Charles Warren. 

Josephus observed that from a distance the Temple appeared as a snow-clad mountain, all that was not [overlaid with] pure gold was of purest white (L. The Jewish War 5.5.6). He also described the location of the Temple and of Herod’s enlargement of the Temple Mount which was a colossal undertaking. The Temple Mount would measure today, five football fields north to south, and six football fields from east to west. Herod could not extend the mountain eastward due to the deep Kidron Valley, so he filled in the Tyropoen or Cheese-makers Valley on the west with dirt, the valley north with dirt, and a small valley in the south with dirt. Sounds simple, but Herod brought in ashlars (stones) that were 35 feet long and weighed 70 tons. Josephus says it was "the most prodigious work ever heard of by man."

Today’s Western Wall or haKotel (‘the wall”) is a section of the retaining wall Herod built to support the dirt packed in the western valley. Why is the wall so holy to Jewish people today? Because, just several hundred yards over that western or ‘wailing’ wall was the holiest place on earth, the Kodesh Kodeshim or, the Holy of Holies. The Jewish Mishnah confirms the location of both Shlomo's Temple and Zerubabel's Temple to be the same, and that the exact place has descended through the Roman, Byzantine, Islamic, Crusader, Ottoman, British, and modern Israel period. 

After Herod’s man-made mountain extension, history records that Rome took site of the Jewish Temple. The Temple site was indeed known. In AD 324 the Byzantine period began in Israel. The historical records confirm that the Temple location was known and even further ostracized by what came to be called Replacement Theology. In AD 638 Jerusalem was taken by Caliph Omar who constructed the Dome of the Rock for Muslims. In AD 1099 the Crusaders wrested the Dome from the Muslims who had disfigured the Temple Mount of the Lord, and the Crusaders converted the mosque into a church called Temple Domini. They knew it was the Temple Mount. When Jerusalem fell to the Egyptian-Turkish Sultan late 12th century he tried to undo the damage done by the Crusaders of the mount. The bedrock that was the foundation for the Jewish Temple and the Crusader Church was chipped away, and pieces of chipped rock thought of as sacred were sold for gold. 

In 1948, Israel returned home although Israel today must allow the Muslims to continue with some right to the Temple Mount due to the presence of the Dome of the Rock there. So, Muslim authorities control this small plot of land that belongs to Israel, and they do not allow Israel to dig or do archaeological studies under their sacred mosque without their monitor. Even they, today fear that the Temple Mount will be found out to be the sacred location of the ancient Temple. 

WHAT A BIBLICAL NATION LOOKS LIKE

What a Biblical Nation Looks Like

By CMI Director, Reggie Lisemby 

Should our country have walls, border patrol, free entrance for refugees, and rights for any/all minorities, faiths, and ethnicities? Is there a biblical model or biblical precepts of a Godly prototype? That would help!

We are living in apocalyptic times, so why not have a look at the Apocalypse, the Revelation, the only book that says it is Yeshua's disclosure (Revelation 1:1). It is also the only book in the Bible that promises a blessing to the one who reads, hears, and obeys (Revelation 1:1-3). Interestingly, many Christians are citing Jesus these days, but they have not read Him in His book, and they do not know Him. They are citing Him in the context of His OT appearance (Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John), but not regarding His NT words inaugurated at Pentecost, Acts 2. His grand finale in the Holy Scriptures is His own book that He gave Yochanonon Patmos, the scroll of Revelation. 

So, can anyone come into His nation? Yeshua did say, “come,” but there is a context to His invitation. The character of the heirs must match the character of His nation! Also, note that there is a wall, a great wall, and a high wall, all the way around the ‘holy nation.’ Is that to keep someone in or out? Ask Adam! 

There are twelve gates in that wall, three on the north, south, east, and west, and note there are twelve angels as border patrol. His ‘nation building’ book, the Apocalypse goes on to say, no refugees get in without their having the same character as that kingdom. Like Kingdom, Like Son! Outside the walls are those not allowed in. Their character doesn’t fit the spirit of the kingdom. These are “dogs” (the unclean), “sorcerers” (demon spirited), “immoral persons” (without Godly impetus), “murderers” (killers of babies in the womb, killers of parents, neighbors, others, even those who hate, Yeshua said), “idolaters” (lovers of other than the Bible-God), and “liars” (those who speak and live other than truth). Yeshuacontinues to say, that many nations will exist and all will demonstrate the same character of Himself. They will walk/comply to the light that beams forth out from His kingdom, and these nations will regularly send their ambassador-kings to visit.

America is not that kingdom, but neither is modern Israel or any other present nation. Yet, I like very much the idea of forming our country in the shadow of the coming messianic kingdom, don't you? His is a perfect model! This is what David did. This is what Solomon did. This is what Yeshua says in His book that He will do. 

Interestingly, the character of Yeshua and His father, God is maligned by religious humanists and leftists, today, who caricature our nation of America to be ‘godly’ only when we allow everyone to do what’s right in their own eyes. “Sound familiar? It should. It happened to Israel!

WHY MODERN [RABBINIC] JUDAISM IS DECEPTIVE TO BELIEVERS IN YESHUA AND THE JEWISH PEOPLE 

Modern Judaism is reinvented Judaism; it is not the Judaism of Yeshua! In AD 90 the Jewish rabbis and leaders met at Yavne to ‘fix’ colossal Jewish problems: (1) world Jewry misplaced from the holy land, (2) the destruction of the holy city, Jerusalem by the Romans in AD 70, (3) also, the destruction of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem, and therefore, (4) no sacred place for holy sacrifices, and (5) in response to the myriad Jews coming to faith in Yeshua. 

Messianic faith in Yeshua was the anticipated outcome of biblical OT Judaism, the authentic Judaism that originated probably with Moshe although some suggest Ezra and the Great Sanhedrin. When Yeshua appeared He clearly expected, He anticipated those of Judaic faith to recognize Him, and myriad Jews did recognize Him, like the Magi, (Jews and/or Arabs in the east descended from those in Babylon taught the scriptures by Daniel and others), the Jewish shepherds, and then the Jewess, Hanna and the Jew, Simeon both who knew Him as an eight-day old infant. Others recognized Yeshua the Messiah when He came for mikva or baptism, like Andrew who ran to tell Kefa his brother, "we have found Him of Whom the scriptures foretell!" Biblical Judaism was a faith that was (and is) not the same as Rabbinic Judaism which developed in and after the Babylonian captivity, and became more fully developed after Yeshua AD 33. Shaul/Paul described Judaism in his day as a ‘former’ lifestyle, not the same lifestyle as those with faith in Messiah, Yeshua. He described Judaism "set against the saints of God," a faith of hate and war against the spiritual seed, Yeshua and His followers, and a faith set against the Word of God. Rabbinic Judaism was and remains a Judaism in concert with ancestral traditions (Galatians 1:13-15) and rabbinic commentary. 

Jessie Penn-Lewis in her famous book,  “War on the Saints” (I recommend) makes the statement that the test of religious belief is (1) harmony to the whole logos or davar or the Word of God [from Genesis to Revelation], and (2) its attitude toward sin, savior, and the Cross. These two points above are targeted by the powers of darkness who seek to install deception in the minds of men. Deception is the main weapon used by the deceiver. His battle is against Truth. We are indeed in a "Truth War." Here are a few examples: Christian Science does not embrace ‘original’ sin, a need for a savior, or a need for the cross of Yeshua. Spiritism, Theosophy, Confucianism, Buddhism, and Mohammedanism all fail the test, and thus, are deceptions imputed by the powers of darkness. Modern [rabbinic] Judaism also rejects original sin, the need for a God-Savior (that God needs to die for His people) on the tree. Rather, modern [rabbinic] Judaism promotes yetzer hatov and yetzer hara. These are man's two inclinations, his good inclination, yetzer hatov, and our bad inclination, yetzer hara. Each person is said to have these two impulses and we choose between them. Man will obey one or the other of his two inclinations. This is, of course, works or merited salvation, though not considered "salvation" at all, rather man's intent. Rabbinic Judaism promotes man mastering his inclinations in order to be "heavenly" or gods. Modern [Rabbinic] Judaism does not believe in an original deposit of sin in our spirit due to one man, Adam's mistake, nor that man needs a God-sized savior to make a God-sized deposit of a God-oriented righteousness. Today's Judaism does not herald a need for a savior from sin, but rather Israel needs a political savior, a military king to deliver Israel from the goyim or Gentile nations all who are [typically] led by men operating under yetzer hara, bad inclinations which result in antisemitism.  The ‘savior’ Judaism anticipates is not a spiritual one, but a Napoleonic king of kings. The expected ‘messiah’ of Judaism would deliver all Israelis from crosses. In fact, the paradox is that the spirit of Rabbinic Judaism betrayed Yeshua and killed Him, while it suggest that its faith and practice is obedience to yetzer hatov, the good inclinations. 

How ironic that satan uses “Godward” desires as his opportunity to deceive, and religion is his zenith venue for deception. It was Havva's (Eve’s) Godward desire, "to be like God” that Satan used to deceive her to become like the devil. Godly desire can be a snare unto deception. Consider the myriad religions of the world in man's millennia of existence; think of the myriad "ways" to heaven without regard to Yeshua! Religion is the chief weapon of the prince of darkness.  

Satan has deceived myriad Jewish people by the venue of rabbinic Judaism! Sages and rabbis, their writings and their teachings deceive the Jewish people from the truth of the Holy Scriptures. What is more fearful are the myriad "Christians," or, those who say they are believers in Yeshua, who are ignorant of His Holy Scriptures, and who pine after Judaism as though it explains the Bible more exactly. Alternatively, the greatest anti-Semitism is for someone to withhold the truth, that is the doctrines of original sin, total depravity, the need for redemption, the coming of Messiah Yeshua, the Cross [of Calvary], Yeshua as the only way of salvation, and the ministry to the Holy Spirit Who brings the new birth. The Jewish people need these foundational doctrines to guide them to true messianic faith in their brother and messiah, Yeshua!

We must not celebrate modern rabbinic Judaism nor Jewishness nor the nation of Israel as though it is a newfound kingdom of God. Modern Israel and the Jewish people of this world are about to be deceived by the antichrist due to the hate of the enemy, his influence upon the world most who are unbelievers in Yeshua, the lies of Rabbinic Judaism among the Jewish people, and the disregard of Yeshua by the world and the Jewish people. Everyone outside Christendom is about to inherit the Great Tribulation and the great deceiver, the antichrist. We must challenge our Jewish friends toward Yeshua. He is the ONLY way of salvation! Do you believe this? Then, practice what you believe!

WHEN HAVE YOU HEARD THE RAPTURE PREACHED?

If we don't accept the biblical doctrine of the “Snatching” of the saints, then we can relax, because HE CAN NOT COME TODAY! Note in Matthew 24 WHEN Yeshua is coming:(1) immediately after the tribulation; (2) [after] the sun is darkened; (3) [after] the moon is dimmed; (4) [after] the stars fall out of orbit; (5) [after] space-quakes (cosmological convulsions); THEN (6) the Son of Man appears and every eye of the tribes of earth will see and mourn. Since, none of these have happened today, Yeshua, IS NOT COMING TODAY! Well, can He? 

Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken; and then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven; and then shall all the tribes of earth mourn, and they shall see the son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory and he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other (Matthew 24:5-8).

Eschatology is important, isn’t it? Yeshua gives us more of His exact movements in His coming, not signs, but exact steps! In His revelation, the final book of His Word He gave Yochanon to pen, the Apocalypse and these are the visuals of His coming: (1) heaven is opened; (2) He is coming on a white horse to judge and make war; (3) His armies of heaven follow and on white horses; (4) He smites the nations; and (5) He treads the winepress (Revelation 11:19-16). 

If one is blinded by satan (and many are) to the soon appearing of our Lord as a bride-groom for His bride, in the air, with the voice of the Archangel, snatching His bride from the earth to heaven for consummation of our marriage, then he will not be ‘seeing’ truth, and will interpret Yeshua’s return in error. Oy Vey! It is happening, beloved!

When is the last time you heard The Rapture preached? The last time I heard the pretribulation, premillennial appearing of Messiah to snatch His body from the earth before the great and terrible Day of the Lord (other than my message last Sunday at Riverside Baptist Church in Tiftonia, TN) was when CMI hosted Dr. Michael Rydelnik of the Moody Bible Institute at our Prophecy Conference in October 2017. Before that, other than Prophecy Conferences that Crystal and I attend, and my reference to the Rapture when I speak, I seldom hear it spoken. The Rapture is being attacked and/or removed from the pulpits. 

Are there biblical proofs for the doctrine of the snatching of saints? (1) Yeshua referenced the Abomination of Desolation of Daniel to happen again, although after the snatching. Read it! (Matthew 24); (2) Shaul/Paul referenced the disappearing of holy ones as words of comfort (1 Thessalonians 4:17); (3) the early church believed in the imminent return of the Lord for His bride; (4) the Holy Scriptures prophesy of Israel’s resurrection and restoration; (5) the church is not appointed to judgment or wrath; (6) the Second Coming is a literal descent of Yeshua to earth, on the Mount of Olives, in Jerusalem, in wrath, to reign for one-thousand years. In contrast, the ‘snatching’ of the Church is Yeshua in the air, as a bride-groom for His bride, in love, to bring us back to heaven for rewards and consummation, and there is no reference to wrath –not for the Church! 

The biblical Greek word harpazo means “snatched.” Fourteen times it appears in the New Testament and all fourteen times it means “snatched;” four of the fourteen appearances, it refers to the snatching of believers by God. Philip was snatched (Acts 8:39), Shaul/Paul was snatched to the 3rd heaven (2 Corinthians 2:2,3), the Church will be snatched prior to the Day of the Lord  (1 Thessalonians 4:17), Yochanon was snatched up to heaven after his messages to the seven churches [and, church ages] (Revelation 4:1), and the male child, Yeshua was snatched up to heaven and His throne (Revelation 12:5). 

The Holy Scriptures also mention other ‘snatchings’ of holy ones by God. Enoch walked with God and was no more for God ‘snatched’ Him (Genesis 5:24). Elijah was “snatched” by a whirlwind (2 Kings 2:1). Yeshua was snatched after His resurrection as the disciples beheld Him ascend (Acts 9-11). And, in the last days the two witnesses of the Lord (Moshe; Eliyah) will be murdered in Jerusalem, lay in the streets for three days, and then resurrect and be snatched up to heaven (Revelation 11:11,12).    

            Why preach or teach the snatching of the saints, the rapture? Why is it important? Foremost, eschatology always matters. It was those who knew [a little] eschatology who were able to recognize Yeshua at His first coming versus those who missed Him. One’s eschatological perspective also influences his and others interpretation of the Holy Scriptures (literal versus allegorical, symbolic, etc.), This is of paramount importance. Third, one’s interpretation, I believe, reveals one’s spiritual growth as a son of God since His Word is the Lord’s Word by which we are nourished and grow. Also, one’s eschatological beliefs qualify him (or, disqualify him) to warn believers and unbelievers of the last things that are here and soon to come. 

ISRAEL! WHOSE LAND DID YOU SAY IT WAS?

Can Christians herald the new nation of Israel since 1948 as the resurrected and re-gathered “last days Israel” prophesied in the Bible, the Israel to return to the land, blessed by God olam v’olam (“forever and forever”)? Modern Israel is opposed to God’s authentic King and Messiah, Yeshua, and the son of the Landlord, the divine King and Messiah had quite a lot to say about who inherits His kingdom estate! God has not covenanted the blessings and privileges of Avraham, Ytzack, and Yacov to the physical descendants who resist YHWH, refuse His New Covenant, discard His Messiah, and snub their nose at Yeshua, while continuing to live secular lives in opposition to God in the Holy Land.  

Can modern Israel, living in noncompliance to God’s decree concerning His Son, dictate the terms of their proprietorship or tenancy in the land according to political and/or national laws of military conquest –and while disregarding the Lordship of Yeshua? When one stops to regard the seriousness of Yeshua it is not a hard question, really. The Bible is simple and direct concerning the only begotten son of God, the Way, Truth, and Life, and the Landlord’s son. 

Zionists, both secular and religious claim the land belongs to the Jews, that the land is Israel’s. Period. Fundamental Christians and Christian Zionists join in promoting Israel’s entitlement to the land due to God’s unconditional covenant He made with Avraham, Ytzack, Yacov, andYacov’s dozen. The “Zionist” logic goes, that the Jews are descendants of the twelve tribes, they survived the Holocaust, they are back in the land, therefore, they are the heirs of the land. The unconditional aspect is lifted so high that they miss the conditional part of the individual participant who may inherit and enjoy the land IF he/she is truly a son or daughter of Avrahamby faith. From Adam andHavvah to the New Jerusalem, no one gets the land or can even abide in it for every long without the spirit of YHWHshua. 

Evangelical prophecy connoisseurs interpret Israel’s presence in the land today as the prophetic fulfillment of Ezekiel’s vision of dry bones (Ezekiel 37) and other OT prophesies that speak of Israel’s return to the land in the acharit hayomim, or, the last days. Those prophecies are true, and in the last days Israel has and will continue to return home as dry bones –but to receive the land they must receive His breath! Zechariah 13:8 says that two-thirds of last days Israel who return home will perish, and only one-third come through the fire or judgment –perhaps the Great Tribulation. We cannot lie to Israel, comforting them to believe they are the chosen people and the land is theirs, especially if they are without Yeshua. 

The Arabs also allege a legal inheritance to the land, advocating that Allah made His covenant with Ishmael, that Ishmael’s birth order was preeminent to Isaac’s, Esau’s birthright was stolen by Jacob, and that the land was first inhabited by their Canaanite cousins before Israel’s entry. The Israeli Palestinians who are Arabs claim that the land belongs to them due to tenure, and that the 84 percent majority Jewish Israelis of modern Israel are merely immigrants to Palestine since the Holocaust. Middle-Eastern Muslims argue the land belongs to Islam vis-à-vis Allah. But, Allah is a devil, and his prophet Muhammedwas a false prophet and is now in the hell compartment of Sheol, awaiting the lake of fire (ghenna) in the last of the latter days. Muslims need Yeshua, too! 

Our Lord did not promise Nahoror his descendants, Lotor his two sons and their seed, Ishmaelor his twelve tribes, Esauor the Edomites, or the boys of Avrahamand Keturah to inherit The Promised Land of Israel. The Bible is clear. Neither does the Bible promise any blessing to the non-remnant of Avraham, Ytzack, and Yacov-except the blessings that rain upon all man. Shaul/Paul made this a certain warning in the NT Scriptures. It is the sons of promise that inherit the blessings and not the sons of the bondwoman, Hagar, and he was not talking about Jews and Arabs in Galatians 4:22-31. Shaul/Paul was talking about the spiritual birth in contrast to those who born only in the flesh. Jerusalem and the Jews of Shaul/Paul’s day were likened to Hagarin verse 25 (“present Jerusalem”), not born miraculously like unto Ytzack, but born by a natural fleshly birth, in the flesh, walking in the flesh, fleshly –like Ishmael. 

In Romans 9 Shaul/Paul is clear that it is the remnant who inherit the blessings, and “all Israel shall be saved” (Romans 11). This is the last days remnant Israel. Today, God is gathering His remnant. This is what CMI is all about, the Father’s work of gathering all that the Father has given to the Son. Those the Father has NOT given to the Son do not get the land, be they Jews, Arabs, Palestinians, Irish, Dutch, Asians, African-American, and etc. etc. The Landlord remains Lord of Israel! 

HIS LAND IS EDEN IN THE MILLENNIUM

Grounded in the Avrahamic covenant, the promise of the land is unconditional. The covenant made by Elohim guaranteed that the land of Canaan will eventually be the land of Israel, forever. The land will be Israel’s estate. Israel is the landlord’s rightful heir. Israel will inherit the land and reign in it (Genesis 12:1-3; 15:1-21; 16:1-16; 17:1-8, 15-22; 21:12; 28:4; 50:24; Exodus 2:24; Deuteronomy 9:5; 2 Kings 13:23; Psalm 105:9-11; Micah 7:18,20; Luke 1:67-75; Acts 3:25,26; Romans 9:4,5; Galatians 3:8,17; Hebrews 6:13-20). 

Biblically, the enjoyment of the land had specific provisos. Obedience was required of those who would occupy the land, and Israel’s return to the land from exile was contingent upon Israel’s return to the Lord of the Land (2 Chronicles 7:14). Deliverance from a swarm and army of insects, or a swarm and army of men was and still is contingent upon Israel’s genuine repentance (Joel 2:12).

At the close of the Old Testament scriptures, ZecharYah, the most messianic of the prophets speaks specifically about the final return of the Jewish people to the land of Israel and their reception of the Lord, Yeshua. Unlike the erroneous Replacement Theology bias of Catholicism, Presbyterianism, Episcopalians, some Baptists and evangelicals, the land of Israel is not merely a metaphor or a symbol of a greater place beyond its soil. Scripture is clear that the physical and geographical estate of Israel will exist in the last days, and living in it as rightful heirs will be a literal, spiritual, community of Jewish people, believers in Messiah Yeshua. That future Israel, both the land and the people, will be a light among and to the nations.

Elohimhas not changed His mind or His program. There is no Plan B. The land of Israel is never spiritualized to be only a ‘type’ as some suggest. Israel is an actual microcosm of the earth, not an allusion or an allegory of it. Israel, the land and the people, will abide in the territorial geographical estate promised the patriarchs.

The precept of obedience to YHWH while in His land is historical and biblical and prophetic and it will be played out in pristine form in the geographical land of Israel which will encompass the whole Fertile-Crescent, perhaps 500,000 square miles in comparison to Israel’s 12,000 square miles today. 

The millennial reign of Yeshua, the son of David, son of Adam, and the messiah of Israel extends beyond the land of Israel to the lands of Europe, Asia, America, the entire globe, to nations worldwide. The Lord Yeshua will literally sit upon a physical throne, the throne of David, in a literal building, the Temple of Messiah, on a literal geographical hill, the Mountain of Moriah, in a literal city, the New Jerusalem, in a literal state, the country of Israel, within this literal earth. This will be a fulfillment of biblical prophecy, and is not allegory, allusion, or spiritual fiction! Yeshua’s millennial reign is not a novel. He is coming, and He is coming to His millennial Temple in Jerusalem in Israel with David as His Prime Minister, the Apostles as His administrators, and the Church as His Knesset. Within the coming millennial kingdom, the people of Israel will rightfully inherit the Holy Land, all of it, as prophesied by ZecharYah (2:12) and the prophets. 

While there is no physical space or site that is inherently holy, when our Lord comes to His land, and is embraced by His remnant people, and He inaugurates His one-thousand-year [millennial] reign as earth’s rightful king, His glory will fill the Middle Eastern Israeli Temple that He Himself will build and inaugurate, and it will be like the Garden of Eden. His Temple will be the Garden of Eden!  “Then dust particles of old will dissipate, and the land made holy will be the true land.”

From THE LAND OF ISRAEL, THE LORD OF ISRAEL by Dr. Reginald K. Lisemby at Amazon.com

BIBLICAL PATRIARCHS WERE SYRIANS, NOT JEWS

The biblical patriarchs were Syrians who came to be called Hebrews. The term "Jew" was a much later term applied to the Israelites from the tribe of Judah. The Holy Scriptures speak of Avram/Avraham(“father of peoples”) and his sons, Ytzack (“to laugh”) and Yaaqov (“to supplant”) as “Hebrews,” their names being Hebraic (Genesis 14:13). We may assume Hebrew to have been their [own] dialect since they were identified as Ivrit (Hebrews) in the holy scriptures, although ethnically they were Syrian. Avram was a wondering/perishing Syrian by birth (Deuteronomy 26:5). Ytzack, was then full-blooded Syrian (being the son of Avraham and Sarah), and Revkah his wife was also Syrian living with her brother Laban, before her marriage to Ytzack in Paddan-Aram, the Aramean capital of Mesopotamia (Genesis 25:20; 28:5; 31:24). Later, Yaaqov a Syrian by birth of Revkah and Ytzack, and his grandparents, Avraham and Sarah(Genesis 29) was sent here to obtain a wife and obtained two, both Syrian.

Yaaqov took two wives, RachEl and LeAch, both Laban’s daughters, both Syrian, as was Yaaqov’s two handmaids, Bilhah and Zippah (Genesis 28:5; 31:20,24). This being true, the twelve sons of Yaaqov who became the twelve tribes of Ysrael (Israel was Yaaqov’s new (born-again name) were then, Syrian, that is, ethnically. 

Yisrael was not initially an ethnic group, but an appellation placed upon Yaaqov by God. Yaaqov wrestled with God and not letting God go without a blessing, he was thereby rewarded with the new name Yisrael. His genealogy, blood-line, DNA, and family genome was not altered, just his soul; flesh remained flesh. Ysrael was a name given to a man who was by descent, a Syrian. A Syrian became Israel. All twelve of this man’s sons and a daughter named Dinah all ethnically Syrian came to be called Yisrael, the appellation of their father, Yaaqov. If we could go back and visit them, and enter their tribal camp, we could legitimately say, “Shalom to all the Syrians now calling themselves Yisrael. Shalom! Shalom!”

Later, the term Yisrael was used to identify the family of Yaaqov’s land, then, his myriad descendants formed a nation and called themselves, Yisrael. Later, they were the confederacy of the northern ten tribes in contrast to the southern kingdom of Yehudah (Judah).

           As for the term, Jew, it is an English word derived from the Hebrew, Yehudi i.e. the tribe of Yehudah (Judah) distinguished from the other eleven tribes. No one was ever called “Jew” until the invention of the English language, and just as the plural of Jew is “Jews, Yehudim is the plural of Yehudah. So, during the time of the patriarchs, Avraham, Ytzack, and Yaaqov the term Yehudi or Jew did not exist of a people group since Yehudah was not yet born. It was during the Babylonian captivity that the term was applied, speaking of those of the tribe of Yehudah who was most in number. Collectively, the twelve tribes were called Ivrit (Hebrews) and Yisrael.

            When God exiled the northern ten nations collectively called Yisrael, He exiled them back home, to Syria. Syria and Israel share a common border, although this new ‘spiritual’ people, the “Israel of God” are promised not only their land today and not only the land of Syria today, but some 500,000 square miles of land which includes the totality of the fertile crescent which includes Lebanon, Iran, Turkey, Iraq, and more.

            Today, Syria, the people of OT Israel, the people of the biblical patriarchs, need our prayers. 6.5 million Syrians are displaced internally. 1.5 million Syrians have been driven from their homes. 70% of Syria are without adequate drinking water. The UN says that $3.2 billion dollars is needed to help 13.6 million Syrian people, 6 million who are children. 500,000 Syrian people are in 15 besieged locations, and the IS (Islamic State) has capitalized on the chaos and taken control of large swathes of Syria and Iraq. There is also a humanitarian crises in Syria. 4.5 million Syrians have fled Syria, mostly women and children, and Lebanon, Jordan, and Turkey are struggling to deal with the exodus.                  

CHRISTIAN ELDERS ACCORDING TO THE JEWISH SCRIPTURES

The following is a list of the heavenly beings created by Elohim referenced in the Holy Scriptures: Arch-Angels (Jude 9; Luke 1:26); Seraphim (Isaiah 6:2); Cherubim (Genesis 3:24); Four Living Creatures (Revelation 4:6); Angel with a Loud Voice (Revelation 5:2); Seven Spirits (1 Kings 22:21; Revelation 3:2); Angel of the Lord or Metatron (Genesis 22:11); angels (Matthew 22:30); council of holy ones (Psalms 89:7); heavenly hosts/armies (Psalm 89:8); sons of God (Genesis 6:2; Job 1:6; 2:1); twenty-four elders (Revelation 4:4,10); and perhaps Melchizedek (Hebrews 5). 

In the Apocalypse the twenty-four elders sit upon their thrones surrounding the throne of God; they are clothed in white garments, they have golden crowns (Revelation 4:4), each one has a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are prayers of the saints (Revelation 5:8). The elders sing and the song they sing is recorded for us in the Scriptures. Following their song, they fall before the Lord on the Throne and worship Him (Revelation 5:9-11). The book of Revelation is better known by the messianic believers as the NT Apocalypse and it is potently Hebraic. To know the Apocalyptic scroll, one must know the OT. Like the entire New Testament, the Apocalypse was also 'born' in the Jewish womb. The Messiah was Jewish, the twelve disciples were Jews, their ministry was in the Jewish land of Israel, the first church was Jewish, the first pastors/elders were Jewish, and for certain the Messianic Kehillah church interpreted itself to be the fulfillment of the OT scriptures. The church blossomed from OT Judaism, and the term, "Elder" is Jewish in origin and thought! So, who is an elder, and who are the elders?

The Akkadian word for elder is sibum, the Latin word is senator, the Greek word is geron, the Arabic word is sheikh, and the Hebrew word is zakhan. In the TeNaK or OT the primary use of “elder” was within a coterie of men, always older men, always a distinct moral grade, and always spiritual leaders of Israel. The OT zakhanim ("elders" plural) were the “wise ones," the consulting body of the city, and proclaimers of the law. The elders being law abiding ones themselves, appointed leaders who would lead by Law (1 Samuel 8:4; Judges 11:5-10). The elders were also the ones who proclaimed war (Joshua 8:10; II Samuel 17:4–15; cf. I Kings 20:7),and the ones who performed sacred ceremonies and rituals (Exodus 12:21; 18:12; Leviticus 9:1; I Samuel 4:3; I Kings 8:1, 3; I Chronicles 16:25). Elders were not priests, but administrators who using the Law selected the priests and observed them (Exodus 19:7; 24:1,9; Deuteronomy 27:1; 29:9; 31:9; Joshua 8:33; 24:1; cf. II Kings 23:1). To be an elder was an honor, a position to which one was selected (Proverb 31:23; Job 29:7ff.).

When the Jewish New Covenant  began, near AD 33 (Acts 2) all believers became [and are] priests (1 Peter 2:5, 9). Under the OT one must be a Levite to be a priest, and to be a Cohen or High Priest he had to be of Aaronic descent. In the NT all believers are kings, while in the OT only Judahite men of the Davidic dynasty were authentic and legitimate Kings. In the NT all believers belong to the assembly or congregation of God, although elders are selected legally by the church, not by a popular vote. 
The NT elder is like the OT elder in some ways. He is chosen to an office (1Timothy 3:1), he does not select himself, and the qualifications are legal points, not just theological ones, and no elder is appointed an elder by God's good NT grace. An elder was not selected to his office because he displayed the fruits of the spirit. Even in the NT he must fit a legal pattern (1Timothy 3:1-7). The term elder is a synonym with bishop and overseer (episkopous), all three fulfilling the same function (1 Timothy 3:1; 4:14; 5:17; Titus 1:5,7).

The Jewish NT elder followed the Jewish OT pattern of governing, except the NT elder governed by a different law, the law of Yeshua or Messiah and not the Mosaic law. When Shaul or Paul gave the qualifications for elder in the NT the qualifications are according to the NT Law just as the OT elders governed by the Mosaic law. Churches seldom realize we are governed by the law of messiah. The NT Church are not antinomians or having "no law" as Shaul contested in Galatia. Believers are free in the sense of having the spirit and power now to obey God. We are not free from authority and commands. Believers are free to obey the Law of Messiah.
Eldership is according to NT law and even if the kindest and most studied believer does not fit the legal requirements for elder, he is disqualified. Note the first primary qualification for elder. In the scriptures below he is to be “above reproach” and “the husband of one wife” (NASV, ESV, KJV, NKJV, CSB, DARBY, GNB, HCSB, LEB, RV, WEB, WMB, YLT). Yeshua had already given the NT law of marriage, divorce, and remarriage (Luke 16:18; Mark 10:11,12; Mat.5:32) and Shaul’s law is in harmony with Yeshua (1 Cor.7:10-11, 39; Rom. 7:1-3). Ish shel Isha Echad, “husband having one wife!” It’s the law!

THE BIBLICAL PROTOCOL OF MISSIONS

          At the end of HaBesorahal-Mattityahu (the tidings of Matthew) what we call the Gospel of Matthew are some of the last words of Yeshua to His talmidim or disciples. These are not His last words. His last words are in His book, HitGalut or “Unveilings” what we call The Revelation. In what is often called The Great Commission Yeshua commissioned His disciples “to go therefore and make disciples of all the nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost/Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with your always even to the end of the age.”  The verse is loaded, but one point we can embrace is that this passage teaches the gospel must go to all nations, Israel is a nation, and so the Jews are included. After all the commission was given by a Jew, to Jews, to reach Jews! 

Lukos records for us more concerning the mandate of missions, in his historical account called Ma’Asei HaShelichimor “deeds/acts of the Apostles.” During His forty-day retreat with His beloved disciples, Yeshua prioritized the venue; they were to begin in Jerusalem (literally, Jerusalem, not where you and I live), then out to Judea (not across town), and on outward to Samaria (all these geographical places are in Israel), and then to the ends of the earth (this is where you and I live, remote from the Holy City). That is pretty simple, right? Yes, unless you allegorize the text. And, this has not been practiced in two-thousand years -until today!

Shaul/Paul gave us more about biblical missions. In Romans 1:16 Shaul wrote of the divine protocol of missions, what he practiced, what His Lord Yeshua practiced, and what the NT church should practice. The protocol was a gospel of good tidings for the Jews first, and also to the Gentiles. Of course, since salvation was of the Jews (John 4:22), salvation was relevant to the Jews (Rom.11:26), and there has always been and always will be a remnant of Jewish believers (Rom.11:4-9). Rome, however, did not embrace Shaul’s words and Rome eventually began promoting Replacement Theology. The Pope of Rome was allegorized, then dogmatized to be the “New” High Priest, the city of Rome was allegorized, then dogmatized to be the “New” Holy City, the Vatican was allegorized, then dogmatized to be the “New” Temple, and finally, the Catholic Church was allegorized and then canonized to be the “New” Holy Church. 

        However, the NT authors were often writing to the twelve tribes and not to a Gentile congregation. They knew God has always had a remnant, and they considered the Church being primarily Jewish. At first it was, all Jewish. That had not changed, yet. Shaul before King Agrippa reminds him that the Gospel which he believes and is accused, is Jewish and the hope for the twelve tribes today (Acts 26:7). Yaaqov (James) wrote his epistle to “the twelve tribes scattered abroad” (James 1:1). Yochanon penning the final words of Yeshua called The Revelation, wrote of the twelve tribes, the 12,000 believers from all twelve tribes, and together numbering 144,000. These will be, not the remnant, but the last-days evangelists reaching the remnant and the world for messiah (Rev.7).

        Clearly, “all Israel” will be saved! The remnant has always been reached and saved, in Noach’s day, in Elijah’s day, in fact, Yeshua said ALL whom His Father had given Him, would, indeed, come to Him. 

        Christian Ministry to Israel is about reaching this remnant before the next holocaust. The next holocaust will be perpetuated by the 4^thReich, the kingdom of the antichrist, and it will be worse than Hitler’s Nazi Party, the Brown Shirts, and Storm Troopers. Zechariah reads that two-thirds of last days Jewish people will perish, but one-third will be saved (13:8). 

        Let us be very careful celebrating the modern nation of Israel, its Prime Minister Netanyahu, and the “glory” of Israel. Israel today has a population of 9 million, yet less than 1% are believers, even in YHWH, and less believe in YeshuaHis son. Celebrity gives false security. Someone wrote that it is a pathway to hell. Our task must be to continue to take the Gospel to the Jews first, and collect the remnant (Romans 9:1-13).

  

HOLY LAND! IS THERE SUCH A THING?

Yeshua, Son of God and Son of Adam was conceived in the Holy Land. He was born in the Holy Land. Yeshua lived in the Holy Land. Yeshua was taught in the Holy Land. Yeshua was bar- mitzvahed in the Holy Land. Yeshua was baptized in the Holy Land, was driven to the wilderness in the Holy Land, and He mastered His adversary in the Holy Land.

Yeshua walked the Holy Land, heralded God’s Word in the Holy Land, performed His messianic ministry in the Holy Land, discipled His talmidim in the Holy Land, and healed, helped, and did miracles in the Holy Land. Yeshua wept and was betrayed, beaten, pierced, lashed, and crucified in the Holy Land. Yeshua died, He was buried, and He resurrected in the Holy Land; He ascended back to heaven from the Holy Land just as the angels had ascended from Yisrael to heaven on the ladder of Yaaqov’s dream. Yeshua’s ghost blew into the upper room in Yerushalayim in the Holy Land and baptized His followers. The Gospel went out to all the nations of the earth from the Holy Land after first being heralded in Yerushalayim, Yehudea, and Shomeron in the Holy Land.

Holy Land! Is there such a thing? The nevi (prophet) Zechariah prophesied of a Holy Land in the earth that is the inheritance of Yeshua (Zechariah 2:12). The nevi Isaiah spoke of the Holy City in the Holy Land (Isaiah 52:1). The nevi Ezekiel spoke of the Holy Sanctuary in the Holy City in the Holy Land (Ezekiel 23:38), and the nevi Haggai speaks of the Holy One who is coming to the Holy Sanctuary in the Holy City in the Holy Land (Haggai 2:3). The Holy Bible prophesies that He is coming, confirms that He came, and reveals that He is coming again. Where is He coming? To the Holy Land!

For now, Holy God is dwelling in another place. The Holy One, Yeshua now resides within the Kodesh Kodeshim or the Holy of Holies of His People, the Church, His kehilat or synagogue, that is, His congregation. In the near future the Holy One and Jewish Messiah, Yeshua is predestined to return, first, in the clouds, the same way He ascended to heaven in Acts 2, to seize His bride in the Rapture. Second, He is then coming in bodily form with His assembly/church to His vineyard, His garden, His backyard, the Holy Land. Yeshua is coming as theSecond Adam. He will physically and bodily reign upon the Davidic throne in His Messianic Kingdom over all the earth for one- thousand years, ruling over all the nations of the earth as the firstAdam should have done. The Holy Scriptures predict that ten Gentiles will grab the garment of a Jew and will say, “let us go up with you for we have heard that God is with you;” and they will come to see the Lord in His Holy Land (Zechariah 8:23).

Finally, the eternal state will be a Holy Land called theNew Yerushalayim, a Holy City coming down out of heaven prepared as a bride for her husband (Revelation 21). Eden and theNew Yerushalayim are bookends of the Bible, at the beginning and end of the holy scrolls, in Genesis and Revelation. Eden and theNew Yerushalayim are the Holy Land where God once dwelled and will dwell again with man.

Our “going up” or aliya to the Holy Land is a study and a dress rehearsal for what lies ahead for us as believers. Going to Israel is a God-given opportunity. If you love Yeshua/Jesus and long to know Him better you will definitely benefit from a visit to His Holy Land. Yeshua is at the borders. He is at the four seas.Yeshua is in the Judean wilderness. He is in the myriad mountains of Israel’s backbone. Yeshua is in the valleys. He is in the myriad biblical cities. Yeshua is at the Jordan, in the Shepherds Field, at Jacob’s Well, at Cana, Nazareth, Magdala, the Mount of Beatitudes, all the other places you will visit, and especially inYerushalayim. Every place has a message for you from and aboutYeshua.

The Holy Land is the 5th Gospel! There is no other land on earth YHWH God calls, “My land.” The prophets called the land, “His land.” You are invited to come and see the Lord in His Holy Land.

Order your copy of DISCOVERING THE HOLY LAND

THE DARK NIGHT OF THE NATIVITY

What happens when Messiah is born in you?  David Jeremiah wrote in his book, When Your World Falls Apart, “the spiritual masters have told us but we have not heard, that we live in a skin-deep world where the world glorifies cloths, fashions, makeup, tummy tucks, facials, nose jobs, climbing the ladder, but that Godly character and substance are shaped in the “dark nights,”in the Gethsemanes, in the deserts -at Christmas…Show me someone who lives a carefree life with no problems or trials or dark nights of the soul and I’ll show you a shallow person.”

Charles Spurgeon wrote, 

“I bear willing witness that I owe more to the fire, and the hammer, and the file, than to anything else in my Lord’s workshop. I sometimes question whether I have ever learned anything except through the rod. When my schoolroom is darkened, I see most.”

God always intends the dark nights in our lives to have a purpose! Y’sraelin bondage to Egypt, Y’sraelin captivity to Babylon, Y’sraelunder Persian and then Roman rule all had a purpose in God’s design. Miriam and Yosephbeing judged, ostracized, neurotic, uncomfortable and in pain, far from home, and alone was for a [grand] purpose. The shepherds being frightened, Rachel’s children being murdered, and the parents deposed of their babies dressed in blue all were in the profound and majestic messianic purpose of the Almighty God although a very mysterious plan. Years later when Yeshuawould be betrayed, forsaken, sold, beaten, crucified, and placed on a cross, these things also would be purposed by God for a grand, colossal theme.

Shaul’s(Paul’s) thorn in the flesh, Yochanon’sincarceration on Patmos, Kepha(Peter) being crucified upside down, John Hus opposing Catholicism then burned at the stake, all had an eternal purpose. The Holocaustfrom 1939-1945, and every disruptive moment that comes into our lives, whether a nation or an individual has HIS great purpose! God intends that the dark nights for all who have lost husbands, wives, children, parents, loved ones, or their health to be for His good (Romans 8:28)! 

We celebrate HaMolad, the Nativity which initiated the Gospel or “Good News,”although it was the most sinister and dark moment in God’s and Y’srael’shistory, and in the history of the world! We will have dark nights! Just when we have everything arranged like we want it, just when all looks well, we are caught up, we have planned to retire, to spend time seeing the world, to grow old together, the disaster hits. We get bad news, a bad report, a bad word, a jolt, some unwelcome and unanticipated news and tribulation. Then, we ask, “why?”David Jeremiah when facing cancer wrote, “at that darkest and most dismal or hours, there may be no silence deeper than the silence of a hospital corridor…the nights were worse, they were long and dark and lonely.”

Jeremiah writes that enemies will always be at the gate. The devil is our enemy. The world is our enemy. Our old nature is our enemy. Age is our enemy. Disease is our enemy. Fear is our enemy. A friend can betray you. A spouse may be unfaithful. A son or daughter may desert you. A brother or sister may prove to be uncaring. A parent may disown you. We receive terrifying news. Yet, this we know. God allows trials and suffering and does so tomake us better, to strengthen us, to help us, to make us more like Him , which should be our greatest desire! 

Christmas must not be a once-a-year event, a festive celebration that leaves us with anti-climatic depression. HaMolad is the promised hope for us amid a holocaust around us that YHWHshuaGod is with us, for us, and in us. Don’t let Christmas be a day or a gift in a box. Let Christmas be your reality.

THE HOLY SEED ALWAYS IN JEOPARDY

THE HOLY SEED IS ALWAYS IN JEOPARDY!

by Reginald (Reggie) Lisemby

The spiritual battle that God proclaimed in Genesis 3 (Holy War is biblical and YHWH proclaimed it, not satan) is a legal one. God is bound to His spiritual laws for by them He exists and by His spiritual laws heaven and earth, all creation functions. God cannot bully His way through eternity because He is God. When Adam lost his God-image and his position as God’s Viceroy over the realm of earth that was given to him by God, God could not take it back by brute force just because God is God. God must win back the realm of heaven and earth and His monarch, Adam legally!  Two-thousand years ago, Yoseph and Miriam had to obey God and “run for their lives”down to Egypt from BeitLechem since Herod was coming. Herod came and he murdered all the babies in the city of David. The seed was in jeopardy.

When the Apostle Shaul/Paul wrote to warn believers of demons, powers of darkness, principalities in hierarchy [places] he was in essence saying that spiritual beings, spiritual battle, human life and death operate by spiritual rules and laws. Be warned! Therefore, “put on the armor to stand…having done all to stand.”Satan is a roaring lion that does devour, and he is not toothless; he can hurt us. Thankfully, Yoseph listened and obeyed the angel in his dream and “got out of town”quickly. What is God telling you to do?

The “seed of woman”was promised at the beginning in Genesis 3 as God’s declaration of war, spiritual war on the serpent, the devil. Genesis 3:15 is the “Mother Prophecy”of all biblical prophecies; the verse is termed in Latin, protoevangelium meaning“first gospel.”Following that first prophecy not only did the patriarchs begin “looking”for the coming of “the Seed,”but all spiritual beings in the atmosphere began to investigate the terms of God’s war and His prescription of the coming champion. 

When Cain murdered Abel, the messianic seed was in jeopardy. Yet, God gave Seth. When Satan immediately began to devise a program to clone human DNA and to intermarry and amalgamate with human women (for by woman the seed is coming) the messianic seed who must be pure human was in jeopardy. Yet, God saved Noach and his family. When Sarah was taken by Abimelech into his harem, the Seed was in jeopardy. But God cursed Abimelech’s house. When God was considering destroying the entire nation of Israel and the seed of woman was in jeopardy, Moshein the spirit of Yeshua moved upon God as mediator, and said “kill me instead!”

Two-thousand years ago, in the shadows of the dark, dank, cavity in the earth, the place where Yeshua was born, in the presence of Yoseph, Miriam, the cattle, sheep, and other things present, though unseen, the destroyer was there; he was there to kill the Seed of Woman the moment He was born (Revelation 12). The recourse God had -since Yeshua was now a man- was to move upon Yoseph to escape the Seed and his human parents out from the grasp of Herod.

Why didn’t God simply give Herod cancer, a heart attack, a stoke, or a camel-wreck and have the wretch fall off the precipice of a cliff? God does not always protect us from bullies, from diseases, from spiritual powers. We must listen very attentively to Him and obey Him. The seed of woman had been in jeopardy since Genesis 3, throughout the generations of the stories of the Holy Scriptures, and then especially what we call today, Christmas night. Yes, it was Lailah Kadosh or a holy night, but it was also a Lailah Choshech, a night of darkness!

Beloved, did you know that you were also promised?  Believers in Yeshua are like Yeshua;we were foreknown, predestined, determined, known in the embryo, chosen in the birth-canal, and convicted and drawn to Yeshuain life. Thus, like Yeshua our spiritual brother, we constitute the “holy seed.” Satan is not omniscient, he does not know everything, but he knows God’s design, and he recognizes (sometimes) God’s holy seed!