Showing posts with label God’s people. Show all posts
Showing posts with label God’s people. Show all posts

Thursday 26 March 2015

Solution for Willing hearts filled with gifts

Getting closer to the 14th of Nisan, the most important day of the year in which we celebrate our salvation, we think about freedom or liberty.

Many people may be caught in chains but not aware of it. Many may be bounded to this world, but not aware of it. Lots of people can  not find true wisdom because they are not really interested in the reality and truth. For lots of people what is important is that hey enjoy life as much as they can. But they forget that lots of problems they get in life are just because they have not liberated their thoughts from the binding with this world.

In ancient times we can find the Israelites giving ear to their leader Moshe (Moses) and bringing a freewill offering to the Most High Elohim Hashem Jehovah. They were not yet so bounded to the material goods like many present inhabitants of this world. At that time every man and woman whose heart was willing to bring materials for all the work that God through Moses had commanded them to do, were prepared to take time for God and to bring offerings. Moses told them who God had chosen to fill them with His Power, giving them skill, with understanding, with knowledge, and in all kinds of work. The men of God got all sorts of skills,  to design artistic designs, to work in gold, in silver, and in bronze,  and in cutting stones for their setting, and in cutting wood, to do work in every artistic craft.

Though He not only gave them skill and wisdom just for themselves, but also to put the things in their heart to teach.
Exo 35:29-35 MKJV  The sons of Israel brought a willing offering to Jehovah, every man and woman whose heart made them willing to bring for all kinds of work which Jehovah had commanded to be made by the hand of Moses.  (30)  And Moses said to the sons of Israel, See, Jehovah has called the son of Uri the son of Hur, by the name Bezaleel, of the tribe of Judah.  (31)  And He has filled him with the spirit of God in wisdom, in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all kinds of work,  (32)  and to devise designs, to work in gold, and in silver, and in bronze,  (33)  and in the cutting of stones to set, and in carving of wood, to make any kind of skillful work.  (34)  And He has put in his heart that he may teach, he and Aholiab the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan.  (35)  He has filled them with wisdom of heart to work all kinds of work; of the smith, and of the skillful worker, and of the embroiderer, in blue, and in purple, in scarlet, and in bleached linen, and of the weaver, of those who do any work, and of those who work out artful work.
These days we think about the many challenges the People of God received.

Exodus 1:1-22 had portrayed in graphic detail the suffering which Pharaoh had inflicted upon the Israelites. Exodus 2:1-25 shows us what God wanted do about it. God's solution consists not in some phenomenal miracle or in the promotion of a mighty Israelite leader who was already alive (either of which we might have expected, had we not already known the story). God's solution consists instead in the birth of a son.

This provides both a pattern for the future and a salutary lesson. One day God would again send a son -- this time His Own -- to deliver a people from slavery. Again He would prepare the child from birth, bringing it safely from the womb and nourishing and developing it for the immense task that lay ahead. the Old Testament shows us how a begin was made to create a people and in the New Testament we can find again an other people was finding a creation with a creation of a New Word, Jesus Christ becoming the firstborn of that creation.

In the 4th chapter of Exodus we do find signs showing God's control over life and death, how inanimate objects can become alive; living things can become dead!
In the 5th chapter we find God not requesting His people's freedom, but Him demanding it!

God requires actions from Moses, Pharaoh and form those men and women who say they want to worship the Only One True God. God is willing to hear their moaning and is willing to come close to them and to liberate them form slavery.

The world was going to see what the Adonai Creator of heaven and earth was going to do to Pharaoh, for compelled by His strong Hand Jehovah will release His People, and by His strong Hand He drove them out of the land of Egypt.
All people had come to know that This Liberator is the Most High Saviour, like there is no other.   God spoke to Moses and declared Who He is and Who the people should come to know Who He is.

The Great One Who appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as God Almighty, had to become known by His Holy Name. In ancient Egypt God was not yet known by the people over there. Though He gave them His Name and established His covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, where they were living as resident foreigners. He also heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians were enslaving, and He had remembered His covenant.  Therefore Moses had to tell the Israelites that He, Jehovah is the Most High LORD Who would bring them out from their enslavement to the Egyptians. It is this Most High Adonai Who will rescue us from the hard labor we are imposes. The Judaic people received the assurance that God will redeem them with an outstretched arm and with great judgments and will take them to Himself for a people, and He will be their God.  Then also they will know that He is the LORD their God, who brought them out from their enslavement to the Egyptians.
Then Jehovah also promised them again that He will bring them to the land He swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob — and He will give it to them as a possession because He is the Lord over all the lords, the God of gods.

Exo 6:1-8 MKJV  And Jehovah said to Moses, Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh. For with a strong hand he shall let them go, and with a strong hand he shall drive them out of his land.  (2)  And God spoke to Moses, and said to him, I am Jehovah.  (3)  And I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as God Almighty. But I was not known to them by the name JEHOVAH.  (4)  And I also established My covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their travels, in which they traveled.  (5)  And I have also heard the groaning of the sons of Israel, those whom the Egyptians are keeping in bondage. And I have remembered My covenant.  (6)  Therefore say to the sons of Israel, I am Jehovah, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rescue you out of their bondage. And I will redeem you with a stretched-out arm, and with great judgments.  (7)  And I will take you to Me for a people, and I will be to you a God. And you shall know that I am Jehovah your God, who brings you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.  (8)  And I will bring you in to the land concerning which I lifted up My hand to give it to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. And I will give it to you for a heritage. I am Jehovah!
Knowing the Only One True God, God's people has to come together to worship this Adonai but also to remember what happened in ancient Egypt.  therefore all over the world millions of believers will gather after sunset on the 3rd of April to remember the liberation of God's People and the provision for those who want to follow the send one from God.

Please be welcome at the remembrance services Friday night April 3, 2015

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Find also to read:
  1. Death of Christ on the day of preparation
  2. Imprisonment and execution of Jesus Christ
  3. For the Will of Him who is greater than Jesus
  4. On the first day for matzah
  5. Servant for the truth of God
  6. The Anointed One and the first day of No Fermentation
  7. Vayikra after its opening word וַיִּקְרָא, which means and He called
  8. Slave for people and God 
  9. Servant of his Father 
  10. Self inflicted misery #3 A man given to suffer for us 
  11. 14 Nisan a day to remember #1 Inception
  12. 14 Nisan a day to remember #2 Time of Jesus
  13. 14 Nisan a day to remember #3 Before the Passover-feast
  14. 14 Nisan a day to remember #4 A Lamb slain
  15. 14 Nisan a day to remember #5 The Day to celebrate
  16. 14-15 Nisan and Easter
  17. Around the feast of Unleavened Bread
  18. A Holy week in remembrance of the Blood of life
  19. High Holidays not only for Israel
  20. Festival of Freedom and persecutions
  21. Timely Growth
  22. A Messiah to die
  23. Impaled until death overtook him
  24. Swedish theologian finds historical proof Jesus did not die on a cross
  25. Why 20 Nations Are Defending the Crucifix in Europe
  26. Christ having glory
  27. Kingdom Visions of a Man, Throne and Great crowd
  28. Salvation, trust and action in Jesus #3 as a Christian
  29. Self inflicted misery #6 Paying by death
  30. After the Sabbath after Passover, the resurrection of Jesus Christ
  31. Vrijdag 3 april 2015 een dag voor verenigde samenkomst ter herinnering
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Friday 22 March 2013

High Holidays not only for Israel

In Deliverance and establishement of a theocracy we saw that the Creator God provided twice in history a Passover lamb.

Map of the Land of Israel as defined in Number...
Map of the Land of Israel as defined in Numbers 34 and Ezekiel 47 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

In coming together next Tuesday 26 March we bring glory to God and show how thankful we are for what He provided in this world. The 14th of Nisan, like that day is called according the directions of God, we commemorate two occasions of deliberation: 1. the liberation of God's People Israel from Egypt; 2. the liberation of all people, believers, heathen, non-believers by the sacrificial offer of Jesus Christ, the Messiah.


Many in Belgium know about this day, either from the Jews or from the Jehovah Witnesses. But they should know they are also welcome at our services to see how we honour God and how we share the love of Christ Jesus. As most Jews will gather with family and friends, at a Pesah or Pesach seder, we also will celebrate the liberation of God's chosen people from slavery.

William Blake's Holy Thursday (1794).
William Blake's Holy Thursday (1794). (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The coming days several people may be annoyed that the shops are closed because of a Holy Day . This weekend it starts with the Cypriots and Greeks having free until Tuesday and the 5th of May for their Easter Sunday (Many Orthodox Christian churches, including the Greek Orthodox and the Russian Orthodox churches, celebrate the “miracle of Easter” on the Easter Sunday date in the Julian calendar.) The Jews, Messianic Jews, Unitarian Churches (like Church of God) and non-trinitarian Biblestudents (like the Russell and Christadelphian Biblestudents, Thomasites and Jehovah Witnesses) have coming Tuesday as the 'Preparation' date (14 Nisan) and the Wednesday until Thursday (15 Nisan) as Pesach, on Thursday and Friday the Old Catholics with Maundy Thursday and Good Friday, on Sunday and Monday 31st of March and the 1st of April Easter for the Roman Catholics and several Protestant denominations and for the worshippers of the Celtic gods and those celebrating the goddess Estra (hence the name Easter). Also Hindus, Muslims, other believers and atheists may receive two paid holidays though they may not be interested in the reasons of the free days but will enjoy the family time.

For followers of the One and Only One God of gods  יהוה {Jehovah} it should be the most important time of the year, and not to celebrate the goddess of fertility, Estra, but to think of the liberation of the people God has given His creation.

In Belgium everybody knows  Israel “the place,” and Israel, “the people”but not many do know the position that Israel has to take in the universe. Also we, as Christians should be more aware of the function of Israel and what the position and role shall be for Jerusalem.

14 Nisan is a day when so many in Antwerp shall go into festivity days. Many Jews shall also invite non Jews to a dish with nice things for a special celebration. But we as Christians can also invite other believers to share our faith and to tell them about the liberation of the People of God and what we do expect from the bloodletting of the lamb. The mitzvah of Ahavat Yisrael, loving Israel, calls us to love both the land of Israel and Klal Yisrael, the people of Israel. Loving Israel links us to both the land and the people. We should show respect for the people who got first priority by God. But we should also love all those who are created in the image of God. That means that we also should be loving to people who believe different things than us, or who say they do not believe (though they perhaps mean that they do not believe that there exist a Divine Supremacy God Creator).

Like we should teach our children about “Israel” we also should teach others about the Divine Creator, Israel and the promises God has given the world. Such holidays are good opportunities to do that. We should make use of it.

Though many have tried everything to get rid of Israel it is still a large family spread all over the world. They are a diverse group with different opinions, cultures, lifestyles, levels of observance, and beliefs. However, they are still all one family with responsibilities to each other. Those who want to become under the custody of the Creator God should also be prepared to take others under their care and should unite with each other as children of God, feeling to be part of the one Big Family.

Having been an enslaved and pursued people the Jews should know what it is to be put aside or to be discriminated. The Festival of Liberation coming in a few days time, they should, as we should, take some time to consider what cruelty can be done to people and how God can protect people and give them plural chances to make something good of their life.They should have esteem for their Liberator and show their gratitude to that Protector to others. Their children should come to understand and adopt as part of their vocabulary and their growing Jewish identity  ensch, brakhah, Torah, mitzvah, boker tov, Shabbat, tzedakah, shalom , and Israel and Klal Israel. Young children may not fully comprehend what something happening “long ago” means, but they can have an understanding that what they do now has been done for a long time. First, it happened in Eretz Yisrael, the land of Israel. And now, today, Jews living all over the world continue to observe these mitzvot/practices. This must be important if their family, their teachers and friends give it such meaning.

Others around them should also get to know why those festivities are. And those who are willing to be partakers of the Kingdom of God with Israel as the capital, should show their respect to that Jewish tradition and follow the Law of God.

The same as the Jews connect with those they care about when they share a Passover Seder with family and friends, we should take the occasion of 14 Nisan, the preparation day to the 15 th of Nisan and Pesach, the Passover Meal, to invite others to share a meal with us and to share our prayers and songs to God.

By the action of the Jew Jeshua from Nazareth, Jesus Christ, those following him have become part of the people of God. And as such they also should like the Jews, communally give voice to our shortcomings and our wishes for peace and good health in the coming year during the High Holidays.


Simon Ushakov's icon of the Mystical Supper.
Simon Ushakov's icon of the Mystical Supper. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Like Jesus who came together with his talmidim to prepare themselves for the celebration of the Passover meal at twilight on the fourteenth day of Nisan as ordered in the Law of Moses, we come together according the ordinances given by God and by the request of His son to remember that evening of Jesus his Last Supper. As followers of Christ, believing in his death and resurrection, accepting his offer for us, we believe we have now also become part of those chosen by God to be part of His family. And for this we are very grateful and wish to let the world know about the Wonders God did for His people.

Passover in 2013 will start on Tuesday, the 26th of March and will continue for 7 days until Monday, the 1st of April.
In the USA, Passover ends one day later, so in 2013, Passover will end on Tuesday, the 2nd of April.

This year it was a little bit difficult to consider which day to be taken, because their where different opinions and some confusion in the world, having some Jews and Bible students taking the 14th Nisan Tuesday the 26th and others like in Israel celebrating Passover on the sunset in Jerusalem of Monday, the 25th of March.

We accordingly invite you for our Memorial Meal on 14 Nisan or Tuesday the 26th of March at 7.30 pm.

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You may find more information about Easter and 14 Nisan:

  1. Self-development, self-control, meditation, beliefs and spirituality
  2. Religious Practices around the world
  3. Anointing of Christ as Prophetic Rehearsal of the Burial rites
  4. The Weekend that changed the world
  5. A Great Gift commemorated
  6. Jesus begotten Son of God #1 Christmas and Christians
  7. Jesus begotten Son of God #2 Christmas and pagan rites
  8. A Messiah to die
  9. The Song of The Lamb #3 Daniel and Revelation
  10. Not bounded by labels but liberated in Christ
  11. Festival of Freedom and persecutions
  12. Seven days of Passover
  13. 1 -15 Nisan
  14. Day of remembrance coming near 
  15. Pesach
  16. Korban Pesach
  17. 14 Nisan a day to remember #1 Inception
  18. 14 Nisan a day to remember #2 Time of Jesus
  19. 14 Nisan a day to remember #3 Before the Passover-feast
  20. 14 Nisan a day to remember #4 A Lamb slain
  21. A Jewish Theocracy
  22. Observance of a day to Remember
  23. Around the feast of Unleavened Bread
  24. Observance of a day to Remember 
  25. Pesach and solidarity 
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 Also of interest:

Faith Without Obedience
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Monday 18 March 2013

Jerusalem God's City for ever

In 'The meek one riding on an ass' you could read how Jeshua, or Jesus as he is called by many today, entered Jerusalem seated on a donkey.As a king he was welcomed into the town. Not all the people at that time knew that Jeshua was to become the real king of that city, which would be the capital of one united world.

Jerusalem, no matter what happens in the world, is going to be the promised place of the land of God's people. From the writings in the Old Testament we know that Jerusalem is going to deserve a special place not only in the heart of God but also in the hearts of the people of God.
English: This is a map of first century Iudaea...
English: This is a map of first century Iudaea Province that I created using Illustrator CS2. I traced this image for the general geographic features. I then manually input data from maps found in a couple of sources. Robert W. Funk and the Jesus Seminar. The Acts of Jesus. HarperSanFrancisco: 1998. p. xxiv. Michael Grant. Jesus: An Historian's Review of the Gospels. Charles Scribner's Sons: 1977. p. 65-67. John P. Meier. A Marginal Jew. Doubleday: 1991. p. 1:434. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)


The Burton Christadelphians have a look at that special place which comes daily in the news with less nice news. But Bible believers are convinced that the situation is not going to continue for long any more. In God’s special city Jesus Christ will take up his throne and rule over the kingdom of God when he returns to earth.

The angel had assured Miriam (Mary/Maria) that God had a surprise for her, she becoming pregnant and giving birth to a son to be called Jeshua, the Immanuel (Jesus, God with us).  And God's messenger assured her that this boy would be great and be called ‘Son of the Highest.’ But we may not overlook that this first-born son was to be given the throne of his father David. Joseph took on the worldly fathership and as such Jesus became part of the Tree of David.

What the world forgets is that at that time the promise also was made that this Jesus was going to
rule Jacob’s house forever — no end, ever, to his kingdom.



32  he shall be great and shall be called the son of the highest. and the lord god shall give him the throne of his father David. 33  and he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there shall be no end.” (Luke 1:32-33 MKJV)
This throne is in the place where King David ruled from, Jerusalem, over the first kingdom of Israel (see 1 Samuel 24v20 for example). Jesus we know will come to restore it (Acts 1v6).


then, indeed, these coming together, they asked him, saying, lord, do you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” (Acts 1:6 MKJV)
 
When we look at the many prophesies made about the Holy Land we can see that it would not be troubleless.
The Bible also prophesies that there will be conflict and trouble in Jerusalem for centuries. Zechariah 12 calls it a “burdensome stone” and says that there will never be peace there until Christ is reigning. We can see this happening today: “Jerusalem is a tinderbox that could go off at any time. All roads in our part of the world, all the conflicts, lead to Jerusalem.” (King Abdullah II of Jordan, 2010)

To find out more why the land we know as Israel today takes such a special place in the hearts of the Christadelphians, how it belongs to God, and those to whom He chooses to give it, please do find:

Why is Jerusalem always in the news?



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