When will we see the long awaited Messiah?

 

From the time God sent Adam and Eve from the garden and put enmity between her and the serpent, the world has looked for the promised Messiah. (Genesis 3:14) Throughout the Torah and the Old Testament, God foretold of the coming of His Son Jesus, our Savior, our Messiah and told what signs to look for.

He foretold His coming in details sprinkled throughout the Old Testament so that people could look for the signs of His coming. What kept the common person during Bible times from knowing what the signs were to look for was due to the Priests being the only ones with access to the scrolls. The men were dependent on being taught the truth from the Priests in the Synagogues and then they were to teach their family. If there was a break in the system, truth didn’t get passed down. As well as, the Priests only taught portions of the scroll.

As time went on and the King James Bible was written in 1611, this Bible gave people the opportunity to have access to the entire written Word, the Old Testament and the New Testament. Preachers began teaching from the Bible but most people decided to continue to allow their leaders to teach them, rather than study the whole Word for themselves. Overtime, the teachers began to discourage Christians from reading the Old Testament, telling them it was too hard to read it and that it was no longer applicable since the death and resurrection of Jesus. Christian’s were encouraged rather to focus on the New Testament stories that began with Jesus birth; better yet, just let them teach you what you need to know. While Priests were continuing to tell Jews what portions to read in the Old Testament and to avoid the New Testament altogether. Both groups were being discouraged from reading the entire Bible to get the whole truth that God breathed for us to know what happened in history, and to learn what was prophesied to happen in God’s perfect timeline through the end of time.

The enemy has worked so hard since the time he was cursed by God in the Garden, trying to keep people from knowing God, knowing His love, His hope, His goodness, and His truth. The enemy doesn’t want us to have a relationship with our Creator, YHWH God and works tirelessly to keep us apart. You see, we aren’t fighting against flesh and blood but against the enemy and his principalities. Knowing this, we must armor up with the whole Word of God to fight this spiritual warfare with the enemy.

“Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” Ephesians 6:11-12

 

Who is this guy Jesus that showed up in the New Testament?

As stated above, the Jews as a whole were taught not to read the New Testament that talked about Jesus’ birth, life, ministry, death, and resurrection. That’s not to say that there are no Jewish believers in Jesus. In fact, many Jews came to know Jesus during His ministry on earth over 2,000 years ago and became His followers, and a number of them became His disciples. His disciples helped spread the Gospel about Him and salvation through Him. His Jewish followers are called Messianic Jews. Jews do not have to convert to Christianity to be a follower of Jesus and be saved. Nor do Christians have to convert to Judaism to follow God laws that He gave for His followers to observe forever until Jesus, our Messiah returns for us. The Torah is for all God’s followers, if you read it you will discover that God had Moses write the Torah for the Jews, the sojourners and all followers of YHWH God.

As for Jesus when He was on earth, the Pharisaical Jews despised Him because they were losing their followers to Him. They had the scripture scrolls so they knew to expect the Messiah. However, due to their customs and beliefs that were added to the Torah (the first five books of the Bible that were written by Moses dictated by God) they had ideals of what they wanted their Messiah to be. When He arrived right in front of their faces, they didn’t recognize Him, He did not meet their expectations. Jesus didn’t approve of how they taught and lead, so they assumed He was the enemy, a blasphemous fake, and wanted Him crucified as soon as possible.

There were many passages in the Old Testament where God spoke of the coming Savior. He told of how He would be conceived, of what His mother would be like, and where He would be born. There is a story in Isaiah that gives great detail of Him but the Jews are not allowed to read that one chapter. Their leaders want them to believe that Jesus was a prophet, no more, no less.

Here are a few scriptures where God foretold Jesus coming. We were not to add to His Word and create unreasonable expectations of who and what Jesus would be like.

“Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” Isaiah 7:14 KJV

“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:6 KJV

“Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.” Zechariah 9:9 KJV

 

Who is our Rabbi?

According to scripture, we have but one Rabbi, His name is Jesus. Our true Rabbi, is also our King, and the long awaited Messiah. Many Jews did not recognize Him when He walked on earth because He was not what they had envisioned or expected their King to look like. Jesus tells the Pharisees how their behavior is not acceptable how they carry on with airs and pretense. He even tells them that there is only one Rabbi. They didn’t listen to or learn from Him, instead they sought to crucify Him because He threatened their manmade worship system.

“Then spake Jesus to the multitude, and to his disciples, Saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat: All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not.

For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers. But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments, And love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues, And greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi. But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren.” Matthew 23:1-8 KJV

 

Do we have to pray for the wicked and evil ones?

Jesus answers this for us in His Word because He knew we would have reasons throughout time that we would need to know.

“Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.
But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?
And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?
Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” Matthew 5:43-48

Pause and let that sink in,
then read on for more great advice and clarification from Jesus of what we are to do.

“And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all?
And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.
And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.” Mark 12:28-31 KJV

The hardest thing to do is learning how to love your neighbors, especially when they are wicked and evil and may have done you personal harm.

Jesus didn’t teach us to love the easy or good ones, He said love them all. We don’t have to like them. We don’t have to agree with them or what they do. Jesus is telling us to love them and pray for them.

It’s not the same love as loving someone you care about. It’s a kind of love that is full of forgiveness and wanting them to find Jesus and be saved.

He never said it would be easy. He said to do it. Our obedience to Jesus is not a buffet where we get to pick and choose. It must be willingly and wholehearted. Giving love with a grateful heart.

“And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.” Colossians 3:17 KJV

Take heart, Jesus will help you. Just ask Him. You will be rewarded for your obedience when you get to Heaven.

 

Is Jesus truly the long awaited Messiah?

Allow me to tell you a story about a man…

“Who has believed our message? To whom has the LORD revealed his powerful arm? My servant grew up in the LORD’s presence like a tender green shoot, like a root in dry ground. There was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance, nothing to attract us to him. He was despised and rejected—a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way. He was despised, and we did not care.

Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for his own sins!

But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed.

All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the LORD laid on him the sins of us all.

He was oppressed and treated harshly, yet he never said a word. He was led like a lamb to the slaughter. And as a sheep is silent before the shearers, he did not open his mouth.

Unjustly condemned, he was led away. No one cared that he died without descendants, that his life was cut short in midstream. But he was struck down for the rebellion of my people.

He had done no wrong and had never deceived anyone. But he was buried like a criminal; he was put in a rich man’s grave.

But it was the LORD’s good plan to crush him and cause him grief. Yet when his life is made an offering for sin, he will have many descendants. He will enjoy a long life, and the LORD’s good plan will prosper in his hands.

When he sees all that is accomplished by his anguish, he will be satisfied. And because of his experience, my righteous servant will make it possible for many to be counted righteous, for he will bear all their sins.

I will give him the honors of a victorious soldier, because he exposed himself to death. He was counted among the rebels. He bore the sins of many and interceded for rebels.”

This story is the story from Isaiah 53 NLT that the Jews are prevented from reading. 

By reading this story, had the Jews known it, they would have had confirmation that Jesus was the Messiah all along. WHY?!? Remember, throughout the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, & John) we are told that the Pharisee Jew leaders were jealous of Jesus/Yeshua because many were believing and following Him. They had to act quickly or they would have lost their entire following. Kind of sounds like God and satan’s story. Satan’s time is short and he is acting quickly to get as many as he can to hate God and follow him.

This story in Isaiah is the well kept secret of the long awaited Messiah. The truth was there the whole time!  Discovering this truth is not only a time of great awareness for many Jews, but it is also a time to exercise grace and forgiveness. A time to allow YHWH God to help you forgive those who kept the truth from you.  It’s not really their fault though. Remember, you are not fighting against flesh and blood.

 

But wait, there’s more!

It wasn’t just the Priests and other leaders keeping the whole truth of God’s Word from the Jews, it was also part of God’s plan. “What,” you say? Why would God do that to His chosen people?

As part of God’s Master plan, He blinded and deafened many of the Jews to the truth, in order to allow the Gentiles to find salvation also. The Jews are God’s “chosen” ones, but He loves all His creation and wanted to give everyone an opportunity to choose Him.

There are a number of scriptures throughout the Bible confirming this action by God. Here is one where Paul is trying to explain to the Jewish leaders who were persecuting him and his ministry for Jesus. Pauls shares what God told him,

“Saying, Go unto this people, and say, Hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and not perceive: For the heart of this people is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed; lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.

Be it known therefore unto you, that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear it.” Acts 28:26-28

It was in Acts 10 that Peter, the disciple of Jesus, had a vision that God gave him about preaching to the Gentiles to share salvation with them. God planned all of this to give everyone a chance for salvation through Jesus.

Then at the appointed time, God will call His chosen ones back to Him to give them another chance to follow Him as told in Ezekiel 20:33-38.

 

What do I need to do to know Jesus?

First of all, let’s clear something up. The letter “J” does not exist in the Hebrew language, so during Jesus time on earth His Hebrew name was not Jesus but Yeshua. He is Yeshua our Messiah. Thus you have Messianic Jews, followers of the Messiah, Yeshua, who found salvation through Him, beginning with the followers and disciples of Jesus while He walked on this earth during His ministry.

The English transliterated His name to Jesus Christ, our Savior, so those Gentiles who believe are called Christians, followers of Christ. Jesus and Yeshua are the same person. The Messianics and the Christians are following and worshipping the same Lord.

Only through salvation in Yeshua/Jesus can you have access to YHWH God our Father, and enter into the Kingdom of Heaven and spend eternity with them.

“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.” John 14:6-7 KJV

Any and all faiths and religions can call on the name Yeshua or Jesus and be saved. He died on the cross to atone for your sins so that you could spend eternity with them. Repent and turn to Him today. He is waiting for you.

______________________________

Don’t complicate the process for salvation. Keep it simple.

Do the ABC’s and repent today.

• A: Admit that you are a sinner. (Romans 3:23, Isaiah 64:6, Ephesians 2:8-9)

• B: Believe in your heart that Jesus is the son of God and that He died for your sins and rose from the dead for you. (John 3:16-18, 1Corinthians 15:1-4)

• C: Call on Jesus and repent of your sins and turn back to Him and ask Jesus to show you the way. (Romans 10:9-13, John 14:6)

 

May God bless you and keep you.

Join me on:
Telegram: https://t.me/chosencrownedone
Instagram: ChosenandCrowned & Grace Reacher Books
Podcastle: Chosen & Crowned – Coming soon