WHAT DID JESUS DO?
There is a misconception: It goes like this,” call on the name of the Lord and ye shall be saved”.
Many think by invoking the name of Jesus it automatically puts a person on the good side of God. While it is true, we must know the name of Jesus and it is honoring to call out to Jesus, this is not why Jesus came to live among men.
Jesus Christ-Yeshua Messiah-The Lamb of God.
We are going to look at just what this means and what God’s plan was for sending His son to live on earth.
Throughout the Old Testament we read of the Messiah. In Isaiah 53 we find him as the “Suffering Messiah”, the redeemer of our souls.
In John 1:29 we see Messiah as the sacrifice for sin. “Behold the Lamb of God which takes away the sins of the world.”
The purpose of Yeshuas’ coming to earth was ultimately to die for our sins. Most of us realize this, but why?
God had a plan. It didn’t have to do with sending Jesus to us so that we could start a new religion. God sent us His son, The Messiah, the Lamb, to make an atonement for our sins, once and for all…….Yeshua was The Last Sin Sacrifice needed.
Some would say that this sin sacrifice did away with the law, because through Jesus’ act we no longer need a sacrifice, so there is no longer need for the law.
Is this true?
No.
Why? Because with out the law we would have no knowledge of sin, and without a knowledge of sin, we need no sacrifice for sin, therefore we have no need of a savior.
The misunderstanding here is this: When the writers of the New Testament used phrases like “call on the name of the Lord”, they weren’t just saying “say Jesus is my savior”, they were telling us that it was necessary for us to be truly convinced that Yeshua or Jesus was truly the Messiah, the Savior of the world.
From before the time that Jesus walked among men, until today, there have been many who claimed to be the Messiah, so what the writers of the New Testament were doing was providing us with the evidence to prove to us was that this “Jesus of Nazareth” was the Anointed One of God, The Messiah.
Jesus started his ministry by saying “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand”. Matthew 4:17. He did not say believe on me and be saved, he said repent. The Jewish people knew the law, they knew that God had set into place a way for them to be reconciled to Him once they strayed. It was through the shedding of blood. Romans 3:23- 25 tells us of this plan.
Romans 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:
25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;
The word propitiation means: an atoning victim or (especially) the lid of the Ark of the Covenant: the Mercy Seat.God’s plan is clear. Romans 3:25 tells us that Jesus’ blood atones for the sins that are past, through the tolerance or forbearance of God.
Understanding this one thing makes all the difference in the world. God brought His son to earth to be the LAST SIN SACRIFICE. But we all must believe that.
We must also understand that the first century “church” was made up of people who, for the most part, were Torah observant. Jew and non-Jews alike, living in the land, were well aware of God’s laws. It would not be a huge step to go from making the sin sacrifice to understanding Jesus had fulfilled that requirement.
A careful study of God’s commandments reveals to us that there is much more to the sacrificial system than the sacrifice for sin. There are many types of sacrifices that God commanded the Israelites to take part in. The one thing we must keep in mind is that God said we will not sacrifice just anywhere, But only the place that He has sanctified.
Why do we not sacrifice today?
There is no temple to sacrifice in. In 70AD God allowed the Romans to destroy the temple in Jerusalem, and has not commanded us to go anywhere else to do sacrifice.
Why did God allow the temple to be destroyed?
Let’s look at what happened after Yeshua was crucified in 30AD. Some of the Jewish people believed that Yeshua was the Messiah, but some did not including The High Priest, so the sin sacrifice continued for 40 years- until 70AD. Just for the record this is the same amount of time the Hebrews wondered around in the desert. Around 70AD the Jewish people tent to war with Romans. The temple was destroyed and according to Josephus, thousands of people died and many were dispersed into other countries.
Gods’ plan was that true believers would be saved, a remnant, and so it was.
In the first few centuries after Jesus walked on the earth the believers followed Gods’ word. They kept the Sabbath and the Festivals of the Lord and they kept God’s commandments as closely as possible without a temple. But just like today, the leaders of the first century “church” made mistakes. We see this in the writings of Paul, Peter and James, these early church leaders were always trying to correct those misunderstandings.
Let’s look at Zechariah 14.
Zechariah 14:1 Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee.
2 For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.
3 Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle.
4 And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.
5 And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the LORD my God shall come, and all the saints with thee.
6 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the light shall not be clear, nor dark:
7 But it shall be one day which shall be known to the LORD, not day, nor night: but it shall come to pass, that at evening time it shall be light.
8 And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be.
9 And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one.
10 All the land shall be turned as a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem: and it shall be lifted up, and inhabited in her place, from Benjamin's gate unto the place of the first gate, unto the corner gate, and from the tower of Hananeel unto the king's wine presses.
11 And men shall dwell in it, and there shall be no more utter destruction; but Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited.
12 And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.
13 And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the LORD shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbor.
14 And Judah also shall fight at Jerusalem; and the wealth of all the heathen round about shall be gathered together, gold, and silver, and apparel, in great abundance.
15 And so shall be the plague of the horse, of the mule, of the camel, and of the ass, and of all the beasts that shall be in these tents, as this plague.
16 And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles.
17 And it shall be, that whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain.
18 And if the family of Egypt go not up, and come not, that have no rain; there shall be the plague, wherewith the LORD will smite the heathen that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles.
19 This shall be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all nations that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles.
20 In that day shall there be upon the bells of the horses, HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD; and the pots in the LORD'S house shall be like the bowls before the altar.
21 Yea, every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be holiness unto the LORD of hosts: and all they that sacrifice shall come and take of them, and seethe therein: and in that day there shall be no more the Canaanite in the house of the LORD of hosts.
Here we see that at the end of the age, the Lord will be mighty in all the earth, and He tells us that every one of the nations that come up, will keep the Feast of Tabernacles and there will be sacrifice. As a person reads these words they must think, why the Feast of Tabernacles……God never changes, He expects us to keep his Feast day… Yeshua keep them and if we want to be like Him, WHY don’t we?
As you study the word of God, keep in mind that God does not change, He is faithful to his bride.
We are the ones that change.
Rabbi Julian Hickok
There is a misconception: It goes like this,” call on the name of the Lord and ye shall be saved”.
Many think by invoking the name of Jesus it automatically puts a person on the good side of God. While it is true, we must know the name of Jesus and it is honoring to call out to Jesus, this is not why Jesus came to live among men.
Jesus Christ-Yeshua Messiah-The Lamb of God.
We are going to look at just what this means and what God’s plan was for sending His son to live on earth.
Throughout the Old Testament we read of the Messiah. In Isaiah 53 we find him as the “Suffering Messiah”, the redeemer of our souls.
In John 1:29 we see Messiah as the sacrifice for sin. “Behold the Lamb of God which takes away the sins of the world.”
The purpose of Yeshuas’ coming to earth was ultimately to die for our sins. Most of us realize this, but why?
God had a plan. It didn’t have to do with sending Jesus to us so that we could start a new religion. God sent us His son, The Messiah, the Lamb, to make an atonement for our sins, once and for all…….Yeshua was The Last Sin Sacrifice needed.
Some would say that this sin sacrifice did away with the law, because through Jesus’ act we no longer need a sacrifice, so there is no longer need for the law.
Is this true?
No.
Why? Because with out the law we would have no knowledge of sin, and without a knowledge of sin, we need no sacrifice for sin, therefore we have no need of a savior.
The misunderstanding here is this: When the writers of the New Testament used phrases like “call on the name of the Lord”, they weren’t just saying “say Jesus is my savior”, they were telling us that it was necessary for us to be truly convinced that Yeshua or Jesus was truly the Messiah, the Savior of the world.
From before the time that Jesus walked among men, until today, there have been many who claimed to be the Messiah, so what the writers of the New Testament were doing was providing us with the evidence to prove to us was that this “Jesus of Nazareth” was the Anointed One of God, The Messiah.
Jesus started his ministry by saying “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand”. Matthew 4:17. He did not say believe on me and be saved, he said repent. The Jewish people knew the law, they knew that God had set into place a way for them to be reconciled to Him once they strayed. It was through the shedding of blood. Romans 3:23- 25 tells us of this plan.
Romans 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:
25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;
The word propitiation means: an atoning victim or (especially) the lid of the Ark of the Covenant: the Mercy Seat.God’s plan is clear. Romans 3:25 tells us that Jesus’ blood atones for the sins that are past, through the tolerance or forbearance of God.
Understanding this one thing makes all the difference in the world. God brought His son to earth to be the LAST SIN SACRIFICE. But we all must believe that.
We must also understand that the first century “church” was made up of people who, for the most part, were Torah observant. Jew and non-Jews alike, living in the land, were well aware of God’s laws. It would not be a huge step to go from making the sin sacrifice to understanding Jesus had fulfilled that requirement.
A careful study of God’s commandments reveals to us that there is much more to the sacrificial system than the sacrifice for sin. There are many types of sacrifices that God commanded the Israelites to take part in. The one thing we must keep in mind is that God said we will not sacrifice just anywhere, But only the place that He has sanctified.
Why do we not sacrifice today?
There is no temple to sacrifice in. In 70AD God allowed the Romans to destroy the temple in Jerusalem, and has not commanded us to go anywhere else to do sacrifice.
Why did God allow the temple to be destroyed?
Let’s look at what happened after Yeshua was crucified in 30AD. Some of the Jewish people believed that Yeshua was the Messiah, but some did not including The High Priest, so the sin sacrifice continued for 40 years- until 70AD. Just for the record this is the same amount of time the Hebrews wondered around in the desert. Around 70AD the Jewish people tent to war with Romans. The temple was destroyed and according to Josephus, thousands of people died and many were dispersed into other countries.
Gods’ plan was that true believers would be saved, a remnant, and so it was.
In the first few centuries after Jesus walked on the earth the believers followed Gods’ word. They kept the Sabbath and the Festivals of the Lord and they kept God’s commandments as closely as possible without a temple. But just like today, the leaders of the first century “church” made mistakes. We see this in the writings of Paul, Peter and James, these early church leaders were always trying to correct those misunderstandings.
Let’s look at Zechariah 14.
Zechariah 14:1 Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee.
2 For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.
3 Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle.
4 And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.
5 And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the LORD my God shall come, and all the saints with thee.
6 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the light shall not be clear, nor dark:
7 But it shall be one day which shall be known to the LORD, not day, nor night: but it shall come to pass, that at evening time it shall be light.
8 And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be.
9 And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one.
10 All the land shall be turned as a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem: and it shall be lifted up, and inhabited in her place, from Benjamin's gate unto the place of the first gate, unto the corner gate, and from the tower of Hananeel unto the king's wine presses.
11 And men shall dwell in it, and there shall be no more utter destruction; but Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited.
12 And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.
13 And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the LORD shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbor.
14 And Judah also shall fight at Jerusalem; and the wealth of all the heathen round about shall be gathered together, gold, and silver, and apparel, in great abundance.
15 And so shall be the plague of the horse, of the mule, of the camel, and of the ass, and of all the beasts that shall be in these tents, as this plague.
16 And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles.
17 And it shall be, that whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain.
18 And if the family of Egypt go not up, and come not, that have no rain; there shall be the plague, wherewith the LORD will smite the heathen that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles.
19 This shall be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all nations that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles.
20 In that day shall there be upon the bells of the horses, HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD; and the pots in the LORD'S house shall be like the bowls before the altar.
21 Yea, every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be holiness unto the LORD of hosts: and all they that sacrifice shall come and take of them, and seethe therein: and in that day there shall be no more the Canaanite in the house of the LORD of hosts.
Here we see that at the end of the age, the Lord will be mighty in all the earth, and He tells us that every one of the nations that come up, will keep the Feast of Tabernacles and there will be sacrifice. As a person reads these words they must think, why the Feast of Tabernacles……God never changes, He expects us to keep his Feast day… Yeshua keep them and if we want to be like Him, WHY don’t we?
As you study the word of God, keep in mind that God does not change, He is faithful to his bride.
We are the ones that change.
Rabbi Julian Hickok
