After the Tribulation, Connecting the Testaments

In the Gospel of Matthew, the now famous chapter twenty-four, verses 29-31, Y'shua tells us:

“And immediately after the tribulation of those days, 

‘the sun will be darkened 

and the moon will not give its light, 

and the stars will fall from heaven, 

and the powers of heaven will be shaken.’

And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man arriving on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect together from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other end of it.


Was Yeshua (Jesus) making a new claim, or reinforcing an old Israelite hope?
What did the Rabbi Shaul (aka apostle Paul), teach?  

We see in a letter to the believers in Thessalonica:

"For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout of command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who remain, will be snatched away at the same time together with them in the clouds for a meeting with the Lord in the air, and thus we will be together with the Lord always." 1 Thess. 4:16-17


Zechariah 8:2-8 ² "Thus says the LORD of hosts, 'I am exceedingly jealous for Zion, yes, with great wrath I am jealous for her.' ³ "Thus says the LORD, 'I will return to Zion and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. Then Jerusalem will be called the City of Truth, and the mountain of the LORD of hosts will be called the Holy Mountain.' ⁴ "Thus says the LORD of hosts, 'Old men and old women will again sit in the streets of Jerusalem, each man with his staff in his hand because of age. ⁵ 'And the streets of the city will be filled with boys and girls playing in its streets.' ⁶ "Thus says the LORD of hosts, 'If it is too difficult in the sight of the remnant of this people in those days, will it also be too difficult in My sight?' declares the LORD of hosts. ⁷ "Thus says the LORD of hosts, 'Behold, I am going to save My people from the land of the east and from the land of the west; ⁸ and I will bring them back and they will live in the midst of Jerusalem; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God in truth and righteousness.'


So we see, reading our Bibles contextually, that Y'shua did come to fulfill the Messianic hope.  He is both Messiah ben Josef, and Messiah ben David, still to come in glory and conquering power!  The Protestant and Catholic churches have been steeped in the tradition of men for so long that there is a difference, a separation between the first and the Renewed Covenant (Jer. 31:31-33), that for many, the Old Testament is not a serious object of inquiry (to their own destruction).


But in truth, the Bible contextually has one theme throughout, and Yeshua came to restore the lost ten tribes (Mat. 15:25, 10:6), to reunify the tribes of Israel (Ezekiel 36:22-28)) under Torah (Zech. 14:16: Is. 2:3; Mic. 4:2).


The Gentile Church is not a separate people from the Jews, nor should it be.  Any simple student of history can verify that Sunday observance by the Church shifted formally under the reign of Constantine.  The early church kept Sabbath, observed Yahweh's feasts (Lev. 23) and observed the teaching of the clean and the unclean.  Who the Gentiles are... is that they are now the prophetic fulfillment of Ephraim, who was prophesied by our father Jacob to be the "fullness of the Gentiles" (Gen. 48:19).  As the one who received the blessing of the firstborn (along with Judah), Ephraim was also known as the head of the ten northern tribes (the "lost tribes").


This is why, Jeremiah tells us, the New Covenant (Jer. 31:31-33) is for the house of Israel and the house of Judah (no one else is named).  But the tribes were to be dispersed through all the world and mixed with all the peoples (Hos. 8:7) so that they could be brought back in to Covenant with Yhwh, and walk in His commandments (1 John 2:6).


Y'shua lived a sinless life, by walking according to the words of life, Torah (Deut. 30:15,16).  All who follow Him are commanded to walk as He walked (1 John 2:6).

Gentiles Frees from Jewish Law.

I thought this was great, by 119ministries, I had to share it.

Should Gentiles Return to Torah?

What do you think...

Matt. 5:17 “Do not think that I came to abolish the Torah or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. 18 For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not [a]the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Torah until all is accomplished. 19 Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches [b]others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever [c]keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. (biblegateway.com)

We know the First Covenant is not finished from Daniel 9:24,27 and it's resumption is near! We know under the Millennial reign of Messiah, all the world will celebrate the Feast of Sukkot (Zech.14:16). The Protestant Reformation fell short when it did not reunite the Gentile Church with its Jewish roots... and of course, this was still in God's timing. But we need to realize Yeshua is a Jew, a Hebrew of the tribe of Judah, both the root and an heir of King David.

We are of the faith of Abraham, Isaac and Israel. How then in our churches can we not teach the Feasts and observe them, according to the words of Messiah Yeshua above? Think and pray on this. Shalom in Yeshua!

A Response to Free Will or Calvinism?

image from http://subrealism.blogspot.com/2009/09/calvin-free-market

It seems in our day there is a big controversy between the teachings known as Arminiansim (Free Will) and that of Calvinism (Doctrines of Grace).  I went to a website that I really appreciate, (www.eternal-productions.org/articles.html)and I found and read an article posted there entitled Free Will or Calvinism. Reading the paper, I saw a few faults and thought I would type up a response.  Because this has been and continues to be such a major disagreement, I thought I would share my thoughts on it here.


Under the heading of “T” in defining the doctrine of Calvinism, you said: “that man is spiritually dead in trespasses and is incapable of responding to the gospel unless God regenerates first” (p. 4). This is not a true statement. Calvinism teaches that man does have a free will, with regard to everything except salvation. You cited numerous verses that states we are dead in our sins, and that no one can rouse himself to seek God.




I think you believe God raises the dead to life (i.e. quickens), and then if they reject the gospel, He lets them fall dead again?



There are points I would like for you to consider from an Arminian, free-will standpoint:


What about the apostle Paul? Did he have a choice of free-will in his salvation? Did God not literally choose Him? What about the disciples? We know one was predestined to hell. What of the others, if God knows all things? Didn’t He choose them? And what about Abraham? Was he not chosen by God out of the land of Ur? What of the Jews? We know they are God’s “chosen” people! And certainly through no merit of their own.



God is the same “yesterday, today, and forever” (Heb. 13:8). Can he have a different method of salvation for the Jew and the Gentile? I think not.



Let’s look at some other passages:

Matthew 13:13-15 13 "Therefore I speak to them in parables; because while seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. 14 "In their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says, 'YOU WILL KEEP ON HEARING, BUT WILL NOT UNDERSTAND; YOU WILL KEEP ON SEEING, BUT WILL NOT PERCEIVE; 15 FOR THE HEART OF THIS PEOPLE HAS BECOME DULL, WITH THEIR EARS THEY SCARCELY HEAR, AND THEY HAVE CLOSED THEIR EYES, OTHERWISE THEY WOULD SEE WITH THEIR EYES, HEAR WITH THEIR EARS, AND UNDERSTAND WITH THEIR HEART AND RETURN, AND I WOULD HEAL THEM.'



Did Jesus just say that he speaks to them people in parables, so that they will not be healed? But what about their free-will and free-choice? Isn’t that being infringed on by God?



The prophet says: 17 Why, O LORD, do You cause us to stray from Your ways

And harden our heart from fearing You?

Return for the sake of Your servants, the tribes of Your heritage.

Isaiah 63:17 (NASB95)



Let’s examine the passage Paul writes about the condition of Israel. Did all the Jews in their free-will choose to turn away from God?



Romans 11:8-11 8 just as it is written, "GOD GAVE THEM A SPIRIT OF STUPOR, EYES TO SEE NOT AND EARS TO HEAR NOT, DOWN TO THIS VERY DAY." 9 And David says, "LET THEIR TABLE BECOME A SNARE AND A TRAP, AND A STUMBLING BLOCK AND A RETRIBUTION TO THEM. 10 "LET THEIR EYES BE DARKENED TO SEE NOT, AND BEND THEIR BACKS FOREVER." 11 I say then, they did not stumble so as to fall, did they? May it never be! But by their transgression salvation has come to the Gentiles, to make them jealous.



Paul is hear quoting from Deut. 29:4 and Psalm 69:22-3, and is telling us that God gave the Jews a spirit of stupor, eyes to see not and ears to hear not, to respond to His commands of recognizing the new covenant with Messiah. And why did God do this? He did it to bring the gospel to the Gentiles! Isaiah 49:6 6 He says, "It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant To raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also make You a light of the nations So that My salvation may reach to the end of the earth."



Where you err my friend is in your assumption that people who are commanded to follow God are able to do so if they choose. There are two types of people, scriptures tell us. Those controlled by the Spirit, and those controlled by the flesh. Let’s look again to what Paul says about those controlled by the flesh, (i.e. the sinful-nature).



Romans 8:6-7 6 For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, 7 because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so,



For the letter “U” you state: "Calvinism teaches that God decides on no basis whatsoever but by the mystery of His will to save the elect and to allow the rest to go to hell even though He could save them all." From here you draw this conclusion: "This is not the God of love, mercy, grace, faithfulness, and righteousness revealed in the pages of Scripture. According to Calvinism, God is capricious and unpredictable. The true God of love has revealed His nature as merciful, loving, forgiving, patient,compassionate, dependable, and just to all."



I see no conflict between what the Bible has stated concerning man’s sinful disposition, being unwilling and unable to come to Him (Rom. 3:11; 8:7-8), and that of God being loving, passionate, rich in mercy to His creation. In His letter to the Ephesians, Paul tells them that God predestined them before the foundation of the world, in love, to the praise of His glory (Eph. 1:4-6). So evidently God thinks that His free election and predestination of some sinful and rebellious humans, who were created in His image, IS praiseworthy and glorious!



And so just how did God choose to elect and save the weak and shameful and those that are not, to shame the wise and strong and those that “are” (1 Cor. 1:27-28)? Verse 6 tells us that He “freely bestowed on the beloved” this amazing grace of salvation, with no respect to persons. In His letter to Titus, the apostle tells us that we have been saved “not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy by the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit” (Titus 3:5).



To call God “capricious and unpredictable” (p. 6) for choosing not to elect some to salvation, is to blaspheme His attributes of love and grace, which he does freely bestow on the beloved. The Arminian explanation assumes that God owes man something. He doesn’t owe sinful, rebellious, unregenerate man anything except justice, and that puts us ALL in hell eternally. If anything, the doctrines of Grace can better explain all scriptures and most certainly highlights and exalts Yahweh’s amazing grace, that He would choose some of us sinful, rebellious humans, to save us for Himself.

That's what I call Grace!