DO
YOU HAVE AN AVERSION TO CHANGE?
Mark 13:21- 37 (Complete Jewish Bible)
“At that time, if anyone says to you, ‘Look! Here's the Messiah!’ or, ‘See, there he is!’ - don't believe him! There will appear false Messiahs and false prophets performing signs and wonders for the purpose, if possible, of misleading the chosen. But you, watch out!
I have told you everything in advance! In those days, after that trouble, the sun will grow dark, the moon will stop shining, the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers in heaven will be shaken. Then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with tremendous power and glory. He will send out his angels and gather together his chosen people from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.
"Now let the fig tree teach you its lesson: when its branches begin to sprout and leaves appear, you know that summer is approaching. In the same way, when you see all these things happening, you are to know that the time is near, right at the door. Yes! I tell you that this people will certainly not pass away before all these things happen. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will certainly not pass away.
However, when that day and hour will come, no one knows not the angels in heaven, not the Son, just the Father. Stay alert! Be on your guard! For you do not know when the time will come.
"It's like a man who travels away from home, puts his servants in charge, each with his own task, and tells the doorkeeper to stay alert. So stay alert! for you don't know when the owner of the house will come, whether it will be evening, midnight, cockcrow or morning - you don't want him to come suddenly and find you sleeping! And what I say to you, I say to everyone: stay alert!"
If you took the time to read the short section of Mark 13, you would have noticed that “Stay Alert!” and “Watch Out!” were used five times. Do you think the Master Yeshua/Jesus was trying to tell his talmidim (disciples) something important? It would appear so. Do you think He was possibly trying to warn them of something that would affect them and everyone else? Yes, you can see that from the last line.
If we go back to
verse 3, it states, “As he was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the
As you can also see by the text, there is a progression of events. The highlighted word above “then” gives us a clue that something happens first and then the next thing happens. Everything here is in order. Our God is a very orderly God.
Another highlighted text mentions, “chosen people from the four winds.” Who are these people? Well, he was talking to His Talmidim. They were all Jewish. They all kept Torah (first five books of the Bible). However, we notice later that He says, “I say to everyone.” So, who is everyone? If we go back to Romans 11, we can see which people everyone represents. It symbolizes the House of Israel and those Gentiles/Goyim who have been grafted-in to this House. Remember from the RT and DT teaching (ATC 7a and 7b) that the Gentiles/Goyim do not stand alone as a separate entity or church. Therefore, everyone represents Jewish people who have accepted Messiah as Savior and Gentiles who have done the same. Yet, these Gentiles have been grafted-in to the Romans 11 tree. They were not grafted-in to a church.
In the third paragraph above, you will notice the words “this people.” Have you figured out who these people are? They are the chosen people gathered from the four winds, mentioned above.
Another highlighted section of Scripture is “day” or “hour.” Many people become confused thinking we can never know much about when the Master is coming. However, the words day and hour relate to small amounts of time. It does not say week, month, year, etc. The statement is only day or hour. If you will note, Yeshua/Jesus is giving more and more hints about what will be happening during this time. In this way, we are more able to figure out the season. Also, note His discussion on the fig tree. These are all leads or bits of knowledge for his “chosen people” to know about His second coming. (If you happen to have any confusion regarding this section, please read the entire Chapter 13 of Mark and Romans 11)
Our last paragraph above uses the terms “man,” “servants,” and “owner of the house.” Now this is easy to figure out, but just in case you might be struggling a little: The man and the owner of the house are one and the same. They represent the Master Yeshua/Jesus. The servants are His chosen people. However, in Replacement Theology, this parable has been given another interpretation, which “replaces” the truth.
The last section of the last paragraph mentions the fact that He might come suddenly and “find you sleeping.” If we are not studying the Word (all of it), hiding His Words in our hearts, obeying Him through our walk, and staying alert, we will find ourselves in a serious predicament--think the parable of the Ten Virgins. What happened to the five who were not prepared? Were these not called the “foolish ones?”
Ladies, why did I choose to begin this teaching with this section of Scripture? I have done this simply to show you that we can study the Word of God and know truth. We do not have to be ignorant of anything that is in the Word of God or is about to happen in our world. When we have the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit), He will open up to our minds and spirits the meanings of words, phrases and other teachings we should know. How else can we obey?
For example:
How did the Bereans know that what they were being taught was truth?
Read here: Acts 17:11-13
Now the people here were of nobler character than the ones in
Thessalonica; they eagerly welcomed the message, checking the Tanakh [Hebrew
Scriptures] every day to see if the things Sha’ul/Paul was saying were true.
Many of them came to trust, as did a number of prominent Greek women and not a
few Greek men. But when the
unbelieving Jews of Thessalonica learned that the word of God had been
proclaimed by Sha’ul in
Did you read what they actually did when they heard the Good News preached to them? Did they run to the New Testament? No, there wasn’t one. Actually, there was not one for decades. Did they believe every word? No, they did not. What the Scripture states is that they eagerly welcomed the message, checking the Tanakh [Hebrew Scriptures, which is misnamed the Old Testament] every day to see if the things Sha’ul/Paul was saying were true. Wow! What a great idea!
A BBT is a Berean-Type Theologian. An SST is a Serious Scripture Theologian. Can you say you are one or both of these? We should all be able to shout out a resounding “YES!” If not, we might be finding ourselves under the heading of the sleeping servant or one of the five virgins (bridesmaids) who was not ready for the bridegrooms arrival and found themselves locked out of the wedding feast. Read this and compare.
Matthew 25:1-13 (Complete Jewish Bible)
"The
Now
the bridegroom was late, so they all went to sleep.
It was the middle of the night when the cry rang out, ‘The bridegroom
is here! Go out to meet him!
The
girls all woke up and prepared their lamps for lighting.
The foolish ones said to the sensible ones, ‘Give us some of your oil,
because our lamps are going out.’ ‘No,’
they replied, ‘there may not be enough for both you and us. Go to the oil
dealers and buy some for yourselves.’ But
as they were going off to buy, the bridegroom came. Those who were ready went
with him to the wedding feast, and the door was shut."
Later,
the other bridesmaids came. ‘Sir!
Sir!’ they cried, ‘Let us in!’ But
he answered, ‘Indeed!
I tell you, I don't know you!’
So
stay alert, because you know neither the day nor the hour.”
Do you see a direct correlation between this section of Scripture and the first one in Mark 13? I have highlighted some of the words that should be a wake-up call to all of us.
What was so unique
about the Bereans? Do not be
misinformed into thinking that they were a specific church denomination.
There is a modern-day church called the “
Here is some information to give you a little history about the early Bereans of the Scriptures:
1.
They were Greek (Jews and Gentiles) from the city of
2.
There was a Jewish synagogue in
3.
During Shaul/Paul and Silas’ second missionary journey, they
traveled to
4. They were more eager to learn and discern. They had a willingness to acknowledge truth when seen in the Word of God. They had a willingness to share this truth with others. They had a zeal and earnestness for the Word.
5. The Bereans examined the Tenakh (Hebrew Scriptures) every day to see if what Shaul/Paul and Silas was teaching was truth.
6. A great number of Jews repented and believed, including many prominent Greek women and men.
It becomes apparent that these people had a heart which was open to the Lord and
His truths experienced from Scripture. They knew the Word and acted on it. They could discern truth from error because they spent time in study.
When I came to know the Lord in 1976, I was truly a new, spiritual baby needing to be fed milk. The milk of the Word. However, I was never taught about the Foundation of Scripture even though there is a warning in the Bible, which tells us that if the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do? (Ps 11:3) The people will be in trouble—sort of like spiritual confusion. Is that not what is happening today? If a house has no foundation, it will collapse in high winds and fast moving floodwaters. It is the same with the Word of God. If we remove the first five books, called the Torah, and the rest of the Hebrew Scriptures, called the Tenakh, we have erased the Foundation of Scripture. Here are just a few verses from the New Testament, which show that the Torah and Tenakh are valid for today:
Luke 16:31 But he replied, ‘If they won't listen to Moshe [Moses] and the Prophets, they won't be convinced even if someone rises from the dead!’"
Luke 24:27 Then, starting with Moshe and all the prophets, He explained to them the things that can be found throughout the Tanakh [Old Testament] concerning Himself.
Luke 24:44 Yeshua said to them, "This is what I meant when I was still with you and told you that everything written about Me in the Torah of Moshe, the Prophets and the Psalms had to be fulfilled."
John 5:45 “But don't think that it is I who will be your accuser before the Father. Do you know who will accuse you? Moshe, the very one you have counted on!
John 5:46 For if you really believed Moshe, you would believe me; because it was about me that he wrote.
Acts 15:21 For from the earliest times, Moshe has had in every city those who proclaim him, with his words being read in the synagogues every Shabbat."
Do you see the constant theme running through these verses? If you want to know more about the Savior, you have to go back to the teachings of Moses. These are the starting point, the Foundation, the cornerstone… Everything that is spoken/taught by Yeshua has a root in the Torah and Tenakh. So, why have they been ignored? It is because evil men in the first century hated the Jews and wanted to do “their own thing.” In other words, there was financial benefit, power and prestige in starting a church rather than following “The Way” that Yeshua had instructed. However, Yeshua knew this and cautioned His followers about the false teachers and false prophets, even to the end of times—think wheat and tares.
Do you want to be a Berean? Do you have a desire to study and learn the Lord’s heart and mind? Can we become like David, a man after God’s own heart? I have to tell you, there is nothing more satisfying than to read the Word, apply it and see the outcome of this obedience. When we study Torah, we see history. I hope we will not repeat it.
As a new believer many years ago, I began to be frustrated as I read words and passages in the New Testament that just did not make sense. When I was “told” what they meant, I still could not make sense of them. They seemed fuzzy and disconnected. However, the more I studied, going backward in the Scriptures, the greater understanding I began to have.
It was not easy to receive this “understanding.” Those in teaching positions in the church came against me in very strong ways. Even when I could show them truth from the Scripture that they could read, these people would argue with me and many times ostracize me from their meetings or groups. Therefore, I warn you. Even when you do find wisdom, understanding, discernment and knowledge, expect that you will be persecuted.
When you return to the books in Torah (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy), you will be filled to overflowing with blessings and joy. Here are just a few things that these books teach us:
· How to know about our Savior, Yeshua/Jesus and all the prophesies foretold about Him. Moses in the Torah and throughout the entire Tenakh spoke of him.
· How to respond to man and love our brothers (and sisters)
· How to care for animals
· How to grow food on our farms and share it with the poor
·
How to know the meanings of the
· How to experience the Moedim (appointments with God) like Passover, Shavuot, and the Feast of Tabernacles, and so on, and learn from these incredible times
· How to understand why the Lord loves marriage and hates divorce
· How to know that all 10 Commandments still stand and why they are so truly important to us, especially in this day
There is so much richness in the Torah and other Scriptures combined that to chop off part of it and discard it as “old” is a travesty. There is no possible way one can read the Scriptures without it and conclude that what the Lord is teaching us is truth. It is impossible!
In conclusion, I want to challenge you to consider a study on your own. Begin with Genesis and look for teachings that will apply to you and your family for today. Keep a notebook next to you and write down the rhemas that He gives you. Rhemas are portions of Scripture that the Holy Spirit brings to mind through the reading of the Word. Pray before you begin and invite the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) to join you and teach you as you read and study. Watch during the week for added information and insights that He gives you regarding what you have been reading.
If you are a new Believer, I might recommend something I was challenged to do. I made a vow (do not break these!) to read the Word, my Bible, for 5 minutes each evening before bed. Actually, what I generally do is read much more than 5 minutes, because I get so engrossed in what I am reading that I cannot stop. This vow really is just a motivator and helps to keep me centered on “Who is important” in my life, especially before going to sleep.
The times are fast coming to a close. There will be serious battles ahead. Nevertheless, we have the truth and the truth will set us free—free from fear, concern, dread, anxiety and so on. Count it all joy, my sisters. We were born for such a time as this. Moreover, we have the greatest tool of all to endure these trials—the Sword—the Word of God. Study it to show thyself approved unto God!
Shalom shalom,
Kathie Palladino
www.kitchen2.com