The prophet Isaiah said those words some 700+ years before the baby born in Bethlehem named Jesus came and made His home amongst us. Rabbis have argued that the sign of a child born to a virgin/young maiden in Isaiah 7:4 was not the Messiah. That the baby Isaiah prophesied was not Jesus of Nazareth - born in Bethlehem. At one point I wanted to believe their instruction. It seemed too simple.
Then, when I read the New Covenant in Matthew 1:23 that clearly states, "All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: "The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel" - which means, "God with us" it now became a matter of faith. In order for me to believe in the Messiah Yeshua, I must take hold of those Old Covenant prophecies He fulfilled as stated in the testimony of the New Covenant. Either, I believe Jesus was the fulfillment of that baby and promised Messiah as written by the incredibly-obedient-unto-death prophet, Isaiah, and the incredibly-obedient-unto-death apostle, Matthew, or I believe the Rabbis. The choice was clear and G-d pierced my heart. It was as simple as 1-2-3 or Matthew 1:23. Merry Messiahmas
Monday, December 20, 2010
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
"Put a mark on the foreheads of those who grieve and lament..."
I had a very intense dream about 6 years ago that comes back to memory every so often. I rarely have them. But, when I do, they go into a journal because they are so incredible! This one was about an evening of celebration in a room full of people known to me. We are in a high rise overlooking the city. I was near the window and saw a convoy of helicopters. One helicopter came so close to the window - it looked like it was inspecting us. It tipped from side to side, slowly. I immediately jumped back from the window and felt panic for my daughters. But, when I looked at them, they had raised cross like forms on their foreheads. Immediate relief came to me and when I turned to look at that helicopter it slowly turned away from the window. I woke up. Very strange. But, there has been revelation of this dream over the last 6 years.
2 years later in 2008 I was watching a sermon that was teaching on Revelation 22:13, "I am the Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End." and the pastor was preaching on the Hebrew letters Aleph (greek=Alpha) and Tav (greek=Omega). The symbol of the Aleph is a picture of an ox head, or in ancient Hebrew culture, a sacrificial animal, and the symbol for Tav in ancient Paleo-Hebrew is like a cross or funny 't'. The pastor put it together that Jesus the Messiah was the Aleph - or sacrifice via the Tav - or cross.
So last week, I am reading Ezekiel. In chapter 9, God shows Ezekiel a man clothed in linen who is to mark the foreheads of those who grieve and lament over the idolatry being done in His Holy Temple. In doing some research, I found that this word 'mark' is written in Hebrew as the Tav. Fascinating. So, the Tav was the symbol of God's covering from the wrath to come written on the foreheads of those He had marked to be spared. And even though Ezekiel cried out for God's people - God would not stop the plan and warned, and in the last verse of chapter 9 it is written, "Then the man in linen with the writing kit at his side brought back word, saying, 'I have done as you commanded.'"
Another man said 'It is done' - Jesus of Nazareth. As He died upon the cross He said, "It is finished." and in Revelation 21:6 Jesus said, "It is done. I am the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End." He did not turn back either. He did as commanded by God and was the sacrifice on the cross for the sin of the world.
What do we do with the wrong in our lives? Do we just keep on doing it because we have done it for so long? Or, do we come to a point in time where we recognize we don't want to keep on the same way, with the same thoughts and the same responses. We begin to grieve and lament the darkness in our own lives. And that is what the people of Ezekiel's time did as they saw what was going on with God's People and His Holy Temple. Their grief over sin blessed God. He was attentive to them because they recognized their life choices were not in line with His goodness and commands.
It is the same for us now. We need to look at ourselves and grieve and lament our own choices. The God of Israel, who is a God of Justice, has declared in His Word that He will punish the earth and everything in it for her sin. We can't escape that truth, but we can be marked as His. His choice of mark this time is the blood shed on the Cross.
Do you receive that statement as from Him? Some 5000+ years ago Israel had to believe that the shed blood of a lamb on a doorpost would save them from God's declared wrath. Moses told them. Do you think Israel might have had a difficult time understanding that mark? Oh, you betcha it would have been difficult to believe...until the actual wrath of God passed! And now, every year since the first Passover, that is what we remember... the people of Israel doing as God commanded, and living.
Today, God is asking us to paint the doorpost of our hearts with faith in the blood of the Messiah shed 2000 years ago. Another difficult concept, but just as the people of Ezekiel's time might have thought grieving was not enough to be marked. It was.
I pray for dreams of many with the 'cross like' symbol upon their foreheads. It gives me great peace to know that no matter what happens, those whom God has marked will be eternally safe in the palm of His hand. He has promised. In fact, it is written, "See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me." Isaiah 49:16
2 years later in 2008 I was watching a sermon that was teaching on Revelation 22:13, "I am the Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End." and the pastor was preaching on the Hebrew letters Aleph (greek=Alpha) and Tav (greek=Omega). The symbol of the Aleph is a picture of an ox head, or in ancient Hebrew culture, a sacrificial animal, and the symbol for Tav in ancient Paleo-Hebrew is like a cross or funny 't'. The pastor put it together that Jesus the Messiah was the Aleph - or sacrifice via the Tav - or cross.
So last week, I am reading Ezekiel. In chapter 9, God shows Ezekiel a man clothed in linen who is to mark the foreheads of those who grieve and lament over the idolatry being done in His Holy Temple. In doing some research, I found that this word 'mark' is written in Hebrew as the Tav. Fascinating. So, the Tav was the symbol of God's covering from the wrath to come written on the foreheads of those He had marked to be spared. And even though Ezekiel cried out for God's people - God would not stop the plan and warned, and in the last verse of chapter 9 it is written, "Then the man in linen with the writing kit at his side brought back word, saying, 'I have done as you commanded.'"
Another man said 'It is done' - Jesus of Nazareth. As He died upon the cross He said, "It is finished." and in Revelation 21:6 Jesus said, "It is done. I am the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End." He did not turn back either. He did as commanded by God and was the sacrifice on the cross for the sin of the world.
What do we do with the wrong in our lives? Do we just keep on doing it because we have done it for so long? Or, do we come to a point in time where we recognize we don't want to keep on the same way, with the same thoughts and the same responses. We begin to grieve and lament the darkness in our own lives. And that is what the people of Ezekiel's time did as they saw what was going on with God's People and His Holy Temple. Their grief over sin blessed God. He was attentive to them because they recognized their life choices were not in line with His goodness and commands.
It is the same for us now. We need to look at ourselves and grieve and lament our own choices. The God of Israel, who is a God of Justice, has declared in His Word that He will punish the earth and everything in it for her sin. We can't escape that truth, but we can be marked as His. His choice of mark this time is the blood shed on the Cross.
Do you receive that statement as from Him? Some 5000+ years ago Israel had to believe that the shed blood of a lamb on a doorpost would save them from God's declared wrath. Moses told them. Do you think Israel might have had a difficult time understanding that mark? Oh, you betcha it would have been difficult to believe...until the actual wrath of God passed! And now, every year since the first Passover, that is what we remember... the people of Israel doing as God commanded, and living.
Today, God is asking us to paint the doorpost of our hearts with faith in the blood of the Messiah shed 2000 years ago. Another difficult concept, but just as the people of Ezekiel's time might have thought grieving was not enough to be marked. It was.
I pray for dreams of many with the 'cross like' symbol upon their foreheads. It gives me great peace to know that no matter what happens, those whom God has marked will be eternally safe in the palm of His hand. He has promised. In fact, it is written, "See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me." Isaiah 49:16
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