A Carnal vs. Spiritual Life

Paul writes to the church at Galacia concerning the dichotomy of a life lived in wasted pursuits with a carnal mindset opposed to one living a Christ centered life….

“But I say, walk by the Spirit, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh; for these are opposed to each other, to prevent you from doing what you would. But if you are led by the Spirit you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are plain: fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, anger, selfishness, dissension, party spirit, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and the like. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.” 

(Galatians 5: 16 - 21) 

“But if you are led by the Spirit you are not under the law.” The law he is referring to is the law of sin and death epitomized by personal failures, self loathing and lack of self-worth which all who fail to acknowledge Christ and abide in Him suffer under. However those who do abide in Him are given the desire and the will to abstain from living a carnal existence and prefer instead to experience the continual joy of living a clean and upright life which in turn brings forth good characteristics that these verses refer to as spiritual fruit.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. Let us have no self-conceit, no provoking of one another, no envy of one another. (Galatians 5: 22 - 26)

Jesus uses the following analogy to make His point clearly understood alluding to how the vines in a grape vineyard respond to the tending of the viticulturist when He says…..

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch of mine that bears no fruit, he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. You are already made clean by the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If a man does not abide in me, he is cast forth as a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you will, and it shall be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you; abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.” (John 15: 1 - 11)

Those who understand the word and pay mental assent to who Christ is and then just walk away reverting back to their old ways, they then are essentially spiritually dead, still-born lifeless stiffs who will in the end be cast out.

“Every branch that does bear fruit he prunes”  For those who continue to abide in Christ, He does away with the dead and useless works that have been produced, just as the viticulturist removes the dead pieces from otherwise healthy vines so that they can flourish and produce fruit more abundantly. This is an ongoing spiritual process and a beautiful picture of the relationship between God and His own as He helps them develop and mature until that great day when He receives them into His eternal realm.

Made In The Image Of God

Musing over thoughts about why God decided to create human beings, one begins to realize that it is a subject that deserves extensive pondering along with a considerable amount of prayerful investigation into the scriptures to try and discern what may have been the mindset of the Almighty. After all He had created everything else in the universe and was most likely not at a loss for entertainment. On the other hand, as we delve deeper into it we are confronted with several aspects concerning the Creator and His relationship to that which He created. First of all the scriptures indicate that God is eternal, He always existed before anything else, and will continue to exist long after everything ceases to exist. Moses understood this when he said, “Lord, thou have been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, or you had ever formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God. You turn man back to the dust, and say, “Turn back, O children of men!” For a thousand years in your sight are but as yesterday when it is past, or as a watch in the night. 

(Psalm 90: 1 - 4)

So we know that the Almighty is eternal and exists in a realm unaffected by what we call time, so therefore He is timeless and His domain is omnipresent. There is no past or future, there is only the continual ongoing present, something difficult to grasp as humans who have a beginning, birth and end in death. When we couple this understanding with the two arguments about creationism as opposed to evolution, then it becomes clear that rather than flounder around and wallow in either argument, we begin to realize that creation is an ongoing process. Astrophysicists and astronomers have observed that the universe is continually expanding and developing as they visually explore the universe from their observatories. So with this knowledge in mind then one might wonder if perhaps the Creator Himself was bored with all of the created beings before the advent of man, including even the angels because none of them had been given free will as we understand it other than Lucifer His greatest angelic being who He created with a specific purpose in mind. Perhaps God Himself had decided to create mankind and planned that they would become endowed with free will and the capacity to reason and make choices like He himself. For that to happen, they would have to be given an opportunity to choose either good or evil out of which would come conscience and self awareness. The scriptures indicate that God wanted to have a great company with whose presence He could delight in and enjoy and who He would imbue with eternal life. 

So here we have the testimony in scripture that gives us an even clearer picture of the nature of God. 

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.” (Genesis 1: 26 - 28)

Notice that it says “Let us make man in our image.” Who is He talking to? Here is where we are faced with the concept of the triune persons of God. We can examine this by backtracking from our own human perspective which will help clarify this often misunderstood concept. Man is a tripartite being, in other words man is made up of a physical body and a soul, which is the individual’s personality, mind and will, and a spirit which is the life force, the breath of life which emanates from God. So there it is from a human perspective, God the Father is the personality, mind and will, God the Son is the physical embodiment of God on earth, and God the Holy Spirit is His life force pervading eternity. We are in essence made in His image, this is not to mean how He appears, but how we are made in three distinct parts uniquely different from all other beings throughout creation.

The apostle John is speaking here about the second person of the trinity, the one who the Creator spoke to when He said; “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness,” this is Jesus Christ, the Son of God and physical embodiment of God on earth. 

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God; all things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world knew him not. He came to his own home, and his own people received him not. But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God; who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; we have beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father. 

(John 1: 1-3, 9-15)

Destroyer Of Western Civilization

Secular Humanism is an attempt to function as a civilized society with the exclusion of God and His moral principles. During the last several decades, Humanists have been very successful in propagating their beliefs. Their primary approach is to target the youth through the public school system. "Education is thus a most powerful ally of humanism, and every school is a school of humanism” wrote Charles F. Potter in his 1930 book "Humanism: A New Religion.” Secular humanism posits that human beings are capable of being ethical and moral without religion or a god. It does not, assume that humans are either inherently evil or innately good, nor does it present humans as being superior to nature. Rather, the humanist life stance emphasizes the responsibility facing humanity and the ethical consequences of human decisions.

This is not new, it began eons ago when Lucifer magnified himself and placed his throne above the throne of God. “How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of Dawn! How you are cut down to the ground, you who laid the nations low! You said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; above the stars of God I will set my throne on high; I will sit on the mount of assembly in the far north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will make myself like the Most High.’
(Isaiah 14: 12-14)

It became an inherent part of human nature at the fall of man in Eden, recorded in Genesis chapter three when man gave his allegiance and his spiritual future over to Satan. Since then down through the ages various men and women have succumbed to the desire of becoming masters of human destiny eradicating the knowledge of God from the face of the earth, a plan contrived by their master.

Adherence to Judaeo-Christian ethos within the member states of the European Union has paled to insignificance as Secular Humanism has been fully embraced by Europeans with anti-semitism once again on the rise. The predominantly secular humanistic leadership of the United Nations continues working feverishly to undermine Israeli political and economic life while encouraging Jew hating Muslim nations to eradicate Israel from the face of the earth.

American freedom of worship and social acknowledgment of the Judaeo-Christian principles which date back to the founding fathers is being chipped away by God hating humanistic Atheists. This gives us cause to understand the reasoning of those who arrogantly assume that there is no God and that they alone hold the answers to the climate, the ice caps and seas and every facet of human life, the earth and even the universe. Herein lies the essence of a great spiritual battle between conservative Judaeo-Christian believers who revere the Creator along with the founding fathers and Constitution, standing in opposition to the powers of darkness behind the duped humanistic atheists who riot, burn, destroy and shout down any voice of sane reason and righteousness.

The bible addresses this and makes clear the source of this divisiveness, “For we contend not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” (Ephesians 6:12)

Be rest assured that the outcome of this war was determined at Calvary long ago when the Messiah laid down His life paying the ransom for all who call Him Lord, Savior and Master.

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. (John 3:16-17)

A New Day Has Dawned Across The Western Civilized World

Yesterday on January 20, 2017 a new President assumed control of the United States of America which was initially founded on Judeo-Christian principles based in trust in the Almighty God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Speaking plain truth and righteousness in the manner of the great shepherd King David, the new President has declared his will to turn the nation away from God’s impending judgment. This follows eight lean years favoring the children of perdition over the upright.

We are admonished to “Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is easy, that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard, that leads to life, and those who find it are few.” 

(Mathew 7: 13-14)

Here we have a clear understanding that living an upright decent life and following the will of God is sometimes difficult while living in a world surrounded by a predominantly perverse society. The scripture points out that following after the ways of the crowd results in a dead end. It goes without saying that sometimes nice people finish last. Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life. But many that are first will be last, and the last first.” (Mark 10: 29-31)

The apostle John wrote; Children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come; therefore we know that it is the last hour. (1 John 2: 18)

It is refreshing to note that the agent of antichrist, a liar and deceiver who for eight years subverted the U.S. Constitution and who along with his God-hating cadre encouraged and legalized all manner of societal perversion, allowing the enemies of God, men of wrath and violence to freely enter the land, thankfully his days are over. A fresh wind is blowing across America and it occurred in the face of overwhelming odds because the newly elected President had publicly acknowledged his faith in God who in turn placed the mantle of Shepherd and Leader on him as a result of that confession and his public recognition of Jerusalem as the eternal capitol of Israel while vowing his undying support for that nation, the apple of God’s eye.

The apostle John also wrote; “I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and know that no lie is of the truth. Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son.” (1 John 2: 21-22)

 The followers of Islam, some unwittingly, are the enemies of God and children of Satan because they follow after the Antichrist who calls for the annihilation of every Christian and Jew from the face of the earth. They are members of a death cult suffering from a malevolent spirit borne out of envy of Abraham’s son Isaac who was blessed as the legitimate heir of God’s promise. 

“If any one says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen.” 
(1 John 4:20)

The Sunni muslims hate the Shiite muslims, both sects hate and kill each other, and kill Jews and Christians with the intent of eradicating them from the face of the earth. Ninety thousand Christians throughout the Mid-East and North Africa were murdered by Islam last year alone. This former U.S. President worked hand-in-hand with Islamist organizations and worked feverishly along with his surrogates to destabilize the Mid-East and North African countries allowing this human travesty to take place. The bible says, “You will know them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorns, or figs from thistles? So, every sound tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears evil fruit.” (Matthew 7: 16-17)

The Murmansk Run

There are times when men and women become so engaged with the busyness of life and the struggles of survival that they miss the opportunity to make the all important connection with their Creator. So it was with my father who for so many years of his life, felt chased as it were by the Hound of Heaven, whose insistent feet that beat ever so close behind him throughout his days. Then came that moment in his twilight years when he finally relented and asked Jesus the Christ into his life and acknowledged how he had known that He had been there all along patiently waiting, following and upholding him throughout the trials and tribulations of his life. This is an overdue tribute to my father who was born on February 3rd, 1900 and who enjoyed a long and sometimes arduous life as a merchant seaman. 

As a young man he found employment at a shipyard as an electrician, eventually making it aboard an American freighter as an electrician’s mate. And thus he began a lifetime career in the U.S.Merchant Marine. He was a quiet and unassuming person, an ardent reader and self taught man who learned the skills of seamanship and he officially became a Boatswain’s Mate. The United States declared war on Germany December 11, 1941, and along with Great Britain and Russia was allied against Germany, America had begun shipping war materials under the lend-lease act to Great Britain and Russia. My father was a member of the crew on the American freighter Effingham which had joined a large convoy under escort by British warships in the Atlantic. Bound for Murmansk, Russia, the Effingham was torpedoed on March 30, 1942, by German U-Boats and sunk in the icy waters of the Barents Sea. The British had abandoned the convoy by order of Prime Minister Winston Churchill to pursue a German battleship thus leaving the convoy prey for German submarine wolf packs. The freighter Effingham lost twelve crew members. There were eighty-five other ships lost to German attacks and countless crew members lost en route to Murmansk. 

Careful and well-planned convoy protection was often disrupted by storms. From the 24th to 27th of March 1942, convoy PQ13 was scattered over 150 miles of ocean by a storm. Pack ice made matters even worse. In those four days of trouble off North Cape, five merchant ships were sunk by submarines and aircraft, the British cruiser Trinidad was damaged in a battle with German destroyers. On the 20th of March through the 3rd of April convoy PQ13 covered by the British Home Fleet and its escort, including cruiser "Trinidad" and destroyers "Eclipse" and "Fury,” were scattered by severe gales and heavily attacked. On the 29th three German destroyers encountered the escort north of Murmansk. Five of the 19 merchant ships including the freighter Effingham were lost, two to submarines, two to aircraft, and one by destroyers. Forty convoys, with a total of more than 800 ships, including 350 under the U.S. flag, started out on the run to Murmansk from 1941 through 1945. Ninety-seven of those ships were sunk by bombs, torpedoes, mines, and the fury of the elements. The Murmansk convoys were instrumental in keeping Russia in the war. They carried more than 22,000 aircraft, 375,000 trucks, 8,700 tractors, 51,500 jeeps, 1,900 locomotives, 343,700 tons of explosives, a million miles of field-telephone cable, plus millions of shoes, rifles, machine guns, auto tires, radio sets, and other equipment. The PQ 13 convoy to Russia consisted of 18 freighters, a Fleet Oiler, and 3 whalers.

My father was 42 years old when he abandoned ship, the Effingham was loaded with war material and “sank quickly.” He swam through the icy water and climbed aboard a lifeboat, wringing out his clothes he dressed and began to row. There was ice in the water, rowing produced body warmth that was essential to survival. He said many years later, “Once the ship had disappeared below the waves that a German U-Boat surfaced, the Commander apologized over a megaphone declaring that he had no room aboard for survivors.” He went on to say that the men from the engine room, unable to withstand the freezing cold fell asleep and soon froze to death, their bodies were jettisoned as the boat was dangerously overloaded. A few days afterward the survivors were picked up by the “Petrova,” a Russian patrol boat. The crew wrapped them in warm blankets and gave each of them a few ounces of vodka. Later the crew members gave up their own bunks to the survivors and slept on the deck. Upon arriving in Murmansk, they were rushed to a hospital and were treated for frost bite and exhaustion. Several men lost their feet to frostbite. My father said that the young men on the Petrova were fine fellows and that the Russians are generally fine people in spite of the political differences of governments. Following several weeks in the hospital he was found fit to be repatriated and boarded the British cruiser “Edinburgh” headed for Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands. The ship was part of convoy QP11 that departed Russia on the 28th of April, on the 30th the cruiser "Edinburgh" was torpedoed twice by a U-boat. My father said, “I saw the two torpedoes coming, they struck mid ship, I was able to climb off onto another vessel and continued on to Scapa Flow.” As she limped back to Russia yet again, three German destroyers attacked QP11, but only managed to sink a straggler. They found the cruiser on May 2nd. In a series of confused fights amidst snow showers and smokescreens, the "Edinburgh" disabled the "Hermann Schoemann" by gunfire, but was then torpedoed for a third time, both ships were scuttled by their crews and sank. Several decades later the wreck of the Edinburgh was located by a salvage company which was able to recover several billion dollars worth of Russian gold bars sent in exchange for war materials. Half of the treasure was returned to Russia. 

My father later became licensed to captain ships of all tonnage on all seas, after a long maritime career he passed away and went to be with God in whom he placed his trust on October 3rd, 1993.

Jesus said, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me.” (John 14:6)

Center Of The World - God’s Timepiece

The central and most important point in the world was appointed long ago when God gave the Israelites the land known as Israel. All geographic points referred to in the bible are referenced using Jerusalem as the absolute center of God’s compass. It was here that He was destined to be born into man’s family in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. It was here where He would offer himself up as the ultimate and final sacrifice for the sins of man, and it will be here where he returns triumphantly as the avenging Messiah and savior of the world. There is no other place in the universe that holds such importance for the future of mankind, which is why the enemies of God have forever sought to destroy it and all of it’s people. Israel has always been God’s timepiece, with distinct preordained moments set for certain biblical events which have long ago been decreed, it is steadily ticking until the stunning appearance of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords signals peace on earth and the end of mankind’s flawed rule. 

Down through the ages the land historically known as Israel has been trampled by the Armies of Assyria, Egypt, Babylon, Greece and a number of other nations including the armies of the Roman Empire. Following the siege of Jerusalem in 63 BC, the Hasmonean Kingdom became a protectorate of Rome, and in 6 CE was organized as the Roman province of Judea. This was during the earliest years in the life of Jesus of Nazareth who later as an adult foretold the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple. 

Jesus left the temple and was going away, when his disciples came to point out to him the buildings of the temple. But he answered them, “You see all these, do you not? Truly, I say to you, there will not be left here one stone upon another, that will not be thrown down.” (Matthew 24:1-2)

“But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come near. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, and let those who are inside the city depart, and let not those who are out in the country enter it; for these are days of vengeance, to fulfill all that is written. Alas for those who are with child and for those who give suck in those days! For great distress shall be upon the earth and wrath upon this people; they will fall by the edge of the sword, and be led captive among all nations; and Jerusalem will be trodden down by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.” (Luke 21: 20-24)

One might wonder why this happened and what was the reason? The answer is twofold and is found in two of the following verses;  “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God; all things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. He came to his own home, and his own people received him not. But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God; who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; we have beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father. 

(John1:1-5, 11-14)

He came to his own home, and his own people received him not.

The Jews had lost sight of the significance of the animal blood sacrifices in the temple throughout the years for the annual rolling back of their sins, they were looking instead for a Messianic avenger with a sword to deliver them from an oppressive Roman government. Having failed to recognize their Messiah, God used their  oppressor to destroy the temple and thus cause animal sacrifice to cease as it had become an abomination to God who had offered His only begotten son as the final sacrifice for the sins of mankind for all time, and sadly they rejected Him.

But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God; who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. 

Those Jews and gentiles who did acknowledge Jesus as their Messiah were persecuted unmercifully first by the Jews and then by Rome, they too became a part of diaspora, which was God’s plan to spread Christianity to the four corners of the earth.

The Jews had revolted against the Roman Empire in 66 AD during the period known as the first Jewish-Roman War which culminated in the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD just as Jesus had prophesied. During the siege, the Romans destroyed the second Temple and most of Jerusalem. Jewish leaders and elite were exiled, killed or sold into slavery. In 132 AD, the Jews under Bar Kochba rebelled once more against the Roman Emperor Hadrian, who defeated the Jewish armies in 135 AD and Jewish independence was forever lost. As punishment Hadrian changed the name of Jerusalem to Aelia Capotolina, turning it into a pagan city and banned the Jews from living there. The Romans engaged in mass executions and enslavement, and destroyed large numbers of Judean towns, forbidding Jews from settling in Jerusalem or its environs, there was no further Jewish government or overarching legal system thereafter in Judea; this effectively turned the expatriate Jews of the Diaspora into a permanently exiled people with no national homeland. Restrictions (taxation, discrimination, social exclusions) further alienated and marginalized remaining Jews in the Negev and Galilee that favored the settlement of culturally pagan Syro-Phoenicians and others. It was at this time that Judea became normatively known as Syria Palestina. A Roman policy was put in place to alienate Jews from the Land of Israel and Judea, ensuring that no Jewish temple, Jerusalem or state ever rose again. 

One might think that would have been the end of Israel, Jews have been persecuted and murdered in every corner of the world ever since, even the most murderous attempt to eradicate Jews from the face of the earth only served to put it into the hearts of a remnant to return to their promised land and begin anew. The Jewish word “Aliya” means the return of Jews back to their ancient land of Israel, from wherever they may be scattered. The Zionists of the late 19th Century formally created this concept, as they urged all Jews to pull up their roots and migrate back to their ancient land. Little by little, from the 1890's to the present time, Jews have migrated by the several millions to Israel, giving her great vitality and citizens of unique skills she could have attained in no other way. Of course, the greatest single motivation for this return was severe persecution against Jews in the lands in which they were residing. This is all according to God’s plan which has set the stage and is leading up to a grand finale when Jesus the Messiah returns triumphantly as the Lion of the tribe of Judah.

2016 Hanukkah And Christmas Dates Coincide

Hanukkah pronounced Chanukah, means dedication and is known as the Festival of Lights. It is an eight day holiday that commemorates victory over the Seleucid king Antiochus IV who had erected a statue of the pagan god Zeus in the temple at Jerusalem he further defiled it by sacrificing pigs on the alter. When a Greek official tried to force a priest named Mattathias to make a sacrifice to the pagan god, he killed the man and the Jews rose up and fought for their liberation from the Greeks and Hellenists by joining Mattathias and his five sons known as the Maccabees. Antiochus underestimated the will and strength of his Jewish adversaries and sent a small force to put down the rebellion. When that force was annihilated, he led a more powerful army into battle only to be defeated. In 164 BC when Jerusalem was recaptured by the Maccabees and the temple was purified, it gave birth to the holiday known as Chanukah, celebrating the messianic-like victory of the Maccabee’s deliverance of Jerusalem and the rededication of the temple. It was a foreshadowing of a future event when the Messiah comes to purify and deliver his people from the oppressor forever. This year Chanukah begins on Christmas (Messiahmas) Eve! This has only happened four times in the last one hundred years. Even though we don’t know exactly when Yeshua was born, it is always joyful time to celebrate His birth, it is especially meaningful to see Chanukah celebrated at the same time of the Messiah’s nativity as we take a trip through bible history and connect the dots. The old testament (Torah) is the foundational basis for the new testament, both are two halves concerning the beginning and the end of all things. Here we will look at the old testament prophetic promises and the new testament fulfillment of those promises up through the birth of Jesus the Christ (Yeshua the Messiah). 

In a veiled comment found in the old testament (Torah) we see this reference to the coming of a Messiah immediately following the fall of man in the Garden of Eden, when the Lord spoke to the tempter. 

Messiah would be born of a woman.

OT - “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” 

(Genesis 3:15)

NT -  But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law. (Galatians 4:4)

Messiah would come from the line of Abraham.

OT - The Lord speaking to Abraham made this promise, “I will bless those who bless you, and him who curses you I will curse; and by you all the families of the earth shall bless themselves.” (Genesis 12:3) 

OT - “and by your descendants shall all the nations of the earth bless themselves, because you have obeyed my voice.” (Genesis 22:18)

NT - This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham: (Matthew 1:1)

NT - They are Israelites, and to them belong the sonship, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises; to them belong the patriarchs, and of their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ. God who is over all be blessed for ever. (Romans 9: 4-5)

Messiah would be a descendant of Isaac.

OT - The Messiah would come through the lineage of Isaac; But God said to him, “Do not be so distressed about the boy and your slave woman. Listen to whatever Sarah tells you, because it is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned. (Genesis 21:12)

NT - the son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham, the son of Terah, the son of Nahor, (Luke 3:34)

Messiah would be a descendant of Jacob.

OT - And down through Jacob; “I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near. A star will come out of Jacob; a scepter will rise out of Israel. He will crush the foreheads of Moab, the skulls of all the people of Sheth. (Numbers 24:17)

NT - Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers. (Matthew 1:2)

Messiah would come from the tribe of Judah.

OT - The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he to whom it belongs shall come and the obedience of the nations shall be his. (Genesis 49:10)

NT - the son of Amminadab, the son of Ram, the son of Hezron, the son of Perez, the son of Judah, (Luke 3:33)

NT - For it is clear that our Lord descended from Judah, and in regard to that tribe Moses said nothing about priests. (Hebrews 7:14)

Messiah would be heir to King David's throne.

OT -  When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come forth from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom for ever.(2 Samuel 7: 12-13)

OT - Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David, and over his kingdom, to establish it, and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and for evermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.(Isaiah 9:7)

NT - He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there will be no end.”(Luke 1:32-33)

NT -  the gospel concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh (Romans 1:3)

Messiah would be born in Bethlehem.

OT - The Lord spoke through the prophet saying, “But you, O Bethlehem Eph′rather, who are little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose origin is from of old, from ancient days. 
(Micah 5:2)

NT - After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” (Matthew 2:1-2)

NT - So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, (Luke 2:4-6)

Messiah would be born of a virgin.

OT -  Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. (Isaiah 7:14)

NT - Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child of the Holy Spirit; and her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. But as he considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit; she will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: “Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and his name shall be called Emman′u-el” (Matthew 1:18-23)

NT -  In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”

Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.” “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. (Luke 1: 26-35)

Messiah would be called Emmanuel.

OT -   Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. (Isaiah 7:14)

NT - “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (Matthew 1:23)

NT - In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be enrolled. This was the first enrollment, when Quirin′ius was governor of Syria. And all went to be enrolled, each to his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be enrolled with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. And while they were there, the time came for her to be delivered. And she gave birth to her first-born son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. (Luke 2:1-7)

In April 2017 Easter and Passover will intersect and we will look at the connection between those two events and examine the significance of the remaining prophecies that have been fulfilled by the life, death and resurrection of Yeshua the Christ along with the promise of His victorious return as the avenging “Lion of the Tribe of Judah.”