BLESSING AND THE CURSE

Proverbs 26:2 states: “Like a flitting sparrow, like a flying swallow, so a curse without cause shall not alight.” The blessings and the curses that are recorded in YHVH’s Torah form an integral part of His statutes, ordinances, and laws that govern humanity. They are as active as nature’s forces and are operative, whether we are aware of them or not. This is why iniquity and sin have their boundaries and the fruit they produce cause transgressors-turned-victims to suffer the consequences of the curses. YHVH gave us the Torah for our instructions, so that we could live within His boundaries of righteousness. The blessings and the curses are one of His ways of teaching us to live righteously. How? Here is an illustration: When I was in Special Education we used what was called “behavior modification” methods to help our students learn that they simply could not do what was right in their own eyes. In the classroom, just as in the family and in society at large, there are standards of acceptable behavior. So we helped our students learn and change through positive (blessings) and negative (punishments) feedback. Paul the apostle put it simply, saying that one would reap what ones sows (ref Galatians 6:7-8), which is another means of explaining the laws of cause and effect.

One of the ways YHVH used to chasten His nations of Israel and Judah was to raise up a king, or kings (national leaders), who very often originated from the East. I know that nowadays it is not ‘in vogue’ (or politically correct) to point out to Israel and Judah that unless they repent and turn away from their gods of humanism and all their beastly/fleshly behavior, the consequence may come again from the East. But nevertheless, one cannot help but wonder if this is why we are hearing the sound of saber rattling from the leader of Iran. Yet YHVH is merciful, and many times the results of our behavior are slow to appear; that is, if we can read the signs.

Hence it is YHVH, the sovereign over all nations, who is involved in the assembling of the kings of the East (Islam) who are gathering in order to execute His purposes. Many of us have been pointing to the fact that Israel’s leaders, along with those of the other nations, have been dividing up our land in order to hand portions of it to the Islamic entity for the sake of peace. However, is this the real reason why our Elohim is giving our land over to such an enemy? Could it be that our unrighteous and rebellious hearts are the reason that He has raised up this kind of leadership in our nations and is stirring up the nations surrounding Israel? But at the same time YHVH has also promised that if we would repent and turn back to Him to walk in His righteousness, He “will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before your face; they shall come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways” (Deuteronomy 28:7). But if (YHVH forbid) we are found deserving of the curse, then just the opposite will happen (ref. Deut. 28:25).

Leviticus 18 records a long list of sexual sins and also mentions the sin of sacrificing children to Molech. At the moment our nations are steeped in these abominations, having no fear of the consequences. YHVH’s people, on the other hand, are cautioned very severely regarding these kinds of activities: “You shall therefore keep My statutes and My judgments, and shall not commit any of these abominations, either any of your own nation or any stranger who dwells among you (for all these abominations the men of the land have done, who were before you, and thus the land is defiled), lest the land vomit you out also when you defile it, as it vomited out the nations that were before you” (Leviticus 18: 26-28 emphasis added).

Many scriptures relating to the restoration of YHVH’s kingdom to the whole house of Israel are coming to pass in our generation, but there is one thing that can stop or slow up these prophetic fulfillments, and that is if His redeemed remnant will not respond to His will: “For this is the will of Elohim, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality; that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in passion of lust, like the Gentiles who do not know Elohim; that no one should take advantage of and defraud his brother in this matter, because YHVH is the avenger of all such, as we also forewarned you and testified. For Elohim did not call us to uncleanness, but to holiness” (1 Thessalonians. 4: 3-7).

We are all familiar with the story of Balaam and Balak. Balak, the king of Moab, summoned Balaam the prophet to curse Israel, but because YHVH would not allow it the ‘prophet’ did not succeed in his mission. YHVH had no reason to curse Jacob, so the prophet told his would-be dispatcher that he could only command a blessing upon that nation. “Behold, I have received a command to bless; YHVH has blessed, and I cannot reverse it” (Numbers 23:20). Balaam then informed Balak of the reason why he was unable to do his bidding: "He has not observed iniquity in Jacob, nor has He seen wickedness in Israel. YHVH, his Elohim is with him, and the shout of a King is among them… For there is no sorcery against Jacob, nor any divination against Israel; It now must be said of Jacob and of Israel, 'Oh, what Elohim has done’” (Numbers 23:21-23). But was that the end of the story? While the nation remained in Moab for a while, Balak and his princes found out the reason that Israel’s Elohim was blessing them, and so they devised a way that would actually bring a curse upon Jacob. “So they vex YHVH’s nation with their wiles, wherewith they beguiled Israel in the matter of Peor, and Cozbi, the daughter of a prince of Midian” (Numbers 25:18). The enemy opened the door to temptation and Israel was drawn into sexual perversion and the worship of the god of Moab (Baal of Peor) and thus walked into YHVH’s consequences. This resulted in a plague that broke out in their midst and killed twenty-four thousand (see v.9).

In this way Moab’s solution to the ‘blessing problem’ was to get the nation to rebel by committing sexual sins, and since YHVH could not go back on His word the resultant curse was soon made apparent. Defeating YHVH’s people, therefore, was made possible by enticing them to rebel against the Torah of their Elohim. In fact, the only defeat that the covenant people will ever suffer will be the result of their own actions, and that is disobedience to the commandments, laws, and ordinances of the Elohim of Torah. Messiah’s coming to establish the new covenant, which includes the writing of the Torah on the hearts of the recipients, does not mean that it gets inscribed there automatically or willy-nilly. If we continue to disobey the leading of the Spirit of Holiness and walk in rebellion to His righteousness in Messiah Yeshua, there will be consequences! Yeshua, along with the apostles, has not strayed away from the fundamental teachings of Torah. We will reap what we sow. If we sow to the flesh (power of sin) we will reap its consequences, but if we sow to the Spirit we will reap the benefits. “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Messiah Yeshua, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit… For to be carnally minded is death [the curse], but to be spiritually minded is life and peace [the blessing]... For if you live according to the flesh you will die [the curse]; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live [the blessing]” (Romans 8:1; 6; 13). “Do not be deceived, Elohim is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption [the curse], but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life [the blessing]” (Galatians 6:7-8).

Ephraim

SMELL THE ROSES

Yesterday morning on my walk around the settlement, my thoughts were stirred by an old adage, “wake up and smell the roses”. Following these thoughts others began to pile in behind. I pray that YHVH will bring to my remembrance some of what I perceived to be a warning from the Spirit.

There is no doubt that we are heading into very difficult days, perhaps even the days that are called “Jacob’s troubles”. But what came to my mind regarding the proverbial roses, as I have some real ones in my garden, was that the rose flower does not stay in bloom long before the petals start to drop off and the stem has to be cut so that another can grow. The fragrance, therefore, is also very short lived. In my opinion, we have entered a season in which it is too late to smell the roses and what is about to awaken all Israel (both houses) are the thorns of “Jacob’s troubles”.

The main body of believers all over the world has been put to sleep by half-truths through what is called the dispensational doctrines. They have been led to believe that the Jewish people/nation constitutes the two sticks of Ezekiel 37 that are to be joined in order to become one stick/nation. Thus, looking at the first stick that Ezekiel was asked to take in his hand, they are mistaking it for the (future) union of the two. "As for you, son of man, take a stick for yourself and write on it: 'For Judah and for the children of Israel, his companions.' Then take another stick and write on it, 'For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel, his companions'” (Ezekiel 37:16).

If we do not believe or comprehend that there is a second stick, that of “Joseph - the whole house of Israel”, in where lies the multiplicity of YHVH’s blessings to the forefathers (the “fullness of the nations”), we will be doing a great disservice to a whole lot of people who will be left in the dark as to “Jacob’s troubles”. Why? Because these troubles are going to fall on all the Israelites out in the nations, not only on the present day State of Israel and the Jews of the Diaspora.

Why are these troubles going to befall Jacob? Why is there an outcry in the nations, “Awake O Israel put off your slumber”? Why does the prophet Malachi demand to "remember the Torah of Moses My servant, and the statutes and judgments which I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel” (Mal 4:4)?

As I mentioned in previous letters, Moses gave us the answers to all these questions when he prophesied to the tribes, our forefathers, before they entered the land. He told them that they would not remain in the land very long, and that YHVH would scatter them amongst the nations. But in the latter days, when they find themselves in distress (great troubles), they would repent and return to YHVH and listen to His voice (ref. Deut: 4). YHVH gave us, His people, the Torah (His voice) and within those loving instructions He assigned the blessings and the curses and explained very clearly the reasons behind each of them respectively. The Almighty One intends to use “Jacob’s troubles” as correctional judgments for all Israel.

Thankfully YHVH is slow to anger (ref Psa 103: 8-9), so He will tolerate iniquity in His people until that cup is full. "But it shall come to pass, if you do not obey the voice of YHVH your Elohim, to observe carefully all His commandments and His statutes which I command you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you” (Deut 28:15). Please read Deuteronomy 28: 16-68.

There is a belief that YHVH did away with the punishment for sin when Yeshua died. If that were the case then we can remove the scriptures that speak of the curses that follow sin. But is that the case? As I see it, those curses are punishments for missing the mark of Torah. However, when we repent “the blood of Yeshua cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7) thus breaking the curse that were attached to the sin.

When I look out of my living room window I see the two mountains, of blessing and curse. The Mount of Curse is higher and much larger than that of the Mount of Blessing, just as there are more verses about the curse than the blessing. Do not think that it is the devil executing the curses. It is very clear that YHVH already put these things in His book, as consequences for disobedience. But if His people from both houses of Israel will repent "and return to YHVH your Elohim and obey His voice, according to all that I command you today, you and your children, with all your heart and with all your soul, [than] YHVH your Elohim will bring you back from captivity, and have compassion on you, and gather you again from all the nations where YHVH your Elohim has scattered you” (Deut. 30:2-3). He also said that if we would repent He would put these curses on our enemies (ref. Deut. 30:7). And so, if the second stick of “all Israel” remains asleep or in the dark, who will be held responsible when the times of Jacob’s troubles fall upon them? I believe that we are already in the beginning stages of YHVH’s righteous judgments upon His people and that it is too late to smell the sweet fragrance of His blessings, thus we are beginning to feel the sting of the thorns.

“The high places of Aven, the sin of Israel, shall be destroyed. The thorn and thistle shall grow on their altars; they shall say to the mountains, ‘Cover us!’ And to the hills, ‘Fall on us.’ O Israel, you have sinned from the days of Gibeah… You have plowed wickedness; You have reaped iniquity. You have eaten the fruit of lies, because you trusted in your own way, in the multitude of your mighty men. Therefore tumults shall arise among your people, and all your fortresses shall be plundered… When it is My desire, I will chasten them. Peoples shall be gathered against them when I bind them for their two transgressions. Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek YHVH, till He comes and rains righteousness on you” (Hosea 10:8-9;13-14;12).


Ephraim

JEWS REQUIRE A SIGN

This has been an interesting week in that the topic of miracles came up several times in conversations. In each of those instances sentiments like “if only the Spirit would heal the sick or raise the dead as a witness to the Jews...” were expressed. Indeed, in the writings of Paul we find the apostle saying that the Jews do require a sign (ref 1 Cor. 1:22). Yeshua, for His part, left two signs of His Messiahship, “the sign of Jonah” (ref. Matt. 12:39-40), and the sign that the temple would be destroyed and raised back in three days (meaning His body, ref. Mark 14:58). In addition, Yeshua performed numerous miracles during His earthly ministry. But overall did all these miracles/signs have a lasting impact on the Jewish nation? What kind of a sign will the Jews of today respond to?

As I pondered this I recalled some feedbacks from Israeli Jews, when I had mentioned to them that there are people who are discovering their identity as the “lost tribes of Israel/Ephraim” and are also starting to adapt a Torah life style. The responses were always very emotional and the words the same every time: “The Mashiach is coming, the Mashiach is coming!” In Judaism it is a given that the lost tribes must return before Messiah comes. Included in this belief is also the concept that the true Messiah will be responsible for restoring the lost ones to their patriarchal roots.

As we all know, the one phenomenon that is quickly making its way through the Christian world today is interest in the Hebraic roots of Christianity and a love for the land and the Jewish people. Many Gentile believers are responding in an unprecedented way to this present move of YHVH’s Spirit. They are beginning to receive revelation that they are of the lost tribes, and as a result they also study the scriptures in a new light. Each individual has his own particular testimony, but all point to the one message of the latter day prophecies that speak about the House of Judah and the House of Israel/Ephraim being joined together into one nation.

The House of Judah (which has a remnant of all 12 tribes in it) has never lost its identity, and now, because of the Word of Elohim and His faithfulness, it has been restored to being a nation once again. But where are the multitudes promised to the other house? The prophet Ezekiel says that they are in their graves; they are dry dead bones. But when YHVH breathes His Spirit into them they will live again and come up out of those hidden places in the earth, and putting on flesh they will stand on their feet as a mighty army (ref Eze 37:1-10). The only people who have had YHVH’s Spirit breathed into them are those who have heard and believed the Good News of the New Covenant. Thus, through the faith that they have from their father Abraham, they have been resurrected from a grave of “not my people” and “sin and death” to life in Messiah. But that is not the only prophetic destiny for these people. They also are to become a royal priesthood and a holy nation, and to be joined to the “stick/nation of Judah” thus forming a one united nation (ref. Eze. 37: 19-22).

Today these scriptures are being fulfilled, and the House of Joseph/Ephraim (with its lost and now found tribesmen) is standing before Judah with this incredible testimony of life from the dead. What other sign would Judah need that would be greater than an entire nation being raised from their graves? It is therefore vital for the members of the House of Joseph/Ephraim to be this living testimony to Judah. It not only shows the Jews that the Elohim of Israel is faithful to keep His covenant and Word, but it is also a statement as to Messiah’s identity. Let us not be ashamed of who we are because it is the Gospel and the hope of Israel. It is the sign of the power of Elohim to raise the dry dead bones of the lost Israelites and bring them out of their graves, back to their identity and eventually to the land that was promised to their forefathers. More over, this restoration and redemption of all Israel will be YHVH’s testimony/sign to all the nations that He is the Elohim of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, a faithful covenant keeping Elohim. It will be life from dead for the entire creation (Rom. 8:19; Rom 11:15)!

Ephraim