Elisha Vision – Commentary

What is a Christian Zionist? Since I bill myself as a Voice of Christian Zionists, allow me to expand on what that means. Also, how do Messianic believers fit into the picture? There are sure to be other definitions, but here is mine. As a Christian Zionist, I am a believer that Jesus (Yeshua) is the promised Messiah of the Hebrew scriptures and that God is literally restoring His covenant people, Israel, to their own land in its historic geographical location. I have a literal view of the Bible which says Christians are adopted into Israel. I used to trace my roots back 2,000 years to Jesus. Now I realize my roots go all the way back to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; all the way to Adam at least 6,000 years! The Old Testament is for me, too!

A recent email asked how a person could believe in Jesus and be a Torah observer. It is a valid stand and speaks of someone who takes his faith seriously and is not “sleeping” through life, like many today.

There are two points to make. First, most of Christendom believes the law was done away with. However, that is a misinterpretation. Romans  10:4 is the basis for this error: For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. Most put a period after law, but Yeshua did not end the law, it still exists and is in full force. It will be the standard by which all are judged at the last Day. The Apostle Paul’s point was not the end of the law, but the end of obtaining righteousness through the keeping of the law. (renewed annually with a blood sacrifice)  Torah observers in Yeshua  keep the feasts and dietary stipulations now, voluntarily, by personal choice. It does not earn them righteousness. But the depth and wealth of revelation of the Torah is now greatly appreciated by sincere believers. By the way, Torah never was limited to “legal codes”, but embraces the heart of God, the love of God, the intent of God to bless His  people.

Secondly, we see the revelation of the name of God to be Yahweh (or Yehovah, as I now prefer). There is a great site by my friend Keith Johnson. Here is the site: http://hishallowedname.com/ The discovery of the Leningrad manuscripts in the 90’s produced manuscripts with about 50 times out of 6,828 uses of the Name where the original vowel points still exist, confirming Y’hovah as the pronunciation. But I digress.) Nehemiah Gordon, a Karaite (scripture believing) Jew, worked closely with Keith. Nehemiah was a prominent scholar working on the Dead Sea Scrolls. He and Keith also have a book proposing that Matthew’s Gospel was originally written in Hebrew.

Finally, I agree with Nehemiah that Rabbinic Judaism errs when they elevate the oral law (and traditions) above the scripture. A Christian Zionist takes the Bible literally wherever possible and hold scripture above man’s opinions. My mission is to call people to wake up, stand up, and speak up. God is restoring His name in our day, to be read and spoken. This is in direct contrast with the rise of Islam’s god who is not a father and has no son; which means the Isa of the Koran is a different Jesus than Paul preached. Israel is being restored in covenant mercy by Yehovah, the ultimate promise keeper. Former gentiles who find Messiah Yeshua will merge with believing Jews (Romans 11) as one new man (Ephesians 2). The return of Jesus is very soon when all will recognize Him in His fullness as Yeshua ben Yehovah (Philippians 2).

And they also, if they do not continue in unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. For if you were cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, who are natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree? Romans 11:23-24

For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near. For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father. Ephesians 2:14-18

and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Philippians 2:11

Les Lawrence, Voice of Christian Zionists      (READ MORE)