What is Shavuot?

18 05 2018

Dry Bones Shavuot 2018Christians celebrate Pentecost Sunday this week. Do you know why? Yes, it is the anniversary of the Holy Spirit outpouring in Acts 2. But why did that great event occur on that day in the First Century? Most Christians are ignorant of the roots of Pentecost, but what about Shavuot?

Do you know that the first syllable “pente” means fifty? So what? Well actually, it is very important. The Acts 2 event was precisely 50 days after Passover. After the resurrection, Jesus told His disciples to wait in the upper room in Jerusalem for the Holy Spirit power.

“And now I will send the Holy Spirit, just as my Father promised. But stay here in the city until the Holy Spirit comes and fills you with power from heaven.” Luke 24:49 NLT

But what about Shavuot? Jews also celebrate the same day (although they start at sundown Saturday). Shavuot literally means “weeks”, and refers to the seven weeks after Passover (49 days) leading on Day 50 to the great Biblical Feast of Weeks found in Leviticus 23:15-22. Jews believe that date is when Yehovah God gave Moses the Ten Commandments and the Torah. It is timed to celebrated the first fruits of the wheat harvest.

An interesting difference from Passover is the bread eaten. For Passover it must be unleavened bread. For Shavuot it must be leavened bread. Why is this? Christians understand the amazing symbolism. Unleavened bread speaks of Yeshua who was unleavened by sin. But Pentecost/Shavuot uses leavened bread which speaks of the leavening of sin in His people; that is washed away by the blood of the Lamb/Messiah Yeshua. This is accomplished by the Holy Spirit leavening the whole lump with grace and forgiveness for the individual believer and for the entire body of Messiah believers.

Finally, for this Feast, Jews read and reflect on the deeply moving Book of Ruth, which is the Biblical story of love and covenant.

But Ruth said: ​​“Entreat me not to leave you, or to turn back from following after you; ​​For wherever you go, I will go; and wherever you lodge, I will lodge; ​​Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God. ​​Where you die, I will die, and there will I be buried. Yehovah do so to me, and more also, if anything but death parts you and me.” Ruth 1:16-17

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.

Les Lawrence, Voice of Christian Zionists                  (Read more)

 

 

 

 

 


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Passover News from Israel

27 03 2018

Passover at Temple MtHere are some very interesting stories about Passover from Israeli news sources for your enjoyment. My last commentary was about why Christian Zionists observe Passover. This time I just want to share a glimpse into modern Israeli culture around Passover which starts at sundown this Friday.

Treasure trove of ancient Jewish ‘freedom coins’ just in time for Passover – JERUSALEM, Israel – Hebrew University archaeologist Dr. Eilat Mazar uncovered a rare treasure trove of bronze coins from the time of the Jewish revolt against the Romans more than 1,900 years ago. “A discovery like this – ancient coins bearing the words ‘Freedom’ and ‘Redemption’ – found right before the Jewish Festival of Freedom, Passover, begins is incredibly moving,” she said.

Third Temple Alert: Police Authorize Passover Sacrifice Next to Temple Mount – Last year, the Passover sacrifice was conducted in the courtyard of the nearby Hurva Synagogue in the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem’s Old City, some 450 yards from the Temple Mount. This year, it will take place at the Davidson Center, an archaeological park situated at the southern foot of the sacred plateau, and just below the Al Aqsa Mosque.

Symbolic and Traditional Passover Recipes – A poll just taken in Israel – which, incidentally has a majority secular population – found that 67.3 percent of Israeli Jews will eat only kosher (satisfying the requirements of Jewish law) food for Passover and that 63.1 percent will also clean their homes, removing all traces of hametz, or unleavened products, symbolic of sin. (Note from Les: The author made what I am sure was simply a typo. It is “leavened” products removed, not unleavened.)

PA: Passover rites a ‘dangerous precedent’ – Palestinian Authority says Jewish worship in vicinity of Temple Mount is unacceptable, vows to continue to pay terrorists.

So this day shall be to you a memorial; and you shall keep it as a feast to Yehovah  throughout your generations. You shall keep it as a feast by an everlasting ordinance. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall remove leaven from your houses.Exodus 12:14-15

Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. 1 Corinthians 5:7-8

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem and pray for rain.

Les Lawrence, Voice of Christian Zionists               (Read more)

 

 


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Not Fake News – NPR

12 08 2017

This is hard to believe, but I am not making this up. It comes from National Public Radio News. The city of Boston and other cities think Islamophobia is such a problem that they are using tax payer money to put up posters around Boston to “educate” citizens how to handle Islamophobia.

Islamophobia

The city of Boston is launching a poster campaign to fight Islamophobia by encouraging bystanders to intervene, in a nonconfrontational way, if they witness anti-Muslim harassment. Starting Monday, the city began installing 50 posters around the city with advice on what to do if you see Islamophobic behavior. The posters recommend sitting by a victim of harassment and talking with them about a neutral subject while ignoring the harasser.NPR

Have you ever seen posters helping to diffuse anti Jew hatred? A Jew is six times more likely to be attacked than a Muslim. That is an official FBI statistic over a ten-year period.

Even the term is bogus. It means “fear of Islam.” Christians have no fear of Islam. Even if they do succeed in killing us, we know we will be raised from the dead and live eternally with Jesus. We fear the living God. It is He who forgives and is abundant in mercy.

For You, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive, and abundant in mercy to all those who call upon You. Psalm 86:5

Les Lawrence, Voice of Christian Zionists          (Read more)


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The Merger Miracle

17 03 2017

Merger

Jews and Christians will inevitably be united as one people and one nation.  It will take a miracle! Christian Zionists and Jewish Zionists working together is a great first step. But we have a long way to go, and only God can do it. Our part is to yield, leaning in to His lead. We will have to follow Him. Our sensitivity to His Holy Spirit voice may have life or death consequences.

The merger miracle can be seen in the often quoted verse from the Wisdom of Solomon:

Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him. And a threefold cord is not quickly broken. Ecclesiastes 4:12

The secret to the miracle is more than Jews and Christians working together for Zion. It is Yehovah God as the third strand of cord woven together. All three in unity makes a winning combination.

What motivates Yehovah? Did God bring Jews back to Israel from all over the world to just destroy them? No, that is the mantra of Iran. Did God originally choose Israel as a means to reject the world? No, His motive was to pave the way for all the nations to be blessed through Israel. Did God later choose the Church so He could find a way to completely and permanently reject Israel? No! He never gave up on them. He vowed to restore them and we have seen it in our lifetimes. (See Romans 11 for the full explanation.)

On a physical level, I see more land for Israel as the result of the Arab Spring described in Isaiah 19. The same is true for the Psalm 83 War. Both events, probably concurrent, will mean that Israel will need more immigrants. Many of those may eventually be Christian Zionists invited by Israel.

Spiritually and relationally, a great affinity is already forming between many Jews and Christians. On two separate occasions I heard Israeli Jews say that they “love God, believe in the Messiah, and when He comes they will look at His hands and feet. And then we will rejoice together!” That is an amazing confession.

Christians will have to give up replacement theology and Jews will accept Yeshua as Messiah. Jews will not become culturally gentile-ized, or Christian-ized out of their Judaism, but recognize that Yeshua simply fulfills all of the prophecies about the Messiah. Of course the convincing occurs in their relational interaction with Jesus, one on one. That is God’s part.

It really is a merging of the two, not a swallowing up of Israel by the Church. Israel is destined to be the head and not the tail. A sad fact is that it appears that a majority of “Christendom” (those who by title or nationality are considered Christian) may not actually know Jesus at all as their personal Savior. We are now in the prophetic time of the great apostasy, the falling away of the church. True relational, saved followers of Jesus may prove to be a distinct minority. I am not proposing that all true Christians will move to Israel, but that a substantial number will. It will be seen by all as a true miracle. (today’s post is an excerpt from Chapter 15 in my book, Blessing Israel)

And I will make your descendants multiply as the stars of heaven; I will give to your descendants all these lands; and in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed; Genesis 26:4

Now it shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of Yehovah’s house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow to it. Isaiah 2:2

After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” Revelation 7:9

Les Lawrence, Voice of Christian Zionists           (Read more)


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Fake Peace

13 01 2017

israel-plan-will-fail-failjan122017Fake news gets lots of headlines, but fake peace is more deadly. I’m talking about this Sunday’s Paris “Peace” Conference. Some 72 nations are meeting to find the solution to the “Israel Problem,” an echo of Hitler’s “solution to the Jewish problem.” Oh, and guess who is not invited? ISRAEL!

“Because, indeed, because they have seduced My people, saying, ‘Peace!’ when there is no peace—and one builds a wall, and they plaster it with untempered mortar—  say to those who plaster it with untempered mortar, that it will fall. There will be flooding rain, and you, O great hailstones, shall fall; and a stormy wind shall tear it down. Surely, when the wall has fallen, will it not be said to you, ‘Where is the mortar with which you plastered it?’ ”Ezekiel 13:10-12

Untempered mortar is mortar with not enough water. The spiritual meaning is a false peace conceived without the Holy Spirit.

The agreement they will reach has already been “leaked.” (We inhabit a devious world.) The concern in Israel is that it will be used in a UN resolution declaring a Palestinian state, with Obama’s last betrayal by abstention, before Trump can be sworn into office.

In rewriting history and making a mockery of justice and fairness, the United Nations has become a sick joke as it brazenly continues to back the Palestinian narrative that would drive Israel into the sea. Their spokesmen have been quoted over and again saying that they only want such a state as a launch pad for ridding the region of Jews altogether. Israel Today

72 countries including US to attend Paris peace conference

Paris conference to ask Israel and PA to commit to two states

January 15th: 70 Nations Will Gather In Paris To Discuss The Future Of Israel

The Nations Plot In Vain – Leaked Draft Of Paris Peace Conference Revealed

Why do the nations rage, and the people plot a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against Yehovah and against His Anointed, saying, “Let us break Their bonds in pieces and cast away Their cords from us.” He who sits in the heavens shall laugh; the Lord shall hold them in derision. Then He shall speak to them in His wrath, and distress them in His deep displeasure: “Yet I have set My King on My holy hill of Zion.”Psalm 2:1-6
“For behold, in those days and at that time, when I bring back the captives of Judah and Jerusalem, I will also gather all nations, and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat; and I will enter into judgment with them there on account of My people, My heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations; they have also divided up My land.” Joel 3:1-2
Pray for the REAL PEACE of Jerusalem!
Les Lawrence, Voice of Christian Zionists         (Read more)

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You Must Accept Christendom?

9 01 2017

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Let me draw a fine point. Must a Jew accept Christendom, or is it enough to accept Jesus/Yeshua as the Messiah of Israel? Growing numbers of Israelis are recognizing Yeshua as the Messiah and Son of God. Do they also have to accept all the traditions of ecclesiastical church history? I think not. Here is an excerpt from my latest book that explains my simple point. (The Hebrew God Who Has No Name – Chapter 8)

Restoration Timing?

Even the Second Coming, the climactic event of history, requires this timing. The Messiah clearly remains in Heaven until a certain time … and then He comes! He comes at the time of restoration of everything the holy prophets have said. Jesus cannot return until Yehovah’s Name is restored  according to Peter’s sermon in Acts 3.

that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before, whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began. Acts 3:20-21

“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! See! Your house is left to you desolate; for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of Yehovah!’”  Matthew 23:37-39

Second Coming?

There is no question that the Second Coming is the crowning event of human history. We are close to the Messiah’s entrance. There is a classic joke about the Messiah finally appearing in Jerusalem and the Mayor goes out to meet Him. The Mayor says: “Welcome to Jerusalem. We have waited for you for so long, but I just have one question. Is this your first or second visit?”

The viewpoint of Jews continues to be a very serious issue. What do they think about the Messiah? How do they consider the Christian hope? Truly, a rapidly growing anticipation of the Messiah exists in Israel. Leading rabbis speak out that His coming is close. As the hope for a peace deal dies, more Israeli’s are considering their faith seriously, even if they are not religious. On a 2007 visit to Israel, I heard two prominent Israeli speakers touch the subject. One was in Jerusalem and one was in the Golan. Both made similar statements that shocked me by their public candor and position taken. Neither  man had acknowledged Jesus as the Messiah, but both believed in the Messiah, the Son of David. They both said that “when He comes, we will look at His hands and feet; and then we will all rejoice together”. The Golan speaker spoke those exact words to our Christian tour group. He flatly stated that the Holy Spirit (Ruach ha Kodesh) speaks to him in his heart. He said that he didn’t know “about those scholars down in Jerusalem with their stacks of books, but the Messiah is coming and I will look at His hands and feet, and then we will all dance together.”

When Will Jews See Jesus?

One of the most severe judgments of history was the removal of Israel from their land after rejecting the Messiah. Paul describes it as “the severity of God” in Romans 11:22. That event opened the way for the nations to be saved; but what about Israel? When will they see the Messiah?

What if I told you that it hinges on Jews changing one of their most common Scripture prayers? It is located in their Passover hymn (known to Jews as the Hallel – Psalms 113-118).

Blessed is he who comes in the name of Yehovah! We have blessed you from the house of Yehovah. Psalm 118:26

The problem is that the Jews do not pronounce the Name. They replace the word Yehovah with the word Lord, or in Hebrew; Adonai. Therefore, I submit that part of the scales falling off the eyes of the Jewish people definitely involves the revelation of the restoration and use of Yehovah’s Name!  Jesus even declared this directly in the Gospels. Although it is mistranslated LORD in our English Bibles, the Name of Yehovah was quoted by Yeshua Himself directly from Psalm 118:26.

Jesus said: for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, “Blessed is He who comes in the name of Yehovah!” Matthew 23:39

We know He said Yehovah, because this was a direct quote. Psalm 118 has the Name, Yehovah, no less than 28 times in the Hebrew text! So, does that really mean the Jews will begin using His Name again? Yes!

Note, that Jews will say: “Blessed is He” who comes in Yehovah’s Name. Jesus did that; and the Jews of His day did not say blessed is He, but killed Him for “blasphemy” for claiming the Name of Yehovah. We also may be rejected for speaking the Name, but proclaim it we must, as we stand with Israel and the Jewish people as they begin to profess: “Blessed is He who comes in the Name of Yehovah!”

Les Lawrence, Voice of Christian Zionists       (Read more)

(New explanation for why I use God’s literal covenant Name: Yehovah. Here is a link to the best simple explanation I know, from my friend, Keith Johnson.)

 

 


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