Nazarene Israelite Two House Congregation of Port Elizabeth

Pentecost/Shavuot

Elohim is not calling all the people alive during this age. Believe it or not! Elohim is at this time only calling a remnant of people descended from the lost ten tribes of Israel, plus a number of real Gentiles, to return to Him through Yahshua the Messiah, to the covenant relationship they made with Him together with the house of Judah, at Mount Sinai – to become the first-fruits of His salvation with their Torah observant Jewish Brothers, when Messiah returns.  The question is: Why? Elohim has a Master Plan pictured by His seven annual festivals; the first festival, Passover tells us how YHVH saved the children of Israel from slavery in Egypt, but it also pictures the Messiah who volunteered from before the foundation of the world to be slain as the Passover Lamb to atone for the nation of Judah, but also for the lost sheep of the house of Israel and ultimately be the Savior of the rest of mankind, as witnessed by Rav Kepha in 1 Peter 1: 18 – 20, in this way: ‘Knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, (19) but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Messiah. (20) For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you.’ 

Pentecost or Shavuot is the third annual festival or Sabbath and is the third step in Elohim’s plan of salvation for mankind. Even though the day of Pentecost always falls on the same day of the Hebrew calendar, each individual believer is commanded to count off seven weeks for him/herself from the first annual Sabbath leading up to it, as commanded in Deuteronomy 16: 9 & 10, as follows: “You shall count seven weeks for yourself; you shall begin to count seven weeks from the time you begin to put the sickle to the standing grain. (10) Then you shall celebrate the Feast of Weeks to YHVH your Elohim with a tribute of a freewill offering of your hand, which you shall give just as YHVH your Elohim blesses you.” Pentecost falls fifty days after the First Day of Unleavened Bread and is an English word derived from Greek, meaning to count fifty. The transliterated Hebrew name ‘Shavuot’, simply means Feast of Weeks, as shown in verse 10 above. It was on the first Pentecost that YHVH gave Israel His Commandments, Statutes and Judgments through Moses on Mount Sinai. YHVH established His annual Set-apart Days around the harvest seasons in Israel and similar to the people in the Middle East harvested their crops around the three festival seasons, Elohim’s Set-apart Days show us how He is harvesting people for eternal life in His Kingdom. Elohim’s Set-apart Days build progressively upon each other, thus revealing Elohim’s plan of salvation to mankind. We know for example that Passover symbolized Messiah’s giving of Himself for the sins of the lost ten tribes who are returning to the covenant YHVH made with us, together with the house of Judah at Mount Sinai, but also for the rest of mankind after the millennium during the great white throne period. The Days of Unleavened Bread which follows immediately after Passover teach us that we must remove and avoid sin, as much as we remove and avoid leaven from our lives, during these Set-apart Days. We start counting the Omer during the Passover season, showing that we are consciously busy toning down our human instinctual drives through the working of the Set-apart Spirit in us, in obedience to YHVH. We read from Leviticus 23: 15 & 16 (Jewish Bible - JPS 1917): ‘And you shall count unto you from the morrow after the day of rest, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the waving; seven weeks shall there be complete; (16) even unto the morrow after the seventh week shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall present a new meal-offering unto YHVH.’  We start counting on the 16th of Aviv, which is during spring (in the Northern Hemisphere). This is the time Israel came out of Egypt. Next we have Iyar the second month, after which the children of Israel left the land of Egypt. This is followed by Sivan, the third month since the children of Israel had gone forth out of Egypt and arrived at Mount Sinai, where Moses received the Torah from Elohim’s hand.

All three months are mentioned because they form an integral part of the redemption of the nation of Israel. Passover is linked to eating unleavened bread, the Omer has a measure of barley and Shavuot or Pentecost has a special offering of two loaves of fine flour baked with leaven. During the Passover season we are forbidden to eat leaven products, as leaven symbolizes man’s inclination to pride and the self. As leaven raises dough, so pride and the self inflates a man to become arrogant. By the end of their enslavement, the Israelites were integrated into the pagan ways of the Egyptians. They like us, the modern day Israelites, were not worthy of redemption. They had to be drawn out of their captivity by Elohim. They did not leave their captors willingly and were taken hold of by Elohim, rather than coming out of their own. It was as if they responded spiritually, but not physically. This is much like us, as believers. The intention of a believer’s life in a physical world is to bring his/her human nature into subjection to Elohim, as we are commanded in Deuteronomy 6: 5, “And you shall love YHVH your Elohim with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” This elevates the physical side of man, but also his spiritual life, by adding to it the drive and energy of physical passion. The physical or instinctual drives of man, if not controlled are like animal instinct, very dangerous. As believers we need to be constantly aware of our physical instinctual drives and control it with the Set-apart Spirit in us, in obedience to Torah. This is why the Omer was of barley, an animal food. At Pentecost there is a special offering of two loaves, made with fine wheat flour baked with leaven, as recorded in Leviticus 23: 17, as follows: ‘You shall bring in from your dwelling places two loaves of bread for a wave offering, made of two-tenths of an ephah; they shall be of a fine flour, baked with leaven as first fruits to YHVH.’  The two loaves made with fine wheat flour is considered human food. The purpose of this is to show, that from Passover, the time when we were saved (i.e. immersed in Yahshua’s name and forgiven our past sins), from our enslavement to sin, until the time we get to Pentecost (when we become first fruits), we need to have transformed our uncontrolled animal instinct, to become human beings, controlled by the Set-apart Spirit in us, obedient to YHVH and His Torah.

We have all once we were converted become part of the Israel of Elohim. We together with our Jewish Brothers have become part of what was symbolized by the loaves with leaven, namely First Fruits from the two houses of Israel. The fact that we are human and we are still full of sin is pictured by the leaven. We keep the Passover according to Yahshua’s example as we are told by Rav Shaul in first Corinthians 11: 1, 23 – 26, in this way: ‘Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Messiah. (23) For I received from the Master that which I also delivered to you, that the Master Yahshua in the night in which He was  betrayed took bread; (24) and when He had given thanks, He broke it, and said, “This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” (25) In the same way He took the cup also, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”’ The word remembrance shows that the Passover is a memorial of Messiah’s death, meaning it is an annual event commemorated once a year at the same time on which the original event occurred. Yahshua kept the Passover ‘in the night during which He was betrayed’, the evening of the 14th Aviv at dusk, after sunset on the 13th Aviv. The First Day of Unleavened Bread begins in the evening of the 15th Aviv and we start counting towards Pentecost, from the day after the First Day of Unleavened Bread in the evening of the 16th Aviv.

Let’s turnto Leviticus 23:  9 – 11, and read from the JPS 1917 Jewish Bible, as follows: ‘And YHVH spoke unto Moses saying: (10) Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them: When ye are come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring the sheaf of the first-fruits of your harvest unto the priest. (11) And he shall wave the sheaf before YHVH, to be accepted for you; on the morrow after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it.’ The Sabbath here refers to the first annual Sabbath or Set-apart Day, as we saw in Leviticus 23: 15 & 16 quoted from the same Bible before. This was the same Set-apart Day many years later, before which Yahshua was impaled, as we read in John 19: 31, in this way: ‘The Jews therefore, because it was the day of preparation, so that the bodies should not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away.’ To confirm that we count the Omer from the correct date, we therefore need to look at what happened when the Israelites arrived in the land of Canaan. We see from Joshua 5: 3 - 5 that Joshua had to circumcise the sons of Israel before they could partake of the Passover, as follows: ‘So Joshua made himself flint knives and circumcised the sons of Israel at Gibeath-haarloth. (4) And this is the reason why Joshua circumcised them; all the people who came out of Egypt who were males, all the men of war, died in the wilderness along the way, after they came out of Egypt. (5) For all the people who came out were circumcised, but all the people who were born in the wilderness along the way as they came out of Egypt had not been circumcised.’  Similarly when some of us came out of our personal Egypt or sin, we were uncircumcised as we entered the wilderness.

However, uncircumcised (males) believers are eventually required to be circumcised in order to partake of the Passover and  if they want to serve as priests in the kingdom of Elohim, as we read from the prophesy in Ezekiel 44: 7 - 9, ‘When you brought in foreigners, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in My sanctuary to profane it, even My house, when you offered My food, the fat and the blood; for they made My covenant void – this in addition to all your abominations. (8) And you have not kept charge of My Set-apart things yourselves, but you have set foreigners to keep charge of My sanctuary.” (9) Thus says YHVH Elohim, “No foreigner, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, of all the foreigners who are among the sons of Israel, shall enter My sanctuary.”’This is confirmed in the discussion in Acts 15 regarding circumcision, which concludes with the decision by Rav Yaa’cov in verses 19 - 21, as follows:“Therefore it is my judgment that we do not trouble those who are turning (or returning) to Elohim from among the Gentiles, (20) but that we write to them that they abstain from things contaminated by idols and from fornication and from what is strangled and from blood. (21) For Moses from ancient generations has in every city those who preach him (the Torah that Moses wrote), since he is read in the synagogues every Sabbath.” This is telling us that when male believers come into the faith, we should not demand that they be circumcised as soon as they come to believe on Yahshua. But after they came to believe that Yahshua is their personal Savior, they should be immersed in His Saving Name for the forgiveness of their sins. Repentance is a lifelong process and as we walk with YHVH according to the way Yahshua conducted His life, we will learn to obey YHVH more fully and begin to apply His Torah teachings, including being circumcised, in our lives. We also know that Yahshua was both circumcised and immersed; if we truly follow Him we will do likewise.

Continuing in Joshua 5: 10 – 12 (Jewish Bible JPS 1917), we read: ‘And the children of Israel encamped in Gilgal; and they kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the month at even in the plains of Jericho. (11) And they did eat of the produce of the land on the morrow after the Passover (15th), unleavened cakes and parched corn in the selfsame day. (12) And the manna ceased on the morrow after they had eaten of the produce of the land; neither had the children of Israel manna any more (manna ceased on the16th); but they did eat of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year.’ They were not to eat of the new crop until they had offered the first-fruits on the morrow after the day of rest, i.e. the 15th of AVIV. When celebrating Pentecost our Jewish brothers recall one of the greatest events in history: Elohim’s giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai.  However, Pentecost does not only picture the giving of the Law; it also shows - through a miracle of the giving of the Set-apart Spirit which occurred on the first Pentecost after Yahshua's death - how to keep the spiritual intent of (YHVH)’s Torah instructions. We read accordingly from Acts 2: 1 - 4: “And when the Day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. (2) And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent, rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. (3) And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them. (4) And they were all filled with the Set-apart Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance." The miracle was not so much in the speaking of the various languages, but that each visitor heard the speech of the disciples in his own native language as we see in Acts 2: 8. The people of Jerusalem, who witnessed this miracle, were astonished and some attributed it to drunkenness. Rav Kepha soon told the onlookers that the miracle was not as a result of drunkenness, but as a result of the pouring out of the Set-apart Spirit on believers in Yahshua.

Kepha filled with the Set-apart Spirit, explained the event to the crowd as a fulfillment of the prophecy in Joel 2: 28, as follows: "And it will come about after this that I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind; and your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions."When the listeners from the house of Israel asked Kepha what they should do to receive the Set-apart Spirit, Kepha answered in Acts 2: 36 - 39, saying: "Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that Elohim has made Him both Master and Messiah—this Yahshua whom you crucified (because of your disobedience to Torah).” (37) Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Kepha and the rest of the apostles, “Brethren, what shall we do?” (38) And Kepha said to them, “Repent, and let each of you be immersed in the name of Yahshua Messiah for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Set-apart-Spirit. (39) For the promise is for you and your children, and for all who are far off, as many as Adonai our Elohim shall call to Himself.” The words ‘far off’ shows that we should not immerse Jews, but only those from the house of Israel and some Gentiles whom YHVH calls at this time, since YHVH does the calling and because Torah observant Jews obtain eternal life by receiving the Set-apart Spirit because of obedience (as per Acts 5: 32[1]) and as Yahshua told one of the religious leaders who asked Him what he should do to receive eternal life in Matthew 19: 16, saying in verse 17, “Why are you asking Me about what is good? There is only One who is good; but if you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.” The reason why members of the house of Israel have to be immersed in Yahshua’s saving name for the forgiveness of sins, is because when our forefathers were taken captive and were dispersed into the nations of the world, we lost our language, culture and religion and have also forgotten what sin is.

Shortly before Yahshua’s trial and crucifixion He told His disciples in John 14: 15 - 18, saying:“If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. (16) And I will ask the Father and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; (17)that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not behold Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you. (18)I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.” Yahshua our Messiah continued talking about the Set-apart Spirit in John 16: 5 – 11, saying:  “But now I am going to Him who sent Me; and none of you asks Me, ‘Where are You going?’ (6) But because I have said these things to you sorrow has filled your heart. (7) But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away; the Helper shall not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.” Did you get that?  Messiah had to die for the Set-apart Spirit to come to those of us from the lost ten tribes to be saved.Messiah would continue to teach and support His apostles, those whom He sent out after training them for a period of three and a half years. The question is: How would He come to them after He has gone to heaven? Messiah promised His disciples they would receive power from heaven, saying in Luke 24: 49, “And behold, I am sending forth the promise of My Father upon you; but you are to stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.” We read further from Acts 1: 4 – 5 & 8, ‘And gathering them together, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had promised, “Which,” He said, “you heard of from Me; (5) for Yochanan immersed with water, but you shall be immersed with the Set-apart Spirit not many days from now. (8) But you shall receive power when the Holy (Set-apart) Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.” It was on Pentecost 31CE that Abraham’s one seed Yahshua gave the wayward children of the house of Israel the opportunity, to like Him and those who remained faithful to Elohim and His Torah from the house of Judah, to be born-again as the Spiritual children of Elohim, when He returns one day. This was the beginning of the renewal of the marriage covenant given at Mount Sinai in the blood of Messiah, where the original covenant which was written on stone and in books is now written on the hearts of called out believers. Why does Elohim call Israelites from the lost ten tribes who came to believe that they are Gentiles to salvation? Why is He calling only a remnant at this time, before He calls the vast majority? Let us understand: Once a person is called and chosen he/she becomes part of the congregation of Elohim, also known as the body of Messiah, they are supposed to grow in grace and knowledge as Rav Kepha directed in 2 Peter 3: 17 & 18, saying: ‘You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard lest, being carried away by the error of unprincipled men, you fall from your own steadfastness, (18) but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Master and Savior Yahshua Messiah. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amein.' YHVH used this miracle and the preaching of Kepha to add about 3,000 Israelite and other people to His congregation of called out believers in one day, strangely enough, the same number that fell with the golden calf incident. These believers were all immersed and received a portion of the Set-apart Spirit as we read in Acts 2: 41. From this point on, Elohim’s Set-apart Spirit has been available to those who truly repent and are immersed in Yahshua’s saving name.

The day of Pentecost is an annual reminder that Elohim poured out His Set-apart Spirit on His congregation, who is led by the same Spirit. As human beings, no matter how hard we try, we still sin. We know that the Law does not enable us to stop sinning or think like Elohim, but that we are only able to obey YHVH, when we have His Set-apart Spirit residing in us. We only receive the Set-apart Spirit when we repent from breaking the commandments of YHVH, are immersed in Yahshua’s saving name and have hands laid on us by a teaching elder or Torah teacher, as witnessed in first Timothy 4: 14, where we read: ‘Do not neglect the spiritual gift within you, which was bestowed upon you through prophetic utterance with the laying on of hands by the presbytery (an elder of the congregation).’ First-fruits are the first agricultural products to ripen. Elohim uses the analogy of the harvest and particularly of Pentecost, to illustrate aspects of His plan of salvation. Ancient Israel observed this day in the late spring after the barley and wheat harvest. As mentioned before, a special wave-sheaf offering of green ears of barley is waved during the Days of Unleavened Bread, marking the beginning of these harvests, which continued during the next 50 days and led to Pentecost. Pentecost or Shavuot points to the initial harvest of souls, a kind of first fruits unto YHVH. Romans 8: 29 speak of Yahshua Messiah as the "firstborn of many brethren". We who are called now are also considered to be a type of first fruits as we read in James 1: 18, as follows: ‘In the exercise of His will He brought us forth by the word of truth, so that we might be, as it were, the first fruits among His creatures.’ The significance of the Scriptures calling these people (us) first fruits becomes evident when we consider John 14: 6, where Yahshua said: "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me."

How many people throughout the ages, have really accepted and practiced the way Yahshua taught? Few people today know and understand that YHVH follows a plan depicted by his Set-apart Days, to save most of humanity by offering them eternal life in His Kingdom. We, together with our Torah observant brothers are at this juncture only at the beginning or foundation of the harvest for Elohim’s kingdom to come. Rav Shaul understood this and wrote in 1 Corinthians 15: 20, 22 – 23, as follows: ‘But now Messiah has been raised from the dead, the first fruit(s) of those who are asleep. (21) For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. (22) For as in Adam all die, so also in Messiah all shall be made alive. (23) But each in his own order; Messiah the first fruit(s), after that those who are Messiah’s at His coming.’ Anyone called and chosen by Elohim during this age is included with Messiah as Elohim’s first fruits, meaning those from the house of Judah who are Elohim’s chosen people[2], as well as those of us who have been chosen at this time, as Rav Shaul confirmed in Romans 11: 5, saying: ‘In the same way then, there has also come to be at the present time a remnant according to Elohim’s gracious choice.’  But we are reminded of Yahshua’s own words in John 6: 44, that: “No one can come to Me, unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day.’ From this it is clear that Elohim does the calling: YHVH controls the timing of His harvest. Nonetheless, before the vast majority of mankind can live in such a world and be taught the true way of salvation, rulers and teachers must be trained. This brings us to where and how the first-fruit believers from both houses who remain faithful, fit into Elohim’s Master Plan of salvation for all mankind. Elohim’s congregation and those being called from the lost ten tribes of Israel (including some Gentiles) are preparing the world for Messiah’s return. It is through Elohim’s congregation started in the wilderness[3] and the discipleship program continued by Messiah that Elohim is preparing future rulers and teachers to rule under Yahshua during the Millennium and onto eternity. Those called out of the world to eventually join Elohim’s congregation at Messiah’s return are part of Elohim’s spiritual first-fruits – the first group to be offered salvation. We have been called for the special service of qualifying to eventually help bring the knowledge of salvation to the vast majority.

The Set-apart Spirit is Elohim’s divine nature working in our lives, allowing us to be led by Him. Rav Kepha tells us that the same divine nature that transformed early believers is also working in Nazarene believers today in 2 Peter 1: 2 – 4, saying:‘Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of Elohim and of Yahshua our Master; (3) seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. (4) For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, in order that by them you might become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.’ Pentecost is an annual reminder that YHVH still works miracles in our lives; granting His Set-apart Spirit to the first fruits of His spiritual harvest, thereby empowering us to carry out His work in this world. Nevertheless, we need to follow the precise steps given to the apostles before we can receive the Set-apart Spirit of YHVH. The people who are called during this dispensation who overcome Satan, the world and self, will be given power to rule over nations, as confirmed in Revelation 2: 26, in this way: ‘And he who overcomes, and he who keeps My deeds until the end, TO HIM I WILL GIVE AUTHORITY OVER THE NATIONS.’ An analogy of us being first fruits can be found in every family of humankind on the earth. If you are the firstborn son or daughter in your family and are part of a family comprising a number of children, then you will recall that your parents were much stricter in the way they reared you. You were corrected more often. Once your brothers and or sisters arrived on the scene you felt that your siblings were spoilt. However, you as the firstborn became responsible for the well-being of your siblings, when your parents were away for some reason. You had to take care of them when your parents went shopping, etc. You taught them their first words and showed them the ropes in life in general. As the first fruits of YHVH, we will have a similar role to play with our brethren who live during the Millennium and thereafter. We will be kings and priests during the Millennium and beyond, teaching our younger siblings about YHVH and the way of Elohim, as witnessed in Revelation 5: 10, as follows: “And Thou hast made them to be a kingdom and priests to our Elohim; and they will reign upon the earth.”

Even though the Levitical Priests in ancient times were more involved in slaughtering animals for sacrificial and other offerings, they also taught Elohim’s people Torah. Reading from Malachi 2: 4 - 7, we see what our roles will entail during the Millennium, in this way: ‘Then you will know that I have sent this commandment to you, that My covenant may continue with Levi,’ says YHVH of hosts. (5) ‘My covenant with him was one of life and peace, and I gave them to him as an object of reverence; so he revered Me, and stood in awe of My name. (6) True instruction was in his mouth, and unrighteousness was not found on his lips; he walked with Me in peace and uprightness, and he turned many back from iniquity. (7) For the lips of a priest should preserve knowledge, and men should seek instruction from his mouth; for he is the messenger of YHVH of hosts.’ Now I hear some saying: ‘But, we will not be Levitical priests at that time, will we?’ The answer is found in Isaiah 66: 20 & 21, as follows: ‘Then they shall bring all your brethren from all the nations as a grain offering to YHVH, on horses, in chariots, in litters, on mules, and on camels, to My holy mountain Jerusalem, says YHVH, just as the sons of Israel bring their grain offering in a clean vessel to the house of YHVH. (21) I will also take some of them for priests and for Levites, says YHVH.’ When we repent and are immersed into Yahshua’s saving name, essentially accepting that His death removed the record of our transgressions, YHVH gives us a portion of His Set-apart Spirit. The Set-apart Spirit combines with the spirit in us and we are begotten anew. This gives us the opportunity to like Yahshua, be resurrected at His return, as is recorded in Romans 8: 11, in this way: ‘But if the Spirit of Him who raised Yahshua from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Messiah Yahshua from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who indwells you.’ We read further in Ephesians 1: 13 &14, that: ‘In Him (Messiah), you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation – having also believed, youwere sealed in Him with the Set-apart Spirit of promise, (14) who is given as a pledge (or deposit) of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of Elohim’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.’

When we as believers die, our spirit goes back to the Father who gave it, during which time it is perfected in heaven, as we read in Hebrews 12: 23, as follows: ‘To the general assembly and congregation of the first-born, who are enrolled in heaven, and to Elohim, the Judge of all, andto the spirits of righteous men made perfect.’ At Yahshua’s return He will bring back our perfected spirits and will resurrect our bodies to life as witnessed in 1 Thessalonians 5: 23, in this way: ‘Now may the Elohim of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Master Yahshua Messiah.’  At that time we will become kings and priests under Yahshua, during His Millennial rule. We read further from 1 Thessalonians 4: 13 – 18 how this will happen, as follows: ‘But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those (believers) who are asleep, that you may not grieve, as do the rest who have no hope. (14) For if we believe that Yahshua died and rose again, even so Elohim will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Yahshua. (15) For this we say to you by the word of the Master, that we who are alive, and remain until the coming of the Master, shall not precede those who have fallen asleep. (16) For the Master Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of Elohim; and the dead in Messiah shall rise first. (17) Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Master in the air, and thus we shall always be with the Master. (18) Therefore comfort one another with these words.’ May our Father bless us with more of His Set-apart Spirit during this Pentecost, so that the Set-apart Spirit may truly lead us into all truth. Baruch HaShem YHVH!

 

 

[1] Acts 5: 32, “And we are witnesses of these things; and so is the Set-apart Spirit, whom Elohim has given to those who obey Him.”

[2] Psalm 78: 67 & 68: ‘He also rejected the tent of Joseph, and did not choose the tribe of Ephraim, but chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion which He loved.’

[3] Acts 7: 37 & 38: ‘This is the Moses who said to the sons of Israel, “ELOHIM SHALL RAISE UP FOR YOU A PROPHET LIKE ME FROM YOUR BRETHERN.” This is the one who was in the congregation in the wilderness together with the angel who was speaking to him on Mount Sinai, and who was with our fathers; and he received living oracles to pass on to you.’