Nazarene Israelite Two House Congregation of Port Elizabeth

Living stones 1.

Messiah ben Josephinformed Rav Kepha that he is a living stone built upon the rock of our salvation, but also the foundation stone of His congregation, when He said to him in Matthew 16: 18 & 19, “And I also say to you that you are Peter (meaning a stone), and upon this rock (meaning Himself) I will build My congregation; and the gates of Hades shall not overpower it.(19) I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven(the names of the people who we immerse, are recorded in heaven), and whatever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”  Even though many including the Catholic Church misinterpreted this Scripture, Rav Kepha understood perfectly what Messiah ben Joseph meant. 

To begin with Rav Kepha understood the key to the Kingdom of G-d, or eternal life to be the gift of the Set-apart Spirit which we receive at immersion into Messiah ben Joseph’s saving name, as He explained in Acts 2: 38, in this way: ‘And Kepha said to them, “Repent, and let each of you be immersed in the name of Y’shua Messiah for the forgiveness of your sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Set-apart Spirit.”’ Continuing in Acts 4: 10 - 12, he said: ‘Let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Y’shua Messiah the Nazarene, whom you crucified, whom G-d raised from the dead—by this name this man stands here before you in good health. (11) He is the STONE WHICH WAS REJECTED by you, THE BUILDERS, but WHICH BECAME THE VERY CORNER stone. (12) And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men, by which we must be saved.”’ Rav Shaul also fully understood this when he wrote in Romans 8: 11, saying: ‘But if the Spirit of Him who raised Y’shua from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Messiah Y’shua from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His spirit who indwells you.’ Rav Kepha was one of Messiah ben Joseph’s three closest disciples, spending at least three years in His direct company. He was the one whom Messiah ben Joseph commissioned specifically to feed His congregation consisting of lambs (children), sheep (men) and ewes (ladies) in John 21: 15 – 17. He understood this message and wrote two letters as reminders to Messiah ben Joseph’s followers in the dispersion, to keep His teachings fresh in their minds, knowing that they would be targeted by Satan with temptation not to follow the way of G-d (1 Peter 5: 8). We commence reading Rav Kepha’s first letter in 1 Peter 1: 1& 2, as follows: ‘Kepha, an apostle (meaning one sent or commissioned) of Y’shua Messiah (ben Joseph), to those who reside as aliens, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, who are chosen (2) according to the foreknowledge of G-d the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, that you may obey Y’shua Messiah(ben Joseph) and be sprinkled with His blood: May grace and peace be yours in fullest measure.’It is important to realize that we are sanctified (set-apart) by the Set-apart Spirit of G-d indwelling us. All the places listed by Kepha here are in present day Turkey. Rav Kepha refers to the people he writes to as resident aliens, who are scattered. Why would they be called this if they were merely Gentiles who believed? It is because Rav Kepha was talking to the house of Israel scattered into the world. Bithynia was one place specifically documented by the Jews, where some of the Northern Kingdom tribes had been settled, from where they later moved westward into Europe.The words ‘according to the foreknowledge of G-d’ refer to Mount Sinai, where G-d included all the descendants of those present, who had since left the covenant and His promises through Torah in Leviticus 26: 18[1]& 45[2] and the Prophets in Ezekiel 4: 5& 6[3] to bring them back after an assigned period (390 times 7 or 2730 years). The words ‘sprinkled with His blood’indicate that they are sprinkled as is done with Messiah ben Joseph’s blood as a sin offering (as per Leviticus 4: 6) and upon those being cleansed from leprosy (as per Leviticus 14: 7). Messiah ben Joseph however, accomplished all this cleansing for us individually and corporately as the remnant house of Israel by Himself, making the house of Israel fit for G-d’s dwelling once again.

We read from verses 3 & 4 of 1 Peter 1, ‘Blessed be the G-d and Father of our Master Y’shua Messiah, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born (the KJV correctly translates this word as ‘begotten’) again to a living hope through the resurrection of Y’shua Messiah from the dead, (4) to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you.’ G-d has begotten us afresh into a living hope through the resurrection of Messiah ben Joseph from the dead, showing us that we will like Him be resurrected to eternal life. HASHEM has caused ‘us to be begotten again’ – not just individuals, but a nation. The word ‘again’ or afresh shows that He is doing so, after we had rejected and forfeited all recourse to the covenant, He had made with us as a nation, because of idolatry. Yes, HASHEM started over with the same nation (as also shown in 1 Peter 2: 9 & 10). The words ‘will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you’ shows that your inheritance that is presently reserved in heaven, is not subject to decay, and is a direct reference to Messiah ben Joseph’s command in Matthew 6: 19 & 20, where He said: “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.(20) But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal.” However, since we as the prodigal son squandered our inheritance the first time, he has set a trustee over it (as explained in Galatians 4), so that we do not do it again. This inheritance has not been made manifest to the present world order, but He is again today beginning to reveal His truths to us little by little. We need to understand that the terminology of inherited possessions is always tied to the Promised Land. King David was fully aware of this inheritance as He wrote in Psalm 31: 19 – 21 (KJV), saying: ‘Oh how great is thy goodness, which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee; which thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee before the sons of men! (20) Thou shalt hide them in the secret of thy presence from the pride of man:thou shalt keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues. (21) Blessed be HASHEM: for He hath shewed me his marvelous kindness in a strong city.’ David tells us that HASHEM has preserved a city for us.

Continuing in verse 5 of 1 Peter 1, we read: ‘Who are protected by the power of G-d through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.’ Note that salvation has not come yet. Whereas the veil is slowly beginning to be lifted and we have a role to play in bringing it about. This salvation is clarified in verses 6 – 9, in this way: ‘In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, (7) that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Y’shua Messiah; (8) and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, (9) obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls.’We obviously prove our faith by our actions – so that HASHEM sees where we stand. Notice also that the end of our faith is salvation.

Rav Kepha tells us in verses 10 & 11, that the prophets thoroughly investigated this salvation, as follows: ‘As to this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful search and inquiry, (11) seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Messiah (ben Joseph) within them was indicating as He predicted the sufferings of Messiah(ben Joseph) and the glories to follow.’ The prophets prophesied about Messiah ben Joseph, but also that the house of Israel will be able to return to HASHEM through Him, as we read from Isaiah 49: 6, in this way: ‘He says, “It is too small a thing that You should be My servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also make You a light of the nations so that My salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”’ Yes, we participate in the deliverance as we begin to follow it. The glories or exalted positions to follow mentioned here is about Messiah ben Joseph’s position as well as those who follow Him. We see from verse 12 of 1 Peter 1, that these prophets knew that they were serving those of us in the latter days, to whom these prophecies apply, as follows: ‘It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, in these things which now have been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy (Set-apart) Spirit sent from heaven – things into which angels long to look.’

With this in mind, we should focus our attention on Messiah ben Joseph, as Rav Kepha wrote in verses 13 - 16, saying: ‘Therefore, gird your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace (through which we are saved) to be brought to you at the revelation of Messiah(ben David). (14) As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, (15) but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; (16) because it is written, “YOU SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY.”’The quoted section comes from three different portions in Torah; the first coming from Leviticus 11: 44, where HASHEM taught the children of Israel through Moses to make a distinction between clean and unclean foods – which since Kepha is quoting it here shows again that the vision he had in Acts 10 had nothing to do with eating unclean foods. The second being from Leviticus 19: 2, which is related to keeping G-d’s Sabbaths (weekly and annual), honoring our parents (including HASHEM our G-d), and abstaining from idolatry. The third coming from Leviticus 20: 7 & 8, referring to all HaShem’s statutes. When Kepha quoted this section, it made the readers of his day recall all these commands and know that this is how HASHEM expects us to express the set-apartness that He requires of us.So, we should be set-apart not only in what we eat, but in all our conduct.

Rav Kepha reminds us in verses 17 – 19 that we were redeemed by the precious blood of Messiah ben Joseph, in this way: ‘And if you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each man’s work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay upon the earth (We who knows about the resurrection to eternal life in the Kingdom of G-d, should be aware that our stay as flesh and blood human beings on earth, is only of a temporary nature); (18) 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 (ben Joseph).’It is as Jeremiah prophesied in Jeremiah 16: 19, advising each one of us called out of the ways of the world that we need to confess, saying: “Our fathers have inherited nothing but falsehood, futility and things of no profit.”We need to understand that we were redeemed by blood not affected by the original sin; and since blood is only passed on by males, we were purchased by the blood of HASHEM, as also witnessed in Acts 20: 28, in this way: “Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Set-apart Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the congregation of G-d which He purchased with His own blood.” This obviously alludes to the Oneness of G-d, but according to the original gospel given in Genesis 3: 15, it tells us that the seed of a women (not of a man) will finally bring Satan into subjection, as follows: “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; he shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel.”Messiah ben Joseph the salvation of HASHEM was the only ‘human being’ who qualified to be a sacrifice for our sins. It is no wonder His blood was so valuable.

The next two verses (20 & 21of 1 Peter 1) tells us that HASHEM who knows the end from the beginning, knew that Adam would not make it, and that the visible image of the invisible G-d, the word of G-d, who became flesh and dwelled among us, would come to die for the sins of all mankind, as follows: ‘For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you (21) who through Him are believers in G-d, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in G-d.’In this way we would know that HASHEM will do the same for us it we follow the way that Messiah ben Joseph showed us. We read accordingly from verse 22, ‘Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart,(True obedience comes through knowing G-d’s Torah and by means of the Set-apart Spirit who indwells us, after immersion in Messiah ben Joseph’s saving name. We are supernaturally led by G-d’s Spirit in us, but obedience is physically shown by our works, loving HASHEM with all our hearts and souls and with all our might and our neighbors as ourselves. If we do not know Torah, we do not have an inkling how to love our heavenly Father or our neighbors) (23) for you have been born (more correctly begotten) again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and abiding word of G-d.’We are begotten anew, not by physical human seed, but by the imperishable seed (or Spirit) of the Father Himself. Even so, we see that the seed mentioned here also refers to the embodiment of the Torah or word of G-d – Messiah ben Joseph. This means that we as believers in Messiah ben Joseph, spoken of as saints, should keep the (Torah) commandments of G-d and our faith of or in Messiah ben Joseph. Practicing Torah according to the way Messiah ben Joseph showed us make us a little more than mere mortals – in that it gives us the potential to become His brothers and sisters when He returns one day soon. This is also why Rav Kepha reminds us in verses 24& 25, saying: ‘For, “ALL FLESH IS LIKE GRASS, AND ALL ITS GLORY LIKE THE FLOWER OF GRASS. THE GRASS WITHERS, AND THE FLOWER FALLS OFF, (25) BUT THE WORD OF HASHEM ABIDES FOREVER.” And this is the word which was preached to you.’These are the same utterances (or words) of G-d, that is being proclaimed to us; giving us access to the world to come.

Chapter 2 is really a continuation of 1 Peter 1, and Rav Kepha goes on by saying in verses 1 - 5: ‘Therefore, putting aside all malice and all guile and hypocrisy and envy and all slander, (2) like newborn babes, long for the pure milk of the word, that by it you may grow in respect to salvation (we need to learnthe oracles preserved for us by our Jewish Brothers (milk), before we are ready for the gospel,  transliterated as ‘besorah’ in Hebrew or meat of the word, as we are also told in Hebrews 5: 12), (3) if you have tasted the kindness of HASHEM. (4) And coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected by men, but choice and precious in the sight of G-d, (since we have tasted the word of G-d – to those people outside the congregation or Judaism, Torah or Messiah ben Joseph the embodiment of Torah seems bitter, or strange (as Hosea wrote in Hosea 8: 12[4]), but us who know that we are part of Israel, when eaten, His words are a joy and a delight of the heart, as Jeremiah wrote in Jeremiah 15: 16. If we come to Messiah ben Joseph as the foundation of our faith, we are as Rav Kepha wrote in 1 Peter 2: 5, saying: ‘(You also), as living stones, (are) being built up as a spiritual house for a holy (set-apart) priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to G-d through Messiah ben Joseph.’ Messiah ben Joseph came as a physical being to show us the spiritual – because as physical human beings we are only able to learn spiritual things from the pattern that HASHEM put here right on the earth.

Next in verse 6 Rav Kepha reminds us what is written about Messiah ben Joseph the rock of our salvation in Isaiah 28: 16, saying: ‘For this is contained in Scripture: “BEHOLD I LAY IN ZION A CHOICE STONE, A PRECIOUS CORNER stone, AND HE WHO BELIEVES IN HIM SHALL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED.”Continuing in verses 7& 8, Rav Kepha wrote: ‘This precious value, then, is for you who believe. But for those who disbelieve, “THE STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED, THIS BECAME THE VERY CORNER stone,” (This section is quoted from Psalm 118: 22, but for those who know the Scriptures understand that this has to do with what King David wrote in verse 21, in this way: ‘I shall give thanks to Thee for Thou hast answered me; and Thou hast become my salvation.’ The underlined words come from verse 14 of Psalm 118, where we read: ‘HASHEM is my strength and song, and He has become my salvation(yeshuati).’ This is telling us that HASHEM became our Salvation, by sending His word) (8) and, “A STONE OF STUMBLING AND A ROCK OF OFFENSE”; for they stumble because they are disobedient to the word (which is according to 1 Timothy 3: 16, the mystery of our Nazarene faith), and to this doom they were also appointed (not part of the first fruits of HASHEM who are destined to rule under Y’shua in the coming kingdom of G-d).’ People stumble over Messiah ben Joseph’s identity and the fact that He is the cornerstone upon which the congregation of G-d is built. He is the standard which HASHEM set for us as Israel to uphold, but instead we decided to work out how to worship G-d according to the way the nations around us worship their gods. This is perhaps why HASHEM warns the house of Israel through Jeremiah in Jeremiah 10: 1 & 2, saying: ‘Hear the word which HASHEM speaks to you, O house of Israel. (2) Thus says HASHEM, “Do not learn the way of the nations, and do not be terrified by the signs of the heavens, although the nations are terrified by them.”’

Those who do not stumble over the rock of our salvation are according to verses 9 & 10 of 1 Peter 2, ‘(But) you area CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR G-d’s OWN POSSESSION,  that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; (10) for you once were NOT A PEOPLE (Hosea 1: 9), but now you are THE PEOPLE OF G-D (Hosea 1: 10) ; you had NOT RECEIVED MERCY,  but now you have RECEIVED MERCY  (Hosea 2: 23).”  HASHEM told the Israelites in the second covenant that He made with them in Deuteronomy 7: 6 & 14: 2, saying: “For you are a holy people to HASHEM your G-d; and HASHEM your G-d has chosen you to be a people for His own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.” In the same way He has called us to come out of the world to become a royal priesthood to Him, a holy nation, who not only eat kosher foods but also ensure that the entire way we live our lives conforms strictly according to His Torah. As priests of HASHEM, we and our wives wear appropriate head-coverings during worship services and prayer, like what was prescribed for priests in the Torah (Exodus 28: 40 & 29: 6 &9). Before HASHEM called us, most of us were not even aware that we are Israelites and thought of ourselves as mere Gentiles, but now that HASHEM has called us out of the confusion of the religions of the world, we are His people again, and being His people, we should do all that He requires of us, and in return He will provide for us and protect us.

Now that we have received G-d’s mercy once again Rav Kepha admonishes us in verses 11 – 15 of 1 Peter 2, to live lives worthy of our calling, saying: ‘Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers (in the parts of the world where we reside as ambassadors of the Kingdom of G-d) to abstain from fleshly lusts, which wage war against the soul. (12) Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may on account of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify G-d in the day of visitation (at Messiah Ben David’s coming). (13) Submit yourselves for the Master’s sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, (14) or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right. (15) For such is the will of G-d that by doing right you may silence the ignorance of foolish men.’ By using the words ‘excellent among the Gentiles’ Kepha is not talking about real Gentiles, but those Israelites who have not been called by G-d at this time and who still believe that they are Gentiles. We who now keep Torah and insist to live according to a higher standard will be thought of as unkind for standing strong against traditions like Xmas and Easter that at best dilute the truth about Messiah ben Joseph and at worst mislead people into veiled paganism. Continuing in verse 16 Rav Kepha tells us, that even though HASHEM set us free from sin, we have now become servants of G-d, in this way: ‘Act as free men, and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil, but use it as bond-slaves of G-d.’  He carries on telling us how to conduct ourselves in general, saying in verses 17 – 19, ‘Honor all men; love the brotherhood, fear G-d, honor the king. (18) Servants, be submissive to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and gentle, but also to those who are unreasonable. (19) For this finds favor, if for the sake of conscience toward G-d a man bears up under sorrows when suffering unjustly.’

Yes, we need to be conscious of everything we do and say, ensuring that it conforms to what HASHEM requires of us, remembering that it is His dignity, and not merely our own interests that we represent by our every deed. With this in mind Rav Kepha wants us to consider what he asks in verse 20,saying: ‘For what credit is there if, when you sin and are harshly treated, you endure it with patience? But if when you do what is right and suffer for it you patiently endure it, this finds favor with G-d.’  One of the main reasons for our exile was specifically that Israel could more directly fulfill its calling as being ‘a light to the nations’ during this age of darkness, as Rav Kepha also reminds us in verses 21 - 24, saying: ‘For you have been called for this purpose, since Messiah (ben Joseph) also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps (Messiah is HaShem’s standard, the perfect example to guide us in the way of G-d),(22) WHO COMMITTED NO SIN, NOR WAS ANY DECEIT FOUND IN HIS MOUTH;  (The word deceit as used here, specifically means to lure someone with bait to become one’s prey – the opposite of what Messiah ben Joseph was like.) (23) and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously; (24 and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.’ This is talking about both physical and spiritual healing, since we were also spiritually sick not truly knowing right from wrong – this is also why Messiah ben Joseph prayed for those who caused His death (which also includes us) saying in Luke 23: 34, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.”

Yes, we should pray accordingly for our families and friends who are still in the world, and who we know are not in the least interested in what we are doing. We need to remember that it is only because of HaShem’s calling that we started going His way. Rav Kepha concludes this section by saying in verse 25 of 1 Peter 2: ‘For you were continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls.’ All we can say is praise HASHEM Elokim, the King of the Universe for calling us out of darkness into His marvelous light. Amein and Amein!

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[1] Leviticus 26: 18, ‘If also after these things, you do not obey Me, then I will punish you seven times more for your sins.’

[2] Leviticus 26: 45, ‘But I will remember for them the covenant with their ancestors, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations, that I might be their G-d. I am HASHEM.’

[3] Ezekiel 4: 5 & 6, “For I have assigned for you a number of days corresponding to the years of their iniquity, three hundred and 90 days; thus you shall bear the iniquity of the house of Israel. When you have completed these, you shall lie down a second time, but on your right side, and bear the iniquity of the house of Judah; I have assigned it to you for forty days, a day for each year.”

[4]Hosea 8: 12, ‘Though I wrote for him ten thousand precepts of My law, they are regarded as a strange thing.’