RAPTURE – PART III
YESHUA RETURNS FOR ONE NEW MAN
Oh my God, I did not realize how far the church has fallen into this apostasy. Whoever that teacher is who is trying to separate the elect into Jew and Christian has lost his mind! Let’s start in Galatians 3:13, “Messiah has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”),” Briefly, notice that Yeshua redeemed us, saved us, from the curse of the Law, not from the Law itself!! Yeshua is the living Word of Yahweh; He is the living Torah, Yeshua is the living Law. Look also at verse 21, “Is the law then against the promises of Yahweh? Certainly not! For if there had been a law given which could have given life, truly righteousness would have been by the law.” Paul shows us that there is nothing wrong with the Law. Again in Romans 7:12, “Therefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good.” Yahweh just chose to bring us salvation through faith by grace, not Law. We are no longer under the Law, but it is still useful to reveal to us when we are not walking in Yahweh’s way of holiness. It points out to us what Yahweh considers to be sin. That’s pretty useful in a fallen world. It’s also useful for leading people to Yeshua, as He demonstrated AFTER His resurrection in Luke 24:13ff on the road to Emmaus. Yeshua lifted the Law from a written code into the realm of Spiritual thought. You now commit adultery in your heart, as opposed to just the physical act. Matthew 5:17, “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.” Now that the curse of the Law is done away with, only the blessings remain!! You know all this stuff and this is not what I want to discuss, but I thought I would point out a few obvious things.
Further down in Galatians 3:26-29 we find, “For you are all sons of Yahweh through faith in Messiah Yeshua. 27For as many of you as were baptized into Messiah have put on Messiah. 28There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Messiah Yeshua. 29And if you are Messiah’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” And as you will see later, it also makes you one of the ELECT!! We Gentiles are now one with our Jewish brethren!! Look at what Paul states in Ephesians 2:14-16, “For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, 15having 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, 16and that He might reconcile them both to Yahweh in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity.” Yeshua’s death on the execution stake did more than just provide for forgiveness for our sins, the redemption of our souls. On the execution stake, Yeshua, the vinedresser of all humanity, grafted believing Gentiles into the Hebrew root, and by grace through faith Jews can now also be grafted into their own cultivated olive tree.
Of course, this leads us to Paul’s teaching in Romans 11, “1I say then, has Yahweh cast away His people? Certainly not! . . . 5Even so then, at this present time there is a remnant according to the election of grace. 6And if by grace, then it is no longer of works; otherwise grace is no longer grace. But if it is of works, it is no longer grace; otherwise work is no longer work.
7What then? Israel has not obtained what it seeks; but the elect have obtained it, and the rest were blinded.” HOLD EVERYTHING!! How can Paul speak of Israel and the elect in the same sentence as TWO DISTINCTLY SEPARATE GROUPS OF PEOPLE? I thought you all said and teach that Israel IS the elect??? It sure looks like those who have faith in Yeshua ARE THE ELECT!!
. . . 11I say then, have they stumbled that they should fall? Certainly not! But through their fall, to provoke them to jealousy, salvation has come to the Gentiles. 12Now if their fall is riches for the world, and their failure riches for the Gentiles, how much more their fullness!
. . . 15For if their being cast away is the reconciling of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? [an obvious reference to the resurrecton]
16For if the firstfruit is holy, the lump is also holy; and if the root is holy, so are the branches. 17And if some of the branches were broken off, and you [Gentiles], being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them, and with them became a partaker of the root and fatness of the olive tree, 18do not boast against the branches. But if you do boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you. [See, the Hebraic roots of our faith are very important to our life of faith! But do you get it? We are grafted into a Hebrew faith!!]
19You will say then, “Branches were broken off that I might be grafted in.” 20Well said. Because of unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith. Do not be haughty, but fear. 21For if Yahweh did not spare the natural branches, He may not spare you either. 22Therefore consider the goodness and severity of Yahweh: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off. 23And they also, if they do not continue in unbelief, will be grafted in, for Yahweh is able to graft them in again. [Israelites, Jews, Hebrews are saved by grace through faith in Yeshua, just like Gentiles. Grafting in is being born again!] 24For 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?
25For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. 26And so [in this manner, in the Greek, this word shows that Israelites are saved in the same manner as anyone else, by grace through faith in Yeshua] all Israel will be saved, as it is written:
“The Deliverer will come out of Zion,
And He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob;
27 For this is My covenant with them,
When I take away their sins.”
28Concerning the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but concerning the election they are beloved for the sake of the fathers. 29For the gifts and the calling of Yahweh are irrevocable. 30For as you were once disobedient to Yahweh, yet have now obtained mercy through their disobedience, 31even so these also have now been disobedient, that through the mercy shown you they also may obtain mercy. 32For Yahweh has committed them all [all humans] to disobedience, that He might have mercy on all [all humans]. . . “
For some reason, a mystery, if you will, western mindset Gentile believers have a hard time grasping that we are grafted into the same olive tree as the Israelite/Jews. We are all one tree, one new man, one body, in Messiah Yeshua!! If you were to study the migrations of the ancient lost 10 tribes of Israel, after they were scattered to the four winds by the Assyrians, you would find out that many Gentiles of the world are in fact Israelis!! Why do they find old American Indian writings etched on walls in Tennessee and on rocks in Colorado that is Paleo-Hebrew?? Because they came to America during the dispersion of the lost 10 tribes of Israel!! When Yahweh is talking about regathering all Israel from the four winds, He’s talking about the modern tribe of Judah, mostly in the modern State of Israel, AND us born again believers, many of whom are from the lost 10 tribes of ancient Israel, who simply LOST THEIR IDENTITY OVER TIME. We are Ephraim. Let Ezekiel explain.
Remember Ezekiel’s vision of the valley of dry bones in chapter 37? Let’s take up the story from verse 11, “Then He said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house [Judah and Ephraim] of Israel. They indeed say, ‘Our bones are dry, our hope is lost, and we ourselves are cut off!’ 12Therefore prophesy and say to them, ‘Thus says Sovereign Yahweh: “Behold, O My people, I will open your graves and cause you to come up from your graves [resurrection of ALL OF ISRAEL, Judah and Ephraim, Jew and Gentile], and bring you into the land of Israel. 13Then you shall know that I am Yahweh, when I have opened your graves, O My people, and brought you up from your graves. 14I will put My Spirit in you [oh wow, born again, charismatic Messianic Christians!!], and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I, Yahweh, have spoken it and performed it,” says Yahweh.’”
15Again the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 16“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.’ 17Then join them one to another for yourself into one stick [the ONE NEW MAN PAUL TAUGHT ABOUT], and they will become one in your hand.
18“And when the children of your people speak to you, saying, ‘Will you not show us what you mean by these?’—19say to them, ‘Thus says Sovereign Yahweh: “Surely I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel, his companions; and I will join them with it, with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they will be one in My hand.”’ [This is a prophecy that is being fulfilled today in the Messianic Christian/Messianic Jewish movement, the fastest growing movement in Christendom!] 20And the sticks on which you write will be in your hand before their eyes.
21“Then say to them, ‘Thus says Sovereign Yahweh: “Surely I will take the children of Israel from among the nations, wherever they have gone, and will gather them from every side and bring them into their own land; 22and I will make them one nation [ONE NEW MAN, ONE BODY IN MESSIAH, ONE CHURCH, ONE FAMILY OF YAHWEH] in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king over them all; they shall no longer be two nations, nor shall they ever be divided into two kingdoms again. 23They shall not defile themselves anymore with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions; but I will deliver them from all their dwelling places in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them. Then they shall be My people, and I will be their Mighty One.
24“David My servant shall be king over them, and they shall all have one shepherd [Yeshua HaMashiach]; they shall also walk in My judgments and observe My statutes, and do them. 25Then they shall dwell in the land that I have given to Jacob My servant, where your fathers dwelt; and they shall dwell there, they, their children, and their children’s children, forever; and My servant David shall be their prince forever. 26Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them, and it shall be an everlasting covenant with them; I will establish them and multiply them, and I will set My sanctuary in their midst forevermore. [I told you all that Yahweh is moving to earth!!] 27My tabernacle also shall be with them; indeed I will be their Mighty One, and they shall be My people. 28The nations also will know that I, Yahweh, sanctify Israel, when My sanctuary is in their midst forevermore.”’”
You may have to meditate on this for awhile, but there is NO difference between believing Jew and believing Gentile any longer. We are all ONE BODY, ONE NEW MAN IN YESHUA. It takes time for this to soak in, but let the Holy Spirit teach you and lead you into all truth. To say that Yeshua, in Matthew 24, is speaking only to lost unbelieving Jews as the elect is absolutely ludicrous. Believing Jews and believing Gentiles ARE THE ELECT OF YAHWEH!! Verses 22-24, “And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s [Jew and Gentile believer together as ONE] sake those days will be shortened. 23“Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or ‘There!’ do not believe it. 24For false messiahs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect [Jew and Gentile believer together as ONE].”
Now you have your two witnesses. 1 Thessalonians 1:4, “knowing, beloved brethren, your election by Yahweh.” Paul is talking to Greek believers in Thessalonica, Greece for God’s sake!! And then in Romans 11:7, “What then? Israel has not obtained what it seeks; but the elect have obtained it, and the rest were blinded.” Christians and Jews TOGETHER are the elect of Yahweh!!
There are many more Scriptures that could be cited, but for further study take a look at John 11:51-52, “Now this he did not say on his own authority; but being high priest that year he prophesied that Yeshua would die for the nation, 52and not for that nation only, but also that He would gather together in one the children of Yahweh who were scattered abroad.” Suffice it to say that Yeshua, Paul, and John knew what they were talking about. 21st century Christians need to figure out what they were teaching. Christianity is a Hebrew faith, we gotta dump that replacement theology stuff.
Blessings,
Gene Benjamin II
September 29, 2012 CE