"…let him hear what the Spirit says to the
churches. To him who overcomes I will give to
eat from the tree of
life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God."
Revelation 2:7 |
HIS
NAME IS Y'SHUA
by
haRold Smith
from Jerusalem, Israel
Occasionally, I am asked,
"Why do you use the name Y'shua instead of Jesus?"
I call Him
Y'shua for a simple reason - it is His Name. That was the Hebrew name
given to Him by His Father when He was conceived in Mary's Hebrew womb,
the same as when your parents gave you the name you go by. Most of us
forget that it was not by coincidence Y'shua was born a Jew, a Hebrew
descended from the tribe of Judah, which proceeded out of the loins of
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob - all Hebrews. Y'shua grew up to become a Jewish
Rabbi - steeped in the custom and culture of His People and observant of
the ordinances of Moses. This is Who He was - this is Who He remains today
(Hebrews 13:8). For the first 70 years after His death
and Resurrection, believers were considered to be a sect of Judaism. The
label "Christian" was not commonly used until the second century and was
actually first used as a derogatory term. The early followers were simply
called "believers in the Way of Y'shua" - which is what I prefer to be
known as, just a believer after His Way.
The name "Jesus" is a
Greek translation of the Hebrew name Y'shua. All the books of the New
Testament were originally written by Jewish believers in Hebrew. In fact,
the whole of the New Testament is a translation from Hebrew into Greek
and, from the Greek, into English. The New Testament is a Jewish book - by
Jews, mostly about Jews, and for Jews as well as for Gentiles. The pillars
of the "Christian" faith: atonement, salvation, immersion (baptism), the
new covenant and the very concept of a Messiah are all Jewish in their
origin. The New Testament is built upon and completes the Hebrew
Scriptures. There has been a systematic effort through the centuries, for
both political and propaganda reasons, to remove this Jewish influence
from the writings, mostly propelled by the edicts of the Roman emperor,
Constantine, in the third century (from which was born the Roman Catholic
Church) and then capitalized on thereafter, most notably by the English
King James and the council from which we now have our most popular,
current translation of the scriptures. This is not theology, folks - these
are hard facts found in history books.
But, beyond the measure of
culpability in deliberate omissions, reworks and additions resulting from
anti-Jewish theological bias (for example, in Romans 10:4 the Messiah
is "the goal at which the Torah aims," not "the end of the law") there
is a lack of understanding of the ways in which the Hebrew mind views the
world that, unless you come from this Jewish culture, escapes most of us.
 For instance, John 20:3-9 describes Peter entering the tomb where
Y'shua had been laid after His ordeal on the cross. In this passage is
noted the "napkin, which was around His head, not lying with the linen
clothes." That verse, translated strictly from the Greek, is correct. What
is lost in transliteration, however, is that the "napkin" described there
is really a Jewish "tallit" which was why it was laying neatly folded,
separate from the other clothes. Not having a Hebrew background would make
it difficult understanding what was actually meant behind these Hebrew
words.
When every Jewish boy turns 13 years of age, he becomes a
bar mitzvah (literally - son of the commandment) and is obligated
to begin to observe the commandments of Moses. At that time, he is given a
tallit that he takes with him everywhere he goes for the rest of his life
for use in his morning prayer. It is what is draped "around" or, more
precisely, over the head during prayer and, traditionally, that same
tallit is placed over the head of one who has died as they lie in their
grave or tomb. That garment has fringes or strings on the corners called
"lights" and, when not being used, is to be folded in a certain manner so
that the lights all hang together from the same corner.
What is
notable about this same event as described in Luke 24:12, has Peter "wondering in himself at that
which was come to pass." Peter was not yet fully aware of all that was
happening, but since he saw the tallit was properly folded and away from
the rest of the clothes, he knew for certain the Romans had not taken His
Master because no Roman soldier would have known what a tallit was, let
alone how to properly fold one, as Y'shua would have. When He arose from
the dead, while still in the tomb, Y'shua removed the tallit from off his
head, neatly folded it and laid it separately from the rest of His
clothing - as He had done every day of His life from the time He was a
boy, probably without thinking much about it because it had become second
nature to him, a matter of habit.
What is significant about this
one word, "napkin", is how it illustrates the lack of understanding a
Greek mindset possesses when looking at scripture - and when looking at
who He is in Truth. Y'shua was and remains Jewish. He never distanced
Himself from His People - not even in death. Think on this - there is not,
nor has there ever been, another race of people on the planet upon whom
God has declared, "These are My People." Romans 11 tells us that it is WE, the Gentiles, who have
been grafted INTO the Jewish root - not the other way around. It is
BECAUSE of the Jewish THROUGH whom the Promise came, enabling us all to
come into the Presence of the Father today.
 The same goes for the Name of the Father. When Moses asked of
the Father, "who do I say sent me", the Lord replied, "tell them I AM sent
you." (Exodus 3:13-14). I AM in the original Hebrew language is
YHWH (there are no vowels in Hebrew, only consonants) or YHVH, depending
on whose translation you use into English. If you and I were introduced
for the first time and I told you my name was haRold, you wouldn't think
of calling me "Butch" would you? Why do we approach Him that way? It is
because we have been taught otherwise, believed otherwise and the bane of
any religion is, like any other propaganda, if it is repeated often
enough, it soon becomes accepted as truth. I choose to approach the Father
on His Terms, by Who He says He Is and in His Truth. In John 17:3. Y'shua says that "this is eternal life, to
know Him and the One Whom He has sent." Is it REALLY on our heart to want
to know who He is?
Is it necessary, then, to practice Judaism? The
ritualistic aspects of what has come to be accepted as Judaism. is just
another "ism", another religion as far as I am concerned, that has been
hijacked by the edicts of men and no different from countless others that
falls under the heading of "Christianity." Is there Truth at the root of
Judaism I can learn from that will help me in my understanding of Who He
is? Absolutely - after all, these ordinances came from Elohim Himself.
This is not about right and wrong. There is a wealth of treasure we can
learn from His People, if we choose to remove the blinders from our eyes
and seek Him in Truth. But, in the larger sense, what Y'shua's Life was
about (as I read it) was a transcendence of the shackles of religious
ritual of all kinds to be able to come into the Presence of the Father
clean and undefiled - in the Truth of Who He Is.
Consequently, I
just embrace Him, but with the recognition of from where He came and of
whom I am in Him. Because of Y'shua and with my embrace of His Life, I
have been reborn into the Spirit of the Father (the very same Father that
fathered Him) and scripture says that, because of that rebirth, the same
DNA courses through my body as that of my Brother, Y'shua - flesh of His
flesh and bone of His bone (Ephesians 5:30). Hence, I am Jewish and, by virtue of
such birth, am recognized by the Sovereign of Sovereigns as a citizen of
the Commonwealth of Israel. (Ephesians2).
 Through the centuries, there have been many attempts
to separate one from the other, Christian from the Jew - I choose to
embrace the inheritance I receive of them both (1Corinthians 12:13). When a branch of one tree is
grafted into another, you will always be able to see externally where that
grafting took place, but once the bandages are lifted from the tree, as
far as the tree is concerned, there is no difference between the new
branch and the others. That new branch draws it's life from the root of
the original tree into which it has been grafted - the same sap flows
through it as does all the rest of the natural branches. What Christianity
has tried to do through the ages, however, is to rob the tree of its fruit
and then destroy the root, not comprehending it is from the root that we
derive our sustenance.
These People remain His People. They are my
brothers because they have the same spark of Light (DNA) coursing through
their veins as do I. Are they perfect? No, but neither am I and neither
are those in my natural family - yet, I do not discard any of them.
Neither has He discarded His People and neither should we.
God is
in the process of creating of us both One New Man that will transcend
both, where there will no longer be Jew nor Gentile. This is why I live
here in the Land, to be a participant in God's process of creation - to
learn from them, to help them in their struggle, if necessary to die with
them and to present to those who have a heart to see, the Way of Y'shua by
the life I lead.
|
| "For 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.
And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: 'The Deliverer
will come out of Zion, And He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob;
For this is My covenant with them, When I take away their sins.' "
Romans 11:25-27 | |
You
Won't Find This In The News! “Coexistence in Israel: A
National Study” provides a compelling snapshot of current relations
between Jewish and Arab citizens in Israel as the nation celebrates its
60th anniversary. Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) associate professor Todd L.
Pittinsky, research director of the school’s Center for Public Leadership
(CPL), served as lead researcher on the project. The study was conducted
in Hebrew and Arabic, and included 1,721 adult citizens of Israel, with
assistance from researchers at the University of Haifa.
Among the study’s most surprising findings:
•
A great majority of both Jewish citizens (73%) and Arab citizens (94%)
want Israel to be a society in which Arab and Jewish citizens have mutual
respect and equal opportunities.
• 68% of Jewish citizens support
teaching conversational Arabic in Jewish schools to help bring Arab and
Jewish citizens together.
• 77% of Arab citizens would rather live
in Israel than in any other country in the world.
• More than
two-thirds of Jewish citizens (69%) believe contributing to coexistence is
a personal responsibility and a majority of Jewish citizens (58%) also
support cabinet level action.
• Arab citizens and Jewish citizens both
underestimate their communities’ liking of the “other.”
• Urgent
action on coexistence in Israel is desired: 66% of Jewish citizens and 84%
of Arab citizens believe the Israeli government investments should begin
now, and not wait until the end of the conflict between Israel and the
Palestinians. (Click Here To See The Entire Report)
|
"Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:
They shall prosper that love you." (Psalm 122:6)
(prosper - from the
Hebrew, "shalav", meaning "to be at rest")
|
Please visit the website http://hethathasanear.com for other
articles and our New Video
or for information if you feel led to
contribute to this ministry. |
|
|
Forward
this to a friend
Click Here to
Subscribe
click
here to unsubscribe
|
|
Shalom Alechem B'Shem Yeshua HaMashiach. 
28 Views - 0 Comments
Word Life Church