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EMERGENCE

by haRold Smith
a citizen of the Commonwealth
(Ephesians 2:12)
"And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring; men’s hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near.

Then He spoke to them a parable: 'Look at the fig tree, and all the trees. When they are already budding, you see and know for yourselves that summer is now near.' So you also, when you see these things happening, know that the kingdom of God is near. Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all things take place (see "the Judgment"). Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away. Take heed to yourselves and be on your guard, lest your hearts be overburdened and depressed (weighed down) with the headache and nausea of self-indulgence, worldly worries and cares pertaining to the business of this life, lest that day come upon you suddenly like a trap or a noose for it will come upon all who live upon the face of the entire earth. Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass and to stand before the Son of Man." Luke 21:25-36

We are living in the time of times. This is the time spoken of in the scripture above that we are seeing unfold before our very eyes in which everything is being shaken to its foundational core. This is the time that all the ancient patriarchs and prophets of the ages have looked for and longed to see. This epoctual era began with the emergence, the rebirth, of the Nation of Israel on November 29, 1947 (click on the highlighted words to view content) with the Partition Plan in which Israel was conceived and in the recognition of her statehood by the rest of the world (the newly formed United Nations) six months later. We have since been standing as witnesses to the fulfillment of scripture presaging the coming of the great and terrible Day of the Lord. Israel has become the barometer by which we can gauge the immanent times we are in. Unfortunately, most of the world (even those professing belief) are not aware of what is happening - of the significance of these events.

Let me say, upfront, that I don't have all the answers. I am no expert on anything, I am not a seer. I am nobody special. My prayers are no more effective than yours. I don't have access to anything you don't have access to in the Holy Spirit. My life has been the least of any. If the Father has done anything with this life, it has only been to show that He can redeem anyone who will totally give themselves to Him in Truth (see The Power of God for the full accounting). My sole purpose and desire for being is to present the Father in the clarity and purity that He has shown Himself to me through the Life of His Som that has healed me and set me free. I am just reading the Book solely for what the words on the page say without overlaying any predetermined theological template upon them while, at the same time, listening to the Holy Spirit. These articles, my speaking, are designed to encourage others to do the same - to dig in and find Truth, LIFE, for themselves and those around them. Consequently, I do not adhere to nor am I tied to any "movement", group, organization or religion, nor am I trying to form one - preferring to walk in the example of the Life of the Son, free from such entanglements and aligned to no one but the Father, the Source of Life. I am humbled before Him and before you that He would allow me the privilege to correspond with you and to learn with you, His most precious of saints, things involving His Kingdom.

In these days, the Spirit of Ezekiel 37 is being poured out over the whole of the earth, into the hearts of the People of the Holy One of Israel, calling them back to His Land - back to Him. Many times people realize something is welling up from within them, stirring them with a deep seated yearning toward Israel. While they are aware of this longing, there lacks an understanding of what it means or how it can be sated. Many times people love the Jewish people, come to the Land of Israel, some even begin to celebrate the "Jewish feasts" - but have a difficult time explaining why they feel as they do in their heart. Your name has been submitted to receive these articles as someone who has shown such an interest in the origins of your faith.

This tug you sense from the core of your being is your spirit responding to the call of ruach hakodesh (Hebrew for the spirit of holiness) to turn the hearts of the children back to the forefathers. This is what the covenant of those forefathers (the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob) spoke of - the God of creation bringing His Light "to the nations" that the nations have the opportunity to come into the magnificence of the splendor of the Holy One of Israel - of the Present Presence.

...they thought He was "beside" Himself

One day, quite by accident, the passage in Mark 3:20-21 fell open before me describing how the Son of Man left the dinner table to minister to a crowd that had gathered outside. It says His behavior was so erratic that His friends sought to "lay hold on Him" because they thought He was "beside" Himself. That English word "beside" comes from the Greek word existemi and literally means to be insane - they thought He had lost His Mind. So much so, that they tried to physically restrain Him. I asked myself, "What would motivate this Person to behave in such a manner?" I realized that, even after walking with Him for the better part of two decades - I didn't know Him. Not really. Not the way you would know a spouse you had lived with over a long period of time or a friend that had become closer than a brother, where you don't even have to finish sentences with them so innately are you aware of the core of their being. I said, "Lord, I want to know you that way."

He said, "OK, but there are some things you will have to do first. You will need to throw away everything you have thought you have come to know about Me, everything anyone has ever taught you about Me, everything anybody has ever said about Me and just go back to My Life - what is chronicled by the eyewitness accounts in scripture. Just what the words say on the page - not what you 'think' they might mean, but just what is there. If you lack understanding, ask Me and I will give you understanding." He then validated what He was saying to me in Revelation 19:10b, that His Life is the benchmark by which everything is to be measured - including other scripture.

That single act revolutionized my life. It forced me back into that place of knowing His Essence I found with Him in the beginning. My eyes became illumined by His Life (John 1:4). for I saw that most of what is recorded in His Life is not what is embraced by what is called "Christianity". In fact, most of what is recorded there is in complete contradiction to what is practiced by most of those who consider themselves to be "Christians". His Life was spent, by design, showcasing what living Truth in the flesh meant. That Life showed the difference between hearing His Voice and the hypocrisy of those who were the keepers of the traditions that men would have others believe as truth. There is only one thing He ever pointed to that would cause the Power of God to be "of none effect" in an individual's life, rendering His Power in our life as null and void as much today as it did then. The English word "tradition" is translated from the Greek word paradosis which means a giving up or giving over, the act of giving up. When we embrace the popular, traditional, religious beliefs handed to us by men, we give up the ability to hear His Voice for ourselves (Mark 7:13).

With new eyes, I read where the Son of Man was Jewish, born of Jewish parents that were strong adherents to the Judaic principles and lived in a Jewish contextual setting. It lacks common sense to believe they would give their son they believed to be the promised Jewish Messiah a Greek name. Looking further, I found history to prove that His Name could not possibly be "Jesus", but in fact was the Hebrew Name, "Yeshua" (see Whose Name Is It? for the evidence). I also became aware that every single book from both sides of the Book were written by Hebrews from a Hebrew mindset out of a Hebrew culture to a Hebrew audience. Therefore, in scripture there are only two classifications of people - the Hebrew family of YHVH, known as the "House of Israel", and "others". These "others" are known as goyim (Hebrew for "nations"). The term "gentile believer" is an oxymoron (a concept that is made up of contradictory words) because to be a "Gentile" (from a Hebrew context) is to be a worshipper of pagan gods. A person is either a believer in the One True God of Israel OR they are a Gentile, an "other" - there is no middle ground. (see Who's Word Is It?).

Because of a lack of understanding of the nuances from which the Hebrew mind views the world, we have lost so much that is written about in scripture. The real meaning of these words escapes most of us unless it is viewed from the light of this Hebrew culture. For instance, John 20:3-9 describes Peter entering the tomb where Yeshua 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. However, what is lost in transliteration 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 to the Hebrews this letter was addressed to.

...the tallit

When every Hebrew 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. While the occasion of becoming a bar mitzvah was ritualized only in the 15th century, it was the status of obligation in earlier Biblical times which placed the age of responsibility for boys at 13 (upon which the bar mitzvah is founded). At that time, he is given his first tallit - a prayer garment to be worn under the outer clothing. It has been customary to bury a male in the tallit which he had used during his lifetime, after its fringes have been deliberately rendered ritually unfit and 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 tzit-ziot or "lights" and, when not being used, the tallit is to be folded in a certain manner so that the lights all hang together from the same corner - something no Roman soldier would have known to do or how to perform it. Hence, Peter's understanding that Yeshua's body had not been taken by the Romans.

What is notable about this same event described in Luke 24:12 has Peter "wondering in himself at that which was come to pass." Peter (as well as the other disciples) 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 Yeshua would have. When He arose from the dead, while still in the tomb, Yeshua 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 (see my big, fat Greek Mindset PART 1 and PART 2 to find out what that is). Yeshua 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 YHVH has declared, "These are My People." Romans 11 tells us that it is WE, the others, who have been grafted INTO the Commonwealth of Israel - not the other way around (Ephesians 2:11-12). It is BECAUSE of that Hebrew root THROUGH whom the Promise came, that enables all who will embrace His Life to come into the Presence of the Holy One of Israel today. It is our responsibility to find out Who He Says He Is in Truth and then follow that Truth - wherever it may lead to uphold our citizenship as Israelites, children of the Living Elohim.

"And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near. For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father. Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of YHVH." Ephesians 2:17-19

???Questions???
Please feel free to email me at harold@hethathasanear.com. I don't claim to have all the answers, but I would be honored to share with you what the Father is uncovering in these days.