15 Faithful is the Word and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.

 

You shall prepare these to Yehovah in your appointed seasons, besides your vows and your free-will offerings, for your burnt offerings, and for your food offerings, and for your drink offerings, and for your peace offerings.

 

 

God did not command Israel to celebrate the birth of His Son, but He gave them – and us – the opportunity to celebrate as a free-will offering. We do it because we want to, and we do it gladly unto the Lord. What the Prophets foretold came to pass: the Messiah was born! Trumpets were to be blown in Israel on the day of our gladness (Numbers 10:10).

 

Was/Is not the birth of the Lord a day of rejoicing for the heavenly host of angels who proclaimed the glad tidings to the Israeli Jewish shepherds, and to the shepherds themselves who heard and saw all that they were told; was it not a day of rejoicing for Simeon, waiting for the Consolation of Israel, who saw YHVH’s salvation in the new-born Child and Son; was it not a day of rejoicing for Anna, the widowed prophetess waiting for redemption in Jerusalem? Is it not a day of rejoicing for all who have come to believe in the Son of God, who was born in the flesh, and who is the Father’s gift to His people?: Unto us a child is born; unto us a son is given! God has forever changed the culture of His people: rather than just remembering someone’s life when he dies, we now rejoice and celebrate the time of those we love for when they came into the world. It all waited for the celebration of the first-born of creation, and His Father’s joy in that day! It is God’s holiday celebration, which is actually what the name of Haggai the prophet means! It was Haggai to whom the LORD gave the date of this appointed time (Haggai 2:10-22).

 

Yeshua came to His holy but unclean people to save and to cleanse them from all their sinfulness.

 

 

What Israel and the Jewish people as a whole did not appreciate when He came to His own, and to the world that He made should not restrict us who have seen the glory of the birth of the Lamb of God who was slain for our sins on the cross, and whose sacrificial death was God’s plan before the foundation of the world!

His name is Yeshua because He will save His people from their sins. YHVH is our salvation and Savior!

 

 

The new and significant year of 2017 is being ushered in by a perfect coinciding of Hanukkah and Christmas, with the 8'th day being the last day of the year. The God of Israel has given all the world a witness as to the time of His Son’s birth to the virgin, Mary. Going back another 3 ½ years to 5 BC does not alter things much. But the world system has followed for centuries a calendar that points to the period surrounding the birth of the Lord, the King of the Jews. When I was recently in Thailand, I noticed that the date on a package ended with the numbers 2559. That seemed odd, so I asked what that was: the Thai culture traditionally counts its years from the era of Buddha, who lived more than 500 years before Yeshua/Jesus. Muslims count their years from 622 AD, the year that Mohammed went from Mecca to Medina.

 

 

Tomorrow night (24'th of December 2016) is the lighting of the first candle for Hannukah and tomorrow is the 24th of the ninth month. In the Jewish calendar, this is the month of Chislev; in the Gregorian calendar, which most of the world follows, this the 24'th of the 12'th month, December, but which is the ninth month when we count beginning with Israel’s first month in Aviv/Nisan/April! This date of the 24'th of the 9'th month was a day from which the [true] foundation of the Temple was laid, and YHVH would bless Israel and shake Heaven and Earth (Haggai 2:18-22). These things did not find genuine fulfillment with the Maccabees, but do in Yeshua, the true Savior and Deliverer from Gentile and pagan thrones – both literally, and also in the hearts of those who truly believe.

 

I want us to look at one example of the truth that Jesus came to save sinners: the woman caught in adultery (John 8:1-11).

 

1 But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2 And early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people came to Him. And He sat down and taught them. 3 And the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman taken in adultery. And standing her in the midst, 4 they said to Him, Teacher, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act. 4 Now Moses in the Law commanded us that such should be stoned. You, then, what do you say? 6 They said this, tempting Him so that they might have reason to accuse Him. But bending down, Jesus wrote on the ground with His finger, not appearing to hear. 7 But as they continued to ask Him, He lifted Himself up and said to them, He who is without sin among you, let him cast the first stone at her. 8 And again bending down, He wrote on the ground. 9 And hearing, and being convicted by conscience, they went out one by one, beginning at the oldest, until the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. 10 And bending back up, and seeing no one but the woman, Jesus said to her, Woman, where are the ones who accused you? Did not one give judgment against you? 11 And she said, No one, Lord. And Jesus said to her, Neither do I give judgment. Go, and sin no more.”

 

In this scene, the self-righteous religious leaders and teachers came to Yeshua with a woman who was caught, somehow, in the act of adultery. Where was the guilty man? Under the Law, both were to be stoned (Leviticus 20:10-12). So their motive was not pure, but rather to trap Messiah and to show their disdain for women. People did not matter to them with all their religiosity, but the “Law”, which they themselves did not keep. Yeshua bent down and wrote on the ground with His finger, probably the sentence of death, which the Law of Moses demanded. He had not come to abolish the Law, but to fulfill it. But then, the Lord showed His compassion in His identification with the sinner against her unjust accusers. He also appealed to the conscience of them: let he has no sin cast the first stone. From the oldest rabbi first, the others followed in leaving the scene. Jesus paid a price to mediate in this situation, with courage and compassion. Jesus did not acquit the guilty woman; neither did He condemn her: He told her to go and sin no more. Did she? We don’t know.

 

Jesus came to save sinners. He alone is without sin; He alone has moral authority to condemn. But He desires to see sinners repent and have their hearts changed, sinning no more in the face of such grace and truth. He takes the blame; He takes the uncleanness. On the cross He bore our sin and our punishment. Can any who know such love and forgiveness continue to sin against the holy God and Savior?! Let each answer for himself, just as the Scripture leaves us without the answer to the rest of this woman’s life, and that of her accusers.

 

 

YHVH’s new covenant with Israel is that their sins will be forgiven forever. Our message which we have received from Him remains the gospel to sinners: repent and believe, and so receive the forgiveness of sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit and of eternal life.

As I considered this passage about the woman caught in adultery, it reminded me of how Christians have historically accused the Jewish people before God for their spiritually adulterous unfaithfulness to Him, and of their sin and guilt in connection with the crucifixion of Jesus. The Savior continues to reach out to both with His own understanding and righteousness to affect the hearts and minds of both. All Israel will be saved when they look upon Him whom they pierced; and the Body of Christ will be purified when they humble themselves and show mercy to the Jews, even as they have received mercy from the God of Israel for all their sins in Jesus’ name.

Thankfulness To God

 

We thank and praise God for giving us His Son (Isaiah 9:6), and for what Messiah has done for us: forgiveness and new life, which only He could bring by coming here to Earth (even to Israel!) and suffering for us – both in His life, and climatically in His death on the cross. Now He lives within us who are born-again from Above, and is with us in life and in death. Even this last enemy can not overcome the believer, but only serves to bring us into the everlasting presence of the Lord!

 

Howard Bass

 

The Lord led me to the scripture of Judges 16:4-9 where its written about Samson (means ‘like the sun, man of the sun’) who got first time lured by a woman called Delilah (means ‘feeble, weak’).
She was driven by the pressure of the Philistines and the love of money to find out the reason of the secret of the great strength of Samson.

 

The region where the betrayal of Samson began was in the valley of Sorek (means ‘noble vine’).

 

As Delilah tried for the first time to lure Samson, she asked him how he could be bound in his strength. Thereupon Samson told her, that if anyone would tie him with seven fresh bowstrings that had not been dried, he would be subdued in his strength.

 

So Delilah got the seven fresh bowstrings that had not been dried up from the rulers of the Philistines and tied Samson with it while the men where hidden in the room.
As Delilah called that the Philistines were upon him he snapped the bowstrings as easily as a piece of string snaps when it comes close to a flame.

 

Judges 16:4-9:
4 Some time later, he fell in love with a woman in the Valley of Sorek whose name was Delilah.
5 The rulers of the Philistines went to her and said, “See if you can lure him into showing you the secret of his great strength and how we can overpower him so we may tie him up and subdue him. Each one of us will give you eleven hundred shekels of silver.”
6 So Delilah said to Samson, “Tell me the secret of your great strength and how you can be tied up and subdued.”
7 Samson answered her, “If anyone ties me with seven fresh bowstrings that have not been dried, I’ll become as weak as any other man.”
8 Then the rulers of the Philistines brought her seven fresh bowstrings that had not been dried, and she tied him with them.
9 With men hidden in the room, she called to him, “Samson, the Philistines are upon you!” But he snapped the bowstrings as easily as a piece of string snaps when it comes close to a flame. So the secret of his strength was not discovered.

 

 

In link with the time in which we are in and heading for Hanukkah and Christmas which is connected to the increasing light/fire, the Lord showed me that it is important that we have to be aware not to get weakened by surrounding circumstances (Delilah) and allowing God to show us His new time of the Spirit (Sorek).

 

It is crucial that we activate the written word of God which we ‘ate’ in the past time in this season so that the time becomes a moment of divine accomplishment where wrong influences that try to set us captive, burn away like a string snaps when it comes close to flame!

 

It is about the secret of the eighth day that is linked to the business which operates from the foundation of the place of rest and the divine relationship with God!

 

 

It is now the season or rather the moment to allow the written word of God in us to become a clear sound that carries God’s directive and creative word!

 

This is what the prophet Jeremiah meant as he spoke about the word of God as a fire that burns in his bones and as well prophesied about it (see Jeremiah 20:9 i.c.w. Jeremiah 23:29).

 

Jeremiah 20:9:
9 But if I say, “I will not mention his word or speak anymore in his name,” his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot.

 

Jeremiah 23:29:
29 “Is not my word like fire,” declares the Lord, “and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces?

 

This prophetic statement of Jeremiah fits into the season of Hanukkah that is connected to the Maccabees who are named after Judah, the son of Mattathias who had the nickname ‘Maccabee – the hammer’. Maccabee => acrostic said it was the sentence: ‘Who is like You, among the gods, oh Lord.’

 

The Maccabees were led by Judah, the Maccabee who led a small band of Jews against the powerful Greek armies who desecrated the Jewish temple. The Maccabees took back the temple and consecrated it back to the God of Israel.

 

The feast of Hanukkah is a celebration of restoration because the temple got restored.
It is also a celebration of God’s miracles.

 

Hanukkah is furthermore called the feast of lights, which is represented by a special Menorah, that is called Hanukkiah.

 

Instead of seven branches of the Menorah the Hanukkiah has nine branches. One lamp for each day as a sign for the remembrance of the miracle of the oil multiplication because they had normally only the measure of oil to shine for one day.

 

The ninth light is called ‘shamash’, which means ‘servant’ and is not counted, because it serves for the ignition of all the eight lamps of the Hanukkiah.

 

 

At Hanukkah the Jews or young Jewish children are playing with the ‘Dreidel’, that is a spinning top and carries four Hebrew letters.: ‘Nun (50), Gimel (3), He (5), Schin (300)’, which carry the statement of ‘A great miracle happened there/here!’ (note: The value of the Hebrew letters is ‘358’ ).

 

The same numerical value of ‘358’ has also the Hebrew word ‘maschiach’ which means Messiah (note: The word is made up of the Hebrew letters Mem-40/ Schin-300/ Jod-10/ Chet-8).
Furthermore the breastplate of the high priest which is called in Hebrew ‘choschän’ has also the same numerical value of ‘358’.

 

Prophetically is this explanation saying: ‘Turn to your Messiah Jesus Christ to feel His heartbeat like John and shine with His love.’ (see John 13:23-25 i.c.w. Exodus 28:15-21.28-30; Hebrews 3:1-2)

 

Because Jesus confronted the accusers of his time at the feast of Hanukkah with the works of his Heavenly Father, it should call us to proclaim God’s great miracles of the past, which releases faith in the hearer to trust God for miracles now (see John 10:25.32.38).

 

John 10:25.32.38:
25 Jesus answered, I did tell you, but you do not believe. The miracles I do in my Father's name speak for me, …
… 32 but Jesus said to them, I have shown you many great miracles from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?
38 But if I do it, even though you do not believe me, believe the miracles, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father.

 

 

Let the Hanukkah and Christmas time be the season of the increasing holy fire in you where you speak the truth!

 

Don’t hold back and speak!
Don’t hold back and preach!
Don’t hold back and prophesy!
Don’t hold back and teach!

 

It is the bread of life in us that transforms into a holy fire to consume the bowstrings of weakness (note: moments of weakness) to receive the noble, new vine to cultivate it in the coming new season and later to enjoy the new, noble wine!

 

This cultivation of the noble vine represents the school of the Holy Spirit who brings us into the season of divine relationship, harvest and joy (see John 16:13-15)!

 

John 16:13-15:
“... 13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.
14 He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you.
15 All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.”

 

Amen and Amen.

 

In His Wisdom,

 

Daniel Glimm