Wednesday, March 25, 2015
Tuesday, March 17, 2015
Wednesday, March 11, 2015
Thursday, March 5, 2015
Sunday, March 1, 2015
He Will Give You Rest
We are all familiar with the
passage in Matthew where Yeshua tells us that he will give rest to those who
are weary and weighed down. This is a promise and a comfort to us when we are
faced with the burdens and responsibilities of this hectic, fast-paced lifestyle
of the twenty-first century. But, there is a deeper meaning in this passage and
an incredible promise. Let’s dig in a little deeper.
Matthew 11:28-30 NKJV 28
"Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you
rest. 29 "Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and
lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 "For My yoke is
easy and My burden is light."
Yeshua’s words in this passage
are actually in a Hebrew poetic form called a chiasm. The individual thoughts
lead to an inward central theme and then back out again to end where it began.
This passage begins and ends with a burden and breaks down as shown:
A: Come to Me, all you who labor
and are heavy laden
B:
I will give you rest
C:
Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me
C:
for I am gentle and lowly in heart
B:
you will find rest for your souls
A: For My yoke is easy and My
burden is light
Before we get to the central
theme, we need to look at the outer layer and work our way in. Those who labor
and are heavy laden are to come to Yeshua. The word for labor is the Greek word
#2872 kopias which means to feel fatigue, to work hard, to labor with wearisome
effort. The phrase “heavy laden” is the Greek word #5412 phortizo meaning to be
loaded up. The noun “burden” in the second part of the outer layer is phortion
which is the noun form of the same Greek word phortizo. The heavy load in verse
28 becomes the light load in verse 30. But what is this heavy load that wearies
us? Let’s go back to the Bible to answer this! The first heavy load that
wearied man was the burden placed on Adam when he was expelled from the Garden
of Eden!
Genesis 3:17 NKJV 17 Then to Adam
He said, "Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten
from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, 'You shall not eat of it':
"Cursed is the ground for your sake; In toil you shall eat of it All the
days of your life.
The word toil is the Hebrew word
#6093 “itstsabon” meaning pain, labor, hardship, sorrow and toil. Instead of
eating from the trees of the Garden of Eden, especially the tree of life, which
freely gave their fruit for food, Adam had to labor to coax the ground to grow
plants to provide physical nourishment. But even that provided only temporary
nourishment; without the fruit from the tree of life, Adam was sentenced to
death. Our heaviest burden is the one we inherited from Adam; we labor to live
from day to day and there is no respite from our labor. Eventually, we will all
face death.
The promise of respite is the
next layer in; He will give us rest! When God brought the children of Israel
into the Promised Land, He said that He was giving them rest.
Joshua 1:13 NKJV 13
"Remember the word which Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you,
saying, 'The LORD your God is giving you rest and is giving you this land.'
Joshua 21:43-44 NKJV 43 So the
LORD gave to Israel all the land of which He had sworn to give to their
fathers, and they took possession of it and dwelt in it. 44 The LORD gave them
rest all around, according to all that He had sworn to their fathers. And not a
man of all their enemies stood against them; the LORD delivered all their
enemies into their hand.
Notice that the promised rest is
tied to the land! David wrote that there remains the promise of rest as long as
we don’t fall into the same rebellion as the children of Israel who all died in
the wilderness without receiving the promise.
Psalms 95:7-8 NKJV 7 For He is
our God, And we are the people of His pasture, And the sheep of His hand.
Today, if you will hear His voice: 8 "Do not harden your hearts, as in the
rebellion, As in the day of trial in the wilderness,
Psalms 95:11 NKJV 11 So I swore
in My wrath, 'They shall not enter My rest.'"
The writer of the book of Hebrews
confirms that rest is tied to more than the Promised Land referring to this
same Psalm of David.
Hebrews 4:8-9 NKJV 8 For if
Joshua had given them rest, then He would not afterward have spoken of another
day. 9 There remains therefore a rest for the people of God.
What is this rest spoken of by
David and the write of Hebrews? The word used for rest in Hebrews verse 9 is a
word that is used only here in scripture.
In fact, it is #4520 “Sabbatismos,” a Greek transliteration for “Sabbath rest.” In Judaic writing, the
Sabbath foreshadows the world to come; it is a day “which shall be all
Sabbath.”
The passage in Hebrews continues
to compare our rest with God’s Sabbath rest.
Hebrews 4:10 NKJV 10 For he who
has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from
His.
The rest we receive from Yeshua
is like that of God after He completed creation. We rest in the garden God
planted for us. We rest in the completed work of Yeshua our Messiah. The book
of Hebrews describes Yeshua’s qualifications and work concluding in chapter 11
that His work in regards to sin is finished, but there remains His return to
bring us to safety.
Hebrews 9:28 NKJV 28 so Christ
was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He
will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.
Hebrews 10:14 NKJV 14 For by one
offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.
At that time, we will experience
a day that is all Sabbath! All Rest! We who believe have assurance that we
enter that rest!
Hebrews 4:3 NKJV 3 For we who
have believed do enter that rest, as He has said: "So I swore in My wrath,
'They shall not enter My rest,'" although the works were finished from the
foundation of the world.
This, now, takes us to the center
of the passage in Matthew, “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am
gentle and lowly in heart.”
When we take on a yoke, we are
putting ourselves under the authority of the one who places the yoke. When the
children of Israel went into captivity in Babylon, God told them they are under
the yoke of Babylon.
Jeremiah 27:8 NKJV 8 'And it
shall be, that the nation and kingdom which will not serve Nebuchadnezzar the
king of Babylon, and which will not put its neck under the yoke of the king of
Babylon, that nation I will punish,' says the LORD, 'with the sword, the
famine, and the pestilence, until I have consumed them by his hand.
So, we are under the authority of
Yeshua and we are to learn from Him! Jeremiah tells us what we are to learn!
Jeremiah 6:16 NKJV 16 Thus says
the LORD: "Stand in the ways and see, And ask for the old paths, where the
good way is, And walk in it; Then you will find rest for your souls. But they
said, 'We will not walk in it.'
We are to learn to walk in the
old ways and, thus, find rest for our souls.
Jeremiah goes on to tell us what God meant when He said they wouldn’t
walk in His ways.
Jeremiah 6:19 NKJV 19 Hear, O
earth! Behold, I will certainly bring calamity on this people-The fruit of
their thoughts, Because they have not heeded My words, Nor My law, but rejected
it.
They wouldn’t walk according to
God’s Torah! The old ways are the ways of Torah. The Torah is the set of
instructions for those who put themselves under the authority of Yeshua on how
to love God and each other! David tells us that walking in Torah brings peace.
Psalms 119:165 NKJV 165 Great
peace have those who love Your law, And nothing causes them to stumble.
Now that we are saved, yoked to
Yeshua, the Torah tells us how to live a victorious spirit-filled life! The
apostle John tells us that loving God is not burdensome.
1 John 5:3 NKJV 3 For this is the
love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not
burdensome.
Our pride gets in the way,
though, of submitting to authority. We ask, why we should submit to Yeshua’s
authority. He tells us why; because He himself is humble. He is gentle and
lowly in heart! We are to submit because He submits
John tells us that those who are
in Him, who are yoked together with Him, walk the way He walked.
1 John 2:6 NKJV 6 He who says he
abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.
When we submit to Yeshua’s
authority, and learn from Him because He is humble, we find rest for our souls.
This is the central theme of this passage in Matthew. Yeshua, our humble
messiah, teaches us to walk in humility and submission by His own example. And
through His submission to the Father, submission even to death on the cross, we
have rest for our souls! And Yeshua’s yoke, His authority is easy to bear. His burden is not heavy, it is light! Yeshua
gives us rest both in this life and in the eternal life to come!
Shalom and be Blessed
Dan & Brenda Cathcart
Visit our web site @ www.MoedMinistries.com
Tuesday, February 24, 2015
Wednesday, February 18, 2015
Tuesday, December 9, 2014
The Time of the Olive Harvest
The olive harvest begins towards
the end of October and continues about six weeks until the first week in
December. On the biblical calendar, this falls after the Feast of Tabernacles.
This is interesting because the Feast of Tabernacles is the feast at the end of
the harvest. It, like the Feast of Unleavened Bread and the Feast of Weeks, is
a pilgrimage feast.
Exodus 23:15-16 NKJV 15 "You
shall keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread (you shall eat unleavened bread seven
days, as I commanded you, at the time appointed in the month of Abib, for in it
you came out of Egypt; none shall appear before Me empty); 16 "and the
Feast of Harvest, the firstfruits of your labors which you have sown in the
field; and the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you have
gathered in the fruit of your labors from the field.
The Feast of Unleavened Bread
begins the harvest season with the barley crop, the feast of weeks continues it
with the wheat crop and it culminates with the fruit of the vines and tress at
the Feast of Tabernacles. So what is the deal with the olive harvest? Why is it
after the Feast of Tabernacles?
Let’s look at the symbolic
meaning of the olive tree and its crop. To start with, the word olive is the
Hebrew word tiz
Zay-yith. It is related to the word fz,
ze’ev #2099 with means brightness. This makes sense since one of the primary
uses of olive oil is fuel for oil lamps particularly the temple menorah. The
word picture for the olive is “the weapon in the hand of the covenant.”
The olive tree is the symbol of
Israel.
Jeremiah 11:16 NKJV 16 The LORD
called your name, Green Olive Tree,
Lovely and of Good Fruit. With the noise of a great tumult He has kindled fire
on it, And its branches are broken.
A green olive tree is a righteous Israel.
Yeshua called himself a green olive tree at his crucifixion referring to his
own death.
Luke 23:28-31 NKJV 28 But Jesus,
turning to them, said, "Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for Me, but
weep for yourselves and for your children. 29 "For indeed the days are
coming in which they will say, 'Blessed are the barren, wombs that never bore,
and breasts which never nursed!' 30 "Then they will begin 'to say to the
mountains, "Fall on us!" and to the hills, "Cover us!"' 31
"For if they do these things in the green wood, what will be done in the
dry?"
We said one of the main uses of
the olive crop is for oil for lamps. The oil used for the menorah in the
tabernacle had to be prepared in a specific way. It was to be beaten into a
fine consistency.
Exodus 27:20 YLT 20 `And
thou--thou dost command the sons of Israel, and they bring unto thee pure
beaten olive oil for the light, to cause the lamp to go up continually;
Yeshua is, of course the light of
the world! When He comes to reign, there will be no need for light from the
sun. The light of the lamb will fill the earth.
But, let’s get back to the timing
of the olive harvest and the connection with the feasts of the LORD. We saw
that each of the pilgrimage feasts is connected to a harvest. The first two are
connected with the harvest of grain, the last with the harvest of grapes. What
do all three of these harvests, the grain, the grape, and the olive, have in
common? They are all “messianic” crops. The presence of the blessing of these
three crops describes the richness of the messianic age. Jeremiah writes that
when Israel is once again in the land and walking with God, they would receive
the blessing of the grain, wine, and the oil.
Jeremiah 31:12 BBE 12 So they
will come with songs on the high places, flowing together to the good things of
the Lord, to the grain and the wine and the oil, to the young ones of the flock
and of the herd: their souls will be like a watered garden, and they will have
no more sorrow.
Grain is used to produce bread.
It speaks of life. During the Feast of Unleavened Bread, Yeshua taught that a
kernel of grain must fall to the earth and die to bring forth new grain.
John 12:24 BBE 24 Truly I say to
you, If a seed of grain does not go into the earth and come to an end, it is
still a seed and no more; but through its death it gives much fruit.
The grape harvest is a harvest of
judgment. This judgment can be good or bad. The grape harvest is the time of
God’s wrath, but it is also a time of celebration.
Revelation 19:15 BBE 15 And out
of his mouth comes a sharp sword, with which he overcomes the nations: and he
has rule over them with a rod of iron: and he is crushing with his feet the
grapes of the strong wrath of God the Ruler of all.
Proverbs 3:9-10 NKJV 9 Honor the
LORD with your possessions, And with the firstfruits of all your increase; 10
So your barns will be filled with plenty, And your vats will overflow with new
wine.
So, we see a progression: New
life is given at the spring feasts with Yeshua’s death and resurrection.
Judgment comes at His return at the Feast of Tabernacles. This is a time of joy
for all who believe! What follows? The olive harvest! To understand the
significance, let’s look at three signs Yeshua displayed as a testimony to His
identity.
The first sign is turning water
into wine at a wedding celebration.
John 2:3-9 NKJV 3 And when they
ran out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him, "They have no
wine." 4 Jesus said to her, "Woman, what does your concern have to do
with Me? My hour has not yet come." 5 His mother said to the servants,
"Whatever He says to you, do it." 6 Now there were set there six
waterpots of stone, according to the manner of purification of the Jews,
containing twenty or thirty gallons apiece. 7 Jesus said to them, "Fill
the waterpots with water." And they filled them up to the brim. 8 And He
said to them, "Draw some out now, and take it to the master of the
feast." And they took it. 9 When the master of the feast had tasted the
water that was made wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants
who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom.
John 2:11 NKJV 11 This beginning
of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory; and His disciples
believed in Him.
The next sign was to heal the son
of a nobleman.
John 4:47-54 NKJV 47 When he
heard that Jesus had come out of Judea into Galilee, he went to Him and
implored Him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death.
48 Then Jesus said to him, "Unless you people see signs and wonders, you
will by no means believe." 49 The nobleman said to Him, "Sir, come
down before my child dies!" 50 Jesus said to him, "Go your way; your
son lives." So the man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him, and he
went his way. 51 And as he was now going down, his servants met him and told
him, saying, "Your son lives!" 52 Then he inquired of them the hour
when he got better. And they said to him, "Yesterday at the seventh hour
the fever left him." 53 So the father knew that it was at the same hour in
which Jesus said to him, "Your son lives." And he himself believed,
and his whole household. 54 This again is the second sign Jesus did when He had
come out of Judea into Galilee.
The third sign is not labeled as
such, but when we see the reaction of the people, we recognize it as the third
sign. Yeshua multiplied the bread and the fish feeding the five thousand.
John 6:11-15 NKJV 11 And Jesus
took the loaves, and when He had given thanks He distributed them to the
disciples, and the disciples to those sitting down; and likewise of the fish,
as much as they wanted. 12 So when they were filled, He said to His disciples,
"Gather up the fragments that remain, so that nothing is lost." 13
Therefore they gathered them up, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments
of the five barley loaves which were left over by those who had eaten. 14 Then
those men, when they had seen the sign that Jesus did, said, "This is
truly the Prophet who is to come into the world." 15 Therefore when Jesus
perceived that they were about to come and take
Him by force to make Him king, He departed again to the mountain by Himself
alone.
Their response was to try to make
him king! He turned water into wine which involves the grape. He multiplied the
bread which involves the grain. But where is the olive? Oil is used to anoint a
person for a specific task. In particular, it is used to transfer or confer
authority. Aaron and his sons were anointed as priests; kings were anointed at
their coronation. Joshua was anointed at the transfer of authority from Moses
to him. The title “messiah” is the Hebrew meshiach #4899 meaning “the anointed one.” When Yeshua
healed the nobleman’s son, He spoke words of healing with authority and the
nobleman believed. When see this same word of authority when Yeshua healed the
centurion’s son.
Matthew 8:8-10 NKJV 8 The
centurion answered and said, "Lord, I am not worthy that You should come
under my roof. But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed. 9
"For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to
this one, 'Go,' and he goes; and to another, 'Come,' and he comes; and to my
servant, 'Do this,' and he does it." 10 When Jesus heard it, He marveled,
and said to those who followed, "Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found
such great faith, not even in Israel!
The centurion recognized Yeshua’s
authority to heal!
Oil is not only associated with authority
to act is also associated specifically with the act of healing. James tells us
that when we are sick, we are to call for the elders and be anointed with oil.
James 5:14-15 NKJV 14 Is anyone
among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray
over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer of
faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has
committed sins, he will be forgiven.
So what is this time of the olive
harvest? It is the time of Messiah! Yeshua is the weapon in the hand of the
covenant. The first appearance of a word is often important in the Bible. What
is the first appearance of the olive? It is after the flood when Noah sent out
the dove to see if the waters had receded from the earth after God’s judgment.
Genesis 8:10-12 NKJV 10 And he
waited yet another seven days, and again he sent the dove out from the ark. 11
Then the dove came to him in the evening, and behold, a freshly plucked olive
leaf was in her mouth; and Noah knew that the waters had receded from the
earth. 12 So he waited yet another seven days and sent out the dove, which did
not return again to him anymore.
This was before God told the
Israelites to renumber the months, so with Tishrei as the first month, the dove returned with
the olive on the 17th day of Elul right before the fall feasts
begin. On the 24th, Noah again sent out the dove and it did not
return. Seven days later, on the first of Tishrei, Noah removes the cover from
the ark!
Genesis 8:13 NKJV 13 And it came
to pass in the six hundred and first year, in the first month, the first day of
the month, that the waters were dried up from the earth; and Noah removed the
covering of the ark and looked, and indeed the surface of the ground was dry.
Tishrei 1 is also the Feast of Trumpets which kicks off the feasts of Yeshua’s return.
It is the time of Messiah!
During the time of Messiah, there
is healing for the land and people. Ezekiel writes of the water that flows from
beneath the threshold of the temple.
Ezekiel 47:8-9 NKJV 8 Then he
said to me: "This water flows toward the eastern region, goes down into
the valley, and enters the sea. When it reaches the sea, its waters are healed.
9 "And it shall be that every living thing that moves, wherever the rivers
go, will live. There will be a very great multitude of fish, because these
waters go there; for they will be healed, and everything will live wherever the
river goes.
There is light to the world.
Isaiah 9:2-4 NKJV 2 The people
who walked in darkness Have seen a great light; Those who dwelt in the land of
the shadow of death, Upon them a light has shined. 3 You have multiplied the
nation And increased its joy; They rejoice before You According to the joy of
harvest, As men rejoice when they divide the spoil. 4 For You have broken the
yoke of his burden And the staff of his shoulder, The rod of his oppressor, As
in the day of Midian.
Isaiah 60:3 NKJV 3 The Gentiles
shall come to your light, And kings to the brightness of your rising.
Isaiah 2:3 KJV 3 And many people
shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the
house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk
in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD
from Jerusalem.
What festival follows the Feast
of Tabernacles? The Feast of Hanukkah! It is a reprise of Tabernacles,
celebrating the rededication of the temple and observing the Feast of
Tabernacles because they were unable to do so at the time commanded by God. The
dedication requires oil—oil for the lights of the temple menorah. The lighted
menorah has become the symbol of Hanukkah! The light of the world has come!
Shalom and be blessed
Dan & Brenda Cathcart
© 2014 Moed Ministries
Sunday, September 28, 2014
Marching Orders
The Exodus of the children of
Israel from Egypt and their journeys in the wilderness as they prepare for the
Promised Land mirrors the individual journeys of our own lives. The children of
Israel began their journey as slaves in Egypt; we begin our journey as slaves
to sin. God delivered the children of Israel from their slavery, protecting
them from the angel of death by the blood of the Passover lamb which they
placed on the doorposts and lintels of their homes. God delivers us from
slavery and protects us from the angel of death by the blood of Yeshua which we
place on the doorposts and lintels of our hearts. By faith, the children of
Israel left Egypt and followed God into the wilderness where He met with them
at Mt. Sinai. God made a covenant with them and gave them the Torah telling
them how to live a holy life. By faith, we leave our old lives behind and
follow God into the wilderness where He speaks with us. He gives us the Holy
Spirit teaching us through God’s word how to live a holy life.
But, neither they nor we are to
stay in the wilderness at Mt. Sinai. At Mt. Sinai, we are equipped for the
journey to the Promised Land which represents God’s “rest.” When we have
defeated all our enemies and dwell in the land that God has provided for us,
God provides rest!
As the children of Israel left
Mt. Sinai for what should have been a short journey to the Promised, they left
as an organized host. God told them the order in which they should march and
which tribes should lead the way. The shekinah glory of God is visible as the
cloud of the LORD went before them.
Numbers 10:35-36 NKJV 35 So it
was, whenever the ark set out, that Moses said: "Rise up, O LORD! Let Your
enemies be scattered, And let those who hate You flee before You." 36 And
when it rested, he said: "Return, O LORD, To the many thousands of
Israel."
The order of the march of the
tribes was Judah, Issachar and Zebulun in front. Behind them came the Sons of
Gershon and Merari carrying the Tabernacle. After them came Reuben, Simeon and
Gad. Then the Kohathites followed with the holy things of the Tabernacle. The
tribes of Ephraim, Manasseh and Benjamin followed them. Finally, the tribes of
Dan, Asher and Naphtali completed the company as the rear guard.
What does the order of this march
tell us? As we look at what was said about why each son was given his name, we
see a promise of the rest that awaits each of us who love the LORD. References
to these names are found in Genesis 29:31 through Genesis 30:24, Genesis
35:18-19, and Genesis 40:50-52. In the case of Benjamin, no specific words were
spoken other than his name which, as spoken by Rachel, meant “son of my sorrow”
and, as spoken by Jacob, meant “son of my right hand.”
These are the words:
I will praise the LORD
I have received my reward
My husband will dwell with me
The LORD has looked down on my afliction
The LORD has heard that I am
unloved
Good fortune comes
God has caused me to be fruitful
in the land of my affliction
God has caused me to forget all
my toil
The son of my sorrow is the son
of my right hand
God has judged my case
I am happy
I have wrestled and prevailed
As the apostle Paul approached
the end of his life. He reflects on his life’s journey in his final letter to
Timothy.
2 Timothy 4:7-8 NKJV 7 I have
fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8
Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord,
the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also
to all who have loved His appearing.
May our journeys end as Paul’s
ended—being confident of the reward waiting for us as we enter into His
presence.
James 1:12 NKJV 12 Blessed is the
man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the
crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.
Shalom and be blessed
Dan & Brenda Cathcart
© 2014 Moed Ministries
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