Yeshua in the Counting of the Omer part 5: His Brother James

The period of time on the Biblical Calendar known as the Counting of the Omer is the 50 day period from the day after the regular weekly Sabbath which falls during the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the Feast of Weeks or Shavuot.  In Christian circles this holiday is known as Pentecost but is little known beyond recognition as the day the Holy Spirit fell on the disciples and they spoke in tongues.  But this Feast has great significance in the life and ministry of Jesus (Yeshua) and in the lives of his disciples including those of us who follow Him today.  Yeshua was very active during this time teaching and preparing His disciple to go out into the world and preach the Gospel.

Yeshua met with many people during the forty days from His resurrection to His ascension. Only Paul mentions one of the people He met with.

1 Corinthians 15:6-7 NKJV 6 After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep. 7 After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles.

We have just this one mention about Yeshua appearing to James. But we know that from this visit, James’ whole life changed. Before Yeshua crucifixion, scripture implies that Yeshua’s immediate family was not supportive. We read that He had four brothers and at least a couple of sisters.

Mark 6:3 NKJV 3 "Is this not the carpenter, the Son of Mary, and brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon? And are not His sisters here with us?" And they were offended at Him.

In one place, the scripture tells us they seem to think He was a little crazy.

Mark 3:21 NKJV 21 But when His own people heard about this, they went out to lay hold of Him, for they said, "He is out of His mind."

Even as late as the fall just before His crucifixion, His brothers didn’t believe that He was the Messiah. When it was time for the Feast of Tabernacles, His brothers mocked Him about His identity.

John 7:3-5 NKJV 3 His brothers therefore said to Him, "Depart from here and go into Judea, that Your disciples also may see the works that You are doing. 4 "For no one does anything in secret while he himself seeks to be known openly. If You do these things, show Yourself to the world." 5 For even His brothers did not believe in Him.

After their scornful words, they went up to Jerusalem for the Feast. Yeshua went up after them.

John 7:10 NKJV 10 But when His brothers had gone up, then He also went up to the feast, not openly, but as it were in secret.

This means they were in Jerusalem when Yeshua declared He was the Living Water. They were there when Yeshua healed the man born blind. They were there when Yeshua declared Himself openly. They would also have been in Jerusalem when He was crucified; we have record of His family observing the Passover even when Yeshua was a boy. They weren’t there at the crucifixion, though. Yeshua’s mother is there but Yeshua gives her into the care of the disciple John not into His brothers’ care.

John 19:26-27 NKJV 26 When Jesus therefore saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing by, He said to His mother, "Woman, behold your son!" 27 Then He said to the disciple, "Behold your mother!" And from that hour that disciple took her to his own home.

So, how do we know this James that Paul mentions wasn’t the apostle James, the brother of John? Paul probably never knew the apostle James. We read of James’ death just as Paul (Saul) first returns to Jerusalem after his conversion on the road to Damascus.

Acts 12:1-2 NKJV 1 Now about that time Herod the king stretched out his hand to harass some from the church. 2 Then he killed James the brother of John with the sword.

Herod arrested Peter just after he had James killed. An angel came and rescued Peter from the prison. Peter went to the house of Mary the mother of John (Mark) where the believers were meeting to pray for his release. Peter told them how he was delivered and instructed them to tell James.

Acts 12:17 NKJV 17 But motioning to them with his hand to keep silent, he declared to them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. And he said, "Go, tell these things to James and to the brethren." And he departed and went to another place.

James the brother of John was already dead. This is a different James. This James, along with Peter, became a leader of the Jerusalem church. This James is the one Paul first met with when he went up to Jerusalem to discuss the issue of Gentile salvation.

Galatians 1:18-19 NKJV 18 Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter, and remained with him fifteen days. 19 But I saw none of the other apostles except James, the Lord's brother.

We can only imagine the meeting between Yeshua and James. How did James react when he saw Yeshua? Did Yeshua appear only to James or to His other brothers as well? Was James one of the 120 believers who were together in the temple when the Holy Spirit fell on them? We do know that at least one other brother of Yeshua believed in Him after His resurrection. Not only did James write an epistle but so did his brother and Yeshua’s brother Jude (Judas). We do know that James did not presume on his relationship as the brother of Yeshua. In his epistle, he describes himself as a servant of God and the Lord Jesus Christ (Yeshua haMeshiach).

James 1:1 NKJV 1 James, a bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad: Greetings.

As James writes his letter, he uses the word brother or brothers eighteen times. James is very concerned about his fellow believers, his brothers in Messiah; he writes as a pastor to his congregation. He concludes his letter with a reminder to all believers as brothers to guard and protect each other.

James 5:19-20 NIV 19 My brothers, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring him back, 20 remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins.

Did James see himself in his own admonition? Did he see himself as the sinner who had wandered from the truth and who Yeshua turned back? We do know that during this time of counting the Omer up to the Feast of Weeks Yeshua was preparing His followers. He was getting them ready to receive the Holy Spirit and lead His congregation. One of those He was preparing was His own earthly brother James.

The days of counting the Omer are passing quickly. Very soon, the disciples won’t be able to wait any longer. They just have to go up to Jerusalem. What will God and Yeshua do next?

שלום ברוך

Shalom and be blessed,

Dan & Brenda Cathcart

Please visit our web site at www.moedministries.com

Yeshua in the Counting of the Omer part 4: Doubting Thomas

The period of time on the Biblical Calendar known as the Counting of the Omer is the 50 day period from the day after the regular weekly Sabbath which falls during the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the Feast of Weeks or Shavuot.  In Christian circles this holiday is known as Pentecost but is little known beyond recognition as the day the Holy Spirit fell on the disciples and they spoke in tongues.  But this Feast has great significance in the life and ministry of Jesus (Yeshua) and in the lives of his disciples including those of us who follow Him today.  Yeshua was very active during this time teaching and preparing His disciple to go out into the world and preach the Gospel.

Yeshua first appeared to His disciples after His resurrection on the Feast of Firstfruits, the day after the Sabbath. The command is then to count the days up to the day after the seventh Sabbath.

Leviticus 23:15-16 NIV 15 "'From the day after the Sabbath, the day you brought the sheaf of the wave offering, count off seven full weeks. 16 Count off fifty days up to the day after the seventh Sabbath, and then present an offering of new grain to the LORD.

Yeshua’s next appearance is exactly one week later on the eighth day of the counting of the Omer. What happened during that week? First, the Feast of Unleavened Bread was still ongoing. There were still four days left of the Feast. People were still bringing their firstfruit offerings and their peace offerings. This was still a time to celebrate their deliverance from Egypt. Each day, there were additional offering at the temple. Also, the counting of the Omer had begun. Each day an omer of new grain from the barley was prepared and offered on the altar. Each day began with the words “today is the ____ day of the counting of the Omer.”

At the end of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the pilgrims who lived close enough would return to their homes and count the days of the Omer until they had to return to Jerusalem for the culmination of the count at the Feast of Weeks. The Feast of Weeks is the second of the Feasts of the LORD that all men had to appear before God bringing their offerings.

Deuteronomy 16:16 NKJV 16 "Three times a year all your males shall appear before the LORD your God in the place which He chooses: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, at the Feast of Weeks, and at the Feast of Tabernacles; and they shall not appear before the LORD empty-handed.

The disciples also should have headed for Galilee as the angels told the women at the tomb to relate to the disciples on the day of Yeshua’s resurrection.

Matthew 28:6-7 NKJV 6 "He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. 7 "And go quickly and tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead, and indeed He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him. Behold, I have told you."

Yeshua reinforced their words as they ran to tell the disciples.

Matthew 28:10 NKJV 10 Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid. Go and tell My brethren to go to Galilee, and there they will see Me."

So what happened? Why didn’t they go to Galilee? We know that at first they were frightened and didn’t quite believe the message that the women brought. The disciples whom Yeshua met on the road to Emmaus didn’t quite believe the women’s report.  Their doubt is evident in their words as they explain to Yeshua what happened in those three days and in Yeshua’s response to them.

Luke 24:24-25 NKJV 24 "And certain of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but Him they did not see." 25 Then He said to them, "O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken!

Yeshua chides them again when He appears to the eleven in the room where they were staying.

Luke 24:38-39 NKJV 38 And He said to them, "Why are you troubled? And why do doubts arise in your hearts? 39 "Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself. Handle Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have."

Yet here it is a week later and they are still in Jerusalem! The Feast of Unleavened Bread has ended; there is no excuse for them to have lingered. But, we know that at Yeshua’s earlier appearance, Thomas was not with them and did not believe.

John 20:25 NKJV 25 The other disciples therefore said to him, "We have seen the Lord." So he said to them, "Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe."

So, Yeshua generously appears before them once again; this time Thomas is present. Yeshua understands Thomas’ doubts and displays the wounds in His hands and His side.

John 20:27-28 NKJV 27 Then He said to Thomas, "Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing." 28 And Thomas answered and said to Him, "My Lord and my God!"

Thomas proclaims Yeshua His Lord and God! He saw in Yeshua not just a man risen from the dead; he had seen that in Lazarus. In Yeshua, he saw His God! God’s name is Yahovah or Yahweh. In the ancient Hebrew, a form of which was in use in this day, it is spelled like so:  *

His name is the “Hand revealed, the nail revealed.” Thomas saw His redeemer. Finally, all eleven believe.  The next time Yeshua appears before them, they are in Galilee as He commanded them. While in Galilee away from all the crowds, Yeshua could teach them. Luke records the purpose of Yeshua’s appearances.

Acts 1:1-3 NKJV 1 The former account I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, 2 until the day in which He was taken up, after He through the Holy Spirit had given commandments to the apostles whom He had chosen, 3 to whom He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.

שלום ברוך

Shalom and be blessed

Dan & Brenda Cathcart

Please visit our web site at www.moedministries.com

* In most English Bibles God's name, which in Hebrew is יהוה, is most often translated as "LORD" in all capital letters.  When you see LORD in your Bible, think of the Hand Revealed Nail Revealed!

Yeshua in the Counting of the Omer Part 3: On the Mountain

The period of time on the Biblical Calendar known as the Counting of the Omer is the 50 day period from the day after the regular weekly Sabbath which falls during the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the Feast of Weeks or Shavuot.  In Christian circles this holiday is known as Pentecost but is little known beyond recognition as the day the Holy Spirit fell on the disciples and they spoke in tongues.  But this Feast has great significance in the life and ministry of Jesus (Yeshua) and in the lives of his disciples including us today who follow Him.  Yeshua was very active during this time teaching and preparing His disciple to go out into the world and preach the Gospel.

At the breakfast there by the Sea of Galilee, Yeshua fed them bread and fish.

John 21:9 NKJV 9 Then, as soon as they had come to land, they saw a fire of coals there, and fish laid on it, and bread.

John 21:12-13 NKJV 12 Jesus said to them, "Come and eat breakfast." Yet none of the disciples dared ask Him, "Who are You?" --knowing that it was the Lord. 13 Jesus then came and took the bread and gave it to them, and likewise the fish.

This is reminiscent of another meal of bread and fish. This meal took place on a mountainside. Yeshua had been teaching four thousand men plus women and children for three days, and they were all hungry.

Matthew 15:32 NKJV 32 Now Jesus called His disciples to Himself and said, "I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now continued with Me three days and have nothing to eat. And I do not want to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way."

The disciples asked where they could get enough food to feed all the people. They only had seven loaves of bread and a few fish.

Matthew 15:36-38 NKJV 36 And He took the seven loaves and the fish and gave thanks, broke them and gave them to His disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitude. 37 So they all ate and were filled, and they took up seven large baskets full of the fragments that were left. 38 Now those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children.

Numbers are significant in scripture. Yeshua in the Counting of the Omer Part 1: Fishers of Men, we saw that 153 represented all the sons of God. Yeshua will not lose even one of those entrusted to Him. This account starts with the number three. Then, the number seven occurs twice; they start with seven fish and end up with seven baskets of fish and bread left over. The number four occurs in combination with the number one thousand. Three is the number of divine completion. In this context, the three refers to the death and resurrection of Yeshua. Who better to provide food for those who seek Him, than the one who died to give them life? Those who seek Him will find Him and to them He will give the bread of Life.

John 6:33 NKJV 33 "For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world."

Seven is the number of spiritual completion. It looks forward to the seventh day when God rested from all His labors and to the time when we will truly enter His rest.

Hebrews 4:9-10 NKJV 9 There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. 10 For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His.

With God, one day is as a thousand, so the number one thousand reminds us that Yeshua will return and set up His reign of peace and rest in the seventh millennium. The number four represents all of creation. There are four compass directions, and God will gather His people from all four directions.

Psalms 107:2-3 NKJV 2 Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, Whom He has redeemed from the hand of the enemy, 3 And gathered out of the lands, From the east and from the west, From the north and from the south.

Yeshua said that His people will have rest in the kingdom of God.

Luke 13:29-30 NKJV 29 "They will come from the east and the west, from the north and the south, and sit down in the kingdom of God. 30 "And indeed there are last who will be first, and there are first who will be last."

How does this feeding of the four thousand relate to the Yeshua feeding the disciples bread and fish? At sometime during this event, Yeshua commanded them to meet Him on the mountain in Galilee during the counting of the Omer. Which mountain and why? It may have been the same mountainside on which He feed the four thousand because there was room for Him to meet with many of His disciples at once. Paul says Yeshua appeared to five hundred of His disciples at once.

1 Corinthians 15:3-6 NKJV 3 For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. 6 After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep.

What was His message to them there on the mountain? They were to go to all the nations, north, west, east, and south and make disciples, and He would be with them until the completion of the of the six thousand years and into the seventh thousand years of His reign.

Matthew 28:16-20 NKJV 16 Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them. 17 When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some doubted. 18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 "teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen.

The days of the counting of the Omer continue. Now, Yeshua has given them their mission, their task. How would they accomplish it? Perhaps the eleven are remembering Yeshua’s words at His last Passover.

John 15:26-27 NKJV 26 "But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me. 27 "And you also will bear witness, because you have been with Me from the beginning.

The excitement builds. What would happen on this Feast of Weeks, the celebration of God giving Israel the Torah at Mt. Sinai? Would Yeshua establish His kingdom at this time? Would He then send out the disciples as He earlier sent out the seventy? Stay with us as we continue to count the Omer with Yeshua’s disciples.

שלום ברוך

Shalom and be blessed,

Dan & Brenda Cathcart

Please visit our web site at www.moedministries.com

Hallowed Be Thy Name

When Yeshua taught His disciples to pray, He told them to begin by addressing God as their Father in heaven whose name is to be hallowed.

Matthew 6:9 KJV 9 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.

The tense of this verb “hallowed” is the aorist imperative, meaning an action that is to begin at once. Hallowing God’s name, then, is an action that is to begin at once. What does it mean to hallow God’s name? Many people think that it means we must pronounce it exactly right. After all, when someone mispronounces our names, aren’t we offended? Others think it means we should be careful about when we use God’s name. Still others think we shouldn’t use God’s name at all!  The one thing all of these ideas have in common is that hallowing God’s name involves the way we speak, or don’t speak, God’s name. Is this the biblical concept that God is trying to teach us? Let’s look at what God says about hallowing His name. The word “hallow” means to make holy; that is to set it apart.  In the Torah, God says He is the one who defines what is holy. He declares He is holy and we are holy to Him.

Leviticus 20:26 NKJV 26 'And you shall be holy to Me, for I the LORD am holy, and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be Mine.

This statement comes at the end of two chapters in which God first enumerates what it means to be holy or separate to Him. God, then, expounds on some of the sins that separate them from holiness to Him. Some actions separate us to God; other actions separate us from God. This verse reminds us that God is the one who both defines what it means to be separate to Him and performs the separating. He is also the one who defines what it means to hallow His name. In the midst of defining the actions which lead to holiness, God mentions one action that profanes His name.

Leviticus 19:11-12 KJV 11 Ye shall not steal, neither deal falsely, neither lie one to another. 12 And ye shall not swear by my name falsely, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the LORD.

God tells us that profaning His name is the opposite of hallowing His name.

Leviticus 22:32 KJV 32 Neither shall ye profane my holy name; but I will be hallowed among the children of Israel: I am the LORD which hallow you.

But, what does the Hebrew word that we translate as “profane” mean? The Hebrew word is “chalal” meaning to wound or dissolve. From that root word, and depending on the context and form of the word, it can mean: (1) to pierce or wound unto death or despair, (2) to play a pipe which is a pierced instrument, (3) to profane or defile, (4) to make a vineyard common, that is make its fruit available for harvest for the first time in the fifth year, (5) in the causative form, to begin as in breaking open a wedge.

To profane God’s name is to wound it or damage it. We see in the context of making a vineyard no longer set apart, but common to all, that profaning God’s name is to make it common. To profane God’s name is to declare that God is no better than the gods or idols of the world. Ouch! Ezekiel writes that God said His name was profaned among the nations when the children of Israel were expelled from the Land.

Ezekiel 36:19-20 KJV 19 And I scattered them among the heathen, and they were dispersed through the countries: according to their way and according to their doings I judged them. 20 And when they entered unto the heathen, whither they went, they profaned my holy name, when they said to them, These are the people of the LORD, and are gone forth out of his land.

Moses wrote about this same consequence of God’s name being profaned by the actions of the people. When God brought the children of Israel to the boundaries of the Promised Land and promised that He would go with them to defeat the Canaanites, the children of Israel did not have faith that God could do what He said He would do.

Numbers 14:11 KJV 11 And the LORD said unto Moses, How long will this people provoke me? and how long will it be ere they believe me, for all the signs which I have shewed among them?

Moses pleaded with God to spare the children of Israel based on God’s reputation and God’s promises of mercy.

Numbers 14:13-18 KJV 13 And Moses said unto the LORD, Then the Egyptians shall hear it, (for thou broughtest up this people in thy might from among them;) 14 And they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land: for they have heard that thou LORD art among this people, that thou LORD art seen face to face, and that thy cloud standeth over them, and that thou goest before them, by day time in a pillar of a cloud, and in a pillar of fire by night. 15 Now if thou shalt kill all this people as one man, then the nations which have heard the fame of thee will speak, saying, 16 Because the LORD was not able to bring this people into the land which he sware unto them, therefore he hath slain them in the wilderness. 17 And now, I beseech thee, let the power of my Lord be great, according as thou hast spoken, saying, 18 The LORD is longsuffering, and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation.

God’s words to Ezekiel continue as He states that He will hallow His name when He brings Israel back to the Land demonstrating His authority and power, and when He cleanses them from the uncleanness of their sins of idol worship, demonstrating His devotion to His covenant which promises mercy.

Ezekiel 36:21-26 KJV 21 But I had pity for mine holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the heathen, whither they went. 22 Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; I do not this for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for mine holy name's sake, which ye have profaned among the heathen, whither ye went. 23 And I will sanctify my great name, which was profaned among the heathen, which ye have profaned in the midst of them; and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, saith the Lord GOD, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes. 24 For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land. 25 Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. 26 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.

All of Ezekiel 36:16 through the end of Ezekiel 37 describes how God will hallow or sanctify His name. God’s word through Ezekiel concludes with the description of the establishment of Yeshua’s kingdom.

Ezekiel 37:24-28 KJV 24 And David my servant shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them. 25 And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt; and they shall dwell therein, even they, and their children, and their children's children for ever: and my servant David shall be their prince for ever. 26 Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore. 27 My tabernacle also shall be with them: yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 28 And the heathen shall know that I the LORD do sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore.

God’s name is holy when His people are holy by Him and to Him. So, what is this action that we need to take to fulfill the imperative that God’s name be hallowed? First, we live lifestyles that proclaim our faith that God is God, and there is no other God above Him. That means believing Him and acting on that belief that He can and will do what He says He will do. Second, that means that in our prayers each day that God’s name be hallowed, we pray for the return of Israel to their Land, and for the return of Yeshua and the establishment of His kingdom on earth. By this, we Hallow God’s name. 

Shalom and be blessed

Dan & Brenda Cathcart

Visit our web site at www.moedministries.com