When Belonging to the escaped ones gathering in Jesus name

This coming Wednesday it is going to be a very strange particular night to remember.

Normally 14 Nisan is the day that followers of the Nazarene master teacher remember the night that Jesus came together with his close disciples to commemorate the liberation of the People of God. As a devout Jew, Jesus kept to the demand of his God to commemorate that the Elohim requested that month to be the beginning of months for them (the first month of their year). Jesus had not forgotten to tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of that month they had each to select an animal of the flock according to their fathers’ households, one animal per household and how they had to keep it until the fourteenth day of that month.

Passover – The sprinkling of the doorposts with the blood of a lamb.

Then the whole assembly of the community of Israel having to slaughter the animals at twilight. For they had to take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses where they eat them.

Jesus remembered how they are to eat the meat that night; they should eat it, roasted over the fire along with unleavened bread and bitter herbs…

Here is how you must eat it: you must be dressed for travel, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. You are to eat it in a hurry; it is the Lord’s Passover.

This Wednesday it is that day of remembrance.

It is the night that we normally would come together to remember how the messenger of God passed through the land of Egypt on that night and struck every firstborn male in the land of Egypt, both man and beast. It is the night that we remember how everybody in the land had to know that there is only that One God, Jehovah, the God above all gods and leaders (be them a Pharaoh, King, President or minister) of a country.  It is That Invisible God Who will execute judgments against all the gods of Egypt, but also over all other gods of the world and over all people on this globe.

Wednesday night is the night that we remember that the blood on the houses where those people in Egypt were staying was to be a distinguishing mark for them but also for us.

“1  The LORD said to Moses and Aaron in Egypt, 2 “This month is to be for you the first month, the first month of your year. 3 Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man is to take a lamb for his family, one for each household. 4 If any household is too small for a whole lamb, they must share one with their nearest neighbour, having taken into account the number of people there are. You are to determine the amount of lamb needed in accordance with what each person will eat. 5 The animals you choose must be year-old males without defect, and you may take them from the sheep or the goats. 6 Take care of them until the fourteenth day of the month, when all the people of the community of Israel must slaughter them at twilight. 7 Then they are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the door-frames of the houses where they eat the lambs. 8 That same night they are to eat the meat roasted over the fire, along with bitter herbs, and bread made without yeast. 9 Do not eat the meat raw or cooked in water, but roast it over the fire—head, legs and inner parts. 10 Do not leave any of it till morning; if some is left till morning, you must burn it. 11 This is how you are to eat it: with your cloak tucked into your belt, your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand. Eat it in haste; it is the LORD’s Passover. 12 “On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn—both men and animals—and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the LORD. 13 The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are; and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt.” (Ex 12:1-13 NIV)

For God and His people it was clear that meal should be imprinted in the memories of the following generations, and every night of this commemoration the elders had to tell about what happened and why it happened and how God liberated and guided His people. Therefore, real lovers of God should continue the tradition to tell others about what God has done for His people.

The tradition wants that all believers in God and in His son, Jesus Christ, also come together on 14 Nisan to have a Memorial Meal.

In 2020 the world got an unseen enemy raging over the globe, and as such most people have found themselves under the rules of lockdown, not able to come together with other believers to have a memorable evening or great night in unity. They shall have to stay at home in isolation and just have the meal on their own with a restricted family gathering (in many cases not even having the children able to visit their parents).

The Passover meal of Jesus

Like Jesus earnestly desired to eat this Passover with his apostle we also should still do that this Wednesday on April the 8th 2020, the 14th of Nisan. Not only shall we then have to remember God, seeing the blood will then “pass over” the houses of the Israelites (Exodus 12:13), while smiting the Egyptians with the tenth plague, the killing of the first-born sons. After God used a man named Moses to deliver them from their slavery, around 1,500 B. C., we also remember God used a man named Jeshua (Jesus Christ) to deliver the whole mankind from their slavery of sin and to liberate them from the curse of death.

It was before he was to suffer, he received a cup to share it among his close friends. In the same manner, he had blessed the cup, he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and gave it to his disciples telling them that this represented his body which is given for them, but also for us. that symbolic act he presented to them on that night in the upper room in Jerusalem, he wanted to be done regularly in remembrance of him. That way we also should remember that installation of the New Covenant in the blood of this sent one from God, the Kristos or Christ, which is poured out for us all.

“14 When the hour came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table. 15 And he said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. 16 For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfilment in the kingdom of God.” 17 After taking the cup, he gave thanks and said,

“Take this and divide it among you. 18 For I tell you I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” 19 And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.” 20 In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.” (Lu 22:14-20 NIV)

On 14 Nisan we do remember how God provided a sign of a lamb for the exodus from Egypt and how he about 2 000 years ago gave the lamb Jesus as the fulfilment of the Passover. Jeshua or Jesus Christ is the Lamb of God, sacrificed to set us free from bondage to sin. (John 1:29; Psalm 22; Isaiah 53) The blood of Jesus covers and protects us, and his body was broken to free us from eternal death (1 Corinthians 5:7).

These days it is very important to remember how Christ Jesus is the perfect sacrifice, to liberate us from all ailments of this world and to safeguard our spiritual life. Yes, we can be killed by a virus or by men, but no illness neither any man can take away the life given by the ransom offering of Jesus Christ. That knowledge should take away all fear that we might have by all the bad news that reaches us in these days of CoViD-19.

Traditionally the Bible Books have already lots of teachings concerning infectious diseases, cleanliness, and hygiene, which were well ahead of our time. They were ultimately inspired by God to benefit and protect humans from illnesses and promote healthy lifestyles. Infection control is an inherent part of Jewish teachings concerning hygiene, but Christians can learn a lot from them. The guidelines that are practised today by major health organizations are almost entirely inline and inspired by the teachings of the Bible and also of the Koran.

One reason why the Memorial was instituted also for non-Jews or goyim, had to do with one purpose served by Jesus’ death. He died as an upholder of his heavenly Father’s sovereignty. Christ thus proved that the idea the first people got in their head was a totally wrong idea and that the false charge that humans serve God only out of selfish motives, is just a lie. (Job 2:1-5) Jesus’ death in faithfulness proved this contention false and made Jehovah’s heart rejoice.​ Proverbs 27:11.

We should show the outer world that we keep ourselves safe by social distancing and by isolating ourselves, but that we do not serve God our of fear but out of thankfulness and willingness to please Him and not to please the world. The majority of the world namely wants to keep to human traditions and to heathen festivals. But real lovers of God prefer keeping to the God-given annual festivals, like Passover.

This year the Passover festival may fall at the same time of the Good Week of the Catholics and their Easterday may also be one of these days (Easter Sunday for Roman Catholics: Sunday, April 12; for Othodox Catholics: Sunday, 19 Apr 2020), though we can bet most of them shall not have such a religious meal as we have.
Let us make sure we keep to the command of God, and though we may not invite anyone from farther away, let it be a modest evening full of Bible reading and reflection on what God has done and of how He is good for mankind.

This Wednesday, even when we are not with many, let us remember that God loved the world so much that he gave his only-begotten Son, in order that everyone exercising faith in him might not be destroyed but have everlasting life. (John 3:16) Indeed,

“ For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Ro 6:23 NIV)

Observance of the Lord’s Evening Meal reminds us of the great love shown by both Jehovah and his Son in connection with Jesus’ sacrificial death. How we should appreciate that love!

Having escaped from the chains of death should not have us to think we are free from everything bad this world can offer. Make sure you do not tempt it. Always be careful to keep social distancing and keeping all hygienic regulations.

To have contact with others we shall have to rely on modern gadgets like Hangouts, Face Time, Skype, Messenger, Houseparty a.o., that way preaching and telling also other about why this night is so important.

As we commemorate this important evening in seclusion, let us sense that we will indeed be united with brothers and sisters all over the world in prayer and spirit in union with Christ Jesus.

Bread and wine symbols for the covenants of God and His liberation from slavery of man, salvation from the curse of death.

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Preceding

Making sure to be ready and to belong to the escaped ones

14 Nisan a day to remember #1 Inception

14 Nisan a day to remember #2 Time of Jesus

14 Nisan a day to remember #3 Before the Passover-feast

14 Nisan a day to remember #4 A Lamb slain

Most important weekend of the year 2016

Preparing for the most important weekend of the year 2018

The Most important weekend of the year 2018

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Additional reading

1. 1 -15 Nisan
2. Purification and perfection
3. A Holy week in remembrance of the Blood of life
4. High Holidays not only for Israel
5. Deliverance and establishement of a theocracy
6. Torah hanging on two commandments and focussing on a Mashiach
7. Yom Hey, Eve of Passover and liberation of many people
8. Around the feast of Unleavened Bread
9. Observance of a day to Remember
10. A night different from all other nights and days to remember
11. Jesus memorial
12. The Most special weekend of the year 2018
13. Soon it shall be Erev Pesach and Passover 2019
14. The unseen enemy
15. Dark times looking like death is around the corner – but Light given to us
16. In a time when we must remain in our place
17. First time since Nazi time no public gathering
18. No idea yet for 14 Nisan or April the 8th in 2020 Corona crisis time
19. Only a few days left before 14 Nisan
20. A meal as a mitzvah so that every generation would remember
21. A Passover for unity in God’s community
22. To turn the world into a “vessel” receptive of God
23. The Application of the New Covenant
24. Redemption #5 The perfect sacrifice
25. Redemption #7 Christ alive in the faithful
26. Even in Corona time You are called on to have the seder
27. Call to help others
28. Catholics facing a totally different Holy Week

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Further related

1. Holy Week: a week set apart, in a time set apart.
   Today we begin Holy Week. This is the final part of a longer period leading up to Easter, called Lent. We do this every year, as part of the annual cycle. It is a familiar and comforting ritual for many people of Christian faith.
   This year, however, will be different. In the middle of a viral pandemic, with restrictions prohibiting gathering for worship, Christian people will be walking through Holy Week in their own homes, not in gatherings at church. This is a week set apart, for people of faith, in a time set apart, for all of society.
2. Pandemics, Plagues and Passover
   It wouldn’t be right to have a blog called Life and Faith Today and ignore what is happening in the world right now! Today is April 4th 2020, and this day finds many centres of population around the world on lock-down, with everybody confined to their homes, while battles rage on the front-line; a front-line that moves relentlessly across the world. COVID-19 is a viral pandemic that has been fuelled by our modern lives and is now destroying them.
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   We pray for your protection for the old and vulnerable
   for pregnant mothers and those undergoing other treatments at this time.
   Almighty God, reach down and soften the hearts of the affluent,
   the greedy and opportunistic, bring humility, caring and giving back into their lives.
   We pray for positive change, that we all learn the lesson of caring for our environment,
   and to respect Your wonderful planet while it’s under our stewardship.
   Help us to learn again to care for each other
   and that together in Your name we are stronger.
   Almighty God, we come to you in deep humility.
   Hear our prayer at this time of our distress.
   Through Jesus Christ our Lord
   Amen
3. Coronavirus Live Updates: Trump Warns of ‘a Lot of Death’ While Revisiting Easter Services
   Veering from grim warnings to baseless assurances in a single news conference, President Trump on Saturday predicted a surging death toll in what may be “the toughest week” of the coronavirus pandemic before also dispensing unproven medical advice. He suggested again that Americans might be able to congregate for Easter Sunday services.
   “There will be a lot of death,” Mr. Trump said at the White House, where he and other American officials depicted some parts of the United States as climbing toward the peaks of their crises, while warning that new hot spots were emerging in Pennsylvania, Colorado and Washington, D.C.At one point Mr. Trump, who initially set Easter Sunday as a target date for reopening the country before backing off, said that the holiday would be a particularly “sad” day for Americans prohibited from gathering in large numbers. He said he would again like to consider relaxing social distancing rules for Easter services and that he had told advisers, “maybe we could allow special for churches” gatherings that were possibly outside with “great separation.”
4. Easter Bread Recipe
   On April 19th, Greek Orthodox celebrate Easter and this year it’s different.
   Ever since the COVID-19 outbreak and things are not the same. While Easter celebrations are not about clothes or Easter eggs, people gathering to share the joy and true meaning of the holiday is. And this year it’s different! People are asked to remain isolated and social distancing is advised to prevent infection.
   Nevertheless, one thing remains, the faith of better days to come and hope that the coming holidays will bring more joy and peace to everyone.
5. Virus alters Holy Week celebration worldwide
   For Pope Francis at the Vatican, and for Christians worldwide from churches large and small, this will be an Easter like none other: The joyous message of Christ’s resurrection will be delivered to empty pews.
   Worries about the coronavirus outbreak have triggered widespread cancellations of Holy Week processions and in-person services. Many pastors will preach on TV or online, tailoring sermons to account for the pandemic. Many extended families will reunite via Face Time and Zoom rather than around a communal table laden with an Easter feast on April 12.
   Pope Francis, the first pontiff from Latin America, will be celebrating Mass for Palm Sunday, Holy Thursday and Easter in a near-empty St. Peter’s Basilica, instead of in the huge square outside filled with Catholic faithful.
6. Holy Week & Coronavirus thoughts.
   coming around to special-ness of having Easter with my church family. looking forward to it since we hadn’t enjoyed it with our church in 3 years. then COVID-19 happened. and we haven’t had a church service in person in over a month. and we won’t be able to celebrate Easter together. best day, the best thing anyone could ever do for me and i can’t celebrate it on its traditional day with my brothers and sisters in Christ. i’ve went to the same church my entire life. 19 years. most of those people are like family. i love them so much. they are my family.
7. Celebrating King Jesus while Sheltering-in-Place
   here we are, celebrating King Jesus on this special Palm Sunday, while locked down in our homes, helping to “flatten the curve” of the spread of this COVID-19 virus.
   Of course, we are not alone. It seems half the world is observing the “shelter-in-place” orders of the “authorities” over them. Paul told Pastor Timothy that such submission “is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior” (1 Timothy 2:3).

Preparing for the most important weekend of the year 2018

Yesterday was remembered by many true lovers of God that iniquities will capture the wicked. In Jewish families children could play with a rattle to drive the evil away.

For sure we can see lots of evil coming into this world and even trying to enter each household by way of that small screen, which has become today a big screen showing a lot of sex and interchange of partners like it is a normal behaviour. Lots of programs on lots of channels bring the same sort of voyeurism and sex from early  morning until late at night.

When we look at this world and see how we also get more people who try to silence believers in the One God or want to silence parents who wish to bring up their children according to their religion (like yesterday Darya Safai in the TV-debate on Terzake on Canvas), prohibiting to be clothed according to the faith or wearing religious symbols.

The recent attacks on Jews and reactions against Muslims, plus people demanding others to accept their trinitarian Catholic faith should worry a little bit, because we can find serious problematic racist and neo-Nazi websites.

You may think that the best way is to let it all happen and to stay quiet in the home or not to catch the eye. We must not be dressed conspicuously and may be unobtrusive, but it would be wrong to stay silent and not to react to those who discriminate and do bad to those who have an other religion.

Esther breaking the silence of her birth or nationality, telling the king she is a Jew

Yesterday we had the day that the Jews remembered how Esther broke her silence and revealed her nationality to save the Jews. She could have kept silent and further enjoyed her life as queen, but she took the risk and spoke up. By doing so she saved many Jews of the death. Therefore the Jews celebrated yesterday their liberation, but shall continue these days to remember an even bigger liberation, which Christians also should take at heart.

In a few weeks time we shall come to remember how God saved His people from slavery and how He guided them and helped them through the dessert. We too shall come to remember those events and also shall remember how Jesus too came together in the upper room to commemorate that special occurrence. Be a peacemaker these days and come to invite people for that most importatn weekend of the year.

In preparation for 14 and 15-22 Nisan let us make ourself clean to come that night of March the 30th together to show to God how we love him and how we appreciate Jesus for what he has done for us. We must be sure we do not defile our eyes with things we better not see. Let yourself not be caught by those popular television programs which want to show you the bottom of the soul of man. Make sure the coming weeks you shall settle disputes which were still going on. Patch up any quarrel and make an effort to make friends again with those who left you aside.

The coming weeks you have time enough to depart from inequities and to cleanse yourself. Let out your mouth flow what you belief. Take the time to consider how the modern gadgets and media may be driving a wedge between us and God. Let make sure that we do not become part of the world and brake all the chains from this world. Break away, break down and break free and focus on God and the Salvation He prepared for us.

Now is the time that we prepare to have a clean presence on April the first when we celebrate Pesach and show our thankfulness for the liberation of any slavery and for the possibility that Jesus created for us to be clean to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

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Preceding

Belgians seeming to love dating programs and relation-tests

Preparing for 14 Nisan

Pesach and a lot of brokenness in the world

14 Nisan a day to remember #3 Before the Passover-feast

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Additional articles

1. Purim or Ta’aniet Estêr
2. Speaking up and Celebration of Purim
3. Not making a runner
4. Worthy partakers of the body of Christ
5. Preparation for Passover
6. Lost senses or a clear focus on the one at the stake
7. Today’s thought “Blessed is the man against whom the LORD counts no iniquity” (January 15)
8. Extra verses to remember by The Zeal for the Name to be proclaimed
9. God let my compassionate affection be tolerant and kind
10. Gain Christ, trusting Jehovah
11. Thinking about fear for the Loving God and an Invitation for 14 Nisan

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Related

1. The holiday of Purim
2. Morning Reading: Tue, 26 Dec – Esther 6-10 ~ Purim: sorrow turned into joy
3. If the Shoe Fits (Purim)
4. Purim To The Rescue
5. Purim, Exile, and Redemption
6. Deceit Meets Truth at Purim
7. Shabbat, Purim, and What Makes You Happy
8. Hearts that hurt are hearts that work
9. Presumption Is As Iniquity
10. Thou hast wearied me with thine iniquities
11. The Mystery of Iniquity
12. Bruised for our iniquities
13. Depart From Iniquity
14. Our Beliefs Spring From Our Mouth!
15. Blessed are the peacemakers

Pesach and a lot of brokenness in the world

Remembering the exodus, the liberation of God’s people and the liberation of all sinners we must confess the world does seem to be in an even worse state than at the time of the wanderers in the desert at the time of Moses and Aaron.

Flag of Israel with the Mediterranean sea in the background, in Rishon LeZion. עברית: דגל ישראל בראשון לציון (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

From 1948 God’s people should have been more happy finding a soil to be worked at to become a greater nation. As we have seen in the Old Testament when God’s people got liberated and found an opening to receive the best of God, they themselves doubted and they themselves went other ways. In the 21st century the people of Israel may have undergone the worst test, being encircles, imprisoned in ghetto walls, then in camps, facing the most cruel abasement. You would think many would learn from it. But strangely enough now they also do not seem to worry to degrade other people. Today many Jews living in what has to become their Holy Land bring indignity over it. Without shame they now also put up great walls to keep others out. They now too bring indignation over the world.

We can see that lots in power in Israel are not religious any more, whilst others are fundamentalists, who take the words like they want to transfer it in their mind, but not according God’s Will. No wonder that the nation Israel of today is ripped apart, which could be seen throughout this last election season in Israel.  Also the different negotiations with other communities and their reactions against the Palestinians, Iranians and the European Court of Higher Judges and of Human Rights. Some clearly show no respect for people God allowed to judge and to help people guide their life.

Israeli army using Palestinians as human shields (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The reaction of the State Israel shows clearly how by the disintegration of the Godly values the Jewish nation has fallen into two main groups, a civil Judaic group who has clearly no ear for God’s Word but likes to call on it. When you look at how they treat others, how they act on people with an other belief, and on human ethical values we can pose many questions.

But we should have hope. We have God’s promise of the Land of hope and glory. God’s promise shall come true. even when we see a lot of people working against it.

We can only hope that in these coming days they shall take time to meditate on their important role they should play in worlds history. That they may find their and our redemption story that joins may people in this world together.

Anita Silvert in her Jewish Gems writes:

Let our voices cry out against oppression and slavery as they did so long ago.  Our cries reached God’s ears – may they do so again.

Let our voices sing the words of praise and gratitude for our good fortune, and awareness for those who have less.

Let our voices rejoice at our blessings.  Let our hearts and our tables be filled with the faces of those we love.  Let us begin our journey to Sinai together, marching out into our own wilderness, hoping to find the way.

What other story lends itself to such meaning and layers?  It is both our history and our future.

Chag sameach – Happy and Sweet Passover to us all. {Pesach 5775 – our history and our future}

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Related articles

• The Question of Jewish Identity (counterpunch.org)
  Shlomo Sand’s gracefully written and translated short book, How I Stopped Being a Jew, deals with a question many have wondered about but have been afraid to ask: What makes someone a Jew? While it has been a puzzle from time immemorial, it is more salient today as Israel welcomes all deemed Jewish, regardless of their nationality or religious beliefs (or lack of them). On the other hand, non-Jews (25% of Israelis), even if born and resident in Israel, are not quite full citizens of the Jewish state.

  “If the United States of America decided tomorrow that it was not the state of all American citizens but rather the state of those persons around the whole world who identify as Anglo-Saxon Protestants, it would bear a striking resemblance to the Jewish State of Israel.” (p. 82)

  Sand is an Israeli, and a secular and atheist Jew, defined by his parentage as Jewish by the state of Israel. He is a professor at Tel Aviv University, specializing in French history. He is best known as the author of two controversial books, The Invention of the Jewish People (2009) and The Invention of the Land of Israel (2012).

• Blood Moon 2015: What Hagee Didn’t Bother to Mention (webpronews.com)
  Hagee’s assertion is that there are four of these “blood moons” (not a scientific term) in a row, one of which lands on Easter. He believes that these four in a row are significant because they all land on Jewish Holy Days.
• A response to Michael Douglas (mondoweiss.net)
  Michael Douglas, in his op-ed piece in last Sunday’s LA Times, “Finding Judaism, facing anti-Semitism”, tells a compelling story about his young son encountering an anti-Semite at a hotel pool in southern Europe who shouted insults at him because he was wearing a Star of David. While everyone can agree it’s important to stand up against anti-Semitism, it’s also important to reject false claims of anti-Semitism used as an ad hominem sword to protect Israel and the actions of its government from criticism.  Where real anti-Semitism is present, as in the despicable incident involving Michael’s young son, it needs to be named and shamed and hopefully soon eradicated.   Where it’s not, where it’s used as a tactic to protect Israel from valid criticism, we need to reject it and avoid the slippery slope that reduces claims of anti-Semitism to little more than political theatre.

   

• An Islamic Reformation is the world’s best chance for peace (malaysia-today.net)
  Because both Christianity and Judaism were profoundly changed by the Reformation and the European Enlightenment. The Enlightenment’s apostles included large figures from the Christian tradition — David Hume, Immanuel Kant and Rene Descartes; and from the Jewish, in Baruch Spinoza and Moses Mendelsohn. They, and a legion of others, thought “freedom and toleration were … essential to the pursuit of enquiry, both religious and secular.” Their belief became, especially in France, a cause, a militant proclamation of freedom of thought and of publication, a definition of the rights of man.
• “Jew Hatred: It’s in the Quran”: the Latest Bus Ad Campaign to Hit Philadelphia (theuglytruth.wordpress.com)
  From Ancient Egypt up to 1945, all of them were anti-judaics. All. And even those who may have written some positive things about them, they were philo-semites for reasons which would now be considered anti-semitic. Recently, the French MSM have realized that one of the greatest architects of the XXth century, Le Corbusier,was a staunch anti-judaic. Oh dear…
• Jewish Rabbi Compares President Obama to Evil Haman who Tried to Kill all the Jews (godfatherpolitics.com)

  For American Christians the story of Queen Esther and Mordecai in the Old Testament is one that reminds us that the entire history of the Jewish people has been filled with persecution and attempts at genocide. Haman was a vizier in the Persian (Iran) Empire under Xerxes I, and Haman desperately hated the Jewish people.

  The story has played itself out in similar fashion several times throughout history, and while things may look bleak for a time, the Jewish people have always persevered and survived. However, some are worried that the Jewish people may have met their match in President Barack Obama.

  The chief Rabbi of Efrat in Israel, Rabbi Shlomo Rifkin, recently connected President Obama to the great villain Haman. Speaking at the Jerusalem Great Synagogue Rabbi Rifkin said,

  “The president of the United States is lashing out at Israel just like Haman lashed out at the Jews. I’m not making a political statement. I’m making a Jewish statement.”

• Ted Cruz Another Israeli Mouthpiece (12160.info)
• Come with me to Israel & Jordan. Here are the details on The Joshua Fund’s 2015 “Prayer & Vision Tour of the Holy Land.” (flashtrafficblog.wordpress.com)
• The Perplexing Question Of Why Most American Jews Are Liberals Answered (nowtheendbegins.com)
• Living on the East Side of Jordan (christianity201.wordpress.com)

Nazarene Commentary Luke 2:36-38 – Anna’s Thanks before Those Waiting

Luke 2:36-38 – Anna’s Thanks before Those Waiting

LK2:36 Now there was a prophetess,[1] Anna, a daughter of Phanuel from the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, [a widow] who had only lived seven years with her husband from her virginity. LK2:37 She had been widowed eighty-four years and was never missing from the temple [courtyard of women] worshipping night and day with fastings and prayers. LK2:38 At that same moment she was standing nearby praising The God and speaking about [the Christ] to everyone who was waiting for Jerusalem’s redemption.[2]

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[1] Prophetess: For details see notes in Nazarene Commentary 2000 on 1 Corinthians 12 and 14. [Acts 21:9]

[2] Jerusalem’s redemption: Or, deliverance, liberation, salvation. About 60 years later Jerusalem would be destroyed by the Roman armies with one million dead.

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Preceding:

Nazarene Commentary Luke 2:1-7 – A Firstborn’s Birth In Bethlehem

Nazarene Commentary Luke 2:8-14 – Angels and Shepherds in the Night

Nazarene Commentary Luke 2:15-20 – Shepherds Find the Infant Christ

Nazarene Commentary Luke 2:21-24 – Presenting the Baby to God

Nazarene Commentary Luke 2:25-35 – Simeon’s Blessing and Warning

Next: Nazarene Commentary Luke 2:39-40 – The Young Child Grows

Simeon and Anna, seeing the infant Jesus in the Temple (Photo credit: Martin LaBar (going on hiatus))

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Related articles

• The Prophetess Anna (thepassionists.org)
  Timothy Johnson observes that the parents of Jesus “observe the [Jewish] laws regarding circumcision, purification, and presentation of the first born as dedicated to the Lord, and do so within the symbolic heart of the people, Jerusalem and its Temple.” At that holy place they encounter Simeon and Anna, two righteous Jews who are receptive to the movements of God’s Spirit. Anna is depicted as an aged widow who is constantly in the Temple, worshiping God day and night in fasting and prayer.
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  Luke’s Gospel, however, presents Simeon and Anna as people of exemplary faith and piety who have the distinctive role of welcoming Jesus, the prophetic Messiah, into the very heart of Israel. Their lives of self-discipline, contemplation and worship prepare them to recognize the great initiative of God for the salvation of Israel. Anna is inspired to offer thanks to God for the child Jesus and to speak about him to others. She recognizes the moment of salvation when it dawns and she seizes this moment. The friendship with God that she has cultivated through many years of prayer and service in the Temple enables her to respond in faith to God’s visitation in Jesus.
• Luke 2:21-38 Christmas Never Ends! (graceportland.org)
  Simeon blessed them and said to Mary His mother, “Behold, this Child is appointed for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and for a sign to be opposed to the end that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.”
• Luke 2:22 (heavenlyfoodblog.wordpress.com)
  this woman was a widow of about eighty-four years, who did not depart from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day. And coming in that instant she gave thanks to the Lord, and spoke of Him to all those who looked for redemption in Jerusalem.
• Anna’s Ultimate Purpose (whitehorseprophetic.wordpress.com)
  Anna’s ministry was worship, prayer, fasting AND the declaration of Christ. It isn’t enough for prophetic people to simply worship or to pray or to fast. Prophets and prophetess do many things, but the climax of their ministry is The Declaration. This is the staff that they hold. The other functions that they fulfill are ministry and they are unto the Lord. But the ultimate role is to hold the staff of Declaration.
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  Anna is remembered for many things in the Apostle Luke’s account of the history of Jesus life. She is remembered and commended for her fasting’s, for her prayers, for her worship. But most importantly she is remembered for identifying and highlighting the primacy of Christ, the ultimate Prophet, the Lover of all mankind.
• 30th December, Gospel Reading (Luke 2:36-40) (prayers4reparation.wordpress.com)
  She came by just at that moment and began to praise God; and she spoke of the child to all who looked forward to the deliverance of Jerusalem.
• Anna (ptdowning.com)
  Anna’s devastation drove her into a life of piety.  Sometimes the beauty and the aroma of the rose leads us to a loving God, other times it is the prick of the thorn which drives us into the caring arms of our Savior.Anna’s piety was rewarded with a glimpse of the redemption that God had promised the world.  Her natural response to seeing Christ was to tell others of his life and mission.
• Presented in the Temple (thepuresacrifice.wordpress.com)
  ³⁹ So when they had performed all things according to the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own city, Nazareth. ⁴⁰ And the Child grew and became strong in spirit, filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him.
• Tangible Evidence (fastpray.wordpress.com)
  After the birth of Jesus, Mary and Joseph took Jesus to the temple, and they meet Simeon—a man who received a promise from God that he wouldn’t die until he had seen the Messiah. They also meet a really incredible, but probably really weird, old woman.
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  From what we know in the text, Anna received no such promise from God that she would see the Messiah, and yet, in her (probably) impoverished widowhood, abnormal, 24/7 prayer-warrior life—she never stopped praying and hoping and waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem. And after 84 years of being a widow and who knows how many years praying and fasting in the temple, Anna received her tangible evidence that God was going to set right the wrongs and redeem His people.
• Christmas Prayer: the Gift of Waiting (thecreativeprayer.wordpress.com)
  Anna and Simeon are examples of graceful waiting. While they waited for the fulfillment of prophecy and redemption for Jerusalem, each one learned how to wait in the Lord as well as on Him and they were not disappointed. Lord, teach me to wait gracefully!
• Christmas in Context: Waiting for the consolation of Israel… (faithfulstewardship.wordpress.com)
  No doubt between the news of what happened in the Temple Courts (the expansion of which was one of Herod’s projects), the visit of the Magi (and subsequent disappearance), and the rumors of Shepherds seeing the Heavenly Hosts… Herod was paranoid of losing his power over the Jews, and his authority under Rome. So, to make a point, he has all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity 2 yrs and younger killed. God hid Jesus in Egypt until Herod’s death (Matt 2:13-20). But when they returned home, it wasn’t to Bethlehem or Jerusalem, but to Nazareth in the north. And so, we have the context of Christmas… the Birth of a Savior.
• And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us . . . (writingsistersblog.wordpress.com)
• Relishing the Myth: Simeon the Righteous, the God-Receiver (Repost – 2013) (unsettledchristianity.com)

Glory of God appearing in our character

The Face of Moses and Law on Tablets of stone

When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the Law on stone tablets, his face shone. (Exodus 34)  The apostle refers to that in his letter to the Corinthians.

“Now if the ministry that brought death, which was engraved in letters on stone, came with glory, so that the Israelites could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of its glory, fading though it was,” (2 Corinthians 3:7 NIV)

Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound (Romans 5:20) and we had condemnation but Jesus spread the Good News and brought the ministry of righteousness and therefore exceeds in glory. [Galatians 3:10] Believing in the death of Christ accepting that this dead man was taken out of the gave by his Father, we have the epistle of Christ, ministered by the apostles, not having been written with ink, but with the spirit of the living God, the Father of Christ Jesus [2 Corinthians 3:3 ] but also our Father to whom we can come up thanks to Jesus his offering and his will to communicate in our name with his Father. Jehovah God allowed Jesus to mediate on our behalf.

With the death of Christ Jehovah accepted Jeshua’s offering and that old system of law etched in stone was led to death. Today we should not have our ‘law of God‘ on tablets of stone, but in fleshly tablets of our heart. Like Moses his face shone with the glory of God so also did Jesus his face shone with even more glory.

Flames in heart and soul

After Jesus had gone away from this earth, taken up in the sky by his Father, God gave the disciples of Jesus His Power, the Holy Spirit, who came down on them in the room where they had hid themselves, afraid for the persecutors of the followers of Jesus. By receiving the Holy Spirit those men got the glory from God to speak in Jesus his name but also to speak in God His name. Before the Holy Spirit came over them they where like buried in that room. They had died in the fear for men who were against Jesus Christ.

Are you afraid for those who do not like it that you speak with admiration for Jesus? Are you afraid to show your reverence for the son of God, daring to tell the world that it was a man of flesh and blood who was willing to give his life because he believed in the Creator of heaven and earth in which you believe too? In admiration for Christ Jesus we should go out into the world and spread the Gospel of liberation brought by a man who proofed he could be faithful to the One and Only God.

The apostles got the Holy Spirit over them, but we when we became baptised also got the Power of God in us. We should feel that force, and it should give us also the power it gave those first Christians to tell others the Truth. Shouldn’t we expect also far greater glory when the Holy Spirit is giving life to us? If the old or first covenant, which brings condemnation, was glorious, how much more glorious is the new covenant, which makes us right with God! We believe in that sanctification by the blood of Christ. God is a Spirit who has no flesh and no blood and can not be seen by man, but Jesus was a real human being who shared lots of his time with the underdogs of the community who could see and touch him. He was not afraid to be considered part of the mad ones or the ones to be avoided. The oppressed and poor listened to his voice which brought a message of love and peace, telling them about a better world where we can be part of it.

Showing divine character

In everything Jesus did he showed a divine character. He showed the love of his Father. He showed others how his father was prepared to take them all up in His Kingdom when they where willing to follow the words of Christ and changing their character as well. We too have to work at our character and blend it in with the Law of Christ and with the Law of God.

We know now that that first glory by Moses was not glorious at all compared with the overwhelming glory of the new covenant. So if the old covenant, which has been set aside, was full of glory, then the new covenant, which remains forever, has far greater glory.

“7 If, however, the administration of death, written with letters and engraved on stones, began in glory, so that the children of Israel could not gaze steadily on the face of Moses, because of the glory of his face–a glory even then fading– 8 how much more shall the ministry of the Spirit abide in glory? 9 For if the ministry of condemnation had glory, far more is the ministry of righteousness radiant in glory. 10 Indeed that which once was glorious has lost its glory, because of the glory which surpasses it. 11 For if that which was fading came in glory, far more will that which ever abides be glorious.” (2 Corinthians 3:7-11 MONTNT)

It’s because in the presentation of Jesus as an ransom offering for all, the wisdom, love, justice, mercy, goodness, and the faithfulness of God are displayed in all that God has done. He displays His glory in the ‘Cross’.

Becoming part of the Forgiven much

When we accept the death of Christ as a peace offering we also may be part of the people called ‘the forgiven much’.  In that understanding we should also be willing to take on the armour of Christ and be willing to become like him. It shall demand of us to work on our attitude and to rebuild our character. We shall to be prepared to learn from the Word of God and intensify our Bible Study. When we understand that, we will love much and will serve much, and worship much, and adore Him, out of a heart of devotion and not just do it because we’re Christians’ and we’re meant to do that kind of thing.

In the resurrection  of Christ Jesus we can see the acceptance of God and we can find that kind of hope to excite us. When we listen carefully to all those prophesies in the Old Testament and compare them with the writings of the New Testament, we can come to the understanding that those books complement each other and can give us all reason for nothing to hold us back.  In the glory of the dead Christ taken up into the realm of God we are giving the hope of the resurrection and should  have nothing to hide any more. Everything can come out in the open with us.

“12  Therefore, cherishing such a hope, I use great freedom of speech. 13 I do not do as Moses did, who used to cover his face with a veil to keep the children of Israel from beholding the passing of a fading glory.” (2 Corinthians 3:12-13 MONTNT)

Being transformed

The apostles were “being transformed” into the likeness “with ever-increasing glory.”  Even more than that, back in the days of Moses it was an outward and a physical reflection, whereas this glory the Holy Spirit creates in us is an inward spiritual transformation. At the time of of Jesus’ Transfiguration the disciples looked on with utter amazement at what was happening to Jesus. Peter really didn’t know what to say other than to want to stay there. The glory of God was shining right through him. It defied description. God has a transfiguration to accomplish in us so that we are changed into the same image. All creatures are made in the image of God, but they have to shine by becoming part of God His World and not by being part of the unbelieving world.

Even today when the proclamations of that old, bankrupt government are read out, humans can’t see through it. Only Christ can get rid of the veil so they can see for themselves that there’s nothing there.  Whenever, though, they turn to face God as Moses did, God removes the veil and there they are — face to face! It is up to us to recognize that God is a living, personal presence, not a piece of chiselled stone.  All those illustrations, crosses with a Jesus on it, sculptures presenting holy figures or even presenting God, are an abomination to the Most High and going in against His Commandments not to make any statue to worship in front.

Radiant with the very glory of God

We should not need any figures or images to bring us an idea of a Godhead or to show us the Glory of God. The Glory of God should shine in our heart. It is that glory which should get our heart beating even faster, bringing it ‘on fire’.  Our character should be made by the feeling of the presence of God. Yes He is personally present, a living Spirit. This Eternal God should bring new life in us bringing awareness in us that, that old, constricting legislation is recognized as obsolete. We’re free of it!  All of us! By the blood of Christ everything became whitewashed and all the borders and fences between us and God were taken away. This liberation should make our faces shining with the brightness of Jesus his face. And so we should also become transfigured much like the Messiah.

From our baptism onwards, we should enter into a new word of grace and glory in which our lives gradually will becoming brighter and more beautiful as Jesus enters our lives and we become like him.

 “15 Yes, to this very day, whenever Moses is read, a veil lies on their hearts; 16 but when their heart turns to our Lord the veil is stripped away. 17 (The Lord means the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord abides there is freedom.) 18 And we all, with unveiled faces, reflecting like a mirror the glory of the Lord, are ourselves continually being transformed into the same likeness, from glory to glory, as by the Lord, the Spirit.” (2 Corinthians 3:15-18 MONTNT)

It’s the sole prerogative of God the Holy Spirit to transform our characters that they might be radiant with the very glory of God. The Holy Spirit shall work from the inside out to change us into the image of the Lord Jesus, so that he may be glorified through us.  The Spirit of the living God has all the power to renew us and to make us ‘anew’.  We do a real injustice to God’s greatness and majesty when we limit His power, and the possibilities of His power, in our own minds. One of the great things about being in Christian ministry is seeing God’s power by the Holy Spirit taking broken and spoiled people and making them into new people. It’s fantastic to see how God etches into their lives something of the glory and beauty of Jesus. This is what gives us the strength to go on.

When the glory of God begins to appear through a person, it shall make that person more human, not less human. There’s a fire in the glory of God that not only burns but also warms and draws people into God’s love. And it’s this way that people are set free to be truly human and truly natural. We can never be all that we’re meant to be until God’s spirit begins his work in us.

It is by sharing the glory of Christ, wanting to have a shining face, expressing the love for God, love for the Word of God and the love for the whole creation that we can build up a community of people wanting to follow the master teacher Jesus, and as such becoming true Christians.

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Preceding article: In the death of Christ, the son of God, is glorification

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Read also:

1. Greatest single cause of atheism
   The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is
   christians who acknowledge Jesus with their lips
   and walk out the door and deny Him by their lifestyle.
   That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable.
   
2. Without God no purpose, no goal, no hope
3. How do trinitarians equate divine nature
4. Creator and Blogger God 2 Image and likeness
5. The Law of Christ: Law of Love
6. Ransom for all
7. Golden rule for understanding in spiritual matters obedience
8. A learning process for each of us
9. Faith a commitment to the promises of Christ and to to the demands of Christ
10. A Living Faith #9 Our Manner of Life
11. We have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace
12. How we think shows through in how we act
13. Followers with deepening
14. Clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience
15. Raise a standard to which the wise and honest can repair
16. Abhor evil. Adhere to goodness
17. Our attitude at a difficult task
18. Spread love everywhere you go
19. Ask Grace to go forward
20. In the death of Christ, the son of God, is glorification
21. We all are changed into the same image from glory to glory
22. Life in gratitude opens glory of God
23. Invitation to all who believe

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Related articles

• Easter 6 – “The Church” (Revelation 21:9-14, 21-27) (revtucher.com)
  You and I have been made a part of the Church through the work of the Holy Spirit. We are brought in through faith and made clean by the blood of the Lamb. We share in the life of Christ and His glory. Notice what John says here: it is the glory of God. He doesn’t say that it is the glory of the people. There is a reason for that: the people of the Church are sinful. It is by Christ’s life, death, and resurrection that the Church reflects the glory of God because we have been clothed with Christ’s righteousness. In other words, it’s not by our doing but by Christ’s doing. That is the way it should be and the way that it has to be.
• Past, Present and Future of Salvation, Today’s Study of Romans 5 (whatshotn.wordpress.com)
  we boast in the hope of the glory of God. We enter grace, or forgiveness, by faith in what Christ did. And when Paul says that we stand in grace, he implies that this is a state in which we can remain. Because of God’s grace, based on what Christ did in the past, we rejoice in the hope that this gives us for the future the hope of sharing in the glory of God. This hope is not just a “wishful thought”.. it is confidence based on what God has done for us…
• May 1: Does Your Life Bring Glory to God? (evcthoughtoftheday.com)
  Paul is telling the church at Philippi that their life should be filled with the fruit – the good works, the character, and the attitudes produced by Christ as a result of their salvation – such that their lives become a billboard for God that causes people to give glory to Him.
• Father’s Glory (wrob77.wordpress.com)
  The Greek word for glory is Doxa, where we get our word doxology, and it has all the meaning of Kabod but includes a greater sense of perfection and display of power.
• God’s Passion for His Glory (pjcockrell.wordpress.com)
  Isaiah 43:6-7: God says, “bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the end of the earth, everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.”
• Rite of Confirmation – “Public Confession” (John 16:12-22) (revtucher.com)
  The Holy Spirit comes to glorify Jesus by introducing Him to people as the crucified and risen Christ. That is what He comes to do for the disciples and that is what He comes to do for us. The Holy Spirit comes to introduce us to what the truth is about: Jesus. The disciples weren’t prepared for all Jesus has to say, as He tells them, for they were too worked up over Jesus’ impending departure. But He wasn’t going to leave them empty-handed. He leaves them the Holy Spirit who will testify of Him and what He has done.
• Love. Chapter One. (rebellredarts.com)
  Everything is for the glorification of God. Everthing that  we do here on this earth has a purpose. The purpose is the glorification of God. Our work is his work.  Eternal life is knowing God , says Jesus Christ. Jesus tells his Dad that he gave glory to him by finishing the work that he gave him to do. God gives us all work while we are to accomplish, to finish. one day we will all  get to experience this awesome day.