REASONS TO BELIEVE:

The most common answer to the question ‘why’?, often starts with the word

‘because’,

denoting a reason.

According to the In the Merriam-Webster dictionary;

the word BECAUSE means:

for this cause / for this reason/

by reason of/ for the reason that

 

There are so many reasons to believe and so many Scriptures that contain the word because.

So, ‘for this reason’, there will be one of the ‘BECAUSE’ series added into the blog from time to time and archived in a separate page for reference.

~

BECAUSE my God is my shield and my exceeding great reward I will not fear (Genesis 15:1).

Also My Shield, Maginni,

in the Hebrew text of 2 Samuel 22:3

Maginni in Hebrew is magen or meginnah:    a shield  מָגֵן

Transliteration: magen or meginnah
Phonetic Spelling: (maw-gane’)

The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; 
my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, 
my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. (Psalm 18:2)

In some verses, the KJV alters the word to ‘defense’ or ‘buckler’, (an old word for a shield).

A variation on this name of God is,        Shield of your help.

Strong’s Concordance number: 4043

Bible references:

2 Sam. 22:3; Pss. 7:10; 18:2; 28:7; 33:20; 115:9-11; 119:114; 144:2

HEBREW AND TRANSLITERATION

After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying,

A•char had•va•rim ha•e•le ha•ya d`var–Adonai el–Av•ram ba•ma•cha•ze

אַַחר הְַדבִָריםָ הֵאֶלהָ הָיה דְַבר–ְיהָֹוהֶ אל–ַ

Fear not, Abram; I am your shield, and your reward will be great.

le•mor al–ti•ra Av•ram Ano•chi ma•gen lach s`char•cha har•be me•od.

–ִתיָרא אְַברָםָ אנִֹכי מָגֵןָ לְךְׂ שָכרְָךַ הְרֵּבהְ מֹאד:

No doubt many of us have already made New Year’s resolutions.

Everyone has good intentions but they often don’t last very long.

As the calendar turned over from 2016 to 2017

it always seems a good time to try to make changes.

However New Beginnings

don’t come from a calendar

and
neither should we wait a whole year before trying to make changes in our lives.

For believers it should be a daily exercise to challenge ourselves and to continue to change. Our goal is to become more are more like the one we declare that we love and follow.
It takes

commitment,

dedication,

and

determination

as well as

courage

and consistency

to keep those resolutions.

Is easy to say, but much harder to do, the words are cheap, it’s our actions that speak much louder.

It’s hard sometimes to admit, that for all of us as believers, none of these resolutions will even get off the ground without the help, direction and support of His Holy Spirit, Ruach HaKodesh. The scripture tells us that the power of Adonai Elohim/Lord God, comes, not by power, not by might, but by His Spirit, and only in His strength, can we do what we have committed to do.

As we have been looking at Chanukah in the last posts, interestingly there is a connection both to:

The Olive Tree

and to the Menorah

in the Vision of Zechariah 2:14–4:7

(which is In the scripture usually read at chanukah).

Zechariah speaks of an earlier Chanukah when the menorah of the second Temple was inaugurated.

The leader of the nation was Zerubbabel, scion/offspring, of the Davidic dynasty and the prophet who conveyed this vision was Zechariah.
The prophet begins by looking ahead to the times when all the world will lack knowledge. Israel is priority as God’s chosen people and leadership of the tribe of Judah, the tribe of David.
Then the prophet turns to Joshua who was the victim of the same sin that plagued much of the nation in the wake of the Babylonian exile. His sons had married gentile women and Joshua had failed to chastise them.
‘Then he showed me Joshua the high priest, standing before the angel of the Lord , and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him…. And the angel said to those who were standing before him, ‘Remove the filthy garments from him.’ And to him he said, ‘Behold, I have taken your iniquity away from you, and I will clothe you with pure vestments.’ Zechariah 3:1-5

In his vision Zechariah sees the Satan/adversary/accuser, condemning Joshua for this lapse, which was symbolized by the soiled garments he was wearing.

In this passage we see Joshua, the high priest standing before the angel of YHWH (who is/represents YHWH Himself and is, many believe, God the Son: the pre-incarnate Christ) and he is in filthy garments.

This is very strange because the high priest was supposed to be the holy representative of the people, he was the one who carried the names of the people ‘on his heart’ in the stones of the breastplate before God (Exodus 28:30)….if he was filthy in God’s sight, that did not bode well for the rest of the people. And, of course, Satan is there to bring a seemingly airtight case against the priest. Joshua is filthy and everyone can see it, the angel of YHWH is holy. There would seem to be no hope.

But the angel of YHWH removes Joshua’s filthy garments and clothes him in pure vestments. This is a foreshadowing of Jesus/Yeshua! Jesus the Messiah, Yeshua HaMashiach, the angel of YHWH in our midst. He will be the one to remove the garments of our sin and to clothe us in the vestments of His righteousness, and HE will accomplish it “in a single day” (3:9) at the cross.
As God purifies Joshua, it is on the merits of His own future ‘death’ and resurrection that He is acting.  Joshua was a foreshadowing of the final defeat in a head-crushing silencing that Jesus the Messiah, Yeshua HaMashiach, would deal him at calvary’s cross.

Zechariah 4:

The Vision of the Lampstand and the Olive Trees, and the Power of GOD through His Spirit.

With Zechariah 3-6, we learn about how Joshua the High Priest Was Vindicated By GOD and Was Given New Robes,

the Vision of the Lampstand/Menorah and the Olive Trees, and the Power of GOD through His Holy Spirit, Ruach HaKodesh

God defends Joshua on the grounds that he is a firebrand rescued from the flames. He was immersed in the flames of the exiles spiritual and physical destruction and as such cannot be condemned for the past.
The angel clothes him in the pure vestments and turban of the High Priesthood and warns him that henceforth he must obey the commandments. Only then can he be assured that he is there and will succeed him as High Priest, Cohen Gadol.

 

Joshua’s comrades Channiah, Mishael, and Azariah will join him in welcoming Zerubbabel, (which means, the flourishing one), and in seeing the cornerstone of the temple which figuratively has all eyes on it and is adorned with beautiful carvings.

Finally Zechariah is shown a menorah complete with a bowl containing oil, tubes bringing oil to its seven lamps and even two olive trees to provide a continuous supply of fuel.

This symbolizes that all man’s needs are provided by God – man however must have the eyes to see it.

 

Impassable mountains become hospitable plains if God so wills.

 

A fitting message for Chanukah, and for the start of the year 2017; not only because of the menorah, but because Chanukah too shows that a small band of righteous warriors putting their faith in God. They overcame one of the world’s superpowers and brought purity back to the temple/ the house of God*

If all of us would have the courage of our convictions, fortitude and persistence to press through when things get tough; we will begin to show some of the same strength and endurance as that small, yet victorious band of warriors, whose heart for God and His ways meant so much to them that they were willing to lay down their lives for what they believed.

Let this year be the one our ‘resolutions’ are not only primarily concerning the things of God but more importantly that we will keep them.

This life of ‘new resolution’, is only possible when we stay close to the Lord and allow Holy Spirit/Ruach HaKodesh, to do the work in and through us.

This passage in Zechariah 4:1-6 is where we get our well-known verse, “not by power not by my by my spirit”.

That’s how we will be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might and live an overcoming life and be victorious.

There is no need to look at the whole year ahead. All we need to do is to take one day at a time and with Him we can do it.

The only thing that makes the new year new or for that matter any day, week or month, is the power of God.

He is the One who says, ‘I am making all things new’.
He is the only One with the power to create new beginnings.

It’s not the morning that makes things new but it is,

His mercies which are

new every morning.

Lamentations 3:23

It won’t be a New Year to us simply because its called a New Year but only when we make a resolution to walk in the power of the Lord’s newness.

And the power of God to walk in newness of life is given to those who are led by His Spirit. A whole new way to look at a familiar verse.

 

And the angel who talked with me came again and awakened me, like a man who is wakened out of his sleep.
2 And said to me, What do you see? I said, I see, and behold, a lampstand all of gold, with its bowl [for oil] on the top of it and its seven lamps on it, and [there are] seven pipes to each of the seven lamps which are upon the top of it.

3 And there are two olive trees by it, one upon the right side of the bowl and the other upon the left side of it [feeding it continuously with oil].
4 So I asked the angel who talked with me, What are these, my lord?
5 Then the angel who talked with me answered me, Do you not know what these are? And I said, No, my lord.
6 Then he said to me, This [addition of the bowl to the candlestick, causing it to yield a ceaseless supply of oil from the olive trees] is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel, saying,

Not by might,

nor by power,

but by My Spirit

[of Whom the oil is a symbol],

says the Lord of hosts.

Zechariah 4:1-6 Amplified Bible, Classic Edition (AMPC)

May His Spirit/Ruach continually strengthen and uphold you as you walk daily with Him.

Shalom.

What does Chanukah/Hanukkah mean to Believers today?

Why is it even relevant?

Jesus/Yeshua

He is the Light

that cannot be hidden

 

Understanding the Jewish roots of our faith gives a new depth and dimension to our understanding of the Scriptures

and

an appreciation for heritage that has been left to us.

 ~~~

The Festival of Dedication—Hanukkah/Chanukah—is very significant for us as Believers; because the Scriptures tell us that we are today the Sanctuary/Temple of God.

The Apostle Paul wrote: Do you not know that your body is a sanctuary/temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

Thinking about the cleansing and rededication of the Sanctuary/Temple that Hanukkah/Chanukah commemorates, reminds us that we are to be continually cleansing and daily dedicating our lives and our bodies to the service of the LORD.

If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.       1 John 1:6-10

The purification John speaks of in this passage, is not a one-time event, but rather a continuing process of cleansing and renewal.

 ~~~

We live in a world that is filled with sin and temptation, and in the process of walking through that world, we become defiled. John says that if we deny this truth, we are calling God a liar.

We must be walking in the light for the blood of Jesus/Yeshua to be providing the ongoing purification that we need to experience.

Just as the Jews, could not use the Sanctuary/Temple for worship and sacrifice again, until it had been purified from the desecration wrought by Antiochus. So also, our lives must be cleansed from sin in order for God to fully use us in service to His Kingdom.

We must be willing to accept the searching gaze of the Spirit of God and yield to His leading.

The Psalmist wrote:

Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.

See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. Psalm 139:23-24

Viewing Hanukkah/Chanukah in its true context, as a celebration of dedication, also reminds us that our lives are to be wholly dedicated to the LORD and that dedication is something to be celebrated rather than mourned.

There are some Believers who treat dedication to God almost as a burden rather than as something that brings blessings into our life.

Just as Yeshua/Jesus, was completely devoted and dedicated to obeying the will of His Father, (John 8:29), pleasing Him, should be the primary focus of our lives.

The principle behind Hanukkah/Chanukah is meant to motivate us to follow in Jesus/Yeshua’s footsteps.

When we light a Hanukkah/Chanukah menorah, it reminds us of our duty to be a light to our dark world, and that we are to be His servants to carry the Good News to all the world.

כִּי־עִמְּךָ מְקוֹר חַיִּים

ki · im·me·kha · me·kor · cha·yim
be·or·kha · nir·eh · ohr

“For with You is the fountain of life;
in Your light do we see Light”
(Psalm 36:9)

 ~~~

During this Hanukkah/Chanukah Season — and always — may the LORD God of Israel help us walk in the unforgettable and irrepressible radiance of His glory.

May God help us shine with good works that glorify God’s Name (Matthew 5:16).

“For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness’ (יְהִי אוֹר וַיְהִי־אוֹר), has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the Glory of God in the face of Yeshua the Messiah” (2 Corinthians 4:6).

Celebrate Jesus/Yeshua 


and the

Festival of Lights

“I am the light of the world.  Whoever follows Me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”  (John 8:12)

The Shamash, (servant candle), sits higher on the Chanukah/Hanukkah menorah 
than the other eight candles and its flame is used to light the rest of them. Each evening of the eight days another candle is lit until all eight candles burn together.

What a 
wonderful representation of Jesus/Yeshua, the Light of the World, and reminds us of how He 
gives us the “light of life,” through Ruach HaKodesh, (the Holy Spirit).

This week all over the world, the Jewish People will be lighting their hanukkiahs, (Hanukkah menorahs), in remembrance of the miracles that God performed about 2,200 years ago in Jerusalem.

The first miracle was God’s deliverance.

 A small group of Jewish men rose up against the 25,000 soldiers of the Syrian/Greek army.
 The Maccabees served as a light that pushed back the darkness.

By faith, their “weakness was turned to strength; and [they] became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies.”  (Hebrews 11:34)

 ~~~

The second miracle remembered is according to todays tradition after retaking the Temple when the Jews went to light the Menorah in the Temple they found only enough oil to burn for one day.

Rather than wait eight more days to sanctify more oil they began the temple sanctification process with the one-day supply. The tradition states that supernaturally the Menorah burned for 8 days.

Thus the Hannukkah Menorah that Jewish people light each year has 8 candles representing these 8 miraculous days of burning and is yet another reason why it is also called the festival of lights.

Over 100 years later,

Yeshua stood at the Holy Temple on Hanukkah when He was asked directly,

“Are you the Messiah?”

The scriptures record the event:

“Then came the Feast of Dedication (Chanukah/Hanukkah) at Jerusalem.  It was winter and Yeshua, (Jesus) was in the Temple area walking in Solomon’s Colonnade.

”

The Jews gathered around Him, saying, ‘How long will you keep us in suspense?  If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.’”  (John 10:22–24)

On that Hanukkah, Jesus/Yeshua confirmed to those asking that He is the Messiah, the Shepherd of Israel.

Other verses confirm that,

He is the Light of the World (John 8:12)

and also that through Him, we can be lights shining in the darkness of these Last Days (Philippians 2:15).

Let Your Light So Shine

 

“Open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.”  (Acts 26:18)

 

During the years of His ministry, Yeshua (Jesus) walked the Temple Courts during Hanukkah, the Festival of Dedication, and told those gathered around him:

“The works I do in my Father’s name testify about me.” (John 10:25)

Jesus/Yeshua pointed to His own deeds, which were all good, as a testimony of His identity and of His Father’s character.

 

In the context of the Festival of Lights, another name for Chanukah/Hanukkah, Jesus/Yeshua, may have had in mind His Sermon on the Mount, where He said,

“In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”  (Matthew 5:16)

 ~~~

The term “good works” is idiomatic for the commandments of Torah.

 

Yeshua/Jesus, told His disciples that if they kept the commandments of Torah according to His teaching, they would retain their saltiness and their light would shine before men and bring honor to God.

 

The half brother of Yeshua, Yaacov (James), elaborated on this point,

saying that “faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is

dead.”  (James 2:17)

 

Good deeds done by those faithful to God allow His Spirit to shine from within them, illustrating “the light of the world” and giving glory to Adonai’s Name.

 ~~~

For the Festival of Lights, this image of God’s light shining through His people is emphasized further by noting the basic components of fire — a spark and a source of fuel — as well as by contemplating that God Himself provides both our Spiritual Light and Oil.

Oil is understood to be a symbol of the Ruach HaKodesh, (Holy Spirit).  It has had an important role in Jewish life for millennia as a means of anointing.  In Judaism, anointing was performed for kingship, for the priesthood, for prophets, for the healing of the sick, and for purification.

 

Where the anointing sanctified the priests and treated the sick, ‘anointment’, conferred upon the king ‘the Spirit of the Lord,’ [that is to say], His support (1 Samuel 16:13–14), strength (Psalm 89:21–25) and wisdom (Isaiah 11:1–4),” states the Encyclopedia Judaica.

 

Of the Messiah (Anointed One) to come, the prophet Isaiah announced, “The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him—the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of might, the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord.”  (Isaiah 11:1–2)

 

It was during this same season,  Messiah Yeshua/Jesus, announced His anointing in a synagogue in Nazareth when he read from the scroll of Isaiah:

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.  He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”  (Luke 4:18–19; see also Isaiah 61:1–2)

The Messiah’s light shone throughout His life and continued to burn brightly even when confronted with the darkness of death.

Death could not hold Him and extinguish His light.

 

“In Him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.  The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”  (John 1:4–5)

 

With the oil of Adonai’s Ruach upon and within Him, the Messiah is an Eternal Light.

By living out His anointing, He brought

“a crown of beauty,”

“the oil of joy”

and

“a garment of praise”

to the mourners of Zion.

 

As Isaiah prophesied, the poor, the brokenhearted, the captives, the prisoners in darkness, the mourners, and the grievers of Zion — having received the freedom and favor of the Lord—”will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated.”  (Isaiah 61:1–4)

 

Just as promised, through the Messiah those covered in ashes and a spirit of despair would receive the oil of joy and “be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of His splendor.” (Isaiah 61:3)

 

Through Adonai’s life-giving work, the once-devastated children of God would be re-activated to rebuild the ancient ruins and renew the ruined cities; His people would stand as oaks of righteousness for “the display of His splendor,”

a calling that radiates light.

 ~~~

May your holiday season be illuminated with the Light of the World—

Jesus the Messiah –

Yeshua HaMashiach.

Hanukkah/Chanukah is a celebration of a miracle of light long ago.

It is the commemoration of a miraculous victory and the story of God’s provision.

It commemorates the rededication of the Temple and is a joyous time for rededicating our lives

to

the Light of the World, Yeshua.

 ~~~

This Chanukah season, may you rejoice in the light and love of the One who overcomes, the One who does miracles and provides.

“I am the light of the world. The one who follows 
Me will no longer walk in darkness, but will
 have the light of life.”

―John 8:12

Hanukkah is also known as:

Festival of Dedication,

Festival of Lights or

Chanukah

A Most Powerful Messianic Prophecy was written by Isaiah:

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government 
will be on his shoulders. And He will be called Wonderful Counselor,
Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

“Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end.  He will reign on David’s throne and over His kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever.

The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.”  (Isaiah 9:6-7)

 ~~~

Manna for thought:


Even though Yeshua HaMashiach (Jesus the Messiah) was most likely born in fulfillment of Bible prophecy during the Jewish Biblical fall festivals (between Rosh HaShannah & Sukkot in September/October), over this last weekend many people celebrated a man-made holiday to commemorate His birth.