By Joseph Shulam.
The Jewish World is approaching the end of the Jewish Calendar year and the High Holidays Season. It is a clump of Holidays that starts with the so-called (by popular vote) the “Jewish New Year.” This holiday doesn’t exist by this name in the Bible. In the Bible, the first day of the month Tishri (The Seventh month in the Bible) and the first day of the seventh month is a significant Biblical Holiday:
“Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Speak to the children of Israel, saying: ‘In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a sabbath-rest, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation. You shall do no customary work on it; and you shall offer an offering made by fire to the LORD. (Leviticus 23:23-25 NKJV)
As you can see in the above text from the book of Leviticus, it is clear that the first day of the 7th month, the month of Tishri, is a sabbath rest and it is a Memorial Day of blowing of the trumpets.
When Jewish people were in Babylonian Captivity for seventy years, we adopted the Babylonian Calendar and also took some of the Babylonian names of the months. The Biblical Calendar doesn’t have names for the months, only numbers like: First, Second, Third Month. The names of the months in the Jewish calendar are essentially Babylonian. For the days of the week, we still have only numbers, like the first day, the Second day, etc, and it is true until today. The month names are of pagan origin, names of pagan Gods, like the month of Tamuz, one of the worst pagan gods of our neighboring nations. The Same is with the Hebrew month Elul, and in fact, all the month names are of pagan origin. Of course, the days and the months in the European calendar (also the American Calendar) are both pagan names of idols like Sunday, Monday, all the way to Saturday, which is named after the celebrated star, Saturn. Well enough on the calendar.
The Torah portion that will be read this coming Shabbat in all the synagogues around the world is called Nitzavim. Here is the first verse of our reading this coming Shabbat (Saturday):
“All of you stand (in attention) today before the LORD your God: your leaders and your tribes and your elders and your officers, all the men of Israel,”
The meaning of this name is fascinating, especially these days in Israel. Nitzavim in Hebrew is a powerful word. It is, in fact, a military word meaning “All of you stand (in attention) today before the LORD your God: your leaders and your tribes and your elders and your officers, all the men of Israel.”
When God commands the children of Israel and all their leaders to stand in attention and hear His instructions, we know that something significant is about to occur. (Deuteronomy 29:10 NKJV).
The reading from the prophets is actually of extreme importance for all of us disciples of Yeshua. The reading is from Isaiah 61:10-63:9.
Now, when I mention that this reading is from Isaiah chapter 61, all the memory cells of every Christian ought to be beeping and lighting up because this is the chapter that our Messiah was reading in the synagogue in Nazareth. Normally, the honor to read the portion of the prophets is given to someone who is celebrating something important, like a birthday or a homecoming after a period of being absent. If we really wanted to guess what could be the reason that Yeshua was invited and honored to read the Haftarah on that special Shabbat, I would think that Yeshua returned to the home of Joseph the Carpenter and Mary, his mother. If I had to guess why he came home to Nazareth and why he was honored and given the reading of the prophets on that Shabbat, I would guess that he came home because it was his birthday and was celebrated in the synagogue to read from the prophets. But, I don’t want to spoil Santa Claus’s holiday and prevent Dancer, Prancer, and Rudolf the red-nosed reindeer from their early morning exercise.
Here is the opening statement of the text that Yeshua read in the synagogue in Nazareth on that Shabbat morning from Isaiah 61:1-1:
“”The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me, Because the LORD has anointed Me To preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives, And the opening of the prison to those who are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, And the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn, To console those who mourn in Zion, To give them beauty for ashes, The oil of joy for mourning, The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; That they may be called trees of righteousness, The planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.” And they shall rebuild the old ruins, they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the ruined cities, the desolations of many generations. Strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, and the sons of the foreigner shall be your plowmen and your vinedressers. But you shall be named the priests of the LORD, they shall call you the servants of our God. You shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, And in their glory you shall boast. Instead of your shame, you shall have double honor, and instead of confusion, they shall rejoice in their portion. Therefore, in their land they shall possess double; Everlasting joy shall be theirs.” (Isaiah 61:1-7 NKJV)
When Yeshua finished reading the text of Isaiah the prophet, this is what Yeshua said as a commentary:
“Nevertheless, even among the rulers, many believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees, they did not confess Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.
Then Jesus cried out and said, “He who believes in Me, believes not in Me but in Him who sent Me. And he who sees Me sees Him who sent Me. I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness. And if anyone hears My words and does not believe, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him—the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day. For I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak. And I know that His command is everlasting life. Therefore, whatever I speak, just as the Father has told Me, so I speak.”(John 12:42-50 NKJV)
So the big question is this: What angered the worshipers in the synagogue on that Shabbat morning that they wanted to kill Yeshua?
We are not talking about strangers in that synagogue. We are talking to people who know Yeshua (Jesus) from his birth and childhood. They honored Yeshua, who read the portion from the prophets, from Isaiah 61! I guess that what angered the people in the synagogue in Nazareth was that Yeshua, a young man, suddenly appropriated the whole text of this reading of Isaiah 61 to himself.
This question is relevant every Sunday in every church or synagogue. If anyone, be it the president of the country of Israel or our prime minister, would be asked to read this chapter and comment on it and said the same thing that Yeshua said and appropriated this text to himself personally, I suppose that the reaction of the people in the synagogue would not be that far from the response of the Jewish community in Nazareth in the first century in the days of Yeshua.
The question that is on the table for us to consider very carefully is what would happen in the average evangelical // Pentecostal spirit-filled church if suddenly the son of the pastor were given the privilege to read the Haftarah and, in a very short sermonette, said this text is talking about me. I am the one that this text in the Bible is referring to, me! It’s me, it’s me, I cannot deny!
I want you to imagine yourself sitting in your church or in your messianic congregation, and the son of the pastor is giving the privilege of reading from the prophets. He, the son of the pastor, appropriates the text and applies it to himself, and also says that the next-door denomination is also going to be equally saved without joining your denomination. What do you think will be the reaction of the leaders to the pastor’s son?
These are extremely interesting experiments for our own personal examination and openness to receive revelation from the scripture that is radically different from what we are used to hearing, studying, and understanding from God’s word interpreted about ourselves! Imagine, please, and try to be honest with yourself, then, after you do, imagine yourself seated in that Jewish synagogue in Nazareth in the Galilee in the land of Israel in the time of Christ and the apostles.
Shabbat Shalom, Dear brothers and sisters.