Do you believe the Prophets?
Background Most Believers today do not know what the Prophets are all about or what they prophesied. It is important to know what certain prophets said, because they prophesied for a time yet to come and this time is called the end times. The end-times can be treated as “New Testament” Scripture because it is words YHVH spoke to the last generation through His prophets. One of the problems today regarding prophecy is that some believers do not believe that they live in the end times and this will result in ignorance and lack of interest in these prophesies because they believe it is not for them. We also have some believers believe that everything in the Book of Revelation as well as the Prophets are “spiritual” and cannot be taken literal. This cause them to ‘interpret’ the Bible the way they “feel” it should be interpreted and everybody have an opinion. There can only be one truth and there lies danger and caution in interpreting prophecy this way. Most of the ‘fulfilled’ prophesies were fulfilled in a literal sense and these prophetic writings should be considered as literal, in order to understand what YHVH want us to know, living in these times.
Do you believe Paul who believed the Prophets? Paul asked the following question to King Agrippa, and I want to ask the same question to all believers in Jesus Christ and Yeshua the Messiah today. Do you believe the Prophets?
Paul, who many believe to be the father of the Christian faith and who apparently said that the law is abolished, made the following statements:
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& I guess most people also do not read Acts and they don’t know that Paul made these statements that confirm the foundation of his preaching that was based upon the Torah and the Prophets. When Paul wrote the letters to the Romans, the Galatians and the church in Corinth, he used the Torah and the Prophets as his point of reference and most people don’t know it. Paul preached from the Scriptures (“Old Testament”) and the “New Testament” writings did not exist at that time and when he referred to the Word, he referred to the TaNaK. (Torah, Prophets and the Psalms). $ ' (
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Paul was a Torah observant Jew who kept all the things in the Commandments like the Sabbath and he even took a Nazarene vow as prescribed in the Torah to prove that he was Torah observant. $ # ) * ,!) , (
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Paul taught the people in Berea (the Bereans) the Gospel and the people received the Word and searched the Scriptures (TaNaK) daily to see if the things he told them are actually true and if it was mentioned in the Torah and the Prophets. $ $ .$ $ -
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They Searched the Scriptures. The Greek word for “Searched” is: ) 0
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# You should interpret Paul’s writings in context of the Scriptures and not read it in isolation or with a western mindset. Be like the people of Berea and search, interrogate and discern the teachings of men to see if they are in the Scriptures (Law and Prophets) and to see if these things are true and if they interpreted what Paul said correctly regarding the Law and Grace. We have seen what Paul said regarding the Prophets and we will now look at all the prophets and what they said. These things are applicable to us today, because they are written for the people living in the end times.
1. The Prophet Isaiah
First of all, we will confirm that the prophecy is in context of the end times and then we will look at what YHVH said to the people living in the end times. 1 )
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The scripture is clear, it says “in the last days” and that YHVH’s House will be established on top of the mountains. The New Jerusalem will be on top of the mountain and YHVH will rule from His House and the nations will go to the House of YHVH. 8
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This has not happened and will happen in the last days. What else did Isaiah saw? YHVH will teach us His ways so that we will walk in His paths and His Torah (Law) and His word shall go out from the New Jerusalem. This is a profound prophecy and it is quite clear that His Torah will be taught by Him self to all the nations and kings so that they might walk in His light (truth).
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This is a prophecy regarding gentiles coming in (strangers). This prophecy is currently being fulfilled and started with Paul’s ministry and is better known as the “mystery of the Gospel”. Yeshua started with the gathering of the sheep but He was focused on the “Jews” first and then later on Paul continued with the gathering of the Gentiles. This gathering process is still ongoing today and will come into its fullness at the end of time. Isaiah said here that the Gentiles’ (believer’s) burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted in the House of YHVH on His Holy Mountain. They will keep His Sabbath and honor His Covenant and will love the Name of YHVH and be His servants. This is one of the prophecies that are quoted in the NT by Paul when he explained the gentiles that would come into the Kingdom of YHVH with Israel. 1
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Verse 22 states the context of the prophecy and it refers to the time where there will be new heavens and a new earth and this can only happen after the Second Coming of Yeshua. Within this time frame we see that the people will bring offerings into the House of YHVH on His Holy Mountain. He will even make some of these Gentiles who came in Priests and for Levites. They will worship form New Moon (Rosh Kodesh) to New Moon and from Sabbath to Sabbath. This shows us that the monthly festival of Rosh Kodesh and the weekly day of worship, the Sabbath, will be honored in the new Kingdom at the mountain of YHVH in His House of worship, the New Jerusalem.
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2. The Prophet Jeremiah.
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Yeshua, the Beloved (David) will sit on the Throne and rule over the earth forever. This is a reality after His Second Coming. We see further that Judah (Jews) will be saved; Jerusalem shall dwell safely and have peace. These things show us that this prophecy is in the context of the time after the Second Coming of Yeshua. If we read on from verse 18 we see that there will be Levites that will perform the burnt offerings, the grain offerings and all the sacrifices in the house of Israel. Just if you think that you are not part of the house of Israel after the Second Coming, think again. We as gentile believers are grafted into the Root (Yeshua), together with the believing Israel and become one nation. 8 $ (C 8 8 ($ $$ $ / =!5 * * ) * * ) ) ( /
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Israel (Yisra – El) means righteous people of Elohim, this means that you become part of Israel is you become born again through faith in Yeshua the Messiah. The Gentiles and the Jews have One Messiah and will become one nation that will live together with YHVH in one land, the land of Israel in the City of Jerusalem. B0 / =!
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You may ask now, why will there be offerings and sacrifices when there are no offerings and sacrifices today? The reason why the sacrificial system went into a state of ‘rest’ is because the Torah (Law) forbids anyone to sacrifice when there is no Temple. YHVH’s presence will be in the New Jerusalem and He will be the Temple (presence) where the Torah permits sacrifices again. 8
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3. The Prophet Zechariah
The prophet Zechariah prophesied a message to the end time believers and we see this in Zec 14 verses 3 and 4.
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Yeshua will stand with His feet on the Mount of Olives and the Mount of Olives will divide into two to result in a great valley. This is surely to come and the context of this prophecy is written for the last days when the Messiah will come the second time. Let’s see what else will happen after His coming. 6
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This is very clear; after the wroth of YHVH will strike the earth with judgment He will be King over all the earth and His Name shall be One. Living water shall flow from the City of Jerusalem and all the nations that will remain will go up every year to celebrate the Feast of Sukkot or Tabernacles. The Feast of Tabernacles is one of the seven Feasts of YHVH and this shows us that the feasts will be celebrated after the Second Coming. Why is only the Feast of Tabernacles mentioned here? The context of this prophecy is about YHVH Who will come down and tabernacle (live) among His people. Does this mean that the other six Festivals will fall away? No, I believe not. The reason is that the Feat of Sukkot is the last of the seven Feasts and if we are going to celebrate the last
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Feast which represents the final step of YHVH’s plan fulfilled, it makes sense that we will also celebrate the prior six steps of YHVH’s Plan for the same reason. We will be continually reminded of YHVH’s grace and His Goodness that came into being through His Plan as revealed in His Feasts. Let’s see what else will happen after the Second Coming: 6
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There will be people coming to sacrifice before YHVH and there shall be no traders in the house of YHVH. What we have seen from the prophecy from Zechariah is that there will be the celebration of the feast of Tabernacles and most probably all the other festivals as well. We also see that there will be sacrifices in the house of YHVH confirming the restoration of Torah is the House of YHVH on His Holy Mountain until eternity. > : C H > (( *
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THE DEVIDED KINGDOM
EXILE
RETURN
850
825
775
750
725
700
675
650
625
600
EPHRAIM THE DEVIDED KINGDOM
575
EXILE
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Malachi
Haggai
Ezekiel Daniel
Jeremiah
Nahum
Isaiah Micah
800
Hosea
875
Amos
900
Jonah
925
Elijah Elisha
950
Joel
Obadiah
Habakkuk
Zechariah
Zephaniah
JUDAH
550
525
500
475
450
425
400
10