This prophecy (Mark 13:28-30) of the fig tree is the sequel to an earlier one. Just a few days before in chapter 11, just after the Triumphant Entry, Yeshua searched for fruit on a fig tree, but found none, and as a consequence, the tree withered. This withering represented the leadership of the country…
In the Hebrew Scriptures and in the New Testament, the term commonly used by the prophets is the Day of the Lord. This is a term mainly describing the moments preceding the Second Coming of the Lord. Zephaniah hammers home the message that the Day of the Lord is a day of final judgment. (…) Our English word, tribulation is very descriptive. It comes from the Latin word tribulum, which means a threshing sledge.
Consider the courage the disciples could draw from the kind of influence Jesus had even at the point of death. Remember the centurion who came to believe at this very crucial moment while Yeshua had breathed His last…
Tradition has added that many other tragedies also came on this day…
Tradition has added that many other tragedies also came on this day…
There is a distinction between Israel which is a lampstand with seven lights and these seven churches. Here, the mystery is the fact that the seven individual lampstands symbolize the seven local churches. In the Book of Revelation, the lampstand represents a witness, such as in 11:3-4. Thus, each local church is to be a witness; if it fails to do so, their lampstand can be removed…
How then do these individuals mislead the many? They have a strategy which is found in vs.6. This is how Yeshua describes the process. He begins by saying how Many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am!’ and will mislead many…
How then do these individuals mislead the many? They have a strategy which is found in vs.6. This is how Yeshua describes the process. He begins by saying how Many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am!’ and will mislead many…
While God does heal people in Scripture, we also have cases like Timothy who had a perpetual stomach illness. And while God sometimes answers prayer right away, we read about Paul who asked God three times to take away his thorn in the flesh. But God did not. And it is only when we have both sides of the coin exposed that we can adjust our understanding and expectations of God to properly walk with Him in harmony…
Many today define Jewishness by their religious leaders, but the sad irony in the history of the Jews is that, while many religious leaders were used of God to lead His people, many others were nevertheless in the forefront of the cause of the fall of the nation of God. Instead of reflecting God’s love to the people, these were lovers of a few things: their own long and imposing robes…
Many today define Jewishness by their religious leaders, but the sad irony in the history of the Jews is that, while many religious leaders were used of God to lead His people, many others were nevertheless in the forefront of the cause of the fall of the nation of God. Instead of reflecting God’s love to the people, these were lovers of a few things: their own long and imposing robes…
The word mind in the Greek designates the intellect, the faculty of understanding, reasoning, thinking and deciding. This same word mind, which only occurs only 12 times in the Brit Chadashah (New Testament) is a powerful one. It is used in 1Pet 1:13 and translated by the words: Prepare your minds for action or, therefore gird up the loins of your mind. It is word that calls us to action…
According to the words of this teacher (Gamaliel), who was from the sect of the Pharisees and so well-known even in today’s rabbinical Judaism, if this new messianic movement of believers in Yeshua, born 2000 years ago, survives, it is from God.
The Bible says that tomorrow is judgment day, and we don’t just disappear. After death there is a meeting with God. How could they (Pharisees and Herodians) miss out on the resurrection seeing that it is mentioned quite often in the Hebrew Scriptures? It is found in Job, in Isaiah, and in Daniel…
When the Jewish people were taken captive into Babylon, God sent them a message through Jeremiah and told them, “Seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf; for in its welfare you will have welfare”. Jeremiah 19:7 To seek the welfare of the city in Babylon, the place of their exile, meant to pay their taxes as well…
So, when we speak of rest, let us disentangle it from a mere “kick back and relax” mentality. Rest, as the author of Hebrews expounds, constitutes a spiritual recharging that restores us to the glorious presence and intimate fellowship with God. It signifies aligning with our Creator’s purpose for our lives, embarking on a journey of true fulfillment…
Isaiah 5 helps us to more clearly understand Yeshua’s parable for in both Isaiah 5 and Mark 12 we see that the vineyard is the nation of Israel. (…) In Psalm 80:8 we read that the LORD had brought a vine out of Egypt. Also, it was Solomon who spoke of Israel as God’s personal vineyard in Song of songs 8:11. So, while the vineyard is Israel, the winegrowers are the religious leaders. The owner of the vineyard is God Himself. This parable then represents the condemnation of man-made religion…
Prayer must be according to the will of God. We read in 1John 5:14, This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. According to His will; this is the first requirement.
Concerning this passage in Mark 11, we read of some commentators who accused Yeshua of being unreasonable for cursing the fig tree since it was not the season for figs (…) when it comes to understanding a difficult text, it is always good to go and ask what the people of that day had to say concerning fig trees…
We are all given that choice between justice or mercy. They say that justice is getting what we deserve, but mercy is not getting what we deserve. This is something Bartimaeus understood by faith…