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Difficulty Reading? Click Here http://hethathasanear.com then on the article to change to larger type.  | |||
"…let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Garden of God." Revelation 2:7 | |||
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A Name? by haRold Smith from Jerusalem, Israel "And I took the little scroll from the hand of the angel and ate it. It was sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it my belly was made bitter." Revelation 10:10 "Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and shrewd in their own sight!" Isaiah 5:20-21 "A full soul loathes the honeycomb, but to a hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet." Proverbs 27:7 Sweet and bitter words have been laid before us to partake of as we will. Some of those words are sweet to the taste but become very bitter to the belly. Other words, while bitter to the taste, cause a sweetness that satisfies the belly - and ministers Life to our spirit. The choice is left to us as to which words we eat and what becomes a part of us. How hungry are you for Truth today? Or, have you become so full, so sure of what you have come to believe that there is no room left for inspection? How far are you willing to go to embrace the fullness of Truth laid before you by the Father today? Be careful how you answer, for your answer could determine your station in eternity. Hard words of Truth that are meant to draw us nearer to the Source of Life become a stumbling block and a source of contention for those who do not embrace them (click on the highlighted words to view the scripture verses), Are you willing to lay aside the encumbrances the tradition of men would have you to believe in order that you might abide in the Presence of the Source of Life - regardless of the cost? Or, are you content, is your belly full, in what other men have decided is Truth? Are you willing to partake of the Tree of Life for yourself regardless of how bitter that fruit may initially seem to taste? Or, do you desire to feed upon only what seems sweet? Are you even aware what encumbrances of tradition are in your life, preventing you from eating of that fruit and abiding in the Light it contains? How much darkness are you embracing unaware and calling it light? It is amazing to listen to intelligent, thoughtful people who absolutely believe we are in the grips of a "worldwide conspiracy" perpetrated by evil men and, yet, are not able to see the most successful of all conspiracies placed right in front of their noses by what has been handed to them to believe through the tradition of men. For instance, are you aware that the Name of God, YaHoVeH, appears over 6,500 times in scripture - yet, not once does His Name ever appear in any of our "modern" translations? It has been replaced in these translations by the names Jehovah, Adonai or LORD - none of which has any equivalency appearing in the original Hebrew those scriptures were written in. Wherever you see the capitalization of "LORD" or "GOD" in the scriptures, that is where the Name of YHVH appeared in the original manuscripts. Why do you think that is? Did that just happen by accident - a quirk? Or was it by design? Does the term "replacement theology" come to mind?  The same is true of the name "Jesus". For centuries, we have been taught that "Jesus" is merely the English equivalent to the Hebrew name given the "the Christ". The argument goes that names change depending upon the culture in which the name is spoken, despite the fact such is NOT the case with virtually every other Hebrew name one can think of. Even today people go out of their way to refer to an Israeli by his or her Israeli (Hebrew) name so as not to appear politically incorrect. Examples include Benyamin Netanyahu, Ariel Sharon, Ehud Barak and Yitzak Rabin among others. If YOU were to go into another country with a predominantly different language, your name does not change - even if there is an equivalency in their language for your name. You are still who you were called by when you were birthed. You may be gracious in the face of ignorance that would insist on calling you something else but, after learning the truth of your name, to continue to call you something else would be rude and disrespectful. To be called by another name without your involvement, even with good intentions, would be an affront to you, your parents who named you and what your name stands for. Why, then, has it become necessary to change the Name of the Son of God and blatantly obliterate the Name of the One True God from the only books that speak to us of Who He Is? Naming is the act of identifying the essence of something and causing it to be as a purpose in the life of the thing or person so named. The English language evolved out of Greek and Latin influences; thus, it embraces the inherent philosophies of those languages. While names in Greek and Latin tend to be abstract in nature, in Hebrew the word spoken and the thing identified are identical - they cannot be separated. It is what gives the person their identity. To say "God is good" is to also say "good is God" - they are the same. It is named as a purpose. Its purpose is to separate from the rest, to call apart - the definition of what it means to be "holy" (Strong's H6944 - Hebrew kodesh). Removing the name from the purpose is the same as causing it not to be. Might it seem plausible then, that if the enemy is unable to convince us there is no God, what better way to capture us than to cause us to believe in another God unawares, calling it by another name to divert our focus? To embrace a religion that promotes a belief in a god other than whom the One True God says He is would bring us to a point of separation from the God of Truth as evidenced by the first and third commandments. That separation begins by changing the Name of God and, thereby, removing the Power inherent in that Name - causing it not to be. Entire religious institutions have been built around the verse found in John 3:16 - but without the context of the following two verses and what those words originally meant. The word "condemned" used in this passage comes from the Greek word krino. "Condemnation" comes from a variation of that same Greek word, krisis. Both of those Greek words carry the same meaning - "to separate". What separates us from the Source of Life? Yeshua said that by not believing "in the Name" of the only Son of God we are already separated from the Father. Now, it does not say, "except for those who mean well". Re-read this passage again with the meaning of the words in place - "For YHVH so loved the world that he gave His only Son, that whoever believes in YHVH should not perish but have eternal life. For YHVH did not send His Son into the world to separate the world from Him (YHVH), but in order that the world might be saved through Him. Whoever believes in Him is not separated from Him (YHVH), but whoever does not believe is separated already, because he has not believed IN THE NAME of the only Son of God." John 3:16-18 Names mean things - the same way words mean things. From Genesis to Revelation, there is a distinctive emphasis in scripture placed on both the Name of God and the Name of the Son of God. So, if we are to understand Who the Son of God says He Is, we must start by understanding what His Name means The question then arises - just what is the true Name of the Son of God and what does it mean?  We must constantly be reminded that every letter in the Book was written by Hebrews from a Hebrew mindset out of a Hebrew culture to a Hebrew audience. Therefore, in scripture there are only two classifications of people - the Hebrew family of YHVH, known as the House of Israel and "others". These "others" are known as goyim (Hebrew for Gentiles) - the other nations. The term "Gentile believer" is an oxymoron (a concept that is made up of contradictory words) because to be a "Gentile" (from a Hebrew context) is to be a worshipper of pagan gods. A person is either a believer in the One True God of Israel OR they are a Gentile, an "other" - there is no middle ground. Therefore, anyone who thinks the Jewish parents of the Jewish Messiah that were strong adherents to the Judaic principles and lived in a Jewish contextual setting would give their son a Greek name is lacking in common sense. How, then, did we get to the English name "Jesus" if His Name given at birth was Hebrew? Remember that the English language had not yet come into existence at the time of His Birth. Just as the English language evolved out of Greek and Latin underpinnings, so has the name "Jesus" evolved. Linguistically, however, there is a problem with the English letter "J". There is no comparable letter or sound to be found in either the Hebrew, Latin or Greek languages that even remotely resembles the English letter "J". In fact, the letter "J" did not even appear in the English language until roughly only 500 years ago during the Dark Age when knowledge was held captive and even possessing a Bible manuscript was punishable. So, the name "Jesus" and "Jehovah" (also surfacing around that same period) could not have possibly existed historically until only recently. Until the letter "J" found its way into the English language, the Son of God was called by the Greek name Iesous. Strong's G2424 points to the Hebrew origin this Greek name is derived from as Yehowshuwa, The spelling police would want to deflect this discussion into an argument over the most proper way to spell a Hebrew name using English letters. Whether it is spelled Yeshua, Yahshua or Yahoshua the principal focus to be made is that His Name is Jewish - not Greek. Regardless of how it is spelled, the point of this discussion is to show that His Hebrew Name is formed from a derivative combination of two Hebrew words - YaHoVeH (the proper name for the Father, meaning the Present Presence and yasha' (Strong's H3467, meaning "delivers", or "saves"). From the Greek, "Iesous" was then transliterated into the Latin "Iesus" and, with the invention and substitution of the English letter "J" - to "Jesus" (NOTE: in the original 1611 version of the King James Bible there was no “J” letter contained in this manuscript because it did not yet exist. James was spelled "Iames" and Jesus was spelled "Iesous"). (ibid, Oxford Dictionary. Merriam-Webster Dictionary, Encyclopedia Americana). "She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Yahshua (YAH delivers), for He (YHVH) will save His (Hebrew) people from their sins." Matthew 1:21  When the apostle Sha'ul (whose name was also replaced by "Paul") was delivering his testimony to Agrippas of his blinding encounter with the Son of YHVH in Acts 26, he says that this Spirit spoke to him in the Hebrew language and told him His Name was "Jesus" - but, how can that be if the name "Jesus" was non-existent at the time and is not found in Hebrew? And don't you think that the Son of God would have known what His own Name was in Hebrew? The Hebrew name given to the Son of God at birth is Yeshua and means "YHVH delivers", thus fulfilling the promise YHVH made to sens a Messiah through which He would redeem His People. The Greek word christos (from which we get "Christ") is also a contrived word meaning anointed one, savior of mankind and was manufactured to take our eyes off of Yahshua as the Messiah of Israel sent as a kinsman redeemer to pay the ransom required to restore YHVH's family of Israel to its original state of relationship with Him enjoyed in Gan Edan (the Garden of Eden). YHVH is not the God of mankind - He is defined as and defines Himself as the "Holy One of Israel". There is no such word as "christ" in Hebrew. Hence, just as there is no "christ", there can be no "anti-christ" - there is only anti-Messiah of which there have been and will continue to be many. To not believe in the Name of the Messiah of Israel is to believe in something other than the Messiah YHVH promised to His Hebrew people. "Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." Acts 4:12 What difference does it make which version of His Name is used? After all, He knows my heart - right? Aren't they all talking about the same God anyway? No, they are not. To simply call darkness Light does not make the darkness any brighter and is an affront to the True Nature of Light. Light and darkness cannot abide in the same space at the same time - it is a universal law. To pray over darkness as though it were Light does not change the properties of what makes darkness, dark - regardless of how well intentioned my motivation may be. If the properties of His Name, the Nature and Characteristics inherent in that Name, are dismantled from His Name it causes Him not to be - He is replaced by something else and that something else becomes another god. The Power of His Name becomes severed from our lives. "Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Yeshua every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Yeshua Messiah is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." Philippians 2:9-11 This information places a conflicting emphasis on the words of John 3:16-18 from the tradition we have been handed. Now we can see that it is being in the Presence of the Source of Life, of Light, YaHoVeH, which delivers us from the bondage of darkness and becomes our salvation as we embrace Who He Is. Revelation 19:10 tells us to worship the Father, not the Son. We are told to hold to theTestimony of the Life of the Son which consistently pointed to the Father. As light is shed on Who is our savior, the whole of post-Resurrection writings takes on an entirely different texture. So, then - what was the purpose of Yahshua, if not to save all mankind? (see the Gospel). His Purpose was to restore to Israel that avenue to relationship in the Presence of the God Who abides in eternity that they might be the "Light to the Nations" - through which that same pathway into the Presence of Life He desired from the beginning is offered. When we access that pathway to abide in the Presence of the Eternal One today, this is what is known as "Eternal Life".
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"Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: They shall prosper that love you." (Psalm 122:6) (prosper - from the Hebrew, "shalav", meaning "to be at rest") Please visit the website http://hethathasanear.com for other articles and videos or for information if you feel led to contribute to this ministry. Click here to watch the short movie Maranatha!. | |||
 Shalom Alechem B'Shem Yeshua HaMashiach. (Peace be unto you in the Name of Jesus the Messiah) haRold Smith Jerusalem • Israel http://hethathasanear.com harold@hethathasanear.com | Click Here to Subscribe | ||
