Q. Will all Christians be raised at the first resurrection or will some be raised at the first resurrection and some be raised at the end of the thousand years?
A. The resurrection is going to happen in stages and at different times. All believers will be in what is called the first resurrection even though it happens in stages and several thousand years apart in some cases. Once you know the stages you can read a verse and know when it is talking about. Dan 12.2 talks about the the righteous and unrighteous being raised but it may be thousands of years between the two. So, let's look at the stages. First, Yeshua was raised from the dead as we all know (Mt 28.1-7; Mk 16.1-11). But, what many fail to see is that others were resurrected within hours and were seen in the city (Mt 27.50-53). So, the first resurrection has already started. It's been two thousand years since that first stage but the next stage is coming up at the Natzal, or rapture, before the Tribulation period begins (1 Thes 4.13-18; 1 Cor 15.50-53). This will include every believer from creation and also those who are alive at the time. They will have their bodies changed to enter into the eternal state with the Lord and then return to earth with Him at His Second Coming. The bodies of all unbelievers will remain in the earth. In the middle of the Tribulation there will be the resurrection of the two witnesses (Rev 11.11-12). Then, at the beginning of the Messianic Kingdom those believers that died during the Tribulation will be raised (Rev 20.4-6). Those who survived the Tribulation will enter the Messianic Kingdom in natural bodies and were not killed when Yeshua returned and judged the nations (Mt 25). They will have children, but some will believe and others won't and this will go on for a thousand years. Lastly, at the end of the Messianic Kingdom, all unbelievers will be judged. Some will still be in natural bodies at the end of the thousand years but those who have died during the seven thousand years of human history will be raised at the Great White Throne judgment and stand before God (Rev 20.11-15). This is not for salvation but for judgment because they rejected eternal life. The resurrection of believers who died during the Messianic Kingdom is not mentioned in these verses but can be assumed. It could be that they are resurrected first and changed and will be present for the confirmation of their being justified by faith by the Lord. Their eternal state has been already assigned to them. Further light may be cast on this as the Messianic Kingdom goes along. After that, all unbelievers will be present and judged on their works because they rejected salvation by faith. As a result , they will be cast into the Lake of Fire, an eternal sate of separation from God and from that point God leads only those justified by faith into what is called the Olam Haba, or the World to Come. So, in conclusion, believers who have died will have a part in the first resurrection even though it happens in stages and at various times. Any unbeliever who has died will wait till the Great White Throne judgment and be raised and judged at that time.

Q. What does it mean when it says "the veil of the Temple was torn?"

A. This is a very mystical expression and let me explain some things. The expression is found in many places but I assume you are referring to the phrase in Mt 27.51. The veil that was torn was the outer veil leading into the Holy Place of the sanctuary, not the Holy of Holies. That had two veils and it could be entered by walking between the veils. This outer veil of the gate on the Ulam (porch) of the sanctuary was made of four colors. Blue indicating the heavens; linen, or flax, was brownish in color symbolizing the earth; scarlet indicating fire and purple stood for the sea. This veil had stars and the known planets on them and it was called the "panorama of the heavens." This gate to the sanctuary where the veil stood opened by itself for 40 years after the death of Yeshua. This curtain, or "the heavens", was opened on the 9th of Av and other occasions for the people to look into the holy of holies and so the veil being taken away was done before (Josephus, Wars, Bk 5; Hertz Siddur p. 959; Kaplan,Torah Anthology, p 91). The "tearing" or opening of this veil meant that the deeper things of God will now be understood, or open. When Stephen in Acts 7 or John in Rev 4 saw the heavens "opened" it meant access to the hidden, the mystical. It meant you are about to understand the deeper things of God and in Stephens case he was going there in person. So, with that in mind when it says in Psa 84.10 that "I would rather stand at the threshold (door) of the house of my God" now you know why. To be a "door man" in the house of God means that you can "open" up to the people the mystical, hidden, deep things of God. So, when Yeshua died on the cross and this veil was torn, opened, so the people already knew what this meant and that God was revealing something very deep and access to the things of God to be revealed was now accomplished for anyone who believes. There were many, mystical things going on when this happened and the writings of the Gospels and Epistles brought out so much more about redemption, salvation, propitiation and everything associated with the blood of Messiah and what it accomplished. God gave the people a sign just at the right moment to say that He was about to take the people deeper into the things of heaven and that its mysteries were about to opened to the people, and that's exactly what happened. And not everything has been revealed yet so that door is still open to us today.I hope this answers your question.

This week we are going to continue with our subject of Biblical Eschatology. Eschatology is understood in the biblical sense as pertaining to the Messiah and the Redemption of Man and creation. History is seen as a 7000 year period, 6000 years of man's history from creation to the 2nd coming of the Messiah followed by a 1000 year Messianic reign of Messiah (Psalm 90.4, 2 Pet 3.8). The creation week is a blueprint of this 7000 year plan of God. Six days (6000 years) man works and then he rests during the Lord's Day, or Sabbath of God (1000 years). The weekly Sabbath (on the seventh day) is a rehearsal for the coming Messianic Kingdom. Eschatology and the 7000 year plan of God is seen from 6 reference points. First in the historical sense and that is where you see the Lord working in history as you read the Scriptures, on a literal level. Second, some Scriptures refer to the Messiah's 1st coming. Third, some Scriptures refer to His second coming. Fourth, other verses refer to the Birth pains of the Messiah or the Tribulation period. Fifth you read other verses and they refer to the Messianic Kingdom and lastly the Olam Haba or the World to Come, which refers to life on earth after the 7000 years have been completed. At this point in man's history, creation was less than 6000 years ago and we know this because the Messianic Kingdom has not arrived yet. Eschatology is studied from the context of the Biblical Festivals found in Lev 23 and the Temple services. You will soon come to realize that all of the Tanach, or Old Testament, teaches the Messiah and his coming. In Jewish thought, the world will endure for six thousand years: two thousand in the age of desolation (tohu), then two thousand in the age of instruction followed by two thousand in days of Messiah. This was believed well before the coming of Yeshua and that is exactly how it has played out. That is why Jewish calendars number the years from creation, not how they are known on other calendars. The current year is 5771 but we are closer to the year 6000 than people realize. In the book "Seder Olam Rabbah" it says that in counting the years that they did not count the years of the Persian kings not mentioned in Scripture, which was approximately 210-250 years. So that means we are closer to the coming of Messiah in the Rapture than the current year on the Jewish calendar reflects. What that means is when Rosh Ha Shanah comes beginning the year 6001 from creation, the Lord will descend from Heaven and resurrect those who have died in Him and those alive at the time will be changed and meet Him in the air in what is commonly known as the rapture, or the Natzal, if you are familiar with Jewish thought. Now, there are some concepts to know if you are going to understand Eschatology. First, history is unfulfilled prophecy and prophecy is unfulfilled history (Eccl 1.9, 3.15) Second, there is a saying "Here now, but not yet" and that comes from Num 25.17. Third, prophecy is not limited in time, some can have numerous fulfillment's. Lastly, you do not look at a prophecy on one level, but four. They are the Peshat, Remez, Drash and Sowd level. When there seems to be a contradiction, it is not seen as that because prophecies are looked at on these different levels Let me illustrate this for you. Say you are in a mall and you are on the ground floor. You look up and there are four stories. All of the action is going on at the same time. If you look at the second level you see a woman with a baby. You see something else on the third floor, and yet something else on the fourth. They all are happening at the same time but it depends on what level you are looking at. It's the same with prophecy. You may look at the literal event in Scripture like the birth of Isaiah's son in Ch 8-9 but at another level you see the Messiah. Yeshua was called the "son of Joseph" on the literal level but at a deeper level that is a Messianic title going back to Joseph, the son of Jacob. When you see the crucifixion on a tree, with thorns and a garden you are on a literal level, but on a deeper level you see the Garden of Eden and on and on it goes throughout Scripture. You must get to know these other levels, the 7000 year plan of God, the festivals and the Temple and Bible prophecy will mean much more and knowing the Word will keep you out of a lot of false interpretations. I can't tell you how many times it kept me from being disturbed by so called "prophecy experts" over the last 20 years. All I have to do is check into their understanding of the festivals, the Temple and its services, the 7000 year plan of God and other things to find out if they have anything valid to say. In most cases, they haven't got a clue so I try to rightly divide what they say with the Word of Truth. There is so much more to this subject and I have not even scratched the surface but hopefully this gives you a starting point in going deeper into this subject and answers your question.

Q. What is your view of eschatology?

Q. What is your view of eschatology?
A. I understand eschatology with a Hebraic mindset and that is how I will answer the question. I think that this question is very important so I am going to give some basic understandings and concepts so that you can check them out and hopefully it will help you understand the Scriptures. When starting out new with someone, there are certain areas that I begin with. First you start with Time, and that is where your question comes from. You should also know the geography of the land. You should also have a working knowledge of the Temple and its services. In addition you should know Israeli history because it shows the Lord dealt with his people history in the Scriptures. Another thing is to read the Scriptures as if you were Jewish. Replace the English terms with Hebrew and so on. Also. study the Hebrew language. Every letter teaches Messiah, there are Torah Codes written into the text, Midrashic Name Derivations (MND's), Chaistic structure, Gematria, parallelisms and Hebrew poetry. Most believers today have no concept of what these are but all of these are Biblical and can be found in the text. God used these concepts in the Bible to communicate.You should also be familiar with the culture and ceremonies outside of Scripture, although they can be found in the Scriptures. These are also called "life-cycles". This area would include birth ceremonies, names, Jewish weddings, circumcision, redemption of the first-born, death and mourning and so on. All of these, by the way, are related to eschatology and have a role in understanding it. But, your question relates to the concept of time and that is where we will start. I am going to give some basic information that you will need to know and I will try and put it in a systematic way so that you can refer back to these things and do your own research to expound on them. I have never written about some of this so I hope I can communicate it. Some things are much easier to teach in person.
Think of your thoughts as trees in a secret garden. On each tree there are leaves of words and these "leaves" are blown by winds which utter a myriad of meanings. For instance I'm going to give you an exercise in this concept. I am going to list some things down and you think about who I am talking about. The answer will be very simple. First, I am thinking of someone in history. He left an indelible imprint on mankind. Without a biological miracle in his mother's womb his birth would have been impossible. Second, as an infant he was called the Son of God. Third, he was taken to Egypt to preserve life. Fourth, He returned to the Promised Land and was hated by all those around him, despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrow and acquainted with grief. Fifth, he was hated so much he was executed by the Romans. Sixth, he came to life on the third day. Lastly, he will never die again. Now, if you were thinking this applied to Yeshua, you're right, but it also applies to Israel. You see, these "leaves of words" when blown by the wind has many meanings and one will have to expand out of their little box to get what the Lord is trying to communicate. This little exercise is meant to convey such a fact in a small way. So, with all that in mind we can go on to the next level and talk about your question and hopefully expand on a few things, and we will start there next week as we let the wind blow our tree with leaves of words and go into understanding the concepts associated with Biblical Eschatology.

Last week we went over what the Star of Bethlehem probably was and some events associated with the birth of Yeshua around the Feast of Sukkot. This week I want to go tie all this together and give you the probable scenario relating to that night. Joseph and Mary come to Jerusalem for the festival of Sukkot and stay in nearby Bethlehem to register for the census. They couldn't find a room so they are given shelter in a "sukkah because it was the time of Sukkot and people would have had them built to live in for 7 days." During that night the wise men or "chachamim" arrive in Jerusalem and ask Herod about the newborn King, expecting him to be in Jerusalem. At the same time Mary gives birth. There is an interesting fact here. The Bible never says that he was born in a "stable" but it says that when Yeshua was born, he was "in a manger." Now, the Greek word for "manger" is "phatne" and it means "stall" and it is translated that way in Lk 13.15. Phatne means a "hitching place for livestock." In Gen 33.17 we know that Jacob made stalls for his livestock and called them "sukkot" which is the Hebrew plural for "sukkah." So, both the Hebrew "sukkah" and the Greek "phatne" both mean a place for livestock. So you can say that Yeshua was not in a manger but a "sukkah." At any rate, Mary gives birth and angels appear to the shepherds saying that the Messiah has been born. They make their way to the sukkah where he was while at the same time the wise men are making their way to Bethlehem following the "star" or kivod of God that had been leading them. The shepherds leave Yeshua and go around praising and glorifying the Lord to everyone they came in contact with. At that time someone had compassion on the new mother and child and they were moved into a house. The wise men arrive that night to Bethlehem from Jerusalem,which is only 3 miles away and find him in the house, pay homage and are warned by God to go home another way. Joseph is also warned that night and to flee to Egypt until Herod is dead. While in Egypt, Herod dies soon after this and the couple return to Israel where they stop at the Temple for Mary to go through the ritual purification after the birth of a male child (Lev 12) and to dedicate Yeshua.It is clear that they could not have gone to the Temple while Herod was alive. It is while they are there that they receive the prophecies of Anna and Simeon. When this is done, they return to Galilee. All of this happens within forty days of Yeshua's birth.

Q. What was the "star" of Bethlehem?

A. Many people have speculated as to what this really was. Some say it was a comet, some say a star in conjunction with other stars making it look brighter and on it goes. People go back in history and find when these things could have occurred and come up with all sorts of dates for the birth of Yeshua. Actually, the whole thing is quite simple to explain and the Bible is clear about the the time of year of the birth of Yeshua, and all that is unrelated to the star. So, let's deal with the star first and then discuss the time of year when he was born and the sequence of events that night. The other possibility about the star is that it was not a "star" as we know it at all. The word can be translated as a star but it can mean "radiance" (Alfred Edersheim) and that word in Hebrew is "kivod" and can also mean glory. We know from Num 24.17 that a star would be associated with the birth of Messiah and so it was, but what exactly was it. For one thing, this was not a star as it is known today because this did not act like one and it does not fit the context. For instance, it was seen by the magi only. Herod knew nothing about it (Matt 2.7), it moved and stopped and also reappeared to the magi after their talk with Herod. So, this was no star as we know it. It was a special manifestation of the "kivod (glory)of God and it appeared to the magi and led them to Yeshua. This was not unknown in the Scriptures. The Kivod appeared to the children of Israel in the wilderness and led them to the promised land (Ex 13.21), so this was something that was done before. I can't let this explanation go without covering how all this fits into the birth of Yeshua. This is easy to document and can be done by establishing several things. First, when did Gabriel appear to Zechariah, when did Mary conceive and when did King Herod die. We know Zechariah belonged to the priestly course of Abijah, and they served in the Temple about 10 weeks into the religious year which was approximately late Sivan, close to our June. Elizabeth was in her sixth month ( Lk 1.26-33) when Gabriel appeared to Mary. This would have put the conception around late Kislev, about the time of Chanukah. Counting ahead 9 months you come to the feast of Sukkot, usually our September/October and that is an 8 day festival and that was when Yeshua was born. This can also be established by finding out when Herod died. The Jewish historian Josephus says that Herod committed an act of impiety on the priesthood and became very sick. This was March, 4 B.C. This lasted several months and he finally died in September, 4 B.C. This is important because Yeshua was already born and had fled to Egypt and he did not come back till Herod was dead. We know Yeshua was presented in the Temple 40 days after his birth (Lk 2.22) so Herod had to be dead by then. So, Yeshua was born in the fall of 4 B.C. probably during the feast of Sukkot, fled to Egypt right after his birth. A few weeks later Herod dies and Joseph comes to Jerusalem and the ritual of purification is done (40 days after birth of a boy Num 12.1-8). Next week I will give a quick overview of the birth of Yeshua and the likely sequence of events.

Book of Acts & Interpreting Paul Pt. 5

During the last several weeks, we have been examining the question as to why the Book of Acts and especially the writings of Paul are so hard to understand. We dealt with how the faith departed from the Hebraic understandings to what is being taught today and to really understand the Scriptures we must go back to the Hebrew roots and understandings. I believe we accomplished that and so this week I want to get down to the heart of the matter and this can be found in Leviticus 10. 1-20. This chapter deals with Aaron and his first day as High Priest of Israel. What should have been the happiest day of his life turns into the lowest when his two oldest sons are killed by the Lord when they offered "strange fire" before the Lord during the incense offering. Why would these two men, trained by Moses himself to minister in the Tabernacle of God do such a thing on the first day? The answer to this question will help you understand why Paul was a Torah observant Jewish Rabbi who did not teach against the Torah as some say today. The priests in the Tabernacle and later the Temple were called to be teachers and they were to instruct the people in the ways of the Lord. They had to teach others on how to worship the Lord, how to distinguish between the holy and the profane, good and evil, light and darkness according to what the Lord has said. The ordinances of God cannot be changed by any human authority, not even the sons of the High Priest. But they did, they did not obey the Lord in the proper way to worship Him and they made a small change in the procedure. Most scholars think they did not put some coals from the altar into their censors with the incense but used ordinary coals from an ordinary fire, thus offering "strange fire" to the Lord. We need to learn this lesson today because we are living in an age when the commandments of God have not only been changed or amended but in some cases done away with altogether. One of the most glaring examples of this is in Leviticus 11 where God has a list of what is considered food and what cannot be eaten. The creatures that are considered "tahor" or clean and what is considered "tamai" or unclean have nothing to do with the physical but they are understood as a ritual purity or defilement, something that would prohibit you from entering the sanctuary, touching holy things or serving as a priest. These are temporary ritual defilement's as long as the Temple or Tabernacle was standing and if you ate something and was ritually defiled, you could not enter the Temple. These are God's rules and they were certainly observed in the 1st century and they will again (See Ezekiel chapters 40-48). But many are saying "but didn't Yeshua declare that all foods are clean?" He declared all kosher foods clean even if you did not ritually wash your hands before eating them according to the man-made traditions of the elders. You cannot annul a commandment of God (Mt 5.17-19). In Mark 7 and Mt 15.20 it clearly states that the issue being discussed is not "you can eat anything now" but if you eat clean food without washing your hands in a ritualistic manner as taught by the Pharisees the food is still clean and you can enter the Sanctuary to worship. Acts 10 is also misunderstood to teach that Peter's vision was God's way of telling everyone that they can eat whatever they want. But Peter himself said the vision was mean't to teach him that the Gentiles were not unclean to the Lord and he can enter into a Gentile's house. You see, there laws passed by some of the leading religious denominations at the time saying that a Jew could not go into the house of a Gentile without becoming ritually unclean and then prohibited from entering the Sanctuary for worship. These were man-made laws called "the 18 Edicts" and these were the things that the Lord was breaking down. Peter continued to struggle with this and was even confronted by Paul on this. To eat with a Gentile meant you accepted him. When some believers came who believed that a Gentile should be circumcised (become Jewish to get around the man-made law) Peter would not eat with them and Paul confronted him. The keeping of these laws have nothing to do with salvation because you aren't saved by works. They have everything to do with obedience. Many people will say "I haven't heard from God on this" or whether they should keep the Sabbath or festivals, but in reality they have heard from Him. There was a voice from Heaven that spoke these words to mankind over 3500 years ago but we think we have the right to decide, just like Aaron's sons did. We want to decide what is right and wrong. But a Voice did speak from Heaven and say "this is my beloved Son, listen to Him" but the crowd said "we didn't pick Him, we didn't choose Him, we'll choose what we are going to do" and that is the exact problem today. We pick what we want to obey and what we don't like. We find ways around the commands we don't like. And, like Aaron's sons, we approach the Lord with "strange fire" and then wonder why we get "burned." We need to examine ourselves by the water of the Word and to make sure we are worshiping the Lord in truth and in spirit and not according to our own ways. We need to have the proper Lamb on the altar, we need to was in the laver made from mirrors to see our reflection in the waters of the word, we need to make sure there are 12 loaves of bread, and that our Menorah is full of the oil of the Holy Spirit so our lights are bright and we need to make sure we have a coal from the fire from the altar outside, started by God Himself, to put in our censors and mix that with the incense, which is our prayers. Prayer should be inspired by the Lord and if we mix them with anything else, it is a strange fire. We need to go back to the pattern the Lord has given us and make sure we stick with it. If things are going wrong or something is not right, go back to the pattern God has given us in the Scriptures and things will be revealed to you on what to do. That is exactly what Moses and Aaron did after the death of the two boys and they did not deviate from what the Lord commanded, and neither should we.