Mat 5:21 “You have heard it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder, and whoever commits murder shall be subject to judgment.’
Mat 5:22 But I tell you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be subject to judgment. And whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca’ shall be subject to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be subject to fiery Gehenna.
Mat 5:23 “Therefore if you are presenting your offering upon the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you,
Mat 5:24 leave your offering there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering.
Mat 5:25 “Make friends quickly with your opponent while you are with him on the way. Otherwise, your opponent may hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the assistant, and you will be thrown into prison.
Mat 5:26 Amen, I tell you, you will never get out of there until you have paid back the last penny!
However, what about Repenting and apologizing to God for turning our backs on Him?
We wouldn't be in the mess we are today, if God's people in this Country had held fast to Torah Truth and the Words our Messiah Yeshua preached, instead of wanting to win a popularity contest.
Many feel, well if I am not well known or millions of people are not following my ministry or thousands liking me and following me on Facebook then I must be doing something wrong. Popularity is not a measurement for success in God's Kingdom, in fact if you are truly teaching His Word and His principles, you probably will not be popular. Serving God is not a popularity contest! In fact if you are truly serving Him, you will not be very popular in the worlds eyes.
We are currently doing a Study in "The Scroll of the Prophets" (so called Minor Prophets, but there is nothing minor about them). People think that being called a "Prophet" is such a glamorous title, when in fact the true prophets in the Bible were not popular and there was nothing glamorous about their job, in fact their message of repentance was not a popular message, even though it was a message that was meant to bless them, not hurt them. They were charged with the duty to speak exactly what The Almighty YHVH told them to speak, nothing more and nothing less. In fact if you are speaking the Truth, you probably will not have a 'Mega" Church because people are easily offended by truth. We are afraid that if we bring correction, people will get offended so we rather tickle ears then tell them what they want to hear, instead of what they need to hear. That was not the message of the Prophets that God told them to speak. It was a message of repentance for turning away from His truth and mixing idolatry with worship of Him.
Personally I am thankful for people who brought correction into my life. At first it hurt, however I knew they were speaking the truth and that because they loved me they were not afraid of the speaking correction to me.
We see a pattern in the Prophets...
God said obey Me and you will be blessed, disobey me and this is what will happen, the curse will come. Read Deuteronomy 28. He already warned His people Israel what will happen if they turn away from obedience to His Torah (Torah means in Hebrew, Teachings and Instructions) and choose idolatry instead. This message of obedience applies to all, both Jew and Christian regarding how His people are to live.
His people sin and God waits patiently for repentance. When His people do not repent, he sends a Prophet to speak about judgement to come if they do not turn from their wicked ways.
The message is simple, repent (T'shuvah - Turn back to God) and I with not bring about the judgment, however if you do not repent, here is what is going to happen.
Here we see God's true mercy, He gives us all a "window of repentance" because He loves us. However, if the message of repentance fails to bring about change, then the judgement He has promised comes. We are seeing this in America today. His "Church" is more concerned about things then people. We have become more concerned about how popular we want to be vs being willing to suffer for the sake of the Gospel/Besorah of Yeshua. This is why we are seeing what is happening in America today! When we refuse to walk in God's order and refuse to live a life that is pleasing to Him, we have mayhem and confusion.
Since this pandemic has started a small group of us from our Congregation have been meeting daily when possible to pray and intercede for repentance in our Homes, Congregations and America for offending God.
• 1 Kings 8:30-40 • Daniel 9:4-19 • Nehemiah 1:4-11 • Ezra 9:5-15
God showed His mercy that even when His people were sent into exile, He made sure that He sent the righteous with them so that they would not forget the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and end up totally assimilating into Babylon. Note the prayers of the righteous above, they also included themselves in the need to repent, they said "We have sinned", "We have done wrong" "We deserved this punishment".
If we are truthful with ourselves, we ALL need to repent, including spiritual leadership. Why should God bless us when we continually spit in His face and refuse to obey His Word? Are we truly Disciples of Yeshua as the first Century Assembly of Messiah was? Are we willing to suffer for speaking His Truth? Read "Foxes Book of Martyrs" before you answer that question.
Hear the Words of Joshua, they ring true today as well!
Choose Whom You Will Serve
Jos 24:14 “Now therefore, fear Adonai and worship Him in sincerity and in truth. Get rid of the gods that your fathers had worshiped beyond the River and in Egypt, and worship Adonai.
Jos 24:15 If it seems bad to you to worship Adonai, then choose for yourselves today whom you will serve—whether the gods that your fathers worshiped that were beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will worship Adonai!”
Jos 24:16 Then the people answered and said: “Far be it from us that we should forsake Adonai to worship other gods!
We see generations latter, that His people forgot what they had promised to do and God had to send judgment in order to save them from total destruction.
Are we hearing by what we are seeing today happening in America, or have our hearts been hardened and become arrogant thinking, we are America, we will not be judged? Really? Our forefathers in Ancient Israel thought the same thing. They thought because of their Covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob meant that it didn't matter what they did. However, they forgot the "If" clauses.
Blessings for Obedience
Deu 28:1 “Now if you listen obediently to the voice of Adonai your God, taking care to do all His mitzvot that I am commanding you today, Adonai your God will set you on high—above all the nations of the earth.
Curses for Disobedience
Deu 28:15 “But if you will not listen to the voice of Adonai your God, to take care to do all His mitzvot and statutes that I am commanding you today, all these curses will come on you and overtake you:
Have we become so arrogant that just because our Nation's motto is "In God We Trust" that this protects us from God's righteous justice to be withheld when we have literally taken His Word out of our Government and Homes?
If we Trust God, then we should Obey God's Word, then we would not be in the mess we are in today, staring in those who call themselves "Christians" and have put their stamp of approval on what God calls evil.
I pray for His mercy on this land for the sake of the Righteous, for one reason only, that we may finish the Work He has called us to do and that is proclaim the Besorah/Gospel of Messiah. Read Matthew 24.
Shalom In Yeshua
Rabbin/Dr. Deborah Brandt
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