There is no greater need for Yeshua our Messiah than right now. What has occurred in Israel this last week should wake us up to the fact that evil resides on this earth. The influence of satan and his minions has corrupted souls and DNA with a hatred that knows no bounds. Whether you believe Hamas operates on its own or if they are supported by other countries and governments, the result is still the same. Hatred borne out of a desire to kill, torture, and decapitate can only be healed by the Prince of Salvation. May we pray for Israel and the Jewish people! May we pray for His soon Return!
As we begin the study of B’reshiyt (Book of Genesis), we are immediately met with the question as to who is God and what is He doing. In my opinion, many believe the Bible is written specifically for Israel, but as we begin our journey through the Torah, I believe that there is a bigger picture. And that picture is a prophetic description of man’s salvation from his corrupted DNA. And, it is YHWH God Who sets the stage for how this is to happen in B’reshiyt.
In Genesis 1:1-5 we read:
“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. And the earth was a formless and desolate emptiness, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light “day,” and the darkness He called “night.”
Notice, in this text; Light overcomes darkness. The Light is visible with no luminaries. Light is good. And, Light separates itself from darkness. Also, the verse makes three things clear: God declares, God sends, and His Spirit hovers. Later in the books of the Torah, the “image” of YHWH is given more detail through the statement of His laws, sending a part of Himself to keep the covenant, and His Spirit moving the hearts of men.
YHWH shows another description of Himself in Genesis when He states:
“. . . let Us make man in Our Image. . . male and female He created them.”
This would lead us to consider the “likeness of God’s image is found in more than one person, but operating as “one flesh.” If man was made in His image; both male and female, then again, we must consider the possibility of a similar mystery with YHWH.
In the book of John, chapter 9 we see Yeshua aligning himself with the description of light as well as claiming Kingship over the Sabbath and even Creation. In this story, Yeshua not only heals on the Sabbath but uses mud (a building block of creation) to open the eyes of a blind man.
In short, the Light that He gives rules over time and heals what cannot be seen. He states, “We must carry out the works of Him who sent Me as long as it is day; night is coming when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the Light of the world.” Jn.9:4-5
References like these lead us to believe that Yeshua is more than a good teacher, a prophet, or even a created being. He is the Creator of all things, who existed before the creation of the world (John 17:5).
Genesis 1:1 tells us “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” In John 1:1 we read the same words, “In the beginning . . .” and that in the beginning was the Word (logos) and that the Word was not only with God but was God. This Word is the one who brought all things into being at creation (John 1:3).
Several verses later, John writes that the Word who was with God in the beginning “became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14). Notice that John does not say that the Word stopped being God. John uses a very particular term here, skenoo, “dwelt,” which means he “pitched his tent or tabernacled” among us. This is a direct parallel to the Old Testament record of when God “dwelt” in the tabernacle that Moses told the Israelites to construct (Exodus 25:8–9, 33:7). Likewise, John is telling us that YHWH “dwelt” or “pitched his tent” in the physical body of Yeshua.
Are you getting goosebumps yet? YHWH knew us before the foundations of the earth (Ephesians 1) and predestined us to be sons and daughters through Yeshua the Messiah. The example of Genesis supports this fact, by recognizing the plan of salvation of light, healing, and tabernacling among mankind to save man from sin. YHWH did not predestine us to be His sons and daughters through a man, but through a part of Himself—His divine Son.
As we read the Gospels, we must now remember the importance that Yeshua’s human nature did not replace His divine nature. Rather, His divine nature dwelt in a human body. This is affirmed in Colossians 1:15-20, especially in verse 19:
“For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness (everything that is a part of YHWH) should dwell.”
The New Testament not only explicitly states that Yeshua was fully divine, but it also recounts events that demonstrate His divine nature. For example, while Yeshua was on earth, He healed the sick (Matthew 8–9) and forgave sins (Mark 2:9). What is more, He accepted worship from people (Mattewh 2:2, 14:33, 28:9).
One of the greatest examples of worship comes from the lips of Thomas when he exclaims, “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:28). The confession of the deity here is unmistakable, as worship is only meant to be given to YHWH (Revelation 22:9); yet Yeshua never rebuked Thomas, or others, for this. He also did many miraculous signs (John 2, 6, 11) and had the prerogative to judge people (John 5:27) because He is the Creator of the world (John 1:1–3; 1 Corinthians 8:6; Ephesians 3:9; Colossians 1:16; Hebrews 1:2; Revelation 4:11).
Furthermore, the reactions of those around Yeshua demonstrated that He viewed Himself as divine and truly claimed to be divine. In John 8:58, Jesus said to the Jewish religious leaders, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” This “I am” statement was Yeshua’s clearest example of His proclamation from its background in the book of (Isaiah 41:4, 43:10–13, 43:25, 48:12—see also Exodus 3:14). This divine self-disclosure of Yeshua’s explicit identification of Himself with Yahweh of the Old Testament is what led the Jewish leaders to pick up stones to throw at Him. They understood what Yeshua was saying, and that is why they wanted to stone Him for blasphemy.
A similar incident takes place in John 10:31. The leaders again wanted to stone Yeshua after He said, “I and the Father are one,” because they knew He was making Himself equal to God. Equality indicates His deity, for who can be equal to God? Isaiah 46:9 says, “Remember the former things of old, for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me.” If there is no one like God and yet Yeshua is equal to God what does this say of Him?
If what we read in Genesis is true, “let us create in our image” then Yeshua is an intricate segment, part, or representation of YHWH.
So why do we read verses that declare Yeshua to be lesser or doing the works of His Father? It would be due to Yeshua’s willingness to be in human form and die for our sins. Though in taking on human form, He is still Yahweh as the works within the image of Yahweh are One—The Father, the Son, and the Spirit—separate but equal. Paul writes to the Philippians from Isaiah 52:13 to 53:12.
.” . . Yeshua who, as He already existed in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 7 but emptied Himself by taking the form of a bond-servant and being born in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death: death on a cross. For this reason, also God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Yeshua every knee will bow (worship), of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Yeshua our Messiah is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Phil. 2:6-11
Why is it important to get the identity of Yeshua right? It is summed up when He told the people of His day, “I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.” (John 8:24). As we have seen, the Jewish leadership understood that when Jesus identified Himself as I am, they knew who He was making Himself out to be; the one who created everything (see Isaiah 44:24, 45:18, 48:12–13).
We need a divine Savior because we are in rebellion, full of hatred and revenge. Yeshua is the link that interfaces between us and the Father. He is The One who paid the price for sin entering the world—an action that must be carried out by YHWH not us. He is the covenant promise that will make all things new again. Consequently, it is essential to know how Yeshua is pictured in the Book of Genesis to understand the Book of Revelation and our present conflicts in this world.
As you read B’reshiyt this year, look for the pictures of Yeshua in the context of operating within the fullness of YHWH. As these last days come upon us, the function of Yeshua and His divine identity will be attacked. Why? Because His Name is the only Name that proclaims Salvation. This is why John states in I John 4:
“By this, you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming, and now it is already in the world. . . Whoever confesses that Yeshua is the Son of God, God remains in him, and he in God.”
Pray for Light! Pray for Salvation during these times,
Be Blessed,
Rollyn