ONE LOT FOR THE LORD – גורל אחד ליהוה by Chaim

Leviticus 16:8: “And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats; one lot for the LORD, and the other lot for the scapegoat.”

 “We were made to suffer, it’s our lot in life.”  3CPO Star Wars

In less than ten days the Jewish people, (Messianic believers and Yahweh's Remnant people belonging to Yahshua,) will be celebrating Yom Kippur.  This is the Day of Atonement.  One ritual that was performed among the ancient Hebrews is described in Leviticus 16 where two goats were taken before the High Priest, both had to be identical. Many assume the High Priest chose one goat to sacrifice and the other to let go and flee away.  One would live and one would die.

Actually we learn in Leviticus 16:8 that the High Priest, in this case Aaron, cast lots to determine which would live and which would die. I like the way the Scripture phrases this, gurl echod laYHWH or one lot was for the Lord.  The other lot was for the scapegoat.  This word for lot is gurl which means to apportion or allocate.

During the settlement of Israel in the Promised Land, land was apportioned to eleven tribes.  The tribe owned the land not the individuals. Every family had their own portion of land to farm, but they did not personally own that land.  Some land was good land with good soil.  Some land was rocky land or difficult land to cultivate and irrigate.   To determine who got the good land and who got the lousy land they drew gurls or lots.  Once a year just before the time when the land had to be prepared for planting all the family heads gathered together and the patriarch of the family or tribe would put the names of each family on a stone and place it in a basket.  Then they would blind fold a child under twelve years of age to draw out each stone.  Before each stone was drawn the division of land that was to be apportioned was announced.  When the stone was drawn the family whose name on that stone would receive that portion of land to be cultivated for that year.  That was their lot for the year or their lot in life. This lottery was held every year so that some years some would get a good portion of land and some years they would receive a bad portion of land.

I read something very interesting this evening in the Talmud Yoma 62b.   A lot was used when one had passed beyond the realm of motive and reason.  Lots were cast when there was no reason or impetus to choose one option over the other, so that the matter must be left to forces that are beyond ones control and comprehension.  This is the reason the lots were used on Yom Kippur.  After all is said and done, no man is worthy in the eyes of God.  We all stand before Him without faults and iniquities and by all rational criteria, we should be found lacking  in His judgement.  So the Talmud teaches that we should throw our lot to God.

I find it very interesting that one lot was cast  LaYHWH for the Lord. One was cast for the goat. Both lots were not cast for the goats only one.  The Talmud goes on to explain that we should cast our lots for the Lord.  But somehow that just does not fit because the goat that got the lot was able to escape.   To me, however,  it is clear that Yahshua is the one who received the lot to die and the scapegoat represents us who are made just as pure as Yahshua through his death and resurrection and thus by the death of Yahshua we are allowed to escape the punishment.  But then again, maybe the way the sages looked at  this lot for the Yahweh is also correct.

The other day I was recovering from pneumonia.  I earlier went to work too soon and relapsed so I prayed for some confirmation that I was not repeating a mistake in going back to work on this day. This particular day on my disability bus I had to take a 62 year old man to the hospital.  He has a very bad heart. He has had a number of heart attacks, wears a pacemaker and is on all the medication that is available.  The doctors told him there was nothing more they could do.  He had only two months to live.  I had to help him out of his house into the bus with his walker.  He could only take a couple steps before he had to stop and catch his breath.  On the bus to the hospital he told his life’s story.  He ran with the street gangs as a teenager.  He learned the martial arts and was a champion body builder.  He fell in with the mob and was a body guard for some of the biggest names in the “business.”  He was noted for being able to knock out a man with one punch. When not working as a body guard for the mob he would work as a bouncer in saloons.  He said the police knew who he was and usually turned a blind eye when he had to work over some scumbag.

He told me: “The things I did were terrible, horrible things. I am getting what I deserve and when I die I will get what I deserve.”  I turned to him and told him a story about  a man who lived 2,000 years ago who also did terrible things. In fact the Romans hung him on a cross next to another man who never did anything wrong. There was a third man who also did many bad things in his life who was hung on a cross next to this good man.  The third man cursed this good Man but the first man, the thief, the man who spent his life doing bad things told the third man to keep his peace that this Man in the middle did not deserve to die, He was a righteous Man, in fact He was indeed the Son of Yahweh God.  Then he turned to this good Man, this Son of Yahweh Elohim and with a heart filled with grief over the bad things he did in life he simply asked Him if He would remember him when He entered Paradise.  This good Man, the Son of Yahweh God, Yahshua said, “This day you will be in Paradise.”  I told this dying man on my bus: “That thief had to do nothing but ask, be sorry and sad about his sins just as you are.  All he did was ask and Yahweh to forgave him of every sin. This thief had no chance to do good deeds or live a better life. He did not even have a chance to be baptized, but he is in Paradise right now, just as you can be.  You are already sorry for all the bad things you did, why not tell Him, ask Him to forgive you and take you to Paradise?”  He said he would and he did.

There is an old song we used to sing when I was a child:

I believe in miracles,

I’ve seen the soul set free

Miraculous the change in one

Redeemed at Calvary.

I saw a soul set free that day, I saw a dying man smile and rejoice. I saw a man who threw his lot his gurl to Jesus. I may not see this man again, but you know what, I will see him, one day I will see him again.

Oh and I did not have a relapse of my pneumonia, I had my confirmation.

Millions of Jews Searching for Messiah

A big, untold story: Since last Yom Kippur, millions of Jews have begun searching for the Messiah, and for atonement for their sins. The media isn’t reporting this. But it’s worth examining.

In Uncategorized on September 22, 2015 at 12:24 pm

Over the past year since the last Day of Atonement, millions of Jews around the world have begun a quest to find the Messiah.

At sundown, we begin Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. This is the highest holy day on the Jewish calendar, and one of great Biblical and historic and cultural importance to my people.

I so wish I was home with Lynn and our sons in Israel tonight. Instead, I am in the U.S. speaking at a number of events, from Dallas to San Luis Obispo to Washington, D.C. to Toronto. I am speaking about the darkness that is falling in our world. But I am also explaining to people about a fascinating phenomenon that I’m observing.

Since last Yom Kippur, millions of Jews have begun a quest to find the Messiah. For reasons I cannot fully explain, Jews are suddenly searching for answers to the deepest and most important questions concerning life and death and God and atonement and eternity, in numbers unprecedented in history. Some are searching through the Hebrew Scriptures for answers. A stunning number are actually reading the New Testament, most for the first time. They are searching on Google for information about the Messiah. They are even watching a new series of videos by Jews who claim to have found the answers. The videos — some of which have gone viral — were produced and posted on a new website called www.imetmessiah.com.

To me, these are fascinating developments. They certainly aren’t being reported by the media. But they are worth examining. That said, more on all that in a moment.

First, a few thoughts about Yom Kippur itself.

In the Scriptures, the Israelites were commanded by the Lord to fast and pray and bring their sacrifices to the Temple in Jerusalem, and then to ask for the Lord’s forgiveness for all the sins they and their nation had committed that year. And the Scriptures were clear: only the sacrifice of a perfect animal — a sacrifice performed with a humble, repentant, sincere heart, and with faith in God’s mercy and grace — could bring about forgiveness of sins.

• “For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one’s life.” (Leviticus 17:11)
• “In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.” (Hebrews 9:22)

But here’s the problem we Jewish people have face since the destruction of the Temple: What does one do to receive atonement in the modern age, without a Temple?

How can one make sacrifices, and thus receive forgiveness of sins — and thus the right to enter the holiness of heaven and live with the Lord in heaven forever and ever — without being able to sacrifice a perfect lamb at the Temple in Jerusalem, where the Lord designated all sacrifices to occur?

The destruction of the Temple by the Romans in 70 A.D. was a huge blow to Judaism for many reasons, but chief among them because it deprived us of the one place to receive atonement from God.

The good news was found in Daniel 9:24-26. The Hebrew prophet Daniel explained to us that:

• someday the Messiah (or “Anointed One”) would come to us
• when the Messiah came, his purpose would be “to atone for wickedness” and “to bring in everlasting righteousness”
• the Messiah would then be “cut off and will have nothing”
• after the Messiah was “cut off,” then Jerusalem and the Temple would be destroyed
• Daniel specifically noted that foreign invaders “will come and will destroy the city and the sanctuary”

Think about that. Daniel told us something extraordinary — that a coming Messiah would bring atonement for our sins before the Temple would be destroyed. That, in retrospect, makes sense, right? Why would the God of Israel take away the Temple before providing a new way for atonement?

Now, add in what the Hebrew prophet Jeremiah explained to us that not only was the Messiah coming to the Jewish people, but that He would bring a “new covenant,” a new and exciting and God-ordained way by which we would have a personal relationship with the Lord our God.

The Hebrew Prophet Isaiah gave us still more details about this coming Messiah. He explained that the Messiah would serve as King of the world eventually, but first the Messiah would be our “Suffering Servant.” That is, He would be rejected by the people, would suffer, and then die as our atoning sacrifice.

Consider these extraordinary passages from Isaiah 53:

3 He was despised and rejected by men,
a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering.
Like one from whom men hide their faces
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

4 Surely he took up our infirmities
and carried our sorrows,
yet we considered him stricken by God,
smitten by him, and afflicted.

5 But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,
and by his wounds we are healed.

6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to his own way;
and the LORD has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.

7 He was oppressed and afflicted,
yet he did not open his mouth;
he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,
and as a sheep before her shearers is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.

8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away.
And who can speak of his descendants?
For he was cut off from the land of the living;
for the transgression of my people he was stricken.

9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked,
and with the rich in his death,
though he had done no violence,
nor was any deceit in his mouth.

10 Yet it was the LORD’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer,
and though the LORD makes his life a guilt offering,
he will see his offspring and prolong his days,
and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand.

11 After the suffering of his soul,
he will see the light of life and be satisfied;
by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many,
and he will bear their iniquities.

13 Therefore I will give him a portion among the great,
and he will divide the spoils with the strong,
because he poured out his life unto death,
and was numbered with the transgressors.
For he bore the sin of many,
and made intercession for the transgressors.

Who does that sound like to you?

When I was younger, I tried to process these and other Hebrew prophecies of the Messiah. Among them:

• the Messiah will born in Judea, near Jerusalem, in Bethlehem Ephratah (Micah 5:2)
• the Messiah will live and minister in the Galilee (Isaiah 9:1-2)
• the Messiah will teach in parables (Psalm 78:2)
• the Messiah will enter Jerusalem on a donkey (Zechariah 9:9)
• the Messiah will be the Savior of the Jews but also a “light to the nations” (Isaiah 49:5-6)

These were fascinating, specific, detailed clues as to the identity of the One the Lord was sending to save and rescue our people. Each piece of the puzzle was helpful, but two clues I found especially interesting — first, that the Messiah had to be born in Bethlehem Ephratah, the city of David; and second that the Messiah absolutely had to come to bring atonement and righteousness to His people before the Temple and Jerusalem were destroyed in 70 A.D. Why? Because the God of Israel told us so through the Hebrew prophets.

I came to the conclusion that Jesus (Yeshua) of Nazareth is, in fact, the Messiah that Moses and the prophets spoke of. His death and resurrection were foretold by the prophets, and they prove that He is who He said He is: the “Way, the Truth and the Life, and that no one comes to the Father except through Him” (John 14:6). Jesus’ shed blood provides the only atonement for sins for Jews and Gentiles today. Jesus brought us the “New Covenant” — the new deal, as it were, between God and man — that the Hebrew Prophet Jeremiah told us to wait for.

True, many Jewish people have rejected Jesus over the centuries. But have we really stopped to examine what Moses and the prophets said, and how Jesus of Nazareth fulfilled every single one of those prophecies?

By God’s grace and kindness, my eyes were open. I received Jesus as Messiah, Savior and Lord when I was young. I humbled myself, confessed my sins to God the Father, believed in my heart by faith that Jesus died on the cross, and was buried, and rose again, according to the Scriptures. I confessed with my mouth that Jesus is the Lord. And so, as He promised, Jesus atoned for my sins. He washed them away, all of them, never to be remembered or held against me for all of eternity. He gave me eternal life. He — the King of the Universe — adopted me into His royal family. He gave me peace that passes all understanding. He gave me hope as an anchor for my soul. He gave me a purpose and a meaning for me life.

Why? Because I deserved it? No. Because I earned it? No. Because I could buy it? No. He gave all this to me for free, because He loves me, because He wanted to rescue me. And so I received Him into my heart by faith. For as the Scriptures explain so clearly, “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name.” (John 1:12)

When my father, who was raised an Orthodox Jew in Brooklyn, discovered in 1973 — after a careful study of the Gospel According to Luke — that Jesus of Nazareth is the long-awaited Jewish Messiah, and received the Messiah by faith, my father thought he was one of the first Jews in history who believed this. He had never met a Jewish believer in Jesus. He had never heard of such a person. And in 1973, there were fewer than 2,000 Jewish people on the planet who were followers of Jesus.

But today, some 300,000 Jews around the world are followers of Jesus. And millions of Jews are searching for the Messiah and thus reading the Hebrew prophecies, and comparing them with the writings of the New Testament, and trying to decide whether Jesus really is the Messiah we have desperately longed for over so many centuries.

Today, on Yom Kippur, you can watch short videos of Jewish people explaining how they met the Messiah.

More than 10 million people have watched these videos just in the past few months.

Remarkably, more than 900,000 Hebrew speakers have watched the Hebrew-language versions of these videos in just the past four months. Given that there are only about 7 million Hebrew speakers in the world today, this means that nearly 1 in 7 of them have recently watched videos by Israeli Jews explaining how they came to discover that Yeshua is our Messiah.

The website is www.imetmessiah.com. Please visit, watch the videos, share them with family and friends, think about them and discuss them. And then I encourage you to humbly pray to God and ask Him to show you whether Jesus — Yeshua — is, in fact, the Anointed One who came to rescue and redeem us and atone for our sins and write our names in the Book of Life.

It is my earnest hope you will discover — or rediscover — Jesus for yourself this Yom Kippur and the days that follow. I’m praying for you to find His amazing love, grace and forgiveness, and the hope and joy that only He can give us.

May the God of Israel and His Anointed One bless you and your family beyond what you can hope for, dream of, or imagine.

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE GOSPEL:

• “My Spiritual Journey” — audio and text versions of how  my parents and I became followers of Jesus the Messiah
• Would you like to know God personally? (a simple explanation of the Gospel in English)
• Read a simple explanation of the Gospel in Hebrew. …. or in Arabic. …. or in other languages.
• Watch on-line videos of Jewish people from all walks of life who came to know Jesus as Messiah. (over 10 million individuals have watched these videos so far)