Tag Archives: suffering

Reversals

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When Yeshua went to the cross, it seemed like total defeat.  His own chosen people whom for centuries He had loved and prepared to receive Him as Messiah rejected Him (Luke 23:18-25). He came to share Good News, the best news with them.  He fed them, taught them, healed them, freed them from demonic oppression, comforted them, yet they rejected Him.  He was betrayed by one of His own followers, one in a group that He had held especially close and dear (Luke 22:47-48). The rest of that special little group was scattered after His arrest, one denying that He even knew Him (Matt 26:69-75). His so-called trial was a sham.  Those conducting it broke just about every one of their rules for conducting a trial.  He was cruelly beaten and whipped, crucified, mocked, and humiliated in every way by the very people He came to save.  At the end, it seemed that even His Father had abandoned Him (Ps. 22:1).  At any time, did He ever wonder what was the point?  Why had He gone to the trouble of becoming one of us, to suffer with us and to serve us, when we were already His enemies and there seemed little likelihood of anyone being willing to commit themselves to faithfully following Him?  Yet, despite the discouragement and pain that He suffered, He continued with His mission and poured Himself out as the perfect sacrifice that would pay our otherwise impossible debt and cleanse us from unrighteousness.  In the end, His broken body was taken down and placed in a burial cave. Everything seemed hopeless.

After three days and three nights in the grave, a remarkable thing happened:  Yeshua was resurrected!  His body was no longer broken, but was whole and now immortal.  Death had not defeated Him, rather He had defeated death! His humiliation was now His glory (Phil 2:8-11).  His brokenness was now impenetrable wholeness. Now, instead of rejection, countless people have clamored for Him through the centuries and still do today!  Many people have willingly suffered much and have even been martyred rather than be separated from Yeshua.  In fact, today there are people in over 150 countries who are suffering much persecution because they refuse to abandon Yeshua. His supposed defeat is now revealed as the greatest victory ever.

Even though Yeshua’s death seemed an indication of failure and defeat, it was really the greatest triumph of all time.  What does that mean for us?  Our sins can be forgiven when we sincerely desire it, our debt paid in full, and we are rescued from the clutches of our enemies.  Our greatest defeat may turn out to be our greatest triumph.  When we have loved and served Yeshua only to be disregarded or even shunned by others, we find that we are valued and highly esteemed by the only One whose opinion truly matters.  When we are betrayed by the very ones on earth who should love and support us, we are loved, cherished, nurtured and protected by Yehovah who created us.  We may do all that we can to advance the Kingdom of Yehovah on earth and it may seem that all our efforts have been futile, but perhaps we are not yet able to see the whole picture. Maybe our efforts will bear good fruit even after we are gone.  Just like Yeshua our mortal bodies will also be replaced with immortal bodies at our resurrection (1 Cor. 15:53). Our so-called defeat will become our victory!

Yeshua sits at the right hand of Yehovah in glory and splendor (Rom 8:34; Mark 16:19).  If we remain faithful to Yehovah, we have a place with Yeshua in His glory (Eph 2:6). Yeshua became like us so that we could become like Him. Through our suffering, we are tried and tested and prepared to be effective citizens in the Kingdom of Yehovah. Right now in this world there is ever-increasing darkness and evil. Yeshua warned us that there would be tribulation, but that we should be encouraged because He has overcome the world (John 16:33). Sha’ul (Paul) tells us that our present suffering is not worth comparing to the glory that will be revealed to us later (Rom 8:18). With the help of the Holy Spirit, we can endure to the end, just as Yeshua did. There is hope for us, even in our darkest hours.

Who Is Yeshua?

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Yeshua is everything to us:  our salvation, our hope, our future, to name a few. It is important to get to know Him as well as possible.  We can do this by interacting with Him and also by reading the Bible.  It is the word of Yehovah and Yeshua is the living Word of Yehovah.  This series, entitled “Who Is Yeshua?” will consist of twenty-one articles. Each article will explore a different section of the Bible to discover different titles and roles of Yeshua and our response to each role. In the fifth article in the series, Yeshua is the Faithful One.

To better understand Yeshua, we must correctly understand Job.  There has been much speculation over what Job did wrong to deserve to lose everything.  After all, he must have done something wrong or Yehovah would not have allowed such losses and horrors in his life.  It reminds me of the gospel story of the man born blind.  The story is recorded in Matthew 9, Mark 8 and John 9.  Jesus saw a man who had been blind since birth. His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus replied: Neither this man nor his parents sinned … but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him (John 9:1-5) 

Let us look closely at the story of Job.  There once was a man named Job who lived in the land of Uz. He was blameless—a man of complete integrity. He feared God and stayed away from evil (Job 1:1).  There is nothing in this passage that would indicate that Job had sinned; in fact, it is quite the opposite.

One day the members of the heavenly court came to present themselves before the Lord, and the Accuser, Satan came with them. “Where have you come from?” the Lord asked Satan. Satan answered the Lord, “I have been patrolling the earth, watching everything that’s going on.” Then the Lord asked Satan, “Have you noticed my servant Job? He is the finest man in all the earth. He is blameless—a man of complete integrity. He fears God and stays away from evil.” (Job 1:6-8) Yehovah’s own words confirm that Job had not committed any serious sin; in fact, Yehovah describes him as “blameless”. 

If Job did not sin, then why did Yehovah allow these atrocities to happen to him? Let us read further in chapter one of Job’s story.  Satan replied to the Lord, “Yes, but Job has good reason to fear God. You have always put a wall of protection around him and his home and his property. You have made him prosper in everything he does. Look how rich he is!  But reach out and take away everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face!”  (Job 1:9-11)

The Accuser claimed that Job was only faithful to Yehovah because Yehovah made him prosper in everything.  Yehovah then responds by allowing the Accuser to test him by taking away all his possessions and even his children.  What was Job’s response to learning that he had lost everything?  He said, “I came naked from my mother’s womb, and I will be naked when I leave.  The Lord gave me what I had, and the Lord has taken it away. Praise the name of the Lord!” In all of this, Job did not sin by blaming God (Job 1:1-22).

Later, Job was struck with boils from head to toe because the Accuser claimed that loss of health would cause Job to curse Yehovah.  At this point, even Job’s wife urged him to curse Yehovah (Job 2:9), but Job refused. 

So, what’s the purpose of the story of Job?  It’s the same purpose as the story of the man born blind:  to glorify Yehovah.  Why did Yeshua suffer loss, humiliation, cursing and death?  So that His Father would be glorified.  When Jesus had spoken these things, He lifted up His eyes to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son may glorify You. For You granted Him authority over all people, so that He may give eternal life to all those You have given Him.…” (John 17:1-2). Yeshua was smitten so that Yehovah would be glorified and His plan to establish His kingdom on earth would be fulfilled. 

In the end, Yehovah restored and even doubled all that Job had lost.  Through Yeshua’s suffering and resurrection, Yehovah is not only glorified but has restored all that we lost through sin.  Not only have we regained what we lost, but Yehovah now offers us much more in His kingdom.  He makes us His sons and daughters. 

Job was severely tested and remained faithful to Yehovah.  Yeshua was severely tested and remained faithful to His Father.  Many of our brothers and sisters in Yeshua are suffering loss of family, home, income, health, freedom and even life.  They are being tested and I pray that they will all have the strength and trust to remain faithful.  Our time will come, too, or for some of us, it may already have arrived.  Will we remain faithful to Yehovah no matter what the cost to us?  And everyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or property, for my sake, will receive a hundred times as much in return and will inherit eternal life (Matt 19:29).

This is an excellent time to ask forgiveness for your sins and invite Yeshua (Jesus) to be Lord of your life.  When we commit sin, we incur a debt that none of us can ever pay on our own.  It cannot be paid with earthly currency or even with great sacrifice on our part.  This debt can only be paid for by the blood of Yeshua which has already been shed for us. This is the greatest gift to ever be offered.  Don’t miss out.  After you have accepted Yeshua as your Lord and Savior, ask for baptism in the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit will be your constant companion and Counselor and will equip you for Kingdom living. 

Call to Action

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not everyoneOur role as followers of Yeshua is to be an active role. Even the Hebrew language is an active language with the emphasis on verbs rather than nouns.  Yeshua modeled the type of action He expects to see from each of us.  He taught, healed, encouraged, fed the hungry, and admonished wayward leaders, even at the cost of His life.

Many disciples of Yeshua in our culture have devoted themselves almost exclusively to improving themselves and studying Scripture. These things are undoubtedly important, but there must be a healthy balance between improving self and helping others. We are required to meditate on and study Scripture, but it is useless if we do not also live it (James 1:22).

In His Sermon on the Mount, Yeshua describes those who will be welcomed into His Kingdom.

“Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’…   (Matt 25:34-36)

No mention is made in this passage concerning how well we know the Bible, although in other passages Scripture makes it clear that this is important ( Josh 1:8; 2 Tim 2:15, 3:16-17). In the past, I have been complacent with acquiring and storing knowledge of Scripture, but did not always put it into practice. It was only after I heard a missionary point out that Americans are great at acquiring knowledge, but we are deficient in actively building up the kingdom of YHVH, that I woke up. As I heard of new converts to Yeshua, with barely the rudiments of the Gospel, preaching, teaching and working miracles with the power of the Holy Spirit, I was truly convicted. They were doing so much with so little.

Secular news reports rarely discuss persecution and oppression of Yeshua’s followers, so pro-active research on our part is needed. Some of the things I have discovered: many of our brothers and sisters all over the globe are being persecuted for their faith, yet preach the gospel despite daily risk of imprisonment or death.  Political and/or religious leaders in numerous countries, seek to control all religious thought and activity and to eradicate any group that does not conform. North Korea is just one example.   In Iraq, Islamic extremists are beheading Christians. One tactic is to invade each home and demand that the children renounce Yeshua and embrace Allah. The children thus far have refused to give up Yeshua and were consequently beheaded in front of their parents. Leaders in India are routinely and consistently adding restrictions to hinder the spread of Christianity. Radical groups’ violence goes unchecked and police often “fail” to find sufficient evidence against the perpetrators. Christian refugees from Syria are being attacked by Muslims in some of the countries where they have sought refuge. The men are beaten and their wives and children are being raped and sodomized.   We must do more than shake our heads. Love is an action, not a feeling.

Martin Luther King, Jr. correctly stated that “It may well be that we will have to repent in this generation. Not merely for the vitriolic words and the violent actions of the bad people, but for the appalling silence and indifference of the good people who sit around and say, “Wait on time.” (Martin Luther King Jr., A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches)

Rather than randomly search out a worthy cause and plunge in, ask YHVH to direct you to the job He has appointed for you. There is much work to be done and windows of opportunity are closing rapidly. YHVH is still in control and is orchestrating His plan, so the best use of our time and effort is to yield ourselves to His assignment for us. Let us not be the generation who has to repent for keeping silent and doing nothing. Let us be the generation that accomplishes His will and is rewarded. Let us be the generation that is known by our love for one another, whatever the cost

“Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?
I will show you what he is like who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice.  He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built.  But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete.” (Luke 6:46-69)