Forward Facing without Fear

Disclaimer: “ 10. Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. 11. Behold, all they that were incensed against thee shall be ashamed and confounded: they shall be as nothing; and they that strive with thee shall perish. 12. Thou shalt seek them, and shalt not find them, even them that contended with thee: they that war against thee shall be as nothing, and as a thing of nought. 13. For I the LORD thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee. 14. Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men of Israel; I will help thee, saith the LORD, and thy redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.”

Isaiah 41:10 KJV

YHWH the Great

Greetings, my loves! Matthew 5:6. Now, let’s begin. Like so many believers, I genuinely delight in talking about Yeshua, the one sent to seek and to save that which were lost, as he tells us in Luke 19:10. But, who might you ask are the aforementioned lost that Jesus came to seek and to save? Jesus also tells us that as well, “ But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel,” Matthew 15:24. (New Testament)

But in this article, I would like to focus not primarily on the son of man that was sent, but on the great one who sent him, to begin with. He is known in the Holy scriptures by a few titles, one of which is God the Father; his name is YHWH, commonly pronounced Yahweh. 

Yahweh, the merciful, the wrathful, the way maker, the sovereign ruler whose will remains supreme overall, Proverbs 21:1.

How Masterful is Our God

As more of God’s chosen ethnic people are awakening to who they are by God the father's design, I implore you not to boast about your divinely bestowed identity but also not to be ashamed of who you are in God’s omnipotent choice in election either. 

We are by nationality Israelites, a word actually found in the Holy Scriptures! Do not shy away from that, especially if you are coming out of former religions infected with doctrinal falsities, most also titled with names not found anywhere in the Bible.

Your name wasn’t made up out of thin air but given to you by our heavenly father, “ And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a governor, that shall rule my people Israel.” Matthew 2:6.

A name change our forefather Jacob was blessed with after a divine wrestling match, Genesis 32:22-30. Israel, a name that pervades our biblical accounts of history, the present time, and the future.

But why does that matter?

Among the many reasons I could list, I will focus on just a few for now. The first being, and in no particular order, that when the trumpet sounds and our Master returns, I assure you it will matter to you then.

Furthermore, in Revelation 21:12, John details seeing twelve gates, and at those gates, there were twelve angels and names written on those twelve gates. And what names did John see on those twelve gates accompanied by twelve angels, you may ask? (especially if you didn’t read the scripture yourself, which you should have, another article for another time, God willing) . The names on those twelve gates are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel.

Will it matter then when it’s time to enter in? Because there is no name over any gate named after the fable known as Spiritual Israel, a term also not found in the bible. 

Twelve gates, twelve tribes of Israel. We Israelites will be gathered from the four corners of the earth from the nations, Isaiah 11:12, Isaiah 27:6; this is also mentioned further down in the same chapter of Revelation 21. 

Because we need to be on guard. Ecclesiasticus 12:10*. All throughout the Bible, when an angel appears, you would hear, “Do not be afraid,” and yet ironically, the devil strolled up to Eve in the garden of Eden with no such pronouncements; they commenced talking cordially like acquaintances who bumped into each other at the grocery store. 

She didn’t seem to be afraid at all! Deceptive as satan was and still is, if we're honest, he was clearly affable, unassuming, reassuring, and polite. The devil is crafty, cunning, and shrewd, but he is venomous and deadly, 1 Peter 5:8.

It’s no wonder Ecclesiasticus 6:13* tells us to separate from our enemies. If you don’t know or even care about who you are, you are less likely to be aware of wolves in sheep's clothing. Hosea 4:6 and Revelation 3:16. We often forget warriors that we are at spiritual war.  

Lastly, for now, All glory be to God; we must repent and return, but repent of what?  We repent of our sins. But…what is sin? 1 John 3:4 and Romans 14:23. Law and faith. We are to be keeping the commandments of God because it is what he gave to His people to follow, and it is also how we love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, and mind, 1 John 5:3 ( New Testament).

 In terms of salvation, Israelites, we are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, Ephesians 2:8-9.

So in summation of the thought, we repent of transgressing the law and not living in faith, and then we what?… return.  But return how….by now living on grace? Let's see what the Holy Scriptures say on that, " What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? 2. God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?" Romans 6:1-2.

God forbid. I guess if you can’t keep all the law, you might as well not even try and just live off grace. God forbid.

What is the effect or meaning of the repentance if you literally go back to doing the same thing you had to repent for in the first place?

Now that that's settled. Israelite believers, those gates our brother John detailed, all glory be to God, are for you! Isn’t our father so good to us? I will allow a moment for your praise and worship of Him, I am sure, then we will continue on.

Sodom and Gomorrah vs Nineveh

There are similarities between Sodom and Gomorrah and Nineveh, as well as stark differences. Unlike Sodom and Gomorrah, God spared Nineveh from immediate destruction after being preached to by a reluctant Jonah if they repented, changed their evil ways, and turned from their violent tendencies. 

We see here that there are concessions made for non-Israelites who commit their life to live as righteously according to the Word of God as one can without the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Jonah 3:4-10.

Jonah didn’t want to go; he despised the Ninevites because of the ill-treatment our Israelite brothers and sisters faced at their hands. He didn't want a reprieve from the mighty hand of God for our enemies who had been tormenting our Israelite brothers and sisters mercilessly.  So he tried to evade God’s directive for him to go to the people of Nineveh and preach to them, to give them the warning to repent.

But beloved, look at the change that came about from these wicked lovers of violence when they were preached to the oracles of God and the acceptable ways pleasing to Him and to repent of their evil ways; they repented, and not only them, so did their king!

God blessed the Ninevites by sparing their lives, but most importantly of all, our God was glorified.

We should, as I have mentioned in other articles, lead by example in our walks, in our teaching, and in our interactions with other nations so that our God is praised and glorified. After all, he tells us in His Word, let everything that has breath praise the Lord, Psalm 150:6.

Vengeance is the Lord’s, Brother Jonah

When you think beloved of all the degradation our people have been through because of our disobedience to God, our rejection of his Covenant, and our outright rebellion, you have to wonder if He would do that to us, His own chosen race; what is He likely to do to those other nations committed to living in unrighteousness, those that are not His, and those that have dealt treacherously with His own, slavery condoned or not. Let’s see…

 Exodus 14:29-30, “29. But the children of Israel walked upon dry land in the midst of the sea; and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left. 30. Thus the LORD saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the sea shore. 31. And Israel saw that great work which the LORD did upon the Egyptians: and the people feared the LORD, and believed the LORD, and his servant Moses.”

Please note, beloved, it was our God who actually hardened Pharaoh's heart from letting us go on numerous occasions! Exodus 10:1, v20, v27, and more. Our God wanted to wreak havoc on these wicked people, Exodus 11:6-10! Go ahead and reread verse 7. 

And although God spared Nineveh, eventually, they relented from God’s compassion and returned to their wicked ways. Thus, Nineveh was, later destroyed, according to Nahum 1:1-3*, “1.The burden of Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite. 2. God is jealous, and the LORD revengeth; the LORD revengeth, and is furious; the LORD will take vengeance on his adversaries, and he reserveth wrath for his enemies. 3. The LORD is slow to anger, and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked: the LORD hath his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet.”

I find it also important to note that God dealt with these people as nations and not just as individuals.

God follows through, don’t worry, loves.

I have to say personally; sometimes I feel like Martha, serving Jesus dutifully, at times like Mary basking in His presence, and other times like prophets called by God, namely Matthew 5:11-12, but sadly, sometimes I have to pray because I can very much relate to Jonah. 

It’s our fleshly nature that we war with, that we have to heed the holy spirit to take every thought captive—focusing less on our offenses and more on God’s perfect control of all things. Allowing God to be God, Romans 12:19, and trusting that he will do what he has said he will do.

When you trust God will do what he says he will do, you will heed the instruction to live peaceably with all men, Romans 12:18. This is God’s will.

When you trust that God will do what he says he will do, Isaiah 26: 3-5, you will alleviate much of the anxiety and resentment you feel towards those of our enemies who have wronged you, thus making way for you to experience fully the peace and joy that God intended to permeate through your righteousness bought by Jesus Christ, the son whom he sent for His glory and your eternal good. All praise to the most High.

His peace in His spirit he leaves to you, worry less about the manna and more on the bread of life, Jesus, that makes you rich beyond all measure, Revelation 2:9. He is yours, and you are his.

The freedom you will experience in the Lord when you bless those that curse you, pray for them which despitefully use you. This may not always be your fleshly desire, but remember the example of our Lord, when he himself said not my will but thine be done before he headed for the cross for your transgressions, in submission to the will of our father. We, too, serve at the command of the father, just like Jesus.

We are God’s children. We act accordingly; we are holy as he is holy. There are many scriptures that can mark our lives as believers; of them is Luke 6:35 and Mark 12:31.

But does God really follow through for his people?

Let’s dive in, shall we, Romans 11: 26-27, "And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: 27. For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins." All glory be to God in the highest.

A covenant is a promise. And this is a promise made by Yahweh, THE promise keeper. Rest assured, loves, it WILL be kept. 

Do not be afraid, believer, but on the contrary, yield to the Holy Spirit's guidance in your life, seek His face and His Word, where you are now in your awakening journey, all glory be to God, our brothers and sisters have been precisely there before as well, Zechariah 10:9.

I Pray that the Lord continues to guide you and strengthen you and His chosen nation Israel, for the Holy scriptures say he who will endure to the end the same shall be saved. We may be walking on dry land now, Israelite believers, awaiting our promised deliverer's return, but by our waymakers’ gracious design, one day, we will be walking on streets, paved with pure gold. Revelation 21:21. Hallelujah! Love you. His Glory.

* Canon or not, still profitable for training in righteousness. Furthermore, I would take this over the words of any popular, published theologian whose commentary some of us hold as gospel, and disappointingly even some secular authors.