New World Order...

              ...It is real.  It is YHVH's!  
                          (but not what you might think!)

The center of this stylized world map is JERUSALEM.

If you arrived at this blog post today by doing an internet word search for “new world order,” I should let you know that this blog post is most likely not what you were looking for.

Of course, I welcome you to continue reading!

I was just perusing an article in the most recent issue of the magazine Israel Today.  The title of the article is “Welcome to the ‘Zionist Games’ 2012.”  The article tells the story of authority figures in the Iranian government who have been claiming that Zionists clearly have control of the 2012 Olympic Games.

Apparently, if you use your imagination, the logo of this year’s London games, which is supposed to be a distorted rendition of “2012,” can instead be made to read “Zion.” 

 

The International Olympic Committee replied that the logo represents the year 2012 and nothing else.

And that should have been the end of that.

But after this accusation came out of Iran, the Internet went a-buzz with claims “that a Zionist controlled New World Order was using the London games as another step in its plan for world domination” (Israel Today, Aug/Sep 2012, p 3).

My purpose today is not to speak about this particular conspiracy theory regarding the New World Order, or any other conspiracy theory about the New World Order. 
Do I have my own opinions on these theories, one way or the other?  Yes, to some extent.

But my purpose is not to prove or disprove any of these theories.   
Some theories turn out to be just that - theories, and some theories turn out to be true.

I am only interested in dealing with the TRUTH in this blog post…and it may surprise you when I say that there is truth in the words of this claim about Zion and the New World Order!

Of course, I am not speaking about the particular Iranian claim about the Zionists planning for world domination!

I am speaking about a truth on a much grander scale…the Biblical truth that God’s order of things, God’s sovereign authority over all nations,  God’s eternal plan has everything to do with Zion and with His chosen people.

As always, I want to let YHVH’s Word speak for itself…so let’s first take a look at the truth of Zion according to a handful of Scriptures:

Psalm 14:7 
O that the deliverance of Israel would be given out of Zion!  When YHVH turns back the captivity of His people, let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad.  (the Messiah!)

Psalm 110:1,2 
YHVH said to my Master,  “Sit at My right hand, until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.  YHVH sends Your mighty scepter out of Zion.  Rule in the midst of Your enemies!  (the Messiah!)

Isaiah 52:5-10

“And now, what have I here,” declares YHVH, “that My people are taken away for naught?  Those who rule over them make them wail,” declares YHVH, “and My Name is despised all day continually.  Therefore My people shall know My Name, in that day, for I am the One who is speaking.  See, it is I.”  How pleasant upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who proclaims peace, who brings good news, who proclaims deliverance, who says to Zion, “Your Elohim reigns!”   
The voice of our watchmen!  They shall lift up their voices, together they shout for joy, because eye to eye they see the return of YHVH to Zion.  Break forth into joy, sing together, you waste places of Jerusalem!  For YHVH shall comfort His people, He shall redeem Jerusalem.  YHVH shall lay bare His set-apart arm in the eyes of all the nations.  And all the ends of the earth shall see the deliverance of our Elohim.   (the Messiah!)

Joel 3

For look, in those days and at that time, when I turn back the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem, then I shall gather all gentiles, and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat.  And I shall enter into judgment with them there for My people, My inheritance Israel, whom they have scattered among the gentiles, and they have divided up My land….Proclaim this among the gentiles, “Prepare for battle!  Wake up the mighty men, let all the men of battle draw near, let them come up….Hasten and come, all you gentiles, and gather together all around.   
O YHVH, let Your mighty men come down here.  Let the gentiles be aroused, and come up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat.  For there I shall sit to judge all the gentiles on every side.”… Sun and moon shall become dark, and stars shall withdraw their brightness.  And YHVH shall roar from Zion and give forth His voice from Jerusalem.  And the heavens and earth shall shake, but YHVH shall be a refuge for His people, and a stronghold  for the children of Israel.  “Then you shall know that I am YHVH your Elohim, dwelling in Zion, My set-apart mountain.  And Jerusalem shall be set-apart, and foreigners shall not pass through her again.”

Micah 4:1-7

And in the latter days it shall be that the mountain of the House of YHVH is established on top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills.  And people shall flow to it.  And many nations shall come and say, “Come, and let us go up to the mountain of YHVH, to the House of the Elohim of Jacob, and let Him teach us His ways, and let us walk in His paths.  For out of Zion comes forth the Torah, and the Word of YHVH from Jerusalem.  And He shall judge among many peoples, and reprove strong nations afar off….   
For all the peoples walk, each one in the name of his mighty one, but we walk in the Name of YHVH our Elohim forevery and ever.  “In that day,” declares YHVH, “I gather the lame, and I bring together the outcast and those whom I have afflicted.  And I shall make the lame a remnant, and the outcast a strong nation.  And YHVH shall reign over them in Mount Zion, from now on and forever.”

(see also Isaiah 2:2-4)

Romans 11:25-27

For I do not wish you to be ignorant of this secret, brothers, lest you should be wise in your own estimation, that hardening in part has come over Israel, until the completeness of the gentiles has come in.  And so all Israel shall be saved, as it has been written, “The Deliverer shall come out of Zion, and He shall turn away wickedness from Jacob, and this is My covenant with them, when I take away their sins.”   (the Messiah!)

(see Isaiah 59:20-21) 

1 Peter 2:6-8 
…it is contained in the Scripture, “See, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, chosen, precious, and he who believes on Him shall by no means be put to shame. [Isaiah 28:16]”  This preciousness, then, is for you who believe; but to those who are disobedient, “The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone, [Psalm 118:22]” and “A stone of stumbling and a rock that makes for falling, [Isaiah 8:14]” who stumble because they are disobedient to the Word, to which they also were appointed.  (the Messiah!)

And finally, a scripture that brings together the truth that YHVH is in control of this world, from beginning to end – He has a plan – it has everything to do with Zion and His people, and the nations, and the Redeemer – it will come to pass!

Isaiah 46:5-13

“To whom do you liken Me, and compare Me and make me similar, that we should be alike?....Remember this, and show yourselves men; turn it back, you transgressors.  Remember the former events of old, for I am El, and there is no one else – Elohim, and there is no one like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from of old that which has not yet been done, saying, ‘My counsel does stand, and all My delight I do,’ calling a bird of prey from the east, the man who executes My counsel, from a distant land.   
Indeed I have spoken it, I also bring it to pass.  I have planned it, I also do it.  Listen to Me, you stubborn-hearted, who are far from righteousness:  I shall bring My righteousness near, it is not far off,  and My deliverance, it is not delayed.  And I shall give deliverance in Zion, my glory to Israel.”   (the Messiah!)

And while we are in Isaiah…

(did you know that Isaiah is one of the books of the Tanakh most quoted by Yahshua?)

 Here is another place in Isaiah that demonstrates how YHVH feels about Zion and Jerusalem.

Isaiah 31:4-9

 (the beginning of the chapter speaks of YHVH’s actions against Egypt’s attacks, and the end speaks of Assyria).

For this is what YHVH has said to me, “As a lion roars, and a young lion over his prey, though a band of shepherds is called out against him, he is not afraid of their voice nor disturbed by their noise, so YHVH of hosts shall come down to fight upon Mount Zion and upon its hill.  Like hovering birds, so does YHVH protect Jerusalem – protecting and delivering, passing over and rescuing.”  Turn back to Him from whom the children of Israel have deeply fallen away. ...”and a sword not of mankind shall devour [Assyria]…and his strength pass away because of fear, and his commanders shall be afraid of the banner,” declares YHVH, whose light is in Zion and whose furnace is in Jerusalem.

I could go on quoting Scriptures that show how YHVH views Zion and Jerusalem, but I think these verses paint enough of a picture for us to continue on to the next point.

So what is the “new world” part of YHVH’s “new world order”?

It is a feat so awesome and terrifying and wonderful and mystifying.   

No human being, no human organization, no human nation, no human government, no human race can even begin to think they are capable of creating a “new world order”.  No one will ever be a match for the Creator of all, the King of the Universe, the Sovereign above all gods. 

His new world order is just that…everything new!   

New heavens and new earth…New Jerusalem for an eternal dwelling place with our Elohim!

I’m sure many of you are familiar with the scripture wherein YHVH speaks about creating new heavens and a new earth.

But do we pay close attention to the verses that come directly before it?

Let's take a look.  It is also found in Isaiah.

Isaiah 65

… "I have held out My hands all day long to a stubborn people, who walk in a way that is not good, after their own thoughts; the people who provoke Me continually to My face, who slaughter in gardens, and burn incense on altars of brick; who sit among the graves, and spend the night in secret places, who eat flesh of pigs, and the broth of unclean meat is in their pots, who say ‘Keep to yourself, do not come near me, for I am holier than you!’  These are smoke in My nostrils, a fire that burns all day.”….
“And I shall bring forth a seed from Jacob, and from Judah an heir of My mountains.  And My chosen ones shall inherit it, and My servants dwell there…for My people who have sought Me.”

“But you are those who forsake YHVH, who forget My set-apart mountain, who prepare a table for Gad [Babylonian god], and who fill a drink offering for Meni [Babylonian god].  And I shall allot you to the sword, and let you bow down to the slaughter, because I called and you did not answer, I spoke and you did not hear, and you did evil before My eyes and chose that in which I did not delight.” …”See, My servants eat, but you hunger;  see, My servants drink, but you thirst; see, My servants rejoice, but you are put to shame…for the Master YHVH shall put you to death, and call His servants by another name…the former distresses shall be forgotten…they shall be hidden from My eyes.”

[and now the oft-quoted part...]

“For look, I am creating new heavens and a new earth, and the former shall not be remembered, nor come to heart.  But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create; for look, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy.  And I shall rejoice in Jerusalem, and shall joy in My people, and let the voice of weeping no more be heard in her, nor the voice of crying.”

This leads directly into the final chapter of Isaiah which is a continuation of what will happen to those who rebel against YHVH and those who choose to follow Him.

I will let you read chapter 66 on your own.  For now I will just include a short section.

Isaiah 66:20-23

"And they shall bring all your brothers as an offering to YHVH out of all the gentiles...to My set-apart mountain Jerusalem," declares YHVH, as the children of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel into the House of YHVH....For as the new heavens and the new earth that I make stand before Me," declares YHVH, "so your seed and your name shall stand.  And it shall be that from New Moon to New Moon, and from Sabbath to Sabbath, all flesh shall come to worship before Me," declares YHVH.

What does the B'rit Chadashah (New Covenant) say about this topic?

I am sure you recall...but let's take a look anyway!

2 Peter 3:10-18

(as always, it is vital to read the whole chapter)

But the day of YHVH shall come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with intense heat, and the earth and the works that are in it shall be burned up.  Seeing all these are to be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be in the set-apart behavior and reverence, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of Elohim, through which the heavens shall be destroyed, being set on fire, and the elements melt with intense heat! 

But according to His promise we wait for a renewed heavens and renewed earth in which righteousness dwells....You then, beloved ones, being forewarned, watch, lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the delusion of the lawless, but grow in the favor and knowledge of our Master and Savior Yahshua Messiah.  To Him be the esteem both now and to a day that abides.  Amen.

Finally, what is the "order" part of YHVH's "New World Order"?

Ahhhh...this is the best part!  Rather, it's one of the many best parts!
This is the all-encompassing, omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, eternal power and glory of El Gibor, El Elyon, the I AM, the First and the Last, the Creator, the Redeemer, the only One True Living Elohim...YHVH!

Mankind thinks he/she is smart? 
Governments think they are in control? 
Nations think they can plan and rule and conquer? 
HA!  YHVH alone is in conrol!

Job 38:1-18
Then YHVH answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said, “Who is this who darkens counsel by words without knowledge?  Now gird up your loins like a man, and I ask you, and you answer Me.   Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Declare, if you have understanding.  Who set its measurements, if you know? Or who stretched the line upon it.  Upon what were its foundations sunk? Or who laid its corner-stone, when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of Elohim shouted for joy?  Or who enclosed the sea with doors, when it burst forth and came from the womb; when I made the clouds its garment, and thick darkness its swaddling band; and assigned for it My law, and set bars and doors; and said, ‘This far you have come, but no farther, and here your proud waves stop?’ 
Have you ever commanded the morning, and caused the dawn to know its place, to take hold of the ends of the earth, and the wrong be shaken out of it?  It is changed like clay under a seal, and they stand out like a garment.  And their light is withheld from the wrong, and the arm lifted up is broken. Have you come to the sources of the sea? Or have you walked about in the recesses of the deep?  Were the gates of death revealed to you? Or have you seen the gates of the shadow of death?  Have you understood the breadth of the earth? Declare, if you know it all.

Awesome!  And reading from here to the end of Job is even more awesome! 

But wait...there's more...

Isaiah 40.  This is the first of the seven "Comfort" portions from Isaiah that are read each Shabbat between now and Yom Teruah (The Day of the Shofar Blast)...one portion each Shabbat for seven weeks.  (The first portion, Isaiah 40, was read last week on Shabbat.)

Isaiah 40:8-28
 “Grass shall wither, the flower shall fade, but the Word of our Elohim stands forever.”  You who bring good news to Zion, get up into the high mountain. You who bring good news to Jerusalem, lift up your voice with strength, lift it up, be not afraid. Say to the cities of Judah, “See your Elohim!” See, the Master YHVH comes with a strong hand, and His arm rules for Him. See, His reward is with Him, and His recompense before Him. He feeds His flock like a shepherd, He gathers the lambs with His arm....Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and measured the heavens with a span, and contained the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance?  Who has meted out the Spirit of YHVH, or as His counselor taught Him?  With whom did He take counsel, and who instructed Him, and taught Him in the path of right-ruling? Who taught Him knowledge, and showed Him the way of understanding? 
See, nations are as a drop in a bucket, and are reckoned as dust on the balance. See, He lifts up isles as fine dust....All nations before Him are as a non-entity, and they are reckoned by Him as less than a speck, and emptiness.  And to whom would you liken El? And what likeness would you compare to Him? ....Did you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been declared to you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers, who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in, who brings princes to naught, shall make the rulers of the earth as emptiness.  Hardly have they been planted, hardly have they been sown, hardly has their stock taken root in the earth, when He shall blow on them and they wither, and a whirlwind take them away like stubble.  “And to whom then do you liken Me, or to whom am I compared?” says the Set-apart One.  
Lift up your eyes on high and see. Who has created these? He who is bringing out their host by number, He calls them all by name, by the greatness of His might and the strength of His power – not one is missing. Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel, “My way is hidden from YHVH, and my rights are overlooked by my Elohim”?  Did you not know? Have you not heard? The everlasting Elohim, יהוה, the Creator of the ends of the earth, neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable. 

(Of course, the rest of this chapter is well-known and much-quoted.  Isn't it great to get the whole context and see what is inextricably attached to the well-known quote!?)


And this brings us full-circle back to Zion!
  YHVH's plan, which will culminate in His New World Order, has everything to do with His Chosen People and His Chosen Land....why?  Because of His love for all nations and His desire to dwell with those who love Him and choose to obey Him through the Redemption of His Messiah!

Deuteronomy  7:6-8
"For you are a set-apart people to YHVH your Elohim.  YHVH your Elohim has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a treasured possession above all the peoples on the face of the earth.  YHVH did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more numerous than any other people, for you were the least of all peoples, but because of YHVH loving you, and because of Him guarding the oath which He swore to your fathers, YHVH has brought you out with a strong hand, and redeemed you from the...hand of Pharaoh..."

Isaiah 42:5-8
Thus said the El, YHVH, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread forth the earth and that which comes from it, who gives breath to the people on it, and spirit to those who walk on it:  “I, יהוה, have called You in righteousness, and I take hold of Your hand and guard You, and give You for a covenant to a people, for a light to the gentiles, to open blind eyes, to bring out prisoners from the prison, those who sit in darkness from the prison house. I am יהוה, that is My Name, and My esteem I do not give to another, nor My praise to idols."

Isaiah 49:3, 6-7
 And He said to Me, ‘You are My servant, O Israel, in whom I am adorned.’.... and He says, “Shall it be a small matter for You to be My Servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved ones of Israel? And I shall give You as a light to the gentiles, to be My deliverance to the ends of the earth!”  Thus said יהוה, the Redeemer of Israel, their Set-apart One, to the despised , to the loathed One of the nation, to the Servant of rulers, “Sovereigns shall see and arise, rulers also shall bow themselves, because of יהוה who is steadfast, the Set-apart One of Israel. And He has chosen You!”

(This portion of Isaiah 49 shows in such a clear way that Israel and Yahshua are bound together.  Many places in the prophetic scriptures that are clearly "Messianic", as in referring to the promised Messiah, are also talking about Israel.  Israel is fallible...Messiah is infallible.  Both are part of YHVH's ultimate plan of redemption for the nations, the gentiles.  But this is a topic for another blog post!)

I know that this post is a long one...and yet I have only scratched the surface of this very important and very broad topic! 

A true understanding of YHVH's Word and YHVH's Truth and YHVH's Kingdom and YHVH's Redemption should bring us to our knees in humble repentance and desire to seek His ways in obedience and love through Yahshua! 

May those who are living in lawlessness (apart from YHVH's way of living) and those who are deceived by the ways and plans of the world's "wisdom" and those who are trusting in man and power and wealth turn and know the truth of the emptiness and hopelessness and utter destruction of such ways.

May even those whose hearts have been hardened like Pharaoh and whose necks are stiff against YHVH come to see and know His Truth and have their hearts turned from stone into flesh by the blood of Yahshua - the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Sacrificial Lamb of YHVH! 

Let us trust in the only true New World Order...YHVH's!

Until next time, I want to leave you with a quote from the very end of the Book.

Revelation 21:1-7
And I saw a renewed heaven and a renewed earth, for the former heaven and the former earth had passed away, and the sea is no more.  And I, Yoḥanan, saw the set-apart city, renewed Jerusalem, coming down out of the heaven from Elohim, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.  And I heard a loud voice from the heaven saying, “See, the Booth of Elohim is with men, and He shall dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and Elohim Himself shall be with them and be their Elohim.  And Elohim shall wipe away every tear from their eyes, and there shall be no more death, nor mourning, nor crying. And there shall be no more pain, for the former matters have passed away."  
And He who was sitting on the throne said, “See, I make all matters new.” And He said to me, “Write, for these words are true and trustworthy.”  And He said to me, “It is done! I am the ‘Aleph’ and the ‘Tav’, the Beginning and the End. To the one who thirsts I shall give of the fountain of the water of life without payment.  The one who overcomes shall inherit all this, and I shall be his Elohim and he shall be My son."

In the faithfulness of our Aleph and Tav, Yahshua,
Gina

Psalm 80: The Shepherd and the Vine (Part 2)

"...Turn us back, O Elohim of Hosts, and cause your Face to shine, that we might be saved!..."

As we begin looking at the second part of Psalm 80, let's start where we left off in Part One - with verse 7 (see above).

This is the plea of the psalmist, the cry for mercy, for the Salvation of YHVH, for His favor upon His wayward people.  Three times Asaph the psalmist cries out for YHVH, the Shepherd of Israel, to turn His people back to Him that they might be saved.


Why should He do it?
Why should He listen?
Why should He act on behalf of this people?

Let's continue reading...


 Psalm 80 (continued) 
        
8 You brought a vine out of Egypt; You drove out the nations and planted it.
9 You cleared a place for it, and caused it to take deep root, and it filled the land.
10 Hills were covered with its shadow, and the mighty cedars with its twigs.
11 She spread her branches to the Sea, and her shoots to the River.
12 Why have You broken down her hedges, so that every passer-by plucked her fruit?
13 The boar out of the forest ravages it, and the wild beast of the field devours it.
14 Return, we beg you, O Elohim of hosts; look down from heaven, and see, and visit this vine,
15 And the stock which Your right hand has planted, and the Son whom You made strong for Yourself.
16 It is burned with fire, it is cut down; they perish at the rebuke of Your face.
17 Let Your hand be upon the One at Your right hand; upon the Son of Adam whom You made strong for Yourself,
18 And we shall not backslide from You.  Revive us, and let us call upon Your Name.
19 Turn us back, O Elohim of hosts, and cause Your face to shine, that we might be saved!


Not many weeks ago, we were observing YHVH's appointed time of Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and now we are almost at the end of counting the days for 7 weeks plus one day until Shavuot.  During these important appointed times, we have been reminded of YHVH's faithfulness to His people in bringing them miraculously out of the land of Egypt, saving His people with His own strong Right Arm of salvation (otherwise known as the Mashiach - the Messiah - the One Who Saves)!

The second part of Psalm 80 is a wonderful reminder yet again as we continue to reflect on the faithfulness of YHVH to His people.

The psalmist speaks of YHVH's faithfulness in bringing Israel out of bondage in Egypt, specifically reminding YHVH of how He brought Israel out as a vine and planted her in the land which He promised and provided - HIS Land of inheritance for HIS chosen people.

In route to the promised land, the "Vine" (Israel) stopped at Mt Sinai where she entered into a covenant with her Elohim, her Husband, in the receiving of the covenant agreement, the Torah. 
Side note:  While not specifically stated in YHVH's Word as such, Jews traditionally celebrate Shavu'ot as the day YHVH gave His people Israel the Torah on Mt Sinai, and His people said "yes"!
Israel said "We will do everything YHVH has said!"  (Exodus 19:7-8)  And thankfully, even though Israel broke her part of the covenant time and again, YHVH has been and always will be faithful to HIS covenant with His people.

Isaiah 54:5-8
 “For your Maker is your husband, יהוה of hosts is His Name, and the Set-apart One of Israel is your Redeemer. He is called the Elohim of all the earth. For יהוה has called you like a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, like a wife of youth when you were refused,” declares your Elohim.“For a little while I have forsaken you, but with great compassion I shall gather you.  In an overflow of wrath I hid My face from you for a moment, but with everlasting kindness I shall have compassion on you,” said יהוה, your Redeemer. 

Hosea 2:16-23

"And it shall be, in that day,” declares יהוה, “that you call Me ‘My Husband,’ and no longer call Me ‘My Baʽal.’  And I shall remove the names of the Baʽals from her mouth, and they shall no more be remembered by their name.  And in that day I shall make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, and with the birds of the heavens... And I shall make them lie down in safety. 

 “And I shall take you as a bride unto Me forever, and take you as a bride unto Me in righteousness, and in right-ruling, and kindness and compassion...in trustworthiness, and you shall know יהוה. 

“And it shall be in that day that I answer,” declares יהוה, “that I answer the heavens, and they answer the earth, and the earth answer the grain and the new wine and the oil, and they answer Yizreʽel.  And I shall sow her for Myself in the earth, and I shall have compassion on her who had not obtained compassion. And I shall say to those who were not My people, ‘You are My people,’ while they say, ‘My Elohim!’ ” 

We see in verses 8-11 of Psalm 80 that this Vine, Israel, flourished and grew under YHVH's care and covered the land, shadowing the hills and even the mighty cedars, spreading from sea to river.

And then we read why Asaph is crying out for YHVH to return to Israel and cause Israel to return to Him:  in verses 12, 13, and 16 Asaph reveals that YHVH has broken down Israel's hedges and allowed the beasts to plunder the land, the vineyard.  Israel was perishing at the rebuke of YHVH's face!

The obvious question is "Why?"  "Why would YHVH break down the hedges of His own wife, His own inheritance?"
And I hope that the answer is also obvious to all of us who are human beings, flawed, prone to sin, never able to uphold the covenant with our God perfectly without His help...

Israel broke the covenant.
Israel broke the relationship.
Israel turned away from her Husband, her Maker, her Redeemer.

Let's look at the situation as portrayed in Isaiah 5.


Isaiah 5:1-7

Please let me sing to the One I love, a song for my loved One regarding His vineyard: my loved One has a vineyard on a fertile hill.   And He dug it up and cleared it of stones, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a watchtower in its midst, and also made a winepress in it. And He waited for the yielding of grapes, but it yielded rotten ones. 
“And now, O inhabitant of Jerusalem and man of Judah, please judge between Me and My vineyard.  What more could have been done to My vineyard that I have not done in it? Why, when I waited for the yielding of grapes, did it yield rotten ones?  And now, please let Me inform you what I am doing to My vineyard: To take away its hedge and it shall be burned; to break down its wall and it shall be trampled down; and I lay it waste; it is not pruned or dug and thornbushes and weeds shall come up; and I command the clouds not to rain on it."
For the vineyard of יהוה of hosts is the house of Yisra’ĕl, and the man of Yehuḏah is His pleasant plant. He looked for right-ruling, but see, oppression; for righteousness, but see, weeping. 

Another interesting side note:  the Hebrew scripture includes two plays on words in Isaiah 5:7.   The Hebrew word for right-ruling or judgment is mishpat משׁפט, while the word for oppression is mispach which means slaughter/bloodshed  משׂפח.   The word for righteousness is tsedakah  צדקה, while the word for weeping (or a shriek of anarchy or covetousness) is tse'akah צעקה. 

Of course, it should come as no surprise to us when we read this story and compare it with the cry of Asaph  regarding Israel's condition in Psalm 80.

This is where we should stop and thank YHVH that this condition is NOT the end of the story between Him and His people!

This is where we should stop and thank YHVH for His faithfulness to His covenant with His people even when his people are not faithful to Him!

Even when He turns His back on His people for a short time, He is faithful to turn back to His people in everlasting compassion and redemption.  Just as Asaph cries for YHVH to return and to visit this vine that He planted and turn the vine back to Him, YHVH promises in Isaiah 54 that He will have eternal compassion and will be their Redeemer!

During my most recent trip to Israel in January and February, I was part of a group that was praying God's Word regarding His promises to His people regarding His land and His covenant of redemption.  We were traveling through many parts of Israel, praying YHVH's Word.

One thing that really caught my attention during this trip was the theme of "planted in the land."
YHVH has fulfilled and continues to fulfill His promise to plant His people in the land, never to be uprooted (Amos 9:15)!  

Methuselah:  a baby palm tree
in Israel...sprouted from a 2000
year old seed!

We saw it in the desert, blooming with life.
We saw it in the villages in Samaria, teeming with life.
We saw it in the sprouting of a seed long "dead".  (Methuselah, a baby palm tree that was sprouted from a 2,000 year old seed that was found in Masada!)

Do you know that there is only one place in all of YHVH's Word where He says He will do something with all of His heart and all of His being?
He commands His people to love Him with all our hearts and souls and beings (the Sh'ma...Deuteronomy 6:5).

What does He say HE will do with all His heart and being?

Jeremiah 32:37-41
 ‘See, I am gathering them out of all the lands where I have driven them in My displeasure, and in My wrath, and in great rage. And I shall bring them back to this place, and shall let them dwell in safety.  And they shall be My people, and I shall be their Elohim.  And I shall give them one heart and one way, to fear Me all the days, for the good of them and of their children after them.  And I shall make an everlasting covenant with them, that I do not turn back from doing good to them. And I shall put My fear in their hearts so as not to turn aside from Me. 
And I shall rejoice over them to do good to them, and shall plant them in this land in truth, with all My heart and with all My being.’ 

How exciting!

Go back and look at Asaph's cry, his plea of desperation on behalf of the people of Israel. 

And see how YHVH answers, for eternity!

But the story is not complete without seeing the VINE who came from the Vine...the Branch who sprouted from the stump of Israel...the Incorruptible Seed who is the Right Arm of Salvation of YHVH...the everlasting Covenant that YHVH has made with His people found in verse 17 of Psalm 80...the Living Word of YHVH...

Yahshua! 

YHVH is Salvation (the meaning of Yahshua's name)!

1 Peter 1:22-25

Now that you have cleansed your lives in obeying the truth through the Spirit to unfeigned brotherly love, love one another fervently with a clean heart, having been born again – not of corruptible seed, but incorruptible – through the living Word of Elohim, which remains forever, because “All flesh is as grass, and all the esteem of man as the flower of the grass. The grass withers, and its flower falls away, but the Word of Elohim remains forever.” And this is the Word, announced as Good News to you. 

Isaiah 11 (excerpts)

And a Rod shall come forth from the stump of Jesse, and a Sprout from his roots shall bear fruit.   The Spirit of יהוה shall rest upon Him – the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of יהוה, and shall make Him breathe in the fear of יהוה... And in that day there shall be a Root of Jesse, standing as a banner to the people. Unto Him the gentiles shall seek, and His rest shall be esteem.... And He shall raise a banner for the nations, and gather the outcasts of Israel, and assemble the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. 

And this leads directly into Isaiah 12...a cry of thankfulness to Yah!

 And in that day you shall say, “I thank You יהוה, though You were enraged with me, Your displeasure has turned back, and You have comforted me.  S

ee, El is my deliverance, I trust and am not afraid. For Yah, יהוה, is my strength and my song; and He has become my deliverance.” 

 And you shall draw water with joy from the fountains of deliverance. 

  And in that day you shall say, “Praise יהוה, call upon His Name; make known His deeds among the peoples, make mention that His Name is exalted.  

Sing to יהוה, For He has done excellently; this is known in all the earth.  C

ry aloud and shout, O inhabitant of Zion, for great is the Set-apart One of Israel in your midst!” 

Yahshua said about Himself:  "I am the true vine, and My Father is the gardener.... I am the vine, you are the branches. He who stays in Me, and I in him, he bears much fruit. Because without Me you are able to do naught!"  (John 15:1,5)

What is interesting to me as I continue to dig (no pun intended) further into the living soil of God's Word is how intertwined Israel and Yahshua are!

This is a topic for another blog post, but I just want to mention it here because it is so evident in Psalm 80.  

The Son in this Psalm refers to both, separately and inseparably, Yahshua the Redeemer, the Right Arm of YHVH and Israel the son, the people of YHVH.

The Vine refers to Israel the people who came from Israel the man (Jacob), the fallible, fallen, sinful, obstinate nation.  The Vine also refers to Yahshua, who came from Israel but also is the Redeemer of Israel and the Creator of Israel and Husband of Israel and Messiah of Israel, the infallible, perfect spotless lamb, King of kings, sinless offering of redemption!

But as I said, this is a topic for another blog post!

For now, let's celebrate and thank YHVH for His faithfulness and enduring compassion and love for His people, planted in His land as His beloved Vine!

Resting in the shadow of His faithfulness,

Gina