In the previous chapter and this one we are discussing end times. Eschatology is a widely argued subject that varies with each person telling it. The reason behind it is we simply do not know the final answer. Every student of the Word that studies eschatology should take into account the broad spectrum of the scriptures and make an educated guess regarding the end times. In my opinion, each of us should disregard teachings that are not soundly based upon scripture.  I bring into the picture the Jewish ideas meshed with the Christian ideas. This bases end time prophecy on biblical grounds instead of on the traditional teachings of man. There is garbage on both sides of the spectrum. In my experience, this one subject is an area where charlatans make their greatest splash. Many, many people are drawn in to study the writings of these people who sound like they have great answers to biblical prophecy. Some of them develop elaborate schematics, flowcharts and maps of the end times. This often draws a large following. The problem is that they are guessing, and often guess on scriptures drawn out of context meshed with world phenomena that seems to support their claims. In other words, simply be careful. I often avoid this subject simply because it does not edify people to grow closer to the Lord. It often builds division. Only time will tell who has the most accurate view of end time studies.

The most important thing of all is salvation, the blood of Jesus to pay the price for sin and make eternal life available to all mankind.  It is the essence of fellowship with Yeshua, through whom we have access to the Father.  Our purpose is to study, dig, and examine the Word of God (2 Tim 2:15).  Our purpose is to abide in the vine Jesus (Yeshua) (John 15:5).  Our spirits should take the attitude of humility, listening to Him as we study His word and praying for revelation as we read the word.  I believe the Bible does not contain any errors, therefore is the most valuable learning tool that we have been awarded by the Father to learn about Him and draw near to Him.

Matthew 25:1-13: Remember Context rules! Yeshua was teaching about the end times and closed the last chapter out by giving a parable that looked at a master that had went on a journey. This parable looks at the bride and the bridegroom.

The background story regarding bridegrooms is foreign to us today. At that time a bridegroom was betrothed to his bride. He would then go away and build a dwelling place for the couple. Often this was attached to his father’s house. During this time the marriage was legally binding, therefore the bride was already considered to be the husband’s wife even though the marriage was not consummated. This custom will kill a lot of the arguing over who the bride of the Messiah really is (2 Cor 11:2-3).  What we are looking at in this passage is who will be welcomed into the kingdom. All the virgins were the bride of the bridegroom. On that same note, the ones left outside will never enter into the intimate marital relationship with the Messiah.

Let’s look at the oil for a moment. We are approaching Hanukkah, which is the celebration of the miraculous oil. In a nutshell, during the restoration of the temple, they only had oil for one day. They lit the lamp out of faithfulness knowing that it took eight days to make more oil. The miracle is that the oil burnt for the entire time until a new batch was made. Jewish people understand that the oil represents the power of God and the sustenance of God. This oil represents the miraculous salvation since they were in a hopeless situation with one day’s oil. The oil of Hanukkah was oil that was designated to burn continually as a command of the scriptures (Ex 27:20).

Oil was used in several ways in the Old Testament. It was used to anoint holy places (Gen 28:18; 35:14). There was the holy anointing oil that was used to anoint the temple, utensils, and priests (Ex 30:22-33). . This oil was used in a large majority of the sacrificial settings. Later, it was used to anoint kings (1 Sam 10:1). The title “Messiah” or as is transliterated today “Christ” is actually the word which should be translated as “the anointed one”. Anointing oil symbolically covers the item or person with a holy covering. This is a basic background of understanding for oil. The oil in this passage carries a double purpose. It represents holiness and it represents practicality. The virgins used oil that was holy in purpose and practical in use.

The virgins were of two types. One type carried extra oil and the other ones did not. Proverbs speaks of this same parable when it says that the light of the righteous rejoices while the lamp of the wicked dies (Prov 13:9).  Righteousness in the New Testament understanding did not encompass the idea of a morally perfect person. It referred to a person who followed the instructions of the Bible to the best of their ability (Torah). This meant that they embraced Torah in every area of their lives and lived according to it. It is important to understand that in Proverbs the wicked also had oil, but very little supply.

The argument of who the bride is gets a little fuzzy since there were ten virgins involved. The representation here is there was some who carried righteous oil with them and some who didn’t. The spiritual implication of this is that the oil derived from righteousness was with some while the others were in short supply of righteousness. Let’s apply this concept now.

Righteousness is derived from following the instructions of scripture to regulate and guide our lives. This is called Torah in the Old Testament. Many Jewish people are Torah observant but failed to know the living Torah (Yeshua). Christian people know the living Torah but abandoned the written Torah. They claim that they are no longer under the law (Torah). Both sides are lacking. Many Jewish people do not understand or embrace full Torah and have not entered into the New Covenant (Jer 31:31-34). This Torah is written on the heart. Many Christian people have entered the New Covenant but are crippled since they do not embrace the instructions of Yeshua found in the Old Testament scriptures (John 14:15, 21; 15:10). True oil or true righteousness is a blend of the instructions of the scriptures and having the New Covenant through a relationship with Yeshua that was promised by God.

I want to clarify something here. The ten virgins represent people are believers. These virgins betrothed to the Groom. Both groups of people also went to sleep. The difference between them is the oil of the ready virgins was more in quantity than that of those who were not ready. Those who were not ready wandered off to find more oil. They missed the chance to enter the wedding feast. Who are they? We can only speculate. God knows the final answer.

What is the wedding feast? Speculation is broad. In the context of the passage, these are the ones who either enter into the Millennial kingdom or those who enter the New Heaven and New Earth. This may also be looking forward to the wedding feast that is described in Revelation 19:7-10.

The important part of the story is the call to readiness. There is a lot of debate over when the Messiah will return and what method He will use to return. What is important is what happens while we are waiting. Each believer is to draw oil from the instructions found in the Word of God. This means that we weigh each and every concept and measure it against the standard of scripture. This is the only way to keep our lights burning strong and stay empowered by the Word of God.

Consider the Sunday morning Christian, he only cracks the Bible twice each week, Sunday’s and maybe on a Wednesday Bible study, then claims to be spiritual. The same is true in Jewish and Messianic circles. There is value in going to Church and Bible Studies, at them you can be exhorted and encouraged to learn and grow to deeper levels in your walk with God.  Those who are not serious about the Lord can garner a small amount of oil for their lamps, taking just enough oil to appear to be walking with the Lord.  But the supply will not last long, it is barely enough to fill the reservoirs of their lamps.  In time it runs out, and they need to go find more, because they have not learned to dig for themselves.  Considering this, our batteries should not be running dry before Sunday’s and Wednesdays.  Our lamps should be burning bright 24/7 simply because we have the opportunity to draw near to God and to stay there.

Yeshua taught that the ten virgins waited for the groom. This was a big day. He was gone a long time. All of them became tired waiting. Half of them brought extra oil. The other half was not ready for the return of the groom. The message of this story is to stay ready. Bring extra oil and bring an expectation that the Groom, the Messiah, will return shortly.

December 2, 2018

Matthew 25:14-30 This section of scripture is almost always pulled out of context to focus upon the usage of the talents. The word for talent is transliterated from the Greek word “talenta”. It is a unit of measurement that denoted weight, not value.

“The common Attic talent was generally equal to eighty Roman pounds, but according to others it was equal to fifty–five or fifty–six pounds. The Jewish talent contained 3,000 shekels of the sanctuary (Ex. 38:25, 26), equal to 113 pounds and ten ounces.”^[1]

The actual monetary value of the talent varied depending upon which precious metal it represented. It could have been equal to several thousand dollars up to several million dollars depending upon whether it was a weight of gold or silver. The important factor here is not the actual value of the talent. If it was, Yeshua would have specified the precious metal. The important factor is that it was a very large sum of money. The money carried incredible value. This ranged at a minimum of one years wages up to twenty-three years of wages depending upon which precious metal is used.

Remember context. The context of the passage is looking at the end times. It is not a parable that looks at normal use of money. Money in this case is figurative due to the context. Also looking forward in the passage we see that the one who does not put the money to use ends up in hell (Matt 25:30, compare Matt 8:10; 22:13; Lk 13:28). If he were speaking of actual money, the penalty might have been severe, but would not have sent the person to hell.

Today’s reading is still in keeping with the theme that we have been studying up to this point.  It denotes personal responsibility for the treasures that we have been entrusted with as children of God.  A denari was figured to weigh some where between 50 to 80 pounds, it’s value was right around 6,000 denari.  One denari was equal to a days wage.  It would be similar to giving a very large sum of money to invest, 23 years of wages for one man.

The main theme of the parable is how to handle the incredible riches that the master entrusted to his servants. I believe that Yeshua was speaking of the incredible riches that are associated with the Gospel. He invested living Torah into the disciples. He expected the disciples to invest what He had taught into others. This was a manner of duplicating what was taught just as the wise servants duplicated the money that they were entrusted with.

One of the base teachings of Judaism is the Sh’ma.  It is drawn from Deuteronomy, the first Hebrew word is “Sh’ma”:

Deuteronomy 6:4–9 (NET)

⁴ Listen, Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord is one! ⁵ You must love the Lord your God with your whole mind, your whole being, and all your strength. ⁶ These words I am commanding you today must be kept in mind, ⁷ and you must teach them to your children and speak of them as you sit in your house, as you walk along the road, as you lie down, and as you get up. ⁸ You should tie them as a reminder on your forearm and fasten them as symbols on your forehead. ⁹ Inscribe them on the doorframes of your houses and gates.

The word for “Sh’ma” carries a simple command. It is not “listen” or “hear” but rather a word of action. The word means to put into action the instructions that they are given. Nike’s slogan catches the meaning best, “just do it”.  Yeshua was saying that when the servants are entrusted with the incredible riches of the Kingdom, they are to put these riches into action by investing them in the lives of others. The end result will be a multiplication of the riches in the lives of other people.

The lazy slave that does not invest the riches does not put into action the words of His master. He draws in the riches and selfishly keeps these riches buried. Doing the Word means reaching out and touching other people’s lives. The Sh’ma makes this clear. It is an aggressive teaching that presses your belief on others. According to the Sh’ma, the Jewish people were to be passionate and aggressive at both teaching their children and teaching others. There was an expectation of evangelism written into the fabric of Torah. God expected the Jewish people to reach out and teach others about Him. Discipleship was the key to the Jewish way of life (Deut 6:7).

Let’s look at the lazy slave and his demise in this parable. He buried the riches and waited for the master to return. Nothing else was done on his part. He did not put the riches into action. He was not passionate about the riches, but rather kept them hidden. In other words, he had untold riches at his fingertips and refused to utilize them.

This is a wake-up call for many believers who are pew warmers. Our call is not to attend church. Our call is to “do” church. We are to put into action the truth of the Gospel by investing in the lives of others. Yeshua’s plan was not for the incredible riches that He invested in the earth to be buried until His return. He expected His disciples to invest these riches into others and teach them to invest in others. Which is what the original twelve did, with the exception of Judas.

Judas gives us a character study to apply this parable to. He was in the inner circle. He was entrusted with unbelievable wealth of spiritual teaching. Then wasted it through suicide. Judas did not make any effort to teach others or invest in the lives of others. I believe that what motivated him to betray the Master was a selfish desire to initiate the reign of the Messiah by forcing Yeshua’s hand. We will get into this more when we look at his betrayal in the future chapter.

I wrote the following several years ago when I first commented on Matthew, it follows this line of thinking:

The person burying the talent, could have been telling the truth when he buried the money, being careful.  Or he could have been trying to protect the money in case the master did not return, then he would be able to use the money for himself, no strings attached.  It would be invisible, if he had invested it, it would have been known that he was handling another’s estate.

When you consider the statement that everyone who has more, more shall be given, and to those who have little, even that will be taken away, it causes you to think.  Those who dig into the Word will be rewarded with great returns on their spiritual investment.  Those who fail to dig into the Word will lose the little that they manage to get from sermons and from others.  When you dig into the word and apply energy to learning it, a great reward is reaped from it.  If you never put forth the energy to learn, then what you do know will be lost.  Another parable similar to this one is the sower and the seeds.

What is important to us in this parable is that when Jesus returns, there will be a settling of accounts.  Each Christian will be responsible to show what they have done with the jewels that we were entrusted with (1 Cor. 3:10-15)

December 13, 2018

Matthew 25:31-33

The judgment scene in this passage is a continuation of the parable of the ten talents. We discussed in the previous section that the focus of the parable was not on a true story. It was not a tale that was supposed to cause people to think of the marvelous benefit of good financial decisions. This parable was about God’s incredible gift of life to all men. Those who seek to follow Him and follow His instructions will increase the treasures that have been given to them, those that do not will be cast into hell. The story picks up here as Yeshua expounds upon His application of the parable.

The gathering of the people that Yeshua is speaking of here could take place at two different times in the future. It could take place prior to the millennial reign. I do not see this as a viable option since we have the assurance that only the ones that were martyred during the tribulation will be raised prior to the millennium (Rev 20:4-5).  Therefore; we are looking at a later resurrection after the thousand years. This resurrection will take place just prior to the new heaven and new earth.

This is often called the “great white throne” judgment (Rev 20:11-15). This judgment will be on all nations, all peoples, from the beginning of time. The unique thing about this judgment is that men will be judged according to their deeds. This is the place where those who do not know God will be judged according to the way that they lived their lives. Many preachers take up the mantra that “you cannot work your way to heaven”. I agree. God says that those who try to work their way to heaven will be judged by Him. Paul stated that God makes Himself known to every man in every race in the entire world. This revelation will be judged so that every man will stand before God accountable for what they did with that revelation so no man will be able to say that he was cheated (Ro 1:18-20).  Every man will be without excuse since God will judge every man according to his works. Daniel also spoke of this truth Dan 12:1-3). At the Great White Throne judgment, every man will be judged according to his works to see how well he did. It is up to God at that point to make His decision.

This is the judgment where the sheep and goats are separated. This judgment is spoken of in Daniel and in Revelation. It is where the book of life is opened, those found written in the book of life go into eternal life. To have your name written in this book removes the judgment by deeds. Yeshua expounds a little more on those chosen. These were written in the book of life because they put Torah into action.

Matthew 25:35-40

The message that Yeshua gave in these verses points to putting Torah into action. Many say that we are “under the blood” of Jesus. That our sins are forgiven and we have eternal life. This is absolutely true. However, there is a sobering addendum to this statement. Those who have come to know Yeshua as Savior will manifest this in their lives. Their works of righteousness will declare that they are a child of Yeshua. Both of works and grace work hand in hand. If a man has salvation through Yeshua, then he will display this in his life. Jeremiah makes this clear:

Jeremiah 31:31–34 (KJV)

³¹ Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: ³² Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD: ³³ But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. ³⁴ And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.

Perhaps you are saying that I am a little hard on preachers who preach “faith” alone. It is a rare occasion when a person makes an actual death bed conversion and no fruit is evident in his life. Most people display fruit when they come to know Jesus as Messiah and allow Him to take over their lives. Look at the words of Jesus (Read John 15 for context):

John 15:4–5 (NET)

⁴ Remain in me, and I will remain in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it remains in the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in me. ⁵ “I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in me—and I in him—bears much fruit, because apart from me you can accomplish nothing.

John 15:8 (NET)

⁸ My Father is honored by this, that you bear much fruit and show that you are my disciples.

Fruit is putting Torah in action. Life is found by putting Torah into action (Deut 30:19-20). Life is found in putting Torah into practice:

Deuteronomy 32:46–47 (NET)

⁴⁶ he said to them, “Keep in mind all the words I am solemnly proclaiming to you today; you must command your children to observe carefully all the words of this law. ⁴⁷ For this is no idle word for you—it is your life! By this word you will live a long time in the land you are about to cross the Jordan to possess.”

When we take part in the New Covenant that was made possible by the sacrificial blood of Jesus, we enter into this life. Entering into this life means that we enter into a new covenant where the word of God is etched on our hearts. The actions Yeshua speaks of in Mathew are evidence of Torah that has been written on our hearts. These are evidence that the life of the vine travels through our veins.

Matthew 25:44-46

The flip side to putting Torah into action is not putting Torah into action. Yeshua makes it very clear that those who do not put Torah into action do not know Him. These will be cast into hell.

I wrote the following a long time ago from a non-messianic perspective, it still stands true:

One other problem with this passage is the appearance that it is preaching works for salvation.  I would say that rather than preaching works which result in salvation, it would be better to say that salvation results in works.  Works are a natural outgrowth of a healthy Christian life that is biblically based.  For example, Jesus tells us that if we abide in Him, we will have agape love.  For those who have studied this love, it is impossible to have apart from God giving it to us.  This type of love is so far removed from the selfish human nature, that only God can give it.  The references in verses 35-40 reveal that the righteous did these actions without even realizing that they were following the will of God.  They were not aware that the actions that they were performing resulted from God’s life in them.  It was a natural outpouring of God’s nature through man.

On the other hand, in verses 41-46, these people never realized that they were not fulfilling the will of God either.  Jesus takes a hard line here, if you don’t display the life of God, is it possible that you are not God’s child.  Perhaps the idea of the righteousness of the Pharisee’s gives us a better picture.  When a person is righteous in his own eyes, but is not regenerated by the blood of Jesus, then his righteousness is phony, and not valid.  Man cannot duplicate the agape love of God toward others.  The desire of man to duplicate this love ends in selfish means, and selfish motives.  Even if he is able to overcome the selfish part, his motivation may be more centered upon his own goals, rather than upon the divine will of God.  Even if man can fake not being selfish, it will still come out in the end.

For example, a Chaplain challenged a group of Christian marines years ago to do one totally unselfish act. We took him up on the challenge, and considered it for several days, in the end we went back to our Chaplain and confessed that we were unable to accomplish the task.  Even if we could come up with an unselfish task, our motives were still selfish.  We were purposefully trying to do good will, therefore our goal was to make someone happy with us, either God, the Chaplain, or ourselves.  We would get brownie points regardless of our action.  I believe that when we stand before Jesus, our reward will certainly come from the times when we sacrificed to give to others.  But the greater reward will come for the acts where we were submissive to the will of God and acted as He directed us, without our conscious purposing to do good works.  It is a life that is sold into submission to God, completely, all the time.  I realize that this is impossible, but that is where grace comes in to play.  Back to the study.

Did you ever think of the faceless people that stand on the street corners with their hands held out?  Often we will drive by them without even giving them a second glance, they are invisible, if we ignore them perhaps they will go away.  Imagine, on judgment day when we stand before Jesus and He will bring this to our attention.  He will also bring to our attention the bumper stickers and fish that we decorate our cars with.  How that this man is starving, hoping for something to get him through and he would have been grateful for anything.  There have been many cases proven in the last few years where these people were proved to be frauds, looking for a handout, and making an exorbitant income on the side.  But, what if they aren’t?  What if that man is Jesus, or an angel, standing waiting, expecting that we will follow the tugging of the Holy Spirit on our hearts?  This is just one example, have you ever known of a hungry family, or a man who has lost his job, someone who has had family tragedy, ended up in prison, or in the hospital?  Yes, I am also guilty of failing to see the needs of those around me.

One thing that we can remember as we look upon the faceless, invisible people that pass by our way, it might be Jesus.  When the lady in the grocery store in line at the checkout ahead of you is debating what she may have to put back on the shelf, it might be Jesus.  There are so many needs today, it would be impossible to address the many variations that the needs are made evident.  When God pricks your heart, listen, if you have it in your pocket, give it, because it might be Jesus.  If your schedule permits, look to aid others who are homeless, sick or in prison.  Remember, when we are not looking at the world through Christ’s eyes, we are looking through our own.  When we are not following His will, we are following our own.

I will leave you with these verses, remember, giving is not always monetary, and sometimes it involves time, food or effort.  Giving is not limited to money, and the rewards are endless.  If you have accepted Jesus as Lord, then you have eternal life, if you haven’t, it’s time to accept Him.  Jesus preached a real hell, and a real heaven.

John 15:5 NASB

“I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me, and I in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from Me you can do nothing.

Matthew 6:2-4 NASB

“When therefore you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be honored by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. 3″But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing 4that your alms may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will repay you.

Luke 6:38 NASB

“Give, and it will be given to you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, they will pour into your lap. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return.”

Please write in with your thoughts and reactions. It will be wonderful to hear from you.

Joe Turner.

^[1] Spiros Zodhiates, The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament (Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, 2000).