00:00They're without ephod or teraphim.
00:04So what is the ephod?
00:06You've got the high priest's garment there, and on his chest you've got the ephod,
00:11by which you can discern what is called the Urim and the Thummim.
00:15According to Numbers chapter 27, it says,
00:17He, that's the high priest, he shall stand before Eleazar the priest,
00:22who shall inquire before the Lord for him by the judgment of the Urim.
00:25And at his word they shall go out, and at his word they shall come in,
00:30he and all the children of Israel with him, all the congregation.
00:34Now we're not actually sure how this worked,
00:36but there appeared to be some means by which they could discern the will of God
00:40through the breastplate on the high priest,
00:43through what is called the Urim and the Thummim,
00:45some ways of discerning God's will,
00:48which speaks to us somehow of the prophetic word of God being revealed,
00:51that God could reveal to them direction how they should live, how they should behave.
00:56Now, I say we don't know exactly how this worked,
00:59but it's applied in the scriptures there.
01:02They would discern the will of God.
01:04And it speaks to us also of the prophetic office.
01:08If you put all these things together, you've got the Messiah
01:10as the priest, the prophet, and the king,
01:13all fulfilled in Jesus the Messiah.
01:17Without him, you've got a long silence,
01:20long period of prophetic silence,
01:22in which the warnings of the prophets have been fulfilled,
01:25but no further prophetic word is given from the Lord.
01:30Apart from through Yeshua, Jesus the Messiah.
01:33They're also going to be without teraphim.
01:37There's a picture of the teraphim.
01:38They're the speaking oracles of the heathen,
01:40the idols, the household gods, which are used in paganism.
01:43And according to research,
01:47we've found out that the pagans used to try to use
01:49these household gods to discern the will of the gods,
01:53or so which way they should go.
01:56And one of the famous stories about the teraphim,
01:58you'll find in Genesis chapter 31,
02:00where Rachel stole the teraphim of Laban,
02:04the household gods,
02:06and hid her under a cell phone.
02:09She was in the way of women,
02:11which I think means she was menstruating.
02:13And said, don't look under me,
02:14because that's how it is.
02:16But that's where the teraphim were hidden
02:18when Laban came to find them.
02:20According to one rabbi,
02:22Abed Ezra,
02:23he says that Laban,
02:25she stole these things,
02:27that Laban might not be able to discover
02:29the direction of their flight
02:30by means of these oracles.
02:33Whether that's the case or not is interesting,
02:35but there is a tradition
02:36that somehow you could discern things from God
02:39through using these teraphim.
02:42And they're associated with Israel's apostasy
02:44and worship of false gods
02:45in Judges chapter 17 and 18.
02:48And Isaiah condemns Israel for using them.
02:51In Isaiah 18, he says,
02:53Isaiah 8 verse 19,
02:55when they say to you,
02:56seek those who are mediums and wizards,
02:58who whisper and mutter,
02:59should not a people seek their God,
03:01should they seek the dead on behalf of the living,
03:03to the law and to the testimony,
03:05if they do not speak according to this word,
03:06it is because there is no light in them.
03:12So,
03:12Hosea is saying that these things
03:16are going to be missing in Israel.
03:18And by and large,
03:19since the Babylonian captivity,
03:21idolatry,
03:22using these kind of household gods
03:24has not been ever part of Israelite worship.
03:27They have kept faith in one God
03:29through rabbinic Judaism.
03:31They have kept an identity separate from the Gentiles.
03:34They have kept the Torah as far as they could.
03:36They have upheld moral and family values.
03:40In many ways,
03:40a great achievement.
03:42And although I am,
03:43in some ways,
03:43being a bit critical of rabbinic Judaism,
03:45one has to say that
03:46the preservation of the Jewish people
03:47down through the ages
03:48has been because of
03:50the influence of
03:51Judaism,
03:52of the Torah,
03:53on the people
03:54keeping them together
03:55as a people.
03:57And often keeping them together
03:58under situations
03:59of intense persecution
04:00and
04:01terrible things being done,
04:05sadly,
04:05often in the name of
04:06Jesus the Messiah,
04:07who is the one they should be believing in
04:09to get the answer
04:10to all these things.
04:11But they preserved Israel
04:13and the Jewish people
04:15in very trying circumstances.
04:19And
04:19because of the false witness
04:21of the church,
04:22the majority of Jewish people
04:23are alienated from Jesus
04:24and the New Testament.
04:27And many will not read
04:28the New Testament,
04:29will not enter into a church building,
04:31nor even read one of our pamphlets
04:33as we give it to them.
04:36And that's probably the greatest tragedy
04:37in the history of the church
04:39because Yeshua
04:40is the Jewish Messiah.
04:43And he's the one
04:43to whom
04:44who came,
04:45our salvation comes from
04:46the Jewish people
04:47and we should return it to them.
04:50Instead,
04:50the church has done the opposite.
04:51But he's the one
04:53who's fulfilled
04:54and will fulfill
04:54the positive side
04:55of all these three couplets.
04:57He's the rightful kingdom,
04:59rightful king.
05:00He's the true
05:01and the final sacrifice.
05:03He's the one
05:03who mediates
05:04the new covenant
05:04and the word of God
05:05to us by the Holy Spirit.
05:07And so we should pray
05:08for Israel
05:09to be saved.
05:11He fulfills
05:12all of the positives.
05:14He's the prophet,
05:15the priest,
05:15and the king.
05:17He's the prophet
05:18like unto Moses
05:19who brings us
05:19the living word of God
05:20to direct our lives.
05:22See Deuteronomy 18
05:23and Acts chapter 3
05:25verse 18 to 26.
05:27He's our great high priest
05:29who's offered himself
05:29as his final sacrifice
05:30for sin.
05:32Hebrews chapter 9.
05:34And he's our coming king
05:35to take up his role
05:36as king of the Jews
05:37reigning from Jerusalem
05:38in the coming time
05:39of restoration
05:40of all things
05:41at his second coming.
05:43See Zechariah 14
05:44and also Revelation
05:4619 to 20.
05:48And he's the one
05:49who brings us
05:50whether we're Jewish
05:50or Gentile
05:51to the God of Abraham,
05:52Isaac and Jacob,
05:53the true God,
05:54the creator
05:54who's revealed in the Torah
05:56and in the prophets
05:57and the writings
05:58of the Tanakh
05:59and who's made manifest
06:01in the pages
06:02of the new covenant.
06:03of the new covenant.
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