I have found that often righteous actions come before spiritual awakenings. In 2000 I decided that I needed to make myself 100% Yehovah’s man. To do so I had to set myself free from the covenants that had me bound to the world. I gave up my Social Security Number, my State Driver’s License, my Concealed Weapons Permit, etc. and made myself only His man.
But that lead me to still another awakening. If I was not obligated to keep either state or federal laws, then whose laws was I to keep? My Own? NO! I had to keep only Yehovah’s laws and it was at that time that I began to learn His instructions to His people (I did not understand it was to His son, Israel, at that time) and began to keep them.
Righteous Actions Precede Spiritual Awakenings
I kept a true Passover (went kicking and screaming) BEFORE Yehovah showed me the significance of what I had done. Keeping a real Passover was very hard for me because I had all the lies about Yeshua / Jesus being the Passover lamb in my mind. Oh, how the worthless and unprofitable things we have learned keep us from the truth of Yehovah’s eternal and unchanging ways.
My revelation that the “Born Again” experience that Yeshua (Jesus) spoke of was found in the Law of Moses and/or the Prophets set me on a new course of searching, and I was not going to give up on until I had found the answer for myself. I was tired of learning the doctrines and traditions of men and I was beginning to see that Yehovah’s words, given through Moses and His prophets, were the only words that I could trust. But it was not until I committed myself to do all of Yehovah’s instructions, that the spiritual awakening came to me and I learned that I had become as one born in the land, an Ezrach man.
[Note: This is a continuation from the The Second Birth]
This reminds me of the blind man (which I was in this area at the time) who – before he could see – had to do what he was told. Had he not washed, he would not have seen. This runs contrary to what our flesh desires, it always wants to see first. For me, I am always shown more when I am obedient to what Yehovah has already taught me.
Yehovah does say that those who seek for Him in the last days, with all their heart and with all their soul, will find Him.
And Yehovah will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations where Yehovah will drive you and; there you will serve [their] elohim, and the work of men’s hands, wood and stone, which neither see nor hear nor eat nor smell. But from there you will seek Yehovah, your Elohim, and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul. (Deu 4:27-29)
Seek Yehovah, all you meek of the earth, who have upheld His justice. Seek righteousness, seek humility. It may be that you will be hidden In the day of Yehovah’s anger. (Zep 2:3)
My discovery of this second birth in Passover (Yehovah’s first feast of the year) did not come overnight. It was a subtle awareness which came through a series of clashes between the scriptures and much of my own traditional ideas and irrational logic. All of which excused and prevented me from obeying Yehovah’s instructions throughout most of my adult life.
Until we repent and get on the narrow way, which is called The Way of Life, we will never truly see the wealth of knowledge and wisdom that the scriptures have for those who will search through them as one searches for silver and fine gold.
So where does it speak of anyone actually being Born Again? It has to be in the law and the Prophets because of what Yeshua said to Nicodemus. “Are you a teacher of Israel, and do not know these things?
Oh sure, there are many places where Yehovah, speaking of these last days says,
“I will gather you [plural you] from the peoples, assemble you from the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.” And they will go there, and they will take away all its detestable things and all its abominations from there. Then I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within them, and take the stony heart out of their flesh, and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in My statutes and keep My judgments and do them; and they shall be My people, and I will be their Elohim. (Eze 11:17-20)
But these verses speak of giving them one heart and putting a new spirit in them that they may walk in My statutes. This says nothing about an individual experiencing a second birth so I kept looking.
Going Back To The Basics!
We are now going to look back in history; to the month the Israelites came out of Egypt and became Yehovah’s people. It was the first day of the aviv month, the sighting of the new moon happened the evening before. Yehovah is giving Moses and Aaron instructions for Israel (His chosen people) on how to keep the Passover. Let’s hear what he has to say.
(43) And Yehovah said to Moses and Aaron, “This is the ordinance of the Passover: No foreigner shall eat it. (44) But every man’s servant who is bought for money, when you have circumcised him, then he may eat it. (45) A sojourner and a hired servant shall not eat it.(46) In one house it shall be eaten; you shall not carry any of the flesh outside the house, nor shall you break one of its bones.
(47) All the congregation of Israel shall keep it.
(48) And when a stranger [Ger] dwells with you [the Ezrach man] and wants to keep the Passover to Yehovah, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and keep it; and he shall be as a native of the land [Ezrach]. For no uncircumcised person shall eat it. (Exo 12:43-48)
This section of scripture describes 4 kinds of people with respect to the True Nation of Israel; and also describes the process by which a man may become Born Again / as one born in the land! This process will be discussed in detail in part 4 of this series of writings .
- Foreigner (alien, Ben Nekar H5236)
- Sojourner (involved alien, Toshav H8453)
- Stranger (citizen, Ger H1616)
- Native of the land (citizen, Ezrach H249)
I like the NKJV (New King James Version) because it gives a different name for these distinctly different Hebrew masculine nouns. So let’s look at these four types of people [actually, men].
Foreigner (alien, Ben Nekar)
H5236 נכר nekar
A masculine noun meaning foreign. The word comes from a root meaning to scrutinize, perhaps drawing on the idea that people look closely at something foreign or strange. The word modifies other nouns to signify a foreigner or a foreign god. (WordStudy)
This is exactly how this word is used in verse 43 above; the man who this verse is talking about is the Ben Nekar (בן נכר ), a foreign son.
- He is a citizen of another land and kingdom
- He has no relationship with True Israel
- He does not know any of True Israel’s ways or people
And Yehovah said to Moses and Aaron, “This is the ordinance of the Passover: No foreigner [Ben Nekar] shall eat it. Exo 12:43
Sojourner (involved alien, Toshav)
H8453 תושׁב toshav
A masculine noun meaning a sojourner, a foreigner. This word implies temporary visitors who were dependent in some way on the nation in which they were residing. It denotes a foreigners who were closely linked to the economy of the people; and a wanderer with close ties to the land occupied by another people). (WordStudy)
- He has regular or semi-regular contact with True Israel
- He still maintains his citizenship in another kingdom
- He may dwell with Israel
- He does not share True Israel’s laws, values, traditions or goals
- He may be drawn to True Israel but probably considers their ways “strange” (sound familiar?)
- He may attend Sabbath meetings and even keep the Sabbath
- He may wonder why True Israel doesn’t participate in Easter and Christmas and why they keep those “Jewish” Holy Days
- He may wonder why True Israel does not take part in civil government
- Many sojourners (Toshavim) don’t want to learn True Israel’s ways because they have been told that those laws are “too hard,” or even, “unnecessary”
A sojourner [Toshav] and a hired servant shall not eat it. Exo 12:45
This is getting a bit long so the last two individuals, who together make up True Israel, we will discuss next time.
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Go to: The Ezrach Is Born At Passover