Notes About ancient Israel

Why did the angels announce Jesus birth to the shepherds ?
Why not around the temple on a feast day? Why not to Caesar Augustus in Rome?
After all, the shepherds did not look good, smell good, were the lowest class in society....
But GOD saw fit to show Himself to the humble, to his servants such as the old priest Simon and the widow Anna in the temple 8 days after Jesus birth.....
Even today, Jesus shows himself to those who earnestly seek him

1Co 1:26 For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:
1Co 1:27 But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;
1Co 1:28 And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to naught things that are:
1Co 1:29 That no flesh should glory in his presence.

How many people are members in a church or synagogue, and think that they are good to go,
Just like the Pharisees that Jesus condemned???
Those who looked down their nose at the trailer trash and ex-cons in our society ?

What were the expectations of the Jews ?
Jacob prophesied in Genesis 49:8/10 exactly where the Messiah would be born, and to the Tribe of Judah....... And even gave the generation Messiah would come...

Gen 49:10 The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.

The book of Daniel was revered across the whole Greek empire, from Athens to Persia to India.
Daniel exactly prophesied the whole history of the Greek Empire, Astounding the whole ancient world.

The prophet Daniel in Ch 9's 70 week (490 year) prophecy told the whole world exactly when and where Jesus was going to present himself as Messiah.

The 3 wise men had certainly read Daniel. They knew that the Messiah had to be born maybe 30 or 40 years before Daniel said the Messiah was going to present himself , SO unlike the Jews in Jerusalem, the wise men were watching.... When they saw THE Sign in the heavens, the Holy Spirit told them to go to Judah.

The religious elite in Judah were unbelieving, they were liberals . Herod had thrown out the Bible believers and brought in His Sadducee supporters ... So the Sadducee told the Wise Men to go away, and, BTW, stop in Bethlehem, as Micah had said:

Micah 5:2 But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.
Jesus was less than two years old at that point....
The Wise men brought Gold, a Kingly gift,which the family needed to flee into Egypt... The frankincense and Myrrh spoke of Jesus crucifiction and Embalming and burial... The family need to flee because Jeremiah 31:15 said that Herod would order the killing of all the young boys in Bethlehem.

What did the rabbis like Gamaliel say about the messiah in Jesus generation?

“Woe unto us, for the scepter has departed, and Shiloh has not come—we sit in ashes lamenting our fate... We have been abandoned by our God.”
showing that unlike the Greeks,they were oblivious to Daniels prophecy.......The liberals were running the Temple....

In their minds, the Scepter had departed when Rome sized the power of life and death from the Sanhedrin,.........This happened when Jesus was a boy...
So the prophecy Had been fulfilled, Messiah was walking among them.
And they were clueless about it...

Factions in Judah
Like was said by a Jewish leader in 1948,“we could have a nice little war here without any Arabs”
three main factions:
the Liberal Sadducee who ran the temple and the Pharisees who looked good, smelled good and looked down their noses at everyone else as being “unclean”..
The Revolutionaries, the Zealots who wanted to throw out the Romans and bring in good secular govt. (run by themselves of course)
The Collaborators with Rome ... The Jewish Hellenists who worshiped the Roman Peace, wanted 'Peace and safety” … they were humanists just like today...
as Solomon said, there is nothing new under the sun...

When they finally did revolt from Rome in 66AD it was a chaotic mess.
See Josephus “Wars of the Jews” its free online......


When John the Baptist came along
All the right people in Jerusalem asked, why is he baptizing and in the Jordan river of all places... people snickered, shook their heads.... after all, baptizing or ritual cleansing was a very Hebrew thing... Jews did it every holy day and before entering the temple...
The religious elite sent a delegation out there anyway, and John was very rude to them... how dare John talk like that to his betters?
Later along, we find out that John came in the spirit and power of Elijah, fulfilling the old testament prophecy mentioned in:
Luke_1:17 And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.

When Jesus came along
Factions everywhere, despising each other, all vieing for power, position,
with the Romans caught in the middle, like our troops in Iraq, Afghanistan.
All agreed however, that only the right, , politically correct person could be the leader or even the Messiah.... whoever or whatever a messiah was... every faction had their own idea about who the Messiah was supposed to be.

Scripture pictures two messiahs, a suffering servant and a mighty king..
The faithful remnant saw the coming Messiah afar off like you will see far away mountains.
What they could not see was that there are large long valleys between those mountains..... one particular valley of 2000 years....
Guess which Messiah the Jews of Jesus day wanted? They didn’t think they needed the messiah depicted in Isaiah 53, dieing for their sins.... they went to temple,did the Law of Moses thing, well, kinda sort of anyway,,, associating with all the right people... tithing, sacrificing then going right back to their worldly ways... and somehow thinking they were good....

not a clue that blood sacrifices were only good to cover excuse their sins if there was also repentance..... a repentance that changed their lifestyle, a repentance that brought them into a close walk with GOD....

As in today, the vast majority just went through the motions of having a religion, they just did not get it....

So,Where did Jesus come from? Only his family and a few neighbors knew Jesus was born in Bethlehem fulfilling Micah's prophecy …. and after all Jesus only lived there for a year or so... He grew up in Nazareth...
Even though he supposedly was a son of Joseph and of David the King,“everyone just knew” that Jesus was illegitimate, that Mary was a harlot who had gotten pregnant before her marriage to Joseph...... so the whispers were very loud against Him in that small town...
They forgot the scripture which said:
Isa 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. (which means “GOD with us”)
He had to be both Immanuel and Jesus / Joshua which means “God saves”
It is said in isaiah:
Isa_53:3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
So when Jesus started preaching and doing miracles, people in his home town rejected him...
Mat 13:54 And when he was come into his own country, he taught them in their synagogue, insomuch that they were astonished, and said, Whence hath this man this wisdom, and these mighty works?
Mat 13:55 Is not this the carpenter's son? is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas?
Mat 13:56 And his sisters, are they not all with us? Whence then hath this man all these things?
Mat 13:57 And they were offended in him. But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honor, save in his own country, and in his own house.
Mat 13:58 And he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief.

Every established Rabbi had apprentices or deciples..... Rabbis would quote their rabbi as their authority such as Paul said that he was a disciple of the renown Gamilael....

so when Jesus started calling fisherman and tax collectors to be his disciples, the community was in disbelief.... and all the right people mocked Him....
Some said “Search the scriptures, that no prophet comes out of the Galilee “..
I'm sure others said: said 'Half naked fisherman, tax collectors follow him.... the no-bodies of society mingled with the unclean …..”

Is it any surprise then that He was despised and rejected ?
Except for the ordinary people who followed Him to be healed or on a couple occasions to be fed....

Everywhere Jesus went He preached kindness, humility, righteousness,
and He vigorous taught against pride and haughty religiousness....
Jesus taught;
Mat_5:3 Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Mat_5:5 Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
Mat_5:7 Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
Mat_5:8 Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
Mat_5:9 Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
And so much more........
Jesus taught in parables or stories,IMHO, so that only those truly searching would understand ….
Rich Young Ruler
there so many good people like the “Rich young ruler” that I write about in my book who came to Jesus and said:
Mat 19:16 And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?
Mat 19:17 And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.
Mat 19:18 He (the rich young ruler) saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness,
Mat 19:19 Honor thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.
Mat 19:20 The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet?
Mat 19:21 Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.
Mat 19:22 But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions.
The “Rich young ruler” did not understand that its not what we try to do that forgives our sin, but faith in Jesus who paid the price in His blood for our sin.

It has been well said that religion is man searching vainly and futilely for GOD, while Christianity is GOD searching for people who will trust in Him....

Just like the prophet Elijah when he was searching for GOD, he could not hear GOD :
1Kings 19:11 And GOD said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the LORD. And, behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the LORD was not in the earthquake:
1Ki 19:12 And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.

The faithful listen for GODs still small voice....

Finally, the thread of blood
GOD slew animals, shed their blood to cover Adam' and Eves sin.
Abel came with a blood sacrifice and was accepted by GOD, Cain came without blood and was rejected by GOD
The Fathers one by one came to GOD with blood, Abraham offering Issac until stopped by GOD.
In Egypt, GOD instructed the Hebrews to paint the blood on the door posts of their homes so the death angel would pass over.
When the Hebrews took Jericho, the spies told Rehab the harlot who had sheltered them to hang a scarlet cord from her window, and so her family was spared and she became the great great grandmother of King David.
Year by year blood was offered in the temple to cover the peoples sin, with only the righteous few understanding their salvation by looking forward to the suffering Messiah who would once and for all pay the price for their sin on the cross...
Read ALL of Isaiah 53 for the picture of Jesus on the cross paying the price for our sins.

Zechariah
The Messiah coming as the mighty King:
Isaiah 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
Isa 9:7 Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.

Zec 14:3 Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle.
Zec 14:4 And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east,...................................
Whose feet? Who is coming?
Zec 14:5 And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the LORD my God shall come, and all the saints with thee.
Zec 14:8 And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be.
Zec 14:9 And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one. Israel,Do you remember the Shema ?

Deut 6:4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD is our God the LORD alone
(the Tenakh)

And what of the nation Israel?
Zec 13:8 And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the LORD, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein.
Zec 13:9 And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God.

Zec 12:10 And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.
Zec 12:11 In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon.
Zec 12:12 And the land shall mourn, ….......every house in Israel
Zec 13:6 And one shall say unto him, What are these wounds in thine hands? Then he shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.

Job 19:25 For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth:
Job 19:26 And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God:
Job 19:27 Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me.

We know that Messiah, Jesus lives and He is coming very soon,,,
what is your relationship with GOD/ Are you ready for Him to come?