Dear Family in the Messiah Yeshua! Greetings and blessings to you from your brothers and sisters at “Holy Land Ministries”, Israel!
Israel is in the middle of Pesach preparations…This year the beginning of Pesach, the14th of Jewish month of Nisan, falls on sundown Wednesday April the 5th and ends on sundown of Wednesday the 12 of April in Israel (on sundown of Thursday, April the13th abroad), according to the Gregorian calendar.
Cleaning is an essential part of the Pesach preparations.
So people are earnestly cleaning their homes, yards, cars etc, often trying to bring more order and peace in their busy stressful lives…
Though the physical cleaning is a useful blessed practice, absolutely required in our lives, all of us realize that only in combination with the serious inner cleansing will this occupation give us a true joy and Shalom, so desired by our souls. As Yeshua’s disciples we truly know, – no one, but Yeshua Himself, our Blessed King and Savior, can give this to us.
“Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Yeshua HaMashiach” (Jesus Christ) our Lord! Romans 7:24b-25a
” Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Messiah, our Passover, was sacrificed for us”. 1 Cor. 5:7
What a comfort and joy to know this!
As we reflect on Pesach’s greatest significance and the meaning of its many aspects, we, as usual, would like to share with you the teaching of our local rabbi, who is also our dear friend and brother in the Messiah Yeshua,
בס״ד
פסח תשפ״ג
Passover 5783
“Who Killed the Messiah?”
The question “Who Killed the Messiah?” has been a basis for antisemitism and a great deal of poor theology. Some within Reformed theology believe that it was Satan who crucified Yeshua. For example, Mark Driscoll in his article “How did Jesus Defeat Satan and Demons on the Cross?” wrote the following–
“Through the cross, Satan and his demons thought that they had finally defeated Jesus. However, crucifying Jesus was the biggest mistake the Devil ever made. Had he understood what was happening, he would never have killed Jesus.”
Similarly, James M. Rochford wrote in his article, “Why Did Satan Crucify Jesus?”,
“Those in the reformed tradition often argue that Satan crucified Jesus, because God is sovereign and made him do it (Acts 2:23)”.
An equally poor theological position is stated by those who believe that the Cross was a type of ransom that G-d paid to Satan. What is consistent about these problematic and untrue statements is that they give way too much power to Satan. Although it was Satan who deceived the woman and brought sin into the world, Satan does not challenge G-d and he is no match for Him. Humanity struggles greatly with Satan and he is certainly much more powerful than us in our natural condition, but in no way should one think that G-d must strive against the Devil. G-d is sovereign and only has to say the word and Satan would be destroyed. The passage which people frequently look to regarding this subject is Colossians 2:13-15.
καὶ ὑμᾶς νεκροὺς ὄντας [ἐν] τοῖς παραπτώμασιν καὶ τῇ ἀκροβυστίᾳ τῆς σαρκὸς ὑμῶν, συνεζωοποίησεν ὑμᾶς σὺν αὐτῷ, χαρισάμενος ἡμῖν πάντα τὰ παραπτώματα,
ἐξαλείψας τὸ καθ’ ἡμῶν χειρόγραφον τοῖς δόγμασιν ὃ ἦν ὑπεναντίον ἡμῖν, καὶ αὐτὸ ἦρκεν ἐκ τοῦ μέσου προσηλώσας αὐτὸ τῷ σταυρῷ:
ἀπεκδυσάμενος τὰς ἀρχὰς καὶ τὰς ἐξουσίας ἐδειγμάτισεν ἐν παρρησίᾳ, θριαμβεύσας αὐτοὺς ἐν αὐτῷ.
“And you being dead in the transgressions and with the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us (of) all the transgressions; having blotted out the handwriting against us in the decrees which was adverse to us, and it was lifted from the midst, being nailed to the cross, (He) cast aside the rulers and the authorities, He made a public example, having triumphed over them in it (the Cross).”
In this article concerning Passover, it is important for one to be reminded that Yeshua went to the Cross on Passover! Remembering the title of this article is, “Who Killed the Messiah?”, the answer is certainly NOT Satan. James M. Rochford quoted Acts 2:23 in offering support for this heretical view that Satan killed Yeshua. The verse states,
τοῦτον τῇ ὡρισμένῃ βουλῇ καὶ προγνώσει τοῦ θεοῦ ἔκδοτον διὰ χειρὸς ἀνόμων προσπήξαντες ἀνείλατε,
“This One, by the appointed plan and foreknowledge of G-d, delivered by lawless hands, having crucified, you put to death.” Acts 2:23
This verse begins with the phrase “This One” and it refers to Yeshua. The appointed plan was simply for the Messiah to do the work of redemption. G-d’s redemptive plan was based, according to this verse, on the perfect foreknowledge of G-d. This plan was carried out and achieved the eternal redemption that G-d desired. The verse concluded with the words, “…you put to death.” Peter said these words and he was speaking to the men of Israel (See verse 22). Does this mean that only the Jewish people killed the Messiah? Even a simple reading of the Gospel accounts shows that both Jews and Gentiles were involved in this act. However, the proper theological answer to the question “Who Killed the Messiah?” is humanity. It was due to our sinful condition that Yeshua was sent into this world for the expressed purpose of doing the work of redemption. Did G-d know how this was going to be carried out? The answer is yes, He always knew it and this is why it was said that Yeshua is the Lamb who was slain from the foundation of the world (Revelation 13:8). In actuality, no one killed the Messiah, as He Himself stated, “No one takes it from Me, but I lay down it from Myself. Authority I have to lay it down….” (John 10:18)
A few points must be understood regarding what the Cross accomplished. In Colossians 2:15, it is stated that because of the Cross Yeshua, “cast aside the rulers and the authorities….” Most translations render the Greek word ἀπεκδυσάμενος as “having disarmed”. Such a translation gives the thought of a military confrontation. Although it is most correct to see believers in a spiritual war with Satan and his demons, this is not the case for G-d. As stated previously, Satan is no match for G-d and he does not possess any weapons which can be used against G-d. This same Greek word appears only two times in the New Testament and the second time it also is found in Colossians,
μὴ ψεύδεσθε εἰς ἀλλήλους, ἀπεκδυσάμενοι τὸν παλαιὸν ἄνθρωπον σὺν ταῖς πράξεσιν αὐτοῦ,
“Do not lie to one another, having put off the old man with his actions.”
Colossians 3:9
In this usage, there is nothing relating to weapons; rather, simply a setting aside of those things related to the sinful nature. Therefore, the message of Colossians 2:15 is that because of the Cross, Satan and demonic influences have been defeated. The practical application of this verse is that believers do not have to live in fear of the enemy. When a follower of Yeshua walks in faithfulness, the attacks of the enemy will not have power over us. It is through the Cross that we share in the victory of Yeshua.
In his article, entitled “How Did the Cross Disarm the Devil?” John Piper asked the question, “In what sense did the death of Christ strip Satan and his demons of their weapons?” It is clear from the context from which Mr. Piper is writing that he is commenting in regard to the spiritual benefits which the Cross brings to believers. He begins by quoting Colossians 2:13-15 and states,
“We were dead in trespasses and sins. All human beings are spiritually dead and blind to the reality of the glory of Christ. We are as dead to spiritual truth as a human corpse is dead to being touched.”
It is Piper’s perspective regarding the implications of being spiritually dead that permeates his entire theology and is in agreement with the basis for Reformed theology. The question which each person must answer is this: Is humanity dead as a corpse to all forms of spiritual revelation or does the conscience that G-d created in human beings allow for some understanding of Divine truth? Piper is most clear in his perspective that all human beings are totally unable to grasp any spiritual revelation until a person is regenerated by the Holy Spirit. This regeneration is solely a choice of G-d, based only upon G-d’s election of an individual. Piper teaches that G-d’s election of a person brings about regeneration which causes the person to believe in the Gospel and receive the benefits of the Cross. I strongly differ with this understanding. The fact of the matter is that the human conscience does indeed allow for varying degrees of spiritual understanding. I state varying degrees because it is certainly possible for a spiritually dead person (unsaved) to read the Scriptures or hear Biblical truth from another individual and to some degree comprehend spiritual matters.
I do not agree that all of humanity is dead like a corpse to all spiritual issues. However, all humanity is indeed absolutely lost, i.e., separated from G-d and unable to save / redeem themselves. I have frequently spoken with people who agree that they are sinners, and have a very basic understanding of right and wrong from a Biblical perspective and who can understand the message of the Cross. Yet they do not receive the Gospel. I have also known professors in theology who have more than a cursory knowledge of the Bible, but reject the Biblical Yeshua and the only message that leads into the Kingdom of G-d.
Passover itself is a message of G-d’s redemptive work. When people are crucified and die as a result of crucifixion, the cause of death is asphyxiation. One simply becomes so exhausted by the process of crucifixion that he becomes too weak to take a breath. Although Yeshua died on the cross, He did not die of asphyxiation. It is written,
Ἰδὼν δὲ ὁ κεντυρίων ὁ παρεστηκὼς ἐξ ἐναντίας αὐτοῦ ὅτι οὕτως ἐξέπνευσεν εἶπεν, Ἀληθῶς οὗτος ὁ ἄνθρωπος υἱὸς θεοῦ ἦν.
“But after seeing, the centurion who was standing opposite Him, that thusly He breathed, said, ‘Truly this man was the Son of G-d.’” Mark 15:39
There was an emphasis on how Yeshua breathed and this is what caused the Roman centurion to confess, “Truly this man was the Son of G-d.” This was revealed earlier in the passage when it is stated,
ὁ δὲ Ἰησοῦς ἀφεὶς φωνὴν μεγάλην ἐξέπνευσεν.
“But Yeshua released a great voice and breathed out.” Mark 15:37
Yes, Yeshua died on the Cross, but what was the actual cause of His death? Paul reveals this to the reader.
τὸν μὴ γνόντα ἁμαρτίαν ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν ἁμαρτίαν ἐποίησεν, ἵνα ἡμεῖς γενώμεθα δικαιοσύνη θεοῦ ἐν αὐτῷ.
“The One not having known sin, in behalf of us, He was made sin, in order that we should become the righteousness of G-d.” 2 Corinthians 5:21
The Torah makes it most clear the direct relationship between sin and death. Therefore, it was the sins of humanity being placed upon Him while He was being crucified which caused Him to die. He bore the punishment of our sins so we could “become the righteousness
of G-d.”
As we observe the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, let us all remember the price He paid as our Passover Lamb and the purpose for which He redeemed us, namely so we could live righteously and bring glory to Him.
Chag Sameach
Dear Family, please continue to pray for our ministry to elderly Israelis.
These precious people are the most vulnerable and helpless among all the other groups whom we are try to help.
At this time we asking your prayers for Sofia, another dear ward of ours, to whom we supply hot meals before Shabbat and most important, are also seeking to minister to her spiritual needs.
Sophia is 86 years old today. She has come from the former Soviet Union about 15 years ago. She wasn’t already a young person even back then, but she had adjusted well to the newness of her Israeli reality and feels at home here.
Sophia is gentle and sweet person. She is so grateful for all the attention and care, that we are trying to provide for her.
Being Jewish, but coming from the “Soviet” background, Sofia like many other older people of that generation, didn’t know much about the meaning and significance of her Jewishness.
This dear Jewish lady had never heard about the love of God and about His eternal covenant with the Jewish people.
As she is now reflecting on her long and difficult life, full of struggle and hardships, she realizes with deep sadness, that all the important achievements in her life and things dear to her heart did not bring her any peace and do not provide her with any hope and strength to face the future.
And yet there is always hope for everyone who is opens their heart to the Good News of our Messiah, because everything is possible with Him! Even at this stage in life of Sofia the Lord can give her His saving Faith!
“With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Matthew 9:26
Please pray with us, dear Friends, that the Lord will use all our efforts: our ministry to Sofia and our words! May the Holy Spirit will deeply touch Sofia’s soul by producing there repentance and meekness, preparing her for the priceless gift of the new life in the Machiach Yeshua!
“I will plant them in their land, and no longer shall they be pulled up from the land I have given them,” says the Lord your God.
Amos 9:15
Please continue to pray for the family of Alexander & Julia, new Jewish immigrants from Ukraine (we have introduced them to you in our previous newsletters).
It is a joy to see the Lord’s presence and grace in lives of these dear people, in spite of the many challenges and hardships that they are going through like so many others in their situation, arriving to Israel today.
We have decided to publish Julia’s open letter that she has written to all of you:
“Shalom, dear Friends!
We a family of three – Alexander, Julia and our daughter Zlata (nine years old), we came to Israel from Ukraine ten months ago.
We are most grateful for your support and prayers, though till very recently we couldn’t imagine that we would need it so much!
To be honest, we have never planned our emigration to Israel, – just a year ago we wouldn’t have believed it if someone had predicted such a drastic turn in our lives.
But everything has changed when war broke out in Ukraine in February 2022. At first we couldn’t accept that it is really happening to us, in our quiet place …it was an absolutely shocking, unexpected and terrifying reality.
Two months after the war began, we have lost all our possessions, jobs, savings, – nothing was left to us except our lives. Then we remembered that we have a relative in Israel and thus were able to escape from what was going on in Herson, our home town in Ukraine.
We didn’t tell the Russian military authorities then in Herson, that we were planning to leave the country permanently, – legal emigration to Israel was already impossible due to the general martial law in Ukraine.
We said that we were going to vacation in the southern part of Russia, and ran towards Georgia. It took several days. We managed to make it to the Georgian border and we caught an EL AL flight to Israel.
When we finally arrived in Israel we were exhausted, didn’t know what to do next and what to expect…but everything went well.
Our relatives met us, the Israeli government gave us some money for the first six months, we rented an apartment, began to learn Hebrew, looked for jobs and tried to find our way in, a totally new for us, Israeli reality.
Very soon after our arrival in Israel, our relatives invited us to meet with the local Israelis, to learn about our Jewish roots and meet and celebrate Shabbat together. We had never done it before and haven’t heard much about such practices.
After spending several Shabbats with our new friends, learning about the Shabbat origin and listening to the passages from the Bible, we began to realize that our coming to Israel was not an accident, but a provision that God had prepared for us long ago…
All this is still very new to us and at times feels overwhelming, but we are so grateful for this care and provision, that we feel daily. Our new friends are explaining to us that God Himself is controlling everything and taking care of us… We don’t understand everything yet, and how it is works, but we definitely feel that Someone loving and great is in control of all this chaos around us and we are not alone.
We haven’t prayed before, but we are learning to pray now, as we discovering the power of prayer. We ask God to strengthen our faith in Him and help us in our new life in Israel. We can clearly see that He does answer our prayers, taking care of us, sending us help, friends and everything we need daily.
Our constant worry and prayer at this time is my parents, as they are not Jewish (my husband is Jewish) and couldn’t come with us to Israel. They are still in Ukraine in the middle of this war situation. We are constantly praying, the best we can, for their safety and protection and for all the dear people whom we left there.
In spite of all the present challenges and new things, that we are facing today, like learning Hebrew etc, we feel so much at home here.
We are very much asking your kind prayers, so that we may learn and do the right things, as we begin our new life in Israel.
Thank you so much!
Julia, On behalf of the Vertlib family”
Dear Friends, please pray with us that all the wonderful promises will come through in the life of this precious family and many others in the same situation whom we meet so many in Israel today!
“6 For I will set My eyes on them for good, and I will bring them back to this land; I will build them and not pull them down, and I will plant them and not pluck them up. 7 Then I will give them a heart to know Me, that I am the Lord; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God, for they shall return to Me with their whole heart” . Jeremiah 24:6-7
Dear Friends please remember in your prayers another family of new Jewish immigrants, Alex and Alona with their sweet little children Nikita and Alice, whom we introduced to you in our reports about two years ago.
At that time they were staying for a short time in our guest house and going through all the absorption procedures, such as registering with the Israeli medical system, opening a bank account, registering at the Hebrew study centre, looking for a suitable flat to rent etc.
After they have moved from the HLM guest house into their rented apartment we kept closely in touch with them.
Since then we have spent many Shabbats together, have read and studied the Scripture, practicing and explaining Biblical Commands.
Although Alex and Alona’s story is very similar to the story of Julia and Alexander’s family, which you can see above in Julia’s open letter, – there is one essential difference between these two stories.
Alex and Alona came to Israel about two years in a time of relevant stability, in so called “time of fishermen”, meaning they didn’t suffer any turmoil or unnecessary challenges during their “Alijah” (coming to Israel).
In Julia and Alexander’s case hardship was a present reality for them. They came last year, when the season of the ”hunters” had already begun, with the Russian/Ukrainian war breaking out in Ukraine.
16 “Behold, I will send for many fishermen,” says the Lord, “and they shall fish them; and afterward I will send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain and every hill, and out of the holes of the rocks” Jeremiah 16:16 NKJV
In spite of all this frightening reality around us it is so comforting to realize that the Lord is indeed in absolute control and watching for His Word to be fulfilled.
“The LORD said to me, “You have seen correctly, for I am watching to see that my word is fulfilled.” Jeremiah 1:12 NIV
We are constantly explaining this truth to our dear friends whom the Lord is bringing back home to Israel, to the Land of their fathers, even in the middle of such difficult circumstances.
These days of Pesach preparations are especially important, as we again and again have the opportunity to teach our people about the unique and holy sacrifice of Yeshua the Messiah as the Only pleasing and acceptable Passover Lamb to our Holy G-d, sent for the sins and inequities of us all.
Dear Family, please pray with us, that during this special Passover season the Lord will open the hearts and minds of all these dear people, who are new in the Faith and new in the Land, in a powerful way showing them the truth about the Passover Lamb and about the great price He had to pay for every one of them.
May this divine revelation bring a true repentance along with the new exciting life in Messiah Yeshua, opening the way into His glorious coming Kingdom.
Chag Pesach Sameach to you, dear Family!
Holy Land Ministries 