Messianic Viewpoint

Jacques Isaac Gabizon: While the history of man leads nowhere really, the history of the Bible leads us to one particular point, to one particular person. This is the message here. It leads us to the Last Adam, Yeshua. Yeshua is not a second Adam. He is called the Last Adam in the scriptures because with him, the old history stops and begins fresh.

Guest (Female): Though Jesus Yeshua is called the Last Adam, his appearance on the scene does not come in the final chapter or last act of our story. The Last Adam, Yeshua, is very present right at the scene of the first crime in that garden.

Our hope was in the first Adam. He was, after all, at first immortal and without sin. He was to live a life of faith, a life of purity. But that was not the case; he fell. So, where was the true immortal man who would be our protege? How would the sin be dealt with? Was man doomed?

Though Messiah is called the Last Adam, he even came before the first Adam, for he died from the foundation of the earth so that man may continue to live. He carried Adam's sin. From the very start, he carried his sin, and he carries our sin today. He is the Last Adam because he should be our last and final recall of what man should have been: faithful, committed, pursuing a holy life.

From the Last Adam, our Yeshua became the firstfruits. Because of that, we live in the hope that this first natural life would not be all there is, but in our second born-again life, that is where our true hope lies. Welcome to Shalom Ariel, and welcome to our continuing study in the book of Genesis with Messianic leader Jacques Isaac Gabizon. Be blessed as you listen in, and shalom.

Jacques Isaac Gabizon: Shabbat shalom. Now, we've seen these past few weeks Russia's action in Europe. They invaded Crimea, which brought the European Union to condemn it. The G8 actually kicked them out, and they're now the G7. I just want to tell you that this is so much in line with what will happen in the end times.

Russia and its allies will eventually separate themselves from Europe. You have the King of the North, which is Russia and its allies in Ezekiel 38. You have the willful king, which is the European Union itself. Then you have the King of the East, the Asian people, and also you have the King of the South, the Arab people.

So they all, at some point in time, are going to separate and they're going to fight against each other. It is in line with what we're seeing with the end-time prophecy. I'm not saying that this is it, but it points towards it. Let's not forget that Russia was always against Israel, even in the 1956 war, '67, and '73. They sent their generals to help the Arabs to fight Israel. They even caught some Russian pilots and so on. So, it's heading towards the end time.

Also, this week, the Arab League with a 22-member body got together in Kuwait to discuss the problems they have in the Middle East. They all decided on one thing: total rejection of the Jewish state. Such a small land, and they all gang up on them. They had the time to speak against Israel with all the problems that they have. This also is in line with the end time.

All I want to tell you is that God is in control. It will happen as it is written. Because we see the end time coming, we should go out and preach the Word of God and bring as many people as possible to the saving knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Yeshua.

Let's open up our Bibles to Genesis chapter eight. At this point in the text, we're entering the second phase of the history of man. The waters of the flood receded, and Noah is getting off the ark. What kind of new world is he going to face? What kind of new history was about to be written?

With the first Adam, we have lost the Garden of Eden and much of the earth as it was originally created. The flood changed the original world drastically. The environment has now these huge oceans and many hostile places. The harmony between man and the animals was about to disappear. Soon, they will not eat together anymore as it was in the ark. Soon, they will eat each other.

As it is written in the book of Romans, the creation was subjected to futility, and it began especially after the flood. With our second Adam, Noah, God promises stability as far as the creation is concerned. He promised no more of these severe changes. Twice he says in chapter eight, verse 21, "I will never again curse the ground," and again, "nor will I again destroy every living thing as I have done," as if these changes affected him so much. He promises consistency in the earth, in its resources, and in its seasons.

But as for man, while the world changes, his heart doesn't. As you read on, it doesn't take long after for Noah and his sons to commit some strange acts. After the flood, our society reverted back as it was before, save the Nephilim. From Noah and his three sons, our civilization emerges. At first, it builds a tower of rebellion against God, the Tower of Babel.

After this, man gathers again and again to form great powers. You have Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, but nothing really works. Nothing brings peace to men. While these things are going on, God persisted in sending other Adams: Abraham, Moses, David, and others. While they each bring good things, none succeed to bring these changes we all desire in our world. None could change the heart of man.

Nowhere, no man, no government can save man's civilization. Even today, we are so advanced in our knowledge. In our progress, we experienced great changes in the past 75 years, yet it seems that we're still in square one. Man is still the same.

While the history of man leads nowhere really, the history of the Bible leads us to one particular point, to one particular person. This is the message here. It leads us to the Last Adam, Yeshua. Yeshua is not a second Adam. He is called the Last Adam in the scriptures because with him, the old history stops and begins fresh.

When he came 2,000 years ago, the world began to experience major changes. Many lives were changed as never before. A new society of godly men and women was formed, a society within this world, the one we call the church, the Ecclesia. But soon, the Last Adam is coming back to bring a brand new earth, and one that would be eternal.

All these things in Genesis we're about to look into today and later are not written to tell us how bad our world can be. You do not need the Bible for this. But they are written so that we may see the final solution, that of love and grace of God who from the very beginning began to prepare his Son, the Messiah, to come down and give his life for us all.

He is all over the pages of Genesis. We're going to see him. He is the restrainer. He is the loving hand who held down and limited man's fury. I believe that this is one main message of the scripture and the one main message of the text we're about to look into.

Let us now see the first moments of this brand new world. Genesis 8, let's read verses 20 to 22. Here are Noah's first steps on earth after the flood. See the first thing he does.

"Then Noah built an altar to the Lord, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar. And the Lord smelled the soothing aroma. Then the Lord said in his heart, 'I will never again curse the ground for man's sake, although the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; nor will I again destroy every living thing as I have done. While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, winter and summer, and day and night shall not cease.'"

The first thing that Noah does as he comes out of the ark is to build an altar and to offer a sacrifice to God. His first action, his first thoughts, are for God. He knew, he understood through all this experience in the ark, that God was there all along, and the first thing he does is call upon him.

He called, and you see that God answered. His action triggered God's response. Right after the offering, God speaks, and I want to tell you, he speaks at length, as if he waited for Noah to call him. He seemed so pleased with Noah's prayer. We read that the Lord smelled a soothing aroma, not that of the animal sacrifices, but of Noah's repentant and worshiping heart. This finally brought him peace and rest.

The word again for soothing is *ani'oa*, from the same Hebrew word as Noah. How beautiful a picture it is of man giving rest to the Almighty God. God was disturbed by the flood, and Noah gave him rest by his prayers. We see this also after the six-day creation. God rested, but he rested from what? He rested from disorder. He rested from sin.

What gives him rest today? Our prayers. The sacrifice spoken of here is of utmost importance when compared with the others later in the sacrificial system. This is the first time in the Bible where we read of the burnt offering, *olah*. It is the first of 261 more mentions in the Hebrew scriptures. It became the most important one in the Mosaic law. It was the one which opened and closed the service at the temple.

It is different from all others in that all the sacrifice belonged to God. It was completely burnt in the altar. It was a symbol of full commitment. It was really a figure of the one to come, the Messiah, when he gave his life for us.

There is one thing, by the way, that was kept, that wasn't burnt: the skin. This skin was given to the priest. How interesting that the skin was not burnt. It was like a memorial of the skin with which God covered Adam and Eve, a memorial, a reminder that these animals were only a covering, a temporary covering themselves. The priest kept the skin, as if to remember this covering, this temporary covering until the Messiah comes.

It is this sacrifice we find right after the great judgment of the flood. It is also the first one mentioned in Leviticus chapter one. There is one particularity that always intrigued me about this sacrifice. It was the one that was killed not by the priest, but by the person who brought it. It was actually killed and cut to pieces.

In Leviticus chapter one, it says, "He," that is the person, the one who brings it, "shall kill it. The person shall skin the burnt offering. The person shall cut the offering." The rabbis mention the following five acts as belonging to the offerer when he brings this kind of sacrifice. It says the laying on of hands—we're going to see this—the slaying, the skinning, the cutting up, and the washing the inwards.

It was all done by the regular guy who came to worship God. Have you seen a cow lately? I'm sure you all have seen a cow, how big it is. Can you imagine yourself killing it, skinning it, cutting it to pieces? Why would God want a regular person like us to do such a thing? Surely he wanted us to realize how sin is so disturbing and how great and how significant the death of the Messiah is.

Just before the killing of the animal, the person will lay both his hands, one on top of the other, and push upon the head of the animal as a symbol of transference of sin. There was another particular animal the priests themselves sacrificed twice a day as a burnt offering at the opening and closing of the temple. What was it? A lamb.

Who does the lamb symbolize in the burnt offerings? The Messiah. Not only in Isaiah but also in the gospel, even in Revelation. Did you know that 26 times Jesus is spoken of as the Lamb of God in the book of Revelation? He's coming as a lion of Judah, but we will see that he was the slain Lamb of God.

Guest (Female): Don't go away. We'll be right back with the second half of our program coming up just after this message. As we wind up for the second part of our program today, we would like to remind our listeners how blessed and privileged we feel to be part of your radio day.

We pray that the messages you hear will instruct you, edify you, and encourage you to love the Lord more and follow him into obedience in even greater ways. We are all changed by the challenges and transformed by the trials of life. As we walk them together, we keep looking up to him who is mighty to break down the walls of Jericho that stand before us and to hand over to us the spiritual victories in life.

Yeshua has broken down the greatest barrier, the greatest wall that has separated us from God the Father. Thank you, listeners, for joining us in prayer and in financial support for this ministry. If you have it on your heart to give to this ministry, then you can by logging on to our congregation website at bethariel.ca—that's B-E-T-H-A-R-I-E-L.ca—and if God leads you to contribute from the treasures that God has blessed you with for the continuation of this radio ministry. Shalom, shalom, as we begin part two of today's program.

Jacques Isaac Gabizon: Before in the Mosaic law, you offered the sacrifice. Now with the law of Christ, the law of the Messiah, you offer yourself. You are now the sacrifice. Practically, how do you do that? By dedicating your life to God. In accepting Yeshua as your personal Savior, you gave him your life, and now you are saved.

Guest (Female): Dedication and sacrifice, those are two very strong words, especially in a society that is plagued by a need for instantaneous gratification, quick results, and a lack of time for almost everything.

God does not want us to forget the sacrifice, the greatest one he made on our behalf: Yeshua, his Son, so that we may live a life of yieldedness to him. While our Christian life was given instantaneously with all the blessings and resurrection power, the means to obtain these blessings is found in our spiritual life, our day-to-day yieldedness to God. There must be a fervent decision made and a determination to be disciplined, not to conform to the lures and temptations of this world.

We should consider ourselves as a sacrifice, which isn't such a bad word. It doesn't mean we have to give up; it means we have to give over as we give over our being to the one who makes being dedicated a delight and a blessing to us. Welcome to Shalom Ariel, and welcome to our continuing study in the book of Genesis with Messianic leader Jacques Isaac Gabizon. Be blessed as you listen in, and shalom.

Jacques Isaac Gabizon: Noah by faith offered a burnt offering, and this sacrifice set a precedence, being the first time it is mentioned here in Genesis 8. However, it does make another stop in the scriptures before being used in the Mosaic law, and an important one I want to bring to you.

We find it mentioned again with Abraham and Isaac when they went to Mount Moriah. Do you remember this great instance in the history of redemption? There, God asked Abraham to offer his son Isaac as a burnt offering. How can you ask somebody to offer a human being as a sacrifice? That was a prophecy.

Isaac was not sacrificed. He could not have been sacrificed. The whole incident was a symbol of the coming Messiah who was to offer himself as a sacrifice to us. This event took place on Mount Moriah, the place where the temple was built, the same place where Yeshua was crucified, the place Abraham called Jehovah Jireh—that is, God will provide. And he provided the lamb.

I want to show you just one verse of this episode in Genesis 22:6 as Isaac and Abraham were about to climb the mountain. See the information it gives us. It says, "And so Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, the *olah*, and laid it on Isaac his son," just like when Jesus took the cross and was going to be crucified. Isaac carried the wood like him.

The burnt offering is what the first sacrifice after the flood tells us, and it speaks volumes to us. In the same passage, God reminds us that while a new phase of history is about to begin, he reminds us that the imagination of man's heart is still there. We understand that the only remedy for man is the coming of the final sacrifice, Yeshua. Nothing else can give a remedy for man's heart.

There's a story about a duck hunter who was with a friend in the wide-open land of southeastern Georgia. Far away on the horizon, he noticed a cloud of smoke. Soon, he could hear crackling as the wind shifted. He realized the terrible truth: a bushfire was advancing so fast they couldn't outrun it.

Putting his hand in his pocket, he soon found what he was looking for: a lighter. What would he do with a lighter when a fire was fast approaching? What he did is to light a small fire around the two of them. Soon, they were standing in a circle of blackened earth waiting for the fire to come.

They didn't have to wait long. They covered their mouth with handkerchiefs and braced themselves. The fire came near and swept all over, but they were completely unhurt, untouched. Do you know why? Because the fire will not pass where fire has already passed. Where the Messiah died for us as a final burnt offering, if we accept him as our personal Savior, judgment cannot come upon us, but mercy, the mercy of God, and the grace of God. The Messiah's death is the burnt-over place. There is our security. Sin is powerful, yet powerless. Yeshua's death has disarmed it.

Can we like Noah offer a burnt offering to the Lord today? Yes, we can. Let me tell you how you can do that. You're all familiar with this verse, Romans 12:1. "I beseech you," Paul says. "Please," he says, "brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service."

That you present your lives as an *olah*, as a burnt offering. This is what I believe he meant. Before in the Mosaic law, you offered the sacrifice. Now with the law of Christ, the law of the Messiah, you offer yourself. You are now the sacrifice.

Practically, how do you do that? By dedicating your life to God. In accepting Yeshua as your personal Savior, you gave him your life, and now you are saved. But it was at this moment that a new, very exciting adventure began. It was at this moment that true life begins.

It begins when you yield the old ways. The verb "present" in this verse really means to yield. It implies two forces at work: the old and the new. It further implies a decision, determination, a discipline from our part. I want to tell you, it's not an easy thing to do, but it is that thing that will bring great blessings in your life and in the lives of those that surround you.

This does not mean that you have to leave your workplace or move to another place. It is a question of changing your mind and your thoughts to adapt them to the thoughts and mind of God. As you read your Bible every day, you'll understand how he thinks, and you will follow him.

Back to our text in Genesis. Now notice the progression in this passage. As soon as Noah worships, God answers. Then the Bible proceeds to tell us how the Lord blesses Noah and also the whole world because Noah here acts as a priest. He's a type of our high priest, Yeshua.

See what verse 21 says. "Then the Lord said in his heart"—you know, it adds, "in his heart." This brings us deep into the mind of God and reveals to us what he thought. Only the Bible can do that. Nature will reveal you, will tell you that there's a God, but the Bible will reveal you the heart of God, the will of God, even for your own life.

The covenant of God is seen in these words, the last verse. It says, "While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, winter and summer, and day and night shall not cease." This is a promise that our world would continue to provide seasons and food as we need, no matter how man is evil.

Furthermore, God twice promises not to destroy the earth anymore. This is a promise that nature actually will not be moved. It will stay as is until the end. Actually, at the end, it will be man who will destroy it with his abuses and with the fires of his wars, as we see it in the book of Revelation. Yeshua comes back, not really to fight, but to stop man fighting.

Have you ever realized how fragile our earth is even now? They say that it turns in its axis; it is slightly tilted, and this tilt gives us the seasons, they say. However, it is perfectly tilted, and they say that it's tilted at 23.4 degrees because if it leans just a little bit of one degree one way or another, we will all burn or all freeze to death.

Perhaps this is done this way to remind us that God, he is the one who sustains us, as if God reminds us all the time, "I am the one there." I learned that our earth rotates westwards, always towards the East. It's always heading East. I love this. Do you know why? Remember the word East in Genesis, *Kedem*, the place where the Lord is located always.

This word in the other parts of the scripture is translated as eternal or everlasting, speaking of God. Furthermore, the Messiah, we are told, actually comes from the East. Remember Micah chapter five, verse two: "whose goings forth are from of old, from *Kedem*, from the East." When I read that the earth is ever going to the East, it is as if it is ever looking for its Creator, ever looking for its rest. It also reminds us that this everlasting covenant with Noah always stays.

Seen from above, our planet must be the most beautiful object in the universe. It is the only planet that we know has an atmosphere containing 21 percent oxygen so that we actually can live in it. This also is part of the covenant. It is the only planet that we know has water. This is what the Bible seems to indicate to us in Psalm 148:4. "Praise him, you heavens of heavens," it says, "and you waters above the heavens." Water here, and next, it indicates that the water is above the heavens. That is where the New Jerusalem is. We know there's water there. We learn it in Revelation 21 and 22. There's nothing in between, nothing to look for in between.

Now, next in chapter nine from verses 1 to 17, we find God's blessing on this new earth. In verse one, it is the second time he blesses mankind. He did it first with Adam. It is the second time as well he tells man to be fruitful and multiply.

Here, other stipulations of the covenant are given to us. The word for covenant, by the way, in the Hebrew is *berith*, and it is derived from a root which means to cut, to cut into two parts involving two parties. At the time, a covenant was a solid promise.

The word "cut" was brought further to stress what they used to do at that time. When there was a covenant, they used to take an animal and you cut it in half, and the two parties will pass in between, as if to say that if I cut this covenant, I will be cut like one of these animals.

The word *berith*, covenant, is first mentioned in relation with Noah in the scriptures. The first time it is in Genesis 6:18, when God says and he will establish his covenant with Noah, and here in chapter nine, verse nine, he further explains it.

The Noahic covenant, this is what it is called, is one of many covenants. I just want to bring you or give you a bird's eye view of the different main covenants in the scripture because noticing the different covenants in the Bible will help us divide the history of humanity in sections as God deals with man, and also to better appreciate what he tells Noah here.

How many covenants are in the Bible? Some people say six, beginning with Noah's, since the word covenant begins with Noah. Others went back to Adam and added two more covenants. It was in the early 1800s, C.I. Scofield, an American theologian—most of us know the Scofield Bible—he divided the covenants into eight parts. These eight partitions give us a good overview of the history of man. Now, these steps could be seen as repeated attempts to bring man back to the right path and especially to show the path of the Messiah to the history of redemption. Each covenant speaks of a failure, of man's failure to save himself, and God comes back and renew another covenant, and so on and so forth.

Guest (Female): Shalom Ariel is a daily radio program emphasizing the Jewish perspective of scripture. God is not through dealing with Israel, nor will he renege any of the promises he has made to her. Our teacher for this program, Jacques Isaac Gabizon, is a Messianic Jewish believer and Messianic leader at Beth Ariel congregation right here in Montreal.

If you've been encouraged by the messages, we'd love to hear from you. Give us a call at 1-888-685-5902, or you may write us at info@bethariel—that's B-E-T-H-A-R-I-E-L, all one word—.ca. You are also welcome to join us for our Saturday morning services. We are located at 6297 Monckland Boulevard, corner of Madison in NDG.

The message is given in English, but we do offer simultaneous translation into French and Russian. Services begin at 11:00 AM. We have Shabbat school for children of all ages up to and including teens. You may also download audio messages from our website at bethariel.ca and enjoy other in-depth teaching from Jacques Isaac.

If you would like to sign up for informative newsletters, log on to our website and add your name to our email list. Shalom Ariel is a listener-supported program. If you have it on your heart to donate, it will be a great blessing for the continuing ministry and outreach of Beth Ariel. Thank you and shalom shalom.