Messianic Viewpoint

Guest (Male): Shalom and welcome to our 102nd sermon from the Gospel of Mark with Messianic Leader Jacques Isaac Gabizon. In this series on Mark, we have now reached the last two sermons, which will be aired over the next few days. We marvel once again at how the word of God stays fresh even over millennia because every book in the scripture contains the supernatural word of God.

While the flower fades, God's word stands forever. His word has lived and will outlive civilizations and dynasties. His word will live past the vanishing kingdoms and all philosophical thoughts of men. The son of man has come and claimed these eternal words as his own.

First John 1:5 says this is the message which we have heard from him and declare to you, that God is light and in him is no darkness at all. In this very last section of Mark, as we discovered from the start of Mark as well, Israel is very connected to her Messiah. From Isaiah's description of her, she is seen with open wounds from the foot to the head, bruises and putrefying sores.

Yet each wound, each scourging which Yeshua took was for her and was for our transgressions, yours and mine. Each bruise was for our iniquities, yours and mine. His silence during the scourging should amaze us as it did Pilate. Did Yeshua ever yell out "Stop, I cannot bear it"? He was silent and in full control, and he allowed himself to be deliberately led like a lamb to the slaughter.

Unlike the lamb who doesn't know what lies ahead, Yeshua knew it all, and yet he spoke not a word for himself, but only on our behalf when he said "Tetelestai, it is finished". Be blessed as you listen in to today's program, and Shalom.

Jacques Isaac Gabizon: Welcome Beth Ariel and friends of Beth Ariel, everyone welcome to this Shabbat service where we always striving to uplift the name of our great and wonderful God. Now, one particular trait of the God of the Bible, our God, is his generosity. Not only in his care and protection of his lambs, but especially in the warning signs he has given to all men.

Already when he spoke to Abraham before he was about to destroy Sodom, this is important because Jesus uses Sodom to compare it to the end times. He told him, "Shall I hide from Abraham what I'm about to do?" This promise to alert and forewarn in advance was repeated over and over in the scriptures as there are hundreds of prophecies dealt out to Israel and to the nations about things to come.

In many ways and forms, the Lord has always warned man of things to come and lately we've been filled with so many of these signs. But we forget them quickly as other signs and warnings are constantly being added to the total picture we have. For instance, let's not forget the melting of the icebergs and seeing the rise of the seas so much so that islands are disappearing.

The climate changes do not stop in their course forward and the concerns continue to grow regardless of whether Hamas attacked Israel or not. Despite this war of Gog and Magog becoming a stronger reality or despite the growing antisemitism with Iran and Turkey, have you heard them lately? Alongside with people and many other countries venting their growing hatred against Israel.

These things are still going on but they are less publicized because other signs are replacing them as even more outstanding. There is one place in history where the Lord gave a plethora of signs and wonders which still call all men to consider. This powerful warnings on the earth, in the sky, and even under the earth were given on a very special day. It was the day the Messiah died.

What makes these signs so significant is that they are not only recorded in the Bible but also in secular history. In Roman history, we have historians just like Tacitus, and in Jewish history, we have Josephus who recorded no less than seven signs that happened on that day. Even more, we find much information from an unexpected and unusual source.

We see many of these signs mentioned in the Jewish holy books of the time like the Talmud, both Talmuds, the Jerusalem Talmud and the Babylonian Talmud. And in other Jewish sources as well, the Midrash Rabbah, the Pesiqta. The odd and very strange thing is that while Rabbinical Judaism is really not interested in promoting or announcing anything about Jesus, they outdid themselves by actually giving us no less than nine wonderful and extraordinary signs which occurred the day Yeshua died on the cross.

Today, all these signs are still speaking to us and they do to all people, religious, atheist, agnostics, because there are so many of them coming from different sources, therefore appealing and speaking to many from all different walks of life. While I will enumerate these signs and wonders in today's message, I will highlight a few of them which contain a deeper message for us.

Then we will move toward the most important event in the history of humankind, which is the resurrection of Yeshua. The resurrection of Jesus. It is then my prayer that we will all be blessed as we consider these callings, these parental warnings given to us from our heavenly Father. Before we open up the word, let us together bless it through this ancient prayer. You can repeat it with me.

Blessed are you, oh Lord our God, King of the universe who has given us the word of truth and has planted everlasting life in our midst. Blessed are you, oh Lord, who gives the scriptures. Amen. Let us open up our scriptures to Mark chapter 15. The series of signs on the tav begin the day and the moment Yeshua was taking unto himself all the judgment, all the punishments due to all men.

The long three hours and then we read in Mark 15:33, "When the sixth hour came, darkness fell over the whole land until the ninth hour". This was the first sign. Darkness over the whole earth for these three hours and during this time he spoke not a word. This is when he was taking all the sins unto himself.

Then after three hours, on the sixth hour, as the Messiah breathed his last, an amazing succession of signs followed. The second is in verse 38, "The veil of the temple torn in two from top to bottom". That was a message to the priesthood who just condemned him and it was so powerful that it must have affected so many of them.

Imagine that at the moment Yeshua gave his spirit, the veil separating the Holy of Holies and the holy place was torn from top to bottom. It was perhaps witnessed by the priests. They were responsible for the twelve breads in the Holy of Holies. Every Friday they changed the breads and as perhaps they were changing the breads, they saw it. They saw that thing torn from top to bottom.

As most priests were outside, the sound of the tearing of the veil must have attracted also their attention. The veil was about 80 feet high or 25 meters and as high as an eight story building and it was about 4 inches or 10 centimeters thick. Imagine the sound it made when the Lord cut it down because he did it from the top.

The news of the tearing of the veil and of the other signs must have spread fast among the priesthood and also the people of Israel. No wonder that in the book of Acts chapter 6, we see that many priests came to believe in Yeshua. This, the tearing of the veil, has a tremendous theological message. We remember that the Holy of Holies was accessible to only one man, the high priest, and only one day a year at Yom Kippur or on the Day of Atonement.

Its tearing indicated that from this point on, that is from the time Jesus died, the way to heaven was open to us. A new era of redemption had now been reached. Notice how Mark uses the same word tear twice in his book, framing the ministry of Yeshua. The first time, it was used at the baptism of the Messiah.

At the moment of his baptism in chapter 1, verse 10, we read immediately coming out of the water, he saw the heavens tearing open, the same word, and the spirit like a dove descending upon him. Then a voice was heard saying, "You are my beloved son, in you I am well pleased". Then his ministry on earth was completed when he opened the way to heaven with the tearing of the veil of the Beit HaMikdash, the holy temple.

At the time they understood the meaning of this sign. The veil was ornate with a beautiful depiction of heaven, with blue, scarlet, purple and so on. Josephus wrote that this veil was the separation between earth and heaven. This is how they saw it. In many ways his interpretation is right, for at this moment the way to heaven again was opened to us, that is to whoever accepts Yeshua as his personal savior.

The book of Hebrews sums up for us the meaning behind the tearing of the veil. We read in Hebrews 10:20, "Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holies by the blood of Yeshua, by a new and living way which he consecrated for us, through the veil, that is what? His flesh". His flesh. Now Yeshua becomes the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father but by him.

The veil then has tremendous theological implication. After this, the third to the sixth signs are so powerful. There we find what may be a most surprising account in the Bible. What follows is found in Matthew 27:51-53, where we read four additional signs. Listen to what it says.

"And the earth quaked, and the rocks were split, and the graves were opened, and coming out of the graves after the resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many". All of these things happened within a few hours. Imagine you're living in Jerusalem or visiting the city as many Jews did at the time of Passover, in fact all Jews were summoned in Jerusalem at that time.

First, at noon just as everyone was ordered to get rid of the leaven they had collected for their homes and bring it out of the city to be burned, suddenly a complete darkness covered the whole city and it says the whole world. Then after these long hours, as the sun started to come out at around 3 PM, there was an earthquake and suddenly the rocks split.

However, in all this, there were no casualties that were reported because Yeshua was taking everything upon himself. That was another sign for them. Then for those who were right next to a cemetery, they would have seen these graves opening up by themselves. This is what it says happened. These graves stayed open all through the Shabbat from the 14th to the 16th of Nisan.

This is significant when you consider that the religious leaders wanted the body of Jesus to be brought down from the tav because they did not want to desecrate the Shabbat, as we read in John 19. But these open tombs showed them that there's no real Shabbat without Yeshua, because he is our Shabbat.

On the third day, we're told that they, the bodies, went into the city and appeared to many. This is again what the Bible says. The dead were resurrected and began to walk down the street of Jerusalem. How many were there? Who were they? How long did they stay? We don't know. It doesn't say, but we know that they must have had a great impact at the time.

I want you to realize how far God will go in order to save one soul. One important point, we're told that those who rose at the time actually were believers. It says "the bodies of the saints", that is how believers are called in the New Testament. The Lord used believers to produce the most remarkable and amazing signs.

I truly believe that we have one more time reached a period in history where the Lord could use believers to produce great signs and wonders so as to call on the people to be saved. After all, there's not much time left. He is soon coming and there are so many signs around us. Believers are called to be instruments through which many signs will be performed.

I'm not saying that believers are going now to be performing miracles left and right. More than that, they will be used as examples of people of faith who show their love and care even in an increasingly dark and falling world. Like it was with Daniel, who impressed these Babylonians when he decided not to break any of God's law, so the Lord greatly blessed them.

Or like Joseph. Regardless of the circumstances, Joseph always kept faith and always kept the word of God. Then so many were blessed by him. They were attracted to the God of Israel like his servant. Our times indicate that God is seeking laborers through whom he may perform some powerful signs. Are you ready to be used by God in these so crucial times?

These then are the signs which broke the silence of the three hours of darkness. These are from God who loves us so much that he would want everyone to see that salvation is waiting for everyone in the Messiah. Surely the Messiah was not going to die in silence. Of course, the most important and foremost and supreme sign is the resurrection itself.

The other signs are used to pave the way to it. To sum up the signs from the New Testament, we can count six of them. The darkness over all the earth for three hours. The veil of the temple was torn. There was an earthquake. Fourth, the rocks were split. Fifth, the graves were opened. And sixth, the dead rose on the third day.

As for the other signs, let me mostly enumerate them for you, for I want to get back to the gospel and begin to consider the moments before the resurrection as a truly beautiful change of the mood and manner of reporting occurs in this gospel. Let me share with you what is written in the Talmud and other Jewish writings.

On this very day, both Talmuds report some amazing things which happened. There's a phrase that occurs seven times in both Talmuds, the words "40 years before the destruction of the temple" this and this and this happened. 40 years before the destruction of the temple. The temple was destroyed in 70 AD and so that brings us to 30 AD, the time about where Jesus was crucified.

This followed no less again than a dozen occurrences are reported. I will list only seven of them. The first four are reported in the book of Yoma in the Talmud. It says our rabbis taught during the last 40 years before the destruction of the temple, the lot for the Lord did not come up in the right hand. Nor did the crimson colored strap become white. Nor did the western light shine, or the doors of the Hekhal should open by themselves.

Let me explain this to you. First, let's begin with the menorah in the Holy of Holies where at least the tamid, that is the middle light, was always lit. It was eternal. It shuts off by itself at the time actually when Yeshua gave his spirit. It is called the western light for they were placed in the west of the holy place.

The light of the candlestick was very significant for them because we are told in the Talmud in the book of Shabbat that it represented God's presence. It was seen in, and I quote, "a testimony to humankind that the divine presence rests in Israel". And here it just shut off as Yeshua breathed his last. Is this not a sign for them?

Now consider the sudden opening of the gates of the temple. They opened apparently. It says that the gates opened by themselves. On these days the gate of the temple opened by themselves and they stayed open and they couldn't close them apparently. It took 20 men to manipulate these gates, so just imagine even the noise because the temple was opened as the veil was torn.

Now the way is open for anyone who has Yeshua. Then see now the sign of the ribbon. They used to tie a red ribbon on the goat on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. They say that as the goat was let go in the wilderness toward Azazel, the ribbon would change from red to white. What they teach us is that at this time, this year, it stopped turning white because Yeshua actually died on the cross.

Then the first one actually tells us that they say that also on Yom Kippur the lots were cast between the two goats because one was sacrificed and the other one was let go. Apparently the lot always the right fell for the Lord. It didn't this time for the first time in 1500 years, this is what they tell us.

All of this is from them and they had no interest at all to publish these things, but they are in their books. We should tell them. Other books give us more signs. We read in the Tosefta, compilation of Jewish laws from this period, that every Shabbat the twelve loaves of bread in the holy place were changed and every Shabbat they witnessed a miracle because even after a week, these breads were still fresh.

They say that the day or the year that the Messiah was actually crucified, it stopped being fresh. Every Shabbat they couldn't eat it, this is what it says. The sixth sign, since the law was given they noticed that the altar did not require much wood for the fire. However, the day the Messiah gave his life, they said that something happened to the altar. They had to put more and more wood.

The other one, the last one, is a big one. It's written that after 30 AD, the pronunciation of the name of God has been lost. This is why today we don't know how to pronounce the Yud-Heh-Vav-Heh in Hebrew, which is translated in our Bible as Yahweh or Jehovah. But these names are fairly new pronunciations, that is.

So we lost the original pronunciation and it was lost then at that point. The last time this very name of God was pronounced, it was the year before the Messiah was crucified and then it was lost. However, as Peter says in Acts 4:12, "Nor is there salvation in any other for there's no other name under heaven among men by which we must be saved".

This is why this is the name to pronounce to be saved. The God of the Bible has come down to become our salvation. Let it be known that there's no other name under heaven. This covers all space, time and all histories and excludes all pretenders. It sets the fact that Yeshua, Jesus, is the only name now, the key name, the password to heaven.

To briefly sum up these signs, we can see nine of them. The first one, the light of the menorah went off. Second, the gates of the temple opened by themselves. Third, the great ribbon did not turn white. Fourth, the lot of the Lord did not come to the right. Fifth, the showbread did not keep its freshness. The altar, number six, required more wood.

The pronunciation of the name of God was lost at that very time. You see what happened when Jesus died? The whole world actually changed. These were the signs from the Bible and from the books of Rabbinical Judaism. Let us now consider just some signs in the secular world. These signs come from the non-religious people.

These are the atheists, the agnostics. Let us mention just two of them, Josephus and Tacitus. Josephus, the first century Jewish historian, was born in 37 AD and confirmed many of these signs. He wasn't an eyewitness but he said he couldn't believe these signs himself. He writes, if it wasn't from the eyewitnesses who came to tell him.

His signs cover the day the Messiah died and also the period of 10 years or so before the destruction of the temple. God was very active in telling the people, in warning the people that something was about to come, just like he does today, I believe. First, here are some of these signs.

He confirmed that the temple gates opened by themselves, but he adds an important information. He says it is the eastern gate, that is the Messianic gate. This is the gate that Yeshua used to enter for his triumphal entry. Of the many gates, this is the one located right in front of the temple.

Second, he writes that during one feast of Passover, on the ninth hour, which correspond to the end of the period of darkness of three hours, there was, and I quote, "a light shone on the altar of the Holy House that it appeared to be bright daytime" which lasted, he says, even for half an hour. Perhaps this is where the light first hit after the darkness that Yeshua spoke about. It went right into the temple and everybody saw it.

Third, he also writes that for the duration of one year, perhaps the same year following the crucifixion and the resurrection, there was in heaven a sword-shaped star that appeared, perhaps a comet. He also adds that strange signs were reported like people seeing visions and priests hearing voices of warning for the destruction of the temple.

I want to tell you, reading this account, it seems that as the time was getting closer, the signs increased in number and in intensity. I believe this is what we're seeing even today. Tacitus was a Roman philosopher and historian born in 56 AD. He also reports about the doors of the temple which he writes abruptly opened by themselves. He also confirms the light over the temple and the voices heard and many other things which happened then.

I want to tell you that no one can accuse believers in Yeshua to have imagined these signs, for they are not only confirmed by history but lo and behold by these very Talmudic books on those who wanted to do away with Yeshua. The Lord made sure that they could not avoid this great truth. Considering all these things and just the most reliable signs given to us in our scriptures, we can say that the Lord is truly generous.

As Paul says in Ephesians 1:8, speaking of the riches of his grace which he says he lavished on us in all wisdom and insight. He not only gave but he lavished, which means that he super-abounds. He gives beyond all measure, even in excess.

Guest (Male): 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.ca, B-E-T-H-A-R-I-E-L all one word. You are also welcome to join us for our Saturday morning services. We are located at 6297 Monkland Avenue corner of Madison in NDG.

The message is given in English but we do offer a simultaneous translation into French and Russian. Services begin at 11 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.

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