Discovering The Jewish Jesus

Rabbi K.A. Schneider: Where does darkness come from? Where did the darkness come from? Was it always there, just like God has always been?

Beloved, we know that God is light and in Him there's no darkness at all. But I want to ask you a simple, but profound question. We know that darkness exists. We can see the physical manifestations of darkness, but darkness essentially is a spirit. My question is this, where does darkness come from?

Many Christians today want to wash God's hands of having anything to do with anything that happens in the world that brings pain. But the reality is is that when we do a deep study of the word of God, we have to come to recognize that God himself, the one that created all things, also created the darkness and he did it for a reason.

I want to go back to the very beginning of the Bible. I want to go back to the first chapter of the book of Genesis. I'm going to read verses one and two. Hear the word of God. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and void and the Hebrew speaks of a wasteland and emptiness. Continuing on, and darkness was over the surface of the deep.

So we see then in the very beginning, as God is bringing forth the world, as he's bringing forth the plants and the animals, what was there first was this darkness. The question is, where did the darkness come from? Was it always there just like God has always been? We know, beloved, that's impossible. God alone has always been.

Listen what the Lord says about himself in the book of Isaiah chapter 45, I'm reading from verses number 5 through 7. I am the Lord, and this is the eternal one here. I am the Lord, and there is no other. Besides me, there is no God. There is no one besides me. I am the Lord and there is no other. The one forming light and creating darkness. Listen to that again, church. The one forming light and creating darkness. Causing well-being and creating calamity. I am the Lord who does all these things.

You see, it's unfortunate to me that few Christian preachers, teachers and evangelists will ever recognize that when something bad happens on earth, God could possibly be behind it. They say that God would never bring suffering, that God would never bring pain, that God would never cause sickness. But church, when we study the Hebrew Bible, we find that God at times does all these things.

God is the one that opened up the earth to swallow Korah and the rebellious tribe that was with him. God was the one that caused the serpents to kill thousands of Israelites in the wilderness. In the New Testament, we read God was the one that cast Jezebel onto a bed of sickness because she would not repent of her sins.

You see, we have to recognize that God alone is the Lord. Let me read some other scriptures for you. Colossians chapter 1, verse number 16. Hear the word of God. For by him, meaning through Yeshua, through Jesus, for by him all things were created. All things, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities, all things have been created by him and for him.

God is taking responsibility for creating everything visible and everything invisible, both in heaven and our earth. So let's get back to our original question. If God alone is self-existent, if God alone has no first cause, if God alone is the one that has always been and he created all things, didn't he also create the darkness? Doesn't he also take responsibility for creating the devil, even Satan?

In fact, we read in the book of Second Corinthians chapter 12 that Paul was given, the scripture says, a messenger of Satan. I'm going to read it for you. Second Corinthians chapter 12, verse 7 through 10. Paul says, because of the surpassing greatness of the revelation, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh. Listen, a messenger of Satan to torment me to keep me from exalting myself.

In other words, Paul said, that to keep me from exalting myself, because I received so much revelation, God sent me a messenger of Satan to keep me humble. The text goes on to say, that Paul cried, Lord, take it away. Take this messenger of Satan away. Three times he prayed. Finally, the Lord speaks back to me, says, no, Paul, my grace is sufficient, for my power will be perfected in your weakness.

You see, God used this messenger of Satan to bring about weakness in Paul's life, so that Paul would cling to God in a deeper way, to keep Paul from exalting himself in order to perfect his power in Paul. God uses evil to accomplish a higher good. You see, the Lord knew that when he created you and I as his sons and daughters, in order to fully mature, in order to fully be made strong, we needed an enemy. We needed an adversary.

This is why the first thing that the spirit of the Lord did in Jesus's life, after Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist in the Jordan River, was to lead him into the wilderness for 40 days, where Jesus was in conflict with the forces of darkness, with the devil. And after that experience, Jesus, the scripture says, came out of the darkness. Listen now, in the power of the Ruach HaKodesh. You see that 40-day battle with the devil in the wilderness is what the spirit of the Lord used to strengthen Jesus. Jesus had to rely so powerfully on the Father during that time there that when the battle was over, he came out and he was ready for his ministry.

So let's now apply some of these principles that I've just covered to our lives today. The Bible tells us in the book of James that God actually brings us through, listen now, many trials, listen, in order to perfect our faith. Now, trials are times when we're encountering adverse circumstances, circumstances that are unpleasant, circumstances that are often times coming from the realm of darkness. Whether somebody's persecuting us, whether we lack funds, whether we got mistreated by somebody, whether we're even struggling with something physically, God allows us sometimes to go through difficulties in order to strengthen our faith. The scripture speaks of this, count it all joy when you go through various trials, it's the testing of your faith.

Now, I realize that there's a balance, beloved, to this. There's times when we need to rise up and take authority over the powers of darkness. There's times that we need to rise up and take authority over the devil. I believe in divine healing, I believe in divine health. But I also see from scripture that God uses difficulty, consider even the life of Job, how it was God's design that Satan would come in and inflict Job with so many challenges, his family, his health, his finances. And after Job got through that test, Job said this, he said, God, before I had heard of thee with the hearing of my ear. But after having gone through this tremendous trial and looking for understanding, clinging to you, praying to you, seeking for understanding, Job said, now that I've come out the other end of this thing, now Job said, I know you for myself, I know you in my heart. In other words, Job says, I know you so much more now, God, that I had to go through this trial.

Dustin Roberts: You're listening to Discovering the Jewish Jesus and Rabbi Schneider will be right back. But first, I want to invite you to take Rabbi's teachings with you wherever you go with the Discovering the Jewish Jesus podcast, available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and many more. You can listen to all of Rabbi's powerful messages anytime. Stay rooted in God's word. Just search for Discovering the Jewish Jesus on your favorite podcasting platform today.

Rabbi K.A. Schneider: Matthew 25.

Dustin Roberts: Matthew 25, it reminds us to care for people in need. So we're making Rabbi's teaching available to men and women in prison each and every day through a special app. And last year, thousands of inmates clicked the button on this app, telling us they were surrendering their lives to Christ. And if you want to help us in this mission, would you please support us? Give or become a monthly partner at discoveringthejewishjesus.com. Now, back to Rabbi.

Rabbi K.A. Schneider: So we learned number one, that God uses challenges, he uses darkness, he even uses the messenger of Satan, we read about in the Apostle Paul's life in Second Corinthians to produce humility and to cause us to become more dependent on him, to strengthen our faith. We read in the book of James, I didn't quote it for you, but James chapter 1, verse 12, we also read about it in First Peter, that God brings us through adverse trials in order to deepen our faith and to strengthen our faith.

God also, beloved, allows us to encounter darkness and hard times in order to reward us when we pass the test of faith as we come out of those times. In other words, in the scripture, a test is not something that's designed when the scripture says God's testing us. When the Lord uses that word, he often times is not referring to something so that he can see whether we're going to pass or fail, but he means it to bring us up to the next level. He puts us in a difficult situation where we encounter adverse circumstances, adversaries, so that we'll have to force our spiritual muscles to keep on pressing on through it, and then when we come out the other side successfully, God rewards us for our effort. He that overcomes, Jesus said, will inherit these things.

Continuing on. Why would God create darkness? Hopefully, you've seen from the scriptures that I've showed you today that we can't say that God never has anything to do with hard times. We can't say, well, no, God would never cause something hard to happen in someone's life. God would never cause that terrible thing to happen. But I've showed you from the word of God, beloved, that God is God, there is no other, he causes well-being, he creates calamity, he's the creator of all things, both things visible and invisible. He's Adonai Elohim, he's the master of the universe. He is God, there is no other. We have to have faith in him alone. The Lord said, don't call conspiracy what the world calls a conspiracy, and don't fear what the world fears, but I alone am to be your fear, I alone am to be your dread. Connect to me alone and I will become a sanctuary for you. God doesn't want us to be afraid of the devil. God doesn't want us to be afraid of adverse circumstances. God wants us to understand that he alone is God. Shma Israel, Adonai Eloheinu, Adonai Echad. Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, he alone is God and he's one.

We need to be able to process life, we need to be able to process our thinking, looking directly to God to understand everything that happens in the earth and everything that happens in our own lives. God is showing us now in his word that he allows evil, that he created darkness, because he brings about a higher good from it, just like the woman that was a former prostitute that anointed Jesus's feet with a costly bottle of perfume that was worth approximately a whole year worth of wages during that time period in history. And the people that saw her do it, they were just aghast. They thought it was a tremendous waste, but Jesus said, you guys don't understand what's going on. He that's been forgiven much, loves much. He that's been forgiven little, loves little. What this woman has done will be remembered for all time. In other words, that woman had come out of such deep darkness, such deep bondage. She was such a captive to the devil that when Jesus saved her, she loved him more than all the other people that he saved that were fairly moral people. In other words, God used the darkness to bring about an even higher good. He that's been forgiven much, Jesus said, loves much.

Sometimes God uses the darkness, sometimes God uses evil as a tool to cause people to repent. For example, we read about this in the book of Revelation where there was Jezebel, and she was leading people into immorality, she was a false prophetess. And Jesus said, you know, I gave her time to repent, but she wouldn't. He said, now I'm going to cast her onto a bed of sickness. Hear me, Jesus himself said that he was going to cast her onto a bed of sickness. He didn't blame it all on the devil. Jesus was the one that took responsibility for casting her onto a bed of sickness. Why? Because he wanted to force her to repent. Sometimes God releases evil into our lives in order to bring us to our knees so that we'll repent. God is light and in him there's no darkness at all. But he uses evil as a tool to accomplish, beloved, his purposes.

We read, for example, in the life of Pharaoh, that God said concerning Pharaoh that he was going to harden Pharaoh's heart in order that God could display his power and make his glory known. Some people like to say, yeah, but Pharaoh hardened his heart. But when we do a careful study in the book of Exodus, we find that God was the one that first said to Moses, I'm going to harden his heart. When someone hardens their heart against God, we would say that's satanic. But you know what? It was part of God's plan that Pharaoh's heart would be hardened. Because every time Pharaoh's heart was hardened, God did a miracle. And God's name was proclaimed throughout that entire portion of the world because of the miracles that he performed in Egypt, and he used Pharaoh's hardened heart as the means by which he would do the miracles. In other words, every time Pharaoh's heart was hardened, God responded by doing a miracle, and that was God's plan. And this is why the Bible tells us in the book of Romans, chapters 9 through 11, that God said, for this very purpose, he hardened Pharaoh's heart, in order that his name might be proclaimed, beloved, in the whole earth.

Lastly, I want us to understand that God again has a purpose for all things, that he causes all things to work together for good. All things, he causes all things to work together for good, the things that feel pleasant to us, and the things that are hard. He blesses us with times of refreshing, he sends the southwinds. But he also sends the northwinds, difficulties, adversaries, even as Paul described, messengers of Satan, in order that the garden of his spirit would fully bloom from our hearts and bring forth the fragrance of Messiah Jesus from our lives. Jesus said, not a sparrow falls to the ground apart from the Father. You don't have to be afraid of anything. No matter what happens in your life, you can look to God, know that he loves you, because he's causing all things to work together for good in your life. Praise the Lord.

Dustin Roberts: What a great teaching. And now, here's Rabbi and his wife, Miss Cynthia, from the studio, to share a little more today on this teaching.

Rabbi K.A. Schneider: We have to come to the grips of what God's word teaches and that is, beloved, that he's the creator of everything, both visible and invisible, and he is taking responsibility for governing his creation. You know, honey, you were just sharing with me a situation that you were dealing with when any time a siren went off.

Guest (Female): It just put fear in you.

Rabbi K.A. Schneider: And then you said the Holy Spirit spoke to you and said, you've got to have a bigger vision because some of these accidents that you're, you know, being alerted to by the siren is actually me at work because I want to get somebody to give me their attention, and the only way that I've been able to get their attention is by putting them in a situation that, you know, looks terrible at first glance. Well, what would be worse? The person getting in an accident or the person dying without God and going to hell?

Guest (Female): Right. And when he showed that to me, he showed that I could pray into that situation. And pray that even all the people that are surrounding the situation, the relatives, that each and every one of them would be a part of watching a miracle.

Rabbi K.A. Schneider: Right. Of God at work, transforming, you know, death accident into life.

Guest (Female): Wow. And life eternal is the best life.

Rabbi K.A. Schneider: Yeah, you know, what you're saying just goes along with what we've been communicating here, honey. And that is that God is calling us to have a greater vision and a bigger mindset about reality.

Rabbi K.A. Schneider: Beloved, I hope you were blessed and encouraged by today's broadcast. The Bible tells us in the book of Third John chapter 1, verse 8, that we should financially support the ministries that are feeding us spiritually. And in so doing, John says, we'll become fellow workers with the truth. I want to encourage you. If the Lord is bearing witness with your heart to support us, would you just be obedient to him? The scripture tells us that everything we sow into the kingdom of God for the purpose of extending God's kingdom in the world, is going to come back to us pressed down, good measure and running over into our laps. And I also believe that when you financially support us, the Lord's going to open up your heart to receive even more revelation from him through discovering the Jewish Jesus. Beloved, you and I truly are partners together, without you I can't broadcast. I want to thank you for your love and for your financial support. If you feel the Holy Spirit knocking at the door of your heart to make an offering to the Lord through discovering the Jewish Jesus today, just do it, beloved, you'll be blessed.

Dustin Roberts: To give a gift of any amount today, give us a call at 800-777-7835. Or give a gift online right now at discoveringthejewishjesus.com. And I want to share with you a new book that Rabbi has. In the Old Testament, God wanted to be close to his people. That's why in Exodus chapter 25, God told Moses, let them construct a sanctuary for me. That I may dwell among them. That's the heart behind Rabbi Schneider's brand new book, The Mystery of the Tabernacle. Every element in this ancient structure is a revelation of how much God wants to dwell with you. And in this brand new book, Rabbi's going to show you exactly how to stay close to the Father. Did you know that there's only one way into the Tabernacle? And you know what? The one way to God, it's through Jesus. Jesus said, I'm the way, the truth and the life and no one comes to the Father but by me. That's just some of the revelation you'll learn in this book. If you're interested, get your copy today at discoveringthejewishjesus.com, and now here's Rabbi with the Aaronic blessing, first sung in Hebrew, then spoken in English.

Rabbi K.A. Schneider: The words from the Aaronic blessing in the book of Numbers chapter 6, verses 22 through 27, helps us to realize how good God is to you and I personally. So receive his blessing into your life and then, beloved one, go bless somebody else in Jesus' name today.

(Singing in Hebrew)

The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift you up with his countenance and the Lord give you, beloved one, his peace. God bless you and shalom.

Dustin Roberts: This program is produced and sponsored by Discovering the Jewish Jesus, and I'm your host, Dustin Roberts. Come back next week when Rabbi Schneider presents a new series on the mystery of the Tabernacle. That's Monday on Discovering the Jewish Jesus.