Brother Ray

Dear brothers and sisters-
Here it is the morning of the day the world celebrates as christmas eve.
Last evening as I was studying the word, I was given a fresh insight I wanted to share with you.
As you know, when Yeshua first was asked to read from the torah in the synagogue, he read from Isaiah 61:1 and 58:6. he read a prophecy written some 750 years earlier and - in Luke 4:18 he announced that this prophecy was now fulfilled. you will remember he stopped in mid sentence and sat down (the part he didn't read spoke of the day of judgement which he will fulfill at his second coming)
One of the things we have noted in our earlier teachings is that yeshua did NOT pick the reading from Isaiah - it was the regularly scheduled reading of the day. we see how the Lord works. Yeshua was in the synagogue on the precise day this reading was scheduled. as the rabbis say, there are no coincidences in the word.
Which brings me to last night's insight I would like to share with you.
Do you know what the regularly scheduled synagogue or temple reading for the weekend was? Yeshua gave himself up as the only efficacious sacrifice for our sins, his death on the tree and his glorious resurrection?
It was Ezekial 37:1-14 - the scripture that talks of the valley of the dry bones - when God would cause the dead to rise from the grave, when he would put flesh on their bones, when they would return to the land.
I have always loved this passage but, like many of us, wondered what it meant, how it fit in, when it would be fulfilled.
now, knowing it was the Torah passage pre-scheduled for crucifixion and resurrection weekend, it has suddenly become abundantly clear.
It was the cross that enables people to come back to life. It was the cross that wiped away our sins. It was the cross that gives us life. It was the cross that was the gateway for the ruach ha kodesh, The Spirit. It was Yeshua's body - his battered, flattened, bruised and pierced body - which is our matzah or bread. It is Yeshua's gift on the cross which gives us our daily bread. we note in Ecclesiastes that body and bread are equated with the word.
It is Yeshua who is the enabler who allows the valley of the dead to rise again.
Do you think it was an accident tht Ezekial 37 is the word for crucifixion and resurrection weekend? Heaven forbid. this is/was no coincidence or accident.
What a lovely blessing this new knowledge is, this discernment given us through the spirit. as this struck me so forcibly last evening I couldnt wait to share this with you this morning, this "christmas even" (at least in the world's eyes). I found this new "gift" a wonderful gift in the Lord.
Please take a few moments, go back and read Ezekial 37:1-14 reflecting on the fact it was the synagogue and temple reading on the specific weekend.
How would God carry out his resurrection of the valley of the dead? Now we know.
P.S. I have always felt that while Ezekial was a message for Is-ra-el, I am reminded as always that Is-ra-el in the broader sense means all the community of faithful believers in Yeshua, both native (jewish) AND grafted in (us). Thus the promise in Ezekial is, as is the cross, for all of us, our passage or passover from the sin nature to a restoration of being with the lord in the gan-eden, as it was in the garden before the fall.
Praise The Lord.
I hope I have, ever so inadequately, given you enough of a glimpse into this insight in the word to bring you come-fort and strength in your daily walk with The Lord. Bless you all.