Boot Camp and Battle in Store for Yeshua’s True Disciples

Mark 1–3

It is interesting to note the order of events as Yeshua was launching his ministry. He was about to enter a war zone! After John baptized Yeshua and he received his heavenly empowerment, he first went through a spiritual boot camp before stepping onto the battlefield of public ministry. Once in the “war,” it’s worth noting where the battle lines fell.

Оружие

  • Yeshua’s spiritual boot camp was the wilderness where he fasted for forty days and nights to get his body, soul and spirit, and his mind, will and emotions in sync with the will of his Father in heaven (Mark 1:12–15).
  • His first battle was an internal one. The devil tested him in three areas: his body, soul and spirit, or, to put it another way, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life (Mark 1:13). After overcoming himself and submitting to the will of his Father, he was now ready to launch into the war zone of public ministry.
  • His mission was to preach the message of the gospel of the kingdom of Elohim and repentance from sin (i.e. Torahlessness, 1 John 3:4; Mark 1:14–15).
  • Next he chose his cadre of spiritual warriors — his “army”— the twelve disciples (Mark 1:16–20).
  • Where better to start proclaiming the gospel message than in the local synagogue on the Sabbath (Mark 1:21)? After all, the religious folks there should be overjoyed to hear this good news, fresh message from heaven. Right?
  • His first recorded act, other than preaching, was to cast an unclean spirit out of someone in the local synagogue (Mark 1:21–28). Interesting. He didn’t have to go to the First Church of Satan, a witches coven, a Hindu temple, or a mosque to do this. The demons were right there in the church!
  • Next, Yeshua brought miraculous physical healing to those around him (Mark 1:32–34). The exorcism and physical healing opened the doors for him to begin ministering to those in that city. He preached the gospel, and signs and wonders followed as the kingdom of Elohim was expanded at the devil’s expense.
  • He continued preaching and, with compassion, healed the sick and oppressed. His ministry spread to the surrounding areas as he ministered to people at their point of need with the powerful gospel message (Mark 1:40–2:12).
  • It wasn’t long before Yeshua aroused the attention of the religious leaders with his controversial methods that ran cross-grain to the religious establishment status quo (Mark 2:6). The scribes began to question him about his healing methods and his spiritual authority. They seemed more occupied with issues relating to religious rituals and protocols than the fact that a paralyzed man had been healed.
  • Next the scribes and Pharisees questioned Yeshua’s associations. He didn’t fit their criteria as to how a Jewish spiritual teacher should act or with whom he should associate (Mark 2:15–17).
  • After this, the Pharisees butted heads with Yeshua over his non-ascetic lifestyle. They didn’t like the fact that he didn’t fast as often as John the Baptist (Mark 2:18–22).
  • Then the Pharisees criticized Yeshua for not observing the Sabbath according to their extra-biblical religious criteria (Mark 2:23–28).
  • Finally, several of these controversial issues converged when the Pharisees questioned Yeshua in a synagogue on the Sabbath as to whether it was legal to perform a miraculous healing on that day or not (Mark 3:1–6).
  • Because the religious establishment viewed Yeshua as a threatening anomaly, they begin plotting how to destroy him (Mark 3:6). Their first aggressive act against him was false accusation, and smearing him publicly by accusing him of exorcizing a lower demon through a higher and more powerful demon (Mark 3:22). The Torah prescribes the death penalty for this (Deut 13:5; 18:20). It appears that the scribes (the legal experts) from Jerusalem were coming to apprehend Yeshua for this alleged crime. His family seeing that he was at risk of being arrested, sought to take him into protective custody before the scribes could seize him. Even his own family, though concerned for his well-being, thought “he was out of his mind” (Mark 3:21).
  • From time to time, Yeshua had to withdraw from the battle zone for some spiritual rest and recuperation (Mark 1:35; 3:7, 13 cp. 1:45; 2:13). Even such a stalwart as Yeshua needed downtime occasionally to recharge his spiritual batteries.

Though Yeshua was the Son of Elohim and was endued with vast spiritual power, being in the ministry wasn’t easy even for him! He and to pass numerous tests, overcome imposing obstacles and opposition of all kind, endure false accusations, betrayal,  mocking and scorning and even flee for his life at times. His authority was questioned, he came under fire for his unconventional healing methods, his non-religious lifestyle, his questionable associations, and his controversial theology that didn’t line up with the traditions of his day. But his steadfastness to his mission was firmly established in his forty day testing period in the wilderness. There, like an immovable rock, he resolved to be faithful to his Father in heaven regardless of the attacks by the world, the flesh and the devil that were about to assail him with full force.

Should his disciples today expect anything less —unless they’re not even in the war?

 

5 thoughts on “Boot Camp and Battle in Store for Yeshua’s True Disciples

  1. “Learn to fight smart! and learn how to fight carefully.” That was the Word God spoke to my husband and me some years ago when He gave my husband a dream of an enemy encampment right in the middle of where we lived. We were doing the military crawl through the desert and were to spy on this one encampment, representative of multitudes all over the earth, set up in each local area but unseenby most of the inhabitants. There was only a flimsy single strand of wire keeping the square-headed prisoners from escaping, but they wandered about aimlessly, not realizing they could easily get out. The guards were facing outward with guns poised at any oncomers who would show their captives how easy it was to escape. Since we were on the outside, we were in danger of being shot at, and we were to be careful in not pridefully announcing our presence to the guards that we were there to set the captives free. First lesson: be circumspect and humble in the task, but be diligent to find a more hidden way to approach the captives with the truth!

    Well, there was much more to the dream, and we took all of it seriously, saying “yes” to God’s training of how to fight smarter and more carefully. This was years before we began to explore our Hebraic roots. However, a few years into our “Messianic exploration,” the Lord said He was repositioning us on a firmer foundation — that we had based on lives on half of the foundation: that is, Yeshua is our Messiah. But to fight the spiritual battles that are upcoming, it would be necessary to have the second half of our foundation in place: that is, our honor of and obedience to the Torah.

    Virtually, all of the spiritual warfare strategy we were taught before this change to our Hebraic roots had validity, but it was resting on a half-strength foundation! Thank you, Natan, for your part in our lives of shoring up our foundation!

  2. “….◾Yeshua’s spiritual boot camp was the wilderness where he fasted for forty days and nights to get his body, soul and spirit, and his mind, will and emotions in sync with the will of his Father in heaven (Mark 1:12–15)….”

    Very soon a few of us will be entering “the Wilderness of the peoples” boot camp, > “…to get our bodies, soul and spirit, our mind, will and emotions in sync with the will of our Father…”

    Eze 20:35(HNV) and I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples, and there will I enter into judgment with you face to face.

    This physical boot camp will be called “the Greater Exodus”.

    • Yes, the Bible predicts a wilderness boot camp is to occur in order to purify the bride of Yeshua before his second coming. However, this event seems to be different than the second or great exodus which the Bible reveals to be a progressive and continual event that will occur over a period of time —— especially after the fall of Babylon the Great, which occurs at Yeshua’s second coming. I discuss the second exodus in a dissertation I wrote on the subject that’s available on this blog if you do a search for using the search box at the top of the blog’s front page.

  3. I agree with you on this teaching and with comments from others. I have begun my testing even with so called believers in Torah. The almighty already had been preparing me for this journey in ministry. Shalom

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