What happened to Yeshua’s soul after he died on the cross?

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Yet it pleased YHVH to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, And the pleasure of YHVH shall prosper in His hand. (Isaiah 53:10)

The debate has raged within Christian circles for several hundred years as to what specifically happened to Yeshua the Messiah from the point he died on the cross to the time of his resurrection. All agree that his body stayed in the grave, but what happened to the rest of him; namely, his soul and spirit? 

It is generally accepted among believers that man is a three-part being: body, soul and spirit. Many ­scriptural references could be given, but, unless one doubts the Apostle Paul, one biblical example should suffice: that is 1 Thessalonians 5:23, where Paul states that man is comprised of a body, soul and spirit. Furthermore, it is a generally accepted that the body is the physical body of man, that the soul is the rational part of him composed of his intellect or natural understanding, emotions and will or volition, and the spirit is that divine spark or essence YHVH puts in man at the time of inception without which the body and soul cannot live. The spirit separates man from the animal kingdom (Ecc. 3:21) and is the part of man that can connect with the Spirit of YHVH. Therefore, it is through the spirit that man can have a relationship with YHVH (John 4:23-24; Eph. 3:16; Job 32:8; Rom. 8:16; 1 Cor:12:11; 1 John 2:20; Prov. 20:27).

The Bible says very little about the origin or fate of man’s spirit. Several scriptures shed a little light on this subject however. For example, the spirit of man goes up when he dies (Ecc 3:21), and returns to YHVH who gave it (Ecc. 12:7). Likewise, we see that upon Yeshua’s death on the cross he committed his spirit into the hands of the Father in Heaven (Luke 12:6).

With regard to the physical body of a man when he dies, is there any question as to what happens to that? It goes into the grave where it stays to await the resurrection. This is so basic and so widely accepted among Believers that we will not take the time or space here to give scriptural proof of this fact. We know that when Yeshua died, his body was laid in the tomb where it stayed until his resurrection three days and nights later.

Now what about the soul? That is the big question. In the Old Testament we find many scriptures that teach that upon death man’s soul goes into sheol or hell (the grave) waiting for YHVH to raise it up:

Psalm 16:10, “For You [YHVH] will not leave my soul in sheol, nor allow Your Holy One to see corruption.” (See also Acts 2:27.)

Psalm 49:15, “But YHVH will redeem my soul from the power of the grave [sheol], for he shall receive me.”

Psalm 49:8: “For the redemption of their souls [from the power of sheol] is costly.”

Hosea 13:14: “I [YHVH speaking] will ransom them from the power of the grave [sheol]; I will redeem them from death.”

Psalm 86:13: “And You [YHVH] have delivered my soul from the depths of sheol.”

Here we see that in Tanakh (Old Testament) times man’s soul would descend into sheol (the abode of the dead) at the time of his death where it would stay until YHVH would ransom these souls (later through the death of Yeshua the Messiah).

Now let us see how Yeshua’s soul had to pay the price for sin by having to die and go to sheol. To see this we must look at Isaiah 53:10 where it says the Redeemer’s (i.e.Yeshua’s) soul was made an offering for sin. In verse 11 we read that Yeshua’s soul suffered or labored and YHVH was satisfied and many were justified by it as Yeshua bore their iniquities. All the major Bible translations (KJV, NKJV, NIV and NASV) bear this rendering out. Verse 12 says that Yeshua poured His soul out unto death and that he was numbered with the transgressors and bore the sins of many and made intercession for the transgressors.

Why do we see such an emphasis on the soul part of Yeshua dying, suffering, bearing man’s iniquities, justifying many, and satisfying YHVH’s justice? The soul (mind, will and emotions) is the part of man that sins. We cannot rightly say that the spirit part of man or the body sin, although the body does act out the sin, which is conceived in the heart and mind of man. Furthermore, the Scriptures make it very clear that it is the soul that is guilty of sinning and thence must die (Num 15:28, Ezek 18:4; 18:20). Yeshua laid the blame for sin against the heart or soul part of man as well when he said that from it proceed all sorts of evil things such as murders, adulteries, thefts, lying, blasphemies and so on (Matt 15:19). In Matthew 12:33–34, Yeshua shows the connection between the heart and one of the parts of the body, namely the mouth, when he said that “out of the abundance of the mouth thes heart speaks.” Here we see, again, that the body is servant to the soul part of man.

We not only see that Yeshua descended into sheol, but the Scripture makes mention in several places about him descending into the lowest part of hell or sheol. (Ps 88:6, 3, 5, 7, 9, 15, 16. Could Ephesians 4:9 be a description of this as well?)

In the Tanakh, there is a distinction between sheol-hell and the lower part of sheol or the lowest hell (Deut 32:22; Ps 86:13 and Prov. 9:18). Are these the two compartments of hell that exist based on Yeshua’s parable of Lazarus and the rich man in Luke 16 as many in the church teach? One compartment is for the unregenerate sinner who, though dead, awaits the judgement seat of YHVH (or the Great White Throne Judgement, Rev 20:11–15) after which he will be cast into the, as yet nonexistent, Lake of Fire, while the other compartment is for the righteous dead and is called Abraham’s Bosom in Hebraic poetic and euphemistic fashion?

Another interesting text is 1 Peter 3:18, which says Messiah suffered for sins being put to death in the flesh (but he did not die in the spirit, for it returned to YHVH!), and the Spirit of Elohim made him alive (even as the same Spirit that had impregnated him into Mary, descended upon him as a dove, led him to the wilderness, and finally raised him up).

The question naturally would arise, what would Yeshua be doing in sheol in either or both “compartments”? The Scriptures say very little about this, so where the Scriptures speak we are able to speak, but where they are silent it is wise for men to be silent as well, and not run the risk of adding to YHVH’s Word. Several scriptures do give us a little glimpse into this time period however. One is Revelation 1:18, which says that Yeshua has the keys of hades (the grave or sheol) and death. Perhaps he obtained those “keys” while his soul was there during his body’s three days and nights in the tomb. First Peter 3:18–20 talks about Yeshua suffering “once [and] for [all for] sins, the just for the just, that he might bring us to YHVH, being put to death in the flesh, but made alive by the Spirit, by whom also he went and preached to the spirits in prison, who formerly were disobedient …”

To be sure, 1 Peter 3:18–20 is one of the more enigmatic passages in the Scriptures. We, like those before us, can only guess as to its meaning. Is this passage, coupled with Ephesians 4:8–9, a description of Messiah leading the righteous of old from “Abraham’s Bosom” to an early first of the first fruits resurrection, which is pictured by the early spring barely harvest? Elsewhere we have seen that the scriptural evidence points to the fact that Yeshua resurrected early on the first day (our Saturday evening), and that when he arose he became “the first fruits of them that slept” (1 Cor 15:20). Then Ephesians 4:8–9 says, “When he ascended on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts to men. (Now this, ‘he descended’—what does it mean but that he also first descended into the lower parts of the earth?)” Who were these captives that Yeshua led out of the graves to be first fruits along with him? In this regard, Matthew in his Gospel records something strange happening at Yeshua’s resurrection:

And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, and came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many. (Matt 27:52–53)

What happened to these saints after Yeshua’s resurrection? Did they die again and return to the graves, or did they go to heaven to await Yeshua’s second coming? This is a huge question. Yeshua said that no man had ascended to heaven (John 3:13), but he made this statement before his resurrection. So what happened to these saints then? Did they go to heaven, or did they return to the graves? Stephen under the inspiration of the Spirit of Elohim stated that “the patriarch David… is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day.… For David is not ascended into the heavens … (Acts 2:29 and 34). This was certainly true of David, but not necessarily of those saints who resurrected at the time of Yeshua’s resurrection. Revelation 19:1 speaks of “people [literal crowds of people according to the TDNT’] in heaven” who will return with Yeshua at his second coming. Perhaps these people are a reference to those righteous saints who will be resurrected at the sound of the last or seventh trumpet (shofar) (1 Cor 15:51–53; cp. Rev 11:15–18). The Bible doesn’t tell us what became of the saints that arose at the time of Yeshua’s resurrection, but one thing is certain: they were part of the first fruits that followed Yeshua who was the first of the first fruits of the resurrection—and all this happened on First Fruits Day—the day of Yeshua’s resurrection and ascension to heaven.

 

“Come out of Babylon my people!” HOW??

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Nathan explains how to come of the end times world ruling system the Bible calls Babylon the Great as per Elohim’s command to his people in Revelation 18:4.

https://rumble.com/v229fcw-december-24-2022.html

 

Gospels Decoded—Prophetic Pictures of End Time Events (Pt 11)

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In this video, Nathan explains the end time prophetic implications of Yeshua the Good Shepherd gather his lost and scattered “sheep” together, the Parable of the Two Sons and how it relates to modern Jews and Christians, and Yeshua clashing with the religious system of his day and how that is a model for true end time believer Truth seekers to do the same.

 

On Surviving the Tidal Wave of Evil Coming at Us

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In this video, Nathan shares is heart feelings about his sorrowful grief for the spiritually lost, the prodigals and lukewarm believers. He also discusses how to survive the tidal wave of evil that his sweeping across the world and carrying almost everything away with it including many Christian believers. Nathan shares how he stays strong and plans survives this satanic, Antichrist onslaught and still be joyful.

 

The Gospels Decoded—Prophetic Pictures of End Time Events

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In this episode, we will discover the end time prophetic implications of Yeshua healing the sick man on the Sabbath, Yeshua declaring himself to be the good shepherd compared to other shepherds who are mere hirelings, and the Parable of the Two Son.

Yeshua Heals a Sick Man on the Sabbath

John 5:1–16, “After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Yeshua went up to Jerusalem. Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches. In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water. For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water. Whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had. And a certain man was there, which had an infirmity thirty-eight years. When Yeshua saw him lying there, and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, he said unto him, ‘Will you be made whole?’ The impotent man answered him, ‘Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool, but while I am coming, another steps down before me.’ Yeshua said unto him, ‘Rise, take up your bed, and walk.’ And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked. And on the same day was the Sabbath. The Jews therefore said unto him that was cured, ‘It is the Sabbath day. It is not lawful for you to carry your bed.’ He answered them, ‘He that made me whole, the same said unto me, “Take up your bed, and walk.”’ Then they asked him, ‘Who is the man who said unto you, “Take up your bed, and walk?”’ And he that was healed did not know who it was, for Yeshua had himself conveyed away [slipped away secretly], a multitude being in that place. Afterward Yeshua found him in the temple, and said unto him, ‘Behold, you are made whole. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto you.’ The man departed, and told the Jews that it was Yeshua, which had made him whole. And therefore did the Jews persecute Yeshua, and sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the Sabbath day.”

Prophetic Points to Analyze

  • verse 1— A feast of the Jews
  • verse 2— Sheep gate
  • verse 2— A pool
  • verse 2— Bethesda
  • verse 2— Five porches
  • verse 3— Lay a great multitude of impotent folk
  • verse 5— A certain man
  • verse 5— Which had an infirmity thirty-eight years
  • verse 6— will you be made whole
  • verse 10— The Sabbath day
  • verse 13— Yeshua had conveyed himself away [slipped away secretly]
  • verse 13— A multitude being in that place
  • verse 14— Found him in the temple
  • verse 14— You are made whole
  • verse 14— Sin no more

Understood allegorically, this story is speaking prophetically of Israel’s future healing from its spiritual sickness (i.e., of sin or Torahlessness). The infirm man received YHVH’s mercy and was healed at the cleansing waters that is a biblical symbol for Spirit and Truth, and where both the Spirit of YHVH and the Truth of Torah were to be found in the Person of Yeshua the Messiah. This all occurred on the seventh day Sabbath, which points to the culmination of the final redemption leading into Millennium or Messianic Age—a one thousand year-long “Sabbath”—that will begin at Yeshua’s second coming. The following is an analysis of the key points in this passage.

verse 1, A feast of the Jews. This event occurred at one of the biblical feasts; the text does not tell us which one.

verse 2, Sheep gate. The location of this event was at the Sheep Gate or Sheep Market in Jerusalem. Interestingly, the Tanakh refers to Israel as being like scattered, sick, and shepherdless sheep who have gone astray. Thus, the location of the story speaks to a greater issue relating to YHVH’s people.

verse 2, Bethesda in Hebrew means “house of mercy.” In Hosea, in reference to the spiritual adulterous house of Israel, YHVH said he would have no mercy (Heb. Lo-Ruchamah) upon her (Hos 1:6), and then later he calls her “Having Obtained Mercy” (Heb. Ruchamah, Hos 2:1; See also Ezek 39:25). This is prophetic of YHVH rejecting his people because of their apostasy and then redeeming them out of their wayward, sinful condition.

verse 2, A pool. Bethesda was a pool (Heb. mikveh) of healing waters that had five steps leading down to it. Christians view the number five as signifying grace, while Jews view it as representing the five books of the Torah. In biblical and Jewish thought, YHVH’s Torah is like water that brings life (e.g., see Deut 32:2). At the same time, Yeshua is the Living Torah-Word of Elohim (John 1:1, 14), and those who drink from this Living Word of Elohim will never thirst (John 4:10–14), but will have eternal life. Thus, this pool located at the Sheep Gate symbolically represents YHVH’s lost and scattered sheep coming back to his Torah and receiving his healing grace through Yeshua the Messiah who is the Word of Elohim. 

verse 3, Blind, lame, withered. Many sick were laid at this pool. The people of Israel are likened to sick sheep spiritually because of their sin and apostasy (Ezek 34:4, 16), who have gone astray and been scattered. We have all sinned and fallen short of YHVH’s glory (Rom 3:23), all we like sheep have gone astray spiritually (Isa 53:6), and despite our best efforts to follow and obey YHVH, our righteousness is still no more than filthy rags (Isa 64:6). Therefore, each of us is blind, miserable, poor and naked in YHVH’s sight, and our Father in heaven is calling us to repent and come back to him (Rev 3:14–22).

verse 3, Moving of the water. “Water”in Hebrew is poetic imagery or a metaphor for both the Torah (e.g., Deut 32:1–2) and for the Spirit of Elohim (Joel 2:23). Water brings healing, cleansing and restoration to those who “bathe” in it and allow it to clean them.

verse 5, Thirty-eight years. A certain man had been there for 38 years waiting to be healed. Interestingly, the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness for an additional 38 years (as a judgment for believing the evil spies’ report) after they had already spent two years camped at Mount Sinai. Similarly, the house of Israel (which eventually became the Christian church) has been wandering in a spiritual wilderness for nearly 3000 years (from the time of Jeroboam) and the house of Judah for a shorter time. We have all been in a spiritual wilderness, and it is time to exit that dry, desolate place (Rev 18:4 cp. 2 Cor 6:17) as we prepare to meet Yeshua at his second coming, so that he can lead us into the spiritual promised land of his eternal kingdom.

verse 6, Do you want to be made whole? It was Yeshua’s wish to heal this man (who represents the whole house of Israel­, that is, both the Jews and the Christians) or to make him whole or restore him to health. The nation of Israel, which was fragmented into the houses of Israel (the Northern Kingdom) and the house of Judah (the Southern Kingdom), is to be made whole or fully restored at the second coming of Yeshua (Ezek 37:11; 39:25). YHVH will have mercy on the whole house of Israel (Ezek 39:25). We need to envision and desire that wholeness and now begin to walk toward it ourselves as redeemed Israelites. It starts with us recognizing that we are sick and need the Master’s healing touch, and then we must, in faith, reach out ot him and let him heal us of our sin sickness.

verse 9, The Sabbath. The man was healed on the Sabbath day. In Jewish thought this is a picture of the Millennium, when the Messiah will rule over a regathered and reunited Israel. The Sabbath is the seventh day of the week on which YHVH Elohim commanded man to rest from his work, even as the Creator rested from his work after creating the heavens and the earth. Similarly, man will exist on this earth doing his work for six prophetic days or 6,000 years, and then the seventh prophetic day or seventh millennium will occur as a time of rest for man and the earth.

verse 13, For Yeshua had conveyed himself away, a multitude being in that place. This speaks prophetically to Yeshua bringing healing and redemption to the broken and lost sheep of the whole house of Israel (both Jews and Christians) or the lost sheep of Israel (Matt 10:6; 15:24) at his first coming, after which he conveyed himself away or ascended to heaven.

verse 14, Finds him in the temple. Yeshua now dwells in the temple of his spiritual body of believers (1 Cor 3:16; 2 Cor 6:16) through the agency of his Set-Apart Spirit, and in the temple of heaven. Then at his second coming, he will touch down on the Mount of Olives and then go suddenly to his temple in Jerusalem (Mal 3:1). This event in Yeshua’s life could be fulfilled in two possible ways. It may be referring to a physical temple that will exist in Jerusalem at Yeshua’s second coming to which he returns. It could also be prophetic reference to the spiritual temple of Yeshua’s saints (1 Cor 3:16; 1 Pet 2:5; Heb 3:6), comprised of regathered, resurrected and glorified Israelites, who will meet him in the air at his second coming. The later will certainly occur, but whether a physical temple will stand in Jerusalem at Yeshua’s coming remains a question in the minds of many of us.

verse 14, You are made whole…sin no more. In declaring this to the man at the pool, Yeshua is, at the same time, prophetically telling the whole house of Israel (that is all of us) to go and sin no more, that is, stop breaking YHVH’s Torah (1 John 3:4). Both houses of Israel (in a very general sense, the Jews and the Christians) are guilty of violating YHVH’s Torah. Repenting of sin and preparing for the kingdom of Elohim was Yeshua’s message at his first coming (Matt 4:17, Yeshua preached, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand…”), and will also be his message to his bride prior to his second coming.

Yeshua Is the Good Shepherd

John 10:1–29, “‘Truly, truly, I say unto you, he that enters not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. But he that enters in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the doorman opens; and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name, and leads them out. And when he brings forth his own sheep, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him, for they know not the voice of strangers.’ This parable spoke Yeshua unto them, but they understood not what things they were which he spoke unto them. Then said Yeshua unto them again, ‘Truly, truly, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door. By me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. The thief comes not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.…’” 

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The Gospels Decoded—Prophetic Pictures of End Time Events

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In this episode, we will discuss the end time prophetic implications of the Parable of the Laborer’s Penny, Yeshua’s encounter of the woman at the well, Yeshua healing the nobleman’s son and the Parable of the Prodigal Son.

The Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard

Matthew 20:1–16, In this parable, Yeshua likens the kingdom of heaven to one who owns a vineyard and who hires laborers to work in his vineyard. During the course of the day the owner agrees to pay all of his workers a day’s wages regardless of when during the day they were hired. When pay time arrives, those hired at the beginning of the day murmured against those hired at the end of the day, since the owner paid them all the same wage. When accused of unfairness by those hired at the start of the day, the owner insists that they all agreed to the terms he offered and that they had no right to complain.

Prophetic Points to Analyze

  • verse 1— owner of the vineyard
  • verse 1— vineyard
  • verse 1— hired laborers
  • verse 2— their wages
  • verse 16— the last shall be first, and the first last

One possible interpretation of this parable is that the owner of the vineyard is YHVH, while the vineyard is a metaphor for Israel which is comprised of the house of Judah and the house of Israel (Isa 5:7). The vineyard can also be a metaphor for this world, which is like a field in which Yeshua’s saints have been called to work (Matt 13:38; 9:37; John 4:35).Salvation is the reward or wage that everyone receives regardless of when during their lifetime YHVH called them to work in his spiritual field. 

During the course of time, YHVH has “hired” laborers to work in his vineyard whether it is to help gather the lost sheep of the house of Israel, or to preach the gospel to the world in general. Those hired at the beginning of the day to tend his vineyard will receive the same reward (eternal life) as those hired just prior to the advent of YHVH’s millennial kingdom at the return of Yeshua. Our Lord speaks of this when he declared that on resurrection day when he hands out the gift of eternal life, many who were first shall be last and many who were last shall be first (Matt 19:30). That is to say, all the saints will be resurrected at the same time and will receive the same reward of everlasting life regardless of their length of service in YHVH’s spiritual field regardless of how long they have been serving him. 

This parable is reminiscent of the Parable of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15, where the prodigal son was given the same honor by the father as the son who had stayed faithful all along. It is possible to view the prodigal, in the most general sense, as a representing the house of Ephraim (the Christians), who went into a far country and joined himself with the citizenry of that country where he wasted his inheritance on heathen living and then ended up eating the leftovers from pigs just to stay alive. 

Truly, this parable could apply to many of Judah, as well, who have traded their spiritual inheritance for what the world has to offer, and who also turned away from the Father in heaven by rejecting the Messiah. 

Not withstanding, a remnant of Judah who has remained faithful to their Torah-roots (and who believe in Yeshua the Messiah as well) may feel slighted when those who have recognized Messiah Yeshua, though they have lived like the world, including the eating of swine and other nonkosher foods, finally return to the Hebrew roots of their Christian faith and become Torah-obedient only to find that their reward in the world to come (olam haba) is neither greater nor less than the returning prodigals (or those Christians who have only recently embraced the Torah). 

There may be other, even more precise, allegorical interpretations to this parable that are yet to be discovered.

Yeshua Talks to the Samaritan Woman at the Well

John 4:3–42, This is the account of Yeshua stopping in his travels at a well in Samaria for a drink of water. There he encounters the Samaritan woman and discusses with here physical versus spiritual water, her marital status, his Messiahship, that salvation is of the Jews, and about the importance of worshipping the Father in Spirit and in truth. Yeshua then preaches the gospel to the Samaritan city of Sychar for two days.

Prophetic Points to Analyze

  • verse 3— left Judea and departed again into Galilee
  • verse 4— needed to go through Samaria
  • verse 5— Sychar
  • verse 5— Jacob’s well that he gave to Joseph
  • verse 7— give me to drink
  • verse 9— the Jews have no dealings the Samaritans
  • verse 10— the gift of Elohim
  • verses 13–14— living waters
  • verse 18— five husbands
  • verse 22— salvation is of the Jews
  • verses 23–24— spirit and truth
  • verse 35— four months of harvest
  • verse 39— many Samaritans believed on him
  • verse 40— two days

In this Gospel account, Yeshua takes the good news (or the gospel) to the mixed people-group (Israelite and Gentile) called the Samaritans. Historically, the Hebrew Scriptures record that the Northern Kingdom or Ephraim became intermixed with the Gentile nations (Hos 7:8; 8:8) into which it had been dispersed at the time of and subsequent to its deportation into captivity. The Samaritans are one aspect of the fulfillment of this prophecy. The story of Yeshua’s encounter with the Samaritans has many prophetic implications pertaining to evangelizing the people of the nations as we will now see.

John records that Yeshua stayed with the Samaritans for two days (verse 40), which prophetically and allegorically represents the 2000 year time span between his first and second comings, which is commonly known as the “times of the Gentiles” (Luke 21:24). During this time, Ephraim (most generically speaking, the Christian church) will recognize their Messiah (Jesus), while most of those of Judea (the Jews) would be blind to Yeshua (Jesus) the Messiah.

Here is an analysis of some key prophetic points in Yeshua’s brief encounter with these mixed-race Gentiles:

verse 3— left Judea and departed again into Galilee. Yeshua left Judea departing for Galilee (the region of the former Northern Kingdom) passing through Samaria where the Samaritans lived, who were a mixed racial group comprised of Israelite ancestry and that of the Gentiles or people of the nations.

verse 4— needed to go through Samaria. Yeshua had to go through Samaria. He could not overlook these rejected mixed people who were basically scorned and rejected as second-class citizens by most respectable Jews. They too needed to hear the gospel message and had a place in YHVH’s kingdom.

verse 5— Sychar. Yeshua stopped at the Samaritan city of Sychar, which derives from the Hebrew word shekar meaning “strong or intoxicating drink, fermented or intoxicating liquor.” According to Lightfoot, Samaria, during the first temple period, was the name of a city, and during the second temple period, it was the name of a country. Its metropolis at that time was Shechem, which the Jews derisively referred to as Seckar based on the words of Isaiah, the prophet, in Isaiah 28:1 that states, “Woe to the drunken Ephraimites….” 

It is interesting to note that the Samaritans as a mixed people also had a mixed religion. They had the Torah, and yet followed a YHVH-type religion that was also mixed with some pagan traditions. 

Prophetically speaking, is this not the religious state (i.e., religious Babylon) out of which YHVH is calling his people in the end times (Rev 18:4)? Can it be denied that the Christian religion contains many non-biblical traditions that are totally antithetical to the truth of the Scriptures? This is not even counting those doctrines, beliefs and traditions that derive from overt pagan sources. To be sure, mainstream Christianity is a mixture of truth and error, and is part of spiritual Babylon (meaning “confusion” or “mixture”). 

Indeed, religious Babylon has made all nations drunk on the wine of her (spiritual) fornication;that is to say, all have committed spiritual harlotry with her by following many of her pagan and idolatrous traditions. All have had their spiritual senses and inhibitions dulled to the truth of YHVH by her sensual overtures. 

Sychar is either the historic city of Shechem or near Shechem, which is situated between Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal (where the Torah promises and curses were pronounced upon the Israelites upon entering the Promised Land under Joshua, Josh 8:30–35). Shechem is also the historic entry point of the Promised Land by the Israelites. That is why Joseph requested to be buried there as an act of his faith. Many other notable Jews are also buried there.

verse 5— Jacob’s well that he gave to Joseph. This event occurred at the well that Jacob gave to Joseph. This speaks of the birthright blessings Jacob passed on to Joseph’s descendants who would end up mixing themselves with the nations as Hosea the prophet had foretold (Hos 7:8; 8:8). 

According to rabbinic interpretation, a well can be a metaphor for the Torah. Scripturally, water can represent both Torah or word of Elohim (Deut 32:1–2 cp. Eph 5:26) and the Spirit of Elohim (Joel 2:23). This well was located in the historic region of the tribe of Manasseh, the son of Joseph, while Mount Gerizim, to which the Samaritan woman refers later, is in the historic territory of Ephraim.

verses 7–10— Give me to drink. Yeshua asked this woman (who represents the spiritual “mixture” that is in the Christian church) for a drink of water. Spiritually speaking, as noted above, water is a biblical metaphor for both Spirit and Torah-truth. This woman did not understand what Yeshua meant. Once he explained it to her, she wanted the spiritual water (Torah and the Spirit) he had to offer. Likewise, how many Christians today understand the full ramifications of the Torah and the Spirit and how it applies to them? Many today, like the Samaritan woman of old, are hungering for more.

verse 9— The Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. The Samaritan woman was likely all too well aware of the literal wall of partition (or soreg) that had been constructed in the Jerusalem temple to keep non-Jews from entering therein. To a certain extent, such a wall still exists between those who insist that the Christian church is comprised of Jews and Gentiles, even though Yeshua came to break down that middle wall of separation and bring all the Gentiles into the nation of Israel (Eph 2:11–19), and to reunite these two estranged people groups (or the two houses of Israel) in himself, which Scripture now refers to as “the one new man” (Eph 2:15), where there is no longer Jew or Gentile (Gal 3:26–29). Additionally, let us never forget, there is no Gentile gate in the New Jerusalem (Rev 21:12)!

verse 10— The gift of Elohim. What is the gift of YHVH to which Yeshua makes reference here? It is the loving gift of his Son, Yeshua, to redeem the world as John 3:16 states. It is the good news of the gospel message. It is the living waters of Spirit and truth (or Torah) that Yeshua would make available to those who thirst. It is all of these things and more.

verses 10— 13–14, Living water. The living waters springing up into everlasting life are none other than Yeshua the Written Torah and Yeshua the Living Torah, the Word or Torah of Elohim incarnate.

verses 16–18— Five husbands. The woman had had five husbands and was living in sin with another man at that moment. This speaks of the Christian church (the house of Israel) who has been cohabiting with the foreign and pagan spiritual lovers almost from its nascence in the second century (just after the death of the last apostle) by adhering to many pagan belief systems and customs. We see this by its heavy emphasis on and devotion to such blatantly pagan and nonbiblical traditions as Christmas, Easter, Halloween, Lent, and Sunday observance and the like, all of which are rooted in paganism.

verse 22— Salvation is of the Jews. The Messiah was Jewish and the human foundation stones of the “church” and the authors of the Testimony of Yeshua—the twelve apostles—were all Jewish (Eph 2:22), and the Jews were the preservers of the oracles of YHVH (Rom 3:2); therefore, salvation was of the Jews.

verses 23–24— Spirit and truth. This is another way of saying Yeshua the Living Torah and Yeshua the Written Torah or Logos. Otherwise stated, it can be a reference to Elijah and the prophets and Moses and the Torah, the two witnesses of Ephraim and Judah, the Tanakh or Hebrew Scriptures and the Brit Chadashah or the Testimony of Yeshua, grace and law, mercy and judgment, and the spirit and the letter of the law. All these are different ways of saying the same thing.

verses 28–30, 39–42— Many…Samaritans…believed in Him. This prophetically speaks of the harvest of the lost sheep of the house of Israel beginning at the time of Yeshua’s first advent culminating with a great end time harvest that is yet to come when Ephraimites and the Gentiles, who have attached themselves to Ephraim, will come to faith in Yeshua the Messiah. He speaks of this harvest in verses 34–38.

verses 34–38— Four months and then comes the harvest. Yeshua’s encounter with the Samaritan women occurred around the feast of Shavuot (Pentecost) in May, and four month later the great fall harvest prior to Sukkot (the Feast of Tabernacles) would occur. Between Shavuot and Sukkot are the summer months, or prophetically, the two thousand year period Yeshua refers to as “the times of the Gentiles” (Luke 21:24), when the gospel would go out to the people of the nations. Many Gentiles would be given those living waters to which Yeshua made reference. These four months represent the time period between Yeshua’s first and second comings.

verse 40— He stayed there two days. Yeshua stayed with this mixed group of people (Israelite and Gentile) for two days, prophetically representing 2000 years, or the two thousand years between his first and second comings. The phrase “two days” is used elsewhere in the Scriptures to represent 2000 years of Messiah’s work on earth prior to his second coming (e.g., Hos 6:2).

What You Can Do

As Yeshua walked along the road of life, he met many people in his day-to-day activities. He took every opportunity to sow spiritual seeds into the lives of those people, to meet their needs (both physical and spiritual), to ask them questions, to listen to them, and to build a relationship with them. Then when the time was opportune, he shared with them the gospel message and the truth of the Torah. For him, this was a lifestyle, a modus operandi. 

This should be our method of operation as well. Be a spiritual Johnny Appleseed by continually looking for fertile soil into which to plant the seeds of the Word of Elohim, the Torah, the gospel message, the life, hope and light of Yeshua the Messiah. In this way, we will be helping to advance the kingdom of Elohim one life at a time as we reach out in an effort to gather in a bountiful harvest of souls—the lost sheep of Israel.

Yeshua Heals a Nobleman’s Son

John 4:43–54, “Now after two days he departed from there, and went into Galilee. For Yeshua himself testified, that a prophet has no honor in his own country. Then when he had come into Galilee, the Galileans received him, having seen all the things that he did at Jerusalem at the feast, for they also went unto the feast. So Yeshua came again into Cana of Galilee, where he made the water wine. And there was a certain nobleman, whose son was sick at Capernaum. When he heard that Yeshua was come out of Judea into Galilee, he went unto him, and besought him that he would come down, and heal his son, for he was at the point of death. Then said Yeshua unto him, ‘Except you see signs and wonders, you will not believe.’ The nobleman said unto him, ‘Sir, come down before my child dies.’ Yeshua said unto him, ‘Go your way; your son lives.’ And the man believed the word that Yeshua had spoken unto him, and he went his way. And as he was now going down, his servants met him, and told him, saying, ‘Your son lives.’ Then inquired he of them the hour when he began to get better. And they said unto him, ‘Yesterday at the ninth [HRV, as found in the Old Syriac] hour the fever left him.’ So the father knew that it was at the same hour in which Yeshua said unto him, ‘Your son lives,’ and himself believed, and his whole house. This is again the second miracle that Yeshua did, when he had come out of Judea into Galilee.”

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