{"id":17955,"date":"2020-10-31T11:00:53","date_gmt":"2020-10-31T18:00:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hoshanarabbah.org\/blog\/?p=17955"},"modified":"2020-10-31T11:06:15","modified_gmt":"2020-10-31T18:06:15","slug":"on-being-a-fool-for-yeshua-saints-come-out-of-the-closet-part-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hoshanarabbah.org\/blog\/2020\/10\/31\/on-being-a-fool-for-yeshua-saints-come-out-of-the-closet-part-2\/","title":{"rendered":"On Being a “Fool” for Yeshua\u2014Saints: Come Out of the Closet! (Part 2)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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What Does It Really Mean to Be a \u201cFool\u201d for Yeshua?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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When it comes to being a \u201cfool\u201d for Yeshua,<\/strong> we need to ask ourselves some questions to more fully understand what\u2019s behind such a radical concept. These questions included: Why were you born? What is you purpose in life? Why did YHVH Elohim, the Creator of all things, make you in his image? These are serious questions that few people pause long enough from the frenetic lives to which they are enslaved to ponder. Most people are so occupied living their daily routines, pursuing their dreams or just trying to survive that they never take the logical next step\u2014a giant leap for many folks\u2014and ask themselves these hard questions. The biblical answers to these questions is simple. You were created with in divine destiny. That is to replicate Elohim on this earth and to help expand his kingdom here below. Do you have an inner sense of this divine mission deep in your heart and mind? Sadly, most people do not. Acquiring this understanding, no, this passion, is a key to confronting the tidal wave of evil that is presently enveloping the globe as it endeavors to snuff out the last vestiges of light and Truth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Historical Overview<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Back at the beginning in the book of Genesis in the garden, YHVH gave the first humans some marching orders which were instrumental in expanding his kingdom on earth. Critical to establishing the kingdom of Elohim was his command for man to get married and to procreate\u2014to replicate himself (Gen 1:28; 2:24). Marriage and family is an essential building block of YHVH\u2019s kingdom and to expanding it. Next, Elohim instructed the first man to make a home for his family and to have pets, that is, to tend and keep the garden and to take care of the animals in it (Gen 1:28; 2:15, 19). After that, YHVH instructed man to walk in his paths of righteousness by not eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge and by communing with his Creator on a personal level (Gen 2:17; 3:8). The weekly seventh day Sabbath, a day of physical rest, spiritual regeneration and relationship building, was instrumental in YHVH\u2019s kingdom building plans as well (Gen 2:1\u20133). All of these instructions are fundamental to YHVH replicating his kingdom and government on this earth. But there\u2019s more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not all families would teach their children and grandchildren the ways of Elohim. Down through the ages, many humans would be born into spiritual darkness and raise their children in it as well. This is because YHVH created humans to have the freedom to choose to follow him or not. Most have chosen the latter. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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To remedy this problem YHVH plucked a man called Abraham out of the spiritual darkness of ancient Babylonia and gave him the light of his Truth. He then gave Abraham many righteous offspring who were commissioned to take the light of that Truth to the nations of the world (Deut 4:5\u20138; Isa 49:6 cp. 60:1\u20133). This nation was called Israel, and YHVH placed that nation smack dab in the land of Canaan,which is geographically and strategically located where the trading routes of three continents all meet\u2014Africa, Europe and Asia. Sadly, the nation of Israel failed in their divine-mandated evangelistic mission to spread the good news of the kingdom of Elohim to the surrounding nations. Elohim knew this would happen because he knows that humans are weak and sinful, so now he fell back on his main plan to evangelize the world\u2014to send his only begotten Son to complete the mission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because humans failed in their mission to spread the good news of Elohim\u2019s kingdom to their children, friends and neighbors and to the world, out of deep love for humanity, Elohim sent his only Son, Yeshua the Messiah, to raise up followers who, with the inner dynamo of his Set-Apart Spirit, would fulfill the mission that Adam and the descendants of Abraham failed to do. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In preparation for the advent of the Messiah, YHVH sent John the Immerser to preach the message of \u201cRepent [from sin] for the kingdom of Elohim is at hand\u201d (Matt 3:2).  This gospel of the repenting of sin or lawlessness (i.e. Torahlessness, see 1 John 3:4) and coming under the rule of the kingdom of Elohim is the same message that Yeshua the Messiah preached (Matt 4:17, 23; Mark 1:15), and that he commissioned his disciples (then and now) to preach as well (Matt 10:7). This message of the kingdom of Elohim is the essence of Yeshua\u2019s Great Commission command to his disciples to preach the gospel to all nations (Matt 28:18\u201320; Mark 16:15\u201318). To fulfill this commission was Yeshua\u2019s last command to his disciples before he ascended to heaven (Acts 1:8), and that command still stands to this day and applies to all disciples of Yeshua including you and me. These were last marching orders of the saints\u2019 Commander and Chief, the Captain of Our Salvation before he left this earth, and these orders still stand!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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At the same time, the demonic spirit of Antichrist is in direct opposition to the advancement of the YHVH\u2019s kingdom on this earth. Satan the opposer and adversary to Elohim and his kingdom has been at his game from the beginning, since he manifested himself as a snake in a tree in the garden to oppose the will and commands of the Creator. This is why these evil forces are so opposed to marriage, family, the people of Israel, Yeshua the Messiah and the Bible and its followers. This is because Satan is the god of this world, and he is the ruler of all of its kingdoms. He knows that his time is short, that his gig as the ruler of this world is almost up, and that Yeshua the Messiah is about to return to destroy his kingdom\u2014called Babylon the Great\u2014and to capture and imprison him for eternity. Until then, Satan is pulling out all of the stops to prevent the kingdom of Elohim and its King\u2014Yeshua the Messiah and his followers\u2014from replacing him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Enter the Great Commission<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

So where does that leave you and me in this cosmic struggle between good and evil, between the kingdom of Elohim and the kingdom of Satan? What is our divine mandate as obedient disciples of Yeshua?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the table before us is the last set of orders that Yeshua, or Commander and Chief, the Captain of our salvation handed down to us. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

And He said to them, \u201cGo into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. (Mark 16:15)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth. (Acts 1:8).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Yes, spreading the good news or gospel message of repentance from sin and the arrival of Elohim\u2019s kingdom through sharing this message with others is the means by which the Creator determined to advance his kingdom, and the followers of Yeshua are the human agents by which this is to occur. Like it or not, this is heaven\u2019s mandate for each of us, who call ourselves disciples of Yeshua.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To the world, preaching the gospel is foolishness and a foolish method to accomplish anything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the message of the cross is foolishness<\/strong> to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of Elohim.\u2026 but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness\u2026 (1 Cor 1:18, 23)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In fact, now not only does the world consider the gospel to be foolishness, but in more and more venues it is now being considered to be \u201cpolitically incorrect\u201d and \u201chate speech.\u201d Remember, this is Satan\u2019s world, and he is making his final play to conquer it once and for all and to kill (figuratively or literally) all those who preach the kingdom of Elohim. Other people who oppose our sharing the gospel are not our enemies, for behind them is the demonic spirit of Antichrist, which is the real enemy. The people are just helpless, naive and ignorant puppet pawns of a greater, more sinister and evil power. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As opposers to this spirit of Antichrist, and as disciples of Yeshua, are we those who will cower in the corner in fear for what the world will think of us or do to us, or, like the early disciples of Yeshua, will we love the praises of Elohim more than the praises of men, and choose to obey Elohim rather than men and boldly proclaim the gospel wherever we go no matter what the world thinks?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So now the big question that is on the table before us: Are you willing to be a \u201cfool\u201d for Yeshua\u2014that is, a fool in the world\u2019s eyes, though a wise and profitable servant in YHVH Elohim\u2019s eyes, and a servant who will be richly rewarded in the world to come for his faithfulness to fulfilling his Master\u2019s marching orders to expand the kingdom of heaven through preaching? The great apostle Paul was willing to be a fool for Yeshua.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are fools for the Messiah\u2019s sake, but you are wise in the Messiah! We are weak, but you are strong! You are distinguished, but we are dishonored! (1 Cor 4:10)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In fact, Paul and those with him were so radical in fulfilling their divine mission to advance the kingdom of Elohim that they were willing to suffer enormous physical privation for it:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To the present hour we both hunger and thirst, and we are poorly clothed, and beaten, and homeless. And we labor, working with our own hands. Being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we endure; being defamed, we entreat. We have been made as the filth of the world, the offscouring of all things until now. (1 Cor 4:11\u201313)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Look, I\u2019m not telling anyone that they need to go to the extremes that Paul did to advance the kingdom of heaven unless YHVH calls you to do so. But consider this: Most of us are doing little or nothing to advance the kingdom to those around us. Fulfilling the great commission begins with baby steps, and little-by-little as we take those first steps to share the gospel with others, our faith and boldness to do so will grow. But first, we must determine to take those first steps, to be willing to become a \u201cfool\u201d (in the world\u2019s eyes) for Yeshua.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bible Verses on Being a Fool for Yeshua<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

So what does it really mean to be a \u201cfool\u201d of Yeshua and to engage in \u201cfoolishness\u201d of preaching (or sharing) the gospel to those around us who may not want to hear it? Let\u2019s now briefly examine the Bible verses that talk about this interesting and off-putting concept.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are fools<\/strong> [Gk. moros<\/em>] for the Messiah\u2019s sake, but you are wise in the Messiah! We are weak, but you are strong! You are distinguished, but we are dishonored! (1 Cor 4:10)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

For the message of the cross is foolishness<\/strong> [Gk. m\u014dria<\/em>] to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of Elohim. (1 Cor 1:18)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

For since, in the wisdom of Elohim, the world through wisdom did not know Elohim, it pleased Elohim through the foolishness<\/strong> [Gk. m\u014dria<\/em>] of the message preached to save those who believe. (1 Cor 1:21)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you seems to be wise in this age, let him become a fool<\/strong> [Gk. m\u014dros<\/em>] that he may become wise. (1 Cor 3:18)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s now consider the meanings of the biblical Greek words in the verses above:<\/p>\n\n\n\n