GRACE / UNITY THROUGH MESSIAH vs. THE FOOLISH SHEPHERD

 

GRACE – UNITY THROUGH MESSIAH vs. THE FOOLISH SHEPHERD

By Doug Krieger

There is a pernicious tendency—due to the insipid quest for control within fallen man—which incessantly raises its ugly head among the shepherds of the sheep of His flock.  I’d like to address this ubiquitous malady in its immediate and prophetic commentary as it pertains to the prophet Zechariah’s amazing address of the same—this may surprise you. 

I don’t expect “commentary agreement” on my exegesis but I’ll be more than satisfied if you get the drift of what I feel the Holy Spirit’s bearing witness in my spirit that we’re on to something here that has major consequence at the “end of time” for the people of God—both Judah (the Jewish Nation) and Ephraim (those among the nations who have entered into Covenant through Yeshua’s Person and Work).

Today’s Judah/Jewish people are seemingly more divided than ever before due to a host of issues—primarily, today, centered on the current distress, wars, hostages, etc., let alone how to address the flagrant rise of anti-Semitism throughout the globe.  Simultaneously, these issues of “domestic division” afflict all the “people of the Book”—namely, those who claim membership in the Commonwealth of Israel who were once non-citizens but who through Messiah have been joined teleologically[i] to the “Israel of God” becoming joint-heirs through the Jewish Carpenter. 

Dr. John Walvoord (past president of Dallas Theological Seminary) once said that the book of Zechariah presented the most stereoscopic eschatology of virtually any book in the entire Bible; rivaling the Revelation extracted from the Isle called Patmos.  Specifically, Zechariah 11-14 speaks in immediate and futuristic implications regarding the Almighty’s dealings with His people—and does so in no uncertain terms.  Our focus resides within the peculiar and rather open-ended reflections concerning shepherding the flock of God either with the “Two Staffs” of the Great Shepherd of the Sheep or via the Foolish Shepherd’s “three shepherds” who await their fate—cutting off!

Inserted within these interpretive ambiguities is the redemptive price of Messiah’s sacrifice and ultimate, I affirm, judgment upon these three shepherds and their ring leader, if you would, the Worthless Shepherd (Zech.11:17).

On the one hand, Zechariah 11:4-17, speaks regarding the differences between the "two staffs" and the dismissal of the "three shepherds" during a 30-day time frame (one month). This is a profound prophecy indeed!

God's Eternal Purpose Unveiled by Gian Luca Morotti

Does God have a plan for uniting and reconciling Jews and Gentiles? 

The Commonwealth of Israel - God's Eternal Purpose Unveiled

As confusion over the place of the Jews escalates, learn why the “mystery” revealed to Paul holds the key to one of the most volatile issues of our day. 

As Christ came on the seen there was a pre-existing “enmity” based on a “mutual dislike of each other’s customs.” But was reconciliation part of “the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Eph. 3:11)? Morotti’s book, Called to a Holy Pilgrimage explored how the Jewish people regathered to the land of Israel according to the prophetic scriptures—while still in their unbelief. Yet according to the Amplified Version, God would “make plain [to everyone] the plan of the mystery [regarding the uniting of believing Jews and Gentiles into one body] which [until now] was kept hidden through the ages in [the mind of] God who created all things” (Ephesians 3:9).

Gian Luca exposes how “Stigmatic Theology” presents “a deformed view of the "whole counsel of God” and creates a “glaring impediment to the Almighty’s plan and purpose wrought by the blood of the cross in making the two (Jews and Gentiles) – ‘one new man – so making peace’ (Ephesians 2:15).”

Gian Luca Morotti

Gian Luca Morotti holds a degree in Security Management and a Bachelor in Biblical Studies in Hebraic Heritage. He currently serves as member of the International Board of Ebenezer Emergency Fund International (EEFI) and as chairman of Ebenezer Operation Exodus Israel. He is also a board director of the Commonwealth of Israel Foundation (COIF). 

See details at Amazon now: https://www.amazon.com/Commonwealth-Israel-Eternal-Purpose-Unveiled/dp/B0D6J5LB5H

THE BLOOD OF YOUR COVENANT — by Doug Krieger, Chair - COIF

Headline article from the Spring 2024 Commonwealth of Israel Foundation quarterly newsletter. 

Doug Krieger, Chair - COIF

It’s time for some theological clarity, commentary and devotional. There are few Messianic Scriptures from the Hebrew text which are alluded to and/or directly quoted in all four gospels— so, the passages from Zechariah 9:9-10 are altogether poignant, laced with overt prophetic fulfillment and found in Matthew 21:5; Mark 11:7, 9; Luke 19:38; John 12:15, to wit:

  “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; He is just and having salvation, lowly and riding on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey” (Zech. 9:9)

 Allow me to pause here for Messiah’s First Coming wrought us so great a SALVATION—yes, His Triumphal Entry on Nissan 10 (so-called “Palm Sunday”—which will occur this year on April 18, 2024 with Passover on April 22—contrariwise, Easter will occur on March 31, 2024 with Palm Sunday on March 24, 2024). Nisan 10 matches the same date on the Hebrew Sacred Calendar as the choosing of the spotless lamb on that first Passover—4 days before it was slain (Exodus 12:1-11). Moreover, it was on Nissan 10 the very day the children of Israel crossed over the Jordan River into the Good Land (Joshua 4:19) – and the day when Ezekiel saw the vision of the Holy City, the Holy District as found in Ezekiel 40:1-2—viz. “. . . at the beginning of the year [religious Rosh Hashanah], on the tenth day of the month . . ...”