Skip to main content

Experience the Kingdom of Heaven Today!


In our January newsletter, Did Jesus Promote Violence or Shalom, we learned that Yeshua, aka Jesus, taught that the requirement for entering the Kingdom of Heaven was this -- do acts of tzedaqah in the normal course of life today.

Almost everything Jesus taught was linked to teaching people how to do acts of tzedaqah. He made it clear that this was what God had anointed him to do – his mission as “the Christ” was to do and teach people how to do acts of tzedaqah. And, he taught that those who did tzedaqah, as part of the normal course of life, will enter into eternal life.

So, what is tzedaqah? Every “follower of Yeshua” knew the answer to that question by heart. But today, most “believers in Jesus” have never heard the question, much less know the answer. How could they, because the word tzedaqah doesn’t appear in English translations of their Bibles. The word they see is “righteousness,” and most people don’t actually know what that word means either.

Many of the teachings of Jesus are linked to the portions found in the Scroll of Isaiah. The answer to what tzedaqah means is found in Isaiah 32:17-18:

The work of tzedaqah shall be shalom
and the effect of tzedaqah shall be safety that continues forever.

My people will dwell in a pasture of shalom,
in dwelling places of safety and secure resting places.

Isaiah’s words are written in a form of prose called a parallelism, which means words and phrases in one line are explained by their parallel word or phrase in the next line.

Line 1A -- the work of tzedaqah = the effect of tzedaqah

Line 1B -- shalom = safety that continues forever

Line 2A -- my people will dwell in = in dwelling places

Line 2 B -- pasture of shalom = safety and secure resting places

The effect of doing “works of tzedaqah” is creating “shalom” – safe and secure resting places forever. Shalom is usually translated “peace,” but its ancient meaning actually “connotes totality, health, wholesomeness, harmony, success, the completeness and richness of living in an integrated social milieu.”7

Acts of tzedaqah make lives
healthy, whole, harmonious, successful and complete.

Acts of tzedaqah are acts like these:

● Make hungry people’s lives more shalom by feed them.

● Make thirsty people’s lives more shalom by giving them something to drink.

● Make naked people’s lives more shalom by giving them clothes.

● Make homeless people’s lives more shalom by bringing them to their home.

● Make sick people’s lives more shalom by visiting them.

● Make people in prison lives more shalom by going to see them.

● Make people they sinned against lives more shalom by doing teshuvah and repairing the harm they had done.

● Make people who alienated from each other lives more shalom by bring them back together and help repair the relationship.

Science now tells us that the basic needs of all humans are air, shelter, water, food, protection, education, income sources, acceptance, belonging, companionship, love, support, meaning, and happiness. So for our generation, we can add these to the list above.

A good way to begin is by doing something as simple as genuinely acknowledging the presence of another person in a friendly way by smiling and just saying “Hi” or “It’s good to see you”.  Those are acts of tzedaqah that can create more shalom at that time and place in someone’s life. Try doing it – it doesn’t cost anything and won’t take a lot of time. But you will experience the Kingdom of Heaven and the rewards of doing what Jesus taught today in your life too – regardless of whether you follow or believe in him!
______________________________________________

Did you find this information valuable? Please let us know by
“Liking” “BHC’s Real Yeshua Facebook Page”
______________________________________________

Donate and help fund future articles & blogs by Clicking Here
______________________________________________

Let Your Amazon Purchases Help too!
Click on the link below to login to Amazon when you make a purchase --
http://smile.amazon.com/ch/75-2842635
______________________________________________

Visit our website -- Biblical Heritage Center
______________________________________________

Thank you & may your shalom increase!


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

It’s a Yod -- NOT a Jot and Tittle!

Not only did Yeshua read and speak Hebrew, so did his followers and disciples! Two very well known, but not accurately understood words in the Gospel of Matthew prove it – jot and tittle . For some reason jot and tittle stick in the minds of Christian Bible readers. But when you ask them what jot or tittle mean, you get a lot of conflicting and some really weird answers. Today, you are going to get the facts about what Yeshua originally said and how they ended up in English translations of the Bible as jot and tittle . Let’s begin by reading Matthew 5:18 from the King James translation: For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. If you have not read the article “ From Yeshua to Jesus ” in Yeshua’s Kingdom Handbook please take a moment to read it online by clicking here before you continue. In it you will see how we began with the name “ Jesus ” and traced it through Lati...
Post a Comment
Read more

Do Not Say RAQA! - Yeshua on Anger (Part 2)

In the last blog, we covered the first part of Yeshua’s lesson on Anger -- An Angry Person Should be Tried in Court like a Murderer – keep in mind that “anger” is the focus of Yeshua’s lesson. “Whoever says to a brother, ‘ RAKA ,’ shall be answerable to the Sanhedrin.” [i] Yeshua reveals that the seriousness of the offense has become greater by elevating the crime to the next highest court – the Sanhedrin . It is the highest court in the nation and would be the equivalent of our Supreme Court. What makes this offense more serious than murder, to keep things in the context established by Yeshua? It is because of what the angry person said out of anger – “ RAKA !” RAKA is the English transliteration of the Greek word found in the ancient manuscripts of Matthew. Interestingly, the Greek word is also a transliteration of a Hebrew word into Greek. Keep in mind that when a translator working on a translation of a Greek manuscript transliterates a Greek word, he only finds ...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Prayer Yeshua Prayed Twice Every Day

One of Jesus’s earliest memories was no doubt watching and listening to his family when they gathered to pray the Shema at sunrise before the day’s work began and after the working work day was over at sunset . He also heard and participated in praying the Shema at their synagogue. He was surrounded by neighbors who also prayed the same prayer in their homes every day. The Hebrew word for prayer is tefilah . It is derived from the root Pe-Lamed-Lamed and the word l'hitpalel, meaning “ to judge oneself .” This surprising word origin provides insight into the purpose of Jewish prayer. The most important part of any Jewish prayer, whether it be a prayer of petition, of thanksgiving, of praise of God, or of confession, is the introspection it provides, the moment that we spend looking inside ourselves, seeing our role in the universe and our relationship to God. [1] Most of Jewish prayers are expressed in the first person plural, "us" instead of "me," an...
Post a Comment
Read more