In the 1^st century there were Hebrews/Yehudim who were identified as believers, however there were also those identified as non-believers. To believe what ? To believe that The long-awaited Messiah came in the Person of Yehoshua of Natzaret, as stated through the following passages, for example :

Yehochanan 8 : 30 : « While Yehoshua was saying these Words, thus many believed in Him »
Yehochanan 12 : 37 : « Even though He had performed all these many Miracles in their presence, yet they did not believe in Him »

Now, could the people in the 21^st century who made/make the Book The Bible as foundation of their spiritual way be also identified as believers, or called themselves as believers ? Let us perceive, uncover and learn.

A - The foundation of the 1^st century belief, only a Hebrew expectation

What did they believe ? A Torah-based belief according to Devarim (Deut.) 18 : 15, 18, as it is written : « A Prophet from among you, from your brothers, like me, will YHVH your Elohim raise up to you, to Him you shall listen. ... I will raise up for them a Prophet from among their brothers, like you, and I will put My Words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command Him ».

The Hebrew people in the days of Yehoshua HaMashiach especially thought and spoke and expected the Coming of The Prophet as foretold by Moses as quoted above. This Prophet who has come already was no one else but Yehoshua of Natzaret Ben David Ben Abraham,The Anointed One of YHVH Elohim. Thinking of, speaking about and expecting the Coming of this Prophet was only a Hebrew expectation. In other words on a cultural perspective there were no people apart from the Hebrews who did expect the Coming of The Messiah.

This passage, according to Acts 6 : 7, for example, spoke about the faith these Hebrews had : « And the Word of Elohim continued to spread, and the number of the disciples in Yerushalem was multiplied exceedingly, and a large number of priests accepted the faith ». Which faith ? That Yehoshua is indeed The Messiah they were expecting through generations.

Since their belief is rooted back to Moses, as quoted above, we cannot speak of the same belief because their belief is through culture passed down, whereas ours may be a born-belief through teaching.

Did we expect ? If The Bible came to us through translation, and if we happened to believe and to expect too, the same expectation would have become a kind of expectation in our heart and in our mind, but an expectation that needs to grow and to get mature, because it did come to us through traditional transmission, through teaching, through reading. For us, it would have become a cultivated, a nurtured, an educated belief. And once matured, becomes an integral part of our scriptural way of life in YHVH Elohim, through Yehoshua HaMashiach.

How had this expectation been lived in the days of The Prophet Who came « in the Person » of Yehoshua Ben David Ben Abraham ?

To help us to understand what we do need to understand, which would help us to understand the Great Plan of Salvation of YHVH Elohim The Creator of the universe, Who made Himself as Elohei Abraham, Elohei Itzhak and Elohei Yaakov/Ishrael, let us recall some passages that explicitly recount how did for example these Hebrew people expect during their lifetime the Coming of The Anointed One of YHVH Elohim Who became their Elohim.

Shimeon a man who waited for the consolation of Ishrael, and Anna from the tribe of Asher :

Luke 2 : 25-26 ; 29-32 ; 36 ; 38 : « And, behold, there was a man in Yerushalem whose name was Shimeon ; and this man was righteous and devout and waited for the consolation of Ishrael : and the Ruach HaKodesh was upon him. And it had been revealed unto him by the Ruach HaKodesh that he should not see death until he had seen The Mashiach of YHVH. ... O Adonai, now You send Your Servant in peace according to Your Word : For my eyes have seen Your Salvation that You have prepared before the sight of all nations (referring to Ishrael in whole) ; A Light to lighten the nations and the glory of Your people Ishrael ... And there was a Prophetess, Anna, a daughter of Phanuel of the tribe of Asher, she was of a very great age, and had lived with her husband seven years from when she was a virgin ; ... And when she came in that hour she gave thanks to YHVH Elohim and spoke of Him (referring to the Newborn) to all who were expecting the redemption in Yerushalem ».

Yehochanan ben Zechariyah who became The Immerser

Luke 7 : 19-20 : « And Yehochanan called unto him two of his disciples, then sent them to HaAdon to say : Are You The One Who is to come, or should we wait for Someone else ? And when these men came to Him they said : Yehochanan The Immerser had sent us unto You to say : Are You The One Who is to come, or should we wait for Someone else ? »

Philip of Beit-Tsaida

Yehochanan 1 : 43-45 : « On the next day, Yehoshua wanted to go forth to Galilee, and He found Philip and said to him : Follow Me. And Philip was from Beit-Tsaida, the city of Andrew and Shimon. And Philip found Nathanael, and said to him : We have found The One Moses wrote in the Torah, and also the Nevi'im wrote, He is Yehoshua ben Yosef of Nazareth ».

The woman at the well at Sychar

Yehochanan 4 : 25 ; 29 : « The woman said to Him : I know that HaMashiach is coming, and when He comes, He will tell us all things. ... Come and see the man Who told me all the things that I have done, could He possibly be HaMashiach ? »

Jews people

Yehochanan 6 : 14 : « When these people saw the Signs that Yehoshua had done, then they said : This is indeed The Prophet Who is to come into this world ! »

Yehochanan 7 : 31 : 40-41 : « And many of the people believed in Him and said : When HaMashiach comes, will He do more Signs than this Man has done ? ... And some of the crowd, when they heard these Words, said : He is truly The Prophet. Others said : He is HaMashiach. But some said : Can HaMashiach come from Galilee ? »

Yehochanan 10 : 24 : « Then the Jews came around Him and asked Him : Until when will You keep us in suspense ? If You are HaMashiach tell us plainly »

Yehochanan 12 : 12-13 : « And on the next day, the great crowd who had come to the Moed (Feast) when they heard that Yehoshua will come to Yerushalem, took branches of palm and went out to meet Him and shouted : Hoshia'na/hoshanah ! Blessed is the King of Ishrael, He Who comes in the Name of YHVH ! » (Remember the Word of YHVH Elohim concerning The Prophet Who will speak His Words according to Devarim 18 : 18-19 !).

Martha, a sister of Elazar

Yehochanan 11 : 27 : « She said to Him : Yes, Adon : I believe that You are HaMashiach, The Son of Elohim Who is to come to the world ».

Only a Hebrew expectation !

According to Yehochanan 8 : 24, The Anointed One Himself, Who is Yehoshua HaMashiach, openly spoke to the Jews, as follows : « That is why I told you that you would die in your sins, for if you do not believe that I am The One, then you will die in your sins ».

The Great Mission of The Anointed One of YHVH Elohim

Did all these people speak by themselves, or did all this happen randomly ? No, it happened according to the Plan of YHVH Elohim His Father and His Elohim Who sent Him. And for which reason ? « To save His people from their sins, to cause them to repent and to return back to Him, to walk on His Way ».

Luke 4 : 17-18  (recalling the Words of YHVH Elohim through Ieshayah HaNavi His Servant, according to Ieshayah 61 : 1) : « And He was handed the Scroll of Ieshayah HaNavi, and when He unrolled the Scroll, He found the Words as it is written : The Ruach of YHVH is on Me, because He has anointed Me to preach Good News to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to release the oppressed ».

Who are the poor, the captives, the blind, the oppressed who need to hear The Good News ? YHVH Elohim spoke of His people Ishrael who keep doing what their ancestors had done, not only at Har Sinai but throughout their lives in the wilderness and even in the land He gave them to inherit.

In other words, The Prophet, The Anointed One, The Sent One, came mainly for spiritual deliverance in view of restoration. His Mission :

► « To proclaim spiritual liberty » through The Word of YHVH to the captives, bound by satan the devil, the adversary, thus darkness became light and light became darkness ;

► « To proclaim recovery of sight » to the spiritual blind, blinded by satan the devil, the adversary, thus unable to distinguish what is wrong and what is true ; what is black and what is white ; what is profane and what is sacred ;
► « To release the oppressed », spiritually oppressed by satan the devil, the adversary, spiritually slaves of him, denying every truth that makes them free.

What happened ? Throughout their generations, materially, mentally and spiritually the poor remained poor, the captives remained captives, the blind remained blind, the oppressed remained oppressed. How could, or how can, YHVH Elohim heal them or heal their land ? His Words remain True when He said : « if My people who are called by My Name will come and humble themselves and pray and seek My Face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from Heaven and will forgive their sins and heal their land ».

And He did not give up because He is a Covenant-Elohim. His Anointed One said : « But He answered and said : I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the House of Ishrael » - Matthyahu 15 : 24

Matthyahu 10 : 5-6 : « These twelve Yehoshua sent out and commanded them, saying : Go not to the way of the gentiles, and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the House of Ishrael ! »

Matthyahu 10 : 23b : « For truly, I say to you : You will not have gone through all the towns of Ishrael until the Son of Man comes ».

What then ? Was YHVH Elohim, The Creator of the universe, a respecter of persons ? Do not we read that «  To YHVH is the earth and everything in it, the world and the inhabitants on it » ? So then, what does this mean to Him ? His Words is our response.

Let us recall His Words through Ieshayan HaNavi as they remain True, yes they remain True, and once more for our sake, we are invited to deeply take them to heart : Ieshayah 56 : 3 ; 6 : « Let not the foreigners who have joined themselves to YHVH say : YHVH will utterly exclude me from His people ... And the foreigners who join themselves to YHVH to serve Him and to love the Name of YHVH to be His Servants, everyone who keeps the Shabbat and does not profane it, and take hold of My Covenant »

Considering all of the above, people may need to review their spiritual way while reading their Hebrew Bible - the Torah, the Nevi'im, the Ketuvim- or the Book The Bible as they still strongly remain true today.

Do they still reject Yehoshua as HaMashiach, HaMashiach Who has already come ? They need to reinvestigate.

Do they still reject The Word of YHVH Elohim, The Word that became Flesh, bearing deeply in mind that The Word and Yehoshua Who came in Flesh are One ? They need to re-examine.

For every one : There is no other scriptural way in order to be part of His Plan of Redemption and to blessedly expect The Return of His Anointed One, The Return of Yehoshua Ben David Ben Abraham than : To repent and to believe in The Prophet, The Anointed One, The Sent One, and to join YHVH Elohim through His Covenants, to obey His Voice.

That way we will be blessed to call Him our Elohim and as a Response He will be happy to make us His people. And « Expecting This Great Return » will be like a daily great consolation in our life ».

In Yehoshua's Name, be delivered, be released, and get your sight recovered !

Who would be the end-time Sons of YHVH Elohim ?

The Book of The Revelations of YHVH Elohim decisively reveals us who are they. In view of « dreaming » to be part of them, let us take to heart and work our walk through His Words in alarming fear and trembling. The recognized Sons will :

► Receive heavenly seals ;

► Be called to the Marriage Banquet of The Lamb ;

► Be written in The Book of Life and the second death will have no power upon them;

► Be kohanim (priests) of YHVH Elohim and HaMashiach and will reign with Them for 1000 years.

B - « Are you a believer » ? « Yes, I am » : A very common question and a very prompt answer, aren't they ?

Many claim that they are believers as long as they have in mind that they have a Bible to read, a kind of status that automatically makes them as believers in their thinking, in their heart, and this is what it is all about. But is it so ? No, it is very far from being so !

Let us consider the examples of Zechariah the kohen and his wife Elisheva, both of levitical line,

according to Luke 1 : 6 as it is written : « And they were both righteous before YHVH Elohim, having lived blamelessly according to all the Commandments and the Statutes given by YHVH ».

Their status is a very solid spiritual life founded and rooted on : « If you love Me, you will keep My Commandments », a Torah-based and a Covenant-based belief according to Shemot (Ex.) 19 : 5-6 : « Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My Voice and keep My Covenant, then you shall be a treasured possession unto Me above all nations, for all the earth is Mine. And you will be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation unto Me. These Words you will speak to the Children of Ishrael ».

Accordingly, the Scriptures do not refer to an emotional believer but to a righteous, an observant believer, an obedient believer. These are scriptural facts that lead the believer to know and to obey The Creator of the universe, The Living Elohim of the Book The Bible Who has made Himself as The Elohim of Abraham, Itzhak and Yaakov, and to believe in His Sent One and to walk as He Walk. How did He walk ? He obeyed His Father and Elohim and kept His Commandments : As His Custom on the Shabbat (the commanded day of rest) He went to the synagogue, to the place where His « poor, captives, blind, oppressed » brothers Yehudim were also gathered together as their custom. To do what ? Especially to preach The Good News to them.

May YHVH Elohim The Creator of the universe and Heavenly Father touch : a/ the stony heart of those who keep resolutely denying Yehoshua as HaMashiach, and, b/ the stony heart of those who keep resolutely rejecting His Torah, and lead them to repentance that they may be identified as believers according to the Scriptures and enter a restored relationship with Him !

« Then conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your sojourning here  ! » - 1Kefã 1 : 17b