by Hildegard Schneider
The COP27 conference was held in Sharm El Sheikh in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula from November 6-18, 2022. There was also a focus on inviting religious leaders, who are believed to play a key role in addressing climate change and criminal justice. Climate change activists believe that addressing this issue will require a profound change within society. At the forefront, there was a call for ceremonial atonement for the planet’s failures. Returning to Sinai – a prophetic call for Climate Justice and the Ceremony of Repentance.
Thus, these world religions uniting under the umbrella of true humanity have a common strategy that promotes unity through a unified vision and purposeful action. It is reminiscent of the thought behind the Tower of Babel when the inhabitants of Shinar tried to make a name for themselves. The addressee for this act of repentance was the planet Earth. The ten new universal commandments were established. This was a direct attack on YHWH and the constitution of His Kingdom.
For these climate change activists, repentance means admitting failure to the planet. If you were to survey Christians as to what do they mean by repentance, I am sure you would get a whole range of answers. There are always calls for repentance, but I don’t recall it ever being explained. What is meant by repentance?
Perhaps someone will say to repent is to believe the gospel, as it says in Mark 1:15:
” The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.”
Here, repenting and believing in the gospel is related to the kingdom of Elohim. This connection is extremely important. This is also emphasized by Yeshua and John.
The word gospel there is the Hebrew word b’sorah, which means news, or good news. The Greek word is euangelion, which always means good news.
Yeshua and the apostles preached the gospel of the kingdom.
“The law and the prophets were until John: since that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every man presses into it.“ Luke 16:16
“In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Matthew 3:1-2
“From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.“ Matthew 4:17
“Now when Jesus had heard that John was cast into prison, he departed into Galilee; And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people.“ Matthew 4:12
This is how the gospel of the kingdom is defined in the scriptures: Repent, for the gospel of the kingdom is here. To repent is to enter the Kingdom. But what does that actually mean? We will come back to this in a moment.
After Yeshua was crucified, and resurrected and after He ascended, Paul comes onto the scene. He puts a different emphasis when he speaks of the gospel.
Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.
For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. After that, He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep. After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles. Then last of all, He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time.” 1 Corinthians 15:1-8
Here we see what Paul specifically means by the gospel: The Messiah died for our sins according to the scriptures, he was buried and he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures and he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred brothers and Jacob and all the apostles. And he appeared to me also.
How was the gospel of the kingdom described by the apostles and Yeshua? Repent, for the kingdom is at hand. And Paul’s description was different, wasn’t it? It simply described good news, while the description of the apostles and Yeshua required action, namely repentance.
Now the big question arises: how can we reconcile these two Gospels?
First, we note that the apostles and Yeshua preached the gospel of the kingdom to the Jews, while Paul preached to the Gentiles. We must now understand why the gospel had been preached to these two groups in very different ways.
” What advantage then has the Jew, or what is the profit of circumcision? 2 Much in every way! Chiefly because to them were committed the oracles of God“ Romans 3:1-2
The Jews had received the Torah and the Scriptures, and YHWH sent them His prophets through all the centuries. And Paul goes on to list the benefits the Jews had received, “who are Israelites, to whom pertain the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God, and the promises; of whom are the fathers and from whom, according to the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, the eternally blessed God. Amen. Romans 9:4-5
The benefits that the Jews had received are: They received the sayings of Elohim, the Sonship, the glory, the covenants, and the legislation and the worship and the promises of which the fathers are and the Messiah according to the flesh. So, when it came to receiving the Messiah, the Jews already had so many privileges that the Gentiles did not have. They had not received any of that at all. Whereas the Jews, educated in the Torah were full of hope for the Messiah. Many Jews today also look hopefully to the coming of the Messiah, even though many of them have not yet realized that He was already here once and that His name is Yeshua. But they pray daily for his arrival. But the Gentiles, especially back in the first century what did they have?
Paul lists this in Ephesians 2:11-12:
“ Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh—who are called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands— that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.“
So what does Paul do now? He preaches to the Gentiles the things that the Jews knew and had already.
And the Gospel of the Kingdom has been preached to the Jews, those who were already prepared. They had the Torah, all the scriptures, and all the prophets. They understood that the Messiah is to come and they reach out to Him. And in those days, when the apostles and Yeshua spoke to the Jews, they said, “turn back and repent.“
You have strayed, but you know from what, now the Kingdom of Heaven is here, so repent.
And you cannot preach the same message to the Gentiles.
They would say, “What God are we talking about and what are we supposed to repent of? We are doing what everyone is doing. What do you even mean by the kingdom of heaven?“ They had no background at all to understand this.
Paul now told them, “I have good news for you. This man the scriptures tell us about has come, died for your sins, and risen from the dead.“
They would then say, “Yes, who is this man, and what is this book? What? Someone, has conquered death?“
Then they began to learn about Yeshua. They learned from Paul that he appeared to all these witnesses and promised to come again.
Then the question emerged, “What kind of life can I live to live by him?“ Then they reached out to the scriptures that were available and that was the Torah.
The two groups come from completely different places. The Jews have had the Torah for centuries, and then they find the Messiah. The Gentiles discover the Messiah, and then they discover the Torah. So, both of these good news messages, the one from Yeshua and the apostles and the one that Paul taught, had two different audiences but ultimately the same goal.
The Gospel of the Kingdom only makes sense to a prepared people, that is, the Jewish people. Paul’s good news went to people who were unprepared and ignorant.
The big question is, where do Christians stand when they repent? They understand what Paul had preached, but do they turn around and repent in the second step? Do they turn to the Kingdom and its constitution?
No, most of them do not. Otherwise, we would see them obeying the legislation, such as keeping the Shabbat holy, celebrating the feasts of YHWH, and obeying the food laws. Because this does not happen, many have never taken this step of repentance. They have not crossed over into the Kingdom.
And now Yeshua says something very interesting: “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.“ Matthew 24:14
Now does this contradict what I have been saying? No, because after 2000 years the situation in the nations is not what it was in Paul’s day. All over the world people have now heard about Yeshua and the good news. And now, more than ever, this gospel of the Kingdom applies to us from the Gentile nations, namely to repent, because the Kingdom is here. We need to understand that the Gospel of the Kingdom means following YHWH’s guidelines, His Torah.
And now another concept of the Gospel comes into play:
“Then I saw another angel flying amid heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth—to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people— saying with a loud voice, “Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come; and worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water.” Revelation 14:6-7
It seems that in the end, we will not be able to preach the eternal gospel at all, but that the angels will do it, as it says here. The end is coming soon, therefore repent and do penance.
How often is repentance preached? I have never heard it taught or defined. What is meant by repentance? And that is the point, to explain what is meant by it.
Repentance means to return to YHWH and to His teachings, the Torah. The Torah is the constitution of the Kingdom.
Prayer Targets
Abba, give grace and pour out your spirit of repentance so that many who have not yet turned back to your teachings will finally understand and do so.
Pray into Acts 17:30: “And indeed Elohim overlooked the time of ignorance; but now He commands all men everywhere to repent.”
Abba, dear Father, grant that it may be understood what is sin.
Pray into Luke 5:32: “I have come to call sinners to repentance, and not the righteous.” Luke 5:32
Pray into 1 John 3:4: “Everyone who does sin also does lawlessness (Torah-lessness), and sin IS lawlessness (Torah-lessness).
Abba, dear Father, we pray that you make aware that not keeping the Torah, such as keeping the Shabbat, your feasts, is sin that must be confessed and turned away from.
It is interesting the leaders picked “Mt. Sinai”. The one founded by the Catholic church…which is the false, counterfeit Mt. Sinai. If you have seen Jim and Penny Caldwell, you will know what I am talking about. There are others too who have gone to the real Mt. Sinai in Arabia…namely Joel Richardson and Bob Cornuke.