Yom Kippur

During 1994 I lived in the Old City of Jerusalem, renting a room from the first recognized female Catholic order in the Arabic world, the Sisters of the Rosary.[1]

Old City of Jerusalem
(aerial photograph)

Map of Old City of Jerusalem
(indicating where the author lived)

Sisters of the Rosary and Emmanuel Bookstore
(location on section of Old City of Jerusalem map)

On Yom Kippur[2] that year, I sat in their courtyard (inside the entrance gate), soaking up the winter sun, reading through the book of John in the Scriptures, when a young Jewish believer[3] came to see me.  I hardly knew him.  He had befriended an American, with whom I was barely acquainted, who had retuned to the United States.

He had a trip scheduled on that day and requested that I accompany him.  Someone had recently given him $200.00, enough for a taxi ride to Metula,[4] in the north of Israel, where he intended moving, staying with a Christian family for a while.

Metula
(in north of Israel)

Map of Israel
(Jerusalem - Metula)

His request came totally unexpectedly.  Yom Kippur is the most important day on the Jewish calendar.[5]  Daily activities cease on Jewish holy days.[6]  “Do you know what Day it is?”  I wanted to know.  “Yes,” but I am no longer under the law,” he responded.  I nodded.[7]

Yom Kippur at Kotel
(Day of Atonement at Wailing Wall in Jerusalem)

Throughout my stay in Israel brothers- or sisters-in-the-Lord, on occasion, wanted me to go to Metula with them, but I never felt led to do so.  I had no desire to see Israel from the perspective of a tourist or a “Christian pilgrim.”  I was in pursuit of the God of Israel, and His ways, particularly how one walk out one’s destiny in Jesus—fumbling along in the process, but determined nonetheless.[8]

Whilst my Jewish brother had to attend to another matter, I committed to seeking God’s face in the interim.

Upon his return I stated, “I feel released to join you on your journey,” but added (since I was penniless) “It will have to be incumbent on the proviso that I could get a free ride up and back, later that same day, with the taxi driver.”  He agreed to my proposal.  The taxi driver concurred and so we all set off to his apartment in an Orthodox Jewish area, which he shared with a Gentile believer, ostensibly to fetch some of his belongings.

Along the way, we encountered Orthodox Jews returning from their respective synagogues, walking in the middle of the road.  For a moment, I thought we were going to get stoned for having broken the law of Moses, set before the children of Israel, applicable on this holy Day.[9]

What neither the driver nor I realised was that my brother-in-the-Lord intended moving north lock stock and barrel.  This meant we not only had to help haul all his possessions down from the third floor of the apartment building, the driver (who had been driving someone else’s car, on some agreed upon basis) rightfully felt the extra weight did not justify the fare agreed upon.  Not impressed he refused to take us to Metula.  I tried extricating us from this situation by attempting to convince him to accommodate us nonetheless.  Apparently, I succeeded but, as we headed back towards the Old City, I sensed he still was not at all pleased with the arrangement.  For a moment, I thought he was going to return to the taxi stand, drop us off, and seek a more reasonable fare-paying client.  Thankfully, he did not.

As we headed along Sultan Suleiman, outside the Northern wall of the Old City (around its Christian and Muslin Quarters), in order to further pacify the driver, I said, “Don’t worry, we’ll be back at 10 (pm tonight).”  I had no idea why I mentioned a set time.  I had never been to Metula, had no idea how far it was from Jerusalem, how long we were going to spend there or when we would head back home.  I also assumed our journey would proceed uninterrupted.

Stopping in an Arab area, he put gas in the vehicle and, having exited urban life, we began traversing the open landscape.

Judean landscape

Judean landscape
(on Arab farm)

For a while, we all sat engrossed in our own thoughts.  My Jewish brother shattered the silence, “We could not have chosen a better day to travel to Metula.  Apart from us, there is not a single car on the road.”  “He is right,” I thought and joyfully deduced, “We will have this spectacular scenery all to ourselves and could completely relax whilst soaking it all in.”[10]  All the way north, travelling parallel to the Jordan River towards our destination, we did not encounter any other traffic.  I had something else on my mind though and soon engaged the driver in conversation.

He was a Muslim and I presented the good news to him—that Jesus came to die for our sins and that He is the only way to life in the only true God.[11]  He wanted to know if he could die for his father’s sin.  I explained from the Hebrew Scriptures.[12]  Uninterested in accepting Jesus as his Saviour, I audibly bound the demons preventing him from seeing who Jesus is and what He came to do—and again asked him if he wanted to accept Jesus as his Saviour.[13]  This time he immediately consented—but instead of leading him in prayer as we drove along or asking him to stop the car in order to do so, I suggested that I do so upon reaching our destination.  It was a big mistake.  Apart from meeting a brother-in-the-Lord, successfully beaming the gospel into the Arabic world (at the home of the landlady), the situation we found ourselves in suggested it to be inexpedient.

When we later that afternoon eventually headed back to Jerusalem the driver seemed to try to locate something.  When asked what seemed to be troubling him, he said we needed fuel!  I knew for sure that, it being Yom Kippur and us being on Jewish territory, he was not going to find any Jewish service stations open.  It soon dawned on me our best option was going to be an Arab service station in Jericho, in the so-called West Bank,[14] miles and miles away!

We were travelling in a grey Mercedes Benz 230.  As a young man, I have owned an olive green 230E and knew exactly how far I could push the vehicle before running out of fuel.  Having glanced at its fuel gauge I new that we were in trouble.  It was on reserve, not enough to take us another 10 kilometres!  I was certain we were going to have to spend the night in the car beside the road; that the next day would bring its own complications.

Mercedes Benz
(230 model)

Meanwhile the driver was racing along as fast as he could go, determined to consume mileage whilst the going was good.  I told him that unless we slowed down and motored at a constant and much reduced speed, of around 60 kilometres an hour, we would soon come to a grinding halt.  Yet another persuasive struggle ensued, but I eventually succeeded in convincing him to travel at a reduced speed of 90 kilometres per hour.

As I contemplated the situation God suddenly spoke to me and said, "You will travel all the way to Jericho."[15] Without thinking, I turned to the driver, and said, "We are going to travel all the way to Jericho.”  He did not respond, probably considering me to be demented.  I asked him if he minded me praying aloud.  He didn't.  I then asked if he would mind me playing some worship music I had brought along (on the car cassette player).  Again he didn’t.  I sang along with total peace in my heart, worshipping Him, believing, just as He said would be the case—we would somehow, for several hours, travel all the way to Jericho!  In contrast, the driver revealed signs of jitteriness.  The reason therefore only became apparent later.

He tried several more petrol stations along the way where he had hoped to fill the car.  All were closed.  When he spotted an Arab minibus (the only car we had encountered along the way home), he attempted forcing it off the road in order to get fuel from its owner.  All to no avail! 

Apparently residing himself to his fate, he later broke his silence by asking me about the scattered lights we had occasionally observed on what appeared to be hilltops.  It seemed obvious to me that people lived there.  He then revealed the reason for his fear by recalling the Arab invasion of Israel in 1973 on Yom Kippur, evidently having experienced the horrors of that war as a young child.  Cognisant of it being Yom Kippur, I got the distinct impression he felt we might again be in danger that night (as we were travelling up north, near the Syrian border).  (I suspected the occupants of the minibus he attempted pulling off the road were for the same reasons equally alarmed!)

I do not remember much of the rest of the journey.  Before long, we had safely arrived at Jericho.  As soon as we were stationary, at the first available service station, he hastily bolted out the car, ran through traffic, across the road, to Palestinian police sitting outside a restaurant, all the while screaming something in Arabic.  He then pointed in my direction and they all stared at me.  When he returned, I queried the reason for the commotion.  He had apparently told them what had happened, ostensibly referring to me as if I was some sort of holy man, to be revered by all.  I quickly corrected this notion, in no uncertain terms stating that what had occurred had nothing whatsoever to do with me—but everything with the God I loved and served.

Jericho
(in Judea)

Gas in the car we travelled for what seemed forever for the next half hour through the Judean hills.  As we again headed up Sultan Suleiman, around the Old City wall, I stared at my watch—astounded.  It was a minute before 10 pm.  I was sure we would arrive at the taxi rank, where I had first encountered this man, at exactly 10 pm.  And so it turned out to be.

Road from Jericho to Jerusalem
(in Judea)

The ways of the God never ceases to amaze me!

When I suggested, in view of what had unfolded that day that we pray a salvation prayer —to my utter disappointment—he resisted.[16]  All I could do was to make him seriously consider the unfolding of events and the God who had performed them.  Beyond any doubt, we both realised that we had encountered the living God in an astonishing way.  All I could do was to encourage him to read the Judeo-Christian writings or Scriptures in future where he could for himself learn about the true God we had encountered.  He did not own a bible and so of my own volition I, in turn, promised to get him one and, on that note, we went our separate ways.

I had shared what had happened with Ronnie, the manager of Emmanuel Bookstore,[17] and his Norwegian assistant.[18]  With them manning the shop and me usually sitting on the stairs, leading to the upper level, in between clients coming and going, the three of us, have had many sweet hours of fellowship, on all sorts of Scriptural issues.  (These men truly loved Him passionately and it showed!)

Emmanuel Bookstore
(located to left of gate, the entrance to Christ Church Guest House)

On one such occasion, by irresistible impulse, I got up and opened the store door peering right, up the street.  To my amazement the tail end of the same grey 230 Mercedes Benz stuck out of a narrow alleyway, only a few meters away from us, leading to a nearby hostel and residences.  Excitedly I stuck my head back into the store and said to Ronnie, “The car the miracle occurred in is parked right next to us!” hoping to somehow “prove” to them that it had all been real.  There was no need.  Before I knew it, Ronnie had handed me a parcel containing some items.  With it, I set off to investigate if the same driver, obscured from view, was behind the wheel.  He was.

I handed him what Ronnie had given me: an Arabic bible and some tracts (explaining in his mother tongue how to come to know Jesus as one’s Saviour, I surmised, unable to speak the language).  God was so gracious to me.  I did not even have to go in search of this man to give him the bible I had promised, and it cost me nothing (I could not afford it anyway.  I was still penniless!  [19]).

Months later as I walked back from the Kotel or Wailing Wall, not too far from the bookstore, I noticed the same grey Mercedes Benz heading in my direction.  The driver recognized me and stopped for a brief chat.  He again acknowledged that he had encountered the living God on Yom Kippur.  All I could do was again to encourage him to find Him personally, via Jesus the Saviour, who had shed his blood for us both.

Old City of Jerusalem street in Armenian Quarter
(view from Jewish Quarter towards Jaffa Gate)

It was the last I ever saw him. 

What unfolded on that Day I will never forget.

For several hours (two-and-a-half hours, if my memory serves me correctly), we travelled on an empty gas tank, all the way to Jericho—just as God said we would.  Against all logic, I knew this would be the case.  

Contemplating it throughout the years, I realized He had taught me many invaluable lessons of the reality of Scripture and His Person.  Among others, I saw three gifts of the Spirit [20] in operation: “the word of knowledge," i.e. what God said would be, the gift of “faith," i.e. God gave me the faith to believe what in the natural was totally impossible, and “the working of miracles," i.e. through the “manifestation of the Spirit” the word of knowledge and gift of faith produced a miracle, which in the natural is scientifically inconceivable.  Both the taxi driver and I knew it.

I began to realise that Spiritual gifts often work in unison with one another, effortlessly producing the results He purposed, perhaps best summed up in the following text from Hebrews 2.1-4: “Therefore we must give  the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away. ^{  2}For if the word spoken through angels proved steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just reward, ^3 how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard [Him], ^4 God also bearing witness both with signs and wonders, with various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to His own will? (Emphasis mine)

 I have since, whenever I share the good news of Jesus, come to expect God to bear witness to this great salvation purchased by His Son, with various signs, wonders and miracles, via the wonderful gifts of His Holy Spirit—and have encountered Him in the most astonishing ways ever since.  In fact, I am convinced God wants to present the gospel as set out in the aforementioned text—because He is pleased with what His Son had accomplished and because He wants the whole world to know it.  In this respect, Paul said: “And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God. ^2 For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. ^3 I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. ^{4 }And my speech and my preaching [were] not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, ^{5  }[why?] that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.”

No one can deny the reality of God and His Salvation (יְשׁוּעָה in Hebrew, transliterated Yeshua) having powerfully encountered Him.[21]

This is not how most denominational theologians are taught to present the gospel and this unfortunately is not how most people try to reach lost souls to Christ, whatever their theological persuasion.

Just yesterday He enabled me to lead a 14-year old boy to the Lord based on what He had taught me on Yom Kippur in 1994, travelling back to Jerusalem from Metula, on the holiest of Holy Jewish days, when the Levitical [22] High Priest could no longer appear before Him in the most Holy or the Holiest of All—because Yeshua (Jesus, from the tribe of Judah [23]) had done so as High Priest, once for all, more than two thousands of years ago.[24]

Perhaps the most enduring lesson in the aforementioned encounter with the Living God—is His purposeful, loving nature, incessantly reaching out towards His lost creation—and His sweet communion with and through the redeemed seeking intimacy with Him.

Paul most eloquently expressed it thus: “And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, ^27 so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; ^28for in Him we live and move and have our being ...” [25]

May God richly bless you in seeking life in Him and encountering Him powerfully in so doing.

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[1] Opposite the Latin Patriarchate in the Christian Quarter (See black dot, or area indicated, on Jerusalem Old City map). The author is not Catholic.  He merely rented centrally located, reasonably priced, accommodation from them at the time.

[2] The Jewish Day of Atonement, observed on the 10^th day of the 7^th month on the Jewish calendar, falling during September/October on the Gregorian calendar.

[3] A Jew who has accepted Yeshua (Jesus) as his personal Savior (in this case born and raised in Iran).

[4] Also spelt Metulla or Metullah.  (Place names [streets, etc.] in Israel are frequently, confusingly, spelt differently.)

[5] “And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: ²⁷ “Also the tenth day of this seventh month shall be the Day of Atonement. It shall be a holy convocation for you; you shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire to the Lord. ²⁸ And you shall do no work on that same day, for it is the Day of Atonement, to make atonement for you before the Lord your God. ^29 For any person who is not afflicted in soul on that same day shall be cut off from his people. ³⁰And any person who does any work on that same day, that person I will destroy from among his people. ³¹ You shall do no manner of work; it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings. ³² It shall be to you a sabbath of solemn rest, and you shall afflict your souls; on the ninth day of the month at evening, from evening to evening, you shall celebrate your sabbath.”  (Le 23.26-32, Emphasis mine)

[6] Or what God, more appropriately, refers to as “My feasts.”  See Dt 16.1ff;  Nu 29.7-11;  Le 23.1-44

[7] “Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another—to Him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God. ⁵ For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were aroused by the law were at work in our members to bear fruit to death. ⁶ But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter.” (Ro 7.4-6) with “Is the law then against the promises of God? Certainly not! For if there had been a law given which could have given life, truly righteousness would have been by the law. ²² But the Scripture has confined all under sin, that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. ^{23 }But before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law, kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed. ²⁴ Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. ²⁵ But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.” (Ga 3.21-25, Emphasis added)

[8] “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works (ἔργον in Greek, transliterated ergon), which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” (Ep 2.10, Emphasis mine)

[9] “Now while the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man gathering sticks on the Sabbath day. ^33 And those who found him gathering sticks brought him to Moses and Aaron, and to the entire congregation. ^34 They put him under guard, because it had not been explained what should be done to him. ^35 Then the Lord said to Moses, “The man must surely be put to death; all the congregation shall stone him with stones outside the camp.” ^{36 }So, as the Lord commanded Moses, all the congregation brought him outside the camp and stoned him with stones, and he died.” (Nu 15.32-36)  Some embracing Orthodox Judaism literally interpret such texts, and I have, on occasion, observed religious Jews, in more Orthodox areas, threatening to stone drivers of vehicles on the Sabbath.  For a variety of reasons the author does not share their interpretation of Scripture.

[10] Israel at the time was already the third most densely populated nation on the face of the earth and, as a result, an endless hive of activity.

[11] “Oh, sing to the Lord a new song! Sing to the Lord, all the earth.  ² Sing to the Lord, bless His name; proclaim the good news of His salvation from day to day.  ³ Declare His glory among the nations, His wonders among all peoples.”  (Ps 96.1-3, Emphasis mine)

[12] “Yet you say, ‘Why should the son not bear the guilt of the father?’ Because the son has done what is lawful and right, and has kept all My statutes and observed them, he shall surely live. ^20 The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not bear the guilt of the father, nor the father bear the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself. ^21 “But if a wicked man turns from all his sins which he has committed, keeps all My statutes, and does what is lawful and right, he shall surely live; he shall not die. ^22 None of the transgressions which he has committed shall be remembered against him; because of the righteousness which he has done, he shall live.”  (Ez 18.19-22, Emphasis mine, but see preceding and following texts to read what is stated here in its overall context.)

[13] “But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, ⁴ whose minds the god of this age  has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.  ⁵ For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your bondservants for Jesus’ sake. ⁶ For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”  (2 Co 4.4) with “For the weapons of our warfare [are] not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, ^5 casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, ^6 and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.^”  (2 Co 10.4-6) with “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.  ¹¹ Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.  ¹² For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.”  (Ep 6.10-12) with “To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, ⁹ and to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ; ¹⁰ to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places, ¹¹ according to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord, ¹² in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through faith in Him” (Ep 3.8-12) with “For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, ³⁹ nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Ro 8.38-39) with “Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.”  (Col 2.15),  etc. (Emphasis, with respect to all the aforementioned texts, mine)

[14] In reality what Scripture actually designates as God's Samaria and Judea—promised to the descendants of Abraham—and not named West Bank (or West of the Jordan River, a term coined by king Abdullah I bin al-Hussein of Jordan who had invaded God’s land during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War  (In this context see Jl 3.2: “I will also gather all nations, and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat; and I will enter into judgment with them there on account of My people, My heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations; they have also divided up My land.” (Emphasis mine)

[15] Via “the word of knowledge” (See 1 Co12.8), by means of an inner voice (or what Scripture refers to as “a still small voice,” cf. 1 Ki 19.12), not dissimilar to one’s own thoughts, though not generated or initiated by oneself.

[16] I have rarely, in the face of events of such magnitude, experienced continued rejection of the gospel, but it unfortunately happens, just as Scripture declares:  “But although He had done so many signs before them, they did not believe in Him, ^38 that the word of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spoke: “Lord, who has believed our report? [And to whom has the arm of the Lord] been revealed?” ^39 Therefore they could not believe, because Isaiah said again [in this context, referring to the Israelites]: ⁴⁰ “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, lest they should see with their eyes, lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, so that I should heal them. ^41 These things Isaiah said when he saw His glory and spoke of Him. ^42 Nevertheless even among the rulers many believed in Him …” (Jn 12.37-40, Emphasis mine)

[17] A fearless Jewish believer, born in Iraq, managing one of only two Christian bookstores in Jerusalem (at the time), located inside Jaffa Gate, opposite David’s Tower or The Citadel.

[18] A pastor (who had married a Jewish believer) who shared how God had actually filled their car with gas, whilst they were once traveling somewhere without fuel!  Unfortunately the circumstances relating thereto are unknown to me.

[19] Having begun to experience the reality of Col 3.1-3: “If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. ^2 Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. ^3 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God,” whether I had money or not basically became irrelevant to me.  Besides, God was in the process of teaching me the meaning of, among others, Mt 6.24-34, verse 33 as a key text, given the context:  “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. ²⁵ “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? ²⁶ Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? ²⁷ Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? ²⁸ “So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; ²⁹ and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. ³⁰ Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? ^31 “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ ³² For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. ³³ But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. ³⁴ Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” (Emphasis mine)

[20] “Now concerning spiritual [gifts], brethren, I do not want you to be ignorant: ^2 You know that you were Gentiles, carried away to these dumb idols, however you were led. ^{  3} Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed, and no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit. ^4 There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. ^5 There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. ^6 And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all. ^7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit [of all]: ^8 for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, ^9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, ^10 to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another [different] kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. ^11 But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.  (1 Co 12.8-11, Emphasis mine)

[21] “Oh, sing to the Lord a new song!  Sing to the Lord, all the earth.  ² Sing to the Lord, bless His name; proclaim the good news of His salvation (transliterated Yeshua, Jesus in English) from day to day.  ³ Declare His glory among the nations, His wonders among all peoples.” (Ps 96.1-4, Emphasis mine.)

[22] He 7.11ff

^[23] “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, [though] you are little among the thousands of Judah, [yet] out of you shall come forth to Me the One to be Ruler in Israel, whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting.” (Mi 5.2, Emphasis mine) with “Then speak to him, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, saying: “Behold, the Man whose name is the BRANCH!  From His place He shall branch out, and He shall build the temple of the Lord; ¹³  Yes, He shall build the temple of the Lord.  He shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule on His throne; so He shall be a priest on His throne, and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.” ’ (Zec 6.12-13) with “Therefore, if perfection were through the Levitical priesthood (for under it the people received the law), what further need [was there] that another priest should rise according to the order of Melchizedek, and not be called according to the order of Aaron? ¹²For the priesthood being changed, of necessity there is also a change of the law. ¹³For He of whom these things are spoken belongs to another tribe, from which no man has officiated at the altar. ¹⁴ For [it is] evident that our Lord arose from Judah, of which tribe Moses spoke nothing concerning priesthood. ¹⁵ And it is yet far more evident if, in the likeness of Melchizedek, there arises another priest ^16 who has come, not according to the law of a fleshly commandment, but according to the power of an endless life. ¹⁷ For He testifies: “You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.” ¹⁸ For on the one hand there is an annulling of the former commandment because of its weakness and unprofitableness, ¹⁹ for the law made nothing perfect; on the other hand, [there is the] bringing in of a better hope, through which we draw near to God. ²⁰ And inasmuch as [He was] not [made priest] without an oath ²¹ (for they have become priests without an oath, but He with an oath by Him who said to Him: “The Lord has sworn and will not relent, ‘You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek’ ” ),²² by so much more Jesus has become a surety of a better covenant. ²³ Also there were many priests, because they were prevented by death from continuing. ²⁴ But He, because He continues forever, has an unchangeable priesthood. ²⁵ Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. ²⁶ For such a High Priest was fitting for us, [who is] holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens; ^27 who does not need daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the people’s, for this He did once for all when He offered up Himself. ²⁸ For the law appoints as high priests men who have weakness, but the word of the oath, which came after the law, [appoints] the Son who has been perfected forever.  ^8.1 Now [this is] the main point of the things we are saying: We have such a High Priest, who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, ² a Minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle which the Lord erected, and not man. ³ For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices. Therefore [it is] necessary that this One also have something to offer. ^4 For if He were on earth, He would not be a priest, since there are priests who offer the gifts according to the law; ⁵ who serve the copy and shadow of the heavenly things, as Moses was divinely instructed when he was about to make the tabernacle. For He said, “See that you make all things according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.” ⁶ But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises…” (He 7.11-8.6)

[24] “Now when these things had been thus prepared, the priests always went into the first part of the tabernacle, performing [the services]. ^7 But into the second part the high priest [went] alone once a year, not without blood, which he offered for himself and [for] the people’s sins [committed] in ignorance; ^8 the Holy Spirit indicating this, that the way into the Holiest of All was not yet made manifest while the first tabernacle was still standing. ^9 It was symbolic for the present time in which both gifts and sacrifices are offered which cannot make him who performed the service perfect in regard to the conscience— ^10 concerned only with foods and drinks, various washings, and fleshly ordinances imposed until the time of reformation. ^11 But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. ^12 Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. ^13 For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, ^14 how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? ^15 And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.” (He 9.6-15 )

[25] Acts 17.27-28