“Tov Rose has written an advanced Old Testament study to show that the message of the Old Testament and the New Testament are completely consistent in presenting Jesus as the Word of God. His book shows that the New Testament is very much a product of 1st Century Jewish thought and messianic expectations. It is meaty enough for a 1st year seminary student, yet easy enough to read for any serious student of the Bible.” – Joel Richardson

"Jesus: The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob" is one of the most comprehensive books "defending the deity of Yeshua (Jesus) for Jews." (Dr. Daniel Juster).

This text delves into the life of Jesus and His relationship with the God of the Old Testament. It explores Ezra the Scribe's Midrashic Hermeneutic (Bible interpretation method), how it is used by the New Testament writers, and the history of the Bible's manuscripts, including the controversy surrounding the Divine Name.

It discusses the names and attributes of God, including the Word of God in the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament. It presents evidence from the Hebrew Bible, ancient and modern Jewish scholars, and New Testament writers to support the identity of Jesus as the Messiah, citing fulfilled prophecies, types, and especially how the ancient Jewish marriage structure is on of the main overarching themes or threads woven throughout the Bible that connected both the Old and New Testaments.

Unlike Anything Else

The book analyzes the personal appearances and references of Messiah in the Old Testament and provides nine ways to find Jesus in the Old Testament. It examines Bible verses stating Jesus is God and discusses His role as "God Among Us." The book also explores the concept of the "Son of God" and Jesus' ultimate purpose of presenting us to His Father.

Tov delves into the roles of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit revealed in Scripture, highlighting their distinct responsibilities and characteristics.

Get the Book

Why is this teaching important? Intimacy with The Father is what it is all about! As men it can be difficult to express ourselves emotionally. In so many cultures doing so is dangerous sign of weakness, so we have to wear a tough exterior. We have to appear strong whether we feel it or not. We put up walls. We’re taught to do it from the time we’re young. I am firmly convinced that this culturally imposed and personally accepted closing off of our hearts has led to terrible conclusions in our nations, churches and families. As the inability to give or receive love gets passed on to another generation, how many fewer people will there be in churches who know how to love GOD, others and well, themselves. (Mark 12:29-31) How many will be able to accept love from GOD? (1 Jn 4:7-8)

How do you get past the walls you live behind?

In order to approach Daddy, you need to come to a place where you have finally had enough of trying to figure everything out. You have to set aside what you think you know and believe about GOD and simply approach Him. To know Him fully, you have to finally come to the absolute conclusion that you really want Him to live through you in this world, regardless of the consequences. Pride is always there with its “what ifs.” You have to choose to stand against the foolish and obstructive pride.

It really comes down to making a choice about how you are going to relate to GOD and let Him relate to you. Are you going to be like Abraham the Man of simple childlike Faith, or Moses the Man of the Law? Of whom God the Word spoke through Isaiah saying,

“But the word of the LORD was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.” Isaiah 28:13

You also need to educate yourself about GOD as revealed in the Bible. How do you approach Him, how do you worship Him? When you come into the presence of the king of any nation, there is a right way and a wrong way to approach him. There is a right way and a wrong way to leave his presence as well. Doing either in the wrong manner has one consequence: Death. Why? Because, you did not respect the office and presence of the king. How much more so concerning our GOD? We’ve become so lazy in our “Jesus is my boyfriend” church world that “god” is become a casual and generic relationship.

Considering that Jesus said such things as not to pray to him, but rather to his Father, as shown in the following verses (and others already discussed), you might begin to ask some hard questions about your relationship with God.

“After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.” Matthew 6:9

John 14:13 “And I will do whatever you ask in my name…”

Here are some questions to consider:

• When you are singing a worship song in church, who are you worshipping?
• Is it the Father or the Son who is the object of the song?
• Are the verses used confusing one with the other?
• or do they merge Father and Son into a single generic “god”?
• Do you want your prayers answered?
• To whom is your prayer supposed to be directed?

Obviously, Jehovah in the Old Testament was the object of worship, so there is nothing wrong with worshipping him in his incarnate form as Jesus of Nazareth. Likewise, the Father, since Jesus came to reveal Him as GOD.

Here are a few other questions to consider, and in answering see if you can put the right member of the God-Head with the question[1]:

• Who is in charge of life and death?
• Who is in charge of Forgiveness?
• Who is the author of eternal life?
• Who is the beginning and the end?
• Who is in charge of ultimate judgment?
• Who created the world?
• Who is the God of Israel?
• Who is the Lord God of the Holy Prophets?
• Who sits on the Great White Throne of Judgment?
• Who gives us good gifts?
• The earth is a footstool for whose feet?
• Who is the strength of our life?
• Who parted the Red Sea?
• Who did Moses and the 70 elders have dinner with?
• Who is this verse about?

“Who hath ascended up into heaven, or descended? who hath gathered the wind in his fists? who hath bound the waters in a garment? who hath established all the ends of the earth? what is his name, and what is his son's name, if thou canst tell? Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him.” Proverbs 30:4-5

When you approach GOD the right way, He reveals Himself in powerful ways and your life is changed forever. The deeper and more intimately you know Daddy, the more intimately you will know His love and His presence in your life—and all the benefits that come with being personally related to the GOD who made His Son King of kings and Lord of lords. I don’t know about you, but I think I want to live in a world where I experience my Father on a regular basis. How about you?

But don’t take my word for it. You’re not supposed to believe me, remember?

This is a tool. It contains the keys you need to find The Father in the Old Testament. If you want to be the best human you can be, the kind of son He wants you to be, learn all you can about Him. Study what the Bible has to say about men—and women.

Would it surprise you to find that we’re supposed to be nurturing to our wives and children?[1] We’re supposed to show strength of character. We’re also supposed to be protective. For example, when a husband hears his wife puts herself down in self-hatred, you have the responsibility to disavow whatever she said. The same goes for your unmarried daughters.[2] Men, you have a responsibility to your daughters to make sure that they marry Godly, protective men and to ensure that your sons become Godly, protective husbands.

Maybe a little Bible study on Manhood wouldn’t hurt?[3]

The book of I Corinthians, written by Paul and inspired by the Holy Spirit, was written to one of the worldliest churches of its day. It is said that this was a “church under the influence of the [pagan] city.” Paul’s purpose in writing to this church was to bring it back in line with the Word of God. Though this church’s problems included divisions, immorality, and questionable practices of many kinds, the real problem was that the men were not living up to their position and responsibilities before Jesus. Therefore, Paul in closing his letter, addresses the men of the church with these words:

1.             Watch ye (give strict attention to)

a.     Watch for Jesus, as one who must give an account

b.    Watch yourself

c.     Watch others (good and bad)

2.        Stand fast (firm; persevere, persist) in the faith (conviction of the truth of anything, belief; in the NT of a conviction or belief respecting man’s relationship to God and divine things, generally with the included idea of trust and holy fervour born of faith and joined with it)

a. Jesus set His face like a flint (Isa.50:7)

3.        Quit you like men (show yourself to be a man)

4.        Be strong (increase in strength)

5.        Let all your things (everything you do) be done with charity (Sacrificial love). Love is not a feeling, it is a fact! 

a. Therefore, let everything be accomplished under the banner of sacrificial love (I Cor. 16:13-14)

The “centerpiece” of this passage is the phrase, “quit you like men”, or “show yourself to be a man.”  We live in a world that has been and is continuing to be feminized. As men refuse to assume their God-given roles in the home, the work place, the church, the military, and the government, women are stepping up to fill the void. I believe they are doing it in order to protect their security, which is the man’s responsibility to provide. 

J. Richard Fugate in his book, “What the Bible Says About Being a Man.” says about modern males:

“Rather than aspire to Biblical Manhood, most men today are content to be “emasculated (having lost the characteristics of a man); effeminate (taking on the characteristics of a woman); or macho (employing crude, animal-like characteristics without consideration for the feelings or rights of others, especially women).”

The problem with women assuming man’s role, besides being unbiblical, is that women focus on feelings, while men are supposed to focus on facts. Satan’s purpose is to substitute his order for God’s order, with the woman being installed (or usurping [“take for oneself”] man’s authority) as the head of the family, church, business-place, military and government. This is because it is very easy to manipulate feelings, but very hard to change facts. It is interesting that in Revelation 17 the head of the one-world church is a whore on a scarlet beast. In chapter 18, commercial Babylon is also identified as a female. So it is obvious that Satan’s plan is working and will work—until the coming of Jesus (Revelation 19)!

Perhaps one of the most insidious tricks of Satan is to suggest that God is female by nature. Don’t get me wrong, women are a tremendous gift of God, powerful, spirit filled co-workers in the Church. God’s nature can in no way be called female or feminine. The power, authority and strength can only be understood in the context of God as a male. To do otherwise is to castrate God, and by proxy all men, leaving grace, authority and forgiveness powerless and ineffective. How like Satan to take something good, and twist it just enough to destroy us all.

Satan’s plan ought not to work in a church! The reason is that though we have feelings, and even express feelings, we are to focus on the facts of the Word of God! It is supposed to be our life. First the facts, then the feelings! But with that said, if the men will not fulfill their leadership role, women will step forward to fill the void in order to protect their sense of security. 

So the Corinthian church, and any church both need the same thing—men to assume their rightful role in the life of the church. I would like to outline man’s duties under three headings:

I.         A man honors his God and his Savior

           II.       A man accepts his position and responsibility

           III.      A man follows Jesus’ example

I’m using the outline format to make the roles as understandable as possible. Please forgive me if you find it challenging to follow, but it really is the simplest and clearest format I can use.

I.         A Man Honors His God and His Savior

“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.” (Col. 1:15-20 NIV)

1.    Jesus is the head (supreme, prominent One) of the body (the church), Submitted to his Father

2.    Jesus is the beginning (origin, or first cause of all things, or principality)

3.    Jesus is the Firstborn from the dead (Gill: the first that rose from the dead by His own power, and to an immortal life; for, though others were raised before Him, and by Him, yet not to a state of immortality)

4.    For the express purpose that he might have the preeminence (first and chief over all things, especially to the church)

A.  By Being A Follower of Jesus’ Father

1.    18 times in the Gospels, Jesus says, “Follow Me” for various callings

a.    To be a fisher of men (Matt. 4:19)

b.    To put relationship between you and God before family relationships (Matt. 8:22; Lk[4]. 9:59)

c.    To be Jesus’ disciple (Matt. 9:9; Mk. 2:14; Lk. 5:27)

d.    To deny self, and take up your cross and follow Jesus’ as he followed his Father’s will (Matt. 16:24; Mk. 8:34; Lk. 9:23)

e.     To forsake those things that keep you from following (Matt. 19:29; Mk. 10:21; Lk. 18:22)

f.     To bring others to Jesus and his Father (Jn. 1:43)

g.    To have spiritual discernment (Jn.10:27)

h.    To serve (Jn. 12:26)

i.     To lay down your life (Jn. 13:36, Romans 15:3, Eph 5:25)

j.     To follow Jesus despite what others might or might not do (Jn. 21:19)

k.    To follow/trust the Light despite the darkness (Acts 12:8ff)

B.   By Not Making Excuses (Lk. 9:57-62)

1.    “I will” (selfish determination without spiritual direction or  authority) (v57, 61)

2.    “But” (selfish excuses in contrast to Jesus’s command) (v59, 61)

3.    “Me first” (selfish elevation of your personal status) (v59, 61)

II.       A Man Accepts His Position and Responsibility (1 Cor. 11:3)

“But I would have you know, that the head of every man (#3) is Jesus (#2); and the head of the woman (#4) is the man (#3); and the head of Jesus (#2) is God (#1).”

A.  A Leader

(These are principles lifted from these verses containing the word lead. Direct sources for individual traits of leaders are in the pastoral epistles of Paul.)

B.   “Leader” = one who shows the way; guides; directs; persuades; precedes (Isa. 55:1-4)

1.    One who leads others to the narrow gate, which leads to life (Matt. 7:14)

2.    One who leads people to a higher place (Mk. 9:2)

3.    One who speaks the words that the Holy Spirit provides in every situation (Mk. 13:11)

4.    One who does not impose or force others, but acts with grace and mercy (Lk. 13:15)

5.    One who leads others to green pasture and cool water (John 10:3)

6.    One who walks through God’s open doors without hesitation (Acts 12:10)

7.    One who admits that he needs the guidance of others more spiritual (Acts 13:11)

8.    One who is not ashamed to repent as God reveals the need (Rms. 2:4)

9.    One who gently leads the females under his care (1 Cor. 9:5) and prays for them

10. One who prays for those in authority, and leads a quiet, peaceable life (1 Tim. 2:2)

11. One who shares with others the future blessings of the Kingdom of God and the second coming of Jesus (Rev. 7:17)

12. One who exhibits patience and faith in God in every circumstance of life (Rev. 13:10)

13. Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. (1 Thes. 5:16-18)

Roberson: “Everything rises or falls on leadership.” Being a man in Jesus’s church requires: 1) Leadership (1 Cor. 11:1; 2) Vision (Prov. 29:18); 3) Determination (Phil. 3:13).

III.      A Man Follows Jesus’ Example

A.  A Servant

1Pet 2:21 “For even hereunto were ye called: because Jesus also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow His steps:”

1.                    A servant (bond-slave) exists to do his Master’s will, as Jesus did his Father’s will

John 13:13-17 “Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you. Verily, verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord; neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him. If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them.”

a.    Jesus is Master and Lord, submitted to his Father

b.    Jesus is your example of humility (“strength in lowliness of mind”)

c.    The Lord is greater than the servant, but lifts you up into the presence of his Father

d.    The Sender is greater than the sent, the ultimate sender being the Mouth of the Father

e.    Knowledge alone, of these things, does not bring happiness

f.     Happiness (blessedness) only comes if you do these things

2.                    To the servant, no job too insignificant, no person too insignificant, no position too insignificant

Note: In the New Testament the term servant is used by those who voluntarily submit themselves to God’s authority as bond slaves (1 Cor. 7:22). In relationship, we are sons of God. In position, we are saints of God. But by voluntary submission we become servants of God. Those called “a servant” include: Jesus, Paul, Phoebe, Epaphras, James, Peter, Jude, John, and multitudes of unnamed saints down through the centuries.

B.   An Example

I Tim. 4:12-16  “Let no man despise (think little of) thy youth; but be thou an example [to be imitated] of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.  Till I come, give attendance (to attend to; to apply to self) to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine.  Neglect (be careless of) not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery.  Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting (progress) may appear to all.  Take heed unto (attend to) thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.”

1.                    Though young of years, be mature in spirituality

2.                    Be an example in:

a.    Word (speech)

b.    Conversation (manner of life; lifestyle)

c.    Charity (sacrificial love)

d.    Spirit (disposition; that which governs the soul)

e.    Faith (belief and faithfulness)

f.     Purity (no admixture)

3.                    Give attendance to:

a.    Reading (knowing)

b.    Exhortation (supplication, consolation, instruction, admonition by persuasive speech)

c.    Doctrine (teaching)

4.                    Neglect not your gift

5.                    Take heed to yourself and the doctrine

a.    Meditate (think &ponder)

b.    Give yourself fully

c.    Continue in them

6.                    Prove your salvation

7.                    Provide for the salvation of others

Between the preeminence of Jesus in Col. 1:18 (“And He is the head of the body, the church: Who is the beginning, the Firstborn from the dead; that in all things He might have the pre-eminence.”) and God’s ultimate purpose for you in Rom. 8:29 (“For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate (decided beforehand) to be conformed (to fit with) to the image of His Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.”) lies your role as a man. It is not optional, but required that you take your place as a follower of Jesus, a lover of his Father, a leader among men, and a servant of all. The starting place for this new phase of your spiritual journey is found in Romans 1-2:

“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”

[1]          Ephesians 5

[2]          Numbers 30

[3]          A special thanks to: www.seekingJesus.net/BeingMan

[4]          Luke

[1]          Job 40-21