The Three Levite Families

 
In entry “Salvation Part II” I make mention of a three-level Kingdom.  I came upon this today at Aish while investigating today’s Torah portion:
 

THREE LEVITE FAMILIES 

Although these four points are important, we can also suggest another approach in understanding God’s expectation of us when it comes to peace. The beginning of this week’s Torah portion focuses on the tribe of Levi, which is composed of three main families: Kehat, Gershon, and Merari. Based on the Shem MiShmuel and the Netivot Shalom, we can understand these three families as representing three spiritual levels.

The family of Kehat represents the highest, most righteous level. Their role is to carry the Holy Ark (Rashi on Numbers 4:4) – the highest component of the Tabernacle. The importance of this task underscores their lofty spiritual level.

The family of Gershon represents the middle level. They carry the curtain that divides the Holy of Holies from the rest of the Sanctuary (Numbers 4:25). One side of the curtain is close to the intense sanctity of the Holy of Holies, while the other side is not. We could suggest that this curtain hints to the spiritual level of an average person, who fluctuates between moments of intense devotion and moments of feeling less connected to the Divine.

The family of Merari represents the lowest level. They carry the beams and pillars of the Sanctuary (Numbers 4:31), the weight of which can be burdensome. This physical weight represents the heaviness of the lowest spiritual level.

  

Exodus 19:4-6 “You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. Now IF you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites.”

1 Peter 2:9, “You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to YHWH, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light.”

 

 

That makes quite a statement.
 
 June 6, 2008  123shall   Leave a comment
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Humanism and Evolution

 
Recently there has been increased emphasis from some to validate evolution-based junk science.
 
I view with increased awe as end-times prophecies of a falling away continue to mount and fuel increased anti-Torah, Jew-hating discussions from both liberals and conservatives alike.
 
Of these, none are more sharply pointed than this recent discovery of a 1954 letter from Albert Einstein:
 

As a Jew himself, Einstein said he had a great affinity with Jewish people but said they "have no different quality for me than all other people".

"The word God is for me nothing more than the expression and product of human weaknesses, the Bible a collection of honourable, but still primitive legends which are nevertheless pretty childish.

"No interpretation no matter how subtle can (for me) change this,"

Sadly, Einstein could see only “relativity” as a substitute for continual witness of the Grace, Beauty, Wisdom and Mercy of our Creator.

The misfortune of those stubbornly misguided to seek solace in their own righteousness and creativity rather than seek the total wisdom of YHWH is summarized well by Dr. Francis A. Schaeffer in his Christian Manifesto:

I want to say to you, those of you who are Christians or even if you are not a Christian and you are troubled about the direction that our society is going in, that we must not concentrate merely on the bits and pieces. But we must understand that all of these dilemmas come on the basis of moving from the Judeo-Christian world view — that the final reality is an infinite creator God — over into this other reality which is that the final reality is only energy or material in some mixture or form which has existed forever and which has taken its present shape by pure chance.

The word Humanism should be carefully defined. We should not just use it as a flag, or what younger people might call a "buzz" word. We must understand what we are talking about when we use the word Humanism. Humanism means that the man is the measure of all things. Man is the measure of all things. If this other final reality of material or energy shaped by pure chance is the final reality, it gives no meaning to life. It gives no value system. It gives no basis for law, and therefore, in this case, man must be the measure of all things. So, Humanism properly defined, in contrast, let us say, to the humanities or humanitarianism, (which is something entirely different and which Christians should be in favor of) being the measure of all things, comes naturally, mathematically, inevitably, certainly. If indeed the final reality is silent about these values, then man must generate them from himself.

So, Humanism is the absolute certain result, if we choose this other final reality and say that is what it is. You must realize that when we speak of man being the measure of all things under the Humanist label, the first thing is that man has only knowledge from himself. That he, being finite, limited, very faulty in his observation of many things, yet nevertheless, has no possible source of knowledge except what man, beginning from himself, can find out from his own observation. Specifically, in this view, there is no place for any knowledge from God.

But it is not only that man must start from himself in the area of knowledge and learning, but any value system must come arbitrarily from man himself by arbitrary choice. More frightening still, in our country, at our own moment of history, is the fact that any basis of law then becomes arbitrary — merely certain people making decisions as to what is for the good of society at the given moment.

 

 May 13, 2008  123shall   Leave a comment
Categories: Health and wellness

Mourner’s Kaddish

Magnified and sanctified be YHWH’s Great Name in the world which He created according to His Will. May he establish His Kingdom during our lifetime and during the lifetime of Israel.
 
Let us say, Amen.

May YHWH’s Great Name be blessed forever and ever.

Blessed, glorified, honored and extolled, adored and acclaimed be the Name of the Holy One, though YHWH is beyond all praises and songs of adoration which can be uttered.

Let us say, Amen.

May there be peace and life for all of us and for all Israel.

Let us say, Amen.

Let He who makes peace in the heavens, grant peace to all of us and to all Israel.

Let us say, Amen.

 March 25, 2008  123shall   Leave a comment
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United Nations Condemns Counterterrorism

According to the Cybercast News Network, the 57-nation Organization of the Islamic Conference has pushed and passed a United Nations resolution to combat the "defamation of religions" (although only Islam is mentioned).
 
 
It expresses alarm about "discrimination" and "laws that stigmatize groups of people belonging to certain religions and faiths under a variety of pretexts relating to security and illegal immigration."

Muslim minorities are subjected to "ethnic and religious profiling … in the aftermath of the tragic events of 11 September 2001," it says.

The resolution decries "the negative projection of Islam in the media" and voices "deep concern that Islam is frequently and wrongly associated with human rights violations and terrorism."

 
This from the same religion that kills and maims thousands of their own and the infidel yearly.
 
 January 5, 2008  123shall   Leave a comment
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Defending Shaul

Some individuals, rather than look for the consistency of the writings of Shaul of Tarsus and Written Torah, have taken the lazy path to deny that his words are relevant, or simply choose to conclude that he is a deceptive individual.  It is a hard thing to understand him on first glance, even with long, involved study – unless the time is taken to analyze his words from a Biblical standpoint.
 
One of the most often misunderstood areas is with his statements on circumcision.  Where the Greek word "peritome" is used by Shaul, it is a good thing.
 
Akrobustia is a forsaking of the physical circumcision.
 
These footnotes from the Restoration Scriptures edition by Rabbi Moshe Koniuchowski of Your Arms to Israel Ministries:
 

The Greek word used in Galatians 2:7 for Shaul’s ministry to the uncircumcised is the word akrobustia (Strong’s Greek # 203), which literally means “tossed-away foreskins.” He was contrasting his ministry to the uncircumcised, or the “akrobustia” with James and Peter’s ministry to the circumcised, or the “peritome” (Strong’s Greek # 4061). The same word peritome is used in describing the mission of James, Peter and John. This peritome means those living and abiding in circumcised identity, or in other words, the “House of Judah.” The choice of “akrobustia” is fitting, as it describes just what Shaul was doing in the nations, or among the Galut-Yah. He was first and foremost looking for the lost sheep of the House of Yisrael (Efrayim), as per Yahshua’s instructions.

Akrobustia, does not mean “pagan gentiles” per se, but a select group within the gentiles, or nations. The term akrobustia, as opposed to peritome, means those who were circumcised, but through disobedience and outright rebellion had their foreskins tossed away, thus becoming like one who is born and raised as an uncircumcised (aperitome) pagan gentile. The opposite of a ministry to the peritome (which James and Peter had) would have been one to the aperitome, or “never-circumcised.” Yet Shaul did not claim a ministry to the aperitome, or never-circumcised.

His ministry, according to his own description, was to the akrobustia, or those who had undergone circumcision but had tossed it all away.

 

 

And this on Galatians 5:6 –

This holds true eternally. First, that circumcision is an act of love to seal one’s faith, not to establish it, and neither the Jews, the circumcised, nor the akrobustia the “tossed-away foreskinned ones” have any ranking, or special standing over the other. Neither house of Yisrael should see circumcision, or lack thereof as a means of a spiritual rank over and above the other, but as something that the individual in YHWH’s decent order must do on his own.

Circumcision avails nothing in the sense that if abused, it establishes one part of Yisrael as master and the other as slaves. So it avails nothing in terms of restoring equality in Yisrael, yet it is a mandate to the individual in his personal walk with YHWH. Messiah came to free both houses, and establish equality, not a new system of “works of law,” or ranking, based on an immediate response to mandated corporate physical circumcision, rather than personal physical circumcision.

 

 October 16, 2007  123shall   Leave a comment
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The “New 666”

What follows is my amplification of the explanation by ex-Muslim Simon Altaf concerning the multitude of the beast –  in his book, “World War III – Unmasking the End Time Beast.”

Revelation 13: 18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.  

The Greek text does not say “six humdred threescore and six” or “six hundred sixty-six” or even “666”  – these are assumption that the three Greek letters   χ Chi   ξ Xi  * Stigma  form a translation of letters to numbers,  called a gematria (just as “Roman numerals” look like letters but create numbers) . 

* Follow this Wikipedia link to view the shape of stigma – it is an obsolete letter on the right hand side.

This numeric assumption has a big problem: 
This curious set of letters has been translated as “666” or “661” in most English translations.  However, in Sophocles’ Lexicon of Byzantine Greek, which covers late antique Greek up to 1000 AD, there is no mention of “stigma” as either a ligature or a number. The value of six is held by the Upsilon and there is certainly no need to designate an obsolete letter as a duplicate six, is there?


Let’s assume instead that John was trying to convey something else: a pictogram of the insignia on the headgear and armbands of a huge number (a multitude) of soldiers having risen up to attack Israel.  

Military units incorporate standard symbols as do all militaries, such as the Middle Eastern crossed swords.  Here’s two designators from the Pakistani army:

 
The first example is the flag of their military crest.

  The flag includes the following description:

The motto of the Pakistan Army reads: “Iman, Taqwa, Jihad fi Sabilillah”. Translated into English, it means “Faith, Piety, Fight in the Way of Allah”.

(Note:  while the Pakistani army crescent faces to the left, in most Islamic uses including the Pakistani flag, it faces right like the Greek letter Stigma) 

This second example is also from Wikipedia.

    

The script for the word “Allah” looks remarkably like the letter “Xi” (see the picture at the bottom of the post).

Arabic script did not come into existence until AD 400. Arabic script would have made absolutely no sense at all to John.

“Let him who has understanding” understand the meaning of:

  – Crossed swords.    Arabic script ‘Allah’.   A crescent moon. 

as the

The symbols of the multitude rising to attack Israel.

Makes more sense, right?

——-

The Defence College Experience – Since those were the ‘Islamization days of positive results’, we got more than our fair share of male guest speakers whose lectures smacked of preaching from the pulpit. We also actually got Mullas as guest speakers who presentations sounded like Friday prayer sermon. My written comments to college on Mulla guest speakers were that we did not need any preaching on the religion itself and a presentation on the comparative study of religion was perhaps more appropriate.

Closing on the following note:

Daniel 9:11: Yea, all Israel have transgressed thy law, even by departing, that they might not obey thy voice; therefore the curse is poured upon us, and the oath that is written in the law of Moses the servant of Eloah, because we have sinned against him.

The Hebrew word “curse” is  “Allah”.

  

 
 
 October 4, 2006  123shall   Leave a comment
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Thirty-two Rules of Ben Galil

From this link (compiled by Greg Killian):

The Thirty-two Rules of

Eliezer B. Jose
Ha-Ge-lili

 

Rules laid down by R. Eliezer b. Jose Ha-Gelili for haggadic
exegesis, many of them being applied also to halakic interpretation.

 

1. Ribbuy (extension): The particles “et”, “gam”, and
“af”, which are superfluous indicate that something which is not explicitly
stated must be regarded as included in the passage uinder consideration, or
that some teaching is implied thereby.

2. Mi’ut (limitation): The particles “ak”, “rak”, and
“min”, indicate that something implied by the concept under consideration must
be excluded in a specific case.

3. Ribbuy ahar ribbuy (extension after extension):
When one extension follows another it indicates that more must be regarded as
implied. 

4. Mi’ut ahar mi’ut (limitation after limitation): A
double limitation indicates that more is to be omitted.

5. Kal va-chomer meforash:
“Argumentum a minori ad majus”, or vice versa, and expressly so characterized
in the text. 

6. Kal va-chomer satum:
“Argumentum a minori ad majus” or vice versa, but only implied, not explicitly
declared to be one in the text. This and the preceeding rule are contained in
the Rules of Hillel number 1.

7. Gezerah shawah: Argument from analagy.
Biblical passages containing synonyms or homonyms are subject, however much
they differ in other respects, to identical definitions and applications. 

8.  Binyan ab
mi-katub ehad:  Application of a
provision found in one passage only to passages which are related to the first
in content but do not contain the provision in question.

9. Derek Kezarah: Abbreviation is sometimes used in
the text when the subject of discussion is self-explanatory.

10. Dabar shehu shanuy (repeated expression):
Repitition implies a special meaning.

11. Siddur she-nehlak: Where in the text a clause or
sentence not logically divisible is divided by the punctuation, the proper
order and the division of the verses must be restored according to the logical
connection.

12. Anything introduced as a
comparison to illustrate and explain something else itself receives in this way
a better explanation and elucidation.

13. When the general is
followed by the particular, the latter is specific to the former and merely
defines it more exactly. (compare with Hillel #5)

14. Something important is
compared with something unimportant to elucidate it and render it more readily
intelligible.

15.  When two Biblical passages contradict each
other the contradiction in question must be solved by reference to a third
passage.

16. Dabar meyuhad bi-mekomo:
An expression which occurs in only one passage can be explained only by the
context. This must have been the original meaning of the rule, although another
explanation is given in the examples cited in the baraita.

17. A point which is not clearly
explained in the main passage may be better elucidated in another passage.

18. A statement with regard to
a part may imply the whole.

19. A statement concerning one
thing may hold good with regard to another as well.

20. A statement concerning one
thing may apply only to something else. 

21. If one object is compared
to two other objects the best part of both the latter forms the tertium quid of
comparison.

22. A passage may be
supplemented and explained by a parallel passage.

23. A passage serves to
elucidate and supplement its parallel passage. 

24. When the specific implied
in the general is especially excepted from the general, it serves to emphasize
some property characterizing the specific.

25. The specific implied in
the general is frequently excepted from the general to elucidate some other
specific property, and to develop some special teaching concerning it.

26. Mashal (parable). 

27. Mi-ma’al: Interpretation
through the preceding.

28. Mi-neged: Interpretation
through the opposite. 

29. Gematria: Interpretation
according to the numerical value of the letters.

30. Notarikon: Interpretation
by dividing a word into two or more parts. 

31. Postposition of the
precedent. Many phraes which follow must be regarded as properly preceding, and
must be interpreted accordingly in exegesis.

32. May portions of the Bible
refer to an earlier period than to the sections which precede them, and vice
versa.

 

These thirty-two rules are united in
the so-called Baraita of R. Eliezer b. Jose HaGelili. In the introduction to
the Midrash ha-Gadole, where this baraita is given, it contains thirty-three
rules. Rule 29 being divided into three, and rule 27 being omitted.

 August 8, 2006  123shall   Leave a comment
Categories: Rabbinic Roots

The Inverted Nun and the Seven Books of Moses

The letter NUN is the probably the most prolific and insightful letter in the Hebrew alephbet. It is used to denote the totality of Torah in Psalm 119:105 (through 112) –

NUN. Thy Word a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

certainly one of the most quoted Scriptural verses.

—-

The letter Nun is the 14th letter of the Aleph-Bet, having the numeric value of 50. The pictograph for Nun looks something like a seed, whereas the classical Hebrew script (Ketav Ashurit) is constructed of a bent Vav with a crown like a Zayin.

– It represents one who is bent over in His Humbleness and one who is upright in His Righteousness – Y’shua.

– In Aramaic, the word Nun means a fish -Y’shua.

– and we have this:

And whenever the ark set out, Moses said, "Arise, O LORD, and let your enemies be scattered, and let those who hate you flee before you." And when it rested, he said, "Return, O LORD, to the ten thousand thousands of Israel.”     (Numbers 10:35-6)

What makes these two particular verses  set apart   is marked with wonder from the times of the earliest Judaic sages until today – the appearance of inverted Nuns at the beginning and end.

Please read the entire linked webpage for more of the wonder of this passage and the letter Nun.

—–

So, we can surmise from this that these few verses in and of themselves create their own chapter of Torah, leading to the division of the Five Books into the Seven Books of Moses.

It has been also been theorized that these two verses form an incomplete chapter of Torah that will be finished at a later date. 

Torah is Perfect.  Also, YHWH changes not:

so addition is hardly likely, but this points to a future event – the completion of Torah, the arrival of Moshiach ben David, our long-awaited Joshua Son of Nun,  where it will be written on the Hearts of All – the Era of Shalom Shalom:  Perfect Peace.

Isaiah 26:1-3, "In that day shall this song be sung in the land of Judah; We have a strong city; Y’shua will appoint  walls and bulwarks.  Open ye the gates, that the righteous nation which keepeth the truth may enter in.   Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee."

Torah will then cease to be written and will be acted upon  L’Olam Va‘ed.

 
 May 3, 2006  123shall   Leave a comment
Categories: Hebraic Roots

The Gullible vs. the Reality

Christians are immediately taught that their salvation is secured by membership.  This works well for the church.  Raise hell on Saturdays and raise Christ on Sunday is a common practice, because the “Law” is written on your heart.  Neither assumption could be farther from the Scriptural basis of Hebraic thought.

Jeremiah 17:9, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?”

Matthew 13:19, “When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the wayside… 

…30 Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.”

—- 

Isaiah 5:24, “Therefore as the fire devoureth the stubble, and the flame consumeth the chaff, so their root shall be as rottenness, and their blossom shall go up as dust: because they have cast away the law of the LORD of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.”

1)  There’s only ONE LAW – the Torah of Moses.

Mark 1:24, "Saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God."

2)  There’s only ONE HOLY ONE of YHWH.

It’s not that hard to figure out.  All you have to do is read it.

 March 24, 2006  123shall   Leave a comment
Categories: Hebraic Roots

Happy New Year…

 

 

Click here.  Get a glimpse of the restoration of all things (Acts 3:21).

 

See how both Jews and Non-Jews can worship the Messiah of Israel together.

 

 December 31, 2005  123shall   2 Comments
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The Thirteen Laws of Rabbi Ishmael

From Wikipedia, the thirteen laws used to create Jewish halacha are as follows: During the time of the Mishnah, the oral law was said to be derived from the written Torah by virtue of one or more of the following methods ("Introduction to Sifra" by Ishmael ben Elisha, c. 200 CE):

  1. Kal va-Chomer (a fortiori): We find a similar law in a more lenient case; how more so should that law apply to our stricter case!
  2. Gezera shava, similarity in phrase: We find a similar law in a verse containing a similar phrase to one in our verse. This method can only be used by oral tradition.
  3. Binyan av, either by one or two Scriptures: We find a similar law in another case, why shouldn’t we assume that the same law applies here? Now the argument may go against this inference, finding some law which applies to that case but not to ours. This type of refutation is valid only if the inference was from one Scripture, not if it was from two Scriptures.
  4. Klal ufrat, a generality and a particularity: If we find a phrase signifying a particularity following that of a generality, the particularity particularises the generality and we only take that particular case into account.
  5. Prat ukhlal, a particularity and a generality: If the order is first the particularity and then the generality, we add from the generality upon the particularity, even to a broad extent.
  6. Klal ufrat ukhlal, a generality, a particularity and a generality: If there is a particularity inserted between two generalities, we only add cases similar to the particularity.
  7. Klal shehu tzarich lifrat, a generality that requires a particularity, and a particularity that requires a generality:
  8. Every thing that was within the general rule and was excluded from the rule to teach us a rule, we don’t consider this rule as pertaining only to this excluded case, but to the entire general case.
  9. Anything that was included in a general rule, and was excluded to be susceptible to one rule that is according to its subject, it is only excluded to be treated more leniently but not more strictly.
  10. Anything that was included in a general rule and was excluded to be susceptible to one rule that is not according to its subject, it is excluded to be treated both more leniently and more strictly.
  11. Anything that was included in a general rule and was excluded to be treated by a new rule, we cannot restore it to its general rule unless Scripture restores it explicitly.
  12. A matter that is inferred from its context, and a matter that is inferred from its ending.
  13. The resolution of two Scriptures that contradict each other [must wait] until a third Scripture arrives and resolves their apparent contradiction.

Wikipedia also adds the following observation:

Scholars have noted the similarity between these rabbinic rules of interpretation and the hermeneutics of ancient Hellenistic culture.

One could then safely assume that Greek/Roman hermenuetics (exegesis/eisegesis) follow the same pattern, no?

No. Christian "interpretation" is lacking one vital point. Torah, the Law of Moses. Without it, there is no standard, no "rock" –

Matthew 5:18, "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."

Psalm 105:41 He opened the rock, and the waters gushed out; they ran in the dry places like a river.

42 For he remembered his holy promise, and Abraham his servant.

43 And he brought forth his people with joy, and his chosen with gladness:

44 And gave them the lands of the heathen: and they inherited the labour of the people;

45 That they might observe his statutes, and keep his laws. Praise YHWH!

Without Torah, Christianity is merely another form of agnosticism.

 July 17, 2005  123shall   Leave a comment
Categories: Rabbinic Roots

Is the Pope the Anti-Messiah?

As men go, Karol Józef Wojtyła was a good man and a great televangelist for his faith. I kinda liked him. With a cursory research on the papacy, many past popes seemed far more power-hungry and dictatorial than he.

For example, JPII does not state that the church has changed the YHWH’s Day, the Sabbath – it says that the church moved the sanctity of the Sabbath to the “Lord’s Day” through “wise papal intuition.”

He also said that the commandment for a SATURDAY Sabbath is rooted in the depths of YHWH’s plan and

the Decalogue (the “ten commandments”) represent the PILLARS of moral life. He also explained that the blessing of YHWH’s day “par excellence” MUST BE UNDERSTOOD as a MARRIAGE

But pope he was, and the majestic closing of the first chapter of this Dies Domini address, he says he’s Peter’s successor.

However, the Scriptures state that Shimon Kefa was sent to those “of the circumcision” (the Jews), while Rabbi Sha’ul (see Galatians 2:8 and Acts 10:45) was sent to the Gentiles.

Colossians 2:8, “Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Mashiach.”

The Roman church has an ersatz temple and high priest to Miriam the Immaculate co-redemptrix. (Instead see Hosea 13:4, “Yet I am YHWH thy El from the land of Egypt, and thou shalt know no El but me: for there is no savior beside me.”)

Deut 10:12-13, “And now, Israel, what doth YHWH thy El require of thee, but to fear YHWH thy El, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve YHWH thy El with all thy heart and with all thy soul, To keep the commandments of YHWH, and his statutes, which I command thee this day for thy good?”

Deu 18:19, “And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he [the Prophet from among their brethren] shall speak in my name, I will require it of him.”

If you context this verse, an immaculate person has no need for a Savior. Yet, Miriam said (Luke 1:47), “And my spirit hath rejoiced in YHWH, my Savior.”  This tells us how Miriam viewed herself – as one requiring a Savior.  Messiah Y’shua never made any claims or regrets for Himself or His actions. He never claimed that He needed a Redeemer.

Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, new heir to the papal throne, had this to say (paraphrased) in a 1991 speech to a Council of Bishops, as he expounded on the theology of Cardinal Newman: Socrates the pagan could be viewed as a prophet of Jesus Christ and a vessel for Christian Logos.

So, not only is Socrates a worthy prophet, but attempting to pour Messiah into a vessel of paganism is “a kind of salvation”. We’ll let YHWH Himself judge the blasphemy of that remark.

Additionally, the January 23, 2002 edition of the Ha’aretz newspaper carried an article, “Waiting for the Messiah – together by Eliahu Salpeter, which made the observation that a Vatican statement to appease the Jews does not explicitly state that the Messiah destined to return will be Jesus Christ but that He ‘will bear the signs of that same Jesus who arrived in the past.’ 

Indeed, it certainly becomes easier to agnosticise “Jesus” and disfigure Him after you’ve taken that bold step to remake His Image into one of your own choosing.

But wait:

Acts 2:36, “Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that YHWH hath made that same Y’shua, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.”

A disorderly walk – not the pure, Truth-filled Torah of Y’shua, but the clever ways of papal tradition.

Does this make the Pope the Antichrist? Not hardly. Just another twister of truth and blind judge.

“Saturday” has no relationship to the Hebrew calendar, neither does “Sunday” or any other Greek/Roman accounting. The Hebrew Sabbath is controlled by lunar phases, not the sun.

For this reason, I find it rather amusing when “Christian fundamentalist Bible-believing ‘true’ churchers” get all wound-up, spittle-flying, foot-stomping, hair-raising angry when they “identify” the pope, all the while following his wise papal intuition.

 April 18, 2005  123shall   Leave a comment
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Understanding “Paul”

2 Peter 3:15, "And account that the longsuffering of our Adon is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you;  16 As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction."

Peter really pins things down here, doesn’t he?  How can we trust the words of Rabbi Sha’ul when they could lead to our destruction?  The answer is very simple; the solution is quite complex.

Rabbi Sha’ul not only had a vision, he had years of training at the feet of Gamali’el.

Hebrews 5:12, "For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of YHWH; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.  13 For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe."

I could go on to examine the differences between meat and milk, but it’s summed up pretty well:

Hebrews 6:1, "Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Messiah, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward YHWH,   2 Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment."

Or, as Jude says:

Jude 1:3, "Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints."

How often have you sat through a Christian Sunday service and heard preached salvation, faith, baptism, judgment, resurrection.  Over and over?  Or, a verse taken out of a chapter and had it expounded into a feat of faith accomplished by an early Church Father or a "life example" of how some nice person (usually famous) accomplished some glorious work of charity or forgiveness?

How often have you been taught Bible studies?  Was it all that much different in Wednesday Bible Class than it was on Sunday? Did you really get into teaching the Word?

The letters from Sha’ul have many characteristics that make them difficult to understand.  First, you have no idea what was in the original letter to him, or just exactly what the circumstances were that caused him to initiate a letter in the first place.

There is one thing for sure, though.  He was not writing to Gentiles.  He was writing to the Helenized Jews that had some Hebrew training or to those he had taken with him to put in place to teach them.  That is obvious no only from the tone, but from the Hebraic concepts at the sod level of understanding  (the closest he came to directly writing to Gentiles is his message to the Romans).

Sod?  His extensive training caused him to use a particular time-honored, divinely-inspired teaching method called pardes – peshat, remez, drash and sod – http://www.midrash.net/ .

Peshat = Simple

Remez = Hint

Drash = Explore – Ask

SOD = Secret

Sha’ul uses all of these and spends much time in the SOD or secret level, challenging Torah-observant Jews to reach towards heaven through heavily kaballah-based study.

KABALLAH!  Jewish mysticism?  Mysticism, secret, yes.  Gnostic, no.  Make it up as you go along?  NEVER!

PARDES has one overriding rule.  No search above the simple level can ever replace the simple meaning. I can tell you that the very first implication is: YOU MUST UNDERSTAND TORAH (the first five books – the Law given to Moses) before you can go on.

7 Laws of Hillel

13 Laws of Ishmael

32 Laws of Ben Gallil

If you can understand up to this point, I guarantee that without extensive knowledge of Hebrew along with embracing Torah, you have no business attempting to strike out on your own to make your own assumptions.  Honestly, you put yourself in that shaky category Peter spoke of in the opening verses like the Christian gnostics.  Christianity contains enough errors, don’t attempt to compound them.

An example of Jewish exegesis of Revelation using the 42 Laws of the Zohar.  If you feel competent in progressing at this level, I suggest reading all three books of the Messiah series (in order) from Avi ben Mordechai at M7000 publishing.

I can tell you that the very first implication is: YOU MUST UNDERSTAND TORAH (the first five books – the Law given to Moses) before you can go on.

How often does your church violate that?   Like a politician, EVERY TIME THE PASTOR’S LIPS MOVE.

 

Hebraic Roots teacher Peter Michas informs us further that Jesus quoted the Midrashim and the Talmud, apparently with approval:

"… The New Testament is in the pattern of the Jewish traditional work of Torah, Mishnah, Haggadah, Halakah, Talmud and Midrash, but inspired by God Himself for the common people. These Hebraic works as well as the Inspired Scriptures were quoted from by Jesus and all the writers of the New Testament. But even now, to have full comprehension, we must read the scriptures in the proper Hebraic context…Most all of the Judaic writings have been preserved for us and now translated into proper English directly from the Hebrew…"

So, where is this "Law getting Old" stuff?  Remember, this was written long after Y’shua was gone. "Getting old" is not the same as "gone."  So, what’s the date.  If there is a date, how can David say that the Law is Eternal?

The answer is:

Jeremiah 31:33, "But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith YHWH, I will put my Torah [law] in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.   34 And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know YHWH: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith YHWH: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more."

Seems to me like there’s a whole lot of teaching goin’ on for this prophecy to have been fulfilled.

Conclusion: The Law is Eternal – it is not written on your heart yet.

When Sha’ul speaks of this time, he is using what is called "prophetic tense." 

——

Deuteronomy 11:1, "Therefore thou shalt love YHWH thy El, and keep his charge, and his statutes, and his judgments, and his commandments, alway."

2 Corinthians 6:7 By the word of truth, by the power of YHWH, by the armour of righteousness on the right hand and on the left

 March 27, 2005  123shall   Leave a comment
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The Dreams of Cornelius and Peter

Acts 10:1, “There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of the band called the Italian band, A devout man, and one that feared YHWH with all his house, which gave much alms to the people, and prayed to YHWH alway. He saw in a vision evidently about the ninth hour of the day an angel of YHWH coming in to him, and saying unto him, Cornelius. And when he looked on him, he was afraid, and said, What is it, sir? And he said unto him, Thy prayers and thine alms are come up for a memorial before YHWH.”

 

Any thought-provoking Christian is now asking, “But didn’t Peter’s Dream do away with the requirements to eat kosher food?” Let’s examine Peter’s dream:

The dream of Cornelius required no interpretation; it was a direct message from YHWH alerting him of an event that would change his life forever. Cornelius, although Italian, was known as a “ger toshav” or “righteous stranger” (v.22) – translated here in Acts as an “God-fearer” – a Gentile who embraced YHWH of Israel and worshipped  with the Jews in a synagogue (but not in the Temple) (John 17:11, John chap 15, John 10:16, John 10:30, John 11:52).

This was not a new thing; Gentiles of Egypt are mentioned as traveling with the Israelites in the desert (Exodus 12:38) and commanded to follow Torah, the Law of Moses (Exodus 12:49). Most became Israelites themselves, as did Caleb, the son of Jephunneh the Kenezite. He joined the tribe of Judah (Numbers 13:6).

Peter’s dream, however, was more like Pharaoh’s dream where the lean cows ate the fat cows in that it required interpretation.  I have never heard anyone argue that lean cows literally charged up and ate a bunch of fat ones, neither did a sheet physically appear to Peter.

Acts 10:9, “On the morrow, as they went on their journey, and drew nigh unto the city, Peter went up upon the housetop to pray about the sixth hour: And he became very hungry, and would have eaten: but while they made ready, he fell into a trance, And saw heaven opened, and a certain vessel descending unto him, as it had been a great sheet knit at the four corners, and let down to the earth: Wherein were all manner of fourfooted beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air. And there came a voice to him,” Rise, Peter; kill, and eat.” But Peter said, “Not so, Adonai; for I have never eaten any thing that is common or unclean.” And the voice spake unto him again the second time, “What YHWH hath cleansed, that call not thou common.” This was done thrice: and the vessel was received up again into heaven.”

Peter answers the question of interpretation himself so as to avoid any conflict or ambiguity:

Acts 10:28, “And he said unto them, Ye know how that it is an unlawful thing for a man that is a Jew to keep company, or come unto one of another nation; but Adonai hath shewed me that I should not call any man common or unclean.”

 

So why then was the sheet full of unclean things dropped and lifted three times? He explains in Acts 11:10: “And this was done three times: and all were drawn up again into heaven. And, behold, immediately there were three men already come unto the house where I was, sent from Caesarea unto me.”

It had not occurred to Peter that He who ate with sinners would be asking him to eat with Gentiles,  but there is no indication here that Peter was being commanded to give up the dietary laws of the Israelites. There is no hint anywhere that Peter ever ate anything unclean against YHWH’s commandment as stated in Leviticus chapter eleven.

The Jewish believers of his day had been instructed by the “scribes”, the teachers of the Law, and the Pharisees, the traditional law makers, to take Leviticus 22:10 (read 1-10) "legalized" Torah that meals were sanctified holy, so they were not to eat with Gentiles.

——

Peter was indeed eating with Gentile believers, however this is not "different" in that he was now eating non-kosher food. Rather, it was "different" because Jews generally did not sit and eat with Gentiles at that time. However, Peter was told by God that Gentiles were to be considered "clean."

Peter was rebuked by Paul because of his hypocrisy, as when he saw Jewish brethren approaching, he walked away from the Gentiles, treating them as if they were spiritual inferiors. When Paul says to Peter that they "live" in the same way, he is not talking about their eating habits. Rather, he is saying they are "saved" in the same way. This is consistent with the theme of the rest of the letter, that Jews and Gentiles are saved ("live") in the same way, by faith, not "works of Law." (72)

For Fuller to arrive at the conclusion that "Paul now eats pork," and is telling Peter he should as well, he has to:

  • Assume Paul is anti-Torah and teaches this way
  • Assume what Paul is talking about in these verses is "no longer following the kosher laws"
  • Ignore the immediate and overall context, which is salvation by faith for both Jew and Gentile

As mentioned, this practice of injecting anti-Torah dogma into the text of Scrtipture stems from hundreds of years of Scripture twisting, first done willfully by those in power who held anti-Jewish opinions, and perhaps inadvertantly today. This is even done, in the latter fashion, by Jews who are more than happy to distance Judaism from Christianity, especially with the resurgence of Messianic Judaism."

 

——

Are you walking with Peter or Pharaoh?

 March 18, 2005  123shall   Leave a comment
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Salvation Part III

"Too bad that kind of faith won’t save you. I’ll pray for you.

And it doesn’t matter what people claim. The question is what is true. It’s a crying shame that coherent argument and commitment to truth-seeking have been eroded. If we can’t even start with basic truths and work our way up-down-back-forward, the whole discussion is POINTLESS!"

Above is a Christian weblog response to another commenter:

"When I was in Desert Storm, I took the time to make a pilgrimage to the Wailing Wall. I prayed to God there, and confessed how much mankind has shaken my faith. “If you are truly my Father, and I your son, then I know that if I honestly do the best I can, you will be proud of me”.

Such is my own faith."

———

It’s a shame that Christianity has this precedent that unless you "accept Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Saviour before you die" you will spend eternity in some Greek Hades.

It’s a shame because it’s a lie.

How can I merely ignore John 8:24, "I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins." and other such verses that appear on the surface to relegate all unbelievers to a permanent state of death?  The answer is, I’m not.  However, you must take all verses into account of context and timing.

Ezekiel 20:48, "And all flesh shall see that I, YHWH, have kindled it: it shall not be quenched."

Matthew 24:30, "And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory."

There are many righteous individuals who do not see, neither with their heart nor their eyes.  This seeing will only come with a physical revelation such as that of "Doubting Thomas."

John 20:29, "Y’shua saith unto him, Toma, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: [more] blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed."

Y’shua is using a rabbinical comparison in these two verses called Kal v’khomer.  This means light and heavy and is used to argue that if this light thing is important then how much more important is this heavier thing.

Excpert from an article in Tikkun Magazine written by  Aaron J. Tapper, the Founder and Co-Executive Director of Abraham’s Vision:

A Prayer for “Righteous Gentiles”

Though Purim is unabashedly a celebration of Jewish triumph, Passover presents itself as a more nuanced holiday. Even many non-Jews are aware of the custom during the Seder of spilling wine out of our cups during the recitation of the Ten Plagues, symbolizing our communal discomfort with celebrating the suffering and deaths of the Egyptians, an idea echoed in various midrashim.

Realizing the contradiction in calling for God’s wrath to be waged upon non-Jews immediately before making a prayer for universal peace, some rabbis have offered the following prayer as an alternative or accompaniment to Shfokh Chamatkha:   

Pour out Your love upon the nations who have known You and upon the regions where they call upon Your name, due to the loving-kindness that they have enacted upon Jacob’s descendants and for defending Your nation Israel from those who would devour them. May they live to see the sukkah [of peace spread] over your chosen ones and to participate in the happiness of your nations.

Until three years ago, I chose to recite this passage at my family’s Seder, after my father said Shfokh Chamatkha. I was comforted that I was performing a custom I believed was more than 500 years old, said to have been established around the same time as Shfokh Chamatkha. Thinking of the Talmud, I also felt that in reciting both texts alongside one another my family was being more accurately reflective of our pluralistic, multi-opinioned tradition.

But eventually I became dissatisfied with this second tradition as well. I was asking God to bless those people who were already, in common vernacular, “good to the Jews.” I realized that this prayer was limited in scope, focusing on a single group of non-Jews who—at least in my mind—already seem to be on God’s path. Though this prayer did not call for violence, it continued the pattern of dividing the world into Jew and non-Jew, those who help Jews and those who hurt Jews, creating an “othering” that has generated much violence. Soon thereafter I learned that this second tradition was probably created around 1963, as the Halachic authority, Rabbi David Golinkin, contends in the Spring 2003 edition of Conservative Judaism.

Understanding Forgiveness

In the Summer of 2003 I had the opportunity to spend one month in Freetown, Sierra Leone, volunteering as a research intern with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). As many people know, prior to the ceasefire of 2002, a bloody and ruthless civil war raged in Sierra Leone for more than ten years. One of the many forms of violence perpetrated during this time was the chopping off of an “enemy’s” hands.

On one of my last days at the TRC, I spoke with a Sierra Leonean who had lost his left hand in one such attack. Hesitantly questioning him as to what he would do if he encountered the man who had viciously chopped his hand off, I asked him about forgiveness. In one of the more profound moments of my life I listened to the beautiful way that this individual had decided to treat his so-called enemy.

“I would embrace him,” he said. “I would hug him and tell him that I forgive him. I know that he didn’t chop off my hand because he hated me. He didn’t even know me. He chopped off my hand in a crazed state of fear and madness.”

Is it possible for my Jewish community to deal with perceived enemies in this same way? Or should we pray for their demise or even their deaths? What about those who don’t actually commit a crime? Should they be punished for intentions of thought? Purim’s Haman, as the megillah informs us, didn’t kill anyone. Using terms from the United States criminal justice system, Haman only “conspired” to kill others. And according to the text his sons didn’t even do that. As for the more than 75,000 others who were killed by the Jewish community that day, the text implies that some of these non-Jews were killed in self-defense and some were murdered in pre-emptive attacks.

But Jewish texts offer an abundance of voices in favor of reconciliation. According to one text, the esteemed Talmudic figure Beruriah finds her husband, Rabbi Meir, praying for God to destroy some men. Shocked at her husband’s behavior Beruriah sharply admonishes her husband, asking him to explain how he could make such a prayer. Rabbi Meir explains that on his way home he was robbed by two thieves and his prayer was asking God to “justly” punish these sinners. Citing her own interpretation of a verse from the Book of Psalms, Beruriah tells Rabbi Meir that rather than asking God to destroy the men—to destroy the sinners—he should instead pray for God to destroy their sins.

In looking at the advocacy of nonviolence in the Jewish tradition, one is not hard-pressed to find that Beruriah was following an age-old Jewish tradition that confronts a Jew’s urge to commit revenge, focusing instead on the biblical commandments to bear no grudge and to forgive others. Being created b’tzelem Elohim, in the image of God, commands us to take our lives—and the lives of all others—extremely seriously. Indeed, as a famous Mishnah teaches us, the loss of a single life is equivalent to the death of the entirety of humanity. The Jerusalem Talmud teaches us that it does not matter if the individual is a Jew or a non-Jew. Both are holy in the eyes of God.

This theology of nonviolence and communal forgiveness has been developed by contemporary rabbis Everett Gendler and Jeremy Milgrom, among others. It is a theology we can apply to reconciling with children of WWII-era Germans who must live with the actions of their parents and grandparents. It is a theology we can apply to the situation in the Middle East, where only by engaging in compassionate forgiveness will we be able to achieve an endurable peace.

Jacques Derrida, a Jew from Algiers who knew much about both war and genocide, wrote that there is an element of giving within the concept of forgiveness, a giving of a piece of oneself to another in response to an unforgivable act. But, he continues, the process must be performed despite this paradox. Reconciliation is the path towards healing, the way towards peace, whether in Sierra Leone, South Africa, or Israel and Palestine. We, as a Jewish community, must attempt to reconcile with our perceived enemies, for both the safety and sustenance of the Jewish community as well as the future stability of our global world.

A New Prayer

Using Beruriah’s wisdom and other Jewish texts and customs as a backdrop, I recently composed the following prayer, to be said during the Pesach Seder, either in place of or alongside Shfokh Chamatkha:

Pour out Your love upon the commmunities who do not know You—both Jews and non-Jews—and the regions where they call upon Your name in vain, for we all need help from you to see the hate inside of us. Transform our evil thoughts so that we can use our power to make the world whole and to perfect its brokenness. May we live to see the sukkah of peace and to participate in the happiness of all of Your nations. Give all of us Your support, so that we can achieve a state of internal peace and a peace within the human collective, in Your name if not in ours, in our name if not in Yours. You who brings peace to Your world brings peace to us and to the people Israel and to all humankind, and we say Amen.

———–

Would you Christians sentence him to Hell, too?

Psalm 94:1, "O YHWH, El of vengeance, thou El of vengeance, shine forth!"

John 9:41, "Y’shua said unto them, If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth"

 March 16, 2005  123shall   Leave a comment
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The Qualities of the Bride of Y’shua

As the "Old" Testament prepares a collective Israel for a unified life, the "New" Testament (actually the Renewed Covenant – there is no separate covenant or set of rules for Christians and Jews, no dispensationalism, no replacement theology – Malachi 3:6, “For I am YHWH, I change not”  and Hebrews 13:8, “Y’shua haMashiach is the same yesterday, and today, and forever.” ) prepares Israel for the regathering of Israel at the end of the diaspora.

 

Hebrews 4:12, “For the Word of YHWH is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”

The Heart:  2588 kardia {kar-dee’-ah} firmness of will

1 John 3:18, “My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.

19 And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him.

20 For if our heart condemn us, YHWH is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things.

21 Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward Him.”

 

Mark 11: 23, “For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.”

Col 3:22-25, “Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh; not with eye service, as men pleasers; but in singleness of heart, fearing YHWH:  And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to YHWH, and not unto men; Knowing that of YHWH ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve Adon Messiah. But he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done: and there is no respect of persons.”

 

The Soul:  5590 psuche {psoo-khay’} the inner being

 

Proverbs 6:

16 “These six things doth YHWH hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto His Soul:

17 A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood,

18 An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief,

19 A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.”

 

Isaiah 53:11, “He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.”

Eph 6:5, “Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Messiah; Not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but as the servants of Messiah, doing the will of YHWH from the soul; With good will doing service, as to YHWH, and not to men: Knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free.”

 

The Mind:  1271 dianoia {dee-an’-oy-ah} attitude

1 Peter 1:13-16, ”Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Y’shua haMashiach; As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation;

Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.”

A positive attitude will produce the desire to do good works from the depths of our inner being, and the performance of these good works hinge on being obedient children by knowing and understanding what the Laws are – straight out of the Books of Moses, the Torah. Then to understand what it is we must do with all this attitude and knowledge, we must have the Mind of Messiah.

 

The Mind of Messiah

1 Corinthians 2:15,  “But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no man. For who has known the mind of YHWH, that he should instruct Him? But we have the mind [nous] of Messiah.”

 

We have the Mind of Messiah?  How can this be possible?

Note that we have two “minds”, dianoia was described earlier, but here, the Mind of Messiah is:

NOUS: understanding

Isaiah 40:13-14 helps explain “that he should instruct Him” as “who will tell Him what to do”, not merely the accumulation of knowledge, it is putting the knowledge and attitude together into a Jewish concept of "emunah" – faith:

Isaiah 40:1-13-14, ” Who hath directed the Spirit [nous] of YHWH, or being his counsellor hath taught him?  With whom took he counsel, and who instructed him, and taught him in the path of judgment, and taught him knowledge, and shewed to him the way of understanding?”

This word appears in two “life examples” in the LXX and pertains to motivation or the direction chosen to walk.

 

Pharoah proves his hardness of heart and Egypt suffers:

Exodus 7:19, "And YHWH spake unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Take thy rod, and stretch out thine hand upon the waters of Egypt, upon their streams, upon their rivers, and upon their ponds, and upon all their pools of water, that they may become blood; and that there may be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in vessels of wood, and in vessels of stone.

20 And Moses and Aaron did so, as YHWH commanded; and he lifted up the rod, and smote the waters that were in the river, in the sight of Pharaoh, and in the sight of his servants; and all the waters that were in the river were turned to blood.

21 And the fish that was in the river died; and the river stank, and the Egyptians could not drink of the water of the river; and there was blood throughout all the land of Egypt.

22 And the magicians of Egypt did so with their enchantments: and Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, neither did he hearken unto them; as YHWH had said.

23 And Pharaoh turned and went into his house, neither did he set his heart [nous] to this also."

 

 

Caleb proves his worthiness and is rewarded:

Joshua 14:7, “Forty years old was I when Moses the servant of YHWH sent me from Kadeshbarnea to espy out the land; and I brought him word again as it was in mine heart [nous].

8 Nevertheless my brethren that went up with me made the heart of the people melt: but I wholly followed YHWH my El.

9 And Moses sware on that day, saying, Surely the land whereon thy feet have trodden shall be thine inheritance, and thy children’s for ever, because thou hast wholly followed YHWH my El.

10 And now, behold, YHWH hath kept me alive, as he said, these forty and five years, even since YHWH spake this word unto Moses, while the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness: and now, lo, I am this day fourscore and five years old.

11 As yet I am as strong this day as I was in the day that Moses sent me: as my strength was then, even so is my strength now, for war, both to go out, and to come in.

12 Now therefore give me this mountain, whereof YHWH spake in that day; for thou heardest in that day how the Anakims were there, and that the cities were great and fenced: if so be YHWH will be with me, then I shall be able to drive them out, as YHWH said.

13 And Joshua blessed him, and gave unto Caleb the son of Jephunneh Hebron for an inheritance.”

 

Every chapter of Psalm 119 begins with a Hebrew letter.  While nous is not in the literal text below, it is transliterated as the essence of the letter Nun.

Psalm 119:105-6, “NUN. Thy WORD is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. I have sworn, and I will perform it, that I will keep thy righteous judgment.”

 

The Word (the Torah, the Law YHWH gave to Moses) provides the Lamp for the Walk and the straight path – I will follow it.  Aah, so this “mind” is the “path” that we are to walk. When Y’shua fulfilled the Law, He followed it 100 percent.  He did not declare it null and void.

 

Let’s look at what Sha’ul says about those who refuse to walk in the path of the Word – those without the mind of Messiah.  What do they “look like”?  Rabbi Sha’ul describes them as having been given over to a reprobate mind [path – nous] by YHWH:

Romans 1:28, “And even as they did not like to retain YHWH in their knowledge [epignosis], YHWH gave them over to a reprobate mind [nous], to do those things which are not convenient;

 29 Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetous ness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers,

 30 Backbiters, haters of YHWH, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,

 31 Without understanding, covenant breakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful:

 32 Who knowing the judgment of YHWH, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.”

 

By showing bad examples in verses 29-32, verse 28 shows us how  “TO DO THOSE THINGS” in a positive sense.

 (nous) make, do, cause, effect, bring about, accomplish, perform, provide; create (of YHWH); produce, yield, bear, put forth; give, prepare, keep, celebrate (of feasts, etc.); claim, pretend (to be somebody); show (mercy, etc.); work, be active; live, practice, act (do good, act benevolently or kindly); spend, stay (of time); exercise  (authority); wage (war); execute (judgment); give (alms); appoint (Mk 3.14; He 3.2); consider, count (Ac 20.24); often with a noun as a verb equivalent, e.g. pray  (Lk 5.33); please, satisfy (Mk 15.15); pÅ redeem, set free (Lk 1.68).

 

How Can You Become the Bride of Y’shua?

Matthew 22:37, “Y’shua said unto him, ‘Thou shalt love YHWH thy Elohim with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind… And love your neighbor as yourself.’”

 

PRODUCE!  YIELDTO TORAH!  JUDGE WHILE SHOWING MERCY, WAGE WAR AGAINST VIOLATIONS OF TORAH, CELEBRATE THE PERMANENT FEASTS OF YHWH, TAKE ACTIVE AUTHORITY OF YOUR ROLE IN YOUR HOME AND ASSEMBLY, GIVE ALMS, PRAY, PLEASE YHWH, SATISFY Y’SHUA, ACT KINDLY TO YOUR NEIGHBOR AND BE SET FREE:

 

James 2:14-22, “What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you?

If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill,” and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that?

So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.

But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I by my works will show you my faith.

You believe that YHWH is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder. Do you want to be shown, you senseless person, that faith apart from works is barren?

Was not our ancestor Abraham justified by works when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was brought to completion by the works.”

Ya’akov (James), the brother of Y’shua, is explaining the principle of “emunah” (Jewish faith) here – that faith cannot be separated from works.

 

Are you a separator or a uniter?  Do you hate YHWH’s Laws given to Moses?

 March 15, 2005  123shall   Leave a comment
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Salvation Part II

 

Ezekiel 14:12,  "The word of the YHWH came again to me, saying,

13 Son of man, when the land sinneth against me by trespassing grievously, then will I stretch out mine hand upon it, and will break the staff of the bread thereof, and will send famine upon it, and will cut off man and beast from it:

14 Though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they should deliver but their own souls by their righteousness, saith Adonai YHWH.

15 If I cause noisome beasts to pass through the land, and they spoil it, so that it be desolate, that no man may pass through because of the beasts:

16 Though these three men were in it, as I live, saith Adonai YHWH, they shall deliver neither sons nor daughters; they only shall be delivered, but the land shall be desolate.

17 Or if I bring a sword upon that land, and say, Sword, go through the land; so that I cut off man and beast from it:

18 Though these three men were in it, as I live, saith Adonai YHWH, they shall deliver neither sons nor daughters, but they only shall be delivered themselves.

19 Or if I send a pestilence into that land, and pour out my fury upon it in blood, to cut off from it man and beast:

20 Though Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, as I live, saith Adonai YHWH, they shall deliver neither son nor daughter; they shall but deliver their own souls by their righteousness.

21 For thus saith Adonai YHWH; How much more when I send my four sore judgments upon Jerusalem, the sword, and the famine, and the noisome beast, and the pestilence, to cut off from it man and beast?

22 Yet, behold, therein shall be left a remnant that shall be brought forth, both sons and daughters: behold, they shall come forth unto you, and ye shall see their way and their doings: and ye shall be comforted concerning the evil that I have brought upon Jerusalem, even concerning all that I have brought upon it.

 

Noah, Daniel and Job.  It is as though these three men were in it.  This is the three layers of "salvation."

 

Revelation 14:1 And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father’s name written in their foreheads.

2 And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder: and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps:

3 And they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders: and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth.

4 These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb."

 

Noah – the Hebrew word for REST – this layer of those saved are the 144,000 of the Bride of Messiah.

 

Christianity ignores the importance of the Law of Moses and only prepares you for basic salvation and judgment. Daniel – means "Judged by YHWH" – those believers who have been judged worthy to enter Jerusalem:

Revelation 14:12, "Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of YHWH, and the faith of Y’shua."

This group has BOTH the Commandments of YHWH (the Law of Moses) and the faith – Christians do not immediately meet this test.

Revelation 11:1, "And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of YHWH, and the altar, and them that worship therein.

2 But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.

3 And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.

4 These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth."

 

Two olive trees, symbolizing all of Israel’s citizens: Jews and those of Israel who have proven themselves worthy by a Torah-observant lifestyle.

 

Then we have those who are also saved, but have not yet gained their citizenship.  They are outside the court as mentioned above.  This group comprises Job – the Hebrew word for sorrow.  Still among the saved, but not righteous enough for citizenship.  Or as the Jews say, the righteous Gentile shall have a portion of the World to Come:

 

Matthew 22:1, "And  Y’shua answered and spake unto them again by parables, and said,

2 The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son,

3 And sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding: and they would not come.

4 Again, he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them which are bidden, Behold, I have prepared my dinner: my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready: come unto the marriage.

5 But they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise:

6 And the remnant took his servants, and entreated them spitefully, and slew them.

7 But when the king heard thereof, he was wroth: and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city.

8 Then saith he to his servants, The wedding is ready, but they which were bidden were not worthy.

9 Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage.

10 So those servants went out into the highways, and gathered together all as many as they found, both bad and good: and the wedding was furnished with guests.

11 And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment:

12 And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless.

13 Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

14 For many are called, but few are chosen."

 

This multitude also contains Christians and Jews who are not Torah-observant.  Outside the gates of Israel for a thousand years:

 

Luke 13:23,  "Then said one unto him, Lord, are there few that be saved? And he said unto them,

24 Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.

25 When once the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us; and he shall answer and say unto you, I know you not whence ye are:

26 Then shall ye begin to say, We have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets.

27 But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity.

28 There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out."

 

Matthew 7:21, "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?

23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity."

 

 

There’s one more group, the unjust. Acts says in verse 24:15,

 

"And have hope toward God, which they themselves also allow, that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust."

 

placing the unjust in a category by themselves.

 

Four groups:

Revelation 22:11, "He that is unjust, let him be unjust still:

and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still:

and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still:

and he that is holy, let him be holy still."

 March 15, 2005  123shall   Leave a comment
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Salvation Part I

Eric Alterman, famed left-wing columnist, recently made the following observation in "The Nation" magazine http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20050328&s=alterman

"Just ask Jerry Falwell if it’s possible to like Israel and still claim all Jews are going to hell."

It seems that many Christians (and Muslims and some Jews) feel the need to declare themselves superior to other monotheistic faiths, sentencing others to their "eternity in hell" as punishment for not sharing their views.

The Bible gives a much different perspective:

Solomon’s Temple had no outer court for the Gentiles who wished to worship the El of the Israelites but had not yet prostelyzed – these Gentiles were called “ger tzadek”, or righteous strangers (goy) such as Cornelius in Acts chapter ten.  Zerubabel’s Temple had a small outer court, when rebuilt by Herod, it had a much larger outer court.

There is no “outer court” in the new Temple, as there was no outer court in the Tent of Meeting – the entire world is the outer court; Y’shua becomes the King of Kings, hence the entire world now becomes Israel.

Matt 22:11, “And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment:

 12 And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless.

 13 Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

 14 For many are called, but few are chosen.”

 

No church structure will replace the original Bride taken at Mount Sinai, comprised of the Israelites at the time of Moses.  You can only be a natural branch or be “grafted in” (Romans 11:17-18).  There has never been any form of separate judgment between Jews and Gentiles, nor changes in the set of rules since the earth was created, and neither will there be when New Jerusalem appears upon the creation of the new heavens and earth.  How can I say that?  Psalm 119:153-160, Hebrews 13:7-8, Rev 18:4 and:

 

John 14:21, “He that has My Torah, and keeps them, it is he that loves me: and he that loves me shall be loved of My Father, and I will love him, AND I WILL REVEAL MYSELF TO HIM.”

Y’shua will reveal Himself only to His Bride, NOT TO ALL SAVED.  The Bride is an elect group that keeps the Laws of Moses, the Feast Days and the other “old” covenant instructions that Christianity sees as “legalistic” Jewish requirements. The foolish bridesmaids remain bridesmaids (Matt 25), but are not allowed into the gate.

Ezekiel 34:11-20, “For thus saith the Adon YHWH; Behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out. As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day.

 And I will bring them out from the people, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land, and feed them upon the mountains of Israel by the rivers, and in all the inhabited places of the country.  I will feed them in a good pasture, and upon the high mountains of Israel shall their fold be: there shall they lie in a good fold, and in a fat pasture shall they feed upon the mountains of Israel.  I will feed my flock, and I will cause them to lie down, saith Adon YHWH.

I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick: but I will destroy the fat and the strong; I will feed them with judgment.

 And as for you, O my flock, thus saith Adon YHWH; Behold, I judge [YOU] between cattle and cattle, between the rams and the he goats.

 Seemeth it a small thing unto you to have eaten up the good pasture, but ye must tread down with your feet the residue of your pastures? and to have drunk of the deep waters, but ye must foul the residue with your feet?

And as for my flock, they eat that which ye have trodden with your feet; and they drink that which ye have fouled with your feet.

 Therefore thus saith Adon YHWH unto them; Behold, I, even I, will judge between the fat cattle and between the lean cattle.”

 

Separating cattle from cattle, rams and goats, but still of the flock of YHWH… Even the ones who tread down the pastures remain in the flock.  I see the distinct possibility that there are three groups of animals here, the ones to lay down in the pastures (Torah observant), the ones that are still of His flock but unruly (Antitorah Christianity), and the ones that aren’t of His flock who are destroyed (the fat ones).

 

 Seems vague so far?

 

Lev 21:10, “And the priest who is the highest among his brothers, on whose head the anointing oil has been poured, and who has been consecrated to wear the garments, shall not uncover his head, nor tear his clothes;

 11 nor shall he approach any dead person, nor defile himself even for his father or his mother;

 12 nor shall he go out of the sanctuary, nor profane the sanctuary of his El; for the consecration of the anointing oil of his El is on him: I am YHWH.

 13 ‘And he shall take a wife in her virginity.

14 ‘A widow, or a divorced woman, or one who is profaned by harlotry, these he may not take; but rather he is to marry a virgin of his own people;

 15 that he may not profane his offspring among his people: for I am YHWH who sanctifies him.’”

 

Y’shua must take a virgin bride.  None other.  The Law speaks.

 

2 Corinthians 11:1, “I wish that you would bear with me in a little foolishness; but indeed you are bearing with me.

 2 For I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy; for I betrothed you to one husband, that to Mashiach I might present you as a pure virgin.

 3 But I am afraid, lest as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds should be led astray from the simplicity and purity to Mashiach.

 4 For if one comes and preaches another Y’shua whom we have not preached, or you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted, you bear this beautifully.”

The Bride singing the new song:

Rev 14:3-5,  And they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders: and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth.  These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto YHWH and to the Lamb.  And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of YHWH.

Why the 144,000?  Because they are the ONLY ONES who FOLLOW THE HUSBAND WHEREEVER HE GOES.  This is the trait of a Bride.  Children don’t follow the husband, they grow up and leave home.  Neither do church members – – some leave and come back, some join other churches, others get baptized and never return.  Any CHURCH can’t possibly be the BRIDE!!!  No “church” or institution has been chosen to be the Bride of Messiah!  Again, the Bride is NOT ALL WHO ARE SAVED. This is the difference between predestination (of the Bride) and the free will to accept salvation.

There is no “Gentile” gate mentioned in the Book of Revelation.  Where will you go?

 

Now you think only 144,000 will be saved?  Not so, read the next entry.

 

 March 15, 2005  123shall   Leave a comment
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Christmas

Nowhere is the birthdate of Messiah mentioned in the Scriptures.  Or is it?

Christians celebrate December 25th, yet most scholars agree that this is an impossible date.  The main reason?  Shepherds would never take their sheep into the field at this time of year.  They are kept in winter quarters then.

The Catholic Encyclopedia (http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03724b.htm) states that it is impossible to calculate the date from  Zachary’s temple service:

"Arguments based on Zachary’s temple ministry are unreliable, though the calculations of antiquity (see above) have been revived in yet more complicated form, e.g. by Friedlieb (Leben J. Christi des Erlösers, Münster, 1887, p. 312). The twenty-four classes of Jewish priests, it is urged, served each a week in the Temple; Zachary was in the eighth class, Abia. The Temple was destroyed 9 Ab, A.D. 70; late rabbinical tradition says that class 1, Jojarib, was then serving. From these untrustworthy data, assuming that Christ was born A.U.C. 749, and that never in seventy turbulent years the weekly succession failed, it is calculated that the eighth class was serving 2-9 October, A.U.C. 748, whence Christ’s conception falls in March, and birth presumably in December. Kellner (op. cit., pp. 106, 107) shows how hopeless is the calculation of Zachary’s week from any point before or after it."

So, the Catholic church says that it was impossible for YHWH to find one person righteous enough to accomplish His Purpose and keep the shadow of events that He had been trying to teach the Nation of Israel for hundreds of years.

 

Check out the following webpage (http://www.messianic.com/articles/dates.htm)

Biblical Dates for Messiah’s Conception and Birth

This page makes all the appropriate references and does the math for you.  Notice that this shows Messiah’s Birth on the Feast of Tabernacles.  Zechariah Chapter 14 states the following that will happen in the World to Come:

16 And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles.

17 And it shall be, that whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain.

18 And if the family of Egypt go not up, and come not, that have no rain; there shall be the plague, wherewith the LORD will smite the heathen that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles.

19 This shall be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all nations that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles.

An annual celebration to rejoice in the birth of Y’shua upon His return.  You decide, is the Bible inaccurate?

Hebrews 8:5, "They serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly sanctuary; for when Moses was about to erect the tent, he was instructed by God, saying, ‘See that you make everything according to the pattern which was shown you on the mountain.’"

Colossians 2:16, "Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days:

17 Which are a shadow of things to come…"

 March 14, 2005  123shall   Leave a comment
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The Importance of Jewish Leadership

1st Corinthians 12:13, "For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.

 14 For the body is not one member, but many.

 15 If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body?

 16 And if the ear shall say, Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body?

 17 If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling?

 18 But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him.

 19 And if they were all one member, where were the body?

 20 But now are they many members, yet but one body.

 21 And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you."

The original congregation of Messianic believers were all Jewish.  The Jews were promised a leading role:

Genesis 49:1, “Then Jacob called together all his sons and said, “Gather around me, and I will tell you what is going to happen to you in the acharit-hayamim [last days]…

8 ‘Judah, your brothers will praise you…

—— 10 The scepter will not depart from Judah,  ——

 nor the ruler’s staff from his descendants,

 until the coming of the one [Heb: Shiloh] to whom it belongs,

 the one whom all nations will obey."

I Kings 11:9-13, “And YHWH was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned from YHWH, El of Israel, which had appeared unto him twice, and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods, but he kept not that which YHWH commanded. Wherefore YHWH said unto Solomon: Forasmuch as this is done of thee, and thou hast not kept my covenant and my statutes, which I have commanded thee, I will surely rend the king­dom from thee, and I will give unto thy servant. Not­withstanding, in thy days I will not do it, for David thy father’s sake; but will rend it out of the hand of thy son. Howbeit, I will not rend away all the kingdom; but will give one tribe to thy son for David my servant’s sake”

2 Chronicles 13:4-5, “Abijah stood upon mount Zemaraim in Ephraim and declared:  “Hear me, thou Jeroboam and all Israel.  Ought ye not to know that YHWH, El of Israel, gave the kingdom over Israel to David forever and to his sons by a covenant of salt?”           ***  Matthew 5:13 ***

 

David and his SONS of Judah hold the scepter upon this earth (Genesis 49:10, Matt 16:18) – not Levi, not Lutheran, not Roman Catholic, not Mormon, not the twenty-three flavors of Baptist, not the eighteen flavors of Pentecostal, not any “Church of Christ”.  Peter was the Apostle to the CIRCUMCISION (Gal. 2:7-8, Rom 3:1-2). Not “all Israel”- only the TRIBE of Judah!

The church has NOT replaced the Jews.

Zechariah 8:23 “This is what YHWH Almighty says: In those days ten men from nations and languages around the world will clutch at the hem of one Jew’s robe. And they will say, ‘Please let us walk with you, for we have heard that YHWH is with you.’”

I am not a Jew, but I can read, learn and teach.

 March 14, 2005  123shall   Leave a comment
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The Sabbath and Messianic Congregations

Acts 13:14, “But when they departed from Perga, they came to Antioch in Pisidia, and went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and sat down.”

Acts 13:27, “For they that dwell at Jerusalem, and their rulers, because they knew him not, nor yet the voices of the prophets which are read every Sabbath day, they have fulfilled them in condemning him.”

Acts 13:42, “And when the [unbelieving] Jews were gone out of the synagogue, the Gentiles besought that these words might be preached to them the next Sabbath.”

Acts13: 44, “And the next Sabbath day came almost the whole city together to hear the word of YHWH.”

Acts 16:13, “And on the Sabbath we went out of the city by a river side, where prayer was wont to be made; and we sat down, and spake unto the women which resorted thither.”

Acts 17:2, “And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three Sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures,”

Acts 18:4, “And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks.” (For one and a half years)

                         *********************************

Colossians 2:16, “Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the Sabbath days:”

 Stop and think here.  He was saying don’t let the PAGAN’S judgment affect you in matters of YHWH’s food, YHWH’s feast days, YHWH’s new moon gatherings and YHWH’s Sabbath worship.

 

Are you walking with Rabbis Sh’mon Kefa and Sha’ul?

Acts 15:20, B"ut that we write unto them, that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood."

Acts 15:21, “For Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every Sabbath day.”

 

Messianic Jews (those who follow Y’shua) still observe YHWH’s Laws, including His Sabbath.

 

Amos 3:3, “Can two can walk together unless they are agreed?” 

In the Hebrew, the word “agreed” above also means betrothed – it is the root for congregation, assembly, place of meeting, appointment (as in doctor’s appointment) and mo’ed, which means appointed times.  The feasts and fasts of YHWH are all mo’ed.  Rabbi Sha’ul says, in Romans chapter eleven to provoke Judah to jealousy. Thy Will be done on earth (the structure of the assembly) as it is in heaven (the new Temple)!

In his DIES DOMINI address, Pope John Paul II states that Christian Sunday worship was instituted by “wise pastoral intuition” by the Roman church-state so as not to compromise “day to the sun” worship – even though the Covenant – the Sabbath – the JEWISH Sabbath – MUST be viewed as a MARRIAGE.

What happened?  The Church of Rome violated YHWH’s Commandments in stone by creating their own “sabbath”, traditions and doctrine based against Scripture.  Protestants follow right along.

Are you walking toward Y’shua or Constantine and continued Messianic Jewish/Christianity Isolationism?

 March 14, 2005  123shall   Leave a comment
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“YHWH thy El Redeemed Thee”

Let’s go back to the day Y’shua (the real Hebrew name for Jesus) stood in the synagogue of Nazareth and read the words of Isaiah chapter 61.  What a special day, and what an injustice to Him and us has been hidden for so many years by the denial of the “Old” Testament and the knowledge of the Jewish traditional Torah readings.  This “haftorah” portion read was not the first Scripture read on this Sabbath.  For centuries, the Jewish faithful have read and reread the same Scriptural passages of Torah and Haftorah year after year.

Immediately preceding the declaration of His Ministry to the Nazareth congregation, the following Torah portion was read aloud by others (see http://www.betemunah.org/orallaw.html – this is a very long article, so search for “Yeshua followed”).  There is so much symbolism and prophecy in this reading; I hesitate to mark the pertinent passages.  I will mark only the ones you may possibly miss:

Deut 15:7, “If there be among you a poor man of one of thy brethren within any of thy gates in thy land which YHWH thy El giveth thee, thou shalt not harden thine heart, nor shut thine hand from thy poor brother:

 8 But thou shalt open thine hand wide unto him, and shalt surely lend him sufficient for his need, in that which he wanteth.

 9 Beware that there be not a thought in thy wicked heart, saying, The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand; and thine eye be evil againstthy poor brother, and thou givest him nought; and he cry unto YHWH against thee, and it be sin unto thee.

 10 Thou shalt surely give him, and thine heart shall not be grieved when thou givest unto him: because that for this thing YHWH thy El shall bless thee in all thy works, and in all that thou puttest thine hand unto.

 11 For the poor shall never cease out of the land: therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy, in thy land.

 12 And if thy brother, an Hebrew man, or an Hebrew woman, be sold unto thee, and serve thee six years; then in the seventh year thou shalt let him go free from thee.

 13 And when thou sendest him out free from thee, thou shalt not let him go away empty:

 14 Thou shalt furnish him liberally out of thy flock, and out of thy floor, and out of thy winepress: of that wherewith YHWH thy El hath blessed thee thou shalt give unto him.

 15 And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in the land of Egypt, and YHWH thy El redeemed thee: therefore I command thee this thing to day.

 16 And it shall be, if he say unto thee, I will not go away from thee; because he loveth thee and thine house, because he is well with thee;

 17 Then thou shalt take an aul, and thrust it through his ear unto the door, and he shall be thy servant for ever. And also unto thy maidservant thou shalt do likewise.

 18 It shall not seem hard unto thee, when thou sendest him away free from thee; for he hath been worth a double hired servant to thee, in serving thee six years: and YHWH thy El shall bless thee in all that thou doest.

19 All the firstling males that come of thy herd and of thy flock thou shalt sanctify unto YHWH thy El: thou shalt do no work with the firstling of thy bullock, nor shear the firstling of thy sheep.

 20 Thou shalt eat it before YHWH thy El year by year in the place which YHWH shall choose, thou and thy household.

21 And if there be any blemish therein, as if it be lame, or blind, or have any ill blemish, thou shalt not sacrifice it unto YHWH thy El.

 22 Thou shalt eat it within thy gates: the unclean and the clean person shall eat it alike, as the roebuck, and as the hart.

 23 Only thou shalt not eat the blood thereof; thou shalt pour it upon the ground as water.

16:1 Observe the month of Abib, and keep the Passover unto YHWH thy El: for in the month of Abib YHWH thy El brought thee forth out of Egypt by night.

 2 Thou shalt therefore sacrifice the Passover unto YHWH thy El, of the flock and the herd, in the place which YHWH shall choose to place his name there

 3 Thou shalt eat no leavened bread with it; seven days shalt thou eat unleavened bread therewith, even the bread of affliction; for thou camest forth out of the land of Egypt in haste: that thou mayest remember the day when thou camest forth out of the land of Egypt all the days of thy life.

 4 And there shall be no leavened bread seen with thee in all thy coast seven days; neither shall there any thing of the flesh, which thou sacrificedst the first day at even, remain all night until the morning.

5 Thou mayest not sacrifice the Passover within any of thy gates, which YHWH thy El giveth thee:

 6 But at the place which YHWH thy El shall choose to place his name in, there thou shalt sacrifice the Passover at even, at the going down ofthe sun, at the season that thou camest forth out of Egypt.

 7 And thou shalt roast and eat it in the place which YHWH thy El shall choose: and thou shalt turn in the morning, and go unto thy tents.

 8 Six days thou shalt eat unleavened bread: and on the seventh day shall be a solemn assembly to YHWH thy El: thou shalt do no work therein.

 9 Seven weeks shalt thou number unto thee: begin to number the seven weeks from such time as thou beginnest to put the sickle to the corn.

 10 And thou shalt keep the feast of weeks unto YHWH thy El with a tribute of a freewill offering of thine hand, which thou shalt give unto YHWH thy El, according as YHWH thy El hath blessed thee:

 11 And thou shalt rejoice before YHWH thy El, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and the Levite that is within thy gates, and the stranger, and the godless, and the widow, that are among you, in the place which YHWH thy El hath chosen to place his name there.

 12 And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in Egypt: and thou shalt observe and do these statutes.

 13 Thou shalt observe the feast of tabernacles seven days, after that thou hast gathered in thy corn and thy wine:

 14 And thou shalt rejoice in thy feast, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and the Levite, the stranger, and the godless, and the widow, that are within thy gates.

15 For seven days celebrate this festival to YHWH thy El in the place which YHWH shall choose: because YHWH thy El shall bless thee in all thine increase, and in all the works of thine hands, therefore thou shalt surely rejoice.

 16 Three times in a year shall all thy males appear before YHWH thy El in the place which he shall choose; in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles: and they shall not appear before YHWH empty: 

 17 Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of YHWH thy El which he hath given thee.”

 

His reading came next:

Luke 4:17-20, “And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written, ‘The Spirit of YHWH is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.’

 

And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the rabbi, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him.”

 

There was surely some commotion at this point following His declaration of ministry, “today this Scripture has been fulfilled”,

and the last Scripture reading was:

Psalm 131:1, “<A Song of degrees of David.> YHWH, my heart is not haughty, nor mine eyes lofty: neither do I exercise myself in great matters, or in things too high for me. Surely I have behaved and quieted myself, as a child that is weaned of his mother: my soul is even as a weaned child. Let Israel hope in YHWH from henceforth and for ever.”

 

Let’s look at this event within the Torah (Pentatuch):

and YHWH thy El redeemed thee: – The Israelite’s traditional Passover Seder has four cups of wine.  At the “Last Supper”, Y’shua did not drink the fourth cup of the Passover Seder and will drink it only after the new covenant is completely fulfilled (Matthew 26:29 – Mark my words—I will not drink wine again until the day I drink it new with you in my Father’s Kingdom.)”  These four cups are:

 Exodus 6:6 – “Say, therefore, to the sons of Israel, ‘I am YHWH, and

1.       I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians,

2.       I will deliver you from their bondage.

3.       I will also redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments.

4.       ‘Then I will take you for My people, and I will be your El’.

 March 12, 2005  123shall   Leave a comment
Categories: Uncategorized

Walking with Y’shua (Jesus)

Is the Bible a unified document or not?

YHWH’s Laws, YHWH’s Feasts and YHWH’s seventh-day Sabbath are a shadow of things to come, for our benefit now and to bring us together as ONE.

 If so, how can we explain that Rabbi Sha’ul (AKA Paul) speaks of two kinds of law?  How can we discern between references to the “Law” and “legalistic requirements” and understand the differences between his delight in the law of YHWH and the law of sin that was repulsive to him?  Between YHWH’s Mosaic Covenant Law and the Jewish “religious” way of life? The answer is simple with the knowledge of history and reference to the basics of our legal system.

You can only be of the flock of Israel if you are a citizen of Israel.  As a citizen of Israel, you are subject to Israel’s legislative laws and are responsible to uphold them and do them.  In Hebrew, this is known as the “walk”.  Are you walking with Y’shua?

What are these feasts and commandments that Y’shua walked?

 He was circumcised on the eighth day:

Luke 2:21-22, “And when eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the child, his name was called Y’SHUA, which was so named of the angel before he was conceived in the womb. And when the days of her purification according to the Law of Moses were accomplished, they brought him to Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord;”

 We can tell from the timing that He received bar mitzvah (bar mitzvah means “son of the commandment”):

Luke 2:42, “And when he was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem after the custom of the feast.”

We know that He faithfully observed the seventh day Sabbath and attended synagogue in numerous accounts. We know that He was Mikvahed (baptized) during the period of Teshuvah (repentance), which is forty days before Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement):

John 1:29-32, “The next day John seeth Y’shua coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of YHWH, which taketh away the sin of the world. This is he of whom I said, After me cometh a man which is preferred before me: for he was before me. And I knew him not: but that he should be made manifest to Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with water.  And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him.”

We know that He observed the Festival of Hanukkah:

 John 10:22-23,  “And it was at Jerusalem the feast of the dedication, and it was winter. And Y’shua walked in the temple in Solomon’s porch.”

The Feast of Sukkoth:

John 7:37-38, “In the last day, that great day of the feast, Y’shua stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.”

The last day of the Feast of Sukkoth, Hoshana Rabbah, is the priest’s ceremony of Mayim Hayim, or living water.

 And, of course, the partial fulfillment of the Feast of Pesach (Passover) (see and YHWH thy El redeemed thee above).

 Our Messiah was resurrected on the Feast of First Fruits!!  There is NO EVIDENCE that this day of the week has any bearing on the weekly Sabbath. ( http://atschool.eduweb.co.uk/sbs777/saccal/sunday.html )

 Later on, He was clear that following His departure, fasting on the Day of Atonement was again a precept as set forth under the Mosaic Covenant.

The Day of Atonement – Matthew 9:14, “Then the disciples of John came to Him, asking, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?”

 15 And Y’shua said to them, “The attendants of the bridegroom cannot mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them, can they? But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.”

Colossians 2:16, “Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the Sabbath days:

 17 Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.

 March 12, 2005  123shall   1 Comment
Categories: Uncategorized

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