Monthly Archives: May 2014

Preparing for Shavuot (Pentecost)

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The Feast of Weeks (Heb. Shavuot) or Pentecost will be occurring in about a week on Sunday, June 8, 2014. Pentecost is one of the seven biblical holy day Sabbaths that YHVH commands his people to celebrate. Below is a short piece to help you to prepare yourselves spiritually for this set-apart time when YHVH meets with is people in a special way.

A (Re)New(ed) Covenant Involving YHVH Writing Torah on Our Hearts

Jeremiah 31:27–36 prophesies about YHVH making new (or renewed) covenant being with his people Israel, which involves both houses of Israel (the Jews and the Christians) and his writing his Torah on their hearts.

Shavuot, Joyous

 Behold, the days come, saith YHVH, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith YHVH: But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith YHVH, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their Elohim, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know YHVH: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith YHVH: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more. (Jer 31:31–34)

Contextually, in the verses surrounding this prophecy we discover some other important details.

  • Verse 27, The houses of Judah and Israel were to be mingled throughout the beast nations of the world as punishment for breaking their covenant with YHVH that they made with him on Shavuot (the Feast of Pentecost) at Mount Sinai (Exod 19–20, 24).
  • Verse 28, At some point in the future, YHVH’s punishment of Israel for breaking their covenant and their resulting exile among the gentile nations will come to the end. He will rebuild and restore the nation of Israel.
  • Verses 29–30, Whereas in times past, Israel was punished as a collective nation for their sins when they disobeyed YHVH and were similarly blessed when they obeyed him, now each person will be cursed or blessed for his own sins. Salvation is more of an individual matter now.
  • Verses 31–33,  YHVH promises to make a renewed covenant with the two houses of Israel at some time in the future (from Jeremiah’s perspective). It will be different from the covenant he made with Israel at Sinai in two major ways:
  • Though it will be a covenant with Israel collectively (both houses), it also will be made with individuals.
  • He will deal with the heart of each individual Israelite when he writes his Torah on their hearts.
  • Verse 34, This renewed covenant will involve mercy and forgiveness (grace). It will involve a personal relationship between each person and YHVH (“they shall all know me…”).
  • Verses 35 and 37, As the sun, moon, stars, the sea, and expanse of the heavens and the earth exist, so YHVH will renew his Torah covenant with Israel. The words of Yeshua in Matthew 5:18 are reminiscent of the this prophecy. Not one yud or tag of YHVH’s Torah will pass as long heaven and earth still exist.
  • Verse 36, The very survival of the nation and people of Israel (and hence the fulfillment of the covenants YHVH made with Abraham), is dependent on YHVH regathering and restoring Israel. If YHVH doesn’t bring this to pass, then YHVH is a liar and his Word is a lie and there is no hope for the world! This cannot be!

This was fulfilled during the time of the writing of the Testimony of Yeshua (New Testament). The author of Hebrews talks about this in Hebrews 8. Continue reading →

 

New Video: The Book of Romans Explained from a Hebraic Perspective

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In this video on the book of Romans, we discuss Paul’s view of the gospel, the Torah (the law of Moses) and the reunification of the nation of Israel.The material presented here is totally fresh and is from a Hebraic perspective and is likely totally different than anything you’ve heard on this subject to this point. For a free, short study guide to this video, go to http://hoshanarabbah.org/blog/2014/05/28/the-book-of-romans/.

 

The Book of Romans: The Gospel, the Torah & the Israelite Nation Reunited

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The Main Themes of Romans

The is perhaps the only book in the Bible that is organized systematically like a theological textbook from beginning to end with each point leading to the next. This is not how biblical books are typically arranged.

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In this letter, there are several main themes.
Pre-eminently, Elohim is the Just Judge of the universe to whom all are accountable (both Jews and Gentiles). This concept alone is huge, since most humans don’t want to believe they’re accountable to anyone except their own egos.
The Torah is Elohim’s standard of righteousness by which he will judge the deeds of all men (both Jews and Gentiles) fairly. If people can accept the fact that there is a supreme God to whom they’re accountable for their actions, then it’s a short next logical step to accept that such a God has laws that man must follow if he’s not to run afoul of that God.
Next, Paul counters a religious system that purported to explain who that God was and what he required of sinful man. This was Judaism. The problem is that Judaism had perverted the truth of Elohim into a racially exclusive, legalistic, works-based salvational system. Paul attempts to correct this error, and restore this religion to its original truth.
Paul then presents the gospel message of salvation by grace through faith in Yeshua the Messiah is at the center of YHVH’s process to redeem sinful man.
Before Elohim, the God of the universe, there is no racial inequality between Jews and Gentiles. Elohim isn’t a racist. All are equal before him. All are sinners, and all need Yeshua.
Paul’s Epistle to the Romans keeps Yeshua and the gospel message front and center, yet at the same time Paul weaves together the good news of Yeshua with that of the righteous lifestyle of Torah-obedience. Together, these two messages form a beautiful tapestry-like picture encompassing the message of the entire Bible from Genesis to Revelation — a message of the salvation of man resulting in his being reconciled to Elohim his becoming elevated to the spiritual status as a child of Elohim.

Part 1 — Introduction: The Cornerstone of the Gospel Message
At the very beginning of his epistle, Paul carefully and boldly sets in place the cornerstone for what is to follow. He declares the preeminence of the gospel message and his Continue reading →

 

Are You a Baal Worshiper?

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Baal was the god of the Canaanites, the enemies of the ancient biblical Israelites. God’s people were constantly being enticed by the heathen practices associated with Baal worship. Down the through the ages, the worship of Baal has resurrected itself and taken on the trappings of each new culture. The concepts behind Baal worship are thriving and growing in our post-Christian culture. To what degree having you fallen for the enticements of Baalism? Before you write this off saying it doesn’t apply to you, please watch this video!

 

Our nation needs a spiritual revival!

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This Is What Happens When Young Men Are Taught That Scoring With Women Is The Ultimate Goal In Life

By Michael Snyder, on May 25th, 2014

Elliot RodgerElliot Rodger is a horrifying example of how badly we have failed young men in America.  You see, the truth is that his obsession with sex and losing his virginity did not come out of nowhere.  Rather, it was the result of being constantly immersed in a sex-obsessed culture for the past 22 years.  In America today, our young men are constantly being bombarded with sexual messages in advertising, in television shows, in video games, in movies and on the Internet.  They are literally being trained to believe that scoring with women is the ultimate goal in life.  So we should not be surprised when their behavior reflects this underlying philosophy.  Of course very few of our young men become mass murderers like Elliot Rodger, but the crisis that we are facing is much broader than that.  The obsession with illicit sex that our young men have is destroying millions upon millions of lives, it is spreading sexually transmitted diseases like wildfire, and it is a huge factor in the decline of the American family. To continue reading go here: http://endoftheamericandream.com/archives/this-is-what-happens-when-young-men-are-taught-that-scoring-with-women-is-the-ultimate-goal-in-life

 

Blog Scriptures Readings for 5-25 through 5-31-14

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THIS WEEK’S SCRIPTURE READINGS FOR STUDY AND DISCUSSION:

Parashat Nasso — Numbers 4:21 – 7:89 
Haftarah — Judges 13:2–25
Prophets —Jeremiah 31:1 – 37:21
Writings — Song of Songs 6:1 – 8:14; Ruth 1:1 – 4:22
Testimony — Jude 1:1–25; Romans 1:1 – 5:21

Most of this week’s blog discussion points will be on these passages. If you have general comments or questions on the weekly Scripture readings not addressed in a blog post, here’s a place for you to post those. Just use the “leave a reply” link below.

The full “Read Through The Scriptures In A Year” schedule, broken down by each day, can be found on the right sidebar under “Helpful Links.” There are 4 sections of scripture to read each day. One each from the Torah, the Prophets, the Writings, and from the Testimony of Yeshua. Each week, the Torah and haftarah readings will follow the traditional one-year reading cycle.

Weekly Blog Scripture Readings for 5/25 through 5/31/14.