Author Archives: Natan Lawrence

Repent America!

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AMERICA! Repent and turn to the God of the Bible to avert continued and escalating judgments on your nation!

Each person must…

  • Repent of your sins and stop violating the laws of God (YHVH Elohim) as revealed in the Bible—the Holy Word of Elohim.
  • Fear Elohim your Creator who will judge all men in righteousness.
  • Place your complete trust in Yeshua the Messiah (Jesus Christ) the Son of Elohim who died on the cross to pay the death penalty for your sins.
  • Serve, love and obey Yeshua the Messiah as revealed in the Testimony of Yeshua (the New Testament) portion of the Bible.
  • Start reading your Bible every day, and ask Elohim for his Holy Spirit to come into your life to help you to understand and to love his Word—the Bible.
  • Ask Elohim to reveal himself and his love to you.
  • Seek Elohim with all your heart.
  • Turn away from habits and people who lead you away from Elohim and his Word.
  • Ask Elohim how he wants you to change your life.
  • Ask Elohim to reveal to you the sins that you need to repent of and the changes you need to make in your life to get right with him.
  • After you have done these things, boldly, and in faith go forward seeking to love and serve YHVH with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself. This is how America will get turned around spiritually!
 

66 or 49 Books in the Bible?

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The Number of the Books of the Bible and the Symmetry of the Scriptures

The first point in determining the symmetry of the Scriptures is to realize that originally the Tanakh (Old Testament) was subdivided into 22 books, not the 39 in our present Bible. There was no difference in the content between then and now but only in how the books were categorized. The Book of Jubilees, a Jewish pseudepigraphic work dating to the second century B.C., attests to the fact (Jubilees 2:23) of there originally being 22 books in the Tanakh, as does Josephus in his Contra Apion (Book 1.8), and as do many early Church fathers and other early Christian scholars (In Restoring the Original Bible, Ernest L. Martin references 22 such early Christian writers, including Eusebius’ Ecclesiastical History, 4.26.14, Martin, pp. 58–60).

It is believed that Ezra the scribe originally arranged the books of the Old Testament in this manner. Thus, books such as Samuel, Kings and Chronicles were combined into one book each and the 12 Minor Prophets were combined into one book as well. We will discuss the significance of the number 22 in the Scriptures momentarily, but for now, how did the Tanakh get expanded from 22 to 39 books? According to Martin, the Jewish translators of the Greek version of the Tanakh (the Septuagint) in the second and third century b.c. subdivided the books of the Tanakh into the pattern we have today. There were, however, no Hebrew manuscripts that followed the Greek version (Martin, p. 65). Sometime in the last part of the first century or beginning of the second century a.d. Jewish authorities decided to re-divide the Tanakh into 24 books rather than to maintain the 22 (Martin, pp. 67–68). Eventually the Jews adopted the Christian numbering system of the books of the Tanakh found in the modern Protestant Christian Bible.

“There may well have been political and religious reasons why the Jewish authorities made the change when they did. When the New Testament books were being accepted as divine literature by great numbers of people within the Roman world, all could see that the 27 New Testament books added to the original 22 of the Old Testament reached the significant number 49 [7 x 7]. This was a powerful indication that the world now had the complete revelation from God with the inclusion of those New Testament books. Since Jewish officials were powerless to do anything with the New Testament (the Testimony of Yeshua), the only recourse they saw possible was to alter the traditional numbering” (Martin, p. 68).

The Significance of the Number 22 in Hebrew Thought

Martin next draws our attention to the ancient Jewish Book of Jubilees which mentions the significance of the number 22 in Hebraic biblical thought. Annotated to the restored text of Jubilees 2:23 is the remark that Elohim made 22 things on the six days of creation with man being the twenty-second created thing—the crowning achievement of YHVH’s creative activities. These 22 events paralleled the 22 generations from Adam to Jacob (i.e., the Israelite nation being the crowning achievement of YHVH’s work among the nations of the world with Israel being the vehicle through which redemption would occur), the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet, and the 22 books of the Holy Scriptures (Martin, p. 57).

The 22 numbering is most interesting and fits in well with the literary and symbolic meaning of “completion” as understood by early Jews. The Book of Jubilees put forth that this number represented the “final” and “complete” creation of Elohim. Adam was the last creation of Elohim (being the 22nd). Jacob, whose name was changed to Israel, was the 22nd generation from Adam; and Jacob was acknowledged as the father of the spiritual nation of Elohim. Also the Hebrew language became the means by which Elohim communicated his divine will to mankind. It had an alphabet of 22 letters. And, finally, when Elohim wished to give his complete Old Testament revelation to humanity, that divine canon was presented in 22 authorized books. The medieval Jewish scholar Sixtus Senensis explained the significance of this matter (Martin, pp. 57–58).
As with the Hebrew there are twenty-two letters, in which all that can be said and written is comprehended, so there are twenty-two books in which are contained all that can be known and uttered of divine things.

 

Blog Scripture Readings for 7/1 through 7/7/12

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Deuteronomy 34; Zechariah 11–14; Malachi 1–4; Job 1–6; and Psalms 94–100

Most of this week’s blog discussion points will be on these passages. The full year’s Bible Reading Schedule can be found on the right sidebar under “Helpful Links.”

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.

 

Paul Equates Torah With Yeshua

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Deuteronomy 30:11–14, Does YHVH’s Torah set an impossible standard by which we are to live? If so, we are logically compelled to ask ourselves this question: Would a righteous and just Creator and a loving Heavenly Father give to his chosen people and children a set of standards that were humanly impossible to perform, then curse them for their inability to meet these standards? If so, then we must face the fact that Elohim is an unjust and a wicked tyrant!

If Torah isn’t an impossible standard to follow, then what is the Torah’s purpose in our lives, and why does the Creator impose the Torah upon his people?

We believe that the Torah sets a standard of faith, trusting in Elohim, and that if followed it provides a system of repentance and sacrifice for obtaining forgiveness from Elohim and restoring a condition of being considered righteous in his sight. The Torah also teaches man how to achieve peace on earth and good will toward men by showing humans how to love Elohim with all their heart, soul, mind and strength and their neighbor as themselves.

Paul quotes this same Deuteronomy passage in Romans 10:6–8 where he relates the Written Torah to Yeshua, the Living Torah or Word of Elohim incarnate (in the flesh). (Compare with John 1:1, 14.) He shows that they are one in the same and that Messiah Yeshua, through his life, came to reveal to man the righteousness of the Torah-law. This righteousness is available to us if we will but have a heartfelt faith in him (Rom 10:4, 9–10) and allow him to live out his righteousness in us through the empowering work of the Spirit of Elohim. In verses 11 through 21, Paul goes on to relate this very truth to being the central message of the gospel that Isaiah prophesied (Isa 52:7) would be preached to redeem both houses of Israel to Yeshua their Messiah. Furthermore, in Romans 10:4 Paul reveals that Yeshua is the end goal, target of or the full flowering or embodiment of the Written Torah in human form.

 

DOBSON TO PREZ: I Won’t Bow To ‘Wicked’ Obamacare

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Are a few of America’s religious leaders finally beginning to stand up against the wickedness that’s descending upon this country like a dark and thick shroud from the pits of hell? One can only hope so.

Kudos to Dr. James Dobson for his challenge to President Obama and for his righteous stand against Obamacare’s provision to fund abortion at taxpayers’ expense.

Please join me in praying that YHVH Elohim will raise up spiritual leaders who will call this nation to repentance and who will take our wicked physical leaders to task for their unrighteousness.

Please read the following article for the details on Dr. Dobson’s stand for righteousness:

http://www.wnd.com/2012/06/dobson-to-prez-i-wont-bow-to-wicked-obamacare/

 

SEE MUSLIM MOB STONE CHRISTIANS – IN U.S.!

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Here is a link to the story and live video from Worldnet Daily (wnd.com) of Muslims stoning Christian street preachers in Dearborn, Michigan. And you thought this could never happen in the U.S.A.!

http://www.wnd.com/2012/06/muslim-mob-stones-christians-in-u-s/

I personally know the main individual interviewed in this video and have ministered with him. He’s the same man who unfurls the large John 3:16 banners at major football events on live TV. Please pray for Ruben! Pray for all those who are taking a stand against wickedness and who are calling sinners to repent.

When the police should be defending the rights of Christians to have freedom of speech, they are instead siding with those who are attacking the Christian preachers with bottles, rocks and bags of urine. Freedom of speech on a public street isn’t a crime. Violently assaulting people and causing bodily harm in a public venue is a crime, yet the police side with the aggressors and refuse to protect the Christians. I’m reminded of this passage in Isaiah:

Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! (Isa 5:20)

This is part of the judgment that is coming against America because it has forsaken YHVH Elohim—the God of the Bible—and turned to worshipping the false gods of wood and stone. Moses prophesied this in Deuteronomy 32:15–22,

But Jeshurun [i.e. end-times Israel including America] waxed fat [greed and materialism], and kicked: thou art waxen fat, thou art grown thick, thou art covered with fatness; then he forsook Elohim which made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation. They provoked him to jealousy with strange gods, with abominations provoked they him to anger. They sacrificed unto devils [via false and demonic religions such as Islam], not to God; to gods whom they knew not, to new gods that came newly up, whom your fathers feared not. Of the Rock that begat thee thou art unmindful, and hast forgotten Elohim that formed thee. And when YHVH saw it, he abhorred them, because of the provoking of his sons, and of his daughters. And he said, I will hide my face from them, I will see what their end shall be: for they are a very froward generation, children in whom is no faith. They have moved me to jealousy with that which is not Elohim; they have provoked me to anger with their vanities: and I will move them to jealousy with those which are not a people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation [in this case, Islam/Edom]. For a fire is kindled in mine anger, and shall burn unto the lowest hell, and shall consume the earth with her increase, and set on fire the foundations of the mountains.

 

As Moses prophesied long ago, Elohim’s judgment against his people in America is intensifying because of its sins against him!

In America, it’s all out war against the God of the Bible, against the Bible and against those who believe in and follow the Bible. It seems that any religious or philosophical system that demeans the Bible and Bible believers is given a pass, exhaled and venerated, while at the same time, Bible believers are derided, besmirched, litigated against, condemned and persecuted. What will it take to wake Americans up?

What can each of us do in our own lives to stand for truth even if it costs us something? Being salt and light in the midsts of a perverse generation isn’t easy. Some may lose their lives over it. Read Hebrews 11.

 

 

Who Are the Gentiles?

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Are Believers in Yeshua Gentiles or Jews (or Israelites)?

The Scriptures Call the Israelites Gentiles. Isaiah 1:4 calls Israel a sinful nation. The word nation is the Hebrew word goy (Strong’s H1471) meaning “gentile” or, in a spiritual sense, “worldly or secular.” 

This is one of a number of passages in the Scriptures where Israel itself is referred to as being gentile. A quick study of the Hebrew word goy will bear this fact out. This word is translated in the Tanakh (Old Testament) as nation 374 times, as heathen 143 times, as Gentiles 30 times, and people 11 times. Whenever the word gentile is used in the KJV Bible it is the word goy. According to Strong’s Concordance, the meaning of  goy or gowy is “a foreign nation; hence a Gentile; also (fig.) a troop of animals, or a flight of locusts.” According to Gesenius Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon, the word goy means “a people, a confluence of men,” and “contextually in Holy Scripture it is used to refer to the other nations besides Israel, the foes of Israel, and strangers to the true religion of Israel.”

There are times when this word refers specifically to Israel (e.g., the descendants of Joseph in general: Gen 48:19; to the southern kingdom of Judah when it forsook Elohim and its covenant with him and became like the surrounding heathen nations: Isa 1:4; to the southern kingdom: Isa 9:1; to Israel in general: Isa 26:2; 49:7; Ps 33:12; Gen 12:2; 35:11).

There are numerous other instances in the Scriptures where the words goy or goyim (the plural of goy) are applied to the descendants of Abraham. The Scriptures’ use of the term is unbiased and lacks any of the pejorative implications that have been applied to the term subsequently (e.g., Gen 17:4,5,6,16; 18:18; 25:23; 46:3; Exod 19:6; 33:13; Deut 4:6,7,8,34; Ezek 37:22). As already noted, goy simply means “people or ethnic group.” The Greek word ethnos (Strong’s G1484) as found in the Testimony of Yeshua (New Testament) is equivalent in meaning to the Hebrew word goyim. Our English word ethnic derives from this Greek word.

The Apostle Paul on the Subject. Now consider this. The Apostle Paul says in a number of places that those who come to Yeshua are no longer Gentiles but are the children or seed (literally “sperm,” which is the meaning of the Greek word) of Abraham (Eph 2:11–19; Rom 4:16; 9:8–11; Gal 3:7,9,14,28–29). The word gentiles as used in the Scriptures simply means “ethnic groups or nations.” As already noted, there are many places in the Scriptures where Jews and Israelites are referred to as “Gentiles.” There is no class of people called “gentiles” in the spiritual body of Yeshua, however. Rather, the Scriptures use the such terms for the redeemed of YHVH as the saints, the called out ones, or the one new man. Any attempt by anyone to keep the Jew—Gentile division alive within the body of Yeshua is in effect keeping up the middle wall of partition that the Apostle Paul gave his ministry life and eventually his physical life to tearing down (see Eph 2:11–19).

There Is No Gentile Gate. We must also keep in mind that there are only twelve gates through which one can enter the New Jerusalem, and these gates are named after the twelve tribes of Israel (Rev 21:12). There is no gentile gate! The only way that one will be able to enter the New Jerusalem will be through spiritually identifying with the tribes of Israel. So which tribe are you?

No Covenants Made With the Gentile Nations . Finally, YHVH, the God of the Bible, never made any salvational covenants with non-Israelite nations, but only with the nation of Israel. To be in covenantal relationship with YHVH one has to accept the Jewish Messiah, and be grafted into the Israelite olive tree through the Messiah and become an Israelite—PERIOD! For example, the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews clearly states that the New Covenant is made with the two houses of Israel—not, and the Gentile nations (see Heb 8:8 and Jer 31:31,33). This may come as a shock to some people reading this, but this is the truth of the Scriptures!

One New Man In Messiah Yeshua . The Scriptures reveals that there are only two classifications of people: Israelites and non-Israelites or Gentiles. Individuals in the former group can obtain eternal life by virtue of one’s individual spiritual relationship with the Elohim of Israel through the Messiah of Israel. The latter group, unless they repent of their sins (i.e., lawlessness or Torahlessness, see 1 John 3:4), will burn in the lake of fire (Rev 20:15).

Whenever Paul uses the term “gentile,” he is either referring to ethnicity, and not using the term as a spiritual designation, or he is using the term gentile to mean “worldly.” In this case, it is a moniker referring to those who are carnal in that they act like gentiles (heathens) who are “without God and without hope” (Eph 2:12). The term gentile is not a spiritual designation for a redeemed believer, for they have been called out of the world and have become a member of a special group called “the called out ones” or “church” (Greek: ecclesia meaning “the church or an assembly of people who have been called out of another group of people”). The Scriptures also call redeemed believers “saints,”  a word simply meaning “holy” or “set-apart” as opposed to Gentiles who are without Elohim and without hope. The Scriptures teach that those who are redeemed or who are “in Messiah” are no longer Gentiles, for they have been grafted into and become part of the nation of Israel (Rom 11:13–24 and Eph 2:11–19). They have become the one new man which Paul speaks about in Ephesians 2:15.

What Do We Do Now? Now that we know that we are really part of a people-group called “Redeemed Israel” what does one do with this information? That is up to you. Pray and ask your Father in heaven to help you to live out your new identity as an Israelite.

Many believers in Yeshua the Messiah upon finding out that the Scriptures actually define them as Israelites and not as Gentiles, begin to sense a need to begin acting more like Israelites in their lifestyle and beliefs. They become interested in the biblical feasts of Israel and in the seventh day Sabbath resulting in their life takes on a more biblical or Hebraic flavor as they see themselves more in light of the Book of Acts believers instead of churchianity. This is a path that you will need to begin to explore. As you go down this journey, please keep in mind the words of Yeshua in Matthew 5:17–19; John 15:15 and the words of the apostles in 1 Corinthians 11:1 and 1 John 2:3–6 along with Romans 7:12,14 and 3:31.