Category Archives: Gospel Message/Salvation

Who me? An adulterous woman?

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Numbers 5:11–31, The adulterous woman. This passages deals with a curious ritual involving wives suspected of adultery called the Law of Jealousies that seems to have nothing to do with anything relating to you and me. Yet, upon closer analysis, we see that it’s actually an amazing prophecy that relates to every redeemed believer who has ever lived and that Yeshua the Messiah is at the center of it. 

In this ritual the woman is hauled before the priest, her head is uncovered and, according to Jewish tradition, her dress is ripped open just above her breasts (b.Talmud Sota 7a). She then has the choice to drink a concoction of earth from the floor of the tabernacle mixed with the set-apart (kadosh) water from the bronze laver into which is dipped a piece of paper that contains the curses written on it. If she is guilty of the charges of adultery when she drinks the bitter waters, her belly shall swell and her thigh (Heb. yarek or side or loins, which are the seat of procreative power) shall rot as a result of a divine judgment. If she is guiltless, the bitter waters will have no effect on her. If she refuses to drink the bitter water and her husband still suspects her unfaithfulness, then he is free to divorce her, even though she has admitted no guilt. According to Jewish tradition, this legal procedure was carried out by Israel’s highest court in Jerusalem (ibid. 7b).

Some biblical commentators see a parallel here between the adulterous woman and the trial and execution of Yeshua at the cross. On the surface, this explanation may seem improbable, but as we go on, we will see otherwise and much more besides. 

As we begin to disambiguate the meaning of this curious ritual, consider this. We know that YHVH likened his relationship to Israel to a marriage (Ezek 16). However Israel (both houses) didn’t remain faithful to her (their) marriage covenants (Ezek chapters 16 and 23; Jer 3; the entire book of Hosea). Under the Torah, adultery was a capital offense (Lev 20:10). Of course, YHVH was faithful to his marriage covenants with Israel. He is not a sinner (i.e. a violator of his own Torah, 1 John 3:4). With whom was the fault then for the failure of the marriage? It was with the house of Israel and the house of Judah! (See Heb 8:7–8.) All of YHVH’s people have sinned (violated YHVH’s Torah) and fallen short of his glory (Rom 6:23), and the Scriptures are clear that the penalty or wages of sin is death (Rom 3:23 and Ezek 18:4).

“But I am a Gentile Christian, not an Israelite,” you may respond. “Neither I nor my ancestors was ever an Israelite who was spiritually married to YHVH. Therefore, I am not guilty of spiritual unfaithfulness. I have not broken any marriage covenants with YHVH.” In response, first, who did Yeshua come to redeem? He came to redeem the lost sheep of the house of Israel (Matt 15:24). Scripture likens all wayward sinners to the lost sheep who have gone astray (Isa 53:6). Moreover, Paul equated Gentile believers with the house of Israel (Rom 9:25–29 and compare with Hos 2:23; Isa 10:22–23). 

Secondly, Jacob, the father of the twelve tribes of Israel, on his deathbed gave a curious prophesy concerning who the descendant of Ephraim and Manasseh would be (Genesis 48:14–16). In this scripture passage, Jacob speaks of a Messenger from heaven who had redeemed him from all evil, and he makes the sign of the Paleo-Hebrew letter tav over his grandsons, which is the sign of the cross.He then speaks of these descendants of his growing into a multitude in the midst of the earth, or becoming like fish in the sea of humanity (see the Orthodox Jewish ArtScroll Stone Edition Chumash/Tanach translation of this verse). Who are these descendants who have as their religious symbols the sign of the cross and the fish and speak of a Redeemer or Savior? Obviously only Christian-type people fit this description. Therefore, spiritually speaking, are you not that adulterous woman? 

Thirdly, elsewhere in the Bible, Paul clearly states that ALL those who have put their trusting faith in Yeshua the Messiah are Israel and Abraham is their father (Rom 4:16; 9:8–11; Gal 3:7, 9, 14, 28, 29.)

Now that we have established that all believers in Yeshua are related to the descendants of Jacob and are thus Israelites (Paul call the saints “the Israel of Elohim,” Gal 6:16), let’s ask the next question. At the cross we know that Yeshua bore upon himself all of our sins (Isa 53:4–6). Did he also bear upon himself our guilt for committing spiritual adultery when in our ignorance we disobeyed the commandments of Elohim when we sinned by serving, worshipping and obeying other gods (e.g. self, money, pleasure, sex, education, power, approval of others, drugs)? Indeed! He died in our place by becoming like the adulterous woman that we were. Moreover, Scripture tells us that his trial and crucifixion were like his drinking a bitter cup (Matt 26:39, 42; John 18:11). Furthermore, Yeshua was hauled before the highest religious court in the land of Israel in Jerusalem to stand trial prior to his death (Matt 26:57–68). Like the adulterous woman on trial in Numbers 5, he was stripped of his garments (see Matt 27:31), and while on the cross, his side was ripped open by the Roman soldier’s spear (John 19:34). As a substitution for us, he took the curses that was against each of us for adultery that in times past would have been written down on paper (Num 5:23). With this in mind, Paul addresses this very thing in Colossians 2:12–15, with special emphasis on verse 14, where he states that Yeshua took the curses or penalties for our violating YHVH’s laws that were against us and paid each the sin-debt or penalty in full for each of us when he died on the cross. For those who are washed in Yeshua’s atoning and redeeming blood and have been buried with him in water immersion or baptism (Col 2:12 cp. Rom 6:3–11), the devil, like a prosecuting attorney, and who is the accuser of the brethren (Rev 12:10 cp. Job 1:6–12; 2:1–6), no longer has any charges to lay against us, since Yeshua paid in full the legal debt for our sins before courts of heaven (Col 2:15). 

Few Bible students understand this glorious truth of how we are all like the adulterous woman, and how Yeshua took upon himself the charges that were laid against us because of our sins and paid the price in full when he died on the cross. The Scriptures predicted his horrific yet glorious event in the time of Moses down to the smallest detail some 1,500 years before it occurred. Give Elohim the glory!

 

What is the eternal fate of “morally good,” but unsaved people?

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1 Peter 4:6, Who are dead. (See also Rom 2:12–16; 1 Cor 5:5; Heb 12:23.) This verse seems to indicate that certain categories of dead and unsaved humans will stand before YHVH’s judgment seat (the white throne judgment of Rev 20:11–15), and will be accepted into his eternal kingdom at some basic level. Perhaps if their hearts showed a willing disposition toward YHVH while they lived, but they hadn’t gone all the way in choosing him for one reason or another, they will be rewarded for the good that they did in their lifetime and will be given an opportunity to accept Yeshua on judgment day. 

It is possible that these are the ones that Yeshua declared who would be least in his kingdom (Matt 5:19). Moreover, was Paul making a reference to these people in Romans 2:12–16 when he talks about those Gentiles who sinned without the law, and who will be judged based on whether they lived up to the basic law of Elohim written in their consciences? Will these people, who lived according to the basic tenets of the Torah (e.g. not stealing, lying, committing adultery, murdering, coveting, honoring parents, living according to the golden rule and, in their own way, and adhered to a concept of a Supreme Being before whom they walked in fear without worshiping idols) be given an opportunity on judgment day to make their faith complete by accepting Yeshua’s sacrifice for their sins? Possibly so. Perhaps this explanation would help us to understand Hebrews 12:23, which speaks of the spirits of just men made perfect, as well as the salvation of the thief on the cross (Luke 23:43).

With regard to the thief on the cross who professed faith in Yeshua (Luke 23:43), let’s go one step further. Next to this thief was another thief whose heart remained obdurate toward Yeshua. It appears that on Golgatha (or Calgary), we have three categories of people, even as Peter describes three categories of people in 1 Peter 4:18: the righteous, the ungodly and sinners. The first category is self-evident. The second category seems to imply those who lived a decent life, but who never professed faith in Yeshua the Messiah, while the latter category were unrepentant and hard-hearted individuals who made no effort to live up to even the most basic standards of right and wrong (called the moral law) that was written in their conscience. This verse seems to describe these three categories of people on earth, which are the same three categories of people who were crucified on Golgatha: Yeshua the righteous, the repentant and ungodly thief, and the unrepentant second sinful thief.

With regard to those who never came to faith in the God of the Bible, different biblical-based religions treat these “morally good” but unsaved folks differently by pronouncing different fates on them. For example…

  • The Roman Catholic Church deals with these folks by consigning them to a non-biblical purgatory where, apparently, they can work out their salvation.
  • Rabbinic Judaism consigns these folks to the so-called Book of the Undecided as opposed to the Book of Life and the Book of the Dead. What happens to those in the middle book, is not clear in my mind, but I assume that they get a second chance.
  • The Protestants consign everyone to everlasting torture in hellfire who never accepted Yeshua while alive physically. There is no second chance for them.
  • Armstrongism (a small side branch of Protestantism) had these folks resurrected at the end of the Millennium where they were given “a hundred year period” to come to faith. 
  • My theory, on the other hand, proposes a middle of the road approach where the wholly wicked will be destroyed in the lake of fire, while those who lived faithfully according to whatever light of spiritual truth they had will eventually be given an opportunity to accept Yeshua. This seems to square with Paul’s statements in Romans 2:12–16 and the view of YHVH’s Elohim as being a more merciful and just Being.
 

Get “saved” now before it’s too late!

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Leviticus 19:6–7, It shall be eaten. The terms first, second and third day are often significant prophetically (e.g. Hos 6:2; Gen 22:4; Luke 13:32; Exod 19:11, 15) referring to the salvific work of Messiah Yeshua that occurred at his first coming, and which will occur in the first, second and third millennia after his first coming. Day three would correspond with the beginning of year 7000—a date we must be very near. 

If Torah reveals that the peace offering was not accepted on the third day, what is this prophetically telling us? Leviticus 7:17–18 says of the same offering that the portion of the sacrifice which remains until the third day shall be burnt with fire, while 19:6–8 says that the person who eats the peace offering on the third day will “bear his iniquity” and “will be cut off from his people.” That is, the peace offering will be of no avail to that person and they will not have peace with their Redeemer.

Is a day coming when the door of opportunity for salvation will be shut (as was the case when the door of Noah’s ark was shut before Elohim brought judgment upon the earth by the flood, Gen 7:16), the period of grace that we are now in will end when the wrath of Elohim will be poured out upon the unregenerate (Rev 15–16) just prior to the return of Yeshua? Are you saved by the blood of Yeshua, the Lamb of YHVH? Have you repented of your sins (violation of YHVH’s Torah-laws [1 John 3:4]), and are you walking in a righteous and obedient relationship with your Heavenly Father through Yeshua the Messiah by the power of the Ruach Kodesh (Set-Apart Spirit)?

For he says, “I have heard you in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured you: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” (2 Cor 6:2)

 

What’s the big deal with blood in the Bible?

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Leviticus 17:7, Sacrifices to demons. Sa’ar, the Hebrew word for goat, refers to the Egyptian goat gods, or goat demons that were believed to inhabit the wilderness (The ArtScroll Tanach Series Vayikra Leviticus Commentary, p. 313; Keil and Delitzsch, p. 593). In several places, the KJV and NAS translate this word as satyr (e.g. Isa 13:21; 34:14), which, in Greek and Roman mythology was associated with Pan, the half goat and half man-like creature. These demonic forces were believed to be destructive causing fear and turbulence, murder and mayhem (ibid. The ArtScroll Tanach Series Vayikra). 

Interestingly, sa’ar and Se’ir as in Mount Seir, the home of Edom (Num 24:18), share the same Hebrew consonants and derive from the same root word. From this, the Jewish sages deduce that Edom, the descendents of Esau­—Israel’s perpetual enemies down through the ages (even to the last days)—was the embodiment of evil (ibid.). Additionally, in occult lore, there exists a creature called Baphomet, which is represented by a horned goat’s head inside of an inverted star or pentagram. There is an ongoing debate whether this symbol goes back to the satyr or is of more recent origination. However, it is well-documented that the use of blood (in sacrificial and cannibalistic rites) and its veneration is an important aspect of Satanic rituals even into modern times. This is one reason why YHVH forbad the Israelites from eating animal blood (verse 10). 

From this passage in Leviticus (and the surrounding verses), it should be clear that YHVH not only expected the Israelites to respect blood (see verse 11), but to properly dispose of it in a way that would preclude them from being tempted to engage in idolatrous and demonic rituals. In our notes under verse 11, we will see why YHVH valued the blood so highly. 

Additionally, this passage teaches us several things. First, the blood carries the life force of a living being and, as such, represents life. Second, blood must be shed to atone for sin, which shows us the gravity of sin. The Bible elsewhere declares that the wages of sin is death (Rom 6:23), and the soul that sins shall die (Ezek 18:4).

Leviticus 17:10, Eats any blood.This prohibition is so serious that the Torah repeats it three other places (Lev 3:17; 7:26; 17:14), and the apostles make it one of the four requirements imposed on new Gentile converts before allowed into the fellowship of believers (Acts 15:29). This law was so serious that not only was it imposed on the children of Israel, but upon the strangers that sojourned with them as well (Lev 17:10). The penalty for doing so was basically capital punishment—to be cut off from Israel (vv. 9, 14).Why is the eating of blood so onerous in the eyes of Elohim? The context of this verse involves prohibitions against the demonic practices of the neighboring Baal-worshiping heathens. Eating and then the letting of blood was something that figured prominently in the demonic religious rituals of the heathens and is something YHVH wanted to keep his people from practicing. (For a further discussion of this, see notes on Lev 17:1–14.) In YHVH’s spiritual economy, blood was to be reserved exclusively for the atonement of sin and was to be respected as such.

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What Is the Old Testament Basis for the New Testament Message of the Gospel?

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Brighten up your day with the following:

Isaiah 51:12–61:11 Explained 

The word gospel is one of the most common words in all Christendom. But what does it mean, and where does the concept originate? Most Christian believers would doubtless assume that the concept of the gospel is a New Testament one? As we shall soon see below, the term gospel (Old English for good news) originates in the Tanakh (Old Testament or OT) in the writings of the prophet Isaiah.

The word gospel itself is easily enough defined, but what about the concept behind the word? This will take us into another, deeper dimension of understanding this concept. Gospel or its synonyms are used 132 times in the Testimony of Yeshua (New Testament or NT). The word gospel literally means “good news or glad tidings.” Two Greek words (euaggellion and euaggelizo) are translated into English in the Authorized Version (KJV) via the following words: as a noun, gospel and as a verb, preach, bring good tidings, show glad tidings, declare, and declare glad tidings. As we can see, the word gospel is easily enough defined, but what really is the good news? Let us begin to answer this by seeing how the apostolic authors of the Testimony of Yeshua used this term:

  • Gospel of the kingdom or of Elohim (used five times, see Matt 4:23; 9:35; 24:14; Mark 1:14)
  • Gospel of Yeshua the Messiah or Yeshua (used 15 times, see Mark 1:1; Rom 1:16; 15:19; 1 Cor 9:12; Gal 1:7; Phil 1:27; 1 Thess 3:2)
  • Gospel of the grace of Elohim (Acts 20:24)
  • Gospel of Elohim (used five times, see Rom 1:1; 15:16; 2 Cor 11:7; 1 Thess 2:2,8,9)
  • Gospel of peace (Rom 10:15; Eph 6:15)

Besides these noun phrases just listed, in the majority of cases, the word gospel as found in the Testimony of Yeshua stands alone in its noun form as simply the gospel without any adjectival modifiers.

But again, what is the good news? One cannot read the Testimony of Yeshua without seeing that Yeshua the Messiah is at the center of this good news message. Thankfully, this same good news (or gospel) of “Jesus” has been at the center of the Christian message for two thousand years. This likely doesn’t comes as a new revelation to the reader. The famous passage of John 3:16 sums up this blessed message perhaps better than any other: “For Elohim so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” In brief, this good news of the Messiah (Acts 5:42; 1 Cor 1:23; 2:2; 2 Cor 2:12) involves understanding the spiritual significance of his death, burial and resurrection and how that relates to the redemption, reconciliation and salvation of sinful man through Yeshua’s shed blood at the cross of Golgatha. But is there more to the basic message of the good news that most have missed? There is more, much more as we are about to find out. Hopefully, this new understanding will activate and deepen your live for Yeshua the Messiah and for you Father in heaven who sent him to be a river of life to all those who will put their faith and trust in him!

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Preach Messiah first and then the Torah (not vice versa)!

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Acts 11:20, Preaching the Lord Yeshua. Yeshua instructed his disciples that if he be lifted up (John 12:32), all men would be drawn to him. This, of course, is a not so oblique prophetic reference to the method by which he would be killed, that is, by crucifixion, but is also a double entrendre referring to the subject matter and method that his disciples were to use when preaching the gospel. 

Notice, Yeshua didn’t say to preach the Torah-law of Moses per se. Rather, preach about him. 

Of course, when preaching about Yeshua, it automatically will follow that people will come into a loving and heartfelt compliance with the Written Torah because of their love for Yeshua, the Living Torah (John 14:15, 21) and their desire to know him and to imitate his perfect and beautiful life (1 John 2:3–6).

 

The Supreme Importance and Significance of Blood

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Leviticus 7:26, Not eat any blood.YHVH revealed in the Torah that the life of flesh is in the blood (Lev 17:11). Therefore, the blood symbolizes the whole life of the living being. This is why the blood being poured upon the altar made atonement for the souls of men (Lev 17:11–12), since it represented and pointed to the shedding of Yeshua’s blood when he sacrificed his life on the cross in atoning for men’s sins. Respecting the blood is necessary not only because it symbolizes the sanctity of the life of man who was made in the Creator’s image (Gen 1:26 cp. 9:6), but more importantly, because of the blood of Elohim’s Son that was shed for man’s redemption (Lev 17:11). For one to eat the blood showed disdain for what the blood typifies. In times past, this was so important to YHVH that a violation of this prohibition resulted in banishment from the nation of Israel.

The blood was to be reserved for the sacrificial service, where it was used symbolically to represent Yeshua’s shedding his blood on the cross. The blood of a lamb was put on the door posts to protect men from YHVH’s judgment against sin (Exod 12:7, 13). Moses sprinkled the blood of oxen on the people symbolizing their coming into covenantal relationship with YHVH (Exod 24:5–8). Additionally, the blood of sacrificed animals was sprinkled throughout the tabernacle, on Aaron and his sons, and all around the altar to sanctify it. All these acts and uses of the blood were illustrative of the unrestricted cleansing power of the blood of Yeshua (Rev 1:5; 7:14; 12:11; 1 Pet 1:2, 19; Heb 9:12; 10:19–22; 12:24; 1 John 1:7; Matt 26:28), which is why YHVH expected his people to treat the blood with a reverence. Those who didn’t evidenced a heart of indifference for the set-apart or kadosh things of Elohim—an intolerable offence in the Creator’s eyes.

On the dark and satanic side, the blood of humans and animals is profaned through demonic rituals involving drinking it and even cannibalism. This is an abominable perversion of holy communion and was an aspect of ancient heathen religions (Ps 16:4; Ezek 39:17, 19 cp. Num 13:32), and is a practice in which the end time antichrist heathens of the Babylonian whore system will engage (Rev 17:6; 18:13, 24).