Category Archives: Scripture

Scripture Studies

What are the greater works of Yeshua that his disciples would do?

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John 14:12, Greater works. Works is the Greek word ergon, and is the generic word meaning “deeds, acts, business, employment, or occupation,” and isn’t confined to just miraculous deeds. Throughout his ministry, Yeshua did many great works. He occupied each of the five-fold ministry offices (apostle, prophet, evangelist, shepherd and teacher, Eph 4:11), and performed all nine gifts of the Set-Apart Spirit (wisdom, knowledge faith, healing, miracles, prophecy, discerning of spirits, tongues and interpretation of tongues) were at his disposal if and when he needed them.

What are the greater works that his disciples and those who would follow in their footsteps  down through the ages would do?

Yeshua has now distributed his ministry offices and the gifts of the Spirit throughout his Continue reading →

 

Some Prophetic Implications of the Sacrifices: The Crucifixion, Sin and Communion

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Leviticus 6:9, Shall be on the hearth. It took most of the day (see v. 12) and all night to burn up an animal completely. Similarly, Yeshua hung on the cross for a long time—from sometime after the third hour (9 AM) until the ninth hour (3 PM). Not only this, but from the six hour (12 PM) to the ninth hour (3 PM) when Yeshua died, darkness come over the earth (Matt 27:45; Luke 23:44). Both the burnt offering and Yeshua’s time on the cross encompassed hours of daylight and darkness.

Leviticus 6:17, No leaven. Why does YHVH stipulate this prohibition? The main Jewish commentaries are unable to answer this question. It is not until we understand the spiritual implications of leavening as revealed in the Testimony of Yeshua that this prohibition makes sense. Leavening is a Hebraism for false doctrines, hypocrisy and sin (Matt 16:1–5, 12; Luke 12:1; 1 Cor 5:1–5). Unleavened bread, on the other hand, is a metaphor for sincerity and truth (1 Cor 5:5, the last words of the verse). This is why unleavened bread is consumed at communion on Passover, for it is a symbol of Yeshua’s sinless life that he offered up on the cross for sinners (Matt 26:26), and it symbolizes what should be the heart of the saint. 

Leviticus 7:6, Every male…may eat it. Why were the priests allowed to eat some of the offerings? What’s this all about? Let’s answer this question with a question. Why do believers in Yeshua eat the communion elements, and what do they represent? Is there a Continue reading →

 

Prayer Points by Dr. Darlene

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The eyes of YHVH are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry. (Psalm 34:15)

The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. (James 5:16)

If you have suggestions for additions to this prayer list, please post them in the comments section. Thank you for praying!

  1. Pray for you children (and grandchildren) that YHVH will give us the wisdom and knowledge to raise them in the fear, love, faith and understanding of YHVH Elohim and Yeshua the Messiah, so that they will remain faithful and pass on his truth to the next generation. Pray that our prodigal children who have walked away from YHVH will come back to him and fall in love  with Yeshua and his word and embrace and follow the light of his truth.
  2. Pray for the people in the MidWest (of the U.S.) who are suffering from flooding from the storm.
  3. Because I was traveling (by air), I was particularly aware of the crash that killed so many people. Many loved ones were left behind and they need prayer for strength to go on.  We live in a high tech world and the people who invent and create these high tech items; they need to be particularly wise, knowledgeable and diligent in order to protect us from calamity.
  4. Terror attack is never good regardless of the victims. We must prayer for those left in the aftermath of the terror attack on the mosque.
  5. Pray that our schools would again teach history. If we don’t learn our history, we are doomed to repeat the mistakes of history in the rise of socialism, which will lead to communism.
  6. Some U.S. states are beginning to pass laws to force immunization. This is not freedom and it is not safe.  Many people cannot process the adjuvants that can lead to severe disorder and even death.
  7. Pray for our  (U.S.) President who must battle even his own party to try to lead the country.
  8. Many have been affected by the U.S. college scandal. Jobs will be lost, and students have been harmed.  We need integrity in the country, so these type of things don’t happen.  It appears that in this and some of the above, that the love of money is at the root of this evil.
  9. Fake News is propaganda. The most recent and blatant was the accusation made by the actor who claimed to have been beaten up by two conservatives when in fact, he paid people to beat him up to cause division.   A news report this week revealed more than a dozen of these type things that have occurred in just the last month.  This is pure propaganda and is designed to cause discord and to deceive people so that they make decisions based on lies.  We must pray for the TRUTH to be revealed in all situations and for people’s eyes to be opened and for them to have discernment.
  10. Many people have already thrown their hats into the U.S. presidential campaign for 2020.  President Trump has already had campaign rallies.  It is time to REALLY pray about this next election which truly will determine whether the U.S. remains free or goes socialist.
  11. Pray for all widows and orphans and especially those of our fallen military and law enforcement public servants.
  12. Pray for Father to reveal to us what He would have us to do to aid someone who needs help.
  13. I am hearing rumblings of ISIS gaining strength again. Pray against this enemy of our Father’s people living in the Middle East.
  14. Pray that President Trump will not be halted by members of the U.S. congress in trying to protect our borders.
  15. Pray for those who for some reason feel they cannot go on. May they reach for help and FIND it so that they do not chose to take their lives in despair.
  16. Pray for unity among the church denominations. Yeshua said that those not against them were for them!  There were and are differences and some are significant, but the heart of the Father would, I believe, wish for us to find SOME common ground—and love each other.
  17. Although some depend on pharmaceuticals for their existence for some reason or another, and while lowering the prices of prescription meds is a GOOD thing, pray that people would be healed and not NEED these meds and that they would not be dependent on them.  The whole pharmaceutical industry has become a giant entity that could control everyone who depends on it.
  18. Pray for the homeless, and pray that Father would reveal to each of us, someone who genuinely needs a hand out to help them back up.
  19. Pray for President Trump, for protection and good health for him and his family, for wisdom, knowledge, discernment, self control, courage, strength to lead our nation in spite of the opposition against truth and righteousness.
  20. Pray for the spiritual and political opposition, and that their eyes would be open to Truth that they might turn to Father and follow His ways.
  21. Pray for the general population, and that Father would pour His conviction out upon all and that we would all turn to Him in confession of sin, repentance, and obedience to Elohim.
  22. Pray that the conservatives of America would have the courage and strength to stand up and be active to the goal of protecting our southern border.
  23. Pray for the people who have so far been unable or unwilling to understand the sanctity of life from conception, so that they would reverse their thinking and remove unrighteous laws from the books that allow the murder of innocent babies.
  24. Pray for the people who honestly NEED asylum in America, and that they would be shown proper channels, so that our nation could be a help to those truly in need.
  25. Pray for those in charge of voter registration to accomplish a purge of illegal voters, so that our elections would be AMERICAN elections.
  26. Pray for victims of human trafficking, and that they would be found and returned and that this practice would be stopped.
  27. Pray for the leaders of “the church” who are whitewashing the Truth and deceiving their congregants.
  28. Pray that our Father’s will be accomplished in all things and that Yeshua would come soon.
  29. Prayer for Israel/Jerusalem, the land and the people.
  30. Prayer for those suffering during unseasonable cold weather conditions, especially the homeless and the poor.
  31. For those who are addicted whether to alcohol, drugs (both prescription AND street drugs) and pornography.
 

Blog Scripture Readings for 3-17 Through 3-23-19

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THIS WEEK’S SCRIPTURE READINGS FOR STUDY AND DISCUSSION:

Parashat Tzav — Leviticus 6:1 (6:8)* – 8:36
Haftarah — Jeremiah 7:21– 8:3; 9:22-23
Prophets — Isaiah 20:1 – 26:21
Writings — Proverbs 2:1 – 8:36
Testimony — John 14:1 – 18:40

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.

* Verse numbers in parenthesis refer to the verse number in Christian English Bibles when they differ from Hebrew Bibles or the Tanakh.

Weekly Blog Scripture Readings for 3/17/19 through 3/23/19.

 

Yeshua: What’s more important than Torah-law obedience?

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John 13:35, By this all will know. Love was to be the identifying mark of a disciple of Yeshua. The Bible defines love in several ways. We love Yeshua by keeping his (Torah) commands (John 14:15; 1 John 5:1–3). Yeshua defines the Torah as loving Elohim with all of our heart, soul mind and strength and loving our neighbor as ourself (Mark 12:28–31). Paul says that all the laws of Elohim can be summed up in love (Rom 13:8–10). Yeshua said that the greatest expression of love is to lay one’s life down for another as Yeshua did for us (1 John 3:16; 4:11). Without love, all the good—even religious works—we may do YHVH counts as nothing (1 Cor 13).

It’s important to note that most disciples of Yeshua (including Christians) believe this principle, but, sadly, when it comes down to reality, many fail to live out the identifying principles of love. How easy it is to view our religious works as the main identifying marks Continue reading →

 

The Two Broad Categories of Sin

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Leviticus 4:1–33, Atonement for unintentional sin. Listed in this chapter are the steps priests (verses 3–12), the people (verses 13–21) and the leaders (verses 22–26), or people of the land (verses 27–35) had to take to deal with sin. These four categories cover all people on earth: the priests, the Israelites, the leaders of Israel, and everyone else (all the Gentiles).

Yeshua’s blood atonements is sufficient to cover all humans. The steps to make atonement for unintentional sin prophetically point to Yeshua’s death as a sin offering for man. They include offering a young bull on the altar (i.e. Yeshua’s death on the cross), the sinner laying his hands on the bull (i.e. confession of one’s sins and transferring those sins to Yeshua), sprinkling the blood of the sacrifice before the veil of the holy of holies (i.e. a picture of Yeshua’s blood being presented before the throne of Elohim on man’s behalf), sprinkling blood on the altar of incense (i.e. Yeshua interceding on the sinner’s behalf Continue reading →

 

“You shall never wash my feet…”

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John 13:8, You will never wash. Peter rejected Yeshua’s washing his feet not because of human obstinateness, but because of his honor for Yeshua. Washing the feet of one’s guests was an act of hospitality on the part of a host and was usually performed by a servant, not the host. Peter considered it to be demeaning for the Master to be performing the task of a servant, yet this is exactly what Yeshua was attempting to demonstrate. As the Messiah, he came to lay down his life in loving service for his disciples and not to be served (Matt 20:28; John 10:15; 15:13). Yeshua then made the point that his disciples should following his example in serving one another (vv. 12–17).

John 13:14–15, You also ought to wash. Yeshua is giving a simple and clear command here for the saints to wash one another’s feet. How many Christian churches who claim to be followers and imitators of Yeshua actually wash each others’ feet? If Christian leaders in most churches are teaching their people to obey this command, now many other of Yeshua’s other commandments are they not teaching and obeying?