Category Archives: Scripture

Scripture Studies

Blog Scripture Readings for 5-13 Through 5-19-18

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THIS WEEK’S SCRIPTURE READINGS FOR STUDY AND DISCUSSION:

Parashat B’midbar — Numbers 1:1 – 4:20
Haftarah — Hosea 2:1 (1:10) – 2:22 (20)*
Prophets — Jeremiah 17:1 – 23:40
Writings — Song of Songs 5:1 – 8:14; Ruth 1:1 – 3:18
Testimony — 1 Peter 5; 2 Peter 1:1 – 3:18; 1 John 1:1 – 3:24

Our annual Scripture Reading Schedule for 2017-2018 is available to download and print.

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 5/13/18 through 5/19/18. This week is the sixth week of seven complete weeks of the count of the omer.

 

A Second Chance?

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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 didn’t go 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. Perhaps these are the ones Yeshua declared would be least in his kingdom (Matt 5:19).

Was Paul making reference to this 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, 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?

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.

 

The Spirits in Prison and Its Relationship to Baptism

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1 Peter 3:19–22, Preached to the spirits in prison. Did Yeshua preach to the spirits in prison while he was dead? No. Verse 18 states that Yeshua was put to death, was then quickened or made alive by the Spirit (i.e. was resurrected from the grave), and then, in the spirit, he went to preach to the spirits in prison. From the context of this passage, we learn that Yeshua preached to the angelic spirits who rebelled in Noah’s time after he was resurrected from the dead. In this place of restraint, which Peter refers to as tartaroo (2 Pet 2:4 cp. Jude 6) and which in the ancient near east world referred to a subterranean or underworld prison, these evil spirits await Elohim’s final judgment (Jude 6).

Likely, Yeshua went there to inform these evil spirits that despite his resurrections and offering of salvation for human sinners, there is no redemption for these fallen demonic spirits because of the evil deeds they committed as recorded in Gen 6:2–4. Interestingly, the ancient Book of 1 Enoch gives us some additional background information that these same demons appealed their sentence in times past, but to no avail (1 Enoch 6:4; 13:12–3; 14:4–5). 

This passage in First Peter ends in verse 22 with Yeshua taking his position victoriously at the right hand of Elohim above angels, principalities and powers. In other words, Yeshua has overcome all the rebellious plans and machinations of Satan and his evil demonic spirits to subvert Elohim’s plan of redemption for man. The end result of YHVH’s plan of salvation for man will be the glorification and exaltation of man at Yeshua’s second coming to a position above the angelic realm (Heb 2:6–7 cp. 1 Cor 6:3), which is something that Satan attempted to prevent through his attempted subversion of the human race and the thwarting of Elohim’s plan of salvation of man as recorded in Gen 6:2–4. By Yeshua’s resurrection and his victory over sin, death, hell, the grave and Satan, he has defeated all the enemy’s plans. Through our acceptance of and identification with Yeshua’s death, burial and resurrection through the spiritual ritual of baptism for the remission of sins (1 Pet 3:21), we have access to this glorious victory over evil and the potential to become the glorified children of Elohim (John 1:12; Rom 8:14–15; 23; 9:4; 2 Cor 6:18; Gal 4:5–6; Eph 1:5; 1 John 3:1–2; Rev 21:7).

Prison. (Gr. phulake) There are no instances in the Bible of disobedient human souls being placed in an other-worldly prison (Gr. phulake). On the other hand, Satan is bound in a prison (Gr. phulake) for a thousand years during the millennium (Rev 20:7). 

1 Peter 3:19, Baptism. This passage is equating baptism with a pledge of loyalty to the risen Savior. In the cosmic struggle between good and evil, between Satan and Elohim as specifically noted in the larger context of this passage as regards the sins of the angelic “sons of Elohim” in Gen 6:2, baptism is the public oath a new believer takes in favor of Elohim and against Satan. This is why the baptism ritual in the early Christian church included a renunciation of Satan (and his minions) and involved literally turning one’s back on the setting sun and facing the rising sun. This wasn’t an act of sun worship, but an acknowledgement of Yeshua, the Creator of the sun who is the Sun of Righteousness (Mal 4:2) and whose face shines like the sun (Rev 1:16) and who is the spiritual light of the world (John 8:12; 1:1–9), and who came to dispel the spiritual darkness (John 1:1–9) introduced into this world by Satan at the tree of knowledge (Gen 3) and by those angels that rebelled against Elohim and attempted to corrupt humanity both physically and spiritually (Gen 6:1–6; Jude 6; 2 Pet 2:4).

 

What is divine judgment and how does it affects YOU?

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Leviticus 26:1–46, Blessing and curses based on obedience to YHVH’s Torah-Word. The corollary to this passage is Deuteronomy chapter 28. These judgments come upon a people who have forgotten their Elohim because they have been blessed materially and in their self-sufficiency have forgotten who is the source of their blessings. The Torah continually stresses that blessings are contingent upon obedience to YHVH. Similarly, Yeshua reveals that rewards in his everlasting kingdom are also contingent on obedience to his Torah-laws. The greater the obedience, the greater the reward (Matt 5:17).These principles are universal, yet how we tend to forget the cycles of history that repeat themselves over and over again like the unstoppable turning of giant millstone grinding into powder those who refuse to learn the lessons from the past. Each generation proudly asserts it’s exceptionalism and that, somehow, it’s immune to YHVH’s inexorable and immutable principles of divine judgment. Only in the perfect hindsight of history can we see the fallacy of this assumption. Ancient Israel failed to learn these lessons as have subsequent people who claimed to follow the Bible.

In the case of America, and Great Britain before her (and other formerly Christian nations as well), there was in former times a national consciousness of core biblical values and, to one degree or another, a general public acknowledgement, acceptance of and respect for the Elohim of the Bible. However, as a nation becomes blessed, it reaches an apogee of prominence, power and wealth where it becomes rich and increased with goods and no longer needs Elohim—or so it thinks. It become fat and forgets the source of its wealth and falls into a state of self-sufficiency leading to spiritual blindness in that it fails to recognize its true spiritual state (recall YHVH’s warning to a lukewarm church in Rev 3:14–22). This can happen to individuals, churches and to whole societies.

Because YHVH loves his people and wants to walk among them, to be their Elohim and to bless them (Lev 26:12), when they disobey him and walk in ways that are harmful to their well-being, like any loving parent, he is forced to discipline them. Again and again he sends them his prophets and watchmen to warn them that they’re on a path of self-destruction. But because of pride, they refuse to humble themselves and repent (Lev 26:40–41). It’s the same old story over and over again. Human pride insists that “judgments can’t happen to us because we’re so special.” “All things will continue as they have from the beginning and no evil shall befall us” a self-assured society and individual retorts in mocking and scoffing tones to all those who would hold them accountable for their errant ways (2 Pet 3:3–7). If only the great people, nations and empires that have already trodden this well-worn path and are now in the dust bin of history could speak from their graves and this generation had heart ears to hear!

As a loving Father, YHVH doesn’t lower the gavel of full disciplinary judgments immediately upon his wayward children. He increases the dosage incrementally in hopes that each successive ratcheting down of his judgments will bring a spiritually apostate individuals and nations to a point of humility, confession of their iniquity (or Torahlessness, Lev 26:40) and to repentance and submission and obedience to his blessed commandments. In this chapter, YHVH reveals four sets of judgments with each one becoming seven times more severe than the previous one (Lev 26:18, 21, 24, 28). This reminds us of YHVH’s end-times judgments upon a rebellious world that has given itself over to devil worship just prior to the return of Yeshua as prophesied in the book of Revelation. In that book, there are seven seals, seven trumpets, seven thunders and, finally, seven bowl judgments. 

What can you do? You may not be able to change society, but a societal change begins one step and one life at a time; it starts with your life! That’s the only thing for certain that you can change. You know what needs to be done. Just listen to your conscience—to YHVH’s Spirit knocking at the door of your heart (Rev 3:20), and then repent and obey. It’s that simple.

Some Thoughts on Divine Judgment

By dictionary definition, judgment is “a decision of a court or judge; a misfortune or calamity viewed as a divine punishment.”

The Bible speaks a lot about judgment. When we read about the subject of Continue reading →

 

New Video: How to Resist and Overcome Lust

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Like a giant multi-tentacled octopus, our society is full of influences attempting to lure us into lust and its attendant sins. How does the righteous saint live in society, but not succumb to all of the ungodly and ultimately damning sinful lustful temptations that assault a person everyday from every direction?

In this second video, we discuss how to use biblical strategies to successfully fight and overcome lust and all its attendant sins.

 

New Video: There Is More to Lust Than Meets the Eyes

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In our modern society, lustful and covetous temptations are bombarding us from many directions everyday in the things we see, hear and watch other people do. This includes lust for money, power, possessions, fame, good looks, knowledge, pleasure, etc., etc. But there is more to lust than meets the eyes.

Biblically, lust is much more than mental illicit sex. It has to do with strong and destructive passions that can lead to a host of other sins such as coveting, thefts, sinful imaginations, foul language, murder, mental and physical sexual sins, which all, in turn, lead to guilt and shame.

In the first video video, we identify the problem, which is half the battle to overcoming it and gaining the victory. In the second video, we discuss biblical strategies to resisting and overcoming lust.