Category Archives: Scripture

Scripture Studies

Sabbath Walk in the Forest With My Bride—Reflections

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My wife, Sandi, and I took a walk down by the river this Shabbat afternoon. It was a beautiful day—mild for this time of the year, and after spending most of the day indoors  reading the Bible, writing, studying and praying, I needed to get out for some fresh air and to connect with the Creator through his creation. This is part Elohim’s the river of life I need to get into regularly. It’s part of my personal “God bubble” in which I live. Please enjoy.  Natan

I like photography and I love my iPhone because I can snap quality pictures wherever I go. Every day in our haste, we simply walk by beautiful pictures. One has to have an eye and a love for  beauty as one is walking down the path of life. All around us are beautiful scenes waiting to be seen and appreciated. They are opportunities to stop and pray, to reflect and to worship Elohim. Let’s work hard not to miss these opportunities.  We must learn to extract the precious from the mundane, and sometimes even from the vile. May YHVH, give us the eyes and heart to find the beauty and blessing in everything and everyone around us, and use it as a trigger to move into praise and worship of him for it.

Even a rotton log has its own beauty with the peeling bark, moss and vines growing on it and the  dead leaves. This log has value. In its death, it provides life-giving nutrition for the next generation of plants and animals. It will eventually become precious topsoil out of which everything grows. Life comes out of death. Death of loved ones, death of dreams, death of innocence,  death of hopes, death of finances, death of health or death of relationships. When one door closes, another door opens taking us into new vistas, experiences, opportunities and possibilities. May Yah, help us to wrap our brain around this reality and to embrace life-giving death with these things in mind.

There is a river of life out there. We have to find it. When we do, the light of YHVH’s Presence will shine on it encouraging us and guiding us into his perfect will for our lives.

Follow the path of life that leads to the light of truth. Yeshua is the Light of the world and the Sun of righteousness. Yah, help us to follow the Lamb of Elohim wherever he goes.

YHVH has not called the great and mighty people of this world, but the ordinary, foolish ones that he will use  to confound the wise for his glory. May we be such a people that he can use.

Like these trees that are wading out into the river, we too must get into YHVH’s river of life. The psalmist says that a wise man plants himself next to the river like a tree from which it gains nourishment. But sometimes, like Ezekiel, we have to actually get into that river—even get in over our heads. That’s called passion and zeal.

It’s good to feel small. It keeps life in perspective—that we’re not as great or as big as we think we are. Maybe then YHVH can actually use us for big things—for his divine plans and purposes.

 

How well does the guy up front really know his Bible?

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Just because someone plops himself into a church pulpit, takes some ecclesiastical title and puts on a religious costume doesn’t mean they knows the Bible very well!

Just because a person stands in a pulpit, leads a church, has a ministry, is on television, or has a website or a YouTube channel doesn’t mean they know the Bible very well. There are many people who have a deeper and broader knowledge of the word of Elohim who no one has ever heard of. Maybe you’re such a person!

Luke 13:15, Hypocrite. Yeshua was able to defend his actions and contradict the leader of the synagogue because he knew the Torah better that religious leader.

This teaches us two things. First, just because one is a church leader doesn’t mean they know the Torah or the rest of the word of Elohim very well. Paul taught the “whole counsel of Elohim,” including the Torah. How many Bible teachers do that in our day? In fact, the New Testament as we know it didn’t even exist in Paul’s day; all they had was the Old Testament from which to teach. Many of today’s Bible teachers know religious tradition and doctrines of men better than the actual word of Elohim. Or if they know the Bible, they know only parts of it (like the New Testament), and know very little or anything about the Old Testament or Tanakh and the Torah.

Second, as a minister of the word of Elohim, one will need to defend it against those who are false teachers and who teach the doctrines of men that make of non-effect the Word of Elohim. To be able to do this, the Bible teacher must study and know YHVH’s word intimately down to the most minute details and better so than one’s opponents. On this score, Yeshua was preeminent, and was able to leave his accusers speechless and without rebuttals. As his disciples, we must endeavor to imitate his example.

 

Heaven’s Curtain Pulled Back

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Luke 13:12, Woman…spirit of infirmity. Sometimes Yeshua healed people who neither asked for it, nor evidenced faith to be healed simply that the glory of YHVH might be manifested.

From time to time, we hear of miraculous healings and divine interventions that saved people’s lives occurring for no apparent reason.

It seems that occasionally YHVH likes to stir the spiritual pot of human affairs just to draw men’s attention to him. He pulls back the curtain between heaven and earth a bit to reveal himself to humans. This not only brings glory to his name, but serves to raise men’s hopes a bit by pointing them to the fact that there is an Elohim who is sovereignly and who is orchestrating things behind the scenes and who cares about humans.

 

The Biblical Calendar 101

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Exodus 12:2, Month. It is the Hebrew word chodesh (Strong’s H2320/TWOT 613b) meaning “the new moon, month, monthly, the first day of the month, the lunar month.” It is found in the Tanakh (Old Testament) 276 times and is translated in the King James Version as “month” 254 times, “new moon” (20 times), and “monthly” (1 time). We see that from these definitions that the terms “month” and “new moon” are synonymous. It has been understood for millennia that ancient Israelites began their month with the new moon.

Why was it important for the Israelites to know when the new moon occurred and when the month began? The dates of the annual biblical festivals that YHVH gave to Israel and instructed them to observe were determined based on when the new moon occurred (Lev 23:5, 6, 24, 27, 34).

The next question to answer is this: when does the biblical month begin? As we noted above, for modern astronomers the term “new moon” means something different than it did to the ancients, including those who YHVH inspired to write the Bible. Ancient calendars were determined by the moon, while modern ones are not. Some biblical expositors teach that the new moon begins when the moon is in conjunction or in line with the earth and the sun and is in its dark phase. Others believe that the month begins just after the moon has moved out of its dark phase and begins to show a sliver of light, which is called the visible or crescent new moon. Who is right?

Some Bible teachers claim that there is no place in the Scriptures that specifically states that the new moon begins at the first visible sliver after being dark for several days. Therefore, they reason, it is an assumption to say that it does (even though, as we will see below, this was the understanding of the ancient Israelites), and therefore, the new moon Continue reading →

 

The Lake of Fire—A Spiritual Garbage Dump for Unrepentant Sinners

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Luke 12:5, Killed…cast into hell [Gehenna]. There are two deaths: a physical and a spiritual death. All humans will die a physical death (Heb 9:27), but not everyone will die a second or spiritual death. This death is reserved for the unregenerate wicked and is called the lake of fire (Rev 20:12–15).

The Hinnom Valley (Gr. Gehenna) on the west side of Jerusalem was a Hebrew metaphor for the fate of the wicked. The Jews used this valley as a refuse dump, and it was there that the bodies of dead animals and criminals were burned.

Literally, at the white throne judgment after having judged the unregenerate wicked, YHVH will cast them into his spiritual garbage dump to be burned up (Rev 20:11–15).

If you’re reading this and you haven’t repented of your sins and accepted Yeshua the Messiah’s (Jesus Christ’s) free gift of salvation, now is the time to do it. After having done this, or you want to know how to do this, we invite you to read https://www.hoshanarabbah.org/pdfs/choose.pdf and then https://www.hoshanarabbah.org/pdfs/r-u-savd.pdf. 

 

Christian Teacher Gets Fired for Her Pro-Bible Facebook Post

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In too many of our public educational institutions, anti-Christian and anti-Biblical speech along with expressing every perverse and ribald idea under the sun is permissible. At the same time,  exercising one’s freedom of speech in favor of biblical truth and values is not.

What’s wrong with this picture? Simply this. The devil and his gang have never been fair, and they hate the truth of Elohim. They’re evil, hypocritical liars who are intent on killing, stealing and destroying. Though they loudly beat the drum of civil  rights, they could care less about human rights such as freedom of speech.

Bottom line? They hate Elohim, his ways and his people, and will stop at nothing to trample on the rights of others to further their demonic agenda. To these devil-loving, atheistic secular humanists, the ends always justify the means. Period.

Yeshua said,

Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. (John 8:44)

The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. (John 10:10)

Bravo for this Christian teacher for standing up for truth and for exercising her right of free speech. May YHVH deliver her from the hands of her enemies!

Who will rise up for me against the evildoers? or who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity? (Ps 94:16)

From https://www.christianpost.com/news/nj-gives-christian-teacher-3-year-suspension-after-facebook-post-on-homosexuality-213108/

NJ Gives Christian Teacher 3-Year Suspension After Facebook Post on Homosexuality

By Samuel Smith , CP Reporter |
(SCREENSHOT: CBS2) Jeyne Viki Knox (left) and her husband Gene Knox (right)

A Christian teacher in New Jersey is now serving a three-year suspension of her teaching certificates all because she posted critical remarks about homosexuality on social media.

Jeyne Viki Knox, a 56-year-old long time special educator and faculty adviser to the Bible club at Union High School, has come to an agreement with the state’s Department of Education on a proposal to have her three teaching certificates revoked for a period of three years.

Knox, who is an ordained minister, has held certificates for elementary school, nursery school and handicapped teaching since 1990, according to the Associated Press.

Knox’s troubles began in October 2011 when she took to Facebook to criticize a display at the high school honoring LGBT history month.

According to NJ.com, Knox participated in a back-and-forth with other Facebook users in which she reportedly called homosexuality a “perverted spirit” that also “breeds like cancer.”

“Why parade your unnatural immoral behaviors before the rest of us?” Knox was quoted as writing on Facebook. “I DO NOT HAVE TO TOLERATE ANYTHING OTHERS WISH TO DO. I DO HAVE TO LOVE AND SPEAK AND DO WHAT’S RIGHT!”

Knox was placed on administrative leave and about three months afterwards, the Union Township Board of Education filed a tenure case against her. Knox resigned from her position in 2012.

According to NJ.com, Knox’s agreement with the New Jersey Department of Education comes after she appealed the department’s decision to revoke her certificates to the New Jersey Office of Administrative Law. After filing an appeal against the department of education’s decision, Knox submitted the proposal to have her certificates suspended for only three years.

The agreement between the New Jersey Department of Education and Knox was officially approved by the New Jersey Board of Examiners on Dec. 8, NJ.com reported on Sunday.

Knox filed a lawsuit in 2013 against the Union Township Board of Education on grounds that her religious freedom rights and free speech were violated by the school board’s actions against her in response to her Facebook posts. Knox was seeking reinstatement and backpay.

A settlement was reached in the lawsuit in September, NJ.com notes. However, very few details about the settlement have been made publicly available.

Demetrios Stratis, an attorney representing Knox, said that the settlement includes a confidentiality agreement.

“These Facebook posts that she made were done on her time, at her home, after school hours, on her home computer, and it was addressing a matter that could arguably be of big societal concerns,” Stratis told NJ.com.

Although LGBT activists called on the school board to take action against Knox for her Facebook posts, even representatives of the American Civil Liberties Union defended Knox’s right to free speech.

“Although we do not agree with the sentiments expressed on Ms. Knox’s personal Facebook page, her comments are protected by the First Amendment,” Ed Barocas, the legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey, told NJ.com in 2011. “The ACLU believes that the response to offensive speech is not the restriction of speech, but more speech.”

Knox is not the only teacher in New Jersey who has faced backlash for posting what others have deemed to be “anti-LGBT” comments online.

In 2015, Patricia Jannuzzi, a religion teacher at the Roman Catholic Immaculata High School in Somerville, New Jersey, was suspended by the school in March 2015 after she posted about her opposition to same-sex marriage and ranted about the LGBT agenda.

However, Jannuzi was later reinstated in April 2015.

 

Speaking in Tongues Vs. a Demonic Spirit

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Luke 11:13, Good gifts…. Some people are concerned that when they received the baptism of the Spirit of Elohim (Set-Apart Spirit or Ruach haKadosh) in a their church, they may have received an evil counterfeit spirit instead. I asked myself this same question some 20 years ago when I first learned about the demonic Hindu kundalini spirit. YHVH was gracious enough to give me the answer to the question at that time, and I have been going strong and operating in the gifts of his Spirit ever since without fear.

Remember this. Satan has counterfeited nearly everything that is biblical in his demonic false religions including the gifts of the Set-Apart Spirit. Because of this, some people have walked away from the gifts of the Spirit and have taken what’s called a cessationist viewpoint in that they believe the gifts of the Spirit are no longer for us today. This is a reactionary view that is not supported scripturally. It’s a spiritual cop-out. I used to believe this until I got so hungry for more of Yeshua and so sick of dead religion that as I was crying out for him one night while worshipping and praising Yeshua, he baptized me in his Ruach about three decades ago. I was in my living room when this glorious experience happened and had never been in a Spirit-filled (Pentecostal or Charismatic) church in my lift up to that point.

Yeshua told us to judge with righteous judgment to determine if something is good or bad (John 7:24). How do we do this? By examining the fruits of something (Matt 7:15–20). Do they line up with the Word of Elohim? When operating in the gifts of the Spirit including the gift of speaking in tongues, what are the fruits? Are they the fruit of the Spirit as outlined in Gal 5:22–25 and not the works of the flesh (Gal 5:19–21)? Does it bring you closer to Yeshua? Does it result in praise, worship and the glorification of Elohim? Does it edify and build us up in our spirit man? Does it promote holiness and righteousness? If yes, then this it is a good thing. If not, then it’s from another source. Satan isn’t going to give us anything that expands the kingdom of Elohim at his expense and promotes our spiritual well-being before YHVH.

Twenty years ago YHVH told me that if I loved Yeshua by walking faithfully in his Torah commandments that this would keep me on the straight and narrow path and that I wouldn’t be deceived or led into some spiritual counterfeit. You see, Torah is both a fence and a guardrail. It’s a fence that protects us by keeping the spiritual predators out, but it’s also a guardrail that keep us on the road of life and prevents us from going off the edge and over the cliff spiritually.

I suspect that some in the church world have picked up a kundalini spirit not because they were seeking Yeshua with all their hearts, but because they were seeking an experience. This is idolatry. When we seek anything other than Yeshua, especially supernatural experiences, we’ll get it, for sure, but it won’t be from the Ruach! When, on the other hand, we’re seeking Yeshua with all our heart to love and serve him as it says in Luke 11:9-13, he won’t give us a serpent or a stone (i.e. demonic counterfeit), but will give us good gifts. You can trust YHVH on this!!!!