Category Archives: Scripture

Scripture Studies

Kundalini Spirit Vs. the Set-Apart (Holy) Spirit

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Several people have written me expressing concern about whether they received a kundalini spirit when they received the baptism of the Spirit in their church years ago, instead of the genuine gifts of the Spirit as outlined in 1 Cor 12. Here is my answer to this important question.   Natan

This is a good question and the very same one I asked myself some 20 years ago when I first learned about the 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 the 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 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 that  one night while worshipping and praising Yeshua, he baptized me in his Ruach 27 years ago. I was in my living room when it 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 (John 7:24). How do we do this? By examining the fruits (Matt 7:15–20) of our actions and insuring that everything lines 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!!!!

For more on the kundalini spirit and what Yeshua and the Bible has to say about it, go to https://hoshanarabbah.org/blog/2019/11/17/from-the-mail-bag-did-yeshua-encourage-his-disciples-and-us-to-receive-a-kundalini-spirit/.

 

Binding and Loosing Vs. Forgiving (Remitting) Sins

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Matthew 16:17–19, Bind…loose. Here, Yeshua clearly gave the authority of the Sanhedrin (the ruling body of Jewish leaders in Yeshua’s day) over to his disciples. No longer do we need to look to the authority of the Jewish leaders for determining how to obey YHVH, or for making rulings pertaining to religious service.

First of all, there is no Sanhedrin today to tell us these things.

Secondly, in Matthew 16:17–19, Yeshua clearly transferred to his apostles—the church leaders of that time—the authority of the Jewish Sanhedrin (and its subsequent rabbinical authority or “Jewish legal tradition”) to make binding ruling and decisions about spiritual matters pertaining to his kahal (congregation or church).

This authority would include making determinations about the biblical calendars.

No longer, does the kahal (church) of Yeshua have to wait for a Jewish Sanhedrin to form to tell them how to follow the Word of Elohim with regard to the biblical calendar or any other subjects for that matter. Yeshua here permits and empowers the spiritual leaders of the saints to simply teach and do what the Bible says, and heaven will honor or endorse their decisions (called “binding” and “loosing” or “forbidding” and “permitting”)! That’s what Yeshua says in Matthew 16:19, and this is exactly what his apostolic leaders did in Acts 15 at the first apostolic counsel.

John 20:23, If you forgive the sins [NKJV] or Whose soever sins ye remit [KJV]. Forgive is the Greek word aphiemi, which has a wide range of meanings including “to send away, to permit, allow, not to hinder, to give up a thing to a person, to leave, go way from one, to let go, let alone, let be, to disregard, to leave, not to discuss now, to omit, neglect.” Of the 146 times this word occurs in the NT, in the KJV aphiemi is translated as “forgive” 47 times (as in forgiving sins; e.g., Matt 6:12, 14; 9:2, 5, 6; 12:31; 18:12; Rom 4:7; Jas 5:12; 1 John 1:9; 2:11, etc.). The KJV also translates this word as “leave” (52 times), “suffer” (meaning “allow, let or permit”, 14 times), “let” (8 times), “forsake” (6 times), “let alone” (6 times).

What would be the purpose of remitting someone’s past sins (assuming that one has the authority to do so)? By asking heaven’s court to forgive a person’s sins, this could possible open the doorway to salvation to them by lessoning the burden of sin and the guilt, shame, hopelessness, depression and fear that comes with sin. With these burdens removed by which the forces of darkness keep them imprisoned to their sin, they might actually come to see the light of Yeshua and be set free and come to salvation.

The Greek word for forgive (aphiemi ) in John 20:23 is different than the Greek word translated as “to loose”  (deo; e.g., Matt 16:19; 18:18) as in “binding and loosing,” or in Matt 12:29 as in “binding the strong man” when casting a demon out of someone.

Similar to the binding and loosing scriptures (Matt 16:19 and 18:18), in John 20:23, Yeshua is giving his disciples judicial authority to declare a person innocent or guilty (i.e. bound or loosed) of the charges made against him by someone else. This seems to go hand-in-hand with Yeshua giving his apostolic disciples the keys of the kingdom (Matt 16:19) as his spiritual authorities and representatives on earth to make decisions with regard to legal scriptural matters and to render legal decision in church matters. Moreover, Yeshua also gave his disciples authority  and power over demonic forces and Elohim’s enemies (Luke 9:1; 10:19), including over sickness and disease (Mark 16:17–18).

Loose as used in the Matt 16:19 and Matt 18:18 is the Greek word deo meaning “to bind tie, fasten, to bind, fasten with chains, to throw into chains, being bound by Satan or his demons, put under obligation of the law, to be bound to one, a wife, a husband, to forbid, prohibit, declare to be illicit.” The counterpart to binding is loosing, which is the Greek word luo meaning “to loose any person (or thing) tied or fastened, to loose one bound (i.e. to unbind, release from bonds, set free), to loosen, undo, dissolve, anything bound, tied, or compacted together.

The concept of  binding and loosing was also a first century Jewish colloquial expressions relating to correctly or incorrectly interpreting the Torah. If the Jewish legal scholars believed that a person was incorrectly interpreting the meaning of a Torah law or one of the traditions of the elders, they accused him of breaking or loosening (luo) the law or making it less binding or less strict (deo). This was the case when Yeshua picked some grain to eat on the Sabbath in John 5:18.  The NKJV and most English translations of this verse incorrectly state that “he broke the Sabbath.” This is a misleading, faulty and unfortunate translation of the Greek word luo. It is unthinkable and unscriptural that the perfect Yeshua actually sinned by violating the fourth commandment. In reality, he loosened the Jewish extra-biblical legal restrictions that forbad anyone from picking a handful of grain on the Sabbath to eat—something the Torah doesn’t consider work (as opposed to harvesting a field of grain), and thus doesn’t forbid. Luo in this sense may possibly be read into Matt 5:19, John 7:23, and 10:35 as well.

 

Battling a Kundalini or Serpent Spirit in a Loved One

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I just got a email from a bereaved wife whose husband has come under the kundalini spirit.  He was a believer in Yeshua, even following the Torah, to one degree or another, but has now turned to Eastern, new-age and Hindu practices including trying to awaken the kundalini (or coiled snake) spirit in himself through Hindu practice (such as meditation and breathing exercises) in order to experience spiritual enlightenment. The wife pleaded for advice on what to do. She is a Messianic, Torah-believing saint and is at wit’s end on what to do. Below was my response to her. Perhaps this will help someone who is in a similar situation. I would also appreciate any thoughts and insights (based on the Scriptures) some of you may have who have dealt with this demon spirit.  Natan
The kundalini or serpent spirit (in Greek, puthon or python;  see Acts 16:16) is a demon or fallen spirit that is trying to inhabit a human body. It goes back to the worship of Baal in Canaan and the religion of the nephilim. That’s another discussion. Elohim was so opposed to Baal worship that he instructed the Israelites to perform genocide on the Baal worshipers in the Promised Land. This is a very rebellious, wicked and perverse spirit.
I suspect that spiritual doorways were opened sometime in the past for this evil spirit to come into your husband, and he either never really repented of them or never knew about them. They can hide undetected for a long time and become “a familiar spirit,” since they meld in with the person’s personality.
This evil spirit could have been generationally passed on down due to ancestral sin, or his own sins (dabbling in the occult, etc. when young), or it could have been picked up somewhere along the way in his Pentecostal church experience. Now I’m not against the Pentecostal or Charismatic movements in the church. I spent time there and was greatly blessed. I was baptized in the Spirit in my living room in 1990 and then received a fuller immersion in the Spirit at a Foursquare church in 1992. I was in several P. and C. churches between ’92 and ’98 and experienced a lot—including the good, the bad and the ugly. For example, some of the things  going on in Toronto in the early to mid-‘90s was very new age. Same with the so-called revivals in Florida a little later. I was in some meetings where men were trying to “make things happen” instead of letting the Spirit lead along biblical lines. This is very dangerous and can lead to spiritual witchcraft. I even saw videos of Copeland and Hagen come under some sort of bizarre spirit and they both slide out of their chairs like snakes and with their tongues doing the snake thing. Do I need to mention the bizarre and demonic manifestations at some Todd Bently meetings? I could go on. My research shows that the focus of these meetings was more on manifestations and not on the genuine work of the Ruach including repentance, holiness/righteousness, and obedience to Yeshua and his commands. Perhaps you husband picked something up in that arena.
Whatever the case, your husband is under the great delusion of lying spirits.
The kundalini spirit or any other evil spirit is difficult to deal with, since we don’t have the authority to go against a person’s will; i.e., if they want the spirit in them it makes it difficult to cast it out. We can cast it out against their will in Yeshua’s name by the Spirit, but it will only come back in stronger later, since the person didn’t fill the spiritual void left in them when the demon was cast out with Yeshua (Matt 12:25–30 and 43–45; Luke 11:14–26).
This is where prayer and fasting come in—to determine the will and battle strategies of Elohim on how to combat this evil in your spouse.
When praying, cover your prayers in the blood of Yeshua (Rev 12:11), so the enemy won’t hear the plans, and thus be able to mount a defense against them.
Do intercessionary repentance for your husband as Daniel and Nehemiah did for the Jews. YHVH heard and answered them. Pray that YHVH will give him the gift of repentance. Pray and do spiritual warfare against the lying and deluding spirits that are deceiving him.
Also, you can remit his past sins as Yeshua gave his disciples (and us) the authority to do in John 20:22. What is the purpose of this? As I understand it, we can remit the past sins of someone so that their sins are no longer holding the person down such that they can’t even help themselves spiritually since they are so burdened down due to guilt, shame, fear, rejection, bitterness, anger, unforgiveness, delusion or whatever. This will potentially enable them to be able to see the true reality of their situation and come to repentance and faith in Yeshua.
As I study the Scriptures on spiritual warfare, I see Yeshua and the disciples only openly rebuking demonic spirits that are actually manifesting at that moment. Everything else was done by prayer in the name of Yeshua, not on the battlefield, but before the throne of Elohim through Yeshua our Great High Priest there in heaven’s courtroom. The reason I mention this is that I see many spiritual warfare advocates literally shouting and yelling at the devi, which isn’t a scriptural thing to dol. Where is this in the Bible? Yes, when on the battlefield, and when confronting a demon, Yeshua gave us the authority over all of Satan’s powers (Luke 9:1; 10:19; Mark 16:17). But when not actually on the battlefield, but in prayer, we must go to the the courtroom of heaven and appeal to the Father as the Righteous Judge through Yeshua, our Advocate or spiritual attorney or Great High Priest. These distinctions and perimeters are important to know, so that we follow heaven’s protocols thus insuring greater success in our battles against the evil one.
Finally, despite all of our best efforts, if the person we’re interceding for and spiritually warring over does not want to leave their sin, repent and turn to Yeshua, there is little or nothing we can do, since they have free will to make their choices including rejecting Yeshua and following Satan/Baal straight into the lake of fire. That being said, we need to pray for ourselves, so that we will know what to do. If it’s a spouse, Yah will either give us the his strength and grace to endure the situation, or, if it gets too bad so that person becomes abusive and begins to persecute us, it may be necessary to depart the marriuage for good. These are all difficult choices that must be made through much prayer, fasting and seeking the will, the heart and the leading of the Father through his Set-Apart Spirit.

 

Blog Scripture Readings for 9-10 Through 9-16-17

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THIS WEEK’S SCRIPTURE READINGS FOR STUDY AND DISCUSSION:

Parashat Nitzavim-Vayelekh — Deuteronomy 29:9 (10)* – 31:30
Haftarah — Isaiah 61:10 – 63:69
Prophets — Jonah 3:1 – 4:11; Micah 1:1 – 6:16
Writings — 2 Chronicles 9:1 – 15:19
Testimony — Hebrews 8:1 – 13:25; Revelation 1:1-20

Our full Scripture Reading Schedule for 2016-2017 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 9/10/17 through 9/16/17.

 

Is Yeshua “the only begotten” or “the one of kind, unique” Son of Elohim?

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John 1:14, Only begotten [Gr. monogenes]. The Greek word monogenes means “unique, one of a kind” and not “only begotten” as is commonly translated in most of our English Bibles. The NIV and ESV translations more correctly substitutes the phrase “only begotten” found in this verse and in John 3:16 (along with John 1:18 and 1 John 4:9) with the word only.

Why is this latter translation a better though not a perfect one? This is because Greek scholars originally thought that monogenes was derived from two Greek words: mono (only) and genao (to beget, to bear). Greek scholars have now discovered that monogenes actually derives not from genao, but from genos meaning “one of a kind or class” and therefore means “unique, the one and only, the one and only of a family” (The Unseen Realm, pp. 36–37, by Michael S. Heiser; see also The Complete Word Dictionary pp. 995–996, by Spiros Zodhiates).

Clearly the Bible teaches that YHVH has other sons (e.g. the divine sons of Elohim or beney Elohim [e.g. see Gen 6:2, 4; Job 1:6; 2:1; 38:7]), so Yeshua is not literally the only begotten son of Elohim according to Scripture. But he is the unique Son of Elohim of which there is no other like him. He is without peer and in a class of his own, and as Elohim (John 1:1), he is above and superior to all the other sons of Elohim.

So give him the praise, glory, honor and worship he is due!

 

What did Yeshua mean when he said, “You are elohim/gods”?

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John 10:34, You are gods. Yeshua is here quoting Ps 82:6 where the term elohim in Hebraic thought and as used biblically simply refers to all divine beings whether good (e.g. Elohim, his heavenly council and angels) to evil (e.g. Satan, evil spirits and demons).

Elohim can also refer to human (righteous) judges, who are acting on behalf of Elohim on this earth making righteous judgment between humans (e.g. Exod 21:6; 22:8–9). Yeshua gave this same authority to his apostles (or church leaders) to adjudicate between the saints and to make ecclesiastical decisions as did the Jewish Sanhedrin of old, and he promised that as Elohim’s agents on earth, he would honor their decisions (e.g. Matt 16:19; 18:18–20).

In this passage, Yeshua is clearly stating that the Jews in his audience were divine beings.

What did he mean by this?

The verse here doesn’t indicate that those in his audience were Jewish judges or members of the ruling elite. He was speaking generically to a group of lay people to whom the word of Elohim had been given (v. 35), which is why they were at that time in Jerusalem on the temple mount observing the Feast of Dedication of the temple or Hanukkah (John 10:22–23).

In making this statement, Yeshua is most likely referring to the potential that spiritually enlightened humans, who have received the word of Elohim, have for becoming glorified sons of Elohim some day (i.e. at the resurrection) if they believe in him (John 1:12).

Whatever Yeshua means, he is clearly stating that those humans (to whom the word of Elohim was given, v. 35) possess some divine element, to one degree or another, that qualifies them to be included under the rubric of elohim. Whether he is thinking of the term elohim vis-à-vis humans in present or future prophetic terms is not clear from this passage. He simply states as a fact that “You are elohim” (if you have been given the word of Elohim).

 

Why Don’t We Follow Rabbinic Tradition?

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Today, in the comments section of this blog, I received an excellent question that many people have who are returning to the Hebraic roots of our faith. It is this: Why don’t we follow rabbinic Jewish oral tradition that purports to help us to understand the Written Torah of Elohim? Here’s my answer:

This is an excellent question and thanks for giving me the opportunity to address this issue. Many folks coming to the Hebraic roots of the Christian faith stumble have the same question. They figure that, since the Christian church purports to be antiTorah and since the Jews purport to be proTorah, we need to follow the Jews, since, ostensibly, they have been faithful to the Torah for all these millennia and we can learn from them and need to follow their example. On the surface, this seems like a reasonable proposition. The problem is that as one digs below the surface veneer and gets to the truth of the matter, neither of these propositions is correct. In fact, the Jews have veered from the Torah as much as the Christians by their non-biblical traditions. Perhaps, in fact, the Christians are better off than the Jews. At least they have the basic gospel message, and they, while claiming to be antiTorah actually follow much of the Torah (which they call the moral law). They just stumble over the dietary laws, the Sabbath and the biblical feasts and a few other minor Torah laws. These are the facts.

Now to your question about why we don’t follow rabbinic tradition lock, stock and barrel, or hook, line and sinker, as they say. Please give me chapter and verse in Scripture that states that Yeshua affirmed ALL Jewish tradition? On the contrary, he told the Jewish leaders of his day, “By your traditions, you make of no effect the Word of Elohim” (Mark 7:6–13; Matt 15:3–9), and then in Matt 5 he goes on to elaborate and condemn certain traditions of the elders that had in fact done this. Moreover, Paul was a Pharisee of the Pharisees at the highest level and was trained by Gamaliel, the grandson of Hillel the Great, yet Paul counted it all as dung (Phil 3:8). Moreover, the Jewish leadership of the first century who purported, as you suggest, to have the truth that we need to follow, told the disciples to stop preaching the gospel in the name of Yeshua, which they refused to do (Acts 6:33–42). This begs the question: Why should we follow those who hate Yeshua? Moreover, Yeshua commanded us to call no man “rabbi” (Hebrew meaning: “my great one”) except himself (Matt 23:8), which the modern Jews do in complete contempt and defiance of Yeshua the Messiah. Go study the life of “Rabbi” Akiba, the father and inventor of modern rabbinic Judaism, and his hatred for the Christians and all the unbiblical laws and anti-Christian rabbinic laws he invented and incorporated into modern rabbinic Judaism that persist to this day just to spite the Christians and the gospel message. Moreover, Yeshua condemned the antecedents to the modern rabbinic Jews nine times in Matt 23 for their ungodly, unscriptural traditions. Moreover, Paul and the apostles were vigorously fighting the non-biblical Jewish oral law or tradition that states that a Gentile male can’t be saved or brought into covenants of Israel unless they are first circumcised. The Acts 15 council and the whole book of Galatians addresses this non-biblical heresy—one that the rabbinic Jews still uphold to this day. Paul shows the fallacy of this teaching in Romans 4 and Galatians. Should I go on?

This is what we have to do. Take off our theological glasses that cause us to view the Bible through this or that tradition of men (be it Christian or Jewish). I’m not against men’s tradition per se. In fact, sometimes they can be helpful in helping us to understand the more vague areas of Scripture. What I am against is anything that diminishes or contravenes the written truth or word of Elohim as expressed in his written words, and there is plenty of each in both Christian and Rabbinic tradition.

If I’m going to submit myself to rabbinic oral tradition, then I may as well go back to the Roman Catholic Church and subscribe to all of their traditions. At least they have the basic gospel message, which is more than the Rabbinic Jews have. I have more chances of coming to faith in Yeshua in the Catholic Church, at least, than in Rabbinic Judaism.

Now there are some Jewish oral traditions that are very helpful, such as the various elements of the Passover seder that are above and beyond the four basic requirements specified in the Torah. In Yeshua’s last supper, for example, several of the things he did were pure Jewish tradition. They all pointed to him, even though the Jews of the day didn’t realize these specific traditions pertaining to the seder were prophetic and pointed to the Messiah. Bottom line? If a Jewish oral tradition doesn’t violate Scripture, points us to Messiah and helps us to grow in our faith and to fulfill better the commands of Elohim and in the process brings us into a closer walk with Elohim and Yeshua, then consider incorporating it into your life. If not, dispense with it.

As we go through life, every day we have to make judgments about what is right and wrong, true and false, and what we should or should not do. Every day, we’re using our skills of discernment to make judgments between good and evil, and then deciding what to think and do. It’s called “eating the fish and spitting out the bones.” We make these decisions based on our values, ethics and beliefs. When it comes to religious tradition, we must do the same by using the word of Elohim as the sole determining factor. Yeshua called this judging righteously (John 7:24). The problem is that most people don’t know the word of Elohim that well, so they rely on the traditions of men as a crutch to help them in this process. This is not only dangerous (you might end up believing an error), but it is wrong and can lead to apostasy! It’s time to roll up our sleeves and find out what the word of Elohim says. This is what will judge us in the last days at Yeshua’s second coming (e.g. Matt 5:19), and NOT the traditions of men, be they Christian or Jewish.

In conclusion, I have a lot of respect for the Jewish sages. I have studied them and have their writings in my library, and at times have quoted them extensively. The same is true of some of our esteemed Christian scholars and theologians. But as I get older and more mature in the word of Elohim, I find myself relying less and less on what men have to say about the Scriptures and more and more on the Scriptures themselves as led by the Spirit of Elohim who will lead us into all truth, as Yeshua said. Let’s all grow up and become those who feed on the meat of YHVH’s word instead of the milk as Paul told the Corinthians.