Category Archives: Scripture

Scripture Studies

Woe to the Urbanization of Men and His Enslavement in Babylon!

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Genesis 1:28, Dominion over the fish…birds…[the land animals]. Elohim gave man dominion over the animals. Elohim, however, never, however, gave man the authority to take dominion over other people, which is what Cain, Nimrod and their descendants did when they started cities, states and kingdoms.

YHVH’s government is patriarchal and tribal in nature and is built on the foundation of the family, which is something the devil and his servants have been attacking from time immemorial.

Yeshua echoes this same divine prohibition of man ruling other men in Matt 20:25–26 where he tells his disciples that the Gentiles rule each other through oppression, but that was not how the kingdom of Elohim was to operate. Government was to be based on servant-leadership.

Elohim created man to work the land and to live free, and he designed humans to be more or less self-sufficient and to help each other in loving service to one another when and where needed. The Scriptures decry and even pronounce woe upon those who form urban communities as they “join house to house,” so that people no longer “dwell alone in the midst of the land” on ten acre farms (Isa 5:8–10).

Men’s cities and the hierarchial Babylonian system of government they require to operate is opposed to Elohim’s system of family farms and patriarchal servant-leadership. This is because the urbanization of men results in the collectivization of humans by other humans ostensibly for the purpose of making life easier, but in reality, it enslave them to oppressive human-led governmental systems where humans are forced to look to human leaders for their sustenance and for handouts instead of relying on the Creator. This bondage is forcibly financed through legalized extortion called taxation, and enforced through draconian government regulations that control nearly every aspect of a person’s life.

This transferral from a rural to an urban-based society model not only reduces man’s freedom and self-sufficiency as he becomes increasingly dependent on government for his sustenance, but it also tends to facilitate spiritual apostasy, the breakdown of the family and the stratification or splitting apart of society. In other words, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer, class distinctions occur, which further divide and separate people causing racism and prejudice as men slide downward morally and spiritually away from Elohim. The family on the micro and macro levels fall apart and disintegrate.

Moreover, such a system promotes institutionalized religious systems and personally enriches those who are at the pinnacle of those systems. Out of this false, non-biblical system, religious construction projects such as temples, cathedrals and educational institutions abound allegedly to enhance the worship of Elohim, but in reality, they’re usually monuments, not unlike the ziggurat Tower of Babel, of men’s achievements as men are attempting to reach Elohim through their own humanistic efforts and turn themselves into their own self-promoting and self-adulating demigods. Elohim doesn’t require the construction of such projects for men to have a personal, spiritual relationship with him, as Paul states in his epistle to the Romans, which is a rephrasing of a passage from Deut 30, “But the righteousness of faith speaks in this way, ‘Do not say in your heart, “Who will ascend into heaven?’’’ (that is, to bring Messiah down from above) or,”, “Who will descend into the abyss?”’ (that is, to bring Messiah up from the dead). But what does it say? ‘The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart’ (that is, the word of faith which we preach)” (Rom 30:6–8). The construction of denominations and buildings are primarily for the benefit of the ruling elite who have found a way to insert themselves as middlemen between man and his Creator largely for the purposes of money and power.

All of these things are a result of the man’s move from a rural to an urban living environment and taking dominion over one another instead of stewarding the earth and its animals and serving one another in love as Elohim originally instructed him to do.

 

Who are the gods of Psalm 82:1 and how does it relates to you?

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Psalms 82:1, Elohim stands…the gods. This is a reference to Elohim acting as the Supreme Judge among his divine, heavenly council that carries out his orders. This is more than the traditional “Godhead,” and includes angelic and spirit beings, and even Satan himself. From time to time, Elohim gathers his council together as we see in Job (Job 1:6; 2:1). Even lying spirits are subject to and do the bidding of Elohim who presides over this council also referred to as the host of heaven (1 Kgs 22:19–23). Some of “Us” passages in the Scriptures, which have typically been attributed to the “Godhead,” likely also refer to this divine counsel (e.g. Gen 11:7; Ezek 44:6). This has been the view of ancient Jewish sages as well.

Modern biblical theologians have traditionally taken a non-supernaturalistic view of this passage by saying that the gods here refer to human rulers. While elohim may by definition and biblical usage refer to human rulers, this passage can’t be limited to this definition alone, since verse seven refers to these gods/elohim as “dying like men” as a result of Elohim’s divine judgment on them because of their wickedness. This threat makes little or no sense if it is referring only to human rulers. For the record, Yeshua quotes verse six in reference to human rulers (John 10:34; 14:30; 16:11), so this passage should not be taken to refer only to Elohim’s divine counsel or just to human rulers, but probably to both. This is because behind human rulers are evil spirits or principalities that govern the nations (Dan 10:20; Eph 6:12; Rev 13:2) all under the aegis of Satan who has his own kingdom (Matt 12:26) and is presently the ruler of this world (John 12:31); however, all of this is under the ultimate authority of YHVH Elohim.

The idea that there were and are unseen evil spirits and demi-gods that behind the scenes rule the nations of the world is revealed in the book of Enoch and is also found in traditional ancient Mesopotamian historical accounts and forms the basis for the ancient Greek mythos.

Additionally, we learn from Genesis chapter ten (the Table of the Nations) that, at that time, there were seventy nations of the world that rebelled against YHVH at the Tower of Babel (Gen 11). Interestingly, Jacob had 70 descendants who went down to Egypt (Exod 1:5) and who become children of Israel. From them, Moses chose 70 elders to rule over Israel (Exod 24:1), which would eventually became the Great Sanhedrin that ruled the Jewish people. YHVH then commissioned Israel to evangelize the apostate nations by being a spiritual light to them (Deut 4:5–8)—a task they utterly failed to perform. Picking up where ancient Israel failed in its mission, Yeshua chose 70 disciples not only to replace the Jewish Sanhedrin in spiritual authority over the people of Elohim, but to go forth and to preach the gospel to the 70 nations (Luke 10:1–12, 17; Acts 1:8 cp. Matt 28:18–20) that had been lost to the kingdom of Satan at the Tower of Babel, thereby to reclaim the world for the kingdom of Elohim at the devil’s expense.

Eventually, the glorified saints will become the sons of Elohim and will be adopted into his divine family as small E elohim (John 1:12; 1 John 3:1; Gal 3:26; Rom 8:14; Eph 1:5) to rule and reign with Elohim (Rev 1:6; 5:10; 20:6) over the new heavens and new earth, all to Satan’s chagrin and the small E elohim rulers in his present-day earthly kingdom, who will be cast into the lake of fire at the end of the age (Rev 20:10).

For those who have put their faith in Yeshua and who daily serve, love and obey him, get ready! Prepare for your spiritual destiny. Now is the time to gird up your spiritual loins and to prepare for the great and final showdown between Yeshua our soon-coming Messiah and Satan, the god of this world, where good will triumph over evil for the final time!

 

Blog Scripture Readings for 7-9 Through 7-15-17

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THIS WEEK’S SCRIPTURE READINGS FOR STUDY AND DISCUSSION:

Parashat Pinchas — Numbers 25:10 – 30:1 (29:40)*
Haftarah — 1 Kings 18:46 – 19:21 | Jeremiah 1:1 – 2:3**
Prophets — Ezekiel 9:1 – 16:63
Writings — Daniel 10:1 – 12:13; Ezra 1:1 – 4:24
Testimony — 1 Corinthians 16:1-24; 2 Corinthians 1:1 – 6:18

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.

** A different Haftarah is read when it is a special sabbath in Jewish tradition. This week it is the Shabbat occurring after 17 Tamm*z (Tzom Tamm*z) on the traditional calendar, so Jeremiah 1:1 – 2:3 is read. Otherwise, 1 Kings 18:46 – 19:21 would be read. We have included both readings here.

Weekly Blog Scripture Readings for 7/9/17 through 7/15/17.

 

1 Corinthians and Head Coverings—What Is Paul Really Saying Here?

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1 Corinthians 11:1–16, On head coverings for men and women. In Hebraic biblical culture, it was common for a married (or betrothed) woman to wear a veil or head covering to indicate that she was taken sexually or belonged to a man, even as a wedding ring now publicly telegraphs this idea.

At the same time, the Bible nowhere forbids men from wearing hats. It was common in biblical times for men and women to wear head coverings to protect themselves from the weather, since many of their activities occurred outdoors. In fact, the Torah commands the Levites to wear head coverings (like turbans) while ministering in the tabernacle. The Levitical priesthood no longer exists, and the Melchizedek priesthood is now in operational and includes both male and female saints, so the Levitical dress requirements are no longer applicable. Whether a man wears a head covering now while ministering is a matter of personal choice, for the Bible neither commands or prohibits it. So why does Paul instruct women to wear a head covering while ministering?

Similarly, the Bible nowhere prohibits men from having long hair.  If this were true, then the Nazirites with the Torah-prescribed long hair would have been in violation of Elohim’s laws.

To properly understand Paul’s comments in this passage, we must understand some cultural and historical context. First, Corinth was an extremely libertine and licentious city sexually, since it housed a pagan temple dedicated to the goddess of fertility whose worship involved ritual or cultic prostitution and various sex acts. This was socially acceptable and even a social requirement, and a source of revenue for the temple. Second, the Torah and Hebraic biblical culture were very strict about maintaining the distinction between the genders. Any blurring of the lines was forbidden. This is why the Torah forbids crossdressing or one gender wearing the clothes pertaining to the other gender. These two contextual points must be considered when reading Paul’s instructions in this chapter. In other words, men were not to wear veils that covered their faces, while women were to either have long hair or to have head coverings as expressions of their feminity. A study of the Greek words in this chapter bear out this explanation.

With the cultural context in view, Paul was likely prescribing dictums for the Corinthians saints that would help to clearly maintain the distinctions between male and female in accordance with the Torah light and in light of the sexual immorality occurring in the city. For example, temple prostitutes would cross dress to snare people unwittingly into same sex liaisons.

There may be some other spiritual issues that Paul was addressing as well as Dr. Michael Heiser points out in his book, Reversing Hermon. There is historical evidence that the ancient Greek medical experts associated a woman’s hair with her genitalia and her ability to conceive children, and that her hair was viewed as the counterpart to a man’s testicles. At the same time, the Bible is very clear that genitalia is to be covered while one is ministering to Elohim (Exod 20:26; 28:42–43 cp. Isa 6:2), and bodily discharges that proceeded from that area of the human anatomy was considered unclean thus making one unacceptable to YHVH (Lev 15:2, 19; Ibid. page 133). Modesty and cleanliness were the operative issues here when coming into the presence of Elohim. As such, a woman wearing a head covering while engaged in ministry (praying and prophesying or preaching) in the congregation was an issue of modesty and propriety (Ibid. p 135). Heiser goes on to address the meaning of Paul’s curious statement in 1 Cor 11:10, that a woman’s head needs to be covered “because of the angels.” What on earth is Paul talking about here? What piece of information are we missing to help us to understand this enigmatic statement? Heiser explains,

Paul wanted women to have their heads covered as a sign that they were sexually taken, that they belonged to a man, their husbands. Why? Because of the angels. Apparently, Paul was concerned  that if women didn’t show this sign of sexual fidelity and “ownership,” a woman could be at risk of sexual violation by angels. After all, it happened before (Gen 6:1–4). Paul didn’t want to see such a violation of cosmic order happen again (Ibid. page 135).

Biblical author, Gary Wayne, in his book The Genesis 6 Conspiracy, approaches the issue of woman and head coverings from a slightly different angle, while at the same time keeping Heiser’s view in mind. He suggests that since in the context of women’s head coverings, Paul makes the point that the woman came from man and not man from woman (1 Cor 11:8–9), for this reason and because of the angels women need to have a sign of authority on her head (v. 10). “The New Testament is recognizing that without a seal of authority, women are fair game for angels, at least for the misguided fallen angels [or demons].” This was the opinion of the early church father Tertullianus (A.D. 160–230)  who instructed women  to wear veils not to entice the dark angels who loved women because of their beautiful hair (Ibid. p. 18). If this is correct, then a woman who wears a head covering will be less likely to suffer from spiritual demonic attacks that one who doesn’t.

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Blog Scripture Readings for 7-2 Through 7-8-17

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THIS WEEK’S SCRIPTURE READINGS FOR STUDY AND DISCUSSION:

Parashat Balak — Numbers 22:2 – 25:9
Haftarah — Micah 5:6 – 6:8
Prophets — Ezekiel 2:1 – 8:18
Writings — Daniel 3:1 – 9:27
Testimony — 1 Corinthians 11:1 – 15:58

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.

Weekly Blog Scripture Readings for 7/2/17 through 7/8/17.

 

From My Bible Commentary on Revelation 20, 21 and 22

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Shalom everyone!

In my as yet unpublished commentary on the whole Bible, I have about a thousand pages long commentary on the NT or Testimony of Yeshua alone. Parts and pieces of this I share from time to time on this blog.

For fun and, hopefully, to bless a few readers, I decided to share my commentary notes on Revelation chapters 20 to 22. These notes are unpublished and not formally edited, so if you find any typos, kindly let me know.

I hope this is a blessing to someone and will get you thinking a little! This ought to keep some of you going for awhile! 😉

Natan

Revelation 20

Revelation 20:1, Bottomless pit. (See notes at Deut 32:22; 2 Pet 2:4; Rev 9:1. Also see notes at Isa 14:18–21.)

Revelation 20:4, A thousand years. This is but one of six references in the Bible to the Millennium lasting for one thousand years. The other references are found in the surrounding verses (vv. 2, 3, 5, 6, 7). These are more than enough references to meet the biblical criteria of establishing a truth in the mouth of two or more witnesses. Even then, some biblical students still question the idea of the Millennium and categorize it as a NT concept only and, therefore, feel they can disregard it. This is a shame and shows naive ignorance with regard to the Word of Elohim. An understanding of the prophetic implications of the seventh day Sabbath should settle this discussion once for all. In Hebraic thought, the seven days of creation picture the time man will be on this physical earth. Six days (for six days or six thousand years) man does his own work, while on the seventh day (or one thousand years) he rests and fellowships with Elohim. This is a picture of the millennial rest, which the Jewish sages have long called the Messianic Era, which is to come. The Millennium is not uniquely a Christian or NT concept, but is rooted in Judaism going back before the Christian era. The writer of Hebrews makes reference to this in Heb 7 when he compares Joshua taking the Israelites into the Promised Land with Yeshua taking the saints into the Sabbath, millennial rest of our spiritual inheritance.

Revelation 20:5, The rest of the dead. This phrase is a parenthetical thought. Before and after this phrase, the author is discussing those who will be part of the first resurrection, which occurs at Yeshua’s second coming. Later in the same chapter, John goes on to discuss what happens to the rest of the dead (vv. 12–13).

Revelation 20:7–21:1, Events after the Millennium. The events in these verses appear to be chronological and occur after the Millennium. In Rev 20:2ff John seems to be receiving a f pre-millennial flashback vision. (See my discussion on these verses.)

Revelation 20:8, The four corners. These rebels who will inhabit the millennial earth have removed themselves as far as possible from Jerusalem, which is the seat of King Yeshua’s rule and the at the center of the earth.

Revelation 20:9, Fire came down from heaven. If the New Jerusalem, the seat of Continue reading →