Category Archives: Scripture

Scripture Studies

Shabbat Shalom Everyone…

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I’m still here, though I’m still not posting much presently. Am reading all comments and answering when needed.

This is the busy time of the year in my tree service business. Working about 10 to 12 hours  per day. Pretty tired when I get home. Not as young and energetic as I used to be, but still going strong.

Since retiring from pastoring, I’ve been on a sort of sabbatical from ministry. Trying to move into YHVH’s more perfect will for my life as I transition into the next phase of my life as almost an empty-nester and preparing for being grandparents in, hopefully, the not too distant future.

For the past 27 years that I’ve been in non-stop ministry, I’ve been primarily feeding others spiritually. In the last 17 years, I’ve written about 80 teaching articles (on our website), written and published two complete Torah commentaries in 54 lessons, published more than 2000 posts on this blog not including comments, and made nearly 400 videos on our YouTube channel. This teacher is now stepping back a bit to get refreshed and taught from the Teacher from above, so I can be part of helping to move the body of Yeshua forward spiritually to the next level. This takes time and patience—waiting on YHVH as the psalmist puts it.

The Messianic Hebrew roots movement has kind of stalled out spiritually. This is of great concern to me. I want to be part of the next move to help prepare the way for Yeshua’s return. So I’m trying to step back and listen to heaven.

As my busy work schedule permits, I’m doing a lot of reading and studying in the Word. I’m confident that good things will come out of it. I’ll share a little here and there on this blog as I am able.

Love and blessings in Yeshua to everyone!

Natan

 

Blog Scripture Readings for 6-25 Through 7-1-17

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THIS WEEK’S SCRIPTURE READINGS FOR STUDY AND DISCUSSION:

Parashat Chukat — Numbers 19:1 – 22:1
Haftarah — Judges 11:1-33
Prophets — Jeremiah 48:1 – 52:34; Ezekiel 1:1-28
Writings — Esther 6:1 – 10:3; Daniel 1:1 – 2:49
Testimony — 1 Corinthians 5:1 – 10:33

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 6/25/17 through 7/1/17.

 

Two Kinds of Peace: Know Yeshua and Know Peace—No Yeshua, No Peace

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In Isaiah 26:1–4 we read,

In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah: “We have a strong city; [Elohim] will appoint salvation [Heb. Yeshua] for walls and bulwarks. Open the gates, that the righteous nation which keeps the truth may enter in. You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You. Trust in YHVH forever, for in YAH, YHVH, is everlasting strength.

My commentary on verse 3:

Isaiah 26:3, Peace. Heb. shalom. This word is spelled in its undiminished form (shin, lamed, vav, mem sofit) here containing the Hebrew letter vav (as opposed to other places in the Hebrew Scriptures where shalom is spelled deffectively [shin, lamed, mem sofit] without the letter vav denoting an incomplete or human-originated peace).

This verse is referring to that deep and inner soul-quenching peace of Elohim that passes all understanding that comes through a relationship with Yeshua the Messiah (Phil 4:7)—the fruit of the Spirit, as opposed to human or earthly, temporal peace. This peace comes  because of our salvation through Yeshua, which is our spiritual bulwark and wall as stated in verse one. This is the same peace that Yeshua talked about when he said, “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid” (John 14:27).

If you don’t know this peace that calms the storms in your heart and mind, forgives sin, takes away all one’s shame and guilt and replaces it with love, joy, peace, hope and assurance of eternal life after you die, then now is the time to put your faith in Yeshua the Messiah, repent of your sins and love and obey him for the rest of your life.

 

Isaiah on the End Times New World Order Technocracy?!

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I was sitting on my back deck on this bright, warm and sunny Shabbat morning reading my Bible, while watching the birds and listening to the wind in the trees when I read this passage in Isaiah. My ears perked up and flashing lights went off in my spirit man. Several hours later, this popped out of my spiritual incubator. Maybe this message will resonate with a few of you. The rest of you can go back to sleep. — Natan

Isaiah 25:7, The surface of the covering. This is a cryptic passage. What does it mean? Other translations render it as follows:

And on this mountain He will swallow up the covering which is over all peoples, Even the veil which is stretched over all nations. (NAS)

On this mountain he will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations. (NIV)

And swallowed up hath He in this mountain The face of the wrapping that is wrapped over all the peoples, And of the covering that is spread over all the nations. (YLT)

Before YHVH establishes his millennial kingdom on earth, he will have to remove something evil that has been covering the earth and its people like a veil. Is this referring to the web of lies that Satan and his Luciferian stooges on earth have woven to control the minds of earth’s inhabitants, so that they could accomplish their nefarious schemes to enslave the human population spiritually, economically and politically? Or could it refer to an electromagnetic web put in place by the global power elite or something similar that covers the earth to enslave the human population for its evil purposes of power and control? Maybe it’s both. Whatever it is, Yeshua will destroy it at his second coming.

The context of this passage is millennial. Chapter 24 prophesies of Elohim’s impending judgment on the whole earth followed by his reigning from Mount Zion in Jerusalem (v. 23). Chapter 25 continues the same prophecy. In verse nine, we read that, “We have waited for him, and he will save us…We will be glad and rejoice in his salvation [Heb. Yeshua].” This is speaking of the second coming of Yeshua and the establishment of his millennial kingdom on earth after having destroyed the end times Babylon the Great New World Continue reading →

 

A Riddle: What is as bitter as wormwood and as sweet as honey at the same time?

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I got this email question the other day from Rick who teaches about the Tabernacle of Moses in his church. Allow me to share my answer with all of you. — Natan

While teaching on the offerings when I presented the “meal offering” I had a few questions. Since the meal offering was fine flour, green ears, frankincense, oil, or salt, I mentioned that there was not supposed to be any leaven or honey put on the sacrifice. Questions follow;

  1. Why couldn’t honey be put on the offering?
  2. I was also asked “no shedding of blood there is no remission of sin”? I think I know why this is, and that is, that this is a meal offering of fellowship and not for trespass or sin offering. Am I correct in my thinking?

I have looked for the answers to both these and can’t seem to find the answers to either. Can you help? I appreciate your answers to questions I have had so far and am thankful that I have someone that I can call on. I think I have as much curiosity about a deeper study as my class does. Any help, I would be grateful.

Honey is sweet  and delightful to the taste and such has nothing to do with the death or is not an attribute of Yeshua’s death. His atoning death for sin was not a sweet or delightful thing and is therefore not an apt symbolic prophetic representation of his horrific death on the cross! That’s why I believe it was a prohibited ingredient for the meal offering.
The meal or grain offering (it was like matzah) was part of the twice daily (olah-tamid) sacrifices and was baked on the altar of sacrifice, which represented Yeshua’s death on the cross. In fact, Yeshua was crucified during the evening sacrifice at about 3:30PM. The meal offering was also part of the fellowship or peace offering and didn’t represent Yeshua’s death per se. It was as barbecue among friends celebrating a reconciled relationship (now that our sins are forgiven and we’re redeemed and can come into the presence of YHVH in right relationship). Thus, the meal offering was part of both both the expiatory and fellowship aspects of the sacrificial system. Why is that? This is because there are two aspects to Yeshua’s death on the cross: the blood/wine and his body/the bread—which are the communion elements we take during the Passover seder meal as per Yeshua’s command. First, our sins are  remitted by his shed blood, not by his  broken body. His blood is for atonement of sin—it paid the legal debt of our sin. His body, on the other hand, was for our healing (“by his stripes we are healed”). Now that our sin debt has been paid, we can be healed by his life flowing through us unhindered by sin. His body also resurrected. Bread is the staff of life. Our sins are washed away by his blood, but his body or His Word brings us life and resurrection once redemption has occurred. This is why the meal offering was part of the sacrificial and fellowship offerings. It speaks not to redemption, but to life in Yeshua now that we’re redeemed. This is what the communion elements represent. Together, they speak both to the idea of redemption from sin and new life as a result. HalleluYah!
Answer to the riddle: The death and resurrection of Yeshua the Messiah!
 

On Bodily Emissions and Tithing

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Here is an email question I just received from a saint in England who is doing his best to follow the Torah. He had some questions about ritual cleanliness and tithing. Here is my answer to to him. — Natan
Regrading Leviticus 15 and laws concerning bodily discharges, it is all about good hygiene and cleanliness.
Women now have feminine hygiene products that keep their blood flow contained, so that it doesn’t come into contact with anyone else, so, in my estimation, this fulfills the Lev 15 requirements pertaining to that subject. If men become unclean because of a nocturnal emission, they now have quick access to showers with which to clean themselves. I don’t see that ritual uncleanness is any longer the main issue that it was in the days of the tabernacle and temple. These institutions no longer exist, therefore, we can’t fulfill these same requirements in the way there were at that time. Now we are the temple of the Spirit of Elohim who lives in us continually  because of our spiritual rebirth, cleansing of our sins by Yeshua’s blood and our continual relationship with him.
The Bible in many places instructs us to be holy or set-apart as Elohim is, and that without holiness no one will see him. What is holiness? it is acting holy as Elohim is. It is following the example of Yeshua about living cleanly—especially spiritually. This mostly has to do with the heart and mind as Yeshua teaches in Matt 15:1–20. There he instructs his disciples and us about worrying less about eating with unwashed hands and more about the filth that come out of our mouths through unholy words. That is not to say that we aren’t to be concerned about physical cleanliness. The Torah has a lot to say about this when it comes to disease detection, treatment and prevention, diet, washing and cleanliness and burying bodily waste for example. The phrase “cleanliness is next to godliness” may not be in the Bible, but it’s a biblical concept.
Overall, however, the Bible focuses more on inner spiritual cleanliness than outward, but we need to follow both the letter and the spirit of the law in this regard as best we can as Yeshua clearly teachings throughout his Sermon on the Mount teaching (Matt 5–7). We will be blessed in all respects in this life and the next life if we do.
With regard to tithing, I have a written teaching on that subject, which you can access at https://www.hoshanarabbah.org/pdfs/tithing.pdf.
In brief, tithing as per the Torah was largely an institution that depended on the Levitical priesthood and tabernacle/temple system and was agriculturally based, since Israel was an agricultural nation. The Torah teaches that there are three tithes: a feast tithe which the person set aside to finance his trips to keep YHVH’s feasts, the tithe that went to support the Levitical priesthood and the tithe to help the poor and needy. However, the Bible also teaches that giving one-tenth of our income to YHVH or his servants who are doing his spiritual work on this earth is a principle that predates the Levitical and temple systems. Therefore, I believe that tithing is a universal and eternal principle that all the saints should practice. The apostles, while not addressing the tithing principle directly, do speak of supporting the poor and of giving to the ministry who feeds them spiritually.
I personally have practiced tithing all my life, and YHVH has blessed and sustained me because of it. For me, giving him a tenth of my income is a form of worshipping him and I would never think of withholding this from him because it’s his. After all, considering all the blessings he has given to me freely (life, food, air water, this earth, his Son, his truth, family, good health, eternal life, etc.), how can I not love and honor him in every way possible?
 

Blog Scripture Readings for 6-18 Through 6-24-17

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THIS WEEK’S SCRIPTURE READINGS FOR STUDY AND DISCUSSION:

Parashat Korach — Numbers 16:1 – 18:32
Haftarah — 1 Samuel 11:14 – 12:22 | Numbers 28:9-15; Isaiah 66:1-24**
Prophets — Jeremiah 40:1 – 47:7
Writings — Ecclesiastes 11:1 – 12:14; Esther 1:1 – 5:14
Testimony — Romans 14:1 – 16:27; 1 Corinthians 1:1 – 4:21

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.

** A different Haftarah is read when it is a special sabbath in Jewish tradition. This week it is Shabbat Rosh Chodesh on the traditional calendar, reading in Numbers and Isaiah. Otherwise, the haftarah in 1 Samuel 11:14 – 12:22 would be read. We have included all readings here.

Weekly Blog Scripture Readings for 6/18/17 through 6/24/17.