What was the orignal, first-century apostolic faith gospel message that Yeshua preached and his apostles preached? How does this compare with what Paul called “another gospel,” eartickling message that was being preached, and was “bewitching” the foolish or stupid believers of his day? Is the same thing happening in our day as some Bible teachers are no longer preching a gospel-centered message, but eartickling teachings often for financial gain?
Parashat B’midbar — Numbers 1:1– 4:20
Haftarah — Hos 2:1 (1:10)* – 2:22 (20)*
Prophets — Jeremiah 31:1 – 37:21
Writings — Song of Songs 6:1 – 8:14; Ruth 1:1 – 4:22
Testimony — Jude; Romans 1:1 – 5:21
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 6/5 through 6/11/16.
A marriage of cosmic proportions is about to take place between Yeshua the Messiah and his saints who keep his commandments, have the testimony or faith of Yeshua, who are washed in his blood and follow him (the Lamb) wherever he goes. This ministry is dedicated to helping to prepare you (the bride) for Yeshua (the Bridegroom). The Song of Solomon is a poetic and romantic picture of this wedding process.
Maybe this will give you a different, more Hebraic, perspective on the Song of Solomon—the most romantic book in the Bible.
The Three Main Phases to the Jewish Wedding and the Biblical Feasts
1) Betrothal (Shitre Erusin) – Passover, Unleavened Bread and Pentecost
2) Consummation and the Wedding Feast (Nesuim) – The Feast of Trumpets, Day of Atonement and Feast of Tabernacles
3) Together for Eternity (Olam Haba) – The Eighth Day picturing the New Jerusalem
The Three Main Phases and Sub-Phases of the Wedding in the Song of Solomon
Song 1:1–3:5 — The Betrothal Phase (Erusin)
a) The Ketubah. The young man prepares a marriage contract or covenant which he presents to the young woman and her father called a ketubah (writing). This is a formal written document which stipulates the terms of the proposal he is making.
b) The Bride’s Price or Mohar. This is the price the young man is willing to pay the father for the father’s permission for the young man to marry his daughter.
c) The Cup of Acceptance. If the marriage contract and the bride’s price are acceptable to the father, the young man would pour a cup of wine for his intended and would hold it out to her. If she would accept it and drink it then this would be her acceptance of his proposal. The bridegroom would then prepare for the joyous occasion of the upcoming marriage by bringing gifts for his beloved which would be tokens of his love for her. After the young man left to return to his father’s home, the bride would begin to prepare herself for the upcoming marriage ceremony. She would start with a ceremonial cleansing (or mikveh) whereby she would purify herself in preparation for her husband. At this point the young couple were betrothed.
The Preparation Phase
a) The groom would go to prepare a place for her. Though the couple was legally bound in marriage they would not cohabit. The groom would return to his father’s house and begin to prepare a wedding (honeymoon) chamber for his wife. This process would take up to a year or more. Only when the father of the groom would approve that the chamber was ready would the groom be released to get his bride.
b) The bride would make herself ready. While the groom was preparing a place for his bride, she would be busy preparing herself by making herself beautiful. When the young bride would leave the house she would wear a veil to show that she was “spoken for” and that she was no longer available since she was “bought with a price”. She was consecrated to her bridegroom.
Song 3:6–6:1 — The Reunion Phase
a) Upon receiving word from the father the wedding chamber was complete, the groom would steal away to fetch his bride. She would not know the day or the hour of his coming, so she had to be continually ready for his arrival. She had to be ready at a moment’s notice. She and her bridesmaids had to make sure they had plenty of oil in their lamps in case he came at night.
b) Coming for the bride. The coming of the groom would be a surprise to the bride. He would come accompanied by his two groomsmen (or two witnesses). When the wedding party would get close to the bride’s house they would give a shout and blow the ram’s horn (shofar) to let the bride know they were coming. They would charge right into the house and carry off the bride and bridesmaids.
Song 3:6–8:4 — The Wedding Phase or Nuptials (Nesuim)
c) The wedding party would arrive at the groom’s father’s house where the newlyweds would enter the wedding chamber and consummate the marriage and honeymoon for seven days. This established their covenant union. During intercourse, blood is spilled proving that the bride was a virgin.
The Celebration Phase
The celebration would last for seven days while the newlyweds are in celebrating their honeymoon. Following this would be the marriage supper which is given in honor of the newlyweds.
Song 8:5–14 — Eternity Together (Olam Haba)
The newly married couple begins life together.
Please enjoy!
Divine judgment is not a popular topic, and few Bible teaches discuss it because it disturbs the status quo of what people think about themselves. However, for those who are true followers of YHVH Elohim, who are serious students of the Scriptures, and who are intent on pursuing biblical standards of holiness and righteousness, this subject must not be avoided.
The dictionary definition of judgment: “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 judgment in the Bible, it usually pertains to the “other guy”: someone in the past, or someone in the future, or someone that we consider to be more sinful than we are. The problem is that our pride prevents us from thinking that it is something that could happen to us.
Judgment is nothing more than suffering the consequences of our actions. It’s simply a function of the law of cause and effect. If you jump off of a building, you’ll suffer the consequences of your actions when you hit the ground. Similarly, when we break YHVH’s commandments, we will suffer the consequences. It’s a matter of degrees. To the degree that we obey his commandments, we’ll reap the blessings of obedience. Conversely, to the degree we disobey them, we’ll reap the negative consequences (Lev 26:3ff cp. 14ff). For most of us, our actions with regard to obedience to YHVH’s laws are a mixture of both good and evil, so we’re reaping both blessings and curses at the same time.
As a result of coming out of the mainstream church, most of us have been so indoctrinated with the concept of YHVH’s love and grace, that we have a skewed view of his judgments. Few preachers ever talks about divine judgment. Add to this the fable of the pre-tribulation raptures, and the idea of divine judgment is shoved further into the back of many believers’ minds. If a preacher does talk about divine judgment, they’re often accused of being judgmental, and this accusation, whether accurate or not, tends to shut down the conversation on the subject of divine judgment. No one wants to talk about it since it messes with people’s false view of an Elohim that is so loving and gracious that he would never judge anyone for anything. Any discussion of the subject of divine judgment also forces people to face the reality of their own sinfulness and wickedness and the fact that they deserve Elohim’s judgments for their disobedience.
Beyond this, most of us have contrived a our own personal theology whereby we excuse and justify ourselves to maintain the comfort zones of our sin. Our hearts become hardened as we justify our sin, and we often excuse our own sinfulness by comparing Continue reading
What religious system on earth today fits the biblical definition of the spirit of antichrist? There is only one you will see from the brief study below.
1 John 2:18, The Antichrist. Other biblical references that many Christians scholars believe allude to the end times Antichrist figure include:
Many antichrists. How does John define the spirit of antichrist? From 1 John 2:18–19, 22; 4:3; 2 John 7 we learn that the Antichrist and all spirits of antichrist have come out of the first century apostolic faith of the Jewish Christian community. From these passages we also learn that the spirit of antichrist denies that Yeshua is the Messiah (Savior and Redeemer of man), denies that Yeshua is part of the “Godhead,” that he is deity and is the Son of Elohim, and denies the incarnation of Yeshua. This is how the Bible defines the spirit of antichrist.
What should be our reaction when we encounter this demonic spirit of antichrist? The wise counsel of John in his second epistle sums up our firm conviction on this matter.
Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Messiah does not have Elohim. He who abides in the doctrine of Messiah has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this doctrine, do not receive him into your house nor greet him; for he who greets him shares in his evil deeds. (2 John 9–11)
What additionally can we learn about the person of the Antichrist and the spirit of antichrist from the four passages where antichrist is mentioned in John’s epistles?
From 1 John 2:18–19, 22; 4:3; 2 John 7 we learn that the Antichrist and all spirits of antichrist have come out of the first century apostolic faith of the Jewish Christian community. This eliminates some of the world’s large religions (e.g., Hinduism, Buddhism) as being contenders for the end times religious system of the Antichrist. That leaves pagan Christianity and Islam. From these passages we also learn that the spirit of antichrist denies that Yeshua is the Messiah (Savior and Redeemer of man), denies that Yeshua is part of the “Godhead,” is deity and is the Son of Elohim, and denies the incarnation of Yeshua. Only Islam adheres to these beliefs.
The only religion on earth today that strictly fits the biblical definition of the religion of antichrist is Islam.
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 the source of their blessings is, and that their blessings are contingent upon obedience to YHVH. 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 nations who claimed to follow the Bible.
In the case of America, and Great Britain before her (and other Christian nations as well), there was in former times a national consciousness of core biblical values and, to one degree or another, a public acknowledgement, acceptance of and respect for the God 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 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 their hearts are uncircumcised, they refuse to humble Continue reading