Category Archives: Scripture

Scripture Studies

What Is the Biblical Definition of Legalism?

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A Wild and Crazy Place to Be

The spiritual Babylon of the church system is a warm and comfortable place in which to live. Within its comfort zones, it has fixed boundaries and clear delineations.

I want you

When one steps out of the mainstream church system, however, and into a more Hebraic and Torah-pursuant spiritual orientation, it can becomes the shooting gallery of the wild, wild west of doctrines and ideas. It’s a free-for-all wilderness of every man doing what’s right in his own eyes. In this wilderness outside of organized religion, one has to determine what beliefs to hold on to and which ones are lies and unbiblical traditions our spiritual fathers have passed on down to us. Here one must learn to separate the spiritual wheat from the chaff.

As one’s eyes are opened to the pro-Torah Hebrew roots of the Christian faith, there are many new ideas and doctrines to consider. When coming to a fuller knowledge of the truth, one must determine priorities without falling prey to more false doctrines and legalism. What biblical truths are the trunk of the tree issues, and which areas the twigs and the branches?

In the midst of this confusion, there are many winds of doctrines blowing Continue reading →

 

Blog Scripture Reading for 10-18 Through 10-24-15

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THIS WEEK’S SCRIPTURE READINGS FOR STUDY AND DISCUSSION:

Parashat Lekh L’kha — Genesis 12:1 – 17:27
Haftarah — Isaiah 40:27 – 41:16
Prophets — Joshua 15:1 – 21:45
Writings — Psalms 15:1 – 20:9
Testimony — Matthew 10:27 – 13:58

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 10/18 through 10/24/15.

 

New Video: What Are the Pagan Roots of Anti-Torah Church Theology? Pt 1

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How did the mainstream church come to believe that the law of Moses (or the Torah) was done away with?Anti-Torah theology in the Christian church goes back a long way largely to the influence of a heretic in the second century. In this video, learn how this church theologian helped to separate the early church from its pro-Torah Hebraice roots and how his influences are as strong as ever in the modern church.

 

New Video: The 8 Stages of Exiting Spiritual Babylon

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“Come out of her my people,” is the cry of a loving Elohim to his people to exit spiritual Babylonian religious systems. Coming out of unbiblical and manmade spiritual pardigms can be daunting. Where do you go? Who do you trust? This video will be a like a flashlight in a pitch dark, unfamiliar room, for it will help you to navigate the tortuous and perilous waters back to the original faith of Yeshua’s apostles, and back to the pure truth of YHVH Elohim as taught by Yeshua and his disciples all in preparation for being the chaste bride of Yeshua at his second coming.

 

Who Are the Lost Sheep of the House of Israel?

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Matthew 10:6, Lost sheep of the house of Israel. The phrase the house of Israel has several different possible meanings depending on the context of the surrounding verses in which it is found. The phrase the house of Israel is used 146 times in the Scriptures. Prior to the division of the united kingdom after the death of Solomon, this phrase referred to all twelve tribes of Israel. Afterwards (during the time of the prophets), it was used in contradistinction to the phrase “house of Judah” in reference to the Northern Kingdom.

herd of white sheep

In the Testimony of Yeshua, Yeshua makes reference to the “lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Matt 10:6; 15:54). Elsewhere in the Testimony of Yeshua this term refers to all twelve tribes of Israel (Acts 2:36; 7:42; Heb 8:10), and in some references it refers to just the Northern Kingdom (Heb 8:8). The context of the passage of scripture surrounding this phrase determines its meaning.

Although this phrase can include all the tribes of Israel and not just the Jews who were largely from the tribe of Judah, in Matthew 10:6, Yeshua seems to equate the lost sheep of the house of Israel with the Jews who were living in the land of Israel in his day, and not to the rest of the Israelite tribes who were at that time scattered among the Gentile nations. It was Yeshua’s priority to take the gospel message first to the Jews in Jerusalem and Judea, and then to the rest of the world, and he expected his disciples to follow this same pattern (Acts 1:8).

In the larger sense, the Scriptures reveal that all of YHVH’s people have been like sheep that have gone astray spiritually, every man to his own way, because of sin (Isa 53:6). So in the broadest sense, this phrase refers to all the tribes of Israel including Gentiles with which they have mixed themselves through intermarriage.

Eventually, the gospel message is for everyone universally. Yeshua demonstrated this when, on several occasions, he ministered to non-Jewish Gentiles including preaching the gospel message to the Samaritan woman in John chapter four. 

 

The Hebraisms of Light Versus Darkness in Yeshua’s Saying

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Matthew 8:12, Children/Sons of the kingdom. This is a Hebraism or biblical metaphor for the Jewish people. They are the ones who were first presented with the gospel message, but most of them rejected it. The sons of the kingdom will be cast into outer darkness because they didn’t accept Yeshua the Messiah, who is the light of the world (John 1:9; 8:12). It’s rather ironic to be cast into darkness for not accepting the light. Unrepentant sinners prefer darkness over the light because their deeds are evil (John 3:19), so in the end they get what they really wanted.

Anointing

Outer darkness. (Also 22:13; 25:30.) Ancient banquets were held at night in brilliantly lit rooms, and anyone excluded from the feast was cast outside into outer darkness. In his teachings, Yeshua’s uses this term as a metaphor for judgment in reference to those who will be excluded from his kingdom. In the oriental mind, in the days before street lights, it was a dreadful thing to be found outside, late at night no lamp or simply a small clay lamp of that day that put out a tiny, dim flame (Manners and Customs, pp. 62–63). This speaks of the fear that those whom Yeshua will reject will experience.

 

Noah—Prophetic Pictures of Yeshua and End Time Events

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Genesis 6–8, Noah’s flood provides allegorical insights relating to end-times prophecy. In Matthew 24:37, Yeshua compares the end times to the days of Noah. The story of Noah has allegorical implications that give hints about end-times prophecy.

Noah's Ark

In 1 Peter 3:18–22, we learn that the story of Noah is also a picture of salvation and water baptism. Noah is a prophetic type of Yeshua.

To start with, Noah building the ark is a prophetic picture of the redeemed believer working out his own salvation (Phil 2:12), yet while doing so according to YHVH’s exact plans or specifications (e.g., repentance from sin, faith in Yeshua, baptism for the remission of sins, and faithful obedience to YHVH’s commandments).

Noah builds an ark of safety from Elohim’s wrath or judgments against sinful man. The ark is a metaphorical picture of the believer’s salvation, and Noah is a spiritual picture of Yeshua. The flood is also a picture of water baptism for the remission of sins, which ceremonially pictures the death of the old sinful man, and the birth of the new spiritual Continue reading →