Category Archives: Scripture

Scripture Studies

Want to come into YHVH’s presence? Whoa!

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Exodus 19:10, Consecrate them today.

Discussion A. Why is it essential to study the example of the children of Israel preparing themselves to come into the presence of YHVH in Exodus 19? After all, if Yeshua did it all for us, we can just come boldly before the Father’s throne anytime, anyway we want, right (Heb 4:16)?

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Let’s explore this concept a little to see what the Bible has to say about it.

Paul says in I Corinthians 10:11,

Now all these things happened to them [i.e., the children of Israel] as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. (See also Rom 15:4.)

The writer of Hebrews has something similar to say in his prefatory remarks to his statement in Hebrews 4:16 about coming boldly before the throne of YHVH through the merits of the sinless righteousness of Yeshua our High Priest. In the preceding several verses, the author draws upon the example of the children of Israel (Heb 4:1–10) as an example for us not to follow. They were a faithless and disobedient (they rebelled against the Torah-word of Elohim) lot!

Then in Hebrew 4:11, the author starts with the connecting word “therefore,” indicating that what follows is related to that which preceded it. He goes on to admonish us not to follow the Israelites’ example of disobedience (i.e., Torahlessness or lack of faith in and obedience to the word of Elohim).

Next, the author likens the word of Elohim to a sharp two-edged sword that has the ability to separate between those who come to YHVH with wrong (carnal) heart motives versus those who have right ones, for nothing is hidden from the Almighty, so religious pretense and sham need not apply (Heb 4:12–13).

This reminds me of Yeshua’s harsh rebuke against the religious hypocrites of his day who thought that just because they were the sons of Abraham, they had a special “in” with Elohim. Quoting Isaiah, Yeshua criticized their sham religious expressions accusing them of drawing near with their mouths, but having hearts that were far from him (Matt 15:8–9 cp. Isa 29:13). In fact, Isaiah goes on in the same verse to deal with the issue of the improper fear of Elohim (Isa 29:13b). Yes, the fear of Elohim—a subject not taught much in the church these days (it’s not user-friendly)! Perhaps we Continue reading →

 

New Video: From Sabbath to Sunday—Historical Overview

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This indepth teaching explores the origin of Suandy observance, and how and when the churched moved from Sabbath to Sunday. Natan explores the New Testament record and the writings of the early church fathers to answer this question. Be preapred for some shocking revelation based on the facts! A study guide with footnote references is available at http://hoshanarabbah.org/blog/2015/02/01/from-sabbath-to-sunday/.

 

From Sabbath to Sunday

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Hello Everyone. Here is a new study I have just authored that I’m releasing for the first time. If you find any typos, please let me know. No matter how many times I edit my stuff, I always miss some things. Thanks in advance. Enjoy! Natan


How the Early Church Forsook the Sabbath for Sunday Worship

by Natan Lawrence
Hoshana Rabbah Biblical Discipleship Resources

Purpose of This Study

The study of how the early (post-apostolic) church turned away from a Torah-centric orientation and embraced the theology that is now the skeletal framework of modern mainstream Christianity is a complex and difficult one, since we have to look back 2000 years to review scanty historical data. Different researchers will view the same tiny amount of documentation that remains from that era and arrive at different conclusions. The final analysis is often determined by the theological glasses the scholar is wearing and thus viewing the data from. Those who start with a pro-Torah penchant or even bias versus an anti-Torah bias will likely come to different conclusions.

Suffice it to say, the brief study that follows will in no way do justice to the subject of how the early church turned Sabbath to Sunday. Our goal is merely to introduce the reader to a different point of view than they have commonly heard in the mainstream church. In this study, we will have achieved our goal if we can gently persuade the reader at least to have an open mind, and to prove all things to see if they are true, and, perhaps, they will, at least, consider the idea that some long-held and institutionalized mainstream Christian beliefs may be more fiction than fact.

Christian Tradition With Regard to Sunday

Why the mainstream church embraces Sunday over Sabbath observance can be summarized succinctly as follows:

The celebration of the Lord’s Day [Sunday] in memory of the resurrection of Christ dates undoubtedly from the apostolic age. Nothing short of apostolic precedent can account for [its] universal religious observance in the churches of the second century. There is no dissenting voice. This custom is confirmed by testimonies of the earliest post-apostolic writers, as Barnabas, Ingnatius and Justin Martyr… (History of the Christian Church, vol 2, pp. 201–202, by Philip Schaff).

In his book, Our Father Abraham, Christian scholar Marvin Wilson takes a more moderated approach when discussing the issue of the early church’s switch from Sabbath to Sunday. He admits the existence of tension between the Jews and Gentile believers over adherence to the Torah making a move from Sabbath to Sunday “exceedingly difficult, if not virtually impossible.” Potential Jewish converts to Christianity, he notes, would have been suspect of any faith that would abandon the Torah (law of Moses) or the Jewishness of one’s past (Ibid., pp. 79–80). Unlike some of his more dogmatic scholarly colleagues, Wilson admits that it is not known when the early church began Sunday worship. He seems to concede to some possible allusions to Sunday worship in the New Testament (NT) by citing several of the scriptures that Christians perennially use to “prove” Sunday observance in the primitive (apostolic) church (e.g., Acts 20:7; 1 Cor 16:2), but he’s reluctant to see these as a clear apostolic mandate for a switch from Sabbath to Sunday. He admits that the Acts 20 passage may be a reference to the Saturday evening (Heb. havdallah or Motza’ei-Shabbat) service, which was, in reality, simply an extension of the regular daily Sabbath service into the evening (Ibid., p. 80).

Our approach to analyzing the subject of when Sunday worship began in the Christian church will be somewhat different than the conventional method of sabbatarians to simply refute the arguments Sunday-keepers make in favor of Sunday worship by quoting NT verses that may suggest a Sunday replacement of the Sabbath. This approach, though seemingly a valid one, ignores the proverbial elephant in the room. That “elephant” is the undeniable pro-Torah views and practices of Yeshua and his apostles, which, when considered, makes their changing Sabbath to Sunday observance a highly incongruent if not an impossible proposition without making the Word of Elohim to lie and the apostles to be lying hypocrites.

The Elephant in the Room: The Apostles Were Pro-Torah

Before commencing our trip back in history to discover the origins of Sunday worship, it’s proper for me to disclose my bias. I start from the premise that all the apostles were not only pro-Torah, but were Torah obedient. This is based on many scripture references, a few of which are referenced below (hundreds more could be given!).

  • Speaking of Paul, “You yourself also walk orderly and keep the law….” (Acts 21:24)
  • Paul states, “I am indeed a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, taught according to the strictness of our fathers’ law, and was zealous toward God as you all are today.” (Acts 22:3)
  • Paul testifies, “But this I confess to you, that according to the Way which they call a sect, so I worship the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the Law and in the Prophets.” (Acts 24:14)
  • Paul says, “Neither against the law of the Jews, nor against the temple, nor against Caesar have I offended in anything at all.” (Acts 25:8)
  • Paul writes, “Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the law.” (Rom 3:31)
  • Paul writes, “Therefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good.” (Rom 7:12)
  • Paul writes, “I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God.” (Rom 7:25)
  • Paul writes, “Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not bear false witness, you shall not covet, and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.” (Rom 13:8–10)
  • Paul writes, “Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing, but keeping the commandments of God is what matters.” (1 Cor 7:19)
  • James writes, “If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself, you do well’; but if you show partiality, you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as transgressors. For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all. For He who said, ‘Do not commit adultery,’ also said, ‘Do not murder.’ Now if you do not commit adultery, but you do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. So speak and so do as those who will be judged by the law of liberty.” (Jas 2:8–12)
  • John writes, “Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him. He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked. Brethren, I write no new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which you heard from the beginning.” (1 John 2:3–7)
  • John writes, “Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness.” (1 John 3:4)
  • John writes, “And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” (Rev 12:17)
  • John writes, “Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.” (Rev 14:12)
  • John writes, “Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city.” (Rev 22:14)

With these verses as a foundation for understanding the pro-Torah position of the apostolic writers, we now want to consider a couple of other facts. Continue reading →

 

Blog Scripture Readings for 2-1 Through 2-7-15

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THIS WEEK’S SCRIPTURE READINGS FOR STUDY AND DISCUSSION:

Parashat Yitro — Exodus 18:1 – 20:23 (26)*
Haftarah — Isaiah 6:1 – 7:6; 9:5-6 (6-7)*
Prophets — 1 Kings 13:1 – 19:21
Writings — Psalms 117:1 – 119:160
Testimony — Luke 18:18 – 21:38

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 Bibles when it differs from the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh.

Weekly Blog Scripture Readings for 2/1 through 2/7/15.

 

The Parable of Lazarus and Rich Man Understood Hebraically

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Luke 16:19–31, The Parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man. This, and the other parables of Yeshua, are known as aggadah (also haggadah)—a very popular literary style during the second temple period whereby Jewish sages taught moralistic principles to their pupils. It was similar to our modern Aesop’s fables. This genre of literature included ethical and moral teaching, theological speculation, legends, folklore, poetry, prayers, historical information, interpreting of dreams, and expressions of messianic faith and longings. Aggadic literature, though instructive, did not contain legally binding theological and doctrinal dictums. Aggadic literarture is to be contrasted with the legally binding halachic literature of the same period. Aggadic literature made use of parable, satire, metaphor, personification, and poetry. Aggadah was not systematic philosophy, but dealt in its own way with basic theological and moral problems. The purpose of aggadic literature was not to convey point-by-point doctrinal truths, but to teach a moral. Most Christian teachers have used the Parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man as a theological basis for the doctrine of the immortality of the soul (an exegetical leap that cannot be substantiated when one understands the nature of aggadic literature) and have missed the true meaning of Yeshua’s teaching. He is not making a theologically statement or halachic declaration on the state of the dead. What then is the point of his teaching?

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Context is vital to understanding this parable properly, and all of the Scriptures, for that matter. Prior to this parable, Yeshua gives the Parable of the Unjust Steward that the attendant Pharisees interpreted as a rebuke directed at them (verse 14). Then Yeshua rebuked those who divorce their wives for the purpose of marrying another women. According to Yeshua, when a man does this, it is tantamount to adultery. Again, this was an affront against the Jewish religious system of the day. As Messianic author and teacher Joseph Dombek Sr. has observed, “[T]he Jews should have recognized that [Yeshua] was the Messiah, and that he represented the bridegroom for the coming kingdom. The Jews did not acknowledge him as the Messiah. They rejected his Father’s Word and committed spiritual adultery by setting up their own traditions and customs” (Mark 7:6–9). Because of their power and influence, the Pharisees had control of all aspects of the Jewish religion.

This parable is a continuation of Yeshua’s rebuke of the Pharisees, scribes and Continue reading →

 

Sabbath Instructions

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Exodus 16:4–30, The Sabbath. This chapter chronicles YHVH’s efforts to literally force an irreverent, unruly and disobedient nation to keep the seventh day Sabbath. He did so in a most poignant way — through food and hunger. It’s as if he were instructing the stiff-necked and rebellious Israelites that if they refused to follow his Sabbath instructions, they would literally go hungry. “If you don’t obey me, you don’t eat.” This shows the gravity the Creator places on the Sabbath command. Yet despite these clear instructions, most in the mainstream church today, like the rebellious children of Israel of old, refuse to obey YHVH’s clear instructions regarding the Sabbath. Instead, they prefer to believe the doctrines of men proffered to them by their spiritual leaders that purport to invalidate the Sabbath command. Paul’s sage observation in Romans 8:7 describes the situation perfectly: “Because the carnal mind is enmity against Elohim: for it is not subject to the [Torah] law of Elohim, neither indeed can be.” In our day, the same question can still asked of followers of Yeshua that YHVH asked of the Israelites at that time, “How long do you reuse to keep my commandments and my laws?” (Exod 16:28).

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This chapter is almost entirely dedicated to instructions pertaining to preparing for the Sabbath. This shows the priority that YHVH places on Sabbath observance for his people. Also note that these instructions are given many weeks before the giving of the Torah (law of Moses) at Mount Sinai. This is but one of many examples of YHVH revealing key aspects of his Torah-law before he gave it the Israelites in one legal corpus at Mount Sinai.

Exodus 16:4, On the sixth day…prepare. (Also note verse 23.) The sixth day of the week was to be a day of preparation for the Sabbath, so that the Sabbath rest could be complete allowing for man to fully focus on being spiritually edified in the presence of his Creator without the distractions of food preparation and the other mundane duties of life.

Exodus 16:29, Let every man remain. The essential point of this prohibition is to not go out and gather manna on the Sabbath, but to rest on this day from the routine work of supporting one’s family. This command didn’t prohibit the Israelites from gathering together on the Sabbath for purposes of teaching, worship, prayer, fellowship or spiritual edification or else YHVH’s command for the Israelites to gather together on the Sabbath for a “holy convocation” (Lev 23:2) would be contradictory. Were this command merely an injunction to not leave one’s dwelling place on the Sabbath, then Yeshua and the apostles visiting synagogues on the Sabbath would have been a violation of this Torah command. Isaiah 58:13 could be viewed as the corollary passage to Exodus 16:29. There YHVH instructs his people not to profane the Sabbath by doing their own pleasure, not doing their own ways, and not speaking their own words on this day. Instead, it is a holy day to YHVH and a day to honor him.

 

The Second Exodus…What’s That?

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Understanding the Second Exodus

The concept of the Messianic Age in Hebraic thought involves an understanding of the first and final redemptions, which are two separate events. The first redemption or first exodus occurred when the Israelites obeyed the Word of Elohim and placed the blood of the lamb on the door posts of their homes resulting in YHVH delivering them out of Egypt. It is understood by redeemed believers that Israel’s exodus from Egypt was prototypical of the one’s placing their faith in Yeshua (the Lamb of Elohim) who redeems them from sin’s death grip through his shed blood at the cross, and then leads them out of their spiritual Egypt of sin and worldliness toward the promised land of a new spiritual life in Messiah Yeshua.

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By contrast, the final redemption or second exodus is a series of events that will occur at the end of the age prior to the return of Messiah Yeshua at the beginning of the Messianic Age (or Millennium).

For those who have placed saving faith in Yeshua the Messiah, at the final redemption, the redeemed believers will receive their spiritual or glorified bodies at the resurrection of the dead, which occurs at the second coming of Yeshua. After that, they will rule and reign with Yeshua for a thousand years during the Messianic Age.

Now let’s explore some of the biblical prophecies that pertain to the second exodus. This will yield us more clues Continue reading →