Category Archives: Scripture

Scripture Studies

Blog Scripture Readings for 8/25 through 8/31/13

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Parashat Nitzavim-Vayelekh — Deuteronomy 29:9 (10)* – 31:30
Haftarah — Isaiah 61:10 – 63:9
Prophets — Micah 6:1 – 7:20; Nahum 1:1 – 3:19; Habakkuk 1:1 – 2:20
Writings — 2 Chronicles 3:1 – 13:22
Testimony — Hebrews 10:1 – 13:25; Revelation 1:1 – 1:20

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 8/25 through 8/31/13.

* Verse numbers in parenthesis refer to the verse number in Christian Bibles.

 

YHVH’s Covenants: Who Is at Fault and What Is Vanishing Away?

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Hebrews 8:13, Ready to vanish away. Many who read this verse assume that the writer is saying that the Torah-law was ready to vanish away ergo the law has been done away. This belief is orthodox Christianity! But is this what the author is saying here? Read it again? Is he saying that the law is vanishing away or the covenant is vanishing away? The latter! What is the difference between the two?

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The covenant was nothing more than a contract between YHVH and the people of Israel that he made with them at Mount Sinai (Exod 19–24). Think of a modern contract (e.g., buying a car, a house or agreeing to pay for services rendered). A contract is nothing more than an agreement between two or more parties. Then you have the terms of the contract. If one party fails to keep up his end of the agreement, does that mean that the terms of the contract are evil? Not at all. It means that one party failed to keep his word and the contract was then voided.

The same was true with the contract of the “Old Covenant” that YHVH made with the Israelites. The terms were that if they would worship him and obeyed his Torah-laws, he would bless them, and if not, he would punish them. They agreed to these terms three times (Exod 19:8; 24:3,7), yet they ended up not keeping their word and worshipping false gods and breaking his laws again and again. After hundreds of years of unfaithfulness, they finally totally abandoned YHVH. The covenant was broken for good. But did their unfaithfulness to his Torah-laws mean that his instructions in righteousness were evil, or that their hearts were evil? Logic dictates the answer to be the latter.

To say that the Torah was evil and needed to be obliterated (or done away with) is like saying when you get a speeding ticket, the speed laws should be eliminated. Of course, this is absurd, and so it is to say that the laws of YHVH need to be eliminated because the people violated the covenant thus rendering it null and void.

Here are some more observation on the subject of the Old Covenant vanishing away and giving way to the New Covenant: Continue reading →

 

Hebrews 7:12: So What Really “Changed”?

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Hebrews 7:12, Priesthood being changed…a change also of the law [Torah]. The Greek words for being changed and a change are respectively metatithemi (a verb) and metathesis (a noun). The root of the noun is the verb, which means “to transpose, to transfer, to go or pass over, to fall away or desert from one person or thing to another.” Many people interpret this verse to mean that YHVH’s Torah-law was changed (i.e., invalidated or annulled) by the new covenant, but is this what the author is saying here?

Before going further in our discussion, let’s lay out some basic truths of the Scriptures.

YHVH doesn’t change (Mal 3:6; Heb 13:8; Jas 1:17). The word torah [in English, translated as law] means “instructions, principles, teachings” and came directly from YHVH to his people. The Torah teaches men how to love YHVH and love one’s fellow man. It is YHVH’s instructions in righteousness and reflects his very character and nature. Who he is can’t change.

It is a sin (a violation of the Torah) to change the Torah (Deut 4:2; 12:32).

So in this light, what is this verse really saying? Continue reading →

 

The Stones Cry Out the Praises of Yeshua!

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Deuteronomy 27:2, 4, 8, Set up great stones. On Mount Ebal on whole, un-cut stones, the Israelites were to write the Torah-law and then coat these stones with lime plaster. Elohim also told them to build an altar there where they were to make burnt and peace offerings. Why was Torah written on stones on Mount Ebal—the mountain of the curses? Why not on Mount Gerizim, the mountain of blessing?

Certainly this cannot mean that the Torah is a curse, for Paul calls it kadosh (holy), just and good in Romans 7:12. What could the stones represent?

Who is the Chief Cornerstone, the Stone the builders rejected (Ps 118:22; Matt 21:42; Acts 4:11; Eph 2:20), and the stone cut without hands (Dan 2:34)? What was the purpose of these offerings and to whom do the burnt and peace offerings point? Could lime plaster represent robes of righteousness? Who is clothed in robes of righteousness once sins have been atoned for? (Read Rev 19:7–8 cp. 3:5,18; Isa 61:10.) Who was wounded for our ­transgressions and bruised for our iniquities, had laid on him the iniquities of us all, and was made an offering for sin (Isa 53:5, 6, 10)? Who was the Living Torah, the Word of Elohim made flesh (John 1:1,14)? Who redeemed us from the curses of the law (Gal 3:13), which came upon us as a result of our sinning (sin is the violation of YHVH’s law, 1 John 3:4), and thus bringing a death penalty upon us (the wages of sin is death, Rom 6:23)?

Does it now make sense why the Torah and the altar were placed on Mount Ebal? This is another one of the many prophetic shadow pictures in the Torah pointing to the redemptive work of Yeshua at the cross. Does this strengthen your faith that Yeshua is indeed the Messiah, the Lamb of Elohim slain from the foundation of the earth? Who else could have fulfilled these prophecies?

 

Welcome to the Epistle to the Hebrews

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Background of the Epistle to the Hebrews

A debate exists among scholars as to when the Epistle to the Hebrews was written. Some believe it was written just before the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem in 70 AD, while others maintain that it was written just after 70 AD. This author favors the former position since the author of Hebrews speaks of the sacrificial system in the present tense as if was still functioning (Heb 10:11; 13:10, 11).

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At the same time, the author of Hebrews seems to be addressing the concerns of early believers that without the temple standing and the sacrificial system functioning, there is no longer remission for sins. He assiduously points out how the patterns and prophecies of the Tanakh are pointing to the greater priesthood of Messiah Yeshua in the heavenly tabernacle. As such, the author seems to have in view the destruction of the temple, yet while the temple is still standing.

Perhaps, the author was writing Hebrews in the four-year time period (between 67 AD to 70 AD) when the Romans besieged Jerusalem, then pulled away for one year, then rebesieged and destroyed the city in 70 AD. Or, he may have had in mind the prophecies Yeshua gave in his Olivette Discourse about the siege of Jerusalem and the destruction of the temple (Luke 21:20–21; Matt 24:2).

Main Themes

In his Epistle to the Hebrews, the author emphatically asserts that:

  • Yeshua is over all.
  • Yeshua is leading his people to the ultimate higher spiritual reality.
  • The Tanakh (Old Testament) validates the gospel message.

The Epistle to the Hebrews is about transformation, shifting, growing from a lower level to a higher level spiritually. It is about men coming closer to the reality of heaven in their spiritual walk; about men approaching and growing closer to Elohim. Continue reading →

 

Blog Scripture Readings for 8/18 through 8/24/13

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Parashat Ki Tavo — Deuteronomy 26:1 – 29:8 (9)*
Haftarah — Isaiah 60:1 – 60:22
Prophets — Jonah 3:1 – 4:11; Micah 1:1 – 5:15
Writings — 1 Chronicles 24:1 – 29:30; 2 Chronicles 1:1 – 2:18
Testimony — Hebrews 3:1 – 9:28

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 8/18 through 8/24/13.

* Verse numbers in parenthesis refer to the verse number in Christian Bibles.

 

When Paul Says “Jewish Fables,” Does He Mean the Torah?

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Titus 1:14, Jewish fables. Paul can’t be referring to the Torah here, which he strongly upholds and defends in numerous other places in his writings (Rom 3:31; 7:7, 12, 14; 13:8–10; 1 Cor 7:19; 9:21; Gal 3:10; 6:2; 2 Tim 6:14; Tit 2:14) and even claims to follow (Acts 21:24; 24:1425:8; 28:17; 1 Cor 9:21). He must be talking about the Jewish traditions of men, which Yeshua said in Matthew 15:3–9 and Mark 7:7–9 make of non-effect the word of Elohim.

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In fact, this is exactly what Paul is referring to here in this verse when he says “Jewish fables and commandments of men.” This is not a reference to the Torah, which came from YHVH Elohim, and not froms men. In the same verse, Paul contrasts these commandments of men with “the truth” from which men have turned away.  What is this truth? The Bible defines its own terms. Elohim is the source of truth (Deut 32:4 cp. Pss 86:11; 89:14; 117:2), he is truth (Ps 25:10; 31:5; 33:4), and his Torah is truth (Ps 119:142, 151).

One example of a Jewish fable and a commandment of men would be the idea that one can’t be saved unless they’re first circumcised, which was the subject of the Acts 15 council. Paul vehemently fought this Jewish fable, and the whole Book of Galatians, for example, largely deals with this issue. If Paul had meant the Torah when mentioning “Jewish fables” then this makes Paul into a schizophrenic liar (since he promotes and lauds the Torah and claims to follow it elsewhere), and it makes the word of Elohim contradict itself, and it puts Paul at odds with Yeshua who upheld the Torah (Matt 5:17–19) and with himself when he said to imitate Yeshua the Torah-keeper as he himself did (1 Cor 11:1).