Category Archives: Weekly Scripture Readings

Who and What Is the Word of Elohim?

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John 1:1, The Word was Elohim. Is Yeshua or the Father the God (Elohim) of the Old Testament (Tanakh)? For many believers in Yeshua, there is confusion as to who it was in the Godhead who interacted with the Israelites in the Tankah. Was it the Father or the Son? In the minds of the apostolic writers, there was no confusion about this. Yeshua, in his preincarnate state, was the One that YHVH Elohim the Father used to both create (John 1:3; Col 1:16; Heb 11:3), and then to interact with mankind. He was the Word of YHVH Elohim, the Father, who become flesh and dwelt among men (verse 14). This truth is easily confirmed in several passages in the Testimony of Yeshua (New Testament).

First, Yeshua himself claims to be YHVH or the I Am of the burning bush (see John 8:58 cp. Exod 3:14). The Jews viewed Yeshua’s claim to be deity as blasphemous, which is why they picked up stones to kill him (John 8:59). Next, Yeshua in declaring to the Jewish religious leaders that “I send you prophets, wise men and scribes: some you will kill…” (Matt 23:34), he is claiming the rights and prerogatives of YHVH — a right and role that solely belonged to YHVH in the Tanakh.

Yeshua also declared that no man has seen the face of Elohim the Father (John 5:37). Yet Continue reading →

 

History Repeats Itself Again and Again—The Golden Calf, the Church and YOU

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Exodus 32:1, Moses delayed coming. Moses is a prophetic picture of Yeshua. Moses’ descending from Mount Sinai is a prophetic picture of Yeshua descending from heaven to the earth the first and second time. When the people presumed that Moses delayed his coming, they fell to the temptation to syncretize with the heathen religious system around them by yielding to their baser nature giving in to the lusts of their flesh as expressed in golden calf worship. Heathen, man-made religious systems have lower moral and spiritual standards than those of YHVH. In many respects, the mainstream church has done the same thing as the ancient Israelites by acting as if Yeshua has delayed his second coming, and by conforming to some of the world’s standards and customs. This is a form of golden calf worship, which is a mixture of Torah-truth and pagan practices. Yeshua warned his disciples against this proclivity of humans to grow impatient and spiritually cold wile waiting for his return (Matt 24:48).

Exodus 32:2, Break off the golden earrings. The Christian people have generously given the mainstream church much gold and other wealth over the past 1900 years. In the mean time, with that wealth, the church system has constructed many huge religious monuments. These are monuments, in part, to the gods of materialism, and is a form of golden calf worship. Neither Yeshua nor his disciples needed vast sums of money, resources or monuments to spread the gospel message. What they lacked in material resources they made up with passion for the gospel message and with the anointing of YHVH to proclaim that gospel with miraculous power. What the mainstream church largely lacks in passion and the anointing to spread the gospel, they now, sadly, substituted with wealth and religious monuments.

The Golden Calf Incident: A Prophetic Picture of the Church

On Shavuot (the Feast of Weeks or Pentecost), at Mount Sinai, YHVH entered into a marriage covenant with the children of Israel, but they were not ready to live up to the terms of that covenant. Those terms, simply stated, involved the Israelites being faithful and obedient only to YHVH, Israel’s Elohim (God) and spiritual husband, and to follow his instruction in righteousness, the Torah. This Israel quickly demonstrated they were not Continue reading →

 

The Bronze Laver and Baptism

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Exodus 30:17–21, A laver of brass. The large bronze basin that was located in the courtyard of the Tabernacle of Moses just in front of the door of the tent of meeting was fabricated from the mirrors the Israelite women donated (Exod 38:8). Perhaps James the apostle had this tradition in view when he speaks of being a doer of the Word of Elohim, not just a hearer, for a hearer and not a doer is like one who sees himself in the spiritual mirror of Elohim’s Word and forgetting what he looks like does not allow the Word to transform him (Jas 1:22–25). We know that water is a poetic metaphor for YHVH’s Word (Eph 5:26; Tit 3:5; Heb 10:22; Deut 32:2). 

In the laver, the Levites were to wash their hands and feet before going into the tabernacle, so that they would not die. The hands and feet represent the entire body since they are the highest and lowest parts of the body. They also represent our direction and our action—everywhere we go and all that we do—must be pure before ministering before YHVH.

The Bronze Laver in More Detail.

Constructed of the mirrors of the Israelite women, the bronze laver represents a believer looking into the Torah (YHVH’s instructions in righteousness) as a mirror, seeing himself for Continue reading →

 

Blog Scripture Readings for 2-17 Through 2-23-19

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THIS WEEK’S SCRIPTURE READINGS FOR STUDY AND DISCUSSION:

Parashat Ki Tisa — Exodus 30:11 – 34:35
Haftarah — 1 Kings 18:1-39
Prophets — 2 Kings 17:1 – 23:37
Writings — Psalms 124:1 – 130:8
Testimony — John 1:1 – 4:54

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 2/17/19 through 2/23/19.

 

The Altar of Incense and What It Has to Do With YOU

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Exodus 30:1–10, Altar to burn incense. The golden incense altar was constructed of acacia wood covered in gold and was situated in front of the veil leading into the holy of holies (the most set-apart place) halfway between the menorah and the table of showbread. Like the table of showbread, it had a golden crown around the top of it, which points to Yeshua being the head of the body of believers. The priest burned incense on the altar twice daily, in the morning and the evening. Scripture reveals that incense represents the prayers of the saints rising up to heaven before the throne of Elohim (Ps 141:2; Rev 5:8), which in the tabernacle is pictured by the mercy seat in the most set-apart place or oracle (d’veer). The altar of incense was a place of deep prayer, praise, worship and intercession and speaks directly to the intimate twice daily prayer life and devotions of the born-again believer before the throne of the Father in heaven.

The Altar of Incense in More Detail

At the altar of incense, preparation was made to enter the most set-apart place (holy of holies). This altar was located just opposite the veil of the kodesh hakodashim (holy of holies) where the high priest offered up incense to the Father in heaven. This was the place of ultimate worship, prayer and intercession just before entering into the most intimate Continue reading →

 

May the Force Be With YOU in 32 Ways!

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Luke 24:49, Endued with power from on high. What is the most powerful Force in the Universe? It is Holy Spirit of YHVH Elohim — the Almighty Creator God of the Bible! 

By the force of Spirit and Word of Elohim, the universe and earth were created. With his hands, Elohim shaped man out of earth and by the Force of the breath of his Spirit, he breathed life into that lump of earth and man became a living being. That same spiritual Force impregnated the womb of the virgin Mary and Yeshua the Messiah, the Son of Elohim, was clothed in humanity and became the Elohim-Man and Savior and Redeemer of humanity. 

Yeshua the Messiah promised to send that same Force of the Spirit of Elohim to live inside Continue reading →

 

“Father, forgive them…”—Let the Healing Process Begin

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Luke 23:34, Father, forgive them. Yeshua said this for his and our benefit, and not because it made any difference in the lives of those who crucified him. It was for his benefit, so that the sin of bitterness and unforgiveness wouldn’t take root in him. It is for our benefit, so that we’d have his example to follow when dealing with our enemies. 

There is a deep and transformative truth in the power of forgiveness. When we forgive our offender (it doesn’t matter whether they know about it or not), it prepares the way for the relationship to be restored. The miracle and beauty of the forgiveness process is that now we get to help those who have  sinned against us in the healing of their own sin. 

Like so many of Elohim’s truths and Yeshua’s practices, this is counter intuitive to the natural way man thinks. When sinned against, man’s natural, knee-jerk response is to hold on proudly to bitterness and offense in hopes the other person will recognize their error and humbly repent of their sin to us, the offended party. This is delusional thinking on the part of the one sinned against, since it seldom works this way. 

Because of human pride, both the sinner and the one sinned against—if each follows their own natural and self-defensive inclination—will usually dig in and fortifies the position of  their own self-rightness. The sinner is certain he is justified in his actions against the one he sinned against, while the offended party feels it is his right to walk in offense until the sinner admits his sin and repents. As such, each party remains frozen and polarized in his position and the break in the relationship is never resolved. Division and strife becomes the etched-in-stone norm. This is all based on human pride, which heads the list of the seven deadly sins that YHVH hates the most and views as an abomination (Prov 6:16) resulting in division between brethren (Prov 6:19). 

It is the devil who is our adversary, is the one who destructively divides (John 10:10) and accuser of the brethren (Rev 12:10), and the one who comes to kill, steal and destroy loves this. When we hold on to bitterness and unforgiveness against someone, we become their adversary and accuser. This results in strife and division between people.

This prideful division between people is not resolved until one of the parties chooses to follow the instructions and example of Yeshua to become a blessed peacemaker (Matt 5:9) and humbles himself and forgives his neighbor, so that the healing process can occur. On the cross, Yeshua initiated this process of relationship restoration in preparation for his role in heaven as our Great High Priest to act on our behalf  before his Father to reconcile sinful man through himself to Elohim.