Category Archives: Weekly Scripture Readings

Yeshua’s Disciples—Multilingual?

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Matthew 10:2–4, The names of the twelve. The disciples’ names reflect the multilingualism that had influence over Jews of the first century in the land of Israel. Likely, Yeshua and his disciples were multilingual. They spoke Hebrew and Aramaic and likely had some knowledge of Greek as well.

  • Simon Peter. Heb. Shimon (from shama) meaning “heard.” Gk. petros meaning “a rock or stone.”
  • Andrew. Gr. Andereas (from aner) meaning “manly.”
  • James. Heb. Jacob meaning “heal catcher, supplanter.”
  • John. Heb. Jochanan (Yah and chanan) meaning “YHVH has graced, shown mercy.” 
  • Philip. Gk. philoppos (philos meaning “friend” and hippos meaning “horse”) meaning “a friend or lover of horses.”
  • Bartholomaios. Aram. meaning “son of Tolmai.”
  • Thomas. Aram. meaning “coupled or joined together, twin.”
  • Matthew. Heb. Matthaios or Mattiyahu meaning “gift of YHVH.” 
  • Thaddaeus. Of uncertain origin. Could be Greek or Hebrew.
  • Judas. Heb. Yehudah meaning “praised.”
 

Abraham, a man of reluctant faith?

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The story of Abraham leaving Babylon reveals the great mercy of Elohim in one man’s life. Romans 12:2 talks about finding the good, better and perfect will of Elohim for our lives. As much as we may respect and even venerate Abraham as the father of the faithful, it appears that he didn’t follow Elohim’s instructions perfectly at first. It wasn’t that Abraham was out of the will of Elohim, but that he may not have been in the perfect will of Elohim. Despite human weakness and reluctance to immediately follow the Creator’s instructions, YHVH was still merciful and gracious with the spiritual father of our faith.

Genesis 12:1, Get thee out of thy country. Did Abram immediately leave his father’s house and go directly to the country that YHVH would show him, or did he fulfill YHVH’s will for his life in incremental steps? (Compare Gen 11:31 with 12:1.) Did Abram leave his father’s house completely, or take part of his father’s house with him including his father and nephew? Haran is located in northern Mesopotamia and is nowhere near Canaan. When Abram finally made his way to Canaan minus his father, did he still have part of his kindred with him, something YHVH instructed him to leave behind (Gen 12:1)? Did his nephew Lot prove to be a help or a hindrance to Abram in fulfilling YHVH’s mission for his life in a new land?

What lessons can we learn from this account? First, YHVH is gracious to us even when we don’t obey him completely and immediately. Scripture still refers to Abraham as the father of the faithful or faithfulness (Rom 4:12, 16). Second, Abram was a man of prominence in Babylon (or Chaldea), was recognized as a mighty prince (Gen 23:6), and was 75 years old when YHVH asked him to leave the comforts of life in Babylon to trek across the desert to the backwoods region of Canaan. No doubt, this was not an easy move for Abram for the reasons stated above.

What did Yeshua tell his disciples about the sacrifices that would need to be made to be a follower of YHVH? (Matt 10:35–39). What did Yeshua say would be the eternal rewards of those, who like our father Abraham, set out in faith for a new spiritual destiny? (Matt 19:29) What physical obstacles stand in your way of fulfilling YHVH’s spiritual calling, mission and destiny for your life?

Presently, YHVH is calling his people out of the spiritual Babylon (Rev 18:4) of man-made religious systems that, to one degree or another, have supplanted the simple truths of YHVH’s word with doctrines and traditions of men. Anything that takes precedence in the hearts and minds of men that is contrary to the Bible is, by biblical definition, an idol. End times spiritual Babylon is full of idolatry. It is a confused mixture of truth and lies. YHVH called Abram out of Babylon, and he’s calling his people out of Babylon today to worship and obey him in Spirit and truth. His end time saints will be those who follow Yeshua the Messiah unconditionally wherever he goes (Rev 14:4–6). Their chief identification mark is that they follow the Torah-commandments of Elohim and have the faith of Yeshua—their lives have been transformed by the message of the gospel (Rev 14:17; 12:14).

 

Blog Scripture Readings for 10-14 Through 10-20-18

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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

Our new annual Scripture Reading Schedule for 2018-2019 is available to download and print. If you are still working through 2017-2018’s Scripture Reading Schedule, the link will still be available on the right sidebar under “Helpful Links”.

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 10/14/18 through 10/20/18.

 

Is your house built on sand or rock?

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Matthew 7:24–27, House on the Rock. What is Yeshua saying here? The Bible equates Torah with wisdom (e.g. Deut 4:5–6; Ps 111:10; Prov 2:6). Therefore, a wise man is one who walks in the Torah. The same man will be called “greatest in the kingdom of heaven” (5:19), referring to one who keeps the Torah-commandments of Elohim and teaches men to do them, whereas the one who rejects Torah the Messiah Yeshua will reject him (verse 23).

A “house” in Hebrew thought is a reference to the temple of Elohim (1 Chr 6:48; 9:13, 26, 27; 22:2; 23:28; 28:21; 2 Chr 4:19; 5:1; Ezr 4:24; Is. 2:3; Matt 12:4; Mark 2:26) that was built upon Mount Moriah (originating from the Hebrew word moreh meaning “to teach”) from which the Torah-law (the righteous teachings or instructions) of Elohim was to go forth to the nations (Isa 2:3; Mic 2:4). We know from the Testimony of Yeshua that the saints are called the spiritual temple (or house) of Elohim (1 Tim 3:15; Heb 10:21; 1 Pet 4:17; 1 Cor 3:16; 6:19; 2 Cor 6:16; Eph 2:21). What we see here is that the “teachings” or “instructions in righteousness” (i.e. the Torah) of YHVH go forth from the temple or house of Elohim located on Mount Moriah for the benefit of the spiritual house or temple of the saints. Clearly stated, Yeshua is saying that the Torah-law of Elohim is for redeemed believers today during the so called “Church Age.”

The “rock” is a clear reference to Yeshua (Ps 18:31,46; 78:35; Rom 9:33; 1 Pet 3:8). He is a Rock and a House (Ps 31:2). He was the Rock in the wilderness from which the water of life flowed and that followed them (referring to the pillar of fire over the Tabernacle of Moses; 1 Cor 10:4; John 4:13–14). He was the Rock that is the Creator (Deut 32:18). As the Rock of Israel, his work was perfect and all of his Torah-ways (instructions, precepts, teachings in truth and righteousness) are judgment and truth (Deut 32:4). He is the Rock of Israel’s salvation (Deut 32:18; Ps 62:2,6; 89:26; 95:1). In Jacob’s dream of a ladder to heaven (which we discussed above), the rock or stone upon which Jacob rested his head and from which the ladder to heaven ascended is mentioned several times (Gen 28:11, 18, 22). This is a clear reference to Yeshua. He is the Stone that the builders rejected and which has become the Head of the corner (Ps 118:22). He is the Stone of stumbling and the Rock of offense (Isa 8:14), and he is the Stone that was laid in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a sure foundation (Isa 28:16). Yeshua is the Torah-Word of Elohim made flesh ( John 1:1, 14), and as we have already seen, he was the one who spoke out the Torah-instructions in righteousness to Israel at Mount Sinai. And upon what were those instructions written? Upon two tablets of stone.

So how could we summarize what Yeshua is teaching in his parable about the house on the rock? Does it give us any insights into how he viewed the Torah-law of Elohim that was given to the Israelites at Mount Sinai? Was Yeshua negative in his view of the Torah? Was he indicating that it would be replaced with another (new) law for his disciples—one that would supersede the Torah? Or as Paul the apostle said in the book of Romans, “Do we make void the Torah of Elohim by faith?” (Rom 3:31 cp 6:15). We all know Paul’s immediate response in the same verse to his rhetorical question. “Elohim forbid!”  Yeshua’s teaching of the house on the rock validates the Torah and therein he states clearly that the man whose spiritual house is not built on Torah is a foolish man and that his house will fall. Such individuals will be the ones who will hear the words of Yeshua, the Living Torah, on judgment day, “Depart from me, you that work Torahlessness. I do not know you” (Matt 7:21–23). This warning is totally consistent with Yeshua’s words of Matthew 5:17–19 where he forcefully upholds the legitimacy of the Torah of Elohim. In Yeshua’s Sermon on the Mount (Matt 5–7), he nowhere contradicted himself, nor deviated from his core teaching of upholding the Torah—the instructions, teachings, precepts in righteousness of Elohim, which was had been the standard of righteous living that ruled both the national life of Israel and that of the individual. Yeshua, Paul the apostle along with numerous other biblical writers affirm over and over again that Elohim’s standards of righteousness never changed for ancient Israel (and for all humans), and never will change to this day.

 

What REALLY is the narrow gate?

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Matthew 7:13, Enter the narrow gate. Here Yeshua speaks of the straight gate and the narrow way that leads to life versus the wide and broad gate that leads to destruction. This narrow gate relates to Jacob’s dream of a ladder to heaven.

In Genesis 28:10–22, we have the account of Jacob’s dream of a ladder reaching into heaven. The dream greatly amazed Jacob and afterwards he concluded that he had experienced a divine encounter. He named the spot where he had the dream Beth El meaning “House of El (God),” and he concluded that this spot was “the gate of heaven” (verse 17). In Hebraic thought, “the ladder” to heaven is equivalent to the Tree of Life, which is another term for the Torah of Elohim. We know that Yeshua was the Torah-Word of Elohim made flesh ( John 1:1,14). Not only that, Yeshua likened himself to a ladder reaching to heaven (John 1:51). 

Furthermore, we see both Moses and Joshua describing the Torah-law of Elohim as a (narrow, by implication) path from which one must turn neither to the left nor to the right (Deut 5:32; 17:11, 20; 28:14; Josh 1:7; 23:6). In Proverbs, the path of wisdom (i.e. Torah) is also likened to a (narrow, by implication) path from which one must not turn either to the left or to the right (Prov 4:27). 

The term “gate” (or door) itself in Matthew 7:13 is a Hebraism referring to the means by which one enters into the Tabernacle or Temple of Elohim (Exod 27:14, 16; 32: 35:17; Ezek 40:3, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13 etc.). The Tabernacle (or Mishkan) of Moses was representative of the pathway to redemption or salvation. Before actually entering the tabernacle, one encountered the altar of the red heifer, which is a prophetic picture of the cross of Yeshua. To enter the tabernacle, one passed through a multi-colored gate. One of the colors was crimson, which represented the blood of lamb on the door posts of the Israelites’ homes on Passover eve. After that, one would come to the brazen alter of sacrifice, which pictures the new believer dying daily, after the example of Yeshua on the cross, and daily ingesting of the “blood” and “body” of Yeshua (pictured by the Christian ritual of communion), the Lamb of Elohim. 

Yeshua fulfilled all these prophetic types and shadows. He said that he is the door or gate ( John 10:7, 9, 10) by which all must enter to have salvation (Acts 4:12), in order to have access to the Father in heaven (John 14:6). Yeshua told the rich young ruler that the Torah (both the Written Torah and Yeshua the Living Torah-Word of Elohim) was the path to eternal life (Matt 19:16–17). Moreover, the Torah points to Yeshua who was the “aim” or “goal” (not the “end” or “termination” of the Torah, as Rom 10:4 is often mistranslated as in most of our English Bibles) of the Torah who is the Living Torah-Word of YHVH ( John 1:1, 14). Yeshua said that he was the way (to the Father in heaven), the truth and the life ( John 14:6), and that the Word of Elohim is truth ( John 17:17). The only Word of Elohim that existed when Yeshua spoke these words was the Tanakh (or Old Testament).

Yeshua defined himself as the truth, so what is truth? How does Scripture define “truth”? In Psalm 119:142 and 151, David says that the Torah-law and Torah-commandments of Elohim are truth. It’s this simple! Any religious theology that attempts an end run head face into the truth of Torah. Period!

We see the concept of gates in the messianically prophetic verses of Psalm 118:19 and 20. Here the Messiah (Yeshua) is likened as gates of YHVH and gates of righteousness (Ps 119:172 defines “righteousness” as “all of thy Torah-commandments) which all the righteous shall enter.”

So Yeshua is the gate, or the straight way of life and truth, the door to salvation or redemption and the way to the Father in heaven. He is the Word of Elohim made flesh or the Living Torah (John 1:1, 14).

 

The Deity of Yeshua

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The Preeminence and Deity of Yeshua

Phinehas, the grandson of Aaron the high priest, thrust a spear through Zimri the Israelite man and Cozbi the Midianite woman as they were bringing the curse of YHVH upon the nation of Israel by fornicating with each other within the camp of Israel. With the same righteous zeal as Phinehas, today’s righteous spiritual leaders must rise up and stand against secular philosophies that threaten to bring YHVH’s judgment upon redeemed Israel. In the face of evil in his day, David asked, “Who will rise up for me against the evildoers, or who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity?” (Ps 94:16) The present issue relates to the dangerous and damnable trend within the body of redeemed Israelites believers to question and even deny the deity of Yeshua.

You’ve all heard the Christian axiom, “In essentials unity, in non-essentials liberty, and in everything else, charity.” What are the essentials of our faith that we must unite in, and around which we must draw the line in the sand and defend that turf until death?

As one who has been walking in the Torah for more than 40 years, who has spent time fellowshipping and ministering in both traditional Sunday Christian as well as Sabbatarian churches, and then pastoring and teaching in pro-Torah/Hebrew roots congregation for many years, it has become clear to me which issues are essential, and which are not. Those biblical truths that are salvational in nature are the essentials. These are the hills on which we must plant the flag of truth and be willing to defend at all costs! What are these immutable essentials?

  • YHVH Elohim (in Hebrew a plural word) is the Sovereign of the universe and the God of the Bible. He is one (Heb. echad, i.e. a compound unity), yet the Bible reveals the Godhead is comprised of three spiritual entities: the Father, the Spirit and the Son.
  • The Bible is the Word of Elohim from Genesis to Revelation.
  • The Torah is for all believers for all time.
  • Yeshua the Messiah, the Word of Elohim, is Elohim and is the Son of Elohim who was manifested incarnate on this earth being born of the virgin Mary. 
  • Yeshua lived a sinless life, died on the cross as an atonement for the sins of man, was buried and resurrected on the third day where he is now at the right hand of Elohim, and at the same time is on the throne of Elohim as Elohim.
  • Salvation is by the grace of Elohim through faith in Yeshua the Son of Elohim. As a result of one’s salvation, one will love Yeshua by keeping his commandments or word (the Torah), which will produce in his life the fruits of righteousness as defined by the Torah.

These are the essentials of our faith on which there can be no compromise. To take a weakened position on any of these issues is to begin down a spiritually slippery slope that can only lead to eternal separation from YHVH Elohim! Leaders must be quick to lift up the spiritual sword of the Word of Elohim against those who teach otherwise. In this brief treatise, I will deal with the major issues raised by those who want to diminish or eliminate the deity status of Yeshua the Messiah.

“The Earth Did Quake”

When the life of Yeshua, the divine Light of Elohim that pierced the spiritual darkness of this world, was being poured out while he was hanging dying on the cross, the earth was plunged into darkness (Matt 27:47). After Yeshua yielded up his spirit and died, the veil in Continue reading →

 

Blog Scripture Readings for 10-7 Through 10-13-18

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THIS WEEK’S SCRIPTURE READINGS FOR STUDY AND DISCUSSION:

Parashat Noach — Genesis 6:9 – 11:32
Haftarah — Isaiah 54:1 – 55:5
Prophets — Joshua 8:1 – 14:15
Writings — Psalms 8:1 – 14:7
Testimony — Matthew 6:16 – 10:26

Our new annual Scripture Reading Schedule for 2018-2019 is available to download and print. If you are still working through 2017-2018’s Scripture Reading Schedule, the link will still be available on the right sidebar under “Helpful Links”.

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 10/7/18 through 10/13/18.