Sorry for the problems with viewing this blog over the past few days. It was driving me crazy. We had some web server problems, which have now, thankfully, been solved.
I wasn’t even able to get on my own blog, much less post or edit anything. It appears that everything is working okay now. HalleluYah!
I’m preparing to record some short teachings (15 to 30 minute-long) videos for Hoshana Rabbah’s YouTube channel. Although I have done both television and radio in the past, this is a new venue for us.
This is my question for you… and please take a little time to reflect on the question, and then get back to me with an answer. What are some biblical topics that most need to be covered and put on YouTube — especially subjects relating to the Hebraic roots of the Christian faith? What are some of the most pressing questions in your mind? What do you think a new believer, or someone who is new to their Hebraic roots would be most interested in learning about?
I’d be most grateful for your input. Thank you in advance for your thoughtful consideration and response.
Natan Lawrence
If this blog has been a blessing to you, please let those in your sphere of influence know about it. My desire has always been to touch as many lives as possible by making the Bible, the Word of Elohim, come alive, exciting and relevant.
We all need a fresh, cool drink of good news in the daily wilderness journey of our life. Not only that, most of us are craving for spiritual direction, purpose, and help in understanding the world around us, and the spiritual world beyond us—and what it has to do with us, and how we fit into it.
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For the scripture saith, Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn. And, The labourer is worthy of his reward. (1 Tim 5:18)
[F]or the labourer is worthy of his hire.…for the workman is worthy of his food. (Matt 10:7, 10)
Do ye not know that they which minister about holy things live of the things of the temple? and they which wait at the altar are partakers with the altar? Even so hath the Lord ordained that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel. (1 Cor 9:13–4)
Let him that is taught the word share in all good things with him who teaches. (Gal 6:6)
Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honour, especially they who labour in the word and doctrine. For the scripture saith, Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn. And, The labourer is worthy of his wages. (1 Tim 5:17–18)
This is a heart-warming, truly fascinating short video about man and whale. It brought tears to my eyes.
Watch this video to the end where you will see some amazing film footage of a humpback whale expressing the joy of being set free!
May this lift your spirits, and may we all praise YHVH Elohim for the wonders of his creation!
Enjoy—
http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=EBYPlcSD490
Get “High” on Mountains!
On the “About Natan” page of this blog (http://hoshanarabbah.org/blog/about/), it is listed that I am a high alpine mountain climber. As evidence of the veracity of this statement, on Monday, August 13, 2012, my 17 year old son, Aaron, snapped this photo of me standing on the summit of 12,276 foot high Mt. Adams in SW Washington state. It is the second tallest mountain in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. The tallest mountain is visible in the background, and is the 14,410 foot tall Mt. Rainier.
This was my 19th climb on glaciated peak and my 17th climb to the summit of a mountain. My first climb was to the top of the famous Mt. St. Helens volcano in 1972 when I was 12 years old. This was eight years before it blew its top. I have since climbed it twice.
Here is a picture of Mt. Adams from a distance.
May YHVH Elohim be praised for creating such spectacular beauty and allowing us the privilege and good health to be able to enjoy it!
Shabbat shalom!
The Scriptures Call the Israelites Gentiles. Isaiah 1:4 calls Israel a sinful nation. The word nation is the Hebrew word goy (Strong’s H1471) meaning “gentile” or, in a spiritual sense, “worldly or secular.”
This is one of a number of passages in the Scriptures where Israel itself is referred to as being gentile. A quick study of the Hebrew word goy will bear this fact out. This word is translated in the Tanakh (Old Testament) as nation 374 times, as heathen 143 times, as Gentiles 30 times, and people 11 times. Whenever the word gentile is used in the KJV Bible it is the word goy. According to Strong’s Concordance, the meaning of goy or gowy is “a foreign nation; hence a Gentile; also (fig.) a troop of animals, or a flight of locusts.” According to Gesenius Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon, the word goy means “a people, a confluence of men,” and “contextually in Holy Scripture it is used to refer to the other nations besides Israel, the foes of Israel, and strangers to the true religion of Israel.”
There are times when this word refers specifically to Israel (e.g., the descendants of Joseph in general: Gen 48:19; to the southern kingdom of Judah when it forsook Elohim and its covenant with him and became like the surrounding heathen nations: Isa 1:4; to the southern kingdom: Isa 9:1; to Israel in general: Isa 26:2; 49:7; Ps 33:12; Gen 12:2; 35:11).
There are numerous other instances in the Scriptures where the words goy or goyim (the plural of goy) are applied to the descendants of Abraham. The Scriptures’ use of the term is unbiased and lacks any of the pejorative implications that have been applied to the term subsequently (e.g., Gen 17:4,5,6,16; 18:18; 25:23; 46:3; Exod 19:6; 33:13; Deut 4:6,7,8,34; Ezek 37:22). As already noted, goy simply means “people or ethnic group.” The Greek word ethnos (Strong’s G1484) as found in the Testimony of Yeshua (New Testament) is equivalent in meaning to the Hebrew word goyim. Our English word ethnic derives from this Greek word.
The Apostle Paul on the Subject. Now consider this. The Apostle Paul says in a number of places that those who come to Yeshua are no longer Gentiles but are the children or seed (literally “sperm,” which is the meaning of the Greek word) of Abraham (Eph 2:11–19; Rom 4:16; 9:8–11; Gal 3:7,9,14,28–29). The word gentiles as used in the Scriptures simply means “ethnic groups or nations.” As already noted, there are many places in the Scriptures where Jews and Israelites are referred to as “Gentiles.” There is no class of people called “gentiles” in the spiritual body of Yeshua, however. Rather, the Scriptures use the such terms for the redeemed of YHVH as the saints, the called out ones, or the one new man. Any attempt by anyone to keep the Jew—Gentile division alive within the body of Yeshua is in effect keeping up the middle wall of partition that the Apostle Paul gave his ministry life and eventually his physical life to tearing down (see Eph 2:11–19).
There Is No Gentile Gate. We must also keep in mind that there are only twelve gates through which one can enter the New Jerusalem, and these gates are named after the twelve tribes of Israel (Rev 21:12). There is no gentile gate! The only way that one will be able to enter the New Jerusalem will be through spiritually identifying with the tribes of Israel. So which tribe are you?
No Covenants Made With the Gentile Nations . Finally, YHVH, the God of the Bible, never made any salvational covenants with non-Israelite nations, but only with the nation of Israel. To be in covenantal relationship with YHVH one has to accept the Jewish Messiah, and be grafted into the Israelite olive tree through the Messiah and become an Israelite—PERIOD! For example, the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews clearly states that the New Covenant is made with the two houses of Israel—not, and the Gentile nations (see Heb 8:8 and Jer 31:31,33). This may come as a shock to some people reading this, but this is the truth of the Scriptures!
One New Man In Messiah Yeshua . The Scriptures reveals that there are only two classifications of people: Israelites and non-Israelites or Gentiles. Individuals in the former group can obtain eternal life by virtue of one’s individual spiritual relationship with the Elohim of Israel through the Messiah of Israel. The latter group, unless they repent of their sins (i.e., lawlessness or Torahlessness, see 1 John 3:4), will burn in the lake of fire (Rev 20:15).
Whenever Paul uses the term “gentile,” he is either referring to ethnicity, and not using the term as a spiritual designation, or he is using the term gentile to mean “worldly.” In this case, it is a moniker referring to those who are carnal in that they act like gentiles (heathens) who are “without God and without hope” (Eph 2:12). The term gentile is not a spiritual designation for a redeemed believer, for they have been called out of the world and have become a member of a special group called “the called out ones” or “church” (Greek: ecclesia meaning “the church or an assembly of people who have been called out of another group of people”). The Scriptures also call redeemed believers “saints,” a word simply meaning “holy” or “set-apart” as opposed to Gentiles who are without Elohim and without hope. The Scriptures teach that those who are redeemed or who are “in Messiah” are no longer Gentiles, for they have been grafted into and become part of the nation of Israel (Rom 11:13–24 and Eph 2:11–19). They have become the one new man which Paul speaks about in Ephesians 2:15.
What Do We Do Now? Now that we know that we are really part of a people-group called “Redeemed Israel” what does one do with this information? That is up to you. Pray and ask your Father in heaven to help you to live out your new identity as an Israelite.
Many believers in Yeshua the Messiah upon finding out that the Scriptures actually define them as Israelites and not as Gentiles, begin to sense a need to begin acting more like Israelites in their lifestyle and beliefs. They become interested in the biblical feasts of Israel and in the seventh day Sabbath resulting in their life takes on a more biblical or Hebraic flavor as they see themselves more in light of the Book of Acts believers instead of churchianity. This is a path that you will need to begin to explore. As you go down this journey, please keep in mind the words of Yeshua in Matthew 5:17–19; John 15:15 and the words of the apostles in 1 Corinthians 11:1 and 1 John 2:3–6 along with Romans 7:12,14 and 3:31.
Is celebrating the biblical feast of Shavuot (aka the Feast of Weeks or Pentecost) optional for the born-again, redeemed Israelite believer in Yeshua the Messiah in the 21st century?
The short answer is, “NO!” unless one considers the clear commands of the Word of Elohim to be merely suggestions and not commands. “NO!” unless one rejects following the examples of Yeshua, the Apostle Paul and the Book of Acts followers of Yeshua. “NO!” unless one has become so conditioned to following the traditions of men that have made of non-effect the Word of Elohim that they have become blind and deaf to the clear truth of the Scriptures.
You see, we live in an age where the majority of so-called “Bible believers” and church people are more concerned about feelings, popularity, majority consensus, what others think, having fun, being entertained, the lust of the flesh and eyes that most either don’t know what the Word of Elohim says, or don’t care. Oh, they will swear otherwise, but their actions speak louder than their words. Amos the prophet describes this spiritual sickness well when he referred to apostate Israel as suffering from a “famine of the hearing of the words of YHVH,” (Amos 8:11). You see, the word “hearing” in Hebrew is shema, which means not just “to hear,” but “to do and to obey” as well. It seems that nowadays, like then, a lot of folks hear, but few obey.
On May 27, 2012, we will be celebrating the biblical feast of Shavuot (Lev 23:15–22, Acts 2:1; 20:16). On this blog, and on our ministry website (hoshanarabbah.org) we have been promoting our congregation’s and our ministry’s Shavuot celebration to those in our local area (the Pacific Northwest U.S. region). Well, what prompted this blog post was an interesting response I received today from someone who thanked us for the announcement, but was sorry they couldn’t make it to Shavuot because they had a birthday party to attend instead.
So, I submit, once again, the question, is celebrating Shavuot optional? Let me list the reasons why it is not — according to the Word of Elohim:
So now what’s your excuse for not celebrating Shavuot as YHVH Elohim in the Scriptures commands?
