Category Archives: Yeshua/Jesus

Did Yeshua really “break” the law, and if so, whose “law”?

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John 5:18, [Yeshua]…broke the Sabbath. Allow me to share an interesting and sad, but true story from my life about a false Christian teacher that I went head-to-head with. Many years ago, I was in a meeting where a Christian Bible teacher was giving a message on the end times. In the middle of his teaching and totally out of context, he quoted this passage from John and claimed that Yeshua broke the Sabbath. There was a rustle in the audience of about 300 people. A little later, he made the same statement again and began to deride the Sabbath. This time there was an audible moan from some in the audience—many of whom were Sabbath keepers. A feeling of being hit in the gut went through me. A little later, he made the same statement again, and continued to bash Sabbath observance. This time, I could hold my peace no longer, and I stood up and challenged him in the middle of the meeting. I told him that to say that Yeshua had broken the Sabbath was to call Yeshua a sinner, and that Yeshua had not broken the Sabbath, but some Jewish legal traditions (or halakhah) pertaining to the Sabbath. The speaker was flustered and had no response, and the host of the meeting decided to take an intermission.

A year later, it was announced that this Bible teacher had suddenly and unexpectedly dropped dead in the pulpit while preaching. One can’t help but wonder if he had come under divine judgment for blasphemously teaching that Yeshua was a sinner by supposedly breaking the fourth commandment.

Had this false teacher simply pulled down a concordance from his bookshelf and looked up the word broke in the Greek, and had read John’s statement in verse 12 in the context of verses 8–10, he wouldn’t have been teaching this blasphemous heresy about our Master and Savior!

Here is the explanation of this passage: The word broke is the Greek word luo meaning “to loose, untie someone or something bound, to dissolve, destroy.” According to The Theological Dictionary of the NT, luo means “to free from prison, open something closed; destroy fetters, foundations, walls; to release.” What Yeshua was breaking was the Jews’ extra-Torah legal traditions that made the Sabbath a burden by prohibiting the alleviation of human suffering and need on this day (John 5:8–10). He was in no way violating the actual Torah, since there is no Torah-law prohibiting healing on the Sabbath or carrying one’s bed role. In attempting to follow the Torah through men’s traditions, many of the Jews of Yeshua’s day had actually omitted the weightier matters of the Torah (justice, mercy and faith, see Matt 23:23), and had forgotten that YHVH is more concerned with heart issues rather than religious legalism, since he desires mercy over sacrifice, and the knowledge of Elohim over burnt offerings (Hos 6:6).

Any tradition of man that violates the letter and the spirit of the Torah is an illegal tradition. Yeshua was only violating an illegal tradition of men. Therefore, in the eyes of the Jews he was breaking the Torah. In reality, he was loosing (not breaking) the Torah from the traditions of men that had corrupted the true intent of the Sabbath law. A better translation of this verse would be, “he…loosened/untied the Sabbath [from men’s legalistic traditions].” Yeshua didn’t come to set men free from the Sabbath. He came to set the Sabbath free from men’s unbiblical traditions.

Did Yeshua Break the Law?

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The Bronze Altar in the Tabernacle and YOU

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Exodus 27:1–8, An altar. As we continue our tour of the Tabernacle of Moses, the Torah takes us next to the bronze altar of sacrifice just inside the tabernacle’s door. Everything occurring in the tabernacle revolved around this altar—EVERYTHING! This fact is highly significant, since this altar points to the “altar” of the cross on which Yeshua the Messiah died for our sins. This is one truth that the mainstream church has gotten wonderfully right: the cross and what happened there is the central point of the gospel message. One cannot read the writings of the apostles and fail to see this unless one is sadly spiritually naive and spiritually blind! 

Just inside the door of the tabernacle was the altar of sacrifice. It was made of acacia wood overlaid with bronze, which is a prophetic picture of Yeshua the Messiah bearing the judgment for men’s sins on the cross. The blood of the sacrifice was poured out on the ground at the base of the altar symbolically picturing Yeshua shedding his blood at the cross. Two lambs were offered at the altar morning and evening (Exod 29:38–42). This pictures our need to come humbly before our Father in heaven morning and evening in prayerful devotion as living sacrifices to confess our sins, to praise and thank him for saving us from the penalty of our sins, which is death (Ps 51:16–17; Heb 13:15; 1 John 1:7–9; Rom 6:23).

The Altar of Sacrifice in More Details. Upon understanding that the Person and work of Yeshua is the way into spiritual life, light and truth, one must also recognize that one’s sin liability keeps one from a having personal relationship with one’s Creator. The broken fellowship with our Father in heaven due to our uncleanness because of our sin is the reason for this. For one to have a relationship with a sinless, perfect, totally set-apart or holy Elohim,the sin problem has to be dealt with. Sin must be atoned for along with the resulting guilt, shame and penalty (i.e. death) that sin brings. In the Tabernacle of Moses, the liability and effect of sin is dealt with at the altar of the red heifer outside the gate of the tabernacle, which represents the work of Yeshua at the cross (Heb 13:10–13). There one was purified and made ready to come into the actual tabernacle. Upon doing so, the first thing one encountered when entering the tabernacle was the altar of sacrifice where both kosher animals and unleavened bread (made of the finest flour and the purest olive oil) were offered, and a wine libation was poured out twice daily (morning and afternoon, Num 28:1–8). These all picture the body of Yeshua being broken and slain for sinful man and our need to “eat” his body and “drink” his blood in a spiritual sense to which the communion elements of the Lord’s supper taken on the Passover during the seder meal symbolically point (John 6:35–58). 

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The Door of the Tabernacle and YOU

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Exodus 26:36–37, Door of the tent.As with every other part of the tabernacle, the door is rich is rich in symbolic and prophetic significance pointing to Yeshua the Messiah and relating to the glorious message of the gospel in its full ramifying panoply.

This door had the same colors as the door to the outer courtyard (blue, crimson, white and purple) and was also woven of fine linen. The door was the same size in area, though it was a different dimension than the first door, for it was taller and narrower. This teaches us that the view of Yeshua becomes higher, and the way to the holiest place becomes narrower and the requirements become more stringent as one draws closer in proximity to YHVH’s glorious presence.

Five wooden pillars covered in gold supported by bronze bases held the curtains up. Again, the wood-covered gold speaks of the righteousness of the saints. Bronze speaks of Elohim’s judgment and five can speak of both the five books of YHVH’s Torah as well as the five-fold ministry the purpose of which is to ground YHVH’s people in his Torah-instructions in righteousness. In so doing, the Saints will become like Yeshua, who was the physical embodiment of the Torah—or YHVH’s Torah-Word made flesh (the Living Torah, John 1:1, 14).

The Door of the Tent in More Detail

This door had the same coloring as the outer door: purple, white, crimson and blue. This door had different ­dimensions as the outer door, but occupied the same area. This door was about half the width, but twice as high as the outer door. This speaks of the fact that as one grows and matures spiritually, the way of life, the path of righteousness and the way to intimacy with the Father gets narrower and the standards are elevated.

It was held up by five pillars picturing the fivefold ministry (Eph 4:11), which is likened to a hand: The apostle is like the thumb. The other fingers cannot work properly without it. It has more flexibility than the rest and can do things the others can’t. The prophet is like the index finger and points out people’s faults and points the direction people are to walk in, yet he must be very gracious, humble and self-effacing in his activity since he has three fingers pointing back at himself. The evangelist represents the middle finger which extends or reaches outward the farthest to bring people to YHVH. The shepherd (pastor) is the ring finger representing gentleness and love. The teacher, like the little finger that is used to dig stuff out of one’s nose and ears, digs out nuggets of truth in hard to reach places (e.g. ear and nose).

The five pillars were made of acacia wood overlaid in gold, which speaks of Yeshua’s humanity and his divinity. The pillars were set in bases of bronze speaking of YHVH’s righteous judgments and that all judgment will be left up to Yeshua who is over all and has judged and will judge all (Heb 2:8; Eph 1:22). Furthermore, Yeshua as head of the body of believers, the gates of hell will not prevail against his elect (Matt 16:18; Heb 3:6).

 

Who or What is the Word of Elohim/God?

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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.

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Yeshua, the Light of the Morning and Born of a Virgin, Prophesied in Psalms

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Psalm 110:1–7, From the womb of the morning. We have once again before us another one of the classic Messianic passages in the Hebrew Scriptures and this has been so recognized by both Jewish and Christian theologians for millennia (Heb 1:13; Acts 2:34; 1 Cor 15:25; Eph 1:21–22; Matt 22:41–46). For example, the medieval rabbinical sages Rashi, Ibn Ezra and others recognized the Messianic implications of this Psalm The Messiah in the Old Testament, p. 123ff, by Risto Santala).

The phrase, “from the womb of the morning/dawn” is an interesting one. Christian exegetes have interpreted this to be speaking of the virgin birth. Early church father, Justin Martyr, understood this phrase to be a reference to the virgin birth (Dialogue, chap. 63, ca. a.d. 160). Adam Clarke, apprentice to and then associate of John Wesley, in his notable commentary (1810-1826), writes: “As the dew flows from the womb of the morning, so shall all the godly from thee. They are the dew of thy youth; they are the offspring of thy own nativity. As the human nature of our Lord was begotten by the creative energy of Elohim in the womb of the virgin; so the followers of Elohim are born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, but by the Divine Spirit” (Clarke’s Commentary, vol. 3, p. 582).

The word womb is the Hebrew word rechem (Strong’s H7358) and the KJV translates this word as womb in 21 of 26 times it occurs in the Hebrew Scriptures. Quite frankly, womb is what this word means both literally and figuratively.

The next word under consideration is morning which is the Hebrew word mishchar (Strong’s H4891) meaning “day-breaking or dawn.” Psalm 110:3 is the only occurrence of this word’s usage in the Hebrew Scriptures, therefore, there is no linguistic backdrop against which to juxtapose this word to ascertain easily its meaning.

Let us therefore take another approach to unlocking the mystery of this phrase. Are there other Scriptures which express parallel ideas relating the Messiah’s coming to being similar to the sun’s rising which may give us an expanded meaning? 

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A Gift for Yeshua: Why I Love Him—Reflections on His Nativity

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In December, many people think of the birth of Jesus (Yeshua). Most people who are knowledgable know that he wasn’t born in December, but in the early fall. But nine months before the actual time of his birth puts us at the end of December when Yeshua was conceived—when the life of our Savior began in Mary’s womb. It was at this time that the heaven-sent Yeshua, miraculously pierced the spiritual darkness of the this world at the darkest time of the year. This divine spark of life in the womb of a woman would become the spiritual light of this world to lead men out of the darkness of sin and evil and to the supernal light of his Father, Elohim, and to eternal life.

Whether you celebrate the birth of the babe in the manger in December or in the fall, Yeshua’s arrival is still heaven’s ultimate love gift to humanity as John 3:16 says. “For Elohim so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” Please stop for a moment and quiet your heart and mind to reflect on the significance of this momentous event that occurred in the tiny town of Bethlehem some 2000 years ago.

For years since I was a child, my mind fully believed what the Bible tells us about the birth of Yeshua. But it wasn’t until much later, as an adult, that, while I was alone one night and quietly seeking Elohim, that the revelation of the priceless nature of Elohim’s love gift to me literally pierced my heart like a lightening bolt from heaven. As a result of this supernatural revelation and an overwhelming sense of Elohim’s love that accompanied it flowing through me like warm oil, I fell to my knees in worshipful and reverential awe as my heart came alive to just how much Elohim loved me personally—a sinner who deserved death. That night changed my life forever. They say that the eighteen inches between the head and the heart is the greatest distance in existence. My head and heart know this is to be true. Now they were united!

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