What is the advantage of being Jewish?

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Romans 3:1, What advantage then has the  Jew? There were several advantages to being a religious Jew in the first century.

  • A Jew had a head start on the non-Jews in that they knew (and hopefully were living) Torah. The same might be said of some religious Jews today. Most of the modern non-Jews who are currently returning to a more Hebraic orientation to their faith have to start at the ground level learning about Torah. They have to learn the most elementary basics about Sabbath, the biblical dietary laws, the biblical feasts and what it means to live a Torah lifestyle and to understand the Bible through a Hebraic contextual lens. This point is illustrated by the fact that pastors of most Messianic or Hebrew Roots congregations spend hours teaching their congregations these things every Sabbath, and may even have to spend hours on the phone during the week answering many basic questions about Torah theology and lifestyle. The Torah-observant Jews of Paul’s day did not need to be coached in the basics of the Torah-law of Elohim, for they already had a YHVH-consciousness and a fear of YHVH that most paganized non-Jews would not have had. 
  • Furthermore, most Jews would not have to unlearn a myriad pagan practices that Gentiles of that day, and Christians of this day have to unlearn in order to become Torah compliant.
  • Additionally, Jews of that day did not have to learn how to think Hebraically or how to understand biblical Hebrew terminologies. Gentiles did. 

The main problem that the Jews of Paul’s day had to deal with was racial pride and prejudice against non-Jews, and self -righteousness because they viewed themselves as the elect or chosen people of YHVH and the possessors of Torah. This same problem ethnic arrogance exists among many Jews to this day who operate in both rabbinic and Christians circles. This is why Paul had to deal with endemic Jewish racial, cultural and spiritual pride in the previous chapter.

 

What is the Biblical definition of “good works”?

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Romans 2:6, Every man according to his works. 

The Scriptures are clear: every person will be judged, both the wicked and the saints. The writer of Hebrew says, “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment” (Heb. 9:27). Paul says in 2 Cor. 5:10, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.” Yeshua said in Jn. 5:24 that Believers in him “have everlasting life and shall not come into condemnation, but have passed from death unto life.” The question is begged, therefore, what is the purpose of judgment of believers? It is for believers to receive their rewards in addition to eternal life (salvation). There are various levels of rewards or positions in the kingdom of Elohim. In the Sermon On the Mount Yeshua reveals at least two levels of reward: the least and the greatest. He says in Matthew 5:19,

Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least Torah-commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 

What we see revealed here is that one’s level of reward will be commensurate to their obedience to his Torah (the righteous instructions, teachings, or precepts of YHVH Elohim as revealed to the nation of Israel through Moses). Revelation 20:12–13 speaks of this:

And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works (emphasis added).

What are the works of the saints that will gain them the highest position in Elohim’s kingdom? We have already seen from Yeshua’s words that Torah-obedience will gain one the highest position. Revelation 19:7–9 states the same thing:

Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God (emphasis added).

Scripture defines righteousness as obedience to the Torah commandments of YHVH (Ps 119:172). Yeshua goes on to say elsewhere that, “he shall reward every man according to his works” (Matt 16:27). Paul says in Ephesians 2:8 thought we are saved by YHVH’s grace and not through any human effort the result of our salvation should be good works:

For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of Elohim. Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Messiah Yeshua unto good works, which Elohim hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

James says that faith without works is dead (Jas 2:17, 20, 26) and that faith is made perfect through works (Jas 2:22). The works spoken of here are the fruits of the Spirit of Elohim (Gal 5:22–3) which is a summation and end result of the Torah-law’s outworking in the life of the Believer: to love Elohim with all your heart, soul and mind and your neighbor as yourself (Matt 22:37; Mark 12:30; Luke 10:27; Deut 6:5 and Lev 19:18).

The concept of “good works” as related to the life of the saints is a theme that is echoed more than 30 times in the Testimony of Yeshua from the mouth of Yeshua in the Gospels to the end of the book of Revelation (e.g. Matt 5:16; 16:27; 1 Tim 5:10; 6:18; 2 Tim 3:17; Tit 2:7; 3:8; Heb 10:24; 1 Pet 2:12; Rev 2:5, 9, 13, 19, 23, 26; 3:1, 2, 8, 15; 20:12–13). The mainstream Christian church has down-played the role of “works” in the life of the saint, but it must be remembered what Yeshua said in John 14:15, “If you love me, keep my commandments” and what John said in 1 John 2:7, “He that says, I know [YHVH] and does not keep his Torah commandments is a liar and the truth is not in him.” Obedience to YHVH’s commandments is “works” or otherwise stated, “good fruits” of a saint’s life. Such is pleasing to YHVH and will determine our position of service and honor in his kingdom.

 

What is true grace by biblical definition?

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Romans 1:5, By whom we have received grace. Through Yeshua, this God-Man by which his deity was proven as indicated in verse four, humanity has been extended grace.

Grace … for obedience. Grace is the Greek word charis. The word grace has several subcomponent meanings. It is the removal by Elohim from the individual of guilt caused by sin—the wiping clean of the slate containing a man’s past sins. It is a divine and unmerited favor or pardon of Elohim toward sinful man. 

Grace also indicates favor on the part of the giver (Elohim) and thankfulness on the part of the recipient (man) and is to be distinguished from mercy which is the pardoning or removal of the penalty or consequences of sin. 

Grace removes guilt, mercy removes misery. But grace is also the divine influence or enablement upon the heart of man (see Strong’s Expanded Concordance). But grace is not only unmerited divine favor, but is also the divine enablement or empowerment to walk righteously before Elohim. It is “the merciful kindness by which Elohim, exerting his holy influence upon our souls, turns men to the Messiah, keeps, strengthens, increases them in faith, knowledge affection, and kindles them the ability to exercise righteous virtues (see 2 Cor 1:12; 4:15; 6:1; 12:9; 2 Thess 1:12; Acts 11:23; 13:43; 18:27; Rom 6:14; Gal 5:4; Col 3:16; 1 Cor 15:10) according to Thayer’s Greek -English Lexicon of the NT. 

So in summary, we see that grace is not only the unmerited divine favor that wipes away our past sins, but the divine empowerment or enablement to walk in such a state of righteousness and virtue before Elohim so that one does not sin (i.e. transgress the Torah-law of Elohim — 1 John 3:4) thus incurring upon oneself the penalty for sin (death) and hence the need, once a gain, for unmerited divine favor or pardon.

 

Are YOU a living menorah?

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Numbers 8:2, The menorah. The phrase toward the face of the menorah is an interesting one. The Jewish sages teach that the three wicks on the right and the three on the left were all directed toward the menorah’s central stem, thus concentrating light toward the center. The menorah symbolized that YHVH is the Source of all light (The ArtScroll Stone Edition Chumash, p. 775). What are the connotations of this for a believer in Yeshua? How did Yeshua describe himself? (See John 8:12; 9:5.) Moreover, what did he mean when he said that “I am the vine and you are the branches?” (John 15:5) What does this mean and how is this pointing to a type of human menorah? Now relate this to the seven Messianic assemblies of Revelation 2 and 3 being likened to menorahs (Rev 1:13, 20). Is Yeshua the center of all that we do? Do we place all of our focus on him? Can we say, as the Apostle Paul did, that “in him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28)? Does the power of his resurrected life and anointing flow through you even as oil was in the menorah and sap flows through a tree to its branches?

Redeemed Israelites Are That Menorah

The Scriptures plainly states that Yeshua and his body of followers are likened to a tree of which the seven-branched menorah that adorned the mishkan (tabernacle) in the wilderness as well as the sanctuary of Solomon’s Temple is a picture. Furthermore, remember what Yeshua said in John 15:5? “I am the vine and you are the branches …” This is a perfect picture of the menorah, which has a central trunk with six (the number representing man) branches growing out of the trunk. Remember what Yeshua said in Matthew 5:14–15, that his followers were to be lights upon a lampstand on a hill for all the world to see—a clear allusion in the mind of anyone in Yeshua’s audience to the temple’s menorah (which was upon the Temple Mount like a light on a hill).

Additionally, when a redeemed believer in and follower of Yeshua is in a sacred state of worshipping his Master and Savior, he will often lift his arms heavenward. Not only is this the universal sign of surrender (in this case to one’s Heavenly Master), but when we lift our hands our bodies are actually forming a human menorah. By doing this, in worship we are acting out what we are—a lampstand to the world radiating forth the good news of the truth and love of Yeshua.

In fact, The Scriptures shows us that the menorah, and not the cross, is the symbol of Yeshua’s spiritual body of believers. We see this in Revelation 1:12, 20 and 2:1 where the seven congregations are symbolized as a seven-branched menorah! The menorah here is the symbol of the congregation of redeemed believers.

Though the cross is representative of the redemptive work Yeshua accomplished on our behalf, it is not the symbol of the body of believers, commonly called the “church,” but the menorah is! Furthermore, in Jewish thought, the menorah is analogous to an olive tree (the ancient temple menorah was constructed of hollow tubes of solid gold filled with olive oil that burned when lit), to which the Apostle Paul makes reference in Romans 11, as representing the tree of life (which ultimately represents Yeshua) into which all must be grafted if they are to be part the spiritual body of Yeshua and have his eternal life.

 

Vatican Archbishop to Trump: ‘Children of Darkness’ Oppose You

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From NewMax.com at https://www.newsmax.com/us/vatican-archbishop-carlo-maria-vigano-letter-trump/2020/06/07/id/970927/

Vatican Archbishop to Trump: 'Children of Darkness' Oppose You

Vatican Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò (AP)

Sunday, 07 June 2020 05:07 AM

Influential Vatican Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, the former Papal Nuncio to Washington, D.C., has written to President Trump, praising his leadership during a critical juncture in his presidency as he faces harsh criticism for his handling of the coronavirus and the George Floyd protests.

In a June 7 letter addressed to President Trump and obtained by Newsmax, Vignano writes that the President’s enemy is “the children of darkness – whom we may easily identify with the deep state which you wisely oppose and which is fiercely waging war against you in these days . . .”

The Archbishop indicated that the “Covid emergency” will likely be viewed in the future as a “colossal operation of social engineering.”

“We will also discover that the riots in these days were provoked by those who, seeing that the virus is inevitably fading and that the social alarm of the pandemic is waning, necessarily have had to provoke civil disturbances, because they would be followed by repression which, although legitimate, could be condemned as an unjustified aggression against the population,” Vignano wrote.

The Archbishop claimed that “the same thing is also happening in Europe, in perfect synchrony.”

Vignano praised Trump as a “President who courageously defends the right to life, who is not ashamed to denounce the persecution of Christians throughout the world, who speaks of Jesus Christ and the right of citizens to freedom of worship.”

President Trump came under fierce criticism last Tuesday after visiting the Catholic National Shrine of Saint John Paul II in Washington.

Washington Archbishop Wilton Gregory, a church liberal, publicly chastised the Shrine for hosting the President.

In a statement Gregory stated: “I find it baffling and reprehensible that any Catholic facility would allow itself to be so egregiously misused and manipulated in a fashion that violates our religious principles, which call us to defend the rights of all people even those with whom we might disagree.”

The President’s visit to the Shrine came shortly after he signed an Executive Order at the White House supporting religious freedom around the world. The day before the President had visited St. John Church and held a Bible up in front of a press gaggle. On Sunday night, protesters attempted to burn the historic church down.

In his letter Vignano told Trump that the attacks were “part of the orchestrated media narrative which seeks not to fight racism and bring social order, but to aggravate dispositions; not to bring justice, but to legitimize violence and crime; not to serve the truth, but to favor one political faction.”

Without referencing Gregory by name, Vignano implied he was “aligned on the opposing side” to the President.

“They are subservient to the deep state, to globalism, to aligned thought, to the New World Order which they invoke ever more frequently in the name of a universal brotherhood which has nothing Christian about it, but which evokes the Masonic ideals of those want to dominate the world by driving God out of the courts, out of schools, out of families, and perhaps even out of churches,” Vignano said.

Vignano concluded his letter, “United against the Invisible Enemy of all humanity, I bless you and the First Lady, the beloved American nation, and all men and women of good will.”

© 2020 Newsmax. All rights reserved.

 

Blog Scripture Readings for 6-7 Through 6-13-20

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Parashat B’ha’alatkha — Numbers 8:1 – 12:16
Haftarah — Zechariah 2:14 (10)* – 4:7
Prophets — Jeremiah 31:1 – 37:21
Writings — Ecclesiastes 1:1 – 7:29
Testimony — Romans 3:1 – 9:33

Our new annual Scripture Reading Schedule for 2019-2020 with daily readings is available to download and print. If you are still working through 2018-2019’s Scripture Reading Schedule, the link will still be available on the right sidebar under “Helpful Links”. If you are using a mobile device or tablet, the link may be below, meaning you’ll need to scroll down instead.

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 or the “share your thoughts” box 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.

* Verse numbers in parenthesis refer to the verse number in Christian English Bibles when they differ from Hebrew Bibles or the Tanakh.

Weekly Blog Scripture Readings for 6/7 through 6/13/2020.