Nathan and Sandi recently experienced a once in a lifetime spectacular display of the northern lights or aurora borealis while on a cruise ship off the coast of southern Canada. The lights were so bright that they were visible all of the way to the southern US. Please enjoy this short, awe-inspiring and dramatic video-documentary of our experience.
This is a gospel-oriented Torah study. Our goal is to connect the good news of Yeshua the Messiah (the gospel message) to its Hebraic, pro-Torah roots or foundations. The information given here is more than head knowledge. Understanding and wisdom (the right application of knowledge that is based on truth) is taught thus making biblical truth practical, relevant and applicable to your daily life. The truths of the Bible not only have the power to transform your life here and now for the better, but eventually to take you past the veil of death and into eternity.
This Torah study is subdivided in sections by topic in a magazine format thus making it easy to watch at several sittings.
Free written study guides are available for downloading at https://www.hoshanarabbah.org/parshio….
May you be blessed as you watch this video.
This is a gospel-oriented Torah study. Our goal is to connect the good news of Yeshua the Messiah (the gospel message) to its Hebraic, pro-Torah roots or foundations. The information given here is more than head knowledge. Understanding and wisdom (the right application of knowledge that is based on truth) is taught thus making biblical truth practical, relevant and applicable to your daily life. The truths of the Bible not only have the power to transform your life here and now for the better, but eventually to take you past the veil of death and into eternity.
This Torah study is subdivided in sections by topic in a magazine format thus making it easy to watch at several sittings.
Free written study guides are available for downloading at https://www.hoshanarabbah.org/parshio….
May you be blessed as you watch this video.
Galatians 2:19, Died to the law. For this chapter, the heading in the New King James Bible says, “No return to the law.”
Is this really the point that Paul is making in this chapter as this, to many Christians, seems to indicate? In determining the exact meaning of a Bible verse that is open to several possible meanings, it is important to keep a key concept in mind. Both in the initial written language or subsequently translating from one language to another several factors determine the author’s true meaning. These include word order (syntax), punctuation, the multiple meanings of a particular word, and, finally, the specific word/s a translator chooses when translating, not to mention the translators pre-existing biases (called translation bias). For example, it a translator already believes that the law of Moses has been done away with because this is what normative Christianity teaches, then this view or biases will likely inform how he translates a Bible verse. The is also the profit motive and acceptability of one’s peers can also be a major influence. For example, if an individual translator or team of translators spends years translating a Bible, they may hope to eventually sell this Bible in order to be remunerated for their time and effort. Thus, in consideration will be the marketing of the product. With regard to the Bible, what will be the largest potential market to purchase your Bible? Those who believe that the law of Moses is valid today or those who believe that it is not? The answer is obvious. All of these factors can drastically effect how a Bible verse is translated, the words chosen in the process and the subsequent meaning of a sentence.
Verse 19 is a case in point.
For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God. I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. (vv. 19–20, KJV)
For I through the law died to the law that I might live to God. (NKJV, NASB)
For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. (NIV)
The way this verse reads, along with extra-biblical chapter heading that suggests that the law has been abrogated, can cause one to come to the conclusion the law of Elohim is now, to one degree or another, invalid. But is this what Paul is really saying in this verse? First, let’s read how some other Bibles translate this verse to determine if this is the only translation option.
For through the Law I died to the Law and its demands on me [because salvation is provided through the death and resurrection of Christ], so that I might [from now on] live to God. (AMP)
For under the Law I “died”, and now I am dead to the Law’s demands so that I may live for God. (Phillips)
for I through law, did die, that to God I may live; (YLT)
I through law to law died, that to God I might live. (J.P. Green)
For through Torah I died Torah, in order to life to Elohim. (The Scriptures)
For it was through letting the Torah speak for itself that I died to its traditional legalistic misinterpretation, so that I might live in direct relationship with God. (CJB)
For under the Law I “died”, and now I am dead to the Law’s demands so that I may live for God. (J.B. Phillips)
When I tried to obey the laws in the Scriptures, those laws killed me. As a result, I live in a relationship with God. (Names of God Bible)
For when I tried to keep the law, it condemned me. So I died to the law—I stopped trying to meet all its requirements—so that I might live for God. (NLT)
For I am in the Torah. To the Torah I die that to Eloah I live. (Hebraic-Roots Version from the Aramaic by James Trimm)
Besides, I through law Law died by Law, so that I might live by God. (Diaglott, 1942 by Benjamin Wilson)
For through the Law I died to the Law that I might live for God. (James Moffatt, 1924)
car c’est par la loi que je suis mort à la loi, a fin de [in order to] vivre pour Dieu. (Louis Segond—French)
porque [because] yo por [for, by, on behalf of, because of] la ley soy muerto para [to] la ley, al fin [finally] de vivir para [to live for] Dios. (Reina-Valera 1569, 1960—Spanish)
Next, let’s look at the actual meanings of the words in the original language.
For I through/after/by means of/on account of [the] law died to [the] law that/so that/in order that I might live to/for God.
From all of these various translations and alternate word meanings, we see that this verse could read very differently than, for example, how the NKJV and KJV translators render it. What do we make of this? What is the truth of the Bible?
Let’s return to the basics to gain understanding, and then to rightly “divide” or interpret this verse.
The Bible tells us that sin is the violation of YHVH’s Torah-law and that the wages of sin is death, thus we are all legally dead because we all have sinned. Yet we know that Yeshua has paid the wages or death penalty for our sin, and thus we are freed not from obeying the law, the violation of which brought upon us the death penalty to begin with, but from the penalty of the law. That is to say, the penalty for violating the law and obedience to the law are two completely separate or different concepts. Normative Christianity conflates these two. It asserts that because we have been redeemed or freed from the penalty of the law, we are now freed from the law itself. This, of course is an absurd and illogical conclusion that violates the rest of Scripture, including the writings of Paul, which upholds the validity of YHVH’s Torah-law in numerous places as the standard of righteous and love that all saints are to follow.
To say that the law has been done away with because Yeshua died on the cross is like saying that because someone paid the fine for my speeding violation, I am now legally free to speed as fast and as often as I like because the speeding law is now invalid. What? This makes no sense! How did the payment of my fine for violating the speeding invalidate the speeding law? It did not! The penalty and the law itself are two different things. The same is true for YHVH’s Torah law as it relates to Yeshua’s dieing on the cross to pay for our sins.
Luke 17:5–10, Increase our faith. Explaining the correlation between faithfulness and miraculous faith. As is often the case in the Gospels, Yeshua’s answers to his to the disciples’ questions is a bit of an enigmatic head scratcher. How does his answer relate to their question in Luke 17:56–10 about how to increase one’s faith? Let us explore the connection between miracles of faith and faithfulness.
In this passage of Scripture, Yeshua initially answers his disciples’ question by tersely stating that a small amount of faith produces great, even miraculous, results. He launches into a discussion about faithful attendance to duty, and ends the discussion there. What do these seemingly discordant statements have to do with each other? Upon reflection, the answer becomes evident. He is saying that faith resulting in miracles comes as a result of a servant being faithful by doing the will of his master—in this case, YHVH Elohim.
As an example of the connection between faith and faithfulness, let’s consider Yeshua’s command to his disciples to preach the gospel to all nations. Referred to as “The Great Commission,” Yeshua promised that certain miraculous signs and wonders would follow his disciples when they faithfully fulfill this command (Mark 16:15–18). One often hears Christians wondering why they do not see many miraculous signs and wonders happening today. Maybe it is because they are not being faithful to their Master’s command to preach the gospel to the whole world—or at least to share the gospel boldly with those around them. The preaching of the gospel is just one example of miracles of faith following obedience.
Let us dig deeper and demystify the connection between faith and faithfulness. Consider this. What is the relationship between faith and faithfulness? When one is faithful to his master’s will and is faithfully executing his responsibilities, what happens? By immersing oneself in the will of one’s master with one’s whole heart, one will be totally in tune with the master. That is, one will know the heart, mind and will of their master. He will know the desires of the master, how the master thinks and what the master wants him to do, and what the master wants him to do next. On this basis and from this spiritual launch pad, the servant can extend his faith and predict the will of the master—what the master wants him to do next, and then the servant can step out in faith and accomplish it, even if it requires a miracle to do so.
An example of stepping out in faith from the launch pad of faithfulness based on fulfilling Yeshua the Master’s will for his redeemed believers to expand the kingdom of heaven by sharing the gospel with others. In so doing, one will be walking hand-in-hand with the Master’s will to reverse the effects of the kingdom of darkness by healing the sick and casting demons out of oppressed people (Mark 16:15–18). In this manner, the kingdom of heaven is expanded one life at a time as per the heart and will of Yeshua. The preacher of the gospel should understand this correlation between faithfulness and miraculous faith, which is why after sharing the gospel with others, one can expect to heal the sick and cast demons out of the oppressed.
It is really that simple; it is a matter of cause and effect. Faith-based miracles is the natural consequence of faithfulness to execute the Master’s will. If one does not see miracles in one’s life, perhaps it is because one is not being obedient to the will of their Master!
In this video, we examine the Christian church’s typical praise and worship themes and then juxta pose them with the book of Psalms and how the Bible defines praise and worship. A major disconnect is exposed! Learn what the true praise and worship is that is pleasing to our Abba Father in heaven—YHVH Elohim.
This is a gospel-oriented Torah study guide. Our goal is to connect the good news of Yeshua the Messiah (the gospel message) to its Hebraic, pro-Torah roots or foundations. The information given here is more than head knowledge. Understanding and wisdom (the right application of knowledge that is based on truth) is taught thus making biblical truth practical, relevant and applicable to your daily life. The truths of the Bible not only have the power to transform your life here and now for the better, but eventually to take you past the veil of death and into eternity.
This Torah study is subdivided in sections by topic in a magazine format thus making it easy to watch at several sittings. May you be blessed as you watch this video.
For a free, printable adult and teen Torah study guide on this Torah portion (parashah), please go to http://www.hoshanarabbah.org/parshiot.html