Shabbat Shalom Everyone…

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I’m still here, though I’m still not posting much presently. Am reading all comments and answering when needed.

This is the busy time of the year in my tree service business. Working about 10 to 12 hours  per day. Pretty tired when I get home. Not as young and energetic as I used to be, but still going strong.

Since retiring from pastoring, I’ve been on a sort of sabbatical from ministry. Trying to move into YHVH’s more perfect will for my life as I transition into the next phase of my life as almost an empty-nester and preparing for being grandparents in, hopefully, the not too distant future.

For the past 27 years that I’ve been in non-stop ministry, I’ve been primarily feeding others spiritually. In the last 17 years, I’ve written about 80 teaching articles (on our website), written and published two complete Torah commentaries in 54 lessons, published more than 2000 posts on this blog not including comments, and made nearly 400 videos on our YouTube channel. This teacher is now stepping back a bit to get refreshed and taught from the Teacher from above, so I can be part of helping to move the body of Yeshua forward spiritually to the next level. This takes time and patience—waiting on YHVH as the psalmist puts it.

The Messianic Hebrew roots movement has kind of stalled out spiritually. This is of great concern to me. I want to be part of the next move to help prepare the way for Yeshua’s return. So I’m trying to step back and listen to heaven.

As my busy work schedule permits, I’m doing a lot of reading and studying in the Word. I’m confident that good things will come out of it. I’ll share a little here and there on this blog as I am able.

Love and blessings in Yeshua to everyone!

Natan

 

I will lift up mine eyes unto the mountains…

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I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills/mountains, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from Yehovah, which made heaven and earth. He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber. Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. Yehovah is thy keeper: Yehovah is thy shade upon thy right hand. The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night. Yehovah shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul. Yehovah shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore. (Psalm 121:1–8)

Just returned from my first backpack trip of the season into the Cascade Mountains near Mount Hood that are about one-and-a-half hours from my house. Accompanying me were several of my boys. We hiked into a small mountain lake where we hung out swimming, having Bible studies, praying and hiking. I also taught them some wilderness survival and bushcraft skills.

I was up early every morning with my Bible in hand watching the sun come up over the hills shining on the lake and our camp. it’s always amazing how it’s easier to hear the voice of YHVH when we get away from the physical and spiritual noise of the city. The awesome splendor of his creation literally surrounds and envelops a person, so that all one can do is think about him and revel in the beauty of his nature and lift up one’s hands in quiet and reverent praise to the of the one who created it all! Soli deo gloria!!!

One evening around the campfire, Kaleb led us in a Bible study on Revelation 21. As a result of that, after a sunrise swim the next morning in the lake’s pristine waters, I then let the Ruach wash me in the water of the Word of Elohim, and I was blessed with some wonderful insightful revelations from that chapter, which I will share with you in the near future.

Please enjoy these photos.

Sunrise over the lake

Sunset over the lake

Jared, Kaleb and Ryan with Bibles in hand as we study the word of Elohim around the campfire

A panoramic view of our campsite at lake’s edge with Natan cooking dinner in our camp kitchen

I’m never happier than when I’m away from the city and up in Yehovah’s creation. My family has been trekking these same mountains for more than 100 years!

Natan dangling his feet over a vertical fifty foot cliff with Mount Hood in the background

May our love for Yeshua and his word burning be like hot coals! When I take my kids into the mountains, this is the passion I try to impart in them: love for YHVH’s creation and his Word!

 

Blog Scripture Readings for 6-25 Through 7-1-17

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THIS WEEK’S SCRIPTURE READINGS FOR STUDY AND DISCUSSION:

Parashat Chukat — Numbers 19:1 – 22:1
Haftarah — Judges 11:1-33
Prophets — Jeremiah 48:1 – 52:34; Ezekiel 1:1-28
Writings — Esther 6:1 – 10:3; Daniel 1:1 – 2:49
Testimony — 1 Corinthians 5:1 – 10:33

Our full Scripture Reading Schedule for 2016-2017 is available to download and print.

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 6/25/17 through 7/1/17.

 

How do we celebrate the biblical feasts?

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I just got an email from someone in Africa asking me how to celebrate the biblical feasts. Here is my answer. — Natan

The Bible doesn’t really tell us much about how to celebrate the feasts other than those things pertaining to the Levitical and tabernacle systems, which we can’t do anymore because that system no longer exists or because they were fulfilled by Yeshua’s death on the cross (i.e. the sacrifices).
From Lev 23, we learn that all the feasts are commanded assemblies, so we need to get together with others. They are also Sabbaths (except Passover). What do you do then to celebrate them? I follow the Acts 2:42 dictate: teach and learn biblical doctrine, pray, fellowship and eat food. Praise and worship was also part of the Levitical system and something that we can still do.
Each feast has its unique things we can do as Lev 23 teaches.
On Passover we do the Lord’s Supper and have a Passover Seder as Yeshua did and commanded.
On the Feast of Unleavened Bread, after deleavening our houses, we  eat only unleavened bread and  gather together on the first and last day as a Sabbath and commanded assembly.
On the Feast of Weeks/Pentecost, we keep it as a Sabbath and gather together. We do a bread waving ceremony and do some other ceremonial practices relating to the day—things that aren’t commanded to do, but help us to focus on the meaning of the day.
On the Day of Trumpets, we blow shofars and teach about that. It’s also a Shabbat and has prophetic end times implications that we teach and study.
On the Day of Atonement, another Sabbath and day, we gather together, we fast as the Torah commands. Along with that, we repent of sins and focus on holiness issues and preparing to be the bride of Yeshua.
For the Feast of Tabernacles, we go somewhere and practice living out the millennium and hang out for seven days at a campout. The first day is a Sabbath. Often we will have meetings and activities that focus on the spiritual significance of that day.
The Eighth Day is the final biblical holiday of the year and falls immediately after the seven days of Tabernacles, hence its name.
The Bible says very little about what to do on these days except to rest and do no work if its a Sabbath and to meet with other believers. What we have done, along with following Acts 2:42, is to do activities that help us celebrate the day and focus on the meaning of it. There’s very little written in stone about how we can now celebrate YHVH’s feasts, but we can rest assured that he appreciates the baby steps we are taking to focus on him and our desire to meet with him on these days.
I have many videos on our YouTube channel about the feasts, and some of them talk about what to do on these days. Check them out at https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5EzE5DQnrHfWWbczzkRo6IOnglxhbRfM.
Finally for those who criticize us for trying to keep the feasts as imperfectly as we are doing in this era, I have this to say:
  • I am the richer spiritually for doing so.
  • My understanding of and love for Yeshua and his word has deepened substantially because of it.
  • The Father appreciates when his children obey him the best they can as imperfect as it may be.
  • Finally, I tell them, “I like what I’m doing not very well better than what you’re not doing at all.”
 

Two Kinds of Peace: Know Yeshua and Know Peace—No Yeshua, No Peace

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In Isaiah 26:1–4 we read,

In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah: “We have a strong city; [Elohim] will appoint salvation [Heb. Yeshua] for walls and bulwarks. Open the gates, that the righteous nation which keeps the truth may enter in. You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You. Trust in YHVH forever, for in YAH, YHVH, is everlasting strength.

My commentary on verse 3:

Isaiah 26:3, Peace. Heb. shalom. This word is spelled in its undiminished form (shin, lamed, vav, mem sofit) here containing the Hebrew letter vav (as opposed to other places in the Hebrew Scriptures where shalom is spelled deffectively [shin, lamed, mem sofit] without the letter vav denoting an incomplete or human-originated peace).

This verse is referring to that deep and inner soul-quenching peace of Elohim that passes all understanding that comes through a relationship with Yeshua the Messiah (Phil 4:7)—the fruit of the Spirit, as opposed to human or earthly, temporal peace. This peace comes  because of our salvation through Yeshua, which is our spiritual bulwark and wall as stated in verse one. This is the same peace that Yeshua talked about when he said, “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid” (John 14:27).

If you don’t know this peace that calms the storms in your heart and mind, forgives sin, takes away all one’s shame and guilt and replaces it with love, joy, peace, hope and assurance of eternal life after you die, then now is the time to put your faith in Yeshua the Messiah, repent of your sins and love and obey him for the rest of your life.

 

Isaiah on the End Times New World Order Technocracy?!

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I was sitting on my back deck on this bright, warm and sunny Shabbat morning reading my Bible, while watching the birds and listening to the wind in the trees when I read this passage in Isaiah. My ears perked up and flashing lights went off in my spirit man. Several hours later, this popped out of my spiritual incubator. Maybe this message will resonate with a few of you. The rest of you can go back to sleep. — Natan

Isaiah 25:7, The surface of the covering. This is a cryptic passage. What does it mean? Other translations render it as follows:

And on this mountain He will swallow up the covering which is over all peoples, Even the veil which is stretched over all nations. (NAS)

On this mountain he will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations. (NIV)

And swallowed up hath He in this mountain The face of the wrapping that is wrapped over all the peoples, And of the covering that is spread over all the nations. (YLT)

Before YHVH establishes his millennial kingdom on earth, he will have to remove something evil that has been covering the earth and its people like a veil. Is this referring to the web of lies that Satan and his Luciferian stooges on earth have woven to control the minds of earth’s inhabitants, so that they could accomplish their nefarious schemes to enslave the human population spiritually, economically and politically? Or could it refer to an electromagnetic web put in place by the global power elite or something similar that covers the earth to enslave the human population for its evil purposes of power and control? Maybe it’s both. Whatever it is, Yeshua will destroy it at his second coming.

The context of this passage is millennial. Chapter 24 prophesies of Elohim’s impending judgment on the whole earth followed by his reigning from Mount Zion in Jerusalem (v. 23). Chapter 25 continues the same prophecy. In verse nine, we read that, “We have waited for him, and he will save us…We will be glad and rejoice in his salvation [Heb. Yeshua].” This is speaking of the second coming of Yeshua and the establishment of his millennial kingdom on earth after having destroyed the end times Babylon the Great New World Continue reading →

 

A Riddle: What is as bitter as wormwood and as sweet as honey at the same time?

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I got this email question the other day from Rick who teaches about the Tabernacle of Moses in his church. Allow me to share my answer with all of you. — Natan

While teaching on the offerings when I presented the “meal offering” I had a few questions. Since the meal offering was fine flour, green ears, frankincense, oil, or salt, I mentioned that there was not supposed to be any leaven or honey put on the sacrifice. Questions follow;

  1. Why couldn’t honey be put on the offering?
  2. I was also asked “no shedding of blood there is no remission of sin”? I think I know why this is, and that is, that this is a meal offering of fellowship and not for trespass or sin offering. Am I correct in my thinking?

I have looked for the answers to both these and can’t seem to find the answers to either. Can you help? I appreciate your answers to questions I have had so far and am thankful that I have someone that I can call on. I think I have as much curiosity about a deeper study as my class does. Any help, I would be grateful.

Honey is sweet  and delightful to the taste and such has nothing to do with the death or is not an attribute of Yeshua’s death. His atoning death for sin was not a sweet or delightful thing and is therefore not an apt symbolic prophetic representation of his horrific death on the cross! That’s why I believe it was a prohibited ingredient for the meal offering.
The meal or grain offering (it was like matzah) was part of the twice daily (olah-tamid) sacrifices and was baked on the altar of sacrifice, which represented Yeshua’s death on the cross. In fact, Yeshua was crucified during the evening sacrifice at about 3:30PM. The meal offering was also part of the fellowship or peace offering and didn’t represent Yeshua’s death per se. It was as barbecue among friends celebrating a reconciled relationship (now that our sins are forgiven and we’re redeemed and can come into the presence of YHVH in right relationship). Thus, the meal offering was part of both both the expiatory and fellowship aspects of the sacrificial system. Why is that? This is because there are two aspects to Yeshua’s death on the cross: the blood/wine and his body/the bread—which are the communion elements we take during the Passover seder meal as per Yeshua’s command. First, our sins are  remitted by his shed blood, not by his  broken body. His blood is for atonement of sin—it paid the legal debt of our sin. His body, on the other hand, was for our healing (“by his stripes we are healed”). Now that our sin debt has been paid, we can be healed by his life flowing through us unhindered by sin. His body also resurrected. Bread is the staff of life. Our sins are washed away by his blood, but his body or His Word brings us life and resurrection once redemption has occurred. This is why the meal offering was part of the sacrificial and fellowship offerings. It speaks not to redemption, but to life in Yeshua now that we’re redeemed. This is what the communion elements represent. Together, they speak both to the idea of redemption from sin and new life as a result. HalleluYah!
Answer to the riddle: The death and resurrection of Yeshua the Messiah!