Five Old Testament Scriptures That Specifically Prophesy That Yeshua Is the Messiah

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Matthew 16:16, The Son of the living Elohim. One day, Yeshua asked his disciples who they thought he was. Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God. (Matt 16:15–16) How did Peter know this? Were there any hints in the Tanakh (Old Testament) that the Messiah would be the Son of Elohim, since these were the only Scriptures Peter had?

Their are numerous prophecies in the Tanakh about the Messiah. Here is a list of scriptures that prophesy specifically that he would be the Son of Elohim with some brief comments following.

Therefore Adonai himself shall give you a sign: Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel [Heb. God with us]. (Isaiah 7:14)

Many Bible prophecies have double meanings or fulfillments. Such is the case with this prophecy. It was partially fulfilled in Isaiah’s life (Isa 8:3), but not completely. Isaiah’s son was neither deity nor was he known as “God with us.” Yeshua the Messiah was (Matt 1:23).

He shall cry unto me, “You are my father, my El [God], and the rock of my salvation.” Also I will make him my firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth. (Psalm 89:26, 27)

Again, this prophecy has a double fulfillment. It was partially fulfilled by David and his sons, but not completely. Only Yeshua, who also was from David’s lineage, fulfilled the superlative aspects of this prophecy. Not only Continue reading →

 

Who are what is the church, and do you really want to be called by that name?

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Matthew 16:18, The church. This is the first place the word church is found in the Testimony of Yeshua. This causes us to ask several questions. Did the first-century followers of Yeshua call themselves a church or meet in a church? Emphatically, no! In the Testimony of Yeshua, the Greek word translated in our English Bibles as church is the word ecclesia which means “a gathering of people called out from their homes to either a secular or a religious gathering in a public place.” It does not mean “a building,” but rather “a group of people.” So accordingly, the saints don’t meet in a church or go to church — they are the church!

Church congregation 16958344

In our modern vernacular, the word church not only refers to the building where the saints meet, but to the group of saints that meets in the building. The first definition is biblically incorrect, while the second definition is biblically correct.

But even the modern term church, while referring to a group of people has, by in large, lost its spiritual potency. It now simply means a group of religious people — normally Christians — that have formed a social clique.

Church altar 60505979

What’s really behind our English word church and is this a term saints should be applying to themselves? The Greek word for church is ecclesia meaning “the called out ones.” Called out from what? The saints are called by Elohim out from the world and a secular or heathen lifestyle. Sadly, most church-goers while failing to understand the true meaning of the word also fail to live up to its stringent definition — to come out spiritually and to be separate themselves from the pagan culture around them and to adopt a biblical congruent world view and lifestyle.

Even the derivation of English word church is antithetical to how the term ecclesia is used in the Testimony of Yeshua. Ironically, according to the dictionary the word church originates from the German word kirche and the Old English word circe. Circe is of Greek origination and is the name of the sorceress and enchantress goddess daughter of Sol or Helios, the pagan sun god. Some historians claim that Circe and Kirche are the same individual who was the Babylonian moon goddess. The word circe is related to the common words circle, circus and circumference. Just as the sun is circular, and the Romans worshipped their sun-god in circular arenas called circuses where horse races and other athletic competitions occurred in honor of the sun god, so today many well-meaning individuals worship today in churches on Sun-day. (Information sources: Encyclopedia Britannica, eleventh edition; The Final Restoration, by C.J. Koster; Webster’s Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language, Random House, 1983.)

 

When you take the test of life what grade will you get?

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Genesis 22:1, Elohim did tempt Abraham. Trials and temptations show the disposition of one’s character and the true metal of the human heart, whether it is righteous or unrighteous, pure or impure. When tested do you whine, grumble, accuse others, defend yourself, backbite and resort to slander? Or do you submit to the purifying fires of YHVH’s spiritual forge? YHVH tested Abraham ten times. Sacrificing Isaac was the last and most severe test. His faith and obedience was steady. When was the last time you faced such a test? What was your response? Did you pass or fail the test?

Will you pass or fail the tests of life?

Will you pass or fail the tests of life?

This chapter recounting the near sacrifice of Isaac—called the Akeidah or binding of Isaac—is full of prophetic allusions pointing to the ministry of Yeshua the Messiah, the Seed of Abraham, whose first coming was still 2000 years in the future. Read this chapter and explain how the following things prophetically point to Yeshua:

  • verse 2: Of which famous verse in the Gospels does this remind you?
  • verse 2: Moriah
  • verse 2: burnt offering
  • verse 4: on the third day
  • verse 4: saw the place afar off
  • verse 6: laid [the wood] upon Isaac, his son
  • verse 8: Elohim will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering
  • verse 9: and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood
  • verse 11: the angel of YHVH
  • verse 13: a ram
  • verse 13: caught in the thicket
  • verse 13: horns
  • verse 18: in your seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed (hint: see Gal 3:16).
 

Understanding the Mysteries of Life

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The more you study the Word of Elohim (the Scriptures), the more the mysteries of life will be revealed to you, and you will be able to make sense of the craziness in the cosmos around you. The Word of Elohim is a light in the darkness. Light brings wisdom, understanding and hope. Hope brings joy and peace. This results in love for one’s fellow man and for Elohim, for perfect love casts out fear. This is abiding in the Father’s river of life that flows from his throne in heaven.
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You, through Your commandments, make me wiser than my enemies; for they are ever with me. I have more understanding than all my teachers, for Your testimonies are my meditation. I understand more than the ancients, because I keep Your precepts. I have restrained my feet from every evil way, That I may keep Your word. (Ps 119:99–101)
 

18 Reasons Why I Don’t Celebrate Halloween

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From http://endoftheamericandream.com/archives/18-reasons-why-i-dont-celebrate-halloween

By Michael Snyder, on October 28th, 2015

Halloween Fire - Public DomainThis year, 64 percent of all Americans will celebrate Halloween, but I will not be one of them.  For me, it is a wretched, horrible holiday that celebrates the darkest side of humanity, and it is deeply rooted in ancient pagan traditions that would get people thrown in prison if they attempted to duplicate them today.  With each passing year, the sexually suggestive costumes being marketed to our young girls become even skankier, the horror movies become darker and even more demonic, and the number of Americans that participate in occult ceremonies just continues to grow.  In fact, it has been estimated that the number of self-identified witches in the United States is doubling every 30 months.  Those that are deeply into the occult take this holiday very seriously, and the dark forces that they are dealing with are very real.  So no, I don’t want anything to do with this festival of death.  In no particular order, the following are 18 reasons why I don’t celebrate Halloween…

#1 I don’t want anyone in my family to observe a holiday that celebrates death, witchcraft and the occult.  This year, millions of Americans will participate in activities that could potentially open up a door for demonic activity.

#2 The average American spends $74.34 on the holiday.  I would rather save the money.

#3 Millions of women use Halloween as an excuse to dress like street walkers, and millions of men use Halloween as an excuse to act like sexual predators.

#4 Even little girls as young as three years old are being dressed up in sexually provocative costumes.  What kind of message does this send to them?

#5 Dressing up little children as ghosts, demons and vampires is not healthy for them.  In recent years, there has been a trend to make costumes for children as hellish as possible.

#6 Originally, costumes were worn on October 31st “to change the personality of the wearer to allow for communication with the spirit world“.  For 11 years in a row, dressing up as a witch has been the number one costume choice for adults in the United States.

#7 In ancient Britain, the festival known as Samhain was celebrated on October 31st.  It was supposedly a day when dead souls would revisit their old homes.  Personally, I don’t want anything to do with contacting the souls of the dead.

#8 According to the History Channel, Samhain was also the day when the Druids “gathered to burn crops and animals as sacrifices to the Celtic deities”.

#9 As I have written about previously, the fastest growing religion in America still practices a holiday known as “Samhain” to this very day.

#10 According to Wiccans, Halloween is the time when the veil between the living and the dead is considered to be the thinnest.  They believe that on this day their god “dies” and is reborn every year on the Winter Solstice.  This year the winter solstice falls on December 22nd.

#11 In ancient times, the resurrection of the sun god required human and animal sacrifice.  The following is what occult expert Bill Schnoebelen says that the Druids would do at this time of the year…

Druids worshiped the sun god, called by names like Bel (Ba’al?) or Chrom. On October 31, they believed that he died and went into the kingdom of the dead, Anwynn. The purpose of Samhain was to insure his return. Even witches admit this involved human sacrifice.

Both animal and human blood were believed to be needed to resurrect Bel on Samhain. Human blood was believed to open the gates of Anwynn and released the spirits for a night. Thus, October 31 came to be associated with ghosts. This is not just history. Samhain is still celebrated by Pagans and is the most solemn ceremony on their “religious calendar”.

#12 To this day, animal torture and sacrifice is still practiced on Halloween by occultists.  Many animal shelters will not adopt out black cats during the month of October for this very reason.

#13 In the early seventh century, a Catholic Pope known as Gregory the First decided that the best approach to ensure the continued spread of Catholicism was to “christianize” existing pagan holidays and practices…

As a result of their efforts to wipe out “pagan” holidays, such as Samhain, the Christians succeeded in effecting major transformations in it. In 601 A.D. Pope Gregory the First issued a now famous edict to his missionaries concerning the native beliefs and customs of the peoples he hoped to convert. Rather than try to obliterate native peoples’ customs and beliefs, the pope instructed his missionaries to use them: if a group of people worshipped a tree, rather than cut it down, he advised them to consecrate it to Christ and allow its continued worship.

#14 The tradition of “trick-or-treating” was one of the existing pagan traditions that was later “Christianized”…

The idea of trick-or-treating is further related to the ghosts of the dead in pagan, and even Catholic, history. For example, among the ancient Druids, “The ghosts that were thought to throng about the houses of the living were greeted with a banquet-laden table. At the end of the feast, masked and costumed villagers representing the souls of the dead paraded to the outskirts of town leading the ghosts away.”

As already noted, Halloween was thought to be a night when mischievous and evil spirits roamed freely. As in modern poltergeist lore, mischievous spirits could play tricks on the living—so it was advantageous to “hide” from them by wearing costumes. Masks and costumes were worn to either scare away the ghosts or to keep from being recognized by them

#15 The tradition of carving out a “Jack-O-Lantern” also comes from paganism.  The following comes from wicca.com…

Turnips were hollowed out and carved to look like protective spirits, for this was a night of magic and chaos. The Wee Folke became very active, pulling pranks on unsuspecting humans. Traveling after dark was not advised.

And as Bill Schnoebelen has noted, pumpkins eventually replaced turnips, but the meaning remained the same…

Here it’s a pumpkin, but in Europe it was often a turnip, or a skull with a candle in it. This serves two symbols, 1) the lord of the Dead, a “god” just like a Buddha – in short, an idol. 2) The fearsome face represented the god, Samhain, who would drive off less powerful demons that night. The lights in the Jack-o-Lantern symbolize the “faery fires” or “Will’o the Wisps” which were believed to be the lost souls flitting through the night. They also hearken back to the huge Samhain “balefires” which were lit to help conjure back the god from the darkness.

#16 On all Satanic holy days, there are children that get ritually abused.  This has been documented repeatedly, and yet most people (including most Christians) don’t want to hear about it.

#17 For Satanists, Halloween is one of the most important celebrations of the year.  On page 96 of the Satanic Bible, Anton LaVey wrote the following…

“After one’s own birthday, the two major Satanic holidays are Walpurgisnacht (May 1st) and Halloween.”

#18 The Scriptures are very clear about this sort of thing.  Deuteronomy 18:9-13 says the following: “When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not learn to imitate the detestable ways of the nations there. Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults with the dead. Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord”.

So what about you?

Will you and your family celebrate Halloween this year?

 

“Remember Lot’s Wife!” What We Can Learn from Lot’s Life

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Lot had a lot, and cast in his lot with the lot of them and ended up losing a lot.

Is Lot a picture of the typical modern born-again believer whether Christian or Messianic? I believe so. In saying this, as a pastor and having been a watchman on the spiritual wall for many years, I see very little if any differentiation (broadly speaking) between Christians and most Messianics, for the spiritual condition of both groups is fundamentally the same.

Lot1

Primarily what differentiates the two groups is the religious jargons and nomenclatures each group uses in addition to the outward religious trapping or externals each uses to identify itself. What about Torah, you may ask? Don’t Messianics obey the Torah and Christians do not? My response is that there is not a huge difference between the two—at least not from the Creator’s perspective. YHVH looks at hearts, and not merely the superficiality of outward appearances and the religious trappings by which people identify themselves.

In reality, both born-again Christians and born-again Messianics follow Torah principles to one degree or another. The only difference is that the former group does not claim to follow Torah, but teaches that it was “done away with.” In reality, to a certain degree, many serious Christians do follow the “moral” principles of the Torah along with tithing. On the other hand, a majority of Messianics profess loudly and proudly their Torah-obedience, but largely, in practice (except for an often half-hearted adherence to the Continue reading →

 

Biblically speaking, what is the sin of sodomy?

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Genesis 18:20, Their sin [Sodom and Gomorrah’s] is very grievous. What was the sin of Sodom? Genesis 19:5 gives us the answer. The men of Sodom were so morally perverted that Paul says of such a human condition in Romans 1:24–29,

Sodom

Wherefore Elohim also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonor their own bodies between themselves: who changed the truth of Elohim into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. For this cause Elohim gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature, and likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was meet. And even as they did not like to retain Elohim in their knowledge, Elohim gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness …

Ezekiel 16:49–50 speaks of the symptoms of a society that has given itself over to a spirit of sodomy (homosexuality) because it has become abundantly wealthy, proud and obsessed with idleness (entertainment and pleasure). As a result it has become inwardly focused and self-absorbed, which leads to an obsession with self-gratification instead of helping the poor and needy. It shouldn’t be hard to see parallels between Sodom’s society before it was judged and the moral and spiritual decline we see occurring in America and the rest of the western world. America, for example, has become obsessed with the concept of pride—especially since September 11, 2001. Notice, for example, the many car bumper stickers expressing the idea of national “pride” since 9/11? Not only that, our culture has also become obsessed with promoting “gay” (homosexual or sodomite) rights and agendas calling it “gay pride.” It’s Sodom all over again!