The End Times, which in Hebrew we call the Acharit HaYamim, also known as the Apocalypse will be a terrible time of destruction and death when the earth and its people will be ravaged with disease, pain, and strife.

And it is necessary.

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Okay, so the big question is why must this happen?

I am going to tell you why I think it is necessary based on what I have read in the Bible.

I need to preface this with reminding everyone that God does not want anyone to die, and he says so- very plainly- in Ezekiel 18:23. That verse is the foundation for my argument why the destruction is necessary.

Building on this foundation, the framework for my saying the destruction is necessary is that people will not do what is best for them unless they have no other choice.

Yeah, I know, that just can’t be true, but look at history; look at people you know and I think you will begin to see that no one really learns from the mistakes others make. We human idiots just have to try it, even though it has always failed, because we think we can do it better.

Then when we fail, that’s how we learn.

I used to be in Sales, and what I found out was that you didn’t always know what you did or didn’t do that made the sale, but you could always identify without any problem where you lost the sale. When you win, you feel confident that you know what you are doing, even if you may have won because someone else made a mistake.

But when you lose, you only have yourself to blame, so only by failing are we humbled enough to be open to changing how we do things.

We learn best from our own mistakes, and the Bible has shown us that God will cause destruction and tsouris (Yiddish for troubles) in order to get people to pay attention.

One of my favorite chapters in the Torah is Deuteronomy 28, which is the Blessings and Curses chapter. In that chapter, God starts off by telling us all the wonderful blessings we will receive when we obey his Torah, and then (as that culture always did) he followed it up with all the curses he will send if we disobey.

But in Leviticus 26, starting at verse 14, we read what justifies my argument why the destruction is necessary. That is where God says if we disobey him, he will curse our health and our crops. And from there all the way to verse 39 or so, as we continue to disobey, God “ups” the severity of the curses he will send upon us, until we finally get our head back on our shoulders from where it had been (Hint: the sun never shines there) and repent of our disobedience.

This is why the destruction before final judgement is necessary- it is God’s last-ditch effort to get those who still reject him and his Torah (which is one and the same thing) to repent and save themselves before it is too late.

You may be thinking that all God has to do is show a miracle or two and that will convince most people, but it won’t because it hasn’t.

God split the sea, he destroyed armies attacking Jerusalem, the Messiah was miraculously born and later, after he died, God raised him from the dead. God has done hundreds of miracles, and still does miracles every day- we just refuse to accept them as such.

And to this day there are hundreds of religions teaching their followers to reject God’s Torah, which is the same as rejecting God- the very same God they profess to worship!

No, my friends, miracles won’t do it and sending prophets has never really worked in the long run, so what we need is not a gentle leading by the shepherds hook, but a sharp smack to the side of our heads with the rod.

And that is what God is going to do before we are judged.

People take pride and confidence in their own strength, their property, money, etc., so what God will do is to slowly, bit by bit, remove those things from them until they have no other option but to repent or continue being cursed, which the Bible tells us is what will happen to most people. It actually says that the worse things get, the more they will curse God for it.

God will kick tuchas and take names- those who repent will have their names in the Book of Life, and the rest will be on the Hot List.

So, that’s why I believe the destruction before final judgement is necessary. It is designed to wake up those who refuse to accept God’s sovereignty: it is their one, last chance to get it right.

Thank you for being here and please remember to comment, “like” these messages, and share them with everyone you know, even non-believers. Hey, after all, you never know how fertile the soil is until you plant a seed in it.

That’s it for this week, so l’hitraot and (an early) Shabbat Shalom!

When we read the Bible, we learn about God, about his people, history, the Messiah, and what to expect at the end.

The problems arise when we don’t interpret from what we read, but instead make up our own minds what we want the Bible to say, then go fishing through the Bible to find verses or phrases (almost always taken out of context) to validate it.

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When we read the Bible, one of the hardest things to do is to be able to separate the actual from the imagined. For instance, visions are imagined, and although the vision may describe actual events, it is still something that must be interpreted.

There is also the case where something is absolutely real, such as a war or miraculous event, which we can trust to be valid.

There is a significant difference between reading the Bible and forming a conclusion from what is read, or thinking you know what the Bible means then looking through the Bible for something in it that would validate what you want it to say.

In the real world we call that putting the cart before the horse.

There are so many things I believe people want to be true, then go to the Bible and find a verse, or a phrase, or manipulate what is there to make what they want to be true appear to be biblically validated.

For example, the calendar issue- there is a real fight among some about which calendar is “correct”, citing differences when any Holy Day is to occur. Well, how do we know what calendar is the absolutely correct one?

I’ll tell you how: we find someone who is a direct descendant of one of the Jews who left Egypt with Moses, and since that day when God said the first day of Aviv will be the beginning of your calendar (Exodus 12:2), that family has painstakingly throughout the millennia kept a count of every 7 days. They have not separated months or years, but just counted the days, from Day 1 (Yom Rishon) to the 7th day (Shabbat). We then take their number of days, decide how many days will be in one month (if it was me, I would make every month 28 days since 7 goes easily into 28), how many months in one year (since we already have the Jewish months, we would use them), then go back and separate the months and years to bring us up to date.

Other issues are Holy Namers, we also have the Flat Earthers, and there are even those who claim the Tabernacle in the desert was round, not rectangular.

Oy! First of all, God knows your heart and mind and he knows who you mean when you pray. As for Flat Earthers, they can deny what telescopes show, which is that every planet or planetoid is round, so why would the earth be flat? Not to mention the pictures from space flights and mathematics that show the earth has to be round.

And the ones who say the Tabernacle was round? The description of the Tabernacle (at the end of Exodus) clearly states east side from west side, and north side from south side. So, nu?– I would like them to explain how a circle can have a side.

And for those who claim that the Bible says Yeshua (Jesus) did away with the law, well- that is an entire series of messages in and of itself.

Let me ask you: do you read the Bible to learn God’s truth, or do you think something is true then go to the Bible to see if you are right?

If you know before reading, then read to find a way to validate it, you are most likely going to be able to find what verses or words or phrases you need to do that, but you will most likely have to misinterpret or take things out of context to do so.

You can make whatever you want to appear validated by the Bible… but that doesn’t mean it is what the Bible really means.

How do you think all these different religions started? And not just within Christianity- there are some 6 different sects within Judaism, even though we are all supposed to be obeying the same Torah!

(Some may say only 6 sects because mainstream Judaism doesn’t recognize Messianic Judaism as being Jewish.)

If you are asking me, and even if you aren’t, the way I see it is that to truly know God and understand what he wants us to do and believe, we need to read the Bible and from what we read determine what God wants from, and for, us. We must first learn the Bible events, visions, and history before we can decide what they mean because only by starting with the source document, then forming conclusions from what it says, can we feel secure that we are concluding correctly.

And even then we may be wrong, but at least we are starting with the Bible and not starting with our own desired interpretation, then pulling out of context from the Bible to make it appear to be biblically correct.

I believe this to be a truism: if you start with what you want to believe, then go to the Bible to prove it, you are most likely wrong from the git-go.

I have written an entire teaching series on how to properly interpret the Bible, which you can find using this link:

How to Properly Interpret the Bible

(For those who preferred to watch a video, I placed this link in the video description).

To conclude, always start with the Bible, then form your conclusions and interpretations, using the proper set of interpretive tools (as outlined above) and you can be certain that whatever you believe is, at the very least, from the Bible and not from yourself.

Thank you for being here and please remember to “like” and comment on these messages, even just a “Nice job” or “Are you nutso?” helps me get more exposure on the Internet. And also share these messages with everyone you know, even non-believers, Hey, after all, you never know how fertile the soil is until you plant a seed in it.

That’s it for today, so l’hitraot and Baruch HaShem!

One of the two most important commandments that Yeshua (Jesus) told us to obey is to love the Lord, our God, with all our heart, soul, and might.

But I wonder how many of us feel that way when we pray, or just repeat what someone else wrote because we are supposed to?

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When I was a kid going to Shabbat services at the Reform synagogue I grew up attending, I always felt that there was something wrong with repeating the prayers from the Siddur (prayer book). I thought, “If I am supposed to be praying to God, why am I using someone else’s words? Shouldn’t I be praying to him directly from my heart?”

Little did I realize back then, LONG before I really knew God or accepted his Messiah, Yeshua, that I was on the right track.

I still feel somewhat coerced into praying to God when I am repeating prayers that are not my own. Now, don’t get me wrong, there are some prayers that are fine to repeat because they are part of a service and not meant to be from our heart as much as a community prayer, where our prayers are strengthened through unity of purpose.

But when it comes to certain prayers, such as the Amidah, which is a very long prayer and said three times a day (and even more during Yom Kippur services), I just believe that an intimate prayer to God, which is what the Amidah is, should be personal and not “professional”.

Have you ever felt that you were bored with the service? Have you wished that the person giving the sermon would stop already?

I have, many times.

I believe if any sermon goes on longer than 15-20 minutes, it’s too long and you’re probably giving too much for anyone to really absorb. I often gave the Shabbat message at the houses of worship I attended, and I could see after 15 minutes or so the eyes of the people in the congregation begin to glaze over, like a deer in the headlights, and that meant I had lost most of them.

I confess there have been times when that one person who, when the Rabbi says, “I guess I need to close” says, “Go on, Brother- preach it! We have the time.”, well…I just want to gag him, tie him up, and lock him up in a closet just to make sure he can’t keep talking.

I am not saying that you should not go to services, or join in the prayers, but if you are feeling that this is more like forced labor than a labor of love, you need to ask yourself if you are really getting what you need from that place.

If your attendance is becoming laborious, I believe it is as much the fault of the leadership of your house of worship as it is your own need to strengthen your faith. Prayer should be fulfilling: emotionally, spiritually, and even physically. There have been times, sadly too few and far between, when I am praying to God and I feel his touch; it would cause me to tear-up, once in a blue moon even cry, and when that communion with the Lord happens I feel ethereal- like an out-of-body experience, and I know God is with me and his Ruach haKodesh (Holy Spirit) is still alive within me.

It is a feeling that is hard to describe: a sense of being totally enveloped by an absolute love.

So, to finish today’s message (“Shut that guy up! I am done.”) how you feel when praying is an important way to know if you are truly loving God or just going through the motions. If you honestly know that you prayers are not with all your heart, soul, and might, then you need to work on your faith, to remind yourself of all the things God has done in your life (how often we forget that, especially when times are hard), and consider maybe going to a house of worship that fulfills you.

Of course, if the sermons aren’t that great but the kibbitzing with everyone there is wonderful, you can survive the sermons. No one knows whether you are praying the words from the book or from your heart.

And I believe it is never wrong to simply forget the prayer book and pray from your heart. I guarantee that you will feel closer to God that way than you ever will praying someone else’s words.

Thank you for being here and please “like” and comment on these messages, which helps me to know if I am doing well and also to get more exposure on the Internet. And share these messages with everyone you know, even non-believers. Hey, after all, you never know how fertile the soil is until you plant a seed in it.

That’s it for this week, so l’hitraot, happy holidays, and an early Shabbat Shalom!

There are two places in the Torah, both in the Book of Deuteronomy, where God says that we are not to treat him the way the pagans treat their gods.

But in the Book of Leviticus, the first 7 chapters are dedicated to tell us how to do the things that the pagans did! So, what’s up with that?

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God says not to do as the pagans do, but tells us we should sacrifice to him (which pagans do for their gods) and we are to bring him offerings of fruit (which pagans do for their gods).

I have been seeing this “don’t do as they do” command lately more than usual because it is one of the main arguments against celebrating Christmas and Easter. Personally, I am Jewish and don’t celebrate either of them, but what I do celebrate is God and his Messiah, Yeshua, so when I see people telling others that these man-made Christian holidays are pagan, just because they fall on a certain date or because they incorporate a tree (which is nothing like what Jeremiah and Isaiah talked about) and misusing this command in Deuteronomy, I have to say something.

I have already lost one of my “friends” who even honored me for years as her “mentor”, but now has rejected me and all my teachings because she is adamantly against Christmas, and I defend it. She has even gone as far to warn people in my own discussion group against following me because I support paganism. Oy!

So, let’s see what this is all about, this idea that we are not to do as pagans do yet God tells us to do the same things that pagans do.

Lety’s start with the first admonition against this in Deuteronomy 12:1-4. Here is what the verse states (CJB):

You must destroy all the places where the nations you are dispossessing served their gods, whether on high mountains, on hills, or under some leafy tree.  Break down their altars, smash their standing-stones to pieces, burn up their sacred poles completely and cut down the carved images of their gods. Exterminate their name from that place.
But you are not to treat Adonai your God this way.

This commandment is to be performed when the Israelites enter the land while they are conquering it, eliminating the pagan people as God directed them to do.

The main emphasis on this command is to destroy every pagan symbol and formation they find, but they are never to do that to anything that is of God. There isn’t anything here about not copying the pagan practices, only not doing to God’s standing stones and altars as they are doing to the pagan ones.

Now let’s see what Deuteronomy 18:9-12 says (CJB):

When you enter the land Adonai your God is giving you, you are not to learn how to follow the abominable practices of those nations. There must not be found among you anyone who makes his son or daughter pass through fire, a diviner, a soothsayer, an enchanter, a sorcerer, a spell-caster, a consulter of ghosts or spirits, or a necromancer. For whoever does these things is detestable to Adonai, and because of these abominations Adonai your God is driving them out ahead of you.

Now we see that God is a little more detailed in what he says we should not do. And, relating the many experiences I have had with Christian friends and their families, I do not recall anyone ever doing any of those things during Christmas or Easter.

The bottom line is this: every religion has sacrifices and offerings, that is an essential part of worship. So, when a Hindu offers fruit to one of their many gods, or a Buddhist offers fruit to their god, and then a Jewish or Christian person offers fruit to the God of Abraham Isaac, and Jacob, why is it okay for the Jew and Christian but not okay for the Hindu or Buddhist?

After all, aren’t they all doing the same thing?

Yes, they are both doing the same thing and no, they are doing something totally different; it is that difference that is so important.

The difference is not what we are doing, but to whom we are doing it.

When we are worshiping the God of Abraham, Issac, and Jacob by obeying the Torah regulations regarding sacrifice and offerings, we are pleasing God and doing what is righteous in his eyes.

On the other hand, if we burn our children as an offering to Molech, or bring fruits to Ba’al, or sacrifice to Ashera, that is not going to get us an invitation to eternity.

For a few years now I have asked this question to those who are adamant that Christmas and Easter are pagan: “How can something be pagan when there are no pagan gods involved?”

And you know what? No one has addressed it directly- all I get is a red herring about Jeremiah and trees, or December 25th isn’t Yeshua’s real birth date, or some other comment that does not directly say how something can be pagan without a pagan god.

You know why? Because it can’t be pagan without a pagan god, and since there are no pagan gods associated with Christmas or Easter, they cannot answer truthfully because it is the one thing that will destroy their “Christmas is pagan” argument.

I have even had people tell me that Santa is thought to be a god, but the truth is that Santa has NEVER been considered a god by anyone: what a ridiculously lame attempt.

And since the Bible is pretty clear that what we do in worship is going to be accepted or rejected based on who we are worshiping, if a man-made holiday is designed to thank God for sending Messiah Yeshua by celebrating his birth (or resurrection), regardless of the tree and tinsel and Maypole and such, it honors God and his Messiah, so how is that pagan?

Unless, of course, you think God doesn’t know the difference between honoring him and Dagon, or Ba’al, or Molech, or Ashera? Personally, since we are told over and over throughout the Bible that God knows our hearts and minds, I can’t see him getting confused about who you are really worshiping.

I will agree that the real meaning of these holidays has been lost to many by over-commercialization.

So, the bottom line is this: so long as we are not doing specifically what God said not to do in Deuteronomy 18, and the holidays we do celebrate are designed solely for honoring the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, thanking him for his blessings (whether they be of health, freedom, or the Messiah), we are doing what pleases God and is right in his eyes.

Thank you for being here and please remember to comment or “Like” these messages to help this ministry get more exposure on the Internet, and share them with everyone you know, even non-believers. Hey, after all, you never know how fertile the soil is until you plant a seed in it.

That’s it for today, so l’hitraot, and Baruch HaShem!

I am sure you have been told, more than once, that you are saved by faith.

I am here to tell you that faith isn’t what saves you, although it is a requirement.

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We should begin by agreeing on what it means to be “saved”, so for the purpose of this message, being saved means that at Judgment Day you will be chosen by God to live forever in his presence.

In other words, being saved means not going to Sheol, or to the Lake of Fire, but being under your own fig tree enjoying the fruits of your own vines (Micah 4:4).

Let’s talk about faith, because the truth is that faith, alone, doesn’t save anyone! Faith prepares one for being saved, and that faith has to be in one thing, and one thing only: that Yeshua (Jesus) is the Messiah God promised to send and his death was acceptable to God as a sin sacrifice for all who accept Yeshua as their Messiah.

That is an essential first step to being saved…well, actually, no- the first step is to believe in God. Duh!

The next step is to faithfully believe that Yeshua lived, died as a sin sacrifice for all people, everywhere, anytime, and that he was resurrected to life eternal, sitting at the right hand of God, interceding for those who accept him as their Messiah.

More than that, if we do believe in God, and we do accept Yeshua as our Messiah, that faithfulness MUST be demonstrated through obedience to God’s word. And I am not talking about what some religion says, but what God himself says, and that is found in only one place- the Torah.

Okay, so where are we? Oh, yeah- believe in God, accept Yeshua as your Messiah, faithfully believe he was resurrected (proving that his death was accepted by God as a sin sacrifice), and by means of that innocent blood being shed we can come to God and ask for forgiveness.

And THAT, my friends, is how we are saved- not just by faith, not just by obedience to Torah, but by being forgiven!

Yes- forgiveness is what saves us, because God cannot have sin in his presence, so to be in God’s presence forever (the very definition of being saved), we must be forgiven of all sin.

God sent Yeshua to be a once-and-for-everyone sin sacrifice so that by means of his shed blood we can have our sins forgiven, making us clean before God, allowing us to be in his presence.

And living eternally in the presence of God is what being “saved” is all about.

You must have faith to be saved, obedience to Torah to demonstrate that faith, but faith and obedience isn’t what saves you- forgiveness is the only way you can be saved, and that forgiveness is only possible through Messiah Yeshua’s sacrifice.

See how it all comes together? God gave us the Torah so we know right from wrong, and since we can’t live without sinning, he sent Yeshua to provide the means (especially after the temple was destroyed) for us to be forgiven of our sins, which is the absolutely necessary condition if we to be able to live eternally in God’s presence.

Thank you for being here and please comment and “like” these messages so I get more exposure on the Internet, and also share these messages with everyone you know, even non-believers. Hey, after all, you never know how fertile the soil is until you plant a seed in it.

That’s it for this week, so l’hitraot, happy Hanukkah, and (an early) Shabbat Shalom!