The first letter Shaul wrote to Timothy, one of his protégé’s who had a Greek father and Jewish mother, and apparently was very young to be in the position of authority he was given, was written around 63-65 A.D. The second letter was written a few years later. Timothy was stationed in Ephesus at the time of these writings.

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Shaul’s reason for writing to Timothy was to encourage him to stand firm against false teachings, which were (apparently) rampant within the congregation in Ephesus. The letter Shaul had written to this congregation was only a year or so prior, so it seems to me that the problems he wrote about not only failed to improve… but got worse!

In the first letter, Shaul talked about the rapture and reminded Timothy how Shaul had wanted Timothy to stay in Ephesus. He was concerned about how they were engaged in different activities, such as Elitism (the idea that only a few with special knowledge would be saved, similar to Gnosticism- the same problem the Galatians, Corinthians, and Colossians were dealing with), Idealism (matter is evil), and myths and genealogies. All of these were leading the people further and further away from the path of faith.

Shaul tells Timothy that women are not to teach or speak in services, which sort of goes against what he says in other letters, or his constant praising of women who hold positions of authority in other congregations, such as Euodia and Syntyche (Philippi), Priscilla and Lydia (Corinth), and Phoebe (Corinth), to name a few. So, even though Shaul is here saying that women should be subservient, and not speak in services, he clearly is not a misogynist, only speaking to a specific issue that was happening in Ephesus.

He also states that the women should dress modestly, so the underlying problem might have been that too many of the female congregants were being immodest, and could that include speaking out of turn? We really can’t tell, exactly, what the problem was, but clearly Timothy had to deal with issues regarding some of the women in the congregation.

Another problem Timothy was dealing with, in Chapter 4, was being looked down on by the older members of the congregation (again, remember this: there were no churches at that time, only the pagan temples, Jewish synagogues, and the messianic congregations meeting in people’s homes). Shaul tells him that he must stay away from idle gossip and myths and be a shining example of godliness. He reminds Timothy that he was prophesied to be a leader, so he should be firm and teach that which is correct.

He advises Timothy not to be harsh with anyone, but to exhort them to live correctly: he says to treat older men as fathers, to treat younger men as brothers, treat older women as mothers, and be like a brother to the unmarried women.

There were issues with the widows (most likely the younger ones) being spiritually turned from the truth, which is part of the false teachings going on there, and Shaul tells Timothy to deal with this by administrating to the widows based on their individual need. The ones who the congregation should care for must be over 60 years of age, have been faithful to their husbands, good to children, and shown that during their lives they lived a godly lifestyle. The younger widows should be cared for by their families, not the congregation.

There were also problems with the male leadership, which is why Shaul gives a very detailed set of requirements for anyone who is to be a leader in the congregation (the Hebrew word is Shamash). He states that some sins are easily seen, while others may not be so visible, which is why Timothy has to look at the whole picture, so to speak: the person, the person’s wife, their children, and his public reputation.

Going off topic for a minute, let me share a personal experience. I was on the Council at the messianic synagogue I attended in Philadelphia, and we hired a new rabbi. He seemed to be just what we wanted and gave a really good story about being called to Philadelphia. But it wasn’t until later that we found out he had been sent away from his prior congregation and his actions, more and more, showed that he was not a good choice. Eventually, after the original council members had all left, he destroyed the congregation from inside, not to mention the building interior because his children were uncontrollable. It is very hard to recognize a liar when the liar believes they are telling the truth, but as Shaul tells Timothy, you can get an idea about who a person really is by looking past them and to their family and past.

Shaul’s final issue in this first letter is that Timothy must counteract the false teachings and especially those who are preaching false doctrine and getting paid for it. He quotes from the Tanakh that those doing God’s word are entitled to be paid, but that (here is a well-known but often misquoted adage) the love of money is the root of many evils (1 Timothy 6:10); he warns Timothy that men there have turned from the true faith to preach false doctrine for money.

The second letter to Timothy dealt with what appears to have been a general feeling Shaul had that he had been abandoned by his congregations because he was a prisoner in Rome. He asked Timothy to not be ashamed of him (Shaul) because he is a prisoner and suffering.

He tells Timothy to warn people against arguing about words because it is of no value (2 Timothy 2:14)

{Ed: which would be a good thing for the “Holy Namers” to remember}

and that he should watch out for Hymeneaus and Phileitus, both of whom are spreading false teachings that the resurrection of the dead has already happened, which will destroy the faith of some and be like gangrene within the congregation.

Shaul states in 2 Timothy 3:16 that “all scripture is God-breathed and good for teaching.” This statement has too often been applied to the New Covenant writings: that is a wrong thing to do because the only scripture that existed when Shaul wrote this was the Tanakh. As we can see in the letters Shaul wrote, there isn’t any “God-breathed” scripture here- just good advice, based on the real God-breathed scripture in the Tanakh.

These letters, as with this one to Timothy, are instructing the leadership of the various congregations Shaul created how to handle the all-too-human problems they were having within the congregation.

Shaul’s final words are a request for Timothy to come to him quickly and bring certain items he left behind, how he feels abandoned because friends deserted him in Rome and have gone to other places, leaving him alone to defend himself. Also, Timothy should be careful of Alexander the metalworker who has been speaking out against him, and how despite all this, God will bring Shaul to his heavenly kingdom.

It sounds very much like Shaul doesn’t expect to get out of this one alive, doesn’t it? And he was right to feel that way.

The next letter written by him that is included in the New Covenant is the one to Titus, which is the last of the Pauline Epistles we will talk about.

Until then, l’hitraot and Baruch HaShem!

It is interesting to note that although everyone agrees that Shaul wrote the first letter to the Thessalonians, there is doubt that he wrote the second letter.

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These letters were written around 50-51 A.D. and address concerns that Shaul had about the faithfulness of these believing Gentiles as they came face-to-face with persecution by the Jewish population there.

As always, Shaul starts off praising their faithfulness and how thankful he is for their continued growth in the Lord. He reminds them that he was not a burden to them, how he had so many issues (there were riots which caused him to leave earlier than he wanted to when he was first there) and how he suffered for their sakes. He also qualifies his ministering as not using scams and lies, which apparently, he was accused of. He states he was blameless and upright in all he did when there, even earning his own living instead of taking any help from them.

As he does in so many of his letters, Shaul says how humble and unassuming he was when with them, all the while telling them he did so much for them and suffered for them, not taking from them anything he was entitled to as a worker for the Lord.

Overall, this letter is not so bad, as his letters go. He isn’t chiding them for lack of faithfulness or for doing wrong things, as most of his other letters addressed. In fact, this letter is quite the opposite: he congratulates them on maintaining their faith, which Timothy (who he had sent to them to make sure they were still faithful) reported back to him.

The second letter addresses a specific problem, in that there was a supposed letter from Shaul saying that the Day of the Lord has already come. He reminds them of the lessons he gave them when he was there regarding the Acharit haYamim (End Days) and how HaSatan (the Devil) is constantly working to separate them from the faith.

He does chide them in this letter regarding those who he has heard are being idle and tells them to follow his example, working and not being a burden to anyone. He states that if anyone among them is not working, he should be shunned, but not hated. He should be made to feel ashamed so that he will get back on track. But anyone who doesn’t work shouldn’t be fed.

What is interesting, again, is that the first letter is thought to be written by Shaul, but isn’t signed by him, but this second letter, which they say may not have been written by him, is signed with his own handwriting! It seems that the ambiguity of the timing of the End Days is what makes some scholars doubt that both letters were written by Shaul.

In any event, the message is the same with both: remain faithful, work for your keep by following the example Shaul set when he was there and watch out for false teachers and prophets.

Next, we will look at the letters he wrote to Timothy, addressing the problems that Tim was having with his congregation members.

Until then, l’hitraot and Baruch Ha Shem!

This is one of those letters that the scholars are not absolutely certain was written by Shaul. I am not sure why they think that. The reason given is that the writing style is different from other letters he has written. It seems strange to me that this would not be considered one of his because he states at the end he is signing in his own handwriting, which he has done on other letters (1 Corinthians, Galatians, 2 Thessalonians, and Philemon). However, many times letters were either dictated or notes left for a scribe to complete, in which case there would be a difference between the style of a dictated letter, and one that was completed by someone else, based on notes.

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This letter was written during the time Shaul was a prisoner in Rome, around 62 A.D., and addresses an issue the congregation was having with the Gnostics, who were turning their faith away from trust to needing special knowledge, and repeats not only the reasons for faith, but he goes further to instruct them on how to live a godly life, even to how to form proper familial relationships.

Shaul starts off reminding them of the power of God and the Messiah, and how they were introduced to the Gospel he preached to them about faith.

Shaul spends a brief time (in Chapter 2) telling them that they should not allow themselves to be turned away from the truth of Messiah by either of the philosophies they were being told about. One was the need for special knowledge, secret codes and such that is the system called Gnosticism. The other was the idea of performance-based salvation, which was the old argument of legalistic observance vs. faith-based obedience.

I see this same problem in Christianity today, as well as in Judaism (to a lesser degree): the need to know exactly when, what every little statement means (I mean, no one will ever know what the 666 means. I really believe when the antichrist is in charge, we won’t need to see his number- we’ll know that the world is being led by a demon. The need to know is not something that God requires of us; instead, it is the need to trust that he is in charge is all we really need to know- that and what he tells us to do in the Torah.

If you ask me, those who are all about the “proper” calendar, and numerology, and astrology, etc. are concentrating on minutia, and in some way, substituting the event as more important than the one the event is about. If I am celebrating the Holy Days based on the Jewish calendar I bought on Amazon, but somewhere there is a more accurate calendar that says I am a day off, here or there, I seriously doubt that I will go to hell for that.

The need to follow the “correct” calendar, to not worship anything not in the Torah, to refuse to worship anything created, to reject all man-made traditions Carte Blanc, is (as I have stated in my ministry many times) what I believe to be a modern form of the legalistic approach to worship that Shaul is arguing against in many of his letters to Gentiles who are being confused by both Jews and Gentiles regarding the proper form of worship.

He spends the majority of this letter reminding them that they were spiritually circumcised when they accepted Yeshua, and that their faith is what saves them. Their old ways of sin were put to death when they were reborn in the Messiah. He reiterates that they must do away with foul language, sexual immorality, lust, greed, and other sins of the flesh.

And, if we chance assuming that the issues he mentions are mentioned because he heard that they were problems being experienced within that congregation, then we can see that there was a lot to fix in this group of believers.

He states that all are one in the body of the Messiah- there is neither Jew nor Greek, male nor female, free nor slave, etc. Of course, he is speaking figuratively here, talking about our spiritual selves. There will always be differences between people who are believers in the Messiah, Yeshua. The point is that we are not to hold onto any of the old biases or prejudices that we did before we were saved.

He gives one of my favorite verses in his admonitions on submission to each other, in that in Chapter 3, verse 23 he is telling slaves to do what they are told not because their master is watching; rather, they should do everything for the Lord, and not just for men, because that way they will receive an inheritance from God.

Even though he is addressing slaves, this is good advice for all of us.

Shaul ends with the usual greetings to everyone, and if he didn’t write this letter, I have to assume since he spent the time to sign it himself, he must have (at least) proofread it.

The next letters we will review are to the Thessalonians, and since both letters are fairly short, I will cover them both in the same lesson.

Until then, l’hitraot and Baruch HaShem!

Now we come to Chapter 11, which is one of the most ignored chapters, if you ask me, by traditional Christian teachings.

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The main theme of this chapter is that even though God cut off from the Tree of Life the natural branches (the Jewish people rejecting Messiah), which allowed the wild branches (the Gentiles) to be grafted in, they need to remember that they are not supporting the root, but the root is supporting them (Romans 11:18). And if God was willing to prune the natural branches, how much more so will he be willing to prune those who were not of the tree, in the first place? Therefore, the Gentiles in Messiah should never become arrogant.

May I share something personal with you? Spending my youth and teenage years during the 60s and 70s, my experience with Christians was being called “Christ killer” and they accused Jews as being the ones who killed God (as if that was even possible!) My personal experience with traditional Christian teachings (which, sad to say, haven’t really changed) has been that the Jews are looked down upon because so many didn’t accept Yeshua when he was human, and even today, still don’t have enough sense to convert to Christianity. It is an arrogant position, thinking Christians are better than Jews because they worship Jesus, and we don’t: it is totally in opposition to what Shaul told them not to do in this chapter.

Here is another example of what Christianity has taught, regarding their affiliation with Jews: When I taught a Messianics 101 course at the messianic synagogue I attended in Philadelphia, I used to ask if they remembered the Bugs Bunny cartoon where Elmer chases Bugs up a tree, and Bugs is sitting at the far end of a branch while Elmer is on the same branch, right where it comes off the tree. He then starts to saw the branch between him and Bugs, and when he saws through, the branch that Bugs is on miraculously remains suspended in the air while the tree (and Elmer) fall down. Then I’d say this is what Christianity thinks they can do: reject the Torah, which is the Tree of Life (in Hebrew, we say Etz Chaim Hi), but still be attached to God.

Now, if that ain’t Looney Tunes, I don’t know what is!

Alright…back to Romans.

Shaul’s warnings in this chapter reminds me of the warning Moses gave the children of Israel as they were about to enter the Promised Land, reminding them that what they were to receive was not because they deserved it, but because of God’s love for his people (Deuteronomy 7:6).

Starting in Chapter 12, Shaul pleads with the Roman believers to work at changing their entire mindset, no longer conforming to what the world expects, but acting and thinking more in line with what God wants of them, even to the point of becoming (as he puts it) a living sacrifice to God. It seems that he is implying, from his previous statement about hypocrites, and now this statement about transforming themselves, that the Believers in Rome weren’t living a righteous life.

Sorry- but I have to interrupt, again.

The way these “megachurches” get so many attendees is that all they talk about is what God will do for them, and rarely, if ever, talk about what we are to do for God, except maybe to be loving to each other. That “Be a good person and love each other, and you get to go to heaven” is the sales pitch used, and so no wonder it attracts many people.

But it’s a lie- first off, even Yeshua said no one is good but God (Mark 10:18) and loving one another isn’t enough- Yeshua said even sinners do that (Luke 6:32). No- you need to do what God says to do BEFORE he will send blessings. When you read Deuteronomy 28 (the chapter known as the Blessings and Curses Chapter in the Torah) you will see that God tells us when we obey, he will bless us, and when we disobey, he will send curses (which really means he simply won’t bless us and leave us on our own in a sinful and fallen world). Note, please, the order: we obey, we get blessed, not we get blessed whether or not we obey.

OK, now that I have that off my chest, let’s get back to Romans.

Regarding how to be a living sacrifice, Shaul explains that the way we do that is not to think too highly of ourselves; rather, to use whatever gifts we have correctly and to love others, which includes those who do not love us. He gives the examples of blessing those who persecute us, of not repaying evil with evil, and to care for our enemies (again, how can I not mention how for centuries Christians have derided and persecuted Jews, just the opposite of what Shaul said they should do).

Many Christians have credited Shaul with being the originator of these godly teachings, but they are all found in the Tanakh, from Leviticus to Proverbs. And if you are thinking that it was just Shaul repeating what Yeshua said, that is correct, but where did Yeshua come up with these? That’s right- he got them from the Tanakh, as well.

Shaul continues to talk about how to love others through not judging others who are weaker in faith, and here is where another misinterpretation has led Christians to believe Shaul is saying the laws of Kashrut (Kosher laws defined in Leviticus 11) are no longer valid for Gentiles.

Chapter 14 is confusing, and (again) we run smack-dab into Shaul’s convoluted Jewish Logic. He states that there are those who eat differently: some just vegetables and others will eat everything (as we will see later, he is talking about vegetables and meat). This has been mistaught as meaning that food doesn’t matter because all those who believe in Yeshua and worship God are accepted.

Here we run into the same issue we had back in the Gospel of Mark, where Mark declares all food clean (Mark 7:19). To review what happened, Yeshua was asked why his talmidim (students, or disciples, in this case) don’t wash their hands before eating, which was a traditional man-made requirement. Yeshua tells them that it isn’t what we eat that makes us unclean, but what comes out of our heart, and at this point Mark states Yeshua declared all food clean.

But what is food to a First Century Jew? I can tell you this- it ain’t pork chops! What was considered as food to Jews at that time was only what God allowed us to eat, and so when Shaul, a Pharisee, talks about food, it is safe to assume he is talking only about what is allowed by God.

Chapter 14 has traditionally been misinterpreted to allow believers in Yeshua to eat trefe (unclean) foods; but, when you read these passages carefully, you see Shaul is talking only about vegetables and meat. He never mentions pork verse veal, or lobster verse cod- he talks about the difference between one eating only vegetables (the diet that Daniel ate) and another eating meat and vegetables. The gist of his lesson is that when there is a meal presented that has both vegetables and meat- and he is talking about a meal that is in accordance with the laws of Kashrut- and someone at the table thinks that it is a sin to eat meat, then to show your love you should eat only vegetables. And if you like vegetables, but someone else is eating both vegetables and meat, then you should have some meat, as well.

Again, even though Shaul is talking about food, this passage has nothing at all to do with Kashrut, and everything to do with not judging others regarding the strength or weakness of their faithful obedience (to the Torah). But later on, when Gentiles were reading this, they defined food as whatever is edible by human beings, and subsequently have misinterpreted this to mean that you don’t have to follow the kashrut laws if you believe in Jesus.

Shaul concludes this letter by talking about all the work he has done as minister to the Gentiles throughout Asia, and that he now wishes to come to Rome.

(As we read in Acts, he eventually made it there and was very fruitful ministering for about 2 years, but he never got out of Rome alive.)

At the end of this letter, as with many, he thanks those who have helped him and warns to be careful about false teachings (too bad that warning didn’t work) and to avoid anyone who places stumbling blocks in their way.

The next letters we will review are the ones he wrote to the Corinthians.

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