Author: Steven R. Bruck

The Torah is All We Need: Everything Else is Commentary

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When Yeshua was asked what is the most important commandment of all, His answer was simple- Love the Lord and love each other; on these two commandments pivot all the writings and the Prophets.

Notice He didn’t say , “…and all the other stuff that will be added later.”

The Christian world has historically tried to get away from Torah. They have taught (what I should say is: mis-taught) that the Torah is done away with because Yeshua lived it perfectly. Oh, yeah- that makes sense: once something is done right we never have to do it that way again? Duh!!

The Torah is everything we need to know, and all the commandments we are to follow if we want to obey God the way He said we should. Like it or not, that’s the truth. Yeshua/Jesus had to die for our sins, which were the sins outlined and defined in the Torah. There was no other Bible then.

The fact that our sins are paid for is not license to continue sinning, and not doing what God told us to do in the Torah is still a sin. We still need to be forgiven, and if we don’t really want to stop and we don’t really care about what God said to do (as Christianity often teaches) then we are sinners that the blood of Messiah won’t clean.

That’s right- the Grace of God can cover any sin, but it will not cover a sin that is done over and over because the sinner doesn’t care about what God says.

Our human legal system is all screwed up when you consider that a criminal, one who acts outside the legal system and doesn’t care about what the laws are, often has more protection under those laws than the victim. We protect the guilty with the very laws the guilty reject.

Not so with God. His laws are for everyone, and when we reject His laws we are rejecting Him. He loves us and wants us to live, but He is also our Judge, Jury and Executioner so if we choose to ignore and reject His laws (thereby rejecting Him), those laws will not protect us. Reject God and you will be rejected- the Bible is clear on that point.

The Torah tells us 2 things: how to worship God and how to treat each other. Torah is just the first 5 books- the ones that Moshe wrote in accordance with what God told him to write- and all the books that come after the Torah are commentary. They show us how the Torah was used, and misused, by the people throughout the centuries. When the people did T’Shuvah and cried out to God, and meant it,  He provided them with a judge or a king that could protect them from their enemies. When they were sitting pretty, they went back to ignoring and rejecting God.

It is a cycle of rejection, suffering, coming to their senses and repenting, salvation, happiness, boredom, rejection, suffering, ….over and over. And here’s the kicker: after all the mistakes the Jewish people made between 1500 BCE and the time of Yeshua, since then the Christian world has not only made all the same mistakes, but they have brought it to a much higher level of rejection by making Yeshua their God and “the Father’ nothing more than a secondary thought. And teaching that the Torah, the very word of God and the Word that became the Flesh we know as Jesus, was done away with.

Consider this: if Jesus is the Word become flesh, and He said to do away with the Word, then isn’t He saying to ignore Him? Isn’t that a form of spiritual suicide? Does that make sense at all?

If the Torah was all Yeshua needed to teach about the Kingdom of God and the only set of laws and commandments He needed to follow to be an acceptable sacrifice, why do we need anything else? The New Covenant writings are comprised of the Gospels and the Epistles. The Gospels are historical in nature and the Epistles are clearly informative, outlining the details of how to live and treat each other and the proper way in which to worship God. If you read and interpret them carefully you will see that there is nothing “new” in the New Covenant writings- Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, James, Saul- they all wrote to the new Believers, a combination of Jewish people and pagans who were converting to Judaism, about how to live in accordance with the Torah.

Romans is a very misunderstood book. Shaul writes in it about the Torah and how it is to be reconciled with Yeshua’s teachings. The problem is that Shaul can’t say something straight out- too much education. He beats around the bush and talks in ways that are convoluted to the biblically uneducated. The result is that Romans has been historically quoted as a polemic against the Torah when it is, in fact, an apologetic. Shaul is talking in reverse- arguing about what he is trying to point out as wrong, and making a short, almost invisible statement at the end of a long argument that says, essentially, “NOT!” Read it, slowly and carefully, and you will see what I mean. In nearly every chapter he talks about how Yeshua overcame sin and how the Torah is fading away and how we are forgiven, and ends up with asking if that means the Torah is no longer valid, then says “God forbid!”

The Torah is God’s word. Moshe wrote down what God told Him to write down, which is all we need to know in order to properly worship God. That’s it. Das ist alles! Der ain’t no mo!!

Everything after the book of Deuteronomy is for us to read and understand as commentary, as “I have told you what you need to know and all the rest is to show you how lousy a job you have done with it.”  Love God and love each other: the Son of God told us that is all we need to do. If we do that, the rest falls into place all on it’s own.

BUT…you still need to read and know the entire Bible so we can learn from the mistakes of others, and that way we won’t make the same mistakes (yeah- like that’s going to happen! Good luck with that!)

At the end of Deuteronomy we are commanded not to add to or take away from anything in the book. The Torah is one book, with 5 separate sections. Even though we call them “books”, in the Torah the separation between chapters is almost invisible, and the separation between books is little more than extra space between the lines of writing. It is, when you look at it, a complete, harmonious, and homogenous writing. It is the singular and definitive methodology for worshipping God and for treating each other. It is, as I like to say, the ultimate Users Manual.

It is what God commands anyone and everyone who professes to worship Him how to worship Him and how to treat each other. It tells us we do not need anything else, and commands us to not require anything else. The Torah is complete: we need do no more than what is there, and no less than what it says.

In the end, we all need Yeshua’s sacrifice to atone for us because the one thing I think everyone will agree on is this: we are sinners.  We sin, we have sinned, we can’t stop sinning, and we will continue to do so. Individually and collectively. Yeshua died to give us a chance to escape the fate we all deserve and have earned for ourselves. The Grace of God is shown in His compassion and mercy, which is embodied by Messiah Yeshua. Those of us who have accepted (first) our own sinfulness and inability to stop committing sin, which has led us (next) to repentance and accepting the Grace of God through the sacrificial death of Yeshua, who we (finally) accept as the Messiah God promised, are saved from the judgement Torah requires.

That doesn’t mean the Torah is dead or meaningless. Being saved from our sins doesn’t give us license to continue sinning, and a sin is, by definition, doing something God says we shouldn’t do. It’s really quite simple: God says, “Do as I say because that is as I do. Be thou holy because I am holy.” He provided Yeshua because we can’t do as He says and we will never be as holy as He is.

God is the designer of the game; The Torah are the rules of the game.; Yeshua is our Get Out of Jail Free card.

Decide if you are going to play by the rules or not, and don’t let anyone else tell you what the rules are. Read them for yourself.

Parashah Shmot (These are the names) Exodus 1 – 6:1

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Who doesn’t know the story of the first chapters of this book? The Hebrews multiplied under the kindness of Pharaoh, but after Joseph died and another Pharaoh took over , the people were enslaved. They suffered 400 years until God sent a Saviour, Moshe (Moses) who, himself, had become an outcast and pariah in the eyes of Pharaoh. Moses sees God’s presence at the burning bush and, despite trying to get out of it, he is sent to Egypt to bring the people out of bondage and lead them to the Promised Land.

Here is the Messiah that the Judeans of the First Century were expecting. Here is the Messiah that the Jewish people of today, I believe, still expect.

Not a spiritual saviour, but a political one.

Isn’t that why so many people did not accept Yeshua when He was ministering to them during the three years or so that He wandered about Judea and the surrounding areas, preaching the Good News of salvation? They wanted someone like Barabbas, or Bar-Kochba, or even Ronald Reagan. They wanted someone who would get rid of the Romans and reestablish the Jewish State as a separate and independent country. They wanted Arnold Schwarzenegger to tell the Romans, “Go avay, and don’t be bach!”

But that’s not what they got. They got a quiet, unassuming man who had no social standing, wealth, or political power. No wide circle of Facebook friends, no You Tube video that went viral, pretty much nothing of any worth to anyone of the world. Just as Isaiah said, a man “…of no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering.”

What kind of Messiah are you looking for? It’s easy, thanks to 20-20 hindsight, to recognize Yeshua’s messianic authority and now, after some 2,000 years, to know He is the Messiah God promised. Still, what kind of Messiah are you looking for? Should he be loving and forgiving? Should he be accepting of you as you are, giving you whatever you ask for just because you are a “good” person? Should he save you from your sins and guarantee you a place in heaven, no matter what, so long as you just ask for it?

That’s not who Yeshua is, and it’s not what He does. Yes, He is the Messiah who died for your sins, but that doesn’t mean salvation is a “come as you are” party. You need to do T’Shuvah, to turn, to repent, and to mean it! And you need to show that repentance in real, tangible terms. That means you have to change how you live.

He is loving and compassionate, as well as understanding. He is also the Son of God and He will stand by your side at Judgement Day, so long as you are truly repentant and have shown the fruits of your repentance. In the Torah, in Leviticus, when God is outlining the laws about bringing the different types of sacrifices, one of the regulations is that no matter what, we should never come before the Lord empty handed. And every sacrifice, whether it be animal, grain or oil, must have salt.  The covenant between man and God is called a “covenant of salt”; we should never come before the Lord empty handed or without salt.

When we come before Him at Judgement, the salt we bring is our repentance, and what we present before Him are the first fruits of our salvation: the good works we have done after accepting Yeshua as our Messiah.

Read the parables about the fruit tree in the garden, the servants who were given talents, the wedding lamp holders who had no oil, and the wedding guest who did not have the proper clothing…all these represent the fact that we are invited but we need to do more than just show up. We need to have both salt and something to present to the Lord.

God has done all He needs to do with regards to a political Messiah. That card has been played. And the spiritual Messiah is also face-up on the table. Now we need to show our hold card, we need to show the fruit of salvation and the salt of our covenant so when we are “called” we will have a strong hand. The world deals us a lousy hand, but God is able to turn the cards to our advantage. We need to work at it, we need to look to God for salvation, to Yeshua (Jesus) for intercession, and to the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) for constant guidance.

All that we need to save us from our sin is here. God’s work is done, Yeshua’s work is done, and the Rauch’s’ work is being done in each of us. Now it’s our turn. Salvation is free, but you need to work at it. You don’t need to work for it, but you do need to work at it. It can’t be taken away, but we can throw it away. Read those parables I told you about, and understand- God has done His part, it’s up to each of us now to complete His work in the world by completing His work in ourselves.

Some people want a Messiah who is enabling and forgiving, even if you don’t change your ways; who will do what you want just because you ask him; and who promises you total salvation no matter what you do for the rest of your life. Some people want a Messiah that will intercede for them; who will become their advocate at Judgement Day; who will guide them and provide salvation for them; and who will be honest and fair in telling them what they need to do in order to be saved and remain saved.

These are two kinds of Messiahs people are being told about: the one who doesn’t care what you do and the one who requires you to change.

The question is: What kind of Messiah are you looking for?

Don’t Ask To Be Forgiven If You Are Planning On Doing It Again

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I was praying yesterday and, as usual, asked for forgiveness for sins I have committed. I like to first ask to be forgiven my sins, then I raise up those I love to be forgiven for what they do, especially Alex and Bryce, my children who have rejected me and don’t even know the Lord. I do it in this order because in the Torah the Cohen HaGadol (Head Priest) had to be cleansed first before he could act as intercessor for the people, so I ask to be cleansed before I intercede for those I pray for.

That’s when it hit me…I had done something that morning that is, by technical standards, a sinful act. It is not terrible; it’s one of those “minor” sins (if you will be kind enough to accept that term, even though we all know any sin is a sin) that I find myself doing on occasion because, well, I like it. As I was going to ask for forgiveness, the realization that I intend to do this again made me feel that I was wrong to ask God to forgive me.  To ask forgiveness for something that I do not want to stop doing, something for which I have not done T’Shuvah, seems wrong to me. It is like throwing the fleece before God. I mean, really…forgive me for this but I am going to do it again, so forgive me then, too. Is that right? Is it fair to ask God to forgive me for purposefully rejecting His instructions, especially when I fully intend to do it again?

I decided I was wrong on two counts- wrong for doing something that is not Godly and correct in His eyes, and even more wrong for asking Him to forgive me when I don’t intend to stop doing it.

I know, I know… now you all think I am less than what you hoped for. I have sinned, I sin and I will continue to sin (I sound like Caesar saying, “Veni, vidi, vici”) and that is why I think it is wrong of me to ask God to forgive me for this thing. I’m not perfect. I am getting better, but still, I am not perfect. I’m not bragging about it, and I am not beating myself up over it. I would like to be able to overcome this one little thing, but I haven’t, and that’s probably because I don’t want to stop.

After I felt that I shouldn’t ask forgiveness, I asked God to show me a sign (I was on a roll for doing wrong, wasn’t I?) The sign I asked for was to demonstrate His forgiveness by taking away all desire to do the thing I won’t ask forgiveness for. In other words, I feel unjustified to ask forgiveness for doing something I know I will purposefully do again, so I asked Him to show His forgiveness by taking away the desire to do this. Don’t just forgive me, but change me so I won’t need to ask forgiveness for this again. Rewire my brain to no longer be satisfied by this act, to no longer feel the need for the “worldly” satisfaction derived from this act.

Here’s the difference: I will ask for forgiveness for doing things I shouldn’t do and that I don’t want to do; for instance, using bad language, having mean thoughts, for being the sarcastic, cynical and attitudinal New Yorker I am at heart.  I won’t ask forgiveness for doing the things I shouldn’t do that I still want to do. Why? Because if I still want to do them I haven’t turned, I haven’t given them up, I haven’t chosen God’s way over my way. I don’t feel right in asking for forgiveness for doing something which I choose to not stop doing. It’s not fair to God, and I feel like it is stomping the blood of Messiah into the dirt. He suffered and died so that I can be forgiven, and if I ask for His blood covering for something that I choose to keep on doing, well, to me that would be more of a sin than the thing I actually am doing.

What do you think? If we choose, willingly and willfully, to perform an act which we know is sinful, whether it be eating ham, cursing out the neighbor, or as terrible as having an affair, and we know we will continue to do that, are we justified in asking for forgiveness? More than that, if we choose to continue to do it, will we be forgiven if we ask for it? Will God forgive something that we are NOT sincerely sorry about?

Yeshua said that if your brother asks to be forgiven, you should forgive him, not 7 times but 70 times 7 times. However, I have always thought the underlying assumption is that the brother asking for forgiveness is sorry for the sin he committed. If he isn’t sorry, if he isn’t truly doing T’Shuvah, then should/will he be forgiven?

There’s the parable that follows this about the servant who was forgiven a debt and refused to forgive the debt owed to him. For his unforgiveness his own debt was recalled against him. My interpretation of this parable is that the servant was sinfully selfish, in that (1) he borrowed a large sum he couldn’t pay back and (2) did not forgive a small debt that was owed to him. He did not do T’Shuvah from his sin, as demonstrated by his actions. And, not being repentant, his sin was laid back upon him. He wasn’t forgiven because he didn’t want to repent of his sin.

I will not ask forgiveness for things that I know I shouldn’t be doing but choose to continue to do, whatever they are. I will, however, ask God to help me do T’Shuvah, to give faith to my faithlessness, to strengthen me through the Ruach to not just overcome sin, but to hate it to the point where sinning is painful to me. Any sin. And if I ever reach that point, then and only then can I justly ask for forgiveness for a sin I keep committing.

I like to say that before I was saved I was a sinner who rationalized my sins, and now I am a sinner who regrets my sins. To all of you, and before God, here and now I confess: there are some sins I still choose to do.

The bottom line is we will be forgiven anything, over and over, when we are truly repentant, when we come before God with a broken spirit and a contrite heart, and when we choose to stop doing what it is we are doing. When I reach the point that Shaul reached, confessing he was a wretch because he did the things he didn’t want to do, and did not do the things he wanted to do, then and only then will I be able to ask forgiveness for anything and everything I do wrong.

I have a rather long and arduous journey ahead of me. What about you?

Basic Rules for Torah Interpretation

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I thought we’d take a different path this morning and talk about the mechanics of Torah interpretation. I am constantly telling people to read the Manual, yet I haven’t really helped anyone in understanding how to read the Torah.

The following suggestions are from a Bible study class I used to give on interpreting the Torah. I hope it is useful to you.

Essentially, when reading the Torah (or any scripture) we need to look at what the text says, then we need to look at how it says it.

There are 4 different levels, if you will, of interpretation:

1. P’shat- the plain meaning of the text, i.e., what you see is what it means

2. Drash- the homiletic meaning (from which we get the Midrash)

3. Remez- the esoteric meaning

4. Sod- the hidden, Kabbalistic meaning

These levels may not all be present, and generally the Ruach will be the driving force in understanding the Drash and deeper meanings.

One of the keys to working within these levels is to observe and review how well the meanings fit and make sense with regards to the other writings in the Bible. This is called Hermeneutics. Hermeneutics means that there is continuity of meaning. We are told that God is the same now, before and in the future- He never changes. The meanings and statements made in the Bible should also have this sameness about them- if you interpret something in a way that goes against other, established understandings then you should review what you’re thinking. If something in what you read in Leviticus seems to be totally against what you read in Romans, then there is something wrong, or missing, in that interpretation.

That may not be the best example, since Romans is historically used as a polemic against the Torah when, in fact, it is an apologetic, but the point is that the Bible is the same from start to finish and the interpretations should all be hermeneutically aligned.

You need to always use (what I learned as) Circles of Context. This means to know who wrote what and to whom, and to incorporate both textual and cultural context when forming your interpretation.  Don’t assume that the slave talked about in Leviticus is the same type of slave we had in America. At that time, being a Jewish slave to another Jew was more like being an indentured servant than the horrible torture and misuse that the slaves in America during the 16th through 19th Centuries had to endure. Also, words had different meanings. For example, in Mattitayu 5:17 when Yeshua said He came to fulfill the law, the word “fulfill” did not mean to “complete” something but to interpret it correctly. When you look at the surrounding text, He goes on to say nothing will change. Yet, poor interpretation has constantly led people to teach that His “fulfillment” of the law was to complete it, thereby doing away with it forever. Wrong-o!

Another biblical form of writing is the use of repetitive statements, and you need to review these very carefully. When the tribes of  Reuben and Gad asked to remain east of the Jordan, they said they would build pens for their cattle and homes for their families. Later that is repeated by Moshe, but he tells them to build homes for their families and pens for their cattle. Moses reversed the order of possessions. The Kumash tells us that this was on purpose to show that Moses wanted the leaders to understand that family is more important than possessions. By carefully reading the repetitious statements and stories you can gain a better understanding of what was happening. The same thing can be seen in the story of how Abraham’s servant found Rachael. The story has subtle changes between the first narrative of the event and then, later, what the servant tells Laban.

Finally, I would like to offer some tools that I use. Of course, the main tool in your shed should be the Ruach HaKodesh, the Holy Spirit, to lead you in your understanding. But, besides that, it couldn’t hurt to have a few other tools.

Extra-biblical writings are useful, but I offer this with a caveat- don’t forget that what you are reading is someone else’s interpretation and you have to verify it against the original text. One that I trust is Strong’s Concordance (you may need to do some weight-lifting to get in shape to carry that book); you can also use a good Hebrew-Greek-English Dictionary and selected commentaries from established biblical experts (again- they usually repeat what they have been told so verify verify verify.)

There are many different Bibles- the Complete Jewish Bible, the JPS Hebrew-English Tanakh, the NIV, the KJV, interlinear bibles, and many, many other Bibles, all with their own interpretations found in what the text says. I am not against reading different versions; in fact, I think it will help to identify the differences and that will help you to find the interpretation you are most comfortable with as being the correct one.

The Kumash is a great tool. I use it over and over. The one I have is the Soncino Pentateuch and Haftorahs: the quintessential Bar Mitzvah present. In fact, the one I have is from my Bar Mitzvah, and it’s still in good shape. Embarrassingly enough, that’s because I never even opened it until I came to know Messiah Yeshua, but (at least) I kept it.

Ultimately, however you do it,  you need to study the Word of God. All of it, from Genesis to Revelations. Heck- you should even take a gander at the maps, now and then, if for no other reason than to be able to picture in your mind where these events are taking place.

Read the Word, study the Word, and get to know the Word, intimately. It is the sword of God, and without knowing what God has told us, through human writings, you can’t possibly be prepared for what is coming.

When you go to a baseball game, they tell you, “Get your scorecards- you can’t tell the players without a scorecard!” If you don’t know what God is telling us about the Messiah, what God is all about (He tells us all about Himself in the Bible) or what evidence there will be of the coming Acharit HaYamim (End Days, Judgement Days), you will not know how to protect your soul from the Enemy.

The Enemy will not come right out and announce himself- he will sneak in behind someone else and slowly, carefully lead you into taking the mark and being forever cursed. If you don’t know the warning signs, you won’t know how to avoid damnation. It’s that simple.

Take your Bible and read it; study it; know it; otherwise, you better have a good supply of Coppertone.

Do You Always Do As You’re Told?

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I was a 1st Lieutenant in the US Marine Corps. During the 3 1/2 years (and 1 year in the reserves) I was on duty I led a platoon of Combat Engineers, had a Truck Platoon, and was the Company XO (Executive Officer: for you civilian types, that’s the person who is 2nd in command of a company, which is made up of 3 platoons. My company was the Headquarters and Support Company for the 2nd Combat Engineer Battalion and was very large, with about 365 men.) Believe me, I know all about following orders and doing as I am told.

So did the Nazi’s. So did those people who killed for Charles Manson. So do the ISIS terrorists. And on, and on, and on…

We need to obey those orders and instructions that are valid and correct, and we need to know when they aren’t. Sounds easy enough, but it isn’t. There is mob mentality, there is fear of retribution, there is fear of rejection (peer pressure), and there is the legitimate concern about being put in jail or held accountable for breaking the rules.

So how do we know the difference between doing what we are told to do or (as I am leading into) believing what we are told to believe, and rejecting what they say?

Good question…I wish I had an answer for it. The best I can come up with is to follow your instincts. Oh, yes, there is something else you should do: read the Bible regularly so you know what God says is the right thing to do, how God says to treat each other, and ask the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) to lead you and help you understand.

The Torah is more than just a bunch of religious rules, or a history lesson. It also defines how we should treat each other. It gives us a penal code so that when we mistreat each other there is a fair and reasonable system of retribution. It treats slavery, which was the way of the world then, with dignity for the slave and accepted slaves as human beings, even though they were, legally, property. It teaches us how to get along (Can’t we all just get along?), and not just how to treat other people, but how to act when mistreated by other people.

The Rabbi, Priest, Minister, Pastor (whatever you call the religious leader of your particular religious organization) should be respected and given a modicum of trust for, if no other reason, the level of education and commitment they have demonstrated to be where, and what, they are. But these things also have to be earned. These people are, after all, still human and subject to human frailties. Listen to what they say, but also accept everything with a grain of salt and verify it for yourself by reading God’s word and asking Him to show you what He wants for you.

The Bible tells us to respect our elders, to honor and obey those put in authority over us, but overall to do as God says. If the “legal” authority is telling you to do something that God says is wrong, you must choose who you will follow. Likewise, if you are being told how you are to worship but you do not verify it for yourself , as I recommend above, you may be one of the blind being led by the blind. Yeshua tells us when the blind lead the blind, they both fall into a hole.

I can’t speak for God, but from all my study and reading and in my spirit, I feel confident saying this to you: when you meet the Almighty at His Throne of Judgement, and you say you were just doing what the (enter title of religious leader) told you, God is going to say something along the lines of, “I understand, but I don’t care what they tell you: it’s what I tell you that counts!”

Chew on that for awhile. It may not taste good, but what the world wants you to do is almost always against what God wants us to do. Like some of the scrolls that the prophets ate, the world tastes good going down but will really give you an upset stomach in the long run.

As for me, I choose God. I have been fortunate and blessed that this choice has not gotten me in trouble yet, but I know it will. I believe we are in prophetic times, and the world is quickly speeding towards destruction. When the Son of Perdition comes to power, I will NOT take the mark. That is going to make life difficult, if I live through it, at all. But I am ready; I am a Marine and I am Jewish; I have the blood and spirit of two of the most fearsome warrior tribes ever known to humankind. Bring it on!

But not just yet, OK?

When I was in sales and people used to meet me at their door and say, “No matter what you say I am not buying anything today!” I would ask them, “Do you make your decisions based on information?” When they told me they do, I would say, “Then why are you saying no to something you don’t even know about? Look- it’s your money, do what you want with it. All I am asking is that you let me tell you about the product so that whatever decision you make, it is an informed decision.”

That’s all I am asking you to do- make an informed decision regarding what you choose to believe. You can’t do that unless you know all about the product, so read the Manual.

Don’t be foolish or lazy about this: where you spend Eternity depends on it.

God Majors in the Minors

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One of the wonderful things about God is how much He gets done with so little.

I remember a little poster that used to be displayed in one of my jobs:

We, the unwilling, led by those, the unknowing, have done so much with so little for so long that now we can do anything with nothing.

God isn’t great just because He can part the seas, or bring famine, create floods, turn the rivers to blood, etc. These are tremendous works. In my mind, though, what really makes God stand out as powerful is what He can do with almost nothing.

God took a young boy, and with nothing more than a rock and sling, helped him kill a giant; a professional warrior that was more powerful than any of the other warriors of his day.

God took a young man (Gideon) with only 300 farmers, and they routed and destroyed an entire professional army of thousands.

With God’s Spirit, Elijah and Elisha performed miracles, bringing the dead to life, calling fire from heaven (OK- that is a big one), and making poisoned water palatable.

And through women who had been barren, God provided Patriarchs, Judges, and Prophets.

Search out your own life experiences and look for where God has done something tremendous with something very small. In my life He has awakened me to His word though little hints and observations that I know, absolutely, I would never have seen without His Ruach (Spirit) leading me. He has helped me by sending people to guide me, He has protected me when I drive, when I ride my bike, and even as I walk. He has provided for me, financially, physically, and even emotionally (Donna is the true love of my life and if my life hadn’t been directed to her, well…I don’t even want to thInk about it.)

If I do something right, it is because of the Holy Spirit within me; when I royally screw something up, then I can take full credit.

God is unbelievably awesome, powerful and can never be understood by humans. Yet, He works with us in so many small, humble and simple ways. In Mattitayu we are told that the Father knows every sparrow that falls; since we are worth much more than a sparrow to God, can you even imagine how much more intimately He know us and what our lives are like? And He knows not just what we need, but when to give it to us.

Don’t look for the big miracle because it’s the not the rule. If you want to really know God better, look to the small things. Look for the everyday, simple ways in which God takes care of you and shows His love and concern for your well-being.

They say good things come in small packages; with God, there are many small things He does, every day, that show how great He is.

Seek, and you shall find.

 

Believing Isn’t Accepting

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Do you recall where, in the Bible, we are told that just believing in Yeshua as the Messiah and Son of God isn’t enough? It is followed by the fact that even the demons believe He is the Son of God (I’ll give you a hint- look for it in the Book of Yakov.)

When I talk to people about salvation, even though I call myself a “Believer”, what I really should start to do is call myself an “Acceptor” because I don’t just believe that God exists, and I just don’t believe that Yeshua (Jesus) is the Messiah God promised us, but I accept this. That means I adopt it, I embrace it, I am committed to living my life differently because of it.

When I accepted that Yeshua is the Messiah, I realized that my life would have to change. When you stop denying your car needs to go to the shop, when you know that you’re overweight and a glucose count of 3,000 is something you cannot live with…whenever you have a “truth” you don’t want to acknowledge, but have to, that is what it is like when you accept the truth (if you will) about Yeshua.

It’s something that, once accepted, can no longer be ignored. You have to make a choice- be a slave to sin or a slave to God.

I think that’s why so many people will believe, but not accept. They live in a sort of partial acceptance and partial denial: they believe Yeshua is the Messiah and Son of God, and that God is real, but they deny to themselves that there are consequences for ignoring God’s rules and laws. They go with, “I believe in Jesus- He died for my sins. And besides that, I’m a good person; I don’t commit murder and I don’t steal, so I will go to heaven.”

WRONG!!! No one is good, everyone sins, and there are 613 commandments in the Old Covenant: take away the 1/3 (thereabouts) of them that deal with the sacrificial system and you still have a lot more commandments, rules and regulations than just not murdering or lying. According to God, and to Yeshua, and to Shaul (St. Paul), if you have violated so much as one stroke of the pen of the Torah you have violated the entire Torah.

God is bi-nomial: it is or it isn’t, right or wrong, black or white, day or night…there is no “middle ground” with God. If there was, we probably wouldn’t need Yeshua.

The truth is we are all sinners, inside and out, and without Yeshua/ Jesus/ the Messiah we wouldn’t have a chance of surviving the second death. That is what people hear, many believe it but so many still don’t accept it as really real.

When you feel a cold coming on, don’t you tell yourself it’s just a sore throat from talking and that you will feel better tomorrow?  We know it’s a cold, but we tell ourselves it isn’t. And we keep saying that until we are sick as a dog and now have to face the truth. And by the time we accept the truth, it is too late to avoid the consequences.  When I am coughing, nose running and throat sore for two days, it is too late to take the Cold Eeze to avoid the sickness. Now I will have to suffer through instead of either having it much easier or maybe having been able to avoid it, altogether.

If you believe Yeshua is the Son of God and the Messiah God promised, well, big deal. That won’t do it. You need to accept His Messiahship, you need to change how you see sin, you need to do T’Shuvah (turning from sin) and you need to do it now. Who knows when it will be too late?

I used to sell Revocable Living Trusts, which protect an estate from most of the expenses of Probate, and when people would tell me they believe it is a good idea, but they aren’t ready to accept it (i.e., commit to getting it done) just yet, I would say, “That’s right- why spend the money until you absolutely need to? So, since this takes about 3 months to complete (as I pull out my calendar) tell me when you are going to die and I will make an appointment three months before then.”

Unless you know, absolutely, when you are going to die, you need to accept Yeshua now! Don’t just “believe”- that’s not enough. You need to accept, to commit, to do T’Shuvah.

When I was an active duty Marine, I learned that “close” only counts in two games: horseshoes and handgrenades. Believing is close, but won’t get you there. Only accepting will save you.

Is God Really Invisible?

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We often hear about the “Invisible God” of the Jews. Whereas the pagan worshipers of old had gods that one could see and feel, the Hebrew God was an invisible god that no one had ever seen.

And, for the most part, God is invisible. Good thing, too, since He tells Moshe that no human being can look upon His face and live. On the other hand, He does show Himself, now and then, in visions (Daniel and Ezekiel saw nearly His entire body) or directly, as He did with Moses.

Is God really invisible? Or, is it that we can’t see Him because we aren’t looking?

After all, what is invisible? When we are in the daylight we see the white light of the sun but none of the colors inside that light. When we go out into the sun we get a sunburn, but we don’t see the UV rays that are burning us. We can see the light, and we can feel the warmth, but we don’t see the colors or feel the burning rays.

Here’s the kicker- those invisible aspects of sunlight are not invisible. They can be seen; all you need is the correct filter. If you look through a special filter, such as a prism to see the colors or one designed to allow the frequency that the UV rays operate within to be visualized, we can see those here-to-fore “invisible” things. They may be invisible to normal sight, but they are real and with the proper filter they are no longer invisible.

God is like that. His presence can be felt, His works can be seen, and His existence is obvious. As obvious as a sunburn. But we don’t “see” Him. Yet, as I said before, Moshe, Daniel and Ezekiel all saw Him. He made Himself known, visually, to them. How is it that they could see and we don’t?

Think about Elijah and when he was being hunted. The story is found in 2nd Kings: the King of Aram sent his army to kill Elijah, who was able to foresee by God’s spirit the ambushes being set against the King of Israel (the Northern Kingdom) and when the servant of Elijah awoke and saw the troops surrounding the city, Elijah told the servant, “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” And Elisha prayed to God and asked that He open his servant’s eyes. God did as Elijah asked, and then the servant could see the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. Essentially, that which was invisible became visible because the servant was looking through a special filter- the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) enabled him to see the invisible army of God.

If we look for God through that same filter, I believe we will see Him. It may be as an angel, it may be as a vision, it may be as a normal human being who does His work in our life. God is real, God is present, and God is visible when we look for Him using the filter of the Holy Spirit.

We cannot see His face, we know that already, but we can see Him as clearly as the nose on our face if we just look hard enough. I see Him, in the beautiful sunsets and sunrises that remind me as I wake and as I go to sleep that God is a wonderful artist, and His presence is with me, always. I see Him in others when I see someone do something nice for another person, when I do something that I know I don’t want to do, in my flesh, but need to do because in my spirit I know I should. I see God whenever I see goodness, love and compassion in the world.

Don’t get me wrong and think that I see God all the time. That’s not true, because I am still sinful and weak. I never saw God at all before I accepted Him and Messiah Yeshua. He wasn’t just invisible to me, He was non-existent. Now He is real, I feel His presence, I see Him through the Spirit (occasionally) and because of this I know Him to be real.

Do you have the spiritual sight? Have you seen God? Again, let me emphasize: I am not saying you will see Him in totality, or as you see another human being. You will see His effect, His presence, His armies and maybe, if He chooses to allow it, His physical being (not the face- stay away from the face!) in a dream or vision. I haven’t seen that part of Him, yet. Maybe someday?

The truth is God is invisible because we choose not to see Him. It’s all on us, just as many don’t see His presence or His works because they refuse to accept His existence. I believe that many people who say they believe in God are just saying it. I have nothing to go on to justify that statement except my personal feelings, and my experience of having seen so many people who profess to believe in God do and say things that they would never do or say if they really knew the Lord.

If you are unsure about God, whether or not He really exists, or whether or not He really cares about you, take off the filter of the world and try to look through the filter of trust, faith, and the spirit. God will make Himself known to those that genuinely seek Him out. Don’t expect that one half-hearted request will get Him to drop everything and show up on your doorstep. He requires us to be faithful, which means to keep trying even when things don’t happen. Just keep at it, keep asking, and keep expecting, in faith, for Him to show Himself to you.

If you do that, I believe that He will show Himself to you. You need to keep looking through the proper filter to see Him. It took about 3 months of constant requests and prayer, when I was first saved, before He made Himself known to me. And when He did, WOW!! I felt His Ruach enter my body, and I was (for a second or two) totally ethereal. I was spirit, not flesh. That was nearly 18 years ago, and when I think about it or relate the story I still get chills and teary-eyed. It was a life-changing experience (I think I have a link to it somewhere on the Home page of this blog.)

Pray, be faithfully expectant, and ask God to let you see through the filter of the Ruach HaKodesh so you can see Him.

God isn’t invisible to those who want to see Him.

 

 

Parashah Vayigash (He Approached) Genesis 44:18 – 47:27

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This parashah starts with the request by Judah to remain as Joseph’s slave instead of Benjamin. At this final show of humility, sacrifice and love, Joseph cannot contain himself any longer and reveals his true identity to them.

When we learn about this Torah portion we often discuss the fact that Joseph was testing his brothers to see if they had learned their lesson. But what lesson was that, in Joseph’s mind? Was it to be concerned for each other? Was it to see if they were no longer allowing their jealousy to rule their actions? Or was it that they could truly feel love for Benjamin, their father’s favorite (just as Joseph had been) to the point of sacrificing their own freedom or life, for him?

I think Joseph finally trusted them when Judah’s entreaty was entirely focused on Yakov, who Joseph loved with all his heart. He wasn’t asking to release Benjamin because Benjamin was only a youngster (although he was probably in his early or mid twenties by then); he didn’t ask that he remain instead just because of his promise to Yakov to care for Benjamin and ensure his safety (although this was a part of the request.) I think what showed Joseph the true change in his brothers was that Judah’s request was solely and completely focused on the welfare of his father. The final plea was in order to prevent Judah from having to see his father overwhelmed by grief.

This shows us how we are to act towards our parents, and elders, and each other, too. We are to put their welfare ahead of ours. Yeshua said that there is no love greater than the love of one who lays down his life for his friends; not just for parents or siblings, but for friends. If we are that devoted to friends, how much more so should we be devoted to family?

Judah was asking to replace Benjamin not so much because of his promise to Yakov, but out of love for Yakov. If the promise of protection had not been made, I wonder if Judah would have still came forward and asked to replace Benjamin. We can’t make an argument from nothing, but I would like to think that one of them would have stepped forward, at this point in their lives, for their father’s sake.

In this case, Judah’s request to stay in the place of Benjamin was enough to show Joseph that they had changed. And in keeping with Joseph’s test of them, he passed his own test of love when he immediately told them, once he revealed himself, that they should not be upset or angry with themselves, or feel remorse about their evil deeds against him, because it was all an act of God. It was God who caused this to happen so that Joseph would be where he is, which will allow the children of Israel to be able to survive and grow into the nation of Israel.

The lesson that I see in this parashah is an easy one to understand- love each other, protect each other, care for each other, and be concerned for each other’s feelings over your own. Judah was more concerned for his father than he was for himself; in fact, more than he was for his own family, as his slavery to Joseph would have caused much distress with his own wife and children.

Joseph’s statement and revelation that God was behind this all the time reminds me of the statement Mordekhai makes to Hadassah (Esther) when he asks her to intercede with the king on behalf of all the Jews in Asia. He tells her, “Who knows whether you didn’t come into your royal position precisely for such a time as this.”

Over the past couple of parashot, and finally in this one, we see a sort of precursor to the story of Esther, don’t we? A Jew, a foreigner and slave to the people where he lived, of no real importance to anyone there, taken into the palace and made head of all the peoples. And, more than that, in that position he was able to save not just his own people, but the people who enslaved him. Joseph saved Egypt and the people surrounding Egypt, and Esther saved more than just the Jews in Asia: by preventing the Persians from doing harm to the Jews she saved them, as well. Doesn’t God promise that He will curse those who curse His people, but bless those that bless them? If the Persians, as a people, had tried to destroy the Jews, wouldn’t God have come down on them like a ton of bricks?

Of course, although this episode went well for the Persians, they didn’t stay friendly to the Jewish people. Today, Persia is still a nation (Iran) but they are on the Holy Hit list, believe-you-me, and the day of reckoning will come upon them.

The story of Joseph is one of the greatest tales in the Bible- heck! in the world!- of rising from the lowliest social position one can be in to one of greatness, all because he kept his faith in God, and was always obedient to God’s commandments. Throughout the Bible we see how this attitude has allowed the humble to achieve greatness: Abraham, Joseph, Moshe, Hadassah, Gideon, Yeshua, and the Talmudim of Yeshua. Men of no worldly importance, who, by God’s grace and actions and intercession, have saved millions, maybe billions, of people from eternal damnation. And how did they do this? By remaining humble and faithfully obedient to God.

The world says to watch out for Numero Uno. God says to forget Numero Uno and watch out for all the other numbers, and trust in Him to watch out for you.

The Bible proves that God’s way works better than the world’s way. Who will you listen to?

WWJD? Probably Not What You Are Doing.

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Ooh- what a nasty title, Steve! How dare you say I am not doing what Jesus did! You don’t even know me.

That’s right- I don’t know how you worship, but (as the title says) from my experience watching and hearing about “Christian” service, you are probably not doing what Jesus (Yeshua) did when He worshiped God.

That’s the emphasis here- is your worship life the same as Yeshua’s?

*  Do you read the Torah parashah every Saturday?

*  Do you pray morning, afternoon and evening?

*  Do you pray to Saints?

*  Do you kneel to a wooden cross?

*  Do you celebrate the Sabbath on Sunday?

And here’s the BIG question: Do you worship God or do you worship Yeshua?

If you are saying “No” to the first two, and “Yes” to the others, and if you worship Jesus (what I am mean by this is are you praying to God in Yeshua’s name, or are you praying directly to Yeshua for the answers you want?), then you are NOT doing what Jesus did, at least with regards to worship.

Yeshua never prayed to Himself, and never, ever said we should pray to Him. What He said (look it up if you don’t believe me) was to pray IN HIS NAME, not pray to Him. That means we worship God, the Father, and pray to God, the Father, and no one else. We do not ask saints to intercede- why would you even want to? They are not God’s son, they are not the Messiah, it is not their job to intercede. They are, if anything, soldiers for God. They are the martyrs under the altar, they are waiting for the Acharit HaYamim (End Days), they are praying to God for their own retribution and for justice. They are not intercessors, and they are not who you should pray to if you want to do as Jesus did.

Did you enjoy your Christmas ham? Ever think that what you ate and shared with others as a celebration of the birth of the Messiah would be an abomination to Him?  He would never even have it in His house, let alone on His table. How would you feel if someone wanted to honor you and did so by inviting your enemies to have a good time and to eat and drink foods that you found disgusting? Would you feel honored?

You want to do as Jesus did? Than stop listening to people telling you what to do, and read the Bible. Read the whole Bible, starting at Genesis. That’s where you will learn how Yeshua did things.

You want to be able to answer the question: “Do you do as Jesus did?” with a resounding “YES!!”, then start with your worship life. If you worship correctly, you will know how to live correctly. That means to read the Bible, not just hear what others tell you it says. You also have to ask the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) to guide your understanding.

You need to live as Yeshua lived. Try, even if it is just an experiment, or as a religious fast, if you will, to eat according to what you are told to eat in Leviticus 11. Just that one thing.

I am not trying to be a “Judaizer”, or proselytize you into becoming Messianic. I only want to help you see that there is a major, identifiable, and gigantic difference between the way Christians live and worship (traditionally) and how Yeshua lived and worshiped.

I am Messianic, and my worship is made up of an opening prayer, followed by music, singing and dancing (most of which was likely part of Yeshua’s worship, but I can’t accept that He would be singing for an hour before getting into the real meat- the Torah), then we read the portion of the Torah that is specified and the sermon/drash/messages on that parashah. Here is where we separate from what Yeshua would have done, since in His time there was no New Covenant to enhance and define the Torah reading. The Haftorah we read is just as often from the New Covenant as it is the traditional one for the Torah parashah. Also, we may not read the Parashah and delve into a different topic. That is the major difference, but I feel confident in saying that what we are discussing would be acceptable by Yeshua. After all, the Gospels (Besorah, or Good News) are the life of Yeshua and His teachings, and the rest are spirit-led revelations and witness to the teachings of Yeshua.

That is where I am different, where I do not do what Jesus did in His worship life. Frankly, I love studying and paying attention to the teachings of Yeshua as part of my worship life. I pray to God, as Yeshua did; I ask for things from God, and ask them referencing the name of Yeshua and (respectfully) reminding God that Yeshua, His son, said that He would honor what we asked for if we did so in Yeshua’s name; I read the whole Bible, from Genesis to Revelations, and I celebrate the Sabbath the way Yeshua did- Friday night to Saturday night. I have a diet in accordance with Leviticus 11, I celebrate the festivals of the Lord as defined and commanded of us in Leviticus 23. And I call myself a Jewish man- I am NOT a Christian-Jew, Hebrew-Christian, or any other non-defined, wavering sort of hybrid religion. What I really am is a Believer- I believe in God, I believe Yeshua is the Messiah, and I believe that I should worship and live as Yeshua did, to the best of my abilities, faithfully trying to obey God’s commandments. All His commandments, because they are all valid and current.

There is nothing “new” in the New Covenant, and God has no religion. Only rules and laws and commandments.

I do not live a sinless life, and in that way I most certainly do not do as Yeshua did. But, thanks to Yeshua, and the grace of God that allows me to have the indwelling Ruach, I am getting better.

WWJD? If you want to do as Jesus did, if you want to know how He lived, ate, and worshiped, then DAYD- Do As Yeshua Did. You don’t have to convert to Judaism; actually, you would need to be Messianic because traditional, or as I like to call it, “mainstream” Judaism doesn’t do exactly what Yeshua did,either. But just try it for awhile.

Really? Will it kill you to give up pork and shellfish for a week? That’s all it really comes down to to maintain the proper Kosher laws, according to the Bible. Or read the Torah portion on Saturday mornings as well as whatever normal biblical reading you do. The traditional Jewish prayers during the day are the morning prayer (shacharit), afternoon prayer (minchah) and evening prayer (arvith or maariv.) You don’t need to recite them verbatim, or do them exactly at sunrise, noon and sunset. You don’t need to spend from $250 up to maybe $400 for a set of Tefillin. Just try to pray these three times during the day, maybe 5 or 10 minutes each time, for a week.  You do need to pray only to God, the Father. Ask in Yeshua’s name, but pray to God, just as Yeshua did. Trust me, He is there, at the right hand of God, interceding for you. Just go to the source of everything and Yeshua will be involved. 

If you are serious about wanting to know Yeshua, about wanting to follow in His footsteps, and about wanting to do as He did, take this challenge. It’s not too hard, and it only has to be for a week- Shabbat to Shabbat (uh, that would be Friday night to Friday night) and see how you feel. Honestly, if it doesn’t make you feel any closer to Yeshua than you had been, I suggest you might want to consider how close you were before you tried. I say that because I really believe that anyone who does this will feel closer to God, closer to Yeshua, and more “complete” as a Believer than they felt before. It doesn’t have to be forever, it doesn’t have to change your life (although it might), it just has to be for a week.

Do it as a Nazarite vow; do it as a sign of devotion, do it as a special fast; do it as a spiritual adventure.

Please…just do it. Nu? Try it;  maybe you’ll like it!