If you aren’t familiar with this particular passage in the B’rit Chadashah, it is where Yeshua (Jesus) is telling people that new wine cannot go into old wineskins, and a new patch (unshrunk cloth) should not be sewn onto old clothes. Instead, new wine must go into new wineskins.

If you prefer to watch a video, click on this link: Watch the video.

In some cases, this passage is used to justify that there is no longer need for Gentile Believers to obey the laws of Moses, in that the Torah is the “old wine” and the “old clothes”. Yeshua’s teachings are the new wine that must go into new wineskins, indicating that any Jew (those are the only people Yeshua was talking to in those days) who still abided with the traditions and commandments as taught by the Pharisees would not be able to accept this new understanding.

But this passage has nothing to do with the law itself because Yeshua wasn’t talking about the performance of the commandments: he was talking about having an open mind to the deeper meaning of the commandments.

There is a Jewish form of exegesis called PaRDeS. The “P stands for P’shat, which is the literal meaning of the laws (i.e., plain language- what you hear is what it is); the “R” is for Remes, a deeper, more spiritual meaning. The “D” is for Drash, a story (or parable, if you will) that has a moral meaning, and the “S” is for Sud, an almost mystical understanding of the law.

Yeshua taught the Remes, which is not what the Pharisees had been teaching. That is why people said that no one ever taught as he did. We see this especially in the Sermon on the Mount when Yeshua said we have been told do not murder (P’shat), but he says do not even hate in your heart (Remes). He also said we have been told do not commit adultery (P’shat), but we should not even lust with our eyes (Remes).

And he taught the people using parables (Drash).

So, when Yeshua talked about not using an unshrunk patch (someone who doesn’t know the existing traditions) on an old cloth (someone who has been indoctrinated into the old ways of understanding) he meant that a new Believer who tried to work within the old traditions would become confused and not be able to maintain his new faith.

I believe this statement was not meant for that time but was a prophecy regarding newly Believing Gentiles who would one day be confused by Jewish Believers who wanted these neophyte Gentile Believers to make a total conversion to both the Torah and the traditions of Judaism overnight (the letter Shaul wrote to the Galatians confirms this problem existed).

The reason you don’t place new wine in old wineskins is that the new wine will continue to ferment, releasing gases that will expand the wineskin. If an old wineskin (one that has been stretched out already) is used for new wine, the expanding gases will burst it and the wine will be lost.

The Jews who knew the Torah only as a set of rules to be followed to the letter (P’shat) are the old wineskins, and what Yeshua was teaching was new wine (the Remes). He never taught anything against the laws of Moses, only the deeper meaning of them- that is the new wine.

What Yeshua was teaching would eventually expand a person’s understanding of the Torah, so if someone was not open to learning this newer, deeper meaning of the law (being a new wineskin), then what will happen is that being an old wineskin (their minds incapable of accepting this newer meaning) they will “burst”, i.e. reject Yeshua and what he taught and revert to their comfort zone of just doing what the Pharisees taught, what is today the Rabbinic rules in the Talmud called Halacha.

If you are wondering why it is so important to know the Remes, read Jeremiah 31:31, which is the New Covenant God promised to make with us: we are to have the Torah written on our hearts, meaning that it isn’t just doing what the Torah says that matters (P’shat), it is wanting to do it (Remes)!

I think we can all agree that when you really want to do something, it is much easier to do, even if it is difficult or requires sacrifice.

When God gave the Torah to Moses to teach to the children of Israel, he knew this would be hard for them. That is why he allowed us to deal only with the P’shat- we were only able to drink milk.

After a few thousand years with the P’shat, God sent Yeshua to teach us the Remes, the real meat of the law, giving us the opportunity to come closer to God and better understand what he meant. This was necessary for us to complete God’s plan of salvation, which is to be his nation of priests (Exodus 19:6) by bringing the full understanding of the Torah to the Gentiles.

The next time Yeshua comes will be to bring to final completion God’s plan of salvation for the world. That is when those who were able to be new wineskins, Jew and Gentile, will be united with God forever.

Thank you for being here and please share these messages with everyone you know, Believer or not, in order to help this ministry grow. Subscribe (if you haven’t already) to both my website and my YouTube channel, and don’t forget to set notifications so you know when I post.

I have written 4 books, and if you like what you get here you will like my books, as well. They are available on Amazon Books or use the link on my website.

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

I suppose we are all familiar with the Beatitudes, or as they are also known, the “Be-Attitudes”.

If you prefer to watch a video, click on this link: Watch the video.

Many are also familiar with Matthew 5:17, which is where Yeshua says he did not come to change the law, but fulfill it.

The problem with most traditional teaching is they end the verse here, but that is not the end of the verse- Yeshua went on to say nothing in the law will change, not a single stroke or yud until all things have come to pass. This part they like to leave out because it defeats the improper interpretation that Christianity has imposed on their members, that being that to fulfill the law meant it was completed, and thereby, done away with.

So let’s look at that verse in Matthew and identify the true meaning.

First off, whenever we interpret something from the Bible we need to use three tools of exegesis: Hermeneutics, Circles of Context, and the proper historical and cultural usage of the words and terms used.

Hermeneutics is, simply stated, the idea that whatever it says in the Bible here, it also says the same thing there, and everywhere. For example, we are told that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is the one and only true God, which is confirmed, hermeneutically, because this is stated again and again throughout not just the Tanakh, but the entire Bible.

If, at some point, someone quoted a verse from the Bible and interpreted that as proving there was another God (not a man-made statue, but an honest-to-goodness real God different from Adonai) then, hermeneutically, we could argue against the validity of that interpretation.

The tool called Circles of Context means that when we interpret a verse or passage, it must be done so within the context of the sentence, the context of the paragraph, and of the entire passage.

With regard to the Epistles in the New Covenant, we also have to include the context of who is writing the letter, to whom, and why.

The third tool, proper cultural usage of the words and terms, brings us back to Matthew 5:17 and the word, “fulfill“.

During the First Century, when the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Scribes talked about “fulfilling the law” it had nothing, whatsoever, to do with performance. It meant interpreting the law correctly.

Just as the use of the word “trespassing” with regard to the law had nothing to do with actually walking on someone’s property, but to misinterpret the law.

In the worst-case scenario, to trespass the law meant to sin.

In this message, I am saying my interpretation of Matthew 5:17 is that Yeshua said he came to properly interpret the law. And, that proper interpretation has nothing to do with performance but to give the people a deeper, spiritual understanding of the law.

Now, I have to justify that interpretation culturally, contextually, and hermeneutically.

Culturally, as I explained above, the word “fulfill” in this usage meant to interpret the law by teaching its spiritual meaning, and had nothing to do with the performance of the law.

Next, let’s look at the context of what Yeshua was saying. Matthew 5 begins with the Beatitudes, where he is telling the people that the meek and the humble will be blessed. Also, those who make peace and who suffer as a result of their pursuit of righteousness.

One very important (contextually, that is) statement Yeshua makes is Matthew 5:6, which says that those who hunger and thirst for righteousness will also be blessed. This is important because the use of “fulfill” as a spiritual understanding of the law would, by its very nature, make the desire to obey part of one’s inner being. It would be more than just performance, it would be a deep, spiritual desire: it would feel like a thirst and hunger to obey.

Lastly, a hermeneutic justification can be found in Jeremiah 31:33, where we are told that the Torah will be written on our hearts. As such, the desire to obey would be integral to our being, like our heart pumping blood or breathing.

Not only that, but in Matthew Yeshua goes on to teach about adultery and murder, stating that we heard it said not to do these things, but he went on to say we shouldn’t even WANT to do these things.

Yeshua also talks about how uncleanliness comes from the heart, not what we eat (Mark 7:18), again teaching the law from a spiritual understanding and not just some physical activity.

Can you see how the meaning of “fulfill” in Matthew 5:17 makes sense when we consider it to be the spiritual understanding of the law? Yeshua’s statement about fulfilling the law as meaning he will teach us the proper, spiritual understanding is demonstrated throughout his teaching during the Beatitudes and is confirmed by the prophecies in the Tanakh (Jeremiah 31:31 and Ezekiel 36:26), as well as Mark 7:18 and other places throughout the Gospels.

Hopefully, going forward when you hear people say that Yeshua completed and did away with the law in Matthew 5:17, you will be able to help them see the truth. Culturally, hermeneutically, and contextually it is obvious that Yeshua taught the Remes, the deeper, spiritual meaning and understanding of the Torah. That is why so many people said no one ever talked as he did, and that he talked like someone with authority.

There are three types of authority: legal, technical, and assumed.

Yeshua was the son of God and the Messiah- that covers the legal authority.

He knew the Torah, inside and out, and not just what it says but why it says it- that’s as technical as you can get.

And finally, he had an assumed authority because he did miracles that only someone empowered by God could do.

As you continue to study the Bible, no matter how long you have already been at it, if you aren’t already very familiar with the tools I have talked about today (and I would also include learning the Jewish system of exegesis called PaRDeS), then please go to my website and look under the Blogs tab called Series Teachings for a lesson I posted a while ago about how to properly interpret the Bible.

Thank you for being here and please share these messages with everyone you know. Subscribe to my website and YouTube channel, buy my books and join my Facebook group called Just God’s Word (please make sure to read and agree to the rules).

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

I have often written about how Christianity has idolized Jesus.

In many of the different sects within Christianity, he is considered not just the son of God, but God, himself, and as such, he is prayed to; he is asked for healing, and he is considered to be the one and only Savior.

If you prefer to watch a video, click on this link: Watch the video.

However, Yeshua never even implied any of this. In fact, throughout the Gospels, for every healing and miraculous act he performed, he gave the credit to either the faith of the person or to God the Father. Yeshua never took credit for any of the miraculous acts he did, and always gave all glory to God.

So, if Yeshua himself never took credit for what he did, and always gave glory to God, this is why I am wondering whether or not Yeshua actually hears our prayers.

If he is God, then he (obviously) hears them and answers them.

TIME OUT: Please do not respond arguing whether or not Yeshua and God
are one and the same because that is NOT the issue in this message.

If he is only the Messiah, sitting at the right hand of God (which is where Stephen said he saw him), and he takes our prayers to God, does he hear them before God does?

Is it possible Yeshua hears our prayers but God doesn’t? Wouldn’t that mean God only hears the prayers of those who do not accept Yeshua as the Messiah?

How about this? If we are to pray in Yeshua’s name, doesn’t that imply someone else is hearing the prayer? Isn’t that why we have to invoke the name of Yeshua, because the prayer is not going to Yeshua but someone else?

And who else could that be? Obviously, it is God, the Father.

Unless, of course, you are a member of one of the Christian religions that prays to saints. Now, instead of praying to the one who can answer our prayer, we are going to a retailer (saint), to bring it to the wholesaler (Yeshua), to bring it to the manufacturer (God).

This is why Jews could never be good Christians- we will never do retail when we have a direct line to the manufacturer.

In each of the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and John, Yeshua tells his disciples, in one way or another, that when they pray in his name, whatever they ask for they will receive. This seems to imply that Yeshua does hear prayers; after all, how can he assure their prayers will be answered if he doesn’t even hear them, right?

But he also says that the prayers will be answered so that the son can glorify the father, which means even if he does hear them, he doesn’t answer them; instead, he intercedes for us so that God will answer them.

Maybe we need to understand what Yeshua meant when he said to pray in his name?

In my quarter-century (plus) experience as a Believer and student of the Bible, I have found that the use of the word “name” throughout the Bible has been misunderstood by so many people. There are many, many times that God talks about his “name”, and the only time I can recall where he actually used the word “name” to mean his actual name, which for us would be what we are called by our friends and family, is when he talked to Moses at the burning bush. In Exodus 6:3, God told Moses that he appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as El Shaddai, but not as יהוה (the Tetragrammaton.)

Almost every other time the “name of the Lord” is used is not to reference the Tetragrammaton but in the cultural meaning of the term “my name”, which was not the word we use to identify a specific person but a reference to that person’s reputation and renown.

When God talks about his “name” or about others knowing his “name”, he doesn’t mean how to pronounce the Tetragrammaton, but who God is in relation to humanity: knowing his “name” is to know he is the God of Israel, he is all-powerful, and he is supreme. Knowing his “name” means knowing the wonders he performed and giving him the respect he deserves.

Now, when Yeshua says to pray in his name, is it possible he means the same thing that God meant? Is it possible that Yeshua never really meant for us to physically speak the words “In the name of Yeshua”, but rather because we are a believer in Yeshua that we are praying under his authority as the Messiah? Maybe we don’t have to actually pronounce his name? Maybe because we are one of his sheep, we are automatically praying “in his name”, i.e. under his renown and authority as the Messiah?

I don’t know. The more I try to understand this, the more complicated it becomes.

What I do believe, and (as always) this is what I believe from my understanding of the Bible and I am not telling you you have to agree, is that Yeshua is not the one we pray to or the one who hears our prayers: Yeshua is the Intercessor for our prayers, not the Interceptor of them.

And even though he is our Intercessor, that doesn’t mean he is in the loop- it means that as his, when we pray, we are praying in his name, i.e., under his authority as the Messiah.

Yeshua doesn’t have to handle our prayers as they go from our hearts to God.

I believe God is the only one who hears our prayers and the only one who answers them; when we pray in Yeshua’s name, it is telling God that we are one of Yeshua’s sheep, and as such God will give us, oh- how do I say this? – extra credit? Maybe our prayers get to go to the front of the line?

For whatever reason, when we pray in Yeshua’s name, God will do as we ask (so long as it is within his will) because it is what his son promised would happen. And by honoring his son’s promise, God glorifies himself, just the same way Yeshua glorified him every time he answered Yeshua’s prayers.

Praying in Yeshua’s name doesn’t mean he hears our prayers, and I also believe that whether or not we pronounce his name, God knows who we are and he knows what is in our heart, and he also knows we are Yeshua’s sheep.

Of course, it doesn’t hurt anything to say “In Yeshua’s name, I pray” because that is literally what he told us to do.

But if you ask me, I don’t think it is necessary to get God’s attention.

Thank you for being here and please share these messages with everyone you know to help this ministry continue to grow. I would also ask that you subscribe to this ministry on my website and my YouTube channel, and while you are on the website please consider buying my books.

If you like what you get in these messages, you will like my books, as well.

Das ist alles for today, so l’hitraot and Baruch HaShem!

I once talked about how the Bible is just a book when I was giving a message at the place I used to worship, and not only did I get some pretty passionate disagreements, but one person actually walked out on me.

If you prefer to watch a video, click on this link: Watch the video.

Many people argued that the Bible is THE word of God, but it isn’t, really- it contains the words God told to Moses and the Prophets, and it contains what many people wrote. It contains the writings (Ketuvim), such as Esther, Judges, Psalms, and the Proverbs.

It contains the teachings of Yeshua, and the letters that were written to the (mostly) Gentile congregations of new Believers to help them stay on track, spiritually, with what they were learning about Yeshua and God and how God wants us all to live.

But when it comes down to it, the Bible can’t be the exact words from God simply because the words in the Bible have been interpreted from the original Hebrew and Greek so many times, in so many different versions of the Bible, that there is no way each interpreter interpreted the words exactly the same.

In fact, did you know that under Copyright law, each version of the Bible must have (literally) hundreds of words different from any other version, otherwise it is a copyright infringement?

I asked the most trustworthy source of information that exists today- Wikipedia- how many different versions of the Bible exist, and this is what I got:

“As of September 2020 the full Bible has been translated into 704
languages, the New Testament has been translated into an additional 1,551
languages and Bible portions or stories into 1,160 other languages. Thus at
least some portions of the Bible have been translated into 3,415 languages.”

And when I specifically asked how many English versions there are, I was told there are more than 100 complete translations in English.

So, nu? How can anyone think that the Bible they are reading is an exact and verifiable rendering of what God told Moses, or what Shaul wrote to his congregations, or what Yeshua said when he gave his Sermon on the Mount?

The closest thing anyone will come to the exact words God used when he talked to us, which he only did in the Torah, is to read the Hebrew Torah. And, to tell the truth (which is all I ever try to do), even though the Torah written today will have exactly the same words as the Torah written a hundred years ago (because of the strict standards used when copying the Torah), the way we interpret that Hebrew will be different from one person to another.

And here’s the real kicker! Even when we read the same version, different people may be given, through the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit), a different understanding of those very same words!

And both understandings may be valid.

If you don’t believe me, or maybe you don’t want to believe me, then let me give you the gospel truth, from the Gospel of Luke, itself (Luke 1:1-4):

Dear Theophilos:
Concerning the matters that have taken place among us, many people have undertaken to draw up accounts based on what was handed down to us by those who from the start were eyewitnesses and proclaimers of the message.  Therefore, Your Excellency, since I have carefully investigated all these things from the beginning, it seemed good to me that I too should write you an accurate and ordered narrative, so that you might know how well-founded are the things about which you have been taught.

Here we have the writer of the gospel usually thought to be the most accurate and trustworthy account, and he is saying that he has composed this based on what he heard from others who witnessed the events.

Have you ever told a joke in a group of people and then heard that same joke come back to you, later on? I’ll bet it wasn’t even close to the way you told it, was it? It may have had a similar lead-in and the punch line may have gotten the same point across, but it wasn’t the same, exact joke, right?

Or have you ever had to witness something that other people saw? The same event, seen by 5 people, will have 5 different versions. They may be similar, generally, but many of the specific details (height of the person, hair color, clothes worn, etc.) will be different.

This is why no two people understand the same thing the same way: we all filter the stimulus we receive through our senses in accordance with our own experience and knowledge. Therefore, it is impossible for any two people to understand and interpret what is heard, seen, or written the same exact way, and even more so when trying to interpret it from one language to another.

That is why I say the Bible is just a book.

“Okay, okay, so the Bible is a book. What’s your point, Steve?”

My point to all this is simple: when we read the Bible, we need to know that what we are reading is somewhat accurate, but not exact. It is someone’s understanding of the language that the narrative was written in, whether in the original Hebrew or Greek, and which will always be affected by that individual’s personal understanding and experience.

Now, given that my Bible, no matter which version or which language I have, is not an accurate accounting of what God or anyone else said, why should I believe any of it?

Because it is close enough to the truth to be trusted when we ask God to show us HIS truth! (read that again)

Every time you read your Bible, pray to God to lead you through his Holy Spirit to understand his truth. That way you can read any version you want to and trust that you will glean from it what God wants you to know.

And that works because we can ALWAYS trust God to teach us what he wants us to know about him.

Thank you for being here and please share these messages with everyone you know; subscribe to my website and Youtube channel, buy my books and after reading them share them with others, and remember this: I always welcome your comments.

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

Back from a week off, driving up to visit Donna’s family in Philadelphia. The drive was full of problems with traffic, taking us nearly 40% longer than it should have, but the trip, overall, was good and we enjoyed being with family.

Now back to work.

As far as the question, “Does Yeshua forgive sins?” goes, the answer seems obvious, doesn’t it?

In Matthew 9, Yeshua tells the Pharisees and Torah teachers that he has the authority to forgive sins on earth.

(Keep this in mind: he specifically said he was able to forgive sins on earth. )

If you prefer to watch a video, click on this link: Watch the video.

John writes in his first letter (1 John 2:2) that when we sin, Yeshua “pleads our case with the Father”, and that he (Yeshua) is the Kappurah (covering) for our sins.

How do these two opposite statements, Yeshua says he can forgive sins but John says he pleads our case with God, be reconciled? How does Yeshua go from forgiver to intercessor? C’mon, you guys- does Yeshua forgive our sins or not?

I believe the answer is that he was able to forgive sins when he was walking the earth and spreading the Good News to prove he was (and still is, of course) the Messiah.

We need to remember that in those days, a physical impairment such as deafness or blindness, paralysis, etc. was considered often to be the result of one’s sinfulness. So, healing that infirmity demonstrated not just God-given power to perform miracles, but also the authority to forgive sins.

The healing that the Messiah did was proof of his authority ON THE EARTH to forgive sins.

Let’s look at another side of this: In John 20:23, Yeshua breathes the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) on his disciples and tells them that whomever they forgive the sins of, those sins will be forgiven, and whomever they do not forgive, will not be forgiven.

This is not just giving his disciples the authority to forgive sins, but the authority to prevent forgiveness!

Now, wait a minute here! Is it really what it seems to be? Did Yeshua tell mere mortals that not only can they forgive the sins of people, but they can override God by preventing those sins from being forgiven?

Is God unable to forgive a sinner because some human being didn’t?

I really don’t have an explanation for this, but it doesn’t make sense when comparing this one statement to the entirety of the Bible (this is an exegesis system called Hermeneutics) because no one outranks God. Period! So, even though Yeshua told his disciples they could forgive sins, I believe this had to be a one-time event and to be understood as Yeshua granting them this authority specifically in order to continue the spreading of the Good News, in his place.

Even if by some chance Yeshua did grant that authority to them, it was to them- not to their descendants or people who took over their job, but just to them.

In fact, in John 20:21, just before he breathed the Ruach HaKodesh on them, he told them that just as God sent him, he is now sending them. This seems to justify my interpretation, in that it was meant for those specific people in order to continue proving that they, just as Yeshua, had God-granted authority through the Holy Spirit, and to prove the validity of the ministry.

Catholicism has stated that from the Pope down to the “greenest” Priest fresh out of Seminary school, these anointed leaders of the faith are allowed to forgive sins. I suppose their justification for that is based on the statement Yeshua makes here, in the Gospel of John. Too bad it doesn’t hold water, because it is clear from the rest of the Bible that no mere mortal is allowed to override God when it comes to forgiveness.

We have a similar issue with Yeshua’s statement that Kefa (Peter) holds the keys to the kingdom and whatever he does, the same will be done in heaven (Matthew 16:19). Again, it just doesn’t hold true to the rest of the Bible that a mere mortal can tell God what he will or will not do.

My interpretation is that the things Yeshua told Kefa he would do were not binding on God, but on people and that whatever he decided was a proper form of worship would be honored in heaven.

In other words, Yeshua told Kefa that he would be establishing the Halakah (Way to Walk) for the Believers, which we see happening later. It happened when Kefa went to the house of Cornelius and opened up the Kingdom of God to the Gentiles, as well as through his authority (with the other Elders in Jerusalem) he authorized the letter to the new Gentile Believers in Acts 15.

That delegation was specifically to Kefa and was not transferable to anyone else.

My answer to the original question of whether or not Yeshua forgives sins is that he did have that authority when he was on the earth, which was specifically given to prove he was the Messiah.

But now? No!

At that time Yeshua forgave sins but now he is the means by which our sins are forgiven. His sacrificial death replaced the need to bring an animal to the temple in Jerusalem (which no longer existed after 73 AD) and his position as Messiah is to plead our case before God, who is now the only one who can forgive sins.

As I have said many, many times: Yeshua is the Intercessor of prayer, not the Interceptor of it.

The same goes for the forgiveness of sins: Yeshua’s death is the means by which we are able to be forgiven, but he is not the one to pray to for forgiveness: that comes only from God, the Father.

Thank you for being here and please share these messages with everyone you know. Also, please subscribe to my website, my YouTube channel, and join my Facebook discussion group called “Just God’s Word”.

I have written 4 books which I believe you will also find edifying and educational, as well as even a little bit entertaining. Check them out on my website.

And lastly, remember that I always welcome your comments.

Das ist alles, so l’hitraot and Baruch HaShem!