Category: A Drash to Start the Day

Understanding Galatians 3:24-25

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Before we discuss this specific passage, let’s review what Galatians is all about.

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It is a letter written by Shaul (Paul) to a congregation of mostly Gentile Believers in Yeshua as the Messiah, and who were, essentially, converting from their pagan Roman religion to Judaism. These Gentiles were being harassed by Jewish Believers in Messiah who demanded that their conversion process be immediate and complete. Shaul was trying to maintain control of his fledgling congregation by keeping them on track with his slow introduction to the proper worship of God, and understanding of how Messiah Yeshua fit into God’s plan of redemption.

We can see this in all of Shaul’s letters to the different congregations he formed (there were no “churches” in the First Century), each battling with their own problems in keeping on the right track to developing proper worship. There was NEVER any condemnation of Torah or instructions to ignore or abandon Torah- there were slow, step-by-step instructions helping people to make a spiritual paradigm shift in both worship and lifestyle.

Now that we know the context of the letter to the Galatians, remembering that understanding the context is essential in any biblical study, we can take a look at the passage:

Accordingly, the Torah functioned as a guardian until the Messiah came, so that we might be declared righteous on the ground of trusting and being faithful.  But now that the time for this trusting faithfulness has come, we are no longer under a guardian.

We are all children of God, right? And anyone who has ever raised a child knows that the one thing children do, the moment they are able to understand boundaries, is to push the envelope of those boundaries. We, as parents, or should I say guardians, do all we can to allow them to explore their world while keeping them within the very boundaries they want to be free of. And when they cross those boundaries, we bring them back into righteousness through a time out, or grounding them, or sometimes a good slap on the tuchas.

Yet, even when understanding what will happen when they cross the boundary line, why do they continue to push those boundaries? If you’re asking me (and even if you’re not, I’m gonna tell you, anyway) it’s just basic human nature. We are always trying to push beyond whatever boundaries we are given.

We are bound by the sea below and the sky above: we can’t breathe underwater and we can’t fly, yet we pushed against those boundaries and eventually found ways in which we can now do both.

The Torah is a guardian that establishes boundaries; not natural boundaries like water and gravity, but moral ones. The Torah defines these boundaries, and human nature, being what it is, urges us to push those boundaries as far as we can to see where they break. That is who we are. The Torah accounts for this, in that not only does it establish the boundaries for proper living and worship, but as our guardian, it also provides the means for us to be brought back within those boundaries if, and when, we cross over them into sin.

When the Messiah came, he replaced a specific part of the Torah. It wasn’t the part that established the boundaries but the part that brought us back into righteousness when we crossed those boundaries. Yeshua’s sacrifice replaced the need to bring an animal to the temple in Jerusalem, which is the requirement under the Torah in order to be forgiven. The Torah states that we must bring our sacrifice to the location where God places his name in order for the sacrifice to be accepted (Deuteronomy 12:11), so when the temple was destroyed in 73 AD, there was no means of attaining forgiveness of sin.

Now we come to the most misunderstood truth about the Messiah:

The sole purpose of the Messiah is to be the means through which people can be forgiven of their sins.

Yes, Yeshua taught the deeper, spiritual meaning of the Torah (in Jewish exegesis it is called the Remes), but that wasn’t why he came. He performed many miracles, but that wasn’t why he came- that was only to prove who he was. The one and the only reason he came here was to provide the means by which we can be forgiven.

Once we understand this essential truth, then we can understand what Shaul meant when he said with the coming of the Messiah we are no longer under the guardianship of the Torah. He wasn’t talking about the boundaries set by the Torah, he was talking about the means to be brought back within those boundaries.

Let’s get back to kids for a second: as their guardian, we teach them the way to act and we enforce those rules, but when they get old enough to be on their own, they are no longer under our guardianship. That doesn’t mean that what we taught them as their guardian is no longer valid and necessary; it simply means that they are now the ones who are responsible to enforce the rules. The way we do that is through self-discipline and being responsible adults.

Do you now see the logic and relationship between the Torah, Yeshua, and guardianship? A guardian defines our boundaries and is the one who brings us back into righteousness, and the Torah did both of these before Yeshua came; now, after Yeshua, the Torah still establishes the boundaries, Yeshua is the one who brings us back into righteousness, but we are each of us responsible to stay within the boundaries the Torah defines.

The boundaries are still valid, the means to be brought back within the boundaries is through Yeshua, but we are now our own guardians.

Thank you for being here, and please share these messages and subscribe to the website and the YouTube channel. And remember: I always welcome your comments.

Please also check out and join my new discussion group, Just God’s Word (there are a few groups with this name, and mine is the one with the Torah as the cover photo.)

Until next time, L’hitraot and Baruch HaShem!

 

How To Argue Like A Believer

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I am a member of a number of different discussion groups, most of which are religious, meaning they profess to be composed of Christian, Hebraic Roots, or Messianic people.

Too often you wouldn’t know that by how they talk to each other.

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The topic of God, sin, or how to live our lives is a hot potato, no doubt of that, and engenders some really passionate discussion. Passionate is OK, really, so long as it is compassionately controlled. That means you can destroy someone’s argument but when you start to destroy the person making the argument, you have lost.

There are a few verses in Proverbs about arguing with a fool, but not everyone who argues is a fool. In fact, most are intelligent people who, sometimes, just believe in the most ridiculous things. And when we try to convince them of the truth (as we see it), we often feel like we are running headfirst into a brick wall.

And the fact of the matter is…we are.

That is the point at which I often see the discussion devolve into an exchange of personal insults.

Here’s what Socrates said about this condition:

When the debate is lost, slander becomes the tool of the loser. 

As Believers, we should represent God well. And what I mean by “Believer” is anyone who professes to worship the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; you may (or may not) accept Yeshua as your Messiah, which isn’t necessary to believe in God. Anyone who believes in God should act in accordance with the way he says we should.  Of course, being human that won’t happen all the time, but that’s no excuse why we can’t make it happen all the time we are in a discussion with others.

I was once told by a boss, whom I respected as my boss and (I am happy to say) still respect as my friend (that’s you, James M.), that what I say is usually the right thing, but I say it the wrong way.  Ultimately, the right thing is lost because of the wrong way I say it.

A proper argument or discussion is when we exchange ideas without anger, and we should never tell the other person what they must believe. If we want to have any chance of convincing them of our position, we must first demonstrate that we respect their right to believe what they choose to believe. If we don’t start off that way, we will never get them to listen to our side. That’s a given. So, before we begin to argue for our side, ask them why they believe in their side. Asking them questions why they believe will give us the ammunition we need to shoot down their “facts”, and we may even learn something new. Just because we believe differently doesn’t mean we are always right.

Sometimes they may be the ones who are correct! If you aren’t willing to listen to their arguments, attentively, then you have already lost, even if you are correct.

There can often be more than one “truth” to a topic, and listening is the best way to realize that.

Never tell anyone they are not spiritual enough (even if they aren’t), or that they don’t know what they are talking about (even when they really don’t) because that is a personal attack, and all you will hear is “Shields up, Scotty!!”  And when that happens, you have lost. And not just lost the argument but lost the chance to possibly save someone’s soul from eternal damnation.

We need to first ask why they believe, and then tell them why we believe otherwise, giving biblical references or established facts. If you don’t know, absolutely, where your facts come from, then be prepared to say “I have heard” or “I was told”, in order to let the other person know you aren’t really sure, but chose to believe.

The best start to winning an argument is not to try to get the other person to believe as you do, but to get the other person to doubt what they believe. That is the first step; once they doubt their facts, then you can provide your reasons why you believe and let them make their own choice.

And if you find yourself getting frustrated with their refusal to accept your ideas, then stop. Recognize that the moment you are frustrated, you are no longer working to spread God’s truth, but to satisfy your own prideful need to be recognized and accepted. At that point, sin is crouching at your door and you must master it before you start to insult the other person.

We mustn’t allow ourselves to represent God poorly, as not only will this weaken our position, but it could also turn the other person, who may not be a Believer, away from God. The very last thing we ever want to hear is someone say to us “And you call yourself a Christian!”

Everyone is given free will to choose what they will believe and since that is a gift from God, who are we to take it away from them? They will be held accountable for what they believe, and when someone believes something that will hurt them, eternally, we should try to convince them of God’s truth, and if they refuse to listen, pray for them.

But never, ever insult them or their beliefs: that won’t change their minds, and in my opinion, is an insult to God.

Thank you for being here and please subscribe, share these messages, and check out my new discussion group, Just God’s Word .

Until next time, L’hitraot and Baruch HaShem!

When Is It Enough, and When Is It Too Much?

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Are you as fed up with the facemask protocol as I am?  I am not at all against trying to stop the spread of a contagious disease, even one that is as relatively safe for some 98% of the population as COVID has proven to be, but I am against the hypocrisy of wearing a face mask to help protect others when the mask being worn is useless in doing so.

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

The spiritual arguments against wearing the mask are also proliferating, and I agree that we are being conditioned, or controlled (in a way) by being forced to wear the mask. But at which point is it doing as the authorities command, which is what the Bible says we should do (Hebrews 13:17), and at which point is it like taking the mark of the Beast? Where do we draw the line?

My answer? I don’t have one. I think that it is going to depend on each case, each time we are asked to do something that, in our spirit, tells us it might not be right. But what we have to be careful about is to ask ourselves, “Is it my spirit, or my pride?”

If there is one thing that just about everyone in the world has copied from the Israelites when they were in the desert, it is being a stiff-necked and rebellious people (Exodus 32:9), so when it comes to doing what we are told to do by competent authority (OK, that may be an oxymoron) we tend to tell that authority what they can do with it.

I wear a mask when I go shopping because the grocery store requires it. I need to buy things, and if I don’t wear the mask I can’t go in the store. Is that a fulfillment of the verse in Revelation 13:17 about those who don’t take the mark won’t be able to buy anything? No, it isn’t, simply because I can always get what I want from Publix by going online and they will deliver it to me. So, no- I can still buy things, therefore wearing a mask is not taking the mark.

However, that doesn’t mean things won’t escalate. The next step may be refusing to allow me to buy using cash, which still isn’t quite at that point in prophecy, but when we add wearing a mask and not using cash, we are getting closer.

And the more they try to tell me how to live, the more I want to tell them where to go.

The lesson for us today is not to allow pride to get in the way of cooperation, and not to allow ourselves to cooperate to the point where we are now working for the wrong guy. The important question is: “When is it enough, and when is it too much?”

I wish I could give you an easy to follow answer, but there isn’t one, so read the Bible, pray, ask God to guide you through his Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit), and stay alert.

I have a really good mask I just bought which is made in Israel, guaranteed to stop Coronavirus for a year, and it’s reusable. And let me add one more thing: it had better work because it was expensive!

I believe we ARE in prophetic times, and although I am wearing the mask when I have to, I am trying to be as wise as a serpent and gentle as a dove, even though I look like some 1880’s stagecoach outlaw.

Thank you for being here and please subscribe, and check out the Picture Album tab on my website, where I share my personal life with you. I just added a video of the vacation I took last week with my best friend at his timeshare in Cabo San Lucas.

Until next time, L’hitraot and Baruch HaShem!

Yeshua Certainly Knew the Book of Proverbs

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It is truly a shame that too many Christians are being taught mainly from the New Covenant writings while ignoring most everything in the Tanakh. The reason it is a shame is that Yeshua didn’t teach anything from the Epistles, and not just because they hadn’t been written, but because he tells us, over and over throughout all four gospels, that he does and says only what his Father in heaven has told him to do and say. And what God has said is only in the Tanakh.

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I have been reading Proverbs lately, and as I go through them I see so many that I immediately relate to some of the teachings that Yeshua gave. Here are just a few examples:

Proverbs 11:2- First comes pride, then disgrace, but with the humble is wisdom.

Doesn’t Yeshua tell us that the meek will inherit the earth? (Matthew 5:5)

 Proverbs 11:4– On the day of wrath, wealth doesn’t help; but righteousness rescues from death.

Doesn’t Yeshua tell us that we are to seek first the kingdom of God? (Matthew 6:33)

Proverbs 24:3– By wisdom a house is built, by understanding it is made secure.

Didn’t Yeshua tell us that rejecting his wisdom is like a house built on sand? (Matthew 7:26)

Proverbs 25: 6,7– Don’t put yourself forward in the king’s presence; don’t take a place among the great. For it is better to be told “Come up here,” than be degraded in the presence of a nobleman.

Didn’t Yeshua say that when you sit at a table, take the least important place? (Luke 14:10)

Proverbs 25:21– If someone who hates you is hungry, give him food to eat; and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink.

Didn’t Yeshua tell us to love our enemies? (Matthew 5:44)

It shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone that what Yeshua taught is from the Tanakh, for that was the only word of God that existed then. The New Covenant hadn’t been written. So if Yeshua taught from the Tanakh, my question is why don’t the Christian churches teach from it, also? Why do they use, almost exclusively, the Gospels and the Epistles? In the Gospels, Yeshua teaches what the Tanakh says, and the Epistles were written by a man to the Gentiles in congregations he started and were not written to teach them anything new, but to remind them of what he already told them. Things that he already taught them that they were having trouble remembering and living by.

You’ve seen those bracelets that have “WWJD” written on them, right? I believe the people who wear them really want to do as Jesus did; the problem is that the Christian church teaches Constantinian doctrine and not what is in the Torah, which is what Jesus followed, so to do what Jesus did means to NOT do what (most of) Christianity teaches.

Jesus did not celebrate the Christian holidays, he celebrated the Holy Days that God commanded we celebrate in Leviticus 23.

Jesus did not eat many of the foods that Christians eat, he ate only what God said we should eat in Leviticus 11.

Jesus did not rest on Sunday, he rested from Friday night to Saturday night.

The point of today’s message is that if you really want to live “as Jesus lived”, you need to worship as he worshiped, eat as he ate, and celebrate as he celebrated.

Doesn’t that make sense?

It is truly a shame that this very sensible argument is lost on so many people; people who probably really want to please God and do as Jesus did, but refuse to because they would rather accept the easy way of life that is Constantinian Christianity.

What a terribly disappointing surprise they will have when they come before the Throne of Judgment.

Thank you for being here and please subscribe and share these messages with others. And, as always, I welcome your comments.

Until next time, L’hitraot and Baruch HaShem!

 

 

 

A Personal Strife You May Have Gone Through, Too

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Many of us who have accepted Yeshua as our Messiah, and have turned back to God, have been ostracized by not just friends but by our family, as well.

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I have two children, from a previous life which I may have mentioned this in the past, who were constantly exposed to my “ex” verbally battering me whenever I visited them. She even did that when I wasn’t there, and after many years of this, my children grew up to accept her version of who I am and had rejected reject me, totally.

Every day since then I have prayed that God would reconcile my children to me, and every year for over 10 years I wrote both my daughter and son on their birthday asking to reconcile. About a year and a half ago, when I wrote to my son on his birthday, he replied that he wanted to start over. I was elated and knew that this was an answer to my daily prayers. We had emailed each other a number of times and also we have had pleasant conversations using the video app on Instant Messenger. Everything seemed to be getting better.

This week I replied to a couple of his posts and those of his girlfriend and his replies were not just nasty, but degrading and insulting. I went back and asked why he is being so nasty, and that if he can’t disagree with me he doesn’t have to say anything at all. I sent him a personal message saying that I don’t deserve to be talked to that way and I am still his father, who deserves some respect. I said I wasn’t his punching bag.

His reply was that he has been thinking about it and he doesn’t respect me, which is why he was lashing out at me. He added he doesn’t want to respect me and that we should separate permanently. He also unfriended me and blocked me before I could even respond.

I am not sharing this to hear people say how sorry they are; the reason I am sharing is that this being a ministry, there is an important message here about answers to prayer, and raising the question if praying may sometimes be a waste of time.

As of this moment, because this is how they want it, both my son and daughter are dead to me. It isn’t my choice, it is theirs, and as sad and painful as it is, I will respect their wishes. And to tell you the truth, it is somewhat of a relief because they have insulted and berated me constantly for over 20 years.  I spent most of my time turning the other cheek, realizing that this was their mother’s hatred which she infused into their innocent minds as they were growing up, but at 33 and 28 years of age, they are more than old enough now to make up their own minds.

I prayed to God for many years to be reconciled with them, and with their mother, as well, and after my son said he wanted to reconcile, I thanked God every day for that answer to prayer. I continued to pray for my daughter to turn back to me, as well. But now that my son has, completely out of the blue, rejected me again, how can I trust God to answer prayer?

The answer is that God DID answer my prayers, but he won’t force people to change who they are. Somehow, someway, God influenced my son to turn back to me, and despite my efforts to tip-toe around him for the past year and a half, he returned to the disrespectful, hateful, and angry person that his mother is, inside of him.

In looking back, I really can’t see how I did anything to anger him- even Donna, my wife, said my responses were not at all written in any way to be construed as nasty or insulting, but he just did a complete “180” and now things are back to where they used to be.

Except for one thing- I am not praying for them anymore.

Now, some of you may be thinking I should pray even harder, and I can understand the reasoning behind that; after all, Yeshua told us to pray for our enemies. He also said that we shouldn’t throw pearls before swine. Most people interpret that as not wasting time preaching to those who won’t listen, and that is the correct interpretation, but I am adding my own twist to it.  I believe that there are some people for whom intercessory prayer is inappropriate. You can pray and pray, but since God will not change who a person is unless they ask him to, it might just be a waste of time.

I believe that prayer for people who are not just godless, but God-hating is a waste of time. For our own emotional protection, we have to learn to allow people to make their own decisions even when we know where that decision will take them. As painful as it is, sometimes we have to cut our losses and move on, and the only consolation I can find from this is that what I am doing is also what God does.

Today’s lesson is that my experience with my children is similar to what happens to God, every day when people reject him. God wants everyone to turn from their sin and live (Ezekiel 18:23), but when they reject him he will allow them to live their lives on their own. Even though he knows the pain and eternal suffering they will have to endure because of their choice.

So taking God’s example, I am removing my children from my life, as they have requested, and I won’t pray for them, but I won’t reject them if they turn back to me. The ball is now entirely in their court.

God will turn his face from those who ignore and hate him, but he will never give up on them and is always happily willing to take them back the moment they do teshuvah. And that is the hope we can have for those whom we love and care for but who reject us.

Thank you for being here and please subscribe, share, and comment if you feel you have anything to add to this message.

Until next time, L’hitraot and Baruch HaShem!

 

ADDENDUM: It is now three days later, and I am adding this because as I prayed this morning before I even knew it I was praying for my children. I realized that when I wrote the above message, I neglected one factor: when we pray, and we are praying genuinely from the heart, the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) will help lead us in the prayer. And what I learned is that it is always right to pray for someone, even when you are pretty sure that they will never change.

So I learned this morning  and wanted to add to this message, that when you ask yourself “Should I pray for this so-and-so?”, my answer is something my people always say: “Vat could it hoit?“

Proverb Wisdom Fit for Today

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My daily reading of the Bible (I use the “Complete Jewish Bible“) is currently in Proverbs, and while reading Chapter 14 I came upon these two:

Proverbs 14:15– One who doesn’t think believes every word, but the cautious understands his steps; and 

Proverbs 14:25– A truthful witness saves lives, but a liar misdirects (judgment)

Maybe as you read these you also thought of the same thing I did, which is the news we are bombarded with every minute of every day and have been for the past 5 months.

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

I have seen articles about studies done by “experts” reported in newspapers and posted on Facebook that say wearing a face mask, any kind of mask, is useful and saves lives. And I have seen the exact opposite statements, i.e. no masks are useful or some are helpful but most aren’t, from other “experts” who have the same level of credentials.

I have seen reports of increased death rates and new cases of COVID, and I have seen reports of declining cases and reduced deaths.

Some of these are true, and some are false, and many (if not most) are not giving all the facts, only the ones that will interest people.

That is why these two proverbs seem so apropos for today.

People are reading and listening to these reports and believing them without ever analyzing the data for themselves. I “ran the numbers” for myself and found that based on the total population of the US, total deaths from COVID and the total number of confirmed cases (which I got from a Google search), that about 1 in 5 people will catch COVID, and of 100 people who have COVID, 97 or more people will survive and recover within 5-7 days, and many of those 97 recoveries will not even know they had it because they might not even display symptoms.

The numbers we have been given are all suspect; we have recently learned that so many were improperly counted or exaggerated. If people had taken everything they read with a “grain of salt”, then there would be much less panic and much more freedom of movement today. And now the business world is jumping on the “protection” bandwagon, which only adds to the problem.

When we analyze the data, even with the exaggerated numbers, we see the panic level that has been created by the media and the politicians isn’t really justified.

As for mask-wearing, the bottom line (from my analysis of the available data) is that there are some that are effective in reducing the spread of COVID. The most effective is the N95 surgical mask, however, these are designed for a sterile environment, and when in the “real world” they collect so many larger particulates in the air that they clog within 20-30 minutes of use and become much less effective. Even at their most effective level, they prevent the exhalation of germs, but not the inhalation. The only one that prevents inhaling germs is the P95, but that doesn’t filter exhalation at all.

So, yes, wearing a mask, the N95 mask being regularly replaced, is effective in reducing the spread of COVID, but does little to nothing to stop you from getting it from others.

The truthful witness is that wearing a mask can save the lives of (mostly) people who are high-risk, but only when you have the correct mask, worn correctly, and only when you wear it in public and only during the time you are infected with COVID. All the rest of the time, it is doing nothing for anyone.

All that I just said is relevant to the second proverb I cited, which is that when we tell the truth we can save lives. Yes, mask-wearing can help but when the CDC or WHO or newspapers say just put anything on your face, they are telling an untruth that misdirects judgment, and can potentially get people killed.

Similarly, when the politicians lie in order to fulfill a political agenda and governors lock-down their states in order to perpetuate that agenda, they create tension and unrest among the populace. I believe this contributed to the lootings and riots we’ve seen, which might not be singularly due to the unjust death of one man but were an emotional release, fueled by the frustration and anger that comes from feeling helpless as you see your world falling apart. Obviously, racial tensions are also a contributing factor, and they are, as well, often reported in a way not to save lives but to misdirect judgment, whether that be legal judgment from a court or the individual judgment each of us should be making on our own, which begins with not believing every word.

People need to wise up, to use discernment, a mature evaluation of what they read, and to analyze what they are told to determine for themselves what is truth and what is suspect.

Sorry to say, I don’t think most people today are able to do that.

Thank you for being here, and I pray that you will analyze what I have said and relate it to what you hear and read, and make your own judgment, one which I have tried not to misdirect.

As the Oracle said to Morpheus, all I expect of you is that you make up your own, damn mind.

Until next time, L’hitraot and Baruch HaShem!

“It’s the Thought That Counts” is Very Biblical

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There are so many different ideas about what we should do and what we don’t have to do within the multitude of Judeo-Christian religions that exist in the world today. Many of these traditional teachings are about “The Law”, which most understand to be the Torah, the first five books of the Bible.

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To begin with, the word “Torah” means “teaching”, not law- the Hebrew word for law is “mitzvah”, which (not coincidentally) can also mean performing a good deed, such as, “Did you see that boy help the old man carry his groceries? Oy, such a mitzvah!”

God has given us commandments, regulations, laws, and ordinances, all of which I prefer to call instructions, which tell us what God expects from us.

However, knowing (as we do) that because God is always the same his instructions are always the same, he also tells us that he is more interested in the attitude of our heart than he is in the performance of these instructions.

God does want us to obey the specific instructions he gave us, which tells us how to worship him and how to treat each other, and when we follow these instructions we will be able to live a long, happy, and productive life.  And because he loves us so much, he gets quite upset when we reject his good instructions. He stops protecting us and allows the evil in the world to come against us, in the hope that one day we will realize that our way isn’t better than God’s way. When that happens, which is much less frequently than one would think it should happen, we look to God and obey his instructions.

I can understand, having been one of the most sinful types for nearly 2/3 of my life, how people can ignore and outright reject God, but that only makes my T’shuvah (turning from sin) all the more potent. When we turn from sin to God, it is like people who smoked and then stopped. Ask any ex-smoker and they will tell you that now cigarette smoke is an anathema to them- they can’t stand the smell and hate to be near anyone who is smoking. That is how I feel about sin now that I have come to accept Yeshua as my Messiah and turned back to God.

So what does this all have to do with the thought being what counts?  Here are just a few examples of what God tells us how he feels when we go through the motions without really having the desire to please him as our true motivation:

Hosea 6:6

For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.

Proverbs 21:3

To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice.

Isaiah 1:11

“What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? says the Lord; I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of well-fed beasts; I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of goats.

Psalm 50:8-9

Not for your sacrifices do I rebuke you; your burnt offerings are continually before me

Amos 5:21-24

“I hate, I despise your feasts, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies.

 

These are taken somewhat out of context, but in all of them, the idea is that even when we do what God wants us to do, if we are doing it just to say “Look, I did what you wanted.” that will not please God. He doesn’t need animals, he doesn’t get any special reward from sacrifice…in fact, all the things God wants us to do are not for his sake at all. They are totally for our sake!

We don’t have to understand why these things are important, only that when God told us this is how we must live and worship him, he meant it. He makes the rules, and we are to follow them, BUT (and this is a really big “but”) if we do these things without joy or desire to make God happy, he will know.

We sin joyfully, we do wrong with pleasure, and then we think if we go to a Priest and confess it all, we are golden. Really? What about when we fast over Yom Kippur? While at shul all day, we think we are going to be good before the Lord, but if our hearts and minds are focused on waiting for this fast to end so I can go back to what I want to do, do you really think that will be acceptable?

Here’s an old joke that I think gets the point across:

A man is attending shul and the Rabbi is going over the Ten Commandments. When he comes to “Thou Shalt Not Steal”, he notices the man looking around at his feet and his face seems worried. Later, when the Rabbi comes to “Thou Shalt Not Commit Adultery”, the man suddenly relaxes and looks relieved.

Afterward, the Rabbi asked him why he acted that way, and the man said, “When you said we shouldn’t steal, I noticed my briefcase wasn’t anywhere around me and I thought maybe someone took it.”

The Rabbi said, “Oh, well, I can understand your reaction. But why did you seem relaxed soon after?”

The man replied, “When you said we should not commit adultery, I remembered when I had left it.”

Obedience to the instructions God gave us is not a suggestion or optional, but it must be done with the intention and desire to please the Lord. God wants our obedience to be motivated by faithful appreciation and desire to please him, not as a fear-induced or coerced action. King David knew, and told us in Psalm 51, that a broken spirit and contrite heart is always acceptable to the Lord; in other words, truly feeling bad about our sins and desiring to now do what is right before the Lord is the most important thing to God.

Traditional teaching tells us that Abel sacrificed the best he had willingly and with joy, whereas Cain only gave what he didn’t want, which is why his sacrifice, although done properly, was unacceptable.

Let’s finish today’s message with a statement I am going to make that I am sure (at least) some of you will think “I can’t believe he just said that!”, but here we go, anyway:

If you aren’t obeying God’s instructions because you want to, then don’t waste your time or his. 

God wants us to obey him, no question about that, and he wants us to live and have happy lives (Ezekiel 18:23), but if you are doing just for the sake of doing, then as far as God is concerned (from what I understand him saying in the Bible), you haven’t done anything of value. Before you change your actions, change your attitude.

People, believe me when I tell you, it really IS the thought that counts.

Thank you for being here and please subscribe, share these messages, and I always welcome your comments.

Until next time, L’hitraot and Baruch HaShem!

We’re Either Trusting or We’re Fearful

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I am not going to quote verses from the Bible about how important it is for us to trust God. That would take up more time to go through than anyone reading this or watching the video would want to spend.

But what I will do is remind everyone of the last line of Kohelet (Ecclesiastes), which says that fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.

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

Now, when we use the term “fear of the Lord” it doesn’t mean to be afraid of him, but to honor and worship him. And with proper worship of God comes trust and faith in him: trust that he is in charge and faith that he will care for you so long as you honor and worship him. For the past five millennia, he has proven we can depend on him.

So why is there so much fear in the world? For example, for the past 5 months, people have been frightened to death over a virus that is deadly to a very minuscule percent of the entire population. People are polarized over politics, much more so than usual, and people are afraid to say anything that represents a godly or worshipful attitude for fear of insulting someone else. It isn’t just your opinion is wrong, it has degraded to the point where now if your opinion is different from mine, you don’t have a right to it!

I believe this general feeling of fearfulness is because we have, as a nation, stopped fearing the Lord. With the loss of that fear, we have also lost wisdom, which is why people wear facemasks while alone in their car, why corporations are jumping on the fear bandwagon because they don’t want to appear to be unconcerned. It is like the story of the Emperor’s new clothes, except instead of the Emperor being naked, the little boy points out that the Emperor’s mask is not doing anything.

God has been kicked out of our schools and our courts, and even in our government, which was formed specifically in order to allow us the freedom to worship as we want to.

Fear of the Lord is gone, and we all know the adage “Nature hates a vacuum”, so when fear of the Lord, meaning to trust and have faith in him, is gone, that space is filled with fear, meaning to be afraid, of everything.

People are too fearful, and that fear grows within us. When we add the lack of control and sense of helplessness that is generated by the media reports, designed to infuriate and upset people, we become violent. The racism-based riots we have been suffering with recently, none of which are new or different from the ones in the 1960s, aren’t so much a result of the unfortunate killing of a man, but more so from being the “straw that broke the camel’s back”, i.e. there is so much repressed anger and fear from the pandemic, or I should say media coverage and leadership squabbling over the pandemic, that the white police action causing the death of a black man just caused it all to come out.

That is my opinion, of course, and you don’t have to agree with it, but there is so much repressed anger and a general fearfulness in this country that the people are a powder keg just waiting for a spark to set them off.

We need to remember that God is in charge, and even when bad things are happening, it doesn’t mean he isn’t in charge. It usually means that he is watching and waiting for the right moment to intervene. History shows that often, in truth almost always, it takes a terrible catastrophe to occur before people begin to see they are truly powerless and the only power they can rely on is God’s power to save.

That is the difference between being fearful and being fearless- we are always powerless and when you don’t have God watching your back, that powerlessness is frightening. But, when you know God is on your side, you don’t have to trust in your own power because in our weakness, his strength is made manifest (I can’t take credit for that statement- it was said by that nice, Jewish tentmaker from Tarsus.)

So when you see someone afraid of the pandemic, or the riots, or anything, ask them why they don’t trust in God to watch over them. I’ll bet the most fearful people are the least faithful ones, and the least fearful people are the most faithful.

The way to overcome fear is not trusting in your own strength and trusting in God. He WILL take care of you- you only need to ask him.

Even in the valley of the shadow of death, he is there to protect and care for you.

Thank you for being here and please subscribe and share this ministry with others.  I welcome your comments and want to remind you, again, that you will find comfort through believing God is always watching out for you.

Until next time, L’hitraot and Baruch HaShem!

Does “Once and For All Sacrifice” Have a Dual Meaning?

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I’m sure we have all heard how Yeshua’s sacrifice was a once and for all sacrifice, right?  It’s right there, in Hebrews 10:10 where we are told:

It is in connection with this will that we have been separated for God and made holy, once and for all, through the offering of Yeshua the Messiah’s body.

So, there we have it. Yeshua made a once and for all sacrifice, and when we read chapters 9 and 10 together the meaning is that the old sacrificial system has been done away with.

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There has, however, arisen a problem with this statement, which is that too many people have taught, and been taught, that this “once and for all” sacrifice means that all our sins are forgiven, automatically.  This teaching is called “OSAS“, which stands for “Once Saved, Always Saved.” And that is NOT, definitely not, what the writer of Hebrews meant.

When Yeshua sacrificed himself, it wasn’t meant to replace the entire sacrificial system. It only replaced one part of that system.

Here are the different phases of the sacrificial system, as I understand it, though which we can have our sins forgiven:

  1. You have to sin (after all, to be forgiven you need something to be forgiven of);
  2. You have to recognize you have sinned and accept responsibility for it;
  3. You have to regret your sin, and through that regret do T’shuvah (turn from sin) and desire to be forgiven;
  4. You have to bring your sacrifice to the temple in Jerusalem and offer it to God;
  5. After the sacrifice has been offered, by means of the shedding of innocent blood you can ask God to forgive and remove the stain of sin from you.

The Torah then requires that you make a friendship or thanksgiving offering, as well, after the sin offering, which brings you back into communion with God.

Yeshua’s sacrifice did not do away with this system, but as we are told in Hebrews, replaced it with a new system. That new system is the same as the old system, except for Step 4- that is the part Yeshua’s sacrifice replaced. And it’s a good thing for us that he did; the Torah tells us in Deuteronomy 12:11 that any sacrifice must be made where God places his name, which was the temple in Jerusalem. After 73 AD, when Rome destroyed the temple, we had nowhere to bring a sacrifice and, thereby, couldn’t be forgiven. But Yeshua’s sacrifice replaced the need to bring an animal to the temple, so now we could receive forgiveness, through him, anywhere and anytime.

That was the only change to the sacrificial system. BUT, even with Yeshua’s sacrifice, forgiveness is not automatic. We still need to regret our sins, do T’shuvah, and ask for forgiveness; in other words, all the other steps in the process.

You see, when we believe “once saved, always saved” eventually we won’t even care if we sin because we know they will be forgiven. When that happens, we won’t regret sinning, we won’t care about what we do and we will apostatize without even realizing it because we think we have a permanent and automatic “Get Out of Jail Free” card in Yeshua.

Of course, that is not how it works- without T’shuvah, without regretting the sins you commit, and without asking each and every time for forgiveness, you will not receive forgiveness. Not at all. God will not forgive an impenitent heart.

Up to now we have covered the meaning of this statement with regards to not having to bring an animal to the temple, but I believe there is another meaning, and let’s explore that now.

Regarding Yeshua’s sacrifice, once and for all means it was a once done for all sins, sacrifice but it can also mean once done for all people. Yeshua’s sacrifice covers all the different sins we have and might (more likely, will) commit, and it also can cover the sins of all people, meaning everyone, no matter what religion they have been raised with. Once someone accepts Yeshua as their Messiah, which means they will convert to the way of life that God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob said we should live, the way Yeshua lived, then they will be included with those who now have the means to be forgiven.

What that means is that Constantinian dogma and doctrine, which is what modern Christianity is based on, is not how Yeshua lived his life, and is not, for the most part, how God said we should live. Forgiveness is still available, but those who follow Constantine aren’t living their lives as Yeshua did.

Yeshua’s sacrifice does more than cover all sins once and for all time: it is available to all people for all time. I think sometimes we get so focused on the aspect of forgiveness, we forget that when Yeshua walked the earth, he was here specifically and solely for the Jews. He said so, himself, in Matthew 15:24. It wasn’t until after his resurrection and ascendance to heaven that the Gentiles were given the opportunity to also be saved.

That is why I believe the saying “Once and For All” has a dual meaning: we are saved by his once and for all time sacrifice, which was done once for one specific group of people but is now available for all people.

To me, Hebrews 10:10 can now be read as not just saying once and for all, but instead as once and for all time, for all people.

Thank you for being here and please share and subscribe to this ministry. I always welcome your comments.

Until next time, L’hitraot and Baruch HaShem!

Who Do We Believe?

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I don’t know who to believe anymore.

There are now just as many experts saying “Do this” as there are experts saying “Doing that is useless.”

I’m not talking today just about wearing masks or using some medicine, but who do we believe about anything?

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

And, of course, this being a ministry, it’s time to segue into the next topic, which is if we can’t believe experts in medicine, how can we believe “experts” regarding God, the Messiah, and what’s in the Bible?

I believe (pardon the expression) the best answer I can give you is to start off not believing anyone…believe me when I say that.  By starting off with not believing anything you hear from anyone, at least you know that you won’t be fooled from the git-go.

But you can’t go through life never believing anything, so the next step is, after listening to what you have been told, ask the one telling you where they got their information from, and then go to that source and verify the information for yourself. If they say it is in the Bible, ask for the book, chapter, and verse. If they say they heard it, ask where they heard it. If they say they read it, ask where they read it.

And if they can’t answer any of these questions, then don’t accept what they say as truth until you can find the reference or source to ensure that what you are being told is correct.

It is hard enough to discern when someone is purposefully lying to you, but the hardest lie of all to recognize is the one which comes from someone who thinks they are telling you the truth.

That’s why no one uses lie detectors anymore; it’s because the lie detector doesn’t really identify a lie, it identifies when someone knows they are lying. So, if someone believes “Finders Keepers, Loser’s Weepers” is a truth, then in their mind, if they find your wallet which you left on your desk, and they take it, to them it is not stealing. Later, when asked if they stole your wallet during a lie detector test, they would say they didn’t, and it would register as the truth.

How many traditional Christian and Jewish teachings have we heard that are untrue? Jews teach that Yeshua is not the Messiah and Christians teach that Yeshua did away with the Torah.  Both are untrue but have been taught as truth for millennia, and because these lies come from people who believe them, we believe them, too. We are being lied to by people who are credentialed, knowledgeable, generally trustworthy, and honest.  We believe them because they believe themselves; there’s another term for this type of event, and it is “the blind leading the blind.”

So, nu? Who do we believe?

We believe no one; at least, not right away. We listen, we observe, and then we verify. And if you can’t verify it, then you consider how truthful it might be based on what you already know. And if none of that works, then, well…go with your gut feeling. That’s right, I said go with your gut feeling. Remember that even Mr. Spock told Captain Kirk there are times when logic won’t help.

I believe we are all created in God’s image, and despite the fact that I am not positive what that means (although I did post a message about this recently- you can find it clicking on this link…LINK), I think there is some inherent, instinctive sense of God in everyone, which we call our “gut” feeling.

It always comes down to this: we have to choose what we will believe in. We learn from reading and listening to others, and those who have experience, credentials, and knowledge are worth listening to. We should give more credence to experienced and knowledgeable people, and remember that emotional appeal is a dangerous thing because our emotions are hard to control and often go against our better judgment.  We should trust, to some extent, our instincts, but temper them with knowledge and maturity.

Here is the scary thing: no matter why you believe something, you are going to be held accountable for that belief and how you live in accordance with that belief. What that means, in simple language, is that you can’t blame anyone else for how you live your life.

Let’s finish up by again asking “How do we know what or who to believe?” The answer is to believe whatever you choose to believe.  You can base that choice on any number of things, but the bottom line is that you must choose and you will be the only one held accountable for making that choice.

So, choose carefully, choose wisely, and do not be lazy about this choice because you will have to live with it; not just for the rest of your life, but throughout eternity.

Thank you for being here; please share these messages with others and don’t forget to subscribe to both my website and my YouTube channel.

Until next time, L’hitraot and Baruch HaShem!