Category: A Drash to Start the Day

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.

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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.

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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?

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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!

Marketing the Mark of the Beast

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We all know that the Devil is a liar. In fact, he is the father of all lies, and when he wants to destroy your soul for all eternity, I can guarantee that he will NOT come up to you and say:

 “Hi, there. I’m Satan, nice to meet you. I am here to condemn you to eternal damnation, so just sign here and we can get started.”

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

 Nope, it ain’t gonna go that way. What he will do is market himself as someone who is here to help everyone, especially you. He will entice you with health, or wealth, or whatever your heart desires which is tied to earthly things. He doesn’t know our minds, but he does know our iniquities, and what human hearts desire, and that is how he can turn us from godly to satanic, in a heartbeat.

And if you are thinking, “Oh, no. Not me! I will resist the Devil!” you might be one of the first ones to accept that mark.  We have to realize that we aren’t smarter or more cunning than Satan, so we have to always be aware of our weaknesses in order to stay alert. False confidence is a tool for the Devil to use against us.

The concentration camps of the Nazis had a saying over the entry gate which was “Arbeit Macht Frei”, which means “Freedom through work”. The Jews that were selected for the showers thought that they were getting cleaned, which was probably welcomed since the traveling arrangements were disgusting. Yet, what they thought was something being done for them, was actually something being done to them. It was known as The Final Solution.

The Enemy of God will also make us think he is here to help. We are told he is a false prophet, and that he and his minions will have supernatural power which will cause many people to fall away from the faith. And let me tell you this- it will be easy for him (or maybe, her?) to do.

Don’t think so?  Well, just look at how easily people today are being controlled by the media. Look at how easily the anarchy which is growing in America is not only allowed, but encouraged by many of our leaders.  Look at the level of deep-seated resentment there still is between the races. I believe the really racist people, of whatever color, are the minority, but this country has been appeasing the noisy minority for decades now, while the silent majority allows it to go on.

The mark of the beast may not be a physical thing on our foreheads and hands, or it may be, who knows? It doesn’t really matter because the reason we take the mark will have nothing to do with what it is, but with what we are promised. We will be promised peace, racial equality, subsistence payments, free health care, and any number of earthly things that appeal to our financial and emotional senses.

There are some saying wearing a face mask is like accepting the mark of the beast. Well, I think that is a little over the top, but there is something to what they say regarding accepting something we are told to do without taking the time to verify whether or not it is really effective or necessary.

The current pandemic is more dangerous than just catching a sickness: the real danger is how easily people are being frightened and how polarizing the effect has been on the populace. There is no middle ground and no acceptance of individual rights: we are being told to wear a mask to protect others, appealing to our desire to help each other, when it may be that all we are really doing is learning to do what we are told to do. I am not talking about wearing masks being good or bad, I am talking about people being controlled by fear, and falling for the line that “Do this to show you care.”

No one really cares or they would have been wearing masks long before Covid-19. Any flu or even a common cold is potentially deadly to the high-risk group that today everyone is concerned about. And what will happen after there is a vaccine? We know from experience that vaccines do not eliminate a virus, so even after there is a vaccine will we wear masks to keep someone from getting sick? If there’s a vaccine, is it then OK to take off the mask and let them get sick? What if they can’t get to the vaccine? What if they can’t afford it? What if they are asymptomatic but sick, and by the time they show symptoms it will be too late?

All of these questions are valid, so why don’t we just decide to wear the mask from now on? Anyone who currently wears a mask to prevent others from getting sick, if you ever take it off then you must not really care but are doing it because you have been told you have to.

And that is how it will be with the mark of the beast. People will be suckered into a false sense of doing good for others, and that is when they will accept the mark, whatever it is.

You have to think about what you do, and not trust anything you hear from any media, whether news or social. People are liars when they know they are lying, and even worse liars when they think they are telling the truth.

Here’s the message for you today: always use discernment and seek the truth. NEVER accept anything you hear from anyone, and I mean A-N-Y-O-N-E! Not from friends, not from family members, not from your doctor, not what the politicians say (oy, never from politicians!), and not from your Pastor, Priest, or Rabbi.  Don’t believe anything from anyone until you have verified it for yourself, or you may just find yourself wearing a mark you never knew you accepted.

Remember: the devil won’t tell you that you are taking the mark of the beast; he will lie through his teeth in order to get you to accept whatever it is that he is offering which he tells you is to help you.

If you disagree with anything or everything I have said here today, please consider this one last thing: the Enemy of God will make you fall from Grace by convincing you that what you are doing is the right thing.

Thank you for being here, and please don’t believe anything I have said until you verify for yourself that it makes sense according to what you read in the Bible.

Please share these messages with others, subscribe to my website and YouTube channel, and remember that I always welcome your comments.

Until next time, L’hitraot and Baruch HaShem!

Is God a Racist?

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In a manner of speaking, yes, he is.

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

When the daughters of Zelophehad asked for a judgment from Moses about inheriting their father’s land, God told them they are to marry within their own tribe (Numbers 36:6.) God also said that when dealing with other peoples, the children of Israel are not to intermarry, and repeats this constantly throughout the Bible (Deut. 7:3; Joshua 23:12; 1 Kings 11:12, just to name a few places.)

So it is pretty clear that God is a racist, wanting to maintain a pure-blooded nation to serve him; in other words, there are to be no Mudbloods (for you Harry Potter fans) within the children of Israel.

Even Yeshua tells the Samaritan woman that he has come only for the lost sheep of Israel, going as far as to imply she and her people were like dogs ( Matthew 15:26).

Yet, we know that God is a God of love and compassion for all people. He has told us that he doesn’t want any sinner to die (Ezekiel 18:23), which includes Gentiles. So how can he love everyone yet tell his chosen people to be racist?

Well, the answer is fairly simple: God is not a physical racist, he is a spiritual purist, meaning he doesn’t want anyone to worship other gods. He wants spiritual purity, not racial purity.

We can see this throughout the Bible. For example, Rahab was a Canaanite, but she was accepted and adopted as a member of the people of Israel when she converted. Moses’s wife, Zipporah, was raised as a Midianite and her father was a chief and priest of Midian, yet when she married Moses she converted to his form of worship. And when Ruth converted from her Moabite paganism, not only was she accepted by God, but he made her an ancestor of the Messiah!

Many times in the Torah we read how God commands that any person who sojourns with his chosen people, meaning converts to worship of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and lives by God’s instructions, is to be considered as much a child of Israel as a native-born.

People who are racists hate those who are of different skin color or nationality or religion; they judge by what they see. However, as we are often told, God doesn’t judge as people do because he sees the heart and mind. Yes, God is a racist, in a way, but not based on the color of their skin or the place they were born- God judges based on what they worship, how they live, and how they treat others.

If we want to label the type of racism God demonstrates, it is the type where he is against all who worship any other god or thing than himself and reject his instructions on how we should live and treat others.

God isn’t concerned about marrying out of your religion or someone of different skin color; what God is concerned about is that you both believe in him, accept Yeshua as your Messiah and Savior, and live your lives in obedience to the instructions he gave us as best you can.

I am Jewish, my wife was raised Catholic, so within Judaism, I was wrong to marry her, but we both believe in God and Yeshua and try to live as God wants us to live. And, yes, there are some things that are different: we have different levels of spiritual maturity, we aren’t both exactly on the same page when it comes to Kashrut, and we differ in passion for reading the Bible, but what is important is that we both worship God and accept Yeshua as our Messiah; the rest of the stuff we are constantly working on, as is everyone else.

God is not a racist like we understand racism, and he is not a bigot as we understand bigotry, but he is absolutely determined that everyone should worship him and live their lives as he has instructed us. If that is racism, well, so be it!

Here’s the difference: human racism condemns the racist to hell, whereas God’s form of racism saves their life and brings them into eternal joy.

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

Until next time, L’hitraot and Baruch HaShem!