We have been told, more than once, that God knows our heart; we are told that David was a man after God’s own heart, and we have been commanded to love the Lord, our God, with all our heart (Deuteronomy 6:5).

But is having a heart for God enough?

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I think most people who have been Believers for a while have heard that Abraham was saved by faith, but what they almost never hear is that later on, when God was confirming the promises he made to Abraham with Isaac, God added that not only did Abraham believe God, but that Abraham also did everything that God told him to do (Genesis 26:5).

In other words, faith is fine, and a heart for God is fine, but (as James said) without works- in other words, actions that demonstrate how we feel about God- faith means nothing.

That’s right! Even if you profess to love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, and that you have a heart for God, and that you believe Yeshua (Jesus) is the Messiah, BUT you don’t change how you worship or live, then all that rhetoric is nothing more than a bunch of drek (Yiddish for garbage).

Too many Christians, across the many different Christian religions (all man-made) have been taught they can reject almost every commandment, law, regulation, and celebration God commanded us to obey and observe, all of which are found in the Torah.

That means this: when someone obeys a religion that rejects God’s Torah, they are following a religion that rejects God.

WHAT? You saying that because I am a good Catholic, or Protestant, or Methodist, or Episcopalian, or Baptist, or Mennonite, or Amish, or…well, you get the idea…that because I have been taught the Torah is just for Jews, I am doing all these masses, services, holidays, and ceremonies for nothing? All my attempts to be a good (fill-in-the-blank religion) are not pleasing to God, but (in fact) are displeasing to him?

I guess I should say here that I cannot, and will not, speak for God; I remember how God was so teed off with Job’s friends when they did that. So, instead let’s do this this: God gave Moses the Torah to teach to the Israelites, who God said would be his kingdom of priests (Ex. 19:6). Now, obviously, the job of a kingdom of priests is that they should take God’s Torah (meaning “teachings”) to the Goyim (Nations), in order to teach them how to live a righteous life (by obeying the Torah) so that they can be with God, eternally.

With me so far?

Okay, good – here is what I am asking you to consider: let’s say you’re God, and you give the Jews your Torah for them to learn and bring to everyone else so they, too, can be found righteous because, as you told Ezekiel (Ezekiel 18:23), you aren’t pleased with anyone’s death, and that you would rather they do t’shuvah and live. We don’t really get to see this teaching of the Torah to the Goyim until after Yeshua, but instead of following what you have said to do, instead, these Gentiles pretty much ignore everything in your Torah, creating their own Torah with their own man-made holidays, ceremonies, regulations, and laws.

So nu?… how would you feel about that?

I believe that even if you have a heart for God, that won’t mean much at Judgment Day (yes, even if you are a Believer!) if during your life you didn’t even try to be obedient to what God said to do, instead following the religions of men.

And, as I said, I won’t speak for God, but when someone goes before God and says, “I just did what they told me I should do.”, I think God may reply with something to the effect of…

“I understand that you did what they told you to do, but it’s what I say that counts.”

Thank you for being here; that’s it for today, so l’hitraot and Baruch HaShem!

I know, I know- who can believe that being rebellious would be helpful when it comes to obedience to God?

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But I am not speaking about being rebellious to God; rather, I am thinking that the stubbornness and rebellious nature of my people (that is, the Jews) has helped us to overcome the constant harassment and persecution that we have suffered since the day Sarah kicked Hagar and Ishmael out of the camp.

We refused to allow the Hasmoneans to conquer our spirit, or the Assyrians to destroy our worship of God, even when we were disbursed throughout the Diaspora. The Babylonians destroyed our cities and our temple, the only place we could sacrifice to God, yet even in their pagan land, we maintained our worship and belief in God.

The Nazi’s came close to genocide of our people, but those in the camps maintained their faith, and stubbornly refused to be broken. Starved, sickly, and always just a step away from death, they survived, and when they were brought back into the Land, they flourished!

In order for these things to have happened, there must have been a pretty strong spine and will to overcome within those people, and that usually translates to being just a little rebellious. If not for that “Don’t tell me what to do!” attitude, we would have been assimilated into the other religions of the world. In fact, we see that did happen to the Samaritans, which is why they were looked down upon by the Judeans.

Now for the bad news: I believe this rebellious attitude is slowly disintegrating within Judaism.

I have seen some Conservative and Reform congregations not just accept homosexuality as normal within their congregations, but actually support it by allowing same-sex marriages in the synagogue!

There are more and more mixed religion marriages where the Jewish partner converts to the other religion, instead of insisting (as it used to be) that the Gentile convert to Judaism. I am also in a mixed religions marriage, which existed just before I accepted Yeshua as my Messiah, and even though Donna has not converted to Judaism, she is completely supportive of everything Jewish in our marriage. She bought the mezuzah for our doors, she makes a matzo Ball Soup just like Bubbe used to make, and she joins me in having a Passover seder every year. She also looks forward (as do I) to breaking fast after Yom Kippur.

I pray that this assimilation with the Gentile world is only a temporary situation, and that as we get closer to the Acharit haYamim (End Days) my people will not only reject the non-Torah teachings of the Gentile world, but accept Yeshua as their Messiah (which, for the record, I absolutely know he is) and there will be a resurgence of faith within Jews, everywhere.

In the meantime, we need to refocus our attention to obedience to God, through obedience to his instructions in the Torah, and not allow our rebellious nature to be subdued by the “easy” ways of worship and lifestyle that most non-Jewish religions teach (which is even found, to a degree, within some Jewish sects).

You know, just about everyone agrees that anything worth having is worth working for, yet when it comes to salvation, well… it seems to me that salvation isn’t worth it to most Christian religions because they prefer the easy way to God’s way.

Thank you for being here and supporting this ministry with your presence. You know I never ask for money, but if you buy my books, I certainly won’t complain about a few royalty checks.

That’s it for this week, so l’hitraot and (an early) Shabbat Shalom!

When you prick your finger on something sharp, or touch something that is hot, you react without thinking: you say “Ouch!” and you pull your hand away. That’s because your nervous system is telling you that there is something dangerous to your health and to get away from it NOW!

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God designed us physically with a nervous system to protect our bodies, and in the same way he gave us the Torah, to protect our souls.

Before the Torah there were still some basic rules that people knew; not to kill, for instance, or to take another’s wife for themself if the husband was still alive (Gen. 12:10). There were the Noahide Laws that came after the Flood, and other rules people knew about being able to survive in a society.

The Torah, however, was given to the children of Israel for a purpose- they were to learn it and then teach it to the Goyim (nations), which is why God told Moses the Israelites would be his (God’s) kingdom of priests (Ex. 19:6).

In his letter to the Romans, Shaul (Paul) explained how the Torah sort of defined, and thereby, created sin, and as such it allows us to know, absolutely, what is right and what is wrong. He adds later that the wages of sin are death; therefore, we can say that knowing and obeying the Torah keeps us healthier than disobeying the Torah, which is a sin, and which results in death.

Now, when we talk about life and death, with regards to the Bible, more often than not (and this is determined by the context in which those words are used), to a spiritual life and death: spiritual life being in the presence of the Lord, God, Almighty for all eternity, and spiritual death being out in the cold, where people groan and gnash their teeth.

That’s why the Torah is a spiritual nervous system: when you know it, it keeps you from touching something that will burn you (such as sin) or cutting yourself on something sharp (such as committing adultery). And when we have an indwelling Ruach HaKodesh, the Holy Spirit, we are able to react quickly when we are about to sin.

Well, we hope to react quickly, but as with the human nervous system, certain illnesses can delay that message to the brain when we touch something hot. Some people suffer from peripheral neuropathy, which blocks the signals from the nerve endings to the brain, so they could be touching something hot and burning their skin, but not feel it.

If you chose to ignore the Torah, or if a Christian religion teaches it is only for Jews, you will have a spiritual neuropathy. In other words, you will be hurting yourself and never realize it.

Do you really think that God has different rules for different religions? Does the Bible tell us, anywhere, that these things are for Jews, but Gentiles don’t have to do that because they have different rules?

No! In fact, God says that any Gentile who sojourns with the children of Israel will live the same way, have the same rights, and be subject to the same laws (Numbers 15:29). Whereas the technical definition of sojourn is a temporary stay, in the Bible we can see, based on the context where it is used, that it means to attach oneself, to live with others where they live.

To any Gentile who accepts Yeshua as their Messiah, Shaul says they are now grafted onto the Tree of Life, that is the Torah (Romans 11), so a Christian is also a sojourner with the children of Israel (remember that Yeshua was, and still is, a Jewish Messiah) and, thereby, subject to the same laws that the Jews are, i.e., the Torah.

Hey! Don’t blame me- take it up with God because it’s his rule.

So, let the Torah serve as your spiritual nervous system, or you just may end up finding yourself burned.

That’s it for this week, so l’hitraot and (an early) Shabbat Shalom!

One of the most important things to know when interpreting the Bible is the rule of Circles of Context. One should never take a single verse or passage out of the book, and make an argument or interpretation based solely on those few words.

Incorporated into that rule is the idea that some things stated are literal, and others are not, but without looking at a verse within the context of the entire statement or section, you really can’t be sure which way to go.

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For instance, when we read about Ezra reading the Torah to everyone in Israel, we know really, that not every, single person in Israel was there in Jerusalem. Clearly, this was a statement to be taken metaphorically.

On the other hand, when we read about how God parted the Red Sea, that is something we know to be literally true.

There are dozens of examples in the Bible where we read words that indicate much more than they really are meant to, and we need to use discernment and always contextual confirmation that what we think is to be taken literally, really should be.

Way too often I read what people say and think, “They can’t really mean that, can they?” because they are quoting from the Bible, but taking things totally out of context, or twisting the meanings to fit their desired interpretation.

There are two rules we must always follow when reading from the Bible: Circles of Context and Hermeneutics.

Circles of Context, as I explained, means looking at a verse or passage within the context of the paragraph, within the context of the letter, and consider who was writing this, and to whom.

Hermeneutics is, simply stated, making sure that whatever we read in one part of the Bible is in accordance with what we read in another part of the Bible. For example, if we read that Moses left Egypt because his murder was known, but someone interprets something elsewhere in the Bible to indicate Moses left for a different reason, we would have to reconsider both statements because they conflict. Only one can be true, which is why it is so important to know the Bible, inside and out, so that when you read something that conflicts with what you know to be true, you will be forced to investigate and determine, for yourself, which is correct.

So, the main lesson today, which I haven’t even stated yet, is to know the Bible! Don’t just read it but study it, so that you can be prepared to verify what is truth and what is misinterpretation when you talk with people.

Let me leave you with this great example of why we need to know the Bible: in the Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 4 starts with HaSatan tempting Yeshua, and for each biblical reference Satan uses to fool Yeshua into doing as he says, Yeshua knows how to refute Satan by reciting from the Torah to show Satan’s misuse of the passages.

That’s it for this week, so l’hitraot and (an early) Shabbat Shalom!