Many people over the centuries have been taught that salvation came to the Gentiles through Messiah, and that Peter was the first Apostle to the Gentiles bringing them that salvation.
But was this really the first time a Gentile was able to gain salvation with the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob?
This message is my first video blog, and you can find it on You Tube under this title, or just click on this link:
‘Tis the season for giving. In Acts (20:35) we are told that Yeshua said it is better to give than to receive, and we also are told in 2 Corinthians (9:6-7) that God loves a cheerful giver. So, it is pretty clear that we should give generously and cheerfully when we give to others.
Being a generous giver means that we give for the love of giving, and for the hope that what we give will help, edify and please the receiver.
The world, however, is not a generous giver- the world teaches us that what we give should be considered as a sampling of what the other person should, sooner or later, give us back. Maybe that’s why so many give something they want for themselves becasue they hope the receiver will “get the hint”?
On the other hand, that doesn’t explain why fruit cakes get passed around like a hot potato.
What the world teaches us about giving is that when we receive something we need to make sure we give back something of equal or better value. The world teaches us to receive a gift wrapped with a sense of obligation. It is never “cheerful” if you give something with the expectation that you will receive something back. That is not giving- that is called “investing”. You invest some money to get more money back, and you invest some time to receive a benefit greater than the value of the time you invested. However, it is wrong to give a gift in order to receive something similar or better at some later date. If you do, then you are not a cheerful giver: what you are is a sinful, selfish and manipulative louse.
“Hey!! Ease up, Steve!”
Sorry if you feel a little offended, but like it or not, that’s the truth; if it hits home then you need to think about what Yeshua said regarding giving. He should know. After all, He gave His life willingly so that you could have a chance to live with God, eternally. He doesn’t expect you to give your life to Him in exchange out of obligation, but He hopes you do. And not out of obligation, but out of thankfulness and as an opportunity to allow what He did to become useful in your life. He wants you to accept His sacrificice, His gift to you, for your sake and not for His.
Here’s the really hard part for humans, who (as I say above) have been taught by the world that when you receive something you owe something back to the giver: it is very hard for us to receive as generously as we give.
When you receive a gift that you think is disproportionate to your gift, do you feel “guilty”? Do you feel that you did not perform as you should have? Even if the gift you gave is appropriate, useful and appreciated? If you feel this way, then you are too worried about the world’s view and not about God’s view. You need to “give” the other person gifting you the true joy of giving. You need to “give” the other person the joy that you feel when you give with no expectation of return. You need to accept the gift with the same joy you feel when you give a gift, and not feel any obligation to return anything.
If the other person is upset that you didn’t give proportionate to their gift, or that you didn’t bring them anything at all, then that’s their problem. And if you have been giving gifts to a friend and their children at holiday times and they always have an excuse for not giving you anything, then give them one more gift: give them the guilt-free gift of telling them you don’t give to receive, you give to give and that the only one you want to impress is God by cheerfully sharing the blessings He has given to you with those you care for.
God wants us to share that which He has provided for us. If you have more than someone else has, give them some of what you have that they can use. Give it freely, give it cheerfully, and give it without expectation of receipt. If you give to others without any desire to receive back, you will receive something- you will receive blessings from the Lord.
And let me tell you something- what the Lord will bless you with won’t be found at Macy’s, can’t be ordered from E-Bay, and will never be available on Amazon. What the Lord will bless you with will be peace of spirit, joy of giving, love of your fellow-man (and woman), and rewards in heaven.
That’s a lot better than free shipping!
I really can’t stand it when I am reading Acts 9 and the paragraph title is something like this: Paul’s Conversion on the Road to Damascus”
First of all, his name wasn’t Paul- it was Shaul. and second of all, he NEVER converted.
Historically, there was only one other religion at that time for him to convert to in that area of the world, and that would be the pagan Roman religion. I think everyone can agree Shaul didn’t convert to that.
During the First Century C.E. in Israel there were Jews and Romans- that was it. Among the Jews some accepted Yeshua as the Messiah and followed Him as such, and others (the majority) did not. But they all followed Judaism. There were also some Romans who accepted Yeshua as a Messiah and they converted- to Judaism!
The name “Paul” was used for him when the written accounts (some becoming scripture) were translated into Greek.
Shaul never converted. He was a Pharisee, he was a real “Jew’s Jew”, and his entire life was spent practicing Judaism.
In Acts 18:18 Shaul proves his Judaism by taking a Nazarite vow and sponsoring others to do so. It is clear from the writings in Acts and from his own letters that Shaul never, ever, not-even-once said anything about not being Jewish. He never said to disobey or ignore the Torah, he never said he converted, he never said that Gentiles should not follow the Torah.
Throughout the book of Romans Shaul is writing an apologetic for Torah- he is saying that following Yeshua is not ignoring Torah. And that Torah is still valid- a very Jewish viewpoint.
In 1 Peter 4, the word “Christian” is used. I do not believe that the other two times, both in Acts, that the word “Christian” is what the original writing had. The people who followed Yeshua in the First and Second Century were the first Messianic Jews, and the word “Christian” was used (most likely) by scribes copying the written accounts down in Codex A and Codex B much later, when the term Christian was widely used. They just (naturally) used it when copying and condensing the texts. The word that was most likely used originally would have been “Christiano’s”, which in Greek has no real meaning. The scribes “knew” that these people were Christians because that is what they were called then, so they just wrote “Christians.”
There was no “church” in the First and Second Century, either- you can thank King James for using that term, despite being told it was incorrect. I guess when you are the King you can even re-write the bible any way you want to; like they say, “It’s nice to be the King!”
The use of the word “Christian” in 1 Peter was, in fact, used as a derogatory term. Shaul said he would accept it because he knew what following Yeshua really meant.
If you are Christian, or Jewish, or thinking about accepting Yeshua, please do not be fooled by the subtle (or sometimes not-so-subtle) anti-Jewish bias of most New Covenant interpretations. The people who followed Yeshua in the 1st and 2nd Century C.E. were Messianic Jews (composed of Jews and pagans who were in the process of converting to Judaism.)
Let’s look at Acts 15:19-21:
19 “It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. 20 Instead we should write to them, telling them to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood. 21 For the law of Moses has been preached in every city from the earliest times and is read in the synagogues on every Sabbath.”
I purposely bold printed verse 21 because that sentence is proof that the only conversion that occurred was from Gentile to Jew. When James told the Council of Elders (all Jews, by the way) to have only those 4 restrictions, that wasn’t the end-all of it. That was just the beginning, because (as he said) they (the Gentiles converting to Judaism) will be learning the law of Moses every Shabbat. “…read in the synagogue on every Sabbath.” clearly indicates that the Jewish religion and the Jewish lifestyle is what was expected from the Gentiles who accepted Yeshua.
Shaul was never called “Paul”; Yeshua was never called “Jesus”; Jews and Romans who followed Yeshua were not called Christians until many years after He was resurrected, and only then as a derogatory term. It wasn’t until Constantine and the Council of Nicene that Christianity, as we know it today, began. Before then it was Jews, Jews and Gentiles who accepted Yeshua (Messianic Jews), and Pagans.
Shaul was, always remained, and still is a Jew. Just like Yeshua.
This parashah has Moses delivering the same message to the Israelites repeated three times; essentially, Moses is telling them that “God has your back!”
He retells about the 40 years in the desert, the way God handled the Egyptians (and will be able to handle the Canaanites, just the same way), about how God gave the tablets to Moses, about how God fed them in the desert (in 8:3 Moses tells us we do not live by bread alone) and provided water from the rocks. He reminds them how God punished them for their rebellions, but only to test them and make their faith stronger. Moses reminds them of the sin of the Golden Calf, and how he often had to beg God not to destroy the people.
This message- God protected you, God fed you, God brought you to this land, yet you have constantly rebelled against Him, causing you to suffer. And, despite all this, God has always forgiven you and as long as you obey Him He will continue to watch over you, as He has for the past 40 years- is repeated three times throughout this parashah. But do you think they remembered?
Moses also warns them not to fall into worshiping the idols of the people they are to soon conquer or they will be forsaken by God and ejected from the land.
Moses also tells them, in no uncertain way, to never get so comfortable with the wonderful things they will have when they are settled in the land that they start to think they actually deserve it- not so. They are to remember that they are there only because God loved their fathers and keeps His promises.
Throughout this book Moses pounds into their skulls, over and over and over, that God will take care of them so long as they obey Him. Over, and over, and over….and over!
It didn’t seem to do any good, did it?
And have we learned from this? Every bible-based religion that has come after the Jewish people, from Catholicism to Protestantism to Methodism to whatever: every single one of these religions that profess to worship the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob have not only made all the same mistakes that the Israelites made, but have made worse ones, yet! They have not just ignored the Torah, they have taught that the very living Torah, Jesus (Yeshua) told them to ignore it! They teach that the Torah is only for Jews, and they only need the blood of Christ to give them freedom from sin.
Yo, Bro- hate to tell ‘ya, but that blood was shed so that you could be free from sin; it wasn’t shed so you could be free from Torah. Yeshua taught from, of, and about the essence of Torah, and His Talmudim (Disciples) after Him did nothing but confirm Torah. The only difference is that the Gentile converts to Judaism (that is what you were in the First Century when you accepted Yeshua as your Messiah) ) were not held as strictly accountable to every law in Torah AT FIRST when they accepted Messiah Yeshua. AT FIRST– that means they were given 4 restrictions (Acts 15:19-21) only as a start to learn all the laws in Torah. It is clear in the bible that the Elders expected these converts to Judaism to pick up the rest as they heard the Torah preached and taught in the temple.
We have heard from God, we have seen His wonders, we have known His punishment and we have received His love and forgiveness. Everything that we ever needed, need now or ever will need, God has taken care of for us. Yet, we still rebel, we still forget, we still do wrong.
OY! Was Mashuganas!
It’s all really simple- God gave the Torah to the children of the Patriarchs so that they could learn from it how to live, and as such, be an example to the rest of the world. When that didn’t work, He gave up His only son to provide the ultimate Get Out of Jail card for us, but that did NOT overrule Torah. It simply provided another means of salvation that the Torah couldn’t- not because Torah is unable to do so, but because we are unable to follow Torah.
This parashah holds the same message for us that it held for the children of Israel before they entered the land God promised them- do what is right in God’s eyes, remember how He cares for you, remember how unworthy you are of that care, be grateful and show your gratefulness through obedience.
God’s got our back and we should be humbly grateful to Him. Our gratitude should be demonstrated every minute of every day by following, as best as we can, the instructions He gave us about how to worship Him and treat each other.
Sounds easy enough, doesn’t it? So, then, why can’t we do it?
