Category Archives: Study the Word

Discerning / Judging, Is the Old Testament Relevant Today?, Obeying God, Purposeful / Intentional, Study the Word, Teachable

Confirm The Words Of His Law By Obeying Them

Deuteronomy 27 reminds us to confirm He is our Lord and we are His people by living out His commands. It is not enough to simply say He is Lord. Rather, we should confirm He is Lord through our actions and attitudes, that should conform to His commands.

Deuteronomy 27

The Curses of Mount Ebal

      1Then Moses and the elders of Israel charged the people, saying, “Keep all the commandments which I command you today. 2“So it shall be on the day when you cross the Jordan to the land which the LORD your God gives you, that you shall set up for yourself large stones and coat them with lime3and write on them all the words of this law, when you cross over, so that you may enter the land which the LORD your God gives you, a land flowing with milk and honey, as the LORD, the God of your fathers, promised you. 4“So it shall be when you cross the Jordan, you shall set up on Mount Ebal, these stones, as I am commanding you today, and you shall coat them with lime. 5“Moreover, you shall build there an altar to the LORD your God, an altar of stones; you shall not wield an iron tool on them. 6“You shall build the altar of the LORD your God of uncut stones, and you shall offer on it burnt offerings to the LORD your God; 7and you shall sacrifice peace offerings and eat there, and rejoice before the LORD your God. 8“You shall write on the stones all the words of this law very distinctly.”

      9Then Moses and the Levitical priests spoke to all Israel, saying, “Be silent and listen, O Israel! This day you have become a people for the LORD your God. 10“You shall therefore obey the LORD your God, and do His commandments and His statutes which I command you today.”

      11Moses also charged the people on that day, saying, 12“When you cross the Jordan, these shall stand on Mount Gerizim to bless the people: Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin. 13“For the curse, these shall stand on Mount Ebal: Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali. 14“The Levites shall then answer and say to all the men of Israel with a loud voice,

      15‘Cursed is the man who makes an idol or a molten image, an abomination to the LORD, the work of the hands of the craftsman, and sets it up in secret.’ And all the people shall answer and say, ‘Amen.’

      16‘Cursed is he who dishonors his father or mother.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

      17‘Cursed is he who moves his neighbor’s boundary mark.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

      18‘Cursed is he who misleads a blind person on the road.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

      19‘Cursed is he who distorts the justice due an alien, orphan, and widow.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

      20‘Cursed is he who lies with his father’s wife, because he has uncovered his father’s skirt.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

      21‘Cursed is he who lies with any animal.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

      22‘Cursed is he who lies with his sister, the daughter of his father or of his mother.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

      23‘Cursed is he who lies with his mother-in-law.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

      24‘Cursed is he who strikes his neighbor in secret.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

      25‘Cursed is he who accepts a bribe to strike down an innocent person.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

      26‘Cursed is he who does not confirm the words of this law by doing them.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

Prayerfully reflect on whether you truly choose God’s commands over your own choices and those openly accepted / preferred by our culture? It is easy to say we do, but ask the Spirit to convict you of areas where your life more closely reflects the world’s opinion, or perhaps the beliefs of even a church but may not actually line up with the written word of the Lord. Test everything against scripture, not against what you have been taught by men. That includes the Old Testament as well as the New. Yeshua often referred to the prophets and the law in His teaching. It helps us understand the New Testament in proper context. It is the foundation of our faith and all that is in the New Testament. The two do not contradict one another, once properly understood.

If you read something you don’t understand and it may conflict with what your church teaches, do not just dismiss it and assume the church has explained it for you. Test it, study it, pray about it. Many churches teach incorrectly about large portions of God’s word. Test the church against God’s word, not the other way around. Then make sure you life changes as needed to reflect what God’s word says rather than what people say.

—-

Do you know for sure if you will go to heaven or hell when you die? Are you experiencing in your life the peace and joy of a personal relationship with our Creator and Father? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

Consequences of Sin, Healer, Hebrew Roots / Commands / Law, Justice / Judgment, Obeying God, Protector / Deliverer, Rebuke Wrong Behavior, Study the Word, Wickedness / Evil

Don’t Completely Dismiss The Law Because It Seems Strange

Some of the details of the law as documented in Deuteronomy 25 seem strange and foreign, because they are from a long ago time and a very different culture. While we could debate some of the specifics and if/how they apply today, let us not miss the bigger picture. Don’t completely dismiss the law because it seems strange in our eyes. Seek to understand what YHWH intended and what may still apply.

YHWH established laws to govern the people. The law is established to direct behavior away from wickedness and to protect the weak. It is a way of showing love to YHWH and to one another.  Note, however, that even the guilty are protected in some cases from excessive punishment (e.g. beat him no more than 40 times). There are other times, however where there is no such protection for the wicked (e.g. blot out the memory of Amelek). It depends on the severity of the wrong behavior.

If there are some punishments that seem outrageous in our eyes (e.g. cut off woman’s hand if she grabs man’s genitals to defend her husband), then simply take that as strong guidance not to do those thing. I will clearly state that I do not claim to fully understand the context or why a law like that one was established, but it is clear that YHWH does not want that action to be normalized or accepted. I presume it made more sense in the context of the culture at the time, or perhaps would still make more sense if I studied and better understood the context. Maybe it is in regards to the struggle is not life threatening and thus to crush a man’s genitals is overkill as it stops his ability to procreate? Maybe YHWH just does not want a woman to touch another man there, but would be ok if she kicked him or hit him in self defense. Honestly, I don’t know, but the failing is in my ignorance and lack of understanding and not with YHWH who established the law.

Deuteronomy 25

Sundry Laws

     1“If there is a dispute between men and they go to court, and the judges decide their case, and they justify the righteous and condemn the wicked, 2then it shall be if the wicked man deserves to be beaten, the judge shall then make him lie down and be beaten in his presence with the number of stripes according to his guilt. 3“He may beat him forty times but no more, so that he does not beat him with many more stripes than these and your brother is not degraded in your eyes.

      4“You shall not muzzle the ox while he is threshing.

      5“When brothers live together and one of them dies and has no son, the wife of the deceased shall not be married outside the family to a strange man. Her husband’s brother shall go in to her and take her to himself as wife and perform the duty of a husband’s brother to her. 6“It shall be that the firstborn whom she bears shall assume the name of his dead brother, so that his name will not be blotted out from Israel. 7“But if the man does not desire to take his brother’s wife, then his brother’s wife shall go up to the gate to the elders and say, ‘My husband’s brother refuses to establish a name for his brother in Israel; he is not willing to perform the duty of a husband’s brother to me.’ 8“Then the elders of his city shall summon him and speak to him. And if he persists and says, ‘I do not desire to take her,’ 9then his brother’s wife shall come to him in the sight of the elders, and pull his sandal off his foot and spit in his face; and she shall declare, ‘Thus it is done to the man who does not build up his brother’s house.’ 10“In Israel his name shall be called, ‘The house of him whose sandal is removed.’

      11“If two men, a man and his countryman, are struggling together, and the wife of one comes near to deliver her husband from the hand of the one who is striking him, and puts out her hand and seizes his genitals, 12then you shall cut off her hand; you shall not show pity.

      13“You shall not have in your bag differing weights, a large and a small. 14“You shall not have in your house differing measures, a large and a small. 15“You shall have a full and just weight; you shall have a full and just measure, that your days may be prolonged in the land which the LORD your God gives you. 16“For everyone who does these things, everyone who acts unjustly is an abomination to the LORD your God.

      17“Remember what Amalek did to you along the way when you came out from Egypt, 18how he met you along the way and attacked among you all the stragglers at your rear when you were faint and weary; and he did not fear God. 19“Therefore it shall come about when the LORD your God has given you rest from all your surrounding enemies, in the land which the LORD your God gives you as an inheritance to possess, you shall blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven; you must not forget.

—-

Do you know for sure if you will go to heaven or hell when you die? Are you experiencing in your life the peace and joy of a personal relationship with our Creator and Father? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

Guide, Holy, Holy / Set Apart, Is the Old Testament Relevant Today?, Money / Finances / Wealth, Purposeful / Intentional, Study the Word, Through Prophets, Wickedness / Evil, Worldliness

All Scripture Is Inspired By YHWH

Deuteronomy 23 has a collection of instructions. Let’s review after you read the chapter. Read through, you may be surprised by how much is relevant today to our lives.

Deuteronomy 23

Persons Excluded from the Assembly

     1“No one who is emasculated or has his male organ cut off shall enter the assembly of the LORD. 2“No one of illegitimate birth shall enter the assembly of the LORD; none of his descendants, even to the tenth generation, shall enter the assembly of the LORD. 3“No Ammonite or Moabite shall enter the assembly of the LORD; none of their descendants, even to the tenth generation, shall ever enter the assembly of the LORD, 4because they did not meet you with food and water on the way when you came out of Egypt, and because they hired against you Balaam the son of Beor from Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse you. 5“Nevertheless, the LORD your God was not willing to listen to Balaam, but the LORD your God turned the curse into a blessing for you because the LORD your God loves you. 6“You shall never seek their peace or their prosperity all your days.

      7“You shall not detest an Edomite, for he is your brother; you shall not detest an Egyptian, because you were an alien in his land. 8“The sons of the third generation who are born to them may enter the assembly of the LORD.

      9“When you go out as an army against your enemies, you shall keep yourself from every evil thing.

      10“If there is among you any man who is unclean because of a nocturnal emission, then he must go outside the camp; he may not reenter the camp. 11“But it shall be when evening approaches, he shall bathe himself with water, and at sundown he may reenter the camp.

      12“You shall also have a place outside the camp and go out there, 13and you shall have a spade among your tools, and it shall be when you sit down outside, you shall dig with it and shall turn to cover up your excrement. 14“Since the LORD your God walks in the midst of your camp to deliver you and to defeat your enemies before you, therefore your camp must be holy; and He must not see anything indecent among you or He will turn away from you.

      15“You shall not hand over to his master a slave who has escaped from his master to you. 16“He shall live with you in your midst, in the place which he shall choose in one of your towns where it pleases him; you shall not mistreat him.

      17“None of the daughters of Israel shall be a cult prostitute, nor shall any of the sons of Israel be a cult prostitute. 18“You shall not bring the hire of a harlot or the wages of a dog into the house of the LORD your God for any votive offering, for both of these are an abomination to the LORD your God.

      19“You shall not charge interest to your countrymen: interest on money, food, or anything that may be loaned at interest. 20“You may charge interest to a foreigner, but to your countrymen you shall not charge interest, so that the LORD your God may bless you in all that you undertake in the land which you are about to enter to possess.

      21“When you make a vow to the LORD your God, you shall not delay to pay it, for it would be sin in you, and the LORD your God will surely require it of you. 22“However, if you refrain from vowing, it would not be sin in you. 23“You shall be careful to perform what goes out from your lips, just as you have voluntarily vowed to the LORD your God, what you have promised.

      24“When you enter your neighbor’s vineyard, then you may eat grapes until you are fully satisfied, but you shall not put any in your basket.

      25“When you enter your neighbor’s standing grain, then you may pluck the heads with your hand, but you shall not wield a sickle in your neighbor’s standing grain.

Doubtless, this is another passage which seems strange to us in our culture and time today. It may stir up some questions for those who wish to dig below the surface meaning. If we at first do not understand, remember who YHWH is and that He is holy and just. Start with that and we realize that if parts of this are troubling, we should study more to fully understand the context of the times when it was written. I am not an expert in these matters to be sure. My surface thoughts are as follows:

  • First, I ask myself what it means to be excluded from the assembly of the Lord. There are different views and I am not sure which is right. Does it mean excluded from the worship gathering? excluded from marriage? excluded from temple service? excluded from leadership? I am not sure which is right. Worthy of study for those who want to find out more.
  • Other nations would at times make eunuchs to serve in a palace or temple. Such a disfigurement is not pleasing to the Lord. I do not believe this was intended to punish victims but rather to prevent doing this to God’s people.
  •  It may seem harsh to exclude illegitimate children. However, this puts more emphasis on families following YHWH’s instructions and being holy. I believe the intent is to deter people from having illegitimate children, rather than intending to punish the children. It was not something to be normalized and accepted. Depending on the meaning of forbidden from the assembly of the Lord, this could also simply mean that they were not to be working in the temple, which is set apart and holy.
  • Amonites and Moabites were held accountable in memory of the sins of their people against Israel. We as a nation may face similar consequences for rebellion against the Lord. Though not all of us may rebel or reject Him, we may all face certain consequences together as one people.
  •  The people were then specifically told not to hate the Edomites and Egyptians. Interesting to note that YHWH never makes an equivalence of all people groups as equally righteous and valued. Those who rebel and fight against YHWH and His people are not to be accepted. Others, are specifically called out to not be hated. Our culture today must surely think this odd as many try to say that “all cultures and all nations” are to be respected and accepted as they are equally, with none better than the rest. YHWH seems to indicate differently.
  • There are certain behaviors that make us unclean. Rather than trying to excuse it and reject it, try to understand what and why and try to avoid them. If we become unclean, take time to seek to be cleansed. Spend that time with the Lord in prayer. Seek forgiveness.
  • YHWH takes the term “walking among us” seriously. He intends for us to keep our “camp” (or our home) clean with no indecent thing among us. Think about your home today. Are there indecent things among you? It may be idols. It may be pornography. It may be inappropriate clothing. It may simply even be television programs and music that is indecent. Cleanse your home and let nothing indecent be among you so that the Lord may walk among you.
  • Be kind to an escaped slave. Do not return them to their owner. Let them live among you. This is very gracious, in particular in a time when it was written when slavery was more common. I could also derive perhaps that we are to help those escaping difficult circumstances and not treat them badly. Rather help them to get free, even if it is from abuse or addiction. Note it does not say let entire nations and tribes of foreigners come into your midst (e.g. open borders). Rather it is focused on helping individuals, which could be assimilated and helped more effectively in smaller numbers.
  • Prostitution is wrong. YHWH does not even want money from such objectionable and offensive behavior. He wants no part of it. I hypothesize also that He does not want any part of many other objectionable behaviors even if they bring profit… perhaps drugs, human slavery, abortion, and many more.
  • As a follower of YHWH, we are not to loan to other believers for interest. If we loan it is to help them, not make money off them by increasing the cost burden to them by adding interest.
  • You are not required to make vows to YHWH, but if you do… take it seriously and do not delay in fulfilling it. Better not to make a vow than to make one and not fulfill it. Further, you can ask YHWH to help you without making a vow.
  • We also see more guidance in reference to grain and grapes. We can share from our neighbors hospitality, but do not become greedy and become a burden by taking more than you should.

I for one am always surprised when I try to reflect on passages like this one. My first reaction is that none of it applies and I can “skip” it or read quickly. After prayer and a serious attempt to understand, even without lengthy, detailed study, I am amazed how relevant this guidance still remains for our lives.

May the grace and peace of our Lord, Yeshua, be with you.

—-

Do you know for sure if you will go to heaven or hell when you die? Are you experiencing in your life the peace and joy of a personal relationship with our Creator and Father? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

Consequences of Sin, Discipline / Guidance From God, Disobeying, Rebelling Against, Ignoring God, Drunkenness, Gluttony, Grace / Patience, Justice / Judgment, Kindness / Gentleness, Rebuke Wrong Behavior, Study the Word, Wickedness / Evil, Worthy of Fear / Reverence

When Scripture Is Difficult To Understand, Start By Assuming YHWH Is Right

I certainly have to admit that the laws on domestic relations seem as if from a faraway time and place… because they are. They are not only far away in location but also in time.  The culture was very different. It is easy for us to jump to the conclusion that they are somehow wrong and barbaric. I think that is so easy or simple a view and is not correct. To truly understand we need to study to understand the cultural norms and lifestyle of the time. We must think about it in context. We do well to start with the faith that YHWH is correct and His instruction is righteous and then seek to understand how it applied then and how it may apply still today. In this way we gain wisdom and understanding.

Deuteronomy 21:10-23

Domestic Relations

       10“When you go out to battle against your enemies, and the LORD your God delivers them into your hands and you take them away captive, 11and see among the captives a beautiful woman, and have a desire for her and would take her as a wife for yourself, 12then you shall bring her home to your house, and she shall shave her head and trim her nails. 13“She shall also remove the clothes of her captivity and shall remain in your house, and mourn her father and mother a full month; and after that you may go in to her and be her husband and she shall be your wife. 14“It shall be, if you are not pleased with her, then you shall let her go wherever she wishes; but you shall certainly not sell her for money, you shall not mistreat her, because you have humbled her.

      15“If a man has two wives, the one loved and the other unloved, and both the loved and the unloved have borne him sons, if the firstborn son belongs to the unloved, 16then it shall be in the day he wills what he has to his sons, he cannot make the son of the loved the firstborn before the son of the unloved, who is the firstborn. 17“But he shall acknowledge the firstborn, the son of the unloved, by giving him a double portion of all that he has, for he is the beginning of his strength; to him belongs the right of the firstborn.

      18“If any man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey his father or his mother, and when they chastise him, he will not even listen to them, 19then his father and mother shall seize him, and bring him out to the elders of his city at the gateway of his hometown. 20“They shall say to the elders of his city, ‘This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey us, he is a glutton and a drunkard.’ 21“Then all the men of his city shall stone him to death; so you shall remove the evil from your midst, and all Israel will hear of it and fear.

      22“If a man has committed a sin worthy of death and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, 23his corpse shall not hang all night on the tree, but you shall surely bury him on the same day (for he who is hanged is accursed of God), so that you do not defile your land which the LORD your God gives you as an inheritance.

We can certainly have a robust and interesting discussion regarding taking a captive as a wife. I am not sure how to practically apply this to be frank. However, one can easily understand that other cultures of the time would not be so gracious to a captive as to give them time to grieve and treat them well. There is explicit instruction to avoid abusing them. There is protection for those who are vulnerable.

We can ponder again about the instruction regarding two wives, one loved and one unloved. I do not believe YHWH wants a man to have two wives. He intended one man to one woman as with Adam and Eve. We could have an interesting discussion on why He did not outright ban it. Perhaps like divorce, He allowed it because of the hardness of their hearts. Similarly, I don’t believe He intends for any wife to be unloved by her husband. However, we can see that He provides protection for those who may be unloved and may be vulnerable to abuse or neglect.

In the third example, we can see that YHWH expects even perhaps adult children to still respect their parents. How many of us assume the scripture is calling young children gluttons and drunkards? It sounds like older children who are being rebellious. In this case it refers to rebellion to both YHWH and parents. YHWH is not tolerant of evil and rebellion. He instructs that there should be accountability and a stop should be put to the sin before it spreads to others.

The last example probably seems to most of us abhorrent. Why would we hang those who were executed in public. This was likely not a pretty site. Again, though we could have a very interesting discussion on this case, ultimately I think we could agree YHWH wants to discourage sin and rebellion. He wants to discourage  seriously bad behavior from becoming accepted and normalized. We can perhaps prefer not to take this approach, but in reality looking at the sin rampant in our culture today, perhaps we would benefit from a bit more punishment and accountability a few generations ago and we would not have normalized so much sin in our culture which is now praised as acceptable or good.

I would simply encourage you to not disregard any scripture and not assume that YHWH was wrong because we live differently than He instructed His people to live. Pray, study and reflect on what we can learn about Him from His word. Then seek to apply it to your life.

—-

Do you know for sure if you will go to heaven or hell when you die? Are you experiencing in your life the peace and joy of a personal relationship with our Creator and Father? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

False Prophets / Teachers, Giving, Hebrew Roots / Commands / Law, Money / Finances / Wealth, Provider, Seeking God, Study the Word

Claim Your Inheritance

The more I study the Torah (1st five books of the Bible), the more I come to realize that YWHW was really trying to emphasize the importance of His instructions to the people. He repeats Himself to generations of Hebrews, which we now experience if we read and study the Torah. It was important enough to mention over and over again. He wanted to make sure we understand and do not ignore it or forget it.

Deuteronomy is one of those sections of scripture. It reminds us of YHWH’s intent for the Levites to be focused on Him and not working their own land or flocks or herds. He was their portion… their inheritance. He provided means for them to be provided for by the rest of the tribes.

I am not going to propose that the Levitical priesthood is replaced by missionaries and pastors today. However, it is not a stretch to conclude that the Lord would approve of our supporting those who set aside their lives to teach others about Him. However, we do need to take care. We are warned in many places, though not in Deuteronomy 18, beware of false prophets or wolves in sheep’s clothing. There are many teachers that teach a false doctrine, whether or not they realize it. The Lord does not want us supporting them but rather avoiding them and rejecting them. There is no way around it… we are each accountable to read and study the Bible so as to test those who preach and teach and minister in the name of our Lord.

Deuteronomy 18:1-8

Portion of the Levites

      1“The Levitical priests, the whole tribe of Levi, shall have no portion or inheritance with Israel; they shall eat the LORD’S offerings by fire and His portion. 2“They shall have no inheritance among their countrymen; the LORD is their inheritance, as He promised them.

      3“Now this shall be the priests’ due from the people, from those who offer a sacrifice, either an ox or a sheep, of which they shall give to the priest the shoulder and the two cheeks and the stomach. 4“You shall give him the first fruits of your grain, your new wine, and your oil, and the first shearing of your sheep. 5“For the LORD your God has chosen him and his sons from all your tribes, to stand and serve in the name of the LORD forever.

      6“Now if a Levite comes from any of your towns throughout Israel where he resides, and comes whenever he desires to the place which the LORDchooses, 7then he shall serve in the name of the LORD his God, like all his fellow Levites who stand there before the LORD. 8“They shall eat equal portions, except what they receive from the sale of their fathers’ estates.

As a perhaps deeper point of reflection, we should also consider that YHWH considered Himself to be the inheritance or portion for the Levites. He was not “shorting” them or giving them a “raw deal”. Rather, they got the best of it. They were invited to serve YHWH full time and He provided for their needs.

We should not overlook that we are now all invited to have a direct relationship with YHWH thanks to Yeshua. Do not miss the opportunity to claim that portion and inheritance for you in your life just because you are pursuing business and other affairs. You will truly be missing out on a glorious invitation from our Creator to personal relationship with Him.

—-

Do you know for sure if you will go to heaven or hell when you die? Are you experiencing in your life the peace and joy of a personal relationship with our Creator and Father? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

Disobeying, Rebelling Against, Ignoring God, Guide, Heaven and Hell, Hebrew Roots / Commands / Law, Jesus (hearing from God), Obeying God, Repenting from Sin, Salvation, Study the Word, Teachable, Unteachable / Foolish

Who Is Truly Living (And Dying) In Obedience To Christ?

Those who truly submit to Yeshua and accept Him as Lord, who accept His sacrifice for our sins and declare Him Lord rightly have hope for life beyond this world. This can also give us comfort for the loss of loved ones who have “fallen asleep in Jesus”. It can also give us hope for ourselves as we face hardship and death in this world.

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

Those Who Died in Christ

      13But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope.14For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. 15For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.17Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. 18Therefore comfort one another with these words.

We should take care, however, not to fall into the trap that everyone who claims Christ or goes to church is living in obedience and right relationship with Yeshua. Many claim His name, but the fruit of their lives is disobedience rather than obedience… revealing they are not truly submitted to Him. Do not grow complacent in our own lives of the lives of others. Those who truly love Yeshua will continue to become more and more like Him and will bear fruit.

Matthew 7:15-23

      15“Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. 16“You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? 17“So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit.18“A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. 19“Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20“So then, you will know them by their fruits.

      21“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.22“Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ 23“And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’

Let our efforts not be selfishly about “getting to heaven” or doing the minimum to “check the box” with Yeshua. Let us realize that we are called to repent, to turn back our lives to His ways, to the instructions and the law which He followed and He taught. Do not overlook verse 23… ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlesslness.”

Churches continually teach against YHWH’s law and instructions as obsolete, claiming “Christian freedom” out of context and letting it be an excuse to basically do whatever they want rather than obeying what Yeshua taught and lived. The words of Yeshua call out those who practice lawlessness as those whom He does not know, despite their claiming His name.

Take time to reflect and pray on this subject. The law still have meaning for believers today. Seek to understand it and test what you have been taught against scripture.

For more, read Understanding the Law – What Does It Mean Today? 

—-

Do you know for sure if you will go to heaven or hell when you die? Are you experiencing in your life the peace and joy of a personal relationship with our Creator and Father? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

Hebrew Roots / Commands / Law, Holy / Set Apart, Obeying God, Purposeful / Intentional, Study the Word

We Are Called To Be Holy, Set Apart, For The Lord

We are called to be holy, set apart, as God’s people. This means we explicitly are commanded to be different from others around us not only in our attitudes but also in some physical behaviors we are to demonstrate in obedience to God. These differences help to set us apart from non believers and also honor God through obedience to His instruction. Further, it reminds us to obey God in all aspects of our life, including our daily eating habits and tithe.

It is not a matter of salvation, that comes by grace through faith in Christ and that alone. However, obeying YHWH is how we show Him we love Him. Take care not to disregard all His instructions, including those that Jesus Himself obeyed, in the name of “Christian freedom”.

Obedience to His instructions is the fruit of our salvation and relationship with Him, not the root of it.

Deuteronomy 14

Clean and Unclean Animals

      1“You are the sons of the LORD your God; you shall not cut yourselves nor shave your forehead for the sake of the dead. 2“For you are a holy people to the LORD your God, and the LORD has chosen you to be a people for His own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.

      3“You shall not eat any detestable thing. 4“These are the animals which you may eat: the ox, the sheep, the goat, 5the deer, the gazelle, the roebuck, the wild goat, the ibex, the antelope and the mountain sheep. 6“Any animal that divides the hoof and has the hoof split in two and chews the cud, among the animals, that you may eat. 7“Nevertheless, you are not to eat of these among those which chew the cud, or among those that divide the hoof in two: the camel and the rabbit and the shaphan, for though they chew the cud, they do not divide the hoof; they are unclean for you. 8“The pig, because it divides the hoof but does not chew the cud, it is unclean for you. You shall not eat any of their flesh nor touch their carcasses.

      9“These you may eat of all that are in water: anything that has fins and scales you may eat, 10but anything that does not have fins and scales you shall not eat; it is unclean for you.

      11“You may eat any clean bird. 12“But these are the ones which you shall not eat: the eagle and the vulture and the buzzard, 13and the red kite, the falcon, and the kite in their kinds, 14and every raven in its kind, 15and the ostrich, the owl, the sea gull, and the hawk in their kinds, 16the little owl, the great owl, the white owl, 17the pelican, the carrion vulture, the cormorant, 18the stork, and the heron in their kinds, and the hoopoe and the bat. 19“And all the teeming life with wings are unclean to you; they shall not be eaten. 20“You may eat any clean bird.

      21“You shall not eat anything which dies of itself. You may give it to the alien who is in your town, so that he may eat it, or you may sell it to a foreigner, for you are a holy people to the LORD your God. You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.

      22“You shall surely tithe all the produce from what you sow, which comes out of the field every year. 23“You shall eat in the presence of the LORD your God, at the place where He chooses to establish His name, the tithe of your grain, your new wine, your oil, and the firstborn of your herd and your flock, so that you may learn to fear the LORD your God always. 24“If the distance is so great for you that you are not able to bring the tithe, since the place where the LORD your God chooses to set His name is too far away from you when the LORD your God blesses you, 25then you shall exchange it for money, and bind the money in your hand and go to the place which the LORD your God chooses. 26“You may spend the money for whatever your heart desires: for oxen, or sheep, or wine, or strong drink, or whatever your heart desires; and there you shall eat in the presence of the LORD your God and rejoice, you and your household. 27“Also you shall not neglect the Levite who is in your town, for he has no portion or inheritance among you.

      28“At the end of every third year you shall bring out all the tithe of your produce in that year, and shall deposit it in your town. 29“The Levite, because he has no portion or inheritance among you, and the alien, the orphan and the widow who are in your town, shall come and eat and be satisfied, in order that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hand which you do.

For those of us who grew up in western Christian churches, we have been taught that all of God’s law is obsolete. It is funny how the church teaches that the dietary law is obsolete, but not the tithe. God’s word instructs on both side by side. Jesus Christ died and His sacrifice replaces the prior system of sacrifices which provided a path to reconciliation with God. However this does not mean that what God calls us to do in how we live our lives has changed outside of that aspect of reconciliation.

Seek the Holy Spirit and study scripture. Jesus Himself says He did not come to abolish the law and that not a single jot or tittle goes away until the end of the age. So why is it so many disregard most of what God instructed us to do in the Old Testament as if it has gone away? Is it the end of the age? Certainly not.

Matthew 5:17-19

      17“Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. 18“For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished. 19“Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

Read more: Understanding The Law – What It Means Today

—-

Do you know for sure if you will go to heaven or hell when you die? Are you experiencing in your life the peace and joy of a personal relationship with our Creator and Father? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

Grace / Forgiveness, Hebrew Roots / Commands / Law, Jesus (hearing from God), Loving / Kind, Merciful, Obeying God, Purposeful / Intentional, Repenting from Sin, Study the Word, Teachable, Wise

The Ten Commandments Are Worth Repeating, Learning, and Obeying

The ten commandments are not the sum total of God’s law which He provided for us to guide us in living the righteous and holy lives, but they are a really good starting point. He repeated them in scripture to emphasize them. Do not be so easily fooled by the devil or the world as to disregard God’s instruction as outdated and ignore the Old Testament. God has not changed His opinion on what is right and what is wrong. He does not change. Jesus obeyed the commandments and taught others to do so. He did not change His mind on their value because He died and rose again. After He rose again He told His disciples to teach others all that He had taught them… which would include God’s law.

Pray for wisdom and for the Spirit to convict and guide you as you read. Do not just skim quickly, assuming them to be obsolete or not applicable to you. Do not give yourself so much credit as to assume you obey all these commandments. None of us obey them perfectly. See how Jesus described complying to the commandments in Matthew 5:21-48.

Deuteronomy 5:1-21

The Ten Commandments Repeated

      1Then Moses summoned all Israel and said to them:
“Hear, O Israel, the statutes and the ordinances which I am speaking today in your hearing, that you may learn them and observe them carefully. 2“The LORD our God made a covenant with us at Horeb. 3“The LORD did not make this covenant with our fathers, but with us, with all those of us alive here today. 4“The LORD spoke to you face to face at the mountain from the midst of the fire, 5while I was standing between the LORD and you at that time, to declare to you the word of the LORD; for you were afraid because of the fire and did not go up the mountain. He said,

      6‘I am the LORD your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

      7‘You shall have no other gods before Me.

      8‘You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. 9‘You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, and on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, 10but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.

      11‘You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.

      12‘Observe the sabbath day to keep it holy, as the LORD your God commanded you. 13‘Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 14but the seventh day is a sabbath of the LORD your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter or your male servant or your female servant or your ox or your donkey or any of your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you, so that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you. 15‘You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God brought you out of there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm; therefore the LORD your God commanded you to observe the sabbath day.

      16‘Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God has commanded you, that your days may be prolonged and that it may go well with you on the land which the LORD your God gives you.

      17‘You shall not murder.

      18‘You shall not commit adultery.

      19‘You shall not steal.

      20‘You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

      21‘You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, and you shall not desire your neighbor’s house, his field or his male servant or his female servant, his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor.’

For those who did not click through on the link above to see what Jesus has to say about obeying the commandments, here is another chance. He holds us to a high and holy standard, which can only be achieved through the Spirit and even that in our lives will be done imperfectly. Be glad and rejoice for His grace and mercy in forgiveness!

Matthew 5:21-48

      21“You have heard that the ancients were told, ‘YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT MURDER’ and ‘Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court.’ 22“But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, ‘You good-for-nothing,’ shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell. 23“Therefore if you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24leave your offering there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering. 25“Make friends quickly with your opponent at law while you are with him on the way, so that your opponent may not hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the officer, and you be thrown into prison. 26“Truly I say to you, you will not come out of there until you have paid up the last cent.

      27“You have heard that it was said, ‘YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY’; 28but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29“If your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. 30“If your right hand makes you stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to go into hell.

      31“It was said, ‘WHOEVER SENDS HIS WIFE AWAY, LET HIM GIVE HER A CERTIFICATE OF DIVORCE’; 32but I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except for the reason of unchastity, makes her commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

      33“Again, you have heard that the ancients were told, ‘YOU SHALL NOT MAKE FALSE VOWS, BUT SHALL FULFILL YOUR VOWS TO THE LORD.’ 34“But I say to you, make no oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, 35or by the earth, for it is the footstool of His feet, or by Jerusalem, for it is THE CITY OF THE GREAT KING. 36“Nor shall you make an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. 37“But let your statement be, ‘Yes, yes’ or ‘No, no’; anything beyond these is of evil.

      38“You have heard that it was said, ‘AN EYE FOR AN EYE, AND A TOOTH FOR A TOOTH.’ 39“But I say to you, do not resist an evil person; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. 40“If anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, let him have your coat also. 41“Whoever forces you to go one mile, go with him two. 42“Give to him who asks of you, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you.

      43“You have heard that it was said, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR and hate your enemy.’ 44“But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46“For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47“If you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? 48“Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

None of us meet that standard. We need His grace and mercy in forgiving us. But we must repent and ask forgiveness. We must submit to Him as Lord of our lives. Learn more.

—-

Do you know for sure if you will go to heaven or hell when you die? Are you experiencing in your life the peace and joy of a personal relationship with our Creator and Father? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

All Powerful / King of All, Eternal, Hebrew Roots / Commands / Law, Immutable (unchanging), Jesus (hearing from God), Obeying God, Purposeful / Intentional, Study the Word, Through Prophets, Worthy of Fear / Reverence

Keep The Commandments Of The Lord

Obeying the law that YHWH has provided to His people is important to Him. Moses knew it and repeated it over and over for the people. Yeshua followed it perfectly and set the example for us to follow. Do not just blindly assume what is taught in churches today is accurate… that God no longer cares if we obey His law, His instructions. Grace is not an excuse to disobey God. Jesus following the law is not an excuse for us not to. God has not changed His mind on how we live. Test everything against the truth of scripture.

Deuteronomy 4

Israel Urged to Obey God’s Law

     1“Now, O Israel, listen to the statutes and the judgments which I am teaching you to perform, so that you may live and go in and take possession of the land which the LORD, the God of your fathers, is giving you. 2“You shall not add to the word which I am commanding you, nor take away from it, that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you. 3“Your eyes have seen what the LORD has done in the case of Baal-peor, for all the men who followed Baal-peor, the LORD your God has destroyed them from among you. 4“But you who held fast to the LORD your God are alive today, every one of you.

      5“See, I have taught you statutes and judgments just as the LORD my God commanded me, that you should do thus in the land where you are entering to possess it. 6“So keep and do them, for that is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples who will hear all these statutes and say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’ 7“For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as is the LORD our God whenever we call on Him? 8“Or what great nation is there that has statutes and judgments as righteous as this whole law which I am setting before you today?

      9“Only give heed to yourself and keep your soul diligently, so that you do not forget the things which your eyes have seen and they do not depart from your heart all the days of your life; but make them known to your sons and your grandsons. 10“Remember the day you stood before the LORD your God at Horeb, when the LORD said to me, ‘Assemble the people to Me, that I may let them hear My words so they may learn to fear Me all the days they live on the earth, and that they may teach their children.’ 11“You came near and stood at the foot of the mountain, and the mountain burned with fire to the very heart of the heavens: darkness, cloud and thick gloom. 12“Then the LORD spoke to you from the midst of the fire; you heard the sound of words, but you saw no form—only a voice. 13“So He declared to you His covenant which He commanded you to perform, that is, the Ten Commandments; and He wrote them on two tablets of stone. 14“The LORD commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgments, that you might perform them in the land where you are going over to possess it.

      15“So watch yourselves carefully, since you did not see any form on the day the LORD spoke to you at Horeb from the midst of the fire, 16so that you do not act corruptly and make a graven image for yourselves in the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female, 17the likeness of any animal that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the sky, 18the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the water below the earth. 19“And beware not to lift up your eyes to heaven and see the sun and the moon and the stars, all the host of heaven, and be drawn away and worship them and serve them, those which the LORD your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole heaven. 20“But the LORD has taken you and brought you out of the iron furnace, from Egypt, to be a people for His own possession, as today.

      21“Now the LORD was angry with me on your account, and swore that I would not cross the Jordan, and that I would not enter the good land which the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance. 22“For I will die in this land, I shall not cross the Jordan, but you shall cross and take possession of this good land. 23“So watch yourselves, that you do not forget the covenant of the LORD your God which He made with you, and make for yourselves a graven image in the form of anything against which the LORD your God has commanded you. 24“For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.

      25“When you become the father of children and children’s children and have remained long in the land, and act corruptly, and make an idol in the form of anything, and do that which is evil in the sight of the LORD your God so as to provoke Him to anger, 26I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that you will surely perish quickly from the land where you are going over the Jordan to possess it. You shall not live long on it, but will be utterly destroyed. 27“The LORD will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations where the LORD drives you. 28“There you will serve gods, the work of man’s hands, wood and stone, which neither see nor hear nor eat nor smell. 29“But from there you will seek the LORD your God, and you will find Him if you search for Him with all your heart and all your soul. 30“When you are in distress and all these things have come upon you, in the latter days you will return to the LORD your God and listen to His voice. 31“For the LORD your God is a compassionate God; He will not fail you nor destroy you nor forget the covenant with your fathers which He swore to them.

      32“Indeed, ask now concerning the former days which were before you, since the day that God created man on the earth, and inquire from one end of the heavens to the other. Has anything been done like this great thing, or has anything been heard like it? 33“Has any people heard the voice of God speaking from the midst of the fire, as you have heard it, and survived? 34“Or has a god tried to go to take for himself a nation from within another nation by trials, by signs and wonders and by war and by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm and by great terrors, as the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes? 35“To you it was shown that you might know that the LORD, He is God; there is no other besides Him. 36“Out of the heavens He let you hear His voice to discipline you; and on earth He let you see His great fire, and you heard His words from the midst of the fire. 37“Because He loved your fathers, therefore He chose their descendants after them. And He personally brought you from Egypt by His great power, 38driving out from before you nations greater and mightier than you, to bring you in and to give you their land for an inheritance, as it is today. 39“Know therefore today, and take it to your heart, that the LORD, He is God in heaven above and on the earth below; there is no other. 40“So you shall keep His statutes and His commandments which I am giving you today, that it may go well with you and with your children after you, and that you may live long on the land which the LORD your God is giving you for all time.”

      41Then Moses set apart three cities across the Jordan to the east, 42that a manslayer might flee there, who unintentionally slew his neighbor without having enmity toward him in time past; and by fleeing to one of these cities he might live: 43Bezer in the wilderness on the plateau for the Reubenites, and Ramoth in Gilead for the Gadites, and Golan in Bashan for the Manassites.

      44Now this is the law which Moses set before the sons of Israel; 45these are the testimonies and the statutes and the ordinances which Moses spoke to the sons of Israel, when they came out from Egypt, 46across the Jordan, in the valley opposite Beth-peor, in the land of Sihon king of the Amorites who lived at Heshbon, whom Moses and the sons of Israel defeated when they came out from Egypt. 47They took possession of his land and the land of Og king of Bashan, the two kings of the Amorites, who were across the Jordan to the east, 48from Aroer, which is on the edge of the valley of Arnon, even as far as Mount Sion (that is, Hermon), 49with all the Arabah across the Jordan to the east, even as far as the sea of the Arabah, at the foot of the slopes of Pisgah.

—-

Do you know for sure if you will go to heaven or hell when you die? Are you experiencing in your life the peace and joy of a personal relationship with our Creator and Father? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

Jesus (hearing from God), Jesus Christ / Yeshua, Study the Word

Did Yeshua Really Claim to Be God?

I am amazed at times by the discussions I have had with some Muslims about Yeshua. In several cases, individuals do not dispute the Bible (including the New Testament) as reliable source. They simply claim that Yeshua never said He was God. This is patently false. There are numerous examples where Yeshua does so. He “forgives sins”, knowing only God forgives sins. The book of John opens up with a clear description of Yeshua as the Word of God, one with God from the beginning.  Yeshua states He is one with the Father. The whole reason Yeshua was crucified by the Jews is because He claimed to be God.

Yeshua can not be a prophet alone. He must be either a liar, a madman, or God.

But when I share the clear scripture with these individuals, they somehow reject what it clearly states. The alternate explanations they make up are just not credible. In some cases, with no logical base to refute the claim, they now choose to claim the Bible is not a good source, despite the fact that it is objectively a much more reliable document than the Koran. It has not been changed in thousands of years and we have found plenty of old copies of manuscripts to prove it They date back much closer to the time of Christ. And properly understood, the Bible does not contradict itself. Possibly most incredible is that the people who wrote it included all sorts of detail on mistakes and failings of their faith heroes… like David, Abraham, Moses, and the disciples. If they were writing fiction, why would they not lie and make these heroes look better… or just omit the bad stuff?

Luke 22:66-71

Jesus before the Sanhedrin

     66When it was day, the Council of elders of the people assembled, both chief priests and scribes, and they led Him away to their council chamber, saying, 67“If You are the Christ, tell us.” But He said to them, “If I tell you, you will not believe; 68and if I ask a question, you will not answer. 69“But from now on THE SON OF MAN WILL BE SEATED AT THE RIGHT HAND of the power OF GOD.” 70And they all said, “Are You the Son of God, then?” And He said to them, “Yes, I am.” 71Then they said, “What further need do we have of testimony? For we have heard it ourselves from His own mouth.”

John 14:1-11

      1“Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. 2“In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. 3“If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also. 4“And you know the way where I am going.” 5Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, how do we know the way?” 6Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.

Oneness with the Father

     7“If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him, and have seen Him.”

      8Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” 9Jesus said to him, “Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10“Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works. 11“Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; otherwise believe because of the works themselves.

There are many more such examples.

Yeshua being one with God is critical to our Christian faith. Jews and Muslims also accept the Old Testament. Christ as Messiah is what defines us. Let us familiarize ourselves with scripture so we may give an account to others when given the chance. Whether or not they accept the truth, is between them and God, but we are to deliver the truth.

—-

Do you know for sure if you will go to heaven or hell when you die? Are you experiencing in your life the peace and joy of a personal relationship with our Creator and Father? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.