Tuesday, November 19, 2024

Verbal attacks on someone’s character are NOT the way to “win friends and influence enemies!”

I WAS RECENTLY INVOLVED IN THE FOLLOWING FACEBOOK CONVERSATION with someone who had posted some extremely offensive remarks about the Jews. I couldn’t bring myself to “just let it go and just move on” because it needed to be addressed, as it was very mean-spirited, biblically incorrect, and clearly designed to solicit arguments and divisiveness.

This person wrote:

“God’s ‘Chosen People’ are not a particular physical race or genetic group of people, but rather those who are in a saving relationship with Him through Jesus Christ.

“I find the idea that a group of people who, for the most part, vehemently deny the Messiahship of Yeshua can still be considered the chosen people of God to be utterly absurd and logic defying. Beside that, no person alive today can, with any degree of certainty, trace their lineage back to Abraham or any of the 12 Tribes.

“For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise. Galatians 3:26-29

“By the way, I am not advocating for ‘replacement theology’, I’m simply presenting Scripture in its proper context.”

MY RESPONSE:

Your excruciatingly anti-Semitic post makes me sad because this issue is so often being pushed by people like yourself who feel a need to force their particular theology down the world’s collective throat with a vengeance, via language peppered with arrogance, haughtiness, self-righteousness, and vicious mental cruelty.

And YES, you ARE advocating “replacement theology!” The ONLY thing you are accomplishing in your arrogance, is that you’re pushing the Jews AWAY from God’s Messiah – a Messiah your Facebook posts have proven to reveal YOU DO NOT KNOW AT ALL!

Clearly, you don’t even realize that, by denigrating the Jews, you are ALSO BERATING THE JEWISH Messiah/Son of David/the Lion of Judah, who came through the line of Yehudah/Judah!

Therefore, I’m going to show you and your hangers-on how your “Greek mindset” is clouding the HEBREW TRUTH evident throughout the entire Bible…

HERE GOES - AND I PRAY GOD WILL OPEN YOUR EYES TO HIS TRUTH:

Firstly, I’m sure you think you mean well, but it’s time you came to realize that the “Jesus” you keep pushing, was not a blond, blue-eyed Greek Adonis who came to bring a “new religion” and abolish everything His Father ever commanded.  Your Christianized “Jesus Christ” in fact, does NOT in any way reflect the actual Divine Jewish Messiah revealed in the Gospels…

Yeshua (whose Hebrew name means “Yahweh is Salvation”), as revealed throughout the entire New Testament, was a Torah observant, Seventh Day Sabbath and Feast-keeping, tallit-wearing, kosher JEW who was sent to earth to proclaim the Kingdom of Yahweh (the English transliteration of the Father’s Name as given to Moshe/Moses in Exodus 3:13-15, also spelled simply as YHWH), and to do everything his Father commanded (something the Apostles later on reiterated):

Luke 4:43 "But he said, "I must preach the good news of the Kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent." (CJB)

Luke 8:1. And it happened after these things that Y'shua was going around in the cities and in the villages and was preaching and declaring the Kingdom of Elohim. (AENT)

Acts 28:23 "From morning till evening the Apostle Paul explained and declared the Kingdom of God and tried to convince people about Yeshua from the Law of Moses and from the Prophets." (CJB

Acts 24:14. But this indeed I (Paul) acknowledge, that in that same doctrine of which they speak, I do serve the Elohim of my fathers, believing all the things written in Torah and in the prophets. (AENT)

As you can see from just the passages above, Yeshua did NOT come to bring a new “religion” designed to abolish Yahweh's Torah, or suggest that it would be okay for people to make up their own rules and "holy days” – which is one of the main reasons Jews do NOT accept “Jesus!”  Everything he and all the Apostles taught (including the much-misunderstood/mistranslated teachings of Paul) came straight from the Torah.

Jews adhere to the “Tanach” - what Christians refer to as the “Old Testament” (a term that, unfortunately, makes it sound as if it had been abolished after Yahweh sent Messiah Yeshua to Earth to, in essence, overthrow the Heavenly Throne and act as the “be-all-end-all” while pushing His Father into the background).

YES, the Bible amply reveals that there is a special “Unity” between Yahweh and Yeshua; but Jews BELIEVE Yahweh’s assertion that Yahweh is the ONLY God, because that is what He Himself SAID. (See Isaiah 9:6, John 5:19-27; 10:30; 15:10; Philippians 2:5-11. You cannot and should never try to verbally beat them to death for that truth!  (Please check out my article on the YHWH/Yeshua relationship.)

Here are some examples that you may have missed during your Bible studies:

Deuteronomy 4: 39 ...know today, and establish it in your heart, that ADONAI is God in heaven above and on earth below - there is no other. (CJB)

Isaiah 45: 5 I am ADONAI; there is no other; besides me there is no God. (CJB)

Exodus 3:15 And Elohim said further to Mosheh, "Thus you are to say to the children of Yisra'el, Elohim of your fathers, the Elohim of Abraham, the Elohim of Yitsh'aq, and the Elohim of Ya'aqob, has sent me to you. This is My Name forever, and this is My remembrance to all generations.' (ISR)

QUESTION: Has “forever” ended yet? Can you see why “the Jews” are hesitant to embrace the idea of “a second God” or a “Trinity” (as many Christian denominations teach); or that Jesus is “God in the Flesh" who somehow replaces the “Old Testament God” and/or has abolished everything that was taught in those first three-fourths of the Bible, that people like you choose to IGNORE?

Messiah Yeshua is certainly DIVINE!  He was like no other “mere” human on earth, before or since; and we must remember, he KNEW he was the MESSIAH, and behaved as such! Think about this: Yeshua PRAYED to His Father (clearly NOT to himself), during the three-plus decades he resided in an “earth suit.” (John 11:41-42; John 17; Mark 1:35 and 6:46). And, here is a real snag for most:  GOD cannot be born or die – but Yeshua did.  We earthlings will never truly be able to understand this special YHWH/Yeshua relationship until WE are out of our “earth suits” and freed from our limited, human mindsets …

In view of this, don’t you think it is downright evil to berate Jews and attempt to build up and/or force them to accept  a “religion” that teaches otherwise, twisting Messiah into something he wasn’t?

So far, do you see ANY indication that “Jesus” came to bring a religion that revealed that Yahweh’s “Chosen” had been replaced by Christians whom you suggest are somehow “better” than Jews because, just because they “believe in Jesus?” …Replaced by people who often call Torah a “curse” and refuse to keep God’s commanded Seventh Day Sabbath REST (which is a SIGN between Him and His people); and the seven commanded Feasts (which ALL foreshadow Messiah Yeshua), simply because they erroneously believe that those commands “were only for the Jews?”

Below are a few examples of what GOD commanded:

Exodus 31:16 The people of Isra'el are to keep the Shabbat, to observe Shabbat through all their generations as a perpetual covenant. 17 It is a sign between me and the people of Isra'el forever; for in six days ADONAI made heaven and earth, but on the seventh day he stopped working and rested.'" (CJB)

Ezekiel 20:11 I gave them my laws and showed them my rulings; if a person obeys them, he will have life through them. 12 I gave them my shabbats as a sign between me and them, so that they would know that I, ADONAI, am the one who makes them holy. (CJB)

Exodus 20:8 "Remember the day, Shabbat, to set it apart for God. 9 You have six days to labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Shabbat for ADONAI your God. On it, you are not to do any kind of work -not you, your son or your daughter, not your male or female slave, not your livestock, and not the foreigner staying with you inside the gates to your property. 11 For in six days, ADONAI made heaven and earth, the sea and everything in them; but on the seventh day he rested. This is why ADONAI blessed the day, Shabbat, and separated it for himself. (CJB)

NOTE VERSE 10 WHICH SAYS, “and not the foreigner staying with you inside the gates to your property” – which reveals that any pagan/non-Jew staying with a Hebrew/Jew on their property on the Sabbath is also NOT to do any kind of work!

Yahweh EXPECTS those who believe in Him and His Messiah to OBEY the “forever” rules! It’s ironic that people like yourself “believe” in the Ten Commandments, yet don’t seem to realize those commandments ORIGINATED in the Torah (See Exodus 20); yet, they have the audacity to rebuke, harass and harangue the Jews (and Messianic Jews/Hebrew Roots) for choosing to OBEY those commandments, as if they are a BAD thing…

It’s mind-boggling that a whole religion is built around the idea that God’s Divine Instructions, as seen not just in the Torah, but sprinkled throughout the ENTIRE BIBLE, were somehow “abolished at the cross” when the truth is that Yeshua’s death served to teach us God's ways, and to forgive our PAST SINS!

1 John 2:1. My children, these things I write to you that you do not sin. But if anyone should sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Y’shua the Mashiyach, the righteous. 2. For he is himself the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only but also for all the world. 3. And by this we will be sensible that we know him, if we keep his Commandments.

4. For he that says I know him, and does not keep his Commandments, is a liar and the truth is not in him. 5. But he that keeps his Word, in him is the Love of Elohim truly completed: for by this we know that we are in him.

6. He that says I am in him, is bound to walk according to his halacha ("the way to behave" or "the way of walking" according to YHWH’s Torah). 7. My beloved, I write no new commandment to you, but the old Commandment which you had from the beginning; and the old Commandment is the Word which you have heard.* (AENT)

*NOTE: “Elohim is light”, (1 John 1:5); therefore, it can be argued that at Creation when YHWH said, “Let there be light”, Genesis 1:3, that He in effect brought a part of Himself out to accomplish the creative act. The “Word” does this same feat, Psalm 33:6; John 1:1; a few lines earlier we read the “Word of Life.”

Here is another example showing what Yahweh will do for ANYONE who keeps HIS Seventh Day Sabbath holy:

Isaiah 56: 6 "And the foreigners (meaning non-Jews, or pagans and gentiles) who join themselves to ADONAI to serve him, to love the name of ADONAI, and to be his workers, all who keep Shabbat and do not profane it, and hold fast to my covenant, 7 I will bring them to my holy mountain and make them joyful in my house of prayer; their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house will be called a house of prayer for all peoples." (CJB)

Passages such as the above reveal that God’s “Chosen” could not, would not, and never have been people who refused to obey or endlessly argue with Yahweh about his Divine Instructions in Righteousness (Torah), without which we would have NO blueprint for moral, holy living!

NOW TO ADDRESS YOUR COMMENT that you find it “utterly absurd and logic defying that a group of people who, for the most part, vehemently deny the Messiahship of Yeshua can still be considered the chosen people of God.”

Yahweh “chooses” anyone He wishes – and more often than not, He chooses those who OBEY His Divine Rules!  For instance, by Genesis 6, God had decided to destroy by flood the entire earth filled with godless heathens/pagans – except for the righteous Noah and his family (who, by the way, weren’t Jews).  Noah knew who to live a holy life, and obviously obeyed Yahweh’s Divine Instructions; which is why he “found grace in the sight of Adonai.” – Genesis 6:8). Because of this holy, set apart and obedient man, life on earth was allowed to be reset.

NOW TO THAT “CHOSEN” THING THAT YOU ARE SO HUNG UP ABOUT

After Noah’s experience in Genesis 6, in Genesis 12, we see that Yahweh Elohim chose someone to start the people group that ultimately became known by the blanket term of “Jews”: A pagan Chaldean named “Avram” – later renamed “Avraham” which means “Father of many. (Genesis 17:1-5) Please read all of Chapter 17 to discover the whole covenant he made with Avraham – which was never revoked.)

Here is something many Christians don’t seem to know:  Avraham became a "Hebrew" the moment he accepted Yahweh as his God and left his family and homeland behind to go wherever God told him to go.

The word "Hebrew" in the Hebrew language means "to cross over" which is what Avraham did, both spiritually and physically, the moment he accepted Yahweh. All Avraham’s offspring were initially known as “Hebrews” - but eventually became known by the blanket term, "Jews"...

So, let's do a little history lesson and continue to allow Scripture to speak for itself! Here's what ADONAI ELOHIM said to Avraham:

Genesis 12:3 - "I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you." (CJB)

Note that Yahweh wasn't talking to "the Jews" at that point; but, rather, to the first Patriarch, Avraham who, as I mentioned, "crossed over" both physically and spiritually when he accepted YHWH as his Elohim.

There were no "Jews" until Jacob had a son named Yehudah (Judah) who "became" the Tribe of Judah, where the term "Jew" originated. And, by the way, up to that time – unlike today’s Christians - ALL who believed in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were Torah observant, because that is what Yahweh commanded.

You can see in the following passage, He repeated that FOUR TIMES in a row – and, just like His Chosen people, this command was NEVER superseded or changed in any way:

Numbers 15:13 "'Every citizen is to do these things in this way when presenting an offering made by fire as a fragrant aroma for ADONAI. 14 If a foreigner stays with you - or whoever may be with you, through all your generations - and he wants to bring an offering made by fire as a fragrant aroma for ADONAI, he is to do the same as you.

15 For this community there will be the same law for you as for the foreigner living with you; this is a permanent regulation through all your generations; the foreigner is to be treated the same way before ADONAI as yourselves. 16 The same Torah and standard of judgment will apply to both you and the foreigner living with you.'" (CJB)

NOTE again:  In the above Yahweh wasn't talking to "the Jews"; rather, to the 12 Tribes of Israel AND the foreigners who had followed Moshe and the Israelites out of Egypt...

Deuteronomy 7:6 - For you are a people set apart as holy for ADONAI your God. ADONAI your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his own unique treasure. 7 ADONAI didn't set his heart on you or choose you because you numbered more than any other people - on the contrary, you were the fewest of all peoples. 8 Rather, it was because ADONAI loved you, and because he wanted to keep the oath which he had sworn to your ancestors, that ADONAI brought you out with a strong hand and redeemed you from a life of slavery under the hand of Pharoah king of Egypt. (CJB)

…And here he mentions that Israel is the home of a people who would ultimately become known as “Jews”…

Genesis 15: 18 On that day YHWH made a covenant with Abram and said, "To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates...." (CJB)

Zecheriah 12: 9 And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. (CJB)

NOTE: So far, there’s NOTHING suggests that God’s Chosen people were somehow “evil” or “shunned” or to be “replaced” by another people group. We even see the following (talking about the Jews!) in the “New Testament”:

Romans 11:11-12: "But I say: Have they so stumbled as to fall entirely? May it never be! Rather, by their stumbling, life has come to the Gentiles for (awakening) their jealousy. And if their stumbling was riches to the world, and their condemnation riches to the Gentiles; how much more their completeness?" (CJB)

The whole, entire Bible is about Israel and God's true "Chosen" ... And you would do well to remember, Yahweh caused Yeshua to be born into the Tribe of Yehudah/Judah. So,again, to trash-talk about the Jews, you are ALSO berating our Jewish Messiah!

Now, let’s gets back to your comment, “By the way, I am not advocating for ‘replacement theology’, I’m simply presenting Scripture in its proper context.”

Sorry, brother, but what you wrote is straight-up "replacement theology" as you are doing some MAJOR Scripture twisting! Here is proof:

Romans 11:11-12: "But I say: Have they so stumbled as to fall entirely? May it never be! Rather, by their stumbling, life has come to the Gentiles for (awakening) their jealousy. And if their stumbling was riches to the world, and their condemnation riches to the Gentiles; how much more their completeness?" (CJB)

Does that passage in any way suggest that somehow suggest Christians are now the "chosen"? NO! It says Gentiles were "awakened"... As a matter of fact, Gentiles who “believe in” Yahweh and Yeshua, are no longer considered “Gentiles” as they have – like Avraham – “crossed over” to become HEBREWS!  They are part of “Spiritual Israel" and equally loved by ADONAI, because the “grafted in branches” become PART of the whole tree!  That being a fact, WHY do you insist on separating “the Jews” into an “us and them” theology?

Micah 4: 2 Many Gentiles will go and say, "Come, let's go up to the mountain of ADONAI, to the house of the God of Ya'akov (Judah's father)! He will teach us about his ways, and we will walk in his paths." For out of Tziyon will go forth Torah, the word of ADONAI from Yerushalayim. (CJB)

In view of the passage above, how can anyone truly believe that Yahweh’s original “chosen” would ever be replaced? I mean, think about it: Do you, as a Christian believer, REALLY "walk in His ways?"

Remember, we are to walk as Yeshua walked – and Yeshua “walked in Torah” (1 John 2:5). Do you eat only foods He considers “clean” as outlined in the Book of Leviticus? Do you keep His COMMANDED Seventh Day Sabbath, or the COMMANDED seven Festivals - ALL of which foreshadow Yeshua, who has so far fulfilled the first FOUR of the SEVEN?

(I’ve seen some of your Facebook posts and know for a fact that the answer to all the above questions is a flat “NO!”  How sad for you.)

Anyway, there are only three more Feasts/High Holy Days to go, and the next one will be what Christians call "the Rapture". God’s major events happen on His High Holy Days – and the “rapture” will take place on a future Yom Teruah/Feast of Trumpets, when God calls His people together…

Genesis 49:10 The scepter will not pass from Y'hudah, nor the ruler's staff from between his legs, until he comes to whom [obedience] belongs; and it is he whom the peoples will obey. (CJB)

The passage above refers to Yeshua, when he returns to earth to rule and reign for a thousand years. NOWHERE do we see in the Bible that "the Jews" were ever released from their status, just because of their disobedience!

ALL humans are guilty of “disobedience” to God in one way or another, so it’s very mean-spirited to suggest that the Jews were replaced for theirs – especially in view of the fact that Yahweh used the Tribe of Yehudah/Judah to get His Word (specifically TORAH) out into the nations!

The Tribe of Judah was chosen to take Torah into the world and safeguard and preserve it (Genesis 49:10, Micah 4:2). If it hadn't been for “the Jews” being scattered into the nations (Ezekiel 36:19), YHWH and His Son Yeshua would have remained the best-kept secret of tiny, little Israel - and the rest of the world would still be writhing in Paganism!

One cannot condemn those Jews who are not yet Believers in the Mashiyach (Messiah) because God hasn't opened their spiritual eyes to that, yet. But, as we all know, EVERY KNEE WILL BOW on the day Yeshua returns! (Philippians 2:5-11)

In the meantime, people like yourself have knocked themselves out to make it their life’s goal to DRIVE THE JEWS AWAY from the very one who IS the Messiah – Yeshua - the one actually revealed in the “New Testament!”…

Concerning your use of Galatians 3:26-29:

“For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise. Galatians 3:26-29”

MY RESPONSE:

TRUTH! We ARE "all one in Christ" – and, since you brought it up, please re-read Numbers 15:13-16 mentioned earlier, to grasp the understanding that, as a grafted-in Believer, you are expected to do exactly as HIS people do! There are other passages that mention that fact:

1 John 2:3 The way we can be sure we know him is if we are obeying his commands. 4 Anyone who says, "I know him," but isn't obeying his commands is a liar - the truth is not in him. 5 But if someone keeps doing what he says, then truly love for God has been brought to its goal in him. This is how we are sure that we are united with him. 6 A person who claims to be continuing in union with him ought to conduct his life the way he did. (CJB)

(And again, how did Yeshua walk? IN TORAH!)

1 John 2:7 My beloved, I write no new commandment to you, but the old Commandment which you had from the beginning; and the old Commandment is the Word which you have heard. (AENT)

Proverbs 24:12 If you say, "See, we did not know this," Does He not consider it who weighs the hearts? And does He not know it who keeps your soul? And will He not render to man according to his work? (CJB)

Proverbs 28:9 If a person will not listen to Torah, even his prayer is an abomination. (CJB) (See also 1 Peter 3:12, Proverbs 15:29, James 5:16, Isaiah 59:2, James 4:3-8, James 1:6-7, John 15:7, Revelation 21:8, etc.)

Romans 10:12. And in this, it discriminates neither Jews nor Gentiles. For there is one, Master YHWH, over them all, who is abundantly generous towards every one that calls on him. 13. For everyone that will call on the name of Master YHWH, will have life. (AENT)

John 14:15 If you love me, you will keep my commands; (CJB)

Revelation 12:17 And the dragon was enraged against the woman; and he went to make war upon the remnant of her seed who keep the Commandments of Elohim and have the testimony of Y'shua. (AENT)

Ecclesiastes 12:13 Here is the final conclusion, now that you have heard everything: fear God, and keep his mitzvot; this is what being human is all about. 14 For God will bring to judgment everything we do, including every secret, whether good or bad. [Here is the final conclusion, now that you have heard everything: fear God, and keep his mitzvot; this is what being human is all about.] (CJB)

Paul reiterated the above:

Romans 3:19. Now we know, that whatever Torah says, it says to them who are under Torah; that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world be guilty before Elohim. 20. And so it must be that, by the deeds of Torah, no flesh is justified before him: for, by Torah, sin is known. 21. But now, the righteousness of Elohim without Torah, is manifested; and Torah[2] and the prophets testify of it.

22. Even the righteousness of Elohim, which is by faith in Y'shua the Mashiyach for every one and on every one that believes in him: for there is no distinction; 23. For they have all sinned, and failed of the glory of Elohim. 24. And they are granted the status of being righteous by grace and by the redemption which is in Y'shua the Mashiyach 25. Whom Elohim has ordained in advance a propitiation by faith in his blood, because of our previous sins 26. In the space which Elohim in his long suffering gave to us for the manifestation of his righteousness at the present time, that he might be righteous, and might with righteousness make him righteous who is in the faith of our Master Y'shua the Mashiyach.

27. Where then is glorying? It is completely unmade. By what Torah? By that of works? No! But by the Torah of faith. 28. We therefore conclude, that it is by faith a man is being made righteous, and not by the works[3] of Torah. 29. For, is he the Elohim of the Jews only and not of the Gentiles? No, but of the Gentiles also. Because there is one Elohim who makes righteous the circumcision by faith, and the uncircumcision by 30. the same faith. 31. Do, we then nullify Torah by faith? May it never be! On the contrary, we establish Torah. (AENT)

NOTES:

[1] Torah sets YHWH's boundaries as to what is good or evil behavior; therefore, this cannot and does not make Torah a bad thing, but a very good thing! Rav Shaul returns to this precise point again in the seventh chapter.

[2] Y'shua qualified as Mashiyach because he fulfilled all Torah and Prophetic requirements, and he became Torah. Torah is written upon the heart by the Ruach haKodesh; the Spirit of Mashiyach is Torah which is the Spirit of Mashiyach, or the Manifestation (Word) of YHWH which became flesh and dwelt among us. Therefore, if we live "in" Y'shua we also become Torah. It is evil to posture that Rav Shaul brought Torah down, when in fact Y'shua and Paul restored and elevated Torah to be the foundation of a spiritual dialogue with Heaven.

[3] The terms "works of Torah" and "under Torah" predate Paul by hundreds of years. These terms were discovered in the Dead Sea Scrolls (A Sectarian Manifesto 4QMMT:4Q394-399); while originally referring to the ultra religious halacha of the Essenes, the same principles apply to the Pharisees' halacha. These two phrases are also mentioned in Romans 6:14, 15; 9:32; 1 Corinthians 9:20; 21; Galatians 2:16; 3:2, 5, 10, 23; 4:4, 5, 21; 5:18. "Under Torah" refers to the orthodox/traditional interpretation and observance of Torah.

Religious halacha ("the way to behave" or "the way of walking") is clearly NOT what Y'shua or Paul followed in their observance of Torah. The Renewed Covenant promise in Jeremiah 31:33 is to write the Torah of YHWH upon the hearts of His people, not the "Torah of men." The idiomatic expression "works of Torah" provides insight to those of a "traditional" Jewish upbringing. Paul references Jews at the beginning of this chapter; in verse 19 he states "Now we know" referring to those who understand Torah and halacha.

REFERRING BACK TO YOUR COMMENT, in which you wrote: “I find the idea that a group of people who, for the most part, vehemently deny the Messiahship of Yeshua can still be considered the chosen people of God to be utterly absurd and logic defying. Beside that, no person alive today can, with any degree of certainty, trace their lineage back to Abraham or any of the 12 Tribes. Please show me an OT or NT passage CLEARLY prophesying the birth of this modern state of Israel.”

The passage you’ve apparently been missing is Isaiah 66:7-8 in which Isaiah prophesied that Israel would become a nation again and that it would happen in one day – which happened in 1948 when God used what Hitler did during WWII, to bring about TWO of His end times prophecies; and He has, ever since then, been calling the JEWS home!

I LEAVE YOU WITH THIS AND PRAY YOU WILL FIND IT IN YOUR HEART TO STOP the berating of the Jews who don’t believe in your “Jesus” – because it is THEIR Messiah, Yeshua, who will soon be returning for the second time to put an end to mankind’s nonsense:

Jeremiah 31:35-37: This is what the LORD says, he who appoints the sun to shine by day, who decrees the moon and stars to shine by night, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar- the LORD Almighty is his name: "Only if these decrees vanish from my sight," declares the LORD, "will the descendants of Israel ever cease to be a nation before me." This is what the LORD says: "Only if the heavens above can be measured and the foundations of the earth below be searched out will I reject all the descendants of Israel because of all they have done," declares the LORD. (CJB)

Romans 11:25-27: "I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: "The deliverer will come from Zion; he will turn godlessness away from Jacob. And this is my covenant with them when I take away their sins." (CJB)

My friend, I hope you can see that God obviously disagrees with your theology, as evidenced by the scripture passages I've provided so far. I pray He will soon open your eyes to HIS Truth because, the Bible is NOT only all about “Jesus” and the erroneous idea that he brought a “new religion”; it's about YHWH/Yeshua/Torah and the beautiful fact that “Gentiles” have a chance to be grafted in to begin living a holy life according to ADONAI’s Divine Instructions, in the same way His Chosen have been doing for millennia.

Monday, November 18, 2024

Did you know that ALL believers are to be Torah observant?


WE’LL START WITH THE PASSAGE WHERE ADONAI ELOHIM COMMANDED THIS FOUR TIMES IN A ROW:

Numbers 15:13 "'Every citizen is to do these things in this way when presenting an offering made by fire as a fragrant aroma for ADONAI. 14 If a foreigner stays with you - or whoever may be with you, through all your generations - and he wants to bring an offering made by fire as a fragrant aroma for ADONAI, he is to do the same as you.

15 For this community there will be the same law for you as for the foreigner living with you; this is a permanent regulation through all your generations; the foreigner is to be treated the same way before ADONAI as yourselves. 16 The same Torah and standard of judgment will apply to both you and the foreigner living with you.'" (CJB)

1 John 2:3 The way we can be sure we know him is if we are obeying his commands. 4 Anyone who says, "I know him," but isn't obeying his commands is a liar – the truth is not in him. 5 But if someone keeps doing what he says, then truly love for God has been brought to its goal in him. This is how we are sure that we are united with him. 6 A person who claims to be continuing in union with him ought to conduct his life the way he did. (CJB)

(And how did Y'shua walk? In Torah!)

1 John 2:7 My beloved, I write no new commandment to you, but the old Commandment which you had from the beginning; and the old Commandment is the Word which you have heard. (AENT)

Proverbs 24:12 If you say, "See, we did not know this," Does He not consider it who weighs the hearts? And does He not know it who keeps your soul? And will He not render to man according to his work? (CJB)

Proverbs 28:9 If a person will not listen to Torah, even his prayer is an abomination. (CJB) (See also 1 Peter 3:12, Proverbs 15:29, James 5:16, Isaiah 59:2, James 4:3-8, James 1:6-7, John 15:7, Revelation 21:8, etc.)

Romans 10:12. And in this, it discriminates neither Jews nor Gentiles. For there is one, Master YHWH, over them all, who is abundantly generous towards every one that calls on him. 13. For everyone that will call on the name of Master YHWH, will have life. (AENT)

John 14:15 If you love me, you will keep my commands; (CJB)

Revelation 12:17 And the dragon was enraged against the woman; and he went to make war upon the remnant of her seed who keep the Commandments of Elohim and have the testimony of Y'shua. (AENT)

Ecclesiastes 12:13 Here is the final conclusion, now that you have heard everything: fear God, and keep his mitzvot; this is what being human is all about. 14 For God will bring to judgment everything we do, including every secret, whether good or bad. [Here is the final conclusion, now that you have heard everything: fear God, and keep his mitzvot; this is what being human is all about.] (CJB)

Paul reiterated the above:

Romans 3:19. Now we know, that whatever Torah says, it says to them who are under Torah; that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world be guilty before Elohim.  20. And so it must be that, by the deeds of Torah, no flesh is justified before him: for, by Torah, sin is known.  21. But now, the righteousness of Elohim without Torah, is manifested; and Torah[2] and the prophets testify of it.

22. Even the righteousness of Elohim, which is by faith in Y'shua the Mashiyach for every one and on every one that believes in him: for there is no distinction;  23. For they have all sinned, and failed of the glory of Elohim.  24. And they are granted the status of being righteous by grace and by the redemption which is in Y'shua the Mashiyach  25. Whom Elohim has ordained in advance a propitiation by faith in his blood, because of our previous sins  26. In the space which Elohim in his long suffering gave to us for the manifestation of his righteousness at the present time, that he might be righteous, and might with righteousness make him righteous who is in the faith of our Master Y'shua the Mashiyach.

27. Where then is glorying? It is completely unmade. By what Torah? By that of works? No! But by the Torah of faith.  28. We therefore conclude, that it is by faith a man is being made righteous, and not by the works[3] of Torah.  29. For, is he the Elohim of the Jews only and not of the Gentiles? No, but of the Gentiles also.  Because there is one Elohim who makes righteous the circumcision by faith, and the uncircumcision by  30. the same faith.  31.  Do, we then nullify Torah by faith? May it never be! On the contrary, we establish Torah.  (AENT)

NOTES:

[1]  Torah sets YHWH's boundaries as to what is good or evil behavior; therefore, this cannot and does not make Torah a bad thing, but a very good thing!  Rav Shaul returns to this precise point again in the seventh chapter.

[2]   Y'shua qualified as Mashiyach because he fulfilled all Torah and Prophetic requirements, and he became Torah.  Torah is written upon the heart by the Ruach haKodesh; the Spirit of Mashiyach is Torah which is the Spirit of Mashiyach, or the Manifestation (Word) of YHWH which became flesh and dwelt among us.  Therefore, if we live "in" Y'shua we also become Torah.  It is evil to posture that Rav Shaul brought Torah down, when in fact Y'shua and Paul restored and elevated Torah to be the foundation of a spiritual dialogue with Heaven.

[3]  The terms "works of Torah" and "under Torah" predate Paul by hundreds of years.  These terms were discovered in the Dead Sea Scrolls (A Sectarian Manifesto 4QMMT:4Q394-399); while originally referring to the ultra religious halacha of the Essenes, the same principles apply to the Pharisees' halacha. These two phrases are also mentioned in Romans 6:14, 15; 9:32; 1 Corinthians 9:20; 21; Galatians 2:16; 3:2, 5, 10, 23; 4:4, 5, 21; 5:18. "Under Torah" refers to the orthodox/traditional interpretation and observance of Torah.

Religious halacha is clearly NOT what Y'shua or Paul followed in their observance of Torah. The Renewed Covenant promise in Jeremiah 31:33 is to write the Torah of YHWH upon the hearts of His people, not the "Torah of men."  The idiomatic expression "works of Torah" provides insight to those of a "traditional" Jewish upbringing.  Paul references Jews at the beginning of this chapter; in verse 19 he states "Now we know" referring to those who understand Torah and halacha.

So YES, Torah IS VERY important!  As a matter of fact, the following passage in Psalms sums it all up – and here you can view it in at least 16 different Bible versions!

Proverbs 28:9 If a person will not listen to Torah, even his prayer is an abomination. (CJB)

Monday, November 11, 2024

The difference between Grace, Righteousness and Holiness

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN GRACE, RIGHTEOUSNESS, AND HOLINESS:

As most of us know, “GRACE” has always been around; it’s all about what YHWH can and will do for us. For instance, He gave “grace” to Adam and Eve after they sinned, by allowing them to continue living by exiling them from the sanctuary of the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:22-24). He could have killed them on the spot, but He didn’t.

Same thing for Noah and his family; the Bible tells us Noah was the only righteous man on earth at the time, and YHWH spared him from the flood that killed everyone else on earth (Genesis 6).

And much later, He sent us His Divine Son, Messiah Yeshua, to proclaim, preach and teach the Kingdom of Elohim (Luke 4:43 and 8:1), and do everything his Father commanded John 6:35-40), and then to die as our Redeemer, Substitute, Salvation (Matthew 1; Luke 2, Matthew 27). Those things are all examples of His “Grace” and love for us!

“RIGHTEOUSNESS” refers to the fact that we should be conducting ourselves according to YHWH’s Torah (Divine Rules for Holy Living/Instructions in Righteousness, found in the first five Books of the Bible). Obedience to His Rules is what sets us apart from the world where evil abounds.

RIGHTEOUS LIVING IS WHAT MAKES US HOLY! That “holiness” (the quality or state of being holy, or to be “godly” or “devout”) is imparted to us after we accept YHWH and His Divine Rules for holy living, His Messiah, and His generous offer of Eternal Life.

And there you have it: GRACE, RIGHTEOUSNESS, AND HOLINESS go hand-in-hand. It’s NOT a “one-way street”; it is a relationship!

1 John 4: 12. No one has ever seen Elohim; but if we love one another, Elohim abides in us and his love is perfected in us. 13. And by this we know that we abide in him and that he abides in us, because he has given of his Spirit to us. 14. And we have seen and do testify that the Father has sent his Son, a Redeemer for the world.

15. Whoever confesses Y’shua to be the Son of Elohim, Elohim abides in him and he abides in Elohim. 16. And we have believed and known the love which Elohim has towards us: for Elohim is love, and whoever abides in love, abides in Elohim. 17. And hereby is his love perfected with us; that we may have open countenances in the day of judgment; because as he was, so also are we in this world.

18. In love there is no fear; but perfect love casts out fear; because fear exists in peril, and he that fears[*] is not perfected in love. 19. Let us, therefore, love Elohim; because he has first loved us. (AENT)

FOOTNOTE: This refers to the fear of man, the fear of loss and every other form of fear, except the Fear of YHWH. The Fear of YHWH helps to perfect the love of YHWH. A young child is taught about boundaries to protect and sustain the child’s welfare. The more wisdom and understanding a child has of their boundaries and environment, the more likely they will not fall into danger. Young children do not have the knowledge that their parents do; neither does mankind have all the knowledge that YHWH has. Only a fool would overstep the boundaries established by YHWH, this is not done by wise and understanding individuals.

May ADONAI bless you all as you continue to strive to be holy and righteous in His Eyes!

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ADDENDUM:  A Christian posing as a Messianic believer on Facebook decided to challenge my teaching above - and, honestly, I already knew how it would end up, but I decided to give it a try in hopes that SOMETHING might stick.  I am posting our brief exchange below.  If you’re interested, please read on….

CHRISTIAN’S REPLY TO MY ARTICLE ABOVE:  2 Corinthians 5:21.  He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

I do believe we are to follow our Father's instructions on how to live a set apart, holy life. But that is not what makes us righteous.

MY RESPONSE: Thanks for your response. Could you tell me in your view what makes us righteous?

CHRISTIAN’S REPLY: Our Faith in the shed blood of Messiah as an atonement for sin. As it says in 2 Corinthians 5:21.

MY RESPONSE: Oh yes, that is absolutely true! However, in the meantime, we are expected to repent and turn from our sins and, unless we walk in the way that Yeshua walked, we cannot possibly be what YHWH expects us to be. We cannot be holy if we’re walking in our own way and still behaving in a carnal way, etc. The only way to be truly holy is to be obedient to YHWHs divine rules.

For instance, once we accept Yahweh and Yeshua, we are supposed to start keeping the seventh day of Sabbath and all the feasts - which are commanded. We are also supposed to be eating only clean foods. The church doesn’t teach that, which is a real shame because they are actual commands that apply to all.

CHRISTIAN’S REPLY: Yes, I agree. But that is AFTER we're made righteous by the shed blood of the Lamb by faith, else we could say our obedience saved us, we cannot ever be obedient enough, all OUR righteousness is as filthy rags. We obey by the power of the Holy Spirit not by our own will. 2 Corinthians 5:21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

 MY RESPONSE: You seem to be all about Yeshua and the NT writings - and not about YHWH and "the whole picture." I do get what you are saying, but you are adhering to the much-misunderstood writings of Paul. I mean, how did Enoch suddenly disappear to be with God in Genesis 5:24? And Elijah in 2 Kings 2:10-11? How did Noah - the only man on earth at the time - get saved from the Flood? (Gen 6) Yeshua hadn't died yet to remove anybody from their past sins!

Same thing with all of our forefathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and a whole host of others. They were considered righteous and holy BECAUSE they obeyed YHWH's Rules for holy and righteous living. Righteousness and holiness go hand-in-hand.

Simply "believing" and having faith, doesn't get you into Eternity.  That is a myth that is taught in Christian churches.  Satan "believes" and "has faith" - and his future is in the Lake of Fire!  (He – someone who had apparently forgotten that he was just a “created being” had so much faith that he tried to take over the whole corporation because the idea of becoming and even BEING God was really appealing to him!)

The Truth is, WE MUST DO something to BE holy and righteous!   There are tons of passages in Torah that show this.  How do you know you're being righteous unless you adhere to the things written and commanded by God in the Torah?  Both Yeshua and Paul attested to that fact over and over again, and everything they discussed referred back to the Torah and the commands written therein.

Isaiah 57:1 The righteous person perishes, and nobody gives it a thought. Godly men are taken away, and no one understands that the righteous person is taken away from the evil yet to come. 2 Yes, those who live uprightly will have peace as they rest on their couches. (CJB)


Please re-read verse 2 above, and then carefully look at what Yeshua said, below:

Matthew 5: 17 Don't think that I have come to abolish the Torah or the Prophets. I have come not to abolish but to complete. 18 Yes indeed! I tell you that until heaven and earth pass away, not so much as a yud or a stroke will pass from the Torah - not until everything that must happen has happened. 19 So whoever disobeys the least of these mitzvot (words/commands) and teaches others to do so will be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven. But whoever obeys them and so teaches will be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven. 20 For I tell you that unless your righteousness is far greater than that of the Torah-teachers and P'rushim, you will certainly not enter the Kingdom of Heaven. (CJB)

Has everything happened that must happen? Have heaven and earth passed away yet? Yeshua even said He didn't come to abolish but to complete/fulfill. That did not mean "put an end to" having to DO the things that comprise holy, moral, righteous living...

Rev. 12:17 - And the dragon was enraged against the woman; and he went to make war upon the remnant of her seed who keep the Commandments of Elohim AND have the testimony of Y'shua. (AENT)

Rev. 14:12 - Here is the patience of the Set Apart believers who keep the commandments of Elohim, AND the faith of Y'shua. (AENT)

Leviticus 20:26 "...you people are to be holy for me; because I, Adonai, am holy; and I have set you apart from the other peoples, so that you can belong to me." (CJB)


How can you be "set apart" (holy and righteous) UNLESS you're adhering to more than just that last fourth of the Bible called the New Testament? What did Jesus remove there, except our certificate of debt of our PAST sins?

Leviticus 15:31 "In this way you will separate the people of Isra'el from their uncleanness, so that they will not die in a state of uncleanness for defiling my tabernacle which is there with them." (CJB)

Numbers 19:20 "The person who remains unclean and does not purify himself will be cut off from the community because he has defiled the sanctuary of Adonai." (CJB)


You have to DO something to "purify" yourself from the filth of "the world." Even the Priests (who certainly "believed and had faith") who entered the Holy of Holies out in the wilderness had to wash themselvesbefore entering the Tent...

1 Peter 1:15 13 Therefore, get your minds ready for work, keep yourselves under control, and fix your hopes fully on the gift you will receive when Yeshua the Messiah is revealed. 14 As people who obey God, do not let yourselves be shaped by the evil desires you used to have when you were still ignorant. 15 On the contrary, following the Holy One who called you, become holy yourselves in your entire way of life; 16 since the Tanakh says, Be holy for I am holy...

Now check out the following. Myriads "believe" and "have faith in Jesus" - yet they can't be bothered with keeping the following COMMANDED Appointed Times:

Exodus 31: 13 "Speak also to the children of Israel, saying: 'Surely My Sabbaths you shall keep, for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the Lord who sanctifies you."

Exodus 31: 16 "Therefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant. 17 It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever; for in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed.'"


The Mo'edim/Appointed Times/Feasts are outlined in Leviticus 23 which states after each feast: "it shall be a statute for ever in all your dwellings throughout your generations." Yeshua didn't come to remove those. Why would he? They serve to make us holy AND righteous in YHWH's Eyes!

Only those who live righteous and holy lives will enter the Kingdom. And YES, we tend to fall off the Path sometimes - but that's where Grace comes in, for we are forgiven whenever we repent and return to continue being righteous and holy. 🙂

“You are to be holy because I am holy.”

Revelation 22:14 Blessed are they who DO His (Master YHWH's) Mitzvot, that they may have a right to the tree of life and may enter through the gates into the city. (
AENT)

CHRISTIAN'S REPLY:  (She started quoting tons of passages out of Galatians in hopes of showing me the error or my ways ... which I'm not posting here because it will make this article twice as long as it already is.)

MY RESPONSE: 

I knew this is how this would end up!  You're free to believe whatever you wish. Just know that ALL you've done is to quote from the NT, complete with a Greek, NT-only mindset in hopes of showing me "the error of my ways." There is an indepth response on my website to anyone who attempts to use the Book of Galatians to “prove” that “Jesus trumps” all, including his Father’s Torah – which, by the way Yeshua TAUGHT! 

CHRISTIAN’S REPLY: LOL I was in NO WAY arguing against Torah. The fact you see the NT as you do tells me all I need to know.

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COMMENT TO MY READING AUDIENCE:

I didn’t bother to respond to that person anymore. (It's frustrating to see that people never actually ANSWER my questions; rather, they simply slough over them and continue posting THEIR arguments, replete with twisted Scripture passages.)

Be that as it may, I’m sharing this exchange here because it is a perfect example of the kinds of challenges that believers in YHWH/Yeshua/Torah get to deal with constantly.  I chose to come out of Christianity nearly 30 years ago, and all my teachings reveal that fact – and yet, “they” continue to crawl out of the woodwork” in hopes of either converting me AWAY from the “whole Bible concept” altogether, or at least "enlighten" me to the fact that NOTHING but "Jesus" matters, in the grand scheme of things.

The bottom line is that, if someone is convinced of their own beliefs (even those that in no way line up with Scripture) there is absolutely NOTHING you can say or do will change their minds.  Nothing.  Not even direct quotes from Yeshua, or Father YAH Himself.