A little note about Halloween

Ahh, Halloween – that pesky holiday that is serving as yet another conduit to help divide Americans. Take a look at this screen shot I took from a conversation I had with some Hebrew Roots folks on Facebook who were discussing some plans for their children’s upcoming Halloween celebrations:

So, with Halloween just around the corner, the debates are again raging, as they do every year. I can understand why atheists believe that it’s just a fun holiday. But I don’t understand why many Christians and Messianics/Hebrew Roots types do – because, since they supposedly KNOW Scripture, they should KNOW what YHWH says about the “forces of darkness” which is – let’s be truthful here - what Halloween is all about! (See Isaiah 29:15; Psalm 82:5; Ephesians 6:12, Matthew 6:23; 1 John 5:19; etc.)

Instead, they attempt to twist Scripture to support and promote the idea of this “fun holiday.”  Some even attempt to make it sound less pagan by referring to it as “Harvest Festival” or some other more benign name cloaked as an excuse to ignore what YHWH says.

The dictionary definition of Halloween is, “the eve of All Saints' Day (the evening before All Hallows' Day) …” which “has its roots in the ancient, pre-Christian Celtic festival of Samhain, which was celebrated on the night of October 31. The Celts, who lived 2,000 years ago in the area that is now Ireland, the United Kingdom and northern France, believed that the dead returned to earth on Samhain.”….

Further explanations include the fact that ”many Americans celebrate the traditions of Halloween by dressing in costumes and telling tales of witches and ghosts. Pumpkins are carved into glowering jack-o'-lanterns. Children parade from house to house, knocking on doors and calling out ‘Trick or treat!’ hoping to have their bags filled with candy.”

So, Halloween - which is based on the “pre-Christian Celtic festival of Samhain” and commemorates their “saints” - includes the American tradition of “…telling tales of witches and ghosts and carving pumpkins into glowering jack-o'-lanterns.”   Most ads for Halloween include depictions of witches, goblins, demons, devils, monsters … EVIL things – all the things YHWH HATES! 

And yet most Americans – including supposed Believers in YHWH and His Divine Son – are okay with that.

Well, that truly takes my breath away! 

So, really, all that is left for me to say is:  “What does SCRIPTURE say?”

Isaiah 5:20 Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! (ESV)

Matthew 15:3 Then Y’shua answered and said to them, Why also do you transgress against the Commandments of Elohim because of your traditions? 4. For Elohim said, “Honor your father and mother, and anyone who reviles his father and his mother let him be put to death?” 5. But you say anyone who says to a father or to a mother, “My offering is whatever you have gained by me,” then he does not need to honor his father or mother. 6. And you nullify the Word of Elohim because of your tradition. 7. Hypocrites! Well did Yesha’yahu prophesy concerning you and said, 8. “This people honor me with their lips, but their heart is very far from me.” 9. And they revere me in vain, while they teach the doctrines of the commandments of the sons of men. (AENT)

Deuteronomy 18:9 "When you enter the land ADONAI your God is giving you, you are not to learn how to follow the abominable practices of those nations. 10 There must not be found among you anyone who makes his son or daughter pass through fire, a diviner, a soothsayer, an enchanter, a sorcerer, 11 a spell-caster, a consulter of ghosts or spirits, or a necromancer. 12 For whoever does these things is detestable to ADONAI, and because of these abominations ADONAI your God is driving them out ahead of you. 13 You must be wholehearted with ADONAI your God. 14 For these nations, which you are about to dispossess, listen to soothsayers and diviners; but you, ADONAI your God does not allow you to do this. (CJB)

Colossians 2:8 Beware, or else any man make you naked by philosophy and by vain deception, according to the doctrines of men, according to the rudiments of the world, and not according to the Mashiyach 9 in whom dwells all the fullness of Elohim bodily. (AENT)

1 Thessalonians 5:1 Thessalonians 5:19 Do not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not despise prophecies, 21 prove them all. Hold fast what is good. 22 Keep back from every form of wickedness. 23 And the Elohim of peace Himself set you completely apart, and your entire spirit, and being, and body - be preserved blameless at the coming of our Master יהושע Messiah! (ISR)

2 Timothy 4:2. Proclaim the Word and persist (in it) with diligence, in time and out of time; admonish and rebuke with all patience and instructiveness. 3. For the time will come when they will not give ear to sound teaching; but, according to their lusts, will multiply to themselves teachers in the itching of their hearing; 4. and will turn away their ears from the truth, and incline after fables. 5. But be vigilant in all things; and endure evils and do the work of a proclaimer of the Good News, and fulfill your ministry. (AENT)

Here’s one that should conjure up another man-made holiday….

Jeremiah 10:1 Hear the word ADONAI speaks to you, house of Isra'el! 2 Here is what ADONAI says: "Don't learn the way of the Goyim, don't be frightened by astrological signs, even if the Goyim are afraid of them; 3 for the customs of the peoples are nothing. They cut down a tree in the forest; a craftsman works it with his axe; 4 they deck it with silver and gold. They fix it with hammer and nails, so that it won't move. 5 Like a scarecrow in a cucumber patch, it cannot speak. It has to be carried, because it cannot walk. Do not be afraid of it it can do nothing bad; likewise it is unable to do anything good!" (CJB)

YHWH’s people received many warnings about paganism; the following is just one:

Deuteronomy 5:32 "Therefore you are to be careful to do as ADONAI your God has ordered you; you are not to deviate either to the right or the left. 33 You are to follow the entire way which ADONAI your God has ordered you; so that you will live, things will go well with you, and you will live long in the land you are about to possess. (CJB)

The scriptures above represent just a FEW passages admonishing YHWH’s people are to refrain from evil and to stay on HIS Path.  In the end, that is really ALL that matters.

Whose path are YOU choosing?

Wasn’t the first Torah portion of this new cycle AMAZING?

A lot of things happened in the first Torah portion of this yearly cycle! We not only learned about YHWH’s creation of the universe and everything in it (Genesis 1 and 2); but we also witnessed several “firsts”:

• The first Torah commands to mankind – YHWH’s Divine Instructions: Genesis 2:16-20.

• The first deception: Genesis 3:1-5.

• The first act of disobedience and resulting awareness about good and evil – along with a healthy dose of FEAR in knowing there would be consequences: Genesis 3:6.

• The first “blame game”: Genesis 3:9-13.

• The first divine anger: Genesis 3:14-24.

• The first animal sacrifice – an innocent animal had to DIE to cover the nakedness (and sin) of the first humans: Genesis 3:21-23. (See also Leviticus 17:11, Ezekiel 18:20. Romans 6:23 and Ephesians 2:8-10.)

• The first offerings to YHWH: Genesis 4:3-7.

• The first murder: Genesis 4:8.

• The first lie: Genesis 4:9.

• The first case of adultery/polygyny: Genesis 4:19; and the second murder: Genesis 4:23.

(NOTE: These “bad” things – murder, lying and adultery - happened in the line of Cain who had killed Abel! While we don't know for sure whether or not YHWH forbade the taking of more than one wife, we DO know that every case of polygyny in Torah had some severe problems, as you will see in future Torah studies!)

• The first time people began to call on the Name of YHWH: Genesis 4:26.

• The first time we saw our Creator regretting that He had made mankind and decided to destroy everyone, except for Noah, who was the only righteous person on earth: Genesis 6:5-8.

IMPORTANT NOTE: YHWH could have put Adam and Eve to death after they sinned, but He didn't - which is evidence that the "Old Testament God" was showing mercy and grace! Mercy and grace didn't begin with Jesus in the New Testament. It has ALWAYS been around, since the very beginning!

We also discovered that YHWH was the Creator, that all creation obeyed Him, and the universe came into being simply because He told it to.

AND we discovered that He had some rules for mankind to follow for their own good! He gave man CHOICES – the choice between “good” and “bad”! (We STILL have those choices!)

Adam and Eve suffered severe consequences for their disobedience and were banned from ever again partaking from the Tree of Life.

A word about the modern American woman

This probably won't make me popular and so I will make this short and to the point, but I have to say it: It seems to me that today's women don't just want "equality" anymore; they want to dominate and turn America into a matriarchal society. Before attempting to flog or block me, please hear me out….

I'm all for women's "equal rights." I’m a woman. But these days many women, in my opinion, are going overboard in their attempts to lord themselves over men, raising their voices in an apparent effort, not just “be equal,” but completely subdue them and push them into the background.

People, this is NOT biblical!

(BTW, this rant was spurred on by two female protesters who were excruciatingly disrespectful to Senator Jeff Flake in a Capitol Hill elevator recently after he announced that he'd support Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. Claiming they were victims of sexual assaults, one of the women shouted at Flake to "Look at me when I'm talking to you! You're telling me that my assault doesn't matter, that what happened to me doesn't matter!" The reality is, her sexual assault has NOTHING, WHATSOEVER, to do with Kavanaugh's ALLEGED sexual attack on Dr. Ford 36 years ago. Her comments and behavior were not only completely disrespectful, but very unfair on several levels.)

America is out of control in many ways. Today, we not only have horrific racial tension with ALL sides behaving badly; but we have the uneducated hating the educated, and the poor hating the rich. We have homosexuals who have bullied the entire country into accepting their lifestyles and forcing our leaders to pass legislation that would allow them to marry.

We have males wanting to be females and vice-versa; and we have pro-abortionists fighting pro-lifers for the “right” to kill innocent unborn babies because being pregnant is an inconvenience in a society where “we’re all equal” and motherhood is secondary to our personal desires to “get ahead.” (Yes, I realize there are OTHER reasons for terminating pregnancies, but is it truly necessary to use abortion as a method of birth control?)

While I’m spilling my guts here and being blunt about it, I’ll venture to add that we also have the stupid and lazy hating and blaming everybody and everything EXCEPT themselves for their lot in life - and they're not just expecting but INSISTING the rest of us take care of them because the Bible supposedly commands it. (Never mind that the Bible DOESN’T command those who have worked hard for what they have, to share their hard-earned money and belongings with the ENTIRE WORLD!)

But, back to certain women who seem to want to turn us into a matriarchal society...

Biblically, a woman has a right to everything a man claims as his right, WHILE HONORING the God-given distinctions between the sexes (Galatians 3:28). Neither gender nor race should ever be used as an excuse to oppress or exclude a person from anything God allows. However, Scripture DOES reveal some differences: Genesis 1:27 and 2:18; 22; Ephesians 5:25–30; 1 Peter 3:7; Jeremiah 32:38–39; Exodus 22:22; Deuteronomy 27:19; Joshua 17:3–4).

What I’m saying here is, when the phrase “women’s rights” agrees with the rights YHWH instituted when He designed the female person, then the Bible fully supports those rights. But, when that term is hijacked to include evil actions that ADONAI never endorsed, then those so-called “rights” are not rights at all.

This goes for both men and women as YHWH has Divine Rules to follow; and each of His Rules were implemented for a reason: To set HIS people (male and female) apart from the world and prepare them for life in Eternity. Those who refuse to follow HIS Rules (straighten up and act right), aren't going to be in Eternity; simple as that.

Hebrews 6: 4. But they who have once descended to immersion and have tasted the gift from heaven and have received the Ruach haKodesh 5. and have tasted the good Word of Elohim and the power of the world to come, 6. cannot again sin and a second time be renewed to repentance; or a second time execute him on a stake and insult the Son of Elohim.

7. For the earth that drinks the rain which comes often upon it and produces the herb that is of use to those for whom it is cultivated, receives a blessing from Elohim. 8. But if it should put forth thorns and briers, it would be discarded and be approaching closely to a curse, and its end would be a conflagration. (AENT)

Hebrews 10: 26 For if we deliberately continue to sin after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but only the terrifying prospect of Judgment, or raging fire that will consume the enemies. (CJB)

YHWH doesn’t endorse arrogance, pride, anger, covetousness, or gossip, etc. (Isaiah 2:12 and 23:9, 2 Timothy 3:17); nor disrespect for elders or leaders (Leviticus 19:32; Proverbs 16:31) – no matter what one might think of them! (Accosting a Senator in an elevator and telling him to “Look at me when I’m talking to you!” is downright disrespectful! The media types do this type of thing all the time – just take a look at the way they treat President Trump during his news conferences … they yell and berate and interrupt him constantly. No civility there….)

The problem is, somewhere along the line in our supposed “civilized” society, the lines became blurred and decency, respect for ourselves and others, along with morality went completely out the window. Everything YHWH ever considered BAD is now considered GOOD and vice-versa; and anyone daring to challenge that is violently harangued – or even killed! (We’re at the point where you can’t go to school or the grocery store or the movies without wondering if you’re going to come home alive!)

Since sometime in the early Sixties (when, BTW, God was kicked out of schools and the government, and the introduction of the “birth control” pill kicked off the “love the one you’re with sexual revolution”) women began to not only assert their desire for equality in the work place, but in EVERY other way.

This included the right to wear revealing clothes designed to turn men on – which backfired because some men viewed it as an invitation for sex, which in turn caused women to insist they had a “right” to wear whatever they wanted, without being harassed or “sexualized”. This has ballooned into today’s out-of-control movement that even has clothing stores aiming “street-walker/hooker-like” clothing at young elementary school girls (some of whom are actually boys wanting to be girls, because THAT movement is ALSO being shoved down our collective throat!)…

People, we are a nation of arrogant, loud-mouthed, me-oriented HYPOCRITES! This includes not just women, but EVERYONE. Just take a look at the lack of clothing on female Hollywood “stars” during their pat-myself-on-the-back award ceremonies! But, hey, they will tell you in a heartbeat that they don’t want to be sexualized!

They don’t seem to realize that their dress and their come-on, sexually OVERT behavior INVITES sexual advances! After all (and I’m writing this sentence with raw sarcasm) they have a RIGHT to walk around nearly naked and expect men to look the other way. SILLY HYPOCRITES!

When I recently visited a local mall, I saw a female mannikin in some women’s professional wear clothing store dressed in a pantsuit with a blouse that was cut clear down to her belly-button, with the bra-less mannikin’s breasts almost completely exposed. THAT is what “professional women” wear these days? GIVE ME A BREAK!

I think they reality in all this is: We are truly the end times outlined in the Books of Daniel and Revelation. Come, Y’shua, come quickly to save us from ourselves before it’s too late!

Parashah 1: B'resheet (In the beginning) Genesis 1:1 through 6:8

Halleluyah - Shabbat is just around the corner again!  This week, we get to start all over again, from the beginning, with Genesis 1 where we see God creating the universe from nothing. YHWH created everything there is, including man (and by Chapter Six He's already ready to destroy mankind!). If you haven't done so before, please read the following very carefully and think about what a powerful, awesome ELOHIM we serve - who was able to create the entire universe and everything in it!  (Click here to see a synopsis of this weeks Torah portion.)

Genesis 1: 1 In the beginning ELOHIM created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was unformed and void, darkness was on the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God hovered over the surface of the water.

Yes, YHWH created the heavens and the earth and the entire ecosystem! Note in the verse above that the SPIRIT of God hovered over the surface; it doesn't say the "person" of God....He arranged for animals of like kind to find each other and procreate, and for plants to grow to provide both beauty and food; each of which has certain insects to clean, protect and/or pollinate them, and to aerate the ground - the synergy is simply amazing. (For more on these miracles, we recommend a wonderful video series by David Attenborough called "Life in the Undergrowth." Even though Mr. Attenborough, an agnostic, cannot see YHWH in these miracles, the presentation of them in these videos is wonderful.)

Anyway, for those who are new to Torah, I promise you that reading those first five Books of Moses with a “Hebrew mindset” will give you an understanding of God and the Bible like never before!  May YHWH richly bless you as you strive to get ever closer to Him!

A word about Yeshua and the Apostles

Yeshua came to proclaim the Kingdom of YHWH and to do everything His Father commanded. He tore down the fences of man's legalism. Neither He nor His Apostles ever advocated against Torah....

John 12: 44. But Y'shua cried out and said, He who believes in me, it is not in me he does believe, but in Him who sent me.[1] 45. And he who sees me sees Him who sent me! 46. I have come as the light into this world that all who believe in me might not remain in the darkness! 47. And he who hears my words, yet does not keep them, I do not judge him, for I have not come to judge the world but to give life[2] to the world.

NOTE 1: Y'shua does not bring a new Faith, but reveals the original Faith of YHWH the Father.

NOTE 2: Y'shua proclaims that he came to give life, then he declares that His father's Commands are eternal life! The Father's "Commands" are instruction in righteousness; this is Torah which contains Commandments, Judgments, Testimony and Witness regarding the Kingdom of Elohim. Those who enter into Covenant with Mashiyach are entering into Covenant with his Father YHWH; therefore, it is evil - an outright lie - to teach that Torah is done away with and replaced by a new theology!

Continuing with John 12:

48. He who rejects me and does not receive my words, there is something that judges him. The word that I have spoken, it will judge him on the last day. 49. For I have not spoken from my soul, but the Father who sent me. He gave a Commandment to me what I should say and what I should speak. 50. And I know that His commands are eternal life. [3] Therefore, these things that I speak just as my Father told me, thus I speak.[4] (AENT)

NOTE 3: The Commands of YHWH bring eternal life. YHWH's "Commands" refers to all of His Commandments; these are one and the same as every Word that proceeds out of the Mouth of Elohim. These are not Commands only between Y'shua and His Father but they are universal for all souls who will enter into the Malchut Elohim.

NOTE 4: Y'shua speaks the Word of YHWH, not his own words; therefore, he conveys the revelation of YHWH according to the Ruach haKodesh without the baggage of man's religious tradition. Religion has a propensity to reinvent or interpret the Word of YHWH to make it "acceptable" to man's standards; whereas Mashiyach came not to please men, but to honor and bring Glory to his Father.

Why Moshe didn’t get to enter the Promised Land

I always cry when we get to the end of the final Torah portion for the year, because poor Moshe - after everything he did and went through to obey YHWH - didn't get to cross into the Promised Land.

There was a reason he didn't, though, and that was because he dared to steal some of the glory from YHWH….

Our article explains the details!

Who can be considered a “fool”? Romans 1:18-32 explains!

Who can be considered a “fool”? Let’s do a little indepth study of Romans 1:18-32, with footnotes from the Aramaic English New Testament:

Romans 1: 18. For the wrath of Elohim from heaven is revealed against all the iniquity and wickedness of men who hold the truth in iniquity 19. because a knowledge of Elohim is manifest in them; for Elohim has manifested it in them. 20. For, from the foundations of the world, the hidden things of Elohim are seen by the mind in the things he created even his eternal power and divinity, so that they might be without excuse 21. because they knew Elohim and did not glorify him and give thanks to him as Elohim, but became vain in their imaginings and their unwise heart was darkened.

22. And, while they thought within themselves that they were wise, they became fools. 23. And they changed the glory of the incorruptible Elohim into a likeness to the image of a corruptible man,[1] and into the likeness of birds and four-legged animals and reptiles on the earth. 24. For this cause, Elohim gave them up to the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies with them. 25. And they changed the truth of Elohim into a lie; and worshipped and served the created things, much more than the Creator of them, to whom belong glory and blessing, forever and ever: Amen.

NOTE 1: Rav Shaul (Rabbi Paul) rejects the idea of making a deity out of a human being, something he himself is often being wrongly accused of. The key is the phrase “corruptible man” which is put in contradistinction of Y’shua who fulfilled prophecy by virtue of having the Ruach haKodesh, the Spirit of YHWH, inside him.

If Rav Shaul did not approve of others turning images of men into false deities, he would certainly not approve of what mankind has done today! The Son did the Father YHWH’s will; his human side submitted to the divine. This is what opened the door for repentance for all of us; therefore, all who follow Y’shua must also yield unto YHWH rather than follow a deity who lessens the Name of YHWH and abolishes Torah.

CARMEN’s ADDITIONAL NOTE: Counter-missionaries love to use verse 23, above, against us, insisting that “your idol Jesus – if he even existed – was a just a man you guys tried to turn into God Himself!” What a foolish notion! They clearly never grasped the concept of YHWH’s Messiah – the one who came to proclaim the Kingdom of YHWH and to do everything His Father commanded … the one who tore down the fences of man's legalism. Neither Yeshua nor His Apostles EVER advocated against Torah! Take a look:

Luke 4: 43 "But he (Yeshua/Jesus) 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.  (CJB)

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. (CJB)

Continuing with Romans 1:

26. For this cause, Elohim gave them up to vile passions: for their females changed the use of their natures[2] and employed that which is unnatural. 27. And so also their males set aside the use of females, which is natural, and burned with lust toward one another; and, male with male, they did what is shameful, and received in their core substance[3] the just recompense of their error.

NOTE 2: The Image of Elohim is both male and female (B’resheet/Gen. 1:27). To deny the distinctions of male/female gender is to spurn the One who created male and female according to His own Image.

NOTE 3: This verse states that punishment for sexual sin is not in the external body, but in a foundational place where the very essence of humanity resides.

Continuing with Romans 1:

28. And as they did not determine with themselves to know Elohim, Elohim gave them over to a vain mind; that they might do what they should not. 29. Being full of all iniquity and lewdness, and bitterness and malice, and covetousness and envy, and slaughter and strife, and deceit and evil machinations 30. And backbiting and slander; and being haters of Elohim, scoffers, proud, vain-glorious, devisers of evil things, destitute of reason, disregardful of parents.

31. And to whom a covenant is nothing, neither affection, nor peace, and in whom is no compassion. 32. These, while they know the judgment of Elohim, that he condemns those to death who perpetrate such things, are not only doers of them, but the companions of such as do them. (AENT)

And so there you have it: The definition of fools, according to Scripture!