The difference between “judging” and “exposing”….

Many people are quick to yell, "Don't judge me!" whenever someone attempts to tell them they are off the mark in some way.  Truth is,TORAH is our judge.  We're not "judging" anyone by telling them that they're going against Torah principles..
 
"Judging" refers to the attempts to correct others according to your own standard of iniquity.  When you do that, you condemn yourself.   When you "judge", you must do it SOLELY by the standard of truth, and that truth (which Paul  amply addressed in Romans 2:1-8) is Torah.

So, the bottom line is, when Torah observant Believers see, someone teaching "no need for Yeshua," for instance, or "no need for Torah," or anything else that is contrary to Scripture, we MUST rebuke them!  To sit idly by and say nothing is NOT an option, for if we don't help our brethren stay on the YHWH's Path, then WE will be held accountable!  (See Ezekiel 33, James 5:19, Matthew 18:6, Acts 20:28, etc.)

Also consider this:

Titus 1: 13. And this testimony is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply that they may be sound in the faith  14. and may not throw themselves into Jewish fables and into the precepts of men who hate the Truth.  15. For to the pure, everything is pure; but to them who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure; but their understanding is defiled, and their conscience.  16 And they profess that they know Elohim, but in their works they deny him; and they are odious and disobedient and to every good work reprobates. (AENT)

What then are these “Jewish fables”?

“According to Charles Ryrie: Jewish myths; speculations of a Gnostic sort, supposedly based on OT scripture.  Ryrie Study Bible (NASB), p. 393.  The key is in the highlighted portion of the above passage, “they profess to know Elohim, but in works deny him” for by this very description,

Paul has named the heretical sect. “Gnosticism” is derived from the Greek gnosis, “to know.” What is often overlooked is that Gnosticism did not originate with Christianity, although later adopted by many Messianic themes.  Rather, it began as a Jewish sect with their own “myths and fables.” According to Professor Ryrie: The heresy of Gnosticism had begun to make inroads among churches in John’s day.

Among its teachings were: (1) knowledge is superior to virtue; (2) non-literal sense of Scripture is correct and can only be understood by a select few; (3) evil in the world precludes God being the only creator; (4) the incarnation is incredible because deity cannot unite itself with anything material such as a body (Docetism); and (5) there is no resurrection of the flesh. The ethical standards of the Gnostics were low… (Ryrie Study Bible (NASB), p. 440).

Is it any wonder then why Paul was upset at these false teachers? Even a conventional Pharisee would take great offense to such posturing, and they most certainly did with four of these five articles of belief. These false teachings are, of course, diametrically opposite to Paul’s own teaching as a “ringleader” of the Netzarim, so there should be no surprise when he takes these false teachings to task.

In any case, one can easily see how modern readers, divorced from the historical context, can easily draw the wrong conclusion and not take into account who the speaker is, and who the intended audience is.” (Source, AENT)

Jewish counter-missionaries erroneously believe it’s okay to mock those they don’t agree with–especially Yeshua….

Jewish counter-missionaries will say all kinds of nasty things about Yeshua - even mocking his name by calling our Messiah - among other things - "Jeebus Creepus" and "Stick-man"....

I personally would LOVE to be a little fly on the wall on Judgment Day when all the "Jesus rejecters" of the world will get to kneel before YHWH to explain themselves....

Anyway, here's one of the most recent comments made by someone who accuses "Jesus" of being a sinner and breaking the Sabbath, and a whole range of other false allegations.

He wrote: "Torah literally calls such a Jew who does that stuff a RASHA and we are allowed to mock them and bash them in rebuke."

(A "rasha" for those who don't know it, is either a wicked person, or someone convicted of wrongdoing - which Yeshua was NOT! - See John 18:28-38 and Mark 14:54-56.)

Here's my response to this "intellect" who clearly prides himself on rejecting YHWH's Messiah:

Nowhere are you told in the Hebrew scriptures that it is permissible to mock or attack PEOPLE or to poke fun at their supposed “lack of intellect” or anything else! Not in Torah, not in Talmud!

Here is the proof from the “Code of the Jewish Law” (the Shulchan Aruch), which clearly states it is permissible to mock IDOLATRY, but NOT the person you perceive to be an IDOLATOR….

From the Talmud, Megillah 25b:

"Similarly, Rav Naḥman said: All mockery and obscenity is forbidden except for mockery of idol worship, which is permitted, as it is written: 'Bel bows down, Nevo stoops' (Isaiah 46:1). The prophet mocks these idols by describing them as crouching in order to defecate.

Additionally, it is written: 'They stoop, they bow down together; they could not deliver the burden' (Isaiah 46:2). Rabbi Yannai said: This principle that one is permitted to mock idol worship is derived from here: 'The inhabitants of Samaria shall be in dread for the calves of Beth-aven; for its people shall mourn over it, and its priests shall tremble for it, for its glory, because it is departed from it' (Hosea 10:5). Do not read it is as 'its glory [kevodo],' rather read it as its burden [keveido], meaning that it is unable to restrain itself from defecating."

Here, again, we see that the sages said the idol is mocked, not the person. ("Bel" and "Nevo" were idols.)

The counter-missionaries, mistake "Jesus" as an idol and deny he is the Messiah. Therefore, they claim people who believe in Jesus are idol-worshipers - mocking them. Sadly, the counter-missionary is lost and they don't know they idolize each other in their zealousness to "hate Jesus" and hate those who believe in Jesus. As they they romp in the mud, just read how they idolize each other and their derogatory comments about believers. It is so sad ...

Mesillat Yesharim, chapter 5, says:

"There are three factors which cause loss of and distancing from 'watchfulness'. The first is involvement and preoccupation in worldly affairs. The second is laughter and levity. The third is bad company. ... Behold, the prophet Isaiah would 'scream like a crane' for he saw that this was what left no room for his rebukes to make an impression thus ruining all hope for the sinners. This is what he said: 'And now do not be mockers lest your afflictions be strengthened' (Isaiah 28:22)."

It seems most of the counter-missionaries suffer all three maladies:

involvement and preoccupation in worldly affairs; laughter and levity; and bad company! Thus their afflictions are strengthened!

So, there you have it. Proof that the counter-missionaries who LOVE to mock those of us who "believe in Yeshua," are going against those very sages that they idolize, and whose word they take OVER AND ABOVE Torah itself!

Torah reading for Shabbat, August 31, 2019

For those who are following the calendar at our website, The Refiner’s Fire, there will be no weekly Torah portion for the Shabbat of August 31, 2019, because it’s a High Holy day.  Sunset on Friday, August 30, kicks off Yom Teruah/Rosh Hashanna:

It’s a High Shabbat (no work to be done).

Torah reading:  Leviticus 23:23-25 and Numbers 29:1-6.

Brit Chadasha reading: Read Matthew 24:30-31; 1 Thes 4:16-17; Revelation 11:15

If you are new to Torah, here is a quick explanation of what Yom Teruah/Rosh Hashanna is all about:

Yom Teruah (Trumpets)/Rosh Hashana (A Shabbat/Holy Day): This Feast on Tishri 1, falls in the September/October timeframe.

Leviticus 23:23-25 tells us: ADONAI said to Moshe, "Tell the people of Isra'el, 'In the seventh month, the first of the month is to be for you a day of complete rest for remembering, a holy convocation announced with blasts on the shofar. Do not do any kind of ordinary work, and bring an offering made by fire to ADONAI.'"

It is the Jewish Civil New Year; the creation of the world, according to tradition; the anniversary of the creation of Adam and Eve and their first actions toward the realization of man's role in the world; of the first sin that was committed and resulting repentance; a day when YHWH takes stock of all of His Creation, which includes all of humanity. It's a rehearsal for the day when the bridegroom will come to claim us, his bride, who are betrothed to Him.

Rosh Hashanah is celebrated not with fireworks and champagne but with family meals and introspection. During this Festival, the blowing of shofars (rams' horns) signifies the bringing together of God's people, warning them to repent during the coming "days of awe" (the 10 days between Trumpets and the Day of Atonement).

According to tradition, during this time YHWH's people are to concentrate all their efforts into making amends with their brethren and apologizing for past offenses. However, what most traditional Jews do not yet realize is that this Feast is the next one to be fulfilled by Yeshua, because when the trumpets will sound and the true believers in Messiah Yeshua will be gathered/resurrected (I Thess. 4:13-18, I Cor. 15:50-54).

This Feast also signals the call for repentance, for the time is short and Judgment is coming upon the Earth - whether people are read, or not! (See the Book of Revelation.)

God and Moses tried to warn us….

MOSHE SPEAKS about the importance of learning and doing Torah:

Deuteronomy 31: 12 Assemble the people-the men, the women, the little ones and the foreigners you have in your towns - so that they can hear, learn, fear ADONAI your God and take care to obey all the words of this Torah; 13 and so that their children, who have not known, can hear and learn to fear ADONAI your God, for as long as you live in the land you are crossing the Yarden to possess." (CJB)

ADONAI SPEAKS – making a prediction that His people would continue to stray, as they always have.

Deuteronomy 31: 16 ADONAI said to Moshe, “You are about to sleep with your ancestors. But this people will get up and offer themselves as prostitutes to the foreign gods of the land where they are going. When they are with those gods, they will abandon me and break my covenant which I have made with them.

17 Then my anger will flare up, and I will abandon them and hide my face from them. They will be devoured, and many calamities and troubles will come upon them. Then they will ask, 'Haven't these calamities come upon us because our God isn't here with us?' 18 But I will be hiding my face from them because of all the evil they will have done in turning to other gods.” (CJB)

SOMETHING IMPORTANT TO PONDER: What constituted “this people”? Not just “the Jews” who made up only one-twelfth or the tribes of Israel; but the second generation of ALL the tribes (Exodus 24) AND the children of the pagan “foreigners” (the "mixed multitude" in Exodus 12:38) who had followed Moshe out of Egypt during the Exodus, and had been absorbed into one of the tribes – who had been told by God Himself that they were expected to do EXACTLY as “HIS PEOPLE” did! (Exodus 12:49; Numbers 15:13-16).

As you can see, it wasn’t just “the Jews” who strayed (as some anti-Semitic types like to insist); but peoples from ALL tribes AND those who had been absorbed into the tribes, AND those who came to accept YHWH as their God on down through the centuries.

We’re ALL guilty, and that is why Yeshua was sent, and why he chose to martyr himself. Mankind has never been able to remain completely faithful to YHWH; choosing instead to come up with their own rules and religions and denominations….

This won’t change until Yeshua returns to put an end to man’s incessant nonsense during his millennial reign. (Psalm 2:6-9, 47, 110, 132:13-18; 9:6-7, 11:3-9, 24:21-23; Jeremiah 23:5 and 33:6-18; Daniel 7:13-14,18,27; Zechariah 2:10-13, 6:12-13, 8:2-3, 9:10, 14:1-9; Revelation 3:21 and myriad other passages….)

A great reader question about Mark 4:12

READER QUESTION:

I have a question about this passage taken from the King James translation:

"That seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them"

Specifically the part in bold.  I am trying to understand why it is said this way. I understand the first part, but as you read the second part in bold letters it is really a confusion to me. Christ came to save and if I take this at face value it says that he didn't want the people he is talking about to understand salvation or to be saved. Is this a misinterpretation or a wrong choice  of the correct English word? I know that the translators of the King James had less documents to translate from than there is today. So I bring this question to you. As always thank you for your time and effort to answer my questions I appreciate it more than you will ever know or I have words to express.

OUR RESPONSE:

Yes, these verses in Mark 4 do pose a conundrum, but I think the scripture itself does a pretty good job of explaining just what Yeshua meant. If read, in context from the beginning of chapter 4, we learn that it is not that Yeshua "didn't want the people he is talking about to understand salvation or to be saved"; rather, he wanted them to "want it" or "desire it" so they'd make an effort.  This is the meaning of verse 12 that has you scratching your head:

"That seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them."

Here, I've underlined some key words. The fact that the people see and not perceive, and hear yet not understand points to the word "lest" which means "for fear that", or in this case, that the people who see and hear (the message), but don't dare make any effort of their own to comprehend means they miss their chance to be saved. So, these people dismiss the message and go on with their lives without knowing what they gave up.  This understanding becomes clear in vs 13-23.  See how Yeshua explains that because they made no effort themselves to want to understand, it left them open to the adversary (v 15), or troubles or persecution (v 17), or the worries of the world or their own desires (v 19) such that the "message" was lost as a seed is lost in poor soil.  

I've always understood that Yeshua brought nothing new except that he offered his blood to redeem us. To have salvation takes BOTH the acceptance that Yeshua's blood redeemed us, AND that we must live our lives as free of sin as possible by our obedience (be holy).  I see this clearly in John 17:3.  Yeshua says that "eternal life" is KNOWING YHWH and the Messiah.  We "know" by experiencing and living YHWH's Word.

Hope this helps!  Thank you for writing to The Refiner’s Fire!

Our world needs a wake-up call....

In the wake of several mass shootings just over the last month, we’ve begun to see a rash of young men being arrested for planning mass murders, including one 15-year-old Florida boy who posted online in a video game chat room, that he "vowed to bring his fathers m15 to school and kill 7 people at a minimum." 

When police came to his house to arrest him, his mother insisted he is 'just a little kid' making jokes …  playing video games.”  She also insisted that her son’s threatening words online were “normal.”

This is troubling on many fronts, because (1) this particular household actually IS in possession of a weapon such as the one described; (2) the mother (the adult) saw nothing wrong with even just the THREAT of the taking of human  lives – joking or otherwise; and (3) the teen’s Internet activities are clearly NOT being monitored nor restricted….

The reality is, a 15-year-old is NOT a “little boy” and this kind of behavior is NOT normal.  A 15-year-old should certainly have been taught the difference between “right and wrong”; but – judging from his mother’s reaction - he has been molded into simply another lost soul who receives no adult guidance or direction; and is consequently allowing himself to be influenced by others who have never had any proper guidance.
 
The reality is also that we live in mostly godless societies today where deviant behavior is actually encouraged; and where people are running amuck, doing whatever seems “right in their own eyes” – exactly as it has been since the very beginning where, already in Genesis 4, we see Cain killing Abel, and Lamech committing the first -known polygyny and telling his two wives he had killed someone. 

By the time we get to Genesis 6, we see YHWH being so fed up that He is planning to destroy the entire earth!  (See also Judges 17:6; 18:1; 19:1 and 21:25.)

YHWH gave mankind “free will” and we have continually abused that privilege by straying from His Torah!  THAT is the sole reason the world is in the mess it’s in…

Throughout Scripture, we see the penchant for men to sin and to “do their own thing.”  NOTHING has changed over the millennia, even though we are CONSTANTLY, THROUGHOUT Scripture, being warned to guard our mouths and our hearts, and even to take every thought captive - because actions always begin with THOUGHTS.  (See Psalm 141:3, Proverbs 21:23, 2 Corinthians 10:5, etc).

The reality is also this:  The proverbial snowball has not only been “rolling downhill” since the beginning of the creation of mankind; but it has picked up so much speed that NOTHING will stop it now, except for the return of Messiah Yeshua.  May he return SOON!

Parashas 51 and 52…

For those who are following our Weekly Torah studies, here’s this week's Shabbat treasure.  This week features another dual parashah:

Parashah 51: Nitzavim (Standing) - Deuteronomy 29:9(10) through 30:20 https://www.therefinersfire.org/parashah_51.htm

AND:

Parashah 52: Vayelekh (He went); Deuteronomy 31:1-30. https://www.therefinersfire.org/parashah_52.htm

These parashahs contain many nuggets,

This week's lesson in Parashah 51 is one of the most powerful in the entire Torah as YHWH once again drives home the importance of obedience, outlining the blessings for doing His will, and the curses for NOT doing His will. We DO/OBEY for the sake of fulfilling His desire! His desire is perfectly outlined, as you’ll see in Parashah 51.

Parashah 52 is another "tear jerker" for all those who love YHWH (Yahweh) because, for those who understand the words of this parashah, they reveal YHWH's words weren't meant only for the people of Moshe's (Moses) time, but that they have reverberated throughout the millennia to reveal that the state of the world today is a direct result of our disobedience to YHWH's Torah (divine instruction in righteousness)!

To get started with the readings, simply click on the links above to read our synopses, and then read all of the Torah, Haftarah and Brit Chadasha portions outlined in our articles.