Counter-missionary comment: “‘Messianic’ and ‘study’ is an oxymoron”….

In reading this week's Torah portion, I was reminded of a true story of how some Jewish counter-missionaries twist Scripture to make people believe THEY have all the "right" answers."

A couple years ago I encountered some counter-missionaries who arrogantly insisted that "messianic" and "study" were an oxymoron; and that they – unlike me - have a personal relationship with God which began with the patriarchs “because God spoke directly to 3 million” of their ancestors at Sinai.

One woman told me: “We don’t believe because of some stories we have heard or some book we have read. We believe because our own fathers were there, witnessed Him and have passed the information to us from one generation to the next. Praying to or ‘through’ Jesus was not a spiritual experience known to our ancestors at Mount Sinai – hence it is obviously idolatry.”

Well, okay. However - Scripture also tells us that more than 500 people saw Yeshua after His death, including Peter, Paul and all the Apostles! (See 1 Corinthians 15:6.) Granted, that’s far fewer than the 3 million at Mt. Sinai, but hey – eye witnesses are eye witnesses – and (sorry but I have to say this!) at least the ones who saw Yeshua weren’t busy building a golden calf to worship behind his back. You wanna talk about idolatry?

This same person tried to downplay the golden calf issue by suggesting the people who participated in making the golden calf were not GOD’s people doing these things; rather, it was the “non-Jews” who followed Moses out of Egypt….

Why did she say that? Because in Exodus 32:7-8 God said to Moshe “Go, descend to YOUR people that YOU (Moses) have brought up from Egypt….” In other words, God didn’t at that point, refer to them as MY people.….

Sounds convincing, doesn’t it? Well, if you will read the REST of that passage you’ll discover something very interesting:

Moshe’s brother, Aaron, the High Priest – who, like Moshe, was a LEVITE – was instrumental in the building of that golden calf! As a matter of fact, he ORCHESTRATED it and then tried to downplay it when confronted by Moshe! Please read all of Exodus 32 to see exactly what happened, so you can recognize this BLATANT attempt at Scripture twisting….

Counter-missionaries: If you’re going to accuse someone’s faith of being “oxymoronic” then perhaps you should make sure you properly know your own, first.

Adam, Aaron and “typical human nature”

What an awesome Torah portion Parsha 21 was!  So much to cover, including the "golden calf" issue. You would think that after Israel had personally witnessed YHWH's deliverance of His people from Egypt's Pharoah, and after seeing YHWH part the Red Sea so they could cross over onto dry land, and after He was supernaturally feeding them manna, etc., they would know better than to forge a golden calf!

One would definitely think that Aaron, the High Priest would know better....

But what happened? While Moshe was receiving the Ten Commandments, the community was down below, making and worshiping a "golden calf." What's absolutely mind-boggling is that YHWH never chastised or killed Aaron, even after Aaron made excuses for his own ungodly behavior (Ex. 32:22-24)!

Aaron blaming the people for causing him to stumble reminds us of another person who attempted to place blame on someone other than himself ... Adam! Remember, Adam said, "The woman you gave to be with me - she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate." (Genesis 3:12)

Typical human nature, isn't it?

Note, however, in Exodus 32:33, ADONAI answered Moshe, "Those who have sinned against me are the ones I will blot out of my book." This is reiterated in the Book of Revelation:

Revelation 20: 15 Anyone whose name was not found written in the Book of Life was hurled into the lake of fire.

Revelation 21: 27 Nothing impure may enter it, nor anyone who does shameful things or lies; the only ones who may enter are those whose names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life.

In other words, we are ALL forgiven through the Blood of the Lamb, but you're still responsible for your own destiny. Once we have the Holy Spirit residing within, we should NOT continue to act in a carnal manner, for there is no Sin Sacrifice for continued, deliberate sinning!

What a contrast to today where most seem to think that they can purposely sin and still be forgiven .....

Numbers 15: 30 "'But an individual who does something wrong intentionally, whether a citizen or a foreigner, is blaspheming ADONAI. That person will be cut off from his people.

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)

NOTE: Huge contrast between Aramaic and Greek. The Greek reads: "once having been enlightened..." This "enlightening" seems logical until we look at Aramaic: "But they who have once descended to immersion..."

The difference is acute, since baptism is clearly a subject being introduced just two verses earlier. The reason for the Greek redaction to "enlightenment" may well have been due to early Gnostic influence that stressed Mashiyach's knowledge over his actual power and incarnation of Deity. See also Hebrews 10:32.

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)

The above scripture is not referring to those unclean bondages that dwell in our flesh but to the conscious choices believers make. It refers not to our unintentional sins but to those we pursue knowingly and willingly.

2 Peter 2: 19 They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption; for a person is slave to whatever has defeated him. 20 Indeed, if they have once escaped the pollutions of the world through knowing our Lord and Deliverer, Yeshua the Messiah, and then have again become entangled and defeated by them, their latter condition has become worse than their former. 21 It would have been better for them not to have known the Way of righteousness than, fully knowing, to turn from the holy command delivered to them. (CJB)

Let’s discuss 2 Corinthians 3….

The Brit Chadasha readings for Parsha 21 (Ki Tissa) was 2 Corinthians 3:1-8, which is often used by Christians to show that Torah was “abolished at the cross”; and by Jewish “counter-missionaries” and their adherents to “prove” that the New Testament is full of myths and anti-Torah rhetoric, and that Y’shua couldn’t possibly be the Messiah.

Yet, the astute person who is able to view this chapter in context, recognizes that Paul constantly refers to YHWH’s Torah (Divine Instruction in Righteousness without which we would have NO blueprint for moral, holy living!).

It’s truly way past time for both Christians and Jews to start recognizing that maybe – just MAYBE – they have misunderstood the writings of Paul!  Contrary to popular belief, Paul – a mere human - didn’t “change” YHWH’s Torah or attempt to negate the teachings of Mashyiach Y’shua! He merely tried to interpret into plain language the deep and often hard-to-understand Hebrew mindset and concepts.

Unfortunately, he didn’t always succeed. Peter even warned of this (2 Peter 3:15-16) by explaining that Paul’s letters had already been turned into a Torahless fiasco, even in Peter’s day! Certainly it was not the Pharisees who were renouncing Torah Observance, but the humanist, pagan and materialistic “modernists” who operated under “Christian” labels…

Having said that, let’s check out 2 Corinthians 3 in context:

2 Corinthians 3:1. Do we begin again to show you who we are? Or do we need, like others, that letters of recommendation from us should be written to you? Or, that you should write recommendations of us? 2. You are our epistles, written on our hearts and known and read by every man. 3. For you know that you are an epistle of the Mashiyach, ministered by us; not written with ink, but by the Spirit of the Living Elohim; not on tablets of stone, but on the tablets of the heart of flesh.[1]

NOTE 1: Paul is clearly referencing Jeremiah 31:33, indicating Torah is being written upon the heart. See also Ezekiel 18:31; 36:26-28.

2 Corinthians 3:4. And such confidence we have in the Mashiyach towards Elohim; 5. Not that we are sufficient to think anything, as of ourselves; but our efficiency is from Elohim: 6. Who has fitted us to be ministers of the Renewed Covenant[2] not in the letter, but in the Spirit; for the letter kills[3] but the Spirit gives life. 7. Now if the ministration of death was engraved upon stones in writing, and was so glorious that the children of Israel could not look on the face of Moshe[4] on account of the glory upon his face which vanished away; 8. How then will not the ministration of the Spirit be still more glorious?

NOTE 2: Again, a reference to Jeremiah 31:33. See also Matthew 26:28.

NOTE 3: The “letter” and “Spirit” are not opposites. In verse 1 Rav Shaul begins by explaining how a “letter” in itself is not sufficient for his purposes, and how those in Corinth are not epistles written with ink, but in the Spirit of Elohim. The letter points out flaws. When we study the letter, sins of the weak flesh are exposed; our “natural” man is condemned to death to create a new birth according to YHWH’s Spirit.

Christian theology, however, teaches the “letter” refers to Torah, and that Torah is contrary to the spiritual man (which is a rather evil theology considering that mainstream Christians are already keeping over 60 percent of Torah)! Torah contains righteous directives of how to live and love, as well as the Covenant of promise that necessitates Mashiyach.

In this discourse Rav Shaul is juxtaposing condemnation as a function of the letter; he is most certainly not discrediting the Torah of YHWH as it pertains to the Spiritual Man (Romans 7:14; 8:4). Torah is the Word of YHWH: “For it is not a vain thing for you; because it is your life: and through this WORD you shall prolong your days in the land.” Deuteronomy 32:47

NOTE 4: Shemot/Exodus 34:29 “And it came to pass, when Moses came down from mount Sinai with the two tables of testimony in Moses’ hand, when he came down from the mount, that Moses knew not that the skin of his face shone while he talked with him.”

2 Corinthians 3:9. For if there was glory in the ministration of condemnation[5], how much more will the ministration of righteousness excel in glory? 10. For that which was glorious was as if not glorious in comparison with this which excels in glory. 11. For if that (condemnation) which is abolished[6] was glorious, much more must, that which abides be glorious.

NOTE 5: Ministration of death is also the ministration of condemnation which comes against the sins of the carnal man. If a man steals he is condemned; if he commits adultery or lies, he is condemned when he reads the Letter.

NOTE 6: Condemnation is abolished when the Ruach haKodesh writes Torah upon the heart, which brings the end of breaking Torah! However, Christian theologians twist this verse to teach that Paul brought an end to Torah itself.

2 Corinthians 3:12. Seeing therefore we have this hope, we the more, speak with boldness; 13. And are not like Moshe, who threw a veil over his face that the children of Israel might not behold the termination of that (condemnation) which was abolished. 14. But they were blinded in their understanding because until this day, when the Ancient Covenant is read, the same veil rests upon them; nor is it manifest (to them), that it (condemnation) is abolished by the Mashiyach.

15. And to this day, when Moshe is read, a veil is thrown upon their hearts. 16. But when any of them is turned to Master YHWH, the veil is taken from him[7]. 17. Now Master YHWH Himself is the Spirit. And where the Spirit of Master YHWH is, there is freedom. 18. And we all, with uncovered faces, behold as in a mirror the glory of Master YHWH; and are transformed into the same likeness, from glory to glory, as by Master YHWH the Spirit. (AENT)

NOTE 7: The reading of Torah does not blind, nor does the reading of the “Renewed Covenant” bring Grace: but in each, one must “turn to Master YHWH with their hearts” to remove the veil. MarYah/YHWH is used here, rather than Y’shua.

Rather than people turning to Y’shua as the deciding factor, the point is that both Jews and Gentiles must be truthful, and not just use prayers or Scripture readings as some sort of magical incantation, but to turn their hearts to YHWH. In many places Y’shua teaches that he came to bring Glory to the Father, and to turn hearts unto YHWH.

Parashah 21: Ki Tissa (When you take) Exodus 30:11 through 34:35

Another Shabbat is upon us – Halleluyah!  As always a synopsis of this week’s Torah portion can be found on our website.

This parashah is a tear jerker, beginning with the first powerful paragraph! As is obvious throughout the Torah, all YHWH ever asked of His People was obedience and, in Exodus 30:11-16, He reiterates the importance of obedience and reminds us that our lives do NOT belong to us but, rather, to Him who made us. Belonging to YHWH means constantly atoning and repenting for our sins. Take a careful look at this entire passage:

Exodus 30: 11 ADONAI said to Moshe, 12 "When you take a census of the people of Isra'el and register them, each, upon registration, is to pay a ransom for his life to ADONAI, to avoid any breakout of plague among them during the time of the census. 13 Everyone subject to the census is to pay as an offering to ADONAI half a shekel [one-fifth of an ounce of silver]- by the standard of the sanctuary shekel (a shekel equals twenty gerahs). 14 Everyone over twenty years of age who is subject to the census is to give this offering to ADONAI - 15 the rich is not to give more or the poor less than the half-shekel when giving ADONAI's offering to atone for your lives. 16 You are to take the atonement money from the people of Isra'el and use it for the service in the tent of meeting, so that it will be a reminder of the people of Isra'el before ADONAI to atone for your lives." (CJB)

Notice in the above that YHWH is very fair; He says we are accountable beginning at 20 years of age, to "pay a ransom" for our lives. In other words, living for Him requires ACTION and OBEDIENCE. He treats us all equally, rich or poor. Back then, everyone was to pay half a shekel. (Yes, today Yeshua has paid our ransom, but that in no way means we are no longer accountable or don't have to act responsibly in the conduct of our lives for YHWH! We are still required to do something for Him: Keep His Seventh Day Sabbath and the Feasts and whatever else we still can keep of the Torah, His original Divine Instructions for Righteousness.)

For more, please click on the first link, above.

Response to atheists who urge you to “imagine no religion”

I agree that “religion” is bad.  After all, there are tons of religions – most of which don’t line up with God’s Word – the Bible.

My passion is to lead the world to the Truth of YHWH/Yeshua/Torah. It's NOT easy, because unless YHWH opens someone's eyes, they simply cannot see Him, His Messiah, or His Torah Truth.

Therefore, I normally don't even bother trying to reach atheists anymore because "talking God" with an atheist is like trying to explain the Pythagorean Theorem to a 5-year-old. It simply won't work. But, on those rare occasions when an atheist writes to me through our website, I always use the following angle to make them THINK (and then I simply ask them to read all the articles on our Discussing Atheism page). So, here's my attempt to reach atheists:

More than 300 Bible prophecies have already been fulfilled, with just a few more to go (some of which are foreshadowed in the final three biblical Feasts that Yeshua/Jesus will fulfill.

What are the odds of that? Well, according to mathematician and professor, Peter Stoner, the probability of even just 48 prophecies being fulfilled by one person (referring to Y'shua) is the incredible number of 1 in 10^157 power!

If you're not good in math, please ask someone who is, to explain it to you....

God actually made one of His major end-time prophecies happen in 1948 (and it happened in ONE DAY, just as the Prophet Isaiah foretold [Isaiah 66:7-8]; when the world briefly felt sorry for the Jews because of the Holocaust ... and consequently Israel was returned to them. Yes, God used the rabid and blind hatred of HITLER to make one of His end time prophecies happen!

Anyway, since more than Bible 300 prophecies have come true, what makes you think the last FEW won't? Time is running out, so why are you gambling with the eternal life that He freely offers?

Carmen Welker’s responds to Orthodox Jew, Miriam Levinson’s post concerning “Jesus” - Part 2:

Miriam Levinson wrote:

Secondly, it says they tried to stone him. But they didn't, did they. Why did they stop? Because he denied it, merely claiming to be a generic "son of God" as is stated in Psalm 82:6. Furthermore, if they truly believed he claimed to be God, why didn't they similarly stone his followers for the double sin of idolatry and blasphemy? Acts 5:13 says that other Jews "held them in high honor." So that blows away any idea that he or his followers believed Jesus was God.

Carmen’s Response:

Scripture doesn’t say WHY they didn’t stone Y’shua. My guess is, YHWH kept them from it because it wasn’t Y’shua’s time to die, yet.

But you are correct! All of Y’shua’s followers knew that he was a MAN sent by his Father. They didn’t worship him as “God” and he never accepted worship because, as a human with a divine nature (since He was placed into Miriam’s womb by YHWH Himself) he didn’t have the right to pretend he was God….

However, he DID view himself as “equal” to YHWH. Why? Because outside of his temporary human shell, he WAS the Word, and by performing miracles he revealed WHO he was! (See Psalm 33:6; 107:20; 119:89; 147:15-18; John 1:1, 14; 14:9; 20:30-3.)

Philippians 2:5 And think you so in yourselves, as Y'shua the Mashiyach also thought; 6. who, as he was in the likeness of Elohim, did not regard it sinful to be the coequal of Elohim; 7. yet disinherited himself and assumed the likeness of a servant, and was in the likeness of men and was found in fashion as a man; 8. and he humbled himself and became obedient to death, even the death of the stake.

9. Wherefore, also, Elohim has highly exalted him and given him a name which is more excellent than all names; 10. that at the name of Y'shua every knee should bow, of (beings) in heaven and on earth and under the earth; 11. and that every tongue should confess that Master YHWH is Y'shua the Mashiyach. (AENT)

Footnote: "Name" in verse 9 is more than his literal birth name Y'shua (which was and is a common Hebrew name), and more than the perfect reputation that his name represents.

Y'shua bears (reveals) the Name of YHWH, the "name above all names"! Y'shua has the Name and reputation of the Father YHWH in him (John 17:11) and the name means "YHWH is Salvation" (Matthew 1:21).

Traditional Jews and those who have decided to reject the New Testament after discovering the need for Torah always attempt to negate Philippians, because it is in the "New Testament" - which they reject; insisting that for something to be valid, it MUST be outlined in the Torah, or mentioned somewhere in the Tanach (Old Testament).

What they are doing, in essence, is "playing God" and "putting our ELOHIM in a box" by suggesting that He HAD to say something in a certain Book of the Bible so it could be validated according to their respective understanding, opinions and timing. What they have forgotten is: He is YHWH and He does things in His OWN timing and His OWN way!

Nobody writes a book by giving the entire plot away within the first few chapters! Things progress as they progress...logically, in due time. YHWH revealed Messiah in Isaiah 53 (which "they" also attempt to negate with their fuzzy, man-made explanations), and Y'shua can be found in every one of the Mo'edim/Appointed Times. YHWH gave us "the rest of the story" via the "New Testament" - which perfectly lines up with the "Old"...

Yet, "they are out there", pushing erroneous concepts such as: "The NT was written hundreds of years later by Gentiles with an agenda to destroy Judaism."

Well, we do not know all of the authors, or the actual dates of the books of the Tanach, either! Did Moshe write the last chapter of Deuteronomy in the Torah about his death after he died? Even some of the Oldest texts known of the Tanach are not much older than the NT Original Texts.

Before the Dead Sea Scrolls were found, some of the NT Texts were actually older than the oldest Masoratic Texts known! Time and archaeology will prove even more to come about the NT Texts and their much earlier Hebrew origins than was thought even just a few short years ago.

Fact is, there are far too many Hebrew concepts in the NT to have been written "hundreds of years later" by Gentiles! Yes, the NT writings were sometimes corrupted by the early Roman Church (and many others to this day). Most Hebrew Texts found by the Romans were destroyed out of hatred for the Jews. There are many sources outside of the NT that confirm some of the Historical Information contained within; as well as the existence of some of those actual persons, including Yeshua.

Now, let’s examine the other scripture in which we see Y’shua “equating himself” to his Father:

John 5: 18. And because of this the Yehudeans were seeking all the more to kill him, not only because he had loosed[1] the Shabbat, but also concerning that he would say that his Father was Elohim and was equating[2] himself with Elohim. (AENT)

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Y’shua did not break the Shabbat according to Torah; rather, he restored the observance of Shabbat as YHWH intended, without the burden of religious tradition. In so doing, the traditions of the Pharisees had been violated, but certainly not the Torah of Moshe.

[2] To consider oneself “equal” to YHWH is a very serious matter. Y’shua spoke of himself as being about his Father’s business, of coming in his Father’s Name; he spoke and taught with authority and performed healings which made him a formidable opponent to religious tradition. The charge here of Y’shua making himself equal to YHWH is simply Pharisee tradition projecting itself onto Y’shua.

The Ruach haKodesh in Mashiyach is “equal” to YHWH, but the Pharisees supposed that Y’shua and his followers equated his humanity with YHWH; they didn’t understand Isaiah 11:1-2, that Mashiyach has the Ruach haKodesh (another name for YHWH—Psalm 51:1-11, Isaiah 63:1-11) within him. YHWH spoke through the Spirit of Mashiyach, rather than through his human component!

Y’shua maintained that his nefesh (soul) would die, but that YHWH would resurrect it! Y’shua believed his own nefesh was mortal. Zechariah 12:10 the Spirit of YHWH is “pierced” but they mourn for him (Y’shua) as an only begotten son. YHWH cannot literally be “pierced”; therefore, this refers to Mashiyach who has the Spirit of YHWH in him. The matter of the Father raising the dead is confirmed in verse 21, but we also see in this verse that the Son takes on the role of His Father as His Firstborn, for both Resurrection Power and Judgment.

Mankind hasn’t changed a bit over the millennia; the senseless hatred and violence and killings continue

My husband and I just saw a movie entitled, "Hostiles". Set in 1892, Hostiles tells the story of a legendary war-weary Army Captain who, after stern resistance, reluctantly agrees to escort a dying Cheyenne war chief and his family back to tribal lands. Making the harrowing and perilous journey from Fort Berringer, an isolated Army outpost in New Mexico, to the grasslands of Montana, the former rivals encounter a young widow whose husband and three children had just been murdered by several Comanche thugs on the plains.

“Hostiles” is a story of whites killing reds, reds killing whites, reds killing reds, and whites killing whites, with incomprehensible and senseless hatred on all sides. Regardless, together, the small unit of soldiers and their Cheyenne prisoner and his family, end up joining forces to overcome the punishing landscape, hostile Comanche attacks and vicious white outliers they encounter along the way.

In the end, the captain and the old, dying chief shake hands as kindred spirits, in the knowledge that both sides have been through hell. (And no, I didn’t give away the end!)

"Hostiles" is an excellent but depressing movie that not only shows the unimaginable hardships and horrors of the old “Wild West”; but it also reveals that man NEVER changes. Today, we still live among cut-throats who have no regard for human life and care nothing for anyone except themselves. (In some cases, they don't even care about themselves as evidenced by "suicide bombers.") Men everywhere still terrorize, make war upon, and murder each other because they simply cannot get along.

All the qualities YHWH hates in mankind are alive and thriving in our fallen world.. Nothing has changed since the day Cain killed Abel….

Jeremiah 17: 9 "The heart is more deceitful than anything else and mortally sick. Who can fathom it? 10 I, ADONAI, search the heart; I test inner motivations; in order to give to everyone what his actions and conduct deserve." (CJB)

Proverbs 6:16-19 There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers. (ESV)

Proverbs 8:13 The fear of the Lord is hatred of evil. Pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I hate. (ESV)

1 John 3:15 Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. (ESV)

1 John 2: 9 Anyone who claims to be in this light while hating his brother is still in the dark. 10 The person who keeps loving his brother remains in the light, and there is nothing in him that could make him trip. 11 But the person who hates his brother is in the dark - yes, he is walking in the dark, and he doesn't know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes. (ESV)

1 John 2:15 Do not love the world or the things of the world. If someone loves the world, then love for the Father is not in him; 16 because all the things of the world - the desires of the old nature, the desires of the eyes, and the pretensions of life - are not from the Father but from the world. 17 And the world is passing away, along with its desires. But whoever does God's will remains forever. (CJB)

No - man has never changed; nor has he learned from his mistakes! Wars and terrorist acts and all manner of rude, lewd and crude behavior will ONLY come to the proverbial screeching halt when Y'shua returns. Until then, it will simply be "business as usual."