What constitutes a “graven image?”

READER COMMENT:

Please explain what it means about making graven images like anything in heaven, on earth or under the earth.  Does this mean for bowing down to worship only or does it mean more than that, even if it is a picture?  I am talking to someone who thinks that since YHWH is in heaven that means Him, too.  You cannot make a likeness of Him since He is a Spirit.  Could you help me In this matter?  Thanks!

OUR RESPONSE:

You are talking about Exodus 20:4 or Deuteronomy 5:8.  The Hebrew word "פסל" [phe'sel] in these verses comes from the root word "פסל" [pa-sal, (spelled the same in Hebrew)], and "pa-sal" is a verb meaning "to carve".  So the word "phe'sel" is a Hebrew idiom for a "carved image".  (Many English translations use the word "graven image" since an antonym of "carve" is to "grave" (as in "dig/cut into" as in the word "engrave".)  A carved image in the Hebrew idiom is closest to an "idol" in English. 

So this commandment is to not make an "idol" of any god.  (The Hebrews had been brought out of Egypt and were headed to lands where there was enormous idol worship, and YHWH was admonishing them NOT to do that, and the people did not even see an image of YHWH on Mt. Sinai. 

Deuteronomy 4:14-19: "14 At that time Adonai ordered me to teach you laws and rulings, so that you would live by them in the land you are entering in order to take possession of it. 15  "Therefore, watch out for yourselves! Since you did not see a shape of any kind on the day Adonai spoke to you in Horev from the fire, 16  do not become corrupt and make yourselves a carved image having the shape of any figure - not a representation of a human being, male or female,

17  or a representation of any animal on earth, or a representation of any bird that flies in the air, 18 or a representation of anything that creeps along on the ground, or a representation of any fish in the water below the shoreline. 19  For the same reason, do not look up at the sky, at the sun, moon, stars and everything in the sky, and be drawn away to worship and serve them; Adonai your God has allotted these to all the peoples under the entire sky." (CJB)

So you have to be careful when you ask: "Does this mean for bowing down to worship only or does it mean more than that, even if it is a picture?" The No. 1 meaning in the Hebrew idiom "carved image" is that it is considered by the person to be "a god". So it's not that it must be "carved", for even a drawing or painting is "graven" for "graven" is an archaic term for an inscription or image on a surface.  So the English "graven image" comes pretty close to the meaning of the Hebrew idiom.  It's any image or shape considered a god, and that includes an image of YHWH!

But, found in scripture, there is a reference to an "idol" that is not a carved/graven image of a god! In 1 Samuel 19:13, we find that when Mihhal, David's wife took an "idol" and put it in David's bed as a dummy: "Mikhal took the household idol, laid it on the bed, put a goat's-hair quilt at its head and covered it with a cloth." 

But the word here is "teraphim" [תרפים], not "phe'sel" and means "healer". Consider Judges 17:5 "This man Mikhah owned a house of God; so he made a ritual vest and household gods [teraphim] and consecrated one of his sons, who became his cohen."  A teraphim seemed to have been a kind of "helper" or household charm for good luck,  or to help summon YHWH, rather than an object of worship. 

So a teraphim is not a false god [carved/graven image], rather it is a "prayer aid". These people had YHWH as their God but no King (Judges 17:6) so they were left on their own to try to worship YHWH as best they could. (Remember, no on in those days could read or had access to a Tanakh.

In fact all of Judges 17-18 is a very interesting read if one pays attention to this odd behavior of these leader-less people, and the difference between the phe'sel and the teraphim.  These people were truly struggling on their own.  There are other references of the use of teraphim, but I think you get the picture.)

Today, we tread on dangerous ground if we have phe'sel or teraphim in our presence. That's why I said you have to be careful thinking that Exodus 20:4 or Deuteronomy 5:8 might mean "bowing down to worship only".  A picture could be either a phe'sel or teraphim, and if it is a phe'sel, it should not be in the house, and if considered a teraphim, why have it? 

We, today can possess, read, and study the direct word of YHWH.  Why would we need or even desire a teraphim, "helper/healer" or prayer aid?  Our "helper/healer" is the Ruach HaChodesh who dwells in us provided we remain holy by our obedience to YHWH's Word. 

A word for the those who accuse us of “doing works” to get into Heaven

To the pastors accusing us of "doing works to get into Heaven," we have this to say:

WORKS is what YOU'RE doing every Sunday, standing there at the pulpit in your special frocks, preaching what you were taught in your seminaries.

WORKS is vacuuming the floors of your church, or volunteering to drive your church bus; or visiting the sick or cooking at your local homeless shelter.

OBEDIENCE, on the other hand, is NOT "works". It's obeying God's Divine Instructions on how to live a holy, set apart life. Since He commanded HIS people to keep, for instance, the Seventh Day Sabbath REST, our responsibility is to OBEY that command; not twist it into something else, and pretend He's okay with that!

The ONLY thing you are accomplishing by rejecting His Divine Instructions (Torah - the first five Books) is to make yourself appear to be half-hearted (Revelation 3:16) - which will keep you OUT of Heaven!

If you can't even be bothered to keep the commanded Seventh Day Sabbath, WHOM are you worshiping?

Genesis 2:1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, along with everything in them. 2 On the seventh day God was finished with his work which he had made, so he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. 3 God blessed the seventh day and separated it as holy; because on that day God rested from all his work which he had created, so that it itself could produce.

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.'"

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.

Eternal Life depends on WHOM you know...

Here's what Messiah Y'shua said:

Yochanan (John) 17:1 Y’shua spoke these things and he lifted up his eyes to Heaven and said My Father the hour has come. Glorify your Son so that your Son might glorify you. 2. Just as you have given him authority over all flesh that whomever You have given him, he will give to him life that is eternal.

3. Now this is life that is eternal, that they might know You, that You are the Elohim of Truth, and he alone whom You have sent, the Mashiyach Y’shua. 4. I have glorified You on earth. The work that You have given to me to do I have finished it. 5. And now glorify me my Father with You in that glory that I had with You from before the world was.

6. I have made Your Name known to the sons of those men whom You had given to me from the world. They were Yours and You have given them to me, and they have kept Your Word. 7. Now they have known that everything that you have given to me I have given to them and they received them. 8. And they know that I have truly proceeded from your presence, and they believe that You have sent me.

9. And I plead for them. It is not for the world I plead; rather, for those whom you have given to me because they are Yours. 10. And everything that is mine is Yours, and Yours is mine and I am glorified by them.

11. Henceforth, I will not be in the world, and these are in the world. And I am coming to Your presence. Kadosh [1] Father, keep them by your Name, [2] that which you have given to me, that they may be one as We are.

12. I was with them while I was in the world. I have kept them in your Name; [3] those whom you have given to me, I have kept. And not a man of them is lost except for the son of perdition, that the Scriptures might be fulfilled.

13. And now I come to Your presence, and these things I speak in the world that my joy may be full in them. 14. I have given to them Your Word and the world hates them because they are not of the world as I am not of the world. (AENT)

NOTES:

[1] Kadosh/Set Apart means that YHWH and His Word will never change; we can put our trust in Him knowing He will keep His Word.

[2] A very key passage. Aramaic literally reads that YHWH gave His Name to Y’shua; therefore, he has the Name of his Father within him.

[3] Y’shua keeps them in YHWH’s name so when we call upon YHWH in Y’shua’s name, we are calling on YHWH for Salvation.

As the Name of YHWH is in Mashiyach (Messiah) , so are we to have the name of Mashiyach in us, which means that as followers of Y’shua we are to walk according to his righteousness, observe Torah and walk in the anointing of the Ruach haKodesh (Holy Spirit) as Mashiyach demonstrated to us.

Reader comment concerning counter-missionaries and their antics

READER COMMENT:

"I was recently approached by a Messianic on FB who informed me that none (!) of the so-called "fulfillment texts" in the Gospels support the idea of Y'shua being the Saviour. I was also given a link to download/watch videos that purportedly refute the whole idea of the Tanakh EVER even suggesting that YHWH would send an intermediary/Saviour. The person took the time to provide all said "fulfillment texts" in the gospel of Mattityahu and then proceeded to show that none actually support the gospel account when looked up and read in context.

"I must admit, a few of the texts did seem to validate what this person was saying. One was the verse pertaining to YHWH calling His Son out of Egypt. A reading of the verse in the Tanakh would seem to indicate that, in that instance, Yisrael as a whole was being referred to, not Y'shua.

"I haven't bothered to watch the videos. I know you have written extensively on anti-missionaries so please help!"

OUR RESPONSE:

Thanks for your correspondence! Anti-missionaries say ALL KINDS of things in their attempts to negate Y'shua. The thing I like to tell them is this:

Isaiah 53 is all about Y'shua. End of story. Here's the short rebuttal: Can Israel DIE for Israel? (No, but Y’shua did! See Matthew 27.) Can Israel be wounded for our transgressions? (No, but Y’shua was! See Matthew 27.)

Can people take Israel's garments and divide them? (No, but that certainly happened in Y’shua’s case! See John 19:23.) WHEN was "Israel" wounded for our transgressions or crushed because of our iniquities? Has the world been HEALED by "Israel"? Not hardly! Y'shua has filled myriads of Tanach prophecies - and people can reject it all they want, but they cannot CHANGE those facts!

If you would like to rebut that, Mr/Ms Anti-Missionary, then please read this, first.

Another thing: Why does Y'shua HAVE to be foretold in the Torah? Neither Torah nor Tanakh "foretold" that YHWH's people were to brush their teeth or wear socks, so, according counter-missionaries, those things must NOT exist! Were Kings David and Solomon foretold in Torah? How about Ruth? How about the prophets Ezekiel and Isaiah, etc.? They couldn't have been real, either, because Torah doesn't mention them!

They suggest NONE of the "so-called fulfillment texts" in the Gospels support the idea of Y'shua as Savior? Hmmm. You can find 300 of them right here, our article!

He has also fulfilled the first FOUR of the SEVEN Mo'edim/Appointed Times.

Why it is imperative to be prepared for the certainty of death

Lately I’ve been noticing that people are beginning to freak out about the Corona Virus.  So, let's take a moment to discuss the reality.

There's no doubt in my mind that the Corona Virus is a BAD thing; it's certainly nothing to be ignored. After all - as much as some wish to downplay it - we ARE in the end times as outlined in the Books of Daniel and Revelation. That is why I've been harping on people for the last two decades to "get themselves right with God."

Truth is, if you've been slumbering in the "Jesus loves me and will protect me" mindset, you need to ask yourself if that's the case, then didn't he love others in the world besides Noah and his family before the whole earth was wiped out by the Flood? Doesn't he love tiny, innocent babies who are born with HIV or starving and dying in "third-world" countries?

Doesn't he love those who died in a terrible church bus accident? And didn't YHWH love the 24,000 who were killed after the Golden Calf incident (the very people He had liberated from Egypt)? Didn't He love His only begotten Son?

I could go on, but surely you get the gist. Death is inevitable and there are no "get out of death free" cards.

The truth is, we are in a fallen world where bad things can happen to anyone - and the ONLY thing we can count on is that TRUE believers (not "half-hearted" ones!) are going to have eternal life. These earth-suits in which we reside, don't matter in the grand scheme of things. Our sinful flesh won't be resurrected, anyway; our souls will.

That's why it is imperative to remember that the soul that sins, can DIE (Ezekiel 18:2-4 and 19-20; Romans 6:23; Exodus 20:5; etc.) Therefore, be whole-hearted - which includes the main ingredient of obedience.

Ecclesiastes 12:7 Then the dust will return to the earth as it was,

And the spirit will return to God who gave it.

Matthew 10:28 And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

Deuteronomy 30:15 “Look! I am presenting you today with, on the one hand, life and good; and on the other, death and evil — 16 in that I am ordering you today to love Adonai your God, to follow his ways, and to obey his mitzvot, regulations and rulings ; for if you do, you will live and increase your numbers; and Adonai your God will bless you in the land you are entering in order to take possession of it.

17 But if your heart turns away, if you refuse to listen, if you are drawn away to prostrate yourselves before other gods and serve them; 18 I am announcing to you today that you will certainly perish; you will not live long in the land you are crossing the Yarden to enter and possess.

19 “I call on heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have presented you with life and death, the blessing and the curse. Therefore, choose life, so that you will live, you and your descendants, 20 loving Adonai your God, paying attention to what he says and clinging to him — for that is the purpose of your life! (CJB)

A short lesson on the importance of “holiness”

Let’s start with King David speaking to his son, Shlomo (Solomon) …

1 Chronicles 28: ⁹ “As for you, Shlomo my son, know the God of your father. Serve him wholeheartedly and with desire in your being; for Adonai searches all hearts and understands all the inclinations of people’s thoughts. If you seek him, he will let himself be found by you; but if you abandon him, he will reject you forever. (CJB)

Later on, in 2 Chronicles, you see why YHWH made King David’s son, Shlomo ,so successful:

In reading 2 Chronicles chapters 1 and 2, it became clear that King Shlomo made things prosper by creating paying jobs, and putting people to work via his love for, and obedience to, YHWH.

2 Chronicles 6: ¹² Then he stood before the altar of Adonai in the presence of the whole community of Isra’el, spread out his hands — ¹³ for Shlomo had made a bronze platform eight-and-three quarters feet long, eight-and-three-quarters feet wide and five-and-a-quarter feet high and had set it up in the middle of the courtyard. He stood on it, then got down on his knees before the whole community, spread out his hands toward heaven, ¹⁴ and said, “Adonai, God of Isra’el, there is no God like you in heaven or on earth. You keep covenant with your servants and show them grace, provided they live in your presence with all their heart. (CJB)

Skipping over to 2 Chronicles 6:24, we see the reiteration of Torah commands where YHWH’s people (which includes YOU, by the way!) are told that if they OBEY Him, all will go well with them:

….²⁴ “If your people Isra’el sin against you and in consequence are defeated by an enemy; then if they turn back to you, acknowledge your name, and pray and make their plea to you in this house, ²⁵ hear from heaven, forgive the sin of your people Isra’el, and bring them back to the land you gave to them and their ancestors.

²⁶ “When they sin against you, and in consequence the sky is shut, so that there is no rain; then if they pray toward this place, acknowledge your name and turn from their sin when you have brought them low; ²⁷ hear in heaven, forgive the sin of your servants and of your people Isra’el — since you keep teaching them the good way by which they should live — and send down rain on your land, which you have given your people as their inheritance. (CJB)

Is it ANY wonder that our world is experiencing so much disease, depravity, natural disasters and chaos and confusion today?

NOW, HERE’S SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT:

The bottom line is: As you’ve seen in the passages above, being “holy” requires obedience to ADONAI’s Divine Instructions! We can “believe in God” from now until the cows come home; but unless we OBEY His rules, we aren’t really “being holy.”

Please check out the following scriptures (just a few of many) that leave no doubt WHO is in charge and what will happen to you if we refuse to obey! (And remember – YHWH’s commands come from LOVE for His Creation, which He desires to be HOLY enough to join Him in Eternity. He doesn’t force us to obey; He has given us the CHOICE to obey, or not! The stark reality is that there will be NO unholiness in “Heaven”….)

Leviticus 19: 19 Adonai said to Moshe, ² “Speak to the entire community of Isra’el; tell them, ‘You people are to be holy because I, Adonai your God, am holy. (CJB)

Leviticus 19: ³⁷ Observe all my regulations and rulings, and do them; I am Adonai.’” (CJB)

Here is Moshe/Moses giving instructions and pleading with Israel to HEAR YHWH’s heart:

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. ⁴⁰ Therefore, you are to keep his laws and mitzvot which I am giving you today, so that it will go well with you and with your children after you, and so that you will prolong your days in the land Adonai your God is giving you forever.” (CJB)

Deuteronomy 5:^{25 (28)} “Adonai heard what you were saying when you spoke to me, and Adonai said to me, ‘I have heard what this people has said when speaking to you, and everything they have said is good. ^{26 (29)} Oh, how I wish their hearts would stay like this always, that they would fear me and obey all my mitzvot; so that it would go well with them and their children forever. ^{27 (30)} Go, tell them to return to their tents. ^{28 (31)} But you, stand here by me; and I will tell you all the mitzvot, laws and rulings which you are to teach them, so that they can obey them in the land I am giving them as their possession.’

^{29 (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. ^{30 (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 question remains: Are YOU “hearing His Heart?”

What is a "counter-missionary"?

If you don't know what a "counter-missionary" is, it's simply someone who has come to the conclusion that Yeshua is NOT the Messiah, that Paul was a total farce, and that the New Testament is a complete myth.

These false ideas are spurred on by several things, including the fact that these people have not only misunderstood the teachings of Paul (who NEVER spoke against Torah, and was desperately trying to teach difficult and deep Hebrew concepts to pagans); but also allowed themselves to be sucked into the "counter-missionary" webs of people like Rabbis Tovia Singer, Stuart Federow, Michael Skobac, and God only knows how many others, who make their living (or at least spend huge amounts of time) trying to show the world why "Jesus" (they always refuse to call Messiah by his given Hebrew name) and the NT are FAKE!

The hidden agenda of these Jewish Rabbis seems to be to NOT simply draw the Jews who "found Jesus" back into the fold; but to also lure Christians, Messianics and Hebrew Roots folks AWAY from Yeshua for the purpose of USING THEM AGAINST US, once they've "rejected Jesus."

It's brilliant, really ... yet also very SAD that so many are falling for these shysters and their wiles.

The truth is, people who have rejected Yeshua never knew our Messiah, in the first place; or else they could NEVER have rejected him! However, they're made to feel very welcome in their "new surroundings" consisting of those "amazing new Rabbi friends" and other like-minded people who have been duped into rejecting "Jesus" - and they now feel compelled to sit around on the Internet to endlessly bash him.

Like I said - it's a brilliant idea to use our own people against us. After all, a house divided cannot stand." (Mark 3:25)

Scripture amply warns us that there would be deceivers in the end times who would do everything in their power to take us from YHWH's Truth:

1 Timothy 4: 1. But the Spirit says explicitly that, in the latter times, some will depart from the faith, and will go after deceptive spirits and after the doctrine of demons. 2. These will seduce by a false appearance, and will speak a lie and will be seared in their conscience… (AENT)

YHWH told us about Messiah and what would happen to him (read all of Isaiah 53)....

Counter-missionaries love to insist Isaiah 53 is "all about Israel" and that passages such as the ones below, are NOT about Yeshua because he "didn't fulfill everything." Well, to that I say - who SAID Yeshua HAD to fulfill EVERYTHING in a certain time frame. He HAS fulfilled at least 300 Messianic prophecies - so what more do you expect of him?

Jeremiah 23:5-6: "Behold the days come, saith YHWH, that I will raise up unto Dawid a righteous shoot, and he shall reign as king and prosper, and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely; and this is the name whereby he shall be called: YHWH is our righteousness." (1955 JPS)

Zechariah 12:10 "And I will pour out on the House of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the spirit of grace and supplication, so that they will look on me whom they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over him, like the bitter weeping over a first-born." (CJB)

HELLO!!!

Now, take a look at what happens to those who REJECT Messiah Yeshua! (I can't imagine the punishment that awaits those who actively take people AWAY from him....)

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. (AENT)

Counter-missionaries are DEAD WRONG!