Just some random thoughts

My husband and I are forever in Scripture in one way or another, learning, growing and updating our knowledge in hopes of getting an ever-closer relationship with YHWH/Yeshua.

Our present knowledge comes from 20+ years of diligent, daily study, constantly learning and - using plenty of discernment - discarding those things that we discover were off the mark, and then updating our knowledge with the help of the Ruach (Holy Spirit) and scholars we trust (of which there are very few)…

I've noticed over the years that way too many people stay "stuck in a rut" when it comes to Scripture.  They tend to do one of several things:

(1) They  simply accept the Scripture translations as they are; never questioning  anything, and consequently, never really learning or growing. They don't know God and treat Him like He's their fairy-godfather, someone they can boss around, demanding He fix their broken lives; forever ordering Him to bless them and others. 

They don't realize He doesn't work that way, or that accepting YHWH/Yeshua/Torah requires some WORK on their part (i.e. obedience to His Divine Instructions).  Because they don't know Scripture, they haven't got a clue that a relationship with God is a two-way street.

(2)  They don't bother to read the Bible at all.  Ever. They simply pick up  snippets in church or from Facebook or wherever, and pretend they know  enough about it to fool God into thinking they're holy. 

(Most of the people I've questioned admit they have NOT read “the whole  Bible”;  while others admit they’ve only either “read the New Testament”  or  “picked their way through” and read only certain passages.)

(3)  And then we have those who go to the other extreme of accepting  absolutely nothing, or very little of what they read; and simply  formulate their own opinions which they then view as “truth” … and then  pass it onto others who thrive on “ear tickling” nonsense and conspiracy  theories. 

(4)  And then we also have those who have found their  way to the Truth of YHWH/Yeshua/Torah, who believe they now have ALL the  answers and immediately view themselves as qualified "teachers" ...  teaching, of course, personal opinions formulated from what they "now  know" coupled with certain dragged-in dogmas from the past, mixed into  half-truths gleaned from other self-proclaimed "teachers"...

It is therefore no wonder that there is a "great falling away" in progress!  Bil and I have communicated with people who decided to become atheists or  agnostics because “they were so disappointed at having been duped all  their life”; while still others are on a perpetual merry-go-round of “religion  hopping” because they’re looking for something that “feels right” to  them.

One of the most serious offenses by Believers is a trend to “reject” Paul …  which then leads to rejecting Yeshua, which of course means one has to ultimately  reject the entire New Testament.
 
And then what?  Well, they  start following Jewish counter-missionary rabbis who make their living  taking Christians and Messianics away from the WHOLE Truth, and drawing  them into Judaism … for the purpose of “using” those people against  those of us who are into YHWH/Yeshua/Torah….

The thing is, PEOPLE  are their own worst enemies.  Instead of seeking the Ruach and asking  God to please help them learn and grow and constantly update their  knowledge, they mostly tend to jump straight from one end of the  pendulum to the other, totally missing the “middle” yet eagerly  accepting what they found “way over on the other side.”

Scripture  says this would happen.  All we can is to be a LIGHT and pray for our families and friends, while keeping in mind that Matthew 7:13-14  tells us that MOST will NOT be taking that “narrow gate that leads to  life.”

Don’t forget that God is sending us plenty of warnings these days!

Take a look at what the Prophet Ezekiel in the 6th-century BCE said concerning YHWH’s people Israel - and try to count the many similarities you see today! (And folks, Scripture warns us that it will only get worse before it gets better, which is why it is imperative that we get ourselves "right" with ADONAI immediately.)

Ezekiel 22:

1 The word of ADONAI came to me: 2 "Now, human being, are you prepared to judge? Are you prepared to judge the city drenched in blood? Then make her realize how disgusting all her practices are!

3 Say that Adonai ELOHIM says, 'City that sheds blood within yourself, thus speeding your own doom, and that makes idols for yourself that defile you: 4 you are guilty because of the blood you have shed, you are defiled by your idols that you have made. You have shortened your days, you have completed your years; therefore I have made you an object of scorn for the nations and a laughingstock for every country.

5 Those close by and those far off will taunt you, you who have such a defiled reputation and such great disorder. 6 "'The leaders of Isra'el in you all use their power in order to shed blood.

7 In you, they make light of fathers and mothers, they oppress foreigners, they wrong orphans and widows. 8 You treat my holy things with contempt, you profane my shabbats. 9 In you, people gossip to the point of inciting bloodshed; in you are those who go to eat on the mountains; in you, they commit lewd acts; 10 in you, they commit incest; in you, they force themselves on women during their menstrual impurity.

11 In you, one commits an abomination with his neighbor's wife; another commits some lewd act defiling his daughter-in-law; still another humbles his sister, his own father's daughter. 12 In you, people take bribes to shed blood; you demand and accept interest on loans; in greed you make profits off your neighbors by extorting them; and you have forgotten me,' says Adonai ELOHIM. 13 "'Therefore, I am clapping my hands together because of your ill-gotten gains and the blood shed in you.

14 Can your courage last, can your strength continue during the days when I deal with you? I, ADONAI, have spoken it; and I will do it. 15 I will scatter you among the Goyim and disperse you throughout the countries; thus I will remove your defilement from you, 16 and you will cause yourselves to be profaned in full view of the Goyim. Then you will know that I am ADONAI.'"

17 The word of ADONAI came to me: 18 "Human being, the house of Isra'el has become an alloy of base metals for me; they are all copper, tin, iron and lead mixed together in the crucible, the dross left over from the silver. 19 Therefore Adonai ELOHIM says this: 'Because you have all become dross, I will collect all of you inside Yerushalayim.

20 Then, just as they collect silver, copper, iron, lead and tin into a crucible and blow fire on it to melt it down; so likewise I will collect you in my anger and fury, throw you in there, and melt you down. 21 Yes, I will collect you and blow on you with the fire of my rage, and you will be melted down in it. 22 As silver is melted down in a crucible, so will you be melted down in [Yerushalayim]. Then you will know that it is I, ADONAI, who have poured out my fury on you.'"

23 The word of ADONAI came to me: 24 "Human being, tell her this: 'You are a land that is neither cleansed nor rained on in the day of fury. 25 There is a conspiracy of prophets in it like a roaring lion tearing up the prey; they have devoured people, seized wealth and valuables, and widowed many in it.

26 Her cohanim have done violence to my Torah, profaned my holy things, made no difference between the holy and the common, not distinguished between unclean and clean, hidden their eyes from my shabbats, and profaned me among themselves. 27 Her leaders in it are like wolves tearing up the prey to shed blood and destroy people, in order to benefit unjustly.

28 Her prophets have "plastered" for them with whitewash, seeing false visions and divining lies for them, saying, "Thus says Adonai ELOHIM," when ADONAI has not spoken. 29 The people of the land have extorted, robbed, wronged the poor and needy and unjustly oppressed foreigners.

30 "'I sought for a man among them who could build a barricade or stand in the break to oppose me on behalf of the land, so that I would not destroy it; but I found no one. 31 Therefore I am pouring out my fury on them, consuming them with the fire of my rage, bringing their own ways on their own heads,' says Adonai ELOHIM." (CJB)

SHAME ON Janai Norman for broaching the subject racism with her two-year-old !

I'm sorry, but any respect I might have had for Janai Norman is now out the window! Any mother of ANY color who allows her two-year-old to watch protests and riots on TV and then actually tries to explain racism to him, needs a swift kick in the butt, along with being fired from her journalism job, because journalists are supposed to have more SENSE than that!

(And don't even get me started on people who took their little ones with them on those protests, because they are too STUPID for words!)

But hey - what a way to PROMOTE racism, eh? … by "explaining racism" to your TODDLER, and making sure that you make YOURSELF out to be the victim, while giving him the idea that all Whites and the policemen are BAD guys….

Way to go, Janai!

But hey, golly gee, since you were having grown-up discussions with your sweet and innocent little TWO YEAR OLD, perhaps you could have mentioned that when he grows up, he shouldn't commit a crime, but if he does, and gets caught, he should COOPERATE with police instead of arguing and escalating the situation. I mean, if we're going to get REAL here, let's present ALL sides, shall we?

My GOD, what a pathetic world we live in! SHAME ON YOU, Janai! When we finally decide to watch the news on TV again, we will make SURE to turn the channel when YOU come on!

Would Yeshua really ask his Father, "Why have you forsaken me?"

Did you know that Yeshua, in his final death throes, never said, "Why have you forsaken me?" He said, "Why have you spared me?"  YHWH NEVER, EVER "forsook" His Son!  Why would He?  Yeshua's death was prophesied! It HAD to come to pass, or else Yeshua could not have been our Redemption.

Here's a look at the Aramaic translation:

Matthew 27: 46. And about the ninth hour, Y’shua cried out with a loud voice and said, My El! My El! [Lemana shabakthani] Why have you spared me? (AENT)

FOOTNOTE:

Y’shua was not necessarily quoting Psalm 22, although the imagery of the Psalm is certainly intended by Matthew. Greek is transliterated Eli, Eli lama sabacthani, but Peshitta and Psalm 22 read: Eli, Eli lama azbatani.

Many Bibles read "forsaken" from which came a false teaching that the Father left Y’shua destitute (Marcionite thinking). Isaiah 53:4 indicates that "we" reckoned him smitten of Elohim, but it is not YHWH who tortured His own son, but men motivated by religious tradition. Psalm 22 references those who scorned Y’shua for his Faith in YHWH and called him a worm (detested), but Father YHWH does not forsake the righteous, nor does He at any time "forsake" His own Son – see Psalm 9:9, 10; 37:25; 71:11; Isaiah 49:14-16.

Y'shua says "Eli" (my El). He is in great physical pain after being brutally tortured; those around him were confused about whether he was saying "Eli-yah" or "Eliyahu". If Hebrew eyewitnesses were not sure of what he was saying, it shouldn’t be a surprise that Greek transliteration was also wrong, putting "lama sabacthani" rather than "lemana shabakthani."

Perhaps the reason Y’shua says "why are you sparing me" is because he has proven his commitment by laying down his life and has already endured about six hours of the execution! So, it’s not a matter of being "forsaken" but that he literally means, "Father, I'm ready, why can’t we finish this?" In a matter of moments from saying this, he dies, which fully supports this interpretation.

Peter, the Rock?

ISN’T IT STRANGE that the Catholic Church has decided that Peter (Kefa) is the Rock or Cornerstone of the Catholic Church - never mind that Peter denied Yeshua three times in the hours before Yeshua was nailed to the stake?

Take a look:

Matthew 26:⁶⁹ Kefa was sitting outside in the courtyard when a servant girl came up to him. “You too were with Yeshua from the Galil,” she said. ⁷⁰ But he denied it in front of everyone — “I don’t know what you’re talking about!” ⁷¹ He went out onto the porch, and another girl saw him and said to the people there, “This man was with Yeshua of Natzeret.”

⁷² Again he denied it, swearing, “I don’t know the man!” ⁷³ After a little while, the bystanders approached Kefa and said, “You must be one of them — your accent gives you away.” ⁷⁴ This time he began to invoke a curse on himself as he swore, “I do not know the man!” — and immediately a rooster crowed. ⁷⁵ Kefa remembered what Yeshua had said, “Before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times”; and he went outside and cried bitterly. (CJB)

But WE know who the TRUE “Rock” is!

Matthew 16:13. And when Y’shua came to the region of Caesarea of Philippi, he was asking his disciples and said, Concerning me, who do men say that I am, merely a son of a man? 14. And they said, “Some say Yochanan the Immerser, but others Eliyahu (Elijah). And others Yirmeyahu (Jeremiah), or one of the prophets. 15. He said to them, But who do you say that I am?

16. Shimon Keefa (Simon Peter) said, “You are the Mashiyach, the Son of the Living Elohim.” 17. Y’shua answered him and said, Blessed are you Shimon, the son of Yona, because flesh and blood have not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. 18. I say also to you that you are Keefa, and on this Keefa[*] I will build my assembly, and the gates of Sheol will not subdue it…. (AENT)

FOOTNOTE:

This is a wordplay between Keefa the man and what his nickname means. Y’shua uses Keefa’s name to reveal the significance of Keefa’s conclusion. Neither flesh nor blood (an individual) can reveal the “nature” of Mashiyach, except YHWH Himself by the Ruach haKodesh!

Using the literal meaning of Keefa’s name (rock), Y’shua brings together the understanding of the Tsur (Rock) of D’varim/Deut 32:18, 30, 31; Psalm 18:46; 61; 62; Isaiah 8:14; 17:10; 51:1-8. When Shimon Keefa says, “You are the Mashiyach, the Son of the Living Elohim” he confesses faith in Mashiyach, not the person only, but the Spirit of Mashiyach in Y’shua.

Y’shua’s reply provides Keefa the same reference that David and the Prophets had regarding YHWH’s Salvation, the Rock. However, this verse was twisted by Catholicism to first give Peter “authority,” then usurp Peter’s “authority” for its leader.

Be wary of self-proclaimed “prophets”…

As you’ve probably noticed, there are lots of  on places like Facebook. Be VERY careful to NOT believe everything you hear or read! YHWH doesn’t like people who “prophesy” things He never said!

Ezekiel 13: 9 “My hand will be against the prophets who have futile visions and produce false divinations; they will not be allowed into the council of my people, or be written in the register of the house of Isra’el, or enter the land of Isra’el. Then you will know that I am Adonai ELOHIM.

10 They deserve this, because they have led my people astray by saying there is peace when there is no peace. If someone builds a wall without mortar, they ‘plaster’ it with whitewash [to make it appear strong].

11 Tell these ‘plasterers’ that a cloudburst is coming, with huge hailstones and gale-force winds; 12 and the wall will fall down. Then people will ask you, ‘Where is the whitewash you used to “plaster” it?’” 13 Therefore Adonai ELOHIM says: “In my rage I will cause gale-force winds to break out, and in my anger there will come a cloudburst, with huge hailstones to consume it in fury.

14 This is how I will break down the wall you covered with whitewash — I will smash it to the ground, so that its foundation will be revealed. The wall will fall down, and you will be consumed with it. Then you will know that I am ADONAI.

15 In this way I will spend my fury on the wall and on those who covered it with whitewash; and I will say to you, ‘The wall is gone, and so are those who “plastered” it,’ 16 that is, the prophets of Isra’el who prophesy about Yerushalayim and see visions of peace for her when there is no peace,” says Adonai ELOHIM.’ (CJB

Calgary hit by "tennis ball-sized" hail … we need to pay attention to warning signs like these!

Yesterday (June 15, 2020), Calgary was hit by "tennis ball-sized" hail. Can you imagine hail of that size? YHWH has been trying to get man's attention for 6 thousand years....but we're clearly STILL not getting it....

Here are just a few Scripture verses that mention “hail” - and it's never in a "good" context…

Revelation 8:6 Now the seven angels with the seven shofars prepared to sound them. 7 The first one sounded his shofar; and there came hail and fire mingled with blood, and it was thrown down upon the earth. A third of the earth was burned up, a third of the trees were burned up, and all green grass was burned up.

Revelation 11:19 Then the Temple of God in heaven was opened, and the Ark of the Covenant was seen in his Temple; and there were flashes of lightning, voices, peals of thunder, an earthquake and violent hail.

Revelation 16 21 And huge seventy-pound hailstones fell on people from the sky. But the people cursed God for the plague of hail, that it was such a terrible plague.

Job 38:22 “Have you gone into the storehouses for snow or seen the storehouses for hail, 23 which I save for times of trouble, for days of battle and war?

Psalm 105: 32 He gave them hail instead of rain, with fiery lightning] throughout their land. 33 He struck their vines and fig trees, shattering trees all over their country.

Isaiah 28:1 Woe to the haughty crown of Efrayim’s drunks, to the fading flower of its proud splendor, located at the head of the rich valley belonging to people overcome by wine! 2 Adonai has someone strong and powerful. He comes like a hailstorm, a destructive tempest, like a flood of water, rushing, overwhelming; with his hand he hurls them to the ground.

Haggai 2:17 I struck you with blasting winds, mildew and hail on everything your hands produced; but you still wouldn’t return to me,’ says ADONAI.

Ezekiel 13: 11 Tell these ‘plasterers’ that a cloudburst is coming, with huge hailstones and gale-force winds; 12 and the wall will fall down. Then people will ask you, ‘Where is the whitewash you used to “plaster” it?’” 13 Therefore Adonai ELOHIM says: “In my rage I will cause gale-force winds to break out, and in my anger there will come a cloudburst, with huge hailstones to consume it in fury.