Proof that Torah was already put into place in the very beginning…

The below is proof that Torah was already put into place in the very beginning. How else could Kayin (Cain) have known what constitutes sin? In Genesis 4:3 we see that Kayin knew he hadn't provided the "right kind" of sacrifice (as only blood covers sin); and he KNEW he was committing sin when he killed his brother because, when YHWH confronted him, he feigned ignorance and arrogance (Genesis 4:9). And when YHWH told Kayin he would be banned from His Presence in verse 4:14, we find that Kayin's immediate fear was that "whoever finds me will kill me" - because, without YHWH's covering, the world is an evil and dangerous place.

The ONLY way Kayin could have known all these things was because YHWH had already laid down His Divine Instructions in Righteousness...

Genesis 4:6 ADONAI said to Kayin, "Why are you angry? Why so downcast? 7 If you are doing what is good, shouldn't you hold your head high? And if you don't do what is good, sin is crouching at the door - it wants you, but you can rule over it." (CJB)

How could Kayin rule over sin? Through obedience to Torah!

Genesis 4:18 Kayin had words with Hevel his brother; then one time, when they were in the field, Kayin turned on Hevel his brother and killed him. 9 ADONAI said to Kayin, "Where is Hevel your brother?"And he replied, "I don't know; am I my brother's guardian?" (CJB)

He LIED to YHWH, knowing full well that YHWH knew that he had killed Hevel. Confronted by the reality of the situation, Kayin then began to fear for his own life/ Why? Because he KNEW that he was doomed to spend the rest of his life without the covering of YHWH....

Genesis 4:10 He said, "What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood is crying out to me from the ground! 3 Kayin said to ADONAI, "My punishment is greater than I can bear. 14 You are banning me today from the land and from your presence. I will be a fugitive wandering the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me." (CJB)

The difference between a Shabbat and a Shabbat Shabbaton

Question to The Refiner’s Fire: Referring to https://therefinersfire.org/counting_the_omer.htm, I can only find three occasions within time which  are called Shabbat or Shabbat Shabbaton, namely, the seventh day of the week, Yom Kippur and the agricultural Shmita Year (PS. I've learned that Shabbat isn't the actual name of that day but a description: i.e. the seventh day is called "Shabbat" after a certain characteristic of that day, and so, certain days are also called "Shabbaton" after a certain characteristic of those days).

Our reply:
 
Thank you for writing. 

I hope our article which you referenced, was not confusing, as we advocate the counting of the Omer from the 16th of Nisan, and not from a weekly Sabbath.

You have brought up some interesting points though about the "Shabbat" vs the "Shabbat Shabbaton".  Please let me try to clarify. 

A "Shabbat" is any day of cessation, or day of rest.  The Hebrew word for "Shabbat" means "rest", or "cessation".  In that vein, all 8 recurring holy days are "Shabbats" because each are identified as days of "no ordinary work".

But there are three "special" Shabbats, called "Shabbat Shabbaton" which are more than a regular "Shabbat" (the weekly Shabbat, Yom Kippur, and the agricultural 7th year Shmita), but not for the reason you have come to assume.  These "special" Shabbats are special (i.e., Shabbat Shabbaton) because of their position as the "7th" in a sequence, not because they have a "special characteristic" of a particular day:

- The Weekly Sabbath is the 7th day of the week.
- Yom Kippur is the 7th of the named High Holy days of the year - the only day on which atonement is offered. (The weekly Sabbath is its own Sabbath, see Lev 23:2-3).
- The agricultural year, the 7th year is the year of rest for the land.

All the other "Sabbath" days are "days of rest", that is, they are important days of "cessation" from activity. (The 1st and last days of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the day of Shavuot, Yom Teruah, and the 1st and last days of Sukkot).  Each of these day are, indeed, "Sabbaths", but they are not "Shabbat Shabbatons", because they are not the "7th" in a sequence.

Thus, the weekly Sabbath is a "Sabbath", because it is a day of cessation, but it is also a "Shabbat Shabbaton" because it is the 7th day of the week.  And Yom Kippur is a "Sabbath", because it is a day of cessation, but it is also a "Shabbat Shabbaton" because it is the 7th of the annual Sabbaths, on which atonement is offered.

And the year of the Shmita is a "Sabbath" year, because it is a year of cessation of planting or harvesting, but it is also a "Shabbat Shabbaton" because it is the 7th year of the agricultural years.

Of course few studies such as this are "perfect". While the idea posed here has merit, Leviticus 23:39, which is about the 1st and last days of Sukkot, reads "On the first day is a rest [shabbaton], and on the eighth day a rest [shabbaton]" adding a bit of confusion.  Perhaps it is no wonder then why the Mishnah records that even the Sages pondered these differences. "Mishnah. There is no difference between festivals and Sabbath save only in the matter of [preparing] food."

Did Moses really see God face-to-face?

READER QUESTION:  Please explain Exodus 24, which tells us that Moses and the 70 leaders “saw” YHWH, yet we are told in John 1:18 and 1 John 4:12 that nobody can look upon God’s face. Help me understand that Moses and the elders saw God but John is saying no one has ever seen God.

RESPONSE:  What we can surmise by perusing all the pertinent scriptures concerning anyone "seeing YHWH" is that no one ever actually SAW Him in His Natural State - not even Moshe, because Exodus 33 tells us that no one can look at YHWH "and remain alive." Here's what we are told Moshe and the 70 elders saw in Exodus 24:

Exodus 24:9 Moshe, Aharon, Nadav, Avihu and seventy of the leaders went up; 10 and they saw the God of Isra'el. Under his feet was something like a sapphire stone pavement as clear as the sky itself. 11 He did not reach out his hand against these notables of Isra'el; on the contrary, they saw God, even as they were eating and drinking.

12 ADONAI said to Moshe, "Come up to me on the mountain, and stay there. I will give you the stone tablets with the Torah and the mitzvot I have written on them, so that you can teach them." 13 Moshe got up, also Y'hoshua his assistant; and Moshe went up onto the mountain of God.

14 To the leaders he said, "Stay here for us, until we come back to you. See, Aharon and Hur are with you; whoever has a problem should turn to them." 15 Moshe went up onto the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain.

16 The glory of ADONAI stayed on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days. On the seventh day he called to Moshe out of the cloud. 17 To the people of Isra'el the glory of ADONAI looked like a raging fire on the top of the mountain. 18 Moshe entered the cloud and went up on the mountain; he was on the mountain forty days and nights. (CJB)

Now, in Exodus 33:11 we read that Moshe saw YHWH "face-to-face" - but since God is spirit (John 4:24), He does not have a “face.” The passage simply means that YHWH had a close relationship with Moshe - they were in harmony with each other, just as close friends are. They were not literally face to face, but their relationship and communication was very much like two people who spoke to one another as close friends would.

Take a look at this passage in Exodus 33 which serves to explain that NO ONE can see YHWH's Face:

Exodus 33:17 ADONAI said to Moshe, "I will also do what you have asked me to do, because you have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name." 18 But Moshe said, "I beg you to show me your glory!" 19 He replied, "I will cause all my goodness to pass before you, and in your presence I will pronounce the name of ADONAI. Moreover, I show favor to whomever I will, and I display mercy to whomever I will.

20 But my face," he continued, "you cannot see, because a human being cannot look at me and remain alive. 21 Here," he said, "is a place near me; stand on the rock. 22 When my glory passes by, I will put you inside a crevice in the rock and cover you with my hand, until I have passed by. 23 Then I will remove my hand, and you will see my back, but my face is not to be seen."…

Nothing suggests that Y'shua was on the mountain with Moshe and the 70 leaders in Exodus 24. He could have been, but the passage doesn't reveal exactly "what" (or "who") Moshe and the leaders saw.....

Counter-missionaries love to downplay the “golden calf” issue by “tweaking” the passage

COUNTER-MISSIONARY COMMENT:  "Messianic" and "study" is an oxymoron!

RESPONSE: It isn’t more of an oxymoron than the words “Jewish” and “study.” Both sides are coming from their own understanding, yet counter-missionaries seem driven to make fun of anything we say, think or do. One cannot even enter into proper discussion with counter-missionaries because they’re only interested in their own opinions and self-proclaimed “knowledge” (which they’ll use to verbally pound you to pieces).

Most of them will absolutely NOT bother to read what you’ve written in your response, much less respond to it; they simply keep on pounding you with their “knowledge” - often while berating you or resorting to name calling, in the process...or just constantly making statements like, "You're wrong" or "Don't try to those NT verses on me because I consider the NT to be a myth!". "Being berated" by counter-missionaries can get very tiring, and that is why we have banned many of them from this page....

Here is 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 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….

NOTE TO 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.

Y’shua means “YHWH Saves”….

In this week's Torah portion, we saw YHWH lay down lots of rules. And then, quite out of the blue, amidst all the rules, there appears this little passage about YHWH's angel (messenger) that could only have referred to Y'shua!

Why? Because Y'shua is the only heavenly Being who has YHWH's Name within his own! (Remember, Y'shua means "YHWH Saves!" All the messengers/angels only have YHWH's title of "Elohim" within theirs - i.e., Rapha-EL, Gavri-EL, Micha-EL.)

Exodus 23:20 "I am sending an angel ahead of you to guard you on the way and bring you to the place I have prepared. 21 Pay attention to him, listen to what he says and do not rebel against him; because he will not forgive any wrongdoing of yours, since my name resides in him 22 But if you listen to what he says and do everything I tell you, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and a foe to your foes. (CJB)

Feminist rabbi writes blasphemous article accusing God of sexual harassment….

Surely this is a made-up story! NOBODY could be this ...lost … could they? This utterly ridiculous and blasphemous article has to be read to be believed because its central thesis is that God somehow sexually harassed Eve, and that Eve is “the first case of #MeToo.” Clearly, this woman is an atheist, because only an atheist would dare say something like this!

Here are some excerpts taken from this article written by Rabbi Tamara Kolton ("the first rabbi ordained in Humanistic Judaism" according to Wikipedia). about Adam and Eve:

"… I want you to think about this. Here is a young, beautiful, intelligent, naked woman living in a state of Grace. She’s hungry, so she does the most natural thing in the world and eats a piece of fruit. For following her instincts, trusting herself, and nourishing her body, she is punished. Her punishment? She will never again feel safe in her nakedness. She will never again love her body. She will never again know her body as a place of sacred sovereignty…."

"… I know that at this very moment in time, Eve is with us and she is awed and proud that we are finally finding our voices, one at time, and then hundreds, and thousands at a time. She, who was lost to us so long ago, is actually here with us now, marching in the streets, testifying, raising her voice, at last."

"Eve, our blessed mother, is saying, '#Metoo.'"

Let’s discuss Romans 7

Have you ever pondered Paul's tormented, heart-felt, gut-wrenching writings in Romans 7, concerning our carnal, human nature which sometimes tends to get in the way? I was going to do a short article on Romans 7:13-21 today, but I became so immersed that I decided to simply go ahead and discuss the whole chapter, to show the context of this confusing, often-misunderstood passage.

Here we go:

Romans 7:1. Or do you not know, my Brothers (for I am speaking to them who know Torah) that Torah has dominion over a man as long as he is alive? 2. Just as a woman, by Torah, is bound to her husband as long as he is alive: but if her husband should die, she is freed from the Torah of her husband. 3. And if, while her husband is alive, she should adhere to another man, she would become an adulteress: but if her husband should die, she is freed from Torah; and would not be an adulteress though joined to another man.

NOTE: Paraphrasing the footnotes on this chapter from the Aramaic English New Testament (AENT), the context of the first three verses reveals Paul’s attempts to show that “Torah” is intended as “Instruction” - as in the instruction pertaining to marriage alone, and not the whole body of the Covenant. When a marriage partner dies, the surviving spouse is no longer contractually bound to the marriage covenant, but this does not mean that THE RULES of marriage no longer apply to the survivor, or to the rest us.

MOVING ON:

4. And now, my brothers, you also have become dead to Torah by the body of Mashiyach; that you might be joined to another, (even) to him who arose from the dead, and might yield fruits to Elohim. 5. For while we were in the flesh, the emotions of sin which are (listed) by Torah, were active in our members that we should bear fruits to death. 6. But now we are absolved from Torah and are dead to that which held us in its grasp: that we might from now on serve in the newness of the spirit and not in the oldness of the letter.

NOTE: The term “Dead to Torah” refers to being “dead to the penalty for sin,” which is death, followed by destruction. Believers still tend to sin; however, those who are “in Mashiyach” (Messianic Yeshua) have atonement in him. This, of course, doesn’t mean we are free to sin at will. No! It means, the Ruach (Holy Spirit) within constantly reminds, warns and admonishes us whenever we do things we shouldn’t. From the beginning (Gen. 3:15) YHWH established a defense for His people against haSatan (the adversary)! Today, Believers have the privilege of adhering to Torah and “believing in” Yeshua our Divine Intercessor, who martyred himself on our behalf.

By the way, to “live in the spirit” and be “in” Mashiyach means to live a life pleasing to YHWH and NOT break Torah (see also Romans 8:1-10). Those who think that they can repeatedly break Torah without consequence because Mashiyach died for them, are very deceived because – as we see in places like Numbers 15:30, Hebrews 6:4-8, Hebrews 10:26, Romans 1:18-32 and 2 Peter 2:19-21, there is NO sin sacrifice for DELIBERATE and CONTINUED sinning!

Verse 6 is often misused by anti-Torah types who haven't grasped the concept of YHWH/Yeshua/Torah! You see, faith in Mashiyach and Torah observance brings eternal life, but the consequence of sin is death. This does not mean Torah is “released” because, with or without Mashiyach, the penalty for willful sin still remains! If the penalty for sin remains, then Torah also remains.

The “oldness of the letter” in verse 6 speaks of old religious ways which do not recognize Mashiyach as bringing the Living Word of YHWH to mankind. Y’shua brought the correct understanding of Torah which is to be written upon the heart, so we don’t continue in sin. (See also 6:12, below.) Some might say they have Faith and claim to be “Believers,” but if they continue in sin their faith/belief is irrelevant.

MOVING ON, we see Paul adamantly confirming Torah!

7. What will we say then? Is Torah sin? May it never be! For I had not learned sin except by means of Torah: for I had not known lust, had not Torah said, You will not covet: 8. And by this Commandment sin found occasion and perfected in me all lust: for without Torah, sin was dead.

9. And I, without Torah, was alive formerly; but when the Commandment came, sin became alive, and I died; 10. And the Commandment of life was found by me (to be) to death. 11. For sin, by the occasion which it found by means of the Commandment, seduced me and thereby killed me. 12. As a result, Torah is Set Apart; and the Commandment is Set Apart, and righteous, and good.

NOTE: Halleluyah! Please re-read verse 7 until it sinks in that we cannot know YHWH nor His Divine Messiah unless we grasp the concept of Torah, His Divine Instructions in Righteousness, without which we would have NO blueprint for moral, holy living!

MOVING ON:

13. Did that which is good, therefore, become death to me? May it never be! But sin, that it might be seen to be sin, perfected death in me by means of that good (Torah); that sin might the more be condemned by means of the Commandment. 14. For we know, that Torah is spiritual; but I am carnal, and sold to sin. 15. For what I am doing, I do not know: and what I would, I do not perform; but what I hate, that I do. 16. And if I do what I would not, I testify of Torah, that it is right.

NOTE: Paul says “Torah is spiritual”; therefore, while those without Torah might be very religious, they are not “spiritual” according to Paul and Messiah Yeshua! Yeshua haMashiyach is the goal and we are to be like him, which means that when our spirits are awakened to Messiah we will proceed to welcome Torah to be written upon our hearts.

MOVING ON … we’re now getting to the passage that has kept coming to my mind lately, concerning our carnal nature:

17. And then, it is no more I who do that thing, but sin which dwells in me. 18. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) good dwells not: because, to approve the good, is easy for me; but to do it, I am unable. 19. For I do not perform the good which I would perform, but the bad which I would not perform, that I do perform. 20. And if I do what I would not, it is not I that do it, but sin which dwells in me. 21. I find therefore a Torah coinciding with my conscience which agrees to my doing good, whereas evil is near to me.

22. For I rejoice in the Torah of Elohim, in the inner man. 23. But I see another instruction in my members, which wars against the instruction of my conscience and makes me a captive to the instruction of sin which exists in my members. 24. O, a miserable man, am I! Who will rescue me from this body of death? 25. I thank Elohim by means of our Master Y’shua the Mashiyach (I will be rescued.) Now, therefore, in my conscience, I am a servant of the Torah of Elohim; but in my flesh, I am a servant of the instruction of sin. (AENT)

NOTE: The above passage should resonate with all who read it, because we’ve all experienced the endless struggle with “ourselves” and our desires to follow our carnal will.

Concerning the word "instruction in verse 22, the Aramaic word "namusa" could refer to the Tanakh, particular instruction within Tanakh, or an earthly instruction from the heart of man that may or may not be righteous, as it does here. The key context here is “in my members”; i.e., the flesh.

The phrase "instruction of sin" in verse 25 actually refers to two instructions; one from YHWH, the other from flesh, and they are in direct opposition to one another.

So, the “million dollar question” is this: Since YHWH gave us all the choice to follow His Instructions, or not; which “instructions” are YOU going to follow?

How many more times and in how many more ways does He have to say: "I give you good instruction: Do not forsake my Torah!" - (Proverbs 4:2)