Moses stood in the gap....

Read Exodus 32 to see for yourself how the Israelites disappointed YHWH by building a golden calf (and the priest, Aaron, was instrumental in carrying it out!)....By this time, YHWH's people had seen their God perform all kinds of miracles, including the ten plagues, the first "passover" and the parting of the sea to help them escape from Pharoah after 400 years of captivity. And yet here we see His people building a golden calf and in effect, worshiping "another god." Bottom line, YHWH became angry enough to want to destroy the Israelites (could you blame Him?), but Moshe "stood in the gap" - offered himself and thus spared them.

Exodus 32: 31 Moshe went back to ADONAI and said, "Please! These people have committed a terrible sin: they have made themselves a god out of gold.
32 Now, if you will just forgive their sin! But if you won't, then, I beg you, blot me out of your book which you have written!" 33 ADONAI answered Moshe, "Those who have sinned against me are the ones I will blot out of my book. 34 Now go and lead the people to the place I told you about; my angel will go ahead of you.  Nevertheless, the time for punishment will come; and then I will punish them for their sin." 35 ADONAI struck the people with a plague because they had made the calf, the one Aharon made. (CJB)

Note Moshe's offer to be "blotted out of the book of life!" Well, our Divine Messiah, Yeshua went a step further and actually gave His life as our substitute! As we enter this Passover season, may we remember that it is not only a remembrance of the original Passover, when YHWH put into motion the events leading to the Exodus out of Egypt (Exodus 12:1-13), but of the love of YHWH who - despite our human tendencies to forget that we are to be holy and set apart - sent His only begotten son - who martyred Himself so that we could have everlasting life:

John 3:16. Thus, for Elohim loved the world so as he would give His Only-Begotten Son, that whoever would believe in him would not perish, but would have life that is eternal. 17. For Elohim did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to give life to the world through him. 18. He who does not believe in him is judged, and he who does not believe is already judged because he does not believe in his name, that of the Only-Begotten, the Son of Elohim. 19. Now this is the judgment: Because the light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness more than the light, for their works are evil. 20. For everyone who does hateful things hates the light and does not come to the light, because his works will be hidden. 21. But he who does truthful things comes to the light that his may be known that they are done in Elohim. (AENT)

Have you ever been hurt by someone's words?

Have you ever been hurt by something someone on Facebook or other "social network" has said to you?  Have they managed to make you feel small and insignificant somehow?  Well, if you said “yes” then I can certainly empathize!  

Often, when we feel hurt from the barbs of others, it’s because we have issues from our past that need to be dealt with.  If you know this to be true, please seek professional help.  After all, if you break your arm or you have a kidney infection, you don’t try to hide it; you go to the hospital for help.  If your emotions are broken for some reason, you need to get to the bottom of the problem so that you can be whole again.  

The enemy knows what causes you pain, and he will constantly use your brokenness against you, goading you, pushing your buttons. But realize this: God cannot use “broken vessels!”  If you concentrate all your efforts and energy on the pain someone caused you, then your thoughts remain on YOU all day, instead of God!  How can you be "all you were meant to be" if you refuse to take charge of what's bothering you and move on so you can continue to learn and grow for YHWH?  Don’t allow someone to do this to you!  Break free!  (Please see our article which provides suggestions for healing broken emotions:  http://www.therefinersfire.org/healing_from_abuse.htm)

Scripture tells us who we are:

Psalm 139: 13 For you fashioned my inmost being, you knit me together in my mother's womb. 14 I thank you because I am awesomely made, wonderfully; your works are wonders -I know this very well. 15 My bones were not hidden from you when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. 16 Your eyes could see me as an embryo, but in your book all my days were already written; my days had been shaped before any of them existed.

Jeremiah 29: 11 For I know what plans I have in mind for you,' says ADONAI,'plans for well-being, not for bad things; so that you can have hope and a future. 12 When you call to me and pray to me, I will listen to you. 13 When you seek me, you will find me, provided you seek for me wholeheartedly; 14 and I will let you find me,' says ADONAI. 'Then I will reverse your exile. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have driven you,' says ADONAI, 'and bring you back to the place from which I exiled you.'

Ephesians 1: 3. Blessed be Elohim, the Father of our Master Y’shua the Mashiyach who has blessed us with all blessings of the Spirit in heaven by the Mashiyach:  4. According as He had previously chosen us in him, before the foundation of the world, that we might be Set Apart and without blame before Him; and, in love, as that before our beginnings for Himself;  5. And adopted us for sons, in Y’shua the Mashiyach as was agreeable to His will:  6. That the glory of His grace might be glorified which He poured upon us by his Beloved One;  7. By whom we have redemption and the forgiveness of sins by his blood, according to the riches of his grace  8. Which has abounded in us, in all wisdom and all spiritual understanding.  9. And he has made us know the mystery of his will, which he had before determined in himself to accomplish  

10. In the stewardship [1] of the fullness of times[2]; that all things might again be made new in the Mashiyach, things in heaven and (things) on earth.  11. And in him we are elected, according as that before our beginnings [3] and willed, who works all things according to the counsel of his desire;  12. That we should be they who first hoped in the Mashiyach, to the honor of his glory.  13. In whom you also have heard the Word of Truth which is the Good News of your life, and have believed in him; and have been sealed with the Ruach haKodesh who was promised;  14. Who is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of them that are alive and for the praise of his glory. (AENT)

[1]  English versions insert “dispensation” here to bolster “dispensationalism” and “replacement” theologies which were invented by Christian theologians to syncretize Hellenism (cultural values of early Catholic church founders) into Paul’s letters.  In both Aramaic and Greek the correct term is stewardship.

[2]   Fullness of times or the completion of the acharit hayamim (the latter days) is a theme that Paul often visits (compare Romans 16:25; 1 Cor 7:26; 1 Thess. 5:1-3; 1 Timothy 4:1; 2 Timothy 3:1).  The Shlichim assumed Y’shua would return as Mashiyach ben David, even in their lifetimes.

[3] Literally, “as that before our beginnings” rather than “predestined” which was inserted to bolster the “predestination theology” that some are created specifically for hell and others for heaven.  Paul is referring to the neshama (spirit of man) that is known of by YHWH from before the beginning of time; however, man’s spiritual “destiny” is also a matter of personal choice.  Joshua 24:20 “If you forsake YHWH, and serve strange elohim, then he will turn and do you hurt and consume you after that he has done you good.” Ezekiel 18:20 “The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The  son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.”

Scripture tells us where our focus needs to be:

Philippians 4: 8. Finally, my Brothers, what things are true, and what things are honest, and what things are just, and what things are pure, and what things are beautiful, and what things are honorable in reporting, and deeds of praise and virtuousness; on these your thoughts should focus.  9. What things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, these do you: and the Elohim of peace will be with you.

Philippians 2: 1. If, therefore, you have consolation in the Mashiyach or if a blending of hearts in love or if a fellowship of the Spirit, or if compassions and sympathies;  2. make my joy perfected by having one agreement and one love and one soul and one mind.  3. And do nothing in strife or in vain glory; but, with humbleness of mind, let each regard his neighbor as better than himself.  4. And let not each be anxious (only) for himself, but everyone also for his neighbor.  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.

Matthew 5:5. Blessed are they who are meek because they will inherit the earth. (Psalm 37:11; 149:4) 6. Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness because they will be satisfied. (Zephaniah 2:3; Psalm 11:3-7; Isaiah 66:11, 12)  7. Blessed are they who are merciful because mercies will be upon them. (Psalm 18:25; 2 Samuel 22:26)  8. Blessed are they who are pure in their hearts because they will see Elohim. (Psalm 24:4; 51:10; 15:1, 2)  9. Blessed are they who make peace because they will be called the sons of Elohim. Psalm 122:8, 9; Isaiah 26:12; Psalm 7:3

(Notice what the above verses do  NOT say?  They do NOT say, “Blessed are those who live to make you feel bad" or who like to tell you, you are dumb for not doing things their way.  They do not say "Blessed are those who reject YHWH, Torah or YHWH’s Divine Messiah!”)

Scripture tells us that those who live to put us down are not behaving in a godly manner:

James 4:11-12 11. Speak not against each other, my Brothers; for he that speaks against his brother, or judges his brother speaks against Torah and judges Torah. And if you judge Torah, you are not a doer of Torah, but its judge.[1]  12. There is one Torah-giver[2] and Judge who can make alive and (can) destroy: but who are you that you judge your neighbor? (AENT)  

[1]  If you add your own judgments to those already established in the Torah of YHWH, then you have judged Torah as insufficient, and are not allowing it to be your judge.

[2]  One Torah Giver who gives One Torah.  The halacha (way to observe Torah) is revealed by the Ruach haKodesh, and demonstrated in Mashiyach.  The concept of “two torahs”   one oral and one written   is the basis of authority on which the Rabbinate operates.  “The Rabbis” wrote their own “oral Torah” and give themselves the authority to interpret it; unfortunately, their oral Torah often speaks against both the Written Torah and haMashiyach.  On the other hand, Christian theologians have made up their own “New Testament” based on their own non-Torah cultural value systems which makes void Torah and diminishes the true goal of Mashiyach.

James 1:22. But be doers of the Word, and not hearers only; and do not deceive yourselves.  23. For if any man will be a hearer of the Word and not a doer of it, he will be like one who sees his face in a mirror:  24. for he sees himself and passes on and forgets what a man he was.  25. But everyone that looks upon the perfect Torah of liberty and lives fully in it, is not a hearer of something to be forgotten, but a doer[1] of the things; and he will be blessed in his work.  26. And if any one thinks that he worships Elohim and does not subdue his tongue, but his heart deceives him; his worship is desolate.  27. For the worship that is pure and Set Apart before Elohim the Father, is this: to visit the fatherless and the widows in their affliction; and:  that one keep himself without blemish from the world. (AENT)

[1]  While there are two different Aramaic words for “hear” and “do” the word for “hear” in Aramaic also means “to do”; the Hebrew equivalent, shema, means the same.  Ya’akov’s Hebraic thought and intention are clearly represented in this verse.

Hebrews 13:1. Let love for the Brothers dwell among you.  2. And do not forget kindness to strangers; for by this some have been privileged to entertain Messengers without even knowing!

Scripture also tells us what WE need to do about those who have hurt us:

Romans 12: 17. And repay to no man evil for evil: but let it be your study to do good before all men.  18. And if possible, so far as it depends on you, live in peace with every man.  19. And be you not avengers of yourselves, my beloved: but give place to wrath. For it is written: If you do not execute judgment for yourself, I will execute judgment for you, says Elohim.[1]  20. And if your adversary be hungry, feed him: and if he be thirsty, give him drink. For if you do these things, you will heap coals of fire on his head.  21. Do not be overcome by evil; but overcome evil with good. (AENT)

[1] D’varim 32:35; Psalm 94:1; Prov. 20:22   There are no directives from B’resheet/Genesis to Revelation which counsels anyone to take vengeance upon their adversaries.  YHWH says, “vengeance belongs to Me”; He will judge and resolve all matters according to His Righteous Judgment.  The idea of taking vengeance upon others, as in jihad or holy war against the infidels, is rooted in fear and heathenism by those who put their faith in self rather than in Alaha (Elohim).

Here is what YHWH thinks of most “religious” types (including those who love to sit behind their keyboards to belittle you):

Isaiah 29: 13 Then Adonai said: "Because these people approach me with empty words, and the honor they bestow on me is mere lip-service; while in fact they have distanced their hearts from me, and their 'fear of me' is just a mitzvah of human origin 14 therefore, I will have to keep shocking these people with astounding and amazing things, until the 'wisdom' of their 'wise ones' vanishes, and the 'discernment' of their 'discerning ones' is hidden away."

1 John 4: 19. Let us, therefore, love Elohim; because he has first loved us.  20. And if any one will say, I love Elohim, and yet hates his brother, he is a liar: for he that loves not his brother who is visible, how can he love Elohim who is invisible?  21. And this command we have received from him, that whoever loves Elohim, must love also his brother.

So, fret no longer!  Don't allow ANYONE to make you feel inferior!  YHWH loves you, and He wants you to be whole for Him and whole-hearted towards Him.  Don't give mean people the power to take this away from you. YOU know who you are!

And honestly, what "they" think of you doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things....

A quick message about Passover

Passover/Pesach (Nisan 14) celebrates the deliverance of the slaves from Egypt. It is the story of redemption by the killing of the Passover Lamb. The Israelites obeyed God by applying the blood of the Passover lamb to the doorposts of their houses so that their firstborn would be spared the Tenth Curse against Pharoah who refused to let God's enslaved Chosen People leave Egypt. When the Angel of Death passed through the land and saw the blood, he "passed over" those houses and spared the first born (Exodus 12:1-13).

This was a picture of Yeshua, God's "Passover Lamb" who willingly allowed His own blood to be shed on our behalf and thus became our redemption. The Messiah fulfilled this holiday when he was crucified! 

Please note:  The lamb for the original Passover was NOT a sacrifice - and neither was Yeshua! The lamb was offered as a substitute, not as a "sacrifice"!  So, though not a "sin" sacrifice, the lamb's blood was offered as a substitute, giving the Hebrew first-born males the chance to live. This is the connection: Yeshua was our substitute - and by believing and following YHWH's Torah to help us to lower our tendency to sin, and do our best to NOT sin anymore, we have the chance for eternal life. And this, of course was the point: Eternal life.

Yeshua took our bitterness so that we might live the abundant life. We remember and identify with the bitterness of slavery by eating the bitter herbs and the matza (unleavened bread) on Passover. The innocent died for the guilty. Yeshua's willingness to "sacrifice" (offer) His life not only meant death - it also meant LIFE (Isaiah 53).

So - the prophetic fulfillment of Passover is clear: Redemption! Passover is a time to thank God for our freedom - and that covers several types of freedoms ... To be a free people, and to be free to worship God.  Rabbi Sha’ul (Paul) summed up this theme in his letter to the Corinthians in which he addressed moral problems within their membership. To solve this problem he drew upon a well-known analogy of Pesach:

1 Corinthians 5:  6. Your bragging is not praiseworthy. Don’t you know, that a little leaven leavens the whole mass?  7. Purge out from you the old leaven, that you may be a new mass, as you are unleavened. For our Passover is the Mashiyach, who was slain for us.  8. Therefore let us celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, nor with the leaven of wickedness and bitterness, but with the leaven of purity and sanctity.  (AENT)

Footnote:  The word for “leaven” here is makhmae, the cognate in Hebrew of which is chometz.  Therefore, Rav Shaul is teaching the Corinthians by using Passover imagery, by commanding them to purge the chometz from the house of their hearts, so that they can be sanctified. Of course, the rest of this verse and the next proves this interpretation.

In 1 Corinthians 5 above, he was telling Believers to celebrate Passover and to have a Seder (Passover meal) that celebrates the deliverance from slavery and being a free people ... To set aside this day to thank, praise and worship God. 


NOTE: In case anyone is interested, we offer a free downloadable haggadah (liturgy) for Pesach/Passover on our website. Just click on our Essays and Articles page, and scroll down until you see "Free calendars, Siddurs & Pesach Seder", and choose one of the final two links...

The Impenetrable Brick Wall

The Refiner's Fire "gets it" from both sides!

Christians, who are taught and can only comprehend "grace" and "Jesus paid it all", attack us for trying to show them that nothing is further from the truth!  They claim "all you have to do is 'believe'" (citing John 3:16), while failing to understand what the Messiah actually taught.  "Jesus", (who is more properly known as "Yeshua", which actually means "Yah is Salvation"), never taught that his death would somehow negate the love of and obedience to the Father through Torah, and never taught that his death was a "get out of jail free" card covering all sins, present and future!  The New Testament actually describes that His death would only atone for your sins UP TO that point that you understand and accept what His death did for you!  After that, you become obligated, (as all mankind has been from the beginning), to be true to the God of Abraham, Issac, and Jacob and to live righteously according to Torah while on earth!  Trying to teach misguided Christians to see the beauty and wisdom of the True meaning Torah and the New Testament has actually brought us threats! How dare we believe in the Torah of Yahweh! 

Jews, on the other hand, are out there simply denying that the promised Messiah might have already come and are literally trashing us for daring to believe in this mythical "Jesus" (they refuse to call Him "Yeshua"), and they will go to great lengths to deny what their own Tanakh says about the Messiah so they can stand behind their argument that He could not have possibly already come!  After all, the same New Testament scriptures which Christians misunderstand, they also misunderstand and quickly use to bolster their denial! For example, the "truth2u" Internet radio program recently has been literally making fools of themselves denying each and every scripture which Christians and even the Jewish Sages for centuries have accepted as Messianic prophecies, while naming us, as "fools" believing in "visions in clouds" or in "fairy tales"! How dare we believe in the Messiah of the Tanakh!

We are literally in the middle!

The two sides can't find REAL battles to pursue!  No! That would require resolve and courage.  Neither side is "out there" - for insanace -  defending GOD's view of love and marriage and standing firm against the world's embrace of homosexuality!  No! Instead, they attack The Refiner's Fire for our stance on the WHOLE of scripture.  They are not "out there" defending the One True God against the false god of Islam and the travesty of "ISIS"! Instead, they attack The Refiner's Fire for our stance on the WHOLE of scripture.  They are not "out there" attacking those nations who are against Israel!  Instead, they attack The Refiner's Fire ... for our stance on the WHOLE of scripture....

No.  Real-world attacks on the God of Israel don't matter.  They'd both rather attack us! To Christians, we are heretics because they think we want to "put them back under the law" (never mind they have no idea what "the law" is in the first place").  And to Jews, we are heretics because we dare see a Messiah who tried valiantly to reveal His Father's Torah to ALL, who demonstrated the meaning of everlasting life, and who gave of Himself so ALL could have that everlasting life if they only accepted the God of Israel as their God.  Instead, all they see (quite sadly) is a "human sacrifice" (clearly forbidden) and call us "idol worshipers" because they refuse to see that the Messiah did not "replace" God (as Christianity teaches) and since Christians (not us!) insist that "Jesus was God" while God Himself said to "have no other gods before Him" (Exodus 20:3)!

Here is something for both sides to ponder: To the Christians: "Jesus" was NOT God (he was divine because he had a divine nature, and he had the authority of God...but his body was human and he died).  And to the Jews: You have seriously erred in your own (mis)understanding of both the Tanakh and the Brit Chadashah in your rabid denial of the Messiah!

Could I ask something of both sides?  Please? Can we PLEASE start tearing down the brick wall?  Can we please cast aside our pride and start looking at Scripture for what it actually says?

It's hypocritical to "sell and then buy back" your leaven after Passover!

At Passover, we are to clean out our leavened products because leaven represents SIN.  Did you know that many traditional Jews, instead of actually getting rid of/using up their leavened products, will actually sell them to a non-Jew and then buy them back?  (See https://chabadorg.clhosting.org/holidays/passover/sell_chometz.htm ) 

Here is what they have written at Chabad.org:  "As you know, Passover is the holiday in which we eat matzah and refrain from eating or possessing any chametz (leavened bread). In the weeks preceding the holiday we clean our homes and rid them of all chametz. If, however, we still own any chametz -- whether food products or dishes -- that we'd like to use after Passover, we may designate a rabbi to sell it all for us to someone not Jewish so that we do not own it for the duration of Passover. After Passover the rabbi acquires it back for use."

Does anyone besides me view this as hypocritical?  I mean, you get rid of your leaven because it represents SIN.  Why would you want to buy it back????

Clearing up the confusion about "two Jewish new years"

This is the time of year when confusion happens about the “Jewish new year.”  There’s a wonderful article on our website that explains this issue: http://www.therefinersfire.org/two_new_years.htm

The thing is, there are "two" formal, "new years" in the Hebrew (Jewish Calendar).  The first is defined by Exodus 12:2 which says the month of the Exodus (today the month is called "Nisan"), is the "1st month of the year".  So it is okay to say "Happy New Year" on 1 Nisan, but it must be understood that it is the "New Feast Year", not the "new year" when the year is incremented in the Hebrew Calendar. 

The 2nd "new year" is the 1st of Tishri.  That date is Yom Teruah, and it is the 1st day of the new year, when the year number is incremented.  The reason for this is primarily from Exodus 34:22, which says to "observe the festival of ingathering at the turn of the year". 

The Festival of Ingathering is also known as Sukkot, and it is in the month of Tishri.  So, the 1st of Tishri is the "proper" time to say "Happy New Year", only because that is when the calendar year number increments.  Few people say "Happy New Year" on 1 Nisan because the year does not increment on that date.

This year, 2015 by the Gregorian Calendar, it was only coincidental that the Spring Equinox came as the 1st of Nisan began.  Since the month begins in the Hebrew Calendar by the day the New Moon happens, and the Spring Equinox is determined by the position of the sun, the 1st day of Nisan will typically NOT fall on the Spring Equinox. 

This year, both the traditional Jewish calendar, and the actual New Moon, said sunset, March 20th began the 1st of Nisan.  The fact that the Spring Equinox was also ON the 20th of March, is not important.  The important thing is that Passover is on or AFTER the Spring Equinox.  And Passover, you are correct, is the afternoon of the 14th of Nisan, but that is ALSO the afternoon of April 3rd!  It's the SAME day, just different calendars.  So you are not correct to say April 3rd has been "thrust onto us";  it's simply the proper day but by a different calendar.

The bottom line is: This year April 3rd = 14 Nisan.  (All you have to do is remember that the Hebrew Calendar date simply begins at the previous sunset by the Gregorian Calendar date because the Hebrew day begins at sunset.)

 

So you should have all the leaven removed from your home by early afternoon of April 3rd at the latest.  The Passover meal, late that afternoon, is supposed to include matzah (unleavened bread), Exodus 12:18.

With Passover just around the corner, the rabbis are scrambling to tell the world it's got nothing to do with "Jesus"

Well, Passover is just around the corner, and OF COURSE the rabbis are doing their best to make sure the world knows Passover had NOTHING to do with “Jesus.” 

Under the comments section at one of his endless radio tirades against “Jesus”  - Australian radio host Jono Vandor wrote:  “The writer of Matthew clearly wants to depict Jesus as some sort of god-man, a demigod not unique from other such myths. The writer rips Isaiah 7:14 from it’s context and totally misrepresents it, applying a different meaning altogether. In doing so the writer makes Jesus’ geneology entirely irrelevant. In anycase, which ever way you choose, Matthew’s or Luke’s geneologies (they are different), or the “virgin birth” story, disqualifies Jesus as a messianic candidate. In fact, even if your theory were correct, you still have to choose one of two geneologies, neither of which will prove legitimate. You might find the last 14 minutes of this program of interest: http://www.truth2u.org/2013/12/rabbi-tovia-singer-who-is-the-prince-in-ezekiel.html”

SIGH!  If they would only READ the Bible for it actually SAYS they would see their “two genealogies of Jesus” totally debunked!  The following are a few notes borrowed from an appendix in the AENT:

We must trace Mary's line through Matthew Chapter 1, and not Luke Chapter 3. When tracing Yeshua's genealogy in Matthew, the author refers to three sets of 14, or 42 generations until Yeshua. However, if we add up the generations, there are only 41. There is an explanation for this: The Joseph mentioned in Matthew 1:16 is the father of Mary, not the husband. Thus, Matthew Chapter 1 is actually describing Mary's lineage, and not Joseph's. This provides us with 42 generations.

Matthew 1:16 states, "Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary"...." Matthew 1:18-19 similarly provides, "Because Joseph her (Mary's) husband was a righteous man..." Based on this language, it appears the text is describing the same Joseph. This contention is reinforced by the Greek translation, where the word "aner" is used to describe Joseph in both contexts. However, when one examines the Aramaic version of Matthew, the Joseph mentioned in 1:16 is described as "gowra," a word used elsewhere in Matthew to signify "father". For example, the Greek translation of Matthew 7:9 provides, "Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?". The Aramaic reads "which father (gowra) among you...."

The counter-argument is that Matthew was written in Greek and not Aramaic, thus, the point is moot. Historical evidence does not support this position. Papias, the Greek church leader who composed the earliest known information on the gospels, states that, "Matthew composed his history in the Hebrew dialect, and every one translated it as he was able." It is crucial to point out that Papias refers to the Hebrew dialect, and not the Hebrew language. The Hebrew dialect of the time was Aramaic.

Papias' contention is reinforced in Book V, Chapter 10 of his work, which discusses an Egyptian father named Pataneus who lived in the second century.The section provides: Pataneus went as far as India, where he appears to have found that Matthew's Gospel had arrived before him and was in the hands of some there who had come to know Christ. Bartholomew, one of the apostles, had preached to them and had left behind Matthew's account in the actual Aramaic characters, and it was preserved till the time of Pantaenus's mission.

The words "gowra" (Matt 1:16) and "baa'la" (Matthew 1:19) can both mean man or husband. Gowra, however, also means father (it is derived from a root word meaning strong one or protector). The question becomes, "Why would the author call the same Joseph a "gowra" in Matt: 1:6, and a "baa'la" in Matt: 1:9? The obvious answer is the author was speaking of two different men.

Oh...In addition, to throwing at us the "Jesus has two fathers" nonsense, they also attempt to toss in "the curse of Jeconiah" that supposedly negates "Jesus" ... Please see our article refuting this!

The problem with the argument is that since even the rabbis agree that the Messiah (whom they say is yet to come) must be of the bloodline of Solomon, if they argue Shealtiel and Zerubbabel disqualify any progenitor, then there can't be a Messiah! Period! So there must be a reason why the curses on Shealtiel and Zerubbabel don't affect the outcome. And there is...

Let's look at the actual curse:

"As I live" says the Lord, "even if you Coniah (meaning Jehoiachin; Coniah and Jeconiah are his cursed names) the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah were a signet upon My right hand, I would tear you off. And I will give you to the hand of those who seek your life, and to the hand of those whose face you fear, to the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and to the hand of the Chaldeans. And I will cast you out, and your mother who bore you, to another country, where you were not born; and there shall you die. But to the land to which they desire to return, there shall they not return. Is this man Coniah a despised broken vessel? An object that no one cares for? Why are they cast out, he and his seed, and banished to a land which they know not? O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the Lord." Thus says the Lord: "Inscribe this man childless, a man who will not prosper in his days; for no man of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of David, and ruling any more in Judah."(Jeremiah 22:24-30)

What are the conditions listed in the curse?

Signet is removed as a sign of authority being taken away (he is no longer King of Judah).

His name is changed.

He will be childless.

He would not prosper in his days.

None of his offspring will prosper.

None of his offspring would sit on the throne.

None of his offspring would rule in Judah.

To evaluate the curse placed on Jeconiah, we must consider the different renditions of his name throughout the text. That is, cursed names are derogatory, by reversal and by shortening. Righteous men in the Tanach commonly have their names lengthened. The first time Jeconiah is mentioned is in the book of Kings which deals with his ascension while he was still righteous. His birth name is used in these verses (Jehoachin). (2nd Kings 24:6, 24:8, 24:12) In 24:15 the curse begins, and it is the last time we see this king's name mentioned or called by his birth name.

Moving forward, while the book of Kings speaks about this king using his birth name, the book of Jeremiah uses the shortened form of his name - Coniah. Jeremiah isn't discussing his ascension to the throne, he is discussing his exile. In these verses, which speak of the curse, the shortened forms of his name are used.

As we read in Jeremiah, the prophet never once calls him by his birth name except once - at the very end of his prophecy. The Torah tells us that we have a choice. A choice is given between life and death, good and evil. Hashem begs us to choose life. We see throughout the books of the Tanach that a negative prophecy can always be reversed through repentance.

The book of Jonah is the best example of this, where a cursed city repents after hearing the negative prophecy spoken against it. The curse is removed, not because God changed his mind, but rather because Ninveh chooses life. God puts the choice in front of us. A prophecy of good will not come to pass if those to whom it was given perform wickedly. God keeps his promises; He promised if we chose life, it will be good with us in our days.

Jeconiah languished in a dungeon in Babylon all the days of Nebuchadnezzer. He was imprisoned for 37 years. However, Jeconiah repented during that time according to Tanach, and according to the Jewish sages:

"And it came to pass in the thirty seventh year of the captivity of Jehoiachin King of Judah, in the twelfth month, in the twenty fifth day of the month, that Evil-Merodach king of Babylon in the first year of his reign lifted up the head of Jehoiachin King of Judah, and brought him out of prison, and spoke kindly to him, and set his throne above the throne of the kings who were with him in Babylon, and changed his prison garments; and he did continually eat bread before him all the days of his life. And for his allowance, there was a continual allowance given him by the king of Babylon, every day a portion until the day of his death, all the days of his life." (Jeremiah 52:31-34.)

Jeremiah restored his birth name. No longer is the cursed name used as in every other chapter of Jeremiah. Jehoiachin is forgiven. Let's examine those conditions of the curse discussed earlier to see if they still apply:

1.  REVERSED - He is once again called King of Judah, and his throne is set above the kings of all the other kings in the Empire. The signet ring is restored to his grandson upon return to the land of Israel. (Haggai 2:23)

2.  REVERSED - His name is restored to Jehoiachin.

3.  REVERSED - He does in fact have children. (1 Chronicles 3:16-17) His son's name is Shealtiel. Shealtiel means, "I asked of God." Jewish sages understand that Jehoiachin asked God to forgive him while in prison and that God indicated his forgiveness by annulling his curse and giving him sons. The Jewish sages also suggest that Zerubavel, his grandson, will be the progenitor of the Messiah.

4.  REVERSED - It is evident from 2nd Kings 25 and Jeremiah 52 that he did in fact prosper in his days.

5.  REVERSED - See No. 7.

6.  REVERSED - See No. 7.

7.  REVERSED - His grandson Zerubavel did in fact rule in Judah, and did prosper, and did sit on a throne, as is clear in the book of Zechariah. Zerubavel returned to Judah, and the captives who returned with him appointed him leader. Do you think that such great sages and prophets as Ezra, Zechariah, Haggai, and Daniel would forget about this curse and appoint a person who could never rule in Judah?

Jewish anti-missionaries and those who have rejected "Jesus" will go to any lengths to "disprove" Yeshua as Messiah. They attack everything from Yeshua's genealogy to the virgin birth and whatever else the can think of.

Here is one more example:

A friend of The Refiner's Fire, Stephen Otto responded to some of Rabbi Singer's assertions thusly.  Otto wrote the following on his Facebook blog, "Let's Get Scriptural”:  

On March 20, 2014  Rabbi Tovia Singer, an anti-missionary, addressed New Testament "contradictions" on Truth 2U Radio with Jono Vandor. Singer stated, "John has Jesus crucified the day before the synoptics do. There is just no way out of that. And no one has addressed it because it is unaddressable."

What Mr. Singer is saying is that John has Yeshua crucified on Passover (John 19:31), while Matthew, Mark, and Luke have Him crucified on the first day of Unleavened Bread. Mr, Singer's claim that this contradiction is unaddressable seems to be disingenuous, for the Jews themselves provide the answer to this claim! The Encyclopaedia Judaica states, "The Feast of the Passover consists of two parts: The Passover ceremony and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Originally, both parts existed separately; but at the beginning of the [Babylonian] exile they were combined," Vol. 13, p. 169.

It is undeniable that this practice continued into the New Testament times. Notice the following Scriptures:

Matthew 26:17 states, Luke 22:1,"Now, the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which is called the Passover, drew near."

Mark 14:1 states, "The Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread were two days away...."

Mark 14:12 states, "On the first day of Unleavened Bread, when they sacrificed the Passover, His disciples asked Him, “Where do you want us to go and prepare that You may eat the Passover?”

Luke 22:1 states, "Now, the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which is called the Passover, drew near."

Luke 22:7 states, "Then, the day of Unleavened Bread came, on which the Passover must be sacrificed."

If Mr. Singer is so uninformed about the details of his own faith, why would we believe him regarding the details of our faith?