2016 Calendar Craziness!

Some have noticed, as they've looked ahead for the Passover and the Holy Feasts in 2016, that the 2016 calendar on The Refiner's Fire has Passover on March 23-24 while the traditional Hebrew calendar found everywhere else has Passover on April 22-23! What gives?

The simple answer is that the traditional Hebrew calendar of today (which is the modern adaptation of the calendar established by Hillel II), rigidly incorporates the 19-year "Metonic Cycle" into the determination of which calendar years must include a "leap month" - and in 2016, the "leap month" we see in February is simply not needed.  If "calendar stuff" is not your bag and you don't want to continue reading to find out why the traditional calendar is wrong in 2016, suffice it good enough to know that the current Hebrew year, 2015-2016, is not the correct year for the intercalated month.  Passover falls in the proper time without the added month.  If you'd like to know more, please read on…

The problem, graphically

In this graphic, you can see that the traditional calendar has inserted Adar I, making "Adar" become "Adar II".  (Adar must be the last month of the year, so the intercalated month is inserted between Shevat and Adar making Adar become "Adar II" to distinguish it as the proper "Adar".)  The correct calendar is seen in the second line.  The extra month is not needed.  But not visible in the graphic is why the inserted month is not needed.   To figure that out, there is much to discuss.

Today's traditional Hebrew calendar is often referred to as the "Hillel Calendar", but that is not quite fair to Hillel II for his recommendation in the 4th Century CE to adopt the Metonic Cycle is only part of the many problems with today's traditional Hebrew calendar which came to be over many centuries following Hillel II.  So, let's begin understanding the problem.  We must begin with how the "1st month" is determined, then address the need for the "leap year" and finally discuss the impact of the added month to the Feast dates for 2016.

How the "1st Month" is determined

The Hebrew calendar is  a "lunar-solar" calendar which basically means the moon determines the months while the sun determines the year.  In Genesis, we are told that the sun, moon, and stars are for "signs, seasons, days and years" (Genesis 1:14).  Beyond that one verse there are no instructions in scripture for keeping the calendar.  We are only told later (Exodus 12) that the month of spring, Abib (today called Nisan), the month of the Exodus, would be the "first month of the year" and that Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread are to be "at the time appointed in the month Abib [Nisan]" (Exodus 23:15).  So the month of Abib sets the calendar for the whole year.  How is it determined?

There are 12 lunar months in 1 solar year.  But the year (not the calendar month) is determined by the sun and stars. (If there were no moon at all, we would still know the "year").  And it is the sun which causes and determines the "seasons" (winter, summer, planting and harvest) not the "moedim").  It is the moon which determines the "month" and the "season" (i.e., the "appointed times", the moedim) of that month.  (Since the agricultural seasons are absolutely tied to the sun, and the "moedim" are tied to both the month, and the season of the year, the word "moed" has become largely confused and sometimes people think the "month" is tied to the agricultural "signs", i.e.,  the barley crop.  But go back and look at Genesis 1:11-18 and see that even though YHWH made the grasses and seed bearing plants first, before the sun, moon, and stars were "placed" (verse 17), it's only when the sun, moon, and stars were "placed" that "day and night" and the agricultural seasons began.  Had YHWH not placed the sun, moon, and stars as He did, the plants he created would have required some other annual schedule mechanism to grow and seed, for without the seasons created by the sun, plants would not have the life-cycles we have always known.  And note that verse 14 does not say: "Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days and the ripening of the crops for the years".   Ripening crops is an earth sign, and no verse says any earth sign trumps a heaven sign.
 
Man has known for thousands of years the "signs" in the sun and stars that identify one complete year.  There are four very clear "divisions" of the year, roughly 90 days or 3 months  apart.  These divisions are the northernmost point of the sun which marks summer, the southernmost point of the sun which marks winter, the point when the sun is exactly due east as it is moving from south to north which marks spring, and  the point when the sun is exactly due east as it is moving from north to south which marks the fall or autumn.   We know from Exodus that "Abib" was the "month of newly-ripened grain", (or the "month of spring") and that crops begin to ripen in the season of spring, and we know that the exodus began in spring, and that the night of the exodus (14-15 Abib), it was already spring.  That is, the sun had been at the point when "spring" begins when the exodus began. (It's very important to understand that the crops ripen because of the month it is, not that crops determine what month it is.)  So the commandment to keep the feast "at the time appointed in the month Abib [Nisan]" (Exodus 23:15), means that the calendar must keep Abib as close as possible to spring (today we call it the "Vernal Equinox"), and then the moed of Passover can happen.  Thus, the month of Abib is the month when Passover falls on or after the Vernal Equinox.  (This is why the inserted month is not needed in 2016.  Without adding the leap month, Passover falls after the Vernal Equinox in March, 2016.  Therefore the "real" moon in early 2016 indicates no leap month is required.)

Many will argue that there is nothing in scripture requiring Passover to fall on or after the Vernal Equinox.  While that is a true statement, there are also no scriptures requiring waiting for the barely crop to ripen to identify the month of Abib, nor are there any scriptures calling for the month to begin with the sighting of the crescent moon.  But the sages do interpret Deuteronomy 16:1 "Observe the month of Abib and offer a passover sacrifice to the LORD your God, for it was in the month of Abib, at night, that the LORD your God freed you from Egypt." (JPS) to mean spring must come first, then Passover.  That means that the "month of spring" is the month in which Passover falls after spring has begun.  Again, the start of spring is determined by the sun, so the "month of spring" must be the new moon that places Passover in the month of spring which keeps the calendar in compliance with Exodus 12 and 23:15.
 
The need for the "leap year"

A calendar year of 12 lunar months will often keep Passover after the Vernal Equinox without doing anything, but at the end of the 2nd or 3rd year, due to the fact that the lunar year (12 lunar months) is actually short of the solar year by about 11 days, sometimes Passover would fall before the Vernal Equinox.  In that case, since the new moon of Abib would happen too early, and Passover would fall before the Vernal Equinox, and not be "in" spring, an additional lunar month must be added.  Therefore in any year, if the new moon of Abib [Nisan] would cause Passover to fall before the Vernal Equinox, an extra month is added to the year coming to an end, therefore the year which is ending will have 13 months and is a "leap year" - the rabbis call it the "embolismic year".  The added month "moves" the month of Abib forward by one month, which then establishes Passover again at the right time, after the Vernal Equinox, and the calendar is "good" for two or three years until an embolismic year is needed again.

Astronomers of ancient Babylon discovered that in the span of 19 solar years, there were exactly 235 complete lunar months.  ("Exact" here means to within about 2 hours - pretty remarkable.)  If one counted 19 solar years and the "lunar years" of 12 months by counting new moons, they'd see that in "lunar years" 19 solar years is the same as 19 years (of 12 lunar months) plus 7 months by the moon.  The astronomer Meton, about 432 BCE wrote that if an intercalary month were added to the lunar calendar 7 times in 19 years, then at the end of the 19 solar years, the number of lunar years would exactly match - i.e., 19 solar years = 19 lunar years.  Meton laid out a "schedule" of when the additional month might be added.  He said the leap years would be years 3, 6, 8, 11, 14, 17, and 19.  (You can see the sequence of years the extra month is added: 3, 3, 2, 2, 3, 3, 2.)

This is all well and good - mathematically.  But in reality, if you actually used the moon to indicate which year should be the leap year, the "schedule" of intercalary months may instead need to be (for example) years 3, 5, 7, 10, 13, 16, 19.  The real moon simply does not follow a repeating 3, 3, 2, 2, 3, 3, 2 cycle.   And this is the problem with 2016.  According to the real moon, 2015-2016 (the current year) does not need to be a leap year, while the next Hebrew year (2016-2017) does need to be a leap year.   But the traditional Hebrew calendar, with its rigid, preplanned schedule of leap years, ignores the real moon and inserts the leap month of Adar I, by schedule, into the 2015-2016 calendar year when it is not needed. 

Impact to the 2016 calendar

Since the traditional Hebrew calendar inserts a month in early 2016, the whole calendar year from February 9, 2016 to February 27, 2017 makes every holiday observance a month late.  As a result, the traditional Hebrew calendar will not match the calendar of The Refiner's Fire the whole period.  So here are the dates of the Feasts in both calendars:

Conclusion

The rigid application of the Metonic cycle without regard to the "real" moon is the major problem with the 2016 traditional Hebrew calendar which applies an unnecessary leap month manifested in February, 2016.  That unnecessary month causes all the Holy Days for 2016 in the traditional calendar to be one month late.  The many other problems with the modern traditional calendar include the use of the "molad" of the moon, which is an "average" lunar month which sometimes causes the 1st of the month to be a day early or a day late, and the rules for "postponement" where the 1st of Tishri is held 1, 2, or 3 days so Yom Kippur will not fall on a Friday or a Sunday.  We believe the use of the "average moon" to calculate the 1st day of the month is wrong.  We also believe the "postponement" rules are wrong, as they are simply not scriptural.

We realize this issue will cause no end of concern, confusion, and argument and some will simply say "follow the accepted calendar for the sake of commonality".  We can't do that.  In the end though, we don't argue "which calendar" is better or "which calendar" should be used.  We believe it is far better to observe the Holy Days rather than not observe them, so we at The Refiner's Fire recommend you learn the meaning of the Holy Days, and observe them by whichever calendar you chose.  If you have a congregation celebrating by the traditional calculated calendar, then by all means, celebrate with them.  That beats the "rest of the world" which does not observe any of the commanded Holy Days in favor of "man-made" holidays which masquerade to be about God.

"Wisdom" from the world of Foolbook (aka "Facebook")

There is a silly meme going around Foolbook which equates the Hebrew word "Gad" to the English word "God" with the implication that "God" means "the Babylonian deity of Fortune".  It is complete nonsense.  Here is the meme:

The cited Hebrew word, גד, only coincidentally somewhat matches the pronunciation of the ENGLISH word "God".   The actual origin of the English word "God" is somewhat lost but there is no doubt that it means "our Creator".   Since most English Bibles originated from the Greek, it is a simple matter to discover that the English word "God" matches the Greek word "θεός " (theos).

גד, Gad, is the name of the 7th son of Jacob, but we don't see a meme claiming American coinage really carries the phrase "In the son of Jacob we trust"! 

  ותאמר לאה בגד ותקרא את־שׁמו גד׃ (Gen 30:11)   English: "And Leah said, “With Gad!” So she called his name Gad."   The Strong's number associated with this verse is #1410 "Gad, a son of Jacob, including his tribe and its territory; also a prophet: - Gad".  The Strong's number I see associated with Isaiah 65:11 is #1409 (not #1408) which is taken to mean "fortune".  Thus, Leah named Gad because she saw his birth as a "good fortune" and certainly not as a "Babylonian deity".   In Strong's #1408, "Gad" is taken to mean the Babylonian deity which goes by the name "Fortune",  but look at the whole phrase of Isaiah 65:11 which says  "… who prepare a table for Fortune (Gad), and who furnish the drink offering to Fate (Meni)", clearly a play on words using the names of Babylonian deities to make "fortune" and "fate" into entities for humans to interact with rather than human "conditions".   Indeed, the Stone's Tanach says in a footnote about Isaiah 65:11 "Gad and Meni are either the names of deities (Kara); the planets Jupiter and Mercury (R' Moshe HaKohen); or general names for the stars and constellations (Ibn Ezra).  But the English word "God" in no way refers to any Babylonian deity.

So this meme is simply nonsense.  Shame on the person who created it.

Let's mix Politics and Religion - for Kim Davis!

Your Responsibility in National Leadership

Let's DO mix politics and religion!

The following article was condensed from a teaching in a Hebraic Faith synagogue on the Torah Parasha Vayikra - Leviticus 1:1 through 5:26.  (It is also on The Refiner's Fire website: http://therefinersfire.org/leadership.htm

Today's lesson will breach the paradigm that "Religion and Politics don't mix". This teaching will mix them.

The scripture for my lesson today is drawn from Leviticus 4:22, from today's Parsha: "When a leader sins and inadvertently does something against any of the mitzvot of Adonai concerning things which should not be done, he is guilty."

Chapter 4 of Leviticus tells us that inadvertent sin must be atoned for. And Leviticus further tells us that inadvertent sin does not affect just the individual, but the whole community.

Leviticus 4:13 If the entire community of Israel inadvertently makes a mistake, with the assembly unaware of the matter, and they do something against any of the mitzvot of Adonai concerning things which should not be done, they are guilty.

Two observations: First, everyone was expected to keep the mitzvot - including the leadership, and I'm not talking about just the spiritual leadership, but the political leadership as well. Second, the phrase "concerning the things which should not be done", means the people understood the source of the authority about what should and should not be done. That authority, is of course, Adonai, our God.

Now, I will lay something heavy on you: When the leaders of our Nation sin, you are guilty. Not of sin necessarily, but of not ensuring the proper leader was elected. See Leviticus 19, Verse 17: "Do not hate your brother in your heart, but rebuke your neighbor frankly, so that you won't carry sin because of him."

This scripture is telling you, don't allow yourself to sin because of something your neighbor has done, but go to your neighbor and rebuke him for his actions.

When was the last time you rebuked your state or federal representative for something he did wrong? But I bet you've harbored anger toward them for something they've done. I know I have! Even if you didn't vote for the guy, he represents you too! I know you don't have sole responsibility to elect our leadership; but our community does have the responsibility to elect leaders from amongst a pool of the best candidates, selecting only those who are God fearing, moral, and righteous - which, as we all know, is nearly impossible these days!

So, I think when we elect a leader and that leader sins, we are guilty too. The problem is you have allowed yourself to be told otherwise. You've been told that religion and politics don't mix. And you bought it! It's a lie and we are, today, paying the price for accepting and repeating that mantra.

The first thing we did is, we allowed God to be removed from our society. We've allowed the historical origins of our Nation to be hidden and downplayed. For instance, let's concentrate on the year 1962. 1962 is now so long ago that we have forgotten the dreadful event which removed God from our schools - and boy, are we paying for it, today! Because of it, God has lifted his hand from our nation for our nation's sins.

What happened in 1962? In 1962 we allowed arbitrary law to become the rule of our land, rather than insisting that God's law be the law of our land. Before I tell you what happened in 1962, let me give an example of the way it was for the century and a half before 1962:

In 1892, there was a court case, the Church of the Holy Trinity vs. the United States: You see, in 1887, the Church of the Holy Trinity in New York employed a clergyman from England as its pastor. That employment was challenged by the United States Attorney General's office as a violation of the law. There was an 1885 law which stated it was unlawful for any person or business to encourage the importation of any alien or foreigner to perform labor or service of any kind. The case eventually reached the Supreme Court. And the Court concluded that only an "absurd" application of the Constitution would allow a restriction on Christianity. They said: "No purpose of action against religion can be imputed to any legislation, state or national, because this is a religious people. . . . This is a Christian nation." And in making this judgment the court cited 87 precedents!

The Court's historical discourse in this case was several pages long, citing these 87 precedents until finally summarizing its findings:

"There is no dissonance in these declarations. There is a universal language pervading them all, having one meaning; they affirm and reaffirm that this is a religious nation. These are not individual sayings, declarations of private persons: they are organic utterances; they speak the voice of the entire people. While because of a general recognition of this truth the question has seldom been presented to the courts, yet we find that in Updegraph v. The Commonwealth, it was decided that, "Christianity, general Christianity, is, and always has been, a part of the common law . . . not Christianity with an established church . . . but Christianity with liberty of conscience to all men."

This is the way it was. The Supreme Court always cited precedence to rule on current cases.

Now, back to 1962 for the event we have all forgotten. The Court ruled in the case of Engel vs. Vitale that: "the State's use of the Regents' prayer in its public school system breaches the constitutional wall of separation between Church and State."

Here is what they ruled against: "Almighty God, we acknowledge our dependence upon Thee, and we beg Thy blessing upon us, our parents, our teachers and our Country." 

You see, the Board of Education in Hyde Park, New York, had directed the School Principal of the Union Free School District No. 9 to say that prayer in each class at the beginning of each day.

Ten families objected to that prayer, and so, the simple school prayer, suddenly became "unconstitutional" and the eradication of God from public institutions began. And get this: In that 1962 ruling, for the first time in American history, the court cited no precedence. I don't believe this was an oversight. They knew the precedence. But the precedence did not support their evil ruling. And the systematic eradication of anything of God, for God, or about God began.

That simple, non-denominational, prayer became evil, and the good things it conveyed, became bad.

Isaiah 5: 20 Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who change darkness into light and light into darkness, who change bitter into sweet and sweet into bitter!

And we allowed this to happen. I'm talking about the community "we", the proverbial "Christian majority" in this country.

But, you say: "We had nothing to do with it; it was the courts!" Well I beg to differ. Are we or are we not part of the community? Are we or are we not the majority? Do we or do we not have a Constitutional Republic form of Government? 

What does our form of government have to do with it, you ask?

Well, a Constitutional Republic allows the people to freely elect those who would both enact and enforce the laws of the land. It does not allow the people to directly enact or enforce either law or policy. This is true. But you do elect representatives to act on your behalf. 

Let me go back to the 1962 ruling. The court cited that because of the Separation of Church and State, the government needed to be separated from Christian principles. Let's re-read the ruling: "the State's use of the Regents' prayer in its public school system breaches the constitutional wall of separation between Church and State." BA-LON-EY!

Where in the Constitution of the United States is the phrase "separation of church and state"? I happen to have a copy of the Constitution here. Let me read from the First Amendment:

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people to peaceably assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

That is the entire 1st Amendment. Where, in what I just read, did you hear ANY words stating "separation of church and state?"

Let me reread the pertinent part: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof..."

This means that Congress shall not establish a "U.S." religion. It means that Congress shall not REQUIRE a particular, national religion.

Now listen very carefully. The First Amendment of our Constitution is not there to protect Americans from religion. It is there to protect religious Americans from the government! This, is why this country was formed. When the 1962 Supreme Court ruled in the case of Engel vs. Vitale, we had TWO grievances to air! The restriction of our freedom to pray in school and respect the authority of God, AND the vicious twisting and misinterpretation of our Constitution!

I want to give you just a small history lesson to remind you that our country was formed on religious grounds and that our nation was formed from Judeo-Christian roots:

Our country was formed on this need for the people to be protected from the government! Specifically from the King and the Church of England! At the risk of oversimplifying, the people in England and the English territories had a problem with the King and the Church. Let's read from the Magna Carta. The year is 1215, there is not yet any Colonial America: 

KNOW THAT BEFORE GOD, for the health of our soul and those of our ancestors and heirs, to the honor of God, the exaltation of the holy Church, and the better ordering of our kingdom, at the advice of our reverend fathers (followed by a long list of dignitaries): FIRST, THAT WE HAVE GRANTED TO GOD, and by this present charter have confirmed for us and our heirs in perpetuity, that the English Church shall be free, and shall have its rights undiminished, and its liberties unimpaired. That we wish this so to be observed, appears from the fact that of our own free will, before the outbreak of the present dispute between us and our barons, we granted and confirmed by charter the freedom of the Church's elections - a right reckoned to be of the greatest necessity and importance to it - and caused this to be confirmed by Pope Innocent III. This freedom we shall observe ourselves, and desire to be observed in good faith by our heirs in perpetuity.

It goes on with many rules to control abuses by the King and Bishops, and concludes with:

"IT IS ACCORDINGLY OUR WISH AND COMMAND that the English Church shall be free, and that men in our kingdom shall have and keep all these liberties, rights, and concessions, well and peaceably in their fullness and entirety for them and their heirs, of us and our heirs, in all things and all places for ever."

Many hundreds of years of oppression and agony still followed and the unresolved conflicts with the King and the Church of England caused the first colonization of what would later become, our United States. I will now read from The Mayflower Compact, the year is 1620, and it is so short I wish to read it entirely:

"In the name of God, Amen. We, whose names are underwritten, the Loyal Subjects of our dread Sovereign Lord, King James, by the Grace of God, of England, France and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, etc.

Having undertaken for the Glory of God, and Advancement of the Christian Faith, and the Honour of our King and Country, a voyage to plant the first colony in the northern parts of Virginia; do by these presents, solemnly and mutually in the Presence of God and one of another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil Body Politick, for our better Ordering and Preservation, and Furtherance of the Ends aforesaid; And by Virtue hereof to enact, constitute, and frame, such just and equal Laws, Ordinances, Acts, Constitutions and Offices, from time to time, as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the General good of the Colony; unto which we promise all due submission and obedience.

In Witness whereof we have hereunto subscribed our names at Cape Cod the eleventh of November, in the Reign of our Sovereign Lord, King James of England, France and Ireland, the eighteenth, and of Scotland the fifty-fourth. Anno Domini, 1620."

So, in the Mayflower Compact, we learn that the first colonists to what would become the U.S., were rooted in the intent of the advancement of the Christian faith, and from the previous history, we understand the need was driven by the abuses of the King and the Church of England.

Now, let me leap ahead 150 years to the Virginia Declaration of Rights. The date June 12, 1776: 

Article 16: "That religion, or the duty which we owe to our Creator and the manner of discharging it, can be directed by reason and conviction, not by force or violence; and therefore, all men are equally entitled to the free exercise of religion, according to the dictates of conscience; and that it is the mutual duty of all to practice Christian forbearance, love, and charity towards each other."

And now the Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776, when our country came into existence:

"When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the Political Bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the Powers of the Earth, the separate and equal Station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent Respect to the Opinions of Mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the Separation."

"We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness"

The Declaration then goes on to list the egregious oppression of the King of England and then concludes:

"WE, therefore, the Representatives of the UNITED STATES of AMERICA, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the World for the Rectitude of our Intentions, do, in the Name, and by the Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly Publish and Declare, that these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be, FREE AND INDEPENDENT STATES; that they are absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political Connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as FREE AND INDEPENDENT STATES, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which INDEPENDENT STATES may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm Reliance on the Protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor."

And now I quote from Patrick Henry, who lived from 1736 - 1799; you know him, he is most famous for his "Give me liberty or give me death" speech. He hails from Hanover County, Virginia and was a prominent figure in the American Revolution. Along with Samuel Adams and Thomas Paine, he was one of the most influential advocates of the American Revolution. 

He said: "It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded, not by religionists but by Christians, not on religions, but on the gospel of Jesus Christ."

And John Jay, our nations first Supreme Court Justice: "Providence has given to our people the choice of their rulers and it is the duty as well as the privilege and interest of a Christian nation to select and prefer Christians for their rulers."

And finally: "Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports - And let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion - reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle."

Who might have said that? George Bush? Teddy Roosevelt? Bill Clinton? No, it was George Washington!

So, is there any doubt that our nation was founded on God and that our founding fathers expected God's values to rule this country?

You see, America's Founders, for the first time in human history, established not just a religious ideology and not just a political system, but an entire culture upon fundamental Judeo-Christian concepts. For the very first time in the history of the world, a nation - our nation - was founded not only upon the idea of a Supreme Creator and Authority of Law, but just as important, this new nation of 1776 acknowledged and appreciated the uniquely Judeo-Christian idea of individual human liberty. In the new country, no king and no established church would stand in the way of human liberty, human dignity, or human progress.

The original American political system was based upon the promise of the rule of law - not upon the rule of man, or any group of men. The only legitimate law was recognized as the Law of Nature and Nature's God, to quote the Declaration of Independence.

And I dare say that your political representatives who do not or will not comprehend the Laws of God are, in my opinion, illegitimate "leaders." And American voters who elect these illegitimate "leaders" can claim only the least characteristic of Patriotism, that of "I voted".

A true American accepts that the source of all law and justice is the Creator - GOD! It is your role to ensure you know the candidates, and encourage only and select only those candidates who embody leadership of a servant. You can't by yourself sway an election, and in fact, you can't change the direction things are heading - that is entirely in God's hands. At the same time, doing nothing, not considering the Biblical thing to do - well, how can you, as a believer, if you paid no attention for whom you voted, when you ultimately meet Yeshua, expect him to say "well done my good and faithful servant"?

Without revealing who you voted for, let me ask rhetorically: Did you measure Bill Clinton's value as a President on how your bank account fared during his presidency, or maybe how the stock market fared during his presidency? Or might you measure his value on how our nation's moral values declined during his presidency? Or how our nation's level of respect amongst other nations declined during his presidency. Would God have chosen Bill Clinton as a leader? Why did we? And why did we choose him TWICE?

When the Supreme Court removed prayer from school they set in motion the moral and spiritual decline of this nation. Clinton only became a product of that decline and a representative of its results.

I hope I don't have to tell you, that by removing any reference to God in our schools, we have removed all force behind respect for any authority! Without the highest authority, where do teachers, police, clergy, even parents obtain their license of authority? What were, under God, absolute values used to condemn disrespect, condemn adultery, condemn covetousness, theft, murder, etc. are today replaced with "relativism" and "secular humanism." Hence the resultant moral decay of our once proud, respected, God-fearing nation....

Before prayer was removed from schools, polls among educators listed the top problems in public schools as: Talking; chewing gum; making noise; running in the halls; getting out of turn in line; wearing improper clothing; and not putting paper in wastebaskets.

After prayer was removed from schools, the top problems in public schools became: Rape; robbery; assault; burglary; arson; bombings; murder; suicide; absenteeism; vandalism; extortion; drug abuse; alcohol abuse; gang warfare; pregnancies; abortions, and venereal disease.

Please note that none of the previous top problems even make today's list! Bad leadership caused this. But, you tell me "you don't get to vote for Supreme Courts Justices because they are appointed". Yes, but I'll tell you, you do get to vote for Presidents who appoint Justices. And you do get to determine who runs for President through a series of primaries.

So, how do you choose? Do you choose based on good looks? Popularity? Voter appeal? Where do you base your authority to demand religious leaders? 

I said earlier that we have the responsibility to elect our leadership from amongst a pool of candidates - selecting only those who were God fearing, moral, and righteous. Where do I get the right to come off telling you this? From the Bible. Surprised? I hope not, 'cuz I'm in full swing now, mixing religion and politics!

The Bible clearly lists the qualities of character that God looks for in those He has chosen for positions of leadership: God chose Abraham because he was responsive to God's instructions:

Genesis 12:1-4 "Now Adonai said to Avram, 'Get yourself out of your country, away from your kinsmen and away from your father's house, and go to the land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation, I will bless you, and I will make your name great; and you are to be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, but I will curse anyone who curses you; and by you all the families on earth will be blessed.' Avram was obedient.

Should not your candidate, like Avram, be obedient to God?

Scripture describes Abraham as a role model and founding father of the nation of Israel (Romans 4:13). "For the promise to Avraham and his seed that he would inherit the world did not come through legalism but through the righteousness that trust produces." And verse 16: "The reason the promise is based on trusting is so that it may come as God's free gift, a promise that can be relied on by all the seed, not only those who live within the framework of the Torah, but also those with the kind of trust Avram had..."

Should not your candidate be a role model?

Moshe was a highly educated man of ability: Acts 7: 22 "So Moshe was trained in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and became both a powerful speaker and a man of action."

Should not your candidate be highly educated and a person of action?

Moses was humble: Numbers 12: 3 "Now this man Moshe was very humble, more so than anyone on earth."

Should not your candidate be humble?

God told Moses to staff his government with good men: Exodus 18: 21 "But you should choose from among all the people, competent men who are God-fearing, honest, and incorruptible, to be their leaders..."

Should not your candidate be competent, God-fearing, honest, and incorruptible?

And Yeshua told us leaders were to serve the needs of their people - not their own desires: Matthew 20:25-28: "But Yeshua called them and said, "You know that among the Goyim, those who are supposed to rule them become tyrants, and their superiors become dictators. Among you, it must not be like that. On the contrary, whoever among you wants to be a leader must become your servant, and whoever wants to be first, must be your slave!

 

Should not your candidate be a servant of the people, and not a servant of his or her self interest?

And Yeshua, of course, recognized his own leadership, verse 28, "For the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve - and to give his life as a ransom for many."

Should not your candidate put our nation above himself?

So, where do we go from here? You're not going to be able to affect change, you are not going to be able to reverse the 1962 Supreme Court ruling which began the removal God from our society. But I ask you to consider this: Vote, but vote knowledgeably as best you can for candidates who have a record of accepting, knowing, and loving God. This is your duty. Note that I did not tell you WHOM to vote for; I am only asking you to choose your candidate wisely. Choose a candidate of God.

Our past inaction and tacit acceptance of the moral degeneration of our nation means that the next generation has a heavy burden. And they can only help turn this around if they know. And we must teach them.

The Bible reveals that the most vital knowledge to convey to the next generation concerns the laws of God - not the laws of man, and certainly not nursery rhymes nor the liberal arts.

Solomon in Proverbs 1:7 says "The fear of Adonai is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline."

 

God pointed out that the right goals for education are to grow in wisdom: Proverbs 4: 7 "The beginning of wisdom is: get wisdom! And along with all your getting, get insight!"

I love that! In two words, "get wisdom", Proverbs sums up a litany of advice! That means, quit complaining about what you don't know, and go learn! I find that more brilliant and more profound than the old Chinese proverb that says "A journey of a 1000 miles begins with a single step."

So, let's summarize "Your Responsibility in National Leadership".

• Know that our nation was founded on God. Don't let anyone deny that. Correct them if they scoff at this.
  
  
• Know that there is no such thing as the "Constitutional separation of Church and State". The first amendment of the Constitution is not to protect the Government from religion; it is to protect spiritual Americans from the Government.
  
  
• Know that our nation is in big trouble for abandoning our heritage, and in even bigger trouble for abandoning ADONAI. The moral decay of the U.S. is directly related to the abandonment of God in our schools.
  
  
• Know that it is your responsibility to choose candidates wisely. Even if your candidate is not elected, you can stand before God someday knowing you did right. Tell others why you voted the way you did - be a light to the Nation.
  
  
• And know that our children, to become the leaders of tomorrow, must know the truth of our history, and they must know and obey God.

Do you remember the movie "Pay it Forward"? It was the story of a little boy who, when challenged by a teacher to do something to "change the world", came up with an idea that when someone does a good deed for you, you would do a good deed for three other people. And so on and so on. Kind of a reverse pyramid scheme.

Well, we have the potential here for a "Pay it Forward". Share with someone this knowledge of the Biblical origin of our Nation and the damage done by removing God from our schools. And, without compelling them to, maybe that person will be so moved they will tell three others, and so on....

Well, whether or not that's possible, please don't fail to do your part and take responsibility for voting for the right candidates. This would be the candidates that best embody the qualities that our Creator would look for. You should accept nothing less.

Amein.

1 Peter 2: 13. And be submissive to all the sons of men, for Elohim’s sake; to kings, on account of their authority; 14. and to judges because they are sent by him for the punishment of offenders, and for the praise of them that do well. 15 For so is the will of Elohim, that by your good deeds you may stop the mouth of the foolish who do not know Elohim: 16. As free men, you are not like men who make their freedom a cloak for their wickedness, but as the servants of Elohim. 17. Honor all men; love your Brothers; fear Elohim; and honor kings.

Putting on the whole armor of God....

Let's put on the whole armor of ELOHIM today!

Ephesians 6:10. Finally, my Brothers, be strong in our Master (Y’shua), and; in the energy of his power: 11. And put on the whole armor of Elohim so that you may be able to stand against the strategies of the Accuser. 12. For our conflict is not with flesh and blood but with principalities and with those in authority, and with the possessors of this dark world, and with the evil spirits that are under[1] heaven.

13. Therefore put on the whole armor of Elohim that you may be able to meet the evil (one); and, being in all respects prepared, may stand firm. 14. Stand up therefore, and gird your loins with truth; and put on the breastplate of righteousness; 15. and defend your feet[2] with the preparation of the Good News of peace.[3]

16. And now take to you the confidence of faith by which you will have power to quench all the fiery darts of the evil (one). 17. and put on the helmet of salvation; and take hold of the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of Elohim. 18. And pray, with all prayers and supplications, in spirit, at all times: and in prayer be watchful at all seasons, praying constantly and interceding for all the Set Apart believers:

19. And also for me; that language may be given me, in the opening of my mouth; so that I may boldly preach the mystery[4] of the Good News 20. of which I am a messenger in chains; that I may utter it boldly, as I should utter it. (Aramaic English New Testament/AENT)

FOOTNOTES:

[1] ”Under” as in also “subject to heaven” or “ruled by heaven”; not just physically below heaven.

[2] Or legs which, given the fact that protective armor is being spoken, is also a possible reading.

[3] The Aramaic word for truth, “qoshta” (John 17:19) has a common synonym, shrara. Consider that: shrara = truth shrina = breastplate. Next we have tzedekaya (righteousness) to consider. This word has a very interesting synonym in the form of qadishta: qoshta = truth qadishta = set-apart. Paul is clearly making word choices that speak to a deeper message that is very well established in Hebrew tradition: “He will cover you with His pinions, and under His wings shalt thou take refuge; His truth is a shield and buckler.” (Psalm 91:4 (1955 JPS))

And most remarkably: “And he put on righteousness (tzedekah) like a coat of mail (or “breastplate”-- shiryone). And a helmet of salvation (kova d’yeshoowa) upon his head. And he put on the garments of vengeance for his clothing, and he was clad in zeal as a cloak.” (Isaiah 59:17 (1955 JPS))

Here is how the Hebrew Tanakh and the Aramaic Renewed Covenant match up in word choices and terminology: Shiryone/Breastplate (Isaiah) Shrina/Breastplate (Paul) Tzedekah/Righteousness (Isaiah) Tzedekaya/Righteousness (Paul). With very minor dialectical differences aside, these are the exact same words! An interesting departure is with this term: Kova d’yeshoowa/Helmet of Salvation (Isaiah) Sonorta d’ porqana/Helmet of Salvation (Paul).

Paul does this for two very special reasons. First, kova (helmet) is a Hebrew exclusive word that has no direct cognate in Aramaic. Paul therefore substitutes the more familiar sonorta where helmet appears in the Renewed Covenant; 1 Thessalonians 5:8 is the other verse where this is found. The second reason, however, holds the most powerful connection: Yeshoowa (Isaiah) = Y’shua HaMashiyach (Renewed Covenant) Porqana (Isaiah) = Paroqa (Aramaic for “The Savior” Renewed Covenant).

Rav Shaul is very well aware that the verse in the Tanakh he alludes to contains the name Y’shua, and Aramaic equivalents he uses in Ephesians contain Y’shua’s Title! Given these connections, no reasonable person would believe that these Aramaic and Hebrew patterns arrived here by accident. Rav Shaul is clearly using Semitic poetry to its full potential to reveal HaMashiyach.

[4] Here is a beautiful poetic phrase of akraz arza (preach mystery), a deliberate alliteration chosen by Paul for maximum impact on Aramaic readers beyond Ephesus whom he knew would catch this bit of cleverness.

A rant about court clerk Kim Davis

WARNING:  THIS IS A RANT!  I have to get something off my chest.  It’s about that court clerk, Kim Davis who is now in jail for “contempt of court” for refusing to issue marriage licenses to homosexuals. I cannot believe the number of believers (including at least one Jewish RABBI) who are “liking” memes that put her down for her own “faults” – ie., having been married several times!

Well, first of all, these marriages and divorces happened BEFORE she became a believer; and secondly, we DO NOT KNOW  the cause of the divorces.  If the causes were adultery, then according to Scripture, she was allowed to divorce.   Regardless, we have no right to judge what she did BEFORE she became a believer, so knock off the judgment, those who are busy wagging your tongues!

SECONDLY – and most importantly:  Kim Davis had the GUTS to stand up for YHWH who calls homosexuality AN ABOMINATION!  (I would do the same thing!)  HIS Word trumps any human court!   So, let’s not sit there all high and mighty and call her names and suggest she deserves jail because this is “about our civil liberties” which supposedly “trump freedom FROM religion.”  (Yes, I saw that on a rabbi’s post, which proves he wouldn’t know YHWH if he fell on Him!) 

Yes, I believe Kim Davis needs to lose her job/resign/whatever, because if her “religious beliefs” interfere that much with her job, then she needs to move over and let someone else do that particular job.  But what a SAD commentary on our government, our people and our entire nation that it has come to this – that “religious” (I hate that term!) folks can be FIRED, JAILED and basically “verbally killed” by the “holier-than-thou” throngs  because of her desire to do GOD’s will!  
SHAME ON our PAGAN, GODLESS government for forcing ALL of us to accept homosexuality as “normal!”  It is NOT normal!   Shame on our President – that supposed “Christian” – for paving the way for “gay marriage”!!!!   What a monstrosity America has become!   SHAME! 

John 16: 1. I have spoken these things with you that you might not stumble.  2. For they will drive you out from their assemblies and will come a time that all who kill you will think that they offer an offering to Elohim.  3. And they will do these things because they know neither my Father nor myself.  (AENT)

2 Timothy 3: 1. But know this: That in the latter days hard times will come:  2. and men will be lovers of themselves and lovers of money, boasters, proud, revilers, unyielding towards their own people, deniers of grace, wicked,  3. unloving, addicted to irreconcilable malicious gossips, ferocious, haters of the good,  4. treacherous, rash, inflated, attached to pleasure more than to the love of Elohim,  5. having a form of respect for Elohim but wide from the power of Elohim. Them who are such, repel from you.  6. For of them are they who creep into this and that house and captivate the women who are plunged in sins and led away by divers lusts,  7. who are always learning, and can never come to the knowledge of the truth. (AENT)

A word to the anti-missionary (Jesus hating) Talmud "pushers"

Try to reason with a Jewish anti-missionary (even former Christians who only recently decided to “reject Jesus” to follow the Rabbis), and they will inevitably attempt to use Talmud over and above Scripture, “shouting” at you to leave that “myth of the New Testament” and “come to G-d’s truth.”   If you try to tell them that Talmud is NOT Scripture, they will verbally pound you to pieces to let you know how ignorant you are, and then continue with their “Talmud is awesome IF you understand it properly - and you can only understand it properly if you learn from the rabbis” speech.

Hmmm.  So, listen to “the rabbis” to hear their PERSONAL OPINIONS about the personal opinions of the ancient sages who were dissecting Torah in their attempts to understand  God’s commands  - often coming to conclusions that led away from “exactly what God meant”;  and ultimately resulting in the building of myriad fences around Torah, to the point where even the Shabbat became a burden....(teachings that Y'shua attempted to put back in their proper perspective).

Ironically, the people who are now out there on the “anti-missionary” bandwagon, shouting the loudest, don’t seem to realize that they have merely exchanged one “religion” for another.  They have swung  from the Christian viewpoint (which promotes the idea that Jesus came to “save” and “free them from Torah”), to the other side of the pendulum - the Jewish viewpoint which promotes Torah and Talmud and adamantly rejects Y’shua and “grace” clinging instead to the idea that only “prayer and supplication are needed to be in good graces with God”.

So, my question to the anti-missionary Talmud “pushers” is this:   While mankind certainly DOES need "teachers" (Bible scholars) to help us discern the meaning of Scripture, how is what you are promoting (concerning learning from the rabbis the man-made thoughts in Talmud ) different from the mindset of Catholics who listen to and idolize the Pope and are following his every word, and don’t have the freedom to make a move without him? How does your train of thought differ from church pastors who "shepherd their flocks" and teach them THEIR respective ideas about God and the Bible?

YES, Christian pastors and Catholics priests are off the mark in their respective teachings; but so are many of the rabbis that the anti-missionaries are lauding!  We have challenged many of their arguments about "Jesus and the New Testament" - please see for yourself.

It is truly irksome that those who have “rejected Jesus” don't have a clue that they have simply traded one "religion" for another - and now they are all out here VICIOUSLY berating those who don't follow THEIR way!

I feel what is really going on here is an endless desire to be “right.”  It’s not about יהוה for most, on either side of the issue.  It’s all about “me” and how “I am right and you’re wrong, and I will verbally beat you into submission to get you to believe MY way, MY thoughts, MY ideas, MY opinions”.... (If you don't believe me, just check out some of the many "anti-Jesus" and/or the Christian "Grace only" Facebook groups!)

Scripture warns us this would happen:

2 Timothy 3: 1. But know this: That in the latter days hard times will come: 2. and men will be lovers of themselves and lovers of money, boasters, proud, revilers, unyielding towards their own people, deniers of grace, wicked, 3. unloving, addicted to irreconcilable malicious gossips, ferocious, haters of the good, 4. treacherous, rash, inflated, attached to pleasure more than to the love of Elohim, 5. having a form of respect for Elohim but wide from the power of Elohim. Them who are such, repel from you. 6. For of them are they who creep into this and that house and captivate the women who are plunged in sins and led away by divers lusts, 7. who are always learning, and can never come to the knowledge of the truth.  (AENT)

Titus 1:  13. And this testimony is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply that they may be sound in the faith  14. and may not throw themselves into Jewish fables and into the precepts of men who hate the Truth.  15. For to the pure, everything is pure; but to them who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure; but their understanding is defiled, and their conscience.  16 And they profess that they know Elohim, but in their works they deny him; and they are odious and disobedient and to every good work reprobates. (AENT)

We are commanded NOT to engage in endless word battles with those who think they have cornered the market on Truth:

2 Timothy 2: 14 Keep reminding people of this, and charge them solemnly before our Master (Y'shua) not to engage in word-battles. They accomplish nothing useful and are a catastrophe for the hearers! 15 Do all you can to present yourself to Elohim as someone worthy of his approval, as a worker with no need to be ashamed, because he deals straightforwardly with the Word of the Truth.  16 But keep away from godless babbling, for those who engage in it will only become more ungodly, 17 and their teaching will eat away at people like gangrene. (CJB)

Romans 16: 17. And I plead with you, my Brothers, that you beware of them who cause divisions and stumblings apart from the doctrine which you have learned: and that you stand distant from them.  18. For they who are such do not serve our Master Y’shua the Mashiyach, but their own belly: and by bland speeches and good wishes, they deceive the hearts of the simple.  (AENT)

Luke 9:   5. And he who does not receive you, when you depart from that city shake off even the dust from your feet for a testimony against them. (AENT)

Romans 14: 19 So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding.

Yes, "pursuing for mutual upbuilding" would be very nice.  But I seriously doubt finding peace and mutual upbuilding will happen before Y’shua returns because men simply cannot lay aside their pride and their desire to “be right” and to force their OPINIONS down the world's collective throat.

Should we use the name "Jesus" instead of "Y'eshua"?

It hit me like a ton bricks the other day when I was looking at the Greek word for the Messiah,  "Ιησος", consisting of the letters iota, eta, sigma, omicron, and (final) sigma, and had an epiphany as to its pronunciation.  I could see, without even speaking Greek, that it should be pronounced "Yesous" (with soft "s" in both instances).   It immediately hit me that this word,"Ιησος", which so many say is pronounced "I-ey-Zeus" is not that at all - rather, it is the Greek phonetic transliteration of the the Hebrew/Aramaic "ישוע" (read right to left, yod, shin, vav, ayin, pronounced "Yeshua", sometimes written as "Y'shua".)  "Ιησος" is the Greek phonetic equivalent of "Yeshua"!

I was recognizing that the Greek iota, "Ι", carried a "Y" sound.  So I looked it up and found that I was right!  Then next letter, eta, "η", carries an "e" sound, and right away I saw that the first two letters of ישוע had been phonetically translated into Greek as iota, eta! 

The translators were not translating Y'shua's name into Greek!  No!  They were trying to phonetically pronounce it with Greek letters which sounded the same!  This is exactly as we do with Hebrew/Aramaic words today when we are trying to sound-out a Hebrew/Aramaic word in English!

I continued looking at the letters of the Greek and soon found a one-to-one correspondence with the original ישוע. They had no letter for the "sh" sound of the shin, so it became a sigma with an "s" sound. The sigma-omicron ("so") is a diphthong which results in the "oo" sound of "Yesh-oo-a". The final sigma, though it is an "s" sound, is there for another reason.  More about that in a moment.

My epiphany is that the Greek translators did not have a Greek word for "ישוע", so they spelled it in Greek how it sounded! This epiphany blows out of the water the idea that "Jesus" came from the Greek word for the Messiah, or that it is somehow tied to the Roman god "Zeus"!  "Jesus" is simply a poor translation of the Greek "Ιησος" into English! That's all! (The "J", found in neither Hebrew/Aramaic nor Greek, came about over a much later time span as the letter "I" eventually became "I/J" and eventually the "J" became its own letter.) 

Throughout the medieval period, the forms of the modern "i" and "j" were used interchangeably, and both forms represented the same letter.  But the sound of the "J" in English today would have been a "Y" sound in early ages.  "Jesus" is a poor translation because it is clear the Greek translators were simply trying to spell, phonetically the Messiah's name.  What should have happened is this:

The Hebrew "ישוע" became the Greek "Ιησος" and the English translators of the Greek should have gone from Greek "Ιησος" to English "Yeshua" - if they had recognized that "Ιησος" was not a "word" but was a pronunciation.  If only they had done that, the whole English-speaking world today would be calling the Messiah by His name!  Yeshua!

Some say this is not important.  They say, "what matters is that you know whom you are talking about when you say His name."  Well, I think it matters a great deal.  "Jesus" is not His name!  Period.  "Yeshua" is the Messiah's name!  At least when you correctly pronounce the Greek "Ιησος", you say "Yesou" (with a soft "s") and you have actually said "Yeshua" as best you could in your Greek tongue.  (You actually would say "Yesou" and not "Yesous" because the only reason for that final sigma, "ς" in print is because in the Greek language, the noun changes spelling to indicate case, number, and gender while in English, the spelling of the noun is not changed, rather, it is the word order in English which conveys case, number, and gender.  In other words, the final sigma, "ς", is not actually a part of the name of the Messiah in Greek. "Ιησος" is in the nominative case (“Yeshua”); Iesou is in the genitive case (“of Yeshua”), and so on.)

Just look how awful is the pronunciation of "Yeshua" as "Jesus"!  The soft "Y" sound is changed to the harsh "J" sound, the short "e" sound" is changed to a hard "e", that is, from the e in "hey" to the e in "heat".  The soft "sh" sound becomes a hard "z" sound.  And the final "ah" sound becomes "us"!  If you lived in the time Yeshua walked the earth and saw Him and said "Pleased to meet you, Jesus", He would have had no idea whom you were addressing! "Jesus" simply is not "Yeshua"!

Let me give you an idea of how awful the mistranslated Name is.  I grew up Methodist.  I was 46 before I ever heard the word "Yeshua" as the Messiah!  All I ever knew was "Jesus".   Jesus loved me and forgave me. I had to do nothing.  I never knew the Messiah Yeshua who actually said he'd spit me out of His mouth and lose my eternal life if I did not know Him and obey the Father.  (John 17:3; Revelation 3:15-16).

I use "Yeshua" now that I know it is His name.  I will use "Jesus" when I need to since, like me, the person I am addressing may have never heard the Messiah's actual name, but I will not say it is okay to pray to "Jesus" or to ask for forgiveness from "Jesus".  The Messiah's name is ישוע and a good, phonetic transliteration of it is "Yeshua". By saying and writing "Yeshua" (or "Y'shua"), I know I am talking about THE Messiah who came to give me life for nothing more than my living in His Father's Torah.