I am not certain whether there is another topic with more contention than "what Paul meant when he said ...". In my own studies and from listening to those wiser than myself I have discovered four ways in which one can misunderstand Paul (Shaul).
1. The first way is very simple ... all you have to do is be Jewish. This is not a racist or derisive comment. Sure Shaul was Jewish and a Rabbi who studied at the feet of Gamliel (the grandson of one of the most famous Torah-teachers of all time .. Hillel) but even according to Kefa (Peter) his letters are difficult to understand (Peter was also Jewish). Shaul was tasked with a very difficult job ... teach the Messianic Gentiles that they are chosen. Chosen? Yes, Chosen! This does not seem like it would take a genius like Shaul just to tell some people who were compelled by the Holy Spirit to believe in Yeshua HaMashiach (Jesus the Messiah) that God had chosen them. Even if this is true how does this create a misunderstanding on the part of the people who were already Chosen by God? The previously Chosen people of God had already been through over 2000 years of training on how to feel Chosen and Rabbi Shaul had to start from scratch with these Romans and Greeks. When Shaul told the Romans not to start cutting on their flesh in order to make God like them he was not telling them not to circumcise their sons and they understood what he was telling them. Unfortunately, some of the previously Chosen people read the letter to the Romans and thought that Shaul was creating some sort of new religion out of Judaism. In Fact, the rumor spread quickly and when Shaul came to Jerusalem to celebrate Shavuot (Pentecost)in Acts 21 he was informed of these rumors and told that he should show everyone that these accusations were false ... here is the text:
"When they heard this, they praised God. Then they said to Paul: "You see, brother, how many thousands of Jews have believed, and all of them are zealous for the law. They have been informed that you teach all the Jews who live among the Gentiles to turn away from Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or live according to our customs. What shall we do? They will certainly hear that you have come, so do what we tell you. There are four men with us who have made a vow. Take these men, join in their purification rites and pay their expenses, so that they can have their heads shaved. Then everyone will know there is no truth in these reports about you, but that you yourself are living in obedience to the law. As for the Gentile believers, we have written to them our decision that they should abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality.
The next day Paul took the men and purified himself along with them. Then he went to the temple to give notice of the date when the days of purification would end and the offering would be made for each of them."
This was Shaul's golden moment. If the rumors were true and he was telling people to forget the Law of Moshe (Moses) then all he had to do was say "hey, these aren't just rumors guys ... this is really what I am teaching now and I don't care if you like it or not". Shaul did not, in fact, say this. He did go to the temple to do what the leaders in Jerusalem suggested in order to squelch the rumors.
Shaul's methods of teaching "chosen-ness" to the Gentiles was most distressing and almost incomprehensible to the people who were already Chosen. Maybe they wanted the Gentiles to complete all 613 mitzvot in one day while Shaul was telling them to take one day at a time. The leaders in Jerusalem understood this teaching and wrote a letter telling the Gentiles about four things that they could start out with and then they could pick the rest up over time ... here is the text in Acts 15:
"It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. Instead we should write to them, telling them to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood. For the law of Moses has been preached in every city from the earliest times and is read in the synagogues on every Sabbath."
" For the law of Moses has been preached in every city from the earliest times and is read in the synagogues on every Sabbath" (verse 21) seems almost out of place without the understanding that they are merely giving the Gentile believers a starting point with these four "rules" and they fully expecting them to go to the synagogue every Sabbath and learn more week after week about the Torah and the commands of God.
2. The second way to misunderstand Shaul is to live in any time period other than the one in which Shaul's letters were written. I think that covers just about everyone. There is no way we can fully understand everything in Shaul's letters without living during the time they were written and seeing the full correspondence from both parties. Remember that these are letters (someone's mail). You cannot just read one side of two people's correspondence and fully understand both sides of the conversation. He was speaking to specific groups of people about very specific events and occurrences in their communities and we can only speculate within the parameters of the other scriptures as to what he meant. If we had lived in those communities during Shaul's time we of course would have spoken the Greek of that time or Hebrew (or both) and we would fully understand Shaul. One thing is certain ... if we think that he was telling us that the Torah "ended" with Jesus (Yeshua) (Romans 10:4) then we have to completely remove the words of the Messiah himself in Matthew 5:17-20 from the Bible ... here is the text:
"Do not think that I have come to abolish the Torah or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. Truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter[yud], not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Torah until everything is accomplished. Anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the Torah-teachers, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven."
3. The third way to misunderstand Shaul is to listen to incorrect doctrine. The early church fathers like Constantine and even Martin Luther all spoke against the usage of the Torah citing the misunderstood words of Shaul as proof that one should not keep the Shabbat, not keep the laws of Kashrut (kosher), not keep the feasts and New Moon celebrations. Shaul does say not to let anyone judge you for these things (Colossians) but couldn't it just as easily be argued that he said don't let anyone judge you for keeping the Shabbat or for not eating pork? The text, I'm sure, was very clear to the group to whom he was writing. If we look at these verses in light of the words of Yeshua in Matthew 5 we must conclude that Shaul is not undermining the words of the Messiah and we must be misunderstanding him because of incorrect doctrine. In fact, Shaul warned us again and again not to be carried away with every wind of doctrine.
4. The fourth way to misunderstand Shaul is simply to want to misunderstand him. Why would anyone want to misunderstand him? Well, isn't is easier to go along with the world and work on the Sabbath and celebrate Easter instead of Passover and to ignore the offering to the pastor on Rosh Hodesh than to risk the chance that you might be ridiculed (even by your Christian brothers) for resting on Shabbat or for wearing the Tzitzit that is required for all men who follow YHVH. I recently read a book that a friend of mine had written about the doctrines of the Church of Christ and he actually stated as a reason for not following the Torah that it was obviously too inconvenient to travel to Jerusalem 3 times a year to take part in the feasts. He, of course missed that fact that God never said you had to go to Jerusalem he said you must go to the place that he will choose. [Deuteronomy 16:16
Three times a year all your men must appear before the LORD your God at the place he will choose: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks and the Feast of Tabernacles. No man should appear before the LORD empty-handed]. Of course everyone on the planet will have to travel to Jerusalem during the New Kingdom period once a year on the Feast of Tabernacles according to Zechariah 14:
"Then the survivors from all the nations that have attacked Jerusalem will go up year after year to worship the King, the LORD Almighty, and to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles. If any of the peoples of the earth do not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD Almighty, they will have no rain. If the Egyptian people do not go up and take part, they will have no rain. The LORD will bring on them the plague he inflicts on the nations that do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles. This will be the punishment of Egypt and the punishment of all the nations that do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles.
On that day HOLY TO THE LORD will be inscribed on the bells of the horses, and the cooking pots in the LORD's house will be like the sacred bowls in front of the altar. Every pot in Jerusalem and Judah will be holy to the LORD Almighty, and all who come to sacrifice will take some of the pots and cook in them. And on that day there will no longer be a Canaanite in the house of the LORD Almighty."
We quote John and say Jesus is the Word. We quote the writer of Hebrews and say the Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever. We quote Malachi and say The Lord does not change but we CHOOSE to ignore the commands that say "This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come, wherever you live." John said "if we love God then we keep his commands" ... what commands? Are there commands of God that John was excluding? If there are we cannot gather it from the text. How many commands are there? Ten? Even if there were only Ten most Christians CHOOSE to ignore the fourth command to "remember the Sabbath and keep it holy". There are actually 613 mitzvot (commands, ordinances, precepts, etc.) and all are relevant today even to followers of Yeshua HaMachiach (Jesus the Messiah).
You must rid yourselves of the doctrinal error that the Bible is a book of stories and historical references and that some things only apply to Jews and some things only apply to Christians. The Bible is God's blueprint for humanity (ALL humanity). Yes, certain sacrificial commands are kept for us spiritually through Yeshua but the rest are still in the natural. If most Jews CHOOSE to reject Yeshua as the Messiah that does not mean that God is finished with them. Shaul warned us not to think that the wild branches are better than the natural ones.
Please do not misunderstand me and think that I am advocating conversion to Judaism. If you think this then you are still thinking that the Bible is two separate books. We do not have to convert ... we were grafted in to the Chosen olive tree.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Gentiles and the Torah
"In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established". (2 Corinthians 13:1)
Paul is quoting the words of the Messiah here from Matthew 18. With this rule of doctrine it should be quite clear that the words of one man, if they are contradictory to two or three other witnesses, must be incorrect, mistranslated or misunderstood, especially if they are contradictory to the words of the Messiah.
Let's look at the most prominent example of this here in Ephesians :
“by abolishing in his flesh the Torah with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace.”
Now, let's take a look at the words of the Messiah in Matthew 5 :
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Torah or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. Truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter [yud], not the least stroke of a pen [kotz], will by any means disappear from the Torah until everything is accomplished. Anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the Torah-teachers, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven."
This should be enough to convince any sane human that what Paul is saying here is mistranslated or misunderstood, because his words are in direct contradiction to the words of Yeshua (Jesus). Just in case, let's look at another witness:
“Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases him.” (1 John 3) or this passage from 1 John 5 “This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.
A frequent excuse I often hear for Gentiles (Christians) not obeying the commands of God is that there are 613 commands and no one could possibly keep them. It is a ridiculous concept that God would give us commands that we could not possibly keep and then condemn us to Hell for not keeping them. Paul himself said in his boast that he was “blameless” under the Torah. There is a belief among Christians which has become doctrine for the most part and that is that Yeshua (Jesus) was the only one who ever or could have ever kept the commands of the Torah because you have to be God to keep them. This is obviously erroneous given Paul's boast. Besides, if we do fall short we have an advocate with the Father. God Himself tells us that His commands are not impossible to keep and even warns us through Moses not to say that the commands are too hard.
Paul quotes from Deuteronomy 30 in Romans 10 and says “Moses describes in this way the righteousness that is by the law: 'The man who does these things will live by them. But the righteousness that is by faith says, "Do not say in your heart, 'Who will ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down) "or 'Who will descend into the deep?' (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). But what does it say? "The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart," that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.”
We know that when someone quotes a single verse of scripture that the entire context is implied. Obviously Paul is not quoting half of a verse and expecting us to believe that he is changing the context of the original scripture, especially since these are the words of Moses himself. Here is the whole passage from Deuteronomy in context:
Deuteronomy 30
"You will again obey the LORD and follow all his commands I am giving you today. Then the LORD your God will make you most prosperous in all the work of your hands and in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your land. The LORD will again delight in you and make you prosperous, just as he delighted in your fathers, if you obey the LORD your God and keep his commands and decrees that are written in this Book of the Law and turn to the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, "Who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?" Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask, "Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?" No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it.
See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. For I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.
But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess.
This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob."
All of these blessings and prosperity for doing what God says sound very good to me. What did you say? We are just Gentiles and the Torah was only for God's chosen people. Well, take a look at what God said through the prophet Isaiah about foreigners (Gentiles) who keep His commands. It seems that they get all of the blessings as well even before Paul's “olive tree and the wild branches” do. These are the words of Isaiah. As you have noticed, I prefer to use the entire scripture in context rather than pulling out a single verse and letting you guess at the context:
Isaiah 56
This is what the LORD says:
"Maintain justice
and do what is right,
for my salvation is close at hand
and my righteousness will soon be revealed.
Blessed is the man who does this,
the man who holds it fast,
who keeps the Sabbath without desecrating it,
and keeps his hand from doing any evil."
Let no foreigner who has bound himself to the LORD say,
"The LORD will surely exclude me from his people."
And let not any eunuch complain,
"I am only a dry tree."
For this is what the LORD says:
"To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths,
who choose what pleases me
and hold fast to my covenant-
to them I will give within my temple and its walls
a memorial and a name
better than sons and daughters;
I will give them an everlasting name
that will not be cut off.
And foreigners who bind themselves to the LORD
to serve him,
to love the name of the LORD,
and to worship him,
all who keep the Sabbath without desecrating it
and who hold fast to my covenant-
these I will bring to my holy mountain
and give them joy in my house of prayer.
Their burnt offerings and sacrifices
will be accepted on my altar;
for my house will be called
a house of prayer for all nations."
The Sovereign LORD declares—
he who gathers the exiles of Israel:
"I will gather still others to them
besides those already gathered”
Here is a little clarification from Paul in his letter to the Ephesians:
Ephesians 2
“For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.
Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with the Messiah Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.”
Not only did God accept us when we were foreigners but now we are no longer foreigners but fellow citizens with God's chosen people. The word “citizen” denotes nationality. So we are now citizens of the Biblical “nation” of Israel. Let us take a look at how Paul explains our citizenship:
Romans 11
“Again I ask: Did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Not at all! Rather, because of their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious. But if their transgression means riches for the world, and their loss means riches for the Gentiles, how much greater riches will their fullness bring!
I am talking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch as I am the apostle to the Gentiles, I make much of my ministry in the hope that I may somehow arouse my own people to envy and save some of them. For if their rejection brought reconciliation to the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? If the part of the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, then the whole batch is holy; if the root is holy, so are the branches.
If some of the branches have been broken off, and you, though a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root, do not boast over those branches. If you do, consider this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you. You will say then, "Branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in." Granted. But they were broken off because of unbelief, and you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but be afraid. For if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either.
Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in his kindness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off. And if they do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. After all, if you were cut out of an olive tree that is wild by nature, and contrary to nature were grafted into a cultivated olive tree, how much more readily will these, the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree!
I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written:
"The deliverer will come from Zion;
he will turn godlessness away from Jacob.
And this is my covenant with them
when I take away their sins."
As far as the gospel is concerned, they are enemies on your account; but as far as election is concerned, they are loved on account of the patriarchs, for God's gifts and his call are irrevocable. Just as you who were at one time disobedient to God have now received mercy as a result of their disobedience, so they too have now become disobedient in order that they too may now receive mercy as a result of God's mercy to you. For God has bound all men over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all.
Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
How unsearchable his judgments,
and his paths beyond tracing out!
"Who has known the mind of the Lord?
Or who has been his counselor?"
"Who has ever given to God,
that God should repay him?"
For from him and through him and to him are all things.
To him be the glory forever! Amen.”
We do not support the root but the root supports us. We are the wild branches of the one true olive tree. Let us not forget the kindness and the sternness of God. Kindness to those who continue in His kindness and sternness to those who do not and are cut off. The greatest command is to Love the Lord God with all of your heart and Love your neighbor as yourself. How do we love God? By keeping His commands.
The Rabbi Hillel who was a contemporary of Yeshua, was asked if he would teach the entire Torah to a young man while the man was standing on one foot. Hillel replied “what you do not like, do not do to others. This is the Torah, the rest is commentary”.
His contemporary, Yeshua, taught a similar lesson when he said “the things that you like, do for others this is the Torah”. Is there a difference in these teachings? Hillel's approach emphasizes the negative commands (of which there are 365). Yeshua's approach not only emphasizes the 248 positive commands but also encompasses the rest by assuming that if we are always doing nice things for people then we obviously do not have the time or inclination to do evil. In this way we are fully able to keep the commands of God.
It is clear from the passages above that there is neither Jew nor Gentile, but one nation of God's chosen people. There are not two religions but one religion worshiping the one God through his Son Yeshua HaMashiach (Jesus the Messiah). This is what Paul is trying to say when he says “His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making Shalom (peace).” There only appears to be two religions because there are some of the chosen ones who reject Yeshua as the Messiah.
Paul is quoting the words of the Messiah here from Matthew 18. With this rule of doctrine it should be quite clear that the words of one man, if they are contradictory to two or three other witnesses, must be incorrect, mistranslated or misunderstood, especially if they are contradictory to the words of the Messiah.
Let's look at the most prominent example of this here in Ephesians :
“by abolishing in his flesh the Torah with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace.”
Now, let's take a look at the words of the Messiah in Matthew 5 :
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Torah or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. Truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter [yud], not the least stroke of a pen [kotz], will by any means disappear from the Torah until everything is accomplished. Anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the Torah-teachers, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven."
This should be enough to convince any sane human that what Paul is saying here is mistranslated or misunderstood, because his words are in direct contradiction to the words of Yeshua (Jesus). Just in case, let's look at another witness:
“Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases him.” (1 John 3) or this passage from 1 John 5 “This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.
A frequent excuse I often hear for Gentiles (Christians) not obeying the commands of God is that there are 613 commands and no one could possibly keep them. It is a ridiculous concept that God would give us commands that we could not possibly keep and then condemn us to Hell for not keeping them. Paul himself said in his boast that he was “blameless” under the Torah. There is a belief among Christians which has become doctrine for the most part and that is that Yeshua (Jesus) was the only one who ever or could have ever kept the commands of the Torah because you have to be God to keep them. This is obviously erroneous given Paul's boast. Besides, if we do fall short we have an advocate with the Father. God Himself tells us that His commands are not impossible to keep and even warns us through Moses not to say that the commands are too hard.
Paul quotes from Deuteronomy 30 in Romans 10 and says “Moses describes in this way the righteousness that is by the law: 'The man who does these things will live by them. But the righteousness that is by faith says, "Do not say in your heart, 'Who will ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down) "or 'Who will descend into the deep?' (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). But what does it say? "The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart," that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.”
We know that when someone quotes a single verse of scripture that the entire context is implied. Obviously Paul is not quoting half of a verse and expecting us to believe that he is changing the context of the original scripture, especially since these are the words of Moses himself. Here is the whole passage from Deuteronomy in context:
Deuteronomy 30
"You will again obey the LORD and follow all his commands I am giving you today. Then the LORD your God will make you most prosperous in all the work of your hands and in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your land. The LORD will again delight in you and make you prosperous, just as he delighted in your fathers, if you obey the LORD your God and keep his commands and decrees that are written in this Book of the Law and turn to the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, "Who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?" Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask, "Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?" No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it.
See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. For I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.
But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess.
This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob."
All of these blessings and prosperity for doing what God says sound very good to me. What did you say? We are just Gentiles and the Torah was only for God's chosen people. Well, take a look at what God said through the prophet Isaiah about foreigners (Gentiles) who keep His commands. It seems that they get all of the blessings as well even before Paul's “olive tree and the wild branches” do. These are the words of Isaiah. As you have noticed, I prefer to use the entire scripture in context rather than pulling out a single verse and letting you guess at the context:
Isaiah 56
This is what the LORD says:
"Maintain justice
and do what is right,
for my salvation is close at hand
and my righteousness will soon be revealed.
Blessed is the man who does this,
the man who holds it fast,
who keeps the Sabbath without desecrating it,
and keeps his hand from doing any evil."
Let no foreigner who has bound himself to the LORD say,
"The LORD will surely exclude me from his people."
And let not any eunuch complain,
"I am only a dry tree."
For this is what the LORD says:
"To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths,
who choose what pleases me
and hold fast to my covenant-
to them I will give within my temple and its walls
a memorial and a name
better than sons and daughters;
I will give them an everlasting name
that will not be cut off.
And foreigners who bind themselves to the LORD
to serve him,
to love the name of the LORD,
and to worship him,
all who keep the Sabbath without desecrating it
and who hold fast to my covenant-
these I will bring to my holy mountain
and give them joy in my house of prayer.
Their burnt offerings and sacrifices
will be accepted on my altar;
for my house will be called
a house of prayer for all nations."
The Sovereign LORD declares—
he who gathers the exiles of Israel:
"I will gather still others to them
besides those already gathered”
Here is a little clarification from Paul in his letter to the Ephesians:
Ephesians 2
“For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.
Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with the Messiah Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.”
Not only did God accept us when we were foreigners but now we are no longer foreigners but fellow citizens with God's chosen people. The word “citizen” denotes nationality. So we are now citizens of the Biblical “nation” of Israel. Let us take a look at how Paul explains our citizenship:
Romans 11
“Again I ask: Did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Not at all! Rather, because of their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious. But if their transgression means riches for the world, and their loss means riches for the Gentiles, how much greater riches will their fullness bring!
I am talking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch as I am the apostle to the Gentiles, I make much of my ministry in the hope that I may somehow arouse my own people to envy and save some of them. For if their rejection brought reconciliation to the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? If the part of the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, then the whole batch is holy; if the root is holy, so are the branches.
If some of the branches have been broken off, and you, though a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root, do not boast over those branches. If you do, consider this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you. You will say then, "Branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in." Granted. But they were broken off because of unbelief, and you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but be afraid. For if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either.
Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in his kindness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off. And if they do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. After all, if you were cut out of an olive tree that is wild by nature, and contrary to nature were grafted into a cultivated olive tree, how much more readily will these, the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree!
I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written:
"The deliverer will come from Zion;
he will turn godlessness away from Jacob.
And this is my covenant with them
when I take away their sins."
As far as the gospel is concerned, they are enemies on your account; but as far as election is concerned, they are loved on account of the patriarchs, for God's gifts and his call are irrevocable. Just as you who were at one time disobedient to God have now received mercy as a result of their disobedience, so they too have now become disobedient in order that they too may now receive mercy as a result of God's mercy to you. For God has bound all men over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all.
Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
How unsearchable his judgments,
and his paths beyond tracing out!
"Who has known the mind of the Lord?
Or who has been his counselor?"
"Who has ever given to God,
that God should repay him?"
For from him and through him and to him are all things.
To him be the glory forever! Amen.”
We do not support the root but the root supports us. We are the wild branches of the one true olive tree. Let us not forget the kindness and the sternness of God. Kindness to those who continue in His kindness and sternness to those who do not and are cut off. The greatest command is to Love the Lord God with all of your heart and Love your neighbor as yourself. How do we love God? By keeping His commands.
The Rabbi Hillel who was a contemporary of Yeshua, was asked if he would teach the entire Torah to a young man while the man was standing on one foot. Hillel replied “what you do not like, do not do to others. This is the Torah, the rest is commentary”.
His contemporary, Yeshua, taught a similar lesson when he said “the things that you like, do for others this is the Torah”. Is there a difference in these teachings? Hillel's approach emphasizes the negative commands (of which there are 365). Yeshua's approach not only emphasizes the 248 positive commands but also encompasses the rest by assuming that if we are always doing nice things for people then we obviously do not have the time or inclination to do evil. In this way we are fully able to keep the commands of God.
It is clear from the passages above that there is neither Jew nor Gentile, but one nation of God's chosen people. There are not two religions but one religion worshiping the one God through his Son Yeshua HaMashiach (Jesus the Messiah). This is what Paul is trying to say when he says “His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making Shalom (peace).” There only appears to be two religions because there are some of the chosen ones who reject Yeshua as the Messiah.
Good Friday? Good Wednesday!
Okay, Friday plus Saturday then rise on Sunday ... 3 days? It must be three days because we have Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday. Surely, my priest can count. They learn that stuff in divinity school, don't they? Well, maybe the math doesn't work but ... hmmm. I know. It must be one of those “faith” things. We just have to believe that somehow God squeezed three whole days in there ... somehow.
Sound familiar? I think I can clear this thing up for you.
Every significant event in the Bible is centered around one of God's Holy Days or Appointed Times (Moedim in Hebrew מועדים). The moedim fall into two sections with three appointed times coming in the Fall and three occurring in the Spring of the year. The word "moedim" first appears in Genesis 1:14 where we find that the sun, moon, and stars were placed in their orbits for the theological purpose of letting us know when we were to observe the appointed times.
For the purposes of this discussion we will concern ourselves with the Appointed Time of Pesach or Passover only. The Passover has to do with freedom. Freedom from slavery in Egypt. Freedom from slavery to sin. Freedom from bondage in prison as in Peter's case. The Passover is symbolic in every way of the Messiah. Let's begin with this scripture in Exodus 12 - “Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month (Nisan) each man is to take a lamb for his family, one for each household.” The 10th of Nisan is the day that Yeshua (Jesus) rode into Jerusalem on a donkey. The Passover Lamb had to be picked out on the 10th of Nisan.
The seder of the Messiah was then and is still practiced today by Rabbis who are teaching their students how to do the Passover seder. This practice seder is eaten the day before Passover on the 13th of Nisan. This is the seder that Yeshua ate with his disciples at which he proclaimed the matzo to be His body and the wine (the 3rd of 4 cups referred to as the cup of redemption) to be His blood. Incidentally, this is the place where most Christians believe that Jesus invented communion wafers and grape juice. He then told them that whenever they have the Passover seder that they were to eat it in remembrance of Him.
The Passover Lamb must be slaughtered between 3 and 6 in the afternoon on the 14th of Nisan. This is the exact time when the Messiah is hanging on the execution stake (usually referred to as the cross). This particular year the 14th day of Nisan fell on a Wednesday and not on a Friday. Wait for it ... I can't give away the ending too soon.
The seder must be eaten at twilight on the 14th into the nightfall which is the beginning of the 15th which is known as the first day of Passover. The 15th of Nisan is a Sabbath rest day when no work is to be done. This is why Yeshua had to be down from the stake and in the grave before sundown on the 14th. This particular 15th day of Nisan happened to be a Thursday.
The seder itself is filled with symbolism which points us to the Messiah. From the stripes on the matzos to the breaking of the middle matzo and the hiding and redemption of the Afikomen; it all points us to the Messiah.
You are allowed to return to normal work on the 16th of Nisan unless it falls on a regular Sabbath day. This one did not, however, because it was Friday. You probably want to call it Good Friday although the people who had to go back to work on that day probably weren't very excited about it and the family, friends and disciples of the Messiah did not think it was very good as they were still in mourning. At sundown on Friday begins the regular Sabbath rest day and this lasts until sundown on Saturday. Saturday was the 17th day of Nisan. After sundown on Saturday, referred to as Motzei Shabbat, begins the first day of the week ... Sunday.
Yeshua was free at Motzei Shabbat to do the work of resurrecting from the dead since the Sabbath was over. Of course, it was dark outside and everyone was in their homes so nobody would notice the stone rolled away until daylight. You can call this day Resurrection Sunday which has nothing to do with eggs or bunnies or the sex goddess Ishtar (Easter).
Wait, now we should count these days to make certain that I am right.
For those of you who still want to argue that he arose “on” the third day I will give you the words of the Messiah. Luke 11:30 “For as Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites, so also will the Son of Man be to this generation.” Matthew 12:40 “For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” Mark 8:31 ”He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again.” Three witnesses should be enough.
Passover 2009 (biblical year 5769) fell on exactly the same days of the week as Yeshua's Passover. So, Good Wednesday may not sound as catchy as Good Friday but at least it doesn't have mathematicians scratching their heads and saying things like “if you want to be a Christian you have to check your brain at the door”.
Please enjoy Resurrection Sunday as an integral part of the Feast of Passover and eat some matzos instead of your chocolate bunny ... okay, eat your matzos with your chocolate bunny!
Sound familiar? I think I can clear this thing up for you.
Every significant event in the Bible is centered around one of God's Holy Days or Appointed Times (Moedim in Hebrew מועדים). The moedim fall into two sections with three appointed times coming in the Fall and three occurring in the Spring of the year. The word "moedim" first appears in Genesis 1:14 where we find that the sun, moon, and stars were placed in their orbits for the theological purpose of letting us know when we were to observe the appointed times.
For the purposes of this discussion we will concern ourselves with the Appointed Time of Pesach or Passover only. The Passover has to do with freedom. Freedom from slavery in Egypt. Freedom from slavery to sin. Freedom from bondage in prison as in Peter's case. The Passover is symbolic in every way of the Messiah. Let's begin with this scripture in Exodus 12 - “Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month (Nisan) each man is to take a lamb for his family, one for each household.” The 10th of Nisan is the day that Yeshua (Jesus) rode into Jerusalem on a donkey. The Passover Lamb had to be picked out on the 10th of Nisan.
The seder of the Messiah was then and is still practiced today by Rabbis who are teaching their students how to do the Passover seder. This practice seder is eaten the day before Passover on the 13th of Nisan. This is the seder that Yeshua ate with his disciples at which he proclaimed the matzo to be His body and the wine (the 3rd of 4 cups referred to as the cup of redemption) to be His blood. Incidentally, this is the place where most Christians believe that Jesus invented communion wafers and grape juice. He then told them that whenever they have the Passover seder that they were to eat it in remembrance of Him.
The Passover Lamb must be slaughtered between 3 and 6 in the afternoon on the 14th of Nisan. This is the exact time when the Messiah is hanging on the execution stake (usually referred to as the cross). This particular year the 14th day of Nisan fell on a Wednesday and not on a Friday. Wait for it ... I can't give away the ending too soon.
The seder must be eaten at twilight on the 14th into the nightfall which is the beginning of the 15th which is known as the first day of Passover. The 15th of Nisan is a Sabbath rest day when no work is to be done. This is why Yeshua had to be down from the stake and in the grave before sundown on the 14th. This particular 15th day of Nisan happened to be a Thursday.
The seder itself is filled with symbolism which points us to the Messiah. From the stripes on the matzos to the breaking of the middle matzo and the hiding and redemption of the Afikomen; it all points us to the Messiah.
You are allowed to return to normal work on the 16th of Nisan unless it falls on a regular Sabbath day. This one did not, however, because it was Friday. You probably want to call it Good Friday although the people who had to go back to work on that day probably weren't very excited about it and the family, friends and disciples of the Messiah did not think it was very good as they were still in mourning. At sundown on Friday begins the regular Sabbath rest day and this lasts until sundown on Saturday. Saturday was the 17th day of Nisan. After sundown on Saturday, referred to as Motzei Shabbat, begins the first day of the week ... Sunday.
Yeshua was free at Motzei Shabbat to do the work of resurrecting from the dead since the Sabbath was over. Of course, it was dark outside and everyone was in their homes so nobody would notice the stone rolled away until daylight. You can call this day Resurrection Sunday which has nothing to do with eggs or bunnies or the sex goddess Ishtar (Easter).
Wait, now we should count these days to make certain that I am right.
- Yeshua is in the grave by sundown on the 14th of Nisan
- From sundown on the 14th to sundown on the 15th = one 24 hour period – we call this a “day”
- From sundown on the 15th to sundown on the 16th = one 24 hour period – “day” two
- From sundown on the 16th to sundown on the 17th = one 24 hour period - “day” three
- Sundown on Saturday officially begins Resurrection Sunday.
For those of you who still want to argue that he arose “on” the third day I will give you the words of the Messiah. Luke 11:30 “For as Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites, so also will the Son of Man be to this generation.” Matthew 12:40 “For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” Mark 8:31 ”He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again.” Three witnesses should be enough.
Passover 2009 (biblical year 5769) fell on exactly the same days of the week as Yeshua's Passover. So, Good Wednesday may not sound as catchy as Good Friday but at least it doesn't have mathematicians scratching their heads and saying things like “if you want to be a Christian you have to check your brain at the door”.
Please enjoy Resurrection Sunday as an integral part of the Feast of Passover and eat some matzos instead of your chocolate bunny ... okay, eat your matzos with your chocolate bunny!
Everything God Does Is for the Good
The Talmud tells us that once, while Rabbi Akiva was on a journey, he needed a place to spend the night. He knocked on the door of one of the homes in the town he was passing through, but the owner did not invite him in. He was not upset, for he realized, "Everything God does is for the good."
He knocked on another door, but again he was not offered hospitality. His reaction remained the same, "Everything God does is for the good." Even after he had gone from door to door and realized that no one in the town was going to accept him as a guest, he still said, "Everything God does is for the good."
He had no choice but to camp in a forest lying at the outskirts of the town. He was traveling with a donkey to carry his packages, a rooster to wake him up early, and a lamp with which he could study at night. Shortly after he encamped, a lion devoured his donkey, his rooster was killed by another predator, and a strong wind blew out his lamp. After each of these events, Rabbi Akiva said, "Everything that happens is for the good."
And the Talmud continues, telling us that he was right. On the following morning, he discovered that during the night, a Roman legion had attacked this village and taken its people as captives. Had he been accepted as a guest in one of these homes, he too, would have been taken captive.
And if his donkey or rooster had been alive, their braying and crowing would have attracted the Romans' attention. Had his lamp remained burning, they would have been able to see him in the forest. "Everything that happened was for the good."
He knocked on another door, but again he was not offered hospitality. His reaction remained the same, "Everything God does is for the good." Even after he had gone from door to door and realized that no one in the town was going to accept him as a guest, he still said, "Everything God does is for the good."
He had no choice but to camp in a forest lying at the outskirts of the town. He was traveling with a donkey to carry his packages, a rooster to wake him up early, and a lamp with which he could study at night. Shortly after he encamped, a lion devoured his donkey, his rooster was killed by another predator, and a strong wind blew out his lamp. After each of these events, Rabbi Akiva said, "Everything that happens is for the good."
And the Talmud continues, telling us that he was right. On the following morning, he discovered that during the night, a Roman legion had attacked this village and taken its people as captives. Had he been accepted as a guest in one of these homes, he too, would have been taken captive.
And if his donkey or rooster had been alive, their braying and crowing would have attracted the Romans' attention. Had his lamp remained burning, they would have been able to see him in the forest. "Everything that happened was for the good."
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Don't Rebuke a Fool
Even the stork in the sky
knows her appointed seasons,
and the dove, the swift and the thrush
observe the time of their migration.
But my people do not know
the requirements of the LORD.
'How can you say, "We are wise,
the Lord's Torah is with us,"
when actually the lying pen of the scribes
has turned it into falsehood?
The wise will be put to shame;
they will be dismayed and trapped.
Since they have rejected the word of the LORD,
what kind of wisdom do they have? (Jeremiah 8:7-9)
The fool says in his heart, "There is no God." (Psalms 14:1 & 53:1)
The heart of the wise inclines to the right, but the heart of the fool to the left. (Ecclesiastes 10:2)
It is clear from the verses above that wise men follow the Torah of God and fools do not. We are forbidden from correcting or rebuking "fools" or persons who are not under the covenant. What does it mean to correct or rebuke someone?
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness (2 Timothy 3:16)
According to Paul, Scripture should be used to train someone in the ways of Righteousness. Who wants to walk in the ways of Righteousness? The people of the Book ... Jews and Christians.
So why do we try to force religious rules on non-believers? Why do we have "blue laws" that prevent people from buying alcohol on Sunday? Why do we care if gay people get married? Why do we care if they remove the Ten Commandments from a building? These things while appearing very bad to Christians and Jews are really none of our business. We should be correcting our brothers and sisters if we see them committing a sin that does not lead to death. If we rebuke fools they will hate us ... which is exactly what has happened. The people of this world hate us for telling them that they are wrong. Jesus never rebuked sinners he only rebuked religious people. Let's just be the salt that makes them thirsty for the joy we have by showing love for one another.
I know that I did not mention abortion but that is because abortion is not a religious issue. We already have laws in this country against murder.
knows her appointed seasons,
and the dove, the swift and the thrush
observe the time of their migration.
But my people do not know
the requirements of the LORD.
'How can you say, "We are wise,
the Lord's Torah is with us,"
when actually the lying pen of the scribes
has turned it into falsehood?
The wise will be put to shame;
they will be dismayed and trapped.
Since they have rejected the word of the LORD,
what kind of wisdom do they have? (Jeremiah 8:7-9)
The fool says in his heart, "There is no God." (Psalms 14:1 & 53:1)
The heart of the wise inclines to the right, but the heart of the fool to the left. (Ecclesiastes 10:2)
It is clear from the verses above that wise men follow the Torah of God and fools do not. We are forbidden from correcting or rebuking "fools" or persons who are not under the covenant. What does it mean to correct or rebuke someone?
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness (2 Timothy 3:16)
According to Paul, Scripture should be used to train someone in the ways of Righteousness. Who wants to walk in the ways of Righteousness? The people of the Book ... Jews and Christians.
So why do we try to force religious rules on non-believers? Why do we have "blue laws" that prevent people from buying alcohol on Sunday? Why do we care if gay people get married? Why do we care if they remove the Ten Commandments from a building? These things while appearing very bad to Christians and Jews are really none of our business. We should be correcting our brothers and sisters if we see them committing a sin that does not lead to death. If we rebuke fools they will hate us ... which is exactly what has happened. The people of this world hate us for telling them that they are wrong. Jesus never rebuked sinners he only rebuked religious people. Let's just be the salt that makes them thirsty for the joy we have by showing love for one another.
I know that I did not mention abortion but that is because abortion is not a religious issue. We already have laws in this country against murder.
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