FCC Admin, Author at First Century Christianity

The Plan of Salvation part 1

We know the plan of salvation was established at the foundation of the world. This message shows how that is revealed through the Hebrew scriptures and how Torah, the commandments, show us how to be shown faithful when the Son of Man returns. This is the first in a series of messages intended to give believers a better insight into the plan through plain scriptures we have overlooked for too long.

Many people, if not most, start studying scripture because of prophecy. Whether they are returning to the faith or looking for the first time, a big motivator is that state of the planet. As things look bad, people look to God, which is good. This cycle of Christianity has been in high gear for the last 150 years. From the Civil War to the two World Wars to the Cold War and now with everything seeming to come unraveled all at once, people should be turning to Yahweh in great numbers. This message is the first in a series to help people understand the Plan of Salvation laid out at the foundation of the world and how this plan has been in plain sight for thousands of years. Through progressive revelation, we are able to see more of it revealed, but we need to look at scripture the way it was written and meant to be understood.

Slide 2 Explain PaRDeS – Peshat is plain, Remez is hints or deeper, Derash is analogical or metaphorical, Sod is hidden or yet to be revealed. This is the one most people are interested in and we will get to some revealing before long!

Understanding that scripture can have different levels of meaning is very enlightening. We always knew this was the case, but seeing the system kind of unlocks the scriptures. The different levels don’t take away from the literal meaning when a passage can be literal. Some passages are poetic or fantastical, so we know they are not to be taken literal. Hebrew has idioms, too. Like how when Americans say “superbowl”, we are not talking about a literal gigantic bowl. We’re talking about a game that’s played in a bowl shaped stadium. Giving with a clear eye is an idiom that exists to this day in Israel and it just means to be generous. It has nothing to do with an eye at all, but many Christians make a lot out of that verse when it was never meant to be taken literally.

Slide 3 Here is the perseverance of the saints who keep the commandments of YHVH and their faith in Yeshua. (Rev 14:12)

So the dragon was enraged with the woman, and went off to make war with the rest of her children, who keep the commandments of YHVH and hold to the testimony of Yeshua. (Rev 12:17)

Keeping the commandments is a big part of salvation. Sinners will not make it into the kingdom, so we need to do our best to not sin. Sin is the transgression of Torah, so Torah we shall follow. The other part of salvation is to accept Yeshua as the Messiah, the Son of God, who followed Torah perfectly and died sinless. Following the commandments isn’t just the top ten list. It’s the whole Torah. Here’s a great big “sod”, a huge mystery, in the Torah. The plan of salvation is established on some specific commandments that most of Christianity isn’t even aware of! And we know about this plan based on the timing of the death and resurrection of Yeshua and when the Ruach was given.

Slide 4 YHVH spoke again to Moses, saying, “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘YHVH’S appointed times which you shall proclaim as holy convocations—My appointed times are these: (Lev 23:1-2)

Some of the commandments are “thou shalt not” and some are “thou shalt”. These are the “thou shalt” variety. Yeshua asked about finding faith when He returns in the same chapter, He told us to come to God as a child. Coming as a child, to me, means to do just that. If your father tells you when church is, you believe him. If your father tells you when the Holidays are, you believe him. This is why most of us grew up keeping Sunday, Christmas, and Easter holy. We accepted what our biological parents told us as truth. We adopted their traditions like children because we were part of a family. But once we are born again, we need to learn the ways of our Father in heaven and adopt them. The observance of these days is a literal commandment. But there’s so much more to it than that!

Slide 5 YHVH spoke again to Moses, saying, “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘YHVH’S appointed times (moedim) which you shall proclaim as holy convocations—My appointed times are these: (Lev 23:1-2)

Still Slide 5 Then Elohim said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs and for seasons (moedim) and for days and years; and let them be for lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth”; and it was so. (Gen 1:14-15)

If we could read Hebrew, we would see the same word for appointed times as for seasons. That doesn’t mean the word has to mean the exact same thing. Hebrew doesn’t work that way. Concordances show many meanings for words because context is key and Hebrew doesn’t have a lot of words like English does. The point is that our Father, when He created the universe, did so as a clock to mark time. There are many reasons for this but the one I focus on today is to tell us when to assemble. If we come to Him as children, we realize that the earliest information our Father gives us is in Genesis 1 where He tells us how He created everything. Think of this as a bed time story being told to a baby. Genesis 1 is the start of all life and is the beginning of the Bible so it is the start of our spiritual lives.

Slide 6 Thus the heavens and the earth were completed, and all their hosts. By the seventh day Elohim completed His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then Elohim blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which Elohim had created and made. (Gen 2:1-3)

Also Slide 6 ‘For six days work may be done, but on the seventh day there is a sabbath of complete rest, a holy convocation. You shall not do any work; it is a sabbath to YHVH in all your dwellings. (Lev 23:3)

The creation week ends with the establishment of the Sabbath. This is when God sat back and enjoyed His Creation. What would we do if we came to God as a child? If we came to Him like He is really our Father? We would emulate Him, that’s what. We would do what our Father does. That’s what kids do. They learn behaviors from their parents.

And evening and a morning is one day. How was there an evening and a morning before there was a sun? We’ll find out some day. But for 6 evenings and mornings we work. That’s how we first show our faith. But emulating our Father and working 6 days just as He. And then we rest on the 7^th, just as He did. This 7^th day Sabbath is also the first of the appointed times in Leviticus 23. It’s the weekly Sabbath. And by observing it we show our faith.

As we come to God as a child, we learn by doing. By copying our Creator, we learn to live the way He wants us to live through example. Over time it becomes second nature. When we slip up, He nudges us back into the way we need to be. I started this series off with this information because, frankly, people might only listen to the first video. The most important thing for us in the plan of salvation is to be saved. Isn’t that why we study? In the book of Luke, Yeshua told the man exactly what he needed to do to enter eternal life – keep the commandments. Now we know that we need to repent, accept Yeshua as the Messiah, then be baptized, and then keep the commandments. This is the recipe for salvation and it will not change as we add knowledge. If we do these things, we begin to understand as a child. But we don’t have to stay children.

Slide 7 But by His word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men. But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day. The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up. Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat! But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells. (2Pe 3:7-13)

Here we have some talk about the end of days. Today I’ve spoken about the middle of time (Yeshua’s day) the beginning of time (Genesis 1) and now words about the end of days. Yeshua will return like a thief, unexpectedly, and that God’s people need to be found living properly. We understand that to mean keeping God’s commandments and our faith in Yeshua. And we are looking for something new, something to come after the complete 7K year cycle. This newness comes after this flawed world and all the evil is destroyed in intense heat.

The bold sentence on the screen likely has a couple meanings. The first is that time is meaningless to Yahweh. He lives outside of time. He can be in a moment for 100 years or he can be in all of eternity in a moment. We are temporal beings and cannot imagine living outside of time, which is what it means to be eternal. But we also look at this as a sod, a deeper level of scripture, hinting at something else. If we look at history and apply the one day per thousand years idea, we see 7000 years for this era, a 1000 year break, and then the beginning of something else. This is where we get the idea of a 7000 year plan and how it ties into the creation and the holy days. Please understand this 7000 year plan is not exact, but an outline. It’s not like at exactly year 4000, Yeshua was crucified. Biblical time is nowhere near as precise as we in the 21^st century are accustomed to. But the 7000 year plan does show us intervals and stages in the ultimate plan for bringing in the world to come. By emulating Yahweh and keeping His Sabbaths, we display our faith. This is the faith that we want Yeshua to see when He returns, us obeying our Father and His. And we come to it like a child but we learn more as we grow.

This outline aligns with the appointed times of Leviticus 23. The first appointed time is the Sabbath, which was made at the completion of the Creation. That seventh day aligns with the 1000 years of Revelation 20, when Satan is locked up. We look at the world as having 6000 years of bringing us to something then a 1000 year break, just like the first 6 days were brining us to perfection and then a 1 day break. Within the 6000 years, we see eras, or phases. The Passover marks some of these eras. Abraham and Isaac foreshadow the first Passover, where the firstborn of Egypt was killed and the Israelites freed. Those two events foreshadow the death of Yahweh’s firstborn Son on Passover, some 1900 years ago. And Yeshua said He would drink the cup new with us in the kingdom at some point, which means there could be another fulfillment of Passover. This is an example of the Holy Days outlining the Plan of Salvation, and I’ll keep covering that for the next few messages. Shalom!

Biblical Utopia

Contrasting today’s governing philosophies of right and left against the realities and expectation of society from a Torah/Biblical standard. Most of this comes from the true, biblical definition of loving your neighbor as yourself.

The struggle to make heaven on earth normally fails to define the biblical goal of life on earth.

I’m reading Bill Barr’s new book. My interest in it is because he was the AG when I was finishing high school and then again when Trump was president. It’s turning out to be a great history book and a wonderful read. Buried in the middle of this book, though, is an incredible education on the difference between the left’s idea of society and the conservative idea of society. On the left, is the desire to create a perfect society by using government to remove risk, provide for almost all basic services, and generally educate and indoctrinate society toward whatever fancies the elites. On the right is the idea of limited, tiered governance with decisions made on the lowest level possible by elected representatives who reflect the population of their localities. The former position is one that has been tried and failed miserably over time and the latter is one that generally works for a spell but needs to be re-set every 50 years or so. That’s a very interesting number of years, by the way. It’s important to note that we have a mix of these two systems in our country today with the leftist position generally having the upper hand these days.

Both of these systems of government try to offer something to the citizens. Even though they are diametrically opposed concepts, the adherents to these beliefs believe that their method of governance is going to create their version of a utopia on earth. Those on the left view utopia, in concept, as a society where everyone is equal with equal income, status, and lifestyle. That’s their stated goal, however there’s always an elite that gets to live like wealthy capitalists at the head of this version of utopia. The right’s version of utopia is a free market system where hard work and innovation can lead to financial success, employment is generally fair, and people are left alone as much as possible. This second one sounds really appealing, I must say. But what is the Bible’s concept of a utopian society this side of the kingdom? It’s something different from both of these concepts.

Slide 2 Then did they till their ground in peace, and the earth gave her increase, and the trees of the field their fruit. The ancient men sat all in the streets, communing together of good things, and the young men put on glorious and warlike apparel. He provided victuals for the cities, and set in them all manner of munition, so that his honourable name was renowned unto the end of the world. He made peace in the land, and Israel rejoiced with great joy: For every man sat under his vine and his fig tree, and there was none to fray them: Neither was there any left in the land to fight against them: yea, the kings themselves were overthrown in those days. Moreover he strengthened all those of his people that were brought low: the law he searched out; and every contemner of the law and wicked person he took away. He beautified the sanctuary, and multiplied vessels of the temple. (1Ma 14:8-15 Brenton/Apocrypha)

Oddly enough, this comes from the apocrypha
Peace
Eating what you plant
Free to keep Torah
Torah enforced, wicked taken away
Restoration of the temple
Where does this come from?

Slide 3 ‘Corresponding to the number of years after the jubilee, you shall buy from your friend; he is to sell to you according to the number of years of crops. ‘In proportion to the extent of the years you shall increase its price, and in proportion to the fewness of the years you shall diminish its price, for it is a number of crops he is selling to you. (Lev 25:15-16)

Land value based on what it could produce, not arbitrary like today. Valuations today are incredibly out of sync with wages and earnings. Without a periodic reset, the working class just can’t keep up.

Slide 4 “For YHVH your Elohim will bless you as He has promised you, and you will lend to many nations, but you will not borrow; and you will rule over many nations, but they will not rule over you. If there is a poor man with you, one of your brothers, in any of your towns in your land which YHVH your Elohim is giving you, you shall not harden your heart, nor close your hand from your poor brother; but you shall freely open your hand to him, and shall generously lend him sufficient for his need in whatever he lacks. Beware that there is no base thought in your heart, saying, ‘The seventh year, the year of remission, is near,’ and your eye is hostile toward your poor brother, and you give him nothing; then he may cry to YHVH against you, and it will be a sin in you. You shall generously give to him, and your heart shall not be grieved when you give to him, because for this thing YHVH your Elohim will bless you in all your work and in all your undertakings. For the poor will never cease to be in the land; therefore I command you, saying, ‘You shall freely open your hand to your brother, to your needy and poor in your land.’” (Deu 15:6-11)

Lending is control. Don’t we know it.
The poor will never cease. Get that. Governments cannot end poverty.
You have to be generous to the poor even when it’s going to hurt.

Slide 5 ‘You are also to count off seven sabbaths of years for yourself, seven times seven years, so that you have the time of the seven sabbaths of years, namely, forty-nine years. ‘You shall then sound a ram’s horn abroad on the tenth day of the seventh month; on the day of atonement you shall sound a horn all through your land. ‘You shall thus consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim a release through the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you, and each of you shall return to his own property, and each of you shall return to his family. ‘You shall have the fiftieth year as a jubilee; you shall not sow, nor reap its aftergrowth, nor gather in from its untrimmed vines. ‘For it is a jubilee; it shall be holy to you. You shall eat its crops out of the field. ‘On this year of jubilee each of you shall return to his own property. (Lev 25:8-13 NASB)

A great reset every 50 years.
During the reset, everybody goes back to their ancestral lands, the source of their sustenance.
Everybody gets their debts forgiven.
Everybody does not give up their wealth.
Families are reunited – talk about the present state of families.
During the reset, nobody works and YHVH provides the food. This eliminates strife and puts everyone on a level playing field.
Economics have learned these cycles are organic. YHVH either knew we would do this or He made all societies to have this. Today’s governments spend enormous amounts of money to avoid this reality. Detroit. NYC. Companies “too big to fail”. All was meant to fail periodically.
This is not a model for eternity. It’s not necessary in eternity.

Slide 6 ‘Now when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap to the very corners of your field, nor shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest. ‘Nor shall you glean your vineyard, nor shall you gather the fallen fruit of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the needy and for the stranger. I am YHVH your Elohim. ‘You shall not steal, nor deal falsely, nor lie to one another. ‘You shall not swear falsely by My name, so as to profane the name of your Elohim; I am YHVH. ‘You shall not oppress your neighbor, nor rob him. The wages of a hired man are not to remain with you all night until morning. ‘You shall not curse a deaf man, nor place a stumbling block before the blind, but you shall revere your Elohim; I am YHVH. ‘You shall do no injustice in judgment; you shall not be partial to the poor nor defer to the great, but you are to judge your neighbor fairly. ‘You shall not go about as a slanderer among your people, and you are not to act against the life of your neighbor; I am YHVH. ‘You shall not hate your fellow countryman in your heart; you may surely reprove your neighbor, but shall not incur sin because of him. ‘You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am YHVH. (Lev 19:9-18 NASB)

This defines loving your neighbor as yourself. Not a new commandment and is well defined through Torah.
Leaving food around for travelers and the needy. Shows much dignity. Expects people to be traveling and doesn’t discriminate.
No false dealings. Wouldn’t that be great.
No swearing falsely by His Name – why we put our hands on bibles.
No mocking the disabled or hindering them.
Justice is blind – rich and poor are to have the same standard. Don’t we all want that?
No slandering, uh social media?
No hating your countryman. We’re way past that.
No bearing grudges or taking vengeance.
All this boils down to loving your neighbor. It is defined, not new. So we can know how to love our neighbor. And don’t we wish life was like this?

These topics show how Israel was meant to be a society, a culture. The Torah is not just a set of dos and donts, but a lifestyle. I only know of a record of them keeping this lifestyle in the Maccabees. The assumption is that this will be the way of life in the 1000 years, or something very similar. In the olam haba, we really don’t know. But for today we have a model for how we should strive to live, even though we are outside the land. We have to find a way to navigate the societies we are in while longing to live a biblical lifestyle. And we can do that understanding that even in the Torah’s biblical lifestyle there are poor, needy, needs for justice, income equality, families being separated, and all sorts of bad things that need to be dealt with. We live in a fallen world and Torah was given as the best means to manage that fallen world. And we have the Torah on our hearts because we long for its justice, realizing that the economic and legal realities of today aren’t aligned with the bible.

Truth is Truth

Truth is ready to be discovered if we trust the Spirit and are willing to break away from credal Christianity.

We must challenge the doctrines of men.

Did you know there is a controversy over who discovered mechanical flight first? Being Americans, we naturally know that the Wright Brothers were the first to fly an airplane. But between 1895 and 1906, there are several people who claim to have conducted the first manned flight. And guess what? Many of them are correct. These people did fly something, and in their regions, they were the first to do it. These people were not stealing ideas from each other and claiming credit, they figured it out about the same time and before new could travel fast, if at all.

The reason I bring this up is to illustrate how truth is simply truth. Mankind had wanted to build a flying machine for hundreds of years. Gliders and hot air balloons were a reality, so we knew it was possible to get up there and possible for the air-plane to work. An airplane is called this because its body and wings form a geometric plane on which the craft glides on the air. It compresses the air beneath it to give it rigidity. It’s similar to surfing and you feel this when trying to move a board in a strong wind. With enough thrust, the glide becomes a flight. As technology progressed where we had strong yet light enough materials coupled with the internal combustion engine and some propeller or propellers, it became a real possibility. And many men (and likely women) realized how to get it done at the same time. Because knowledge, technology, and resources all came together at the same time. This illustrates how truth is discovered and is simply “true”. This is only one example among a great many where different, and isolated, people have made scientific or engineering discoveries at nearly the same time because they had the means to discover truth at similar times. It even happens on a grand scale. Continental drift was discovered in a similar fashion, where people operating telescope observatories on different parts of the globe realized their observatories were actually moving. They anticipated their platforms to be perfectly still but the math didn’t add up. Air travel figures into this, too, as many pilots had the opportunity to see the coastlines of Europe and North America and realized they could fit together as a puzzle. Submarine captains were also realizing something similar. Somebody put all this together to realize that the surface of our planet is not stationary. And this is quite recent as well, hence the plane and submarine references.

The amount of people who have come to the knowledge of the truth of scripture in the last twenty years is astonishing. This is how we start our walk. Arriving at the truth is an inevitability if we let the words say what they say. But what’s happening now is different from the historical changes in doctrine. I often mused that if someone who was educated but completely isolated from religion ever read the bible, they would come to something similar to what we do. I imagined that perhaps someone from a godless, communist country could get their hands on a bible, any bible, and just read it, they would not come up with the doctrines of mainstream Christianity but their worship would look very similar to ours. I understand this has actually happened over time, once even with some people or pirates who got shipwrecked in the Caribbean. They read the bible and started a Christian society that followed the Torah. But for us, something else has to happen. A little different.

Slide 2 “But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come.” (Joh 16:13)

This is literally about prophecy but it applies to our walk. The context is that Yeshua was about to be crucified and they would not realize what was happening but after, the Spirit would come and lead them into all truth. But this does apply to us today in a similar manner. It’s absolutely possible for us to read the Bible as a technical manual and apply its truth to our lives in a very academic fashion. But to make the words actually matter, well that takes supernatural power. That takes the Spirit.

Slide 3 And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. For I determined to know nothing among you except Messiah Yeshua, and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God. (1Co 2:1-5)

Paul had superiority of speech and wisdom and he knew he couldn’t make anyone believe. Paul’s pedigree, intellect, and knowledge surpasses almost all of mankind’s. His faith does, too. And he knew he couldn’t force change. It takes the Spirit to make the change. So take it to heart, brethren, that I can’t make the words meaningful, either. If these messages help you understand the Bible and bring meaning to it, it’s not me doing it. It’s the Spirit. And if these message inspire anyone, let them inspire you to read the Bible and let the Spirit guide you into all truth.

This is why the message is entitle Truth is Truth. We have to have faith that our Bibles are the true Word of God and then place our trust that He will lead us into what we need to know and when we need to know it.

Slide 4 The Jews then said to one another, “Where does this man intend to go that we will not find Him? He is not intending to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks, and teach the Greeks, is He?” (Joh 7:35)

We’re still fighting this exclusionary spirit. Yeshua was disliked among the clergy of His day because He was not beholden to them for His knowledge or for His authority. He challenged their doctrines by means of His mere existence and one educated in Torah and all things related to Israel. They kept testing Him because they wanted to put Him into a box. If He believed in resurrection, He had to be a Pharisee. If he didn’t follow traditions of the elders, He had to be a Sadducee. And on and on. They wanted to put Him into a box so they could control Him. And they were terrified of Him teaching the Greeks (which means us). They wanted special, compartmentalized knowledge and control. He wanted to save all mankind.

Slide 5 Enter Credal Christianity

For the first 150 or so years of Christianity, aka The Way, aka, the Faith Once Delivered, we had that freedom. What’s really unusual is that we had that freedom in the synagogues. That’s where the Jews worship, dontcha know? And that’s where the faith started. Paul went right into the synagogues to teach Yeshua and Him crucified, challenging the clergy right to their faces. And it took a while for him to be expelled. The gentile converts also attended synagogue to hear Torah, as recorded in Acts 15. When the Jews finally had enough, the faith grew independent of central leadership. Until the Nicene council. Which I spoke of in my recent podcast about how God is not a Trinity.

Having a creed, or statement of beliefs, is almost a requirement. We had to have a statement to get the 501c3. So what happened after the first creed went into place? It grew. And then came the edicts. Over time, the faith became bloated with rules and rulings and it very quickly turned into a form of Rabbinic Judaism, where men became the gatekeepers of all dogma. But, worse than Judaism, these clergy men made themselves out to be the arbiters of salvation. If you didn’t agree to the creeds and dictates of the church, then you were excommunicated, which meant you lost your salvation. Worse, if you still didn’t shut up, they would kill you outright.

But if their doctrines were true, then why did they need to be enforced by, well, force? And this gets to the core of faith. Yahweh sent His Son to die so that mankind could have a shot at salvation – a shot at living with Him and His Son for eternity. It’s an invitation. What is the goal of trying to force this on anyone? If Yahweh wanted to force the issue, isn’t He powerful enough to do so?

Then we get to the reformation, but that didn’t pan out the way it should have, either. The believers did throw out the Catholic dogma, well some of it, but then they kept a lot and kept the church governance. Luther started Lutheranism. Calvin started Calvinism. And on and on. The Geneva bible is printed, which was great. It is the precursor to what we carry today. Small and cheap so each family could have one. But then you had men interpreting what things meant, so they didn’t get rid of Sunday worship, they kept the pork, they kept a lot of the pagan stuff. They became Catholic-light.

Slide 6 The brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews. Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so. Therefore many of them believed, along with a number of prominent Greek women and men. (Act 17:10-12)

Here we have Paul going into the synagogue in Berea and challenging the doctrines of the day. What did the people do? They searched the scriptures. And I bet those scriptures were the LXX in Greek. And they challenged their long held beliefs. Paul convinced them to check it out.

Today, we all have the scriptures. In every language. And we have reference material galore. And we can see the LXX and the MT. We can go nuts with this stuff. But you have a bible. If you don’t and need one, let me know and I’ll send one. An NASB, which is a modern, literal, translation not some special thing that fits my doctrine. Don’t be afraid to challenge doctrines. If they are true, then they will pass the test and be retained. If they are false, then adjustment is required. But there’s a third option that many find too uncomfortable to accept. It’s a little known place called “I don’t know”. If the doctrine is true, then it’s true. If it’s false, then it’s false. Even if you don’t have a better option. I don’t know is a fine place to be.

But just know that truth is truth. And if you are meant to find it, you will. If you trust Yahweh, Yeshua, and their Ruach, the Spirit, to guide you!

Last Day of Unleavened Bread 2022

Various topics about this Holy Week, the Wave Sheaf offering, and the timing of the count for Shavuot.

There isn’t much to talk about on the last day of unleavened bread. I’m not aware of any significant happenings on this day in scripture. And you know what? That’s just fine. Sometime it’s good to just obey simply because the WORD says so. We always want to get into deeper meanings, parallels, analogies, and the like, but once in a while it’s good to just trust and obey, huh? For our observance, we bring all our left over unleavened bread treats to Oneig on this day to eat them up. Oneig is a Hebrew word that means “meal of delight”. Bringing in various foods and kind of cleaning everything up is sort of a metaphor for today’s message, which is just a bit of cleanup on the various topics surrounding the week we are wrapping up.

Slide 2 “Six days you shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day there shall be a solemn assembly to YHVH your Elohim; you shall do no work on it.” (Deu 16:8)

Today is the Last Day of Unleavened Bread. Since it’s Friday, this year, it’s the next to the last day of unleavened bread since we can’t go buy anything. The commandment, as we see on the screen, is not just to get rid of the leaven but to actually consume some matzah every day. Since we’re in the west, we can switch up to rice or corn tortillas, which I don’t care for, and forget to have the ULB so I hope you didn’t forget to have a little every day. This is a good segue to contrast between back then and now. On Sunday, or after sundown on Shabbat, we can just go buy some regular bread because we live in the west. In first century Judea, likely not. In ancient Israel, definitely not. It would take a good while before they would have soft bread again. It would come back slowly. We can just go to the store and buy made bread or buy yeast and be back in action pretty fast.

Leavening is metaphorically like sin, but it’s not sin. Be careful when we use analogies, similes, metaphors, and other literary teaching devices not to confuse the real with the analogy. If leavening was sin, then we wouldn’t be able to eat it at all. Leviticus 11 tells us what foods are OK and which are prohibited. Leaven is not prohibited at all. Leavening is used as an analogy for sin because we have to search it out and put forth effort to get rid of it, just like we do with sin, but leavening itself is not bad. In fact, there’s a holy day where leavened bread is offered.

There’s a metaphor in this leaven/sin paradigm for where we live today. We live in Babylon, so while we exit the world for Shabbat or the festivals, once they are over we are right back where we started. Well, physically. Emotionally and spiritually, we should be in a much better place, refreshed and ready to go for another season! In Israel, the festivals likely had more of a lasting effect, especially ULB. Just like it takes a long time to get that starter lump going, it also could have taken longer for the people to get back to hustle and bustle. Since these days were pilgrimage festivals, they had to go home on foot or in carts, so the festival would definitely linger. Like when Yeshua was a boy and they lost Him in the caravan home. They were still together, talking about the festival, talking about the harvest, and traveling. The festival would linger for sure. Today, not so much.

Slide 3 “But now I come to You; and these things I speak in the world so that they may have My joy made full in themselves. I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.” (Joh 17:13-16)

Just to be clear, though, we’re supposed to be in this condition. After Yeshua ascended, the apostles took the faith outside of Judea. They used the synagogues in the world to spread the Gospel, traveling everywhere. We have the documentation of Paul’s journeys and when they intersected the brethren, but we need to remember that happened to all of them. Paul is just the one whom YHVH saw fit to use as our example. Paul was a citizen of both Rome and Judea. A highly educated Jew who could live in both worlds. This is our condition right now. We have come to the truth in the world and in the world we shall stay until Yeshua returns. It’s also important to note that this was the expectation. Their mission was not to start their own Israel or stay in Judea. They had to venture out into the pagan world and spread the Gospel. Such is our fate as well.

Switching gears, there’s an appointed time that isn’t a High Day for which we don’t have any observance or any means to actually observe outside of the land without a full blown priesthood. That’s the day of the wave sheaf offering.

Slide 4 Then YHVH spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When you enter the land which I am going to give to you and reap its harvest, then you shall bring in the sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest. ‘He shall wave the sheaf before YHVH for you to be accepted; on the day after the sabbath the priest shall wave it. ‘Now on the day when you wave the sheaf, you shall offer a male lamb one year old without defect for a burnt offering to YHVH. ‘Its grain offering shall then be two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil, an offering by fire to YHVH for a soothing aroma, with its drink offering, a fourth of a hin of wine. ‘Until this same day, until you have brought in the offering of your Elohim, you shall eat neither bread nor roasted grain nor new growth. It is to be a perpetual statute throughout your generations in all your dwelling places

(Lev 23:9-14)

This is an appointed time that is uniquely a work day. And boy oh boy there’s a lot of speculation about this day, its scope, and its timing. Before I get into it, let’s look at why it’s very important to us!

Slide 5 But now Messiah has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep. (1Co 15:20)

First fruits is the day Yeshua was resurrected as the first fruits of the dead. The timing of the week of his death and resurrection puts Him coming out of the tomb on the 1^st day of the week after Passover, albeit before sunrise. The holy days are literal, but are also part of the prophecies of YHVH and His plan of salvation. While this day is very literally real, the people had to make this offering before partaking of the new grain, it’s also a sod, a mystery, a prophecy of the resurrection of our Lord. And since YHVH accepted that first offering of His Son’s death, we are able to be part of the spiritual harvest, looking forward to our resurrection to eternal life.

Returning to the Torah, there are two popular ways of timing this day and then a third one that I think I’m the only one who contemplates. The first is the way our group counts this day. This reads “on the day after the Sabbath” and we understand that to be the first day of the week.

Our way to identify this day is to make it the first day of the week during ULB. This year, it would have been Sunday the 17^th of April. 50 days from then we arrive at Sunday, the 5^th of June. In this manner of counting, we always start on a Sunday and end on a Sunday because 50 days from any day of the week will land on that same day of the week. I think this has to be the way because this observance doesn’t start from a calendar date like the rest of the days in Leviticus 23. The other way to count this, which we will get to next, makes it possible to have the day of first fruits be the actual Sabbath day, which doesn’t make sense as this is a work day. Our way lines up with Yeshua’s resurrection, though, so I think it’s a keeper.

The second way to count this is to say the day after the Sabbath to wave the sheaf is Abib 16. This way of counting calls the Sabbath the high day, which is the 15^th of Abib, and starts counting on the same calendar date each year, which is Abib 16. That doesn’t make a lot of sense because it’s not set in Leviticus or anywhere as a calendar date. It’s also very possible for Abib 16 to fall on the weekly Sabbath, which would mean people would bring their offerings on a day when nobody is supposed to work. But a lot of people use this manner of counting, including the Pharisees of the first century.

Both of these methods of counting hinge on the timing of Passover and ULB. Passover is Abib 14, ULB 1 is Abib 15, so then you either have Abib 16 or the Sunday during ULB as the day to start. In my feeble mind, and I’m the only person I’ve ever heard say this part, what if the barley isn’t ripe enough to cut on Abib 16 or the first day of the week during ULB? What if the crops just aren’t ready by then and they have to go another week? Could it be possible this day isn’t directly tied to Passover at all? Like I said, our group times this one of the two popular ways and isn’t likely to change, but I wanted to bring this up in case we get to the kingdom and learn something different 😊.

You don’t have to count every day. This is a tradition. There’s nothing wrong with counting every day, I just want to point out it’s not a commandment. Literally, we are to count 7 weeks and a day, so one could count week 1, week 2, etc. This also lends more credence to starting the count on the first day of week one, so you actually count 7 Sabbaths and a day. And I’m sure there were people would did count 50 days individually back in the first century and before. The kohenim definitely kept count. Regular folk probably kept count, too, to keep track and because it’s a fine tradition. But it’s just fine today to look at a calendar 50 days down the road and mark an X. Which is June 5 this year.

It’s also important to remember what was happening during the Exodus at this time. Today is the LDUB, but it’s also the 7^th day of fleeing. The people were terrified, they were on the run with the flocks, herds, and kneading bowls. Pharaoh was in hot pursuit. It was still chaos. Pure, uncertain, chaos. They had to get to the Red Sea, get boxed in, and then have that incredible miracle happen. And then they get to the other side and have some relief because they are safe. All that happens during the 50 days. The tradition, which does work out mathematically and makes sense, is that the first day of Shavuot during Exodus was when YHVH gave the 10 commandments from Mt. Sinai. The bible doesn’t say this, but there’s no reason for it not to have happened like that.

In contrast to the Exodus, these days actually anticipate shalom, not chaos. The remembrances are instituted so we can remember the chaos. The Torah is not just a set of rules, it’s an actual culture for a nation. The nation entered the land in Joshua 5, after circumcising everyone, and was able to harvest grain they did not plant and observe the days of unleavened bread in complete peace. Nobody was chasing them. They were enjoying bread for the first time in 40 years. Many of them born in the wilderness had never tasted bread. This happened during peace. Then they went off to war. After the conquest, the nation was expected to plant, harvest, offer, and eat in peace. They were expected to observe ULB and then millions of households would make new starter lumps. They would do this safe and snug in their land with no enemies. The memorial to eat the bread of affliction was to teach the generations that it wasn’t always peaceful and to cherish what they had.

The moral in that story is that they didn’t. They were good for exactly one generation, the Joshua generation. Our adopted ancestors couldn’t keep the faith, just like how the apostles couldn’t even stay awake. They sinned, got tossed into captivity, brought back, were good for a while, then decided to become Greeks. Then a remnant called the Maccabees restored Judea but made a pact with Rome that led to the occupied Judea of the first century. Then we have the Son of God coming to begin the New Covenant, which then launches the greatest evangelism in the history of the world. So that we, a people who were not God’s people, could be grafted in, and be called His People. So as we finish the festival of unleavened bread, let’s rejoice that we are called, and be dedicated to doing it again every year until the Messiah returns.

God is not a Trinity

God cannot be a Trinity because Jesus, the Son, is always subordinate to the Father, who is God.

“You heard that I said to you, ‘I go away, and I will come to you.’ If you loved Me, you would have rejoiced because I go to the Father, for the Father is greater than I.” (Joh 14:28)

This is a very clear example of Yeshua (Jesus) being lesser than His Father (Yahweh), and it just makes sense. Most people who say they believe in the Trinity actually believe this, too. When it comes down to it, they don’t actually believe in the Trinity at all, but think they do because the word is rather ambiguous and it’s a requirement for baptism in 99.9% of churches. One must say they are Trinitarian to be members in the club.

There’s a reason the doctrine of the Trinity is ambiguous. It was created to allow a whole lot of people with varying beliefs about the relationship between Yahweh and Yeshua to claim to believe the same doctrine. This is the net result here 1700 years later. Two people sitting in pews in the same church who say they are Trinitarian don’t believe the Trinity the same. The shocking truth is the Trinity doctrine is actually a political dogma built to solve a political problem. Disputes about the nature of Yeshua and His relationship to Yahweh created full blown physical conflicts back in the third and early fourth centuries. Doctrine wars were literally wars. You can’t have a universal church (Catholic really means universal) when people are openly disagreeing to the point of violence. So they came up with a doctrine that satiated almost everyone. And those who refused to believe, well, at a minimum they got disfellowshipped. A minimum.

Tackling the most sensitive topic in all of #Christianity. We're told to test all things. Are you willing to test this one? pic.twitter.com/l9iRd0BGbb
— Chris (@Messianic73) January 5, 2024

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The Bread of Chaos

John 19:31 records that they wanted Yeshua to be off the cross because that Sabbath was a “High Day”. This message explains what that High Day is and how it parallels events around the Exodus as well as events to unfold at the end times!

The Bread of Chaos

1^st ULB Welcome. We’re really in the minority observing these days. Not Passover in general, mind you. Most of Christianity and Judaism does something at this time of the year in commemoration of Yeshua’s sacrifice or the Exodus. In both our movement and within Judaism, the ULB days tend to get short shrift. The Seder is such a beautiful observance, it’s common for folks to just do that and no more. But let’s take a look at the mitzvot:

Slide 2 “Observe the month of Abib and celebrate the Passover to YHVH your Elohim, for in the month of Abib YHVH your Elohim brought you out of Egypt by night. You shall sacrifice the Passover to YHVH your Elohim from the flock and the herd, in the place where YHVH chooses to establish His name. You shall not eat leavened bread (chamets) with it; seven days you shall eat with it unleavened bread (matzah), the bread (lechem) of affliction (for you came out of the land of Egypt in haste), so that you may remember all the days of your life the day when you came out of the land of Egypt. For seven days no leaven (seor) shall be seen with you in all your territory, and none of the flesh which you sacrifice on the evening of the first day shall remain overnight until morning. You are not allowed to sacrifice the Passover in any of your towns which YHVH your Elohim is giving you; but at the place where YHVH your Elohim chooses to establish His name, you shall sacrifice the Passover in the evening at sunset, at the time that you came out of Egypt. You shall cook and eat it in the place which YHVH your Elohim chooses. In the morning you are to return to your tents. Six days you shall eat unleavened bread (matzah), and on the seventh day there shall be a solemn assembly to YHVH your Elohim; you shall do no work on it.” (Deu 16:1-8)

Bread of affliction – the topic today, even though I’m calling it the bread of chaos. Oni means misery, poverty, depression, affliction. It’s supposed to be a chore to eat this bread. Unusual and a break from the norm. YHVH using food. Agrarian society. I’ll get to the bread of chaos later.
Different types of bread = English versus Hebrew and Greek.
Chamets = zume = yeast or leavened bread
Seor = zume = leaven
Lechem = artos = bread. Artos alone means leavened bread.
Matsah = azumos = unleavened bread, one word
In English, we have to have the adjectives which are not necessary in Hebrew or Greek. Greek words are there to help with NT. They ate leavened bread the night Yeshua was betrayed. If we could read Greek, we would just see it.
YHVH uses food to teach us lessons. This week begins before hand for us to remove the leavening signifying a renewal. Abib is the beginning of the year, natural for renewing. Removing the leavening to make a new lump teaches lessons. It starts a cycle. It gives us a pattern from which to grow.
Using food shows we need to trust YHVH for our sustenance. On a national level, throwing out starter lumps shows we need to rely on peace to grow a new lump.
Unleavened bread is a chore. Here in the US in the 21^st century, we can have recipes and make tasty treats for ULB. Not so much in first century Judea or ancient Israel.
Not in our towns, where YHVH places His Name – no Temple or priesthood, no real Passover. We are doing the best we can, practicing for when this becomes a real thing again in the future. Practicing for the 1000 years.

Slide 3 The Egyptians urged the people, to send them out of the land in haste, for they said, “We will all be dead.” So the people took their dough before it was leavened (chamets), with their kneading bowls bound up in the clothes on their shoulders. Now the sons of Israel had done according to the word of Moses, for they had requested from the Egyptians articles of silver and articles of gold, and clothing; and the LORD had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they let them have their request. Thus they plundered the Egyptians. Now the sons of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand men on foot, aside from children. A mixed multitude also went up with them, along with flocks and herds, a very large number of livestock. They baked the dough which they had brought out of Egypt into cakes of unleavened bread (matzah). For it had not become leavened (chametz), since they were driven out of Egypt and could not delay, nor had they prepared any provisions for themselves. (Exo 12:33-39)

The bread of chaos. Imagine this scene. Imagine the nation of Egypt, then the most powerful empire in the world, laying in waste. All ten plagues have been executed. The Israelites are unscathed. The Egyptians are decimated. All their first born are dead. That means the leadership is gone. A generational disaster – nobody to hand the family farm to, nobody to inherit the royal titles. And the Egyptians have been brought to their knees, begging the Israelites, their workforce to leave. And a mixed multitude joining. Egypt is a wreck. And the Hebrews have a very tight window to get out of town. Despite the commandment, it reads their bread was not risen because of time, leaving in haste.
The commemoration is for this. To remember that YHVH saved a people who didn’t really know who they were. Our adopted family. They knew they were different from the Egyptians, but not how much. They were slaves and had to be chased out. They even shirked their identity many times, but YHVH did not give up on them. Well, there was that one time and then Moses interceded. He brought them out in haste and made them a nation.

Slide 4 Then the Jews, because it was the day of preparation, so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away. (Joh 19:31)

Today is that High Day. It’s not the day of the week because it was really a Thursday that year, but you get the picture. Imagine the chaos of the disciples at this point. Imagine their sorrow. They do not know where to turn. Their rabbi, who is the Messiah, was dead. They were surely lost. And He stayed dead for three whole days. Do you know what they were eating then? ULB. The bead of affliction. They were mourning the death of YHVH’s firstborn Son. That’s not a coincidence. The blood of the lambs in Egypt covered the Israelites and whoever else put that blood on the doorposts. Then the blood of YHVH’s Son, shed on Passover, as the Lamb of God, allows for all who accept it to be grafted into Israel and become heirs according to the promise.
And when He was resurrected, He would have eaten ULB. Still keeping the commandments.
The Apostles remained unscathed after His death. Even though the leaders wanted the movement stopped for good. They were protected in the chaos.

Slide 5 But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these. For among them are those who enter into households and captivate weak women weighed down with sins, led on by various impulses, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. (2Ti 3:1-7)

Chaos of the end times – believers unscathed? Maybe, maybe not. Some will be martyred. Some will survive until the absolute end. The chaos will be immense at the end. Keeping Pesach and ULB will be incredibly hard. The world will be incredible violent and godless. Which isn’t too hard to imagine. And what will we be doing?

Slide 6 So the dragon was enraged with the woman, and went off to make war with the rest of her children, who keep the commandments of YHVH and hold to the testimony of Yeshua. (Rev 12:17)

Well be keeping the commandments the best we can. Even in times of chaos. In Yeshua’s Name!

Loyalty, Faith, and the Betrayal of Yeshua

Judas’ betrayal of Yeshua is one of the worst things recorded in scripture. Yeshua’s loyalty to Yahweh is perhaps the most important thing recorded in scripture. Did you know both of these things have parallels in scripture?

Slide 2 Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. But a man must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself if he does not judge the body rightly. (1Co 11:27-29)

This coming week is the week. The week where we remember the Messiah exactly the way He told us to do that. I’ve covered the details on how we are to observe Pesach and the Night Yeshua Was Betrayed a few times. I’ve talked about how our works display our faith and how salvation and works are dependent upon each other. In this walk, we spend a whole lot of time in study to get the details right. Proper doctrine, teaching, and works are super important. But let’s not neglect the deeper aspects. There’s a foundation to what we do. Our works display our faith. But how do we define faith? How do we define the intangible part of this concept, the ”things unseen” part? Today, we’re going to get at that. Today, we’re going to talk about a core value, perhaps THE core value, from which faithfulness and obedience sprouts.

Up a few verses, Paul talks about divisions among the Church of God in Corinth. That’s in verse 18, Paul meanders in his writings so it’s not a lock that just because he mentioned something a couple sentences ago that it’s really “in context”. But let’s assume it is part of his context for examining ourselves. Think about how special it was to have a believing group in Corinth in the first century. Paul talks about factions but we don’t know what the factions were about. Were they about money, position, doctrine? Who knows. But we do know when we have to be united and that around Yeshua’s sacrifice. When it comes to salvational issues like this week, we need to drop the divisions and unite around the Messiah’s sacrifice. Everything else is second. Everything we do stems from His sacrifice and resurrection. Without that, we are not grafted in. Without that there is no new convenant at all. Without that there is no resurrection from the dead. Without that there is no new High Priest. Without that, we can eat and drink for tomorrow we die. And stay dead. So the first part of examining ourselves is about priorities. Have we really, spiritually, accepted that Yeshua died for our sins? Is that our prime mover in our lives and in our ministries? We all stray to other topics throughout the year, but this time of year, we need to take to heart what really matters and get refocused on the most important thing, Yeshua being the Lamb of God.

Slide 3 While He was still speaking, behold, a crowd came, and the one called Judas, one of the twelve, was preceding them; and he approached Yeshua to kiss Him. But Yeshua said to him, “Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?” (Luk 22:47-48)

Betrayal. Is there anything worse than betrayal? When you experience this, it shakes you to the core. If you haven’t experienced it, then bless YHVH. Do you know what? There is no commandment against betrayal. The activities surrounding betrayal are often covered in Torah, bearing false witness being chief among them, but if there’s a literal commandment against betrayal, I can’t think of it. The closest is adultery, and the damage is very similar.

What exactly did Judas do? It doesn’t appear that Judas accused Yeshua of anything. He wasn’t one of the false witnesses, either. He just took money to identify Yeshua. He just provided intelligence, like where to find the Messiah, and then he identified Him through a kiss. He helped Yeshua’s enemies capture Him, that’s it. And what an awful thing to do. The worst. To guide the enemy to find the Messiah.

It’s also written that Satan entered Judas to make this happen. Judas needed a little help to get over that emotional hurdle of betrayal. Where else do we see this in scripture? In the garden, of course. Eve’s betrayal included a literal sin, eating the forbidden fruit. In that, she betrayed both Yahweh and her husband. And then what did she do? She led her husband into the betrayal. How do you think this made Yahweh feel?

Slide 4 Then YHVH Elohim said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” And the woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” (Gen 3:13)

Of course YHVH already knew what they had done. This is a rhetorical question. From someone who had just been betrayed. He was devastated, even though He knew it was coming. We talk about the fall and how it originated in covetousness a lot. But it also originated in something else: disloyalty. Eve decision to listen to the serpent was a betrayal of her husband and of Yahweh. She made a mental decision to put her faith in the created serpent rather than her Creator and her husband, from whom she came.

And what does she do? She immediately implicates somebody else. Betrayal appears to be quite a bit easier the second time around. And the betrayal started with Adam selling out Eve, who then sold out the serpent. And did all that blamestorming do anything? No, it didn’t. Well, except saving the trial. The blaming didn’t replace the bite in the fruit. The damage was done. And it was irreversible. Just like when Judas betrayed the Messiah. There was no taking it back. The damage was done.

Except in Judas’ case, he had nobody else to blame. He had nobody to bring down with him. He tried to go back to the priests and elders when he realized he had betrayed Yeshua to dead and they wouldn’t have anything to do with him. With the help of Satan, Judas had betrayed the Messiah. This is remarkably similar to what happened with Eve. In Judas’ case, though, it would have been better had he not been born.

Is there another place where scripture records such a betrayal? Well, not exactly, but we all know about it. The first betrayal.

Slide 5 The seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.” And He said to them, “I was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightning.” (Luk 10:17-18)

Satan is in similar position to Judas. At some unrecorded point in history. Satan betrayed YHVH and tried to ascend to the throne. Satan is more like Eve, though, because he took a third of the angels down with him. Satan was the covering angel, he had a very high office, and betrayed the Creator trying to take over an office that nobody could earn. Satan wanted to have all that authority that belongs to someone else and to get it, he betrayed YHVH. And I bet it hurt. Yeshua saw this betrayal.

Slide 6 “For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.” (Joh 6:38-40)

Yeshua came to earth to stay loyal. He came to earth to run through anything Satan could throw at Him and stay true to His Father and our Father. This is the core of spirituality, faith. Faith to the point of death. The ability to be betrayed but to not betray. This shows His perfect spirit, His essence, His core.

Slide 7 Then Moses returned to YHVH, and said, “Alas, this people has committed a great sin, and they have made a god of gold for themselves. But now, if You will, forgive their sin—and if not, please blot me out from Your book which You have written!” (Exo 32:31-32)

Moses was willing to die eternal death to intercede for the sinful Israelites. Moses witnessed their sins, their betrayals, and he did not join in. Instead he offered to die in their stead. Moses’ life was not required. But Moses’ faith ran to his core. He would never give up YHVH for anything.

Slide 8 “YHVH your Elohim will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your countrymen, you shall listen to him.” (Deu 18:15)

This is what is meant that Yeshua was one like Moses. Except it’s really the other way around, since Yeshua is the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. And Yeshua is our example. Our loyalty to Him and His Father has to be our foundation. Our loyalty how we are able to choose their way of life over the world’s and traditional Christianty’s. This shows our spiritual side. That at our deepest, we trust Yahweh and Yeshua, even before we know them.

Slide 9 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the men of old gained approval. By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible. (Heb 11:1-3)

Faith and loyalty are intertwined. Faith is the act of trusting someone or something that is not tangible or known: unseen. Loyalty can be built by things seen or unseen. Yeshua was loyal to Yahweh to the point of trusting Him to resurrect Him. The same holds true for the martyrs, who stayed loyal to Yeshua even while being executed. As we examine ourselves this week, contemplate our loyalty to Yahweh through His Son, Yeshua. To be a Messianic, a Christian, is to emulate Christ. As we prepare to observe the days, we know we are loyal enough to do what He said to do in memory of Him. As we examine ourselves for sins, asking forgiveness, and understanding that Yeshua bore our transgressions, let’s examine our loyalty to Yeshua, and make sure it’s a strong as humanly possible.

How to Keep the Holy Days of the Bible

Here’s a basic “how to” for those who keep the Holy Days of the Bible in the context of the New Covenant. This includes the Sabbath, The Night Yeshua was Betrayed, the Passover, Pentecost, The Feast of Trumpets, Yom Kippur, and the Feast of Tabernacles.

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How to keep Yahweh’s appointed times under the New Covenant

We have many, many teachings about what the days mean and how they fit into prophecy, but not so much on how to actually observe the days. Here’s an easy to use chart on what to actually do on each of Yahweh’s Holy Days. These are in chronological order.

Holy Day	Main Scriptures	How and What
Shabbat aka The Sabbath	Lev 23:3, Exodus 20:8-11	Rest from Friday Sunset to Saturday Sunset. No work, no commerce. Have an assembly.
The Night Yeshua was Betrayed	Matthew 28: 26-29, 1 Corinthians 11: 23-34	Abib 13, the day before Passover, assemble, wash each other’s feet, sing a hymn, have wine and bread (leavened). A somber assembly. This is not a Sabbath.
Pesach aka Passover	Leviticus 23:5 and many others	Abib 14 at sunset. Have all the leavening removed from your house, car, etc. before sundown. Have a memorial meal with unleavened bread. Prefer to have a Seder (link) that includes Passover from Abraham through to the Kingdom. Meal can be family at home with or without guests or an assembly. Abib 14 is not a Sabbath.
Days of Unleavened Bread	Leviticus 23:6-8, 1 Corinthians 5:8	Eat unleavened bread for 7 days. Have an assembly on Abib 15 and on Abib 21 which are Sabbaths, but you can prepare food on them. These two days are feast days.
First Fruits	Leviticus 23: 9-14, 1 Cor 15:20	The day Yeshua was resurrected. Not a Sabbath. Nothing for us to do except start counting.
Feast of Weeks aka Pentecost aka Shavuot	Leviticus 23: 15-22, Acts 2	50 days from First Fruits (the Sunday during Unleavened Bread). Always lands on a Sunday. This is a Sabbath where you can prepare food, a feast day. Celebrate the giving of the Ruach ha Kodesh or Holy Spirit.
Yom Teruah aka Feast of Trumpets	Leviticus 23: 23-25, 1 Thessalonians 4:16	1^st day of the 7^th month. Not Rosh Hashana or “New Years’”. Have an assembly. Blow a shofar if you have one. Many dress in white as this is the day that foreshadows Yeshua’s return. This is a Sabbath where you can prepare food.
Yom Kippur aka Day of Atonement	Leviticus 23:26-32, Acts 27:9	10^th day of the 7^th month. Fast from sundown on the 9^th through sundown on the 10^th. No water or food (if able). No work at all. Have an assembly.
Sukkot aka the Feast of Tabernacles aka Feast of Booths aka Feast of Ingathering	Leviticus 23: 33-43	Have an assembly on the 15^th day of the 7^th month and on the 22^nd day of the 7^th month which are sabbaths that you can prepare food on (feasts). Most celebrate this by traveling to have larger gatherings that are festive with a lot of teachings. Making a communal sukkah (not a tent) is common practice. Dancing and a general festive atmosphere is the way to go!

That’s the most simplified list I think one could make.

YHVH spoke again to Moses, saying, “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘The LORD’S appointed times which you shall proclaim as holy convocations—My appointed times are these:” (Lev 23:1-2)

Now that we’ve gone through the list, let’s talk about having an assembly. The origin of a church service is in the second line of Leviticus 23 where it says holy convocations. This is called a Holy Convocation in Leviticus 23, which is a miqra kodesh in Hebrew, which is represented well by holy convocations. The KJV calls this a feast which isn’t quite accurate. Only some of the appointed times in Lev 3 are feasts. Yom Kippur is obviously not a feast or a festival.

This is what we call “church” in English, but is also called an ekklesia in Hebrew, which is an assembly. These days are assemblies for the purpose of worship. Here lies the problem: the Torah doesn’t tell us what to actually do to have a holy assembly. This means we have latitude. The elements of a holy assembly have evolved over time, but we who have the New Testament can figure out some elements that should be included.

And Yeshua returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about Him spread through all the surrounding districts. And He began teaching in their synagogues and was praised by all. (Luk 4:14-15)

The synagogue is not in Torah. This is the foundation for modern day church services and was instituted by the Jews after the return from the exile. Yeshua’s behavior sanctions the synagogue. He taught there often and even told the disciples they would be punished in the synagogues. Paul used the synagogues often, being a high ranking Pharisee, he was welcomed with honor in these houses of worship.

The synagogue system of the first century is where we get the elements of gathering in a building on Shabbat. Christianity shifted this to Sunday in error but retained many of the same practices. Reading scriptures, having a sermon, and corporately singing hymns are all from the synagogue. A Catholic church even looks like a synagogue, but with the Torah scroll replaced with a chalice and the host bread. The large altar on a Catholic stage is remarkably similar to the large table a synagogue uses for the reading of a Torah scroll. The Catholic church is the foundation for the modern church service, so you can see how easy it is for use to trace these practices back to the synagogue.

“For Moses from ancient generations has in every city those who preach him, since he is read in the synagogues every Sabbath.” (Act 15:21)

Acts 15 is most often misused by Christianity to show the Torah ended, but the opposite is actually true. The gentile converts were attending synagogue, which is why that council was called. The Messianics didn’t know what to do with these uncircumcised people showing up at the synagogue. And the result was that they would hear Moses read every week and learn. The synagogue system was sanctioned by Yeshua and allowed to flourish so the faith would have a base of operations from which to grow in every city.

As you gather on the holy days, understand there is latitude in how we observe the days. Hopefully you have somewhere nearby to fellowship with, but if you’re on your own, then trust the Ruach and just get started. We cease from commerce and work on all Sabbaths. On the days that aren’t Sabbaths, like Passover and the night Yeshua was betrayed, we follow the example of scripture wherever possible understanding that our actions display our love for Yahweh and His Son, Yeshua.

Works and Salvation

Works and salvation cannot be separated.

Historically, Christianity has had more bad doctrine than good. Let’s just face up to that reality. One of the reasons we have such a hard time expressing the truth is because the bad stuff always floats to the top. Think about what happens when we try to introduce people to the Sabbath? They jump to “well, you don’t stone your kids when they misbehave, do you?” without understanding that stoning children meant ADULT children. It still sounds amazingly harsh to us today, but having that out there was probably more effective than threatening to put someone in time out.

One of the areas where traditional Christianity falls down flat is on the notion of works in relationship to salvation. This is through a history of abuses and increasingly bad doctrine by the church at Rome. The religions of antiquity were heavily works based. One notion was that if you could perfect yourself in this life, you would attain to a higher plain of existence in the next. Conversely, if you were bad in this life, your next would be bad. And to be good, you would have to do what the priests in the pagan religions said to do. You can see where this could go wrong, huh?

The Roman church adopted many of the practices and rites of the pagan churches in order to make a universal religion, which is what the word catholic actually means. One could say the Roman Catholic Church is the Roman Universal Church and it would be accurate. The penances, practices, and rites from pagan religions were “Christianized” to the point where the faith barely resembles first century Christianity at all. And it turned into a works based faith, with the works changing with each change in leadership. Some of the works, like charity and such, did tie into the Bible, but those are, well, universal principals. Other works, like adorning statues and keeping man-made days holy, are contrary to scripture. They came up with a system of penance where you could do stuff to make up for sins. Then came the indulgences, where you could substitute money for doing stuff to make up for sins, and well, that lasted for a thousand years coined “the dark ages”.

Then comes the reformation. 95 theses are nailed to a door. A lot of these are good. But out of this comes the notion that works are bad. John Calvin comes up with his idea and they are strained at best. The idea that works have nothing to do with salvation is introduced and takes on a strange life of its own. Martin Luther even wanted to remove the book of James from the bible.

Slide 2 But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar? You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected; and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “AND ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS RECKONED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS,” and he was called the friend of God. You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone. In the same way, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead. (Jas 2:20-26)

Luther didn’t want the book of James in the bible because of these verses. In fact, he took out Hebrews, James, Jude, and Revelation because of his ideology. Apparently going too far is not a new phenomenon. What happened at the reformation was the people concluded works were bad because they had been mistreated and taught improperly. This is also not a new thing. When we have bad experiences, we tend to shut down or overreact. Unfortunately, these guys went way too far and we are still dealing with their bad ideas today. It’s understandable. When a government is totalitarian and revolution occurs, people generally swing the pendulum too far, and create something that at least sounds like the opposite of what they just left. This is the same with religion. The people had been abused under Catholicism for over 1000 years. Religion was used as a weapon to control the masses and enrich the elite through made-up rites, works, so the people rebelled against works all together. And they came up with the notion that works themselves are contrary to salvation. But that’s just an absurd notion. Beyond absurd, which is why James wrote what he wrote.

James wrote the verses on the screen to show that you cannot display your faith without works. If your doctor tells you your A1c is too high, do you stop eating sugar? Of course you do. Your works show that you believe the doctor, the test, and the treatment protocol. In our walk, we are to come to Yahweh as children, which we are. Children show their faith in their parents by doing what their parents tell them to do. As they grow, the then listen to teachers and mentors. While becoming their own people, they take instruction from those whom they respect. And they act on the new information, showing their faith in the people bringing them along.

James cites Rahab the harlot. This is a key example. She was a big time sinner in a pagan city. But she recognized the true God and His people. She helped them on blind faith. She helped the spies based on her trust that they would keep their words. When the wall of Jericho came down, Rahab and her whole family were saved. This was due to their faith displayed in works.

Let’s back up a little bit in history. What about the Exodus? The 10^th plague? The people had to do something very strange to identify themselves. They had to listen to Moses, Yahweh’s prophet, and put the blood of lambs on their doorposts. They had to stay inside that terrifying night. They were literally saved by their works. Their works being a manifestation of their faith in Moses’ God. And it wasn’t just the Hebrews who obeyed. Those who saw Yahweh’s marvelous works for the previous 9 plagues joined in. Much like Rahab, they realized righteousness when they saw it, and their works displayed their faith.

Slide 3 Make sure that none of you suffers as a murderer, or thief, or evildoer, or a troublesome meddler; but if anyone suffers as a Christian, he is not to be ashamed, but is to glorify God in this name. For it is time for judgment to begin with the household of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? AND IF IT IS WITH DIFFICULTY THAT THE RIGHTEOUS IS SAVED, WHAT WILL BECOME OF THE GODLESS MAN AND THE SINNER? Therefore, those also who suffer according to the will of God shall entrust their souls to a faithful Creator in doing what is right. (1Pe 4:15-19)

It’s hard to be saved. Did you know that? Even for the righteous, it’s hard to be saved. Sinning separates us from God and His Messiah. Sins are works, brothers and sisters. It takes works to be saved and it takes works to be condemned.

Slide 4 Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. (Rev 20:11-12)

This is pretty simple to understand. The house of God, which I believe to refer to those who know the truth in this life and have accepted the Messiah, is judged in real time. Those who do not know Yeshua today, will be resurrected and judged at the end of the 1000 years. And that judgment will be based on what they did in their prior lifetimes. The books will be opened and all they did, their works, will be made known. And some will make it into the kingdom while others are destroyed. This is based on works.

What do we think will happen to those who have taught works are meaningless and that salvation is just some ethereal thing you have to “believe” in?

Slide 5 Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we will incur a stricter judgment. (Jas 3:1)

I wonder if this verse had anything to do with Luther’s desire to remove James from the bible? But this is a terrifying thing for those who stand and preach the Word of God. We have to be very careful with our words, and this is something very easy to mess up! But telling people they won’t be judged on their works when they will clearly be judged on their works, well, I hope they all repent of that and correct the record.

Which brings me to the crux of today’s message. Works and salvation. They are intricately aligned. They are tied together. We cannot separate the two. Why?

Slide 6 And when He had taken some bread and given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” (Luk 22:19)

Do. To remember Yeshua’s sacrifice, we have to DO something. We have to do something very specific and unique. We have to wash each other’s feet, have some bread, and have some wine on the annual date of His betrayal, with was Abib 13. That’s Thursday, April 14 this year on our calendars. We have to take actions to show we believe Yeshua is the Messiah and we believe that His ministry, His death, and His resurrection are real. We have to do what He said to do. Works display our faith.

And this is unique to those who believe like us. We do what He said to do exactly how He said to do it. And then we follow it up by observing Passover, also in remembrance of Him. We do things to display our faith. We don’t do it to become saved, we do it because we are saved. And our works are the evidence of our faith.

Hospitality is a Commandment!

Abraham’s example of hospitality resulted in him entertaining angels. His example is exemplified throughout the entire bible. Let’s be generous with our unique knowledge of the Word and hospitable in our gatherings this Passover season.

Hospitality is a commandment

2 Abraham entertained angels. Genesis 18 meshes up to Hebrews 13:1-2 Genesis 24:14 is generosity and hospitality are used to identify Rebekah as the future wife of Isaac.

3 No harvesting the corners. Shows the entire society was to be generous both to the poor and to the needy. The needy had to work to get their food, and they could go get it when nobody was looking. It provided hospitality and dignity.

4 Don’t take money or extra clothes. They were to rely on those who followed the generosity of Torah.

5 Passover season is here. Open the door. Welcome people. Introduce them to Yahweh and His Son. We have the precious information that leads to eternal life. Thursday the 14^th we will keep the only remembrance Yeshua commanded us. We will observe the night He was betrayed. Friday the 15^th, we will observe Passover. But we will do this in the light of the New Covenant, looking forward to the time when we do it in the New Jerusalem.

Let’s be hospitable, like Abraham was with the angels. And if you look into it, you’ll see they were eating unleavened bread. The bible doesn’t contain coincidences.

Author: FCC Admin

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