Category: Teachings

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Yeshua Our Mediator

The most important information in the history of mankind is that Yeshua (Jesus) is the Son of God and the Mediator between us and God.

Video with slides below courtesy of Rumble.

Audio only below courtesy of Spotify.

Today is the Sabbath before we break for Sukkot. By now I hope all the calendars are done observing Yom Kippur, but you never know. Yom Kippur is incredibly important to Christianity. It’s a shame that only a small percentage of those of us who accept Yeshua as the Messiah observe. The New Testament has an entire book devoted to Yeshua being our Mediator, which is the Book of Hebrews. The most important piece of information any human can know and believe is that Yeshua is the Messiah, the Son of God, and died for the sins of anyone who accepts this. This is the only information that is the gateway to eternal life through either the resurrection of the dead or through being caught up in the air when Yeshua returns. Everything we do in our walk with Yahweh and His Son is based on this truth. Today, before we break, let’s refresh on this truth.

Slide 2 For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and mankind, the man Messiah Yeshua, who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony given at the proper time. For this I was appointed as a preacher and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying), as a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth. (1Ti 2:5-7)

Still slide 2 For this reason He is the mediator of a new covenant, so that, since a death has taken place for the redemption of the violations that were committed under the first covenant, those who have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance. (Heb 9:15)

Paul didn’t write the book of Hebrews so here are our two witnesses. This concept of a mediator. However, Paul writes that he was appointed a preacher and an apostle to teach the gentiles this specific truth. That’s very significant because we are the beneficiaries of his teachings. Through Paul, Yahweh evangelized the western Roman empire of the truth of the Messiah. Paul was a very unique individual, born and trained for such a time as that. He was a gifted Rabbi, trained by Gamaliel himself, but was also a full Roman citizen so he could travel freely and operate anywhere within the Roman Empire. He knew several languages fluently, specifically Greek, so he could teach the Messiah to the world. This starts with the Torah.

Slide 3 Then YHVH Elohim said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you more than all the livestock, and more than any animal of the field; On your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life; and I will make enemies of you and the woman, and of your offspring and her Descendant; He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise Him on the heel.” (Gen 3:14-15)

In our way of thinking, we accept the entire Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, as scripture and applicable to our lives and faith. The Torah, also called the Law or the Pentateuch, is the foundation of all scripture and truth. This right here is a prophecy of Yeshua. It was a mystery how a descendant of the woman could damage the serpent until Yeshua came born of Mary. Mary, a virgin, impregnated miraculously to give birth to the Son of God.

Slide 4 And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and give birth to a son, and you shall name Him Yeshua. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.” But Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” The angel answered and said to her, “The Ruach haKodesh will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; for that reason also the holy Child will be called the Son of God.” (Luk 1:30-35)

The Name of the Messiah is Yeshua, which means salvation. This is from, among other places, Isaiah 52. In verse 7 it says how delightful the feet are of those who announce Salvation, which is a prophecy of John the Baptist who came as an Elijah ahead of Yeshua to announce His arrival. And then at the end of Isaiah 52 and into chapter 53, it prophecies Yeshua’s crucifixion and death, calling Him Yahweh’s Servant in 52:13.

Yeshua is Yahweh’s Servant. Let this sink in. Here in the middle of the message is probably the most important topic:

Slide 5 “For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that of everything that He has given Me I will lose nothing, but will raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who sees 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’s will could have been different than Yahweh’s. But the way, Yeshua is the Name of the Son of God, Yahweh is God’s Name. Yeshua was and is an independent being. The message of the Gospel is that the Son of God came down and fully, 100%, submitted to Yahweh. That He died sinless, murdered by both the Gentiles and the Jews, brutally, and was resurrected by Yahweh three days and three nights later. By us accepting that God sent His only begotten Son, we have the chance at eternal life. By accepting that Yahweh made a way for mankind to be reconciled to Him, a way that is foolishness to most, understanding this truth, and deciding to obey, we have the chance to enter into eternity with Yahweh and Yeshua. And how was this accomplished?

Slide 6 “The God of our fathers raised up Yeshua, whom you put to death by hanging Him on a cross. He is the one whom God exalted to His right hand as a Prince and a Savior, to grant repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins. And we are witnesses of these things; and so is the Ruach ha Kodesh, whom God has given to those who obey Him.” But when they heard this, they became infuriated and nearly decided to execute them. (Act 5:30-33)

Do you see how this is the most important information in all of humanity? Peter and the apostles were granted the Holy Spirit to be able to stand in front of those with the power to kill them and testify that Yeshua died innocently, on a cross even, the execution method of the pagans and a curse to hang an Israelite on a tree. That it was the God of their fathers, who are now our fathers, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Yeshua who did this. And that through Yeshua’s death and resurrection repentance is possible as is the forgiveness of sins. They were standing before the very people who had killed Yeshua two months prior and were telling them the very information they killed Yeshua to stop. And how do they start?

Slide 7 But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men.”(Act 5:29)

This is the verse prior to their testimony and they told the High Priest Himself that they had to obey God rather than men, meaning them. This is incredible because up until this point. The Kohen Gadol, the High Priest, was the mediator between God and men and these brothers were telling him that was no more.

Slide 8 Now the main point in what has been said is this: we have such a high priest, who has taken His seat at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a minister in the sanctuary and in the true tabernacle, which the Lord set up, not man. For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices; so it is necessary that this high priest also have something to offer. Now if He were on earth, He would not be a priest at all, since there are those who offer the gifts according to the Law; who serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things, just as Moses was warned by God when he was about to erect the tabernacle; for, “SEE,” He says, “THAT YOU MAKE all things BY THE PATTERN WHICH WAS SHOWN TO YOU ON THE MOUNTAIN.” But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, to the extent that He is also the mediator of a better covenant, which has been enacted on better promises. (Heb 8:1-6)

We have a new High Priest with a new covenant established in the heavenly tabernacle. This is a better covenant. But we don’t get to get carried away with this. Because we can’t understand the New Covenant without understanding the Old Covenant.

Slide 9 For in finding fault with the people, He says, “BEHOLD, DAYS ARE COMING, SAYS THE LORD, WHEN I WILL BRING ABOUT A NEW COVENANT WITH THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL AND THE HOUSE OF JUDAH, NOT LIKE THE COVENANT WHICH I MADE WITH THEIR FATHERS ON THE DAY I TOOK THEM BY THE HAND TO BRING THEM OUT OF THE LAND OF EGYPT; FOR THEY DID NOT CONTINUE IN MY COVENANT, AND I DID NOT CARE ABOUT THEM, SAYS THE LORD. “FOR THIS IS THE COVENANT WHICH I WILL MAKE WITH THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL AFTER THOSE DAYS, DECLARES THE LORD: I WILL PUT MY LAWS INTO THEIR MINDS, AND WRITE THEM ON THEIR HEARTS. AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD, AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE. (Heb 8:8-10)

This is a quote from Jeremiah 31 but it’s prefaced with finding fault with the people. Boy did Yahweh find fault with them when they decided to crucify His Son. The Torah establishes and defines sin. It defines proper behavior for the children of God. The Old Covenant did work, by the way. The sins were atoned for with the blood of bulls and goats, but it was in a cyclical fashion. It was repeated annually. Yeshua’s death atoned for sin for all time, looking back and forward, which is why the curtain was torn at his death. It signified that all the sins heaped upon that curtain were finally atoned for AND there is a new way to Yahweh, a new High Priest. The people who obeyed and the priests who served honorably did well. We can’t read this to come to the notion that Yahweh gave the Israelites something bad, or strung them along. That’s a reprehensible thought. And we know that sin remains today, which is the transgression of the law. And we know at the end, all will be measured against the law. But this was part of the story. This is the plan of salvation. And those who came before will be judged based on the information of their day.

Slide 10 “Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Messiah—this Yeshua whom you crucified.” Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what are we to do?” Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Yeshua Messiah for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Ruach ha Kodesh. For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far away, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.” (Act 2:36-39)

Brothers and sisters, Yahweh’s plan was laid out from the beginning. From Genesis 3 where Eve’s descendant was declared to bruise the serpent on the head until the crucifixion of our Lord, until His ascension, until the Gospel going forth from Zion, until His return, and until the end, when we enter the olam ha ba, it all has to come to pass. So let’s enjoy ourselves at Sukkot, fellowshipping with our believing and obedient brethren. Let’s enjoy meeting in larger groups, good teachings, music, dancing, food, and festival. But do so in the Name of our Mediator, Yeshua the Messiah.

Preparing for Yom Kippur

The fast is a blessing. Let’s pray for our nations to repent and return to God.

Video with slides below care of Rumble

Audio only care of Spotify

Yom Kippur preparation

Read Leviticus 16.

Slide 2 But the sons of Israel acted unfaithfully in regard to the things under the ban, for Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, from the tribe of Judah, took some of the things under the ban, therefore the anger of YHVH burned against the sons of Israel. (Jos 7:1)

At the culmination of the 40 years in the wilderness, the Israelites crossed the Jordan. During the wandering, they did not keep the High Days. This is evidenced by them not being circumcised, which was a requisite for keeping Pesach. They also didn’t have the land or economy to support the annual high days, which were centered around agriculture, particularly the spring days. When we read the Torah and see the phrase “when you enter the land”, we need to take that literally. When they entered the land was literally the beginning of a lot of Torah observance.

After the crossing, the campaign to take Canaan by force commenced at the walled city of Jericho. The city walls came down miraculously and the defeat was comprehensive. They only had one rule – nobody was to enrich themselves from this battle. All the spoils belonged to YHVH. One man broke the ban and brought destruction on Israel. They lost their next battle and 36 men died. Because of the sin of one man. YHVH even told Joshua that Israel had sinned, not “one guy in Israel” sinned. The breaking of the ban by one was to be accountable by all.

Slide 3 “Then Aaron shall lay both of his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over it all the iniquities of the sons of Israel and all their transgressions in regard to all their sins; and he shall lay them on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who stands in readiness.” (Lev 16:21)

Once the nation entered the land, they began to keep the national festivals. The day Atonement, Yom Kippur is perhaps the most unique of these days. Each day has a purpose, and some of them are hard to figure out. But not this one. This day was the annual day for the entire nation’s sins to be accounted for. National sins. A day for the entire nation to cease any activity whatsoever and the High Priest was to acknowledge all the sins of the nation and of himself. Everybody is a sinner was not a new concept in the New Testament.

This day is unique and special for many reasons. My favorite is the leveling of the playing field. Each person in the nation had to do exactly the same thing for this day to be perfect. Anybody who did any work on this day would be destroyed by YHVH. The commandment for rich or poor, male or female, tall or short, was exactly the same: do nothing. And then comes in the humbling of ourselves. This is equated to a complete fast for 24 hours. No food or water for those who can do that for 24 hours. And while fasting, the High Priest had very specific stuff to do, which we won’t get into today.

The foreshadowing here of Yeshua’s death on the cross is immense. The believers had to look on helpless as Yeshua bore our transgressions innocently. They could do nothing to stop it or help. He had to die, alone and helpless, at the hands of both Jews and Gentiles, to convict the entire world of sin and give us the mechanism for reconciliation. He paid the penalty for the sins of all who will accept Him as Messiah.

The doing nothing and fasting is what we’ll be doing Tuesday night through Wednesday night. Preparing for this is pretty simple. If you drink coffee or caffein daily, you should be stepping that down now. Most people never go without food and or water in their lives, except for some blood test fasting which is just 12 hours. Going without for 24 hours sounds daunting at first, but it’s not that hard at all. What I find to be very hard is the doing nothing. The doing nothing is really “no work” but it’s kind of the same thing. Many will shut off their electronics for 24 hours and only read printed material. But it’s really hard to not do stuff.

We will get together at the end of the fast, when we are the most vulnerable. And then we will break the fast together at the park at sunset with some simple foods, prepared well in advance, so nobody does any work at all.

Do you all ever wonder how many times ancient Israel actually kept Yom Kippur properly? After the conquest of Canaan, they became very disobedient very quickly. The book of Maccabees records Judah keeping a Sabbatical year once, but I don’t know of any record of them keeping a Jubilee in scripture. That means it’s not recorded that they were continuously faithful for 50 straight years. However, after the Maccabean restoration of Judea, we assume there were many years of obedience leading up to the New Testament. I believe these are called the years of silence because there isn’t much of anything recorded for this time period with respect to Israel.

Slide 4 When considerable time had passed and the voyage was now dangerous, since even the fast was already over, Paul began to admonish them, and said to them, “Men, I perceive that the voyage will certainly be with damage and great loss, not only of the cargo and the ship, but also of our lives.” (Act 27:9-10)

“The fast” is Yom Kippur. Earlier when I pondered if the ancient Israelites kept the fast reliably I was talking about the very ancient Israelites. We know the Jews kept this faithfully before the first century and until this day because of the records of other nations and how the gentile leaders of Christianity purposely worked to stamp true worship practices out of the faith once delivered.

The fast, or Yom Kippur, is a wonderful observance while being a commandment. It shows us that we are all sinners and we are all connected and on the same plane of existence. When we all do what Yahweh proscribed simultaneously, there is power and there is holiness. When we stray, and each does their own thing, is when we become divided and profaned. Yom Kippur is a day for individual sins that comprise the sins of a nation. Today, in the west, there is very little concept of sin or repentance. And this is where I want to shift gears now.

When I mentioned the sin Israel committed at Jericho earlier, I want you to remember that it was just one guy who sinned. That sin was imputed on the entire nation. How many people invaded Jericho when the wall came down? Fifty thousand? A hundred thousand? Hundreds of thousands? And one guy sinned. That means a whole lot of people did not sin. This is an enormous contrast to today. Today, our society either has lost or is losing the concept of sin at all. I listened to a show on Fox the other day where they were lamenting the incredible rise of violence in the US. They were attributing it to people being mentally ill and not getting treatment. While true, the rise of violence against our neighbors is rooted in this nation turning away from God at all. While the people lamenting this problem were all conservatives, and I’m pretty sure Christians of some stripe, they never made the connection of the rise in violent crime to a radical decrease in the fear of God and the universal concept of loving one’s neighbor as oneself. It is written that lawlessness will increase before the end and whether this is the end or not, lawlessness is definitely on the rise.  

Our popular music, television shows, movies, and video games have been increasingly violent and irreverent over the decades. Our media only cares about sensational ideas because if it bleeds, it leads. This week we had a horrific hurricane in Florida. The FL governor is a republican and our president is a democrat and for the first time in many, many years they were united on the crisis and complimentary to each other. And then the media tried to get them to fight each other. Can you imagine covering hundreds of billions of dollars of damage, the potential for immense loss of life, and the “reporter’s” mindset being to create political discord. This is shocking behavior that illustrates a depraved mind. The country stopped keeping track of the divorce rate because it became higher than the not-divorced rate and now people live in any sort of relationship at all and nobody thinks a thing of it. What’s one big cause of this? Prosperity. When a nation is prosperous and at rest is when temptation kicks in. We’ve been on this march toward lawlessness for many decades because we lack adversity.

Slide 5 Now King Solomon loved many foreign women along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women, from the nations concerning which YHVH had said to the sons of Israel, “You shall not associate with them, nor shall they associate with you, for they will surely turn your heart away after their gods.” Solomon held fast to these in love. He had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines, and his wives turned his heart away. For when Solomon was old, his wives turned his heart away after other gods; and his heart was not wholly devoted to YHVH his God, as the heart of David his father had been. For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians and after Milcom the detestable idol of the Ammonites. Solomon did what was evil in the sight of YHVH, and did not follow YHVH fully, as David his father had done. Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the detestable idol of Moab, on the mountain which is east of Jerusalem, and for Molech the detestable idol of the sons of Ammon. Thus also he did for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods. (1Ki 11:1-8)

This is a vicious cycle that runs through all societies. King David was a warrior king. He was not allowed to build the temple because he had shed so much blood in battle. It was passed to his heir, Solomon. David had defeated everybody and made Israel enormously wealthy. David had the one slipup that he paid for, but was a faithful man until death, leaving Israel safe, secure, and wealthy. Solomon had to manage that wealth and build the temple. But the wealth brought in temptation. Solomon married women he was forbidden to marry through the Torah because they would lead to follow false gods and, sure enough, they did. Israel’s prosperity led to its accepting of sin and it’s ultimate demise. When the sin comes from the top, what happens to the people? They follow suit and those who don’t become increasingly marginalized. When those idols went up, how often do you think the nation kept Yom Kippur at all? Or properly? The temple was awesome and new, and the people fell astray before those who built it even died.

While this cycle tends to be the cause, or a cause, of the demise of most civilizations, it happened very rapidly to Israel. They fell almost every time they had peace. Our nation is so wealthy and powerful that we can have peace here at home while fighting multiple wars abroad, as we have been doing for more than 20 years now. Much like the Roman Empire and the British Empire, both of which collapsed under their own weight.

Slide 6 Who gave Jacob up for spoil, and Israel to plunderers? Was it not YHVH, against whom we have sinned, And in whose ways they were not willing to walk, And whose law they did not obey? So He poured out on him the heat of His anger And the fierceness of battle; And it set him aflame all around, Yet he did not recognize it; And it burned him, but he paid no attention.(Isa 42:24-25)

Isaiah saying “we” even though he was not guilty. Expand. Everybody is a sinner but even those of us striving for righteousness bear responsibility for our nation’s sins. Just like the guy who took the stuff at Jericho, we all pay for the sins of our nation.

In the olam ha ba, there will be no more sin. This cycle will be over. But until then, we will still watch the scenario play out. Our nation is in steep decline. Most would say it’s because we don’t have the right policies. But the truth is that it’s because we don’t have the right heart. We as a nation don’t fear Yahweh anymore. We as a nation disregard the sacrifice of His Son and don’t even think of sin much anymore. But at sunset Tuesday this week, those of us who do think of these things will begin the observance of Yom Kippur. We will cease from all our works and fast for 24 hours. We’ll meet sometime during that time period for our holy convocation. And lets remember our nation, and the world, during this time, and pray for all to come to repentance.

Prophecy Outline for Messianics

Do you want to know when the Gog and Magog war is? When is the final battle of this age? Please give this a watch and learn some simple truths that have escaped Christianity for a really long time!

Video with slides below (recommended for this one!)

Audio only below.

Prophecy Outline for Messianics

I don’t spend a lot of time on prophecy studies outside of the outline of the Holy Days. My philosophy here is that if we keep Torah while believing in Yeshua, then the details of prophecy will work themselves out. Perhaps it’s an oversimplification, but if we are doing the Master’s will, does it really matter when He returns? Isn’t that the point of the parable?

However, prophecy is what brings a lot of people to the faith once delivered. Let’s face it, when we read what’s going to happen to the disobedient and pagans, it’s a big motivator to get ourselves on the right side of history. Moses reminded the people of what was going to happen to them when (not if) they disobeyed. Yahweh used other nations to smite Israel repeatedly. Yahweh also destroyed the entire earth once before because of sin. So understanding the stakes, the eternal stakes, is a really good motivator for getting right with Yahweh and Yeshua.

Prophecy is another of our beliefs that needs to be adjusted once we come out of Babylon. One of the key topics we break with most everyone else is on the state of the dead, for example. Most of Christianity, Judaism, and even the world today think that there is no such thing as death. Their when our bodies cease to contain us, we translate into some other type of non-corporeal or semi-corporeal life. We accept that death is the opposite of life. We did not exist prior to our births, we live a mortal life, and then we sleep in the grave awaiting resurrection. It’s rather bizarre that most of Christianity has shed belief in the resurrection when it is such a core belief of Yeshua, who died and was resurrected to prove it (among other things), and then the rest of the apostles.

The resurrection of the dead is an enormously important part of prophecy.

Slide 2 “Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.” (Joh 5:28-29)

“Now at that time Michael, the great prince who stands guard over the sons of your people, will arise. And there will be a time of distress such as never occurred since there was a nation until that time; and at that time your people, everyone who is found written in the book, will be rescued. Many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life, but the others to disgrace and everlasting contempt. Those who have insight will shine brightly like the brightness of the expanse of heaven, and those who lead the many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever. But as for you, Daniel, conceal these words and seal up the book until the end of time; many will go back and forth, and knowledge will increase.” (Dan 12:1-4)

Yeshua is actually referencing the prophet Daniel in John 5:29. In fact, I use John 5:29 as kind of a benchmark for Bible translations. You’ll notice this says “resurrection of judgment” rather than the KJV “resurrection of damnation”. This is a key distinction because those in this category are not even automatically condemned, let alone damned. The resurrection of judgment is just that, a decision time. I’ll get into that a little later. I’m starting with these verses because this is the broadest outline for Messianic prophecy: that the resurrection of the dead is real. All mankind will live again, but in the future. And then we get some more information about the resurrection in Revelation. We learn there are two.

Slide Then I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand; and they came to life and reigned with Messiah for a thousand years. The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Messiah and will reign with Him for a thousand years. (Rev 20:4-6)

It’s Revelation 20 where we learn there is a gap of 1000 years between the resurrection of life and the resurrection of judgment. This 1000 years is also something that Christianity has discarded along the way and I don’t believe Judaism has ever adopted. This 1000 year period is called “the millennium” and we who believe it and take it literally are in the minority, despite it being a very crucial point in history: 1000 years for mankind to have a shot without Satan’s interference.

At this point in this message, I’d like you to stop listening, watching, or reading and read Ezekiel 37 and 38, then Revelation 20, in that order and all at once. If you don’t do it first, you’ll likely end up stopping and doing it anyhow. This is because the timing laid out in plain scripture is contrary to almost everything those who put out eschatological messages ever put out and I want you to see these things for yourselves, not because some guy with a mic told you.

Now we’re back. The book of Revelation is the most Jewish of the NT books. John assumes that the reader is fluid with the Tanakh, the Hebrew Bible, or what we call the Old Testament. Roughly 70% of the verses in Revelation either cite or make allusion to some verse in the Tanakh. And if you did the exercise, you’ll see what I’m talking about. The Book of Revelation is akin to a PhD. paper. I know I’m beating a dead horse here, but it builds upon the elementary school level understanding of scripture, all the way through high school, bachelor’s, and master’s degrees. In the same way that an Algebra book assumes the student understands basic math and number lines, the Book of Revelation assumes the readers know their bibles. So when folks start in Revelation with only an understanding of the New Testament, it can take one in wild directions.

Let’s run down Revelation 20 with Ezekiel 37 and 38 in mind.

It’s hard to see but Revelation 20 is on top and Ezekiel 37 on the bottom. When John, Paul, Yeshua, and anyone else in the first century talked about the resurrection of the dead, they were referencing Ezekiel 37. Now that we know there are two resurrections that bookend the millennium, we know Ezekiel 37 to be the first. John is assuming we know Ezekiel 37 when he references the first resurrection in Revelation 20:1-6. In what’s called “the resurrection chapter” 1st Corinthians 15, we get an order of resurrections that also compliments the order put forth here. In verses 42-49 of 1 Cor 15, Paul explains that the resurrected saints get a spiritual body that will never die. This is exactly what’s depicted in detail in Ezekiel 37’s resurrection.

The Two Sticks

Much ado is made in our circles about one-house versus two-house. What is known is that after the return from Exile, the term Jew applied to any of the tribes that kept the Torah and maintained their identity as children of Yahweh. I know, I know, Jew is derived from Judah, but language is not static nor is it precise. In the New Testament, Paul called himself a Jew, a Benjamite, and an Israelite. Then, as well as know, it’s just common parlance to call those with the bloodline, whether Messianic or non-Messianic, “Jews”. What we have in Ezekiel 37: 15-28 coupled with Revelation 20: 1-6  is proof that both houses have not been reunited yet, they will be, AND we have a time when that will happen, which is after the first resurrection. The first resurrection is when Yahweh gathers all His people from the corners of the earth, reunite the tribes, and set Yeshua as King over all of us.

When is the Gog and Magog War?

Many, many calories have been spent trying to figure out who Gog and Magog are in Christian circles. This is because Christianity desperately wants this war to happen before the return of the Messiah. But when does this war actually happen?

Yes, brothers and sisters, we are at least 1000 years and a day from this war. Ezekiel 37 references the first resurrection where all the saints who have ever lived and those whom Yahweh wills are resurrected, perfected, and glorified. Then at the end of the 1000 years, Satan goes out to deceive the nations one last times and brings an enormous army to Jerusalem where Yahweh has finally had enough.

Then what?

Slide 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. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. (Rev 20:11-15)

Then, after all this, we have the second resurrection. This is when all who have ever lived that were not part of the first resurrection are brought back to life and judged based on their previous lives. The word here for judged G2919 krino which does not mean condemned or executed. It means “decision time”. Judgments can go either way and we can see that there will be names found written in the book of life at this event. Let us pray most of them, if possible.

Choose Wisely

Choose to be found doing Yahweh’s will when Yeshua returns!

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Choose Wisely

Great and terrible day of YHVH.

“The sun will be turned into darkness and the moon into blood before the great and awesome day of YHVH comes. And it will come about that whoever calls on the name of YHVH will be delivered; for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be those who escape, as YHVH has said, even among the survivors whom YHVH calls.” (Joe 2:31-32)

Explaining the Hebrew Calendar

Holy Day dates – this Sunday at sunset is Yom Teruah, Feat of Trumpets. Lots of meaning. Sounds can be joyful or terrifying. When the Israelites marched around Jericho on the 7th day, then made all the noise with trumpets, that sound was wonderful to the Israelites’ ears. Not so much for those of Jericho.

Holy Day Dates – First Century Christianity

Yeshua says blessed be the one who’s doing His master’s will upon return. Are you looking for the sound of the trumpet? Are you going to be happy when it blows or terrified? Perhaps a little of both? Well, this Sunday begins Yom Teruah, the day of Trumpets, and is widely accepted by both Messianics and Jews alike to be a very significant day in prophecy – the day or hour no man knows. Paul tells us this is the day Yeshua will return and I don’t see a reason to disagree.

Then we have ten days and then Yom Kippur. From the book of Hebrews we know this to be a day for forgiveness of sins committed in ignorance. From the Torah and the Gospels we know Yeshua’s sacrifice is tied to this day as well.

The ten days in the middle are called the days of awe. Many do intense repentance during this time. We don’t have a hint of what happens during these days but it surely is significant because Yahweh does nothing on accident.

Yom Teruah ten days Yom Kippur. Yom Kippur is though of to be a day of judgment. We are commanded to do nothing on this day, no eating, no drinking, no work whatsoever. Nothing. So the High Priest could make atonement for the people. Now, in memorial of Yeshua, our new High Priest, making atonement for all who accept Him as Messiah.

Then 5 days later Sukkot, Tabernacle, starts. An absolute party for the children of Yahweh. A time for us to get out of the world for 8 days and fellowship in peace. A memorial of the wilderness time for the Israelites but also for Yeshua, who tabernacled with us.

Then on the 8th day of Sukkot – the day that’s both connected to Sukkot and not – the gateway day, we have a gathering. This is what we consider to be the gateway between this era, the olam haze, and the enternity, the olam ha ba. And we gather each year to have one last hoorah with the assembly before going back to our lives. But on the last Shemini atzaret we won’t go back to our lives. We will enter a new life for eternity, where no evil or sorrow will be found.

The days we keep have rich meaning. I could go on and on with doctrinal meaning and proofs of these days being kept in the New Testament. But instead I’d like to offer an invitation. Please join us. This world is getting tired and starting to come apart. Rahab of Jericho knew what was good for her. She knew Israel was going to take the land and win. So in the late time before the invasion, she chose wisely. She chose Yahweh and her clan was saved, even in the tumult of supernatural war. The good thief on the cross did the same. He knew Yeshua was dying innocently so he chose to acknowledge that, and he will be in the kingdom because of it. As the world hurtles toward the inevitable return of the Messiah, choose wisely. Choose to be found doing His will when He returns. Even if you don’t fully understand it. Make sure you are on the right side now, so you can be on the right side on that final 8th day. Shalom.

The White Throne Judgment

Taking a practical look at the white throne judgment in Revelation 20. What might it look like when those books are actually opened?

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The Remnant

What are the traits of God’s remnant in these troubling times?

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Slide 2 And when the dragon saw that he was thrown down to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male child. But the two wings of the great eagle were given to the woman, so that she could fly into the wilderness to her place, where she *was nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the presence of the serpent. And the serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, so that he might cause her to be swept away with the flood. But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and drank up the river which the dragon poured out of his mouth. 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 12:13-17)

Specific group. Doing both things. Context to show the difficulty. The last sentence is the focus. Often referred to as the remnant message because of how it is worded in KJV and because, well, it is the remnant message.

When I first came to this walk I was taught that keeping the commandments was really just about the 4th commandment. That since the rest of Christianity kept the wrong day, the sign of the remnant was keeping the Sabbath. So to achieve this part of the formula, one had to keep the 10 commandments, including the Saturday Sabbath. And then the testimony of Yeshua was very narrowly defined as the spirit of prophecy. This is because in one verse, Rev 19:10, the testimony of Yeshua is defined as that. But in other verses, it’s clearly talking about the entirety of Yeshua’s testimony, so it’s not just prophecy. And one needs to understand prophecy from the Tanakh, it’s not just being able to tell the future, but something much more special.

This is a case of “when I was a child”. This formula of keeping the ten commandments and the testimony of Yeshua is a very good start, if you don’t get carried away with the prophecy part. Strict adherence to the 10 commandments is and always will be an absolute foundational, unchangeable, truth. If one does that, the rest will surely follow. As long as one accepts Yeshua as the Messiah, that is. When we learn the truth about the commandments, we get really excited about them because we see just how far off the mark society is in general, and Christianity is specifically. I learned the truth more than 20 years ago. As I have learned and grown in the faith, Christianity has fallen even farther off the mark. So today I wand to talk about what the remnant looks like know as one who is mature in the faith.

Slide 3 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way. Then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming; that is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders, and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved. For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false, in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness. (2Th 2:7-12)

Does this sound like lawlessness is restricted to the Sabbath? No, I didn’t think so. This is a comprehensive lawlessness. What did Yeshua say it will look like at the end of this age? The days of Noah.

Slide 4 Then YHVH saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. YHVH was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. YHVH said, I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky; for I am sorry that I have made them.” But Noah found favor in the eyes of YHVH. (Gen 6:5-8)

Yahweh destroyed the earth with a flood because mankind’s thoughts were continually evil. That a comprehensive failure. It’s not just one commandment, it’s everything. And it shows that this breakdown in society was fundamental. But Noah found favor. Why? Because he still believed and behaved appropriately. The next line states that Noah was righteous, blameless in his time. This scenario is playing out for us today. Society is devolving at an incredible pace. Those who are striving for righteousness today are increasingly isolated.

The bible reflects a culture of cycles. With the days of Noah, the cycles applied to the all mankind, the entire earth. With the nation of Israel, the cycles narrowed and we learned the cycles of obedience can be short or long. Once the faith left Israel, 1900 years ago, these cycles shifted back to the larger scale they were under in the days of Noah, leading to the final culmination at the return of Yeshua. As we draw nearer to that end, it’s important to get a clearer understanding of what the remnant looks like. Society today is increasingly godless and lawless, and we who believe are feeling it. As I look around, the falling away is quite comprehensive as society lacks any sort of religion, except the imaginations of men. Our politicians have become our priests and their causes the doctrines. The inability to see anything wrong at all in your favored leader is now comprehensive. We have returned to the systems of old, where the kings could do no wrong whatsoever, even when they did incredibly bad things. Rather than list out the bad, which we will likely do afterwards, let’s look at the behavior of the remnant:

Slide 5 Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world. (Jas 1:27)

Our faith needs to drive us to have compassion on those less fortunate. Orphans and widows were the least fortunate in the first century. They had no means of income or being taken care of at all. A widow depended on her husband for her sustenance. Once he’s gone, so is her income. An orphan is the most helpless, lacking both parents and not being adopted in by their kin or strangers. Our obedience to the commandments and our knowledge of Yeshua’s ministry needs to drive us to caring about those who need help, especially when they are in distress.

Remember, the chapters and verses aren’t there. So what is the next verse?

Slide 6 My brethren, do not hold your faith in our glorious Lord Yeshua Messiah with an attitude of personal favoritism. For if a man comes into your assembly with a gold ring and dressed in fine clothes, and there also comes in a poor man in dirty clothes, and you pay special attention to the one who is wearing the fine clothes, and say, “You sit here in a good place,” and you say to the poor man, “You stand over there, or sit down by my footstool,” have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil motives? Listen, my beloved brethren: did not God choose the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him? But you have dishonored the poor man. Is it not the rich who oppress you and personally drag you into court? Do they not blaspheme the fair name by which you have been called? If, however, you are fulfilling the royal law according to the Scripture, “YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF,” you are doing well. But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. (Jas 2:1-9)

We cannot assume wealth or high office equates with righteousness. As we look at our society today, the wealthy and powerful are turning out the be the most miserable of creatures, aren’t they? What does it say in Genesis? The men of renown were wicked. Does this sound similar? This is a good thing for us, though, because our behavior is to call balls and strikes right down the middle. We are both compassionate to the less fortunate and not respecters of persons, so these are more remnant boxes to check off.

Slide 7 “But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. ‘For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? ‘And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? ‘When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’ Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.’ Then they themselves also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?’ “Then He will answer them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ “These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” (Mat 25:31-46)

Our doctrines and faith need to drive our compassion. Yeshua is representing the final judgment here. And it’s not based on doctrines but behavior. That doesn’t mean we ignore doctrine at all. We know from later scripture that the recipe is to keep the commandments and follow Yeshua’s testimony. This is the dividing line, though. Are we compassionate? Are we attending to the needy? Our actions in recent weeks say yes, we are. We’ve met an entire family that we didn’t know because we stepped up with Tonya’s passing. In fact, our hearts hurt because we can’t help everyone because the world is affecting our own lives.

I was on a call last night with some of the brethren. It was a wonderful experience to hear them sharing about their lives and ministries openly. And that helped to form my topic today. This year we have had to deal with a lot of people passing away and being sick. It’s the remnant all over the place who are doing the right things. We are the ones who don’t hesitate to visit the sick or step up to help with funeral arrangements. We are the ones who keep attending and scheduling services, even though the groups keep getting smaller. Let’s pray our example gets through to people and we can grow our light in these increasingly dark times.

Understanding Prophecy

It’s a strange circumstance we find ourselves where most of Christianity yearns to understand prophecy but simultaneously rejects the Torah, which provides the outline of prophecy. This message is about the Holy Days of Leviticus 23 and how they show us the pattern for interpreting prophecy. Please join me as I explain how many of the answers we seek about the future and the afterlife are hidden in plain sight if you just know where to look!

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The Sabbath

Slide 2 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. For six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of YHVH your Elohim; on it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male slave or your female slave, or your cattle, or your resident who stays with you. For in six days YHVH made the heavens and the earth, the sea and everything that is in them, and He rested on the seventh day; for that reason YHVH blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.” (Exo 20:8-11)

The Sabbath is one of the things that starts brining a person into this walk. It’s the chief sign of Yahweh’s people, resting every 7th day and actually on the 7th day. He did this on the 7th day of Creation and it has been kept and known since. This is where the rubber meets the road – behavior. Our walk, our conversion, has to be accompanied by works. There is no other way to gauge a person than by works. Reciting creeds and academic study are fine, but you know a person by their deeds. When someone changes their lifestyle to obey this commandment, they undergo a change. They start to realize how far society is removed from what was intended.

The Sabbath starts the second cycle of the bible. The first is the cycle of a day. And evening and a morning is one day. The cycle is somewhere very near 24 hours but changes as the earth runs its elliptical orbit around the sun. The weekly sabbath shows us shaping our lives to conform to the example our Creator laid out at Creation. It’s the first “shall” commandment, meaning to do and remember. We do not work, make others work, do commerce, or work animals on this day so everyone gets the chance to rest.

Slide 3 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. (2Pe 3:8)

Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand. And he took hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; and he threw him into the abyss and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he would not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were completed; after these things he must be released for a short time. (Rev 20:1-3)

Many of us put these two verses together with the Sabbath (and the Sabbatical year) to come up with the Sabbath being a foreshadowing of the millennium where mankind gets a 1000 year rest from Satan. As you recall from previous messages, we use the different levels of scripture to say the Sabbath is literal, but it is also a metaphor, and hints at a deeper meaning. The deeper meaning being that this world has roughly 6000 years to fulfill its mission, whatever that mission may be, and then 1000 years for a respite.

Slide 4 I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illuminated it, and its lamp is the Lamb. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. In the daytime (for there will be no night there) its gates will never be closed; (Rev 21:22-25)

At the end of the 1000 years, the universe is remade, and we no longer have night. That also bolsters our view because this would be the end of Sabbath keeping because there will be no more daily cycle for us to accumulate 6 days of work and a seventh of rest.

Passover

Slide 5 Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Messiah our Passover also has been sacrificed. (1Co 5:7)

I have a message devoted to this topic in it’s entirety called The Four Cups of Passover. I recommend digging into that one because the spring holy days are our proof for applying prophecy to the holy days at all!

The holy days of Leviticus 23 are literal. Remember, as we dig deeper, we have to let the literal remain literal. The Sabbath is the first day mentioned in Leviticus 23 but then it goes on to the Passover. Exodus 12 outlines of the first Passover. On the 10th day of the first month, Israel was to select a one year old lamb for each household. On the 14th day of the first month, at sunset, they were to slay this lamb and then drain the blood and cover their doorposts with the blood. Then the household had to stay indoors overnight, and YHVH passed over the homes with blood on the doorposts, but slayed the firstborn son of all the homes that did not complete this ritual. This literally happened, then Israel did it again one year later at the base of Mount Sinai as a memorial. Then they did not observe Passover again until they crossed the Jordan, 39 years later. Once they entered the land, the observance was to be a pilgrimage observance where all the lambs had to be slain at the place YHVH placed His Name, meaning the tent of meaning or later the temple.

There is much meaning here. The part about Messiah being our Passover is the chief. It’s the chief doctrine for all mankind, that Yeshua became the Lamb of God. This was foreshadowed when Abraham was to sacrifice Isaac, his chosen son, and Abraham was faithful enough to do it. At the last second, YHVH swapped out a ram, which is equivalent to a lamb. The lambs slain in Exodus 12 were a call back to Abraham and Isaac, that YHVH was willing to even sacrifice His first born Son to redeem His people. Then Yeshua was sent to earth and voluntarily died, like a lamb led to the slaughter, to offer innocent blood to cover the sins of all who accept this truth.

Another meaning I want to touch on with Passover is that it is an observance that we know is coming. We get to plan it out. Even in Exodus 12, Moses told the people well in advance to prepare for the last plague. The holy days show us that Yahweh is giving everyone a chance to prepare for judgment day. There is a plan in plain sight, in every Bible on earth, showing that Yahweh has a 6000 year plan in motion. The Passover shows us that we can prepare and need to, lest we get left out with the weeping and gnashing of teeth. The meaning of Passover is known to almost all Messiahians, the Yeshua is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. But the knowledge is not the end of the story. The rubber needs to meet the road and we need to observe these days as a memorial annually. This is how we prepare for the end of time, but showing Yahweh our faith in His Son through our deeds.

First Fruits

Slide 6 For as in Adam all die, so also in Messiah all will be made alive. But each in his own order: Messiah the first fruits, after that those who are Messiah’s at His coming, then comes the end, when He hands over the kingdom to our God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power. (1Co 15:22-24)

The next holy day to cover for meaning is First Fruits. In the Torah, this is the day when all Israel has to bring in the first of their spring grain to be offered by the Kohen Gadol. Annually, we purge all the leaven from our homes prior to Passover and then start a new lump after ULB. The nation was forbidden from using any of the new year’s harvest until it was offered by the priest. On our reckoning, this offering was made on the first day of the week during ULB. This is confirmed by Yeshua’s resurrection on that same day. Our bibles tell us He was resurrected by Yahweh before sunup after Shabbat. We use Passover to know that He was crucified on Abib 14 at sunset, then resurrected on Abib 17 sometime around sunset, thus being 3 days and 3 nights in the tomb. The significance is that Abib 17 at sundown would be the first day during ULB which means the Messiah was resurrected on first fruits, as Yahweh planned from before time, thus fulfilling the hinted prophecy of this day as well. Paul is communicating all this to us in these few sentences. Remember, he was one of the most gifted Rabbis of all time and communicated as such. Paul told us here in 1 Cor that first fruits prophesied the resurrection of Yeshua, and that prophecies the resurrection of the rest of mankind. As we dig deeper into this topic, it becomes irrefutable that these days are meant to be used for understanding prophecy.

There is nothing for us to do to observe first fruits today. This day is not a sabbath, but a workday. We do not have a priesthood to bring offerings, we don’t live in the land, and this is just something we know. You can observe first fruits by bringing in the first of your garden to the assembly or any other number of ways, even monetarily, but those are on the individual. We can’t observe this day literally today.

Pentecost aka Shavuot

Slide 7 When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly a noise like a violent rushing wind came from heaven, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. (Act 2:1-2)

Many of us thought this was the first time Pentecost was observed when we first read the bible. This is a trap we fall into when just focusing on the New Testament. What this shows is that the apostles, fifty days after Yeshua was resurrected, were still observing Torah as the observant Jews they continued to be for the rest of their lives. This day is our proof that Yeshua did not come to abolish Torah, but to fulfill it. To show us the deeper meanings and the hints at future prophecy, but that we need to keep Torah to see those things. Those of us who grew up not observing Torah need to learn it, just as the first converts did in the first century.

Shavuot is a day in Leviticus 23 that means “count 50”. From the day of the first fruit offering, we count 7 weeks and a day. This is also a bolster to first fruits being on the first day, Sunday in common parlance, because weeks start on the first day and end on the 7th. 49 days is seven weeks, then on the 50th day there is a Sabbath and an offering of leavened bread. This is also proof that leaven does not represent sin. The bible doesn’t say that anywhere. It’s an analogy brought in to make illustrations, but if there’s an offering with leaven, we can take it to the bank that is not a sinful offering.

Leavened bread represents peace. In order to have a harvest, you need peace and security to plant, nobody to invade and destroy your crops, rain in due season, and the freedom to go harvest. You can’t do this very well if the men are off in battle. It’s possible, but not optimal. Once the leaven is purged, you need time to make new starter lumps and for the lumps to mature. Shavuot expects the nation to be obedient and at peace. Pentecost in Acts 2 shows that Yahweh is in control. He kept the apostles safe after Yeshua’s death, resurrection, and ascension. They were together obeying the commandment when Yeshua sent the Ruach ha Kodesh, as He promised He would. Trusting Yeshua and His Father, the apostles stayed faithful those ten days after Yeshua ascended, and when the 50 days were completed, they were rewarded handsomely. This day shows that Yahweh’s plan was completed at that stage. That the days, the people, the Messiah, and everything came together in the perfect recipe that was allowed to leaven over 4000-ish years for that moment in time to be fulfilled and the apostles to go forth with the power and confidence of the Holy Spirit. Their faith in Yeshua and obedience to Yahweh was so strong, that it lasts to this day, being illustrated in our common faith.

Yom Teruah

Slide 8 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as indeed the rest of mankind do, who have no hope. For if we believe that Yeshua died and rose from the dead, so also God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep through Yeshua. For we say this to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Messiah will rise first. Then we who are alive, who remain, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore, comfort one another with these words. (1Th 4:13-18)

The day of Trumpets is the first day of the 7th month on the Hebrew calendar. This is the beginning of the Fall Holy Days. Up to this point, I’ve been talking about the Spring Holy Days, which have had fulfillments. They may have more fulfillments to come, so we have to be careful not the close the door on learning and be open to the Spirit showing us new things. The fall Holy Days have not yet been fulfilled, or at least that’s how we who observe these things in a NT context generally believe. This also works with the theme of former times and latter times. Christians look at the phrase “latter times” as being the end of the age. That’s not how we look at that. The end of the age is the end of the latter times, but we can generally divide time as former or latter with Yeshua’s earthly ministry being the center point. All time leading up to His sacrifice and ascension being the former times, all time after being the latter times. There can be a whole lot of latter times. I understand ancient Israel marked two seasons vice four like we do today, with the former being somewhat equivalent to spring and summer and the latter being somewhat equivalent to fall and winter. Which makes the scripture make a bit more sense.

When talking about days that have yet to be fulfilled, I have to be careful to make sure you know these are interpretations and speculations. Some of the material is a slam dunk when it comes straight from scripture, but some of what we believe about the future days are extrapolations, thus subject to biases and such. We know for a fact, though, that Yom Teruah, the day of trumpets, is the day that prophecies the return of Yeshua and the first resurrection, which is the scripture on the board. One of the biggest doctrinal disputes of the first century was the resurrection of the dead – is there an afterlife? Yeshua proved this. It is strange to me that this was in doubt because Yahweh used Elijah to resurrect a boy in days of old.

The first day of the 7th month is referred to as “the day no man knows” sometimes in Judaism. This is because we do not have time to prepare for this Sabbath. Unlike Pesach, which happens in the middle of the first month, Yom Teruah happens as the first day of a month. We can still see signs of the times, leaves beginning to change, temperatures lessening, fall crops being ripened, and such, but we still have to watch and be ready. This theme should sound very familiar because it’s how Yeshua spoke about His return. We understand this day to represent the abrupt return of Yeshua, like it says on the screen, and a dramatic change in the world. Mainstream Christianity is obsessed with the end times, always coming up with schemes to predict it, but they are really missing the boat. This day means we need to live our lives in a way that we are not unprepared when the Messiah returns. Granted, it will be shocking and amazing, so we will be surprised, but we know it’s going to happen, just not exactly when. And we’re not supposed to know when, so be prepared.

Yom Kippur

Slide 9 Now when these things have been so prepared, the priests are continually entering the outer tabernacle, performing the divine worship, but into the second, only the high priest enters once a year, not without taking blood which he offers for himself and for the sins of the people committed in ignorance. (Heb 9:6-7)

The book of Hebrews tells us an enormous amount about Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. This day is steeped in Torah, so the more Torah you know, the more you will appreciate this day. Yeshua has fulfilled this day a little. One of His dying words was to forgive those who knew not what they did. His special death attire is also a hint that He was fulfilling Yom Kippur because it was similar to what the Kohen Gadol wears on this day. The other significance is that this happens on the tenth day of the 7th month and the lambs are chosen on the tenth day of the first month. This is a pretty big clue that this day is associated to Pesach.

What I like to focus on here is the inclusion of the “sins committed in ignorance” part. Most of Christianity condemns those who have never heard the gospel, and some even those who don’t accept the gospel in their way, to hell. It’s an awful teaching. They don’t even believe like us, that it’s eternal death (meaning non-existence) but teach eternal torment for those who never heard the WORD. This is an appalling understanding. It’s much better to say “I don’t know” than to condemn billions to eternal torment, as if they were created for such an end. Yeshua’s dying words about forgiving those who actually murdered Him because they did so in ignorance, even thinking they were doing a good thing, is much more hopeful for mankind and more representative of a loving God and His Son.

I also like to focus on the aspect of doing nothing in order to fulfill this day. The commanded observance of Yom Kippur is to fast and do nothing for 24 hours. In the Torah, it was so the Kohen Gadol could make atonement for the sins annually. The people could not do that themselves, they had to have a mediator. Our New Covenant understanding of this day is that Yeshua is our Mediator and we also cannot save ourselves. We have to do nothing, imagining Him on the cross, covering our sins. He’s the only way to the Father, and our only hope of salvation, hence His Name is Yeshua, which means salvation.

Sukkot the Feast of Tabernacles

Slide 10 And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us; and we saw His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (Joh 1:14)

The KJV renders this “tabernacled” among us. To be frank, that’s probably better than dwelt but dwelt is the same connotation in Hebrew. It means to encamp or live temporarily.

The fifteenth day of the seventh month starts an 8 day festival called Sukkot. It has two Sabbaths, one on the fifteenth and the other on the 22nd. This gets complicated but this day is a remembrance of living in Sukkot for 40 years. A sukkah is NOT a tent. It’s a ramshackle structure made from whatever is around. A made tent is a different word, which is an ohel. The meaning here is that our time in this world is temporary and a mess. We have to trust Yahweh to sustain us, as He did the Israelites in the wilderness. Our entire lives are temporary and temporal, but if we trust He is guiding us, we will make it to the promised land.

Yeshua came here to dwell among us temporarily. He knew it was temporary the first time. The significance here is immense, that He knew how it would end but He did it anyhow.

Some liken Sukkot to the millennium because Nehemiah 14 says it will be kept in the future, and the context seems like the 1000 years. I agree with that assessment, but don’t equate Sukkot itself with the 1000 years. That’s more like Shabbat, where we started today’s journey. Now it’s time to come to the end of the journey.

The Eighth Day

Slide 11 When the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison, and will come out to deceive the nations which are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together for the war; the number of them is like the sand of the seashore. And they came up on the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, and fire came down from heaven and devoured them. And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled, 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. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them; and they were judged, each one of them according to their deeds. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. (Rev 20:7-15)

The 8th day is the end of Sukkot. It’s the last Sabbath in Leviticus 23 and unique because it is outside of normal time, hayom ha shamini also called Shimini Atzaret. The Jews even equate this day to the end of the age. Being an 8th day, it is a gateway between things. Boys are circumcised on the 8th day, so they are both gentile and Jew on that same day. This day is understood as the gateway between this work and the one to come, the olam haze versus the olam haba. This is the day that most of Christianity reckons as the day Yeshua comes back. They are wrong. That’s not going to be a pleasant day for most of humanity, but it is not the end. It’s 1000 years before the end of the age, which is on the screen now. We reckon the 8th day as the day Yahweh and Yeshua wrap up all the mess of this age and bring those who are saved into eternity, where they were no longer be any darkness or sadness. This is the day that culminates the Holy Days, and we also believe it to be the day that culminates the end of this age and the beginning of the one that will never end.

Holy Days for Christians

The first century Christians did not observe Sunday, Christmas, or Easter. Whether gentile convert or a Jew who accepted Messiah, they continued to worship as commanded by the Torah. This message shows that Christians should never have stopped that practice and the blessings for those of us who have returned to the observances of the first Christians.

Video with slides above via Rumble. Audio only below via First Century Christianity | Podcast on Spotify.

Tisha B’Av happened August 6 this year. The 9th day of the 5th month. This is not a commanded observance but is a very important date in Judaism and Christianity. There is a list of bad things said to have happened on the 9th of Av on the Hebrew calendar. Some are a stretch. But two things appear to be quite literal, the destruction of both Temples happening, or starting to happen, on or about this date. This is significant for a lot of reasons but having both temples come down on the same calendar date is a big sign that YHVH meant those things happen. The second temple coming down was prophesied by Yeshua. That’s also super significant because it’s another proof of His Messiahship. The down side to this, of course, is the suffering and the time it took for the destruction to be complete.

I bring this up because cultures are formed around events and observances. The Torah establishes what a day is, what a week is, what a month is, what a year is, sabbatical years, and jubilees. The Torah is very much intertwined with times and observances. The culture of this world has observances, too. They are sometimes secular in nature, like sporting events or the signing of key documents, and they are religious in nature. The religious ones are pretty much imposters of the real Holy Days of the Bible. It’s August 27 and can you believe there was a Christmas tree display in Costco yesterday? None of us keep Christmas, but this is absurd to start thinking about it this far out. What’s not absurd to think about are Yahweh’s fall observances, which start a little less than a month from now. Yom Teruah, the Feast of Trumpets, begins sundown on Sunday, September 25th this year. September 26 is the day to take off work, the High Sabbath. Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, begins the night of October 4 and runs through sundown on October 5. We do no work and eat or drink nothing for those 24 hours. Then Sukkot comes on October 10 – October 17, with the 10th and 17th being High Days.

One of the core beliefs we share is to observe the holy days of Leviticus 23. The early church continued to obey Torah and those who were grafted in from the nations in the first century adopted God’s ways. There are a couple of key points to prove this in the New Testament:

Slide 2 When considerable time had passed and the voyage was now dangerous, since even the fast was already over, Paul began to admonish them, (Act 27:9)

This is when Paul was being taken to Rome as a prisoner. This is perhaps 20 years after Yeshua ascended. The fast is Yom Kippur and the author of Acts is using this day to say “it’s fall and the seas are now rough.” The day of Atonement mentioned so casually this late in scripture is solid evidence for its continued observance for the early Messianics.

Slide 3 For Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus so that he would not have to spend time in Asia; for he was hurrying to be in Jerusalem, if possible, on the day of Pentecost. (Act 20:16)

Same theme as above but the day is mentioned by name this time. Well, it’s Greek name.  Pentecost means “count 50” and this is the day that is 50 days from the brining in of the first fruits around Passover time. It’s also the day that Yeshua sent the Ruach to the apostles in Acts 2. Paul is trying to be in Jerusalem for Shavuot, a pilgrimage festival. The context again shows solid evidence the day was known and observed by the early believers. Keep in mind the book of Acts was written about 20 years after Yeshua ascended so if they decided to stop keeping the law, it’s weird behavior for the day of Pentecost to be mentioned at all, let alone showing Paul trying to observe it in the holy land.

Slide 4 Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Messiah our Passover also has been sacrificed. Therefore let us celebrate the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. (1Co 5:7-8)

Just to make sure we cover all the bases, Paul is instructing the church at Corinth to keep the festivals. These would be gentiles and Jews alike and he is writing as if they are fluent in the faith of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. So let there be no doubt that they continued to observe the festivals, and the commandments, long after Yeshua ascended. It was expected the faith would be observed like this forevermore. In fact, we have evidence the faith did continue like this until the early 400s as the councils had to mandate believers to stop observing the Sabbath and even reading the Torah Portions. So this wraps up the apologetic on the early church keeping the holy days.

Slide 5 Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Messiah, so that we may be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor. For you are all sons of God through faith in Messiah Yeshua. For all of you who were baptized into Messiah have clothed yourselves with Messiah. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Messiah Yeshua. And if you belong to Messiah, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise. (Gal 3:24-29)

But I bring it up because of Tish B’Av and how we need to keep the right mindset. Our Messiah was Jewish. He lived as a Jew, attending synagogue, and kept the commandments. That doesn’t mean we have to become Jews or follow the Rabbis, particularly the stuff that came after, but it means we should be mindful, respectful, and somewhat knowledgeable about Judaism, particularly how it was followed in the first century.

Slide 6 I say then, God has not rejected His people, has He? May it never be! For I too am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. (Rom 11:1)

But Paul said, “I am a Jew of Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no insignificant city; and I beg you, allow me to speak to the people.” (Act 21:39)

But perceiving that one group were Sadducees and the other Pharisees, Paul began crying out in the Council, “Brethren, I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees; I am on trial for the hope and resurrection of the dead!” (Act 23:6)

These verses are up so we can see that not only were the first believers grafted in to the family of God but those who were already of the family did not have to change. By change, I mean cast aside the Torah and their ancestry, which is what mainstream Christianity teaches. They teach that a new religion was born 2000 years ago, while we know the faith is a continuance of the faith of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I watched the movie Risen on a couple plane rides. It was very good until the end when the movie makers showed the Apostles cease being Jews and become something else. That’s just not true. The New Testament doesn’t show God turning His back on the Jews and switching to random gentiles, it shows Jews accepting Messiah and continuing to keep the commandments and gentiles accepting the Messiah and starting to keep the commandments. So while we aren’t to convert to Judaism, we still learn from them and their writings because, for at least 150 years, the Messianic movement was actually a sect of Judaism until it was forced out for a couple reasons.

So with all this said, let’s take a quick look at the Fall Holy Days of Leviticus 23 because they are coming up.

Slide 7 Again YHVH spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘In the seventh month on the first of the month you shall have a rest, a reminder by blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation. ‘You shall not do any laborious work, but you shall present an offering by fire to YHVH.'” (Lev 23:23-25)

In English, this is called the Day of Trumpets. That doesn’t do it justice. In Hebrew it’s called Yom Teruah, which does include Trumpets but also shouting, noise, etc. We have a conflict here with Judaism because they call this “new year’s” when it is the first day of the SEVENTH month. But we also learn something from Judaism about this day that Yeshua cited:

Slide 8 “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.” (Mat 24:36)

Judaism has referred to the first day of the 7th month as “the day no man knows” since before Yeshua. Yeshua was hinting His audience that the end, or His Return, or some hugely significant event coming in the future will occur on the Yom Teruah.

Slide 9 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Messiah will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words. (1Th 4:16-18)

And Paul tells us also that Yeshua will return on Yom Teruah, revealing the hint from Yeshua, and that this day is also when the first resurrection will occur. So, you see, keeping the Holy Days isn’t just a commandment, it isn’t just an expectation of the original believers, many of which were already keeping the commandments because they were Jews, but it’s also looking forward to the return of the Messiah!

Slide 10 YHVH spoke to Moses, saying, “On exactly the tenth day of this seventh month is the day of atonement; it shall be a holy convocation for you, and you shall humble your souls and present an offering by fire to YHVH. “You shall not do any work on this same day, for it is a day of atonement, to make atonement on your behalf before YHVH your God. “If there is any person who will not humble himself on this same day, he shall be cut off from his people. “As for any person who does any work on this same day, that person I will destroy from among his people. “You shall do no work at all. It is to be a perpetual statute throughout your generations in all your dwelling places. “It is to be a sabbath of complete rest to you, and you shall humble your souls; on the ninth of the month at evening, from evening until evening you shall keep your sabbath.” (Lev 23:26-32)

Now comes the Fast. This day has enormous Messianic meaning. But the crux is to do nothing – no eating, no drinking, no work, nada for 24 hours from sunset to sunset. That’s what we do today. Back in Temple and tabernacle days, the people did nothing except for a couple of the Kohen. The High Priest made atonement for the people. This was the day that the sins of the people were transferred, ceremonially and perhaps literally, to the goats or the curtain. And the High Priest did it for all.

Slide 11 Now when these things have been so prepared, the priests are continually entering the outer tabernacle performing the divine worship, but into the second, only the high priest enters once a year, not without taking blood, which he offers for himself and for the sins of the people committed in ignorance. (Heb 9:6-7)

Again, today is just an overview, but the crux of the matter is that Yeshua bore our transgressions. The Kohen Gadol, the High Priest, was a type, Yeshua is the fulfillment. When He died, the curtain was torn in two. And the book of Hebrews goes on in great detail what this day means.

So for us to fast on this day, to observe it the best we can, is to honor our Messiah’s death which paid the price for sins. And those were sins committed in ignorance, which gives us a marvelous hope for all mankind who have committed sins in ignorance, which is everyone.

Slide 12 Again YHVH spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘On the fifteenth of this seventh month is the Feast of Booths for seven days to YHVH. ‘On the first day is a holy convocation; you shall do no laborious work of any kind. ‘For seven days you shall present an offering by fire to YHVH. On the eighth day you shall have a holy convocation and present an offering by fire to YHVH; it is an assembly. You shall do no laborious work. (Lev 23:33-36)

Now we get to Sukkot! The Feast of Tabernacles. Or the season of our joy! So after we have the day that foreshadows Yeshua’s return, then we have the day of somber fasting that is for the sins committed in ignorance (among other things), we have an 8 day festival. We analogize this one to representing the 1000 years, but the Sabbath does that to. We also equate the 8th day as the sign of completion and a gateway between the impure and the holy. The 8th day of sukkot is thought to be representative of the bridge between the end of this era and the beginning of eternity, where we enter the olam ha ba. It’s also thought to be judgment day or the second resurrection. For today, Sukkot is a time for us all to fellowship together in peace and harmony, most often at a resort or camping, with just our fellow believers. Scripturally it represents the time the Hebrews were in the wilderness, living in sukkahs, and is a remembrance of that. Which can also relate to how our lives here are temporal, where we live for just a short time, and then at the resurrection are given permanent immortal bodies. But whatever the meanings turn out to be, the feast is just fine as it is!

Slide 13 The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person. For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil. (Ecc 12:13-14)

The conclusion, though, is to fear God and keep His commandments. For in so doing, we will show ourselves approved and faithful when Messiah returns. Keeping the commandments are not burdensome, as I hope the message today shows. They are a privilege for us to know and do. They are healthy for us. They enhance our lives today. And they show our faith in Yahweh and His Son, Yeshua, while we await Yeshua’s return.

The First Two Commandments

The importance of the first two of the Ten Commandments and their relevance today and in prophecy.

Video with slides above. Audio only below.

Slide 2 Then Elohim spoke all these words, saying, “I am YHVH your Elohim, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other elohim before Me. You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath, or in the water under the earth. You shall not worship them nor serve them; for I, YHVH your Elohim, am a jealous Elohim, inflicting the punishment of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing favor to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.” (Exo 20:1-6)

Context – what had just happened? YHVH just executed 10 plagues to decimate the Egyptians. Back then, it was perceived that if a nation was great it was due to the god it served. Today, it’s not perceived that way by most of the western world but it is still true. Built into these two commandments, which could actually be construed at one commandment, is this reality. Those who serve YHVH and reject other elohim are blessed.

Introduction – YHVH was coy about His Name up until this point in history. He did not tell Moses to go introduce Him to the Israelites. He chose to demonstrate His awesome power rather anonymously and then let them know who He is. He decimated the false gods, brought His people to safety, and then said “I did that.” This is a very confident manner of communication a powerful way to get people’s attention.

Numbering – the verse numbering is not inspired. Nor are the chapter breaks. But in this chapter we know there is a numbering. Exodus 34:28, Deuteronomy 4:13, and Deuteronomy 10:4 specifically refer to these mitzvot at the 10 commandments. Well, the 10 words. The word is literally word, dabar in the singular, dabarim in the plural. This is one of those Hebrew words that can be translated a number of ways (pun) based on context. When YHVH utters a word, which can be a sentence or a paragraph, it’s a mitzvot – a commandment. Particularly when it says “you shall” or “you shall not”. Point – the numbering is actually here. But this list comprises one thing, a set of 10. Those 10 compliment each other. The first says who YHVH is, the rest define how to worship and honor Him. Our behavior shows our devotion. Which is a hard thing to write since we are all sinners.

The second commandment is intertwined with the first. Regardless of the god, idolatry was the principal worship tool of the false gods. Yahweh is drawing a contrast with the second commandment. He is saying not to worship the way the nations do. Remember how I said He destroyed Egypt and THEN introduced Himself? Remember that. He saved them when they didn’t know Him. He saved them when they didn’t know how to pronounce His Name. His Name, His Shem, is His character defined by His actions. He demonstrated His love for His people while they were ignorant and He demonstrated His power on both the wicked and the righteous when they didn’t know what to call Him. Then He says “you’re not to make images for worship.”

Slide 3 “You shall make two cherubim of gold; make them of hammered work at the two ends of the atoning cover. Make one cherub at one end and one cherub at the other end; you shall make the cherubim of one piece with the atoning cover at its two ends. And the cherubim shall have their wings spread upward, covering the atoning cover with their wings and facing one another; the faces of the cherubim are to be turned toward the atoning cover. Then you shall put the atoning cover on top of the ark, and in the ark you shall put the testimony which I will give to you. There I will meet with you; and from above the atoning cover, from between the two cherubim which are upon the ark of the testimony, I will speak to you about every commandment that I will give you for the sons of Israel.” (Exo 25:18-22)

Now comes the balancing act because later He definitely says to make things that could be construed as idols. When Moses came down the mountain and discovered the golden calf and that worship, they were absolutely busted and they paid a big price for that disobedience. The prohibition on idols, though, does not prohibit artwork because we know the tabernacle and the temple were both commanded to be made with images of things. It’s hard to imagine a world without artwork or images at all. So common sense dictates this is about making images for worship, idolatry, not about making images at all.

How do we reconcile these angelic images being incorporated into the worship of YHVH? Well, that’s for Him to explain. As for me, I just believe. And someday perhaps we will know what these two images were really all about.

Slide 4 “I am YHVH your Elohim, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other elohim before Me.” (Exo 20:2-3)

The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands so as not to worship demons and the idols of gold, silver, brass, stone, and wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk; and they did not repent of their murders, nor of their witchcraft, nor of their sexual immorality, nor of their thefts. (Rev 9:20-21 NASB)

“before Me” here is “al paniym”. This is another unusual usage of what is called the plurality of majesty. In Hebrew, the article becomes plural when the noun is plural. The same holds true for most languages. When YHVH is talking about Himself, or when the bible is specifically talking about Him, there’s a grammatical exception that only for Him where the article is singular and the noun is plural. El is the singular for god, Elohim is the plural. But you’ll notice he says “I am” in the singular and then Elohim in the plural. This is where people start to incorporate the trinity even though there’s no justification for that at all. Before me has the same special grammar here. It literally says something like “you shall have no other Elohim in front of my faces”. But that’s confusion. What it means is that we are not to have any other gods in His sight – or just don’t have any other gods at all. It’s a way of saying, comprehensively, don’t even go there, don’t think about it, period. End of discussion.

What does this commandment not say? It doesn’t say there are no other elohim at all. Granted, most of the bible says idols are just made things and other gods aren’t gods at all, but let’s be very careful with this. Satan’s biggest tool is to convince people he doesn’t exist. He does exist and he is powerful. Other demonic beings exist with powers we do not comprehend. The false prophets of Egypt were able to do some of the stuff YHVH did through Moses. When King Saul visited the conjurer, she did successfully conjure. We need to keep in mind that Yahweh is not going to command us not to do things frivolously. The verse in Revelation here associated demonic worship with idolatry. That doesn’t mean demons can’t be worshiped without idols, but it’s associated.

Slide 5 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And He said to him, “‘YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.’ “This is the great and foremost commandment.” (Mat 22:36-38)

Idolatry was not a significant problem during Yeshua’s ministry. Well, for the Israelites. The Shema is tied to the first commandment. The first time the temple came down it was due to false religious worship mixed with the true, which is called syncretism and spiritual adultery. The Jews of the first century were Hellenistic, meaning they did entertain Greek philosophy and mesh it with the faith of Abraham, but they largely rejected Rome and its forms of worship. This is a good example for us today in the west. We are in this mixed up world and our minds are trained to be western – Greek. Whether we like it or not, or understand it or not, we understand things from a western perspective which is not the perspective of the faith of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Yeshua. We have to learn the ways of Yahweh, which is a contrast to the ways of this world.

Slide 6 “You see and hear that not only in Ephesus, but in almost all of Asia, this Paul has persuaded and turned away a considerable number of people, saying that gods made by hands are not gods at all. Not only is there danger that this trade of ours will fall into disrepute, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be regarded as worthless, and that she whom all of Asia and the world worship will even be dethroned from her magnificence.” (Act 19:26-27)

Idolatry did become a big issue once the faith went forth from Zion. Paul walked right into the lion’s den preaching the truth about idols, that they are just trinkets and statues. Paul was, by extension, preaching against Artemis of the Ephesians, and bringing people to Torah. Through Paul, Yahweh called many thousands of pagans out of that mess. Which is key because, as we saw earlier, mankind is going to be held accountable for idolatry in the end of days. This is a huge, positive departure from Israel’s past. King Solomon himself actually allowed idols and false religion into Israel. Israel was to be a pure country that was an example to the nations but it kept failing. After the curtain was rent in two, YHVH went a different route. He sent apostles into the world on a counter offensive. Paul and the gang were remarkably successful, and Yahweh sent His Ruach to pave the way. Yeshua, our High Priest, now intercedes for all who accept Him as Messiah and shed their pagan ways.

Slide 7 For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their reasonings, and their senseless hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and they exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible mankind, of birds, four-footed animals, and crawling creatures. (Rom 1:21-23)

Cycle continues. Artemis = Starbucks logo. Increase in people following Wicca, literally calling themselves witches. Shirts that say “until Valhalla”. Increase in Yoga. It seems our society is bent on going in the wrong direction. This time, though, there’s no excuse. Paul writes that the ancients should have known better. Today, the Bible is available in all languages, on our phones, our computers, you name it. Knowledge has indeed increased, but mankind is so stubborn and rebellious that our race keeps bungling it. Our job is to persist in the faith once delivered and remember that Yahweh is our Elohim, the Creator of everything, and His Son is our Messiah. We will live as they command, not as the world commands, in anticipation of Yeshua’s return. Shalom

The State of the Dead

Understanding prophecy starts with understanding the true state of the dead. Our hope is in the resurrection of the dead, which is a return to life.

The state of the dead

Shalom. I haven’t put anything out in a while because life has gotten incredibly busy and hectic. Many changes have been afoot over here, most positive, some sad, but so much at once that my family and I are really frazzled.

One of the sad things are a few recent deaths. A long time friend in the faith passed, the husband of one of our members passed, and my own mother recently passed away. My mother had been on death’s door since May so we all had mixed emotions about her passing. She was absolutely miserable in that hospital bed. She loved her freedom and working with her hands. She had a remarkable fruit tree orchard and garden in the tiny back yard of my parent’s mobile home. She thoroughly enjoyed getting things to grow where nothing is supposed to grow. She was actively tending that garden until she was hospitalized in May. She clearly did not want to be imprisoned in a bed and unable to take care of herself. She made it know, repeatedly and in agony, that she was ready to die several times. Since she hadn’t made a directive in advance, it was complicated, but she ultimately did pass. I will take this moment to really encourage everyone to get a directive, something in writing, making it official as to how far you want the doctors to work to keep you alive should you be incapacitated. Without a directive, it’s left up to your next of kin and family and it creates the most horrific situation you can imagine for these folks. This situation was unbearable with my own family. Fortunately, my mom became conscious enough to sign her own hospice and DNR papers.

Today’s podcast isn’t about directives, though. It’s about the state of the dead. This is something that is really confusing for Christians but shouldn’t be if we look at a few literal scriptures. Granted, there are some scriptures that make it seem like dead people live on, but those are figures of speech. When death is spoken of literally in the NT, it’s spoken of as sleep. This is very, very important to understanding the entirety of scripture and what is really coming at the return of the Messiah and then at the end of the age.

Slide 2 This He said, and after this He said to them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going so that I may awaken him from sleep.” The disciples then said to Him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will come out of it.” Now Yeshua had spoken of his death, but they thought that He was speaking about actual sleep. So Yeshua then said to them plainly, “Lazarus died, and I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, so that you may believe; but let’s go to him.” (Joh 11:11-15)

Yeshua lets Lazarus be dead for four days so there is no doubt about His power to resurrect people. Remember, the biggest doctrinal dispute of the NT was about the resurrection. Those who did not believe in it were constantly trying to disprove it from those who did believe in it. The resurrection of the dead is in Ezekiel 37 and that chapter, along with chapter 38, lines up with the framework of what is coming. But it’s all predicated on dead people actually being dead. Death is the opposite of life, it is not life in another form. Remember, Satan’s big lie was that we would not die. Death is the absence of life, hence the resurrection being the afterlife. When life is put back into us. In the story of Lazarus, Yeshua wanted to make it clear that Lazarus being dead is a form of sleep and that his resurrection was a restoration to life.

Slide 3 The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Messiah, and will reign with Him for a thousand years. (Rev 20:5-6)

Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled, 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)

The rest of the dead did not come to life. This does not say “the rest of the dead were burning” nor does it say they were in purgatory. It says they were dead. We have two resurrections here book ended by 1000 years. The first resurrection is when Yeshua returns. This is the regathering spoken of in the Tanakh, the Old Testament. The first resurrection is of the saints, those who lived well during their lifetimes. Those who accept Yeshua as the Messiah and have been baptized are who we consider the people who make this resurrection. These people have had their sins atoned for and will have special jobs during the 1000 years. They will be resurrected immortal and will never die again. 1000 years later, everybody else will be resurrected. These would be people who lived in all eras, all sinners. And they will be judged according to how they lived, according to what was recorded in the books. This is decision time. Some will make it, some will not. This event is the end of this era. It’s the end of the olam haze, or this present earth. The next stop is the olam haba, the world to come. Where death and sorrow and pain will never exist. That time is not now. Sorrow exists now, both on earth and in heaven, as Yahweh, Yeshua, and the angels have to contend with us sinners down here. But in the olam ha ba, it will not be like that. We will all live together in peace for eternity. After the resurrection of the dead.

My mother was a life long Catholic. The last line of their profession of faith is “we look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come.” This is a point where I have to agree with their doctrine. Let us all look forward to the resurrection of the dead, where we may be reunited with loved ones, and hopefully we all may enter into the olam haba together. In Yeshua’s holy Name.