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The Life and Times of the Holy Spirit

This message is a discussion on the Holy Spirit, called the Ruach Elohim in Hebrew, from Genesis through the New Testament. We discuss many aspects of the Spirit including that people can lose it and even bad people can have it. Did you know that the name Nehemiah is directly tied to the Holy Spirit for New Testament believers? Do you have any thoughts on this message?

The Spirit. Pneuma in Greek. Ruach in Hebrew. It can mean a lot of stuff in both languages and is context dependent. Which is the same as today. This is actually part of our culture and the culture of the Bible. Words always have nuance and can be used in completely different ways. Think about the word phone. Not long ago, that meant a device with wires you use to speak to people after dialing a number. Today a phone is a supercomputer in your pocket that you use least for actually speaking to people!

For the Spirit, you can be with someone “in spirit” and not literally be with them. You can lift someone’s spirits with a visit. Mineral spirits are solvents used to thin paint. One can even drink spirits and spirits can be used for demons. You can see this go a bunch of different ways. Today we’re talking about Ruach Elohim, the Spirit of God, which is also called the Holy Spirit or Ruach ha Kodesh.  And we’re going to take a deep dive into the Spirit and what evidence there is to show that somebody has the Spirit.

Slide 2 All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.

(2Ti 3:16-17)

The first thing I want us to consider when seeing the Spirit is to come to the realization that the bible doesn’t always literally say “such and such person was given the Spirit”. Part of this message is to show many literal times the Spirit shows up in scripture but I also want us to use our noodles. Scripture being inspired means through the Spirit. Paul is saying the Tanakh, the Hebrew Bible, aka the Old Testament, was completely inspired. That means through the Holy Spirit. That’s 39 books of the Old Testament that were compiled through the work of the Ruach ha kodesh. By extension, we also generally believe these works were also preserved by the Holy Spirit. This means divine inspiration was involved in the passing down of the writings over time. Yes, I’m repeating myself.

Slide 3 “For he will be great in the sight of the Lord; and he will drink no wine or liquor, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit while yet in his mother’s womb.” (Luk 1:15)

This one is a favorite of mine to show that people in the New Testament knew about the Holy Spirit long before Acts 2. These are the very first verses of the New Testament and it shows that Zacharias and Elizabeth could fully recognize the Ruach. Zacharias does talk back to the angel but doesn’t ask “what is this Ruach ha Kodesh you speak of?” but rather doubts the whole prophecy of what John, his son that will be born late in his life, will do.

Slide 4 I told them how the hand of my God had been favorable to me and also about the king’s words which he had spoken to me. Then they said, “Let us arise and build.” So they put their hands to the good work. (Neh 2:18)

From Paul, we know all scripture is inspired so that means the book of Nehemiah, and therefore Nehemia himself, is inspired by the Spirit. Nehemiah is referencing the Ruach with the phrase “hand of my Elohim”. He doesn’t literally say the Spirit is on him, but it’s understood. Guess what else is really cool about Nehemiah?

Slide 5 H5166

נְחֶמְיָה

Nechemyah (637c); from 5162 and 3050; “Yah comforts,” three Isr.:—

Nehemiah(8).

Nehemiah’s name is really Nechemyah. Do you know what that means? Yahweh comforts. It’s a play on the comforter. Was this known in days of old that the Messiah would send the comforter? Think about Nehemiah’s mission. Did Yahweh send him as a comforter?

Slide 6 In the beginning Elohim created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Ruach Elohim (Spirit of God) was moving over the surface of the waters. (Gen 1:1-2)

Very important topic. It starts the Bible. We often look at this for deeper meaning, heck, almost exclusively deeper meaning, but can we just look at it for what it says for a moment? The second sentence of the Bible says the Ruach Elohim, the Spirit of God, was moving over the surface of the waters. That means everybody who has ever read the bible, from the time Moses penned it until the end of days, is supposed to know or be able to know what the Spirit of God is. That doesn’t necessarily mean they have the Spirit, but it means this is a topic that isn’t hidden for 4K years and only revealed in the book of Acts.

Another hint to doing a deep dive on a word is to switch from searching for the word but search for its Strong number. That’s because Hebrew words can often be presented differently in English due to the context. We certainly don’t have time to go through 375 instances of the word ruach, but this give a glimpse at how often the word is used in the Old Testament. It’s pretty overwhelming. This is another way of showing that this concept of a spirit is not an unknown thing to the Tanakh. That’s the perspective we often get from doctrine, that the Spirit was not known before the New Testament because of the Joel prophecy. We’ll get to that prophecy in a little bit, but for now let’s look at some places where little-known people had the Ruach.

Slide 8 Now YHVH spoke to Moses, saying, “See, I have called by name Bezalel, the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. “I have filled him with the Ruach Elohim (Spirit of God) in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all kinds of craftsmanship, to make artistic designs for work in gold, in silver, and in bronze, and in the cutting of stones for settings, and in the carving of wood, that he may work in all kinds of craftsmanship.” (Exo 31:1-5)

Just to be clear, this is a skosh before Pentecost, 30AD. Have you ever considered the ability to make stuff as evidence of the Spirit? If not, please re-read Genesis 1. Creation week is where we see Yahweh building the universe, the planet, and all that is on the planet. Yahweh is Spirit, so building, craftsmanship, and the ability to do work is evidence of the Spirit. The wisdom and knowledge to have a plan and execute it is also evidence of the Spirit. The guys name means “in the shadow of God”. Hmmm.  

Slide 9 When Balaam saw that it pleased YHVH to bless Israel, he did not go as at other times to seek omens but he set his face toward the wilderness. And Balaam lifted up his eyes and saw Israel camping tribe by tribe; and the Ruach Elohim (Holy Spirit) came upon him. (Num 24:1-2)

A bad guy has the Holy Spirit. Remember that just because someone has evidence of the Spirit, or even can prophesy correctly, that doesn’t mean they are without sin or can be fully trusted.

Slide 10 Then YHVH came down in the cloud and spoke to him; and He took of the Ruach who was upon him and placed it upon the seventy elders. And when the Ruach rested upon them, they prophesied. But they did not do it again. But two men had remained in the camp; the name of one was Eldad and the name of the other Medad. And the Ruach rested upon them (now they were among those who had been registered, but had not gone out to the tent), and they prophesied in the camp. So a young man ran and told Moses and said, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.” Then Joshua the son of Nun, the attendant of Moses from his youth, said, “Moses, my lord, restrain them.” But Moses said to him, “Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all YHVH’S people were prophets, that YHVH would put His Ruach upon them!” (Num 11:25-29)

In this case, the elders got a portion of the Ruach Moses had. This showed they were lesser prophets than Moses. And the evidence was them prophesying immediately but the long term evidence was wisdom. This also shows that Yahweh is going to bless whom He will bless. Moses is also foreshadowing the Joel prophecy here. He is wanting all of us to have the Spirit. That is an acknowledgment that not all did then, and I’d even say not all do today. But the young man knew the evidence of the Spirit, huh?

Slide 11 “Then the Spirit of the LORD will come upon you mightily, and you shall prophesy with them and be changed into another man. “It shall be when these signs come to you, do for yourself what the occasion requires, for God is with you. “And you shall go down before me to Gilgal; and behold, I will come down to you to offer burnt offerings and sacrifice peace offerings. You shall wait seven days until I come to you and show you what you should do.” Then it happened when he turned his back to leave Samuel, God changed his heart; and all those signs came about on that day. When they came to the hill there, behold, a group of prophets met him; and the Spirit of God came upon him mightily, so that he prophesied among them. It came about, when all who knew him previously saw that he prophesied now with the prophets, that the people said to one another, “What has happened to the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?” (1Sa 10:6-11)

In this case, it’s called the Ruach YHVH, not Ruach Elohim. That seems significant.

Pretty self-explanatory but also see how all who knew Saul previously knew how to recognize the Spirit and that a group of prophets already existed.

The transformational power – Saul became another man. This is very similar to NT language. And don’t lose the power of the witnesses. They witnessed Saul’s blessing and his change.

Saul lost it. He lost the Ruach and was changed back. And he missed it. Badly. Huge lesson for us. Even if you have the Spirit, you have free will and can blaspheme it!

Slide 12 Then Saul sent messengers to take David, but when they saw the company of the prophets prophesying, with Samuel standing and presiding over them, the Spirit of God came upon the messengers of Saul; and they also prophesied. When it was told Saul, he sent other messengers, and they also prophesied. So Saul sent messengers again the third time, and they also prophesied.

(1Sa 19:20-21)

Lot’s of folks with the Spirit again. It’s back to Ruach Elohim.

Slide 13 So the LORD said to Moses, “Take Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the Spirit, and lay your hand on him; and have him stand before Eleazar the priest and before all the congregation, and commission him in their sight. (Num 27:18-19)

Still slide 13 Now Joshua the son of Nun was filled with the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands on him; and the sons of Israel listened to him and did as the LORD had commanded Moses.

(Deu 34:9)

Interesting that Joshua appears to have the Spirit prior to the laying on of hands.

Slide 14 Now the Ruach YHVH (Spirit of YHVH) departed from Saul, and a ruach ra (evil spirit) from YHVH terrorized him. (1Sa 16:14)

Saul lost the Spirit. Ra is bad, not necessarily evil. Saul felt this loss deeply. Depression, anger, and evil. He ultimately wanted it back so badly that he sought the counsel of a medium, breaking his own decree and Torah. And it ended poorly for him.

Slide 15 The glory of YHVH went up from the midst of the city and stood over the mountain which is east of the city. And the Ruach lifted me up and brought me in a vision by the Ruach Elohim to the exiles in Chaldea. So the vision that I had seen left me. Then I told the exiles all the things that YHVH had shown me. (Eze 11:23-25)

This is right after YHVH reveals to Ezekiel that He will return all Israel to the land, they will remove the defilements, and will get a new heart of flesh. They will obey Torah and will be Yahweh’s people and He will be their Elohim. The Ruach Elohim allowed Ezekiel to bring this message. Where else in scripture do we see the Ruach taking people places and directly aiding in the spreading of the Word? Yes, this is a foreshadowing of the NT. And this is where I will leave it for the Old Testament.

Our faith is unique because we use the entirety of the Bible. We know that Genesis to Revelation is al applicable. Paul validates that all scripture is inspired and profitable. Not some scripture, all. It’s easy to get into the misconception that the Spirit came for the first time in Acts 2 or that it was very limited in its use in the Tanakh because of the way mainstream Christianity approaches the Bible, by starting to read in the NT with the OT as an afterthought. The previous 12 slides are about the Ruach Elohim, the Holy Spirit in the Tanakh, the Old Testament. I stopped because that’s overwhelming. You could spend a couple weeks on this and not catch them all. People who received it were changed and received power and ability. People with abilities were recognized as having the Spirit and those abilities having come from Yahweh. If we were to have a study on the Spirit in the OT in totality, it would cover many, many more verses and take quite a bit of time. I wanted to show today just how established the Ruach Elohim was prior to the NT.

From the close of the Old Testament until the Messiah there were about 400 years. This is referred to as the 400 years of silence. It’s during this period when anyone who followed Torah became known worldwide as “a Jew”. It’s just parlance. 2 Mac is addressed to the Jews in Egypt. That’s and application of the word being used to refer to all who keep Torah in Egypt. And we know that Yahweh was still working with the Jews because the temple was in place, the LXX was written, and the Christ had to come. So, while it was a period of silence, it wasn’t a period of abandonment. The silence means there were no prophets or new scriptures penned. It wasn’t really a “silent” period because of the Maccabean revolt, the creation of the LXX, and the spreading of the Tanakh throughout the known world through the synagogue system which all helped to set the stage for the coming of the Messiah.

Slide 16 But Peter, taking his stand with the eleven, raised his voice and declared to them: “Men of Judea and all you who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you and give heed to my words. “For these men are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only the third hour of the day; but this is what was spoken of through the prophet Joel: ‘AND IT SHALL BE IN THE LAST DAYS,’ God says, ‘THAT I WILL POUR FORTH OF MY SPIRIT ON ALL MANKIND; AND YOUR SONS AND YOUR DAUGHTERS SHALL PROPHESY, AND YOUR YOUNG MEN SHALL SEE VISIONS, AND YOUR OLD MEN SHALL DREAM DREAMS; EVEN ON MY BONDSLAVES, BOTH MEN AND WOMEN, I WILL IN THOSE DAYS POUR FORTH OF MY SPIRIT And they shall prophesy. (Act 2:14-18)

The Ruach guided Peter’s speech to remind them that the gift of the Ruach Elohim was not something new. Joel references it and says what some of the evidence of the Spirit is. And it’s the same evidence as it was in Moses’ day and in Saul’s day. This is also a fulfillment of Moses’ comment that he wished all of God’s people would be prophets. The difference is the Spirit will be much more prevalent on mankind. This is an exciting time for those who witnessed the Apostles prophesy because Yahweh was showing them all that they had indeed entered the latter days. That the Christ had come and then sent the Ruach, just as He had promised.

Slide 17 “But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said that He takes of Mine and will disclose it to you.” (Joh 16:13-15)

The Ruach guides into all truth. The fulfillment of this prophecy is Acts 2. What truth was discovered in Acts 2? That Torah was broken to murder the Christ. That they used false witnesses to accuse the Son of God. That they killed the Son of God, that God raised Him up on the third day, and that Yeshua is now exalted to sit at the right hand of God. Now, did it just guide Peter to speak the truth so it could be spoken? Did it guide Peter to speak the truth so the murderers could be punished and put to death? No and no.

Slide 18 Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brethren, what shall we 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 Holy Spirit.” (Act 2:37-38)

The Spirit guided Peter to speak the truth so the people could repent, be forgiven, and then receive the Spirit themselves.

Slide 19 While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who were listening to the message. All the circumcised believers who came with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also. For they were hearing them speaking with tongues and exalting God. Then Peter answered, “Surely no one can refuse the water for these to be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we did, can he?” (Act 10:44-47)

Just like with Saul, just like with Moses, the Spirit comes and then Peter needs to recognize it. It’s also important to note what is not evidence of the Holy Spirit. Peter was granted the Ruach in Acts 2. This is many years later. And it shows that the Spirit did not make Peter perfect. One with the Spirit can error and even go against the Spirit. One can even lose the Spirit. But Peter, who was previously quite stiff necked, was a changed man. He was able to see the error of his ways and change, thus being comfortable with Yahweh calling those of the nations. Peter is being shown the fulfillment of his own words in Acts 2 here when he cited Joel that the Spirit would be poured out on all mankind. Even though Peter had uttered those words, he didn’t realize it until the vision of the unclean food. This is another place where we must take care not to think too highly of ourselves when we see the evidence of the Spirit in our own lives. It does not make us supermen who know everything. And it also gives us a check on those with whom we see the evidences of the Spirit that we are not to trust them blindly. In short, people are still flawed even when they have the Spirit.

Slide 20 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Yeshua the Messiah has come in the flesh is from God; and every spirit that does not confess Yeshua is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world. (1Jn 4:1-3)

For us who live after the Messiah came the first time, this is the first big check for evidence of the Spirit. People must believe that Yeshua is the Messiah and has come in the flesh. And their actions need to align with supporting this most important truth and furthering it. As we looked today, the evidence of the Spirit in a person can be widely varied. It can be in prophesying, teaching, administration, or also in craftsmanship and building. But all those abilities and blessings need to be founded upon Yeshua being the Messiah and having come once in the flesh. Thanks.

Slide 21 But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God. (2Pe 1:20-21)

The Continuity of the Faith

Are you following a different Gospel? Are you sure?

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. (Heb 13:8)

The continuity of scripture: Genesis to Revelation. The big draw.

Slide 1 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. (Heb 13:8)

I spoke about predestination and free will on Shabbat. This existential topic is so intertwined into our lives. How we receive information is based both on how we were made by Yahweh and how we’ve been raised. We make decisions in life with both of these invisible forces directing traffic. We’re going to go where God wants. He knows how we will choose based on how we’re wired and He knows how to present information so that it is received they way He wants, when He wants.

When I started looking into religion, challenging the doctrines I had been taught growing up, and exposed to through our culture, I had some hard decisions to make. It was clear as a bell that Sunday, Christmas, Easter, and the Trinity were not to be found in scripture. It was also very easy to find out when these things became mandatory. The switch to Sunday starts in about 110AD with the Epistle of Barnabas. Christmas first shows up as a Christian holiday about 355 AD. Prior to that, it was part of Saturnalia. Easter is and ancient holiday to a pagan fertility goddess. We know that the first Christians continued to keep Passover from Paul’s letters and from Polycarp in the second century, who was a disciple of John. The Trinity became a mandate in the late 300s or early 400s as the first Nicene Creed circa 325AD was effectively a Binitarian document at best.

The reason I bring up these four specific doctrines is because they effectively define mainstream Christianity. And they are new. Not new to the New Testament, they came after the New Testament, which means they weren’t part of the faith once delivered to the saints. This means they are contrary to the verse on the screen. By accepting these doctrines as truth, we are accepting that the Messiah can change, which is a different gospel.

Nearly 25 years ago, when I started this walk, I started by reading the New Testament and looking specifically for a change from the Sabbath to Sunday. Because I knew that the Sabbath was on Saturday (Friday sunset to Sunday sunset). Somewhere in my youth I was taught that, or perhaps I just knew it from society. But I was certain the change was in the New Testament. And if it were there, then I’d keep Sunday and continue on with my life. Somehow, though, I knew that either the NT had to record the change or there was no change. I was not looking for the other three doctrines at all. But I knew the faith had to be continuous. Either the worship continued the way it was articulated in the Old Testament (based on my very rudimentary understanding of the OT at the time) or there was no change. Was this belief because God made me that way, because I was raised in America where changes in law have to be documented, because of the Holy Spirit, or form some combination of these things? I do not know. But what I did know then is that the faith has to be continuous or else we don’t know what to believe.

Nowhere in the Bible does it say the Sabbath was either annulled or moved to another day. Nowhere in the Bible does it say to observe Easter or Christmas. Nowhere in the Bible does it mandate we believe in a 3 in one god that nobody can even explain. Those things were added after the close of scripture. If we accept that the four biggest things a person has to believe come from men, and can change, then how do we know when to believe some other mandatory change? And what about the people in the New Testament? None of them believed in any of these doctrines of men. Are they lost because they didn’t accept them?

Obviously, we are much better off if we simply stop kicking against the goads and accept that, from Genesis to Revelation, Yeshua is the same. Yesterday, today, and tomorrow.  

Predestination and Free Will

Predestination and Free Will

Video below

Are Predestination and Free Will really competing ideas? No, but it’s complicated.

For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified. (Rom 8:29-30)

We think in terms of free will versus predestination. This is often attributed to “western thought”, as if Hebrew thought doesn’t have such a dichotomy. In reality, these quandries occur across cultures and have been debated likely since the fall of mankind. I address a first century Jewish doctrine that is quite similar to the modern Christian view of predestination within. This is to illustrate there this concept existed in Hebrew culture as well as Greek.

The modern view of these two concepts, that they are diametrically opposed, comes from John Calvin. He was perhaps the most famous of the leaders during the Reformation. Calvin came up with a system, represented by the word TULIP as an acronym, to try and “solve” Christianity. His system is rather primitive and lacks any connection to Hebrew culture at all. It’s important for us to remember that Yahweh’s culture is not from Europe in the middle ages but is recorded in the Torah and the Old Testament (Genesis to Revelation).

Learning how predestination and free will complement each other rather than oppose is founded on an understanding of the entire bible. When we understand that we live within the constraints of time while the Creator of the Universe does not, then we can begin to understand the symmetry of these two concepts.

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Do Christians and Jews Worship the Same God?

A question that doesn’t need to be asked.

For God So Loved the World

For God So Loved the World

John 3:16 is almost always cited as a stand alone verse. This verse is actually part of a conversation Yeshua (Jesus) has with Nicodemus who is a leader of the Pharisees. Yeshua reveals precious information about Himself and His ministry to Nicodemus beyond the phrase “for God so loved the world”. This information was revealed to Nicodemus prior to it being revealing to the Disciples.

Nicodemus calls Yeshua “Rabbi”, which is an amazing honor for such a leader to humble himself to the Messiah at the beginning of His ministry. This same Nicodemus remains faithful to the end, even being present at the cross when the Disciples had scattered. This discussion includes the new concept of being born again, which the context indicates was something to happen in a person’s lifetime. Yeshua also revealed His pre-existence to Nicodemus, who miraculously remained faithful even after hearing such strange and new information. Please enjoy this deep dive into the context of this remarkable conversation!

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Israel and Racism

Would you ever consider discriminating against the apostle Paul?

Video only via Rumble, Twitter, and Spotify below.

The Sign of God’s People

Here is how to be identified as a child of God.

Videos through Rumble, Twitter, and Spotify below.

The Sign of God’s People

Slide 2 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 3:26-29)

While we do not condemn mainstream Christianity by any means, we have discovered some fundamental flaws in those systems and have moved as close to the early Christian beliefs as possible. The general feeling we get from the mainstream churches is that a new religion was established in the New Testament. That the Old Testament was effectively nullified with the New Covenant and how we worship was fundamentally changed. Some go so far as to say the church replaces Israel. This is just not the case. While the New Covenant is definitely new and different, the author of Hebrews tells us it’s a change in the law, not an abolition of the law. We can see in the New Testament that it was mostly Jewish people and proselytes (like the centurion who made the synagogue) for the first ten or so years after Yeshua’s ascension. Then significant numbers of gentiles, people like us, started coming to the faith all over the world. Paul is telling us here that was the intent all along. This is another step in the plan of salvation, that now people can join the family of God through accepting Yeshua as the Messiah and being baptized. Paul is saying here that gentiles who accept Yeshua join the family of God. We join Israel and come alongside those from Israel who accepted the Messiah as well. The text of the New Covenant in Jeremiah 31:31, which Yeshua quoted the night He was betrayed, shows that the New Covenant is with Judah and Israel. It’s not with gentiles. In order for us to matter, for the New Covenant to even apply to us, we have to have a mechanism for joining Judah or Israel. Paul explains this right here. This is why we call each other brother and sister, because we are adopted family now, and heirs according to the promise Yahweh made with Abraham to make his descendants more numerous than the stars.

Slide 3 “Therefore it is my judgment that we do not trouble those who are turning to God from among the Gentiles, but that we write to them that they abstain from things contaminated by idols and from fornication and from what is strangled and from blood. For Moses from ancient generations has in every city those who preach him, since he is read in the synagogues every Sabbath.” (Act 15:19-21)

This passage of Acts 15 is almost always cited without verse 21, that I have in bold here. Paul had traveled throughout the Roman Empire spreading the news of the Messiah primarily in the synagogues. Over time, significant amounts of gentile start joining in. The meeting in Acts 15 is estimated to be about 45-50 AD, fifteen years or so after Yeshua ascended. These dates are significant because it means for about ten years, there weren’t enough gentiles joining in for this to be an issue. What happened here is that many gentiles were showing up at synagogue, hearing of Yeshua, learning Torah, etc. that the Jewish believers wanted them to be circumcised. The response was to limit them to a few things right out of the gate, to abstain from things sacrificed to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from fornication as a start. They were already attending synagogue and hearing Moses each week, they would continue to do that and learn as they went. This is the same pattern we follow today, isn’t it? We learn of the Messiah, then we start attending somewhere, and grow as we learn.

When you are adopted into a family, you learn the family’s rules and customs and adopt them. First century gentile converts had to do this, hence attending synagogue to learn Moses.

Slide 4 YHVH spoke to Moses, saying, “But as for you, speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘You shall surely observe My sabbaths; for this is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am YHVH who sanctifies you.” (Exo 31:12-13)

Now we arrive at the sign. The sabbaths. You’ll notice this is plural, not singular. It means the weekly Sabbath and the Holy Days. But it starts with the weekly. Those who learned about the Messiah were keeping the weekly Sabbath to learn Moses. They adopted the sign, well one of them. We know the Shema also tells us the Torah is to be a sign as well. But this is specifically about observing Yahweh’s appointed times. This is addressed to the “sons of Israel”. That benim Yisrael. It means children, not just men or sons. And the children of Israel is synonymous with the children of Abraham. One we are adopted into the family, we take the signs of the family, which means a change in behavior. We keep the Sabbaths.

Slide 5 Yeshua said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.” (Mar 2:27)

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

The word for man in Mark 2:27 is Anthropos, which is Greek for mankind. It’s interesting that the word adam, which means the guy, also means mankind. The LXX actually uses Anthropos for adam in some places. Without getting to much into the word-weeds, the Sabbath was made for all of mankind to observe. It began as a sign for all of the people and was meant to be that for all of this era. In our western reckoning, from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday, we are to rest and enjoy creation. Yahweh rested on the 7th day of creation as did Adam. This pattern is here for us to emulate because we are made in the image of God. That means more than just photocopying. We are made to work, to labor, to enjoy creation, and then on Shabbat to take a break and commune with our Creator.

Slide 6 “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. “Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath of YHVH your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you. For in six days YHVH made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore YHVH blessed the sabbath day and made it holy.” (Exo 20:8-11)

The 4th commandment, in Yahweh’s voice, told them to remember. That can be taken two ways. The first is that they forgot it in Egypt and they needed to remember it, to get back to it. The second is to not forget about it. To keep doing it. The commandment is comprehensive. Nobody works, everybody gets the day off. Even the animals. Yahweh is big about his creation getting a break. He even built in land rests for the earth, meaning soil. This commandment reminds us about Creation as well. How honoring the Sabbath emulates our Creator in how He rested while also keeping us humble. Knowing that we are but dust. The one who made the heavens and the earth made each of us, which means we are special, that He would think of us. But also that we are feeble in need of our Creator and cannot provide for ourselves without His providence.

Slide 7 YHVH spoke again to Moses, saying, “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘YHVH’S appointed times which you shall proclaim as holy convocations—My appointed times are these: ‘For six days work may be done, but on the seventh day there is a sabbath of complete rest, a holy convocation. You shall not do any work; it is a sabbath to YHVH in all your dwellings.” (Lev 23:1-3)

This is where the entire earth gets the notion to come to church. The word holy convocations is miqra kodesh, a sacred or holy assembly. The idea of having a weekly assembly for the purpose of worship starts right here and it’s tied to the 7th day sabbath. Leviticus 23 outlines all the Sabbaths, more broadly all the appointed times. Appointed times are the word moedim, which is the same word translated seasons when the sun, moon, and stars are made in Genesis 1. The weekly sabbath is counted apart from the months by having an evening and a morning. Yahweh then added in the moon, the sun, and the stars for us to have annual observances. Our following these times shows the world that our God is Yahweh. Getting together on this day to have a set-apart assembly is a commandment, a blessing, and a sign. It gives us a pattern for our lives and keeps us grounded while we honor the creator. We look forward to seeing each other, sharing stories, a meal, and the Word of God. This is not a burden at all. Surrendering to Yahweh’s will and surrounding ourselves with those who do the same is a blessing. It shows our humility and our faith. You might even say it’s a sign 😊

Slide 8 After these things he (Paul) left Athens and went to Corinth. And he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, having recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome. He came to them, and because he was of the same trade, he stayed with them and they were working, for by trade they were tent-makers. And he was reasoning in the synagogue every Sabbath and trying to persuade Jews and Greeks. (Act 18:1-4)

Here we are, three chapters after Acts 15, and Paul is reasoning with both Jews and Greeks in the synagogue on Shabbat. They were having holy convocations on the day the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob declared and that’s who Paul preached Yeshua to. Paul was working six days and resting, worshiping, and preaching on Shabbat. Just was it was in the beginning so it should be to this day. The Greeks had adopted the sign of Yahweh’s people by turning from their pagan holidays and practices and adopting the true worship commanded by Yahweh and exemplified by Yeshua, the Messiah, the Son of God. Paul preached to these people because they knew the Tanakh, the Old Testament, and would know about the Messiah.

I often give a message about how the holy days, if they had been kept properly by Israel, would have resulted in peace. Had the nation of Israel actually followed Torah as they were supposed to, there would have been a predictability to life through weekly and annual observances. They would have been blessed with an abundance to bring as offerings year after year and the society would have flourished. These things are components of Yahweh intends for us to have shalom like the peace of that first Sabbath in Eden. When sin entered the world, it spiraled out of control until Yahweh was sad He made mankind and He brought a violent end for all but Noah and his family. That violent end was the result of mankind defying Yahweh and being incredibly sinful. Brothers and sisters, we find ourselves in another time that looks very similar to then. And this all ties together with October 7, 2023. When Israelis and those from all over the earth were keeping both the weekly Sabbath and an annual Sabbath in Israel. They were observing Shemini Atzaret and make no mistake about it, American and all sorts of foreign Christians were they observing along with the Jewish people. They were trying to experience shalom, peace. And the evil ones came, Chamas, the violent ones. Their thoughts are evil continually. And they hate the God of Abraham, of Isaac, of Jacob, and especially of Yeshua. So they attack on a day when they knew God’s people would be resting and they destroyed Yahweh’s rest.  

Many have said there would be a Sunday law in the end times and that was the lawlessness of the end times. That never made sense to me because it isn’t “Sabbath-less-ness”, it’s comprehensive lawlessness. Today, though, I realize that keeping the Sabbath and the Holy Days is indeed part of the present tribulation.  I see lawlessness and a rejection of God entirely, like in the days of Noah. We see plainly how an enormous amount of people want to kill God’s people and bring pure lawlessness across the entire world. This isn’t limited to the middle east, as we have seen people protest in favor of the demons all over the world, even here in America. This makes no sense because those who killed Israelis and foreigners in Israel would absolutely love to kill us, too. But now we are seeing people go after Jews very publicly. Please realize that we look like Jews because we have been adopted into the family of God. We are God’s people and by adopting His signs, His Torah, His commandments, we are targets just like the Jews. However, we keep the Sabbath because it is the sign of God’s people. And it appears the world wants to kill God’s people. So maybe there was something to this commandment playing a role in the end times.

We have a Spiritual Problem

Many on the news and in social media are saying we have a mental problem with all the violence in the country and the world. I contend we have a spiritual problem.

Rumble, Twitter, and Spotify below. No written version of this one.

Managing Emotions and Seeing Truth Clearly

I talk about managing emotions from a biblical perspective and how believers should react to the Israel Attack in this week’s message. Yes, it’s OK to be angry. Then what?

Messages below are from Rumble, then Twitter, then Spotify so folks can use the platform they are most familiar with. Then the written version below.

Managing Emotions

The truck story. We researched what we needed in a vehicle. It needed to be a 4X, have 4 doors, tow 9K pounds minimum, have certain interior comforts and cost no more than a certain price. I sent out for bids and a dealer said “come on down”. So we went down and they had two beautiful trucks ready for us. A blue one with the ride of a Cadillac and a black one with a stiffer ride but an upgraded engine. We drove the trucks and there was no way they cost what we could afford. When we asked them, they said there was no truck available that could do what we want for what we wanted to pay, would we like the blue one or the black one? The sales people had deceived us to get us to drive the trucks so we would make a huge financial decision based on emotion.

We left the dealership and got a message on the way home about a truck that matched what we wanted for our exact price point. Yahweh provided.

I tried to think about something else to talk about this week but this topic is so front and center that I just couldn’t. Or the Ruach pushed me in this direction. Last night, when it is customary for us to say Shabbat shalom to each other online, I couldn’t. That would make this time too normal. And when I think of saying it, I imagine the poor people being held hostage in dark tunnels beneath Gaza. They have no peace right now. They can only hope the Israelis find them quickly and free them. So here we are.

Two weeks ago, we saw an incredibly horrific, planned, premeditated attack on Israel by Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists. The terrorists attacked on the 8th day, also known as Shemini Atzaret, the 8th day of sukkot, which is a high sabbath culminating a week long festival. They did this on purpose. It was beyond dastardly. It was pure evil. After the attack was over, the Israelis found evidence that this was the sole purpose of the attack. Killing civilians, women and children, the elderly, and taking them hostage was the goal. In our country, we periodically have mass shootings where somebody goes berserk and shoots up a mall or a school. That’s evil. That might be the pinnacle of evil. But in this case, we have hundreds of people planning and financing a large scale version of this. To distract from the invasion, Hamas and Islamic Jihad launched thousands of rockets, thousands, into Israel to try and get past their missile defenses and make them think that was all that was happening.

In the aftermath, we are seeing videos of incredibly depraved behavior. Most of it completely unspeakable and I try not to watch. One video I saw was the incredibly cruel burning alive of two Israeli hostages. They were chained so they could not escape or quell the flames. I could not watch the whole thing. The terrorists are burning bodies of victims so badly that the Israelis can’t identify them. The world has not seen barbarism on a scale like this in a very long time.

Are you angry? Are you outraged? Is that OK?

Slide 2 Therefore, laying aside falsehood, SPEAK TRUTH EACH ONE of you WITH HIS NEIGHBOR, for we are members of one another. BE ANGRY, AND yet DO NOT SIN; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not give the devil an opportunity. (Eph 4:25-27 NAS95)

Being made in God’s image, we are supposed to have emotions because He has them. His Son was quite emotional when He was on the earth as well. We saw him pour out compassion on individuals and then on mankind as a whole with His death. Yeshua had a job to do and, while feeling things probably as deeper than anyone else ever has, He remained faithful and on mission. The flip side of emotions with Yeshua’s crucifixion is how the people were convinced very quickly to betray not only the Messiah, but to deny their very purpose and existence when they cried out “we have no king but Caesar”.

You can see the danger here with making rash decisions in the heat of the moment. Of course, Yeshua’s sacrifice and everything that happened with it were part of Yahweh’s plan of salvation. Those people reacted the way they were supposed to so God could be glorified. But what happened 50-ish days later when the Holy Spirit came and Peter preached Yeshua? Those who had been spun into a frenzy saw the error of their ways and asked how to make it right.

There are some things that are so awful that we react to them without thinking it through. Like when terrorists premeditatedly paraglide into an innocent country for the specific purpose of mass murder. Reacting viscerally to that is the proper reaction. Reacting violently to attack on yourself, your country, or innocents is normal and just. Reacting violently when it’s not a life and death situation is not. We need to have control of our emotions. A safeguard against making bad decisions in the heat of the moment is to make the bible our foundation. For us to channel our emotions to be useful or good, we must build our intellect and our culture on justice. We must have a solid foundation so when we react to something emotionally, we react properly. When we see tragedies, do we take it personally and have empathy? Or do we look at it as being disconnected?

Slide 3 “Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name. At that time many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one another. Many false prophets will arise and will mislead many. Because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved. This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come. (Mat 24:9-14)

Facing reality for a moment, hasn’t our love grown cold because lawlessness has increased? The amount of violence in the US today seems out of control. We have mass shootings almost routinely. We’re saturated with bad news of lawless deeds. That has an effect on us whether we like it or not. It’s simple reality when bad behavior happens so much it becomes normalized. We need to find a way to keep our hearts soft in these trying times.

Are you still outraged about what happened to Israel a week and a half ago? I am. I walked outside to get the mail yesterday and saw a neighbor walking his dog. I immediately thought of those in Israel who were doing normal things on October 7 when the monsters attacked them. I introduced myself to the neighbor and thanked God we live in a place that is still peaceful. It’s a sad state of affairs when the simple act of meeting a stranger on the street and saying hello is somehow fulfilling.

Slide 4 When the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison, and will come out to deceive the nations which are in 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. (Rev 20:7-10 NAS95)

We know this is not now. It says “when the thousand years are completed”. They haven’t even started. Let’s be clear, in scripture events can happen several times. Prophesies can be fulfilled on a small scale and then on a big one. Satan also plays a huge role in deceiving the world, so he is surely getting warmed up here before the 1000 years starts. But these protests in favor of the terrorists and the refusal for colleges and others to support Israel is really astonishing. These protests all over the world of people hating Israel and supporting the bad guys is just shocking. And terrifying.

Now’s the time to say why we support Israel. It’s not because of theology. It’s not because of prophecy. It’s because they have a free and open society. They accept people from all over the world to come enjoy the promised land. People from more than two dozen countries were kidnapped when the monsters invaded. We know that the country called Israel today is not governed like Israel should be and we know they have huge sins in their multi-cultural society, but the reality is that we have to live in the now. They have enormous military might and the use it to defend their tiny country. They have had the power to erase Gaza for decades and have not done it. Because they just want to be left alone and free to live as they see fit. They are innocent and were attacked yet the world decries their response 100X or even 1000X the brutality of the attack by the monsters. It’s like we’re living in the twilight zone. But guess what, it’s a global deception. It’s a complete lie. It’s calling evil good and good evil on a global scale. So while we know this is not the ultimate time when all nations will go against Jerusalem, it’s still happening and we have to acknowledge it. Not because of theology, but because justice demands it.

Keeping our hearts and minds about us in tumultuous times is a challenge. The best way to know justice, maybe the only way, is to read our bibles. The whole thing. Cover to cover. And then continue to meditate on the Word of God.

Slide 4 “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.’” (Mat 25:31-36)

These words are telling us parts of how not to grow cold. They are telling us how to be found doing His will when He returns. Be compassionate, be hospitable. Don’t forget the parables which were spoken just before this. Have oil in our lamps and use our talents. Stay involved, stay kind, and stay loving. And be around people who are like this, too.

When we get emotional, the best way to not sin and to be able to see the truth is to have filled our minds and our hearts with the Word of God. We are to speak truth to our neighbors. That means we have to know truth. Most consider this doctrine, which it includes, but for the love of Yahweh the entire world seems to be uniting against the country that was attacked. They are uniting in a lie. And it’s not some smoky back room conspiracy, it’s right in our faces. We have to give praise to Yahweh and Yeshua for those who can still tell the difference between good and evil, for we are a dwindling lot.

We study our Bibles to be closer to God and His Son. If we fill our minds and hearts with their will, then when something sad or awful happens, we will be much more likely to respond in a biblical fashion. When we fill our minds and our hearts with the ways of the world, we are more likely to respond in a worldly fashion. The world loves lies. The world loves evil. We love truth and peace. We are not to let the sun go down on our anger so that means there’s a limit to excusing mistakes carried out because of emotion. After we sleep on issues, we can then begin to divorce emotion and sort things out logically. How did this bad thing happen? Could we have done anything different? How can we make a change so the bad thing doesn’t happen again or is that even possible? After we cool down, then we can contemplate.

In the case of the attack on Israel, I’m still outraged and now even astonished at how many people in the west are already growing cold over it. Even to the point of supporting the monsters. Israel was providing water and electricity to those who attacked them. We are to be a forgiving people, we are to turn the other cheek, but there comes a point when action needs to be taken. This continent suffered tyranny under King George for many, many years before declaring our independence and going to war. Israel cannot be expected to live on the knife’s edge like this anymore. They must destroy those monsters for any sort of peace to exist. Let me be clear, I’m not supporting Israel because of some prophecy interpretation or because they are called Israel. I’m supporting them because they are an open and free country that just wants to be left alone. They allow people from all over the world to come and go because they are caretakers of the holy land. The behavior of their enemies is the opposite. I support Israel because their enemies are our enemies. The monsters who paraglided into Israel to kill women and children would do the same to us if given half the chance. When I see those poor teenage girls who have been kidnapped and drug into Gaza, I think of my own girls. And I think of how to protect my own girls and what I would do to get my own girls back should that happen to me.

This is because I love my neighbor as myself. I have empathy. And compassion. And a sense of justice. These all come from my relationship with Yahweh and His Son. And these traits run through my entire life, as they should yours. How long we suffer in bad relationships, how long we suffer in bad jobs, how long we tolerate injustice and misbehavior in all our lives needs to come from our relationship with God. Being patient and longsuffering has limits and sometimes we have to draw a line in the sand and say no more. The same apostle who taught about patience and perseverance also scolded the Corinthian church for tolerating immorality. So we know there are limits. When the bible tells us to care for the widows and the orphans, we better take heed.

Judgment Day

Judgment Day

What will happen to those who never believed and when is Judgment Day?

Christianity has a skewed vision of end time events. The day of Judgment is almost always scrunched in with the return of Jesus, whom we call Yeshua. However, the Judgment is actually 1000 years after His return. The period of time between his return and the judgment is called the millennium. Revelation 20 explains this gap of time clearly. Unfortunately, modern Christian teachings about the end of days ignores this period of time. When the Messiah returns, those who accepted Him as the Son of God are resurrected. They, along with the believers alive at that time, rise and meet Him in the air. He then descends to rule from Jerusalem for this 1000-year period of time. At the end of the 1000 years, unrepentant sinners and those who had never heard of Jesus, aka Yeshua, in their lifetimes are resurrected and judged against the context of their lives.

The Two Resurrections and the Book of Life

Yeshua speaks of two resurrections in John 5. The first is a resurrection of life, which is generically called “the first resurrection.” Revelation 20 and Matthew 25 speak directly to the requirements for salvation at the resurrection of judgment. The Greek words for judgment in the relevant verses are either krisis or krino, both of which mean, effectively, “decision time”. When all the nations are gathered before Yeshua’s throne, they are judged according to the deeds they did in their lifetimes. The text clearly states that some of the people present at the second resurrection are written in the Book of Life and are granted eternal life, which runs contrary to most Christian teaching today.

The video above is a message explaining all the relevant verses about the topics summarized. It includes good insight from a few of our congregants as well. Understanding that Yahweh (God) has provided an opportunity for the bulk of mankind to enter eternal life is a blessing. The pdf below is a written-out study in case you want to be able to look these things up without listening and pausing. The relevant verses are quite easy to understand, so please enjoy this teaching and please give a share if it blesses you.

Judgment-Day-pdfDownload