Here is the perseverance of the saints who keep the commandments of Yahweh and their faith in Yeshua. (Revelation 14:12)
Audio and video messages
Explaining the Day of Trumpets and the return of the Messiah . A brief prophecy primer and what we can do to prepare for His return!
Explaining the Day of Trumpets and the return of the #Messiah . A brief prophecy primer and what we can do to prepare for His return! #JesusIsComingSoon pic.twitter.com/MdKYyuZNRS
— Chris (@Messianic73) September 10, 2023
When Jesus told the scribes, Pharisees, and Sadducees what the Greatest Commandment was, He was telling them a whole lot more than to just love God. Understanding His words hinge on understanding Moses and the entire Old Testament. This message explains the two greatest commandments in a way you’ve probably never heard before.
Thanks for coming to worship with us! We’re a unique bunch so you may be seeing new things. We pattern our worship off the first century church, which was a little different than you see in modern Christianity. The first difference to touch on is that we sometimes pronounce God’s Name, Yahweh, in our assembly. We also often pronounce Jesus’ Name in Hebrew as well, which is Yeshua. This is to show respect for Yahweh and Yeshua but does not preclude us from saying God and Jesus as well. The second difference I’m going to explain is the topic of this message, a prayer called the Shema. This prayer comes directly from the book of Deuteronomy. The word Shema is Hebrew for listen or hear. Oftentimes passages or books in Hebrew are called by their first word. The first words of the Shema are “Hear oh Israel…”, hence it’s called The Shema. So why would a Christian be concerned with a prayer from the Old Testament. Funny you should ask!
Slide 2 “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)
The words that are in all caps are that way because the bible I use does that when the NT quotes the OT. This is a very helpful hint to show that a whole lot of the NT is really verses from the OT. Jesus, who was Jewish, is saying a little bit more than just the words in caps comprise the greatest commandment. So let me explain.
The chapters and verses of the Bible were added over a thousand years after the close of scripture. We have always had them, so we take them for granted. When we quote something, we say “John 3:16” or “Isaiah 53”. In Jesus’ day, they had a different system for doing this. They also didn’t have Bibles everywhere like we do. Having a printed bible prior to Gutenberg’s press was out of reach for almost everyone. To learn the Bible, people went to synagogue to read the community Torah or hear it read. Starting hundreds of years before Yeshua’s earthly minister, from the return from Babylon, Jewish culture was founded each on man hearing the Torah weekly and many hearing and reading it to the point of memorizing it in synagogue school. The intent of this education was to prevent another captivity through education and a system of accountability: if everybody knows the Bible, then everybody can do the Bible and hold each other to account. They created synagogues, which are the ancestors to modern day churches, where the people would learn the scriptures by hearing them read every Shabbat and they would also send children to school there during the week. This created a culture where Jews, particularly those who were concerned with religion, would communicate to each other by citing verses almost as casually as we talk about professional football. Almost.
Without chapters and numbers, the way they cited passages was to just quote the leading verse, or part of a verse, of a passage. So when Jesus quoted these words from the Shema, He was reminding all the people present of the entire prayer. Let’s look at the verses:
Slide 3 “Hear, O Israel! YHVH is our God, YHVH is one! You shall love YVHV your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” (Deu 6:4-9)
Yeshua, Jesus, tells us that Moses’ lead sentence here to love God with all their heart, mind, soul, and strength, is the greatest commandment. But then Moses goes on to tell us how we love God. To love God, we need to keep His commandments in the foreground of our lives. We must teach them to our children so they learn to love and fear God. We must talk of them at every step of our day, from when we rise up to when we lie down. While we drive in our cars (or walk on the road if you prefer). Binding them as a sign on our wrists is colorful language telling us to do the commandments. Binding them as frontals on our foreheads means to make God the first thing we think of. Decorating our doorposts and our gates with His words is a reminder when we leave and when we return. Brothers and sisters, this is a recipe for success. Loving God in this lifetime to the extent of the Shema is a gateway to the olam ha ba, the world to come.
Slide 4 One of the scribes came and heard them arguing, and recognizing that He had answered them well, asked Him, “What commandment is the foremost of all?” Jesus answered, “The foremost is, ‘HEAR, O ISRAEL! THE LORD OUR GOD IS ONE LORD; AND YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH.’ “The second is this, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”(Mar 12:28-31)
In this instance, Yeshua tells broadens it to the two greatest commandments. You’ll notice that the second commandment is in all caps as well, which means that one is also from the Old Testament. This time from the book of Leviticus.
Slide 5 “Now when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap to the very corners of your field, nor shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest. Nor shall you glean your vineyard, nor shall you gather the fallen fruit of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the needy and for the stranger. I am the LORD your God. You shall not steal, nor deal falsely, nor lie to one another. You shall not swear falsely by My name, so as to profane the name of your God; I am the LORD. You shall not oppress your neighbor, nor rob him. The wages of a hired man are not to remain with you all night until morning. You shall not curse a deaf man, nor place a stumbling block before the blind, but you shall revere your God; I am the LORD. You shall do no injustice in judgment; you shall not be partial to the poor nor defer to the great, but you are to judge your neighbor fairly. You shall not go about as a slanderer among your people, and you are not to act against the life of your neighbor; I am the LORD. You shall not hate your fellow countryman in your heart; you may surely reprove your neighbor, but shall not incur sin because of him. You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am the LORD.” (Lev 19:9-18)
This puts some meat on the bone for how to love our neighbor, which is a question that comes up pretty often. If you’re not aware that Jesus is saying more than just “love your neighbor” through the method that they referenced scriptures back then, then it’s kind of up for interpretation. But now that we do know this is not a new commandment and loving your neighbor is defined, we can explore that.
The first part is to leave food in your field or vineyard for the needy at harvest time. This would allow for people to go out and enjoy the harvest that God provided with dignity. A field that wasn’t completely harvested would be the sign of a faithful farm owner who loved his neighbors. The harvest belongs to God, after all.
No stealing, no dealing falsely, and no lying to each other is another way to love our neighbors. This one doesn’t really need a lot of explanation. This develops and honest and open society which is a community of love.
No swearing falsely by the Name of God. Very important. This is why our nation swears politicians in with their hands on the Bible and why we get give sworn testimony in trials. It’s incredibly important when we invoke the Name of God to be as honest and forthright as possible because He knows the whole truth! Having this level of common respect among people is another way we love each other as ourselves because it creates a society of integrity.
The wages of a hired man not remaining overnight is expanded in other verses to mean a man who needed the money to feed his family and such. One who has the means to hire others needs to be cognizant of what it is like to need money and make sure he loves his neighbor, particularly one willing to work for his wages. Oscar de la hoya kept a food stamp in his wallet.
Treating people with disabilities properly is also key to loving our neighbors. Creating a society where people who need help getting around can have it readily shows a society that loves its neighbors. It means that people who are able stopped and realized others who are not need to be able to get around. The Tunnel to Towers Foundation building houses for wounded vets is a great example of this.
Impartially making judgments without respect to wealth or need is also crucial for a society. Each person needs to be judged the same, and the guilty should have the same penalties without respect to means. This commandment is why we have the lady with the blindfold holding the scales of justice. Loving our neighbor means to have fair and impartial rules governing society that are implemented equally.
We are not to slander one another. It goes without saying that this is the opposite of loving our neighbor.
We are not to take vengeance, hate our countrymen, or bear grudges in order to love our neighbor. Seems like such a novel idea, but wouldn’t society be a much better place if we did live like this?
Slide 6 “For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me, for he wrote about Me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?” (Joh 5:46-47)
Now you can see how rich these sentences really were. Yeshua was building on a system that was already in place, having been given by Yahweh 1500 years prior through Moses. He did not come to make something entirely new, but to clarify and expand on what they already had. In order for us to understand Jesus, we need to study Moses and all the Old Testament, understanding that we are blessed to join into the faith of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Yeshua. And when we study the faith from Genesis to Revelation, the words of the Messiah and the Apostles take one much more meaning. Shalom.
The truth about salvation and works.
For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. (Eph 2:8-9)
This is the famous verse that believers use to show we can’t save ourselves. That’s completely true. We can’t save ourselves. Yahweh grants salvation to whomever He wishes. Paul writes the same thing in Romans 9:18, that Yahweh hardens whom He hardens and has mercy on who He has mercy.
The challenge comes when folks focus on this topic to the extreme position that negates works with respect to salvation. The idea is that because works can’t save, then one doesn’t need to do anything to obtain or maintain salvation. This is a ridiculous concept.
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 the Messiah for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. (Act 2:37-38)
Repentance means what we all think it means, to be sorry for what you have done, acknowledge it, and decide to not do it again. Peter is talking to the very people who had Yeshua innocently executed. Murdering people will prevent you from being in the kingdom, therefore not murdering people is required for salvation. Repentance covers sins, therefore one must acknowledge sins and repent of them to be saved. What are sins, pray tell?
Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness. You know that He appeared in order to take away sins; and in Him there is no sin. No one who abides in Him sins; no one who sins has seen Him or knows Him. (1Jn 3:4-6)
Read more in the pdf below but this is best experienced through the media options.
The truth about #salvation and works! pic.twitter.com/K0R5ycuQ1f
— Chris (@Messianic73) September 3, 2023
A warning about how artificial intelligence will negatively affect our approach to the faith once delivered in particular, but ultimately all subjects of study.
Here's a warning about how #ArtificialIntelligence is going to affect the faith once delivered to the saints in particular, but in reality, all subjects. pic.twitter.com/8gweGXsWFW
— Chris (@Messianic73) August 30, 2023
AI and the Faith
We’re wrapping up a year of doing the Torah studies at our assembly. This is something the first century Christians did without a doubt. Yeshua even participated in this early in His ministry by reading Isaiah in the synagogue. In Acts 15, the apostles understood the Gentiles who accepted Yeshua would attend synagogue and hear Moses every Shabbat. So, every few years we go through the Torah portions because it’s a good thing to do, it copies the early church, and it helps us to refresh and relearn. Sometimes we even unlearn things along the way. Bear with me as a debunk a doctrine and the show just how powerful bad teachings are, especially with AI right around the corner.
One of these unlearned things is a quirky doctrine that circulates our movement pretty regularly.
Slide 2 “When a man takes a wife and marries her, and it happens that she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some indecency in her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out from his house, and she leaves his house and goes and becomes another man’s wife, and if the latter husband turns against her and writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house, or if the latter husband dies who took her to be his wife, then her former husband who sent her away is not allowed to take her again to be his wife, since she has been defiled; for that is an abomination before the LORD, and you shall not bring sin on the land which the LORD your God gives you as an inheritance. (Deu 24:1-4)
This is a mitzvot, which is a commandment or directive, that states if a guy divorces his wife and she marries another guy, she can’t come back to the first guy if the second guy dies. That’s all this is saying. It doesn’t mean she can’t go to a third guy if the second one dies, she just can’t ever go back to the first. Somewhere in the Hebrewverse, somebody read this backwards and turned it into a doctrine that goes something like “because Yahweh divorced Israel, Yeshua had to die, so Israel could go back to Yahweh.” Brothers and sisters, there’s no way to get that out of these verses.
When we interpret scripture, we must remember that at no point can a verse be interpreted to not mean what it means in the literal. The NT references the OT a ton and in each case, the verses are explained, used as analogies, used as metaphors, used as prophesies, etc. But the interpretation never make the original usage of the verse null or contradict it. A big one of these is how we keep Shabbat. The Sabbath has to remain the Sabbath, even though rest is used in different contexts. Another is the diet. People say Yeshua made anything food and then they use Peter’s vision in Acts 10 to say that we can eat whatever today. Well, Peter said he had never eaten anything unclean. In those passages, Yahweh is using Leviticus 11, the laws of clean and unclean food, to tell Peter that the Gentiles are not inherently unclean. Yahweh was preparing Peter to witness Gentiles getting the Holy Spirit. The vision didn’t mean anything about food at all and Peter had never considered violating Torah. So Leviticus 11 stands and we understand the Gentiles (us) are now OK to draw near to Yahweh through the shed blood of Yeshua, which cleanses us.
Slide 3 And the disciples came and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?” Yeshua answered them, “To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted. For whoever has, to him more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him. Therefore I speak to them in parables; because while seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. (Mat 13:10-13)
Yeshua spoke in parables so we are supposed to have to look for meaning. The bible is written with the intention of interpretation. For instance, we’re allowed to use the divorce commandment as analogies, metpahors, and the like. And the bible has sarcasm, idioms, and even humor. We need to interpret the bible, but we also need to be disciplined in that and understand it’s normal literature. Sometimes things are meant to be interpreted and re-applied, sometimes not.
When Yahweh says He divorces Israel and Judah in Jeremiah 3, for instance, He’s not being literal. In these cases Israel and Judah were allowed to return to Him, which in Deut 24 is not possible for a literally divorced woman to return to her original husband. So Yahweh is using divorce and adultery as an analogy and metaphor for their behavior. Israel and Judah were not literally divorced. These verses were never intended to be taken literally!
So the doctrine that circulates our movement about Yeshua divorcing isn’t true. Great, Chris, you’ve corrected another silly doctrine. So what does this have to do with Artificial Intelligence?
Slide 4 Confusion
It has to do with AI because this doctrine is popular. It has to be refuted because it won’t go away. The way the internet has worked since search engines came out is based on popularity. There is a logical fallacy from days of old called the ad populum logical fallacy, which means that just because a lot of people believe something, that doesn’t mean it is true or good. In fact, a lot of bad and wrong things get a ton of attention. Think about fail videos, which are videos of people failing dramatically at odd things, like wrecking a motorcycle or falling down stairs. Our news has been saturated with murder and horrific stories for decades because, well, that draws people’s attention. Seriously, have you ever seen traffic not slow down when passing a wreck on the highway?
My daughters and I discovered our flat screen TV has a ton of channels for free if the TV is plugged into the internet. As we were cruising through the channels, we came across one that is trying to show evidence of alien life on earth through ancient historical sites and religious practices. This was a well-produced “documentary” in air quotes and the “scientists” in air quotes were being dead serious. We checked out when they tied the Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation/communion to being some kind of ancient alien beckoning device. It was absurd to the extreme. But guess what? We watched it. We watched it because it was absurd.
Did you know that computers can’t tell the difference between a highly watched absurd video and a highly watched sermon? The computer only knows to prioritize things that are highly watched or engaged in. The ad populum logical fallacy.
You see, no matter how intelligent a computer appears to be, it can’t reason. It can only compare. And the comparisons are based on precedents: what similar thing happened before? We already have a preview of what AI is going to do to our faith through YouTube. YouTube uses the popularity algorithm to associate video content and recommend things to people that prior viewers watched. YouTube, and Google in general, keep track of everything their users do – even while off their websites, and then find similar people and then recommend content to everyone to do what? Keep people engaged on their platforms. Our faith has been permanently associated with many conspiracy theories and just strange stuff because of Google, and this is why the Yeshua dying divorce thing keeps coming up – because it was popular among Torah followers. It’s an incorrect popular doctrine, so people refute it, which generates debates and traffic, so it gets more and more popular. And then algorithms kick in and make it even more popular.
Let’s take this to the next level with AI. AI isn’t really intelligence, it’s just super computers being able to scour all the available information on the internet at the speed of light. Guess what? Most of the popular stuff on the internet is wrong and only popular because it was sensational. What’s that going to do to our common faith? What’s that going to do with just about any topic? It’s just going to push the worst and most absurd info more and more into the mainstream and people aren’t going to be able to determine truth from fiction. Computers don’t know interpretation, sarcasm, nuance, and tone of voice. They just compare. And algorithms just show us the most popular stuff. This is why we already deal with crazy doctrines and many try to come up with sensational stuff knowing it will get a foothold. Now we’re adding AI into this mix and finding the boring old truth is going to be a very difficult task.
Slide 5 But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; abstain from every form of evil. (1Th 5:21-22)
The remedy for this is to do what we are finishing up at our assembly: study the Bible. And follow teachers who teach the Bible from the Bible and from accredited sources, like old school printed books or bible software, concordances, dictionaries, and the like. The old adage that a lie travels around the world before the truth can get its shoes on is very much in play. We have to study to show ourselves approved and that means putting in the work and restricting ourselves to sober teachers and teachings.
1 John 5 tells us the exact recipe for a person to inherit eternal life.
What signs should really warn us of the return of the Messiah and the end of the age? Can mankind reverse the decline we are on and how would that be achieved? Is it still possible to repent and join the family of God? Click here to find out!
Explaining the myth versus the truth of the doctrines about the Aleph and the Tav. For more on myths versus truths, please watch the message here Myths versus Truth – (firstcenturychristianity.net)
Audio only
A message about the myths that circulate the commandment keeping Christians such as Messianic, Hebrew Roots, and Sacred Name Movement folks.
A deeper understanding how the faith was received and practiced by the First Century Christians focusing on a couple big changes in the New Covenant.
The long road back.