Author: Steven R. Bruck

2024 Yom Kippur Message

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I am doing this message a little early because Hurricane Milton is coming through later tonight and tomorrow, and I might not have any electric power with which to post this.

I have often heard the Christian teaching that the Torah was done away with by Yeshua’s sacrifice, which I cannot justify by anything in the Bible, Old or New. As a Believer in Messiah, and Jewish (as well), I try to live my life in accordance with what God said to do in the Torah, and not what men have taught based on Shaul’s (Paul) letters.

So, if you are a Gentile Believer, you might be wondering why I, accepting Yeshua as my atonement for sin, still observe Yom Kippur?

If you prefer to watch a video, click on this link: Watch the video.

The reason why I observe Yom Kippur (I don’t say celebrate it because, really?- who finds fasting for 24 hours a celebration?), as well as the other Holy Days commanded in Leviticus 23, is simple: because God said we should. I know, I know, you’ve been told that Yeshua is the fulfillment of the law, and that all that “Jewish” stuff is not necessary for Christians.

I challenge you to find anything that Yeshua ever said or implied indicating that we do not have to obey the Torah, which includes all the High Holy Days outlined in Leviticus 23.

Yom Kippur is a day when we come before God, as he commanded, confess our sins, then ask him to move from the Throne of Judgement to the Throne of Mercy so that he will forgive our sins and write our names in the Book of Life.

The reason that Yom Kippur is so important, still, is that only God can forgive sins. Yes, in Matthew 9:6 Yeshua says he is granted that power, but when you interpret that passage correctly (at least, as I think it is correctly understood), Yeshua indicates that his authority to forgive sins is ONLY when he is on the earth, and only in order to prove he is from God.

Look, it is really simple…Yeshua died so that we can come before God and ask HIM to forgive our sins. His death provides the means to be forgiven that was previously only available to us when we brought an animal to the temple in Jerusalem, which is what the Torah required. Yeshua’s sacrifice changed only one thing in the Torah- the need to bring an animal to the temple. That is why Yeshua told us that we cannot reach the father except through the son, which is because in 173 AD the temple was destroyed, making obedience to the Torah regarding sin sacrifice impossible.

And here’s what’s really sad: the temple still ain’t there! Without the temple, the forgiveness we can receive through Yeshua is the only means of being forgiven.

So, even though sins can only be forgiven through Yeshua’s sacrifice, it still makes sense to obey God’s commandments, which he gave us in the Torah. Not to be legalistic, not to be “correct”, and not just because I am Jewish (which I am and always will be- I am NOT a Christian!), but to be obedient to God.

Do you really think that God will reject anyone, believer or not, who obeys what he said to do in the Torah? After all, God did promise in Deuteronomy 28 to bless those who obey him, so even if we can’t sacrifice an animal at Yom Kippur, doing everything else is still obedient to God, right? And God cannot sin, or go back on his promises, so even if you have been taught to not to anything the Torah says, that is what some religions say, but it is not from God.

Hey!- let me ask you something: we know Yeshua lived the Torah perfectly because if he hadn’t, he would not have been an acceptable sacrifice, and Christianity teaches the best thing any Christian can do is to follow in the footsteps of the Messiah, so then why is it that one of their major tenets is to reject everything the Messiah did?

If you reject the Torah, you are not obedient to God or to Yeshua: the ones you are being obedient to are some men who didn’t want to have to do this stuff, and misused Shaul’s letters to make their own religion. Do you really think that the son of God rebelled against his father and taught that we don’t have to do as his father said?

You go ahead and reject God’s instructions, blame it on Yeshua or on your religion, but I am pretty sure that when you use that excuse before God at Judgement Day, he ain’t gonna buy it!

That’s it for this week, so l’hitraot and Baruch HaShem!

And for those who are obedient to God, may you have an easy fast!

Faith and Obedience are Two Sides of the Same Coin

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First off, pray for us here in Florida, USA, because Hurricane Milton is almost upon us. As I write this it is just east of Mexico, and a Category 5 hurricane, one of the largest and most powerful in recorded history. It will hit our west coast on Wednesday, 10/9 and be here on the east coast by Thursday, 10/11. Pray for us that it loses much of its power as it travels over the land, and that those on the west coast remain safe.

Now, let’s get to today’s message.

All I ever hear from Christians is that all you need is faith, or that all who call on the name of the Lord will be saved, or that Jesus died for our sins and we are now saved. Some go as far as to say once we are saved, all our sins will be forgiven, which is known as OSAS (Once Saved, Always Saved). It sounds nice, but it is a lie from the pit of Sheol.

So we hear all about faith, all about love, all about salvation, but there is almost never any talk about obedience.

If you prefer to watch a video, click on this link: Watch the video.

Now, didn’t James say that faith without works is dead (James 2:26)? And the “works” he mentions means obeying God’s commandments in the Torah, which was the only scripture that existed then.

And what about Abraham? We are told, many times, that because Abraham was faithful, it was credited as righteousness to him (Genesis 15:6), which I hear all the time as being justification for not having to obey the Torah. But when Isaac was thinking of going to Egypt, God told him to stay where he was because he promised Abraham that he would have all this land for his descendants because Abraham did everything God told him to do (Genesis 26:5). Note that God didn’t say because Abraham believed him, or was faithful, but because Abraham did everything God told him to do.

It’s obvious to me that from God’s viewpoint, Abraham’s obedience demonstrated his faith.

When you are told you are saved by faith, there is more to it than that: faith isn’t just believing that God exists, or that Yeshua is the Messiah he promised to send. What is faith, really? It is believing in something, and that belief is demonstrated by how you act!

Oh, yeah, it’s easy to talk about your faith, but if you don’t show it in how you act, your talk means nothing. I learned a long time ago that people don’t mean what they say, they mean what they do, which is why faith that isn’t demonstrated by actions is a lie.

And what actions demonstrate our faith? Well, loving your neighbor is one, but even Yeshua said that doesn’t really mean anything, for even sinners love each other (Luke 6:32). And what about going to synagogue or church every Sabbath day? Does that represent faithfulness?

No, it doesn’t- all it represents is doing something you are supposed to do, which is the essence of legalism. Besides that, if your synagogue has an Oneg Shabbat (Joy of Shabbat) after the services, lots of people go just for the free food!

There is only one way to demonstrate that your faith in God and Messiah Yeshua is real- and that is to show it by obeying what God said to do. This also demonstrates the strength of your trust in God, because if you truly trust God, then you will obey his commandments because you trust he gave them to us because they are good for us.

And if you profess to love God, then you will do as he wants you do to as a labor of love. Don’t you do what pleases the one you love, just because you want to see them happy? If a human can be happy because you do something for them, think how much happier God will be when you do what pleases him? And better than pleasing a human, when you please God, he promises to shower you with blessings (Deuteronomy 28)!

So, my friends, despite how Christianity, composed solely of man-made religions, has taught that Jesus did away with the law, or that all you need if faith, or that loving your neighbor is enough, or that Jesus is God, or any of the other multitude of lies and misrepresentations of what Yeshua actually taught, the truth from the Bible is this: if you love God and believe that Yeshua is the Messiah he promised to send, then you must be like Abraham, who believed what God said and did everything that God told him to do.

And now let me give you the kicker that most Gentiles hate to hear: the only place in the entire Bible where God, himself, directly tells us what he wants us to do in order to please him and live a righteous life is…in the Torah! That means despite what your Priest, Pastor, Minister, or whatever has told you, if you reject the Torah, you are rejecting God, which means you are rejecting the one he sent, which means you are in deep doo-doo when you will have to face God at Judgement Day.

Yeshua said no one can serve two masters (Matthew 6:24), so choose this day who will be your master: God or a religion.

Thank you for being here; that’s it for today, so l’hitraot and Baruch HaShem!

2024 Rosh HaShannah Message

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The traditional Torah reading for this Holy Day is called the Akedah, the Binding of Isaac, and it is in Genesis 23. This passage is also well-known as being messianic, indicating the way the Messiah will show obedience to his father and that he will be a sacrifice.

If you prefer to watch a video, click on this link: Watch the video.

Let’s have a quickie review of the Akedah: Abraham is told by God to sacrifice Isaac, and he is led to Mount Moriah. Isaac asks Abraham where the lamb for the sacrifice is, and Abraham tells him that God will provide the lamb; but we all know by now Isaac is starting to feel like he might be the lamb. By the way, Isaac was more likely a grown man at that time than some young child.

OK, so they get there, Isaac gets on the rock, lets Abe tie him up, and waits for the final blow. Just as Abe is about to strike him with the knife, an angel tells Abe to hold off- this was just a test. There was a ram caught in a bush, so Abe sacrifices the ram, which is why we use a ram’s horn for the shofar, as a memorial to that ram.

The messianic aspect here is pretty obvious- a son is sacrificed by a father to show obedience to God, even unto death. Just as Isaac was willing to die to obey his father, Abraham, Yeshua the Messiah was willing to die to obey his father, God Almighty. The difference is that Isaac’s sacrifice was never meant to be fulfilled, but was a test of Abraham’s faith, whereas Yeshua’s sacrifice had to be completed, in order that all people may receive forgiveness of sin and be saved.

You know what? We are always told of the faithfulness of Abraham, but what about Isaac? Don’t you think he was pretty faithful, as well as obedient, by letting himself be tied up and killed?

I believe that the Akedah is not the only story of a father and son that is messianic; there is an anti-messianic story in the Bible, which we find happening about a thousand years later.

In 2 Samuel, chapters 15-20, we read how King David’s son, Absalom, rebelled against his father and tried to take the kingdom from him. He started by influencing the people at the gate, telling them that if he was judge, he would make sure they got fair treatment, sort of implying they can’t count on that from David. He acts friendly to them, and eventually turns many who were loyal to David over to Absalom. Once he had enough followers, including many in the army, he lied to his father to get permission to go to Hebron to make sacrifice, but once there he proclaimed himself king. David, upon hearing this, immediately fled the city. In time, Absalom’s followers went to war with David’s followers, and Absalom was killed by Joab, the commander of the army.

Here’s something interesting: we know that the anti-Messiah will first appear to be a man of peace, then when the time is right, he will turn and show his true colors. Well, in Hebrew, the name Absalom means “father of peace”.

So, we have Isaac, son of the father of nations, who obediently allowed himself to be sacrificed, and we have Absalom, son of the king of nations, who defied and rebelled against his father, trying to steal his father’s rulership.

Sound somewhat familiar? Yeshua, the obedient son of God, allows himself (as did Isaac) to be sacrificed, in order that all humanity may be saved, but the Anti-Messiah, the son of Satan, (as with Absalom) wants to steal the kingdom from God by causing all humanity to sin, thereby making it impossible for anyone to be with God.

Today, Christianity presents Jesus Christ as an Absalom, a rebellious son, telling us to ignore his father’s commandments, and has even gone as far as to present Jesus AS God, himself, so that they pray to and worship Jesus, essentially rejecting God the father.

But many Christians, as well as most Messianic Jews, know that Yeshua is, and requires us to be, obedient to his father’s commandments, teaching us the true, spiritual meaning of those commandments. That is the fulfillment of the New Covenant (the REAL one, in Jeremiah 31:31), which is when God said he will write his Torah on our hearts, and all will know him.

During this new year, let us strive to be more like an Isaac, obedient to our Father (the one in heaven), which means to be obedient to his Torah, and less like an Absalom, rebelling against our Father (yeah, I still mean the one in Heaven) by rejecting his Torah.

That’s it for this week, so l’hitraot, and Shanah Tovah!

Which Scripture Did Shaul Mean in 2 Timothy 3:16?

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Timothy was a protégé’ of Shaul (Paul), and was in Ephesus at the time this letter was written to him. Because Timmy was very young for a leadership position, Shaul encouraged and supported him to be confident.

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In this second letter to Timothy, Shaul was stressing how important it was to have the shamashim (leaders) of the congregation meet strict requirements for righteousness. He also wanted to have Timothy keep these neophyte, Gentile believers on the right track, remembering to follow the example that Shaul has set for him.

One thing that Shaul wanted to emphasize was this verse from that letter (CJB):

All Scripture is God-breathed and is valuable for teaching the truth, convicting of sin, correcting faults and training in right living; thus anyone who belongs to God may be fully equipped for every good work.

Now, I have often heard many Christians believe Shaul was talking about the New Covenant writings. Nothing could be further from the truth, since none of the writings, Gospels, letters, or visions, were even collected or canonized at this time, which was sometime around 60-63 AD.

The only scripture that existed at that time was the Tanakh, also called the “Jewish” Bible, which included the Torah, prophets, and other writings.

NOTE: TaNaKh is an acronym for the Old Covenant. The T stands for the Torah (first 5 books); the N is for Nevi’im (the Prophets); and the K is for Ketuvim (the writings, such as Ruth, Psalms, Proverbs, etc.)

What happened after Yeshua was raised into heaven was the incoming of the Gentiles into Judaism. You need to realize that they weren’t required to make full conversion, which we can see by reading the letter the Elders wrote (Acts 15) and the way Shaul converted Gentiles, which was to introduce them slowly into a Torah-obedient lifestyle, but with a lot of flexibility, allowing them to acclimate to this new lifestyle at a pace they could handle.

What is important to note about this verse is not just that it qualifies the Old Covenant as God-breathed, but that it also equipped people for every good work.

What the heck does that mean?

It means, my friends, that the God-breathed scripture, i.e., the Torah, equips us for good works. And although we are saved by faith and not works, what we really should be saying (based on James 2:26) is that we are saved by faithful obedience to God which will create in us the desire to do good works, because good works alone is not enough.

I don’t know- maybe that’s too much to say in one breath?

However, it is the more accurate statement about how one is saved. Good works alone can’t do it simply because we are human, and born with iniquity (the desire to sin), which in Hebrew we call the Yetzer Hara (evil inclination), and until we learn right from wrong and are initiated into the Torah (and the rest of the Bible), we can’t be expected to always do what is right in God’s eyes. After all, if we could, God would not have had to send us a Messiah, right?

So, the next time you hear someone refer to 2 Timothy 3:16 and use that verse to justify that the New Covenant is God-breathed scripture, please set them straight: it is SO important for Christians, who have been lied to for millennia, to understand that Yeshua (Jesus) never taught against the Torah, and that Shaul did not tell Gentiles they didn’t have to obey God’s instructions. The truth is the only scripture that existed when Gentiles were first being grafted onto the Tree of Life was the Tanakh, and within that Bible the Torah was the only place (and still is) throughout the entire Bible where God said what he wanted us to do.

Any form of worship outside of the Torah is NOT God-breathed, but human made.

Thank you again for being here and please remember to subscribe and share these messages with everyone you know.

That’s it for today, so l’hitraot and Baruch HaShem!

Do You Really Need That Much Time?

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I am very often on YouTube, watching all types of videos, and am amazed that so many religious messages run anywhere from 30 minutes to close to two hours! I mean, do you really think people can pay attention for that long just listening to you speak?

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Having my own ministry, I post to Facebook and make videos of those messages for people who prefer to watch something than to read it. I have my own YouTube channel (Messianicmoment), and currently am at 512 subscribers. I make sure that my messages run less than 9 minutes, on average, because most people have a very short attention span, and my analytics tell me that, on average, people watch only about 33% of the video.

So you can imagine my surprise when I see so many videos with religious messages that run on and on for more than an hour!

At the Messianic synagogue I attended in Philadelphia, I would often give the Shabbat message. When I did, I tried to keep it at or less than 25 minutes, and the only reason I felt I could go that long was because I made sure to allow some interaction with the congregation. I can tell you, from experience, that after 25 minutes or so of just speaking, when you look at the congregation, a large number of them will have eyes that are beginning to glaze over.

People have a short attention span, especially those raised on Sesame Street, which (despite how good it is for teaching young children) does have one drawback: all the quick changes from this story or skit to that one conditions children to have a very short attention span. And since this program has been on for decades, many of the adults under 50 have been raised on it.

I also have been in positions where I am a teacher or a trainer, and the same rule applies there- without audience participation, straight lecturing will start to lose its effectiveness after 20 minutes or so.

When researching the average A-span for people, I was amazed to find that in a number of reports, done by a number of different organizations, the average A-span for people across all age groups (there are definitely different results for different age groups) is calculated in SECONDS! Honest- from less than 10 seconds to no more than 75 seconds.

One study found that while “everyone’s attention span does differ slightly, research has revealed that the average adult human is only able to concentrate on a task for around 15 to 20 minutes, suggesting most of us are struggling to maintain focus for long periods of time.” (this was from the Lenstore Hub web page, which is a Acuvue company. Please don’t ask me why an eye store is doing this research, but when I reviewed the entire report, it was very complete).

So, then, my personal experience seems to gel with the professional research. That is why I don’t even look at podcasts or YouTube videos regarding religious topics that are 20 minutes or more. I often won’t even look at them if they go more than 10 minutes, because I figure if you can’t say what you need to say in 10 minutes, then you are just babbling.

I also know from being a teacher and trainer, that to learn something it has to be repeated to people at least three times, at different times, in different ways. To do that effectively in a 8-10 minute video is challenging, so I tend to repeat the same thing in different videos, hoping that those who watch my videos regularly will eventually learn the lesson. I also try to make my videos entertaining, throwing in humor now and then (by the way, anyone who is a subscriber and would like to confirm that my videos aren’t boring, I would appreciate you chiming in with a comment).

There are so many important messages about God to give, and some of them do require some background before the main message can be presented, but if the entire message goes longer than 10 minutes, you have already reached the point of diminishing returns, so prepare well, test the time, and if you have to, cut the message into different messages to keep each portion short enough that it can be watched with full attention. As you continue the teaching, do a short review of the prior message then go to the next part. Not only will this make it easier for your audience to hear and remember the message, but you might get them to continue to come back, even when this topic is over.

So, before my time is up, here is what I would like to suggest to those who give video messages and want people to remember what you say: use the KISS Rule- Keep It Short, Speaker! (I’ll bet you thought I was going to use a different word there, didn’t you?)

That’s it for this week, so l’hitraot and (an early) Shabbat Shalom!

Can There be Two Gods in One Bible?

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How often have you heard people say that the God of the Old Covenant is one of cruelty and punishment, but the God of the New Covenant is all about love and forgiveness?

Throughout my lifetime, both before and after I accepted Yeshua to be the Messiah, I have had to hear that ridiculous statement.

If you prefer to watch a video, click on this link: Watch the video.

When I hear people say that in the New Covenant God is merciful and forgiving, but in the Old Covenant he is cruel, I ask them, “Do you believe God is unchanging?” And, of course, they say that he is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

So, I continue to ask, “If God is unchanging, are there two Gods in the Bible- one before Yeshua came and one after Yeshua came? And, if God was different after Yeshua came, since the only God who promised to send a Messiah was the cruel one, which God do they think is truly Yeshua’s father?”

At this point, I get nothing but stares, eyes going up and down, mind turning at 1000 RPM trying to figure out how to answer without negating what they have been taught.

The smell of burning wood is overpowering.

The truth is, people, there is, was, and always will be just one God. He is the same God- merciful, forgiving, and trustworthy, from one end of the Bible to the other. And, if anyone wants to argue that in the New Covenant God is not cruel or punishes people, let me draw your attention to Acts 5:1-11.

This is where we read about Hananyah and his wife, Shappirah. They sold property and gave most of it to the Elders for the poor, but they held some back for themselves. That, in and of itself, was not a sin, but they lied about it when asked, saying they have given all of what they had. The moment that Hananyah lied to Kefa (Peter), he was struck dead! And later, when the wife came in (not knowing what had happened), she also lied, and she was struck dead, too!

So, nu? Is that forgiving? Is that all about love?

God is always the same: he does punish the unrepentant sinners, and he does forgive those who ask it, truthfully, with a broken spirit and a contrite heart (Psalm 51). God has, and always will, punish those who sin and do not do t’shuvah (repent/turn from sin) because he HAS to! God has to obey the rules he makes; if he doesn’t, we can’t trust him and the promises he has made aren’t worth the sheepskin they are written on.

Here’s the thing: if you ever hear someone say that the God of the Jewish Bible is different from the God of the Christian Bible, ask them the questions I do, and hopefully, you will be able to help them know who God really is, and not what some religion told them.

Thank you for being here and please remember to subscribe and share these messages.

That’s it for today, so l’hitraot and Baruch HaShem!

A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing?

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In Matthew 7:15, Yeshua (Jesus) says, “Beware of the false prophets! They come to you wearing sheep’s clothing, but underneath they are hungry wolves!”

This warning is stated throughout the Bible, often by Shaul (Paul), mainly as a warning against false teachings. Yet, because so much of Christianity is based on Shaul’s letters and rejects most of God’s commandments, I sometimes wonder if Shaul was a sheep or a wolf?

If you prefer to watch a video, click on this link: Watch the video.

Shaul is a very confusing fellow: he is at once a Pharisee, boasting about his Jewish heritage and training, and he always taught in the synagogues before going to the Gentiles. On the other hand, he also said so many things that appear to be against the Torah, such as regarding food and circumcision (two often repeated issues), one has to wonder where his loyalties really lie.

For the most part, Christian holidays, tenets, canon and ceremonies do not come from the Torah, but are rebranded pagan holidays and man-made traditions. And, because so much of Christianity is based on what Shaul wrote in the letters to his congregations, which were having issues of faith and interpersonal relationship problems, I have come to wonder if the Gentiles were misled by Shaul to form a new religion that goes against God. Is it possible that one of the most world-shattering events in Christianity- Shaul’s revelation of Messiah Yeshua- was really Satan pretending to be Yeshua?

You know, that wouldn’t be something the Prince of Lies wouldn’t do. And, because at that time many of the paganist Gentiles were learning the proper worship of God, sending someone like Shaul to confuse and misdirect them would be a smart thing to do.

After all, look at how successfully his letters have been used to misdirect millions to reject God’s Torah!

Of course, this thought borders on blasphemy, doesn’t it? And the last thing I would ever want to do is insult the Ruach HaKodesh (the Holy Spirit), but we are told to be as wise as serpents, which (to me) means not to avoid questioning anything or anyone who does anything, in any way, to redirect us from obedience to God’s instructions in the Torah.

So, after thinking it over, and asking for guidance from above, I have come to the conclusion that Shaul was, indeed, called by Yeshua to bring the Good News of salvation through Yeshua to all peoples, Jews and Gentiles, alike. BUT…although Shaul was not a wolf, he made it possible for the wolves to easily infiltrate and control the congregations he formed.

And they didn’t start to redirect the sheep away from God’s instructions, which Shaul was trying to get them to learn (at a pace they could handle), until well after Shaul and most every other Jewish disciple and leader of what was (initially) a Jewish sect, was dead and gone.

By the end of the First Century, Jews accepting Yeshua as their Messiah was tapering off, and more and more Gentiles were coming into this sect, and some were wolves who decided that, for both political and (in my opinion) personal reasons, redirected the people into a more casual worship. This new religion they created rejected many of the rules and regulations God gave to us through Moses, and redefined salvation from accepting Yeshua as their Messiah and living a Torah-observant lifestyle to a new religion whose only requirements are to believe in Jesus and love each other.

They turned Yeshua’s teachings from a God-fearing Torah observant lifestyle into a “come-as-you-are” party.

Remember that Shaul told the Corinthians he would be whatever he had to be in order to get the Good News out to people (1 Corinthians 9:20). We see this in his Epistles, each one directed to a specific congregation, addressing their specific problems. This ended up with what was said to one congregation may have been stated differently to another, adding to the confusion his letters usually caused (see 2 Peter 3:16), creating the opportunity for his letters to be misused by the wolves in sheep’s clothing, hiding in his congregations and secretly working for Satan.

Shaul was not the wolf in sheep’s clothing, but in his zeal to get the Good News out to everyone and by “playing to his audience”, he wasn’t consistent. And that inconsistency left the gate open for the wolves to infiltrate and eventually lead his flock away from Yeshua and towards destruction.

Thank you for being here and please remember to subscribe and share.

That’s it for this week, so l’hitraot and (an early) Shabbat Shalom!

Is An Adopted Child Free From the Rules?

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Two of the traditional Christian tenets are that when one professes faith in Yeshua (Jesus) as the son of God, they become an adopted child of Abraham, and the other is that as Gentiles, they are not required to obey the Torah, which is only for Jews.

But if they are now adopted children of Abraham, and the “blood” children of Abraham have to obey the Torah, doesn’t that beg the question: “Do the adopted children get to have different rules in the same household?”

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In his letter to the Galatians, Shaul (Paul) said that when someone belongs to Messiah they are children of Abraham. The direct descendants of Abraham, who are Jews, are required to obey the Torah, so shouldn’t those adopted into our father’s family also have to obey the same rules we do?

Let’s take a hypothetical example: say you are a parent of three children, born to you and your spouse. You raise them to be God-fearing and self-sufficient, as any good parent should. You have rules on how they should treat people, rules for living as a family, and rules for worshiping as a family; these children represent the Jews who first came to accept Yeshua as the Messiah.

Next, you can’t have any more children but because you love kids, you adopt three more kids, all around the same age as your own. Do they get to live a different lifestyle? Do they get to worship differently from the rest of the family? Do they get to refuse the food served at dinnertime to eat what they want to eat? When the family enjoys a day of rest, do they get to change that to a different day? These adopted children would be the Gentiles that came to faith in Messiah sometime around the middle to the end of the First Century, after the main population of Jews who would accept Yeshua began to taper off, and the movement began to mutate to a new religion.

My answer to how these adopted children should be treated would be the same as what happened to these neophyte believing Gentiles making this paradigm shift from paganism to Judaism, which is what they were doing- at least, initially.

The way these newly adopted children should be treated within the family is to be given some leeway, as they were not raised the same way the natural children were. They need an opportunity to learn the rules, slowly, at a pace they can handle, and not be forced to do everything the natural born children have been doing because that would result in one day waking up, and finding the adopted children have run away.

So, you start them off with basic rules they can handle, such as make their bed each morning, help set the table, take out the garbage, and go to worship as a family. As they gain experience in the family, they will learn from watching their siblings all the other rules.

Does this sound like something from the Bible? Well, it is- you can find it in Acts Chapter 15, verses 19-23, when Ya’akov (James) suggested just giving the new Gentile believers a few rules to start with, so as not to place any obstacles in their way. He also says they will eventually learn the entire Torah because it is read at every Shabbat service, demonstrating that the Elders expected these Gentiles to be attending Shabbat worship services with their (now) adopted family, the Jews.

So, what do we have? This hypothetical is really more of an analogy to represent the truth of being an adopted child of Abraham- you are NOT free from the rules of the natural born children, but you are allowed to assimilate into the family at a pace you can handle.

The problem those early believing Gentiles had, which Shaul ran into throughout his ministry, was the legalistic pressure to be completely assimilated immediately into Judaism. His answer was the same that Ya’akov and the Elders agreed with, which is what we did with our hypothetical family- teach them slowly, step-by-step, so they can assimilate easily, and not be scared off.

Here’s what I mean by being scared off: you go to a Pagan worshipper, and explain how they can have eternal joy and blessings on earth by faithfully accepting that there is only one God, and Yeshua is the Messiah and his son.


“OK, that sounds good. What else do I have to do?”
“You must confess your sins and ask forgiveness through Yeshua’s sacrifice, then live a righteous life, giving up the hedonism that you have been doing.”
“Well, I guess for eternal joy I can do that. Anything else?”
“Uh, there is one other, little thing you have to do right away.”
“Yeah? What’s that?”
“You have to let us cut off the top of your penis.”
(total silence)
“That’s it! So, whaddaya say?”
“Um, right, well… Oh gee! Look at the sundial- I didn’t realize it was this late, and I have an important appointment to go to. How about I get back to you later?”

You can see that an all-at-once conversion from paganism to Torah obedience would not work in many cases with the men, while it would probably be easier for the women to accept.

Here’s the point of today’s message: if you are adopted into a family, you are expected to follow the rules of that family; maybe not all at once, but eventually. However, what Christianity has done was to reject the father who adopted them and create a new family on their own. They ran away from the loving parents who adopted them (that would be God and Yeshua), and taught their new family to reject all that their adopted parents had been trying to teach them.

If you ask me, that’s no way to thank someone who accepted you into their family.

Thank you for being here and please remember to subscribe and share these messages.

That’s it for today, so l’hitraot and Baruch HaShem!

Remorse for the Past Prevents Joy in the Future

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I am sure you know people who have lost a loved one and just never got past it, allowing it to influence their happiness now. If you ask me, that isn’t honoring the dead.

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The sad fact is that we never get over losing someone we love, but if we don’t get past it, I’m of the opinion that allowing the loss of someone to detrimentally affect your future happiness is not honoring their memory.

How can I say such a cruel thing? Easily! How many of you, if you were to die, would want the ones you left behind to be sad for the rest of their lives?

Speaking for myself, I would much prefer that they do not mourn for me, because anyone who knows me knows I am secure in the knowledge that I will be with God for all eternity, and really? -who would prefer to be on earth than to be in God’s holy and totally joyful presence forever?

Besides, the truth is we don’t mourn for the dead person, we mourn for ourselves, selfishly concerned about how we will get on without them. And yes- it is selfish, and that’s not a bad thing, really, but it is why we are so sad- the dead person is past all the evil and suffering of this world, so we should be happy for them, right? I mean, when you love someone, you want them to be happy, safe, and unburdened with troubles, don’t you? Well, how much more so do they fit that bill when they are dead?

Don’t get me wrong! I am not saying that you should wish someone you love dead so they can be happy- that’s not right. I am simply saying that when they are dead, they are free from this burdensome life and that should help to console us when feeling their loss.

Look, it’s okay to be sad for yourself that you will no longer have the pleasure of that person’s company, but do not allow it to influence the rest of your life by always having that dark cloud over your head. Rejoice in the fact that you were able to know that person for as long as you did, and rejoice in their being set free from the earthly troubles that we all have to suffer while we are alive.

And if you want to buy into that old story of your loved ones are waiting for you in heaven, or watching over you, well…if it gives you comfort and allows you to continue, then that’s fine. If you ask me, I believe that when we are dead, we wait for Judgement Day and do not hover over the ones we left behind, or act as their guardian angels- we just sleep until the Judgement Day arrives. That’s what the Bible tells us to expect.

I hope that those who are still grieving years later, or who know someone like that, can get this message to them- the ones you have lost do not want you to be unhappy for the rest of your life, so get past it, get on with your life, find the love and joy still out there for you, and honor your dead loved one by living your life to its fullest.

That’s it for this week; please remember to subscribe, buy my books, and share these messages. So, without further ado, l’hitraot and (an early) Shabbat Shalom!

Shaul Never Stopped Being a Torah-Observant Jew

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If you go to almost any Bible, and turn to Acts Chapter 9, you will find a caption that says something to the effect of, “Paul converts on the road to Damascus.”

The problem with that caption is that it is a total lie!

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Christianity has based nearly every tenet and canon on misunderstanding and misusing the letters that Shaul (Paul’s real name) wrote, which were to congregations composed mostly of Gentiles who wanted to be part of this movement that promised eternal joy after they die if they simply accept that this Jewish guy named Yeshua is the son of that Jewish God, Adonai, and that when they do that they can be forgiven of their sins.

I would think one of the first obstacles Shaul had to face is that pagans don’t have sins because what they do is OK with their gods; after all, their gods did it, all the time! Once Shaul could get these Gentiles who wanted something better to listen to him, then he had a starting point.

Most Bibles will lead you to believe that these early Christians (even though that wasn’t a term of affection, at that time) were all Gentiles, the movement accepting Yeshua as the Messiah was initially only Jews. The thousands who were fed, the thousands who accepted him as Messiah at that first Shavuot (Pentecost) after his crucifixion were all Jews, who (for the record) never converted to anything but remained Jews living a Torah-observant lifestyle!

After all, he said he came only for the lost sheep of Israel (Matthew 15:24), and the spreading of his “Good News” didn’t reach Gentiles until a while after he was raised into heaven.

The fact is that until after Yeshua was taken up into heaven, Gentiles were not a significant part of the movement of those Jews who accepted the Messiahship (is that a word?) of Yeshua.

Now, when Shaul was riding to Damascus to persecute the believing Jews, and he got knocked off his high horse (literally, as well as figuratively), he did not convert to a different religion. What happened is simply that he changed his belief regarding Yeshua as the Messiah. That was the only thing that changed, and despite how many people call him a Christian saint or use his letters as justification for ignoring the Torah, Shaul was a Torah-observant Pharisee his entire life and never taught against the Torah.

Prove it, you say? I don’t have to prove it because Shaul, himself, says so!

Let’s take a look at Acts 24:14, where Shaul was making a defense to the Roman governor when he was accused of desecrating the Temple and teaching against the Torah:

But this I do admit to you: I worship the God of our fathers in accordance with the Way (which they call a sect). I continue to believe everything that accords with the Torah and everything written in the Prophets. And I continue to have a hope in God – which they too accept – that there will be a resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous.

His admission that he worshipped God in accordance with the “Way” simply meant that he accepted Yeshua was the Messiah God promised to send- there was no church, there was no Christian canon, the New Covenant wasn’t even written yet, and the majority of followers of Yeshua were still Torah-observant Jews.

It wasn’t until near the end of Shaul’s missionary work, sometime around 65 AD, that the number of Gentiles now being called Christians outnumbered the remaining Jews accepting Yeshua as the Messiah.

By the end of the First Century, what started as a Jewish movement had mutated into a totally different religion.

If you ask me, and even if you don’t (because this is my ministry and I’ll say what I believe), the main reason that Christianity has become so completely different from its Judaic roots is because the Gentiles who became the leaders of the movement after all the original, Jewish apostles and shamashim (Hebrew for leaders) died off, decided that all this Jewish stuff would get them in trouble with Rome. You see, there were three rebellions by the Jews in Judea against Roman occupation and rule (the third and last was in 70-73 AD, when the second temple was destroyed), and if these previously “safe” Gentiles now associated with the Jewish population, they were afraid they would also get on Rome’s “Hit List”. So, they changed things around to separate themselves from the Jews, starting with changing the day of the Sabbath, eventually misinterpreting Shaul’s letters to indicate following the Torah was wrong.

Of course, the way Shaul wrote, misinterpreting his stuff was easy.

But, to get back on track, Shaul was a Torah-observant Jew all his life, never converting to anything, especially not what we know today as Christianity. He continually taught how to be Torah observant, but required this conversion from paganism to Judaism to take place only a few steps at a time (which the Elders in Jerusalem agreed with- read Acts 15:21).

His arguments against circumcision and other Jewish forms of worship were never meant to tell these neophyte believers to ignore the Torah, only that they must not succumb to the legalism being forced on them (legalism meaning to obey the Torah as a means of earning salvation). He really never had any issues with Gentiles getting circumcised, so long as the reason was to be faithful to the Torah, and not just to be “correct”.

There are many other places in the Epistles that Shaul wrote that justify the fact he never converted to any other religion, and never stopped being a Torah-observant Jew. The truth is that if Christians want to live and worship as Yeshua (Jesus) did, then they need to get familiar with what God said to do (in the Torah) regarding how to worship him and how to treat each other, because that’s really the way Yeshua lived.

Thank you for being here; don’t forget to subscribe and share these messages. That’s it for today, so… l’hitraot and Baruch HaShem!