Author: Steven R. Bruck
What Are New Wineskins, Really?
I have read the Bible many times, and every time I came to Matthew 9:16-17 I always wondered what it really meant. As I was reading this passage again the other day, I asked God to show me what it meant, and I believe he has.
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Before I tell you what he showed me, let’s look at this passage, together:
No one patches an old coat with a piece of unshrunk cloth, because the patch tears away from the coat and leaves a worse hole. Nor do people put new wine in old wineskins; if they do, the skins burst, the wine spills and the wineskins are ruined. No, they pour new wine into freshly prepared wineskins, and in this way both are preserved.
Most of the Christian interpretations I have heard say Yeshua was making the point that his teachings and commandments are new, and override the existing, older commandments. The new patch and the new wine are now the commandments that we must obey, and (again, this is a Christian interpretation) therefor the old laws and traditions have been done away with to make room for the new ones.
Of course, being Jewish and Messianic, I know that this interpretation is false. First off, Yeshua taught from the Torah, and if he had said or done anything that even implied we shouldn’t obey the Torah, then he would have been in rebellion against his Father, God, and in sin. If that was true, then his sacrifice would not have been accepted, and we all would be in a lot of trouble today. Fortunately, that isn’t the way it is.
Secondly, although Yeshua did speak against many of the traditions of the elders, which later would become Talmudic doctrine and practice, he did not universally condemn all traditions. For instance, we know he celebrated the Festival of Lights, which is a traditional, man-made holiday and not even in the Bible.
So, what did Yeshua mean when he said new wine has to go into new wineskins?
He meant that his teachings, which were based entirely on the Torah, were being interpreted in a new way. And, as such, he couldn’t properly “fit” them into the old wineskins, meaning the Pharisees and Sadducees, who were too used to and comfortable with their understanding to accept what he was saying.
The “new wine” he taught was the spiritual understanding of the Torah, called the Remes. This is from a Jewish method of biblical exegesis called PaRDeS, which represents different levels of meaning. There is the Pashat or literal meaning of the words- what you see is what it means. A deeper understanding is Remes or spiritual meaning. For instance, Yeshua said we have been told not to commit adultery (Pashat) but when we lust with our eyes, we have already done so (Remes.) The other levels, Drash (a story with a spiritual or moral meaning) and Sod, which is such a deep meaning it is mystical.
The new wineskins are the Am Ha’aretz, meaning the people of the land, those who are not formally trained in the Torah and the Tanakh. These are receptacles that can accept the new wine because they haven’t been “stretched” to their limits from having contained the older wine. These new wineskins were familiar with the traditions, but not affected by them so much that having known them they were not able to accept new wine without bursting. That is why Yeshua prayed:
I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you concealed these things from the sophisticated and educated and revealed them to ordinary folks. (Matthew 11:25)
Today, the knowledge of God’s word is not much more, and probably a lot less, than it was in those days. Christianity has so skewed and misinterpreted the meaning of the letters from Shaul (Paul) and taught disobedience to God’s Torah that the world is more sinful and decrepit than ever. Instead of serving the wine of truth, traditional Christian teachings have caused people to become drunk with the beer of hedonism and ignorance.
Christians (I am not talking about every Christian, but I do mean most of them) need to become new wineskins; they need to be able to accept that what Yeshua taught did not do away with the law, but confirmed it! That means to let go of the teachings that Christians have been filled with, such as Sunday Sabbath, Christian holidays, and Constantinian doctrine and practices, and become new wineskins able to accept the new wine of proper interpretation of Yeshua’s teachings, and of the Epistles in the B’rit Chadashah (New Covenant.)
Yeshua’s teachings may be considered new wine, but it was the exact same vintage as the Torah; all Yeshua did was market it differently.
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Until next time we are together, L’hitraot and Baruch HaShem!
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Parashah Ekev 2019 (Because) Deuteronomy 7:12 – 11:25)
Moses continues to speak to the children of Israel, constantly reminding them of their travels through the desert and their sins along the way, and admonishing them, over and over, to remember all that God has done for them. He has kept them safe in the desert, their clothes and sandals didn’t wear out, and they received manna and water miraculously every day.
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Moses told them not to become proud and think the land was given to them because they deserved it -they didn’t! They are a stiff-necked people, and the Lord was giving it to them in order to fulfill his promise to the Patriarchs, as well as to have the Israelites act as his weapon to rid the land of the unrepentant and sinful peoples living there. Moses tells the people that they are not to be afraid of the nations they are to dispossess because God will fight for them, as he has done in the past.
More than once Moses confirms that when the people obey God, they will be blessed, and when they disobey they will be punished and that if they continue to be sinful, then God will eject them from the land just as he did the sinful people before them.
Moses also repeats the command to remember these words, to teach them to the children, to wear them, and to post them on their house and gates, which is called the V’ahavta (and you shall love) prayer which was originally given to us in Deuteronomy 6:5.
What Moses was really telling the people was to trust in God to take care of them, but he didn’t say it that way. I think he was right in not coming out and saying something as simple to comprehend as “Just trust God and you will be fine” because, in my opinion, people can’t really trust. Whether it is God or their friends, or even themselves -people are, in general, untrustworthy and we know we are untrustworthy. It’s no wonder that we have trouble trusting in God because we can’t trust that which we can see and feel, so how can we trust that which is invisible?
Moses didn’t ask them to trust God, in exactly those words, but he did tell them to do something they could do: remember all that has befallen them over the past 40 years and that what God has done for them so far, he can, and will, continue to do so long as they do what they are supposed to do.
I think we can all agree that in those days, it was much easier for people to accept there was a God, some superior being that was the cause of the events that happened during their lifetime. Today we are so scientific and faithless that people tend to trust in their own power instead of some supernatural power. They want to be the ones in control of their life and often refuse to accept that there is any other way.
That is why today’s message is this: REMEMBER.
Remember the times when you had a close call and almost died; remember the times that you were sick but got better; remember the events in other people’s lives that you found hard to believe, either good or bad, and remember that the Bible has been proven, over and over, more and more, to not just be a storybook but an accurate historical document. That means that if the places and people in the Bible really existed, which archaeology has proven to be true, then the events these people witnessed must also be true.
We can’t see the wind as it blows past our window, but we can see the evidence of it by watching the trees and bushes move. We can’t see the birds in the trees, but we can hear the evidence of their existence. Most of the time we can’t see the pollen in the air but our sneezing, runny nose and itchy eyes prove it’s there. We know these things exist because either we have seen birds in the air and pollen on our cars, and many other things that may be invisible to the naked eye science has been able to make visible.
But science will never make God visible. But even though we can’t see God, we can see the evidence of his existence everywhere. The only difference is that whereas science can prove these things exist when it comes to God, we have to be willing to accept the evidence as factual.
When it comes to the existence of God, you have to choose to believe in it: you must choose to believe that God exists, and the same goes for the Messiah, Yeshua -not just that he existed but that he was, and still is, the Messiah God promised to send. And that he is coming back to finish the job.
Whenever you find your faith wavering or your trust being tested, remember the evidence of what you believe and confirm for yourself the truth of you know.
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This is Friday so Shabbat Shalom, and until next time….L’hitraot and Baruch HaShem!
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Speaking Can’t be Erased
There is a story I once heard that provides the basis for today’s message.
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A man once spread gossip about his Rabbi. Later, he felt bad about it and went to his Rabbi to apologize. He asked if there was anything he could do to make it better, and the Rabbi asked him, “Do you have a feather pillow?” The man, a little taken back, said that he did. The Rabbi told him “Take the pillow into a large field of grass on a windy day, split the top open and swing the pillow around your head. Then, come back to me.”
The man did as he was told, and when he went back the Rabbi asked what happened. The man said, “It was really beautiful, Rabbi. The feathers floated here and there, everywhere, and it looked like snow. But, Rabbi…what does this have to do with my spreading gossip about you?”
The Rabbi said, “Go back out to that field and pick up all the feathers.”
Gossip isn’t the only thing we do that cannot be taken back. Angry words, nasty comments, and a discompassionate attitude are all things that, once done, cannot be retracted.
Oh, yes- we can apologize, and we may be forgiven, but for most people, the rule is “Once bitten, twice shy.” And many people, to their own detriment, will take the attitude that once you do something to them they don’t like, they will never have anything to do with you, at all.
Forgiveness doesn’t mean trusting again, it doesn’t mean loving again, and it doesn’t mean wanting to be friends again. Forgiving others who hurt us is something we must do, not for their sake but for our own. We will never get past the hurt until we forgive. But, as I said, forgiving doesn’t mean having to re-establish the previous relationship. I can be forgiven for saying something, but that person doesn’t have to trust me or even speak to me, ever again.
The Bible is clear that we must always watch what we say. We read about it in Proverbs, in Psalms, in the Gospels and the Epistles. We must always be wary of what we say and how we say it, if not only to avoid hurting someone but (more importantly) not to do or say anything that will dishonor God.
Remember in Psalm 51, when David asked God to forgive him for the sin he committed against Uriah, the Hittite and with Uriah’s wife, Bathsheba? He said (Psalm51:4):
Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight;
Any and all sins we commit are, first and foremost, against God because we have done something he said we must not do. And when we ask for forgiveness, it must first be from God. When we come to judgment, it will be God who is the judge, so we better make sure we have nothing for him to hold against us. If we only go to the one we sinned against to ask forgiveness, even if he (or she) forgives us, they are not God.
When God forgives us, we have re-established our relationship with him; when someone else forgives us, it doesn’t have anything at all to do with our relationship with God. It affects their relationship with God, but not ours.
No one other than God can forgive your sins, and because there is no longer any temple in Jerusalem (where the Torah commands we must bring our sin sacrifice) the only way to receive forgiveness of our sins today is through the substitutionary sacrifice that Yeshua ha Maschiach made for us.
Therefore, be very, VERY careful what you say. Always think before you speak, and if you have even the slightest doubt that what you are saying (or writing) may be taken the wrong way, then shut up!
I say this not as someone who knows how to shut up, but as someone who has made a profession of not shutting up in time.
I know all about sin because I have so much experience doing it. God forgive me for my weakness and strengthen me to sin less each day.
Amen!
Thank you for being here and please share me out to help this ministry to grow. I never ask for money, I just want to spread the truth about God so that people can make an informed decision, based not on their religious doctrine but on what God says.
Until next time, L’hitraot and Baruch haShem!
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You Don’t Deserve Squat
Normally, I turn the sound off when a TV commercial comes on. So many times what they say is such an insult to someone’s intelligence. One of the worst things, in my opinion, is how they constantly try to sell you on the idea that you deserve what they have for you, and don’t let anyone take it away.
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You deserve this coverage, you deserve to feel better, you deserve more interest, you deserve a better car, you deserve to feel loved, you deserve…actually, if you listen to this drek, you deserve anything and everything you want.
The truth is you don’t deserve squat… unless you earn it.
Wait a minute, Steve! What about our inalienable rights? The U.S. Constitution says we deserve them.
No, it doesn’t. It says you have the right to them, but we didn’t deserve the freedom to exercise those rights until after we earned it through warfare and bloodshed.
The current generation is known as “Millennials”; they all seem to have a sense of entitlement (of course, not all Millennials fit this description, but certainly, enough do to justify the stereotype), and I believe a lot of this is due to their having been brought being told they deserve whatever they want. I want a new car, well, I deserve it. I want better insurance rates, well, I deserve them. I want a better insurance plan, well I deserve one.
Get real, people! You don’t deserve anything you haven’t earned, but there are many things available to you. If I work hard and save my money, or if I invest wisely, then I can say I deserve to have those things because I have earned them.
By definition, if I already deserve something then all I should have to do is ask to receive it, right? What do you think will happen if you go to your insurance company and tell them you deserve better rates? Do you think you will get them without giving up some benefits or paying more? If you go to a car dealer and offer to give them your car for that better car you deserve, will they accept your old car and give you the better one at no additional cost?
No one deserves anything that they haven’t earned.
What about salvation? Yeshua died for our sins, and haven’t we been told by our religious leaders that all we need to do is ask and we shall receive? If we can get it simply by asking, doesn’t that mean we deserve it?
You would think so. Even by my own definition, something that we deserve we should be able to get with the asking. Yeshua did die for our sins, and he did make salvation something that we can have simply by asking, but it isn’t something we deserve.
It is available to us, but we haven’t, and (frankly) none of us ever will, deserve it. That is the reason Yeshua had to die – no one can earn salvation.
What about blessings? Doesn’t God give blessings to everyone even when they are sinful? Doesn’t it say in Matthew 5:45 that God sends rain to the just and unjust alike? If that is true, then we must all deserve blessings.
It is true that God will bless even those who reject and curse him, which he does because he is a loving and compassionate God. But we don’t automatically deserve a blessing; however, blessings can be earned by obeying God’s instructions in the Torah (Deut. 28.) God promises that when we are obedient to his instructions he will bless us, and God always keeps his word.
Yeshua earned his salvation through a lifetime of perfect obedience to God’s instructions, something none of us can do. He did that so salvation could be available to all people. We do not deserve it, but we can have it.
I’ll finish with this: we can’t earn and we don’t deserve salvation, but we can have it; the hard part is deserving to keep it. And that, my friends, is for another message.
Thank you for being here and please subscribe if you haven’t done so already. I welcome comments and look forward to our next time together, so until then…L’hitraot and Baruch HaShem!
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Parashah V’et’chanan 2019 (I Pleaded) Deuteronomy 3:23 – 7:11
Moses pleads, once again, with God to allow him to cross over the Jordan and enter the land, but God is firm and tells Moses he may see the land but will not cross over. Then he says, essentially, put a sock in it: Joshua will take the people into the land, you will die on the mountain, und das is alles!
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Moses reminds the people about the wonders God has done, separates three cities on the east side of Jordan where the slayer can flee (Cities of Refuge) and tells the people that at Mt. Horeb (when God talked to them) they never saw God so they must never make any image of God. Then he reviews the 10 Commandments.
Throughout this First Discourse, Moses constantly reminds the people about how unique their experience is, having heard the voice of the living God and remained alive; he reminds them of how they asked him, Moses, to be their intercessor with God because they were afraid to hear God, directly. As we will see throughout this last book, Moses is constantly reminding the people to obey the instructions God has given them through Moses so that they will be able to remain in the land.
Near the end of this parashah, Moses gives the people two of the most sacred and wonderful prayers in all of Judaism: the Shema and the V’ahavtah.
There is an entire lifetime of spiritual knowledge just in the Shema and V’ahavta prayers, and as wonderful and edifying as a study of these prayers would be, I am not going to be dealing with them today.
I want to talk about the 10 Commandments, specifically the first two. Do you know what they are? You may think you do, but I have found them mistranslated and misaligned (or should I say, maligned?) depending on from which religion you learned them.
Let’s start with the most accurate of all the translations, which is the one in the Torah. In the Torah, at this parashah (and it is confirmed hermeneutically when we compare it with the first time we hear these commandments in Exodus 20) Moses tells the people exactly what God said:
I am the Lord, thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee a graven image, even any manner of likeness, of any thing that is in the heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down unto them, nor serve them; for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the third and upon the fourth generation of them that hate me, and showing mercy unto the thousandth generation of them that love me and keep my commandments.
I searched a number of different versions on the Internet and also looked at the JPS Hebrew-English Tanakh, my Chumash, and even my Tikkun, and did not find any three versions of this first commandment that matched. The Torah (from the Tikkun) has the statements about being the Lord and not making graven images as one continuous statement, yet in the Chumash, it is split into two separate commandments. A Catholic version I saw had the first commandment about being the Lord and the second about having no gods before him but did not state anything about not making or bowing before any type of image (no surprise there, considering the Catholic Church has graven and painted images that they bow before throughout their houses of worship.)
I saw a children’s rug that had the first two as (1) Love God more than anything and (2) let him be first in your life, while a non-denominational plaque had nothing about being the Lord thy God but the first two commandments were (1) not to have any other gods and (2) not to make any graven images.
From what I saw in these dozen or so different versions, the commandments always manage to come out to 10, but the majority of the time either they split the first one into two and have a single commandment at the end dealing with coveting, or they have the first commandment covering I am the Lord and no graven images and split coveting into two.
And, as we saw, some people think they can just restate and change the entire wording, thereby changing the meaning and impact of the commandments.
The important thing is, of course, that all of God’s commandments are there, and stated as he stated them. Considering the detailed manner in which each and every Torah is written to ensure that it is exactly the same as the one it was copied from, and how historical evidence has shown that ancient scrolls have matched almost word-for-word to the modern books in the Bible, we can be certain that what is in the Torah is as close as possible to what God actually told Moses to tell the people.
So, nu? What’s my point? My point is that we need to read and understand these commandments as God gave them, not as people want to write them down. The Torah has the first commandment as I gave you above, which absolutely identifies God as the only God, the one true God, and the only God that brought us out of slavery. And we are not to have any images of him or any form of worship (including praying to) any other gods or persons, as well. That includes not just statues or paintings of God, but the image of Yeshua (Jesus) on a cross or the representation of a saint. And this includes the worship of sports figures, celebrities, or possessions.
Too many people have been taught too many things that are wrong, or at least, not with the impetus or meaning that God intended us to have. And the only way to know what is correct and what is not is to know the Torah, which is the most accurate rendering of God’s instructions. All the other books of the Bible, from Joshua through Revelation, do not have God speaking directly but only have people quoting what God told Moses. Even Yeshua’s teachings are taken from the Torah and the rest of the Tanakh, which is what God told the prophets to say, but was (in almost every case) said in the prophets own words; everything after the Torah is divinely inspired writing but not a divinely dictated statement.
My ministry is a teaching ministry. I am not going to tell you what to believe, but I will tell you where to find the information that you need so you can make an informed decision. I will also give you what I believe to be the correct meaning of God’s word, although I always warn and admonish you to read it for yourself. I try to hear the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) leading me to proper understanding, but I am a weak and sinful human being, so I do not trust myself to always be correct. That is why you need to not just hear, but test what I say. And, of course, that means to test what anyone tells you, whether they have a Doctorate in Theology or just read the Bible for the first time.
God can give different people a different understanding of the same passage, and each can be correct in its own way, so never accept anything from anyone at face value.
Let me finish with this: please remember that what you believe is your choice, and yours, alone, and you will be held accountable for it. So choose wisely.
Thank you for being here and please subscribe and share me out. I welcome comments and only ask that you be nice.
Tonight begins the day of rest so I wish you all Shabbat Shalom, and until next time… L’hitraot and Baruch HaShem!