Author: Steven R. Bruck

Just What Does Matthew 18:18 Mean?

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The “Church” has used this verse to authorize priests to forgive sins. They also reference John 20:23, when Yeshua breathed the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) on the disciples and (allegedly) authorized them to forgive sins.

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However, this is not the same as Matthew 18:18, in which Yeshua told his talmidim (students/disciples) that whatever they bind/prohibit on earth will be bound/prohibited in heaven, and whatever they loose/permit on earth will be loosed/permitted in heaven.

So, is this the same as forgiving sins? I don’t think so.

(I am using “The Jewish New Testament Commentary” by Daniel H. Stern to help explain my position.)

I don’t believe this has to do with forgiveness of sins because of the Jewish understanding of those terms, which is the only way that Yeshua would have meant them.

The traditional usage of “bind” and “loose” in Judaism (asar ve-hittir), as the Pharisees and Scribes would have used them, is relating to legal judgements and Halacha (The Way to Walk).

Halacha is defined as the collective body of Jewish religious laws that are derived from the written and Oral Torah. For example, having two sets of dishes, how far one can walk on the Shabbat, plus an additional plethora of rules for how we go through our daily activities.

We need to realize that Yeshua was talking specifically to his talmidim, those disciples closest to him. This chapter begins with his talmidim asking Yeshua to explain some of what he had been teaching, and in doing so he tells them that when two or more of them are together, he will be there with them. This means that he is granting them the authority to act in legal and daily activity judgements, just as the Sanhedrin would in creating both judicial and social regulations.

The Christian view of this is that “two or more” is the same as a minyan, which is a group of 10 or more men (as required by Halacha) to form a congregation. This passage, however, is not about prayer but about regulating Messianic communal life. When he said he will be there with them, he meant that the regulations they create on earth will have the backing of heaven.

In the Talmud, the following extract explains this:

“How do you know that if ten people pray together the Sh’khinah (“manifested divine presence”) is there with them? Because it is said ‘God stands in the congregation of God’ (Psalm 82:1a) [and a congregation must have a minyan of at least ten]. And how do you know that if three are sitting as a court of judges the Sh’khinah is there with them? Because it is said ‘In the midst of judges he renders judgement’ (Psalm 82:1b) [taking elohim to mean judges]; (B’rakhot 6a)

This is the way Yeshua would have known what was meant by the terms “loose” and “bind”.

In Daniel 7:22, he said, “The Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the Most High.” And here we have Yeshua telling his talmidim that “Ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel” (Matthew 19:28).

Clearly, Yeshua was telling his talmidim that they will be the ones to replace the Sanhedrin in the Acharit haYamim (End Days) and that whatever social and judgmental regulations they create will be supported by both Yeshua and God.

So, as far as Peter being the first Pope and men having the authority to forgive sins, well… not supported by the Bible, not even what John wrote- the only one who has authority to forgive sins is God, and God alone.

Yeshua doesn’t forgive sins: he is the means by which our sins can be forgiven.

It is so important to understand the traditional Jewish cultural usage and meaning of whatever you read in the Bible, especially in the New Covenant; otherwise, you will never be able to truly understand what Yeshua taught.

Thank you for being here and please subscribe to both my website ministry and my YouTube channel. Buy my books (if you like what you get here, you will like my books, as well), share these messages all over the place, and join my Facebook group called “Just God’s Word” (but please make sure you agree to the rules, or I can’t let you in).

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

Was Kashrut Different in Noah’s Days?

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The laws concerning Kashrut are what we call the Kosher laws. We know that God defined what is kosher and what is not (for the most part) in Leviticus 11, but there is something about what he told Noah that doesn’t jive with what he told Moses.

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In B’resheet 6:19 (Genesis), we read that God tells Noah to take two of every kind of animal into the ark, one male and one female. There are no exceptions to what Noah is to take.

Then, in Chapter 7, Noah is commanded to take seven pairs of clean animals and only one pair of unclean; but he is to take seven pairs of all birds.

Now wait a minute!

In Leviticus 11, we are told that there are many birds that are not clean, such as the eagle, vulture, osprey, owls, hawks, some waterfowl, and bats (yeah, I know these aren’t really birds, but God wasn’t giving a class on taxonomic classification).

So why the difference? God tells Noah to take seven pairs of clean animals, and the same seven pairs of birds of the air, yet later he tells Moses that there are many birds of the air that are not clean.

So …which is it?

I wish I had an answer.

That being said, I wonder if the reason God had Noah take all seven pairs of the birds of the air is because he knew that so many of the baby birds do not survive (that’s the way he designed them) and so he wanted to make sure there were enough of the unclean ones to survive because they are so important to the world.

For instance, many of the unclean birds serve a valuable service in cleaning up the dead and diseased animals in the wild. The vultures eat carrion, and many of the raptors are scavengers, helping to recycle the dead and renourish the land. Despite the millions upon millions of birds, there are still so many more billions of insects and other species of animals that God knew he had to have enough birds to do what he designed them to do.

“But Steve- God made a nation of millions from one man, why not do the same with the birds? He can do anything!”

We have been told that God can do anything, but he really can’t- he can’t sin, he can’t lie, he can’t break his own rules, and he can’t act in anger. Now, don’t get me wrong here- he certainly does get angry, and that does result in him punishing the guilty, but he always punishes in a fair and just way, tempering his angry response with mercy. He does not lash out in anger as we humans do to each other.

Of course, he could have made as many birds as possible of whichever species he wanted to after the flood, but this is where I think he ran into the rules he made when he created them.

You may not know this, but the unclean birds that do most of the “cleaning up” duties do not have a large clutch of eggs, and often the youngest hatchling doesn’t survive. The number of newborns surviving in raptors and scavengers is relatively low compared to, say, chickens and waterfowl. So, since God can’t break his own rules, I think – maybe – he had Noah take seven pairs of all the birds in the air, clean and unclean, to ensure that there would be enough in the world to do what they are needed for.

You know, when reviewing this message, I feel like I am “stretching” things here and am not sure if this is really a good message or not, but it’s something I was thinking about and wonder if it makes sense to anyone else.

Do you have any idea why God would tell Noah to take seven pairs of all the birds of the air, even after saying to take seven pairs of just clean animals, yet there are so many birds that are unclean according to what God later told Moses?

I would be interested in hearing what your thoughts are on this.

Please make sure if you haven’t subscribed to this ministry to do so on my website and YouTube channel. Also, buy my books and join my Facebook group called “Just God’s Word” (but make sure you agree to the rules, or you can’t come in).

I always welcome your comments and look forward to (hopefully) some interesting discussion on this topic.

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

Do You Pray Correctly?

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Did you know that I wrote an entire book on Prayer?

(here’s a link to it: Prayer)

And yet, I still wonder if I am doing it in a way that honors God, is respectful to him, and appreciative that he listens. I think I pray correctly, but just in case, I always pray that God will help me to do so in a way that pleases him.

I developed a bad habit of praying every morning in my car when I would drive to work. Now, praying in the car each morning is not the bad thing: what was bad is that when I retired, and no longer began every day driving to work, I neglected to perform that daily prayer session. I still find the moment I get in my car, no matter where I am going, I pray, but at home when I am not going anywhere, well…like I said, it became a bad habit.

I believe the best way to pray is, of course, directly from the heart. I never, even way before I knew the Lord or accepted Yeshua as my Messiah, felt that praying to God using someone else’s words was right.

The prayer Yeshua gives us (Mattthew 6:5-15) is not just a prayer, but more of a template for all prayer, although it is a pretty good prayer, on its own. And, as a template, I use it to make sure my prayers are always in the same manner.

I start by acknowledging who God is, thanking him for all he has already done for me, and then asking for forgiveness of whatever sins I have committed against him (by the blood of the Messiah), as well as lifting up my wife and my children and their mother (from a previous life of mine). Even though they have made me their enemy, they are not mine, so I pray for them.

It also makes forgiving them easier, for they definitely sinned against me for many years, but that’s another story.

I ask not for anything other than to advance God’s word correctly, to always honor him in all I do and say (wow- do I ever fail at that!), and to be a better example to people of what it means to know and trust in God.

That’s it- if you do that, I am pretty sure you are praying correctly. Remember that Yeshua told of the tax collector and the Pharisee, the Pharisee praying thanks that he wasn’t like the sinners and the tax collector beating his chest, begging for forgiveness that he is such a sinner. Yeshua told us that the prayers of the sinner were more pleasing to God than those of the Pharisee.

When you pray, always do so humbly, ask only for that which you need, and trust God to answer your prayers with what he knows is best for you (which is usually not what we ask for, but definitely what we need).

And be patient, look for the answer (it isn’t always obvious), and remember our timing stinks, but God’s timing is perfect.

Thank you for being here and please subscribe to this website and my YouTube channel, as well. Buy my books and share them with others. And join my Facebook group called “Just God’s Word” (but make sure you click that you agree to the rules, or I can’t let you in).

And remember I love to hear back from you regarding what you think about these messages- please do so to help me stay on the right track.

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


Give Credit Where Credit is Due

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I think we all understand what this title means, so why am I talking about it in a message regarding our relationship with God?

Maybe it’s because so many people misplace the credit they give?

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I have been to many different houses of worship, both Jewish and Christian, as well as the “in-betweens”, i.e., Messianic Jewish synagogues and Hebraic Roots churches. And what I have found in too many of them is that they continually praise Yeshua (Jesus) for the wonderful blessings they have received.

Now, there’s no question that Yeshua deserves consideration when it comes to salvation; after all, if it wasn’t for his sacrifice, we would all be in deep trouble. With the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem, which is the only place God says we can bring our sacrifices, without Yeshua’s sacrifice (which replaced the need to bring an animal to the temple) we would have no way to receive forgiveness. So, clearly, Yeshua is deserving and worthy of our thanks and yes, I suppose, praise, too.

But who did Yeshua say we should praise? And to whom did those who actually were there and saw the miracles Yeshua performed give praise to?

I can tell you that the Gospels tell us who that was, and (get ready for it) …it wasn’t Yeshua.

Let’s look at Matthew 5:16 (CJB), which is just after Yeshua was talking about people being a light to the world:

In the same way, let your light shine before people, so that they may see the good things you do and praise your Father in heaven.

And later, in Matthew 9:8 (CJB), when he was healing people left and right, and the crowds were amazed, this is what happened:

When the crowds saw this, they were awestruck and said a b’rakhah to God the Giver of such authority to human beings.

And these are not just one or two lines taken out of context, but verified by the other Gospels as showing that the people knew who to give the proper credit to- God, the Father, who empowered Yeshua.

Yes, thanks to Yeshua we can receive salvation, but it doesn’t come from Yeshua- he is the means to salvation, not the source. God, and God, alone, is our salvation. God is the one who forgives, God is the one who saves, and Yeshua is merely the instrument of God’s salvation.

And if you don’t want to believe me when I say this, then believe Yeshua, who never once took credit for any of the miracles he performed.

OK, maybe once, in Mark 1:41, when he said he was willing to make the man clean. He did, in a way, make it seem that he was the one doing the cleansing, but still he told the man to go to the Cohen as the Torah required.

Other than that one exception, Yeshua always gave credit to their trust and faith, and often thanked God for what he (Yeshua) was able to do (like when he praised God for allowing the people to see him raise Lazarus so they would know that was God behind it).

God is the one who dispenses blessings, God is the one who forgives sins; read Matthew 9:6, where Yeshua said he was given authority on earth to forgive sins: meaning only during his ministry.

And remember how Yeshua also said (Matthew 7:21) that many people who worship him and call him “Lord” will not be allowed into the Kingdom of Heaven, unless they do what his Father in heaven wants, meaning obeying the Torah.

Yeshua always gave credit for what he did to his father in heaven, and I am pretty sure that is what he tells us to do, as well.

So, the next time you give thanks for a blessing, or for your salvation, or for your health, or any, and every, thing you are thankful for, give the credit to the one who the credit is due- God, the Father.

Thank you for being here and please share these messages with everyone you know. Subscribe to my website and YouTube channel, buy and share my books, and join my Facebook group called “Just God’s Word” (but please make sure you agree to the rules or I can’t let you in).

And remember that I always welcome your comments.

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

Yeshua Is More of a Goat Than a Lamb

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Do you know that there is not one place, anywhere, in the entire Tanakh where the Messiah is referred to as either “The Lamb of God” or “The Passover Lamb”?

Do you know that the Passover lamb is not a sin sacrifice?

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Do you know that according to the Torah, a goat is required as sin sacrifice?

We are told that Yeshua is the “Lamb of God” and that his sacrifice is what takes away our sin, but those statements are contradictory! Only a goat was acceptable as a sin sacrifice, and Yeshua’s sacrifice was a sin sacrifice, so how can he be a lamb?

And to make it even more confusing, I don’t think you will find the Messiah referred to as a goat, anywhere in the Bible, so… is Yeshua a lamb or a goat?

The answer is: he is both.

The Torah, in Leviticus 1-7, stipulates there are 5 different forms of sacrifices: burnt, grain, peace, sin, and trespass (different Bible versions may have different names).

According to Leviticus 4, where the sin sacrifice rules are given, sins of the high priest require the offering of a young, unblemished bull; sins of the leaders require the offering of an unblemished male goat, and the sins of members of the Israelite community required a female goat as an offering.

Now, there is an exception, where an individual can bring a lamb as their sacrifice for sin, but that is only in the case of an individual- sins of the leaders and sins of the community must be a bull or a goat.

Yeshua’s sacrifice was not for himself, but for all people, so according to God’s rules, he could not be the “Lamb of God”.

The answer to this conundrum is that his sacrifice was not just for sin, but actually is both the sin sacrifice and the Thanksgiving sacrifice.

The way the sacrificial system worked is that you start with a sin sacrifice, which cleanses you of the stain of sin and makes it possible for you to come into God’s presence, then you offer a wholly burnt sacrifice, which represents your commitment to wholly following God, and finally you offer the Thanksgiving sacrifice which reestablishes your communion with God, and in his presence you eat part of that sacrifice (which is how we know that the Passover sacrifice is a Thanksgiving sacrifice- it is the only one where the one bringing the animal gets to share of the meat of that animal).

When Yeshua died, he was the goat (sin sacrifice) and the lamb (thanksgiving sacrifice) because it allowed us to receive forgiveness of sin, and once forgiven we could come into communion with God.

We won’t see the complete fulfillment of this dual sacrifice until the End Days arrive.

In the meantime, Yeshua never referred to himself as God’s lamb, did he? And no messianic prophecy in the Tanakh referred to the Messiah as a lamb.

TIME OUT: If you are thinking of Isaiah 53, where he prophesied that the Messiah would be led like a lamb to slaughter, that is not saying the Messiah is the “Lamb of God”. It is a merely a reference to how he remained silent: it was John who misused it to identify Yeshua as the “Lamb of God”.

In fact, my research shows that the only person in the entire Bible to refer to Yeshua as the “Lamb of God” is the Apostle John.

Now, as far as I am concerned, if all the prophets and all the other Apostles, and every other reference to God’s Messiah never call him the “Lamb of God”, but just this one guy does, well…then that’s just his thing, and certainly not hermeneutically, historically, reasonably, or in any other way validated by the Bible.

If Yeshua’s sacrifice was ONLY for sin, he would then have to be called “The Yom Kippur Goat”, or maybe the “Goat of God”, but not the Passover Lamb. However, because his sacrifice takes away our sins, we are able to come into the presence of the Lord and commune with him, which was done through the Thanksgiving sacrifice- the same one that we do on Passover- so Yeshua certainly is similar to a lamb.

The blood of the Passover sacrifice saved us from death by marking us as God’s people, and the blood of the sin sacrifice saves us from death by taking away our sin. The sacrificial system had our sin taken away (goat sacrifice) so that we could then come back into communion with God (thanksgiving sacrifice).

What Yeshua did was to accomplish both of these sacrifices at the same time, but in the opposite order.

Why this way? I don’t know! But I can say this- I am grateful for what he did, no matter in which order he decided to do it.

He may be referred to as the Lamb of God, but if you ask me, he is the G.O.A.T.

(If you’re not familiar with that acronym, it means Greatest Of All Time).

Thank you for being here and please share these messages, subscribe to my ministry on my website and YouTube channel, buy my books, and join my Facebook group called “Just God’s Word” (but please make sure you agree to the rules, or I can’t let you in).

That’s it for today, so l’hitraot and Chag Pesach Sameach!

God Has No Name

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What is your name? Mine is Steven. The reason I have this name is to identify myself as a unique individual within the society. And, since there are many other “Stevens”, I also have a middle and last name to help further separate me from all the other human males.

But what about God? Does he really need an identifier to separate him from all the other gods?

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I know this will sound totally off, some may even call it blasphemous, but God doesn’t have a name.
Oh, yes- there are many titles we know him by, even the one he gave to Moses, but that isn’t really a name.
The Tetragrammaton, those 4 Hebrew letters Yud-Heh-Vav-Heh (יהוה) have been generally accepted to mean “I am that I am”, or “I will be that which I will be”.

God told Moses to tell the people that “I am” sent him. But “I am” is not a name- it is a description, isn’t it?

The letters do not represent a unique label by which we can know this God from all other gods, although it certainly can be used for that, but it is more of a description of who and what God is: it tells us that he is infinite.

All the terms we use for him: God, Adonai, Lord, Jehovah, Yahweh, HaShem…all of these identify him by a title, but that is not the same as a name that is to make him unique from all the others like him.

There is no other like him.

For instance, Ba’al means Lord, and despite those very foolish people who say using the name “Lord” is praying to a pagan god, there are many other Stevens in the world, but when someone is talking to me, they aren’t talking to every other Steven in the world. It’s the same with God, which is further proof that since every religion uses the title “god” or “lord”, this is obviously not a unique identifying of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob

In fact, there shouldn’t even be debate about this because God tells us how he wants to be known. Check out Exodus 3:15:

God said to Moses, “Say this to the children of Israel: ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations.

So, that pretty much settles it, wouldn’t you say?

Again, not so much a name as a description.

So, to all those “Holy Namers” out there- sorry to bust your bubble, but how we pronounce God’s name is not the important thing; God, himself, says to refer to him by what he is, not by a name.

Besides, we are saved by faith, not pronunciation.

And to all those out there who insist we should use his name all the time, well- go ahead. But make sure it’s the one He said to use., which means instead of God or Jehovah, or Yahweh, or whatever you prefer, God says to know him as the God of our fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.

That’s a mouthful. I don’t know about you, but I’ll just stick with God or Adonai or Lord, and know that I am not praying to a pagan or Semitic, Roman, Greek, Hindu, or Buddhist supernatural entity, but to the God of our fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of…well, you know the rest.

I am not saying to stop using whatever term or title or “name” for the one who created everything and who sent Yeshua, the Messiah to us you are used to using is wrong. It’s fine, and if you are confused about pronunciation, remember that throughout the Bible we are told, over and over, that God knows your heart and mind, so as long as you are praying to the God of our fathers, the God of Abraham, etc., then you are fine.

Believe me- God knows who you mean, and he isn’t so prideful as to reject your prayer because of what title you use when referring to him.

Even Shakespear knew this: “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” (Romeo and Juliet)

God is the epitome of unique- there is nothing else like him anywhere: there never has been, there isn’t now, and there never will be. He is, he was, he always shall be HIM.

What it comes down to is this- God doesn’t have a name because God doesn’t need a name.

Thank you for being here and please share these messages, subscribe to my website and YouTube channel, and buy my books. I also invite you to join my Facebook group called “Just God’s Word” (but please make sure you agree to the rules, or you can’t come in).

And remember that I always welcome your comments.

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