Salvation is Not a Choice Between Torah or Yeshua: You Need Both!

What is one of the first things Christians are taught? Isn’t it that they are to follow in the footsteps of Jesus? Doesn’t that bracelet with the “WWJD” on it mean that the wearer wants to live their life the way Jesus did?

Then why is it that Christianity (and Judaism, as well) says that you either follow the Torah or you follow Yeshua, but you can’t follow both. Don’t they know that Yeshua followed the Torah?

BTW..(in case you didn’t know, Yeshua is Jesus’s real name)

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

Being raised Jewish (and, for the record, I am still Jewish, not Christian), I was taught that this guy Jesus was a Jew but he rejected Judaism and created Christianity. So, to a Jew, if you “believe in Jesus” (whatever that is supposed to mean) you are no longer Jewish, but you have to be a Christian!

Isn’t that strange? Jews want to convert believing Jews to Christianity even more than the Christians do!

The truth is this: to believe that Yeshua is the MOST “Jewish” thing anyone can do.

Yeshua had to have lived his life in total, 100% obedience to the Torah. At that time, the Torah was the User Manual for righteousness (and, you know what?-it still is), so because Yeshua was raised from the dead, proving absolutely that his death was an acceptable sacrifice, the fact is that he had to have lived his life obedient to the laws, commandments, regulations, Holy Days, and everything else that is in the Torah, AND that he is the Messiah God promised to send to us!

The Epistles, which is what Christianity is actually based on, weren’t even written then; and, even now, they have nothing at all to do with how Yeshua lived and worshipped.

Both Jews and Christians have had it wrong since the beginning: Yeshua was, is, and will always be obedient to God’s Torah, and in order to do as Yeshua did, to follow in his footsteps, and to live a righteous life, according to what GOD says and not to some man-made religion, you have to be obedient to the Torah and live it as Yeshua did.

Yeshua is the embodiment of the New Covenant: not the biblical books from Matthew through Revelation, but the real New Covenant, the one (and the only one) God made through the prophet Jeremiah (Jeremiah 31:31). That covenant says that God will write his Torah on our hearts. Reading about Yeshua, we can see that he was not just obedient to the Torah, but he was Torah in the flesh (despite my opinion about John’s Gospel, he did get that part right), and the living example of the fulfillment of the New Covenant, having the Torah written on his heart.

So, nu? If you really want to do as Yeshua did, and you really want to live as he did, and you really want to follow in his footsteps, the Arthur Murray version of those dance steps are in the Torah- nowhere else, just the Torah. If you decide to accept that Yeshua is the Messiah God promised, that through his sacrifice we can be forgiven, and you try to live as he did, obedient to the Torah (we can never be as obedient as he was, so we do our best)… if you do all that, then you are on the right path to eternal joy.

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

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

The Unholy Human Trinity: Fear, Greed, and Pride

You’ve all heard of the Holy Trinity, right? Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit?

Are you aware that this is not the only trinity that we have in the world?

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The heavenly trinity represents, from a spiritual viewpoint, a combination of things that lead us to salvation. God, the father and creator of everything, who defined what sin is (in the Torah) and gave us the sacrificial system so we could be forgiven when we sin. Then there’s the son, Yeshua the Messiah (also known as Jesus) through who’s sacrifice we can receive forgiveness of our sins (now that the temple is no longer available).

Finally, the Ruach HaKodesh, the Holy Spirit, which is a counselor (as Shaul called it) to help guide us in understanding of, and obedience to, God’s holy instructions for how to live a righteous life.

But, there are other trinities that we have to deal with, and they are unholy.

There is the unholy Trinity of Satan, the Beast, and the Anti-Christ, which are designed to be a wedge between us and God. This trinity was designed by Satan, himself, and has (over many millennia) proven itself very effective in leading people away from God.

But we humans aren’t going to be outdone by God or the Devil- if they have a trinity, we want a trinity, of our own! And we have one.

But our trinity isn’t holy or righteous- it is one which stems from our Yetzer Hara (Evil Inclination), or what you can call our innate iniquity (desire to sin), and it is made up of fear, greed, and pride.

The first one we have to deal with is greed- the desire to have more than we do, and especially to own what others have. This is followed, and increased, by fear: not the fear of death, and definitely not the fear of the Lord, but the fear of loss.

And when our greed has made us gather things up, the fear of loss turns us into selfish, Scrooge-like beings, we develop pride because we now have more of what others want, convincing ourselves that we must be better than they are.

And this unholy trinity will bring us, eventually, under the power of the Enemy of God, because Satan’s trinity convinces us that fear, greed, and pride are good things to have, encouraging us to continue to trust in ourselves (instead of God) and to build a fortune, no matter who we destroy along the way.

In one of my favorite movies, “The Magnificent Seven”, the evil gang leader taking over the town of poor, God-fearing people, says to the leader of the seven that if God didn’t want them sheared, he would not have made them sheep (perhaps not even knowing that he was quoting from Psalm 44:22).

I believe it is usually the rams in the herd who are the ones that have this unholy trinity more than the members of the herd, i.e., the sheep. So many of the “successful” people in the world- successful by the world’s standards- are somewhat selfish, greedy, and definitely fearful of losing what they have.

Fortunately, there are those who have worldly success but are not subject to the unholy trinity of human emotions; they are the ones who give the rest of us (that is, we sheep) godly leadership and comfort.

This simple lesson of how the unholy trinity of human emotions can destroy a people is very apropos today, when here in America we are electing the next President, and our choices are between a godless party and a God-fearing party.

The godless party wants to continue to murder babies, cause anarchy by allowing illegal invaders into our country to commit criminal acts without consequence, encourage social unrest, and control the media and government subsidies in order to gain power over the people through creating a country wide climate of fear. Within that atmosphere of dreadfulness, they will reward greed and prideful judgementalism by accusing the righteous of being exactly what the power-holders are: racist, cruel, and uncaring.

The policy of the godless is to act in a godless way, then point their finger at the righteous, blaming them for the way things are.

We all are born with the Yetzer Hara controlling us; and, just like you don’t have to be Jewish to love Levy’s Rye bread, you don’t have to be Jewish to have the Yetzer Hara. In Judaism, we believe that it will control us until we develop the Yetzer Tov, the Good Inclination, which is when we reach the age of Bar Mitzvah (13 years old).

I believe the best way to overcome an enemy, whether it be a military force trying to defeat us, or a spiritual entity trying to separate us from God, or the Yetzer Hara, is to know that enemy. We can study a nations military history and their military leaders to know what to expect from them, and we can read the Bible to know what to expect from Satan, but the only way I believe we can truly overcome the Yetzer Hara is to know the person we see in the mirror.

I can tell you, from personal experience, that the hardest thing to see is who you really are.

That is why so much of the self-help philosophy is actually, in my opinion, working with the godless powers in the world to separate us from God. Why do I say that? Simple- their whole program is about helping yourself, being comfortable with who you are, and not asking for God’s help, at all. Nor do they want you to fight against your nature, but rather (in most cases) to embrace it!

I agree that when people call us names or accuse of us of being a certain way, we shouldn’t allow their opinions to upset us. BUT, on the other hand, if we truly desire to improve ourselves (hopefully, in a godly way) then we should be willing to listen carefully and humbly to what they say.

You know, they might just be right!

So, the bad news is that you, me, and everyone you ever knew or ever will know has this unholy trinity of fear, greed, and pride within them, but the good news is that when we seek God’s help, follow his instructions for how to lead a godly, righteous life (they are found in the first 5 books of the Bible), and strive to always do what is right in God’s eyes and not what the world says to do, then we can develop our Yetzer Tov to the point where that little devil on your one shoulder looks like Steve Urkel, and the little angel on the other shoulder looks like Arnold Schwarzenegger!

Please remember to subscribe and share these messages with everyone you know, saved or not- you never know where the good soil is.

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

PS: If you are voting today, please…don’t vote for a person, or against a person, but vote for those policies which are godly, and which you truly believe will be best for all Americans.

Does Yeshua’s Sacrifice Make It Easier to Sin?

In case you didn’t know: The Book of Leviticus identifies the sacrificial system as the only means to receive forgiveness, and in chapter12 of the Book of Deuteronomy, God commands that sacrifices are only to be made where he places his name; initially, that was the Tabernacle Moses built, then it was the temple Solomon built in Jerusalem.
This is why I say that without the temple, according to the Torah, there can be no forgiveness of sin.

It has become all too easy for Christians to sin and not worry about it, what with the “believe in Jesus and you will be saved” ad campaign, not to mention the ridiculous idea that once you have been saved, you are automatically forgiven of your sins (known as OSAS). These tenets of Christianity have misdirected so many God-fearing people who think they are doing the right thing in God’s eyes, while what they are really doing is rejecting everything that God said we should do if we want to live a righteous life!

Here’s the kicker, people: just because Yeshua made forgiveness easier to receive, if you are not repentant, you are not going to be forgiven, and thinking that you can sin and be forgiven just because you “believe in Jesus” is a one-way ticket to Sheol.

God is not stupid- he knows the heart and the mind of everyone. If you think, probably due to what some religion has told you, that Yeshua made forgiveness easy to attain whenever you sin, that is not honoring either Yeshua or God.

Shaul was right- the Torah identifies sin, and that is why we must know the Torah, intimately! God gave the Torah to teach us (both Jews and Gentiles!) how to live a righteous life, and just because we can’t do everything we should, all the time, that doesn’t mean it isn’t worth trying to be as obedient as best as we can.

Yeshua’s sacrifice wasn’t made so that it is easier to be forgiven, it was made to replace the need to bring an animal to the temple. That’s all it was meant to do- everything else under the sacrificial system still exists: you still need to confess sin, you still need to repent of sin, and you still need to ASK for forgiveness- it ain’t automatic!

The real danger of this idea that forgiveness is automatic is that when we think it comes without asking, at first try not to sin, but when we do we know we don’t need to confess it or ask to be forgiven. Eventually, and inevitably, knowing we are forgiven already, we stop trying not to sin. I mean, if I can be forgiven of my sins every time I sin, without having to confess it, or repent of it, or do anything, why try not to?

So, let’s recap:

  1. God identified sin by giving us his Torah;
  2. The Torah tells us that if we sin, we do not get to be in God’s presence for eternity;
  3. God made a way for us to receive forgiveness of our sins, which is the sacrificial system;
  4. That system required us to bring an animal to the temple in Jerusalem;
  5. Yeshua’s sacrifice replaced the need to bring that animal to the temple, making it easier to receive forgiveness.

But did Yeshua’s sacrifice make it easier to sin? NO!

Yeshua made it easier to receive forgiveness, but it is religion that has made it easier to sin.

Thank you for being here and please remember to share these messages with everyone you know. That’s it for this week, so l’hitraot, and (an early) Shabbat Shalom!

Why Did Shaul Talk About the Torah But Yeshua Didn’t?

When we read the Gospels, we see that Yeshua mentioned 2 of the 10 Commandments during his sermon on the Mount, but throughout the Gospels he didn’t really talk a lot about the Torah.

Have you ever wondered why the Son of God didn’t teach people about the Torah, yet Shaul talked about the Torah a lot?

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

I believe the answer is simply this: Yeshua was talking to Jews, and Shaul was talking to Gentiles.

The Jews knew the Torah, but what they didn’t know was the deeper, spiritual meaning of the Torah because all the Pharisees ever taught was the P’shat, the “plain language” of the Torah.

Yeshua taught what is called the Remes, the deeper, spiritual meaning. This was in order to fulfill part of his calling as the Messiah, which was to bring to fruition God’s New Covenant, the one he made through the prophet Jeremiah (Jeremiah 31:31), namely to write his Torah on our hearts.

The part of the Bible called the New Covenant (or New Testament, if you prefer) has no covenants in it, at all. In truth, God doesn’t speak in it to the people, except for the one time he spoke to the apostles that accompanied Yeshua onto the mountain when Moses and Elijah appeared (Matthew 17). At that time, all God said was something to the effect of “This is my son, listen to him.”

The real new covenant God made was fulfilled by Yeshua when he taught us the true meaning of God’s laws, and that didn’t involve him quoting from the Torah, but teaching what the Torah meant in a new way. Why do you think it is often said of him that no one has ever taught the way he did? Why did the people say he taught as if he had authority? It was because he taught us the “heart” of the Torah, and since he was talking to Jews, he didn’t need to explain where these laws came from because they already knew.

Now, when Shaul (Paul) wrote his letters, he did have to mention the Torah and explain about it because he was talking, for the most part, to Gentiles who did not know the Torah.

In Acts 15, when Ya’akov (James) suggested the 4 initial rules for these new believers to follow (I say initial because they weren’t the only rules, just what they should start with), he stated that they will be learning the Torah as they continue to attend Shabbat services, indicating (clearly!) that these neophyte believers in Yeshua were converting to a Torah-obedient lifestyle.

So, I don’t have any real mind-blowing revelation for you today, just a basic teaching in case anyone ever asks, “If Yeshua was the Messiah, why didn’t he teach about the Torah?”. Actually, what you will most likely hear is that Yeshua taught the Torah was not necessary, and that is why he didn’t mention it that much.

He didn’t mention where his teaching came from because he didn’t need to: he was talking to Jews, and they already knew the Torah. What they didn’t know was what Yeshua taught them, so that the Torah would be written on their hearts and not just on parchment.

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

2024 Sukkot Message

The festival of Sukkot is a joyous Holy Day, which is different from a holiday. You see, a holiday is a man-made celebration, whereas a Holy Day is one of the celebrations that God commanded us to observe, all of which are found in Leviticus 23.

But did you know that Sukkot is the only Holy Day where God commands two different ways to celebrate it?

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

When we go to Leviticus 23, verses 33-36 tell us to celebrate Sukkot every year on the 15th day of the 7th month. But later, when God concludes his commandments about the Holy Days (verse 37), in verses 39-43 he gives different instructions for Sukkot, which can’t obey until after we enter the Land!

So did we celebrate Sukkot when we were in the desert, or did we wait until we were in Israel?

God also says, in Leviticus 23:9, regarding the festival of Shavuot that we are to celebrate it after we enter the land and harvest its ripe crops.

So, nu? Did these Holy Days go on hold until some 40+ years later, after the people were settled in Israel and had time to plant and harvest their own produce?

We know that while in the desert no one was circumcised (Joshua 5:2), which makes sense since the ritual required a lengthy recovery time, and they never knew when they would be moving the camp. So, if circumcision, a definite must-do, was allowed to be delayed, maybe the observance of Sukkot also was delayed?

“Wait a minute, Steve! You said that Shavuot was not to be celebrated until they were in the Land, so isn’t that one that was delayed, also? “

No, it wasn’t delayed because this Holy Day was not to be celebrated until after we settled in the Land. However, with Sukkot, the first time God mentions it he specifies on the 15th day of the 7th month we are to hold a holy convocation and make sacrifices for 7 days. It was later in this chapter when God repeated this date, but added that we are to use river willows, palm fronds, choice fruit, and thick branches when we celebrate, most of which would not be available in the desert. He also adds a significant difference: in this second command God adds that we build Sukkot and live in them for 7 days.

It makes sense that this specific Holy Day celebration requires two different ways to celebrate: one way for when we were in the desert (sacrifices, but no fruits, fronds, or building of a Sukkah), and another for after we were in the Land (where we had access to those materials, and by then are living in houses).

It makes no sense to build a sukkah in the desert when you are already in a sukkah! Duh!

So what we have is, for the three pilgrimage Holy Days, Pesach (Passover) would have been celebrated every year during the 40 years in the desert (after all, the Sanctuary was right there), and Sukkot would have been celebrated (they already had the Sukkahs built), but Shavuot would have to wait until they were in the Land and the first crop was harvested. And when that time arrived, Sukkot would also be celebrated differently.

To me, this shows how God understands our conditions on earth. Even though the circumcision was a requirement to be under the Abrahamic Covenant, because of the conditions in the desert, God allowed it to be delayed. And although Shavuot was a required celebration, God knew we had to wait until we were in the land. Sukkot was required while in the desert, but once in the Land, God changed the rules to be in line with the different conditions.

Now, does this mean that we can decide when we have to obey God and when we don’t? No, sorry, but there is no excuse we can make for disobedience to God, other than being a result of our human frailties and weak faith; and even in those cases, God has prepared for us a means to be forgiven.

That means of forgiveness is through the sacrificial system, which has never gone away.

In fact, the sacrificial system and Sukkot have something in common: they both have been altered based on changed conditions.

Sukkot was altered after the people were in the Land, and the sacrificial system was altered after Yeshua’s resurrection.

Before they entered Israel, for Sukkot they sacrificed, and after they were in Israel, they also used harvested produce and built Sukkot. Before Yeshua’s resurrection, no sacrifice would be accepted unless it was brought to the place where God put his name (Deuteronomy 12:11), but after Yeshua was raised (to prove his sacrifice was accepted), the requirement to bring an animal to the temple in Jerusalem was no longer needed because through Yeshua, we could receive forgiveness of sin anywhere, anytime, by means of his once-and-for-all sacrifice The conditions changed even more, which God prepared for by sending Yeshua, when in 70 AD the Romans completely destroyed the temple.

TIME OUT: When I say Yeshua’s sacrifice was a once-and-for-all sacrifice, that means it was done once, for all people, but it does NOT mean that your sins are always automatically forgiven. We still must confess, repent, and ask forgiveness (by means of the blood Yeshua spilled) for every single sin we commit.

So, are you surprised at this relationship between Sukkot and the sacrificial system? Truth be told, I didn’t even understand it myself until I started to write this message! But, now that I am done, I think it is a wonderful way to show, again, how God knows what we need, when we need it, and will always provide it for us.

That’s it for this week, so Chag Sameach (Happy Festival) and let’s all look forward to next week when we celebrate Simchat Torah (Joy of Torah), also called Sh’mini Atzeret (Eighth Day Gathering) as we turn the Torah back to the beginning, and get to read through it, all over again.

Baruch HaShem!

Looking or Lusting?

I have constantly prayed that God would rewire my brain to remove the conditioning I have been exposed to my entire life. That conditioning is from every TV, radio, and written advertisement I have ever seen, heard, or read, which has conditioned me to see women as sexual objects.

And after constantly praying that God remove this sexually oriented thinking, do you know what he said to me? (Of course, you don’t- how could you?)

He said this: “Sorry, but it doesn’t work that way.”

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

I realized that what God was saying was not that he won’t help me, but that there are certain things we need to work on, ourselves, and that he is there to guide us with his Torah and his Ruach (spirit), but we need to make the effort.

So, I am still working on this, but please don’t get the idea that I am some dirty, old man who is addicted to porn. No, siree! far from it- all that I am subject to is a propensity to observe a woman and see only her attractiveness, and not the way God sees her.

I heard once on a radio ministry program that there is a difference between looking and lusting: looking is quickly observing and lusting is when you go back for a second look. I think it should also include how long that first look lasts.

I think if we are to be honest with ourselves, we all fall into this category, now and then, when we take a good, long look at someone. And it’s not always lusting for a man to look at a beautiful woman, or for women to look at a very handsome man.

There is also a difference between looking and leering.

So, what I do when I see a physically attractive woman is to remind myself that I am allowed to appreciate God’s gift of beauty, and then make sure that I turn my head away.

Especially if I happen to be driving at that time!

(“Wow- she’s great looking…BAM!!)

Here’s my way of approaching this issue: Look, but don’t leer; appreciate the beauty, but don’t lust. And after that first, short look, turn away and don’t look back.

I believe if we can do that then we are not violating Yeshua’s lesson about lusting with the eyes.

Thank you for being here and please don’t forget to subscribe and share these messages. And don’t just send them to believers- after all, you never know what a seed might generate.

That’s it for today, so l’hitraot (which means “Until we see each other, again”) and Baruch haShem! (literally, “Bless the Name”, which we Jews say to mean “Blessed be God”.)

2024 Yom Kippur Message

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

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

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.

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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?

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!