Before we can determine if Christianity is wrong, we should identify what the words “Christianity” and “wrong” represent.

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I looked at a few definitions of Christianity on the Internet, and this one seems to be the most relevant and most often used:
Christianity is a religion based on the life, teachings, and death of Jesus Christ, who is believed to be the Son of God and the Savior of the world.

As for the word, “wrong”, again going to the Internet I found this definition on the Mirriam-Webster site:

The state of being mistaken or incorrect or not according to truth or facts. 

Now that we have identified what these terms mean, let’s state that, for the purpose of our discussion, Christianity is the religion based on the teachings and life of Christ, who we will call Yeshua (since that is his real name), and being wrong means not being in accordance or agreement with the facts.

So, let’s take a look at what Yeshua taught, since that is what Christianity is supposed to be based on.

The best place to get a good idea of what Yeshua taught is found in his Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7). He taught the people from the Torah but didn’t teach how the Pharisees had been teaching; rather, he taught us the Remes of the laws God gave through Moses.

In Judaism, we use an exegesis tool, called PaRDeS, to properly interpret and understand God’s word. The P stands for P’shat, or plain language meaning, such as “Thou shalt not kill”. The R stands for Remes, which is a deeper, more spiritual understanding of the P’shat, such as if we so much as hate in our heart, we have killed. The D stands for Drash, which is a story with a moral ending, such as the many parables Yeshua gave, and the S stands for Sud, which is a sort of deep, mystical understanding of the word.

Yeshua often used a drash (parable) to teach the Remes of the laws God gave us in the Torah. He never taught to ignore any of his father’s commandments; in fact, in Matthew 22: 37-40, Yeshua stated that to love God and to love each other are the two most important commandments, and then he added that all the law and what the prophets taught are based on those two commandments. He never said these were the ONLY laws: just that they were the ones that all the rest were based on, indicating clearly that all the laws in the Torah are important and necessary, and these two were the foundation for the rest. He also stated in Matthew 5:17 that he did not come to change anything, specifically stating that not even a stroke from the Torah will be changed until all things have come to pass, meaning (obviously) not his death, but the Acharit HaYamim (End Days), also known as Judgement Day.

Yeshua never taught anything other than what his father said to do in the Torah.

But what does Christianity teach? One lesson from Christianity is that they are not under the Laws of Moses (which are really God’s laws, not Moses’) but they are only under the Law of Christ. Well, as we see, the “law of Christ” is the law of Moses, so that teaching is not in accordance with the facts; as such, based on the definition of “wrong”, Christianity is wrong.

This isn’t the only wrong, anti-Torah teaching or practice of Christianity. They bury their dead under the altar or on the church property, which (according to God) makes their church unclean and thereby unacceptable as a place to commune with him; they have rejected the Holy Days God said to celebrate, instead making up their own; instead of loving their neighbors, they have practiced torturing and/or killing Jews by the millions over the past two millennia to force them to reject the way God said to live, and there are many other Christian practices and teachings that go totally against what God said he wanted us to do.

And, as we’ve shown above, the things that Christianity has rejected are the very same things Yeshua taught.

I am sorry to be so straight-forward about this, but when we look at how God said he wants us to worship him and treat each other, what Holy Days he demands we observe, his rules on what is clean and unclean (not just physically, like food, but within interpersonal relationships, as well), and that Yeshua taught us the deeper, spiritual meaning of these laws while telling us he was not here to change any of them, the only conclusion any fair-minded and informed person can come to is that Christianity is wrong.

God has no religion: not Judaism, not Catholicism, not Episcopalian, Protestant, Baptist, etc., etc., etc. But, if we go by what God said he wants us to do, we have to conclude that Judaism is the closest to what God wants, even though Judaism isn’t exactly correct, either, what with so many different sects within it, and the different rules and requirements that are not in the Torah called Halacha.

The only “right” religion is no religion, and the only “right” way to worship God and treat each other is the way that God said, which he outlined clearly for all people in those first 5 books.

The truth is the only place in the entire Bible where God, himself, tells us how to live and worship is in those first 5 books: everything after Deuteronomy is just commentary. And, as far as the New Covenant is concerned, the only useable parts of that are the Gospels (but not John’s Gospel), Acts, and Revelation. Nearly two-thirds of the New Covenant are the Epistles, and they are not scripture (but they do quote from scripture), and they are not God-ordained or God-breathed (there is nothing in any of them that says “God told me to say…”), but in truth, they are nothing more than managerial directives to the (mostly) Gentile, neophyte believers throughout the Middle East and Asia who were losing their faith and being misdirected from the path of salvation.

Christianity is a man-made religion based on man-made rules and, for the most part, rejects almost everything God said to do; it couldn’t be more wrong.

That’s it for this week, so l’hitraot and let me wish you an early Shabbat Shalom!

Of course, Yeshua (Jesus) is called the Passover Lamb, but that isn’t really the full description what his sacrifice provided. In fact, his sacrifice not only served to provide the means for us to be forgiven of our sins, but consequently, also allows us to commune with the Almighty.

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Did you know that for Passover, the sacrifice doesn’t have to be a lamb? In Exodus 12:3, God tells Moses that on the 10th day of the month, each family is to choose a lamb or a kid from the flock. Now, we normally associate the Passover sacrifice as being a lamb, but here- clearly- it could also be a goat, although we normally associate a goat sacrifice for Yom Kippur, even though in Leviticus 23, we are only told to bring an offering by fire. However, before that (Leviticus 16) God tells us about how to perform a sin sacrifice, where he then outlines the two goats to be used. But these are to be goats- no option. And after Passover, when the festival of First Fruits comes, there we sacrifice a lamb- again, no option.

There was a general system for offerings: first, you would bring the offering for your sin, which cleansed you of that stain of guilt, then you would offer a wholly burnt offering, which represented your recommitment to obedience to God. Lastly, there would be a Friendship, or Thanksgiving offering, which is the one (and ONLY one) where you would share of the meat of that offering, eating it right there in a holy place. That represented your ability to commune with God, now that you are free of sin. The three phases of the sacrificial system are: forgiveness, commitment, and then communion.

Yeshua’s sacrifice provided for both forgiveness and communion, fulfilling both the Passover sacrifice and the Yom Kippur sacrifice, all at one time. With the destruction of the temple in 73 A.D., soon after Yeshua’s job as Messiah on earth was completed, the only means of receiving forgiveness and communing with God was through accepting Yeshua as your Messiah.

In the next life, after the Apocalypse is over and the new heaven and new earth are here, I believe that the sacrificial system will begin again, only this time we will not need to sacrifice for forgiveness. The sacrifices we will be making will be for cleansing, friendship, and the completion of vows (as defined in Leviticus).

If you are wondering to yourself, “How can it be possible for Yeshua to be both a Yom Kippur sacrifice and a Passover sacrifice at the same time?”, my answer is…. hey, I don’t know! Look, he’s the Messiah, sent by God, and God can do whatever the heck he wants to, in whichever order he wants to do it. All I know is that Yeshua’s sacrifice makes it possible to be forgiven of sin, which then makes it possible to commune with God (remember- God can’t abide sin in his presence), and you know what else? That is all I need to know.

Thank you, again, for being here and enjoy this Festival of Unleavened Bread. One of my favorite snacks during this week is to spread softened butter on a piece of matza (if you don’t soften it first, the matza will probably break) then lightly sprinkle salt on it. It is so simple, and it is soooo good!

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

From a biblical viewpoint, “fear of the Lord” doesn’t mean that we are afraid of him, rather that we worship him. But when we do that, are we doing it because we want to, or because we are afraid of what someone else may think if we don’t?

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Have you ever seen those old movies, where the priest challenges someone to come to church that Sunday, or they will read their name in the Mass? It always seems cute and somewhat comical, but it isn’t cute, or comical- it is wrong!

I am Jewish and I believe Yeshua (Jesus) is the Messiah God promised to send. Because I am still living a Jewish lifestyle and worshipping as a Jewish man, many Christians have accused me of being “under the Law” (and these people have absolutely NO idea of what they are saying) and, as such, not really saved.

On the other side, Jews I know tell me that because I “Believe in Jesus” (another term thrown around too loosely, with most people having no idea what it means) I must be a Christian and am not a Jew anymore.

It is always both amazing, and sad, to see how much ignorance there is in the world, especially among people who profess to worship God and know their Bible.

God knows the heart, and even though I have recently been told that this is just an excuse for people to do as they want to (which has an element of truth to it), God does know who we are praying to, and whether or not we really repent when we ask forgiveness.

The question you must ask yourself is when you do as you think you should, with regard to worship and how you treat others, are you doing it to please God, or to please your Rabbi, Priest, Minister, or whatever? This is not an answer you should just throw out there- you really need to think about it.

There are forms of worship, such a whole week without leavened products (my wife, Donna, often has to remind me not to eat something that I, simply by habit, will start to put into my mouth) that I find difficult to do, and I will confess that sometimes I do something just because I know I should. And that isn’t a good reason for doing anything because it is like legalism- doing something just to do it, going through the motions. God has been clear to us, through the prophets, that a sacrifice means nothing to him if done just to do it, without a sincere and broken heart.

Oops- there’s that “knowing the heart” thing, again.

So, the next time you go to services, or fast, or pray, or celebrate a Holy Day (meaning God ordained, found in Lev. 23), or a holiday (meaning a man-made celebration), please consider WHY you are doing it, and if it isn’t fully because you want to please God, but rather because you are afraid of what someone might think, then I would say don’t do it- something done as a lie is worse than something not done, honestly.

And if you find yourself not doing things you used to do to be “religious”, then rethink your relationship with God because if you do not observe God’s commandments, which are found ONLY in the Torah (remember- those are the things Yeshua did and taught others to do), then your heart and mind are not in the right place.

It would be a good idea to square those things away as soon as possible because the way the world is going, well… it doesn’t look like there is going to be such a long wait for that Day of Judgement.

Thank you, again, for being here: that’s it for this week so L’hitraot and (an early) Shabbat Shalom!

I know this sounds a little off; I mean, of course I accept God for who he is. What else can I do? He is the Lord of lords and King of kings, and the Almighty. Who else would I think he is?

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God tells us who he is throughout the Bible, specifically in the Tanakh (the “Jewish Bible”). In the New Covenant writings, we do not hear a lot of who God is, but mostly of who Yeshua is, and in many Christian religions (and, believe me, there are enough of them!) they consider Yeshua, the Messiah, and God, the Father, to be one and the same entity.

But we ain’t goin’ there, Homies!

The reasoning behind why I am asking if you accept God for who he is comes from the many times I have been exposed to people who tell me what God wants, and why he wants that, but their belief is so far from what God says in the Bible that I have to wonder if we are talking about the same God.

I have heard people tell me that God is a compassionate, forgiving, and loving father, all of which is true, but they say that just before they tell me he will forgive their sins, without any mention of repentance or confession. They believe that just because God loves them as they are, and they believe in Yeshua (whatever that is supposed to mean) that they will be forgiven of any sins they commit. They do not understand, or more likely, refuse to accept, that even though God loves them, he is also holy and keeps his word, so if you sin, continue to sin, do not confess or repent of your sins, his love will not save you from damnation.

I believe the proof of God’s love is found in one place more than any other- that is in the book of the prophet Ezekiel, specifically Ezekiel 18:23, where God says:

Do I take any pleasure at all in having the wicked person die?” asks Adonai Elohim. “Wouldn’t I prefer that he turn from his ways and live?

God is saying that not only is he willing to forgive the sinner, but he greatly desires to forgive us!

But wait a minute! That doesn’t say it all, because before this he says something that sounds very different, and that is Ezekiel 18: 20-24 where he first tells us:

“The person who sins is the one that will die — a son is not to bear his father’s guilt with him, nor is the father to bear his son’s guilt with him; but the righteousness of the righteous will be his own, and the wickedness of the wicked will be his own. However, if the wicked person repents of all the sins he committed, keeps my laws and does what is lawful and right; then he will certainly live, he will not die. None of the transgressions he has committed will be remembered against him; for the righteousness that he has done, he will live. On the other hand, when the righteous person turns away from his righteousness and commits wickedness by acting in accordance with all the disgusting practices that the wicked person does, will he live? None of the righteous deeds he has done will be remembered; for the trespasses and sins he has committed, he will die.“

So, here is God telling us who he is: he wants to forgive his children, whom he loves, but he is also God and will punish the sinner, meaning those who sin without confessing and repenting of their sin.

There are other ways people, even those who profess to worship God, do not accept who he is by rejecting his Holy Days, making excuses for rejecting his laws of kashrut (Kosher), and still expecting that he wil be OK with all that because his son told us we could.

How can anyone think that the son of God, the one he sent, would teach to reject what his father said to do?

Maybe because some believe Yeshua to be God, they make the excuse that he changed his mind after he was resurrected, by himself, even though he was dead, which God can’t be, which …. HUH? The more I follow that line of thinking, the less sense it makes.

That’s another one we ain’t touching today with a 10-foot pole!

There are other examples of how people pigeon-hole or compartmentalize God by convincing themselves that what they really want to do is OK with God. That is why, as I started this message, I asked if YOU really accept God for who he is?

If you are still not sure what I mean, then ask God, yourself, to show you who he is. Read the Torah- I think when you have a good understanding of what God wants us to do, then you will see that he is telling us who he is- he Lord, a holy and perfect spiritual entity who is also very emotional, loving his creation totally but because he is holy, he wants us to be holy, as well, because if we aren’t we cannot ever commune with him. He is in a sort of Catch-22 that he, himself, created when he gave us Free Will, which is a two-sided sword: free will allows us to choose to be righteous so we can live forever in God’s presence, and it also allows us to reject God and condemn ourselves to eternal damnation. And no matter which we choose, God has to stand aside and allow us to do what we will because he is holy and 1000% trustworthy, which means he will forgive us as he said he will- when we do what we have to do receive that forgiveness.

And for the same reason he will forgive us, he will punish us when we do not do as he said we should.

That seems to me to be the one thing most people do not accept about God.

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

What could I possibly do that would, in any way, ever lessen the importance of, or cheapen, the powerful name of the Messiah, Yeshua?
Maybe that happens when we use it so often and so automatically that it carries no weight, anymore?

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We were told that when we pray, if we pray in Yeshua’s name, then our prayers will be answered (John 14:13). But what happens if we constantly, blindly, and routinely say “In the name of Yeshua” over and over again, after every single thing we pray for? Doesn’t that become more rote than heartfelt?

Do you pray in his name all the time, for whatever reason, for whatever you want, whether or not it even is something you need? I have heard people give thanks to God and then do so in the name of the Messiah: what’s with that? If we are giving thanks to God, we are not asking for anything, right? So why use the power and majesty of Yeshua’s name just to say “Thanks”?

The name of the Messiah is powerful, but it’s not the word we use (Yeshua or Jesus) that has power: it is the renown and reputation of the one who that word identifies!

I try to be very careful, or I should say respectful, when asking in Yeshua’s name. There are many times I ask God for simple things, such as s good night’s sleep, or good weather because I have plans for outside activities, or other, miniscule and unimportant things. When I do that, I usually do not ask in Yeshua’s name because (and this is just how I feel) I don’t want to misuse the power of that name for “silly” things. If it rains when I wanted to go for a bike ride, well, then, I ride my bike on another day. God’s will is more important than my puny desire for nice weather, and if it rains then someone, somewhere, probably needed it more than I needed to have sore muscles the next day.

What I am saying is that the name of the Messiah carries power, and power should be respected and used sparingly. We have enough examples in the Bible to teach us that when we worship without the proper attitude God will not accept it; I believe that using the name of the Messiah in prayer all the time, routinely, mindlessly, and unfaithfully will have no meaning to God.

In fact, I think to use Yeshua’s name when asking for everything and anything is insulting to the awesomeness of his name.

Should we ask for all things all the time using a name that has such power and majesty, or do we use that name sparingly, carefully, and respectfully, only when asking for what we truly need for ourselves or someone else?

What do you think?

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

When someone wants to justify the Christian-born theological belief that Yeshua and God are one and the same entity, they can only find that justification in the Gospel of John, and mostly only in John 10:30, where he says he and the Father are one.

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But what about everything before that? He talks of how he was empowered by God, how he, Yeshua, is a good shepherd, how he, Yeshua, does as God tells him to do, and how he, Yeshua, is the gate; and throughout the gospel he states that he only does and says what God has told him to do and say.

In all the Gospels (except for that one, FIGURATIVE statement in John 10:30), Yeshua continually identifies himself as one who is separate from God, who will sit at God’s right hand, and who only does and says what God tells him to do and say, which is why he made (again, only found in John’s Gospel) the figurative statement that when we see him, we see God. What he meant was that because he only does and says what God tells him to do and say, he is an IMAGE of God on Earth.

Not the same entity but acting as if that entity was physically there.

Now we come to Eve. How was she created? Supernaturally from a man. Adam was the first man, in Hebrew, “Ish“, and when she was created, Adam said that she was from man, so he called her “Isha” (Genesis 2:23).

When Adam first saw Eve (no, I won’t share any of the many jokes about this event), he said that she was “bone from his bone and flesh from his flesh“. In fact, in Genesis 2:24 (CJB), the Bible says:

“This is why a man is to leave his father and mother and stick with his wife, and they are to be one flesh.”

So even though the Bible says they are to be one flesh, Eve was never considered to be Adam.

So, too, when God caused Miryam to give birth to Yeshua, he was supernaturally created, born out of a woman but from God, yet he was separate from God because God is entirely of spirit and Yeshua was entirely human.

Just as Eve was from Adam, but not Adam, so, too, Yeshua was from God, but not God.

Clearly the statement that when a man and a woman are married, they are to be one flesh is meant to be spiritually as one; in the real world, they are still totally separate entities (just ask anyone who is married!). So, too, is the relationship between God and Yeshua: they are one in spirit, but physically they were two totally separate entities, and have always remained so.

We also see that the similarity between Eve and Yeshua continues into the End Times.

When punishing the snake for causing Eve to sin (Genesis 3:14-15), God says that there will be animosity between the snake and the woman, and between “his descendant and her descendant.”

Notice, please, that the word “descendant” is singular, not plural. In the other versions I have looked at, they use the word “offspring” or “seed”, but in all cases I saw, the word used was in the singular.

This clearly shows- at least, to me- that God was defining the relationship between mankind and HaSatan: Satan would constantly be at our heels, causing us to fall and his descendant is the Anti-Christ, and Yeshua, the descendant of Eve, would crush his head, i.e., destroy him.

The argument over Trinity or Unity will never stop because it has become so ingrained in so many Christian religions that it will never go away, and we will not have an absolute answer until the End Days (Acharit HaYamim) come.

Until then, we must remember that we are not saved by faithfully believing Yeshua is God, but by faithfully believing that Yeshua is the Messiah sent by God. His role is to be an Intercessor, a shepherd, a representative from God who is the one and only Messiah. And through his sacrifice enables us to be forgiven of sin, thereby able to come into the presence of God, Almighty.

Thank you for being here and please share these messages with everyone you know. Subscribe to my website and YouTube channel, join my Facebook group called “Just God’s Word” (but make sure you agree to the rules, or you won’t be able to post anything), and if you like what you get here, you will definitely like my (very affordably priced) books, available from my website and Amazon, in both paperback and Kindle formats.

And remember that I always welcome your comments, although it may take a day or two before I can get to them.

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

As those of you who have been following me for years (which I truly appreciate), you know I have often stated that, as far as I am concerned, whether Yeshua is God or not, for the purposes of salvation it doesn’t really matter because we are not saved by belief that Yeshua is God but by our acceptance of him as the Messiah God promised to send.

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The reason I say this is simple: God has a plan, and the Messiah is part of that plan. If God wanted to do it all as himself, he would have without confusing the issue by coming in a separate form.

We know from the Tanakh references to God that when he uses angels, they often speak in the first person because they are his messengers and are speaking for him, so when Yeshua does that (and he only does that in the one Gospel, the Gospel of John) he is not claiming to be God but speaking for God. In fact, when we look at the couple of times Yeshua says things such as when we see him, we see God, and if we knew him, we would know the Father, for anyone not already conditioned otherwise it is clear that he is speaking figuratively, not literally.

But let’s not stop there- what about the fact that throughout the Gospels (again, John being the sole exception, which by that very fact renders it questionable) Yeshua never takes any credit for himself, but instead he gives all the credit and glory to God.

There is only one exception that I can recall where Yeshua came close to taking credit for a healing, and that is in Luke 5:12, when the man with leprosy says if Yeshua is willing, he can heal him, and Yeshua says, “I am willing; be healed.”

Let’s also remember that Yeshua tells the Sanhedrin at his (illegal) trial that one day they will see him sitting at the right hand of God (Matthew 26:64). Well, I think that makes it pretty clear that Yeshua thinks he is a separate entity from God.

And then we have the testimony from Stephen (Acts 7:55), who, as he was being stoned to death, declared that he saw the Holy One and Yeshua standing at his side. Two separate entities.

It is documented that the first use of the term “trinity” was by Tertullian (160-225 AD) and there are other writings from biblical and religious historians that indicate the references in the letters from Shaul (Paul) and John regarding false teachings that were damaging the faith of the neophyte believers had to do with this idea of three-in-one. The religious doctrine that God is not unique but three entities in one form, which denies the Jewish belief that God is a totally unique entity (as stated in our most foundational prayer, the Shema), would cause all Jews to reject Yeshua as the Messiah because he was said to be God in the flesh.

My personal opinion about the Trinity is that it was created by a man, probably Tertullian, for two reasons:

1. To make Yeshua more appealing to the masses, who were used to believing in multiple gods and demigods; and
2. To further separate this new religion called Christianity from its Jewish roots by making it less appealing to Jews, who would never, and never will, accept that God-Adonai- is anything other than the one and only, unique, separate, omniscient, and omnipotent spirit that he is.

If we backtrack to why I said this whole issue of Trinity vs. Unity is irrelevant with regards to salvation, there is one aspect which makes it VERY relevant: if someone prays to and worships Yeshua instead of God, asking Yeshua for forgiveness and thanking Yeshua for blessings, by replacing God with Yeshua they have committed a terrible sin- it is idolatry, and I doubt it will go over well with either God or Yeshua.

Bad enough when you go into many churches (especially the RC’s) and see people bowing down and praying to graven images, well… how can that possibly be explained in light of the 2nd Commandment, which even the staunchest Christian admits is still something they have to follow?

The worst part of this argument about Trinity vs. Unity is that its sole use is not to edify anyone or to bring anyone closer to the proper worship of God or help anyone become more righteous. No! The only thing this age-old argument does is to serve the Enemy of God by creating a wedge between people within the body of Believers. It doesn’t bring us closer to God or closer to each other, but quite the opposite: it is a religious civil war, causing disunity and confusion, and giving the Devil a strong handhold in separating us from God.

So, nu! Believe what you want- it is, as it always has been and always will be, your choice to believe what you want to. But remember this: God doesn’t care why you believe what you do, or why you do what you do, but he does care about what you believe and what you do.

In other words, when you come before God (which we will all have to do) and you tell him that you believed what they told you to believe and so did what they told you to do, I believe that God will say something to the effect of:

“I understand you only did what they told you to do, but it is what I say that counts.”

Thank you for being here and please share these messages with everyone you know, even if they aren’t believers- maybe it will get them thinking? Also, if you haven’t already done so, please subscribe to my website (messianicmoment.com) and on my YouTube channel, as well. I invite you to join my Facebook discussion group called “Just God’s Word”, but please ensure you agree to the rules to be let in.

One other thing: did you know I have written 4 books? There is a link to them on my website or go to the Amazon Book Store; they are available in both paperback and Kindle formats.

And remember that I always welcome your comments.

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

So many people have no idea what the Torah really is. They think it is just a bunch of laws, and to some degree that is accurate, but those laws define more than just ceremonies or rituals- they define a total way of life.

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Recently, I was in a discussion with someone who was trying to convince me that the 10 Commandments are for everyone, but the Mosaic laws (I really think she thought they were Moses’ laws and not God’s) were only for Jews. I told her that the Big Ten were really just a condensed version of the Torah, but not all the laws God wants us to obey. I gave her examples of some Torah commandments not mentioned, at all, in the Big Ten but apply to God-fearing people, such as the Torah rules against sexual perversity within a family, homosexuality, and other penal code violations. I asked if she thought those activities are acceptable for Christians to do?

Can a Christian son sleep with his Christian Mother-in-law? Can a Christian father sleep with his Christian daughter-in-law? Can Christians be absolved from punishment if they commit acts of violence against each other (what are legally defined as torts)?

I don’t think so, do you?

These are covered in the Torah, but not mentioned at all in the Big Ten.

Here is the real scoop about the Torah- it was given by God to the Jewish people, but not JUST for the Jewish people. In Exodus 19:6, God tells Moses that the Israelites- the descendants of Abraham- will be his (God’s) nation of priests.

Now, what do priests do? Well, they do more than just run the services. Their job, overall, is to act as intermediary between the people and God, teaching the people how they are to live in accordance with the way God says we should.

God chose the descendants of Abraham to be his nation of priests; now, priests don’t serve other priests, so it is pretty obvious that the ones we Jews are to be priests to have to be the rest of the world.

Do you remember that Shaul said God made salvation available to all: to the Jew first, then to the Gentile? (Romans 1:16)

The Torah is God’s instructions on how to live a righteous life, and a righteous life leads to salvation. These instructions were given to his chosen people, chosen (I really should say “commissioned”) to be God’s Cohanim (priests) to the world, first to learn for themselves, and then to teach to the rest of humanity.

Yeah, that means Christians, too!

Now let’s talk about Yeshua and the Torah.

Yeshua was God’s anointed Messiah, and he lived a sinless life, which is why he was resurrected. According to God, the only way to be sinless was to be in 100% accordance with the Torah, so we can know, absolutely, that Yeshua lived a Torah observant life.

Christianity has stated that because Yeshua lived the Torah perfectly, anyone following him is not required to observe the Torah- in essence, Christianity says by doing something correctly, that makes it obsolete.

Does that really make any sense?

If I come to a stop sign while driving, and the person ahead of me stops completely, looks both ways twice, then slowly continues on their way, having completed the law for stop signs, can I now just go right through the intersection every time I come to a stop sign?

If someone stops at a red light and doesn’t go again until the light turns green, does that mean I can just continue driving through every red light I ever see, for the rest of my life?

You may say traffic laws aren’t like the Torah, but are they really that different? Aren’t the traffic laws created to protect us from being hurt?

Don’t the rules God gave in the Torah protect us? I am not talking about protection from being T-boned in an intersection, but protection from spending eternity in hell!

No one, no human, that is, can live 100% in accordance with the Torah, 100% of the time. That is why God created the sacrificial system: he knew we couldn’t do it right, so he gave us an escape clause to protect us from ourselves. But, when the temple in Jerusalem was destroyed, that put an end (at least, until the next temple) to the sacrificial system, so now what? God’s escape clause from eternal damnation has been erased!

But wait! God sent Yeshua, the Messiah, so that through our belief in him as the Messiah, and by means of his sacrificial death, we could now find forgiveness from sin without the temple. And beyond that, Christianity tells us that Yeshua did more than make forgiveness available- he did away with the Torah!

Um… uh… hold it a minute. Shaul tells us that the Torah created sin (Romans 7:7), and Christianity says that Yeshua did away with the Torah, so doesn’t that mean there is no more sin? And if there is no more sin, then why do we need to follow any rules, ceremonies, or rituals? If there is no Torah, then there is no sin, and everyone is automatically saved without having to do anything! Hallelujah!!

What? You mean that’s not right? Are you telling me that when Yeshua did away with the Torah, which should mean there is no more sin, there is still sin? Shaul lied? God tricked us? Yeshua didn’t do away with sin?

But, but, but… if sin still exists, then the Torah is still valid, so how can Christians say the Torah is not valid for them? Are Christians automatically righteous in God’s eyes?

I don’t really need to answer that, do I?

Christians say that they don’t follow the Torah, they follow Yeshua, but Yeshua lived in accordance with the Torah and Christians don’t, so how can they say they follow him?

Here’s what it all boils down to, folks- if you REALLY want to follow Yeshua, then you need to live in accordance with the Torah, to the best of your abilities. And when you fail, as we all do, you still have Yeshua to fall back on to receive forgiveness.

On the other hand, if you choose to live according to one of the many Christian religions, all of which are composed of man-made rules, tenets, and ceremonies and (for the most part) reject God’s Torah, then I think you will have a hard time convincing God that you want to be righteous in his eyes.

Thank you for being here and please share these messages, subscribe to this ministry on my messianicmoment.com website, and also on my YouTube channel, “Like” my Messianic Moment Facebook page, and join my Facebook group called “Just God’s Word” (but please ensure you agree to the rules to be let in).

And remember that I always welcome your comments.

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

In the book of Acts, Chapter 9, in nearly every Bible that has a heading over the chapter, they call this chapter “Paul’s Conversion to Christianity”.

But was he ever, really, a Christian?

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

The answer needs to be prefaced with the fact that there were no “Christians” during the time that Shaul (Paul) was persecuting the believing Jews. The only people at that time who were accepting Yeshua as their Messiah were Jews- there was no contact with the Gentiles, there were no Christians, there were no churches, there was no Christmas or Easter, there was no rule about not eating meat on Friday, the Shabbat was Friday night to Saturday night, there was no Sunday confession- none of that would exist as we know it today until hundreds of years later.

The Gentiles weren’t even a consideration when it came to Yeshua’s teachings or salvation until after Kefa (Peter) had the vision on the rooftop and went to the house of the Roman officer, Cornelius (Acts 10). It is assumed this happened maybe 7-8 years after Yeshua’s resurrection; Shaul’s vision of Yeshua was around the same time that Kefa had his vision on the rooftop, circa 36 A.D. So, as Kefa was given the OK to approach Gentiles, Shaul was being slapped upside the head so he could accept Yeshua and he (as stated in Acts) always went to the synagogues when he entered a town.

His first letter wasn’t written until some 12 years later, to the Galatians.

If you look him up on Wikipedia, it will tell you:

“Paul (previously called Saul of Tarsus; c. 5 – c. 64/65 AD), commonly known as Paul the Apostle and Saint Paul, was a Christian apostle who spread the teachings of Jesus in the first-century world.”

And though I find Wikipedia to be a good research source, in this case they are dead wrong, repeating the Christian desire to remove Shaul from his true Jewish persona, and rebrand him as a Christian.

But the truth is Shaul never was a Christian, and never even changed his name- that was a Greek translation of his Hebrew name, and I seriously doubt anyone, ever, called him “Paul” during his lifetime, just like no one ever called Yeshua “Jesus.”

The truth is Shaul never converted to Christianity (which, as we know, didn’t even exist then)- the fact is he remained a Pharisee, a “Jews’ Jew”, all his life.

And if you don’t want to believe me, then let’s see the way Shaul identified himself to others.

In Acts 21, in Yerushalayim (Jerusalem) Shaul is accused by the Jews of teaching to ignore the Torah. The Elders ask him to prove he is still a practicing Jew by observing the Torah requirement regarding taking an oath, which he does, proving he is still a Torah-observant Jew.

At the end of this chapter, and in the beginning of Acts 22, Shaul is making a defense for himself in front of the Jewish population of Yerushalayim. In Acts 21:39, he tells the Roman Commander that he is a Jew from Tarsus, and when he talks to the people, he tells them he is a Jew, born in Tarsus and trained under Gamaliel.

When he wrote to the Philippians (Philippians 3:5-6), he told them that he is a Jew, given B’rit Milah (circumcision) on the 8th day, by birth belonging to Israel, from the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew-speaker with Hebrew-speaking parents, with regard to the Torah, a Parush (Pharisee), who zealously persecuted the Messianic Jews, and with regard to legalistic observance with the Torah, he was blameless.

Know this: he wrote that letter at the END of his life, while he was a prisoner in Rome, so it is clear that throughout his life, all during the time he was a missionary throughout Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, he remained a Torah observant Jew.

Another letter he wrote, which was some 18 years after he first became a Believing Jew, was to the Corinthians. In that letter, (Corinthians 11:22) he states that as far as other people boasting about their right to be an apostle, he has more of a right to do that: he says he is also a Hebrew-speaker (remember only Jews spoke Hebrew), he says he is also a person of Israel, and he says he is also a descendant of Abraham.

In Ephesians 3:8 (written while a prisoner in Rome, near the end of his life), Shaul tells the congregation there that he is a prisoner on behalf of “you Gentiles” and later states he is one of God’s holy people; in both of these statements he is clearly separating himself from Gentiles, identifying as a Jew.

Time Out: it is important that you understand the Jewish mindset: there are not a lot of different religions, there is simply us and them. The word “Goyim” means “nations”, and for a Jew, especially back in those days, there were only two kinds of people in the world: Jews, and everyone else. So, anytime Shaul, in any way whatsoever, indicates he is separate from the Gentiles, he is stating he identifies as a Jew.

One last proof: reading the letters Shaul wrote, in nearly every single one of them you will find that he always goes to the synagogues the moment he comes into town. He states in Romans 1:16 that the message of the Good News of salvation through Messiah Yeshua was to go to the Jew first, then the Gentile. Shaul was a Jew, taking the Good News to his own people first, then to the rest of the world.

There you have it: Shaul was a Jew, never converted to anything, always observed the Torah, and never taught to ignore the Torah but simply that Gentiles did not have to convert to a Torah-observant lifestyle “cold turkey” the moment they accepted Yeshua as their Messiah.

This is what’s so ironic: traditional Christian teaching is that during the First Century the Jews were converting to Christianity, but the truth is that the pagan Gentiles were converting to Judaism.

Thank you for being here and please subscribe to my website and YouTube channel. Share these messages with everyone you know to help this ministry continue to grow, and when on my website please buy my books- if you like what you get here, you will also like my books.

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