Month: April 2014

Yeshua Keeping Torah in Gethsemane?

Why was Yeshua keeping watch in the Garden of Gethsemane?  I think He was keeping Torah!  Here’s why…

A friend was here for a couple days last week and we were discussing Pesach observance.  He explained that for the last 15 years he and his family have kept an all night vigil.  My curiosity piqued, I asked, “Why?  How did you arrive at that practice?”

“Exodus 12:42!,” he exclaimed.  And, I reached for my Bible.

42 It is a night [a]to be observed for the Lord for having brought them out from the land of Egypt; this night is for the Lord, [b]to be observed [c]by all the sons of Israel throughout their generations.

Interestingly, the word ‘shimmur,’ here twice translated as ‘observed,’ is never used anywhere else in the Tanak.  It means ‘vigil.’  The night was to be observed as a vigil, keeping watch!   The Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon says, “1) night watch, watching, vigil.”
 Continue reading “Yeshua Keeping Torah in Gethsemane?”

Passover, the four ‘R’s.

I was never a big fan of using the like lettered headings to help remember points, simply because too many pastors overuse it.  It was usually a source of irritation…  but, since I almost NEVER use the trick, and these came together so easily….  Okay.  Sorry excuse.

As I have pondered Passover, there seem to me to be four major ‘R’s that should be part of observance in order to get the most out of it!

Passover is to be a time of:

Rejoicing!

We are to revel in the great freedom and salvation won on this date in our annual calendar!  From Lot’s rescue, to the Sons of Israel from bondage in Egypt to our deliverance from the power of sin and death!  All of these are won as a result of the Covenant with Abraham, ultimately worked out in Yeshua our Messiah!!

Refreshment

Every Feast of Yahweh is a holy convocation, and most a special Sabbath day.  It is a time of refreshment in Him and His promises!  The Feasts are a pattern that annually walks us through HIS work and remind us that HE is in control and performing HIS plan of redemption in the earth!

Remembrance

In our rejoicing and refreshing, we celebrate as a remembrance the suffering of those who were in bondage…  Lot, the Sons of Israel, us, etc…  We are reminded that we cannot save ourselves, but need a Savior and Redeemer.  We remember where we have come from and worship for each work of Salvation!

Rehearsal

As we saw yesterday, this feast has yet another fulfillment portended in Scripture.  There will be another Exodus so much greater than Egypt that Egypt will no more be spoken of!!  Each time we celebrate we look back, but must also approach with the understanding that ‘this could be the year’ for that Greater Exodus!!  Therefore, it is a dress rehearsal…  We need to consider it seriously enough that the rehearsal aspect is not lost on us!

 

CRAZY! Pope Francis to Be Seen Worldwide In 3D on April 27th!

Fascinating!!  Here is a video that is VERY interesting…  Timing with Blood Moons beginning just days earlier make this interesting as well.  Commenter also mentiones the doves killed, which we covered here with images.  The connecting detail I was not aware of is that the children releasing those doves were Ukrainian!!

Would LOVE thoughts and input.  We’ll have to look for more info to further verify!

Breaking the Sabbath… another way…

It occurred to me the other day as I was reading some Scripture that even IF the Sabbath was moved to Sunday, and IF Christendom need only keep the Ten Commandments, they are still in continual violation of the fourth!  Now, we have proved over and over that these two allowances are patently false, but, for the sake of argument, let’s allow them for a moment.

Christendom claims to keep the 4th-commandmentSabbath, even if NOT on the seventh day as we are clearly commanded more than seven times.  However, despite their claims to the contrary, Christendom breaks the fourth commandment in another highly predictable way….  Notice,

Then the Jews, because it was the day of preparation, so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath ([a]for that Sabbath was a high day), asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away.

John gives an interesting detail in this verse.  Besides the weekly Sabbaths, there are some Sabbaths that are Continue reading “Breaking the Sabbath… another way…”

How to Divide a Family… A Thought.

Recently, I happened across a Bethany Christian Services magazine and was reading a couple articles about adoption, and no, that is not something we are considering at this time.  But, a point in one of the articles prompted some thought about family unity and division.

IMG_1112A short conversation this morning in the comments section of another blog connected the thoughts to the One Law v. Two Law debates/discussions I have had before!

A much debated subject in the Messianic movement is whether the Torah is just for the Jews, or is it the revelation of righteousness for all mankind.  We’ve looked at this topic multiple times from various angles, a list of links below, but here is another thought:  ‘How to Divide a Family…’  Simple, have different standards and rewards for the adopted children as you have for the natural born.

Seriously, think about it!  If you had a child and then you adopted another child, would it not cause bitterness, anger, jealousy, resentment and myriad other sins if you treated the two radically differently in terms of rules and expectations? Continue reading “How to Divide a Family… A Thought.”