It is with great peril that we negotiate with the Elohim of Avraham, Itzhaak and Ya’acov. We may come with a list of terms, however, we quickly find it best to simply hand Him a blank check.
If you consider yourself a servant of the Most High, dare to take the leap. Quit negotiating and simply sign the check. Long-term, it is much less painful.
If we set our course out of consideration for what others may think or concern for how this group or that group will accept us, then we are guaranteed to fail. If, however, we base our course on the unassailable truths of Scripture, then our Guardian will overwatch and protect with a shield known only to those who enter complete submission to the will of the Almighty and His Word. May we be so bold, so daring, as to cast off the moors of western culture and tradition in favor of returning to the tribal lifestyle of a Biblically Hebraic people. No other course will return us to the Land.
Selah.
The restoration of Israel, all Israel: it occupies my every thought and is prominent in every prayer. It is a factor in every major decision I make, and most minor decisions. I continually ask the Father, ‘What does it look like? How will it function? What is my part?’
Over the last couple years He has repeatedly brought me back to the basic building block for any society: Family. And, as I have studied. He has again and again taught me lessons regarding the many parts, but the most foundational, Biblical manhood and headship, keeps coming to the fore. He has also brought or connected me with other men who have various parts of the answers and together we have discussed and emailed/texted/phoned hundreds of hours. We have read and processed books and teachings as we’ve dug deeper into what a true Biblical family looks like, how it functions, the roles of each member, etc.
I count it a special blessing to share one of these resources over the next few weeks or months as together we assemble some lengthy posts covering aspects of this topic. Truly, many books, can and have been written on the topic, but so many, maybe most, have a significant amount of tradition and inherited falsehoods that do not lead us to correct conclusions or results. Our desire is to spark a conversation within the Messianic/Hebrew roots community about what Scripture really says about the family, headship, patriarchy, man’s role, woman’s role and marriage.
22 Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying, “Every son who is born you are to cast into the Nile, and every daughter you are to keep alive.”
Exodus 1:22 NASB
The Hebrews were multiplying and the new king in Egypt was getting nervous. He began with enslaving the Hebrews and making their lives miserable through forced labor, but when that did not stymie their obedience to ‘be fruitful and multiply’ the Pharaoh commanded that the boys be thrown into the Nile and the girls be left alive. Presumably, he thought to destroy the seed and future headship in one fell swoop.
While we do not know how many were thrown into the Nile or otherwise killed, but we can understand from the grave dangers facing Moses as a child that the dangers were exceedingly great and many sons of Israel died in this type of Shoah. Did it leave a generation of women wringing their hands and wondering how to fulfill God-given desires and Creation order? Did Israel simply allow their precious daughters to leave the fold and seek men elsewhere because of the shortage? Maybe they all just became old maids and spinstresses? Is this even relevant today?
I’ve heard the question quite a few times in recent years. “Where have all the good (Godly) men gone?”
Continue reading “Where have all the good men gone?”2 Now it will come about that
Isaiah 2:2-3
In the last days
The mountain of the house of the Lord
Will be established as the chief of the mountains,
And will be raised above the hills;
And all the nations will stream to it.
3 And many peoples will come and say,
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
To the house of the God of Jacob;
That He may teach us concerning His ways
And that we may walk in His paths.”
For the law (Torah) will go forth from Zion
And the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
Do we really accept Torah?
This awakening to Torah that is happening across the planet is amazing, messy, crazy and fascinating. Clearly, Abba is up to something, because there is no other explanation that fits this phenomenon.
Still, do we really accept Torah?
No doubt, this is a process. We are learning and the understandings are varied. There is no monolithic opinion or system, though many try to control or direct it… I myself am guilty as I share what the Father and His Word teach me. But, do we really accept Torah?
Continue reading “Do we REALLY accept Torah?”Many who visit Israel, do so with a tour group and spend most of their time staying in hotels, thus missing prime interaction with people who live in the Land. There are some who take the ‘road less traveled’ and adventure on their own. These souls who wish to drink in the fulness of the Land and experience the richness of Divinely guided interaction, often seek lodging in apartments, bed and breakfasts or even, when opportunity presents, with a family, open to interaction.
I want to share a couple places that generally only get passed along by word of mouth, special places where the fellowship is sweeter and you are treated like family. If you need a ‘base camp’ for a few days in Tiberius, Jerusalem or a nice retreat for a medium sized group in the Judean hills, keep reading.
Tiberius – There are not many places on the shore of the Galilee that have a better view than Avi’s three bedroom home with expansive patio. Perfectly tricky to find and only available through direct contact, we have enjoyed this gem for a weekend with several other couples. Our Shabbat fellowship was wonderful and the late night chats were priceless. The sweet hostess is a wealth of information and a dedicated watchman, called to this particular perch.
Avi, originally from the US, has lived in the Land for about 25 years, if I remember correctly, and been in the Tiberius area for at least 10, hosting travelers from the northern house. She sets a daily scrumptious breakfast, included in the recommended 170 NIS/person/night donation. Fruit, fresh eggs, yoghurt, dates, nuts and lots of fresh delicious coffee and juice.
Continue reading “Israel: Off the Beaten Path”On several recent trips to Israel, I have watched with interest the construction of a high speed rail from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. The rail, significantly, connects Ben Gurion Airport to Jerusalem via a non-stop, 28 minute luxury trip for just 11 NIS. Very, very convenient and nice. I can’t wait to ride this ‘magic carpet made of steel‘ at Shavuot.
The Jerusalem Post Magazine has a fantastic article about the rail line as well as a mild chiding of the Israeli media for their incessant negative reporting surrounding the line, inspite of excellent service, wonderful experiences and glowing reports from users. I read the article and it only increased my excitement to ride. You’ll have to check it out yourself…
But, the article had a few lines that jangled my thoughts. The author very nicely recounted aspects of Theodore Herzl’s vision and the fulfillment that even this high speed train is a part of. One quote that really caught my attention follows,
Continue reading ““…mindsets are difficult to change…””Jonah 1:1-3
1 The word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai saying, 2 “Arise, go to Nineveh the great city and cry against it, for their wickedness has come up before Me.” 3 But Jonah rose up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. So he went down to Joppa, found a ship which was going to Tarshish, paid the fare and went down into it to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.
Jonah is a pretty classic example of what not to do if God gives you a message. He was given a particular message and told what to do with it, yet he did precisely the opposite and wound up paying a pretty good price for his disobedience. Then, he still had to go do what he was told.
Continue reading “The danger of being a rebellious prophet”Without question, the major battle right now in our culture is redefining gender roles. While this has been building for decades, we have arrived at the point that literally, everything gender related is being redefined. In one sense this is highly disturbing, but on another level it is not surprising at all. This complete flipping of the system is one of the final straws in the revelation that Western culture is a product of Greco-Roman paganism.
Most in the Hebrew roots movement already recognize and reject the pagan elements that have long been hidden within Christianity and have been sifted. But there is much more sifting to come, both for ourselves and our many brothers who are yet in the church system. We have not ‘arrived,’ rather we have simply answered the call in one area…. but, there is more if we are truly to submit ourselves to the whole counsel of God’s Word and seek the restoration of kol Israel.
Continue reading “Patriarchy, God’s Plan”Amos 9:9-1
“For behold, I am commanding,
And I will sift the house of Israel among all nations
As grain is shaken in a sieve,
But not a ]kernel will fall to the ground.
10 “All the sinners of My people will die by the sword,
Those who say, ‘The calamity will not overtake or confront us.’
Recently, I have been pondering sifting, bread making and walking in the ways of the King.
We are yet a ways away from Shavuot, but one of the marks of the holy day was/is the waving of the two loaves before Yehovah, a waving that I believe represent the House of Israel and the House of Judah. The process for making the bread involves many detailed steps, one of the final ones being sifting. The flour was sifted, by tradition, thirteen times before it was fine enough for so holy a purpose.
For the grain of flour, being ground and sifted, sifted and sifted, must have felt like an eternity, but for those grains being included in the final loaves, it must have been gloriously worth it. They had been sown, grown, reaped, threshed, winnowed, parched, crushed (ground) then sifted, sifted and sifted before testing, baking and finally waving. At each step of the way, fellow grains, might we say, ‘friends and family’ fell away until they were left in the final pure and perfected hands full that would be used.
How often the process of following the Father, of growing in obedience has felt like crushing and sifting. How many along the way seemed like they would walk this path forever only to turn back at some level of refinement.
Many times I have looked around and been despondent at the ones who gave up or turned back, much like the thousands and thousands in Gideon’s original reaping. The sifted ones numbered a scant 300, yet Yehovah used them unconventionally to destroy a HUGE army of the fearsome Midianites
Do you feel like you are being sifted? Has the Father led you through one new test and new revelation after another until you feel as though you have no friends left yet you know the Father is leading and teaching and you cannot turn back? Fear not! Eventually, the sifting will end. Will you be left in the pile having submitted yourself entirely to the Father and His Word and ignored the tongue wagging of self righteous men?
If you have written the Father a blank check, be reminded, you no longer have a right to count the cost. Now, He has your permission to crush, sift, repeat.
If you’ve never asked to be sifted, I dare ya! It’s the only way to get closer to Him!
11:3 Restoration 