Ponder this….

“I am the Way” means….

Growing up I was often pointed to Jesus/Yeshua’s statement, “I am the way, the truth and the life…” I am not sure I ever really pondered what that means. We are going to break this down into several posts.

“I am the way…” From John 14:6.

Jesus *said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.

⁷If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him, and have seen Him.”

⁸Philip *said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” ⁹Jesus *said to him, “Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? ¹⁰Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works.

So, what is the ‘way’ that would be the Father’s works? Continue reading ““I am the Way” means….”

Elijah AND Caleb, both Gentiles?

As many of the regular readers here know, I did a series a while back studying Elijah and his connection with the Great Tribulation as well as his possible connection with the 144,000. The way that study started was my learning that Elijah was a Gentile grafted into Israel. See that series for details as well as an abundance of information on Elijah.

My recent discovery, likely known to most of you, but I’ll share anyway, is that Caleb was also a Gentile grafted into Israel and again, there are some really cool prophetic connections and implications.

This will be short, but rich when the depth is pondered…

So, back to Caleb, counterpart to Joshua… Moshe selected the men to go into Canaan and spy out the land in Numbers 13. The relevant verses, 6-8, are:

Of the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh. Continue reading “Elijah AND Caleb, both Gentiles?”

A Parable on Christian Theology…

Been very busy lately and have notes on topics I desire writing about, but have had little time. Thankfully, things should change next week and I’ll be back to regular posting… In the meantime, here is a neat poem by Sam Walter Foss (1858-1911) that, through parable, explains how Christian Theology got so far off the track instead of simple obedience to Scripture.

Ponder this deeply.

_____________________

The Calf-Path

One day, through the primeval wood,
A calf walked home, as good calves should;

II.

But made a trail all bent askew,
A crooked trail as all calves do.
Since then three hundred years have fled,
And, I infer, the calf is dead.
But still he left behind his trail,
And thereby hangs my moral tale.
The trail was taken up next day, Continue reading “A Parable on Christian Theology…”

Hath God said?….

“If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.”

Kinda funny…. or, not!

A friend who attends the same fellowship I attend sent me an email with a very short message:

“So it used to be sinning was breaking His law…now apparently those of us who are keeping the law are the sinners. This is a sad thought…”

If it weren’t so sad, it would be funny.

They must not have read,

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. ²²On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ ²³And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

²⁴“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. ²⁵And the Continue reading “Kinda funny…. or, not!”

“… the standard of the law…”

While reading the Book of Acts yesterday, I spotted something you’ve probably seen before, but it jumped off the page for me.

Here’s the quote from Acts 22:12-15:

¹²“A certain Ananias, a man who was devout by the standard of the Law, and well spoken of by all the Jews who lived there, ¹³came to me, and standing near said to me, ‘Brother Saul, receive your sight!’ And at that very time I looked up at him. ¹⁴And he said, ‘The God of our fathers has appointed you to know His will and to see the Righteous One and to hear an utterance from His mouth. ¹⁵For you will be a witness for Him to all men of what you have seen and heard.

I’ve had a running conversation (defense of ‘walking orderly according to the Law’) on another blog. Their presupposition is that the ‘law is done away with’ and ‘following the Law is the path of curses,’ contrary to myriad Scriptures… So, it was fun when Continue reading ““… the standard of the law…””

Paths of Righteousness

Here’s a quick thought that I heard while watching Matthew Nolan and Jim Staley teach on Melchizedek. (Terrific teaching, by the way.)

He restores my soul;
He guides me in the paths of righteousness
For His name’s sake. (Psalm 23:3)

“Paths of righteousness…” I have always thought of this ‘path’ as leading to a destination, like a trail through the wood, or along a mountainside. Maybe there is a little more…

The Hebrew word for ‘paths’ used here is H4570
מעגּלה / מעגּל
ma‛gâl / ma‛gâlâh
BDB Definition:
1) entrenchment, track
1a) circumvallation, entrenchment
1b) track
Part of Speech: noun masculine

The ‘paths’ spoken of here are ‘cycles.’ He leads us in ‘cycles’ of righteousness. The annual calendar of Yahweh, the feast cycle, is one of the ‘paths’ whereby He works in us righteousness though His appointed times, His moedim.

Fascinating. Marinate.

Shalom!

How to be LEAST in The Kingdom of Heaven:

Yeshua tells us exactly what we have to do to be LEAST in the Kingdom of Heaven:

“Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called LEAST in the Kingdom of Heaven;…”

Without skipping a beat or even drawing a breath, He tells us conversely what we have to do to be great in the kingdom:

“but whoever KEEPS and TEACHES them, he shall be called GREAT in the Kingdom of Heaven.” (Matthew 5:19)

Nuff said. Got Torah?

The Tree of Life. Who Gets to Eat?

So, I was pondering again one of those doctrine shattering verses. Revelation 22:14,

¹⁴Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city. (KJV)

Admittedly, some manuscripts say, ‘wash their robes,’ but this is pretty clear! DO the commandments to have full access to the City and to the Tree of Life. It is also interesting to note that even with the difference in manuscript, the ‘washing of robes’ is equated with ‘doing the commandments.’

Will you have access to the Tree of Life? Are you doing the commandments?

Got Torah?