Yeshua – Page 3 – 11:3 Restoration

“Isaiah 53 changed my life…”

‘the word of the Lord came to me…’

Lately I have felt so overwhelmed by a number of things that it has been hard to sit down and write. There are a number of articles brewing, but distractions and rabbit trails have been an impediment. Here is one item I’ve been pondering that is entirely incomplete, but I need to get it off my plate and would value some input/insight.

A phrase caught my eye about a year ago while doing some studying in Genesis,

After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying,

“Do not fear, Abram,
I am a shield to you;
^[a]Your reward shall be very great.”

²Abram said, “O Lord ^[b]God, what will You give me, since I ^[c]am childless, and the ^[d]heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” ³And Abram said, “^[e]Since You have given no ^[f]offspring to me, ^[g]one born in my house is my heir.” ⁴Then behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “This man will not be your heir; but one who will come forth from your own ^[h]body, he shall be your heir.” ⁵And He took him outside and said, “Now look toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” And He said to him, “So shall your ^[i]descendants be.” ⁶Then he believed in the Lord; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.

I had always read that phrase to mean ‘God, the Lord, speaking…,’ yet in an instant it seemed to be personified as if ‘The Word of the Lord’ was doing the speaking. Continue reading “‘the word of the Lord came to me…’”

THE Most Accountable Generation?

Lately, I have been pondering the fact that we are likely THE most accountable generation in history!!

Certainly, all have sinned and fallen short of the glory, and, there is none righteous, not even one, making all guilty, but the degree of culpability can vary. When we each stand before the Judge, we will all be held accountable, though to varying degrees.

The poor old woman from the 900’s who was a faithful wife and attended church but never held, much less read a Bible is accountable for what she knew. Take that same woman and place her in the mid-1600’s with the ability to read an available Bible translation and she is accountable for more.

Leap forward another 300 years and by the mid-1900’s, with the increase of Bible literacy and the availability of the Scriptures as well as encyclopedias and mass printing -she, or we, have still higher degrees of accountability. The last 40 years and especially the last ten years have been a meteoric increase in knowledge and understanding, particularly in revealing ancient truths long contained in Scripture, but hidden under justifications, misunderstandings and outright falsehood. With the advent of the internet and the accessibility of truth to the common man on every continent, we are each not only without excuse, but more accountable than every previous generation! In fact, the basics of the Gospel message are entirely unavoidable while the truth of Torah and the revelation of syncretistic pagan practices is fast permeating the message. Continue reading “THE Most Accountable Generation?”

Some thoughts on Psalm 78:1-10

So, I was reading again a passage that we used on Shabbat in a study of ‘chametz’ (leaven) and the uses of ‘unleavened’ in the Tanakh as well as the new Testament. Among others, we discussed a verse, Matthew 13:33, where Yeshua uses leavening as a positive image. On re-reading, the next two verses caught my eye.

³³He spoke another parable to them, “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three ^[a]pecks of flour until it was all leavened.”

³⁴All these things Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables, and He did not speak to them without a parable. ³⁵This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet:

“I will open My mouth in parables;
I will utter things hidden since the foundation of the world.”

Suddenly I was curious, as we should always be, when I noticed the Tanakh quote. Where does that come from?

Continue reading “Some thoughts on Psalm 78:1-10”

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.

⁴²It 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?”

Acts 1:6-7 – Yeshua on the Kingdom of Israel…

I still remember distinctly the last conversation I had with my father. It was nearly 16 years ago and, though neither of us knew it would be the last time we spoke in this life, his words have proved prophetic.

While the content of that conversation is not the point, had he known it was to be our last conversation, I am confident he would have been even more pointed in his wisdom as we parted company.

Yeshua had 40 final days with His disciples and I am confident that the conversations were deeply instructive revelations from the Scripture. (Recall, the only Scripture they had was the Tanak, misnamed, the “Old Testament!”) He knew that He was leaving and would be gone for a while.

We are not told the content of those conversations, however, we can take a few hints from the ‘Road to Emmaus’ conversation, and several other passages. One such passage is the very final conversation Yeshua had with His disciples. Let’s read and consider,

⁶So when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, “Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?” ⁷He said to them, Continue reading “Acts 1:6-7 – Yeshua on the Kingdom of Israel…”

John 3:16 and works…

Today, I was having a conversation with good friend and occasional natsab author, Travis Hughey, when he shared something with me I had never noticed. (Seems to be happening a lot latelty… LOL!)

The context of his focus on these verses is the fact that in recent weeks he has been trying to see how many passages of Scripture he can find that demonstrate the connection between faith and works. The compiled list is getting pretty extensive and interesting.

In our conversation about myriad other topics and passages, he said, ‘Oh, you gotta see this. Turn to John 3:16!’

Trying to stay ahead of the curve, I rapidly scanned the passage for context using the new Hebraic lens the Father has been developing in me over the last two years. And, as fast as Travis could read, I was calling out the key words. Read this and see what you catch, then we can discuss…

“For God so loved the world Continue reading “John 3:16 and works…”

Potiphar’s wife and Yeshua…

Several months ago I wrote and posted a series of articles considering the prophetic significance of Joseph’s life as a picture of Messiah Yeshua. They can be found here: Jesus / Yeshua as Pictured in Joseph. Part 1. Part 2. Part 3.

Occasionally, another connection will bubble to the surface and I’ll add it to my list, but recently I had one interesting enough to make a quick post.

Joseph is sold to Potiphar and becomes the head servant. Potiphar’s wife decides to use him for her pleasure and he escapes without his clothes/garments. Reading something else recently, as I thought about this, led led me to wonder if this is a picture of the ‘woman who rides the beast’ stripping Yeshua of His identity when ‘He got to Rome.’

It is interesting to note that the very Hebrew/Jewish Yeshua was converted to a Gentile Jesus in Rome by the stripping of His identity and He was ‘held in prison’ for more than a thousand years. Then, He began His ascension in the eyes of the nations at/near the time of the Reformation, but His true identity, the Jewish Messiah Yeshua is only now really becoming widely known! Continue reading “Potiphar’s wife and Yeshua…”

Ki Tisa 2014. A few thoughts….

A few hours ago I sat down to pen this post when instead a post about kidding and farm life in the snow rolled out of my head… So, ‘take 2!’

I have not made it a habit of commenting on the weekly Torah portions, but for some reason, I have several random thoughts this week to share… Nothing really connected. Just a few thoughts on what many may regard a minor pieces…

The portion, Ki Tisa, meaning ‘when you elevate,’ is Exodus 30:11-34:35, and covers a lot of territory. Sabbath as a perpetual covenant sign (31:16-17)! Idolatry/golden calf as syncretism (32:5)!

I just want to point out a few other items that I found interesting…

30:34-38. Incense on the altar. As we studied the furniture of the Holy Place in the last weeks, I’m not sure why it didn’t hit me, but as I read of the incense on the altar Continue reading “Ki Tisa 2014. A few thoughts….”