Tuesday, October 30, 2018

Call on His Name

י ה ו ה

from right to left the Hebrew letters are:

yod - hey - waw - hey (HWHY)

In English, left to right: YHWH
pronounced Yah-Weh

which is the name of Elohim, the Creator, 
our Father of heavenly lights.

The name of the Father is in the name of His Son, 
the name He gave him, meaning:

Yah is Salvation = Yahshua

י ה ו שׁ ע

from right to left the Hebrew letter are:

yod - hey - waw - shin - ayin 

pronounced Yah-Shua

░░

Tuesday, October 23, 2018

Y'shua to Zeus

I have avoided the Name Game discussion which many choose to involve themselves, who are armed with concordances, interlinears, charts, commentaries and traditions, even though I do believe there is a Name above all Names and it is in the Hebrew language.  
 
This is all part of our learning process and should not be a topic of contention. Each of us will come to the realization sooner or later.  But what spurred this post was another comment elsewhere about the letter "J" which isn't part of the the Hebrew alphabet, so how could the Son of God be named Jesus? 😉 A person responded saying the name Jesus.... "which is a Spanish pronunciation of His German Name, which is a German pronunciation of His Greek Name, which is a Greek pronunciation of His Hebrew Name" -- so you see, I needed to expound a bit.

The following is quoted from the Aramaic English New Testament appendix:
While it is true that Iesous became the Greek substitute for Yehoshua (Greek Septuagint translation of the Tanakh), it is also true that the Greek language is capable of reproducing the name of Yehoshua with exact sonic pronunciation.  However, an etymological link evolved between Iesous, Zeus and Jesus, pronounced: Ie-soos; Zoos; and Jee-zuhs.  
Regardless as to whether one recognizes sonic similarities or not, there are many other factors that connect the Christian worship of Jesus to Zeus. Historians have noted that for many centuries busts of Zeus were prominently displayed in many Christian churches throughout Europe. The original busts of Zeus were imported into the most prominent front and center parts of Christian sanctuaries. In the year 230 A.D. the Christian 'church father' Tertullian wrote: "By us Gentile Christians who are strangers to Jewish Sabbaths, new moons and festivals once acceptable to God, the Saturnalia, the feasts of January, the Brumalia and the Matronalia are now frequented with gifts begin carried to and fro."  
Early in Roman church history it was very fashionable to syncretize pagan worship into Christianity. One of the most evident pagan elements is the sun-child of Dec. 25th who became the son-child of "Mary the mother of God."  Ishtar, from where the fish symbol originated, was also a carry-over into Christianity, and transubstantiation is another rite that was ripped right out of paganism and dropped into the .... wafer in which most Christians indulge.
Caligula considered himself 'god' and demanded worship as a physical god, not unlike the Catholic pope who postures himself as being infallible and in the place of god. The Catholic Church demonstrates all manner of demonic spirit that Caligula enjoyed including pedophile sex crimes. Those who are not Catholic, however, need not point their fingers because every Christian who erects a Christmas tree or attend church on Sunday or celebrates Easter or Valentine's Day is blindly following Roman Catholic authority. 
Y'shua Mashiyach is the government of YHWH, he is altogether righteous, just and lawful, but most Christians are adamant that 'Jesus did away with the Law'.  The greatest slap in the face to Yahshua is when Christians are presented with the truth about him and instead of repenting and turning to God, most choose to ignore Truth and continue to follow pagan customs. Most ask "what difference does it make?" because they see no difference between the absolute Truth of the Perfect Messiah versus a false religious system that invented Je-Zeus according to a mixture of truth and paganism. 
Yahshua used many parables and metaphors to bring the point across that the carnal nature of man must die so the spiritual man can live within him. There are no religious substitutes that can be given in exchange for living a righteous lifestyle in the Anointed One who came to do the will of the Father.

Sacrifices in the Kingdom to Come

First Corinthians 3:16 
"Do you not know that you are the temple of Elohim 
and that the Spirit of Elohim dwells in you?"



Isaiah 56:6-8
As for the foreigners who attach themselves to YHWH, to minister to Him, and love the Name YHWH, to be His servants - all who keep the sabbath and do not profane it, and who hold fast to My covenant - I will bring them to My sacred mount and let them rejoice in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and sacrifices shall be welcome on My altar; for My House shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples. Thus declares YHWH Elohim who gathers the dispersed of Israel: I will gather still more to those already gathered."

If He is still gathering those who have been scattered, then this cannot be applicable to the Earthly Kingdom where all have been gathered and placed on the promised land. It is more likely that this is a poetic metaphor welcoming these 'foreigners', those other sheep, in accepting their offerings as spiritual sacrifices, when elsewhere Yah has mentioned the physical act of bringing burnt offerings, sacrifices and incense had become very irritating to Him. Yah uses the same poetic metaphors about divorce, love and acceptance in regards to His people and keeping His promises.
John 10:16 ~ Y'shua said, And I also have other sheep, those who were not from this sheepfold (already gathered). And also them, it is necessary for me to bring them and they will hear my voice and all the flocks will become one. And there will be One Shepherd.
Isaiah 7:11 ~ YHWH said, "What need have I of all your sacrifices... I have no delight that you come to appear before Me - trample My courts no more. Bringing your offerings is futile, incense is offensive to Me. New moon and Sabbath you proclaim solemnities and assemble with wickedness I cannot tolerate. Your new moons (calendar months) and your fixed seasons (man's traditions and substitutes for Yah's moedim) fill Me with loathing - they have become a burden to Me, no longer a joy. When you lift up your hands in false praise and worship I will turn My Eyes away from you."

In Zechariah 14:16, verse 6 describes the New Jerusalem as does verse 8. Verses 9-15 may relate to the Magog time line, after the thousand year reign of Y'shua and prior to Yah restoring all things. 
Chapter 14, Verse 16 ~ All who survive of all those nations that came up against Jerusalem* shall make a pilgrimage year by year to bow low to the King of Hosts** and to observe the Feast of booths (Sukkot***).  Those who do not shall receive no rain....
*End times scenario
**Y'shua presides over his earthly kingdom
***Sukkot will be the last set apart time to be fulfilled

Jeremiah 33:14-18
See, days are coming, declares Yahweh, when I will fulfill the promise that I made concerning the House of Israel and the House of Judah. In those days and at that time I will raise up a true branch of David's line (Y'shua) and he shall do what is just and right in the land. In those days Judah shall be delivered and Israel shall dwell secure. And this is what she shall be called: YHWH is our Vindicator. For thus said Yahweh: There shall never be an end to men of David's line who sit upon the throne of the House of Israel. Nor shall there ever be an end to the line of the Levitical priests before Me, of those who present burnt offerings and turn the meal offering to smoke and perform sacrifices.

There may never be an end to the Levitical line of priests who were chosen from the beginning to tend to offerings and sacrifices, but will the need for these offerings and sacrifices end?  For the most part, the practice of sacrifice stopped in the year 70 AD, when the Roman army destroyed the Temple in Jerusalem, the place where sacrifices were offered and handled by the priests. The practice was briefly resumed during the Jewish War of 132-135 AD, but was ended permanently after that war was lost.


Ezekiel 40
In a previous study I came to the conclusion that Yahweh gave this grand vision to Ezekiel to illustrate the awesome power and glory of the heavenly realm. Ezekiel was shown the Hope we have in the Good News of the Kingdom to come! He was told to share this 'vision' to those who had grown hopeless. This sharing of the Good News is echoed throughout the Renewed Covenant writings. Ezekiel, the Watchman for the House of Israel, shared this Good News with those people in his day and was a 'type and shadow' for Set Apart believers in this day and age, sharing the Good News of the Kingdom to come - a joyous time we can only try to imagine and hope for. How on earth could we describe it? Keep in mind that earlier in Ezekiel 3:1-15 he "ate a Torah scroll" - the imagery symbolizing the prophet being sustained by and proclaiming Torah.

Ezekiel 46:19-24
46:19 ~ He led me to the passage at the side of the gate to the sacred chambers of the priests, which face north, and there, at the rear of it, in the west, I saw a space. He said to me, This is the place where the priests shall boil the guilt offerings and the sin offerings* and where they shall bake the meal offerings....  These are the kitchens where the Temple servitors shall boil the sacrifices of the peoples."

Please Note: 
We read in Hebrews 10, which I have lightly paraphrased:
We choose to accept Y'shua as our High Priest who offered a *one time sacrifice for sins, who sits forever at the right hand of Elohim where he waits until his foes are placed as a footstool under his feet. For, by one offering (himself), he has perfected forever them who are sanctified (set apart) by him. And the Ruach haKodesh also testifies to us by saying: This is the covenant which I will give them after those days, says Master YHWH: I will put my Torah into their minds and inscribe it on their hearts and their iniquity and their sins I will not remember against them. Now, where there is a forgiveness of sins there is no offering for sin demanded. We have therefore my Brothers assurance of entering into the sanctuary by the blood of Y'shua and by a path of life.
Y'shua said: 
“Sacrifice and offering you did not desire,
but a body you prepared for me;
with burnt offerings and sin offerings
you were not pleased.
I said, ‘Here I am—it is written about me in the scroll—
I have come to do your will, O Elohim"

~~~

Ezekiel Chapt. 44 -- In verse 10 Yah says the Levites forsook Him when Israel went astray to follow their fetishes and they will suffer their punishment, given lowly every day jobs of temple service, no longer handling priestly duties. But the Levitical priests descended from Zadok who maintained the service of His sanctuary when the people of Israel went astray from Him, they are the ones to minister to YHWH.  This line of priests has already occurred and does not apply to an end times temple.
Ezekiel 44:6 - To the rebellious House of Israel, says Yahweh, Too long have you committed all your abominations, admitting aliens, uncircumcised of spirit and flesh, to be in My Sanctuary and profane My very Temple, when you offer up My food - the fat and the blood. You have broken My covenant with all your abominations. You have not discharged the duties concerning My sacred offerings, but have appointed them (uncircumcised strangers of spirit and flesh) to discharge the duties of My Sanctuary for you. The Levites who forsook Me when Israel went astray from Me to follow their fetishes, shall suffer their punishment for making them stumble into guilt. (The priesthood lineage now shifts to the descendants of Zadok. II Samuel 8:17 tells us Zadok was one of the priests who maintained the service of Yah's Sanctuary, the temple, when the people of Israel has gone astray.)
Who are the priests in Messiah's Kingdom?
Y'shua is the Lamb of Elohim and his blood was shed for the forgiveness of sin. In this he has become our High Priest offering atonement on our behalf. He has gone before the throne of Elohim for our sake, seated at His right hand until the day of wrath. He also pointed out that 'we' are the temple, as he knew the destruction of the physical temple would come. Designating our physical bodies as 'temples' makes it possible for the Spirit of YHWH, the Ruach haKodesh to dwell within. This Spirit comforts us with truth.
Revelation 5:9 ~ And they sang a new song, saying: worthy are you to take the book and to open the seals because you were slain and have redeemed us to Elohim by your blood, out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation; and you have made them kings and priests to our Elohim and they reign on the earth.
What other kings shall reign on this earth while Y'shua is king? None. Are these kings mentioned possibly kings that have reigned throughout time up to now? They are singing this new song before Y'shua begins to open the seals and this happens before the earthly kingdom is established.

First Peter 2:9 ~ For you are an elect race, officiating as priests of the Kingdom; a Set Apart people, a redeemed congregation; that you should proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness to His Precious Light (Y'shua is the Light of the World), who formerly were not counted as a people but now are the people of Elohim. There were once no mercies on you but now mercies are poured out upon you.  My beloved I entreat you as strangers and pilgrims, separate yourselves from all lusts of the body for they war against the soul.

Isaiah 66:20 ~ And out of all the nations, said YHWH, they shall bring all to Jerusalem My holy mountain as an offering to Me, just as the Israelites bring an offering in a pure vessel to the House of YHWH.  And from them likewise I will take some to be Levitical priests. For as the New Heaven and New Earth which I will make shall endure by My will so shall your seed and your name endure. And new moon after new moon, and sabbath after sabbath, all flesh shall come to worship Me.

Our bodies become the pure vessel by which we offer ourselves as Spiritual Sacrifices acceptable to MarYah, our Creator.

Hebrews 10:1-4
For in Torah there was a shadow of the good things to come; not the substance of the things themselves. Therefore, although the same sacrifices were offered every year, they could never perfect those who offered them. If they had perfected them, they would have stopped a long time ago making offerings because their conscience could no more compel them who were once purified, on account of their sins. But in those sacrifices every year they acknowledged their sins. The blood of bulls and goats cannot purge away sin. Verse 8, Y'shua said to Yahweh, "Sacrifices and oblations and burnt offerings for sins which were offered according to Torah you did not desire.... I have come to do Your will O Elohim" .... hereby he abolished the former sacrifices that he might establish the latter... and by this we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Y'shua the Mashiyach a single time.

In the Kingdom to Come there will be no sacrifices made for guilt or sin offerings because Y'shua put an end to them. Sacrifices and drink offerings he abolished when his blood was shed. It seems Sukkot will be celebrated year after year in his Kingdom. Perhaps Sukkot is the last 'shadow of things to come'. Then, after the thousand year time line is complete, we enter that rest, the Eighth Day - when Yah will truly be in the midst of His People.  

We have been taught that our Creator's set times have been fulfilled by Y'shua as in Passover/Unleavened Bread, First Fruits and Shavuot. Maybe the Day of Trumpets will be fulfilled when he returns and the Day of Atonement could be during the time the gathered are in the clouds being made ready to inherit the promised land. I've often wondered if it would take ten days for that to be accomplished. That would leave Sukkot yet to be fulfilled which would be why it is observed in Y'shua's Kingdom, still a shadow of things to come. It will be then that we can actually keep Sukkot in Jerusalem.  Other than Sukkot I have not read of any other feast days that are kept during the time Y'shua reigns as King on this earth. But we do know that new moon after new moon (month after month) and sabbath to sabbath (every 7th day count) all will come before the Creator, our Father of heavenly lights.
Ephesians 2:18 ~ Because by him there is access for us both, by one Spirit, to the Father. Wherefore you are not strangers (foreigners) nor sojourners but are fellow-citizens with the Set Apart believers and of the household of Elohim. And you are built upon the foundations of the Apostles and the prophets; and Y'shua the Mashiyach has become the head of the corner in the edifice. And in him all the edifice is framed together and grows into a Set Apart temple in Master Yahweh; while you also are built in him for a habitation of Elohim through the Spirit.
First Peter 2 ~ Therefore, cease all evil and all deceit and hypocrisy and jealousy and backbiting and be like very small children and crave the Word as being the pure spiritual milk by which you are nourished up to life; if you have tasted and seen that Master YHWH is good. You have been drawn to His Son because he is a Living Stone, rejected indeed by men, but with Elohim elect and precious. And you also as living stones are built and become spiritual temples and Set Apart priest for the offering of Spiritual Sacrifices, acceptable before Elohim through Y'shua the Mashiyach.
Romans 12
I plead to you, therefore, my brothers, by the mercies of Elohim, that you present your bodies as a living sacrifice, Set Apart and acceptable to Elohim by rational service to Him. And be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renovation of your minds and discern what is the good and acceptable and the perfect pleasure of Elohim.


Here are links related to this post for your further research and study:


Monday, October 15, 2018

Jews by Location



What I recently read; followed by my response.

Hebrew for Christians 
The word "Hebrew" (עִבְרִי) means "boundary crosser" or one who has "passed from beyond" (from the verb avar (עָבַר), to pass or to cross over). The word "Jew" (יְהוּדִי), on the other hand, comes from the root (יָדָה) which means to "thank" or to “praise” (see Gen. 29:35). The Apostle Paul alluded to this by saying that a Jew whose heart has been circumcised by the Spirit is "one who is praised by God" -- not by men (Rom. 2:29). Being a Jew therefore means that you are “chosen” to receive blessings and grace to live in holiness for the glory of God and for the welfare of the world. The performance of various commandments are for the greater purpose of tikkun ha'olam (תיקון העולם), the “repair of the world,” in order to reveal God’s goodness and love (Eph. 2:8-10). Doing so makes someone a Jew, since his praise comes not from man, but from the LORD. God is the source and the power of what makes a true tzaddik (righteous person). After all, Israel was meant to be a “light to the nations” (Isa. 42:6; 60:3), and God had always planned for all the families of the earth to come to know Him and give Him glory through Abraham (Gen. 12:3). “Jewishness” is therefore not an end in itself but rather a means to bring healing to the nations... Indeed, the entire redemptive story of the Scriptures centers on the cosmic conflict to deliver humanity from the “curse” by means of the "Seed of the woman" who would come. The gospel is Jewish because it concerns God’s great redemptive plan for the whole world (John 4:22-23). [Hebrew for Christians]
Oh, gosh..... I have read this 'claim' more than once, after finding it on a Hebrew Roots themed Facebook page. First time I couldn't believe what I was reading. Second time it seemed insane but I tried to see the point of it. Third time it just made me want to cry that someone under the title of 'Hebrew for Christians' could spew such unrelated hogwash. Now each time I read it I realized that Judeo-Christian doctrine is just another one of Satan's devices to continue driving that wedge between mankind and his Creator.

We who have come out of the Babylonian Churchianity Religious mindset in search of the Hebrew origins of faith have had to fight against being accused of 'going Jew' to family and friends, so you can imagine how I feel insulted by this article. The modern day word Jew does not have the same meaning as back in biblical times. The word 'Jew' didn't even exist back in the time Genesis was written, neither did the territory of Judea, for that matter.

Indeed, Leah was thankful for having sons, Judah being one of them, but I think this article is really stretching it in trying to define the word 'Jew". 

Abraham was a Hebrew. He 'crossed over' from the pagan ways of Chaldea, leaving his father's house in obedience to YHWH.

The example noted above about Paul was referring to when he was making a distinction between the 'hearers of Torah' and the 'doers of Torah'. Torah is the standard for righteousness that Paul applied to himself and those who read his letters. He was pointing out that if someone was circumcised because of their culture and not taught it was a sign of the covenant Yah made with Abraham, then circumcision is irrelevant in regards to the Kingdom of Elohim. 

"Being a Jew" =Does.Not.Mean= "that you are “chosen” to receive blessings and grace to live in holiness for the glory of God and for the welfare of the world." Who is Israel? It is a people, the descendants of Abraham the Hebrew, all 12 tribes and those grafted in who choose YHWH as their Elohim and abide by His Instructions. These are the sheep and those other sheep Y'shua said he would gather as One flock. These are they who are to be a light unto the nations. 

It is the leaves of the Tree of Life in the New Jerusalem that are meant for the healing of nations and by that time there will be no Jew or Gentile, slave or free man because we will be One People.

John 4:22 is part of the conversation Y'shua is having with the Samaritan woman who recognizes him as a Yehudean and later as a prophet and invites him to worship with them at their mountain. He tells her they worship something they do not know... and that life is from the Yehudeans (he gives her a hint of who she is talking to). He also lets her know in time true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. ~~ Who is the Giver of Life, the Lion of Judah? Y'shua the Anointed One 

The point is that one who is called a "Jew" in Scriptures is not necessarily a chosen man of God, or a member of the tribe of Judah, an Israelite, or even a Semite, but one who is a resident of the territory of Judea. A Judean, Yehudean.

Paul describes himself in Philippeans 3:5- "Circumcised when eight days old; of the stock of Israel; of the tribe of Benjamin; a Hebrew, descendant of Hebrews; in regards to Torah, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the assembly of Messianic believers; and as to the righteousness of the oral Torah, I was without fault." (Oral Law is rabbinic tradition). Paul's attitude about himself and all he had mastered changed after he saw the superior knowledge of Y'shua and learned that his own righteousness came from Faith in the Messiah, that is, the righteousness which is from Elohim, and not of himself. Paul was not a 'Jew' pretending to be a Greek, but was well aware of his heritage as a descendant of Abraham. His Hebrew name, Saul, was taken from the first king of Israel, who was from the tribe of Benjamin, and Paul's teacher, Gamaliel, was also from the tribe of Benjamin. They were Jews by location, not by birth or religious affiliation, although Paul was under the influence of religion before Y'shua called him out. What a wonderful example for all of us!

Monday, October 8, 2018

End Times Prophecies

Jeremiah 15
Those destined for the plague, to the plague they go
Those destined for the sword (wars), to the sword they go
Those destined for famine, to famine
Those destined for captivity, to captivity.....

Matthew 24
You will hear of revolutions, wars and rumors of war. 
Nations and kingdoms will rise up against each other, fight each other. 
There will be famine, food shortages, plagues, diseases. These are the beginning of sorrows.

Then we will be hated, delivered to afflictions and killed because we believe in Y'shua, Son of Elohim. Many stumble, hate each other and will report 'believers' to the authorities to save their own lives. 

Revelation 2:10
Do not be terrified at the things you are to suffer. The Accuser will throw some of you in prison (captivity), and you will be tried; there will be trouble for you for ten days - be faithful until death.