by Rod Thomas | Aug 14, 2015 | Blog
I came across Rob Skiba this past May while attending his breakout session at the 2015 United in Torah Conference in San Diego, California. I had never heard of Rob Skiba prior to attending the conference. Since coming into the Faith I had for all-intents-and-purposes ended abandoned my interest in eschatology, end-time prophecy and the like, with the exception of my recent reading of Michael Rood’s “The Mystery of Iniquity–The Legal Prerequisites to the Return of the Messiah.” Rob’s topic at the conference was entitled “The Yahuwah Triangle.” This 3-hours breakout session exposed me to not only concepts from the Book of Genesis that I had never heard of before–that being the concept of who and what Nephillim truly were–as well as present-day concepts related to the pagan origins of our nation and the end-times being somewhat of a repeat of Genesis chapter 6. I left his presentation completely overwhelmed and completely wanting more from this man of Yahovah.
Rob Skiba describes himself as a writer, director, actor and researcher. After hearing his presentation at United in Torah and consuming this book, I describe him as a man on a mission: a mission to reveal the hidden evil that has existed from the time of Nimrod through the founding of our nation, all the way up to the end times of this world. The story and concepts that he brings out in this book are nothing short of jaw-dropping and frankly disturbing. After attending Rob’s presentation at the May conference, I couldn’t wait to get a hold of his materials and gain a better understanding of full message he is trying to get across to our nation and the world.
I got a hold of Babylon Rising and the First Shall be Last shortly after returning from the conference. I found Rob’s prose to be refreshing, compelling and it held my attention throughout the entirety of what is a moderately lengthy read. My understanding and knowledge of Babylonian-Egyptian-Greek and Roman mythology was and continues to be essentially non-existent, but Rob did a fairly good job of keeping a reader like me afloat by providing as much of a primer on the subject as practical, without bogging down the content with a course on mythology and paganism. As I’ve mentioned in a recent podcast and blog posting, I’ve taken it upon myself to research and gain as much of an understanding of the Ancient Near East and its associated religious practices and beliefs. This project I have to admit did not originate with my exposure to Rob Skiba but with Torah Teacher Matthew Vander Els. I came across Matthew’s teachings about the nations of the Ancient Near East and their influences on ancient Israel–this in the fall of 2014 at a Michael Rood conference in New York. Matthew’s presentation convinced me of the importance of having at least a modicum of knowledge and understanding of Ancient Near Eastern customs and practices in order to better understand aspects of our Hebraic Roots. Rob’s presentation this past spring and my reading of Babylon Rising only solidified in my mind and soul that part of our training in the Faith must include a familiarization of ancient paganism and its influence upon the world then, today and tomorrow.
Babylon Rising and the First Shall be the Last was unlike any book on end times I’d ever read. It was an indictment on all that we Americans hold dear in this country: our history, freedom, democracy, liberty, the pursuit of the American Dream and the like. Few of us would ever imagine that much of what we held sacred and true regarding our nation’s beginnings and her government and society are far from the contrived Christian foundation that we were all brought up to believe. Prior to reading this book, I had been primed by a fellow Hebraic Roots brother on the questionable origins of our beloved nation. Then upon reading Skiba’s well written dissertation on this subject, many of the pieces and questions I’d had in my mind for the last several years seemed to fall handily in place.
Skiba spends a great amount of time laying the foundation of how the end times will not be as fundamental denominational writers have long envisioned it be. In fact, Skiba’s version of the end times can be described as a revival of an “oldie” but far from “goodie.” The first three or so chapters focus on the Genesis account of the pre-flood and early post-flood period of man’s history. I would say that the basis or theme of this section of the book would be found in that famous prophecy delivered to us by the Savior that simply says: “For the Son of Man’s coming will be just as it was in the days of Noach.” (Mat. 24:37 CJB) Skiba certainly makes a sound argument against those who would link this prophecy to anything but those things that were transpiring during the days of Noah. What I mean by that is that modern end time teachers have gone out of their way to link end time events to technological advances, Catholicism, financial devastation, religious fanaticism and governmental harassment. Skiba does not preclude that any one of these elements is part and parcel of the end times. Instead, Skiba draws the reader to examine the Genesis record to arrive at an understanding of exactly what the Master was referring to. Without going into the content of the book, suffice to say, the things and situation of Noah’s day is nothing like that which the modern day end time prophets and teachers are putting out. Rob’s thesis is nothing short of shocking and utterly thought provoking.
The second half of the book is devoted to the pagan origins of the United States which I believe will send much of churchianity, or even the secular segment of our nation, spiraling out of psychological control. To see logically and irrefutably laid out before the reader a thesis that shows the United States from the beginning was founded upon paganism and that she has had little connection whatsoever with Christianity is nothing short of a life changing paradigm shift. Bottom line, Skiba orients the reader to see quite clearly that this is not the America that he/she has been led and taught to understand from a Christian perspective. Everything, from our money to our monuments and so-called hallowed halls of democracy in Washington are infected with paganism. So deep is this rabbit hole that one can spend a lifetime simply trying to find one’s way out of the labyrinth of tunnels and dips and corners that lead to the origin of this nation’s government and societal norms.
Skiba spends the the latter portions of the book tying everything together from the perspective that much of what we’ve been taught in our denominations is erroneous. It is this erroneous foundation that will sentence many a would-be believer down a path of destruction at the end times. The sense of false security that is germane to Western churchianty precludes most Christians from ever realizing the truth and it is that lack of understanding, coupled with the sense of false security, that places the whole of Christianity in a precarious situation as it relates to end times. The bottom line Skiba concludes, is that, it really doesn’t matter what it means to us; it matters what it means to God!. And that is where churchianity has slipped off the tracks. It is my prayer that books like Babylon Rising will awaken the Church Triumphant from its millennia old slumber before it’s too late.
Babylon Rising-and the First Shall be Last is an absolute must read for any self-professing believer in Y’shua Messiah. The reader may not agree or believe everything Skiba writes in this book, and that’s okay. In fact, Skiba goes to great pains throughout the book to provide the reader with a disclaimer that much of what is written is Skiba writing on that which he has researched and that which has been revealed to him by the Spirit. It is up to the reader to do his/her own research and come to his/her own conclusions. This is as it should be in every aspect of our Faith–hear, receive, verify, do something with it.
Get this book Saints.
by Rod Thomas | Aug 11, 2015 | Blog, Podcasts
Idolatry-False Prophets and Teachers-and Clinging to Father
Deuteronomy 12:28-13:19
Picking up where we left off in parashah 47, we come upon this portion that addresses three key issues: (1) the consequences associated with inquiring after the gods of those nations we were positioned to destroy; (2) dealing with false prophets and those who would influence us to pursue false gods and stray from Father and Torah; and (3) maintaining a sound and healthy relationship with Father. Each of these key issues are of such importance as it relates to our relationship and walk with Father and they are individually substantive in their scope and practicality.
When I study Torah, the first thing I do is to step back and try to gain as much of an understanding of the global situation at play–at the time that portion was written–as I possibly can, using the best resources that I have available to me at the time. I am a huge proponent of context. In conjunction with this contextual approach, I rely fully upon the leading of the Ruach Kodesh. This bi-fold approach to Torah study, as well as Bible study in general, has never failed me. I may not receive the answers to my questions at that moment, but the answer ultimately comes. And if there’s anything I can say to you to encourage you in your Torah journeys, it would be, to utilize a contextual approach in conjunction with the leading of the Holy Spirit. I do no crack open my Bible—actually fire-up my BibleWorks software—first thing in the morning, until I commune with Father and press Him to reveal His Word to me—His will—His truths, utilizing whatever means He sees fit to do so.
Since coming into the true Faith once delivered, I do not rely upon a church pastor, teacher, preacher, or even denomination to instruct me on how my walk with the Creator should work. Been there, done that. Instead, I’ve learned to rely exclusively upon Yah’s Word and His Ruach haKodesh to learn of His ways. That’s not to say that I am not a student of Torah under the instruction of Yahovah’s Torah teachers. Certainly Father can reveal His truths to me and you through His anointed teachers. But I’ve evolved to realize that in order for each of us to gain the fullest understanding of Torah Yshua-style, we must be as the Bereans were during the time of Rav Shaul (ref. Acts 17:10-15). Essentially, Shaul and Silas had been run out of Thessalonica as a result of their evangelistic work. Shaul and Silas then shuffle into Berea, located southwest of Thessalonica near the Olympian Mountain range in Macedonia. Berea had a thriving Jewish population. These Jews were described of noble demeanor and disposition. These continued in the study of the Scriptures each day and when Shaul delivered the gospel to them they naturally “searched the Scritpures” to verify all that Shaul was teaching was indeed true. As a result of Shaul’s ministry in Berea, many a Berean became a follower of Y’shua Messiah via Shaul. Unfortunately, those troublesome Thessalonicans took it upon themselves, upon learning that Shaul was operating in Berea, to high-tale over to Berea and attempt to put a stop to Shaul’s evangelical operations.
So I’ve come to learn—painfully so I might add—that proper study, prayer, meditation are essential to gaining a firm grasp of the Torah life abundant.
So that brings us to the crux of this portion: that being three key issues of concern Father had regarding us as His people. And quite frankly, as I read through the Deuteronomic portions, I am so taken by the obvious concern Father has regarding how we would fare in the land of promise. Over and over, throughout this book, Father tells us—don’t stray from me! Don’t even think about the lifestyles of the soon-to-be disposed inhabitants of Canaan. Obey my Torah without exception. I am you everlasting portion. I am your focus. I am your all-in-all. You will be my priests of light to a dark world.
I wondered as I read through this portion—what did Yahovah know about the people in the land of promise that we didn’t know? What was so bad about those people? What did they worship that would present such a threat to our relationship with the Creator of the Universe? Well, I found it with relative ease that indeed there were some pretty bad folks residing/inhabiting the land of promise. Canaan was a subregion of The Levant which also included the subregions of Ugarit, Ebla and Mitanni (reference Wikipedia.com—Religions of the Ancient Near East). The gods, or as scholars refer to them as deities, were many: Adonis, Anat, Asherah, Asima, Astarte, Atargatis, Attar, Baal, Berith, Chemosh, Dagon, El, Elhyon, Eshmun, Hadad, Kothar-wa-Khasis, Melqart, Moloch, Mot, Nikkal, Qetesh, Resheph, Shahar, Shalim, Shapash, Yam and Yarikh. Human sacrifices and disgusting sexual practices were common to the worship of many if not most of these false gods. So powerful were was the draw that these gods and their associated worship had on those who would adopt these gods as their own, that Father had no other choice than to put lay the Law down to us—over and over. And as harsh and inhuman as the penalty for falling for or pursuing after these religions and their gods may appear to our “enlightened” and civilized world of today, the threat that these nations and their idolatrous ways and their pagan gods posed to mankind’s salvation could not be left up to the hopeful good will of us as a people. Yah had to insist and had to get our attention.
As it would relate to our potential interest in learning about the people whom we’d dispose in the land of promise, nothing holds true more than the old adage that “curiosity killed the cat.” Verse 30 in certain translations suggests that showing or adopting an interest in the prior nation’s practices, culture and religion would naturally lead to our entrapment. The most popular translations utilize strong terms to describe this threat such as ensnare, snare, fall into a trap. The LXX versions do not employ such strong terms of admonishment but simply to take heed not to follow after their ways.The term used in Hebrew is “piel” which translates into English as “to set a trap”
The Babylonian Talmud has an interesting take on this passage of Torah. According to the opinions of the so-called sages and rabbis, one is guilty of seeking after the ways and gods of the disposesd nations if they “say I will worship” or “I will go and worship,” or “we will go and worship.” On the surface and to a Y’shua rejecting Jew, such a stance would be most acceptable. But to a Torah Observing Believer in Y’shua Messiah, there are some inherent problems with this talmudic ruling. As much as it may appear that the rabbis and sages were protecting us from overstepping the boundaries of Torah but insinuating that commission of a violation of Torah comes from utterance of the desire to pursue after false gods. But our Master clearly taught us that our allegiance to Father and rejection of paganism and false religion falls within the category of the “heart.” If we desire after or are consumed within ourselves to adopt the ways of the pagan; if we are taken by the ways of the pagan; if we are not disgusted by the ways of the pagan, then “we have a problem Houston.” Rabbi and sage, it’s not an action that brings about guilt and violation of Torah—it’s the inherent desire, the heart, the mind to commit a violation of Torah that becomes the violation of Torah. And this is the biggest challenge facing the would-be disciple of Y’shua: that being able to discern when and where sin starts and that being in our hearts and mind. As admirable as many might think—that being the sages and the rabbis created the Talmud to put a fence around Torah for us so that we would not violate Torah—their actions were in and of themselves a full-on violation of Torah. Father told us: “Everything I am commanding you, you are to take care to do. Do not add to it or subtract from it.” (Deu. 12:32—CJB) “In order to obey the mitzvot of Yahovah your Elohim which I am giving you, do not add to what I am saying, and o not subtract from it.” (Deu. 4:2) Joshua admonished in the land of promise: “Only be strong and very bold in taking care to follow all the Torah which Moshe my servant ordered you to follow; do not turn from it either to the right or to the left; then you will succeed wherever you go.” (Jos.1:7-CJB)
The talmudic actions of the rabbis and sages did not rescue us from violations of Torah. On the contrary, their actions imprisoned us. These created a religion, that being Judaism. This is what Y’shua came to deliver us from–the thoughts, beliefs and traditions of the so-called elders, sages and rabbis. To the spiritless rabbi and sage, to state one’s desire is the start of the violation of this mitzvah. However, Y’shua came and taught us that by simply “thinking” or entertaining in our hearts to do wrong is violation of Torah.
Verse 31 is interesting for the various extant English translations provide slightly differing takes on pagan worship in comparison to worship of the true God, Yahovah/Yahweh/Yahuwah. Most English translations simply state that we were “not to do this” nor were we to “behave thus toward Yahovah.” My question upon reading this verse was: what exactly were we not to do toward Yahovah? The NLT and the NET actually expounds upon this passage by stating that we were not to worship Yahovah the way the other nations worship their gods. It came to me to consider how churchianity has over the centuries fused pagan practices into the worship of the true God to the point that knowledge of the origins of many of the traditions, practices and beliefs of churchianity have been lost to antiquity. The celebration and observance of pagan holidays, the wearing of crosses and Sunday worship are prime examples of this.
Of particular disgust to Yah was the worship of Molech:
Lev 18:21 And thou shalt not let any of thy seed pass through the fire to Molech, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the LORD.
Jer 7:31 And they have built the high places of Tophet, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire; which I commanded them not, neither came it into my heart.
Deu 18:10 There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch,
Jer 19:5 They have built also the high places of Baal, to burn their sons with fire for burnt offerings unto Baal, which I commanded not, nor spake it, neither came it into my mind:
The religion that surrounded Molech worship appears to have been one of the more heinous religions to come our way in the Ancient Near East. Molech worship entailed human sacrifices and gross sexual immorality. Some scholars have even contended that the tradition of coloring easter eggs has it basis in Molech worship where the blood of the babies sacrificed to Molech were used to color eggs for the associated religious festivities. ( Rev. Alexander Hislop’s “The Two Babylons” and Michael Rood’s “The Chronological Gospels”) And even today, we train our children to practice this heinous tradition as the centuries have all but eliminated the repulsive foundation upon which this seemingly innocent children’s tradition was based. Does forgetting the origin of certain traditions make the practice today okay or acceptable? Some would answer in the affirmative. But I hope that those of us who have been freed by Master from the scourge of religion know better and behave better.
Verse 32(13:1)–provides the prescription that will inoculate us from falling into the snare of following after other gods. That prescription quite simply is to carefully keep every Word of Yahovah and not add to or diminish the Father’s Torah. But we’ve the redeemed of the Most High know that we’ve been called to a much higher state of being. Master says that it is not enough to simply avoid physical violations of Torah. We are required to internalize Torah and worship Father in Spirit and Truth. Master taught:
27 ¶ Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery:
28 But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.
29 And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.1
30 And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.
31 ¶ It hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement:
32 But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery. (Mat 5:27-32 KJV)
Verses 1-4 I found very interesting. Here Yah is insinuating (to me He seems to be insinuating) that some of the things that false prophets proclaim may very well come to light. Just because the prophecy of an individual comes to light doesn’t mean that that prophet is of Yah. In fact, Torah is the only means by which we are to gauge truth and to gauge whether that prophet is of Yah. Prophetic manifestations are not guarantors of truth. I use to be of the mind that the only way to tell a false prophet is if his/her prophecies fail to come true. Certainly these verses helped change my mind and heart on this subject. If a would-be prophet teaches that something is going to happen and it happens as he/she promised, but that prophet also directs or teaches us to abandon Torah and Yahovah, he is a full-on false teacher and preacher. We see this today. We’ve had countless incidents of people who have prophecied about this thing or that thing, and those things have come to light. Many have clung to these individuals despite those individuals teaching a doctrine that is contrary to that of the true Faith once delivered. These individuals, despite their prophecies coming to light, are still false prophets and teachers. These must reject and even avoid. Since we no longer live under a theocracy, we can not nor should we not execute these false ones. Their lot will then be decided by the Master on the last day. All indications are that in the end times, prophetic manifestations will be the undoing of many a believer as the great serpent and his chosen one will perform many lying signs and wonders and trick the world into following his human proxy. That is why we must meticulously study Yahovah’s Word so as to not be bamboozled by the works of the enemy, not only today, but in the future. In this passage, these were to be executed and eliminated from our community because they served no purpose but to incite rebellion against Yahovah and according to the LXX “thrust us out of the way which Yahovah our Elohim commanded us to walk in (verse 6). It gets very personal–even those whom we love, honor and respect in our lives, if they attempt to draw us over to paganism, it became a mandate that we be the first at putting that individual to death along with the rest of the community found to be in violation of Torah. Father instructed that we not have pity or remorse for those whom we have to destroy and who have meant so much to us. (verses 7-12) Thus, it becomes our personal “skin in the game,” so to speak, that we must head the punishment that comes as a result of our accusing the loved offender(s). Heading the execution of the loved offenders would serve to preclude us from making false accusations and then hiding behind the executioners and escape having blood on our hands. This would be done via stoning.
Furthermore, those individuals of the community that Father refers to as “worthless men” (belial) who take it upon themselves to sway our community to “inquire” after false gods and these are found successful in swaying the citizens of that community into a life of idolatry and paganism, the entire town including their livestock was to be destroyed by the sword and all the remains burned in an open space. The resulting ruin would remain as a heap forever (verses 13). Again, the present day westerner is appalled by such a passage. I recall recently watching a television program on Netflix—I believe it was “West Wing.” A discussion broke out between characters of the show on things concerning the Bible and living a Christian life. The lead character of the show, in utter indignation, spoke out against Torah and whom He described as the “God of the Old Testament,” whom He could not tolerate. He could not tolerate the so-called God of the Old Testament because of passage such as this one. That God was barbaric and uncaring. The other character, trying to stick to his steadfast position on Christianity and living in accordance with the things recorded in the Bible ultimately was talked over and his position on the Bible, in particular the Old Testament was demeaned. The lead character quoted numerous Bible verses that supported his position that the so-called God of the New Testament was a much better choice, whose values and proposed religion aptly fit the beliefs and values of the American republic and democracy. Certainly the writers of this show were expressing their true and personal positions on Scripture and Yahovah and I would say, given the popularity of the show at the time, many Americans and members of the Hollywood elite. I recall thinking that such thinking that I could be one of those who felt that way about Yahovah if not but for the grace of Father to free me from my westernized—pagan-based—godless worldview. Sure, from a western perspective, passages like this are hard to swallow—hard to accept. Yah says to those who would balk and be appalled by such commandments and teachings:
8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, and your ways are not my ways,” says ADONAI.
9 “As high as the sky is above the earth are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
10 For just as rain and snow fall from the sky and do not return there, but water the earth, causing it to bud and produce, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater;
11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth – it will not return to me unfulfilled; but it will accomplish what I intend, and cause to succeed what I sent it to do.” (Isa 55:8-11 CJB)
Despite our erroneous belief that we are civilized and the life we live is virtuous, Isaiah reveals the truth about us as a race of beings: 6 But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. (Isa 64:6 KJV) What do we know about compassion? Righteousness? Holiness? What is and isn’t true? None of this comes without revelation from Yahovah and that revelation comes through obedience and study of His Torah and through His Ruach haKodesh. We are a sad lot who think that our righteousness exceeds that of Father. We only delude ourselves and with such ideals and beliefs launch ourselves on a course of certain destruction.
Verses 5 tells us that we are to (1) fear Yah; (2) obey His Torah; (3) listen to what Father says; (4) serve Him; (5) cling or as the LXX reads–attach ourselves to Him (my personal favorite rendering) and (6) follow Him. As I read this I wondered: what does it truly mean to fear Yahovah. I could certainly come up with an explanation that would be based upon my western mindset of what fear of God means and entails. But given that our ways are not His ways and that our ways are often influenced by our own petty desires, hopes and fears, my understanding of what fear of Yahovah looks like would probably be off. Furthermore, what does it mean to keep His Torah; to obey His voice; to serve Him; to cleave to Him and to walk with Him? What does all this look like? What are the practical applications that we as disciples of Y’shua haMaschiyach should apply to our day-to-day lives? Does popular churchianty hold the key to understanding what all that looks like? I seek to examine and arrive at an answer to these crucial questions my next continuation on this parashah and Torah Living Daily Challenge. May you walk in the power and might of His Ruach haKodesh. Until next time—Shalom dear Saint.
by Rod Thomas | Aug 8, 2015 | Podcasts
The Prayer Shawl Controversy–Part 1
In recent months we’ve noticed a rather disturbing trend taking place in traditional Christianity, especially in the more charismatic circles of the Christian Faith. As more and more adherents/believers/Christians, if you will, are feeling the tug towards the Hebraic Roots of the Christian Faith, the church’s leaders are seeing and actually acting upon opportunities to take advantage of their members’ and followers’ interests in things Hebrew or more popularly, Jewish. And again, this seems to be more localized to charismatic churchianity.
It wasn’t but 3-short years ago that so-called Rabbi Ralph Messer, in a rather disturbing and strange ceremony, wrapped Bishop Eddie Long in a Torah scroll and crowned Eddie Long some kind of king. This of course upset to no small degree many traditional and orthodox Jews around the nation and possibly even the world. You can actually see this travesty on youtube.com–simply type in the search term Ralph Messer Torah Scroll Eddie Long and you’ll have a number of video clips that clearly show this incident.
Other Christian leaders have taken it upon themselves to take hold of the ever burgeoning interest in the Jewish/Hebrew roots of the Christian Faith, taking it upon themselves to teach, preach, produce videos and CDs, and write books on the subject. The vast majority of content on the subject that these preachers are putting out to their flocks is based upon horribly twisted theology, doctrine and Jewish tradition and even mysticism that in the long-run serves only to severely damage their credibility as men and women of Yahovah/Yahweh/Yahuah or whatever name you refer to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob by, and worse, lead their followers down a path of spiritual destruction.
The Eddie Long incident is an extreme example of what can go wrong when money and power hungry preachers and teachers see an opportunity to tap into a new trend that they identify as being of potential interest to the so-called Body of Christ. As more and more people who once identified themselves as Christians are leaving Christianity for various and sundry reasons–mainly because they’ve come to terms that Christianity is in and of itself hollow and it is an irrelevant aspect of their overall spiritual lives–these jack-legged preachers are finding themselves scrambling to come up with new, thought-provoking schemes and themes to capture the imaginations of their followers and to keep the cash-flow going.
In this multi-episode series of It’s Not As You Perceive, we explore and discuss one of the latest trends seemingly taking charismatic churchianity by storm in recent months–that being the Jewish Prayer Shawl. As you will see, the issue we will present to you in this series has nothing to do with Christians, or for that matter Jews, owning or using prayer shawls. The issue, as you will hear dear friends, is the false teachings and prophecies that these men and women of churchianity are putting out to their members and followers, potentially leading them astray. Seemingly gone are the days when sermons and teachings were based primarily on what is contained in the Bible. Instead, the sermons and teachings are geared toward appealing to the itchy ears, the greed, and desperation of believers looking for anything that their beloved religion could offer to make their unfulfilled lives match the ill-perceived abundant life that the Master promised to those who would be His disciples.
We warn you that a great deal of what you will hear in this series as being taught, preached and advocated by various preachers and teachers may disturb you as much as it disturbed us when we first heard it. If you are indeed disturbed, then it’s a sure bet that your spiritual discernment meter is properly functioning. After gaining a clear understanding of such false teaching, the challenge then becomes, what do we do with that which we’ve just learned? Let’s discuss and sort this thing out.
This is a combined episode of It’s Not As You Perceive, Episode 63 and Sabbath Thoughts & Reflections 25–The Prayer Shawl Controversy, Part 1.
References:
by Rod Thomas | Aug 7, 2015 | Blog
Where Do You Worship Yahovah
Deuteronomy 12:10-28
Continuing on in my Torah daily Torah studies, beginning with verse 10 and reading through verse 28, Yahovah provided us clear instruction as to where “Central Station Worship” would be. At this early juncture, that is, just prior to entering in to the Land of Promise, Yah had not revealed to us the exact location of that “Central Station Worship.” In this portion, Yah simply laid out before us that any worship of Him must legitimately be done only where He says it shall be done. In this directive, there was no varying of locations or regions. Leaving to the whims and desires of our forefathers as to the location of Central Station Worship would certainly result in chaos and turf-wars among within our nation. Not to mention, we’re talking about worship of the Creator of the Universe—thus how and where He desires for us to worship Him should be of no concern of ours apart from our strict obedience to these mitzvot (aka commandments). Thus, so as there to be no confusion as to where we would give our “burnt offerings, sacrifices, tenths, the offering of our hand and all our best possessions,” Yah in His infinite design and purpose would chose where Grand Central Station Worship would be stood up. (Verse 10-12) For our worship of Him, which would include sacrifices and offerings—sorry, no praise and worship bands with their rock/hip hop music; no coffee socials; no perusals of bookstores and gathering together of friends to socialize the days away. No, this place of worship would be established for the purpose of honor Yahovah as He stipulated; as He commanded; in accordance with His desires and purpose.
Oh how churchianity has through the centuries taken the concept of the place of the worship of Yahovah and turned it into a forum where man has determined how it would look and function. Gone was the concept of Yahovah establishing the place and content of our worship. Once again, our ego (that is man’s ego) has superseded the commands and desires of our Creator, as it has in every aspect of our individual lives. Fortunately for us today—that is those of us who have come under the Father’s covering and governance—our worship of Him is localized within ourselves. How can I make such a statement? Well, it is common knowledge that the Temple that Father instructed be erected in Yerushalayim had not only become corrupted by our forefathers’ greed and carnality, but also superseded or done away with by the sacrifice and resurrection of our Master Y’shua HaMashiyach. Thus the Temple in Yerushalayim was destroyed in 68 C.E. according to Rood (or 70 C.E. according to most Bible scholars). This void that Father left us with ultimately gave way to a completely different way and place to worship Father. Rav Shaul received a profound revelation directly from our Master Y’shua Hamashiyach about how the renewed covenant had, since His sacrifice, resurrection and administering of the Ruach Kodesh to each of us, had superseded the Temple as being the place of our worship of our Father. He wrote to the Corinthian assembly:
“Everything is in my power: but everything is not profitable to me. Everything is in my power: but none (of them) will have dominion over me. Food is for the belly; and the belly is for food; but Elohim will bring them both to nothing. But the body is not for illicit sex, but for our Master (Y’shua); and our Master (Y’shua) for the body. And Elohim has raised up our Master; and He will raise us up, by His power. Don’t you know that your bodies are the members of the Mashiyach? Will one take a member of the Mashiyach, and make it the member of a harlot? May it never be! Or don’t you kow, that whoever joins himself to a harlot, is one body (with her)? For it is said, the two will be one body. But he that joins himself to our Master (Y’shua), is with Him one spirit. Flee from sexual sin. For every (other) sin which a man commits, is external to his body; but he that commits sexual sin, sins against his own body. Or don’t you know, that your body is the temple of the Ruach haKodesh who abides in you, whom you have received from Elohim? And you are not your own. For you are bought with a price. Therefore you glorify Elohim with your body, and with your spirit, which are Elohim’s.” (1 Cor. 6:12-20 AENT)
Shaul shares some very enlightening things in his correspondence to the Corinthian assembly. Primary and central to all that he wrote it the transition from Temple to body. I believe this was always the goal and purpose of Father; to move us from the flesh/carnal to that of the spirit. Oh how the Master hinted of this to the unknowing, unsuspecting first-century world, as he conversed with the Samaritan woman at the well:
“Y’shua said to her, “Woman believe me, the hour is coming that not in this mountain nor in Urishlim (Yerushalayim) will they worship the Father. You worship something that you do not know. But we worship that we know, for life is from the Yehudeans (Jews). But the hour is coming, and now is when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth, indeed. For the Father, He seeks worshippers as these. For Elohim is Spirit, and those who worship, they must worship Him in spirit and in truth.” (Yochanan 4:21-24 AENT)
This revelation Y’shua spoke in response to her question, found in the same chapter, “Our fathers worshipped on this mountain (that is Gerizim), but you people say that the place where one has to worship is in Yerushalayim.” (Yochanan 4:20) In other words, one of the several schisms that separated the Samaritan people from their cousins the Jews is their belief and practice as it related to where they worshiped Yahovah; that of course being the Samaritan believed Mount Gerizim and the Jew Yerushalayim. But Savior revealed that a time was just ahead when the whole debate about where we must worship Father will be a moot point because worship of Yah will become spiritual in nature and the place of worship will be within each and every true believer. This is what the Father has always wanted—”…for these are the kind of people the Father wants worshipping Him.” (vs. 23)
Certainly, destruction of the Temple took the Jewish nation by shock. The Temple was the center of commerce and national and religious pride at the time, although Father’s spirit and glory had long left the edifice and never truly returned—reference Eze. 10. That same Spirit that filled the house in Yerushalayim is the same Spirit and glory that now fills each of us who would be true sons and daughters of the Most High. Despite religion’s efforts to contain Father in a brick and mortar construct that wants for an infusion of funds and manual labor to keep it running, we of the Hebraic Roots/Netzari/Messianic community realize that the focus of worship is no longer a building made by hands. The focus of worship has now become the building that is our bodies. What that worship looks like now—today under the renewed covenant—is somewhat beyond the scope and intent of this posting. However, I would like to invite each of you to take the time out of your busy schedules to listen to two episodes of It’s Not As You Perceive (our sister podcast ministry) that we posted in April of last year. In these two episodes we spoke to the issue and topic of worship as it now stands under the renewed covenant. Here are the links to these two episodes for your convenience.
Until next time, may you be most blessed fellow saints in training—Shalom.
by Rod Thomas | Aug 5, 2015 | Blog
There is a beautiful doe that has chosen our “back four” as her favorite place to give birth to her baby every year. Why here, is anybody’s guess, but it seems she feels safer on our fenced property in the underbrush of a dry creek bed than she does in the forest, which is a couple miles down the road. It’s as if our property is her “Torah” – a place of refuge from “the world” where danger lurks around every corner. Because she keeps returning, we’ve named her “Aliyah” (Hebrew for “return”).
In the early days after Aliyah gives birth, we don’t have the privilege of seeing the babies very often because she always keeps them well hidden. But as they get older, they get to venture out with her, and within a few weeks, they simply vanish into the forest.
What always amazes us during the time she’s here and we get to watch the babies grow strong enough to leave, is that somehow the babies know to stay put while Mama goes off to graze, and somehow they “just know” to follow Mama into the underbrush when they’re out with her and she senses danger. And somehow, the doe knows exactly how long to remain here on our property until the babies are strong enough to travel….
Watching this miracle unfold in our backyard somehow reminded us of YHWH and His Torah – His Divine Instructions in Righteousness for mankind. For just a few days, our fenced-in acreage is similar to Torah for that mother deer. It provides safety and protection in an otherwise dangerous world on the other side of that fence where predators and highways and cars pose serious threats to the doe and her little ones.
YHWH gave mankind His Torah to keep us safe “the world” – a place where, after Adam and Eve had eaten from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, we could know the difference between right and wrong, good and bad. In short, He gave us a Divine blueprint for moral, holy living. Basically: “I am the Creator who made you; worship me only. Do this but don’t do that, or else you and others will get hurt. Eat this but don’t eat that because it could make you sick or kill you. Treat your fellow man thusly. Follow my rules and all will go well with you and yours.”
Unfortunately religion and religiosity crept into the world and broke the relationship with YHWH and His people, most of whom insisted on “jumping the fence.” Like Adam and Eve, He gave us all the choice to obey Him, or not. They chose not to, as have most of their offspring! But the thing is, if we don’t obey YHWH, then we are catering to Satan. There is no in between; no “tolerance” which seems to be today’s buzzword….
YHWH outlined via his Torah (the first five Books of Moses) exactly how He wanted us to live. But since the very beginning, we have refused to abide by it! Back in Adam’s day, there were only a few commandments that we know of: Name the animals, be fruitful and multiply, and don’t eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil (see Genesis 1-3). Unfortunately, our original parents chose to “jump the fence” and, consequently, mankind was placed in bondage to Satan. The only way out of that bondage was to return to YHWH and His Torah. Naturally, as the world’s population grew, YHWH was forced to expand His Torah commands to encompass all the new ways man could get into trouble.
Suddenly, man was killing and eating animals, murdering his brother, taking more than one wife and committing all manner of sins that required the blood of innocent animals to be shed as atonement. (See Genesis 4 and beyond.) Because man’s decadence grew to unbearable proportions, YHWH decided to wipe out the earth. However, because Noah was righteous in His eyes, He promised to let him live and ultimately repopulate the earth (see Genesis 6-9).
Yet, no matter how many times YHWH forgave His Creation, man kept chosing to “jump the fence.” Biblical history is replete with a yo-yo cycle of man’s willful sinning and eventual return to Torah. Beginning in Genesis 12, YHWH made a covenant with Abraham to set him and his ancestors apart from the rest of His Creation which had totally strayed from His ways and became pagans. He made promises to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob that basically required nothing of them except their loyalty, obedience and – oh yes – circumcision (Genesis 17:10-14).
The patriarchs were called Hebrews (which means, “to cross over”). Abraham, the first patriarch to cross over both physically AND spiritually, was commanded to move out of his country, away from his kinsmen and his father’s house and go to the land that YHWH showed him (Genesis 12:1-3). They and all their offspring were Torah observant, doing their best to please God through obedience. Unfortunately, when the Hebrews went into captivity in Egypt (beginning in Exodus 1), they ultimately forgot about Torah and began to pick up the customs and traditions of their captors.
But YHWH remedied that when He caused Moshe (Moses) to single-handedly take on Pharoah (beginning in Exodus 4) who (after YHWH caused the death of all the firstborn in Egypt, including Pharoah’s son) finally allowed the Hebrews to leave. And then He ultimately kept the Israelites wandering the desert for 40 years while they had to re-learn and readjust to YHWH and His Torah. This, of course, kicked off the Mosaic Covenant in which YHWH wrote the Ten Commandments in stone….
Eventually, to make it easy on His wayward and ever-straying Creation, YHWH sent us His Son Yeshua (a name which means, “YHWH is Salvation”) to represent Him in human form to speak directly to man to proclaim the Kingdom of YHWH, to show man first-hand who YHWH is and how to worship and obey Him. Yeshua ultimately martyred Himself on our behalf and thus became our Final SIN Sacrifice, thus forever abolishing the need for us to kill innocent animals to atone for our sins (See the Gospel accounts.)
(NOTE: Our use of the term “martyr” is intentional because traditional Jews love to point out that “G-d never required human sacrifice!” Well, Y’shua wasn’t a “human sacrifice” because nobody “sacrificed” Him. He was a Divine Sacrifice who willingly went to the cross/stake. As a human being, He had the choice to obey YHWH or not. As we see time and time again, He CHOSE to obey. He KNEW who He was….)
Contrary to popular belief, NONE of the above actions ever abolished Torah! Without Torah, we would have no blueprint for moral, holy living; no fenced-in area to keep us safe.
Most people don’t realize it, but the Constitution and Bill of Rights on which our country was founded, are based on the Torah! All rules,all laws were written to protect us from ourselves and from each other. But, as with God’s laws, we’ve more than just “jumped the fence”; we’ve gone way overboard and abused those rights and freedoms, and are well on our way to getting run over and squashed on Satan’s sin-filled freeway – all in the name of “doing our own thing”.
In modern day America where we have thrown God out of our schools, along with prayer and Bible reading, we have raised several generations who not only don’t want God in their lives, but they hate any form of godliness and are embracing the occult, instead! We are not only condoning occultism and pagan “religions”, but everything else that YHWH calls an abomination, such as homosexuality, idolatry, bigotry, adultery, etc.
These days we are even seeing major denominations splitting over whether to ordain homosexuals. Lying, stealing, and murder are condoned in the cases where the perpetrator might have had a bad childhood, or is able to plead temporary insanity. Good is now bad, and bad is now good – all in the name of “tolerance”. The world seems to be turned upside down!
In Deuteronomy 6 YHWH said: “And these words, which I command you this day, shall be in your heart: And you shall teach them diligently to your children, and you shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down and when you rise up.”
How many people actually do that? Christianity teaches that Torah is a curse and that we don’t have to do anything except “believe in Jesus”! Because of this Torah-less Jesus, all our sins are somehow automatically forgiven and we are free to do as we please….
Yeshua came to proclaim the Kingdom of YHWH and to do everything His Father commanded. He tore down the fences of man’s legalism. Neither He nor His Apostles ever advocated against Torah!
Deuteronomy 18: 15 “ADONAI will raise up for you a prophet like me from among yourselves, from your own kinsmen. You are to pay attention to him, 16 just as when you were assembled at Horev and requested ADONAI your God, ‘Don’t let me hear the voice of ADONAI my God any more, or let me see this great fire ever again; if I do, I will die!’ 17 On that occasion ADONAI said to me, ‘They are right in what they are saying. 18 I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their kinsmen. I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I order him.
John 12: 44 But Yeshua cried out and said “He who believes in me, it is not in me he does believe, but in Him who sent me.”
Yeshua was sent by the Father NOT to do His own will, but the Father’s! So many seem to think He came to replace the Father and abolish Torah….Yet He came to restore man’s relationship with YHWH and remind us to totally rely on YHWH for everything. We are to be “as little children”:
Matthew 18: 1. At that moment, the disciples drew near to Y’shua and said, Who indeed is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven? 2. And Y’shua called a child and made him stand in their midst. 3. And said, Truly I say to you, that unless you change and become like children, you will not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. 4. He therefore who humbles himself like this child, he will be great in the Kingdom of Heaven.
Like that little fawn that automatically did whatever its mother wanted it to do, without hesitation – that is how we are to follow God’s commands! He has our best interests at heart; HE knows what is best for our lives. HE told us exactly how to become righteous – yet most ignore Him. The Bible tells us we must be like little children; not like bull-headed teenagers who want to go their own way. Even Yeshua did what the Father commanded:
Luke 4: 43 “But he (Yeshua/Jesus) said, “I must preach the good news of the Kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent.”
Acts 28: 23 “From morning till evening the Apostle Paul explained and declared the Kingdom of God and tried to convince people about Yeshua from the Law of Moses and from the Prophets.”
Acts 24: 14. But this indeed I (Paul) acknowledge, that in that same doctrine of which they speak, I do serve the Elohim of my fathers, believing all the things written in Torah and in the prophets.
YHWH gave us His Torah to keep us safe and on His path as long as we are “inside the fence” of Torah and playing by the rules.
Proverbs 16:25: There is a way that seems right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.
Torah has given us tremendous freedom – Freedom to know our Creator and His awesome Messiah through whom we are able to gain eternal life merely by “believing” in Him, and allowing the Ruach haKodesh (Holy Spirit) to help us change from the inside-out to become the “new creatures” we were always meant to be!
Our beautiful Aliyah and her babies inevitably leave the premises. They, in effect, leave our “Torah”….We always pray that YHWH would keep them safe wherever they go. And we pray that all mankind will soon wake up to the realization that we are IN the end times as outlined in the Books of Daniel and Revelation; and that the safest place to be is not hiding in the hills, hoarding canned food and bottled water and arming themselves to the teeth; but, rather, taking comfort in the arms of YHWH and His Torah….
Carmen Welker
