Falling in Love with Christmas all Over Again Part 1-STAR-74

Falling in Love with Christmas all Over Again Part 1-STAR-74

by | Dec 20, 2016 | Podcasts

Are we falling in love with Christmas all over again? This is part 1 of what i hope will be just a two part series on this issue.

Christmas Posing A Crisis of Faith in the Hebrew Roots Community

I believe our community is in, at a minimal, what I’ve chosen to call “a mini-crisis of Faith.” I never wanted to address this issue, at least not this year. I’ve addressed the issue of Christmas in past years and I just never thought it was an issue that our community needed to hear at this time. Unfortunately, recent postings by certain Hebrew Rooters from our community have led me to unwillingly address the issue of Christmas yet again. My apologies.

Facebook Posts versus The Corner Liquor Store–Which is Worse?

The other day I happened to receive that all too often nagging email notification that one of my Facebook friends had just updated their status or posted something or another. I typically just delete those emails and never go over to Facebook to view their post. It just so happens that i have great respect for this individual who is a well-known Hebrew Roots teacher and established fellowship leader.

I read his post, I was taken aback (once again I might add) at what he posted. It had to do with the many unsubstantiated claims by Hebrew Rooters that Christmas is of pagan origin.

A year or so ago, this same individual on a Facebook posting that I published. I had expressed outrage over a well-known Hebrew Roots speaker who had published a series of posts suggesting Christmas was not the pagan holiday our community always made it out to be.

This Hebrew Roots speaker went on to criticize Hebrew Roots teachers and leaders who teach that Christmas is intrinsically linked to Babylon, Nimrod, Ba’al worship, idol worship, the Roman holiday Saturnalia, and a host of pagan traditions and beliefs that have survived in one way or another as the most venerated of Christian holidays. This gentleman’s series of “pro-Christmas” posts essentially highlighted in part his personal Hebrew Roots journey. He had experienced tremendous struggles within his family over his rejection of Christmas.

Being Led by Emotions is a Trick of the Devil

Upon learning of this fellow’s series of posts, I was outraged. I was outraged because I had come to respect this man as a solid Hebrew Roots leader and I was quite trusting that Father would accomplish great things for our Faith community through him.(That was my first big mistake. What does Psalm 118: 8 tell us?

“It is better to trust in Yahovah than to put confidence in man.”-ERV corrected)

Instead of cooling my jets and waiting a day or two (mistake number-two), I immediately went to social media to vent. (I’ve since stopped such foolish behavior. Social media has become the well by which so much misinformation and bad-will is posted. Although it offers great opportunities to get our message out to the world, when we use social media to express our emotions on issues, we only add to the inherent problems associated with social media.)

I made a full blown Facebook post in response to the speaker’s pro-Christmas posts. First I outed this individual for his pro-Christmas stance. Secondly, I mounted my bully-pulpit to address why Messianic Torah Observers must understand and maintain that Christmas is of pagan origin.

Alexander Hislop’s Influence Upon My Understanding of Christmas

A good portion of my Facebook assault on the Christmas-pagan connection hinged upon my read of Alexander Hislop’s seminal work, “The Two Babylons.”

My post that day was met by a rebuttal from the gentleman I referenced at the start of this story who I admired as a respected Hebrew Roots teacher and fellowship leader. This Facebook friend actually defended that other person’s position as it related to Christmas not being of pagan origin. My Facebook friend’s position on this issue–that is his defense of this gentlemen’s pro-Christmas posts–was primarily based upon what he and this other fellow saw as a lack of verifiable proof that Christmas is linked to paganism.

This friend also took me to task at my use of Alexander Hislop as the basis my anti-Christmas position. According to my Facebook friend, Hislop had been proven a fraud by unnamed scholars. I had not heard this anti-Hislop rhetoric before and I was terribly embarrassed. Receiving this tacit rebuke and new information on Hislop from my Facebook friend did not, however, alter my position on this issue in the least.

(Oh by the way, turns out that my Facebook friend was real-life friends with the pro-Christmas fellow. I’ll choose to go with the thinking that their particular friendship has nothing to do with my Facebook friend’s pro-Christmas position. Additionally, my Facebook friend wanted it to be known that he himself does NOT observe Christmas. His position simply is that there is no evidence to suggest that Christmas is of pagan origin and that we as Hebrew Roots leaders, teachers, followers, etc., have no business using spurious evidence such as Alexander Hislop’s work to sway the community towards an anti-Christian position.)

My Facebook friend’s admonishment outraged me even more. I was not angry with him for taking me to task on my Facebook rant. More so, I was angry at his ridiculous position on this issue. Again, his and the other fellow’s position being: if there’s no solid proof that Christmas is of pagan origin, then you can’t view Christmas as bad.

I posted three Sabbath Thoughts and Reflections episodes in response to this gentlemen’s pro-Christmas posts:

In these posts, I focused on this fellow’s pro-Christmas position and why his pro-Christmas stance was dangerous to our Community. If you’re so inclined, I would invite you to listen to check these episodes out to get a better sense of what I ws trying to get across.

Dredging up Old Wounds and Memories

Fast forward to just a couple weeks ago and my Facebook friend’s post. In that particular post, he published what appears to have been a centuries’ old image of Santa Claus carrying some type of package in one hand  and a plant of some type in the other. (The closest image I could come up with is the one depicted below.)

Falling in Love with Christmas all Over Again

Many contend there is no pagan roots to Christmas. Thus Hebrew Rooters are Falling in love with Christmas all over again.

Imprinted all around the image were disclaimers that I could not clearly make out given the small font size as it appeared to me on my iPhone. My Facebook friend took it upon himself to discredit any claim that Christmas (in this case Saint Nick) was of pagan origin. In his own words, my Facebook friend went on to suggest that we in Hebrew Roots should not resort to unsubstantiated claims that Christmas is pagan. That we are better than that. Furthermore, that we only hurt our credibility as Hebrew Rooters when when we stoop to such things as saying Christmas trees were mentioned as an abomination by Yahovah in Jeremiah 10.

Propping Up Christmas All Over Again

There appears to be a concerted effort by certain members of our community to sell us on the so-called virtues and innocence of Christmas.

Today, we have members of our community, with great hubris and reckless abandon, coming out on social media and websites, schooling and even scolding us on our longstanding anti-Christmas position.

The primary argument coming from this sect of our Faith is that there is no verifiable proof that Christmas is of pagan origin. And these individuals have now gone out of their collective ways to salvage Christmas from the scrapheap of their former pre-Hebrew Roots lives and essentially shame the rest of us into conceding that Christmas is not bad, but in reality, good.

That my friends is a horrendously dangerous position to take: not just to those who are being misled by this sect’s propaganda, but also to those who are putting forth this evil propaganda.

Father, through the great prophet Isaiah warned:

Woe unto them that call evil good and good evil; that put darkness for light and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes and prudent in their own sight! (Isaiah 5:20,21, KJV)

Furthermore, there is an effort to discredit Alexander Hislop and his book, “The Two Babylons;” a book that pretty much established, to a greater or lesser extent, the foundation for much of our community’s understanding and acceptance of the pagan roots of Christmas and Easter. This attempt to discredit Hislop is so bad that many have gone so far as to label the man a “fraud.” Where I come from, those are pretty serious allegations. And what is the proof that Hislop set out to mislead the Christian world as it relates to Christmas and Easter I ask? Seems to me that the evidence these pro-Christmas folks claim they have against Hislop is itself as weak as the evidence they claim Hislop put out.

Alexander Hislop-Critic of the Roman Catholic Church-Minister of the Free Church of Scotland

Alexander Hislop authored the Seminal Classic “The Two-Babylons”

The book that tied paganism to Christmas and Easter

Alexander Hislop’s Seminal Work makes a case for pagan connections with Christmas and Easter

Judge Not Lest You Be Judged

We’ve been commanded not to judge those who claim to profess Yeshua as our Master. He instructed us not to judge others. Master (as well as Paul and James) that that when we judge others we stand the risk of being judged ourselves. (Matthew 7:1; Luke 6:37; I Corinthians 4:5; Roman 2:1; Roman 14:10-14; James 4:12; Romans 14:4)

Who are we to bring into question the motives, thoughts, and at times, the actions of people we disagree with in either Christianity or Hebrew Roots?

To say that Alexander Hislop intentionally set out to mislead the world as it relates to the pagan origin of Easter and Christmas, in my opinion, is judging the man. Could Mr. Hislop have been a fraud? He very well could have been. I personally don’t believe he was and I’ll explain why at a later time.

The Argument Around Proofs and Concepts

The central argument that both men (and the rest of their sect) are putting forth here is more a question of proof than a question of right or wrong. Their point appears to be that there is no proof that Christmas is of pagan origin. In their flawed reasoning, if there is no proof that Christmas is linked to paganism, then Christmas is neither good nor bad.

Interestingly, both individuals will concede that Christmas is in no way Yeshua’s true birthday. That shouldn’t be much of  a stretch for them though. The Vatican just a year or so ago announced that Christmas was likely NOT the birthday of the Master.

Circumstantial versus Concrete Evidence

The pro-Christmas sect contends there is no evidence that Christmas is tied to paganism whatsoever. That includes all of the trappings commonly associated with the day such as trees, wreaths, mistletoe, yule logs, etc. Even though Christmas has always held a dubious connection to ancient cultures and practices, the western world has written off Christmas as the default birthday of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. For those who are not religious minded, Christmas is a fun holiday that appeals to children and adults of all ages. Right?

Despite Christianity’s reluctant acceptance that Christmas was not the actual birthday of Jesus the Christ and the potential that it was linked to paganism, Churchianity was not willing to let this day go. In fact, Kurt Cameron (of the “Growing Pains” and the “Left Behind Series” fame), in his 2014 movie “Saving Christmas,” chose not to defend Christmas against those who would challenge that the day was linked to paganism.

Kurt Cameron just wants to have a fun Christmas

Kurt Cameron, when interviewed, would not dismiss claims that Christmas was pagan.

Instead, when interviewed about his position on Christmas and the movie’s treatment of the day, he simply wanted people to chill out and enjoy a wonderful, beautiful, family oriented, happy day and not worry about any of the so-called pagan associations alleged to be linked to the day.

Fast forward just two-short-years. Today we’re starting to see a complete reversal in Hebrew Roots thinking and opinions of Christmas. No longer is Christianity having to defend itself from us miserable Hebrew Roots people throwing barbs at them regarding the dreaded pagan roots of Christmas.

Today it’s the Hebrew Roots people actually coming alongside the likes of Kurt Cameron and his supporters and advocating the keeping and celebrating of Christmas by everyone. Why? Because we’ve determined that there’s not enough proof to connect Christmas to paganism. Who knew?!

Where’s the Proof?

Hislop aside, and let’s just assume for now there are problems with the Hislop model that shows an intimate link between Babylonian-Papal Sun God Worship, does it seem reasonable to throw caution to the wind and advocate a return to Christmas and Easter observance and celebration within our community?

Since there’s no proof that hasatan exists, apart from what’s written in our bibles, should we now dismiss any thought that this creature exists? How about the Bible? Since there is little evidence to support that much of the Bible is true, should we then discard and discredit the Bible starting tomorrow morning? What about: Adam and Eve; the Great Flood and Noah and the Ark; Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; Moses; Joshua; Manna falling from heaven; the giving of Torah by Yahuah to us from Mount Sinai; David and Goliath; the existence and ministries of the great prophets Ezekiel, Jeremiah, Elijah and Elisha, Isaiah; the Lost Tribes of Israel; Jesus Christ; the 12-apostles; and Paul? Where’s the infallible proof that any of these key figures and events we hold sacred to our Faith ever existed? Where’s proof?

Proof That Christmas is of Pagan Origin is Found Only in the Spirit

The proof that these events and people existed and that our Bibles are true is actually found within each of us. That inner proof is made up of faith, the testimony and indwelling of the Holy Spirit, as well as the common sense our mamma’s gave us.

For we all know there must be a God in Heaven that rules and sustains all. Only a fool will contend that there is no God. (Reference Psalm 14:1; 53:1)

And I would submit to each and every soul that reads this post or hears my voice on this matter: the proof that Christmas is linked to paganism is not based upon any record that Hislop may have drafted; or the teachings that Hebrew Roots preachers and teachers may have wrought; or the internet articles that self-avowed Hebrew Roots scholars may have posted. No indeed. The real proof is found within each of us.

Let’s face it: more times than not, hard and fast proof is lacking on a great many of the issues and teachings of our Faith. It then comes down to revelation, faith, commonsense and a pure heart in order for us to fall on the right side of the matter in question.

I will say that this principle applies to the current crisis–yes, I will contend that this is a crisis of our Faith Community. I contend this is a crisis because we have begun to turn away from faith and following the leading of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Instead, we’ve turned to trusting the works and leading of men. Isn’t this the same thing that our forefathers did and Yeshua railed against such practices? Master insisted that we be people of Faith, truth and of the Holy Spirit. Master taught:

“But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth; for the Father seeketh such to worship Him.” (John 4:23, KJV)

A companion verse is found in Philippians 3:3:

“For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Messiah Yeshua and have no confidence in the flesh.” (KJV)

 

Faithfully submitted,

Rod Thomas

 

 

 

 

Compassion and Yeshua Messiah–Sabbath Thoughts and Reflections-73

by | Dec 11, 2016 | Podcasts

Compassion and Yeshua Messiah

Part 2 of my Divinity of Yeshua Messiah Series–Sabbath Thoughts and Reflections Episode 73

In this episode of Sabbath Thoughts and Reflections, I wish to examine the the Godly attribute of Compassion and Yeshua Messiah.

This topic stems from our last Shabbat Fellowship gathering here in Southern California, we discussed the story of Master raising Lazarus from the dead. This story is only found in John’s Gospel account, chapter 11, verses 1 through 53.

We’ve all heard and no doubt read this beautiful story countless times in the course of our individual journeys. Yet living and existing in the realm of Hebrew Roots for the last eleven or so years, the story had become nothing more than a story to me and quite frankly just another proof that Master Yeshua was the Son of Yahweh. But this particular reading of the account for some reason captured my attention and somehow resonated with me more than it ever has.

The Human Condition and Yeshua HaMaschiyach

This time I began to see how Master dealt with the human condition and how the human condition directly affected Him as a man sent from the Creator on a covert mission to redeem us from eternal destruction and to restore the broken relationship between us and Father. I guess for me, I always saw Master as a supernatural Being who was impervious to the effects of the human condition. After all, most of us have been indoctrinated through years of false being “churched” to identify Master Yahoshua as Yahweh and Yahweh as Yahoshua; one in the same Beings. Sure we speak of the love that Yeshua had for us mere mortals, but when it came down to really understanding just who Master was, is and who He is to become in the World Tomorrow, I think we tend to fall short in our understanding of the man.

Yeshua Messiah as Some Type of God-Man

The various creeds of the Universal Church over the course of the last two millennia have conditioned us to view Master Yahoshua as some type of God-Man. And what does a God-Man look like in terms of His abilities and disposition? Well, we are trained to see Him as some type of super being with supernatural attributes and abilities. We as mere mortals, suffering from the frailties of the human condition, can only reach out to this God-Man for deliverance from our depraved state in some type of spiritual desperation. And once delivered from that depraved state, we become automatons who have no true purpose in this life other than to await His eventual return.

Yeshua’s compassion towards the human condition transcended cultural norms.

But does this prototype of a God-Man accurately define our Master Yeshua? Was He this God-Man who walked the earth for some 33-years (some say it was 30 or 31-years), walking and living as mortals do, but simultaneously transcending humanity in most ways, apart from an obligatory outburst of emotions such as weeping in response to the death of a dear friend or the pending destruction of a capital city (reference John 11:35)? Was this weeping that was recorded in John 11:35 some kind of programmed response to make the God-Man appear human? Let’s face it, according to much of Christianity, Yeshua was every bit a human as He was every bit the Creator of the Universe. (Must have been a really confusing situation having the two-sides of Yeshua’s being working in and around the human condition.

A Greek Conception of our Messiah

Does the Creator of the Universe cry? Does the Creator feel remorse and grief as we do? Would it make sense for Yahuah to turn Himself into a human being and experience the human condition and display responses to human situations such as death? What purpose would such contrived or manufactured emotions serve a so-called God-man?

The closest thing we can come up with in terms of a comparison would be the so-called gods of ancient Greek mythology. These contrived beings had supernatural abilities, but they also possessed and often displayed human attributes such as lust, hatred, selfishness, covetousness and the like–essentially every negative human trait. But the human frailties didn’t matter much to us readers and hearers of these stories because the god-aspect of their being overshadowed their human-side. So we tended to always focus on the god-aspect of their being, giving just an obligatory nod to their human frailties. Why? Because as always, we like a good story from time to time and the adding of such human frailties to these god-humans help spice up the story for us in the long run.

Is this what we’ve done to Yahoshua? I think that’s exactly what we tend to do with Master Yahoshua. For me, I always used to focus on the supernatural side of Master more than His humanity; at least when I believed God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit was one. And even upon my coming into Hebrew Roots, I continued to focused on the Supernatural aspects of Master Yeshua. Stories such as the raising of Lazarus, I tended to give but an intellectual acknowledgment that He actually wept.

Yahoshua and Yahuah One-in-the-Same Being?

If you by chance listened to or read Sabbath Thoughts and Reflections, episode 72–The Divinity of Yeshua Messiah–Part 1, you would know that today I don’t ascribe to the belief that Yeshua was Yahweh/Yahovah/Yahuah, but instead ascribe to the belief that Yeshua Messiah was 100% man; albeit the most unique human to ever walk this planet. Consequently, it is by and with this thinking that we find, not only the true identity of Yeshua Messiah, but we also learn, gain and embrace our identities as it relates to Father’s great plan of redemption and man’s ultimate potential as sons and daughters of the Most High.

It seems to me that few people in the Faith once delivered give credence to the humanity of Yahoshua. Sure, many will speak of the love Master had for mankind and thus one of the primary reasons He willingly laid down His life on the execution stake for us. And that is all absolutely true. “No greater love exists on this planet than that of one laying down his/her life for his/her friends.” (Reference John 15:13) Nevertheless, there is another aspect of Master’s being that is rarely considered, at least from the standpoint of applicability to the true believer’s day-to-day walk. It is that lack of consideration that is given to that aspect of Yeshua’s person that I believe detracts from the the example that Master set for each of us to follow. And that aspect I’m referring to is “compassion.” Compassion.

Compassion-A Godly Trait Lacking in Hebrew Roots Today

Compassion as a necessary trait to be possessed and practiced by disciples of Yeshua Messiah is a Godly-attribute that I fear is sorely lacking in Hebrew Roots today. In fact, I found more consistent love and compassion from our fundamental Christian cousins than I’ve generally found throughout my journeys in and around Hebrew Roots gatherings. Now, that’s not to say that there aren’t compassionate, loving and caring Netsarim and fellowships out there in our Faith-Community. Indeed, I’ve come across a small handful. But speaking in overall generalities, actually finding compassionate, loving and caring enclaves of Hebrew Rooters in our Faith-Community seems to be a rare commodity.

It’s a sad thing when you really think about it. How many times have you gone to a Hebrew Roots assembly of some sort and found the vast majority of people in that assembly to be extremely arrogant, callous, cold, self-absorbed, uncaring and completely myopic in their view of just about everything in life. In my opinion, these individuals would see someone in dire need of assistance out in the streets and go a mile out of their way to avoid them. Yet these same individuals will think ever so smugly within themselves that they have arrived and that they are Yahuah’s gift to this world; absent of course Yeshua Messiah. And why is this so? I truly don’t know entirely, but speaking from experience and having been so focused on Torah, Torah, Torah in the earlier parts of my walk in this Faith-Community of ours, I can clearly see how members of our community can easily become almost Pharisaical in their beings over time. I believe I was that way for a period of time.

The Parable of the Good Samaritan is an excellent lesson in Godly-Compassion that we must exemplify in our walk with Messiah

The Prushim (aka Pharisees), Sadducees and Scribes  were renowned for their cold, callous, pompous, self-righteous and arrogant personas, clearly lacking any compassion towards the people they were leading and discipling. Master told the well-known story of what has been historically referred to as the parable of the “Good Samaritan” found in Luke 10:25-37. We are all familiar with the story: a victim of a mugging is left to die on the road to Jericho. A priest and a Levite were noted to have come upon the victim and failed to offer assistance for whatever reason; possibly due to having such a self-righteous attitude. But it was a Samaritan, whom the Jews viewed as nothing more than “dogs,” that stopped and rendered this poor victim the lifesaving assistance that this, no doubt a Jewish man, required. The sentiment of Jews seeing Samaritans as dogs is linked to the story of Yeshua and the Samaritan Woman at the well, found in Matthew 15:26.

Now, I don’t believe for one minute that Master was actually referring to the Samaritan Woman and her people, as recorded in this Chapter of Matthew, as dogs at all. I believe the tenor of Yeshua’s discourse with this woman was something akin to:

Hey, you and I both know how my people, the Jews, think of you, right? As dogs. Well, my dear, you will see in just a few seconds that I don’t hold such a view of you. It’s those fools who call themselves children of Abraham over in the capital that see you as dogs. And I’m here to show you and the world that they are wrong and those self-righteous bastards that look down upon you are not of my Heavenly Father.

But what we saw in the story of the Good Samaritan was that the Godly trait of compassion transcends any man-made stereotype that exists in the world at any given time. And yes, I believe that compassion is a Godly trait. Throughout Torah, when the scales are not obscuring our view of the true meaning of Yahovah’s Laws and Commandments, we can see compassion interwoven throughout. And it is that trait of compassion that leads all the way up to Yeshua and His chosen Apostles that shines ever so brightly as a beacon: a beacon that we must be drawn to and embrace and exemplify as true Believers in Yahoshua Messiah.

Yeshua Modeled Compassion for Us and We Must Practice Compassion in the World

Compassion. Love. And it is that embracing and display of this trait, not just for those in our immediate biological families and personal circle of friends, that we are compelled to put practice in the world around us. This Godly attribute when possessed and practiced by the true disciples of Yahoshua Messiah separates us from the pretenders and impostors of our Faith. And sadly, compassion is a rare commodity in our Faith -community. But it shouldn’t be. It shouldn’t be because if Yeshua is our life model–the model by which we should be living out our day-to-day walk–then we should be behaving as He did. When He washed His disciples feet, Master said to them:

“For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you.” (John 13:15, KJV)

Granted, in this verse, Master was specifically speaking to the foot washing example. Nevertheless, the same sentiment must clearly apply to everything that Master did and that was recorded by His Gospel writers. Kefa (aka Peter) wrote in his general epistle,

“Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle but also to the unjust. For this is a gracious thing, when mindful of Yah, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly. For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of Yahuah. For to this you have been called, because Messiah also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in His steps.” (I Peter 2:18-21, ESV, corrected)

The Story of the Raising of Lazarus-The Prototype for the Godly-Attribute of Compassion

But getting back to the original story that prompted this post in the first place: the story of the raising of Lazarus from the dead. Our Master found Himself in a very unique position. As the story goes, found in John chapter 11, Master was informed by emissaries sent from Miriam and Martha (Lazarus’ sisters) that His dear friend Lazarus was desperately ill. Obviously Master realized right then and there that Lazarus’ illness would ultimately lead to his death (or rather, Lazarus’ temporary death). Yeshua obviously had the power within Himself to swoop in to Bethany and heal Lazarus, just as He had been doing for so many people in the region over the course of His ministry. But Master was led, no doubt by the Ruach Kodesh, to let death take Lazarus. Some might say that this was a cold and calculated thing for Yeshua to have done: that is, to know you have the power within you to prevent a tragedy but you choose to let the thing happen to its worse end for purposes of achieving a greater end and to serve the glory of Abba Father. And that is exactly what Master chose to do: obey the Spirit within Him, allow Lazarus to pass away, and glorify not just Abba Father, but certify Himself as Messiah and His ministry of reconciliation and salvation. Yet if we elect to see this thing from the perspective of Yeshua using human tragedy to achieve a greater end–if we elect to see it from a negative, cold and uncaring perspective such as that–we cheat ourselves out of seeing this miracle for what it ultimately was and meant.

Abba Father, regardless how we rationalize things in this life from our myopic and low-level cognitive perspectives, must always be given and receive the glory (glory=Greek for “doxazo,” which means “to cause dignity and worth of an individual or thing to be manifested and acknowledged.”–Thayer’s Greek Lexicon) And this is the mistake that so many people have made in how they view our Creator: they see Him as some cold and callous and maniacal Being that cares nothing about anything apart from His personal interests. And if you were to compare and contrast man with Yahuah based solely upon a human understanding, of course one would naturally come to such a negative conclusion about the Creator of the Universe. But is that conclusion indeed a true and accurate understanding of who Father is, at least from a human perspective. Of course not. We can never compare Yah to man in any way, form or fashion. Father, through the great prophet Isaiah says of Himself:

“Seek ye Yahovah while He may be found, call ye upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto Yahovah and He will have mercy upon Him and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon. ‘FOR MY THOUGHTS ARE NOT YOUR THOUGHTS, NEITHER ARE YOUR WAYS MY WAYS,’ says Yahovah. ‘FOR AS THE HEAVENS ARE HIGHER THAN THE EARTH, SO ARE MY WAYS HIGHER THAN YOUR WAYS AND MY THOUGHTS THAN YOUR THOUGHTS.'” (Isaiah 55:6-9, KJV, corrected)

We can’t tell for certain why Master allowed Lazarus, a man whom the Gospel writer described was dearly loved by Master, to die, apart from the fact that Master had a job to do and that job was to glorify our heavenly Father and glorify Himself as Messiah. If anything, Lazarus’ death and subsequent resurrection would go down in the history of Christiandom as one the great means by which Master’s Messiahship would be certified on this planet.

Yahoshua had a lot on His Mind

We must also be cognizant of all the stuff that Master had to take into consideration in the midst of this pending miracle.

(1) By Master returning to the region, specifically Bethany, being but 2-miles from Yerushalayim, He was placing His life in peril, having survived at least 3-attempts on his life just a few weeks prior–reference John 8–one attempt and John 10–two attempts.

(2) He realized that He would be severely criticized by both Martha and Miriam for allowing their brother to die.

And (3), Messiah could see His mortality looming ahead of Him as He must have realized that His earthly mission was drawing to a close in the weeks ahead of this incident.

So Master had a tremendous burden on His shoulders and His psyche.

We May be Wasting Valuable Time in the Service of the Kingdom of God

I can’t imagine the stress He must have endured during this time. And despite all these hanging issues, the man still had a job to do and He had to do that job within the time frame that Father allotted Him. Unlike us today: many of us feel that we have no worries whatsoever as it relates to our role in the Gospel of the Kingdom. We tend to go about our lives with nary a care or concern. We have no sense of urgency. We lack true direction and purpose. And this is a shame when you really think about it. It’s a shame because we’ve all been given jobs to do; missions to accomplish; purposes to fulfill. Yet most of us simply don’t go about doing those things that we’ve been given by Abba to do.

What if Yeshua had the same mindset and lackadaisical attitude that many of us possess today? Where would we be: lost and poised for eternal destruction? And it is this very thing that often keeps me up at night. I know I have a job to do, beyond producing and posting this program. Yet I know that I’m not doing it those other things that I’m supposed to do. I’m finding excuses why I can’t do what I’m supposed to do now. And that’s bordering on the criminal.

Hilary Clinton-Presidential Candidate 2016

Right now, we have daylight which allows us to work unencumbered. I’m not talking about actual daylight, but freedom to work for the Kingdom unencumbered. Many of us had concerns that if Hilary were to be elected to the highest office of this nation that we’d somehow find ourselves thrust into night and darkness and unable to accomplish that which Father has given each of us to do. But it would appear–and this is only a surmise, a guess if you will–that we’ve been given a reprieve from Yahovah by the election of Mr. Trump. We don’t know for sure. Mr. Trump’s election and subsequent administration could very well turn out to be of no help to us working the fields of the Kingdom. Figuratively speaking, we have 12-hours of daylight right now, as described by Yeshua in verse 9 of John 11 and chapter 9 of John, verse 4, that we must use to get the job done. My fear is that we will rest upon the laurels of a successful Trump victory and allow the time to go by and not accomplish our assigned missions. But having Mr. Trump in office by no means assures us that we won’t be censored or even persecuted and inhibited from doing the work that we have to do.

Donald Trump-Presidential Candidate 2016

Already, the powers that be are moving to censor various news outlets that they deem to be putting out “fake news.” Interestingly enough, that which is being deemed as “fake news” is actually “true news” in most cases and that which is deemed to be “true news” is actually “fake news.” Yet that is the way of man and that is one of the things that the Great Prophet Isaiah was dealing with during His ministry–the twisting of good into bad and vice versa. Isaiah wrote:

“Woe unto them that call evil good and good evil; that put darkness for light and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes and prudent in their own sight!” (Isaiah 5:20, 21, KJV)

Indeed, this passage seems to suggest that Father does not at all condone such practices and those that practice this form of witchcraft are destined for severe punishment.

Now I don’t pretend to be a person who disseminates news to the public as a primary focus of this ministry. I will from time-to-time reference newsworthy events that I feel have the potential of impacting our Faith-community. But my focus is primarily discussing the Good News of the Gospel of the Kingdom of Yahuah as it relates to our walk with Messiah.

Nevertheless, my point of contention on this issue is that if the powers and principalities of this world are able to put those who call out or point out wrongdoing out of business–essentially convincing the public that these individual who are, in reality good, are instead bad, I fear our demise as operators of the Kingdom of God is not too far off. Most people, even our fundamental Christian cousins, see us Netsarim, Hebrew Rooters and the like, as evil; as heretical; as having fallen from grace. So it won’t be too much of a stretch for us to experience the same demise as those in the truth-media.

Yeshua Showed Obedience to our Purpose is Essential to our Roles in the Kingdom of God

Yet Yeshua remained obedient to His purpose and mission and He allowed Lazarus to die, despite the inherent problems associated with His actions (or lack thereof).  So despite these tremendous concerns that were no doubt haunting our Master, He goes to Bethany to deal with the death of Lazarus. Lazarus had by then been dead for some 4-days. According to Rood’s Chronology, this incident took place in the winter, specifically around the time of Purim, which occurs each year in the 12th Biblical Month. So the weather would most likely have been moderate at the time of this story. Regardless, and being a Coroner Investigator by trade, I can tell you, 4-days after death, even in a moderate climate such as we’d see here in this passage, Lazarus’ body would have begun to deteriorate and decompose. The stench that would have emanated from his remains would have been unbearable to those in attendance. His body would have begun to marble (patches of green discoloration developing in various parts of his body); his body would have begun to bloat and develop pockets of fluid. His face would have become blackened and bloated to such a state that He would have been unrecognizable to even his sisters.

So any thought that death could ever be reversed would have been an utterly ridiculous concept in the minds of natural man. But when we’re speaking about and dealing with Yeshua Messiah, we must learn to always look beyond the natural and think and see things from the supernatural. More so, in our walk with Messiah, as sold-out Netsarim and disciples of Master Yahoshua, we have been shown and encouraged to operate in the supernatural realm. It is this mindset and this area of existence that separates us from the vast majority of people on this planet. Yet it is impossible, without the power and influence of the Ruach Kodesh, for most people to even contemplate, much less operate, in the supernatural realm.

Yeshua’s humanity allowed for compassion towards the human condition.

Yeshua Operated in the Supernatural Realm and so must We

It is this difficulty of not seeing and understanding the supernatural realm that Miriam and Martha and some of those in attendance with the sisters found themselves experiencing. Realizing from a natural perspective that Lazarus was really really dead, and knowing how the human body changes after death as days go by, those mourning over Lazarus’ death could only rationalize prevention over reversal. In other words, both Miriam and Martha made it a point to remind Yeshua that if He had come when summoned 4-days prior, He would have been able to save their brother Lazarus from death. Prevention. Yet, I don’t think it ever dawned on any of them that Yeshua, operating in the supernatural, would be capable of reversing 4-days worth of death in Lazarus. It just would not have entered into their minds. It’s almost like the world in general not being able to fathom a Donald Trump victory in this country, despite what the mainstream media and the politicians were telling us throughout the entire election season. And when Trump won the election, the world went into complete and utter shock and even to this day, some 4-weeks later, the world is still trying to come to grips with how such an unthinkable thing could have happened.

But it was what transpired next that caught my attention and is the principle focus of this Thoughts and Reflections. Yeshua did not fully come into Bethany or at least He did not go in to the area where Lazarus had been laid to rest. Martha, upon hearing that Master had come to the region, rushed out to meet Him. Of course so much would have been running through Martha’s mind at the time: Why would Master come so late? Why would He allow Lazarus to die? What is He here to do now? Can His presence here somehow lighten our grief? Why did He not come to save my brother? She even gives Master a side lashing of sorts by reminding Him that Lazarus would have survived had Master come when she and her sister had originally sent word of Lazarus’ condition a few days prior. Despite her pointless frustrations at this point, Martha showed that she still had some of her faith intact, although I’m pretty sure she had no idea of what Yahoshua had in mind to do about this somber situation. Martha said:

“Even now I know that whatever You ask of Yah, Yah will give You.” (Verse 22)

Master obviously was touched by this simple display of faith and responded warmly:

“Your brother will rise again.” (Verse 23)

And of course Martha lets Master know that she was well aware that her brother would be part of the great future resurrection and it was here that I believe Martha’s natural mindset overshadowed her ability to reason and see into what could be or better, see into the supernatural. Martha then leaves Master and runs over to her home and retrieves her sister Miriam who hastens to meet Master herself. And the record suggests that Miriam’s response upon meeting up with Master, still at this point a distance away from Lazarus’ tomb, was similar to Martha’s:

“Master, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.”

Do you detect some slight sense of resentment, but with a greater degree of respect and reverence? Isn’t that how we are with Father from time to time?

“Why haven’t you done so and so for me? Why are you allowing this bad thing to happen to me? What else can go wrong? Why me? Why me? Woe is me?”

And it was here in the story that Miriam began to weep, falling down at the Master’s feet.

And it was at this pivotal point in the story that the humanity of Master Yeshua shined ever so brightly for the entire world to see. Verse 33 and 35 read:

“When Yeshua saw her weeping and the mourners which came with her also weeping, He groaned (or as other translations express it, He was deeply moved) in the spirit, and was troubled…Yeshua wept.” (Rood Chronology)

The 100% Humanity of Master Yahoshua Revealed

Thus it is here that we see undeniable evidence, in my opinion, that Master was 100% man. He was 100% man, but so much more. Not a God-Man as Churchianity would have us believe–but the archetypal man that each of us, especially us men in the Faith, should aspire to be in every way possible. He was not afraid to cry and show His emotions in public. And His display of compassion was not a contrived form of compassion and grief. It came from the core of His being.

I used to think that Master’s weeping here was over Lazarus’ death. But it would appear from this verse that Master had an emotional response to the grief that Miriam and some of her co-mourners were displaying in response to this hopeless situation.

Why Understanding the Humanity of Yeshua is so Important for Netsarim to Understand

Why do I think this is so important to understand? I think it is important for us as Netsarim to understand the Master’s humanity and the compassion He had and continues to have towards the human condition because it is one of the things that drove Him to complete His mission of reconciliation. And unless we operate from that same place–a sense of humanity and compassion and love towards all men and the human condition, I believe we can not fulfill our individual assigned missions.

You see, Master was always looking outwards and upwards. And when we do the same–when we look outwards and upwards and we resist looking inward (as hasatan attempted to get Yeshua to do in the wilderness temptation incident as recorded in Matthew  4, Mark 1 and Luke 4), then we start transforming into the splitting image of our older brother and Master Yahoshua. That’s the only way we can accomplish this thing. And for some reason, when many of us come into Hebrew Roots, like a thick winter coat upon coming in from the cold outside, into a warm and cozy home, we hang our humanity–our love–our compassion–we hang it on the coat rack that is our inner selves and we go about our personal affairs; never feeling; never loving; never being like the Master of our Salvation.

Oh, but what about Torah brother? We must obey Torah first and foremost. Well, that’s where I think most of us miss the boat. The Torah is all about love, caring and compassion. This is evident in that great passage of Matthew chapter 22 which reads:

“Then one of them, which was a lawyer asked Him a question, tempting Him and saying: ‘Master, which is the great commandment in the law?’ Yeshua said unto him, ‘Thou shalt love Yahovah thy Elohim with all thy heart, and with all thy soul and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it: (here it is–here it is) thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. For on these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.'” (verses 35-40, KJV, corrected)

Yeshua came to us as a 100% man who possessed all the attributes of any human man, absent the sin nature. Could He have sinned if He wanted to? Absolutely, contrary to the teaching of many in funamental Christianity. Otherwise, He would not fit Father’s requirements for a true sacrifice to be rendered on behalf of mankind.

Master also possessed all the personal attributes of His Father Yahuah: steadfastness, unpretentious love; unconditional love; love of the truth; disdain for evil; love of peace;compassion; hope; and so much more. But I don’t believe Master was Yahuah Himself. And I’m going to get deeper into this subject in future Thoughts and Reflections as the Ruach leads.

Faithfully submitted by Rod Thomas, your friend and brother in the True Faith once delivered.

Music: DanOMusic–“The Experiment”

Note: I will often use the 3-most popular names used by Hebrew Rooters for the Creator interchangeably: Yahuah; Yahovah; and Yahweh. I will also from time-to-time referred to our Creator as Abba or Abba Father or Yah.

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The Divinity of Yeshua Messiah-Part 1

by | Dec 3, 2016 | Podcasts

The Divinity of Yeshua Messiah-Part 1

Sabbath Thoughts and Reflections-72

Visitor’s Comment on the Cepher Bible Episode

A few weeks ago I received a comment from a visitor to themessianictorahobserver.org that I felt needed to be aired and discussed. The commenter was responding to a post I published earlier this year. (Reference: https://www.themessianictorahobserver.org/2016/02/15/the-cepher-bible-star-46/) That post had to do with my issues with the Cepher Bible. In that post, I reflected upon the outrage I felt towards the translators, editors and publishers of the Cepher who took liberties with certain translations in the Cepher.

Prior to that post, I had ordered and received two-copies of the Cepher and had gone through a process of getting to know the publication. I had high hopes that this Bible would be my one go-to-Bible. It so happens that I found one glaring problem (well, actually there were a couple problems, but in that post I focused primarily upon just the one glaring problem): the Cepher’s treatment of Philippians 2:11.

Before I proceed any further, allow me to present the comment to you as it was written, absent the commenter’s name. It reads:

‘If ye were of the world, the world would love his own, but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you,’ Jn 15:19.
I want u to always know that the world will never agree with any one that stand for the truth. And the devil will always seek a way to destroy everything that glorify’s Yahuah’s name.
the cepher translators maybe right or wrong in translating that verse. ph 2:11. the fact still remains that Yahuah is Yahusha, and Yahusha is Yahuah. they are one and thesame.
Honestly i desire a copy of eth cepher, i cannot afford it now becos of the price which is about 75,000 NGN. (I believe that is the Nigerian Naira currency) pls if u don’t like yours i will be most honor if you sent it to me. Shalom

I will say that I did respond to this commenter’s post, pointing out that my post on the Cepher had much less to do with the Divinity of Master Yeshua than it had to do with what I considered to be a felonious manipulation of Philippians 2:11. But since this commenter’s comment seems to have somewhat called me out onto the carpet as it relates to my understanding and belief of the divinity or pre-existence of Messiah issue I felt it was high-time that I reflect upon and share my views on the divinity/pre-existence of our Master Yeshua HaMashiyach. Certainly not a popular thing to tackle, especially in our Faith community. Needless to say, there are few topics that can cause as much division and conflict in the Faith community than the question of our Messiah’s divinity and or pre-existence. Of course it should. It was of such importance, that at least two ecumenical councils were convened to discuss and rule upon this issue on behalf of the Church Triumphant. (Reference the Council of Nicea in 325 C.E. and the Council of Constantinople in 381 C.E.—Wikipedia and various Church History publications.)

Philippians 2:11, A Point of Contention

Oh, and I should add that I am not willing to part with my copy of the Cepher just yet, regardless my stance on its mistreatment of certain passages of the bible. Sorry my friend. I still have some use to get out of the book. Nevertheless, my stance on the Cepher and its treatment of Philippians 2:11 has prompted me to have a mind and heart whereby I can’t in good conscience endorse the Cepher for any truth seeking, Torah observant believer in Yahoshua Messiah. I still, however, believe the book contains the Truth of the Word of Yahuah and our Master Yahoshua Messiah. (Maybe not in those passages where the translators took liberties with in their translations.) But it still has value, at least to me and this ministry.

Now Philippians 2:11 is of course one of the most well known passages of the Bible related to, what I prefer to call “The Exaltation of our Master, Yahoshua HaMashiyach” to the right-hand throne of Yahuah our Elohim, where all things have been put in subjection under His feet. The King James rendering of this Philippians passage reads as follows:

“And that every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

Now, the other popular, well established and favored translations such as the NAS, ESV, ASV, NAB, NET and RSV, pretty much confirm the KJV’s rendering without much deviation. This being the case and when we take all of these and other translations into consideration, the literal meaning of this passage seems pretty clear to me: that there is coming a day (most likely in that great “World Tomorrow” that we’ve heard so much of throughout our lives) when every human being who has ever lived who has not been tossed into the lake of fire, will confess that Jesus Christ (i.e., Yeshua the Messiah) is Lord (i.e., Master), or in the Hebrew, Adonay. And this acknowledgment will be made to the glory of Yahovah our Creator. To me this seems pretty cut and dry and certainly one can dig much deeper into this passage for an even greater in-depth literal rendering if they so choose. From my read and understanding of this passage, however, two beings are referenced: Jesus Christ (i.e., Yeshua Messiah) and God the Father (i.e., Yahuah our Elohim or Abba Father). To me, there is no confusion or question as to whether the two entities referenced here are one and the same or two separate entities. Plainly read and plainly interpreted, I don’t see how anyone can deny that this passage is referencing two distinct entities, unless the writer (i.e., Shaul) was intentionally manipulating the wording of the passage to somehow cover-up a deeper or more complex meaning. Or maybe the writer was appealing to those of us who adhere to the varying levels of Torah or Bible interpretation and understanding. Thus, those of us who are super spiritual would receive of the Ruach Kodesh, a meaning to this passage that is beyond that which is plainly written in this passage. Some have even gone as far as calling the understandings and interpretations that extend beyond the plain and conservative reading of such passages as “progressive revelation.” And that my friends seems to be the line of demarcation as it relates to this and other such passages that are used to support the “pre-existence, overall divinity of of Yeshua Messiah-sect of our Faith Community. That demarcation line is where plain, conservative understanding of such passages end and allegorical, metaphorical and even mystical understandings and interpretations take over. And all too often, those of us who choose to stay on the conservative side of things and go with a more plain and clear read of such passages are all too often looked down upon and even maligned as not being members of the true Body of Messiah.

Is the overall divinity of Messiah supported by the Bible?

Is the overall divinity of Messiah supported by the Bible?

Well, there is no confusion until denominationalism and doctrine creeps into the discourse, pushes literal interpretation—contextual understanding of Scripture off to the curb, and introduce their deeper spiritual understanding of Scripture. That deeper spiritual understanding, I’ve come to learn, overshadows and even supersedes the literal interpretation of Bible passages. In this case, denominationalism and doctrine asserts its aggressive hold on the Bible and insists that Yahoshua Messiah and Yahuah our Creator are one and the same. And to ensure that that denominationalism and doctrine regarding the divinity of our Master sticks, along comes the Cepher to facilitate that end. The Cepher has come to essentially insert/inject one group’s doctrinal and denominational beliefs into the Messianic/Hebrew Roots community. And what better way to accomplish this than using the old “bait-and-switch” technique? Knowing that Messianics/Hebrew Rooters take their Bibles extremely serious and very personal, the best way to shove one’s ideology/doctrine/denominationalism down the community’s collective throats is by changing the wording of key verses in their Bibles. And what makes this even worse, the Cepher people don’t even apologize for taking, what they call, liberties with their interpretation and wording of Philippians 2:11.

I know that sounds absurd and at first I too felt it absurd that individuals would have such hubris and hijack the Bible to get their point of view across. But then, as I began to think more on this, it came to me that this is in no way a new approach to shoving ideology and doctrine down a Faith community’s throat through expert manipulation of various Bible passages. This has been a “tried and true method” of indoctrinating others into one’s belief system for quite a few years. When it wasn’t feasible for people to own a Bible centuries ago, parishioners required church leaders to read and interpret Scripture for them. Thus, it was quite easy for doctrine and ideology and denominationalism to be placed into the minds of the people without much in the way of challenges or resistance from the ignorant parishioners. Then when the Bible was made available to the masses for individual consumption, the onus then fell upon the publishers, translators and editors of the various Bible translations to delve into the Word of God and add in their ideological and doctrinal positions. So it dawned on me that the Cepher was in no way setting a precedence here.

But allow me to give you the Cepher rendering of Philippians 2:11 passage:

“And that every tongue should confess that Yahuah is Yahusha Hamashiach, to the glory of Yah the Father.”

Did you catch the problem here? The Cepher editors elected to translate the passage to read that “Yahuah is Yahusha Hamashiach.”

In my post addressing this issue, the focused of my post was on the Cepher’s changing of the wording of Philippians 2:11 to intentionally alter its original meaning in order to force feed us the translators’, editors’ and publishers’ doctrine and ideology. As I just stated, the Cepher publishers and editors remain unapologetic as to their actions, boldly asserting that they have every right to take translative and interpretative liberties with Scripture. The Cepher producers and editors have gone so far as to say that the Cepher is NOT a bible. Why would they say such a thing? Because the Cepher people believe the term Bible is of pagan origin. (Reference: http://www.cepher.net/is-the-cepher-a-direct-translation.aspx)

Whatever! Regardless how they choose to spin it, the Cepher is a Bible translation. As I just said, the Cepher is not the first bible to alter the original rendering of Bible passages in order to force-feed the reader the editors’ and publishers’ ideology and doctrinal views. I also sighted Michael Rood’s “The Chronological Gospels” as another Bible publication where the translator has changed the entire wording and thus the entire meaning of key passages in the Holy Writ from what should be its original literal translation and understanding.

One of the Cepher people, a Mr. Charles D. Lyons, did a modestly detailed defense of the Cepher’s treatment of Philippians 2:11 and his personal assertion that Yeshua is Yahuah/Yahovah. Unfortunately, I have as yet been able to learn who Charles Lyons is and just what his association with the Cepher organization actually entails. Thus, I can only conclude, since his position is officially posted on the Cepher’s website, that Mr. Lyons is a member of the Cepher organization. His defense appears at http://www.cepher.net/blog.aspx?post=2896 for your reference.

So What Now?

Is Yeshua and Yahuah one in the same Person?

Is Yeshua and Yahuah one in the same Person?

But I’ve already addressed my issue with the Cepher in that prior post. What I am responding to in this post is this visitor’s comment regarding the divinity of Master Yeshua. Thus, I wish to respond to his statement that Yeshua is Yahuah/Yahovah, which is essentially a statement related to the overall pre-existence or divinity of Messiah. Furthermore, I wish to respond to this commenter’s assertion that anyone who disagrees with His view on the divinity of our Messiah is either of the world or in cahoots with hasatan (my words, not exactly his I will concede).

To say that “Yahuah is Yahusha” and that “Yahusha is Yahuah” and that they are one and the same is making a very serious assertion. I came out of Churchianity over a decade ago, leaving behind such rhetoric, only to find myself right smack back into such dogmatic rhetoric. Interestingly enough, this gentleman is not alone in his assertion. I surmise that there are countless members of our Faith Community who share this gentleman’s same sentiments and will fight you to the death over that sentiment. And when you get to the point in your walk that you are so passionate about your position on an issue that you’re willing to make such assertions of others in the Faith—that they are of the world; they are in cahoots with hasatan; or that they are destined for hell fire—I’m pretty sure that the love of our Master is handily being displayed by such individuals.

I’ve shared this multiple times on this program, that we are all on individual and collective journeys with Yahoshua HaMashiyach. We are all at different places in our individual walk. Some of us have thoughts, ideas, understandings and beliefs that differ greatly from others. But again, we are all at different places in our walk.

I realize that many in our Faith have views that are opposite mine as it relates to the pre-existence and overall divinity of our Master. And when I say divinity, I’m referring to the Creator as Yeshua—God is Yeshua in the flesh—Yahuah/Yahovah is Yahusha/Yahoshua, and Yeshua existed from the beginning. And you know what, I can still fellowship and love the brethren who have opposing views on the divinity of Master Yeshua. It’s all well and good. It won’t necessarily change my understanding and position on the issue however, but I will still value them as fellow believers and I won’t think of maligning or judging their profession of Faith. Someone mentioned to me once when I got my feelings hurt over a negative comment that was made related to one of my postings: this journey we’re on is a sifting process and those that are truly His (aka, our Master) will eventually fall by the wayside or be purged by the Master Himself.

Questions for You

How do you deal with opposition and challenge and the hardness that many members in our Faith community display to one another? As I’ve mentioned in previous episodes of this program, it’s impressive the level of head knowledge/Bible knowledge our people have, but the level of hardness of heart and spirit is just ridiculous to say the least. Where’s the Ruach in our Faith? That’s why I’ve somewhat disconnected from Facebook discussions of late, simply because of the vitriol that is common among the brethren of our Faith. And the question must be asked: how will people ever desire to be part of our community if all we do is gripe, challenge, postulate, debate, etc.? Hey, I’m not immune to this behavior myself. It’s so easy to get caught up in the emotions—that’s it—emotions that are generic to our Faith community. And if anything, the brethren should not get so emotional over issues related to our Faith. Nevertheless, emotions will play a role in our Faith Community. Our Community is made up of human beings and human beings can often be emotional over just about anything.

But maybe it’s time that I share my thoughts on this hot-button of a topic—the Pre-Existence and or Overall Divinity of Master Yahoshua Messiah. It’s not something that most teachers and preachers in and outside our Faith community care to address simply because it is such a hot topic. Most teachers and preachers fear offending members of their congregation and fellowships and losing the so-called tithes and offerings that keep their operations afloat. For me, I have no influx of tithes or offerings coming in to this ministry and the purpose of this podcast ministry is simply to share my thoughts and refections with you and others on a wide host of topics and issues relevant to our walk with Yeshua Messiah. So if, by chance, a listener to this program or visitor to my website vehemently disagrees with my perspective, it’s okay. I would hope that he or she would, instead of abruptly cutting this program off for good or unsubscribing to this ministry, take what I have to reflect upon, do their own research and use what they ultimately learned to firm up their own relationships with Abba Father and day-to day walk with Mashiyach. Hey, I’m not opposed to receiving friendly correspondence and sharing differing points of view on the issue. Iron sharpens iron (Proverbs 27:17—”Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.” ESV) and that’s part of what we should do as members of the Body of Messiah: share and discourse and exhort and bless one another. We have not been purposed to offend, hurt, cut down, discourage or any such thing, to others in the community. Sadly, such negative behavior is part and parcel of our Faith community. Needless to say, however, that this ministry and podcast program adamantly rejects such behavior.

My Perspective on Yahoshua HaMashiyach’s Divinity or Lack Thereof

Well, to put it frankly, right off the bat, I DO believe in the divinity of Yahoshua HaMashiyach; although with a big caveat I might add. That caveat is that our Master Yahoshua has been exalted by our Creator to an unprecedented level of existence that I would deem as divine. (Reference Hebrew 1:3-13; Psalm 110—key passages as it relates to the “Exaltation of our Master Yahoshua”) Thus, as it relates to His current state, and the state that He’s been in since His ascension right after His resurrection, I do believe that Yeshua HaMashiyach is now a divine being. However, I do not believe that He is Yahovah/Yahuah/God the Father/the Creator of the Universe nor do I believe He existed from the very beginning. And from that perspective, He would not be divine—maybe better stated, He is not overall divine as one would describe our Creator, Yahuah/Yahovah.

I know, confusing. But for me, it comes down to putting this stuff into proper Biblical perspective, which I hope to adequately explain here coming up.

I have several reasons why I don’t believe in the overall divinity of our Master—or more precisely, the pre-existence of our Master:

1. The Bible does not support Yeshua being anything apart from a created being—specifically He was a man—a human being. (And given how much time has elapsed for this episode already, I will reflect on this point only for the remainder of this episode.)

2. Commonsense does not support Yeshua being God the Father/God the Creator/Yahovah/Yahuah.

3. The Ruach Kodesh has not revealed anything other than Yeshua is Yahovah’s human son who for all intents and purposes is the Last or Second Adam.

4. Church history clearly reveals how the so-called Church came to its current understanding of the identity of their version of our Master and that our Hebrew Roots is still not immune to the Catholic Church’s wide-reaching influences that have existed over the centuries.

Now, before I touch upon each of these three general areas, allow me first to just say that this is simply my perspective on the issue of Messiah’s identity and divinity. I am not here to sway anyone over to my way of thinking and my beliefs. If anything, I would pray that this episode gets you thinking about why you believe what you believe. Is your understanding of Yeshua Messiah based upon the Bible, or is it based upon what your denomination, church, pastor or favorite teacher has taught you? From my perspective, my understanding and identity of Yeshua Messiah comes from the Bible, my God-given commonsense and the Ruach Kodesh operating in my life. Now I have consulted a few publications on this topic over the years in order to nail down some better wording than I can come up with on my own as it relates to this issue. But my belief and understanding on this issue existed before I discovered certain reference books on this topic. My primary go-to-references on this topic are two:

1. “One God & One Lord,” written by the team of John W. Schoenheit, Mark H. Graeser and John A. Lynn

2. “Jesus was Not a Trinitarian—A Call to Return to the Creed of Jesus,” written by Anthony Buzzard

Being open and transparent about these publications, I must warn you that these books were written by hard and fast Fundamentalist Christians who are not members of our Hebrew Roots Faith community. Nevertheless, both publications are based upon a sound biblical perspective on the subject. The way I see it: as long as we’re sticking to the subject of the pre-existence and divinity of our Master Yeshua and we’re not delving into the question of whether Torah observance applies to Believers in Yeshua Messiah today, I can still gain valuable knowledge and insight from you based upon your area of expertise and scholarly research.

I’ve always been a staunch advocate that Father, in His infinite wisdom and providence, gives His Truth to all types of people, regardless their Faith community. It then becomes our job to wade through the superfluous stuff that authors who are not of our ilk might add to their work. And that my friends, is what the Ruach Kodesh is for—to help us in our understanding of Yahoshua Messiah. Master instructed us:

“But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, He will bear witness about me.” (John 15:26, ESV) And then there’s John 14:26—”But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.” (KJV)

No Biblical Support for the Pre-Existence and Divinity of Master Yeshua

So without further belaboring this thing, let me begin laying out my understanding and belief of the pre-existence and or divinity of Master Yahoshua Messiah by expounding upon reason number one: “The Bible does not support Yeshua being anything apart from a created being—specifically He was a man—a human being.”

As it relates to the Bible being non-supportive of the divinity of the Master, there’s not a whole lot more that I can say. Every time someone in the Messiah pro-divinity camp comes up with a Bible passage or verse that seemingly supports their position on the subject, a careful read of that so-called proof positive passage will in no way hold water and fully support their position on the divinity issue. At best, those so-called proof positive passages only suggests that our Messiah was indeed a very unique and special being: not only to the world and to our Faith, but also to Abba Father. And probably the most used proof-positive passages the pro-divine and pre-existent side of our community uses are John 1 and its other supportive passages. (And I should add that those supportive Johannine supportive passages are few and far between.) Regardless how compelling their arguments might, their offered up proof-positive passages, in my humble opinion, in no way definitively proves that Master Yeshua is Yahovah/Yahuah or that they are one-in-the-same Being. They just don’t. In my opinion, there’s simply not enough literary evidence to support such a grandiose assertion.

Now those who stand behind a divinity and pre-existence interpretation of these passages will often assert that it is by the revelation of the Ruach Kodesh that one gains the proper understanding that Yeshua is Yahovah/is Yahuah/is the Creator/is God—or as the commenter summed up, “Yahusha and Yahuah are one in the same.” I recall this past spring reading a book by a Mr. Lew White, the title of which escapes me at this time, who in that book Mr. White asserted a similar sentiment to that of this commenter. However, Mr. White took his position a bit further by asserting that any who did not believe as he and his ilk did on this issue, those would be destined for a fiery destruction—Thus saith the Lord! (My added dramatics.) And you know, this has always been the approach of many self-professing believers in Yeshua Messiah. And, oh yes, Mr. White is a self-professing Hebrew Rooter.

Despite their varied approaches and efforts to intimidate those who might hold opposing views to the pre-existence and overall divinity of our Master, their behavior and actions still don’t change the fact that the Bible in no clear fashion supports their position on this issue. Now, if these folks are asserting that the revelation of the Ruach Kodesh acts and or reveals things to us that are contrary to the content of our Bibles—that is, the Holy Spirit is in the business of revealing things to believers that may contradict or supersede the content of our Bibles—then maybe we need to look at this and other issues a little differently and agree to disagree. But once we start getting into such controversial positions in the Faith, unity, love and fellowship are certain to suffer and the factions that currently exist in our Faith community are certain to grow in number. This all plays perfectly into the enemy’s hands as you may well be aware.

Despite the lack of Biblical support for the pre-existence and overall divinity of Master Yahoshua, according to the authors of “One God and One Lord,” the so-called “trinitarian concept has held the majority position since the Council of Constantinople in 381 AD.” And just to be clear what I mean by the phrase “The Trinitarian Concept,” which I say is part and parcel of the overall divinity and pre-existence position, the authors of “One God & One Lord” describe it well as: “…the Father is God, the Son is God, the Holy Spirit is God, they are coequal and co-eternal and together the three (3) of them make one God.” And I should mention that these authors too feel that there is no true support for the trinity or pre-existence of Yeshua Messiah in the Holy Writ.

Here’s an idea: instead of wrestling with one another on whether or not the bible supports the pre-existence and overall divinity of Messiah, why not consider how we arrived to the place in human history that the overwhelming majority of believers in our Faith community believe what they believe. According to Dr. Anthony Buzzard, knowing the truth of how we got the Trinitarian Concept in the first place will help us understand why only but a few people in our Faith community accept the true identity of our Messiah. (My paraphrasing.)

I agree with Dr. Buzzard: that if we take an honest look at the whole of the bible from the perspective of how Master Yahoshua is identified and titled, and then take a look at the set of creeds that emerged out of the various ecumenical councils of Nicea in 325 C.E. and Constantinople in 381 C.E., one will find a stark contrast between the two categories of creeds. That is, the biblical creed of the identity of Yeshua Messiah versus the Church’s creed on the identity of Yeshua Messiah. There is no agreeable comparison whatsoever; at least not from what I can tell. Just saying.

The bible’s creed concerning Yeshua Messiah is that Yeshua was a man, who’s Father was Yahovah/Yahuah, and Yahovah/Yahuah is a stand alone Being without any pre-existing God being companions or competitors. Having just touched upon the concept of creeds as mentioned by Dr. Anthony Buzzard in his book “Jesus Was Not a Trinitarian,” our Hebrew Roots Faith in my opinion, unequivocally demands that we recognize that Yahovah/Yahuah/Yahweh is a single God entity without any other co-existing or competing god-beings to be named or conceived. Deuteronomy 6:4, 5 reads:

“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” (ESV)

Interestingly enough, the pro-trinitarians/binarians/pre-existers lob on to this passage as one of their proof positives to their position on this issue—that LORD is one—somehow denoting that there are multiple beings constituting the “oneness of God” or the so-called “Godhead.” And to be honest, I used to believe this explanation of the Godhead. For those of you who came out of Churchianity, do you recall how we were indoctrinated into communicating the trinitarian concept to others? We were to liken the trinity to water. Remember? Water can exist in three (3) states: a solid when it is in an ice state; a liquid at room temperature or thereabouts; and a gas at high temperatures. And at the time, this explanation made total sense to me and I bought into it lock-stock-and barrel. It wasn’t until I came into this Hebrew Roots community that I began to question the wisdom and accuracy of the trinitarian concept and the pre-existence of our Master Yahoshua Messiah. Upon first entering this Faith, as most of you may or may not know, Hilary and I began with the Church of God splinter groups of United Church of God and Church of God, International. Both these organizations held to a strict “binarian concept” of the Godhead, asserting the pre-existance and overall divinity of Yeshua, but dropping the Holy Spirit as the third person of the Godhead, per se. But even within the realm of the Church of God splinters, there was still debate as to whether Jesus was God the Father or that Jesus and God the Father were separate, but eternal co-existing entities. So even in the well-established realm of the Churches of God, there has always remained some semblance of an argument on this subject.

Well, I think I will stop here and pick up next time on this subject. I guess I was foolish to think that I would be able to contain my thoughts and reflections on this issue/subject in just one episode of Sabbath Thoughts and Reflections. It seems to me that I may be looking at a couple more episodes on this issue before I can adequately and thoroughly present my position.

I hope and trust that I have not caused you to stumble or become discouraged over my discussion of this issue. Again, my purpose in bringing this up in the first place, is to encourage you to seriously consider why you believe what you believe regarding the most important person ever to walk this earth: Yahoshua HaMashiyach. Shaul described Master to the Colossian Assembly as:

“for in Him were all things created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through Him and for Him.” (Colossians 1:16, ASV)

(Take note that the KJV and several other translations word this verse as saying that “for by Him were all things created,” which of course adds fuel to the pro-exister, divine position. The Greek word “en” spelled “epsilon nu,” in English means simply “in.” So I’m pretty convinced that the ASV, CJB, DRA, ERV, NAB and NIV are more accurate in translating this verse from the existing Greek manuscripts.

But my point is, if I can get you to step back and Biblically evaluate and determine just who Yeshua Messiah is, just like this commenter has pushed me to put my thoughts on this issue together and present them to you, and you come out of that evaluation with a firm understanding of what manner of Being Yeshua Messiah truly is, then I consider my mission accomplished. Because the way I see it is: if we fully understanding and know who Yeshua HaMashiyach was in the Bible; who He is today; and who He will be in the World Tomorrow, then we by default will fully understand and know who we are today and who we are to become in the World Tomorrow.

Sharing Hebrew Roots with Christians—The Lunar Sabbath Debacle—America Spotlighted in Deuteronomy 32

by | Oct 11, 2016 | Podcasts

Sabbath Thoughts and Reflections Episode 70


 

Day of Atonement
The Temple Rite Related to the Day of Atonement

The Temple Rite Related to the Day of Atonement

Just a day or so out from Day of Atonement (aka Yom Kippur)—a most solemn day of rest for our Faith where we fast and pray and reflect upon our lives and the past year. Prophets sight this Day of Atonement as a day in the not too distant future when the nation of Israel will face existential destruction, losing 2/3 of her residents as well as others sight the time when Yahovah will judge the earth and her inhabitants

Feast of Tabernacles (aka Sukkot)

A City of Sukkas

A City of Sukkas

From Atonement, we’re then just 5-days away from Sukkot (aka Feast of Tabernacles)—the 8-day extravaganza where we celebrate all that Father has done for us during the year and we commemorate the time when we sojourned in the desert in temporary booths. Sukkot also is a prophetic shadow picture of the time in the future when Yeshua will return to this earth and establish His millennial kingdom here on earth. Torah will become the standard of His world government and peace and prosperity will reign throughout the world

Second Presidential Debate

Hilary Clinton-Presidential Candidate 2016

Hilary Clinton-Presidential Candidate 2016

Donald Trump-Presidential Candidate 2016

Donald Trump-Presidential Candidate 2016

The 2nd Presidential Debate this past Sunday—certainly our nation is in dire need of prayer given the peoples’ choices this go around and the problems facing this nation

  • Racial division
  • Economic uncertainty
  • Islamic terrorism
  • Governmental assaults on the rights of the American citizens
  • Globalists intrusion on the sovereignty of this nation (internet, economy, Agenda 21, elections)
  • Threats of war with China and Russia
  • Inept legislative branch of government
  • Corruption in our government at the highest levels
  • Death of countless industries in this nation (coal, steel, manufacturing)
Blessed Fellowship
Michael Rood

Michael Rood

Had a wonderful gathering and meal with members of our weekly Shabbat Fellowship this past Sunday and our special visitor/guest was none-other than Michael Rood who was fresh off a weekend teaching stint in Los Angeles with a Chinese contingent, seeking to learn about our Faith. (Neglected to get pictures—dangit)

I. Sharing Hebrew Roots with Christians

Had a very impromptu but welcomed opportunity to share our Faith with a young lady who comes across in actions and talk as a “devout,” fundamental Christian. What follows is a brief summary of my experience and reflections on the such encounters

Cited Reasons Why Hebrew Roots is Bad According to Some Christians

  • Too many distractions
  • Too much focus on works and the law
  • Christianity promotes heart and grace
  • Not interested in hearing truth because it doesn’t really matter—it’s all distractions
  • Many believe they’ve found God and all of His truth, so they have no need to receive or seek out new truths

Lessons Learned

  • These are lost causes
  • We can only hope the seeds we may have opportunity to have planted will someday germinate and take root
  • Discern the spirit of the inquisitors–are they curious about what you believe solely for purposes of boxing you? Or are they seeking knowledge
  • Be ready instantly to give a reason for the Faith (Peter)  Be ready in season and out of season (Paul)

but treat the Messiah as holy, as Lord in your hearts; while remaining always ready to give a reasoned answer to anyone who asks you to explain the hope you have in you- yet with humility and fear, 16 keeping your conscience clear, so that when you are spoken against, those who abuse the good behavior flowing from your union with the Messiah may be put to shame. (1Pe 3:15 CJB)

proclaim the Word! Be on hand with it whether the time seems right or not. Convict, censure and exhort with unfailing patience and with teaching. (2Ti 4:2 CJB)

  • Control. Be prepared to have the Church talking points hurled at you and to not take it personally. Let the Ruach take control of the situation. It’s not about us, but about Him
  • Realize the world rejects Torah and any who would honor and guard it
  • In reality they are rejecting Yahovah
  • Plant the seed and let the Ruach do the rest. It’s up to Father. Father chooses us, not us Him
  • Pray for the inquisitors
  • Realize that churchianity will never be able to reconcile Mat. 5:17,18

17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.19 Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.20 For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven. (Mat 5:17-20 KJV)

2. The Lunar Sabbath Debacle

The Lunar Sabbath Debacle

The Lunar Sabbath Debacle

Long Lost Church Sabbath Friends Turn to the Lunar Sabbath

Last week I ran into a member of a Sabbath Keeping church I used to attend about 4 or 5 years ago while grocery shopping. Hadn’t seen her since. Turns out she and her husband also left that church shortly after Hilary and I did. But in the interim, this couple took a very different turn than Hilary and I did. This couple entered into the Lunar Sabbath sect of our Faith. Yes, another family has fallen for this lie from the very pit of hell. Turns out, we are friends without another couple who we met at a Rood Awakening Conference about 3-years ago and they too recently left the 7-day Sabbath for the Lunar Sabbath sect of our Faith. Learning of these defections from the true Faith once delivered not only angered me (yes angered), but also intrigued me: what was this Lunar Sabbath thing all about? Why would someone abandon that which the Bible clearly instructs—to remember the Sabbath Day and to keep it holy. This instruction finds it very root at creation when Father rested from His creative work on the 7th Day. And from that day forward to today, a remnant of peoples throughout the earth have kept holy the 7th day. The vast majority of the world’s population could care less about the Sabbath. But we in this Faith of ours (and to a great degree, practicing Jews worldwide) are blessed to realize the critical importance of this day on the weekly calendar—regardless what Christianity teaches to the contrary.

What is this Lunar Sabbath All About?

So I elected to find out what this Lunar Sabbath debacle (I call it debacle which essentially means a disaster—something that the enemy has thrown at us that too many of our lot have grabbed hold of and adopted it as biblical truth) was all about without wanting to waste too much of my time doing it. What follows is what I’ve come up with in my low-level search. I’m certain there is more to this madness than what I mention here, but I think I’ve at least mentioned the basics, which should be enough to base judgment as to whether or not this thing is of Abba Father or hasatan.

The Facts

  • The weekly Sabbath is observed on the same days of the renewed moon each week during the same biblical month
  • 8th, 15th, 22nd and 29th (where is that in scripture—it ain’t there)
  • https://www.worldslastchance.com/yahuwahs-calendar/the-lunar-sabbath.html
  • http://www.lunarsabbath.org
  • Author of article I read is offering $10,000 to anyone who can locate a weekly Sabbath on any other day than by the moon’s reckoning of days (what????)
  • There are 72 weekly Sabbaths per biblical year
  • The renewed moon is a worship day
  • Eze 46:1-3 (proof?)—yet there is no solid tie in to the weekly Sabbath with the renewed moon each month
  • Key word is “and”
  • Isa 66:23—same as in Eze 46
  • Num 28:11-14
  • Where is the true historic evidence that our forefathers kept the weekly Sabbaths on the 8th, 15th, 22nd and 29th of each month?
  • Exo 16:1-23?? Like one of those months where the weekly Sabbath will fall on the 8th, 15th, 22nd and 29th of the month—it just will work out that way in some months
  • Col 2:16
  • We must rely upon the moon to tell us what day it is because everyday is alike, including the Sabbath according to the author
  • Eze 46:1; Isa 66:23; Amos 8:5
  • We are commanded to observe the luni-solar calendar to determine days and weeks and months and years
  • There is no specific commandment to base the Sabbaths on as it relates to sighting the monthly renewed moon
  • What happens when the renewed moon is not sighted on the expected day?

So What? Is the Lunar Sabbath of Yahovah or Man? (or Hasatan)

  • Smoking mirrors and just another play of the enemy to get us to disobey the test-Torah commandment to honor the Sabbath day
  • When Abba set the 7th day as the set apart day of the week, did he institute that each of those days would occur on the 8th, 15th, 22nd and 29th of each month? Not likely. You seek, Father instituted a full-proof way to tell when His set-apart day of the week would be, regardless where one was in the world. We’ve never lost track of when the 7th day occurs from the creation—all the way back to Adam. Are the lunar-sabbatarians saying that Yahovah change this set-up? Not likely
  • I have come to understand however, just how important Chodesh is each month—I will embark upon a deep study on this subject and report back

3. Deuteronomy 32—A Prophetic Shadow of America Today

A Present Day Image of America Straight out of Torah

In my Torah studies this past week, I came to the 32nd Chapter of Deuteronomy, which the Bible editors entitled “The Song of Moses.” This so-called song of Moses captured my imagination and my attention as I carefully read through it. It was clearly a prophetic overview of the future of Israel. Moses in this dissertation addressed the past, present and future relationship Abba Father has with us. Much of the dissertation focused upon the future relationship which was for lack of a better description, bleak. And this Song of Moses of course spot-on pegged the future events that would befall us as a people as a result of our disobedience to Torah. And I could not but help seeing here an amazing parallel to that of this country. It is almost a glove-fitting overview of what is currently happening and is likely to happen to us in this country if we don’t get our act together and turn to Yahovah and His Torah. So what I want to share with you now is my reflections of Deuteronomy 32 and its prophetic shadow of America today.

A Song of Moshe

  • (vss. 4-6) Despite all that Yahovah has done for our nation over the centuries and all that He is (i.e., our Rock; truth; without iniquity; just and right—vs. 4) we requite Him (i.e., we “gamal” or repay Him by being a blemished, crooked and twisted generation (vss. 5 & 6)
  • (vss. 7-14) In so being a blemished, crooked and twisted generation, we’ve forgotten our heritage—how we used to be a God-fearing people; how we used to revere the Bible as the Word of the Most High; how we have a moral compass by which to live our lives and as a result, we were abundantly blessed of Yahovah
  • (vs. 15) But we’ve grown fat and have forsaken Yahovah and have rejected His salvation and protection
  • (vss. 16-18) Our apathy towards Yahovah and the adoption of a Torah-less life has provoked Yahovah to jealousy and anger
  • We’ve replaced Yahovah with other gods. And because we are too smart and too sophisticated a people and generation these days, our gods are no longer religious or faith based. Instead, we replaced Father with the gods of greed, ego, power, fortune, possessions, social media, friends, entertainment, careers and governments
  • (vss. 19 & 20) Yahovah is not blind to our transgressions and our rejection of Him as our sovereign Master. Thus our Rock hides His face from us and is allowing the chips to fall where they may fall in this country of ours
  • We will get the president we deserve
  • We will get the end that we deserve
  • Pray as we may, this nation will ultimately fall because of her rejection of Yahovah and her sin
  • (vs. 21a) We’ve replaced Yahovah with the cares and desires of this present life and world. Thus we’ve effectively moved Abba to jealousy and anger with our vanities
  • Why? Because He is supposed to be our all in all
  • (vs. 21b) Thus as a consequence of our ways and our rejection of Him, Yahovah will move us to jealousy with a nation of people who are godless; He will provoke us to anger with the most unlikely nations—all these nations will put us to shame
    • Russia
    • China
  • (vs. 22) Additionally, Yahovah’s anger and jealousy will result in our nation being set on fire
    • Racial division
    • Political division
    • Social division
    • Social status division
  • (vs. 23) Yahovah will heap upon our nation mischiefs
    • Financial and economic collapse
  • (vs. 24) We will become a malnourished and unhealthy nation overall
    • Lab created foods replacing real food
    • GMOs
    • blights
    • droughts
    • floods
  • (vs. 25) There will be violence and terror and destruction affecting all sectors of our society
    • Regional and global scuffles and wars
    • Homegrown terrorism
    • Unbridled criminal activity
    • Anarchists
    • Technical terrorists
  • (vs. 26) Our nation will be scattered and human life will become a nominal commodity
    • People fleeing cities for suburbs and woods
    • preppers
  • (vs. 28) our nation lacks sound counsel and law and order; our government is against her citizens; our citizens don’t trust their government to have their best interests at heart; our government is corrupt; our leaders are career politicians who seek to increase their personal wealth and secure their power and authority
  • (vs. 29) our nation is heading for a great fall/collapse, but we as a people and nation seem to care very little for the pending/looming doom
  • (vs. 31) our enemies will ultimately become our judges and our executioners
  • (vs. 35) our end is looming ahead and is approaching us quickly
  • (vss. 37 & 38) when our end does come, Yahovah will ask us as a nation: what good did all our elohiym do us? Why have they not protected and delivered us from our demise?
  • (vss. 39-43) There is but One Elohiym who can bless, nurture, protect and deliver this nation from her pending doom

The Final Solution to the American-Deuteronomic Dilemma

  • The only way out of this existential quagmire that we are finding ourselves in is for this nation of ours is to reject/put away/destroy our idols and our evil behaviors and to turn to Yahovah and His Torah
  • At the very least, we Hebrew Rooters must get our collective and individual acts together and stop our foolishness and pray that Father puts off the pending doom for such a time that more people may be saved
  • It starts with each and every one of us today

 

Shalom

Faithfully,

Rod Thomas

Are We Seekers of God or Torah Observers?

by | Sep 30, 2016 | Podcasts

 Sabbath Thoughts and Reflections-Episode-69

A Probing Question

For this episode of Sabbath Thoughts and Reflections, I have been led to share a comment left by a visitor to our website. That comment–more a question than a comment I should say–seemed to call into question just what I mean by the phrase “Torah Observer” (found in the title of our website) as opposed to someone who is a “Seeker of God.” In fact, here is the actual comment/question for your consideration:

Greetings to you…I can’t really tell you how I arrived here, at your site but it feels more like a tour guide assisted. Your terminology is new and different to me but I sense we have more in common than not. I have a few questions that might help me navigate myself into your Torah World…What makes one a Torah Observer opposed to a Seeker of God? And at what point, does one dive in opposed to wading in the shallow waters? What is the bigger view or commissioning of these Torah Observers? Maybe, I should start with the meaning of the root word, Observer? What does this mean? Thank you for time and your postings!

This comment/question was very opportunistic and timely for me. I had assumed that the title “The Messianic Torah Observer” was self-explanatory. I never thought that our title could conceivably trip up some people who are in search of Biblical and spiritual truth. Apparently, this seems to be the case, at least for a handful of folks. So I saw this question as an opportunity to sit back and truly examine what it means to be a “Torah Observer” and what it means to be a “God seeker.”

A Seeker of God Must Conduct Their Search With Their Whole Heart and Soul.

A Seeker of God Must Conduct Their Search With Their Whole Heart and Soul.

God Seeker/Truth Seeker-A New Concept?

The concept of being a “God-seeker” is relatively new to me. Growing up in the Southern Baptist Church and transitioning to the Interdenominational and charismatic Christian realms, I had never come across this phrase or concept before. You see, growing up in these Christian sects, you were either a Christian or you were something else–Catholic, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindi, Atheist, Agnostic, Satan Worshiper, etc. It had never really dawned on me that there were people out there who were in somewhat of a transitory period of searching for the one true God; the one true Faith; or even the one true principle in life that will sustain them for the rest of their lives.

It wasn’t until I’d become firmly established in Hebrew Roots that I began hearing about “truth seekers.” It appears that a great many people that are drawn to Hebrew Roots, instead of calling themselves Christians or Messianic Jews or Believers, prefer calling themselves “truth seekers” or “God seekers.” The funny thing is that I had actually begun hailing so-called “truth-seekers” in many of my opening comments to these episodes. Despite my frequent greetings to truth and or God seekers, I can honestly say that I’d never given a great deal of thought as to what exactly a “truth-seeker” or a “God-seeker” was. And when I say truth seeker, I also mean God-seeker, more or less.

To me, being a God Seeker implied that one was looking for or seeking for or after God. As a result of that seeking, one either must continue seeking. If one fails to find the object of his or her search there are only a couple options; (1) they either abandon the search altogether if the search proves futile; or (2) actually and ultimately find God Almighty–Yahovah–Yahuah–Yahweh–Abba Father. Since Abba is the holder of all truth, finding Him would in turn mean finding truth. But again, that’s me.

As has become the non-negotiable routine in my walk, I turned to the Bible to arrive at a proper understanding as to what we’re really talking about here. And what I came up with has once again changed the way I view my walk and this Faith of ours.

To Seek God is an Intentional Act

Seeking After God Is an Intentional Act--Not a Cognitive Exercise

Seeking After God Is an Intentional Act–Not a Cognitive Exercise

The English term “seek” is the Hebrew term “baqash.” Extra-biblical resources define “baqash” from the perspective of an intentional act. That intentional act focuses on a specific object that is the focal point of the search in question. The overall intent, of course, is to acquire or find (i.e., Hebrew “masa) the object in question. As it relates to our topic today, that object is our Heavenly Father or His Truth. In other words, a God-Seeker or God-”baqash” is focused upon acquiring or finding God and or His truth. Simple, hey? Well, don’t stop reading or listening just yet. There is more to this concept than our standard English language-Western understanding of what it means to seek after God.

What Are We Seeker After?

To begin with, wouldn’t it seem obvious to you that in order to seek God, the seeker must have some specific understanding of who, what and where God is. Otherwise, one may seek and find the wrong God as so many in history have done. Otherwise, one may seek and altogether overlook God. Why? Because the seeker never knew exactly who they were looking for in the first place. And then the seeker must determine whether they have the wherewithal to conduct a proper search for God. In other words, does the seeker have the proper spirit, mindset, heart and resources to conduct a proper search. Haven’t you ever sought after someone you were unfamiliar with? Someone you’ve not known or whom you’ve never met or seen before? Isn’t that search difficult if you lack the foundation upon which to base your search? Often, having a name is not nearly enough to make for a successful search. For instance, searching after “God” for instance is somewhat nebulous. The term “God” is a title, not a name. So it stands to reason that one must have more data in order to affect a successful search such as determining “God’s” true name. It’s conceivable that the seeker may require more information to augment our search. If the search fails to turn up the object of our search, such as God and His truths, maybe the seeker must then refine his/her search criteria such as knowing God’s true identity. In addition, the seeker might need to consider the work, history, affiliations, last known location, etc. of the object of our search–i.e., God.

Impediments to a Successful

We know that the enemy is always out there looking to trip us up in our walk. It doesn’t take much for him to hijack one’s search for the one true God. Both Christianity and Hebrew Roots alike are filled to overflowing with characters who go to great lengths to lead truth seekers astray and away from God’s Word. And if one aims to go on a search for God without being properly prepared, he or she is primed for becoming another statistic; another victim of religion and boot-leggers who mislead the sincere seeker of God. The unprepared seeker of God will undoubtedly encounter false teachers and preachers who will go out of their way to convince them that they know where to find the one true God and all of His truth. Before you know it, the seeker finds a God that is nothing like the God of Avraham, Yishach and Yaachov. Consequently, they inevitably will spend years enslaved in religion, having been lied to and believing all along that they’ve found the one true God. I know this because I’m speaking somewhat from personal experience. When I first transitioned into Hebrew Roots, I spent the first two to four years all over the place in terms of defining who Yahovah and His truth was. And how did I fall into this sideways trap? Well, I trusted men to teach me what I perceived at the time to be truth. Instead of my seeking after truth from the pages of my Bible and the revelation and leading of the Ruach Kodesh, I trusted men to feed me their version of the one true God and His truth.

Search Back on Track

It wasn’t until Hilary and I came across Arthur Bailey and Michael Rood that I was able to pack my bags and once again depart religion and resume my search for the One True God. Now I get that many of you reject Michael Rood and Arthur Bailey. But despite what you may or may not think or know of these two men, the bulk of their teachings point you right to the Bible. The Bible must always be the fulcrum of our search for God and His truth. Our search of God and His truth must never be conducted solely through a man or any organization as I mistakenly did. Michael’s and Arthur’s teachings pointed me to the Bible and in so doing, my search for Yahovah and His truth was set on the correct track. Do I agree with everything that these two men of Yahovah teach and preach? No I do not. But I do believe a great deal of what they teach and preach because the source of their teachings and preaching content is derived from the Bible. I have learned not to base my understanding of Yahovah and His truths from their commentary and personal opinions. I respect their opinions and commentary. However, I am more concerned with the Biblical foundation of their teachings as we all should be.

Seeking God–A Biblical Concept and Commandment

     Additional extra-biblical analysis (i.e., Lexicons and Commentaries) further suggests that the act of seeking after God is rarely if ever a cognitive act. In other words, to seek after God is well beyond simple head knowledge that there is a God somewhere out there in the “great beyond,” and it behooves us to figure out who and what and where He is. This is evident in synonyms to “baqash” (i.e., to seek). Those synonyms are: to pursue (radap): to ask (sha’al); to petition; to visit (paqad) and to choose (bahar). So it is clear that any true search for or after Yahovah and His truths requires physical, emotional, psychological and spiritual effort on the part of the seeker.

We are commanded to seek after Yahovah. In so doing, seeking after Abba Father must be conducted according to His terms, not our own. Moses told us that we would be scattered among the peoples of the world and our numbers would diminish significantly. During that scattering, we would serve pagan gods and abandon Yahovah. But there would come a day when we would

“…seek Yahovah our God and we will find Him if we search for Him with all our heart and all our soul.” (Deuteronomy 4:27-29)

An example of that seeking by us while we sojourned in the Sinai can be found in Exodus 33:7. Nevertheless, Yahovah is found only when one seeks Him with their whole heart as noted in Jeremiah 29:13, which reads:

“You will find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. ‘I will be found by you,’ declares Yahovah’…”

This Searching After God is a Heart Thing

Failure to pursue Yahovah with the right heart and spirit is simply a feigned or fake search of Him. When seekers with improper hearts and spirits seek after Yahovah and they find themselves in need of the one true God, they will NOT find Him. (References: Ezekiel 7:25, 26; Hosea 5:6; Amos 8:12) This is a most serious thing with eternal implications for the seeker. And here’s that heart thing showing its head once again. Recall just a few episodes ago, I spoke to the importance of having a humble and contrite and broken heart and spirit in order for Abba to hear and notice us. Indeed, this for me was just another confirmation that our hearts must be in the right place at every time and place of our walk; even in our search for Abba Father and His truths.

The Search Must Have an Ultimate End

The ultimate aim of a God-seeker (as well as a truth-seeker) is of course to find the one True God and Creator of the Universe. Regardless what many will say or insinuate or feel or think, there must be a conclusion at some point to that search. The search can not continue unresolved. And I’m afraid that we have a generation of sincere believers who have made it a part-time pre-occupation of theirs to seek after God and His Truths. They somehow satisfy themselves more with the idea of being on a perpetual search for God than the idea of actually finding Him and His truths. And I would venture to guess that this is so because, once you find that which you’ve sought after your entire life, you’ll have to actually do something with that which you’ve sought after. And I’m talking about having to actually do something with the object of the search: do something with God. Right? Upon finding Him and His eternal truths, then comes the moment when all the questions start to get answered. Then comes the moment when the life we once knew and loved and lived is brought into question. Then comes the moment when we decide if we are going to embrace the end-result of that search and never look back.

What Do We Do When We Find God?

So it will come down to the seeker having to give up their former lives to the One True God. The seeker must pick up their staff and follow Yeshua Messiah. The seeker must be willing to sell everything and follow Him. It will come down to the seeker giving up possession of His body, mind, soul and spirit to the Master and the Work of the Gospel. It will come down to the seeker being obedient: being a Torah Observer. The seeking must come to an end. Father stated through His great prophet Jeremiah:

“And ye shall seek me and find me when ye shall search for me with all your heart. And I will be found of you, says Yahovah: and I will turn away your captivity and I will gather you from all the nations and from all the places whither I have driven you, says Yahovah; and I will bring you again into the place whence I caused you to be carried away captive.” (Jeremiah 29:13, 14; Cepher)

Many will say that this prophecy was fulfilled when Judah returned to the Land from their Babylonian captivity. Many will say that this prophecy was fulfilled when the Zionists established the state of Israel back in 1948. And indeed, maybe a portion of this prophecy was fulfilled during one or both of these historic events. But we know that Judah as it was in the days of the 2nd Temple and even today in the modern nation of Israel, have never truly sought after nor have they found Yahovah. If anything, these individuals sought after and found religion; they found secularism; they found paganism. They failed to find the one true God. And all indications are that many of us who have found the one true God and have become Netsarim and disciples of Yeshua HaMashiach, are probably part and parcel of the lost tribes of Israel, destined to return to the land at some point in time. The Jews currently living in Israel and throughout the world, assuming they are true Jews, remain blind to the truth about Yahovah and His Son. Most of them have not conducted a proper search for Yahovah.

If We Earnestly Seek Him We Shall Find Him–A Promise

Yet those who are truly seeking with the proper heart and spirit, Yahovah promises, they will ultimately find Him.

Folks, I don’t believe this Jeremiah prophecy has been completed. I believe we will see in the not too distant future, the true people—the true seekers-of Yahovah, will ultimately find Him. I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that this will happen. Right now, it doesn’t look too promising, but the call of Hebrew Roots—the message of Hebrew Roots—is getting out there. People are heeding the call of Yeshua Messiah. One-by-one, the scales are falling from truth seekers’ eyes. More and more people are discovering that the God that they once thought they’d found is really not the One True God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The world has, for the most part, been sold a bill of goods. Most of the world has been introduced to and have accepted a knock-off/counterfeit version of the God of the Hebrews. But we Torah Observant Believers in Yeshua Messiah know that the original God is out there, waiting for seekers to find Him through the atoning sacrifice of His Son Yeshua Messiah, the revelation of Himself through the imparting of His Ruach HaKodesh and through washing by His Word.

I believe I’ve found the one True God. My search for Him is over. Now my search is to know Him and His ways. That search will likely take the remainder of my life to complete, if that is at even possible.

Shalom

Faithfully Submitted: Rod Thomas