Sabbath Thoughts #2

by | Feb 15, 2015 | Podcasts

Sabbath Thoughts #2–Baptism and Teachers

  • Calendar–February 14, 2015–the West is celebrating St. Valentine’s Day
  • News Relevant to the Messianic/Hebraic Roots Community
    • Pray for the Safety, Protection and Peace of the State of Israel
      • In an article written in the Washington Post by William Booth dated today, by all indications, Hamas appears to be gearing up for war against the state of Israel. This comes barely 6-months after the cease fire began between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip
      • What remains from last summer’s conflict between Hamas and Israel is utter devastation, poverty, lack of financial and humanitarian assistance for the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip. Some have dubbed this as a humanitarian crisis that may lead to the social collapse of Gaza
      • 100K Palestinians were displaced by last year’s conflict. People in the affected region continue to sleep in the open air because their home had been destroyed and there has been no compensation and repairs
      • Hamas controls the Gaza Strip
      • It has been estimated that some 2,100 Palestinians (Israel contends these to be Hamas militants) died in the conflict and 72 Israeli’s (mostly members of the IDF) had been killed
      • Last month Hamas held a training camp for some 17K Palestinian youths in preparation for an upcoming conflict with Israel
      • Israeli intelligence contends that Hamas is manufacturing rockets as fast as they can. The Israeli Navy intercepted 3-Hamas affiliates trying to smuggle rocket-making materials from Egypt by sea just this week
      • A couple weeks ago, Messianic Evangelist Kenny Russell warned of an coming upheaval in the land of Israel (although he failed to provide specifics or any discernible hint as to what this upheaval may be or what may cause the upheaval)
    • Pray for the residents of New England as they brace for a dangerous winter blizzard promising to dump an additional 2′ of snow to the already snow laden region, damaging snow-gusts and sub-zero temperatures. As of this post, a storm is rapidly forming and intensifying off the New England coast, heading toward the equivalent of a category-2 hurricane

  • Main Content–Baptism and Teachers

    Baptisms on the Jordan River

    Baptisms on the Jordan River

    Baptism or as Michael Rood has coined, the Mikveh. Based upon events 31-33 in the Chronological Gospels, corresponding to February 10, 2015 or Sunday, February 16, 27 CE (Note: you can purchase the Kindle Edition of The Chronological Gospels by using our Amazon Affiliate Link found on this website.)

    • Why did the master humble Himself to be baptized?
      • Yochanan adopts an old practice of immersion for purity, now used in a new context for purposes of cleansing one from a life-pattern of sin as so aptly stated by Mr. Stern
      • Yeshua countered Yochanan’s hesitancy to baptize Him by stating that they, in particular Yeshua, should do everything that righteousness requires
    • What does His example mean for us today?
      • Mustn’t we do everything that righteousness requires–of us as individuals and of the Faith?
      • Mustn’t we imitate Yeshua?
    • What are the Hebraic Roots of baptism
      • Torah provides a number of passages where Father directed individuals who for whatever reason enters into impure states to bathe, wash, be restored back to a pure state
        • Exo. 19:10; 29:4; 30; Lev. 14:1-8; 15; 16; 17; Num. 19
        • Heb. 10: 22

19 ¶ Since therefore, brethren, we ahave confidence to benter the holy place by the blood of Jesus,
 20 by aa new and living way which He inaugurated for us through bthe veil, that is, His flesh,
 21 and since we have aa great priest bover the house of God,
 22 let us adraw near with a 1sincere heart in bfull assurance of faith, having our hearts c sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies dwashed with pure water.
 23 Let us hold fast the aconfession of our bhope without wavering, for cHe who promised is faithful;
 24 and let us consider how a to stimulate one another to love and bgood deeds,
 25 not forsaking our own aassembling together, as is the habit of some, but bencouraging one another; and all the more, as you see c the day drawing near. (Heb 10:19-25 NAS)
 
This sort of takes the wind out of the old Christian song “Just As I Am.”
 
      • From Torah, like very thing else, during the 2nd Temple period, Rabbinic Judaism appears to have taken over and put a number of rules around the practice of baptism or immersion (aka Tavila). Mikvaot had to be constructed and be made to hold certain amounts of water and be connected to a living source of water
      • There were 100’s of mikvaot in and around the Temple Mount that served the purity needs of the thousands of Jewish residents and pilgrims coming to worship at the Temple
      • Mikvaot have also been discovered in remains of private residents and on Masada
      • Repentance–the baptism performed by Yochanan and Yeshua’s disciples during Yeshua’s ministry
      • Identification--various incidents of baptisms accomplished in the name of Yeshua by the Apostles (Act. 2:38; 8:16, 26-40; 10; 16:6-13, 16-34; 19:5). These examples were immersions in conjunction with immersions for repentance
        • The story of Cornelius is a monumental example of the promise being passed on to the Gentile where Cornelius and family received the baptism of not only identification but also the Ruach Kodesh
      • Purification–Sha’ul shows his devotion to Torah by participating in a purification rite on the Temple Mount, as urged and suggested by James (Act. 21:17-26)

      • Suffering–those who would be baptized in repentance and identification with Yeshua Messiah and in Ruach Hakodesh would suffer for their Faith–Fox’s Book of Martyrs (Note: You can purchase Fox’s Book of Martyrs using our Amazon Affiliate Link found on this website)

NAS  Romans 12:1 ¶ aI urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to bpresent your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, 1acceptable to God, which is your 2 spiritual service of worship.
 2 And do not abe conformed to bthis 1 world, but be transformed by the crenewing of your mind, that you may dprove what the will of God is, that which is good and 2acceptable and perfect. (Rom 12:1-2 NAS)
      • Ruach Hakodesh–Act 2–Pentecost and in most cases of Gentile converts being baptized in identification with Yeshua Messiah
      • Fire
 15 ¶ “Beware of the a false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are bravenous wolves.
 16 “You will 1aknow them by their fruits. 2Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes, nor figs from thistles, are they?
 17 “Even so, aevery good tree bears good fruit; but the bad tree bears bad fruit.
 18 “A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit.
 19 a“Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
 20 “So then, you will 1 know them aby their fruits. (Mat 7:15-20 NAS)
  • Personal experiences with baptism. Thoughts and reflections
    • Christians see baptism as a one time deal–as part of their initiation into the Christian Faith
    • Adherents are baptized into denominations
    • Infusion of Greek philosophy into the doctrine of baptisms
    • My experiences with baptism
  • Should we rely solely upon Yehovah’s anointed teachers or conduct our own research? Are we qualified to conduct our own research?
    • We may occasionally come across errors in the teachings of some of Yehovah’ s annointed teachers. What should we do?
    • Should we conduct our own studies on topics or simply take in and trust Yah’s anointed to pass on His truth error free?
    • What then is our responsibility when we come across an error in one’s teachings?
  • Call to action
    • Support this ministry by opting in to our email list, subscribing to our podcast feed, and following us on social media
    • Leave us comments and questions utilizing the comment box that proceeds this post or email us at perceptionwp@gmail.com
    • Get a hold of Michael Rood’ s teaching on the mikveh and if you are so led get mikvehed at your next opportunity