Post Passover–Feast of Unleavened Bread Thoughts and Reflections–STAR-85

by | Apr 29, 2017 | Blog, Podcasts

Post Passover-Feast of Unleavened Bread Thoughts and Reflections--STAR-85

by Rod Thomas | The Messianic Torah Observer's Sabbath Thoughts and Reflections

This is Sabbath Thoughts and Reflections—Episode 85—My Post-Passover-Feast of Unleavened Bread Thoughts and Reflections

 

Greetings fellow Saints in Training. I am trusting that this episode of Sabbath Thoughts and Reflections finds you, your families and fellowships well and bless.

 

Hey, how was your Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread celebration? I hope they were spiritually enriching and that you received the blessings that you were hoping and looking for.

 

As I am posting this episode, we find ourselves just having entered the second Biblical Month of the Creator’s Calendar Year, with the renewed moon sighted over the land of Israel yesterday, 4/28/2017. Having just concluded Passover and the 7-Day Observance of the Feasts of Unleavened Bread (aka Matzah) less than 2-weeks ago, we now turn our sights to Shavuot (aka Pentecost), the final installment of the Spring Feasts of Yahuwah, which will hit us on 6/4/2017.

 

As it relates to my Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread observance this year, Hilary and I stayed local, but we did vacate our home and checked in to a hotel for the week. We realize that we cannot keep Passover and Unleavened Bread the way Torah expressly lays out for us given that the Romans in 70 C.E. destroyed the Temple in Jerusalem and that Yeshua’s sacrifice replaced the animal sacrifices. Nevertheless, the once majestic temple that once stood in Jerusalem is gone but has been replaced by these bodies of ours  and it is our bodies that Abba’s Ruach dwells (I Corinthians 3:16; 6:19). Thus we honor the Feasts of Yahuwah as Abba commanded (Leviticus 23) through fellowshipping with other like-minded Believers in Yeshua Messiah as Father provides. It becomes our greatest pleasure, or it should be, to welcome each feast as it comes with joy and great anticipation, for these are Abba’s appointed times—the sacred moedim of Yahuwah. Father did not abolish His feasts as so many of our cousins in Christianity are quick to point out to us. They are to remain in perpetuity and they serve a divine purpose of reminding us of the great things that Father has done for us through His Son Yeshua Messiah and the great things to come for those who are His and await His coming and the establishment of His Kingdom here on earth.

 

We know for a fact that Yeshua kept the feasts as did the apostles, especially Paul who wrote to the Corinthian Assembly of Believers: “Therefore, let us celebrate the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth (I Corinthians 5:8, NAS).’

 

So who are we to shirk the feasts? While the world is falling apart by its seams, we are blessed to have Yeshua, Torah and the Feasts of Yahuwah. Amein.

 

With that my beloved, let us get on with some post Thoughts and Reflections on Passover and Unleavened Bread.

In Love With the Feast of Yah!

 

I am a “down-right,” “bought and paid-for,” fanatic when it comes to the Feasts of Yahuwah/Yahovah/Yahweh. Ever since I officially began observing the feasts back in 2004, I take the greatest joy in their observance and the celebratory opportunities they provide the Torah observant believer in Yeshua Messiah.

 

Looking Back at the Beginning

 

When I first began observing them, I, as I am certain any new believer to our Faith has experienced, met each Feast with somewhat of a tense sense of anticipation. What I mean by this is that, we begin our “Feasts-honoring-careers” (if you will) with a deep, heartfelt desire to “do the Feasts” properly (knowing now that there is no Biblical-specifics as to what constitutes “proper” when it comes to 21st-century Feast observances) and in such a manner that it would be pleasing to Abba; we did not want to screw any of these celebrations up.

 

So at the beginning of my Feasts-honoring-career,” I began to over-do them (the Feasts that is) to such an extent that the Feasts became somewhat burdensome for me and I began to question: were we doing this thing correctly; were we dishonoring Father in the way we were observing the Feasts; what will my family members and co-workers think of me taking off so much time from work and life in general to observe—what?—dead Jewish holidays that even the Jews don’t truly observe anymore; do we have the correct dates for the Feasts; would we be ready in time to begin the observance; what is the point behind the observances anyway? Yaddy…yaddy…yaddy.

 

Still Concerned About the Feasts

 

These questions and concerns haunted me in the first couple years back when I first converted, and to a lesser extent, they still haunt me even to this day. Oh, these questions and concerns have somewhat morphed over the years, I’ll be honest to say, taking on more of a deeper, personal concern: will we squander the opportunities the feasts provide by not seeking out every possible opportunity; what does Abba want us to gain from the experience; who are the best persons to observe the feasts with—just Hilary, friends or a particular fellowship-gathering; what is reasonable to spend (money-wise) in order to honor Yah through observing His feasts in the spirit that Abba would justly require?

 

This Passover a Bust?

 

This particular Passover celebration season proved a challenging one for me in terms of these and other stated concerns. This particular year was quite odd in that my concerns centered upon what Abba wanted me to gain from the celebration period. (Yes, I know, touching on being a bit inwardly focused in my concerns, but I am giving you my sincerest thoughts.)

 

I will be honest with you: for much of the 8-day observance period (i.e., the day we identify as Passover, followed by the 7-days of Unleavened Bread), I felt troubled and frankly, empty. I just could not identify what I was supposed to be getting out of the weeklong observance. Oh, I delved into some moderately deep Scriptural studies; some teachings online; and some personal reflections and prayer throughout the week, yet by week’s end, I was still unclear what I gained (spiritually speaking that is) from the celebration week.

 

Yes, I believe (it’s a quirk of mine) that we are to gain or get something out of each feast observance—that we must leave each feast celebration in a better spiritual place than when we began the feast, otherwise I feel as though I’ve missed what Father would have in store for me. Moreover, I do not want to miss a thing that Father has for me.

 

Father’s Feasts

 

These are supposed to be Abba’s appointed times that He established at the very beginning to meet with us (Genesis 1:14; Leviticus 23:4; Psalm 104:19; Daniel 2:21) collectively and individually, especially during the three-pilgrimage Feasts of Unleavened Bread (Leviticus 23), Shavuot (aka Pentecost or Feast of Weeks) and Sukkot (aka Feast of Tabernacles or Booths). I believe that is one of the distinct reasons Father commanded us to pack up and go to where He chose to place his Name and to celebrate these times before Him in joy and in reverence and in anticipation of a spiritual blessing (Leviticus 23; Deuteronomy 12, 14, 16 and 26). These feasts gatherings are “dates” we are privileged to have with the Most High and they should be some of the most memorable, beautiful, spiritually romantic, substantive periods in our lives.

 

A Date with the Creator

 

I remember when I was courting my lovely wife, Hilary, back in the day: oh, how I looked forward with indescribable anticipation the dates we would have. Each date we’d set would result in my mind being almost entirely focused upon the plans that we’d made and how I could make those plans even more special for her. When the time came for our date to begin, there was a joy and an anticipation of a wondrous time that I would have with her and how much closer we would become because of the experience. Those were heady and crazy times, looking back 36-years ago. Talk about “first love.”

 

Somehow, I believe my dates—those set, annual, appointed times with Yahuwah—must exceed the dating experiences I used to experience with Hilary three and a half decades ago.

 

The question for me becomes–how do I capture that same sense of anticipation and joy in my celebration of the feasts, and for that matter, exceed them?

 

Not Much Joy this Passover

 

Sadly, I was lacking that sense of anticipation and joy this year and that has somewhat disappointed me. Do I feel that the entire Passover period was a spiritual bust for me? No, not in the least, but it was not joyous nor inspiring. I will explain in just a second.

 

Introspective—Testing—Bitter Sweet—Revelatory Type Passover

 

This Passover for me was more of introspection and a time of testing and spiritual self-inventory; it was more of a bitter experience than a pleasant one. Now this does not mean that the experience was not spiritually good for me. On the contrary, I believe it proved to be a most spiritually beneficial feast for me as a Spirit-Filled Torah Observant Believer in Yeshua Messiah. No, it was not one of those “hang out with the brethren” Feasts this year—it was something else: revelation; introspection; inquiry; concern; regrets are just a few of the descriptors of my time last week. Again, it all came down to what I gained from the experience. It is all about spiritual gain: growth; spiritual development; spiritual and personal insight; fellowship (when available); rest, both spiritually and physically; peace; opportunity; worship; and celebration—celebration of life, who I am as a Son of the Most High, of my redemption, of my tremendous good fortune in Father’s adoption of me as His child. Of course, there is much more.

 

So what did I come away with—or what did I gain—from this year’s Passover? I came away with the following things that, quite frankly, I’m still working through even as I write this post: first, the “love of the many” has seemingly “waxed cold” in our Faith Community and I’m afraid to say that even I may also be infected with this malady; secondly, the Passover-Unleavened Bread observance was more than just a reminder that sin must be purged from our lives; and thirdly, as much as I prefer introversion as my primary framework for worship, I found that I missed fellowshipping with other like-minded believers apart from Hilary.

 

I know, a bummer, right? Well, not exactly. What these elements have begun to teach me is that I, Rod, have a ton of work that needs to be completed in my life and that I must decide where my heart, mind and soul truly will lay in my remaining years on this earth before Master returns.

 

Allow me to reflect upon each of these 3-areas if you don’t mind.

The Love of the Many…in Hebrew Roots

 

The first of these 3-reflective areas of Passover has to do with my perception—dare I say heartfelt concern—that love is quickly vanishing from the ranks of our Faith Community, if it has not already done so by now.

 

Despite the reality of our abject preoccupation with Torah, one of the central, dare I say essential criterion of being a member of the Hebrew Roots Community, is that Yahoshua/Yahshua is our Master and we are compelled to obey Him as we obey our Creator Yahuwah. For some odd reason, a huge swath of Torah-keeping believers have all but abandoned Yeshua and have turned their lives almost entirely to a radical form of Judaism or have adopted a Judaistic-like worldview. One believer that I came across in social media aptly dubbed these individuals as “Yeshua-haters;” and indeed, given the excessive venom and vile disdain these individuals have for anyone who doesn’t see the things of our Faith as they do, this title certainly fits these individuals to a tee.

 

Nevertheless, Master Yeshua and His teachings if ignored will have eternal repercussions.

 

Shaul (aka the Apostle Paul), in his letter to the Assembly of Believers in Philippi, so eloquently wrote of our Master: “Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Messiah Yahoshua, who, although He existed in the form of Yahuwah/Yahweh/Yahovah (i.e., having the qualities and characteristics of His Father), did not regard equality with Yahuwah a thing to be grasped (i.e., a thing to take hold of), but emptied Himself (He essentially set aside His favored status with the Father), taking the form of a bond-servant and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. For this reason also, Yahuwah highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name (i.e., above every authority), so that at the name of Yeshua every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth (i.e., every created being that has ever existed), and that every tongue will confess that Yeshua Messiah is Master, to the glory of Yahuwah the Father (Philippians 2: 5-11; NAS, amended by me).

 

So with this knowledge being set firmly in our hearts and minds, it makes undeniable sense that we should do what Yeshua tells us to do; that of course assumes that He is indeed Master over our lives, having been appointed as such by Yahuwah His Father. I would further submit that this point is not up for debate, nor is it optional.

 

Now, Master gave us a commandment, that He stipulated as a “new” instruction or commandment, and that instruction is found exclusively in John’s gospel, chapters 13 and 15 which reads: “A new commandment I give to you that you love one another just as I have loved you; you also are to love one another” (13:34, ESV); and “This is my commandment: that you love one another as I have loved you” (15:12; ESV).

 

As an aside, I find it fascinating how this concept of love for one another seemed to resonate so profoundly with John, whom the writing suggests the Master loved exceptionally so. This commandment resonated with John so much that he even referenced it in his first and second general epistles—I John 4:21; 2 John 1:5.

 

So the question I have for our community today is–where is the love? Why is our Faith Community so devoid of love for one another? Why do we persistently hate on one another? Why do we despise one another over the most innocuous things and cut off fellowship with one another because we interpret elements of our Faith differently from one another? This thing is worse than money and politics in the carnal world, for these are just two examples of things that have the potential to sever most relationships between once respecting and even loving peoples.

 

For some bizarre reason we have many angry and mean folks attaching themselves to our community who seem quite obtuse to the aforementioned Johannine passages.

 

Yes, people in our Faith Community can be exceptionally mean and these exceptionally mean people have no problem eating you alive in person or online over the most innocuous Torah topics. I got into, yet, another fight on Facebook the week of Passover, this time over the Biblical validity of what I often refer to as the Lunar Sabbath debacle. That on-line conflict essentially ruined an entire day of the Feast for me; I was outraged at the arrogance of the two individuals who insisted that we Torah-keepers are for all-intents and purposes lower forms of life and, as one of them called me, infidels, for not adopting this evil, baseless doctrine that seems to be setting up shop in our community. How does such a ridiculous doctrine, obviously from the pit of hades itself, find such a zealous home in the hearts of once devout Hebrew Rooters? I just do not get it. Then those very same Hebrew Rooters, now converted Lunar Sabbatarians, take on a sense of brutal arrogance that seeks to shut down those of us who do not agree with it.

 

Another Facebook conflict happened to me just this week, although I was not a willing participant in this conflict, which involved a long-time Facebook friend (whatever that actually means these days), who posted a scathing retort on my Facebook page over my referring to Abba as—wait, here it comes—God! Yes, I dared to refer to Yahuwah, our Elohim, by the title of God. Okay, since when did it become a crime in Hebrew Roots to use the title God? Honestly, how many of us grew up calling our Creator by what we presume to be His true name today—Yahweh—Yahovah—Yahuwah? I can pretty much guess, not very many of us, and oh, by the way, our best guesses at the Creator’s Name is just that—best guesses. No one alive today truly knows the correct pronunciation of the Creator’s Name. However, there are certain members of this sacred names sect that will cut you down just as quick as the lunar Sabbatarians. Again, where is the love that Master commanded us to show towards one another? Indeed, the love of the many in our community has waxed ever so cold.

 

Nevertheless, what Father has revealed to me in the midst of my outrage and disappointment (in those who are supposed to be Spirit-filled and possess love for God and for brother/sister) is that the tares and wheat MUST grow together until the time of harvest, otherwise in uprooting the tares to free the wheat, the wheat will be uprooted in the process (Matthew 13:24-30). Furthermore, it’s too bad that my little feelings were hurt as a result of a couple of personal attacks over such non-issues and topics as the Lunar Sabbath debacle or even the Pharisaic attempts by some to stamp out the use of the term God from all Hebrew Rooter vernacular. In addition, I am almost certain that many of you listening to me today have endured such attacks from the ultra-conservative, radical arm of our community. These and other such fights are not mine to wage, as much as my ire towards those who seek to harm our Faith Community with their lies is so easily kindled when they so arrogantly go about their trolling for new converts to their confederacy of evil.

The Bread of Affliction

Unleavened Bread—A Time to Embrace Affliction

 

The second of my three reflective areas for this Passover season has to do with the concept of affliction. Allow me to explain.

 

This past Passover and Unleavened Bread season was particularly challenging for me on a couple of levels. To begin with, Hilary and I are working through some major life-changes that involve relocating cross-country to attend to ailing family members and initiate a full-time ministry. Can I just say—this is one of the most challenging things we have ever done in our 3-1/2-decades of married life. I will not bore you with the particulars, but suffice to say, this is turning out to be something that I will be happy to see come to a complete end here shortly, Abba willing and the crick don’t rise.

 

Along with that, the situation back East with my aging and ailing loved ones seems to have taken quite a turn for the worse and I’m having to deal with a great deal of guilt over not being there, and of course, the tremendous anxiety of not getting this whole “relocation” thing over and done with fast enough. I guess it comes down to a “woe is me” situation playing out in my head. It is weighing heavy on it adversely affected, not just and me how I was relating to my beloved Hilary, but it was weighing heavy on my focus during the entire Passover week.

 

Therefore, I struggled to maintain a positive focus during the week of Passover and Unleavened Bread in the midst of my guilt and worries, while at the same time fighting to identify what it was I was supposed to be learning for the Feast-week.

 

With all, that I have mentioned that was going on with me during that week, turns out that I did not gain an understanding of what Father had for me in terms of that Passover week until the Last Day of Unleavened Bread. Upon tuning in to House of Israel in Charlotte North Carolina from Hilary and my hotel room (having vacated our home in honor of the Feast week), I received the understanding I was searching for. That understanding was something that I have always known about in the back of my mind, but never thought to apply it to myself, David, a minister at House of Israel, delivered it to me.

 

David reminded me that most of us place quite a bit of focus on sin as it relates to the Feast of Unleavened Bread; that is, the elimination of sin from our lives. The popular teaching in our Faith Community is that the Feast of Unleavened Bread provides a prophetic-framework that reminds us that Abba’s plan of salvation and His purpose for sending us Master Yeshua was to vanquish sin from our lives—both imputed vanquishing of past sins through Abba’s grace and Yeshua’s sacrifice, and our daily work of eliminating sin from every aspect of our lives through obedience to Torah and the transformative work of the Ruach HaKodesh (i.e., the Holy Spirit) in our lives.

 

Indeed, this is a crucial aspect of our lives that I believe we must keep in the forefront of our thoughts, and thus we fight the good fight daily of dying to self.

 

Yet until David’s teaching, I felt as though Abba was shortchanging me this Feast. Oh, how wrong could I have been!

 

The other aspect of Unleavened Bread we tend to overlook in our Faith Community is the historical link between the consumption of Unleavened Bread during the 7-day Feast week and the years of horrendous bondage that we endured in Egypt. Abba referred to those years of bondage as “affliction” (that is, “oniy”) (Exodus 3:17) and that affliction is memorialized in the leavened bread that we consume during the week and the bitter herbs we cringe to eat during the Pecach meal (Deuteronomy 16:3).

 

Affliction, the consuming of matzah and the Feast of Unleavened Bread are intricately linked. Unleavened bread is symbolic of affliction. Let us face it, leavened products can be quite pleasing to the pallet and appealing to the eyes; whereas unleavened products tend to appear bland and taste equally so. It is often a challenge to willingly submit oneself to consuming something that is as distasteful as unleavened bread (aka matzah) for seven days, especially when there is so many other options readily available to us.

 

Have you noticed breads, cakes and cookies seem to find their way in our line of vision annoying so during the week of Unleavened Bread? Fortunately, I love the celebrating this feast more than I care for leavened foods.

 

What then is the nexus between unleavened bread and affliction? Well, for me, affliction is certainly not something that I relish taking place in my life. Yet I am not so naive to know that bad times come upon us when they come and often there is little that we can do about them. Often times they come as a result of something bad that we’ve done, thus affliction is the reaping of that which we’ve badly sown (Galatians 6:7-9). The Tanakh is filled with examples of affliction brought about through disobedience or evil deeds.

 

Afflictions come to us at times to prove us and build us up in the areas of our lives that are spiritually lacking and if those areas are not refined and molded properly, we become useless to Father (Job 4, 8, 11, 18), and this my dear friends is one of the areas of affliction that seems to applied to me the most. There are many areas of my life that need refining and strengthening in order for me, and yes you, to be the vessels that Father is desirous of us to work out His purpose in the earth.

 

Afflictions come to us at times to test us—to show to Father, the world and to us, that we’ve overcome our weaknesses and have died to self and are ready to truly be Yahushua’s disciples (again, see the story of Job).

 

Afflictions come to us at times to bring Abba glory. I know, how strange to apply such a concept—affliction—to the glory of Yahuwah, but David did a fantastic job pointing out that the Scriptures are filled with examples of people being healed and miracles transpiring all over the place for the express purpose of our God gaining the glory He so justly deserves (John 9:1-5).

 

Afflictions come to us at times to draw us closer to Father and to put us into “a right relationship with Yahuwah.”

 

In the case of our Master, afflictions came to Him to atone for the sins of the world. We deserved to be on that execution stake, but our Master took on that penalty for us and thus we’ve been gloriously released from the eternal sin debt that haunts all mankind from birth (Isaiah 53:3-7).

 

The first thing that comes to my mind whenever I sense affliction has come to my world is that God is out to get me. I recall growing up in Baltimore during the 1960’s and 1970’s, in a Southern Baptist environment, and whenever someone would be afflicted with whatever, the common thinking amongst the holy rollers was that God was getting some payback. In some cases, this may have been true, but the more accurate way of looking at these situations should have been that Father was not intending to destroy those who were being afflicted (as with us today), but was simply working these individuals through any of the above noted situations.

 

What I came away with this Unleavened Bread season was that afflictions are a big part of our walk with Messiah and as distasteful as afflictions may be (just like the taste of matzah), there is a divine purpose behind them. Our desire should be, then, to readily accept those afflictions and endure them (2 Timothy 2:10), no matter how bad they may get. As the affliction progresses, it then becomes our responsibility to turn fully to Yahuwah and resist the temptation to complain to the world about our issues (Colossians 1:24); to rejoice  in Yahuwah for the great things He is presently doing and is going to do in our lives (Philippians 4:4) and give Abba thanks, even though when afflictions hit, it’s often a challenge to do so (I Thessalonians 5:18).

 

This is the life we signed up for and it took this Unleavened Bread season for me to have this reality revealed to me. Praise Yahuwah for David’s teaching and for delivering to me that missing piece of the Unleavened Bread puzzle that eluded me for most of the Feast this past season.

 

Missing Fellowship

 

The last reflection has to do with my missing the joy of formal fellowship this Passover season. This was one of the first years in a few years where we, Hilary and I, celebrated Pecach and the Feast of Unleavened Bread alone, outside of a formal fellowship-type gathering. I must admit that I missed having that formal-fellowship this season. We were blessed to be able to tune into the Michael Rood Passover celebration, broadcasted on the internet for a fee by the Rood organization. I have some personal misgivings about this whole thing that I will save discussing for another time, but we did get some semblance of fellowship through this live-internet broadcast. Additionally, House of Israel broadcasts first and last day of Unleavened Bread teachings and praise and worship services that I found helped lessen my feelings of missing fellowship.

 

It was not the same, and I am hoping that next year, if Master tarries, Hilary and I will have the blessing of fellowshipping with a group of like-minded Spirit-Filled Torah Observant Believers in Yeshua Messiah.

 

King David wrote, “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity” (Psalm 133:1, KJV). As convenient and cost effective as on-line programs such as was offered by House of Israel and the Rood organization, I can attest that tuning in to on-line programs during the feasts does not compare to actually being with and in the midst of the brethren.

Concluding Thoughts and Reflections

 

I’ve shared with you just a few thoughts and reflections that I gained from last week’s Passover/Feast of Unleavened Bread celebration. Looking back to that week, I can honestly say that it was bitter sweet for me. Part of me wished that it would have been different; that it would have been like in years past when we fellowshipped with other like-minded believers in a formal fellowship setting and that things were going along in our lives swimmingly and without the problems that I described to you earlier. Turns out, I did not have such a pleasant experience this go-round.

 

I should say that I cannot attest for Hilary’s experience this season, but I think she spent a great amount of time putting together some teachings that you might find of spiritual value; and you may find them at www.itsnotasyouperceive.com.

 

The other part of me, however, is thankful for the week. I can say, without reservation that I’ve gained more spiritually from this year’s Passover/Unleavened Bread season than I’ve gained spiritually in past years. I’m still “feasting,” if you will, from the various elements of this year’s feast, as bitter as those elements turned out to be, and I am seeing myself from the perspective of someone who remains a “work in progress” and who has a long ways to go as it relates to meeting that mark for the prize of the high calling of Yahuwah in Messiah Yeshua.

 

It is my hope and trust that you too had a blessed Passover/Unleavened Bread season, not just celebratory-wise, but spiritual-wise. I do not know what is going on in your life today nor do I know what transpired in your life during the Feast last week. All I know is that Father is preparing for Himself a people who will finally fulfill the void left behind by our forefathers who chose to follow other elohim. Father is going to fix that problem soon and eventually, all Israel will be saved (Romans 11:26). As it relates to us today, Abba is preparing a nation of priests for this world and it is my sincerest hope that we all find ourselves busy at work doing that which Father has commanded us to do and that we ultimately find ourselves happily and eternally housed in the soon coming Kingdom of Yahuwah.

 

I would have once said, hasten and come now Master Yahoshua, come now, but after this past feast season, I’m hoping He tarries just a little longer so that I can get my act together and fulfill the mission that He’s given me; there’s just so much remaining that needs to be done.

 

Nevertheless, may Yahuwah bless you and keep you and may His glorious face shine ever so brightly upon you and that you live in complete shalom. Until next week my dear friends and fellow saints in training.

 

Faithfully

 

Rod Thomas

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In this installment of our Paul and Hebrew Roots series, we consider Paul’s instructions regarding properly attired praying woman. We explore the significance of prayer in the early Church and the fact that Paul sought to use prayer as one of his first tactics against the scourge of early Gnosticism that had infiltrated the Ephesian assemblies of Messianic Believers. And we find clearly layed out in 1 Timothy that Paul advocated women leading worship and corporate prayer in the assemblies. Shalom and welcome.

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Messianics—Modern Day Levites—Separated for Service to God—Thoughts and Reflections on Torah Portion Behaalosecha

This week’s Torah Portion-Behaalosecha-foreshadows a great many spiritual elements necessary for our service to the Kingdom of God. In a sense we are modern day Levites. We have been separated from all the nations people of the world unto God for His service. Are we up for the challenge? This is a wake-up call to the Body of Messiah to take immediate action.

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Israel: To Love or Hate Her—That is the Question—Part 2–A Biblical and Personal Perspective on the Significance of Physical Israel

In this 2nd Part to our Israel: To Love or Hate Series, we continue our analysis of some the most common reasons people reject physical Israel today. As well as we consider some of the miracles said to have resulted in Israel’s deliverance from certain destruction. And lastly we consider the problems associated with the nation state of Israel. Shalom and welcome.

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Irresistible Holiness-Torah Portion-26-Eighth-Shi’mini–TMTO-23

What Father is essentially saying here to us through this shadow picture—this lesson—this Torah Portion—is, “Look, I’m going to get the glory and my holiness is going to be proclaimed and demonstrated to all the world. Now this can be done by and through your actions of obedience and worship of me. And if you choose to glorify me and extol the virtues of my holiness to the world, you’re going to have to do it my way. For if you don’t choose to do it my way, then I’m still going to get the glory and my holiness will be demonstrated and manifested through my chastising of you. You see, it’s going to be done my way; or it’s going to be done my way. Either way, I’m going to be glorified and deemed holy to all the world.”

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Parashat Mishpatim or Judgments-Debt and Slavery

 Concerning the Treatment of Slaves by Hebrews The first portion of this week's Torah Reading deals with the issue of Hebrews owning slaves; particularly Hebrew slaves (Exo. 21:1-11) . According to this passage, if a Hebrew acquires a Hebrew slave, they would serve...

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To Call or Not Call on the Name of the LORD

What Does it Mean? What does it truly mean for a would-be disciple of Jesus Christ (ie., Yahoshua Messiah) to call on the Name of the L-rd? Is it simply an utterance whereby the would-be disciple utters or invokes the actual Name or Title of the Divine One? Or is it a...

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No Pagan Links to Catholicism and Christianity

Pagan Links to Catholicism and Religion in Doubt I have, of late, become somewhat concerned over what I see as growing support by a good many leaders within and without our Faith for there being no pagan links to Catholicism and Protestant Christianity. And how are...

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Paul Opposing God On Issue Of Circumcision?

A Matter of Circumcision or No? As I was watching Kenny Russell's (Bulldozer Faith) most recent Sabbath teaching entitled "Press On!," the text  of which he based his message being Philippians 3, I became fixated on verses 2 and 3 of that chapter. It is here that Paul...

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To Fellowship Or Not Fellowship

A Nagging Question To fellowship with a group of Sabbath-Feast-keepers or not has been a question plaguing me for the last couple weeks.  A couple months ago we were invited to fellowship with this group.  Now, know that this is NOT a question whether to participate...

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The Fall Feasts of Yah-Trumpets-Yom Teruah

The Fall Feasts are upon us and the Day of Trumpets (Yom Teruah) has at our doorsteps. What significance do the Fall Feasts and the Day of Trumpets hold for Torah Observant Believers in Messiah? What follows is a brief overview of the Fall Feasts of Yehovah and a...

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