by Rod Thomas | Jul 6, 2015 | Blog
The Great Commandment
Deuteronomy 11:10-21
Verse 10 gave us a glimpse of the many features associated with our pending inheritance. One of those features included the fertileness of the land. Yahovah compared the fertileness of the land of Canaan compared to Egypt, the land we had left behind 40-years prior. We know that that land was Goshen (Sifri). Now, we must remember that most of us who had lived in bondage in Egypt had by now died off in response to Yahovah’s punishment for our breaking of the covenant and for purposes of starting over with a new generation that he could actually work with. Indeed, Yah kept his covenant to bless our people with the land inheritance, but it would not be realized by those of us who had participated in the Exodus 40-years hence. So Yahovah and Moshe were educating us about the land of Egypt, but in contrast to what we would experience once we entered the land of promise. The cultivated portion of Egypt where our fathers once resided consisted of a low but level plain where rain rarely if ever fell. The primary source of water for the Egyptian agriculture/produce was provided primarily via the annual overflow of the Nile River and advanced irrigation systems that would tap into the receded Nile. Jamieson, Faucett and Brown’s Commentary on the whole Bible describes this irrigation system as thus: “the cultivator opens a small sluice on the edge of the square bed in which seed has been sown, making drill after drill; and when a sufficient quantity of water has been poured in, he shuts it up with his foot. Where the bank is high, the water is drawn up by hydraulic engines, of which there are three kinds used, of different power, according to the subsidence of the stream. The water is distributed in small channels or earthen conduits, simple in construction, worked by the foot, and formed with a mattock by the gardener who directs their course, and which are banked up or opened, as occasion may require, by pressing in the soil with the foot.” Indeed, relatively ingenious adaption seen here on the part of the Egyptians who were forced to adapt to the arid nature of their country. One scholar described the irrigation technology in Egypt as that of a water-wheel pump that during our time in Egyptian captivity and our associated slave laborings, we worked with our feet. Apparently, this apparatus or system is highlighted on several ancient monuments in the land of Egypt to this very day. Although fertile, the maintenance of agriculture in the land of Egypt did not come without great manual labor and continuous oversight. But this would not in any way be the case in the land of promise according to the Creator. “The hills would attract the frequent clouds, and in the refreshing showers the blessing of God would especially rest upon the land.” (ref. JFB)
Vs. 12 was one of the most enlightening verses for me to have come to in this study. It reads in the CJB as, “It is a land (talking about the land of promise) Adonai your God cares for. The eyes of Adonai your God are always on it, from the beginning of the year to the end of the year.” For me, this is most fascinating passage: (1) Yahovah cares for the land of Israel; and (2) Yahovah’s eyes are always on the land of Israel from the month of the Aviv to the next month of the Aviv. So favored is the land that that Yahovah that watering of the land required no human or mechanical intervention. Indeed, the context of this passage seems to be related to Yahovah favoring the land from an agricultural perspective. But one could reason that if the Father was so in love with this splotch of land, then there must be something special about the land. It’s like us: what was so special about us that we caught the Creator’s attention? Certainly it has nothing to do with how wonderful we were or how holy we were or that we were inherently so special in comparison to the rest of the nations. What that something is, I can’t tell. However, as it ties directly into this passage, it is clear that the love Yahovah had (and continues to have) for us was to such a degree that He was placing us in a land (somewhat Edenisque) that required little from us in terms of labor and care. Yah was going to pamper us as one with means would pamper their children and their spouse. We would want for nothing and we would in return declare our undying allegiance to Him as our one and only Elohim.
Again, in verse 13 we receive an admonishment to hearken (diligently) to Yahovah’s commandments. As I tried to drive home last post of this portion, it is this diligent hearkening–this willful obedience to Yah’s Torah, that defines our love for Him. It is here that we also realize the famous allusion to what the greatest commandment is, and that being to love the LORD your God, and to serve Him with all our heart and with all our soul. This is what the Master was referring as He responded to a question challenge by a Scribe who obviously attempted to ensnare Messiah with a perceived technicality of the Law–Matt. 22:35-38. Hertz’ Pentateuch and Haftorah defines “to serve Him with all your heart” as heart service, which entails the institution of prayer 3-times daily, attributing this institution to the time of Daniel 6:11, 14. Overall, I see no problem with this connection, this application. However, I find this so-called institution to be nothing more than another fence around Torah, whereby men have developed mechanisms to ensure that we stay within the confines of Torah. This is what Yahoshua came to deliver us from: the drudgery of law–no, not deliver us from Torah, but deliver us from man made pharisaic rules and traditions. Indeed, there is nothing wrong with praying 3-times a day. Shaul instructed us to pray without ceasing–1 Thessalonians 5:17. And it is this concept of praying without ceasing that carries over from the teaching of our Master, as recorded in Luke 18:1. So, prayer is an essential element of our loyalty and service to Yahovah. However, is this what Father is expecting from us in terms of our love for Him being with our whole hearts? I don’t necessarily think so. To begin with, most of the prayers the Jewish leaders would pray 3-times/day were recitations and not heartfelt intercessory, repentive, and praiseworthy prayers to Yahovah. In fact, most of their prayers had nothing to do with the heart. It was all mechanical. This is why Yahoshua’s disciples approached Him and asked Him to instruct them on how to pray. Obviously, Yahoshua’s method of praying defied anything that the disciples had ever witnessed before. Matthew 5 records Yahoshua’s instructions on the viable, appropriate method to pray. Who other than Mashiyach should be the expert on how we as humans are to communicate with Father? He knows His Father better than anyone and is a worthy example to emulate. Prayer is to be a private intercourse with the Father that no one else is to be necessarily privy to, as those Pharisees who would stand and pray in the synagogues and on street corners (NAS) or according to the Aramaic stand in the assemblies and on the corners of the marketplaces to pray (Roth’s Aramaic). So there is a side of prayer that beckons us to pray in “secret.” Another aspect of proper prayer demands that we reject the methods of prayer that other religions employ to communicate with their gods. These particular forms of prayers–if they can be called prayers–typically involved the adherent reciting a litany of meaningless repetition of words and phrases (NAS) or as Roth translates the Aramaic, these are “chatterers.” As it relates to the orthodox Jewish understanding of prayer, most of their prayers are prefabricated and are repeated on the advent of whatever occasion that particular prayer was formulated for. I am a firm believer that we are not to employ such formulated prayers. They can not reflect the true thoughts and feelings of the one in prayer as a pure, spontaneous, and yes, heartfelt prayer would. Thus, I believe service to Yahovah with all our heart–which in Hebrew is “lebab” –is referring to service to Yahovah with our whole inner man. Service to Yahovah with our whole inner man involves mind, will, heart, soul and understanding. It’s doing that which Yahovah requires and commands of us to do in such a spirit that we absolutely can not wait to accomplish the tasks. For our goal is always to make Daddy happy and we all know from the example of children and parents, that children do a great many things in order to make their parents happy and thus garner even great love from them.
The remainder of this passage speaks to “reward and punishment.” We would reap rewards for diligently keeping and honoring and obeying Yah’s commandments–He would provide rain for our crops (vs. 14). According to Hertz–“the agricultural year in Palestine consists of 2 seasons, the one rainy and the other dry. The whole of the winter is the rainy season. The heavy rain towards the end of October are the Yoreh or the “former rain.” They open the agricultural year. The rainfall increases throughout December, January and February; it begins to abate in March and April. Coming as they do when the grain is ripening and being the last before the long summer drought, they are of great importance.” Boy, we could use some of that rain here in Southern California. Maybe if we would turn our hearts and minds and souls to Yahovah and obey his mitzvot–well, that’s a pipe dream huh? Thus, it is the rain that Father provides that will secure the well being of our livestock by providing grass for their consumption. This rain blessing is but a small aspect of the goodness to be had when we obey Yahovah in the land of promise. But rain was a crucial aspect of life if we are to flourish as a people. Failure to follow the commands of Father would result in a closed heaven devoid of rain. Thus, we were admonished to ensure our well being and safety by obedience to Torah. Verse 18 and 20 tells us to bind the Word of Yahovah on our heads, arms and post them on the door posts of our homes. This has been interpreted by certain Jewish sects as a literal binding of little boxes that contain a passage of Torah onto the adherent’s arm and the top of their forehead. These boxes are called philacteries and the posting of the Word on door posts are called mezzuzahs. I would encourage you to read Carmen Welkers excellent work on philacteries at https://www.themessianictorahobserver.org/2015/06/29/tzitzits-tefillin/. At this stage in my walk with Messiah where I tend to agree with Carmen on this issue and that is that Yahovah is requiring us to essentially cement His Word in our minds and in the actions that we take each and every day. And it is this thinking–this admonishment–that I pose as today’s Torah Living Daily Challenge: that we cement His Torah into our minds and that we serve Him, in obedience to His Torah, with every fiber of our being. This is a challenge indeed. The cares of life often drown out the Word of Yahovah. Thus, we must continually bind His Word in our minds and factor them in whatever tasks we are doing throughout the day. As it relates to binding them on the door post of our homes? Well, that’s simple: we are to bind His Word in our hearts–our bodies comprise the House of God.
Have a blessed day friend. Shalom.
With much love in Messiah–Rod Thomas
by Rod Thomas | Jul 3, 2015 | Blog
The Barna Group Reports on Same-Sex Marriage
I came upon these statistics published by the well established and respected Barna Group, regarding the recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling on same-sex marriage. I found these statistics not so surprising I must admit and it pretty much supports what appears to be the moral attitudes of the U.S. citizenry and fundamental churchianity.
Support for and against the ruling
Barna learned that 49% of Americans support last week’s Supreme Court decision to legalize same-sex marriage in all 50-states of the union. Some 43% of Americans appear to disagree with the high court’s ruling while 7% were undecided. Undecided? Really. I respect the supporters of the ruling more than I do the undecided’s. If we are not able to take a position on such a fundamental social and moral issue; an issue that essentially has redefined the definition of marriage in this nation. So as far as I’m concerned, 56% of Americans support the supreme court’s ruling on this pivotal issue. If you are undecided on this issue, for all intents and purposes you are in favor of the ruling as far as I’m concerned.
Consequently, 37% of Americans surveyed believe that this ruling will have positive impact on the nation. Really? I wonder how anyone can come to such a conclusion. When we consider that the creator of the universe, who defined marriage as being a union between a man and a woman refers to gay and lesbian relations as an abomination, there should be no doubt in any one’s mind that standing in such overt opposition to the commandments of Yahovah is a terribly risking thing for anyone to do. But then, when one considers that most humans, though they claim to know Him, really don’t know Him. If you don’t know Him, regardless if one has a cognitive understanding of Yahovah, you can’t be expected to know of His ways now can you? So what is general knowledge to those who truly know Him (and we’ll get into just who those persons might be in a future posting) would obviously be foolishness to those who don’t know Him. We all know the position that the Apostle Shaul (aka Paul) took on the issue of non-believers and the things of Yahovah:
Now the natural man does not receive the things from the Spirit of God – to him they are nonsense! Moreover, he is unable to grasp them, because they are evaluated through the Spirit.
(1Co 2:14 CJB)
So it is with this issue. Many people have no concept of what is right or wrong and thus their worldview is based solely upon a set of self-determined and self-or even society created ideals of what’s write or wrong. This ultimately becomes a prescription that will lead to demise of a nation and peoples.
But let me say, before I continue on with this, that I don’t care what any man chooses to do with another consenting man or woman with another consenting woman; that’s their business. It bothers me, as I imagine it does many of you reading this post, when these individuals begin to impose their lifestyle choices upon our society and threaten me and my affiliations when and if I choose to disagree with their position and lifestyle. It used to be that the gay and lesbian fight for rights would be likened to that of blacks during the civil rights movement. In fact, many of the laws throughout this nation regarding marriage, were designed to prevent blacks from marrying whites. The difference between the civil rights struggle in the middle to late 20th century and the gay and lesbian agenda of the late 20th to early 21st century is that blacks were being discriminated against and persecuted for the color of their skin and their heritage. We (I am black by the way) had no say in our race as we were born into that race. The gay and lesbian agenda, however, is focused upon a chosen lifestyle which at the heart of the matter stands in opposition to the natural setting of human life on this planet. Oh, many gays or lesbians may sharply contend that they have no say as to their attraction and love of the same sex. I will not get into a debate about that in this forum, only to say that regardless, they have a say in living and operating in that chosen lifestyle–whether they choose to believe it or not. Case in point: how many of us men at some point in our lives were attracted to let’s say a beautiful woman, but for whatever reason–be it that we were married at the time, dating a special someone, or committed to Yahovah, we would never act upon that attraction. The attraction might have remained or even remains to this day, but we know that we are bound by Torah and God’s way of life for mankind and we simply don’t cross that line of pursuing that outside relationship. It would be wrong and it would fly contrary to the life we’ve been called to live as demonstrated and required by our Master. So the comparison between the civil rights movement and the gay and lesbian agenda and so-called struggle in this country is a null and void one.
But continuing on with the Barna survey results, the other half of the equation is that 40% of Americans do believe that the supreme court ruling will have a negative impact on our society. These individuals, although they may or may not be believers in Messiah, inherently realize that there are consequences to be paid by an individual and a nation that rejects the ways of Yah. All we need to do to realize and understand this basic concept is to read the blessings and curses outline in Deuteronomy 28 and 29 respectively. What somewhat disappoints me, however, is why do we not have a greater understanding of this concept in our nation–what about the other 23% of Americans? I guess we can safely conclude that these are like those 7% commenting on agreement versus disagreement on the ruling, are undecided on whether or not there stands to be negative repercussions for this nation because of this ruling.
Here’s a very sad commentary on the moral fiber of our nation: 52% of Americans surveyed believe that same-sex marriage is morally right. Oh dear Lord. 52 % friends. This suggests that over half of this country’s population believes that it’s a good thing for a man to marry another man and a woman to marry another woman. Again, this goes back to the thinking that the ways of Yahovah are complete foolishness to the natural man. I mean, what can you say to this apart from, Father, please be merciful to us as a nation. We must continue the fight to preach and teach the Word of God to the nation in hopes that this nation will turn from their iniquity and perverse worldview before it’s too late. By the way, 43% believe that same-sex marriage is morally wrong. I guess that’s some consolation.
Related to the 43% of Americans who say that same-sex marriage is morally wrong, when Barna sampled evangelicals (defined by Barna as those Christians who are committed to Jesus Christ; their Faith is very important to them; they believe they will go to heaven when they die; they are known to witness about their Faith to non-Christians; they believe hasatan exists; they believe salvation is achieved via grace alone and I would add, they reject the keeping of Torah by Christians; and they believe the Bible to be accurate in every conceivable regard), 94% were not in favor of the high court’s ruling. I actually was somewhat surprised by this percentage. I don’t know why I thought that this number would be lower, thinking that there may have been a moral drop in the make-up of evangelicals over the last several years. Why? Because, when you reject Torah–which most evangelicals clearly do–you have no true moral compass upon which to base your beliefs and worldview upon. Somehow, these evangelicals understand that despite their rejection of Torah, they still must support Torah principles. That my friends is somewhat encouraging and something upon which to base future evangelizing efforts upon. Indeed, most evangelicals are supportive of Torah whether they believe it or not–we have something in common with our wayward cousins.
And rounding this survey off, Barna found that 19% of Americans surveyed feel that religious institutions and clergy should be required to perform same-sex marriages. Now, this is the gist of the problem I say associated with this landmark ruling and I applaud Barna for taking the pulse of America on this particular question. In this country, we Torah fans (stealing from Michael Rood) can not force our convictions upon the peoples of this nation. Thus, if the high court chooses to give Yahovah the finger by passing the same-sex law in this country, making it legal for same-sex marriage in all 50-states, then we are pretty much stuck with that ruling. However, what should give everyone a pause for concern is, will this ruling affect our religious freedoms. In other words, will our leaders in the Faith be forced to perform same-sex marriage regardless their moral and Biblically based convictions? Worse, if members of our Faith are led by the Ruach to speak out or teach against same-sex marriage, in whatever format or form or convention, will they–will we–be condemned or subject to fines, loss of jobs, loss of income, loss of freedom and even imprisonment. Friends, this is the primary crux of this same-sex debate. Is this ruling the start of the demise of religious freedom in this country? We better get ready. The storm clouds are gathering and we may not have much more time before we find ourselves gather to worship and study the Bible in hiding as in the time of the apostles. It’s not a matter of if friends, but a matter of when. Interestingly enough, the study ended with a very astute observation by 6 out of 10 Americans: that this ruling will ultimately restrict our religious freedoms in this country over the next 5-years. Let us think hard about this and let us prepare and pray and fast and study while it is stay day. Shalom Saints.
Rod Thomas–Disciple of Yahoshua Messiah; Coroner Investigator; Messianic Content Creator; Wishful Musician
by Rod Thomas | Jul 2, 2015 | Blog
Last week SCOTUS (Supreme Court of the United States) legalized same sex marriage in all 50-States of union; a week ago, a crazed, seeming racist young man shot and killed 9 men and women attending a bible study in a black-church in Charleston S.C.; last month rioters looted and decimated Baltimore Maryland in response to the death of a young black man at the hands of Baltimore City Police officers; Islamic State fighters continue to make progress in Iraq and Syria as they leave a trail of blood and horror in their wake; ongoing European economic woes are leading the European Union down a path whereby its citizens will have limited access to their hard earned money—that is, the governments of the west will seize full control of every penny in their nations’ banks and the citizens of the world stand the chance of working solely for the economic well-being of their country while they live out the rest of their lives penniless and destitute; racial tensions continue to percolate in the United States in response to a proliferation of news reports on mainstream media outlets of white on black murders while white on white, black on black and black on white crimes go unnoticed by these same media outlets; the Bilderburg cabal met at a posh Austria resort 2-weeks ago to discuss and enact what most believe to be a globalist agenda. Meanwhile, the world’s citizens, especially in the west, in great part, goes about their day-to-day lives, oblivious of the things—the evil things—that are transpiring around them. These things, though they may not be directly impacting them at the moment, will have an immeasurable impact on everyone sometime in the near future. Yes, there is evil in this world dear Saints and there is especially evil in our day. Grab yourself a cup of joe or tea, settle in and let’s hash this thing out while we still can as a free people.
The Supernatural, Evil and Darkness of our Day
I don’t know about you Saints, but I have a terrible sense that there’s something going on out in our world today—now—right now. It’s not just life; it’s something, or better yet, somethings going on that is of a supernatural—very evil nature, that I just can’t put my finger on. It’s heavy and weighty. It’s dark and dank and it feels like my spirit is weighed down.
I’m not a spiritualist by any stretch of the imagination, so please don’t misunderstand me.I’ve said this over and over on this podcast program: I am just an average run of the mill citizen of heaven, living as many of you are, in a world that is not my true home…waiting for the change to come…waiting for the coming of our Lord and Savior—our Messiah to establish His kingdom here on earth…waiting for the “reset” button of this world to be pressed and for the rule of Holiness, truth, justice and peace to be the norm as opposed to the exception.
What is all this I’m referring to? As I just said, I can’t put my finger on it. The only thing I can say is that the joy that I normally have is somewhat diminished; the peace that I normally enjoy and relish within my spirit seems somewhat compromised; the way I’m seeing many things around me of late seems clouded or misted over by some indescribable veil. The only word I can attribute to this—whatever this is—is evil.
Again, I don’t know what any of you are experiencing today—maybe I’m an exception—maybe I’m just out there—maybe my metabolism or hormones are out of sync. Maybe I’m just going through a phase of some sort. And certainly, any or all of these are distinct possibilities. But I’m not going to shy away from this feeling simply because I could be off somehow in my being. You see, I know that we are spirit-beings; just as we are flesh and blood beings. We exist in or within or between two-realms—the spirit and the physical. And depending on where we are at any given span or period will determine which realm we are spending most of our time in. If we are growing into the very image of Y’shua, as I prefer to think that I am, then we will at some point begin to experience some of the same things that He experienced when He ministered upon this earth. If you were to do a word search and simply look up spirit—be it in your Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance—or if you have what I have, one of my treasured resources—”BibleWorks”—simply type in “spirit” into the search box, the King James Version of the Bible, you will discover that there are some 456 uses of the term “spirit” therein. If we were to strip away all mention of “spirit” in the Tanakh (i.e., the Old Testament) and focus only on the Brit Hadashah (i.e., the Renewed Testament), we find that the Master was always operating in the spirit realm. He was moved by the “Spirit;” He taught in the “Spirit;” He recognized the presence and casted out unclean spirits; He discerned the purposes and conniving of men through the agency of the “Spirit;” He prayed in the “Spirit;” He recognized that there was a constant struggle that existed between the physical and spirit realm; He rejoiced in the “Spirit;” He grew up in the “Spirit;” He was led by the “Spirit;” and He promised the gift of the Holy Spirit to those of us who were and would soon become His disciples.
Many of us in the Messianic/Hebraic Roots/Netzari Communities, shy away from and even reject anything having to do with discussions or teachings or even consideration of things of the “Spirit.” I’ve mentioned this on this program before, how I’ve gone to a couple conferences where Arthur Bailey (overseer of the House of Israel) taught on things of the Spirit and invited the attendees to tap into the Spirit for their leading and healing, and seeing several people get up and storm out of the conference hall as he made the topic of his talk known. Also, when I’ve been in such conferences and there is praise and worship music playing, most of the attendees sit stiff as boards in their seats, seeming as though they can’t wait for the worship/praise to be over. It’s as if having anything to do with the Spirit is a bad bad thing. I can certainly understand how this could happen—or better, why this aversion towards things pertaining to the spirit realm. When I first came to the knowledge of the Feast Days, the Sabbath and the dietary laws through my affiliating with the United Church of God—this was sometime around 2005-2006, I was exposed to what I describe as a “spiritless” church environment. There was never any talk about the Spirit. Speaking in ecstatic tongues was seen as a demonic thing. The whole Acts 2 story was never expounded upon or taught by UCG teachers beyond a brief article in their magazine mailer that linked the Day of Pentecost to the giving of the Law at Mount Sinai. There was no praise and worship music. People would come to church and endure mechanical hymnal music, sit quietly during the sermon without so much as a nod of the head in agreement to something that the speaker might be saying that was of some significance and truth to their mechanical lives. It was almost like living in “spiritual-less” bondage (my wording) for the 2 or so hours I attended such services. Looking back and having tacitly agreed with this practice through my participation and silence did me nor anyone else I came into contact with, any good.
Denying the stark relevancy or even existence of the spirit realm naturally leads to a lack or even absence in our ability to operate in the spirit realm. And if we are not open to the things of the spirit, our walk with Messiah will be uni-dimensional. We’ll be no different than our forefathers in the Sinai desert who functioned solely via their flesh. These were incapable of seeing beyond their stomachs, their past experiences, their carnal desires, their personal ambitions, their fears, their petty jealousies, envies and hatreds. That’s why the Churches of God (at least UCG) are so dead—they are dead in spirit. Oh the people are wonderful, caring and beautiful people who generally obey the rules of the church—observe the Feast Days and each Sabbath; reject port and shell fish; attend church regularly; tithe; occasionally read their bibles; etc., etc., etc.; but they lack joy, celebration, imagination, substantive introspection, the gifts of the spirit. These folks are ill-prepared to be effective in the work of the Gospel. In fact, most of the Churches of God forbid their members to evangelize, minister or function in any formal capacity in the work of the Gospel unless their work has been officially sanctioned by the church’s hierarchy. They don’t trust their people. They don’t trust their teachers, ministers and pastors to properly prepare their members for the work of the Kingdom. It’s insane and a sure-fire prescription for spiritual disaster. I tremble to imagine how these really nice people will fare during the coming tribulations and persecutions. These, as are millions of others in traditional, fundamental, liberal, hip-hop, quasi and orthodox Christianity, will have absolutely no idea what hit them when the crap hits the fan sometime here in the near future.
Folks, there is evil in our world and evil in our day and if we are not grounded in the Word of Truth and are not walking in the Spirit, all bets for our future survival and effectiveness and viability in the world are off the table. We all might as well pack up, grab our guns and ammo, store up food and water, shuffle ourselves and our loved-ones to the remotest parts of the world and await the coming apocalypse in hopes that we may stay out of harm’s way. But I ask you: is this what we’ve been called to do—stay out of harm’s way; occupy as so many believers have adopted such a mindset; hide our heads in the sand? I really don’t think so. I mean, haven’t we been called by the Master to be lights, salt, and even repairers of the breach, (Isa. 58:12; Mat. 5:13,14; Joh. 8:12; Phi. 2:15).
No other writer in the Bible has commented more than Shaul (aka Paul) on what we’ve been called to do. Have you read the 6th Chapter of 2nd Corinthians—I mean really read it? Listen to the man as I read his admonition to us that we not sit around and waste away our calling:
NAS 2 Corinthians 6:1 And aworking together with Him, bwe also urge you not to receive cthe grace of God in vain–
2 for He says, a”At the acceptable time I listened to you, And on the day of salvation I helped you”; behold, now is “the acceptable time,” behold, now is “the day of salvation “–
3 agiving no cause for offense in anything, in order that the ministry be not discredited,
4 but in everything acommending ourselves as 1bservants of God, cin much endurance, in afflictions, in hardships, in distresses,
5 in abeatings, in imprisonments, in btumults, in labors, in sleeplessness, in chunger,
6 in purity, in aknowledge, in bpatience, in kindness, in the cHoly Spirit, in dgenuine love,
7 in athe word of truth, in bthe power of God; by cthe weapons of righteousness for the right hand and the left,
8 by glory and adishonor, by bevil report and good report; regarded as cdeceivers and yet dtrue;
9 as unknown yet well-known, as adying yet behold, bwe live; as 1punished yet not put to death,
10 as asorrowful yet always arejoicing, as bpoor yet making many rich, as chaving nothing yet possessing dall things. (2Co 6:1-10 NAS)
There is evil in our world and that evil is prevalent in our day, whether we choose to acknowledge it or not. From small-town U.S.A. to the great monuments and halls of law and policy in our nation’s capital, the enemy has left his mark and is working a work through the people who would be our leaders and our protectors. If you think me silly or crazy or just another Alex Jones-type cook (or any of the other questioners of our world-governments’ sanctity and sacred nature) who is spewing anti-American slurs and promulgating fear and mistrust in the public domain, carve out a chunk of your next free weekend and read Rob Skiba’s book, Babylon Rising Book 1. Now I don’t agree or believe everything in Rob’s book, but I do agree and believe most of what he’s written. If you don’t have any agendas—political, religious or personal ones—and you simply step back from the equation and carefully look at the case that Rob is laying out before us, you will realize that indeed virtually every fiber of our nation’s (for that matter the world’s) government is rooted in evil and stands and operates under the auspices of evil. Many of the men and women who serve as our leaders and protectors in Washington know very well whom they are serving—and these are not serving the people of this or any nation. And don’t get me wrong, the buck doesn’t just stop at the desks of our political leaders. Indeed, there are those in our world who have amassed for themselves great wealth, power and influence; beyond those at the top of many of the world’s giant corporations and businesses. These individuals sit in positions of world dominance and control. These elitists or as popularly referenced in certain conservative media forums, globalists, are believed to have control over the well-being of virtually every man, woman and child on this planet. These operate beyond the reach and restraint of laws and government. These power brokers serve only themselves and their god. They will not be swayed from their purpose and agenda. These will ensure that the will of their master is met and served. We here in the trenches of the world will likely never know their names or their identities, for they operate in darkness as does their master—hasatan. And hasatan is quite content for the citizenry of this world to be ignorant of him and his government over the governments of this world. When was the last time you knew of a celebrity or politician or corporate giant who wanted anonymity? Anonymity and celebrity just doesn’t mix now, does it?
And yes Saints, I’m a conspiracy theorist. And quite frankly, I don’t believe anyone can call themselves a true messianic/Hebrew roots or a netzari and not be a conspiracy theorist. The apostle Shaul was indeed one of the first conspiracy theorists on record if you ask me. (Oh just take a drink and chill–those who’s blood pressure just spiked and eyes rolled to the back of their heads over my last statement.) Yes, I believe Shaul was a conspiracy theorist, certainly led by and operating in the Spirit. But when all is said and done, there must be no doubt in any believer’s mind that Shaul was on to something regarding the spirit-realm and the life and death struggle that is being waged here on earth and in the heavenlies. Just listen to the insight and genius of this powerful man of Yahovah:
“Finally, grow powerful in union with the Lord, in union with His mighty strength! Use all the armor and weaponry that God provides, so that you will be able to stand against the deceptive tactics of the Adversary. For we are not struggling against human beings, but against the rulers, authorities and cosmic powers governing this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realm. So take up every piece of war equipment God provides; so that when the evil day comes, you will be able to resist; and when the battle is won, you will still be standing. Therefore, stand! Have the belt of truth buckled around your waist, put on righteousness for a breastplate, and wear on your feet the readiness that comes from the Good News of shalom. Always carry the shield of trust, with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the Evil One. And take the helmet of deliverance; along with the sword given by the Spirit, that is, the Word of God; as you pray at all times, with all kinds of prayers and requests, in the Spirit, vigilantly and persistently, for all God’s people.” (Eph. 6:10-18; CJB)
How many of us have read this passage and really taken it to heart? I recall speaking at length to my boss on this passage a few years ago and our conversation was centered mainly around dealing with our personal woes and challenges. (By the way, my boss at the time was a conservative, so-called “born again Christian” who was constantly battling personal life problems and she found solace in frequent discussions with me and a select few about overcoming–overcoming life’s little problems. Oh boy, when I think about the hours over the course of several-years that I wasted discussing pointless and petty things that really had little positive impact on our individual walks with Messiah. She was not a believer in Y’shua Messiah, but a believer in Jesus Christ. She completely rejected anything having to do with Torah Living, citing that we have freedom in Christ and thus we are no longer under bondage of the LAW!!!!! Hallelujah!) The gist of our conversations were primarily focused upon how this or that person was getting on our nerves and causing us heartburn; or a personal drama that we saw as an attack by the enemy. And we began to think and discuss about all the things going on in our personal lives that took away our focus from God and that stole our joy. It was “fellowship,” I guess, and to some extent it was better than focusing on non-spiritual things of life. But looking back at those conversations and hours of contemplation about these types of things, we were trivializing this passage more than we were actually seeing Shaul’s admonishment about spiritual warfare–which is what Shaul was actually addressing here–to its fullest light and relevancy. I don’t mean to trivialize our individual trials and tribulations and personal dramas, the etiology of which we tend to attribute to the enemy or to demons. I’m a firm believer that our personal life dramas and challenges can be the result of an intrusion by the wrong-side/the bad side of the spirit-realm and we probably need to be cognizant and on-guard of this at all times. But the vast majority of personal problems and life-dramas that we endure are the results of our own stupidities and the poor-choices we frequently make in life; the really bad relationships we choose to embark upon; the refusal to allow the Ruach Kodesh to lead us into living righteous, prosperous and peaceful lives.
The reason I say we as believers tend to trivialize this passage is that Shaul is not addressing the petty issues that we all experience in our lives here–Shaul is addressing something much greater; much deeper; much more scarier than we can probably imagine. And I’m also a firm believer that a common trick of the enemy is for us to focus our attention solely on our personal issues and life-dramas and thus miss the bigger–more ominous conditions and situations that are taking place around us. Indeed, we are so side-tracked by our cell-phones, television shows, celebrity dramas, personal and family dramas, politics, career and personal ambitions, likes and dislikes, food, entertainment, cars, etc., that we can’t see the forest for the trees so to speak.
Going back over to Ephesians 6:12–that famous verse that we all know regarding spiritual warfare but we really don’t understand–when we really peel away the brilliant prose of Shaul and examine the organs of what he is say (sorry, my coroner background somehow came peeking through here), we see some interesting things. The term principalities translates in the Greek to “arche”. According to the Thayer Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: arche is defined as the first place, principality, rule, magistracy (cf. English `authorities’) (ἄρχω τίνος ): Luke 12:11; 20:20; Titus 3:1; office given in charge (Gen. 40:13,21; 2 Macc. 4:10, etc.), Jude 1:6. Hence, the term is transferred by Paul to angels and demons holding dominions entrusted to them in the order of things.
So we’re talking about demons and the spirit realm here. And what is so interesting for me here is that Shaul–with the sole exception of Y’shua–was one of the very few in the whole of the bible who had a deep, comprehensive understanding of the evil operations that have and continue to transpire in the spirit realm. The Thayer Lexicon pointed to Jude 1:6 as a reference in relation to the ongoing struggle taking place in the spirit-realm:
NAU Jude 1:6 And aangels who did not keep their own domain, but abandoned their proper abode, He has bkept in eternal bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day, (Jud 1:6 NAU)
The term “domain” in this passage actually translates to “arche”—the same word used to describe the term principalities–which according to Thayer refers to an order or organization of beings that have authority over certain realms or spheres in either heaven or earth. Jude here is speaking of angels who left their assigned domains and intruded into realms that were never intended for them to enter in and cause problems within those realms. Thus these angels–these fallen ones—we often refer to these as demons–were bound and cast into darkness because of their intrusion into prohibited realms; these are currently awaiting judgment day. I’m inclined to link this passage to the angels that entered the prohibited human realm and bound themselves to women and their progeny resulted in the Nephillim. But I don’t wish to get into a discussion about the Nephillim as that is a discussion to be had by others who are more versed on the subject than I am. But suffice to say, this passage tells me that angels—fallen angels—have penetrated into our realm and are working towards a purpose that we humans are completely in the dark about.
The Pauline and Judas passages speak ever so loudly to me regarding the influence or intrusion of the spirit world into the affairs of the human race. Today, more than ever, our world seems to be at the tail-end of the dog whereby fallen angels are wagging the governments and societies of our world—i.e., the tails. We citizens of the world are oblivious as to the struggle that is ongoing between the powers of good and evil. Sadly, there is no escape for those of us who have chosen not to drink the world’s kool-aid. Our world leaders are operating under the influence of these demonic dominions and powers, unbeknownst to most of us. Those of us who choose to speak out against this assault by the forces of darkness on the affairs of men are labeled as crazies, nuts, zealots, conspiracy theorists, non-conformists, trouble-makers, etc. We are a small lot, crying out in the wilderness of a vast world of beings whose only concerns are their personal comforts and securities and well beings. And this is what the enemy does to shroud their plans and their operations—distract the inhabitants of this world with the cares and things of life. Our future is not in the hands of caring individuals in Washington or any of the western governments—on the contrary—these governments are every bit the tail-end of the dog and there is almost little to no distinction between the two—between the workings of men in high-positions and places of the world and the demon realm. This relationship—between men and demons—is an ungodly union designed to foil the plans and purpose of our Creator. Evidence of this ungodly union are everywhere and manifested in virtually every aspect of our lives.
This ungodly union was first established by and with Nimrod who has become known as the first world-leader and precursor to the coming anti-Christ. The resulting government and religion—there has never been a true separation between church and state in this world—has since been modified and repackaged and sold to the citizens of this world for purposes of getting every human to comply. Listen, I’m not talking about individual instances of demon possessions and demonic activity throughout history—these things indeed have and are occurring even today. I’m talking about the grander picture here. I’m talking about the struggle that has been waged and continues to be waged between the kingdom of darkness and the kingdom of heaven/God. This perpetual struggle has and continues to occur with the blessings and compliance of the citizens of our world. The leaders of this world have and continue to be nothing more than puppets on a world-stage, doing the bidding of the puppeteer who is non-other than hasatan and his minions. And as time goes by and the world becomes more and more in lock-step with the principalities and dominions of the spirit realm, the closer we get as a race to a final confrontation between Yahovah and His chosen and hasatan and his chosen. Needless to say, we all know who the winner of that contest will be.
But in the interim, we must prepare ourselves for the coming onslaught. The world around us is becoming more and more hostile towards the things of our God and His Torah. Just this week, here in the United States, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Gay and Lesbian marriage. That ruling by the highest court in the land legalized same sex marriage, fundamentally changing the god-sanctioned concept of marriage being a union between a man and a woman. Now I don’t wish to get into the whole political rigmarole around such a ruling, but more so, I wish to warn about the fall-out that is certain to come as a result of this landmark ruling. As I postulated on our Facebook page and our Google+ page this morning, this ruling is not really about same sex marriage as most would surmise. The issue is about fronting-off Yahovah and His Torah before this nation. Yahovah made it clear that He viewed gay and lesbian relationships as an abomination that could not be tolerated. Yet the men of our government are under the illusion that they have second-guessed God on this issue and their opinions must overshadow that of Yahovah and their opinions must be made known and clear to all the citizens of the land. No friends, it’s about men being duped into thinking that they’ve shown God up when in reality, it is hasatan who is orchestrating and bringing about this defiance. Men are simply hanging in the balance of this struggle—this war—this wrestling match that Shaul referenced in Ephesians.
I referred to men and their governments (as well as their religions) as the tail of the dog. Just because I see men and their governments and religions as the tail of the dog, doesn’t excuse men from any culpability in this cosmic struggle. Men have from the beginning been endowed with freedom of choice. We have the wherewithal to decide whether to conform to the ways of Yahovah and be His children and servants on this earth, or serve hasatan and his heinous plan to overshadow and even unseat the Creator of the Universe. Satan tried a direct assault against Father once but failed; he is going to try it again, but this time he will use men to assist him in his plans.
It then becomes our duty to act in opposition—to stand against the enemy and sound the alarm and inform the inhabitants of this world, that their religions and their seemingly good intended governments are all part and parcel of a plan that seeks to challenge and come against the Father and His plans for mankind. That’s why I will not vote for politicians or anyone who is running for a political office—be it national or regional or local. Our government in it’s various forms and permutations are nothing more than extensions of the government of the evil one. I believe that participation in the electoral process only furthers the cause and purpose of the enemy that exists in complete opposition to Yahovah and His Kingdom. Thus we need to get prayed up and educated and ready for the battle that we’ve been enlisted to participate in. Shaul gave us the step-by-step protocol to follow that entails putting on the whole armor of God, tempered with constant prayer and seeking the will of the Father, fueled by His Ruach.
I’m worried friends. I’m not worried about how all this will end. I’ve read the back of the book and I know how it ends and yes—we win! Big time. But what worries me is that we as a Faith—as a small, less than committed community–collectively and individually, are ill-prepared for the battle ahead. There are just a few precious ones out there working in the fields—sounding the alarm—rattling the cages of the enemy—fulfilling vital roles in the Great Commission while the rest of us simply hang out in various Messianic chat rooms; watch DVDs; attend conferences; and simply wait. What we’re waiting for, I don’t know. But all the DVD watching, conference attending, chatting, etc., will be for naught if we don’t get up off our BE-HINDS and perform.
Yes, there is a heaviness around us today and I believe that heaviness is the enemy intruding more and more into the affairs of men and men’s negative reactions to this intrusion. Saints, we must react to this intrusion as well. But instead of complying with the enemy’s purpose and instructions, we must do our part to counter their onslaught—not by physical means as Shaul instructed—but through the use of spiritual armament and spiritual warfare methods. I will suit up and ready myself for the battle ahead. How about you? Will you join me? Dudes and dudettes: do not be a pew warmer; do not let this battle pass you by and think you will emerge unscathed. It just ain’t gonna happen. You will be drawn in one way or another. Don’t be just another one of the billions of world victims; instead let’s be spiritual aggressors. Pray, fast, study up, live blameless-holy lives, be the witness worthy of our calling as the redeemed of the Most High; let us live lives that people will look upon and wonder what the heck is going on in that person’s life that makes him or her so strange—so different—able to rise up above the fray and live victorious, powerful and relevant lives. The reason why Fundamental Churchianity is losing so many of her members today is because they find no relevancy in that Faith—they find it empty and without any personal and spiritual fulfillment. This Faith we love so much is the real deal and it’s out there for those who are leaving Christianity today. Let us not let this opportunity to catch those folks exiting the theater that is churchianity and let’s give them a taste of that which they’ve been longing for all their lives. We must act before it’s too late friends. The storm clouds have already been gather—they’ve been gathering for the last 5,000 or so years. It’s just today, the clouds seem ever so ominous and most everyone outside our Faith seems to not care in the least. The world is too caught up in their own personal dramas and in crap that doesn’t matter—Beyonce and JZ, and the economy and Hilary Clinton and her run for the presidency; cell phones, the drought, race relations; and we can go on and on. I’m not saying that world affairs in not important per se. What I am saying is that our focus is being taken away from that which should be the sole focus of our lives; and that is Yahovah and His Torah; the Kingdom of Yahovah and His righteousness. Not this other stuff that the enemy is using to shove our collective and individual attentions elsewhere. We gotta change that…we gotta sound the shofar and warn the world of the impending storm before it’s too late. Cuz once the storm hits, folks will be too worried about their own safety and consumed by the events that will be transpiring before their very eyes.
Let me know if you are feeling the same heaviness that I’m feeling, simply by emailing me at perceptionwp@gmail.com or utilizing the speakpipe feature of our website; or use the comments feature that proceeds and precedes each post. Follow us on social media simply by clicking the appropriate icons at the top-right-most column of our website themessianictorahobserver.org; subscribe to our website by filling in the appropriate boxes to the right-hand portion of this website entitled subscribe to this website; subscribe to this audioblog/podcast feed by clicking on the iTunes or Stitcher icons at the top-right-most column of this website and following the promptings on the other end. Become a part of the discussion and forum. We can’t fight this fight alone saints. We need each other as much as we need the Ruach Kodesh.
Rod Thomas–Coroner Investigator, Messianic Blogger, Disciple of Yahoshua Messiah, Wishful Musicisn
by Rod Thomas | Jul 1, 2015 | Blog
Willing Obedience is a True Act of Love
Deuteronomy 10:12-11:9
What does our experience tell us about Yahovah? What is our testimony? It is these exploits, these events that occurred in our lives that make us strong and ready to possess the land. We must not underestimate the value of our journey. Our individual journeys in Messiah serve as training grounds and provide us with the experience and knowledge base to move forward and possess that which Yahovah has given us. That which Yahovah has in store for us, although the journey to get there may at times seem insurmountable, is awesome. This was our experience in the wilderness prior to entering the land and it was that light at the end of the tunnel that drove us forward. Unfortunately, we failed to love and respect Yahovah as Yahovah so desired us to do. Instead, we tried to serve and obey Him governed by our flesh. We found that we could not keep Torah to the degree that Yahovah desired that we keep Torah. We kept Torah out of fear and we kept Torah like androids. This never satisfied Father. It was always a heart thing with the Father. Contrary to what we thought Yahovah wanted of us, it was not just compliance to His Torah that He wanted from us. No indeed. Ever since Yah created man, He has sought to have a relationship with him, unlike that which He has with His angels. Yah’s love for us is as deep and complex as the love a mother has for her child. It’s unconditional. It’s immeasurable. But Yah yearns for us to love Him just as He loves us. Is it wrong for us to empty out ourselves and seek to love Yahovah to the same degree He loves us. Oh, I know that scholars and teachers will tell us that we can never love Yahovah as much as He loves us and that may well be true. But the simple fact of the matter is, dear Saints, that many of us have taken that belief to heart and effectively become loveless children of Yahovah. Oh, we’ll gladly honor and observe the Feast Days, honor the food laws and the Shabbat. We’ll fellowship and support our favorite ministries. Many of us will even support charities and help those in need. But as it relates to our love for Yahovah, it has always been and remains plastic–unidimensional–colorless. And this lack of love translates, sadly, over to our brothers and sisters and anyone else who may enter into our spheres of influence–we are suspicious and hesitant to enter into any true, loving relationship with them.
It’s a heart thing. It always has been. Serving and obeying Yahovah is pointless without the heart being the central driving element behind our obedience, praise and service. We must never be so naive to think that Yahovah is fooled by our loveless service to Him–indeed, as the traditionalists love to say, He knows our hearts oh too well. He wants a full commitment, not unlike that of a young couple who are so much in love that they choose to honor that love by taking a marriage vow. Yah’s love for us culminated at the Mount Sinai. He provided us a marriage covenant in advance of our agreeing to abide by that covenant. We knew the terms of that contract and we agreed to be married to Father. Yet we cheated on Father so early in the relationship. Oh how He must have been devastated. Why did we cheat on Father? I believe we cheated on Father because our hearts were never part and parcel of the marriage contract in the first place. We chose to just go along with the covenant and the plan of God because we had nothing better to do at the time. The problem of simply going with the flow and not having our hearts behind the commitment becomes that which ultimately leads to infidelity. It may not lead to idolatry as became the practice of our forefathers. But it may lead to infidelity through other means–allowing the cares of life to drown Him out; becoming preoccupied with materialism; establishing relationships with those who are unequally yoked; or simply walking away from Yahovah altogether. It happens all the time. That’s why it is so vitally important that we start this journey with the heart in sync with our minds. We know at some point that we should follow Yahovah, for whatever reason. So we commit to a relationship with Yahovah. But before moving on in the relationship and commitment, we must evaluate our intentions: do we truly love Father? Are we willing to die for Father? Are we willing to walk away, if necessary, from family, careers, lifestyles, relationships, material things, the things we love in the flesh? How much do we love Yahovah? How much? Because if we can’t certify that question with an unconditional “I love Him beyond measure,” then that relationship will be built on sand and it will ultimately fail. Yahovah opened Himself to us through Moshe and said to us:
O that there were such an heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their children for ever! (Deu 5:29 KJV)
He so desires for us to love Him as much as He loves us. But sadly, that love is rarely returned in any appreciable capacity or measure.
What does our love for Yahovah look like: hands raised in praise; hours on our knees praying; wearing tzitzits to work; reading His Word; thinking about Him from time to time; or having a warm sensation within us as we think about His goodness. Yes, these could to some degree describe our love for Him. But, these displays of love are primarily acts of emotion. We know that emotions come and go, depending upon environment, situations, feelings, worries, hopes, perspectives, etc. Emotions change and thus, love based primarily upon an emotional response to that which Yahovah has done for us or what He will do for us, will most certainly ebb and wane. Yahovah is not naive. He most certainly does, as many in popular Christianity love to say, know our hearts. And depending upon how we feel at any given time, will determine to what degree we love Yahovah. Consequently, take away something we hold precious, our love for the Father may wax seemingly cold. Our lives grow stagnant and everyone around us gets blessed but our lives appear as though we are in a state of hibernation, our love for Yahovah may become equally stagnant. Oh, but get that big raise and great things start happening for us, then we are so in love with Yahovah, aren’t we? Therefore, cognitive, emotionally based love is not what Father desires of us.
The love Father desires from us is obedience based. That obedience is carried through, not out of fear or guilt or feelings of obligation, but out of a genuine heartfelt love for Father. Thus, we do that which Father commands us to do and we do it readily and with zeal and with a willing heart and mind. That is true love for Yahovah.
Thus, our Torah Challenge for today is to love Yahovah the way He commands us to love Him. Any other concept of love, such as the popular, westernized concept of love, though warm and fuzzy at times, is not up to snuff to the love Yahovah is expecting of His chosen ones. Shalom.
Rod Thomas–Coroner Investigator–Messianic Content Creator–Disciple of Yahoshua HaMashiyach–Wishful Musician
by Rod Thomas | Jun 30, 2015 | Blog
God’s Law Written on our Hearts
Deuteronomy 10:1-12
Moshe regales the time past when Yahovah instructed him to come up the holy mountain with two tables of hewed stone, similar to the ones that Yahovah provided in the first time. (Reference Exo. 34:1, 2) Prior to that, Yahovah instructed Moshe to have the ark of the covenant constructed. (reference Exo. 25:10) We must recall that awesome day, at the foot of mount Sinai, when Yahovah ratified His covenant with us and He shouted down to us His ten-commandments. (Reference Exo. 19) Later, Moshe was called up the mountain and Yahovah provided him two-tables of stone, inscribed with the ten-commandments. However, when Moshe saw the people had broken the covenant that had just a few days prior been established between Yah and us, Moshe broke the tables of stones containing the commandments. This second set of stone tables would be hewed and brought before the Father for His inscription, whereas the first set of tables Yah provided and inscribed His words upon them. This second set of tables were placed into the ark of the covenant by Moshe as instructed by Yahovah.
Additionally, Moshe rehashes our journey from B’nei Ya’akan to Moserah. It is at Moserah that Aaron died and the priesthood was transferred to his son Eleazer. (Reference Num. 20:28; 33:30-38) From Moserah we traveled to Gudgod and then on to Yotvatah. It is during this period of relocation that Yahovah set apart from the rest of us the Levites who would carry the ark for the covenant of ADONAI and to stand before ADONAI to serve him and to bless in his name, (Deu 10:8 CJB) Thus the Levite would have no inheritance in the promised land like all the other tribes, for Yahovah would be their inheritance.
Lastly, Moshe regales how he petitioned Yahovah on our behalf; for Yahovah to spare us as a result of our evil and sin. We were spared and allowed to proceed on our travels because of Moshe’s intercession. Indeed, Moshe was a precursor to our Lord and Savior Y’shua HaMoshiyach.
I want to return to the beginning of this section and look at this issue of the stone tables. We recall that Yahovah Himself hewed stone out of the holy mountain and inscribed His commandments upon them and gave those tables to Moshe. Moshe destroyed those tables in response to the people’s breaking of the covenant. The second go-round, Moshe was instructed to hew the stone tables and bring them before Yahovah for inscription. It is this second set of tables that were then placed into the ark of the covenant. What a beautiful shadow picture that Father has placed before us. The first set of tables Yahovah did all the work in bringing forth the commandments which resulted in the tables’ destruction. This second set, Moshe brings the tables for Yahovah to inscribe His commandment upon. We today are the second set of tables that must come before Father for Him to write His Law upon our hearts. Before, Yahovah simply provided the Law and said here, follow and obey. We did not follow and obey and thus the covenant was broken. We are now under a renewed covenant, whereby Yah’s Law is written in/on our hearts. Thus Yahovah’s Word lives within us. We are not compelled to obey out of rote obedience that is based upon fear and blind ignorance. We follow and obey because we love Yahovah with our entire being: our heart, soul and strength. (Reference Mat. 22:37; Deu. 6:5)
The Torah Challenge set before us today fellow Saints is for us to realize and live out Torah that has been written/inscribed on our hearts. We are no longer bound to religion and the whims and teachings of our religious leaders who twist the Word of Yahovah to fit their own personal or denomination’s agenda. Let us strip off denominationalism and religion from our being and walk and operate in the power and might of the Ruach Kodesh, realizing that we are one with Torah, because Yahovah has placed His Law within us. Be blessed. Shalom.
Rod Thomas–Coroner Investigator–Messianic Content Creator–Disciple of Yahoshua HaMoshiyach–Wishful Musician
