Sunday, June 19, 2016

Yhwh Gathering the Enemies of Israel for Destruction


When we see our World Leaders gathering, and worshipping, honoring Baphomet, the horned transgendered human/goat demon god, and we see his statues being erected around the world, and ancient temples of Baal/Nimrod being re-erected in cities around the world, what can be done?


Let us take confidence and find hope by remembering the End View, the final outcome, for after all, who is really in control?  The Hebrew Prophet Ezekiel brings a warning to the enemies of Israel:


Ezekiel 38:2-9 2 "Son of man, set your face toward Gog of the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him 3 and say, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "Behold, I am against you, O Gog, prince of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal. 4 "I will turn you about and put hooks into your jaws, and I will bring you out, and all your army, horses and horsemen, all of them splendidly attired, a great company with buckler and shield, all of them wielding swords; 5 Persia, Ethiopia and Put with them, all of them with shield and helmet; 6 Gomer with all its troops; Beth-togarmah from the remote parts of the north with all its troops-- many peoples with you. 7 "Be prepared, and prepare yourself, you and all your companies that are assembled about you, and be a guard for them. 8 "After many days you will be summoned; in the latter years you will come into the land that is restored from the sword, whose inhabitants have been gathered from many nations to the mountains of Israel which had been a continual waste; but its people were brought out from the nations, and they are living securely, all of them. 9 "You will go up, you will come like a storm; you will be like a cloud covering the land, you and all your troops, and many peoples with you."


In reading the scriptures here in Ezekiel 38-39, we can see that Yhwh is assembling the last days enemies of Israel, and they will be many, to bring judgment upon them all and to deliver His people Israel (the 13 tribes) from around the world.  There will be judgments and plagues such the like has not been seen since Yhwh delivered Israel from out of Egypt.


Man, with his advanced weaponry, invisibility suits, genetically modified soldiers, etc. being brought out to fight the armies of the living Elohim.  And scripture already gives the outcome of what will be.  It will, and is going to be messy.  But for those who trust in Yhwh, He is their refuge.


As the Psalmist cried out: 
Psalm 11:3 3 If the foundations are destroyed, What can the righteous do?"
And the answer is:
Psalm 11:4 4 The LORD is in His holy temple; the LORD'S throne is in heaven; His eyes behold, His eyelids test the sons of men.


Then the Psalm goes on to spell out the final picture, the End View:
Psalm 11:5-7 5 The LORD tests the righteous and the wicked, And the one who loves violence His soul hates. 6 Upon the wicked He will rain snares; Fire and brimstone and burning wind will be the portion of their cup. 7 For the LORD is righteous, He loves righteousness; The upright will behold His face.


Amen.  Maranatha.  Come Lord Yeshua! 

Sunday, June 12, 2016

Rom. 6:16-17: Paul, teaching righteousness, teaching Torah


Romans 6:16-18 16 Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness? 17 But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed, 18 and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.




Here we see, the apostle Paul, a Pharisee (Acts 23:6), teaching about the new life, and believers living lives of obedience to righteousness.  We see that in v. 16 he teaches us that you are a slave of what or whom you obey, giving us two options: 1) either of sin, resulting in death, which Paul had taught earlier in his letter to the Romans (Rom. 6:23), or 2) of obedience, resulting in righteousness. 




But now we have a dilemma.  The modern "Church," teaches that Yeshua (Jesus) fulfilled the Law so that we don't have to keep it.  In fact, I have had pastors tell me that trying to keep the Law is bondage, and will send you to hell (speaking of me, personally)!  So is the apostle Paul telling believers that Yeshua died to set them free from something that they are now obligated to live by, or that they are free from?




He is instructing believers that they are to live for righteousness, to live in obedience to it.  But living in obedience implies something, a standard, a rule or Law that must be obeyed!  If we are to live in obedience, the Law then is not dead.  It remains true and in effect today just as it was two thousand years ago.  The apostle is instructing believers under the New Covenant through Yeshua's death and resurrection (on Passover and the feast of First Fruits), to live in obedience to the Instruction (Torah) Yhwh commanded his people keep forever (1 Chr. 16:15; Ps. 105:8).




This teaching found in the depths of the New Covenant itself, in a book championed by the Reformers for teaching the doctrine of salvation by grace, actually hearkens back to the teachings in the Torah.  In Deutoronomy 28, the Yhwh speaks through Moses, his servant, and he speaks of the blessing that will be received for living lives in obedience to the Instruction of Yhwh (Deut. 28:1f)  It also speaks of the curses, sickness and destruction to follow after those who live lives of disobedience to the word of Yhwh (Deut. 28:15f).




In the New Testament (B'rit Chadasha) the apostle tells us that the wages of sin is death (Rom. 6:23).So we see that the New Covenant is not in juxtaposition to the Old Testament, in fact, Paul is confirming the Biblical teaching of the Torah, for the New Covenant believers to follow and live their lives after.


17 But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed, 18 and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.


When the apostle Paul teaches that believers have become obedient from the heart, he is repeating the teaching of the prophet Jeremiah who first defined what the New Covenant (B'rit Chadashah) would be.
Jeremiah 31:33 33 "But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days," declares the LORD, "I will put My torah within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.


In one of the first teachings/promises for a new Covenant, Jeremiah is prophesying that the Yah's Torah would be written on the hearts of His people.  This is one reason why in the churches today, there are so many "cultural Christians," people who claim the name of Messiah, and defile Elohim's name among the nations, because with the teaching that "we are free from the Torah," they live lives of lawlessness, looking no different from the rest of the world, while receiving the comfort and assurance of Yhwh's blessing on their lives. 




The Hebrew Apostles knew the Tanakh, and they knew the Psalms.  They understood the teaching that Torah IS righteousness, it is Truth (Ps. 145:142)!  The apostle John tells us that everyone who lives in (active, continual) sin, lives in lawlessness (1 Jn. 3:4)!  And so Paul, writing in chapter three of his great systematic exposition on salvation by grace, tells us in verse thirty-three, "What then, shall we nullify the Law (Torah) through grace?  May it never be!  Rather, we establish the Torah!"


In our churches in America, the West, for so long, it has been taught that the Law and Grace are opposed to each other, and has given support to doctrines (ie, teachings of men) such as "dispensations."  But it seems the apostle is not teaching that the Torah and grace are in opposition, but rather, that the Torah, and grace, go hand and hand! 




Psalm 119:32 32 I shall run the way of Your commandments, For You will enlarge my heart.


Psalm 119:96-104 96 I have seen a limit to all perfection; Your commandment is exceedingly broad. Mem. 97 O how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day. 98 Your commandments make me wiser than my enemies, For they are ever mine. 99 I have more insight than all my teachers, For Your testimonies are my meditation. 100 I understand more than the aged, Because I have observed Your precepts. 101 I have restrained my feet from every evil way, That I may keep Your word. 102 I have not turned aside from Your ordinances, For You Yourself have taught me. 103 How sweet are Your words to my taste! Yes, sweeter than honey to my mouth! 104 From Your precepts I get understanding; Therefore I hate every false way.


Understanding more about the Hebrew mindset of the authors of the Bible, we can see that the theology of the Bible is seamless.  There are no two separate parts.  Scripture is one united, complete whole!  It's theme from beginning to end is the restoration of Eden, and Yhwh fulfilling His promises to Avraham, Isaac and Jacob, and their descendants.