10.3.24 ~ Food For Thought
Good morning!
Commercial: Last night's zoom call: The Bridal Garments: 24 Ornaments Pt. 7: The bride's responsibility to keep the vineyard (Matt. 21:33-43; Isa. 3:18-24)
After an amazing day of intimate conversations and study time, plus the traditional late night visits, this morning has started a little slower than normal :-)
I received an email question related to the other night's study from Matthew 16:24-17:8. I will share the question and my response to give you some food for thought :-)
Dear Alan,
On the Mount of Transfiguration, Moses and Elijah disappeared and Yeshua was the only one left standing there. Yahweh said "listen to my son". I have appreciated your teachings and the hours of study you have put into learning what you know. I, like you, have a desire to make an impact in the body of Christ. But it seems you are saying Yeshua is the road sign pointing to the Torah. You are bypassing God for His words. The veil has been torn so you can go directly to Him which brings transformation but you are saying we must go to Torah and conform. Yaweh brings transformation in prayer, Yaweh himself renews our minds when we read His words. I believe there is a place for you and your teachings in the body of Christ as long as what you teach that Torah points to Yeshua as being what we need for transformation. You seem to be complicating this truth and it creates a cloud of uncertainty and confusion of the truth which distracts from one on one with Yeshua. . This last statement is the effect of reading your daily email and your informative Thursday teachings. Brother, please reconsider your path. You are a precious brother in Christ and I hope you will reconsider so that you will not be ashamed on the day of His return and so that your impact in the body of Christ will be effective and not distracting.
Sincerely a sister in the Lord,
I responded as follows:
Thanks for sharing your concern. One thing we can be sure, God's Word never changes. In our study on Psa. 19:7 David says that the Law/Yahweh's instructions/the Torah is perfect and restores our soul, its testimony is sure and it makes wise the simple. If King David, the man after God's own heart makes that statement, we might want to examine this topic really closely. I'm sorry that you've come to the conclusion that I deemphasize Yeshua. What's interesting to me, is when the topic of the Torah, God's instructions, is brought up "we" forget the reality of our basic biblical theology. God's Word is the Torah (His instructions) and Yeshua is the Word of God, the Torah made flesh (Jn. 1:14). There is no separating the two, unless we are theological evolutionists and believe that God changes (Mal. 3:6). The reason my emphasis is so much on living out God's instructions, the Torah, is because I'm dealing with believers in these emails and videos, not unredeemed individuals who haven't experienced the life transforming power of Yeshua's death, burial and resurrection. Besides, that was Yeshua's focus also.
Today, the modern church believes that Yeshua's death does away with the Law/Torah/Instructions of God. If we go back and read the entire book from cover to cover, we'll find that when God's children were living the Torah, by the Spirit, their lives were blessed and fulfilled. They were free from the slavery of their enemies. Their families were healthy and prosperous. The communities were safe and individuals were restored. When they rebelled against the Torah/Instructions of God everything unraveled (Lev.26; Deut. 28). That's true today! the church as a whole has dissed on the Torah...look at the state of the church in general. We've created our own system and morphed "Jesus" into a "non-Jew" that teaches us we don't have to keep the Word of God, His Instructions. Nothing could be further from the truth, unless we spend our time in one of the 42,000 denominations that hold to the view that Jesus came to fulfill and do away with the Law/God's Word/His Instructions/Torah.
Before I elaborate on your statement, I want to make clear that I believe Yeshua is the reality of God in the flesh (Col.1:15). I believe He is the Word of God, Who has been from the beginning. I believe the Word of God is eternal and never changes...these things you already know that is my heart :-)
Let me quote His own words. First, let's look at Yeshua's statement when He was being tested in the wilderness, where He states to Satan, that man shall not live by bread alone (what does He mean by that?), but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God (Matt. 4:4). Why would Yeshua make a comment like this? I find it intriguing to know that Yeshua is making a direct reference back to what Yahweh gave to Moses in Num. 12:8 where He speaks to him mouth to mouth (english translates it face to face, but in Hebrew it's pey to pey; mouth to mouth). Based on your comment, am I to think that Yeshua's death changed the Words of God given to Moses, the Word made flesh?
John's testimony is that Yeshua is the Word of God Who was with God and Who is God (John 1:1;Gen. 1:1) Who became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14). Later in the book of Revelation (Rev. 19:13) John reiterates the same fact of the resurrected One who is coming back to destroy the enemies of His ways. Prophetically, He, the Word of God, is the seed promised in Genesis 3:15 that is realized in Messiah through Abraham and into you (Gal. 3:16, 28,29). Yeshua tells us that the 'seed' is the Word of God (Luke 8:11). If we believe the Word of God and the pattern He established from day 3 in Genesis 1, the seed will always produce fruit after its own kind and the cycle won't stop unless man genetically modified that seed. Do you think the church today looks like that original seed? Peter adds His 25 cents worth and says that the Word of God lives and abides forever (1 Pet. 1:23). Paul tells us that it is the source of faith (Rom. 10:17). And Hebrews 11 reminds us that all those 'heroes' of the faith, lived by faith, the Word of God. Are they just nice stories, since Yeshua has risen from the dead or are they to be a cloud of witnesses for us on how to run this race (Heb. 12:1-3)?
It's the Word of God that Acts 6:7, 19:20, and multiple other references speak of, that spread mightily through the land and that every Sabbath the people would come from all the city to hear spoken (Acts 13:44). Unfortunately, men have added their 'traditional' (denominational bent) to it and made the commandments of God of no effect (Mark 7:13).
Yeshua said that the individuals who kept the Word of God would be blessed (Luke 11:28; Lev. 26; Deut. 28) and he would associate with them the same as His mother and brothers (Luke 8:21).
Despite men's corruption of the Word of God, Paul reminds us that it cannot be bound (2 Tim. 2:9). Yes, they might bind the servant who bears the message, but the Word of God cannot be bound. Why? It's big! It's powerful! It's eternal! The Word of God framed the world (Heb. 11:3). It's a sharp two edged sword (Heb. 4:12). It's been governing the heavens and the earth since the beginning (2 Pet. 3:5). It's what holds the entire universe together (Col. 1:13-17). It's the only hope that individuals have for not taking the mark of the beast (Rev. 20:4). The Word of God is the Sword of the Spirit (Eph. 6:17) that we are to use in battle against the spiritual enemy. It's this same Sword that will come out of Yeshua's mouth at His coming (Rev. 19:15).
As Solomon says, 'every Word of God is pure (Prov. 30:5). Did that change after Yeshua rose from the dead? Did it all the sudden lose its purity and go against John's testimony and become burdensome (1 John 5:1-5)? John said, everyone who keeps His Word, the end result will be that the love of God becomes perfected in him (1 John 2:5).
Unfortunately, but fortunately, it is those who keep the commandments of God's Word and the testimony of Yeshua (Rev. 12:17, 14:12) that are going to be targeted in the last days. No worries, though. These individuals will also be the ones who are granted access to the Tree of Life (Rev. 22:14) during the Millennial Reign...the price is worth the admission.
I hope you can see that trying to separate Yeshua from the Word of God is theological suicide; a position that many within the church today are taking. Is it any wonder why Yeshua, speaking of the day of the future judgment day condemns individuals who though they did many wonderful works, cast out demons, and prophesied, because they practiced iniquity/lawlessness (Gk. anomia), by neglecting the Torah/Instructions, they will hear the most terrifying words ever, "depart from me" (Matt. 7:21-23). He also said at the end of the age He would gather out everyone that offends within His kingdom and lives contrary to the Torah (Matt. 13:41); the leaders of these people who hear those words and are taken out of the Kingdom are the religious leaders of the day (Matt. 23:28). Hopefully you can understand I'm taking Yahweh at His Word.
Personally, with Yeshua's warnings, that's good enough for me. He also offers to those who teach the Torah and keep the Torah they will be greatest in the kingdom (Matt. 5:19).
To go back to your email, nowhere does it say that Moses and Elijah disappeared. When Yahweh said listen to 'My Son' that's about as direct a quote from Moses as you're going to get concerning Yeshua, the Prophet Who they must listen to (Deut. 18:5-8). The One Who is the Word of God made flesh. The One, The Word of God, that is expressed from Genesis 1:1. The vision that Peter, James and John saw was a vision of the future Kingdom when the Messiah comes to rule and reign in Jerusalem at the Feast of Tabernacles/Sukkot as prophesied in Zechariah 14.
I agree with your statement that prayer coupled with the Word of God is a vehicle for our transformation. I'd also add the essential of being a doer and not just a hearer of the Word (James 1:23). Your statement is very true! Hopefully you can see that my use of the Word of God, Yeshua, is more biblical than implied. And instead of clouding, it actually should bring clarity to the issue. That's why the Word of God is likened to a Lamp that lights our path (Psa. 119:105). The Lamp, the vessel that holds the oil, is the commandment and the light is the Torah (Prov. 6:23). That's what light does. It brings clarity. Exposes darkness. Did the Light take on a new identity after Yeshua rose from the dead? Do we now throw out the Word of God, now that Yeshua the Word of God is made flesh? Did Yeshua, the Word Who is the same yesterday, today and forever (Heb. 13:5-8), change the rules of godly and righteous living after His resurrection (Deut. 6:23-25)?
Both Yeshua and Paul mention that men love darkness rather than light, what do you think that means? Isaiah said that men would call light darkness and darkness light (Isa. 5:20). Do you think we are seeing any of that today? When light shines and the darkness can't comprehend it, is that something new after Yeshua rose from the dead? Or has that been true since the beginning of Genesis? Unfortunately, It's the general denominational churches that's clouding the issue by teaching theological evolution that God changes His Word, that Yeshua isn't the Word from the beginning and that when He died that somehow changed God's game plan on how to run the universe. Bizarre, indeed. Based on Yeshua's own warnings, who do you think will be ashamed on the Day of Christ? The one who kept and taught the Word of God or the one, despite all his religious actions, neglected the Torah and will be told to depart from Him?
It's a serious question and one to take seriously. There's a lot of 'talk' going around these days and it's going to be time for individuals to go back and search the Scriptures if they really want to know if they have eternal life or not (Jn. 5:39). Unfortunately, in the lives of too many, there's not a whole lot of searching that's going on these days. But those who are living as the priesthood (1 Pet. 2) are examining them well, or at least should be according to the Word of God (Mal. 2). Hence, the warning at the end of Malachi 4, speaking of these last days...remember Moses. Or do we think that this last day's passage should be ignored now that Yeshua has risen from the dead and ascended to the right hand of the Father?
Did the death, burial and resurrection of Yeshua change Psa. 19:7, where David said, that the Law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul. The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. Does that change? If Yeshua is the reality of the Law (Torah, the Word of God made flesh) then the statement isn't contradictory is it? Maybe the church ought to start preaching The Torah made flesh?
Hope that gives you some food for thought. Hope to see you again soon. BTW, Yahsome question and thanks for being open to share your concern with me. We, Valerie and I love you for that!
Shalom my friend!
After an amazing day of intimate conversations and study time, plus the traditional late night visits, this morning has started a little slower than normal :-)
I received an email question related to the other night's study from Matthew 16:24-17:8. I will share the question and my response to give you some food for thought :-)
Dear Alan,
On the Mount of Transfiguration, Moses and Elijah disappeared and Yeshua was the only one left standing there. Yahweh said "listen to my son". I have appreciated your teachings and the hours of study you have put into learning what you know. I, like you, have a desire to make an impact in the body of Christ. But it seems you are saying Yeshua is the road sign pointing to the Torah. You are bypassing God for His words. The veil has been torn so you can go directly to Him which brings transformation but you are saying we must go to Torah and conform. Yaweh brings transformation in prayer, Yaweh himself renews our minds when we read His words. I believe there is a place for you and your teachings in the body of Christ as long as what you teach that Torah points to Yeshua as being what we need for transformation. You seem to be complicating this truth and it creates a cloud of uncertainty and confusion of the truth which distracts from one on one with Yeshua. . This last statement is the effect of reading your daily email and your informative Thursday teachings. Brother, please reconsider your path. You are a precious brother in Christ and I hope you will reconsider so that you will not be ashamed on the day of His return and so that your impact in the body of Christ will be effective and not distracting.
Sincerely a sister in the Lord,
I responded as follows:
Thanks for sharing your concern. One thing we can be sure, God's Word never changes. In our study on Psa. 19:7 David says that the Law/Yahweh's instructions/the Torah is perfect and restores our soul, its testimony is sure and it makes wise the simple. If King David, the man after God's own heart makes that statement, we might want to examine this topic really closely. I'm sorry that you've come to the conclusion that I deemphasize Yeshua. What's interesting to me, is when the topic of the Torah, God's instructions, is brought up "we" forget the reality of our basic biblical theology. God's Word is the Torah (His instructions) and Yeshua is the Word of God, the Torah made flesh (Jn. 1:14). There is no separating the two, unless we are theological evolutionists and believe that God changes (Mal. 3:6). The reason my emphasis is so much on living out God's instructions, the Torah, is because I'm dealing with believers in these emails and videos, not unredeemed individuals who haven't experienced the life transforming power of Yeshua's death, burial and resurrection. Besides, that was Yeshua's focus also.
Today, the modern church believes that Yeshua's death does away with the Law/Torah/Instructions of God. If we go back and read the entire book from cover to cover, we'll find that when God's children were living the Torah, by the Spirit, their lives were blessed and fulfilled. They were free from the slavery of their enemies. Their families were healthy and prosperous. The communities were safe and individuals were restored. When they rebelled against the Torah/Instructions of God everything unraveled (Lev.26; Deut. 28). That's true today! the church as a whole has dissed on the Torah...look at the state of the church in general. We've created our own system and morphed "Jesus" into a "non-Jew" that teaches us we don't have to keep the Word of God, His Instructions. Nothing could be further from the truth, unless we spend our time in one of the 42,000 denominations that hold to the view that Jesus came to fulfill and do away with the Law/God's Word/His Instructions/Torah.
Before I elaborate on your statement, I want to make clear that I believe Yeshua is the reality of God in the flesh (Col.1:15). I believe He is the Word of God, Who has been from the beginning. I believe the Word of God is eternal and never changes...these things you already know that is my heart :-)
Let me quote His own words. First, let's look at Yeshua's statement when He was being tested in the wilderness, where He states to Satan, that man shall not live by bread alone (what does He mean by that?), but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God (Matt. 4:4). Why would Yeshua make a comment like this? I find it intriguing to know that Yeshua is making a direct reference back to what Yahweh gave to Moses in Num. 12:8 where He speaks to him mouth to mouth (english translates it face to face, but in Hebrew it's pey to pey; mouth to mouth). Based on your comment, am I to think that Yeshua's death changed the Words of God given to Moses, the Word made flesh?
John's testimony is that Yeshua is the Word of God Who was with God and Who is God (John 1:1;Gen. 1:1) Who became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14). Later in the book of Revelation (Rev. 19:13) John reiterates the same fact of the resurrected One who is coming back to destroy the enemies of His ways. Prophetically, He, the Word of God, is the seed promised in Genesis 3:15 that is realized in Messiah through Abraham and into you (Gal. 3:16, 28,29). Yeshua tells us that the 'seed' is the Word of God (Luke 8:11). If we believe the Word of God and the pattern He established from day 3 in Genesis 1, the seed will always produce fruit after its own kind and the cycle won't stop unless man genetically modified that seed. Do you think the church today looks like that original seed? Peter adds His 25 cents worth and says that the Word of God lives and abides forever (1 Pet. 1:23). Paul tells us that it is the source of faith (Rom. 10:17). And Hebrews 11 reminds us that all those 'heroes' of the faith, lived by faith, the Word of God. Are they just nice stories, since Yeshua has risen from the dead or are they to be a cloud of witnesses for us on how to run this race (Heb. 12:1-3)?
It's the Word of God that Acts 6:7, 19:20, and multiple other references speak of, that spread mightily through the land and that every Sabbath the people would come from all the city to hear spoken (Acts 13:44). Unfortunately, men have added their 'traditional' (denominational bent) to it and made the commandments of God of no effect (Mark 7:13).
Yeshua said that the individuals who kept the Word of God would be blessed (Luke 11:28; Lev. 26; Deut. 28) and he would associate with them the same as His mother and brothers (Luke 8:21).
Despite men's corruption of the Word of God, Paul reminds us that it cannot be bound (2 Tim. 2:9). Yes, they might bind the servant who bears the message, but the Word of God cannot be bound. Why? It's big! It's powerful! It's eternal! The Word of God framed the world (Heb. 11:3). It's a sharp two edged sword (Heb. 4:12). It's been governing the heavens and the earth since the beginning (2 Pet. 3:5). It's what holds the entire universe together (Col. 1:13-17). It's the only hope that individuals have for not taking the mark of the beast (Rev. 20:4). The Word of God is the Sword of the Spirit (Eph. 6:17) that we are to use in battle against the spiritual enemy. It's this same Sword that will come out of Yeshua's mouth at His coming (Rev. 19:15).
As Solomon says, 'every Word of God is pure (Prov. 30:5). Did that change after Yeshua rose from the dead? Did it all the sudden lose its purity and go against John's testimony and become burdensome (1 John 5:1-5)? John said, everyone who keeps His Word, the end result will be that the love of God becomes perfected in him (1 John 2:5).
Unfortunately, but fortunately, it is those who keep the commandments of God's Word and the testimony of Yeshua (Rev. 12:17, 14:12) that are going to be targeted in the last days. No worries, though. These individuals will also be the ones who are granted access to the Tree of Life (Rev. 22:14) during the Millennial Reign...the price is worth the admission.
I hope you can see that trying to separate Yeshua from the Word of God is theological suicide; a position that many within the church today are taking. Is it any wonder why Yeshua, speaking of the day of the future judgment day condemns individuals who though they did many wonderful works, cast out demons, and prophesied, because they practiced iniquity/lawlessness (Gk. anomia), by neglecting the Torah/Instructions, they will hear the most terrifying words ever, "depart from me" (Matt. 7:21-23). He also said at the end of the age He would gather out everyone that offends within His kingdom and lives contrary to the Torah (Matt. 13:41); the leaders of these people who hear those words and are taken out of the Kingdom are the religious leaders of the day (Matt. 23:28). Hopefully you can understand I'm taking Yahweh at His Word.
Personally, with Yeshua's warnings, that's good enough for me. He also offers to those who teach the Torah and keep the Torah they will be greatest in the kingdom (Matt. 5:19).
To go back to your email, nowhere does it say that Moses and Elijah disappeared. When Yahweh said listen to 'My Son' that's about as direct a quote from Moses as you're going to get concerning Yeshua, the Prophet Who they must listen to (Deut. 18:5-8). The One Who is the Word of God made flesh. The One, The Word of God, that is expressed from Genesis 1:1. The vision that Peter, James and John saw was a vision of the future Kingdom when the Messiah comes to rule and reign in Jerusalem at the Feast of Tabernacles/Sukkot as prophesied in Zechariah 14.
I agree with your statement that prayer coupled with the Word of God is a vehicle for our transformation. I'd also add the essential of being a doer and not just a hearer of the Word (James 1:23). Your statement is very true! Hopefully you can see that my use of the Word of God, Yeshua, is more biblical than implied. And instead of clouding, it actually should bring clarity to the issue. That's why the Word of God is likened to a Lamp that lights our path (Psa. 119:105). The Lamp, the vessel that holds the oil, is the commandment and the light is the Torah (Prov. 6:23). That's what light does. It brings clarity. Exposes darkness. Did the Light take on a new identity after Yeshua rose from the dead? Do we now throw out the Word of God, now that Yeshua the Word of God is made flesh? Did Yeshua, the Word Who is the same yesterday, today and forever (Heb. 13:5-8), change the rules of godly and righteous living after His resurrection (Deut. 6:23-25)?
Both Yeshua and Paul mention that men love darkness rather than light, what do you think that means? Isaiah said that men would call light darkness and darkness light (Isa. 5:20). Do you think we are seeing any of that today? When light shines and the darkness can't comprehend it, is that something new after Yeshua rose from the dead? Or has that been true since the beginning of Genesis? Unfortunately, It's the general denominational churches that's clouding the issue by teaching theological evolution that God changes His Word, that Yeshua isn't the Word from the beginning and that when He died that somehow changed God's game plan on how to run the universe. Bizarre, indeed. Based on Yeshua's own warnings, who do you think will be ashamed on the Day of Christ? The one who kept and taught the Word of God or the one, despite all his religious actions, neglected the Torah and will be told to depart from Him?
It's a serious question and one to take seriously. There's a lot of 'talk' going around these days and it's going to be time for individuals to go back and search the Scriptures if they really want to know if they have eternal life or not (Jn. 5:39). Unfortunately, in the lives of too many, there's not a whole lot of searching that's going on these days. But those who are living as the priesthood (1 Pet. 2) are examining them well, or at least should be according to the Word of God (Mal. 2). Hence, the warning at the end of Malachi 4, speaking of these last days...remember Moses. Or do we think that this last day's passage should be ignored now that Yeshua has risen from the dead and ascended to the right hand of the Father?
Did the death, burial and resurrection of Yeshua change Psa. 19:7, where David said, that the Law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul. The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. Does that change? If Yeshua is the reality of the Law (Torah, the Word of God made flesh) then the statement isn't contradictory is it? Maybe the church ought to start preaching The Torah made flesh?
Hope that gives you some food for thought. Hope to see you again soon. BTW, Yahsome question and thanks for being open to share your concern with me. We, Valerie and I love you for that!
Shalom my friend!
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