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Grace is NOT a New Testament concept.

Despite what “church tradition”, grace is not a “New Testament” concept, nor did it first dawn with the Renewed Covenant.

Genesis 6:8
But Noah found grace in the eyes of Yahweh.

Exodus 33:12-18
Then Moses said to Yahweh, “See, You say to me, ‘Bring up this people.’ But You have not let me know whom You will send with me. Yet You have said, ‘I know you by name, and you have also found grace in My sight.’ Now therefore, I pray, if I have found grace in Your sight, show me now Your way, that I may know You and that I may find grace in Your sight. And consider that this nation is Your people.” And He said, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” Then he said to Him, “If Your Presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here. For how then will it be known that Your people and I have found grace in Your sight, except You go with us? So we shall be separate, Your people and I, from all the people who are upon the face of the earth.” So Yahweh said to Moses, “I will also do this thing that you have spoken; for you have found grace in My sight, and I know you by name.” And he said, “Please, show me Your glory.”

Psalm 84:11
For Yahweh God is a sun and shield: Yahweh will give grace and glory. No good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.

If we are now under a “dispensation of grace” as some falsely teach, then how can they explain the existence of grace before the advent of Yahshua? This is why I am so fascinated lately with the book of Ecclesiastes…

Ecclesiastes 1:9-11
That which has been is that which shall be, and that which has been done is that which shall be done, and there is no new thing under the sun. Is there a thing of which it may be said, “See, this is new?” It has been long ago, in the ages which were before us. There is no remembrance of the former generations, neither shall there be any remembrance of the latter generations that are to come, among those that shall come after.

Thus I say again: grace is not a New Testament concept. As there is nothing new under the sun, and that which was done long ago (grace given to Noah) is the same as that which is done today (grace given to us).

Sabbath observance in the New/Renewed Covenant

I was recently asked to show support for Sabbath observance from the New/Renewed Covenant writings… so here goes.

Colossians 2:13-17, “And you, though you were dead through your trespasses (a) and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made you alive together with him. Having forgiven us all of our trespasses (a), He has blotted out the bond written in ordinances (b) that was against us, and held against us. He has taken it (b) out that way, nailing it to the cross. (c) Having disarmed the rulers and authorities, He has made a public example of them, having triumphed over them through it. (d) Therefore let no man judge you by what you eat or drink, or for celebrating a feast day or a new moon or a Sabbath day. These things are a shadow of the things to come (e), but the main objective is the Messiah. (f)”

(a) Torah violations according to Aramaic manuscrips, “lack of law” according to Greek.
(b) Not referring to the Torah itself, but to the judgement of sin that was against us.
(c) Upon the shedding of Yahshua’s blood, the sins were forgiven, and lost Ephraim could be united once again in the covenant relationship with Yahweh.
(d) Since He has disposessed the our spiritual bondage which at one point chained us in darkness, He has now through His death triumphed over them.
(e) If they are a shadow of things to come, then does not a shadow always represent the same thing, but in greater detail? For instance, if the shadow of a man goes before him, it is known of his shadow that he is a man, and not something else. In the same way, the Torah casts a shadow, giving us guidelines for eating, drinking, holy days, and the Sabbath: when the shadow is gone, and the full realization comes, it still bears the same shape as the shadow! By this I mean that we still have Torah, Kosher eating, Sabbath observance, etc. even within the New/Renewed Covenant under the leadership of the Messiah.
(f) Aramaic Peshitta, according to Lamsa.

Christianity teaches that these verses have released us from the Torah of our Father Yahweh, and emphasizes the understanding of these final sentences, “let no man judge you… regarding eating, drinking, Sabbath, etc.” to mean that you can pick your own Sabbath day and eat what you want (hence the Catholic church arbitrarily chose Sunday to cater to pagans). What Paul was really trying to get accross, if I may paraphrase, was, “Let no man judge you from what Yahweh has already established.” Let me backtrack a couple of steps to guide you through my logic…

Genesis 1:14, “God said, ‘Let there be lights in the firmament of heaven to divide the day from the night, and let them be for signs, for seasons, for days, and for years.’ “

The Hebrew here for seasons is “moedim”, or appointed times. The lights in the sky were given to determine Yahweh’s appointed times.

Genesis 2:2-3, “On the sixth day God finished His work which He had made, and on the seventh day He rested from all His work which He had made. God blessed the seventh day, and declared it holy, because in it He rested from all His work which He had created.”

This is the first written record that Yahweh established the Sabbath- an appointed time- as revealed by the lights in the sky (hence, being able to determine the seventh day). Now here in the 10 Commandments the Sabbath observance was fully revealed and recorded.

Exodus 20:8-11, “Remember the Sabbath day, and keep it holy. Six days you will labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath unto Yahweh your God, and in it you will not do any work, neither you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your man-servant, nor your maid-servant, nor your cattle, nor the stranger that is within your gates. For in six days Yahweh made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and He rested on the seventh day. Therefore Yahweh blessed the Sabbath day, and made it holy.”

Moving on… I examined Isaiah the prophet to see how this fits in with the “New Testament” writings…

Isaiah 56:1-7, “This says Yahweh, ‘Keep justice, and do righteousness; for my salvation (a) is almost here, and is my righteousness to be revealed.’ Blessed is the man who does this, and the son of man that holds strong to it; he that keeps the Sabbath, and does not profane it, and keeps his hand from doing any evil. Let not the foreigner, once He has joined himself to Yahweh, say ‘Yahweh will surely separate me from his people.’ Neither let the eunuch say, ‘Behold, I am a dry tree.’ For this says Yahweh, ‘To the eunuchs that keep My Sabbaths, (b) and choose the things that please Me, and hold strong to My covenant: to them I will give in My house and within My walls a memorial and a name better than of sons and of daughters; I will give them an everlasting name (c) that will not be cut off.’ He also says to the foreigners that join themselves to Yahweh, to minister to Him, and to love the name of Yahweh, to be His servants, ‘Every one who keepeth the Sabbath and does not profane it, and holds strong My covenant (b), I will bring them to My holy mountain, and make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted upon my altar, for My house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.”

(a) Yahshua
(b) Many Christians teach that this prophecy is saying that ‘gentiles’ will be ‘grafted in’ to Yahweh’s eternal kingdom. What they miss is that this prophecy also clearly says that to receive the promise of Yahweh’s salvation (Yahshua), and to dwell in His eternal house, these eunichs and foreigners must submit to honoring the Sabbath.
(c) Israel, heir to the everlasting covenant made with Isaac in Genesis 17:19.

Sabbath is an eternal covenant that was given since the beginning. Yahweh is eternal, unchanging in all His ways, and nothing He establishes can ever be undone (Isaiah 40:8). There is no way that Colossians 2:13-17 can change that. Rather, Paul upholds the Sabbath, admonishing us to not let go of the covenantal pact between Yahweh and man.

In a nutshell: here’s the NT verse supporting Sabbath.

The names of the books of the Torah tells a story…

In the Hebrew language, the original names for the first five books of Scripture (the Torah) tell a story. The names of these books were typically taken from the first word(s) of the book. So for instance…

Genesis = Bereshith / Beginning, or “In the Beginning”.
Exodus = Shemot / Names, or “These are the Names”.
Leviticus = Wayikra / Wilderness, or “In the Wilderness”
Numbers = Bamidbar / Calling, or “Those who are Called”.
Deuteronomy = Devarim / Words, or “These are the Words”.

So putting these together we have…

“In the beginning, My Name I revealed in the wilderness to those whom I called by My Word.”

Hebrew literature is really quite beautiful.

Is Jesus the AntiChrist? (the “false messiah” ??)

John 5:43, “I (Yahshua) have come in my Father’s Name (Yahweh), and you receive me not; yet if another comes in his own name, him you will receive.”

“Yahshua” is a Hebrew/Aramaic name meaning “Salvation of Yahweh”. Yahshua literally came bearing His Father’s Name; YAH brings SHUA (salvation).

“Jesus” comes from nothing. It is an English translation of the Latin translation of the Greek translation of an Aramaic name. “Jesus” literally came in his own name, and Christianity accepts him with open arms. Yahshua, on the other hand, is unanimously rejected, despite the fact that there is no other name under heaven which can bring salvation besides Yahshua…

“…For neither is there any other name under heaven, that is given among men, by which we might be saved.” – Acts 4:12

And yes… they are different people entirely.

Jesus came to destroy the law of Moses, and to establish a church of gentiles.

Yahshua, on the other hand, came to perfectly follow and uphold the Torah of His Father Yahweh, and to regather the lost sheep of Israel, the northern kingdom of Ephraim.

Thus I submit to you… that Jesus is the false messiah spoken of by Paul, John, Daniel, the Book of Revelation, and even by Enoch.

Why Christianity is a cult…

I realized the other day why Christianity really is a cult religion.

Technically, one of the definitions of a cult is an appointed unified head that yields supreme control. This individual is the ‘cult leader’, and in this case, both Protestants and Catholics have the same unified cult leader, one whose teachings are taken as supreme over that of even Yah Himself. In this case, the cult leader of Christianity is none other than… Paul.

Please note that I am not attempting to downplay the Apostle Paul in any way. The Paul of Scripture did not teach against the Torah of Moses, rather, he taught that one cannot achieve self-justification (hence the definition of “works of the law”). Christianity claims, however, that Paul’s teachings relinquish us from the Torah of Moses, a Torah which was actually given by Yahweh Himself for His chosen nation Israel. These are not the legitimate teachings of Paul, but rather the teachings of Pseudo-Paul, derived from the understanding of those who are both unlearned and unstable according to 2 Peter 3:15-16.

Let us now examine these claims of Pseudo-Paul, in light of several other Scriptural authors.

King David wrote,

“Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, Nor standeth in the way of sinners, Nor sitteth in the seat of scoffers: But his delight is in the Torah of Yahweh; And on His Torah doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the streams of water, That bringeth forth its fruit in its season, Whose leaf also doth not wither; And whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.” – Psalms 1:1-3

“The Torah of Yahweh is perfect, restoring the soul: The testimony of Yahweh is sure, making wise the simple. The precepts of Yahweh are right, rejoicing the heart: The commandment of Yahweh is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of Yahweh is clean, enduring for ever: The ordinances of Yahweh are true, and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold; Sweeter also than honey and the droppings of the honeycomb. Moreover by them is thy servant warned: In keeping them there is great reward. ” – Psalms 19:7-11

Solomon wrote,

“He that turneth away his ear from hearing the Torah, Even his prayer is an abomination.” – Proverbs 28:9

Ben Sirach wrote,

“Better is a man that hath less wisdom, and wanteth understanding, with the fear of God, than he that aboundeth in understanding, and transgresseth the Torah of the most High.” – Sirach 19:21

Isaiah wrote,

“It pleased Yahweh, for His righteousness’ sake, to magnify the Torah, and make it honorable.” – Isaiah 42:21

Jeremiah wrote,

“But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith Yahweh: I will put my Torah in their inward parts, and in their heart will I write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” – Jeremiah 31:33

Baruch wrote,

“This is the book of the commandments of God, and the Torah, that is for ever: all they that keep it, shall come to life: but they that have forsaken it, to death. Return, O Jacob, and take hold of it, walk in the way by its brightness, in the presence of the light thereof.” – Baruch 4:1-2

Ezekiel wrote,

“But if the wicked turn from all his sins that he hath committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is in accordance to Torah and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die.” – Ezekiel 18:21

Master Yashua Himself- the true leader of Israel- said,

“Think not that I came to destroy the Torah or the prophets: I came not to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass away from the Torah, till all things be accomplished. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” – Matthew 5:17-19

And lastly, John the Apostle of Yashua wrote,

“Every one that does sin does also that which is against the Torah; and sin is transgression of the Torah.” – I John 3:4

Yet regardless of this evidence against Pseudo-Paul, Christianity adhere only to the false understanding of Paul’s writings. Do not forget that, according to Peter, Paul’s are difficult to understand, and can be twisted to one’s own destruction.

“And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also, according to the wisdom given to him, wrote unto you; as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; wherein are some things hard to be understood, which the unlearned and unstable twist unto their own destruction, as they do also the other scriptures.” – 2 Peter 3:15-16

It should be easy to see… that Yashua did not come to destroy His Father’s perfect law… but rather to uphold it to us, those who are called by Yahweh, to follow the Torah and to teach others to do so as well.

Anyone who follows the Spirit of Delusion of 2 Thessalonians 2 is under the cult of Pseudo-Paul, the cult of Christianity, lead by a false religious leader who scatters the sheep of Yahweh’s redemption.

The “gentile church” and Yisrael

Hosea 1:4-7
And Yahweh said unto him, Call his name Jezreel; for yet a little while, and I will avenge the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu, and will cause to cease the kingdom of the house of Israel. And it shall come to pass at that day, that I will break the bow of Israel, in the valley of Jezreel. And she conceived again, and bare a daughter. And God said unto him, Call her name Loruhamah: for I will no more have mercy upon the house of Israel; but I will utterly take them away. But I will have mercy upon the house of Judah, and will save them by Yahweh their God, and will not save them by bow, nor by sword, nor by battle, by horses, nor by horsemen.

Here, Yahweh has caused a clear distinction between the houses of Israel and Judah, by refusing to have mercy on Israel, yet perpetuating mercy upon Judah.

Hosea 1:10-11
Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered; and it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people, there it shall be said unto them, Ye are the sons of the living God. Then shall the children of Judah and the children of Israel be gathered together, and appoint themselves one head, and they shall come up out of the land: for great shall be the day of Jezreel.

Because of the distinction between Israel and Judah from verses 4-7, we can conclude that Yahweh is speaking directly Israel (the northern kingdom). They (northern Israel) who were once lost to Him will be redeamed.

Hosea 2:23
And I will sow her unto me in the earth; and I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy; and I will say to them which were not my people, Thou art my people; and they shall say, Thou art my God.

Yahweh will restore the northern kingdom of Israel to Himself.

But who is this northern Kingdom of Israel, and what does this have to do with gentiles??

Romans 9:24-28
Even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles? As he saith also in Hosea, I will call them my people, which were not my people; and her beloved, which was not beloved. And it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people; there shall they be called the children of the living God. Isaiah also crieth concerning Israel, Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved: For he will finish the work, and cut it short in righteousness: because a short work will Yahweh make upon the earth.

Evidently, this promise that Yahweh made exclusively to northern kingdom Israel is now being applied to the “gentiles”. So I would like to briefly define “gentile” in a way that can make sense of this.

—> The term “gentile” in Hebrew (goyim) does not actually mean “gentile” the way we use it today. Specifically, “goyim” in Hebrew means “nations”, and can refer to either non-Hebrew nations as in Genesis 17:4, in which Abraham was promised to be the father of “many goyim”. Was he promised to be the father of “many gentiles”? No, rather, of “many nations”.
—> The Greek term “ethnos”, sharing a common bond with the Hebrew, also means “nations”, as in Galatians 3:8. Paul describes the gospel having been preached to Abraham, saying in him shall all the “nations” be blessed. Will all the “gentiles” be blessed in Abraham? No, rather, all the “nations”.

Genesis 35:10-12
And God said unto him, Thy name is Jacob: thy name shall not be called any more Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name: and he called his name Israel. And God said unto him, I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a “company of nations” shall be of thee, and kings shall come out of thy loins; And the land which I gave Abraham and Isaac, to thee I will give it, and to thy seed after thee will I give the land.

The Hebrew for “company of nations” is “qahal goyim”. As I stated in another post, “qahal” is the First Testament term for “assembly” which was later translated “church”, and goyim was translated “gentiles”. So Genesis 35:11 could have stated, “be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a church of gentiles will be of thee.” It is my opinion that Israel (the northern kingdom) is this “church of gentiles”, although in light of Hosea 1-2 and Romans 9, I believe it is better rendered, “congregation of nations”.

This is exactly what we see today: a nation (Judah / Jews), and a congregation of nations (Lost Israel / Christians).

Further thoughts…

It seems to me that everyone who promotes “New Covenant theology” fails to realize the origin of the New Covenant…

Jeremiah 31:31-33
Behold, the days come, saith Yahweh, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith Yahweh: But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith Yahweh, I will put my Torah in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.

To me, this verse is saying pretty clearly that the New Covenant was made exclusively with the House of Israel and with the House of Judah. Not with “gentiles”, nor with “Christians”, but with Israel and Judah.

That’s all for now. Sorry this post may not exaclty “flow” well. It seems very “stream of thought” to me, perhaps I will revise it at a later date.

“Antichrist” vs. “False Messiah”

Hello everyone,

There is something that I have been pondering lately, comparing and contrasting the Greek NT with the Aramaic Peshitta NT. In many places, the two manuscripts agree word for word… but there are some places with “disagreements” that make a huge doctrinial difference… there is one I want to bring up today.

In the Greek New Testament of I John 2:18, the “man of sin” is referred to as “antichrist”.

Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.

In the Greek understanding of things, “antichrist” is made up of two words. We all know what (or Who) the Christ is, so let’s look for a moment at the first word, “anti”. It is a prefix meaning “against” or “opposed to”. Anti-bacterial handsoap, for instance, is literally “opposed to” bacteria on your hands. (Whether it works or not is a separate discussion.)

By this line of reasoning, the “Antichrist” is one who is literally “against Christ”, or seeks out to turn many away from “Christianity”.

However…

The Aramaic rendition of I John 2:18 reads something quite different, even if it seems subtle at first.

My sons, it is the last time, and according to what you have heard, that a false Messiah will come, even now there are many false Messiahs, and from this we know that it is the last time.

With this understanding, I believe that the “man of sin” is not one who will attempt to do away with the Messiah, but rather, will be one who attempts to replace Him in every way.

For instance… the real Messiah- Yeshua- said this concerning Torah (the law),

Matthew 5:17-18
Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.

Matthew 7:23
And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’

Matthew 13:41-42
The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.

This leaves me with a remaining question…

Is it any coincidence that Paul refers to the “false Messiah” as the “lawless one” in II Thessalonians 2? Or better to be understood as the Torah-less-one?

This is all just food for thought, still in theory.

Observation: “Yisrael” contrasted with “the church”

This was something fascinating that Yahweh revealed to me earlier today.

~ The nation of Yisrael started with Jacob (Ya’akov).
~ The apostolic / Messianic congregation was lead by James (whose real name was Ya’akov).

Coincidence? Is anything that Yahweh orchestrates a coincidence? But wait- there’s more!

The head of Yashua’s first congregation (or “early church”) was Ya’akov, whom we presume to be his half brother by Joseph…

His other brother’s name was Jude! Here we have again, the two kingdoms of Yisrael…

~ Ya’akov (Yisrael/Jacob/James)
~ Y’hudah (Judah/Jude)

Fascinating. Just as James and Jude were brothers, and lead by Yashua, the kingdoms of Yisrael and Y’hudah are “brothers” that will be one day be lead by Yashua.

I’ve found the “missing nun”!

There are many psalms which are considered to be acrostics of the Hebrew language, meaning, “a poem or other writing in an alphabetic script, in which the first letter, syllable or word of each line, paragraph or other recurring feature in the text spells out another message. A form of constrained writing, an acrostic can be used as a mnemonic device to aide memory retrieval.” as defined by Wikipedia.

Anyway, the 145th Psalm is an acrostic as well… but in the Masoretic Text- the ancient text on which the King James and virtually all other modern translations are based- is missing one of the Hebrew letters of the acrostic- the nun.

However, the Masoretic Text is alone in losing the nun. The Septuagint, the the Peshitta Tanak, a Hebrew manuscript from the middle ages, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and (it pains me to say it) even the Vulgate are known to contain this verse.

Open your Bibles please, to Psalm 145:13, which in the King James should read something like this:

“Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and thy dominion endureth throughout all generations.”

And there it stops. In fact, the verse should continue on to say, as it is recorded in the other manuscripts:

“Yahweh is faithful to all His promises, and loving toward all He has made.”

This is further evidence that the King James, though a beautiful translation, is just that- merely a translation. I do not believe the Holy Spirit would not have made such an obvious error as to leave out the nun.

That’s it, ladies and gentlemen. The missing nun has been found. Call off the search parties.