Jul 1 2017

Torah Commentary – Chukat “Statute” – Give or It Shall Be Taken From You – SCRIPTURES FOR July 1, 2017

The Hebrews have been in the wilderness for 38 years. There are still trials to go through and people who must die before they can move on. Let us not miss the personal nature and just read over the deaths of Moshe’s brother and sister. Their deaths will bring many changes in the camp.

Torah Commentary

Chukat “Statute”

Numbers 19:1-22:1

Judges 11:1-33

John 11-12

Give or It Shall Be Taken From You

A common thread we have seen the past few weeks with grumbling, murmuring and complaining continues this week. I pray we have learned the importance of having an “attitude of gratitude” to help us overcome these unwelcome sins. Sadly, in this portion Israel’s grumbling not only affected them, but their leader. Their sin permeated the camp. Moshe had enough of the people and entered into their spirit of frustration. This mistake cost him a price higher than he desired to pay. Because he disobeyed a direct command from Yah by striking the rock the second time, instead of speaking to it, he was judged. His consequence was painful; the inability to enter the Promise Land with Israel. Although he would not enter the Land, he still had the job of taking the people to their destination.

There was an obstacle in the way between Israel’s current location and the Land they were to enter – the land controlled by Sichon, king of the Emori. Moshe sent word to Sichon explaining he wanted to lead Israel through the land Sichon occupied. After all, they have been in the desert for a long time and a shortcut is a shortcut. Moshe made sure Sichon understood he did not desire to take the land, eat from its fields and vineyards or even drink the water of the land. Israel did not need any of those things. They had the land HaShem promised them, they had all the manna a person could ever want; manna burgers, manna pancakes, manna upside down cake. (You know the rest.) Moshe had one interest the shortcut through the land of the Emori.

It seems Sichon was never told about the wonders of giving to Yah or Genesis 12:3. I am sure if he understood who these people were and Whom they served and that by giving Israel access to the King’s Highway, he would have been blessed beyond measure, Sichon’s decision would have been different. Instead of giving to Yah, self service thinking provoked him to take from Yah. In this case he greedily desired to take the lives and possessions of HaShem’s people. What he failed to recognize was the Creator of the universe owned the people and their possessions. We read as expected Sichon was defeated. Not only defeated, but what he controlled was taken from him and given to Israel as a temporary dwelling place until they moved on to their inheritance. Don’t mess with what belongs to HaShem!

What can we learn from the account of Sichon, king of the Emori? Here are a few suggestions. (Click to Article)

Jun 13 2017

Heart Transplant

Have you received your heart transplant from YHWH?

The reason I ask is that many people claim they have, but I would like to examine in more detail what happens when we received our “new heart” from YHWH. Let’s begin by looking at a few verses in Jeremiah.

Jeremiah 24:6-7
‘And I shall set My eyes on them for good, and shall bring them back to this land. And I shall build them and not pull them down, and shall plant them and not pluck them up. ‘And I shall give them a heart to know Me, that I am YHWH. And they shall be My people, and I shall be their Elohim, for they shall turn back to Me with all their heart.

To start off, we see in these verses that the new heart will be given so that we will know YHWH, and “they shall turn “back” to Him with all their heart.” Now let’s look at Jeremiah 31 which contains the most used verses to claim we are in or under the new covenant.

Jeremiah 31:31-33
“See, the days are coming,” declares YHWH, “when I shall make a new covenant with the house of Yisra’ĕl and with the house of Yehuḏah, not like the covenant I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Mitsrayim, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them,” declares YHWH. “For this is the covenant I shall make with the house of Yisra’ĕl after those days, declares YHWH: I shall put My Torah (Law) in their inward parts, and write it on their hearts. And I shall be their Elohim, and they shall be My people.

Here in Jer 31, we see that YHWH will write His Torah on our hearts and then He will be our God, and we shall be His people. Let’s continue by looking at two other verses with very similar language that are often overlooked.

Ezekiel 11:17-21
“Therefore say, ‘Thus said the Master YHWH, “And I shall gather you from the peoples, and I shall assemble you from the lands where you have been scattered, and I shall give you the land of Yisra’ĕl.” ’ “And they shall go there, and shall take away all its disgusting matters and all its abominations from there. “And I shall give them one heart, and put a new spirit within you. And I shall take the stony heart out of their flesh, and give them a heart of flesh, so that they walk in My laws, and guard My right-rulings, and shall do them. And they shall be My people, and I shall be their Elohim. “But to those whose hearts walk after the heart of their disgusting matters and their abominations, I shall recompense their deeds on their own heads,” declares the Master YHWH.

Ezekiel 36:24-27
“And I shall take you from among the Gentiles, and I shall gather you out of all lands, and I shall bring you into your own land. “And I shall sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean – from all your filthiness and from all your idols I cleanse you. “And I shall give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you. And I shall take the heart of stone out of your flesh, and I shall give you a heart of flesh, and put My Spirit within you. And I shall cause you to walk in My laws and guard My right-rulings and shall do them.

Now we see a new spirit being given to go with the Torah being written on our hearts. This transplant of the new heart of flesh along with His Spirit allows us to know Him, return to Him with all our hearts, walk in His laws/statutes (Torah), and guard (keep) His right-rulings (judgments) so that we will do them.

Did you catch that?

So that we will do them!

What is them? YHWH’s statutes, ordinances, laws, and commandments! (Click to Article)

Jun 10 2017

Dani Sayag – “The Sermon on the Mount – Salt and Light” – June 10, 2017

Jun 10 2017

Vladimir Tsapar – “My Sheep Hear My Voice” – June 3, 2017

Jun 10 2017

Steve Cioccolanti June 10 2017 – GEMATRIA and BIBLE CODES –

Steve Cioccolanti Prophecy Update This Week

May 28 2017

The New Moon has been sighted in Israel!

Shalom,

New Moon

The New Moon has been sighted in Israel! We begin the Biblical Third month.

Look toward the western sky at sundowntonight and celebrate the goodness of HaShem in our lives.

Celebration Tips

Lighting of the Menorah

Reading Psalms

Sounding of the shofar
Celebration dinner
Special time of thanks and blessing.
Prayer for peace of Jerusalem (Ps 122:6) and regathering of the family of Israel.
(EZ 37)

May HaShem open His floodgates of blessing upon you in this new month.
Chodesh Tov. (Good month)

Be Strong,

Mike Clayton

Joined To HaShem

(Click to Site)

May 20 2017

Parashat B’har/B’Chukkotai – Lev. 25:1 – 26:2

This post is written by a member of the Messianic community in Israel or guest contributor. The opinions and views expressed are solely those of the author and may not necessarily reflect those of Kehila News Israel or myself.

And every tenth of cattle or flock, every [one] that will pass under the staff, the tenth one shall be holy to the L-rd. – Vayikra/Leviticus 27:32

Almost the last command in Vayikra as the book draws to an end, this and its companion two verses earlier, cause some confusion to the commentators. As Gunther Plaut points out, “this tithe of animals is mentioned nowhere else in the Torah.” Whilst we have early examples of Avraham, who gave a tenth of all that he possessed to Melchizedek, the king of Salem and priest of El Elyon, the Most High G-d – “Abram gave him a tenth of everything” (B’resheet 14:20, JPS) – and Ya’akov who expansively promised HaShem that “of all that You give me, I will set aside a tithe for You” (28:22, JPS), Baruch Levine affirms that there is no other place where the Torah requires a tithe of one’s entire herd and flock. In fact, even changing the frame from one’s entire stock to simply the increase during the year, he still asserts, “no other Torah legislation ordains a tithe from the annual increments of the herds and flocks.” This change matches the Jewish tradition as Hirsch, writing in the nineteenth century demonstrates: “one tenth of the increase of one’s flocks and herds has to be designated … only those born to the livestock of one owner in each year, or those purchased by him before the age fitting them for offering (seven days).” The Ralbag too affirms that it was applied only to the increase in the flock, when he explains that each animal “must pass under its own power. This teaches that they would put the animals’ mothers outside so that the lambs and calves would hear their voices and go out to them.” (Click to Article)

May 19 2017

Torah Commentary – B’har (On Mount Sinai), B’chukotai – The Heart of the Matter – SCRIPTURES FOR May 20, 2017

Torah Commentary

B’har (On Mount Sinai), B’chukotai

Leviticus 25:1-26:2; 26:3-27:34

Jeremiah 32:6-27; 16:19-17:14

2Corinthians 7-13

The Heart of the Matter

For our culture, many of the instructions of Leviticus seem quite foreign to us. There is even a debate whether most of these Scriptures pertain only to the time when we have entered the Land. “Buying and selling of crops, allowing the land to rest on the seventh year and redeeming our poor relative from slavery”, you have to admit, are not things most of us spend our waking thoughts pondering today. When it comes to food storage many people consider storing food for the winter. Wrap your head around storing supplies for three years to take your family through the Jubilee. Due to the difference in culture, we can get lost in the relevance of these verses for our day and read through them way to fast. A quick glance may cause us to miss the heart of the Scriptures.

Torah is about relationship with HaShem, family and the people we are called to interact with on a daily basis. The mysteries and wonders of Torah are awesome, but if we miss the theme of relationship, we miss the heart of the matter. Torah is teaching us through practical day-to-day life instructions how to love our Creator and how to treat one another. This principle is brought out again in Leviticus 25:14-17. Here Scripture speaks of selling property to a neighbor while considering the amount of how many years remaining until the Jubilee and the return of said property. On the surface we do not see the point of the instruction, because in our society when we sell an item to someone, we do not expect him or her to bring it back in seven years. All transactions are typically final. What can we learn in this instruction? The heart of the instruction is in verse 17, which tells us not to take advantage of one another in our transactions.

Let us put some flesh on this principal. Back in the days when I sold real estate, I did not like to sell property to or for friends. Sadly, more often than not, it turned out to be a disaster. I found that no matter how hard I tried, the “friend” was much harder to work with than a stranger off the street. They usually wanted special favors and in the end could not believe why I did not turn my entire commission over to them and call the transaction a favor based on friendship. This was an example of taking advantage of a friendship, which is what Leviticus warns us against. (Click to Article)

May 6 2017

Torah Commentary – Acharei Mot(After the Death), K’doshim(Holy Ones) – Searching For Life – Day 8, Month 2, 5777; 4 May 2017

Torah Commentary

Acharei Mot(After the Death), K’doshim(Holy Ones)

Leviticus 16:1-18:30; 19:1-20:27

Ezekiel 22:1-19

Romans 3:19-28; 9:30-10:13

1 Corinthians 5:1-13

2 Corinthians 2:1-11

Galatians 3:10-14

Hebrews 7:23-10:25

Searching For Life

Life is an interesting word. The dictionary defines it as,”The condition that distinguishes animals and plants from inorganic matter, including the capacity for growth, reproduction, functional activity, and continual change preceding death.” According to this definition life is just going through motions which will allow someone to know if we are an animal, plant or just a rock. Simply put, if it moves, grows and reproduces, it has life, if not, it’s a rock. Another definition for life is, “The period between the birth and death of a living thing.”

As I consider these definitions in light of the words in Leviticus 18:5, which explains we will have life through obedience to Torah, the dictionary definitions appear to pale in comparison of how I feel our Creator desires us to have life. If we throw into the mix the words of Yeshua in John 10:10, “I have come that you may have life, life in its fullest measure,” the definitions really lose value.

What is the difference between the book definitions of life and what most of us desire as the Scriptural definition of life? I believe it comes down to one word, purpose. Consider the word purpose for a moment. Is it possible for us to have life, but never find purpose? We all know the answer is a resounding “yes”!

When we reflect on an example of life without purpose our minds may envision a homeless person on a street corner. He or she wakes up in the morning the same as the rest of us, breathes the same amount of air as we do and in truth goes through many of the same motions to sustain a level of life. Is simply sustaining life all that our Creator intended? Obviously, not! Would you say, when compared to the homeless person on the street corner, we have achieved the Scriptural definition of life in its fullest measure by reading the Torah each week, eating clean and observing the Feasts? I’m not sure I would.

Ask an honest question of yourself. Do you feel you are walking in the Scriptural definition of life? Now I am going to go where only the truly insane go. Comparing your life of Torah today with your life in a church in the past, do you feel you have more life now or just more knowledge? I wish I could get a show of hands here.

If my conversations with people through the years are any indication to the answer of the above question I would say most of us feel we have more knowledge than life. If you are the exception, please do not become offended. Maybe you have found the keys to abundant life and should be the one writing instead of me. For all the rest, please read on.

Leviticus 18 promises we will have life through observing His laws and rulings. Yeshua says we will have abundant life through Him. Is the key to life in joining these two verses together? If so, is there a verse which combines their meaning? Look at Psalm 40:7, “In the scroll of the book it is written about Me.” This verse is our key to the equation. It is all about Him. (Click to Article)

Jan 22 2017

Scientists use mathematical calculations to PROVE the existence of God

SCIENTISTS have ‘confirmed’ the existence of God after proving a mathematician’s theory which suggests that there is a higher power.

Two computer scientists say they proved that there is a holy supreme force after confirming the equations.

In 1978, mathematician Kurt Gödel died and left behind a long and complex theory based on modal logic.

Dr Gödel’s model uses mathematical equations that are extremely complicated, but the essence is that no greater power than God can be conceived, and if he or she is believed as a concept then he or she can exist in reality.

Or as Dr Gödel put it through his equations: “Ax. 1. {P(φ)∧◻∀x[φ(x)→ψ(x)]} →P(ψ)Ax. 2.P(¬φ)↔¬P(φ)Th. 1.P(φ)→◊∃x[φ(x)]Df. 1.G(x)⟺∀φ[P(φ)→φ(x)]Ax. 3.P(G)Th. 2.◊∃xG(x)Df. 2.φ ess x⟺φ(x)∧∀ψ{ψ(x)→◻∀y[φ(y)→ψ(y)]}Ax. 4.P(φ)→◻P(φ)Th. 3.G(x)→G ess xDf. 3.E(x)⟺∀φ[φ ess x→◻∃yφ(y)]Ax. 5.P(E)Th. 4.◻∃xG(x)”.

You get it, right?

But two computer scientists have used computers to run such complicated which they say confirms that the equation does indeed add up.

The point of the researchers’ argument was that they were not directly trying to prove the existence of God, but rather to showcase the power of computers. (Click to Article)