Shema and 'Asah (Deuteronomy 5:27)

2007-05-19T08:24:00.001-07:00

2007-04-10T00:05:00.000-07:00

I have moved my blog to shemaandasah.wordpress.com. Please modify the link in your page if you have linked my blog. All new posts will appear at the address above. Thank-you to everybody.

Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah

2007-04-02T14:24:00.000-07:00

This morning I had an opportunity to sit down with a coworker friend of mine and help him understand the story of the firey furnace in Daniel 3. Together, we found some amazing truth about who God is in this story and about how God desires and works to refine us into the likeness of Jesus.

In this story we have three men living captive in Babylon during the reign of Nebuchadnezzar. These were Hebrew men who knew Yahweh intimately. There names in Hebrew were Hananiah which means 'Yahweh is gracious', Mishael which means 'Who is like Yahweh', and Azariah which means 'Yahweh has helped'. Each of these three names and their meanings hold significance throughout the story. Nebuchadnezzar changed their names to Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These three bold Hebrew men defied Nebuchadnezzar by refusing to bow down before his image. Their devotion was to Yahweh and He alone. Bowing to his image would be to turn their backs on Yahweh. Let's look closer at another detail. The fiery furnace. Through the Jewish Encyclopedia, I learned that the furnace was used for the potters kiln for firing earthen vessels, baking bread and for smelting metals and ore.

The meaning of the word furnace in Hebrew is "aysh" meaning fire, supernatural fire (appearance of theophany), altar fire etc. The word theophany simply means an appearance of God. So, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah (Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego) were thrown into the fiery furnace for refusing to bow to Nebuchadnezzar. We saw earlier that the furnace was used for firing earthen vessels. Are these three Hebrew men earthen vessels? If so, earthen vessels of what or who? The answer to the first question is yes, they are earthen vessels. They are earthen vessels of the Spirit of Yahweh. 1 Peter says that the prophets of old had the Spirit of Christ within them. The fire is an appearance of God. They are thrown in the presence of God. The account says, however, that there was a fourth man in the furnace with them. An angel of sorts. Who could it be? It has to be Jesus. The appearance of God in the flesh is Jesus.

What is the heart of the story? As earthen vessels, we are refined daily through various trials and persecutions (James 1:2-4). Are we thrown daily into the fiery furnace? Are we available and obedient to God to the point that He can "fire" us to look more like his Son? 1 Peter says we are refined like pure gold. Gold is refined because it contains impurities. Our lives contain impurities which cannot stand before a holy God. It is only after our lives have been purged of the dross that we can walk on the "highway of holiness" (Isaiah 35). 1 Corinthians 13:12 says, "For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known."

Why Passover?

2007-03-30T21:49:00.000-07:00

This was the question posed to me by my supervisor at work on Thursday evening after I requested taking Monday (Passover) off. I had a few reasons to offer him. First of all, the Passover and all of God's moedim (feast days) are part of my relationship with him. The feast days are what David in Psalm 23 called the "paths of righteousness." They show me how to get to the wedding day. The day the bride is married to the bridegroom. Secondly, the Passover is when I give glory to God for rescuing me from my sin. Moses, when he rescued the Israelites from Egypt under God's hand is a type and picture, a prophecy, of the coming of Christ and our deliverance from sin. The church knows this to be the Easter season. I will make one point clear about Easter. The word "easter" is only found once in all of today's bible translations. Can you guess which translation uses the word "easter?" If you guess the King James Version you would be correct. Every other translation uses "Passover" when refering to the time Jesus broke bread with his disciples and said, "This is my body that is broken for you." Thirdly, the Passover is a shadow of Jesus. This may sound strange to some but allow me to finish my point. When I step into the Passover celebration, I step into the shadow of Jesus. Yes, Passover is prophetic of Christ and Christ has come and has died however Passover has not lost the deep, richness of Spirit life because the prophecy the feast contains has come to pass. It is still as meaningful today as it was the night Israel painted their doorposts blood red so that the Spirit of God would not kill their firstborn.

A Long Time Coming

2007-01-28T19:39:00.000-08:00

Hello my friends. I don't know what happened to my desire to blog. It disappeared for a while. I can't believe that I haven't posted since September. This is the start of a conscious effort to start posting once a week like I was before. I know at least one person has missed me. I missed blogging and writing my thoughts on scripture and what it means for me and for you. Please accept my sincere apologies for the long hiatus. Yesterday, I had a wonderful Sabbath with my friends. We studied Exodos 10:1-13:16. It was a feast. I was full after we finished. There is so much in scripture to learn and study. When one complete book describes one awesome God it is a hard book to put down. I hope that within the next couple of days I will post something for all of you to enjoy. Have a great evening and I'll talk to you again soon. Bye for now. God Bless.

Can I Lose my Salvation?

2006-09-19T12:13:00.000-07:00

I'm sure that any christian that has professed Jesus Christ as their personal savior has asked themselves this question. It is a hot topic of debate amongst denominations all across the world. Some believe that salvation can be lost by continual disobedience and sin done in ignorance of Christ's death on the cross. Others believe that salvation once recieved cannot be lost no matter what you do. Can a case be made for or against eternal security from Torah?

I have begun to realize from studying scripture that salvation is a one time, free gift for all mankind. We don't have to do anything to earn this salvation. It is given by faith. Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness. The covenant God made with Abraham was unconditional. It was by faith. I have posted previously on this blog about the covenants ("Covenant Complications") and how one covenant does not cancel out the other. Let us consider the Mosaic Covenant for a moment. The Mosaic Covenant made with the Israelites and Moses is conditional. If you read Leviticus you will see the language used is "if" "then". IF you do this, then I will do this. In addition, the covenants established by God with his people were everlasting. The covenant God made with Abraham was everlasting. Why? It was made by faith. Obedience brings the blessings. If we obey the Lord in all of his ways then blessing will come to us. The opposite is true also. If we disobey God, there will be curses. Please remember that God is still as faithful to the blessing as He is to the cursing. He never changed between two testaments.

I believe the reason this topic is so debated within evangelical christian circles is because we don't really understand the difference between redemption and righteousness. Have I been redeemed? What does it mean to be redeemed? It means to be bought with a price, ransomed, somebody else paid my punishment for me. Righteousness is what we do with that redemption. How do I live after I've been redeemed? Remember the Mosaic covenant is conditional; "if you do this then I will...you fill in the blank. The Mosaic covenant is what shows us how to live rightly within our redemption. If we obey the Lord we are blessed. If we disobey the Lord we are cursed. Remember also the Torah was not given for salvation, it was given for teaching and instruction. It is there so we know how to walk in our redemption. Am I giving a license to sin? No, I'm not. Humans make choices. We choose to obey or disobey. If we disobey, forgiveness awaits us at the cross.

Salvation is a one time gift given once for all people. Salvation is not conditional. Salvation is an unconditional gift freely given and freely recieved. We make salvation conditional by saying that if we sin too much over a specific period of time we lose this free gift. Why would God revoke a free gift? Is that the God we know? "The Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love."

The Lord's Appointed Times: Part 1

2006-09-08T23:36:00.000-07:00

The photo to the left is a pie chart of the appointed times of Yahweh. The very first appointed time is the Sabbath day. You can read more on the Sabbath by reading the post called "The Sabbath and God's People." The first feast of the year is celebrated during the Spring season. The Spring season is marked in green on the pie chart. The Spring season begins with Passover or Pesach in Hebrew. This celebration commemorates the Lord's deliverance of Israel out of slavery in Egypt and is also prophetic of our deliverance from sin through Christ. The second feast of Yahweh is Unleavened Bread. Unleavened bread is significant because we leave behind all of the contamination and "fermentation" (meaning of 'leaven' in Hebrew) of the world and focusing on keeping ourselves faithful and obedient to the Lord. Then we have First Fruits. This feast celebrates the harvest that comes when we enter into the Lord's promised blessing. Our first fruit is Christ. He is the first and the last sacrifice for sin. We are the first fruit of that sacrifice. We are the harvest of Christ. After firstfruits, we count 49 days from the sabbath. The fiftieth day is the Shavuot or the Feast of Pentecost. If you would like to read the story of Shavuot or Pentecost, check out these scriptures: Genesis 11, Exodus 32, Numbers 5, and Acts 2. I will go into the amazing story of Pentecost from the beginning to the end in another post. The feast of Pentecost celebrates new life in the Spirit of Torah (teaching and instruction). When we are filled with the Holy Spirit, we have the power and strength to obey all of the Lord's teachings and instructions.

Some of you maybe thinking, what about all the sacrifices and offerings. You don't need to go out and buy a lamb or a bull, all you need to do is honor the Lord by encouraging a brother or sister, and sharing the blessings God has given in your life (i.e., food, drink etc). I will close part 1 with this; at the end of every command concerning a feast the Lord says, "This is to be an everlasting ordinance for you and the generations to come." Are we one of those generations? Christ celebrated with his disciples, and Paul celebrated these feasts thirty years after Christ died. If we are, these feasts are for us today.

To be continued...

Passover and Communion: The Big Picture

2006-09-01T13:34:00.000-07:00

It has almost been a week since I last posted. I had an interesting conversation with a young man at work last night. He has only been a Christian for about 3-5 months. We began by talking about communion and its meaning, proceeded to talk about Paul, and finished by talking about the church and Constantine. This conversation inspired me to post about the relationship between communion and the Passover. Connections like these can be seen all over the bible.

Communion and Passover are both done in remembrance of what God has done. Today, communion is a remembrance of Christ's sacrificial death on the cross for us. Passover, was a celebration of God's deliverance of Israel out of Egypt. As we all are aware, Israel was enslaved in Egypt for 400 years. For 400 years, Israel cried out for a deliverer to come and deliver them out of the hard hand of Pharoah. God's ways are not our ways. The deliverer would come from among them. He was one of them. His name was Moses. Remember, Moses, just like Jesus went into the desert and wandered for a long time until he came to a watering hole and the house of Jethro. Jethro would become Moses' father in law. Anyways, we're all familiar with the burning bush, where God called Moses. Moses went back to Egypt and commanded Pharaoh by the words of the Lord to let Israel go. Nine times he commanded Pharaoh, nine times Pharaoh disobeyed. The tenth time, a serious plague would come upon Egypt. Every male firstborn in Egypt would die if Pharaoh did not let Israel go. What about the Israelites living in Egypt? The Lord had a plan. He instructed Moses to have every Israelite slave cover their doorposts in the blood of a pure spotless lamb. When the Spirit of God moved through Egypt, those doors with the blood on them would be passed over. From that time forward, Israel was to celebrate Passover every year in the Hebrew month of Nisan on the fourteenth day. Israel did as the Lord commanded. In fact, some Egyptians decided to believe and stay with an Israelite family until the Lord passed over. Pharaoh had seen enough; for even his firstborn son was dead. He let the Israelites go free. Deliverance had come to Israel!!

Fast forward to the time Jesus earthly ministry. In Jesus we have another deliverer. He would deliver us from sin and death. How? Jesus is often referred to as the lamb of God. What animal did the blood belong to at the time of Israel's deliverance? A lamb, a pure and spotless lamb. Jesus is the pure and spotless lamb sacrificed for us. The lamb in the story of Israel's deliverance is a picture of Jesus. What would wash away our sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus...you all know the song. We were covered in the blood of the pure and spotless lamb of God just like the doorposts of every Israelite home in Egypt were covered with the blood of a lamb. We have passed over from death to life because of the blood of Jesus. In hebraic thought, Egypt is a picture of the world system. We are to be in the world but not of the world. Israel was in Egypt but were to remain faithful to the Lord. Passover and Communion are one in the same. The facts and details of Israel's deliverance from Egypt and our deliverance from sin are identical.

Remember, please feel free to test everything you read on my blog. Paul says we are to show ourselves approved through study of God's word.

The Sabbath and God's People

2006-08-26T08:33:00.001-07:00

What is the big deal about the Sabbath? It seems that so many christians are confused about when the Sabbath is and why we have it. Was the original Sabbath God set forth for Israel done away with in Christ? Does there remain a Sabbath for us today? Is the Sabbath Sunday? These are all questions people ask when it comes to the Sabbath.

"Well, can't I take a day of rest any day of the week..." The Lord said in the beginning (Genesis 2), "By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that He had done." The original hebrew word for 'rest' is shabath (shaw-bath) meaning to cease, desist, to sit down, to sit still, to desist from doing anything. If you want to read more about the hebrew word click on the link. The Lord rested on the seventh day and called it holy. Fast forward to Exodus 20. Moses, is on Mount Sinai with the Lord while he is giving Moses the Ten Commandments. What is the fourth commandment? "Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all you work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates..." If the law was done away with, why do we still have the Ten Commandments?

Fast forward again to Exodus 31:12, 13. The Lord tells Moses to command the Israelites to observe the Lord's Sabbaths. He said it will be a sign between me and you for the generations to come, so you may know that I am the Lord, who makes you holy. What does the word holy mean? First of all, there are eight different hebrew words for "holy" in the Old Testament. The word used here in Exodus 31:13 is 'qadash' (kaw-dash) meaning to consecrate, sanctify, prepare, dedicate, be hallowed, be holy, be sanctified, be separate. Very interesting. That means that in the beginning (remember Genesis 2) that God separated, prepared, and sanctified a day in advance for us. Now he says to the Israelites, keep this day because it will be sign and I am the Lord who makes you 'holy'. The Sabbath was not just given as another rule to obey or another commandment we can twist into what best fits our schedule. The Sabbath was given as a test of faithfulness. It was given to prepare, set apart, sanctify, and dedicate God's people to him.

In Hebrews 4, the writer is speaking of the the promise God made to his people, Israel. Read verse 1. It says that the promise still stands. However, verse 9 is what I want to point out to you. He says, "There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God's rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his." The seventh day is God's day of rest and He gave us the seventh so that we can rest with him. I'm not going into whether it's Saturday or Sunday, I merely wanted to point out that Scripture both Old and New Testaments say that there is a Sabbath for the people of God. Jesus himself is the goal of all that is written. When we are obedient to the Lord's commandments, we are obedient to Christ. He gives us the power to obey what has been commanded through his death on the cross and resurrection. Without Christ, our attempts to honour Torah are futile but in Christ they are blessed and bring life.

The Rest of the Story

2006-08-23T13:00:00.000-07:00

I recieved an e-mail from a fellow blogger who is studying Torah himself. He had a question or a curiosity I said I'd answer on my blog. He is curious as to church history. Our church history as we know it, comes from Eusebius (Ecclesiastical Church History) and the early church fathers. Do we really know the "rest of the story?" Many believe that Constantine is a hero of our faith. He established Christianity in a pagan empire. Do we know what he did to establish it? I was shocked when I found out what really happened. Eusebius firmly believed that the church had replaced the Jews and had become the new Israel. Early church fathers such as Origen, Eusebius, Justin Martyr, Ignatius Bishop of Antioch, John Chrysotom, St. Augustine, etc, had a jewish prejudice. They were anti-semites. They blamed the Jews for the death of our Messiah saying that you put your Messiah to death and now you must suffer the consequences. John Calvin said, "Their (the Jews) rotten and unbending stiffneckedness deserves that they be oppressed and unendingly and without measure or end and that they die in their misery without the pity of anyone." In the mind of the early church fathers, the Jews had committed the unforgivable sin and they were no longer worthy to be called God's chosen people.

Constantine held a council made up of 318 bishops called the council of Nicea. At the council of Nicea, they decided on two main issues. The first concerned the heretical writings of Arius, a presbyter in Alexandria. The second was in respect to the proper keeping of Easter because some were celebrating in the manner of the Jews. In other words, they were celebrating the Passover. While others were celebrating in the manner of fellow christians. Constantine replaced all of the Biblical holy days with pagan holidays. Passover was replaced with Easter. Easter would be celebrated on an ecclesiastical Sunday rather than the date of the fourteenth of Nisan given in God's biblical calendar. Constantine went on to say,

"...it seemed to everyone a most unworthy thing that we should follow the custom of the Jews of this most holy solemnity, who, - polluted wretches! - having stained their hands with a nefarious crime are justly blinded in their minds. It is fit, therefore, that rejecting the practice of this people, we should perpetuate to all future ages the celebration of this rite, Easter in a more legitimate order...Let us then have nothing in common with the most hostile rabble of the Jews...In pursuing this course with a unanimous consent, let us withdraw ourselves...from that most odious fellowship."

Thus Rome axed God's holy feast day, Passover. The rest of the holy days were soon to follow. It was soon heresy to practice them upon the threat of death.

There is so much more to this historical story. I will cover the rest at an appropriate time. History is still repeating itself today.

Sources:
Gruber, Dan. "The Church and the Jews."
Catholicism 1
Catholicism 2

"If you love me...."

2006-08-19T14:23:00.000-07:00

John 14:15, 14:23, 15:10

When reading scripture, one of the simplest methods of interpretation is looking for repetition. Repetition is when a phrase, or word is used multiple times in consecutive verses, or even chapters. One of the best examples of repetition is found in the Gospel of John chapters 14-15. Three times in two chapters, Jesus uses the same phrase or a variation of it. You can read the verses using the links at the top of this post. "If you love me..." When Jesus uses a phrase like this three times in two chapters, it is important to the reader. Let's complete the sentence. "IF you love me, you will keep my commandments/words." This poses two interesting questions. What commandments is Jesus talking about, and Were Jesus commandments any different from his Father's?

Let's go back for a moment to the book of Deuteronomy. Moses is speaking for the Lord to the Israelites and he says in chapter 18:18, 19 that He (the Lord) will raise up a prophet from among their people like Moses. A prophet who will speak my words and the people will obey that He says in my name. If you they don't obey him, they will be held accountable. The prophet the Lord is speaking of through Moses is our Messiah. Remember, that Jesus came to earth to reveal the Father. He was the Father incarnate. If He was the Father incarnate, then why would his commands be any different? Who did Moses meet at the burning bush? Who gave Moses the commandments? The Father and Jesus are one in the same. Jesus was in the burning bush, Jesus gave the commandments to Moses, and Jesus spoke of himself through Moses in Deuteronomy 18:18,19. Jesus never contradicted his Father, he confirmed His Father. Jesus isn't just speaking of the great commission and loving our neighbour as ourself. He is speaking of all the commandments given at Sinai, including the feasts and the sabbath. Jesus celebrated the feasts and kept the sabbath. Paul did the same. What makes us think that Jesus changed everything that was ordained from the beginning of time? Jesus didn't do away with, He wasn't the end of, He was the fulfillment of the Torah. He is what all the Torah and the prophets talk about.

How do we love God? What is the evidence of our love of God? The evidence is obedience. "If you love me, you will obey my commandments." Jesus is 100% our salvation and 100% our righteousness. The Torah was not given for salvation. Paul said in Romans 8:3, 4 that what the law (torah) was powerless to do...I'll let you read the rest. It was given for teaching and instruction (for more info read the post "What is Torah?"). Jesus is the living application of the Torah. He is the living Torah.

Covenant Complications

2006-08-15T17:05:00.000-07:00

Hebrews 8:7, 8 says, "For if there had been nothing wrong with that first covenant, no place would have been sought for another. But God found fault with the people and said..." You can read the rest using the link provided at the beginning of the post. What Old Testament prophet does Paul quote from in the following four verses? He quotes from the prophet Jeremiah chapter 31:31-34 which says that there is coming day when the Lord will make a new covenant with the House of Israel and with the House of Judah. In that day the Lord will write the law on their hearts and put it in their minds. Let's go back to Hebrews for a moment to verse 8, Paul says, "But God finding fault with the people..." Who did God find fault with? The people. There was no problem with the covenant, the problem was with the people. Why? The problem was with the people because Israel and Judah could not remain faithful their Lord and went astray following after other gods from distant nations. The prophet Ezekiel prophesies of Israel's apostasy in 16:30-34 speaking of their affairs with other gods (the Lord calls them "prostitutes"). The good news from Paul is that the Lord didn't leave them in their exiled state. He didn't desert them in their time of rebellion. No. Indeed, He promised that He would take the law that was given to them on tablets of stone and write it on their hearts. Ezekiel 36:26 says, that the Lord will put in them a heart of flesh and remove their heart of stone. How will this happen? It will happen through the sacrifice of a pure, spotless, lamb. A sacrifice that will once for all (Heb. 9:26) . The Lamb of God, Jesus Christ, is and was the goal of all that was written in the prophets and the law. It will be through His death the law will be written on their hearts.

The Abrahamic Covenant was not cancelled out by the Noahic Covenant. The Noahic Covenant was not cancelled by the Mosaic Covenant. All of the covenants build on one another. If the covenant God made with us through Christ cancelled out the covenant made with Abraham, what would be the foundation of our faith? It is written that Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness. How do we believe? We believe on Jesus Christ and we recieve the same righteousness Abraham did. Paul speaks of Abraham in his letter to the Galatians chapter 3:7-11. If the covenants cancel each other out, why does the Abrahamic Covenant still stand? The Abrahamic covenant still stands because it was made by faith.

Remember, the problem was with the people (us) and not the covenant. Why did Jesus come to earth? Jesus came to earth because the covenant was broken and the people needed to be restored to right relationship with God through a perfect sacrifice. The blood of an animal spilled many times over could not accomplish what Christ accomplished in one divine appointment.

What is Torah?

2006-08-12T02:14:00.000-07:00

You will come across a word in most of my postings that you maybe unfamiliar with. Some of you maybe familiar with it. The word I am speaking of is 'torah'. Torah is the hebrew word for 'law' in the Old Testament. Torah can be simply defined as the first five books of the Bible, the Pentateuch. The word "torah" has many definitions (click the link for definitions). We find that the word 'torah' can mean 'teaching', 'instruction', 'direction', 'law' and so on. What was 'Torah' given for? It was given for, if we understand the definition, the teaching and instruction of the God's people; you and me. I quoted in a previous post Matthew 5:17. Jesus did not come to abolish or destroy 'torah'/law, He came to fulfill it. If Jesus had broken torah, could He have fulfilled it? NO. Jesus had to live out torah perfectly in order to fulfill it. If I had time, I'd go into greater detail. If Jesus never broke torah but lived it perfectly, could it be he was the goal of the Torah and not the end of the Torah? I'll give you an example. In the book of Deuteronomy chapter eighteen verse eighteen, Moses said to the Israelites, that the Lord will raise up a prophet like him and I will put my words in His mouth and he will tell them everything I command him. Not only that, but in Matthew 10:6, Jesus confirms these words when he says, "I have come for the lost sheep of the house of Israel."

So a prophet like Moses will appear who will speak everything the Lord commands him and he will be from their own people. He will be a descendant of Israel. Who could Moses be speaking of? He is speaking of our Savior. Jesus Christ. He will come and proclaim all the Lord commands him. What will the Lord command him to speak? The New Testament certainly was not in existance during Jesus' lifetime. What is He going to proclaim? He proclaimed 'torah' and the prophets. Why? He is the one the law/torah and prophets spoke of. He was the fulfillment of everything the law and prophets spoke of. Jesus taught the living application of all of the 'torah'. He is the Living Torah. He did not proclaim a different law than His Father did through Moses. If he did away with it, then how will we know when we sin? Paul said that we know sin through torah/law. John 5:45-46 is another scripture worth checking out and pondering over.

I will address the meaning of the word "fulfill" at a later date. I felt it necessary to define the term 'torah' before I posted anything more until I defined this important hebrew term.

Here is a link with a more detailed definition.

Food for Thought

2006-08-11T13:15:00.000-07:00

Was the New Testament really written in Greek? Have a look at this website claiming evidence of an Aramaic New Testament.

An Apparent Contradiction; or Not?

2006-08-08T08:42:00.000-07:00

Have you ever wondered why the Apostle Paul, a rabbi, one taught by Gamaliel, would say the Law he was brought up in was done away with? If we know Paul was a practicing Jew, and if we know Paul called himself, "a hebrew of hebrews, a pharisee of pharisees" then we know Paul kept God's law in its entirety. In fact, Paul celebrated the feasts 30 years after Christ died. Paul himself said in Romans 3:31, "do we then nullify the law by our faith, no, rather we uphold the law?"
Then in Romans 7:12 Paul says, "So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good." Is there an apparent contradiction in scripture pertaining to the law? Absolutely not. When reading Paul, we need to ask the question, "What law is Paul talking about?" Is he talking about the law of God? or is he talking about the law of sin and death? Jesus said in Matthew 5:17, "I have come not to destroy the law and the prophets, but to fulfill them." If you want an interesting word study, look at the word fulfill. Find all the times it was used in the New Testament. There is more scripture to support that Christ did not do away with the Law He himself gave at Mount Sinai, He did away with the law of sin and death so that we would have life through Him who is the Living Torah (Law of God; teaching and instruction). It was because of the law, Paul says, man died. We sinned because we had not the power to keep the law. Praise be to God, through Christ, we have the power by the Spirit of Holiness to keep Torah in all its fullness.

Psalm 19

2006-08-06T15:32:00.001-07:00

David worships from the heart, and Psalm 19 is an expression of his worship to the Lord. I am going to start near the end of Psalm 19. In verses 12-14, David expresses his desire to be set apart, holy, and righteous to the Lord,

"Who can discern his errors? Forgive my hidden faults.
Keep your servant also from willful sins;
may they not rule over me. Then will I be blameless,
innocent of great transgression.
May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my
Redeemer."

Can David keep from willful sin and be blameless before the Lord without knowing what he must do? Interestingly in verses 7-11, he says how he separates himself from willful sins, and keeps himself blameless. It is not mere ritualistic observance of the flesh. He knows what the "commands", "ordinances", "precepts", "statutes", and the fear of the Lord are. Would he write about them if he didn't? Does David do these things by his flesh? NO. He does them by the Spirit. The Spirit of God. Without the Spirit, these commands, ordinances, precepts, and statutes are void. David gives the Lord praise for his Law. Why? because it is through being faithful to these commands, ordinances, precepts, and statutes, by the power of the Spirit of the Lord that David can withstand willful sin, and remain blameless in the Lord's sight. Without the power of the Spirit in his life and ours these commands are void and meaningless. Couple the commands with the Spirit of the Lord, and you have LIFE. You can read Psalm 19 for yourself by using the link on this blog to Blue Letter Bible in the right hand margin. I pray this blesses you. Have a wonderful day.

What does the title mean?

2006-08-05T23:03:00.000-07:00

That is a good question. The title is hebrew for "listen" and "do". The Israelites were commanded by God in Deuteronomy to do all of the commands He had given them through Moses. They said in response, "We will hear and we will do". Is this our response to his commands? This is the meaning behind my title. The original language of the scriptures is full of gems that will help you understand a verse and a number of verses more accurately and fully. Just a hint for those who wish to go deeper in their study of His Word.

How now do we love?

2006-08-05T11:59:00.000-07:00

I think every Christian needs to ask the question “How do I love the way Christ loved?” We need to look at the larger scope of what Christ said. Why does he quote the prophets and speak of Moses? Could these have something to do with loving our neighbour as ourselves? Paul says, “Love your neighbour as yourself for this sums up the entire law.” Of course the first commandment is love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. Look at what Jesus said in John. He said about five times in three chapters, “If you love me, you will obey my commandments.” How many commandments are there? Is He just speaking of the ten commandments?

I guess I should introduce myself. My name is Matt. I am a bible college graduate as of April 2005 and I love scripture and theology.