The Creation Gospel Podcast

Dr Hollisa Alewine's visit to Switzerland. Please SUBSCRIBE to our newsletter to get new teachings.

Dr Hollisa Alewine's visit to Switzerland. Please SUBSCRIBE to our newsletter to get new teachings.

This is part 2. Listen to Part 1 here. Please SUBSCRIBE to our newsletter to get new teachings.

The Last Three Warnings and Shabbat HaGadol The Days of Elijah begin with Passover. Join us as we explore the role of Shabbat, especially Shabbat HaGadol, and the three foot festivals as a warning for Bride to prepare for the coming of the Bridegroom. Together we'll unpack the language of zealous striking in the feasts. Please SUBSCRIBE to our newsletter to get new teachings.

THAT'S SO LAME With the eclipse so recent, literally putting a point on the new year of the feast cycle at the New Moon (Rosh Chodesh), it seemed proper to emphasize this year's pilgrimage through the feast. This is true specially in the United States where the eclipse bisected an already very divided nation. The eclipse gave us a glimpse of a wedding ring, which for believers in Yeshua, is the covenant, particularly Shabbat, the sign of our betrothal. We protect its holiness while we await the Bridegroom's return. During each eclipse, we have a dramatic reminder. For Americans, at the very least, I take this as a warning. Repent. Be set-apart. No more lukewarmness toward the feasts and Shabbat. Pray. Pray for the world, but especially Israel and our nation. The new moons are a zikaron, or remembrance. It is an appointed time for Adonai to "remember" us, which means to purpose an action pertaining to us. Attend Shabbat and each feast with like kind and like mind. Gather however you can. Each year at Pesach, you may have have started the journey through your last "sealing" on earth as we know it. It is your protection to the tribulation that accompanies those final days. Even as I write this, the ancient beasts of Babylon and Medo-Persia are crouching at the door. In apostolic times, the Biblical feasts were seen as a seal of protection to those who celebrated them. Seven feasts, seven seals. Sound familiar? You can find the details in Creation Gospel Workbook Six. We are living in a miracle so great that almost everyone is missing it...even those who are the miracle! What is even greater than the Exodus? The Greater Exodus! Israel being gathered from all the nations to return to her covenant, the Living Torah, and her Promised Land of covenant. Isn't that greater than the Reed Sea parting? After all, it's been almost 2000 years since a large group of people dared to proclaim Yeshua the Messiah and walk in obedience to his Torah simultaneously. As with the wilderness journey, the arguments and chaos frequently obliterate the miracle-consciousness. First, however, before the journey home, the "moral" return begins in the lands of exile. Before we walk and leap on the way to celebrate the foot festivals of Passover, Shavuot, and Sukkot, we need healing. Thousands upon thousands are being healed of enmity against the Word and their Jewish brothers and sisters walking in the covenant. In ancient times, Jeroboam put up barriers on the highways of Israel to prevent the tribes of the Northern Kingdom from journeying to Jerusalem to celebrate the feasts. By separating brothers, which is the seventh and most wicked of abominations, the northern tribes quickly lost their identity among the nations. To undo this separation has to be a work of the Ruach HaKodesh. To reiterate how the Ruach works to knit together like kind, rather than scatter and separate, I'm including Chapter Two of Standing With Israel: a House of Prayer for All Nations. It describes how prayer brought Jew and non-Jew together at the time of the afternoon prayer and Temple sacrifice. This prayer is named after the sacrifice, the Minchah. It is also called Shemoneh Esrei, or Eighteen, after its eighteen individual prayers. STANDING WITH ISRAEL: A HOUSE OF PRAYER FOR ALL NATIONS CHAPTER TWO JEW AND GENTILE: PETER AND CORNELIUS The Shemoneh Esrei, whatever its form evolving in the Second Temple era, is a common prayer for both Jews and “God fearers” in Acts of the Apostles. Peter and John observe the hour of prayer: “Now Peter and John went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer, being the ninth hour.” In Acts, Peter and John are still accustomed to praying in the Temple at the appointed hour, and they encounter a lame man, likely a Jew, at the hour of Minchah prayer, the ninth hour. This is three o’clock. The lame man’s inability to walk in the life of the covenant people makes him poor. He asks alms at the Beautiful Gate (Yaffa Gate), and receives silver and gold of the Kingdom, which is strength to walk into the Temple of Israel as a strong man. His waiting for alms at the gate parallels the common term for a non Jew who practices some of the Torah, but who has not yet converted to Judaism; he is a “proselyte of the gate.” Although he is a native-born Israelite, there is yet a barrier between him and the inner Temple courts, for none blemished in body could enter into those precincts. The correlation to Minchah prayer and the poor lame man is found in Jewish law. In Berachot 34b of the Talmud, the code of Jewish law and commentary, we read, “The Minchah has the same high degree of holiness which is generally brought by a poor person.” The reason is that a poor man may have to fast his daily bread in order to afford his offering, so his Minchah has a heightened degree of holiness. Adonai’s concern for the poor is evidenced by the many provisions in Leviticus for the poor man to bring an offering of reduced cost, whether turtledoves and meal

Getting Stoned Biblically, that is. Torah contains many commandments. Some of those are positive, "you shalls," and some are negative, "you shall nots." Most frequently, the negative commandments carry tangible punishments such as restitution, whiplashes, hanging, or even stoning. Sometimes no punishment is prescribed, or a vague phrase, "he shall be cut off from his people." It has been speculated to be banishment or shunning, and some sources say this is a Divine punishment, not a human one. Let's take a closer look at stoneable offenses, which will help us to understand a Divine punishment in John's Revelation. “You shall also say to the sons of Israel: ‘Any man from the sons of Israel or from the aliens sojourning in Israel who gives any of his offspring to Molech, shall surely be put to death; the people of the land shall stone him with stones.’” (Le 20:2) “Now a man or a woman who is a medium or a spiritist shall surely be put to death. They shall be stoned with stones, their bloodguiltiness is upon them.” (Le 20:27) “Moreover, the one who blasphemes the name of the LORD shall surely be put to death; all the congregation shall certainly stone him. The alien as well as the native, when he blasphemes the Name, shall be put to death….Then Moses spoke to the sons of Israel, and they brought the one who had cursed outside the camp and stoned him with stones. Thus the sons of Israel did, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.” (Le 24:16, 23) “Now while the sons of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man gathering wood on the sabbath day…Then the LORD said to Moses, ‘The man shall surely be put to death; all the congregation shall stone him with stones outside the camp.’ So all the congregation brought him outside the camp and stoned him to death with stones, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.” (Nu 15:32-36) Idolatry, dark arts, blasphemy, and desecration of the Shabbat are the most explicit of the commandments that carry a death penalty of stoning. An additional commandment against adultery is linked to idolatry: Thus they went in to Oholah and to Oholibah, the lewd women. But they, righteous men, will judge them with the judgment of adulteresses and with the judgment of women who shed blood, because they are adulteresses and blood is on their hands. ‘For thus says the Lord GOD, ‘Bring up a company against them and give them over to terror and plunder. The company will stone them with stones and cut them down with their swords; they will slay their sons and their daughters and burn their houses with fire. Thus I will make lewdness cease from the land, that all women may be admonished and not commit lewdness as you have done. Your lewdness will be requited upon you, and you will bear the penalty of worshiping your idols; thus you will know that I am the Lord GOD.’” (Ezekiel 23:44-49) The Ezekiel passage is addressed to two nations in their state of apostasy, Oholah (Northern tribes of Israel) and Oholibah (Judah). They are also called mystically "Babylon" and "Egypt" because they carried with them the adulteries/idolatries of Egypt and Babylon and continued to practice them. Their example was a message to other "women," or nations. The vital transition in Revelation is that first Israel is warned through the "moedic memos" to the Seven Assemblies of Revelation. Next, those nations from which they carried the adulterous idolatries are judged. The smaller to greater pattern may also be seen in Zechariah 14:17 when he prophesies that the commandment that initially was specific to Israel of going up to Jerusalem for the foot festivals of Passover, Shavuot, and Sukkot will extend to the other nations in the millennium. It then explains why John prophesies in the Revelation to the world that they will suffer the same sentences applied to Israel for the "stoning" offenses. As those nations transition to King Yeshua's rule over the earth, they, like Pharaoh, will suffer stoning for stubborness concerning control of Israel and the commandments of Adonai. To understand how stoning was performed, we have to erase our memories of high school reading assignments such as "The Lottery" or news images of men stoning women in Afghanistan. While throwing stones at someone until they are dead is one way of stoning, the Biblical method is rarely explained outside of Judaism. The Jewish understanding of how to perform stoning is rooted in Moses’ warning at Sinai to protect the people from the hailstones by which they would be stoned if they approached the mountain: “And you shall set bounds around it for the people, saying, ‘Guard yourself from ascending the mountain or touching its edge; whoever touches the mountain shall surely die. A hand shall not touch it, for he shall be stoned or he shall be cast down; whether animal or person he shall not live; when the blast of the ram’s horn is drawing out, they will ascend the mountain.” (Ex 19:12-13) Judicial orders of stoning in ancient times consisted of first, pushing th

One Size Fits All "Tzav" "One Size Fits All!" We’ve probably all been duped by that assurance! Sure it fits, as long as you don't mind sleeves so long you could make it into a straitjacket! One size definitely doesn’t fit all. Do we trust the ad enough to order it online? Do we hire a personal shopper who knows our taste, our height, our weight, body shape, even arm length? How about prayer? Does one size fit all? That’s a common question even though it is not usually worded that way. Frequently I hear objections to Jewish prayer as vain repetition. It’s an uninformed way of looking at it, but we often simply repeat what someone who we respected told us. As we allow the Ruach HaKodesh to turn our spiritual life upside down repeatedly, that may be one area that turns. To help coach new-to-Torah believers in the basics of Jewish prayer, I’ve written books such as Standing With Israel: A House of Prayer for All Nations, Messianic Shabbat Service, and Creation Gospel Workbook Six: Hebrew Prayer and Worship Traditions. Rather than cover that ground again, I thought I would reiterate one of the principles of Hebrew prayer. Although the basic daily, feast, and Shabbat prayers are fixed and do not change, they do not need to. The Temple service was the same. Fixed. As the daily prayers took the place of the Temple services after its destruction, they too, were fixed. There is room in the Amidah prayers for spontaneous, personal conversation with Adonai. The point of Hebrew prayer is that the person is transformed with each prayer. When I pray the Amidah in the evening, I am not the same person who prayed it that morning. The conversation with Adonai changed me. As immersion into Messiah Yeshua makes me a new person, so does the fire of the Ruach burn me on the altar each day. This is why it is so difficult to advise someone on which siddur (prayer book) to purchase. It’s kind of like picking out someone else’s clothes, especially if you don’t know them personally. I’d need to know several things: 1. Do you want Hebrew text, English, or both? 2. Do you want an English transliteration? 3. Do you need a daily siddur, Shabbat siddur, or a combination of both? 4. Do you want a Messianic siddur? 5. Large print, or are you good with a font the size of a gnat’s tattoo in the pocket size? You get the gist. This week’s Ulpan-Or newsletter on the Torah portion is an excellent illustration of the personal relationship with prayer. The ashes from altar that burn down from the previous day are symbolically placed beside it. Today’s sacrifice will be a new one. Today’s prayers will be new because we are new, re-born of fire and water. With their permission to reproduce, I’ve included Ulpan-Or's lesson below: TORAH PORTION "Tzav" This Shabbat we will read Torah Portion "Tzav". In our Torah Portion Tzav, G‑d instructs Moses to command Aaron and his sons regarding their duties who offer the offerings on the altar in the Sanctuary. The fire on the altar had to be kept burning at all times. It is interesting to notice that each and every morning, the first order of the day in the Holy Temple was for the priest to remove a small portion of the ashes from the altar and place it on the floor just next to the altar. Why particularly the priest had to start each day with removing ashes from the previous day? What was the purpose of this ritual? The purpose of this ritual was not merely to tidy up the ashes left over from the fire that had burned all night. The priest only had to remove a very small symbolic amount of ash. And, in fact, after the first priest would remove a small portion of the ashes, the other priests would place the remainder of the ashes in a large heap in the center of the altar. Why is it so important that it’s the first ritual performed in the Temple, - the first step in the service of G‑d? What is the significance of lifting and removing the symbolic amount of ashes? Let us think. What are ashes? These are what is left over from the previous day’s service. Your yesterday, may have been perfect. Yesterday, you may have achieved a lot with your talents and strengths. But, …. That was yesterday. However, if you do the same thing today, you do not grow spiritually. If you repeat what you did yesterday - then you are merely stuck in the past. You remain the “Old You”. So, the ashes that represent “the old me” must be removed, in order to clear the way for “the new me,” that today will actualize today’s greater potential. That’s why the first step in serving G‑d each morning is the realization that that the ashes that represent “the old me” must be removed, in order to clear the way for “the new me,” One must tell himself – Tomorrow will be totally different - not just “a bit different,” The next day’s potential would be so much greater. Unlike in the Beatles’ song “Yesterday”, one should not long for yesterday, but rather look onward for a better tomorrow. Remembering the exodus from Egypt is so central to Judaism. Egypt

Violence in Eden: Whiplash Although its connection to Yom HaKippurim (A Day like Purim) is more easily heard, the story of Purim in the scroll of Esther holds references to all the feasts. In fact, Purim holds a key to Passover that is very practical. It has to do with how the danger started: evil words. Chametz. Leaven. When Queen Esther calls the Jews to fast with her against the evil, it is during the days of matzah! The antidote to the violence of evil words is holy words, words spoken in prayer and fasting. By fasting and praying with unleavened tongues, the power of evil was broken. In our "Benjamin Will Not Bow" newsletter, we searched back to Eden to find the source of slander, gossip, and separating brothers in conflict. Ezekiel describes the Edenic violation as a kind of violence. Indeed, today, when people profess hatred toward others, it often leads to actual violence. It "spreads out" two human beings made in the image of Elohim that were not created to be apart. Ezekiel 28:12 “Son of man, take up a lamentation over the king of Tyre and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD,“You had the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.13 “You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering: the ruby, the topaz and the diamond; the beryl, the onyx and the jasper; the lapis lazuli, the turquoise and the emerald; and the gold, the workmanship of your settings and sockets, was in you. On the day that you were created they were prepared.14 “You were the anointed cherub who covers, and I placed you there.You were on the holy mountain of God; you walked in the midst of the stones of fire.15 You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created until unrighteousness was found in you.16 By the abundance of your trade (rakal) you were internally filled with violence (malu chamas), and you sinned; therefore I have cast you as profane from the mountain of God and I have destroyed you, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire.17 Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom by reason of your splendor. I cast you to the ground; I put you before kings, that they may see you. It is rather odd that "trade" led to "violence," or chamas. Perhaps there is more to the word than is translated. What is "trade" in Hebrew? Rakhal- “...go about, from one to another” There is much debate on the identity of the “King of Tyre.” In this type of prophecy, the "villain" may be an archetype of a certain sinner. The tip-off is that it is anachronistic, completely out of the time period. Just as often it will work on the positive side, such as a later person coming "in the spirit of Elijah," for instance. This violent violator walked among ”fiery stones” until he was cast out because of his “trade,” rakhal. The same accusation is made against Babylon in Revelation. The Adversary, the serpent, goes back and forth between Adonai and His People to accuse. The trafficker has two connotations: go about for spice trading and slandering. A High Priest is to go about with spices for atonement, not leverage to accuse Israel. On the other hand, false witness was trafficked to convict Yeshua. Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough? Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed. Therefore let us celebrate the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. I wrote you in my letter not to associate with immoral people; I did not at all mean with the immoral people of this world, or with the covetous and swindlers, or with idolaters, for then you would have to go out of the world. But actually, I wrote to you not to associate with any so-called brother if he is an immoral person, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a swindler—not even to eat with such a one. For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Do you not judge those who are within the church? But those who are outside, God judges. REMOVE THE WICKED MAN FROM AMONG YOURSELVES. (1 Co 5:6-13) If only Adam and Eve hadn't associated with an immoral "person," the slanderer! Why are we so hesitant to confront a slanderer? We're not supposed to even eat with one...it's quite a sour fruit even though it looks juicy. A “reviler” as Paul describes is G3060 λοίδορος loídoros The KJV translates Strong's G3060 in the following manner: railer (1x), reviler (1x). Its Hebrew cognate is from din, judgment: madon מָדוֹן מָדוֹן H4066 from H1777; a contest or quarrel:—brawling, contention(-ous), discord, strife. One who quarrels is one who is both arrogant and “leavened,” prone to distort the truth. The serpent in the Garden was a trafficker of falsely twisted information. Slander is a reviling truth to separate humans from Elohim and one another. It's probably not the wh

Preparing for Purim This is Pt 3. Please SUBSCRIBE to our newsletter to get new teachings.

Preparing for Purim This is Pt 2. Please SUBSCRIBE to our newsletter to get new teachings.

Preparing for Purim This is Pt 1. Please SUBSCRIBE to our newsletter to get new teachings.

Are you planning Passover? Passover is a celebration that requires significant planning whether you are celebrating in your own home with your family or with a group. In Temple times, people would “register” for a lamb in groups of about fifty people. Since sacrificial animals all turn a year older on Elul 1 Rosh Hodesh Elul, the new moon festival of the month of Elul marks the opening of the time window when one-year-old lambs qualified for the Pesach will be born. Elul 1 is ma’aser behema, or the counting of domesticated animals. During the time of the Temple, this day was the new year to determine the start date of animal tithes. The lambs would therefore be a year old even though technically aged about six months or less. Since only a kazayit (the size of an olive) of the lamb had to be eaten to meet the requirement of sharing the Pesach, one lamb sufficed for many people. They simply needed to share in its suffering, not make the main meal from it. The celebratory meal of the chag (joyous festival) was the main course to fill the belly. During Second Temple times, if you did not register ahead of time to share in a lamb, then you were not permitted to eat from it! Yikes. Such delay in planning one’s worship was considered a severe spiritual lapse. We might compare this to someone who has many opportunities to accept Yeshua as savior, yet refuses or delays repeatedly. When the Day comes, it is too late. Practically speaking, a person could make a last-minute purchase and bring his own lamb by procuring one himself, but that’s a lot of meat for one person to eat before midnight! Passover is a type and shadow of salvation, but it is also predictive of how we acquire an identity with the holy community of Israel. From smaller family and friends gatherings, we grow together and eventually stand as one people at Shavuot and the fall feasts of Yom Teruah and Yom HaKippurim. A chag is a “memorial,” so while you’re planning, why not plan to make it memorable? Since an essential element of Pesach is teaching children, the part of the seder that is telling the story of the Exodus can ALWAYS be made memorable to children. For instance, one year, I dressed up in Egyptian costume as “The Plague Lady.” It required a few months of planning! I don't have any photos from that seder because I was too busy plaguing people, but I looked pretty scary. Here's what I did: 1. Water turning to blood: I purchased small (dead) baitfish and a whole big fish from the market and submersed the big fish in a pitcher of red Kool-Aid. When the leader announced the plague, I came in and offered to serve the kids’ table drinks from the pitcher. Yes, they screamed. I then threw some of the dried fish onto their table. Be careful with that one. One of the kids tried to eat one. 2. Frogs: Over a month before the seder, I purchased a frog pinata and three packages of catfish stinkbait. I opened the stinkbait, inserted it into the pinata, then wrapped the frog in a big Hefty bag and left it in the garage until Passover. I unwrapped it just after the dead fish Kool-Aid, unplugged the pinata, and then I walked through the room swinging the pinata around. Yes, it was horrible. I also bought some frog legs from the market and threw some onto the kids’ table. I don’t think anyone tried to eat those. We were all nauseated from the stinkbait frog. It smelled so bad you could taste it. 3. Lice: Easy-peasy. Lice-rice, baby, but go easy. Clean-up is a mess. 4. Flies: Cheap party favors, a dollar a bag. Pass them out to parents ahead of time so they can throw them at the kids. You won’t have to worry about clean-up. The kids will scoop them up to take home. 5. Livestock pestilence: I took a huge stuffed cow, wrapped it in some bandages, stuffed a thermometer in her mouth, and made a “litter.” We took a few trips around the kids’ table asking if there were a doctor in the house. A couple of red cross armbands are good enough for your "paramedics," siren sound effects optional. 6. Boils: Before the seder started, I used a drama makeup kit to build realistic boils on the arms of volunteers. When the plague was announced, they rolled up their sleeves and moaned and groaned. It was a little disturbing how much they got into the acting. 7. Hail. Easy-peasy. Ping-pong balls. May require temporary confiscation before the seder can proceed. Including adults. 8. Locusts: I bought those from the same place as the dollar-flies. Again, you won’t have to clean them up. They’ll be in pockets. Or they might end up in a few dishes in next week's oneg. 9. Darkness: A helper cut the lights, and THEN… 10. Killing of firstborn children: …all the firstborn men began wailing and then staged being dead, slumped over tables, on the floor, etc. When the lights came on, voila. They saw dead people. This was very scary for some of the young ones. You might have a better idea, or at least warn them ahead of time it’s not real. No sense in drama trauma, Mama, but it did keep them awa

Teaching at River of Life Tabernacle Shabbat Service Please SUBSCRIBE to our newsletter to get new teachings.

Return or Resurrection? Footsteps of Messiah In the Footsteps of Messiah series, we’ve used the Song of Songs as a prophetic working text to help us understand the preparation of the Bride of Messiah: “Come with me from Lebanon, my bride...” (So 4:8) Some passages of the Song describe the relationship between the Bride and her Beloved, and some describe the perfecting conditions in millennial kingdom. What is puzzling is how the resurrection of the righteous dead aligns with the more natural-sounding earth prophecies such as this one in Isaiah: ’For I know their works and their thoughts; the time is coming to gather all nations and tongues. And they shall come and see My glory. I will set a sign among them and will send survivors from them to the nations: Tarshish, Put, Lud, Meshech, Tubal and Javan, to the distant coastlands that have neither heard My fame nor seen My glory. And they will declare My glory among the nations. Then they shall bring all your brethren from all the nations as a grain offering to the LORD, on horses, in chariots, in litters, on mules and on camels, to My holy mountain Jerusalem,’ says the LORD, ‘just as the sons of Israel bring their grain offering in a clean vessel to the house of the LORD.’ (Is 66:18-20) The ancient boundaries of the coastlands (nations) were according to language and family: From these the coastlands of the nations were separated into their lands, every one according to his language, according to their families, into their nations. (Ge 10:5) In the millennial kingdom of Messiah, it appears that those boundaries don’t disappear. Maybe they are re-drawn according to the original assignments, or maybe the shifting of peoples and their languages results in re-drawing. I’m not sure whether that’s important, only that the boundaries of Tzion are established and respected. Isaiah prophesies that all nations and tongues will gather. The only event(s) we know that fit this prophecy is the gathering to the House of Prayer for All Nations, the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. Zechariah 14:16 prophesies the nations will begin to observe the feasts of Adonai in the millennium. Zechariah’s prophecy seems a little more aligned with Isaiah’s vision of the millennium, a time that still seems very much within a perfecting, but yet physical, world. How, then, do we see the Bride's gathering into the cloud (1 Th 4:16) to remain in the Presence of Adonai versus being a “sign” for the gathering of the nations? Are we in the Presence of Adonai or active among the nations? Maybe it’s not an either/or question, simply one of learning from both prophecies. A thousand years is a very long time. A thousand years ago, the Vikings were terrorizing Europe and beyond by sea, and the Byzantine Empire still sailed the Mediterranean. There were castles and kings. The samurai in Japan were beginning to arise as a warrior class. The Mayans had not yet reached the pinnacle of their empire. We’ve come a long way, baby Bride. And the nations will have a long way to go in the millennium. From the text in Exodus describing the giving of the Torah, an identity evolved of Israel as a Bride. In Jewish thought, Moses is the one leading the Bride out to meet the Bridegroom at Sinai. From here, the prophets (Je 2:2 among others) take up the Bride as an identity of Israel who is willing to do and hear the commandments of her Elohim. She’s saved from Egypt and bound in covenant of her free will. The New Testament Scriptures extend this identity and elaborate upon it. Likewise, the Feast of Shavuot is seen as the time at which the Bride will be sealed. The Feast of Trumpets is the resurrection of those sealed and the righteous dead, but what of the ten days until Yom HaKippurim? Those days are seen as an opportunity for the “intermediates,” or as Yeshua calls them “lukewarm,” to repent and return to the Covenant before the gates close at the conclusion of Yom HaKippurim. What are the sealed righteous doing during this ten days? According to some sources, Israel is like the indentured Hebrew servant, now free at the sound of the shofar on Yom Teruah in the seventh “year.” She spends the next ten days feasting with her Master and His family, and then when the Jubilee shofar sounds at Yom HaKippurim after ten days, she returns to her original inheritance. She goes home to her own territory in the Land. The wicked and the unrepentant? Well, read the Book of Revelation. What about those left among the nations from the tribulation? Zechariah 14:6 clarifies: “And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles.” If we pair the Isaiah prophecy with Zechariah’s, then it is the people of Adonai, survivors, maybe the Bride herself, who will be dispatched during the millennium to the nations to teach them the Word. They will need to be instructed in the Word in order to know h

A Better Torah Starter Yitro The Torah Portion Study Habit This week's Torah portion is Yitro, or Jethro, named after Moses' father-in-law who had some very practical ideas for the fledgling nation. It should make us grin to see Moses fall into a very common trap, thinking he had to do everything on his own instead of assembling and teaching a team to help him carry the load. Why do leaders do this? Often it's from a fear that he or she protects the sheep from harmful influences, others who might lead or teach the people astray. It's a heightened sense of responsibility when the leader feels there is no one else qualified. Very understandable, but needs improvement. Sometimes it is ego-centric. The leader likes being the leader and having everyone consult him/her on every issue. He/she likes the feeling of power that comes with being in charge. Needs heart improvement. The Father's sheep are not there to boost our self-esteem. There are probably lots of other reasons, but I suspect the best of Moses, which is what we should do. Suspect the best intentions. In spite of his good intentions, Moses was wearing himself out as well as those who need help and guidance! In fact, the sages say, Yitro is pointing out that it's disrespectful to the people to make them stand in line all day. Don't you feel disrespected when you have to sit in the waiting room for an appointment for hours? Your time is valuable, too! And how many times did Moses have to repeat himself each day? What if everyone who had a similar question could be addressed in a particular court? Local judges could take on the responsibility of teaching the most common laws and applications so that it became common knowledge, like what happens when four cars approach a four-way stop at the same time. Not that they were driving cars in the wilderness. I'm sure it was donkeys or ATVs. Yitro's practical advice sparks Moses into training and setting up judges to help him carry the load so that he can become the Supreme Court to hear cases that the primary leaders and appeals courts couldn't handle. This was a better way. Our medical system implements this model to train physicians. In a teaching hospital, you might first see a med student who does an initial exam and workup, then there will be an ascending level of expertise called in to treat the patient and train those learning: interns, residents, attendings. Yitro's name comes from yoter in Hebrew: more. Yoter tov is better, more good. More good better. Yitro reminds us that sometimes there is a more good better way of doing things, and that way is more respectful of people's time, need, and their own responsibilities. Since the Israelites were newcomers to the Torah, they needed an appropriate level of instruction to get started. This is a stop sign. It is red with white letters and has eight sides. The letters spell STOP. It means to come to a complete stop. Look in all directions. If more then one of you approach the stop sign at the same time, then let the donkey on the right go first. Isn't that easier and more good better than thousands of donkeys galloping around the wilderness trying to figure out which Hebrew word means "Stop"? On this week's Shabbat livestream, I've invited Timothy Herron to join us and teach a sample lesson from his Seedtime and Harvest workbook series designed for newcomers to the Torah. Like Yitro, Tim said, "There's a better way to introduce folks to the weekly Torah portions." Many people begin to study Torah haphazardly, or maybe they never start because they're discouraged by all those Hebrew words we're using and how comfortable we seem with feasts and commandments they've never studied. New language, new laws...no wonder it's intimidating! Tim's workbooks ease in the beginner to Torah with smaller bites of information and an introduction to the structure of the Torah portions. The point is to help the learner establish a study habit instead of a reading habit. Anyone can read through the Bible in a year. Not everyone remembers or understands what he or she read at the end of that year. This Seedtime and Harvest "Torah Tuesday" series introduces good study habits and new words in a manner that the beginner can acquire without feeling overwhelmed: Five volumes - one for each book of the Torah based on the 54 traditional Torah Portions. Each volume contains: Torah Portion name in Hebrew and English Hebrew Mini which introduces the reader to Hebrew letters. Nutshell is seven highlights of each portion. Seven Readings from each portion with selected commentary Suggestions for further study Simple Thoughts by the author If you've been looking for a good starter program for friends, family, or your Bible study, it is worth checking out this preview lesson on our Shabbat YouTube livestream. And if you're looking for the accompanying videos to the study, they have now begun airing on Hebraic Roots Network. More will be added soon. Please SUBSCRIBE to our newsletter to get new t

The Day of the LORD Understanding the Chosen For believers in Yeshua who observe the Shabbat, we are reminded frequently…make that every week…that most of the world has not chosen to honor the Seventh Day as His chosen day. For many, they’ve simply not been taught about it. For others, they’ve been taught incorrectly. For others, they know, and they don’t choose to honor it. It’s a matter of choice. Our choices reflect both what we 1) understand and/or 2) prefer In the internet age, we are harassed multiple times per day to “rate” a product or a service. With a greedy disregard for the value of a purchaser’s time, the vendor expects to take a minute, five minutes, or even longer, for the purchaser to fill out surveys and questionnaires on preferences in order to help the seller adjust products and selling techniques to make more money. Shouldn’t they be paying us? I don’t work for free in my secular job, only in ministry. You probably don’t either. There is rarely an offer of more than a trinket of thanks in return for our valuable time, but sometimes we give it to them because we are flattered that someone would want to know what we think or we have an opportunity to vent even though a real human being is not likely to see or care what we write. In that sense, the business takes our money, takes uncompensated time, and then largely ignores the specific concern and buries it in a mass of number data. What a deal! The process depends upon what we choose. Why did we choose that product? That company? That day? That salesperson? Now here’s the question: Because we chose that particular product from that particular company on that particular day from that particular salesperson, does it mean we HATED every other choice? Of course not. We simply did our shopping and research (hopefully), and we preferred one over the others. Choice. We found the right thing for us personally. Unfortunately, many approach Shabbat and the Word with a similar mindset. They see it as a personal choice of what best suits them rather than a process of learning what their Creator has chosen and mirroring His choices. Esau is a great example of one who knew what to do, yet chose differently. This is why Esau, Edom, “The Red One” represents the untamed appetites of the soul: appetite, emotion, desire, and intellect. It is a tremendous life force designed by the Creator, yet in its design, the spirit of a man was chosen to rule over it. It doesn’t mean Elohim hates the soul in an emotional sense: quite the contrary! He loves us so much that He sent His Son to save our rowdy souls. The spirit of a man comes from above, from Elohim Himself. He wants that Spirit (Ruach HaKodesh) to rule over the soul. He CHOSE that modality. • The oracle of the word of the LORD to Israel through Malachi. “I have loved you,” says the LORD. But you say, “How have You loved us?” “Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?” declares the LORD. “Yet I have loved Jacob; but I have hated Esau, and I have made his mountains a desolation and appointed his inheritance for the jackals of the wilderness.” (Mal 1:1-3) It can be confusing when reading Scripture to understand being “chosen.” In context, it can simply mean preferring one over the other, not hating the one who was not chosen. Because we associate hate with an extreme emotion, we lose the grasp that what is chosen is loved in the sense of preference and precedence in certain matters, and what is hated is what is ranked beneath it in certain mattters. In our culture, we rarely use “hate” if the feeling of loathing and disgust is not attached to it. Herein lies the problem. The human experience is only a parable of reality, which is found in our Creator. Our experience of emotion, desire, and intellect only mirrors His, but His is perfect. When we see love and hate only as strong emotions, then we can miss the nuances of Scripture where He is teaching us the importance of good choices based on His preferences instead of ours. He’s not offering us a survey to find out which of the commandments we prefer or even if we prefer to do them at all. He’s observing us. The times in Scripture when people felt rejected, they also felt unloved, so they acted in reprehensible ways. Kain killed Abel. Joseph’s brothers sold him into slavery. King Saul tried to kill David, and so on. Their story is our story. The problem is that when Adonai expresses a preference for those who do His will instead of their own, we miss the issue, just like Kain. Kain knew what to do in order to have his sacrifice respected. That’s all he had to do. Choose and do what Elohim preferred. Here is another example of the choosing-lesson: “He also rejected the tent of Joseph, and did not choose the tribe of Ephraim, but chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion which He loved.” (Ps 78:67-68) Joseph/Ephraim were not rejected as people, only their territory as the resting place of Adonai’s glory. Instead, the Judah/Benjamin territory was already chosen as The Place of the

This week we continue with "Living a Double Life" To review: The challenge is that many of the commandments are given as nos, or the “you shall nots.” At least half of life is managing the nos, the boundaries, and the good fences that preserve our lives. If life is at least half no, then fostering a great relationship with the no commandments is the key. We can discipline ourselves to engage the nos with as much enthusiasm as the yeses, which really, is what makes a disciple. Just like Yeshua told Peter, we are transformed from a person who always wants to be in charge to one who is willing to be led of the Ruach HaKodesh in every circumstance, even down to the time and way we die. Some disciples discipline the nos faster, and some not so fast. It is important, though, for if we cannot engage the simple commandments of yes and no, then how will we hear the more subtle still, small, voice of the Ruach HaKodesh is our daily dilemmas that don’t come with a chapter and verse attached to them? This week, let’s look at another “commandment principle” of life: the possibility of living a double life. It starts with the first commandment given at Mount Sinai in Exodus 20:1-5: Then God spoke all these words, saying, ‘I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. You shall not worship them or serve them…’ The commandment is not to put another created entity as an “elohim” in front of Elohim, the only Creator. The idea is that there is nothing else created that could possibly be Elohim. By definition, Elohim is the Creator of all things, and a created elohim (judge, appointed ruler) is not. It is merely another created thing originating from Elohim. All other things go behind Him. He is the first, and there is no second to compare to Him. Sometimes a glance at a more literal Hebrew helps. “You shall have no other gods before Me” is: לֹא יִהְיֶה־לְךָ אֱלֹהִים אֲחֵרִים עַל־פָּנָיַ׃ or You will not be to yourself another god on My face. When a human being fabricates an image from wood, stone, or other substance, or attributes the Ruach Elohim to an existing created substance such as a tree, water, cloud, etc., then the human has put a “face” on Elohim. The urge is so strong that this is the first commandment, a “yes” paired with a “no.” Yes, He is Elohim, and no, do not tamper with Him by fabricating an image to put a face on Him, for it will be inaccurate and a product of human imagination. A philosopher once said that "imagination is man's most God-like characteristic." We can also say that based on the primacy of the first commandment, imagination is man's most god-like characteristic, his primary place of vulnerability to idols. The moment we put a face on Elohim, we become susceptible to idolatry, looking to that object for intervention on our behalf: success, health, sustenance, good, peace, prosperity, comfort, joy, etc. For instance, rather than partner with Elohim for our life-path of prosperity, prerequisite to putting His Kingdom first, we forge our own ideas about how much wealth we need and when we need it without regard for our spiritual discipline and agreement to put Elohim first in all things. In ancient times, people sought out gods of prosperity, fertility, strength, war, and so on. Rather than partner with Elohim, “who teaches my hands to war,” (Ps 18:34) they consulted principalities and powers and made war. Because the worship of these entities requires the imagination, effort, time, and faith of the human being, the powers of the entity reflect the human who turns to it, not the true created ability assigned to that power by Elohim for it to manage its particular realm, whether in the heavens above or earth below. Are there other powerful spiritual beings and human organizations in our universe? Yes. Are they the Creator and worthy of our time, attention, and resources? NO! These entities are not ours to petition or order around. In selecting the attributes of certain entities, we put a human, animal, or other physical face on Elohim. While He is often hidden from human beings, He does not need a mask of our choosing. We desperately need to believe that so that we don’t live a double life, claiming to worship Elohim while putting our trust in other created entities. That is done today not so much by worshiping an object, but by putting faith in the leopard’s spots. Remember our lessons on the beast kingdoms? The leopard was Greece. The spots were its organizations: medicine, art, philosophy, education, drama, military, government, politics, sports, music, etc. The Romans took those organizations and expanded them, and even when the Roman Empire fell, those systems are disseminated all over the world to influence and control human beings. Now human beings are conditioned to

Living a Double Life Last week in the Shabbat livestream, we looked at the human relationship to two types of commandments, the “Yes,” or you shall commandments, and the “No,” or you shall not commandments. In general, human beings like to hear yeses instead of nos. The challenge is that many of the commandments are given as nos, or the “you shall nots.” At least half of life is managing the nos, the boundaries, and the good fences that preserve our lives. If life is at least half no, then fostering a great relationship with the no commandments is the key. We can discipline ourselves to engage the nos with as much enthusiasm as the yeses, which really, is what makes a disciple. Just like Yeshua told Peter, we are transformed from a person who always wants to be in charge to one who is willing to be led of the Ruach HaKodesh in every circumstance, even down to the time and way we die. Some disciples discipline the nos faster, and some not so fast. It is important, though, for if we cannot engage the simple commandments of yes and no, then how will we hear the more subtle still, small, voice of the Ruach HaKodesh is our daily dilemmas that don’t come with a chapter and verse attached to them? This week, let’s look at another “commandment principle” of life: the possibility of living a double life. It starts with the first commandment given at Mount Sinai in Exodus 20:1-5: Then God spoke all these words, saying, ‘I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. You shall not worship them or serve them…’ The commandment is not to put another created entity as an “elohim” in front of Elohim, the only Creator. The idea is that there is nothing else created that could possibly be Elohim. By definition, Elohim is the Creator of all things, and a created elohim (judge, appointed ruler) is not. It is merely another created thing originating from Elohim. All other things go behind Him. He is the first, and there is no second to compare to Him. Sometimes a glance at a more literal Hebrew helps. “You shall have no other gods before Me” is: לֹא יִהְיֶה־לְךָ אֱלֹהִים אֲחֵרִים עַל־פָּנָיַ׃ or You will not be to yourself another god on My face. When a human being fabricates an image from wood, stone, or other substance, or attributes the Ruach Elohim to an existing created substance such as a tree, water, cloud, etc., then the human has put a “face” on Elohim. The urge is so strong that this is the first commandment, a “yes” paired with a “no.” Yes, He is Elohim, and no, do not tamper with Him by fabricating an image to put a face on Him, for it will be inaccurate and a product of human imagination. A philosopher once said that "imagination is man's most God-like characteristic." We can also say that based on the primacy of the first commandment, imagination is man's most god-like characteristic, his primary place of vulnerability to idols. The moment we put a face on Elohim, we become susceptible to idolatry, looking to that object for intervention on our behalf: success, health, sustenance, good, peace, prosperity, comfort, joy, etc. For instance, rather than partner with Elohim for our life-path of prosperity, prerequisite to putting His Kingdom first, we forge our own ideas about how much wealth we need and when we need it without regard for our spiritual discipline and agreement to put Elohim first in all things. In ancient times, people sought out gods of prosperity, fertility, strength, war, and so on. Rather than partner with Elohim, “who teaches my hands to war,” (Ps 18:34) they consulted principalities and powers and made war. Because the worship of these entities requires the imagination, effort, time, and faith of the human being, the powers of the entity reflect the human who turns to it, not the true created ability assigned to that power by Elohim for it to manage its particular realm, whether in the heavens above or earth below. Are there other powerful spiritual beings and human organizations in our universe? Yes. Are they the Creator and worthy of our time, attention, and resources? NO! These entities are not ours to petition or order around. In selecting the attributes of certain entities, we put a human, animal, or other physical face on Elohim. While He is often hidden from human beings, He does not need a mask of our choosing. We desperately need to believe that so that we don’t live a double life, claiming to worship Elohim while putting our trust in other created entities. That is done today not so much by worshiping an object, but by putting faith in the leopard’s spots. Remember our lessons on the beast kingdoms? The leopard was Greece. The spots were its organizations: medicine, art, philosophy, education, drama, military, government, politics, sports, music, etc. The Romans