Tag Archives: Creator

Let all Creation Praise YHVH !

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every-created-thingI have often marveled at Psalm 148 that speaks about everything and everyone in Heaven and on the Earth praising the LORD [YHVH].  We know that our LORD God [Yehovah Elohim] created everything in the universe with His spoken Word.  We also know that the Living Word (Yeshua) was there at the beginning participating in every aspect of Creation (John 1:3).

It is not so amazing that people praise YHVH, since He created us to praise and glorify Him.  He says in Isaiah 43:7 when speaking about His people: “Everyone who is called by My name, whom I created for My glory…”.  In I Chronicles 16:29, David says in his song of praise to YHVH: “Give to the LORD the glory due His name…Worship the LORD in His holy splendor.”  The beautiful thing about glorifying God is that it brings the greatest joy to our hearts because that’s how YHVH created us.  C.S. Lewis once said: “In commanding us to glorify Him, God is inviting us to enjoy Him”.   All through Psalm 16, David talks about praising and glorifying God, and then in Verse 11 He says: “You show me the path of life, granting me the joy of Your presence and the pleasures of living with You forever”.

If we literally believe that “everything that has breath praises YHVH” (Psalm 150:6), then we can look around us and listen to all the voices of God’s creatures.  We are all familiar with the beautiful songs of the birds of the air.  There are also other less familiar voices that are beautifully expressed in the animal world.  Experts say that Fin whales can hear the bleeps of other fin whales from more than 500 miles away, and under the right conditions, Blue whales can hear each other from over 1,000 miles away!

Humpback whales are famous for singing songs that can last up to 30 minutes. They sing in rhyme, and the songs can be heard by other whales. The songs are passed along in the water so that an entire ocean may have all the humpback whales singing the exact same song at the same time—a kind of great whale choir.  How incredible is our God who created these amazing sea creatures, and how incredible is the sound of their praises sung to their Creator!

Any of us who have children (and we ourselves are children of our parents of course), know that when children praise and respect their parents, their relationship is strengthened and there is much greater joy and peace in the household.  In the same way, the right response from us toward God is praise because He deserves it.  When we show our love for YHVH by praising Him, we fulfill the purpose for which YHVH created us.  When we fulfill this purpose, we experience the greatest possible joy—God is pleased, our relationship with Him is enhanced, and He has received what He deserves.

What is even more incredible to me is that all of Creation is praising YHVH (from Psalm 148:1-8): “…His angels; His heavenly army (recall that Yeshua is the LORD of Heaven’s armies); the sun and the moon; all the shining stars (and scientists know that the stars “sing”); the highest heaven of the heavens; the waters above the heavens; the Earth; large sea creatures and the ocean depths; lightning and hail; snow and fog; strong winds that obey His commands; mountains and all hills; fruit trees and all cedars; wild and domestic animals; crawling animals and birds”.  Verse 13 sums up the whole Psalm by saying: “All creation, come praise the name of the Lord. Praise His name alone”.

Fortunately for us, YHVH’s command to praise Him and glorify His Name is not difficult to follow, for when we truly love Him, our praise will flow naturally from that love.  Start praising Him and rejoicing in His name today in this season of joy (Sukkot) and you will experience the greatest joy possible in His presence.

Made in the Image of God’s DNA

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Knit me TogetherIn my previous postings on the evidence of God’s brilliant hand in Creation, I talked about why we should believe that God [Elohim] is the Creator of everything in the universe.  I also spoke about the evidence of ingenious design we see all around us in the Earth and skies.  Finally, I have cited examples of creatures that have amazing characteristics and abilities that could only be conferred on them by an intelligent designer as awesome as our supreme being, YHVH Elohim.  One of my Creation blogs focused on all the indisputable evidence of the young age of the Earth – in this blog, I want to dig deeper in this exploration, specifically looking at the young age of the human population.

Without getting into too many technical details of human DNA, even from a high-level point of view we know that it is the most complex but at the same time easily traceable element of our physical bodies.  The DNA in each of cells is what makes us uniquely who we are, in terms of how others see us externally, as well as the nature of our mind and heart tendencies and emotional characteristics deep within our souls.  Staying on the surface level, we also know that each subsequent human generation experiences a certain number of mutations (copying errors) in their DNA.

Through extensive research over the years*, scientists have found consistent rates of mutations from one generation to the next.  Focusing on the average mutations of the male Y chromosome from one generation to the next, these have been recorded at a higher rate of about 1 mutation per generation.  The average number of total Y chromosome mutations per person area about 300, giving a complete genealogy of only 300 generations in humankind’s history.  If we figure that a generation is somewhere around 20 years, then this would calculate out to about 6,000 since Adam and Eve were created.  In addition, at this standard rate of mutations, it would be impossible for humans to be able to function as living beings past 1,000 Y mutations, meaning that we could not have existed for more than 20,000 years as a race.  We have a similar type of scenario when we look at the Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), which is only inherited from the mother, with the total number of years since the first woman also coming out to about 6,000.

In the evolutionary science camp, it is believed that a great percentage of our DNA (approx.. 95%) is “junk DNA”, meaning that it is left over from all the trial-and-error attempts of “natural selection” to produce a higher level of species.  However, it has recently been found that the vast majority (98%) of all DNA serves a useful purpose, much of it in support of producing new DNA by replicating itself.  And because DNA is loaded with more information than all the Wikipedias contained in all the world’s computers, it would take a divine Programmer to reprogram one animal kind’s DNA into another’s (e.g. an ape into a human).

If we go back to the source of all human beings, we see that we were made in the image of YHVH: “So God [Elohim] created human beings in His own image. In the image of God He created them; male and female He created them” (Genesis 1:27).  Without going into too much detail about it means to be created in the image of YHVH Elohim as far as our spirit, soul and body, we can at least say with confidence that we have some portion of God’s DNA within us.  We know that “God is Spirit” (John 4:24), so we cannot even speculate what it means to be created in the image of God’s DNA.  We know that Yeshua is a perfect image of God: “ For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily” (Col 2:9).  We can extrapolate from this (I know, I’m a computer geek – what can I say) that we as humans are made in the perfect image of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit!

Since Yeshua said that He wants us to be one [echad] with Him as He is one with the Father, does that mean we are just meant to have the same physical DNA in our bodies?  I believe from Scripture that it means far more than this.  We are body, soul and spirit just as YHVH is body, soul and Spirit.  However, our bodies do not endure – only our soul and spirit last beyond this earthly life, into eternity.  The focus of our lives should be on renewing and perfecting our souls and spirits, not our bodies.  When we are “born again” (born from above), our spirits are perfect and sealed forever (Eph 4:30).  However, it is our responsibility to work on our souls, bringing them closer in line with YHVH every day.  When we get the DNA of our souls and spirits in line with the Creator and Master of the universe, then we can truly feel the Echad closeness with Yehovah that Yeshua spoke about – let’s renew our minds day-by-day: “even though our outward person is perishing, yet our inward person [our soul] is being renewed day by day” (II Cor 4:16).

  • Thomas, Brian, MS “Does Modern Genetics Confirm a Historical Adam?,” in Acts & Facts, Vol 45, Number 4 (Texas, Institute for Creation Research, 2016), page 20.

Lessons from Bees

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bees and creationOur Creator God (Yehovah Elohim) has made some awesome creatures, and I’ve written about some of them in previous blogs.  From my vantage point as a human being, though, there is none more awesome than the humble honey bee.  Evolutionary scientists used to describe the bee and their brain and body functions as being very simple.  However, the more that is discovered about these amazing creatures, the less you hear them described in this way.  As recently as 2006, a well-known scientist said this about bees’ brainpower: The brain of the honeybee is “relatively simple.” (Evolution Research – General Evolution News, August 5, 2006).

Let’s look at some known facts from scientific studies of bees and their anatomy and behavior.  A number of years ago a study was done to compare the processing power and speed of a bee’s brain to that of a supercomputer. The findings showed that the bee’s brain was 7-8 times more efficient than the most advanced computer chips, and about 1,000 times faster in processing instructions.  A bee’s brain can process one trillion instructions per second.  With the latest generation of supercomputers, it is now possible for them to process information faster than the brain of a bee, but there is no comparison in efficiency.  The Fujistsu “K” computer runs 8 times faster than a bee’s brain, but it takes enough electricity to power a city of 10,000 people, while a bee’s brain fits on the head of a pin and takes less than a microwatt of power!

Much of the bee’s incredible brainpower is used to control and process information from their two compound eyes, each of which contains 7,000 hexagonal facets.  Using these light-detecting facets, each pointed in a slightly different direction, the bee has an uncanny ability to detect different types and colors of objects, how far away they are, and how quickly they are moving towards them.  This allows them to see flowers quickly (with a built-in mechanism for detecting whether or not they have pollen), know exactly how far away they are and to find them in any type of weather.  The bee’s eyes (and other sensors in their bodies) also allow them to tell if a food source has been moved to a different location.  Being a God of meticulous design and possessing a great sense of humor, Yehovah’s amazing bee creatures are programmed to do a little “waggling” dance to tell their fellow workers how far away a food source is, and when and where it has been moved.

If Abba put so much thought and creativity into making these tiny pollinating creatures, then how much more does He love us, who have far more intricate, complex bodies than our miniature friends?  In a recent Independent news story, a beekeeper in the UK witnessed the most amazing episode of loyalty to a hive’s queen bee.  As the beekeeper was moving a hive, the box she was transporting them in blew over in the wind, and somehow the queen bee was attracted to something sweet in the trunk of a Mitsubishi Outlander.  She then got herself lodged into the back of the SUV.  About 20,000 bees (from her hive that was being moved) attached themselves to the back of the SUV.  When the car drove off, the swarm of bees followed it for over 48 hours, while the SUV was driving around various parts of western Wales.  They were seeking to rescue their queen!

When I thought about the unwavering loyalty of these bees to their queen, I realized that God has put a deep desire into human beings as well to be loyal to their leaders, or to the homeland where they dwell.  On this Memorial Day weekend in the US, I reflected on how this relates to our soldiers’ pledge to fight for our nation under the most severe conditions, risking their lives to preserve the security of our country.  We know from God’s word that “There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (John 15:13).  But what about Yeshua and what He did for us – He laid down His life for his enemies; those who persecuted and hated Him and put Him to death in the most brutal, painful way.  He gave up His life willingly – He said: “No one can take My life from Me; I sacrifice it voluntarily” (John 10:18).  While it is true that bees would sacrifice their lives for their queen, and soldiers for their country, they are sacrificing for the one that gives them safety and livelihood, not for someone who beat and cursed them and then put them to death.

If we are loyal to our family, friends and nation, how much more should we be loyal to our Savior.  We should be willing to lay down our lives for our Lord at any time, just as we see modeled for us by martyred believers in terrorized nations across the world.  When we think of our awesome God who created bees and humans, our greatest desire should be to follow Him at all costs, boldly telling others of His amazing love and sacrifice for us, and praising Him for who He is and what He has done for us.

What would You do if You were God (Part 3)?

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free will_2“And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” Romans 8:28 [NKJV]

In the last segment of this series (Part 2), I discussed the reasons why God created us with a free will.  Please go back and read that episode: What would you do if you were God (Part 2), to get the background for this teaching. In today’s blog, we will dig deeper into God’s purpose for giving us free will. YHVH works all things together for good no matter how far we stray from His perfect plan for our lives.

We are born into the earthly realm where hasatan rules and reigns (ever since Adam and Eve gave back their dominion to him in the fall.  So you might ask: why would God have allowed our great adversary to take dominion of the Earth from us?  Well, being our all-knowing Creator, and having given us free will, He knew that we would eventually disobey Him and fall into sin.  So He created us with a conscience that steers us towards what is right and away from what is wrong.

Even young children can be influenced by other forces and willfully choose to disobey their consciences.  Parents may have taught their child right from wrong, but that child can be wrongly influenced by seeing another child doing something they know is wrong (taking something that doesn’t belong to them, or telling a fib, for instance).  If the child is caught in the act and reprimanded, but desires to please their parents, then they will resist the temptation to disobey the next time.  It is the same with our heavenly parent, Abba.  Even at a young age, children start developing a sense of what is right and wrong. They learn that their lives will be happier and less stressful if they take the “right” path in their choices.

When we come into the age of moral accountability, we generally know that we are to keep God’s commandments, but there are many forces tempting us to go astray of those commandments.  We are tempted by the snares of the world, such as the lust of the eyes and flesh around us that appear so desirable on the surface.  We are also tempted by others to stray.  At times, we can be lured by the seductive wiles of HaSatan or his evil forces to commit sinful acts.

How is God working for good through these sinful lapses on our part?  Yehovah has blessed us with intelligent minds that are able to reason through the physical consequences of sin – and a spirit ideally in tune with His Holy Spirit to help us recognize the spiritual consequences of sin, which leads to separation from God.  YHVH desires that all of His children be born again and filled with His Holy Spirit.  This means that when we fall into sin, He uses His rod and staff to correct us and pull us back into His fold.  Sometimes, we fall so far and for so long that we suffer severe consequences. These can take the form of physical or mental ailments.

As many born-again believers’ testimonies confirm, these times of falling away were the low-points in their sinful lives.  Yet God was working to bring them back and restore them to fellowship with Him.  He can work in many ways – through other believers or His angels who rescue us in dire times of great distress or danger, through Yeshua Himself who appears to people in the depths of despair, and even directly by shining His glory light into a fallen person’s heart and thoughts, giving them hope for a joyful future with Him.

There are many examples in Scripture of YHVH pulling people out of the depths of their despair.  In David’s case, he often experienced times of discouragement, desperation and even hopelessness.  Some of these times were brought about because of unjust hostility from others, such as King Sha’ul, Abimelech, etc. (1 Sam 23, Ps 22:1-8, Ps 69:1-4, Ps 56, Ps 34).  But in other cases it was his own sin that brought God’s judgment down on him (Ps 51).  In both cases, he cried out to YHVH, because he knew that God would rescue him out of his dire circumstances even when his sin had temporarily separated him from God’s presence.  At all these times, though, David was learning to trust in God’s protection and deliverance instead of trusting in people and nations to deliver him.

Similarly with Paul (Sha’ul) in the New Testament, he realized that God was his only stronghold and that was sufficient for him no matter how dire the circumstances were.  Sha’ul had sinned greatly by persecuting believers in Yeshua (Acts 7:58), before Yeshua appeared to him and saved him by grace on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:3-18).  He then came under great persecution himself and had to depend on YHVH to save him from his enemies, learning that YHVH was his strength when he was weak (2 Cor 12:8-10).

Think about the darkest times in your life, when someone has abused or hurt you deeply, or when you have fallen into the darkness of sin and depression.  If you are a believer, you know that those times were when God was working the most fervently in your life – to raise you back up to joy and glory in His kingdom, or to convict you of the destructive effects of your sin and the critical need to turn from your sinful ways and follow Him.  When I think about the freedom He has given us and the power of His love and grace to save us when we fall, I cannot imagine Him doing it any other way!

What would You do if You were God (Part 1)?

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Judgment and mercy“Oh, how great are God’s riches and wisdom and knowledge! How impossible it is for us to understand His decisions and His ways!” Romans 11:33 [NLT]

One of the most common questions I hear from people (both believers and non-believers), is “why is God so angry, or so harsh when He judges or punishes His children”?  Of course, as an inquisitive believer myself, I have asked similar questions over the years. I certainly do not claim to be an expert on answering these questions, but through our times of Scripture study, seeking the Holy Spirit’s guidance, we have been able to discern some insights from Yehovah that we thought might be helpful to others.

First, I want to dispel the false notion that Yehovah Elohim (the Creator God of the universe) is an angry God by nature.  From years of spiritual conversations with people, I believe this comes from ignorance (or misunderstanding) of the “Old Testament” [Tanach].  The way we hear Scriptural teachings tends to be from preachers, and from polls of Christians, it is quite evident that for the majority of believers, 95% of what they know about the Bible is what they hear from the pastors/teachers in their congregations.  Unfortunately, when we hear excerpts of God’s word, taken out of the full context surrounding the Biblical account, it can be very misleading to our understanding.

For instance, consider the Biblical Flood story and how all the people on the Earth (except for Noah and his family) were destroyed by the vengeance of God.  Even “innocent” women and children were drowned by the floodwaters.  Remembering that “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23) and “as in Adam all die” (1 Corinthians 15:22), we know that because of Adam’s sin all people will ultimately die.  At the time of Noah, though, we know from Scripture that people throughout the Earth were disobedient to God and living sinful lives: “…the LORD saw that the wickedness of people was great on the Earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of their hearts was only evil continually” (Genesis 6:5).

So, what was God’s response to His rebellious children – did He condemn them and bring immediate judgment on them?  Often we hear that Yehovah was an angry, vindictive God in the “Old Testament” whereas He became a God of infinite mercy and grace in the “New Testament”.  But we know that God never changes (Hebrews 13:8), and is the same yesterday, today, and forever, so something does not add up here.  Getting back to the story, God decides that He will destroy every living creature He has created.  But then Yehovah notices that there is one person (Noah) who has remained faithful to Him and “…Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord [Yehovah]”. (Gen 6:33)  Yehovah then tells Noah to build an ark and promises to preserve his family (and enough creatures to re-populate the Earth) even though He plans to destroy all other life (Gen 6:14-22).  So was Yehovah unjust to all the other people on the Earth?  No, because in 2 Peter 2:5 we read that: “Noah warned the world of God’s righteous judgment”.  Noah warned people to repent because he recognized that God was being merciful to them and giving them another opportunity to turn from their wicked ways.  If Noah had ignored YHVH, then YHVH would have had to start from scratch.  On the other hand, if some of the people had listened to Noah, then there would have been more than eight people delivered on the ark.

We see another clear example of Yehovah’s grace in the midst of His judgment in the story of Sodom & Gomorrah.  I will not go into the details of the story here, but this was another case where almost every person in those cities were wicked and sinful.  But for His friend Abraham’s sake, God would have relented from destroying them if at least 10 righteous people could be found there (Gen 18:20-33).  Since Lot and his family (even including the two angel visitors) still equaled less than 10, God delivered their family out of the judgment but still destroyed the cities.  Once again, because God is a righteous God, He cannot allow sin and evil to continue unchecked throughout His people.

Yehovah is a righteous and just God, and He cannot tolerate continual sin and evil because that would violate His spiritual laws and destroy everything that He has created.  This universe is founded on His truth and goodness (righteousness), and anyone who violates those founding principles is an enemy of God and must eventually be destroyed or brought into alignment with His righteous justice.  We find that it is very inspiring to meditate on the goodness and righteousness of Yehovah, and that when we follow His spiritual laws of truth and justice we have joy and peace in our lives beyond measure.  This is the first in a series of posts where I would like to explore Yehovah’s character, and how He interacts with His creation from the perspective of the people He has created to have dominion over the Earth.

My essential question to you is a hypothetical one: if you were God – Creator, Master and Lord of the universe, how would you handle things differently?  What would you do with your people if they disobeyed the instructions you had given them to help them live a peaceful, joy-filled life on this Earth?  If they rebelled against your spiritual laws, cursed you, and killed or committed evil acts against your children, would you simply slap their hands and tell them to try harder next time?  [Remember that this is what our loving God had already done many times over when He sent His prophets and told them He would forgive them if they would repent – He has unconditional love for His children].

Who Is YHVH?

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Jesus is GodIn last week’s blog, Peter pointed out that Yeshua is YHVH. Why is it so important to make this point? Does it change your perspective of Yeshua? There is a tendency in many of us to rank God the Father as superior to Yeshua. It has even been taught in some circles that we are only to address the Father in prayer, and that it is wrong to pray to Yeshua. When Yeshua taught His disciples how to pray, He addressed the Father rather than Himself. And yet, Yeshua also tells us “Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. “If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it (John 14:13-14). Yeshua glorifies the Father, and the Father glorifies His Son, Yeshua (John 8:54, 17:1; John 17:5).

Over the past two centuries, there have been various creeds and teachings denying that Yeshua is God. This type of heresy continues today. In fact, in some circles Yeshua is considered to be merely a thought or spiritual representation of YHVH.  Yeshua is clearly identified as YHVH’s Son in Scripture (1 Cor 15:28; Ps 2:7; Heb 1:5; Matt 3:17; John 1:14; 1 John 4:10; John 5:26; 1 John 5:9). Even we mortals produce children and they are certainly more than just a thought or a representation of us. If the name of YHVH had been known and if Scripture in its entirety had been correctly understood, then these debates would not have surfaced or, if they had, could have been quickly dismissed.

In order to get a more complete picture, it is best to start at the beginning and work from there. John 1:1-2 helps us to get started.  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.” . This verse takes us back to the first chapter of Genesis. The Word spoke creation into being. Later the Word would speak to Abraham in front of his tent (Gen 18) and to Moses in the burning bush (Ex 3). We learn in John 1:14 that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.

The Word not only became flesh, but put Himself in the same position as the rest of us. For a time He set aside His power and entered the world in total dependence on the Father. Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness (Phil 2:5). He showed us what we could do when empowered by the Holy Spirit as He was. “Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.” (John 14:12-14)

The Jewish leaders understood that to be the Son of YHVH meant equality with YHVH.    For this reason they tried all the more to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God (John 5:18).  Yeshua told them that he saw the Father at work and did the same work as His Father.  Yeshua went on to clarify the relationship between His Father and Himself (John 5:19-23).

YHVH tells us that His thoughts are above our thoughts, and His ways above our ways (Is 55:8-9). It is difficult to understand how three separate persons can be so united and act as one. Yet, YHVH has provided an example for us. The three persons of YHVH are echad, just as a husband and wife are echad.  The husband and wife can become one flesh, but they can also think and act in unity. Even so, they remain two distinct people.  In Hebrew, echad can not only mean “one” as in the number one, but it can mean thinking and acting together as one. The example we have of husband and wife is not perfect, and sometimes far from it.  But we can see how the ideal would be when a husband and wife are aligned in their thinking and acting.

The third Person (Holy Spirit) of the Godhead has been sent to us to help us understand YHVH’s thoughts and ways.  Yeshua tells us in John 16:12-14:

“I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. “But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. “He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you.…”. 

We see clearly that the Holy Spirit is also a Person, for Yeshua refers to the Spirit repeatedly as He, not it.  Yeshua states that the Holy Spirit will not speak on His own initiative.  If Father, Son and Holy Spirit were all the same Person, there would be no need to make such a statement.  The three persons of YHVH are perfectly aligned at all times and, therefore, may seem to be only one.   Each person of the Godhead, YHVH, is wholly divine and wholly deserving of our worship, awe, and devotion.

Heart to Heart

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that they may be one

There are many reasons why YHVH established Shabbat and the Feasts.  These are His set-apart times for teaching us, preparing us, celebrating with us, and bringing order to His Kingdom.  The end result is that YHVH desires is to be intimate with us individually and corporately.  One of my favorite verses in Scripture is from Deuteronomy 30:19 and the first part of verse 20, in the Complete Jewish Bible translation..

I call on heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have presented you with life and death, the blessing and the curse. Therefore, choose life, so that you will live, you and your descendants, loving [YHVH] your God, paying attention to what he says and clinging to him – for that is the purpose of your life!

Shabbats are very important to YHVH and, whether or not we know it, they are important to us.  The 23rd chapter of Leviticus designates clearly all the days that are Shabbats, whether weekly or during the Feasts.  Later in Leviticus, YHVH points out the consequences for working during a Shabbat.

For six days work is to be done, but the seventh day is a day of sabbath rest, holy to the LORD. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day is to be put to death (Lev. 31:15).

The consequences for disobedience are harsh and hardly seem an invitation for intimacy, but it is most likely a necessary starting place. In the Exodus account of the Israelites in Egypt, we see a people that are unruly and often wayward. They had been immersed in idolatry and enslaved to cruel taskmasters.   To win their trust, YHVH demonstrated through signs and wonders that He is to be both feared and respected and also that He is able to protect and provide for His people. YHVH was formidable to their enemies, while protecting and providing for the Israelites..

When they were in the wilderness, YHVH gave them new commands and imposed strict consequences for disobedience, so that He would be taken seriously. Despite all the signs and wonders people still complained that He wouldn’t provide for them and tried to return to their idols. There was at least one person who ignored YHVH’s commands concerning Shabbat. YHVH had to follow through with the consequences He had established and the man was put to death (Num 15:30-36).  Were such harsh consequences necessary?

As a former teacher, I quickly learned that at the beginning of a new school year, teachers must be stricter than normal. The more unruly the students the more critical it becomes to establish authority and order. Once the students are settled, a proper atmosphere is established where students can learn and a healthy relationship with the teacher can be fostered.  If teachers are extra strict at the start, the focus can more quickly shift from the rules to learning.

Once each of us comprehends that YHVH is sovereign and is to be obeyed, then we are in a position to learn what He has to teach us. As we progress with our learning and interact more with YHVH, we grow closer to our sovereign King. Over time, we set aside our old ways and take on His ways. We experience His concern for our hearts. Eventually, we are ready to hear what is on His heart.

We make the transition from obeying the “no work” command simply because it is a command to refraining from work because we are eager to spend time with our Teacher.  We value what is important to YHVH.  Sometimes it is necessary to do His work even on Shabbat.  Yeshua demonstrated this when He healed on Shabbat.  He was showing us that the purpose of Shabbat is to be in tune with our Father’s heart. It is not to become fascinated with rules and regulations.

Even as we grow closer to YHVH, we must be mindful that we are dealing with our Creator and our Sovereign. We are not to take His words lightly or take Him for granted. We must maintain a balance between healthy respect and intimacy with YHVH. Otherwise, we will find ourselves slipping from following His heart on Shabbat to following our own concerns. If that happens, our relationship with YHVH will quickly deteriorate as we move away from Him.

Yeshua spent time on Shabbat teaching, being taught, and healing. He was closely aligned with Abba’s heart and could easily transition to whatever His Father desired for Him to do at any given moment. Such intimacy is our Father’s desire for us and the reason He created us.

If we keep in mind the real purpose for our existence, we will remain focused on our Father’s heart and not fall into legalistic traps.  We will reap all the rewards that YHVH intends for us.

Witnessing in Love

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the truth in love“Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.” I Corinthians 13:1-3

In a recent blog series, I had spoken about Standing Fast to your Convictions, but at the same time remembering to Speak the Truth in Love (Ephesians 4:15) when you are discipling or confronting someone with the truth of YHVH’s word. This week I want to give you a real-life example of this which is etched into my heart right now due to the passing of my only brother.

Over the 27+ years since I have been a born-again believer in Yeshua, I have witnessed to people within my circle of friends and family, as well as casual acquaintances and strangers. However, the two people I witnessed to most fervently over those years were my father (deceased in 2001) and my brother, who passed on earlier this week. As I felt a special burden from the Holy Spirit to witness to these two significant people in my life, I tried a number of different approaches to spiritual seed-planting, attempting to tear down the intellectual and emotional barriers that kept those seeds from taking root and bearing fruit.

Many of my approaches did not bear fruit, because I was trying to prove the truth of the Scriptures and the existence of a Creator God through intellectual debate, which only spoke to their minds and not their hearts. I was far more effective when I stopped trying to “win the argument” with them, and started giving them my personal testimony of how God changed my life and brought meaning and purpose to my brief existence on this earth. This brought our conversations down to a heart level, and even though they still were not ready to accept all the truths I shared with them, they no longer felt threatened that I was trying to change them or prove them wrong.

While I do not recommend experimenting on your family members with different witnessing techniques, we do need to always remember to speak the truth in love and let our words be seasoned with the salt of grace. Once you learn to keep the focus on your own personal spiritual journey and your relationship with Abba Father and His Son, Yeshua, then you have a greater opportunity to break through all the barriers that inhibit people from receiving the truth. With this approach, the people you are witnessing to feel less threatened and are more receptive to your message, since you are just sharing from your own personal experience.

I will not tell you the specific results of years of witnessing to my father and my brother, but I will say that our spiritual conversations brought us closer together in our own relationships with each other. One great benefit of sharing your personal testimony is that people feel closer to you as you share with them in confidence and they get to know you on a deeper and more intimate level. Although I lived 3000 miles away from my brother and did not get to see him face-to-face more than once every few years, I felt very close to him in spirit and soul in spite of the miles separating us. I feel a great empty space in my soul now that he has left his earthly home, but I also feel great assurance that he is with Abba in heaven and is experiencing joy and Shalom as he never could in the limitations of his physical body.

The central mission of our ministry is to help believers stand firm to their convictions and hold fast to their faith under persecution, equipping them to become the overcomers they always wanted to be – and that the Scriptures promise them they can be. We want you to become all that you can in YHVH’s kingdom, and overcome your fears and self-consciousness so that you can share Yehovah’s love with as many people as possible before you depart this planet.

How Old is the Earth?

Creation, Peter's blogs, ,

For in six days YHVH made the heavens and the earth

“…for in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed.” Ex 30:17

My first posting on the topic of God (Elohim) as Creator discusses why we should believe that YHVH is the Creator of everything in the universe. In my second posting on this topic, I talked about the vast storehouse of evidence that points to a super intelligent Designer for our universe. One of the most controversial and divisive topics in the creation-evolution debate, even within the Christian community, is the actual time-frame for the creation of the world.

The best place to begin our study is Genesis 1. It is significant that the Hebrew word for Genesis is bereshit, which means “beginnings”. Starting with Genesis 1:5, each passage that describes an element of God’s Creation uses the Hebrew word yom (day), plus a number (1,2,3..). The Hebrew word yom is used over 2300 times in the Tanach (Old Testament). Outside of Genesis 1, yom plus a number (used 410 times) always refers to an ordinary day, that is a 24-hour time period. The words “evening” (erev) and “morning” (boker) are used together 38 times in the scriptures, and always denote an ordinary day. Finally, when yom + “evening” or “morning” or yom + “night” (Hebrew lailah) are used in scripture, they also denote a 24-hour day.

Since yom is used in one of these ways every time it is stated in Genesis 1, it is evident that the author meant 24-hour periods. The references to “evening” and “morning” make no sense unless they refer to a literal 24-hour period. This literal translation of yom was the standard interpretation of the Creation passages in Genesis 1:5-2:2 until the mid-1800’s when a paradigm shift occurred within the scientific community (based on the theories of Sir Charles Lyell and others), and the earth’s sedimentary strata layers were reinterpreted to show long ages of time (millions instead of thousands of years). Whereas previously the rock layers were interpreted as evidence of Noah’s flood, the flood model was thrown out by the scientific community and the rock layers were reinterpreted as evidence for an excessively old earth. Some well-meaning but very misguided Christians then sought to reconcile this new anti-flood, anti-biblical interpretation with the Genesis account by reinterpreting yom to mean vast, unspecified periods of time.

Scientific research over the past 50 years reveals that the sedimentary rock layers in the crust of the earth formed very rapidly and under catastrophic conditions. This would be an expected result of a global, catastrophic flood (see Five Evidences for a Flood, Brad Forlow). A strong indication of the wide-spread scale of this catastrophe is the scope of the rock layers which, in some cases, cover an entire territory such as the Rocky Mountain, Midwest, and Ozark states of the US. Another strong piece of evidence for a global flood is the sedimentary rock layers and marine fossils found at the top of the highest mountain ranges in the world.

Dramatic geologic formations around the world, such as the Grand Canyon, also show evidence of catastrophic flooding. Although there are 5,000 feet of layered strata stacked on top of one another in the Canyon, the fact that they are sedimentary and twisted into very dramatic formations within a short space indicates that the rock layers were laid down underwater, with a large volume of water rushing through the area at a high velocity. A modern-day illustration of the power of water is the eruption of Mount St. Helens in 1980. Although this was a local catastrophe, the incredible earth reshaping damage was mostly water-related. When it was heated, the glacier on top rapidly liquefied, and the super-heated torrent of water raced down the mountain as a mighty flood, eroding soil rocks, trees and anything else in its path. When the eruption and ensuing floods were finished, up to 600 feet of sediments had been deposited, forming layers made up of plant and animal remains. The sediments have now hardened, forming a “mini Grand Canyon”.

In addition to rock layers, there are many other evidences for a young Earth and solar system, including (see Thousands…Not Billions, Dr. Don DeYoung): rapidly decaying magnetic field, number of years that the Sun could continue to burn intensely; lack of dust on the moon; lack of sediments and salts in the world’s oceans; soft tissue and DNA found in “ancient” fossils; helium in radioactive rocks; and Carbon-14 found in fossils, coal, and diamonds, to name a few. For many years, scientists have realized that Carbon-14 particles are found in places where they should not exist according to the evolutionary timeline. With a half-life of about 5,700 years, measurable levels of Carbon-14 should not be found within ancient fossils, coal or diamonds, which are supposedly millions of years old.

The evidence cited above for a young earth (thousands and not billions of years old) is amazing, but it is far more amazing when we think of a God who could create all of this in only six days. This amazingly creative God, who is our Father and Lord, loves us and wants to spend time with the humans He created to be in His image. Give it a try – spend time with YHVH – you have nothing to lose and everything to gain!

Invisible Treasure

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keep pursuing the goalAs discussed in previous article, Yeshua paid a heavy price for His treasure. We are His pearls of great value. Yeshua is our Pearl of great value, a value far beyond what we can comprehend. Yeshua was once on this earth, but we can no longer see Him. However, He is real and still very much alive, even though to us He is invisible right now.

Let us examine Scripture to learn some of the aspects of Yeshua’s value. The following list is but a fragment of all that describes Messiah Yeshua, but it is plenty for us to contemplate. Yeshua is fully human, but He is also fully God (Matt 16:16; 1 Tim 3:16)). Our treasure is God Himself! Our Father refers to Yeshua as “My Beloved Son. (Matt 17:5).” In western thinking, we tend to view Yeshua as somewhat inferior to Father, but in Hebrew thinking the firstborn son is equal to his father. Colossians 1:15 refers to Yeshua as the first-born of every creature. Yeshua came to restore all creation.

 Our Redeemer is the Creator and Upholder of all things. (Col. 1:16; Heb.1:3). Yeshua refers to Himself as the Alef and the Tav (in Greek, the Alpha and Omega) (Rev. 1:8, 22:3). In ancient Hebrew, each letter was a picture. The alef is the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet and was a picture of a strong bull designating both a leader and a protector. The tav, which is the last letter of the alphabet, was a picture of a cross being carried. Yeshua, Who is first and strongest, made Himself to be last and weakest for our sake (John 1:29).

 Yeshua is eternal life (1 John 1:2; John 11:25). We all face death in our mortal bodies, but we have hope of eternal life in and through Yeshua. In our present life, we may have many trials and tribulations, but we can look forward with hope to a joyous and triumphant life in Messiah Yeshua for eternity.

 Everything we will ever need or desire is in Yeshua. He is our Shepherd (John 10:16). He is the true Vine and we, the branches, receive power and abundant life through Him (John 10:10; John 15:5). It is only with His lifeblood flowing through us that we are able to be fruitful in the Kingdom of God.

 Yeshua is our Provider (John 6:35) and with Him we will want for nothing. We need never fear for Yeshua is also our Rock (Ps. 19:14; 1 Cor 10:4); and our Refuge in all the storms that threaten us (Isa 25:4). Yeshua is our wisdom, righteousness, holiness and redemption (1 Cor 1:30).

 Many people mistakenly believe that there are many ways to God. Yeshua has revealed to us that no one comes to the Father except through Him (John 14:6). Even if it were possible to find another way to the Father, why would we desire anyone or anything else? Yeshua is everything to us (Col 3:11). Therefore, it is our joy and privilege to die to ourselves, so that we may have life in Him. If we are willing to give up all that we have, we will be abundantly compensated (Mark 10:29-30). Our Pearl is priceless indeed!