Tag Archives: YHVH

Does God care about Genes or Jeans (Part 2)?

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least of these

In Part 1 of this blog last week, I talked about who are YHVH’s children and those who should keep His Torah, and concluded that it is not Abraham’s biological descendants, but rather those who are His spiritual descendants.  The true children of YHVH’s covenant are those are following His will and trusting Him, keeping His Torah and striving to be pleasing to Him in every part of their lives.  That covered the “genes” part of this 2-part series.  This week I want to focus on what God sees when He looks at us: we know from Scripture that He looks on the inside of us and does not focus on our outer appearance or the level of recognition we merit from the world.  In other words, He doesn’t care whether we wear threadbare jeans vs. classy suits, or how many degrees we have achieved or awards we have won.

What is YHVH truly looking for when He looks deep down inside of our souls?  From Hebrews 4:12, we know that He “discerns the thoughts and intents of our heart”.  But what are His criteria in evaluating our hearts – does He look to see how perfectly we are following His Torah, or how diligently we are working to serve our congregation?  Psalm 58 gives us a beautiful window into YHVH’s heart, and we know that our hearts should line up with His heart as we seek to renew ourselves more into His image every day.

God is conveying a very strong message through Isaiah when He tells Him to shout it out with a shofar blast. (Isa 58:1)  He chastises His people for their false piety – they are trying to impress God by putting on sackcloth and ashes, and afflicting themselves severely when they fast.  The only ones they are impressing are people around them though, not YHVH.  He desires them to fast from their hearts when He says:

“..this is the kind of fasting I want: free those who are wrongly imprisoned; lighten the burden of those who work for you. Let the oppressed go free, and remove the chains that bind people. Share your food with the hungry, and give shelter to the homeless. Give clothes to those who need them, and do not hide from relatives who need your help”. (Isa 58:6-7)

If these concepts sound familiar to New Testament readers, that’s because they are.  Listen to what Yeshua said when He was speaking to the goats on His left and the sheep on His right:

“Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by My Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world. For I was hungry, and you fed Me. I was thirsty, and you gave Me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited Me into your home.  I was naked, and you gave Me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for Me. I was in prison, and you visited Me.’  “Then these righteous ones will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see You hungry and feed You? Or thirsty and give You something to drink? Or a stranger and show You hospitality? Or naked and give You clothing? When did we ever see You sick or in prison and visit You?’  “And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these My brothers and sisters,[f] you were doing it to Me!’

“Then the King will turn to those on the left and say, ‘Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons. For I was hungry, and you didn’t feed Me. I was thirsty, and you didn’t give Me a drink. I was a stranger, and you didn’t invite Me into your home. I was naked, and you didn’t give Me clothing. I was sick and in prison, and you didn’t visit Me.’  “Then they will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and not help You?’  “And He will answer, ‘I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these My brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help Me.’  “And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life.”

What, then, is truly important to Abba Father when He looks into our souls?  From Yeshua’s words in Matthew 5:7, we know that He desires for us to be pure in heart, not obeying Him out of obligation but because we sincerely want to please Him from the depths of our heart.  And what does He say about those who are pure in heart?  ‘They shall see God’.

This takes us right back to the essence of our relationship with Yehovah – if we want to know Him intimately, we need to align our hearts with His, which means we will automatically do the things that please Him: feed the poor, take care of orphans and widows, shelter the homeless, etc.  In your life, try not to focus on the outward things, but look deep inside your heart.  In the ‘intents and desires of your heart’, after stripping away everything superficial, do you see what YHVH is looking for?

Does God care about Genes or Jeans?

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Foreigner keeping TorahIn our recent blog series, Nancy and I made a strong case from the Scriptures that Torah (instruction) has not been done away, but is still just as valid in today’s world as it was in the Temple sacrifice period before Yeshua’s first coming.  In this week’s blog, I would like to focus on to whom YHVH’s Torah applies, and explain why Torah is intended for every person on this Earth, Jew and non-Jew.

In Romans 9, Sha’ul explains to his mostly non-Jewish audience why some of the Israelites are not being saved and brought into God’s Kingdom, while many people who are not Israelites by birth are being redeemed and brought into the body of Messiah by faith.  “Well then, has God failed to fulfill his promise to Israel? No, for not all who are born into the nation of Israel are truly members of God’s people! Being descendants of Abraham doesn’t make them truly Abraham’s children. For the Scriptures say, ‘Isaac is the son through whom your descendants will be counted, though Abraham had other children, too’.  This means that Abraham’s physical descendants are not necessarily children of God. Only the children of the promise are considered to be Abraham’s children”. (Rom 9:6-8)

In the rest of this passage, Sha’ul goes on in Verse 23 to say that God shows mercy to those to whom He desires to show mercy (i.e. He draws them to the truth of Yeshua as the Messiah) and hardens the hearts of others so that they will not listen to the truth.  He then quotes from Hosea, speaking of how the Gentiles (non-Jews from the nations) were “not a people” but now YHVH loves them and calls them His children.  In Verse 24, Sha’ul says that the ones God selects as His children are taken from both the original descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, as well as those who are “gentiles” (not descended biologically from the fathers of Israel).  He also quotes Isaiah 10:22-23 in saying that only a remnant of Israel will be saved: “Though the people of Israel are as numerous as the sand of the seashore, only a remnant will be saved”.

Since we have established in our previous blogs that the Torah is for all of Abba Father’s children to observe, then the agreement between Old and New Testament Scriptures becomes crystal clear.  Sha’ul quotes Isaiah once again in Romans 10:20 in making his point that the Gentiles will be drawn to YHVH, the true God of Creation, and become part of the “Commonwealth of Israel”: “I was found by those who did not seek Me; I was made manifest to those who did not ask for Me” (Isa 65:1).   And again in Romans 10:21 he repeats that many of Israel’s genetic descendants will turn away from YHVH and reject His Messiah: “All day long I have stretched out My hands to a disobedient and contrary people” (Isa 65:2).

The real clincher for me in terms of making the case that YHVH wants to draw all people into His covenant is in Isaiah 56:6-7: “Also the sons of the foreigner who join themselves to the Lord, to serve Him, and to love the name of the Lord, to be His servants—everyone who keeps from defiling the Sabbath, and holds fast My covenant—even them I will bring to My holy mountain, and make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on My altar; for My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations”.  YHVH is clearly speaking of the non-Israelite (Gentile) people of the nations whom He will accept as part of His family, no less His children than the native Israelites.  In the preceding verse (Isa 56:5), YHVH also says: ”Even to them I will give in My house and within My walls a place and a name better than that of sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off“.

In summary, it is clear that YHVH accepts all of His created humans as His children, whether they are genetic descendants of Israel or foreigners from pagan nations, as long as they keep His Sabbaths and are faithful to His covenant.  This is essentially a restatement of the Torah, as these are YHVH’s key instructions to His people: to keep His Sabbaths (which include His feasts) and live by his Kingdom laws.  It all boils down to Yeshua’s words from Matthew 6:33, to seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness – this is the essence of His Torah, where He teaches us how to do this – how can we do any less if we truly love Yehovah our Creator, Lord and Redeemer?  In the nest installment of this 2-part series, I will cover the “Jeans” part of the “Genes or Jeans” equation.

What is True Delight?

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delight yourselfMost believers are familiar with the verse in Psalm 37:4 that says “Delight yourself in the LORD [YHVH] and He will give you the desires of your heart.”  What is the first thing that comes to mind when you think of this verse?  Before I understood this spiritual concept completely, I thought it meant that if I worked hard enough at praising and glorifying God, He would answer all my prayers and give me everything I wanted, but later on when I became more spiritually mature I realized I was mistaken.

The first fallacy I discovered with this interpretation was that David was not talking about God satisfying our worldly desires in the verse.  Looking more carefully at the Scripture, we see that he says that YHVH will give us the desires of our heart.  In previous blogs we have talked about what is meant by the “heart” when used in Bible verses.  It is usually used to denote our conscience, or the part of our soul that guides us in knowing and doing what is right in God’s eyes.  Recall verses like Psalm 119:11, where David said that he hid YHVH’s Word in his heart so that he would not sin, and then in Proverbs 23:7, where Solomon [Sh’lomo] says “as a man thinks in his heart, so is he”.

One of my favorite passages on the importance of focusing our heart on YHVH is in Proverbs 4 in verses 20-21 where Sh’lomo shares his wisdom about YHVH’s word: ”My child, pay attention to what I say. Listen carefully to My words. Don’t lose sight of them. Let them penetrate deep into your heart”.  Then in verse 22, Sh’lomo tells us how YHVH blesses us when we do this: “for they (YHVH’s words in our heart) bring life to those who find them, and healing to their whole body”. He shares his final bit of wisdom in verse 23: “Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life”.

Finally, in Philippians 3:8, Paul (Sh’au)] says that “everything else in life is worthless compared to the incomparable value of knowing Messiah Yeshua my Lord”.  Putting all these passages together, they tell me that if I focus my heart (the deepest inner part of my soul) on YHVH and His word, then the desires of my heart will be fulfilled in knowing Abba Father and His Son, Yeshua, at a deep intimate level that brings joy beyond anything else I can experience in this life on Earth.

So now we have covered the second half of Psalm 37:4 at a deeper level, but what exactly does the first half mean, “Delight yourself in YHVH…”?  The Hebrew word used in this passage for delight is aw-nag, which is in the imperative form, so it is a command from YHVH to delight in Him.  A more complete translation is: ”to be wholly dependent upon God and to derive one’s pleasure from Him”.  It is true that I derive great joy from spending time with YHVH, worshiping Him and fellowshipping with Him, meditating on His word and gaining understanding of who He is and what is in His heart.  However, it is also true that there are times when I desire to watch a mindless TV show or read a book that reveals its plot from the first page.

Another great concept from Scripture that helps us understand what it means to delight ourselves in YHVH comes from Isaiah 58, where YHVH says that if we honor His Sabbath (Shabbat) in everything we do (verse 13), then He will be our delight and He will give us great honor (verse 14).

How do we delight ourselves in YHVH?  How do we keep our minds and hearts focused on YHVH so He is able to give us the desires of our hearts?  We need to stay laser-focused on guarding our heart and mind from being consumed by the desires of this world, keeping ourselves tuned into the Holy Spirit who is able to guide us into all truth and guard our hearts from the wiles of the enemy and the distractions of the world.  He will help us to stay set apart from the world, spending our most precious time in fellowship with YHVH.

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.

What would you do if you were God (Part 5)

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LORD is good“Throughout the earth the story is the same— only a remnant is left, like the stray olives left on the tree or the few grapes left on the vine after harvest.” Isaiah 24:13 [NLT]

In the previous installments of this series on God’s ways, I discussed why YHVH does things the way He does and why His plan seems so odd to us sometimes but is actually the perfect plan for our lives.  In this final blog of the series I want to look into the future and see why He has prophesied and planned out such a seemingly bizarre sequence of events for the end of this age.

From our limited human perspective, it may seem odd that the Creator of this universe would aim to judge His creation by destroying a large portion of it through catastrophic events.  Let us look in more detail at a sampling of His end-time prophecies which are spread across many of the minor and major prophets in addition to the book of Revelation.  When researching a news story, we try to answer the four “w” questions: who, what, when, why.  The “How” question is not so important to us when it comes to Abba‘s future plan, as we do not really need to know how He will perform His will, but rather how we fit into it and what we should do to prepare ourselves.

The “When” question is also not critical to us, as we have no control over it anyway, and we need to be spiritually prepared, whether the events start to play out over the next few years, further into the future, or beyond our earthly lifetime.  Yeshua said that no person would know the day or hour of the end time, not even the angels in Heaven, so we should not waste time speculating about the timing of these events (Matt 24:36).  The explanation of “What” is going to happen in the final days is somewhat more important to us, but mainly from the perspective of discerning the signs of the end times, as Yeshua outlined in Matthew 24-25.  If we get too concerned with answering the “When” and “What” questions (such as being drawn into the pre-Trib Rapture belief), then we can easily miss the more crucial truths of Yeshua’s message.

In Luke 18:8, He asks “when the Son of man returns, will He find faith in the Earth?”  Why is our Creator and Savior questioning the faith of His saints?  In Matthew 24:12, He goes on to say that “iniquity will abound and the love of many will grow cold”.  This agrees with statements in 2 Thessalonians and Daniel that speak of the Tribulation period and the 3 ½ year reign of the anti-messiah, when there will be a great falling away and the “antichrist” [anti-messiah] will be revealed.  Daniel says in his end-times prophecies that the anti-messiah will “wear out the saints of the Most High” (Dan 7:25) and “scatter the power of the holy people” (Dan 12:7).  In 2 Thessalonians 2:3, Sha’ul says “that day will not come until there is a great rebellion against God and the man of lawlessness is revealed”.

So how can we as Abba’s children keep our faith and not grow weary from the enemy?  I believe Revelation 12:11 provides us a good answer, as this passage explains how the saints persevered to the end during the Tribulation: “And they overcame him [HaSatan] by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death”.  YHVH wants our love and devotion to Him more than anything else – we need to walk with Him constantly and keep trusting Him every step of the way in our lives.

Many of the prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Zechariah, Malachi, etc.) speak of the believing remnant that will be preserved by YHVH in the latter days to dwell with Him in the Millennial Kingdom.  One of the key underlying themes of Isaiah (e.g. Isa 10:20-22, 11:11-16, 24:13, 27:32, 66:20) is that of the judgment of Israel overall as a nation and people, but the protection and restoration of a small remnant of YHVH’s faithful children (both Jew and non-Jew) to dwell with Him in His eternal Kingdom.  A particularly meaningful passage is located in Malachi:16-18.

“Then those who feared the Lord spoke with each other, and the Lord listened to what they said. In His presence, a scroll of remembrance was written to record the names of those who feared Him and honored His name. They will be My people, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. On the day when I act in judgment, they will be My own special treasure. I will spare them as a father spares an obedient child. Then you will again see the difference between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.”

This passage provides us a window into YHVH’s own heart, which is what we desire as His people in relationship with Him.  It shows us that He loves us all, but He especially desires to keep track of the names of those who truly love Him with all their hearts (fear Him & honor His Name).  He wants to draw them near to Him as His special treasure, and preserve them for the last days, when He will reign on the Earth in the person of Yeshua HaMashiach.  When we look at YHVH’s heart from His perspective, we see His overwhelming love for His children, keeping us safe until He can bring us home into His eternal Kingdom.  How could we ever desire or ask for anything more than that – I give thanks and praise to our omnipotent Father who has wisdom and compassion beyond anything we could ever imagine!

 

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!

More Than Salvation

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Eye has not seen

There is a traditional song for Passover entitled Dayenu that means “it would have been enough”.  It begins this way:  “If He had brought us out from Egypt, and had not carried out judgments against them Dayenu, it would have sufficed us!  If He had carried out judgments against them, and not against their idols Dayenu, it would have sufficed us!”  The song goes on to recount all that YHVH did for the Israelites relative to their exodus from Egypt and their move toward the Promised Land.  Actually, all that YHVH did was needed to accomplish His purpose!

For many of us, salvation seems to be all that we need.  To be forgiven for our sins and to be restored to relationship with YHVH is monumental and is far more than we have any right to expect.  Even though it seems sufficient, Yeshua’s suffering and death provide us  much more.  YHVH has so much more that He wants to accomplish.

When we accept Yeshua as our Lord and Redeemer, we are freed from slavery to hasatan and become children of the Most High God.  We are clothed in the righteousness of Yeshua, a righteousness so holy and pure that none of us could attain it on our own.   This seems more than sufficient, but there is still more.

During His first coming, Yeshua demonstrated the gifts He came to bring us.  He healed multitudes of people from physical, mental, and emotional damage and He even restored life to some who had died.  Yeshua also delivered many people from bondage to demons.  What He provided then, He provides to this day.  This should certainly be sufficient, but the blessings continue.

Yeshua taught us by His example and His words how to be effective citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven.  He explained Abba’s values to us and told parables to make His lessons easier to comprehend. He fed the hungry with a small bit of food that was miraculously multiplied.  He met everyone’s needs and He wants to meet our every need also.  Surely this is sufficient, isn’t it?  Ah, but there is still more.

Not only has Yeshua provided all these things for us, but He has empowered us to share the gifts with others.  Yeshua temporarily relinquished all His power as the second Person of the Triune God and was empowered solely by the power of the Holy Spirit in order to demonstrate to us how we could do the works He did and greater.  For many Christians this news is too good to be true, so many of YHVH’s gifts are denied and rejected and much of the work needed to build the Kingdom of YHVH is left undone.

A 2009 Barna survey reveals that the majority of Christians do not believe that Satan or the Holy Spirit are actual living entities.  Even though YHVH is spirit and we are to worship Him in spirit and in truth, many of us aren’t doing that because we deny the existence of a spiritual realm or are confused that there is a spiritual realm.  How much are these brothers and sisters in Yeshua missing because of blindness and/or stubbornness?

YHVH overflows with mercy, compassion, and generosity.  He knows that even though we have received our citizenship to the Kingdom of Heaven, we still reside in the Kingdom of Hell. YHVH provides for us not just a bright future, but a delightful present.  YHVH did not liberate the Israelite slaves in Egypt just to abandon them in the wilderness.  Instead, He worked with them to show them His ways and to prepare them to live as His special people in the land He provided just for them.  Likewise, YHVH does not provide us escape from the kingdom of darkness without equipping us to be effective citizens in the kingdom of light.

YHVH provided protection and sustenance (manna, quail and water) for the Israelites.  As long as they obeyed and trusted Him, they were not sick and even their clothing did not wear out over a 40-year period.  YHVH gave the Israelites His commandments and teachings, so that they could live in harmony and prosperity and all would be treated fairly.  He wanted them to be a light to all the other nations.  YHVH taught them how to worship Him.  The feasts He provided were meant to commemorate what they had experienced as well as to prepare them to recognize and receive their Messiah, who was coming to bring them even greater gifts than they had already received.  We read in the book of Exodus how the Israelites wanted to pick and choose among the gifts offered, and even rejected the gifts sometimes.  Many times they not only refused to live in the light, but were unable or unwilling to share that light with others.

We often shake our heads at their blindness and stubbornness, yet we fail to first remove the plank from our own eyes.  Yeshua has offered us forgiveness, salvation, His righteousness, eternal life, health, protection, teaching through Scripture, His example and the Holy Spirit, deliverance from bondage to demons, and empowerment to do the same works He did.  We fail to recognize that every single thing that Yeshua provides for us is absolutely essential to us for both our well-being and the building of YHVH’s kingdom.  Yeshua not only shares what He has with us, but He sacrificed Himself so that we might have all that He offers.  Will we continue to insult Him by devaluing some of His gifts?  Yeshua humbled Himself in every way to obtain for us what we could never get for ourselves.  Are we too proud and foolish to admit that we need what He offers?  It is not sufficient (dayenu) that we pick and choose only what appeals to us.

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].

Is Persecution part of YHVH’s Plan?

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persecuted for righteousness“Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than their master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you…” (John 5:20)

What do you think of when you hear the word persecution? Do you think it is something God sanctions as part of His plan, or something He is working to eliminate? Listen to Sha’ul [Paul] when he is speaking to the Corinthians (II Cor 11:21-26):

“…But whatever they dare to boast about—I’m talking like a fool again—I dare to boast about it, too…I have worked harder, been put in prison more often, been whipped times without number, and faced death again and again. Five different times the Jewish leaders gave me thirty-nine lashes. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked. Once I spent a whole night and a day adrift at sea. I have traveled on many long journeys. I have faced danger from rivers and from robbers. I have faced danger from my own people, the Jews, as well as from the Gentiles”.

This was part of a long passage where Sha’ul was boasting in what Yeshua was doing through him – not that he was boasting because of his own merit or abilities, but because YHVH had blessed Him to be able to survive and endure through trials and unjust persecution.

So what does YHVH Father say about persecution (speaking through Yeshua, since we know that Yeshua speaks only His Father’s words (John 12:50) and that He is One with Abba Father (John 10:30). In Matthew 5:10-12 He says:

“God blesses those who are persecuted for righteousness, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs. God blesses you when people mock you and persecute you and lie about you and say all sorts of evil things against you because you are my followers. Be happy about it! Be very glad! For a great reward awaits you in heaven. And remember, the ancient prophets were persecuted in the same way”.

In the verse at the top of this blog (John 5:20), Yeshua says that persecution is a natural result of being His follower. Why would we not be persecuted, since He was persecuted so viciously, and as His servants we are no greater than our Master?

Sha’ul says he was persecuted by his own people, the Jews, as well as by the Gentiles (the Romans). This time period (64-68 AD) was also the beginning of the first government sponsored persecution of Christians. This was during the reign of Nero, and began a long succession of cruel and merciless tyrants who ruled the Roman Empire from the 1st – 3rd centuries AD. Nero was the last of the Caesar’s and was known for his hatred of the Christians. Tacitus the historian wrote that Nero was strongly suspected of setting the great fire in Rome (64 AD). He went on to lay the blame on the Christians, which justified his subsequent persecution of believers: “Nero fastened the guilt and inflicted the most exquisite tortures on a class hated for their abominations, called Christians” (Tacit. Annals XV).

By the mid-2nd century AD, mobs could be found willing to throw stones at Christians, and they might be mobilized by rival sects. The Persecution in Lyon in which Christians were mass-slaughtered by being thrown to wild beasts under the decree of Roman officials for reportedly refusing to renounce their faith (according to St. Irenaeus) was preceded by mob violence, including assaults, robberies and stonings.

The persecutions culminated with Diocletian and Galerius at the end of the third and beginning of the 4th century. The Great Persecution is considered the largest. Beginning with a series of four edicts banning Christian practices and ordering the imprisonment of Christian clergy, the persecution intensified until all Christians in the empire were commanded to sacrifice to the Roman gods or face immediate execution. Over 20,000 Christians are thought to have died during Diocletian’s reign. This persecution lasted until Constantine I came to power in 313 and legalized Christianity.

Over the last 1700 years, persecution against Jews has been rampant and widespread across the world, but persecution against Christians, although strong in Islamic nations and Godless nations such as China and India (and historically Russia) for many years, has greatly intensified in the Middle East over the past 10-15 years. Christians in America have not generally known true persecution, but we are now seeing the atrocities of it reported daily in places like Iraq, Syria, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. We are seeing beheadings like we have never known in our lifetimes, and detestable acts of cruelty against men, women and children that are too horrible to even describe.

This could be a sign that the End Times are drawing closer, as Yeshua described in Matthew 24, but it could also be a warning to all believers that they will be persecuted: “Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Messiah Yeshua will suffer persecution”. (II Tim 3:12) How will you prepare yourself to be stand firm in the face of persecution – will you be able to face the worst form of persecution, and will YHVH be able to say of you that you were one of the martyrs who: “… overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death”? (Rev 12:11) The best way to prepare yourself is by strengthening your relationship with YHVH.

Yehovah is Light

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light shining out of darkness We must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” John 9:4-5

I John 1:5 says that God is light, but what does that really mean and why is it important to us? It seems significant that immediately after God [Elohim] created the heavens and the earth, He saw that “The earth was without form and void; and darkness was over the face of the deep”. (Gen 1:2)  It is clear that He was not pleased with the darkness, because He then said “Let there be light”, and when He saw the light, He declared that it was good (Gen 1:4). But He didn’t stop there – He was still not totally satisfied, because He then separated the light from the darkness.

At a physical level, we have a very consistent theme here – God is light and is the source of all light. There is a related theme that is just as important though – God cannot dwell in the presence of darkness, so He must separate His light from all darkness. I quoted the first part of I John 1:5 above, but I left out the last part – after John says that God is light, he goes on to say “in Him there is no darkness at all”. Throughout the Scriptures, darkness is associated with people’s sinful hearts (John 3:19), or the evil one and his Kingdom of darkness (Col 1:13).

In the same way that YHVH separated the light from the darkness in His creation, he wants to separate us from the darkness of this world. In Isaiah 52:11, YHVH says: “Depart, depart, go out from there; touch no unclean thing; go out from the midst of her; purify yourselves..”. He is telling His people to come out of the darkness and impurity of the world and to cleanse their hearts of worldly impurities. Sha’ul tells us to live in the light: “You are all children of light and of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness”. (I Thess 5:5) Peter [Keifa] says that as followers of Yeshua we are: “…a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that we may proclaim the praises of Him who called us out of darkness into His marvelous light”. (I Pet 2:9)

From all that we have studied about the deeper (sod) spiritual meaning of YHVH’s Scriptures, everything that YHVH does has a purpose and usually teaches us some type of lesson. So let’s dig a little deeper here. We started at the front of the book with God “turning on the lights” in the beginning, and also heard John make the statement that God is light. Now let’s go to the back of the book. In Revelation 21:23, Yeshua tells John that in the end there will no longer be any need for the sun and moon because the glory of God will illuminate the city of New Jerusalem, and the Lamb [Yeshua] will be its light. When we look at the ancient Hebrew word pictures associated with the three letters in the word for light (ohr in Hebrew), we see a deeper meaning emerge: “the first Man [Yeshua the living Word] was there in the beginning when light was created”. So, we see that Yeshua was the source of light in the beginning, and He will be the source of Light again when He comes to reign on the new Earth.

Yeshua told us clearly that He is the Light of the world and we are to follow Him:

  • John 8:12: “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”
  • John 12:46: “I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness.”
  • Acts 26:17: Yeshua encountered Sha’ul on the road and told him to be a light to the lost: “… to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God…”.

Sha’ul encourages us to walk in the light of Yeshua: “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light”. (Eph 5:8) In Yeshua’s well-known teaching in the Sermon on the Mount, He says: “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before people, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven”. (Matt 5:14-16) At first glance, it sounds like He wants us to be out there in the world drawing attention to ourselves as we do good works. But look at the punchline at the end. What is the purpose of doing good works? So that we can “Glorify our Father in Heaven”. We are not to draw attention to ourselves through our wonderful deeds, but to Abba Father! We need to be constantly pointing to Him when people ask us why we are doing what we do, acting humbly and selflessly but boldly giving Him the glory.