Day: January 1, 2023

Shalom Mishpocha,

Happy New Year! We have entered into the Gregorian Calendar year of 2023. The 1st of Nisan (the Biblical New Year) begins at sunset, Wednesday March 22nd 2023 beginning the year 5783. As we move into a new year one of the meanings of 5783 is the year of retribution. Retribution is the dispensing or receiving of reward, punishment, and judgement! 5783 spells “Ur” in Hebrew which means to be exposed! 23 in the Gematria means to drop or trickle, to flow scantily. The year 2023/5783 will be a year of famine, a year of lack regarding food and water. It will also be an extremely troubling year financially as well! Adonai has been preparing us for such a time as this!

Adonai has given us divine authority to succeed! He has given us heavenly strategies to sustain us and give us access to everything we need. We must think like Yosef so that we may survive through the lean times. Egypt experienced seven years of fatness and followed by seven years of drought and famine! Adonai gave Yosef specific directives and strategies for the administration of supplies. Once implemented Egypt, and a considerable portion of the Middle East were able to sustain, to survive the seven years of drought and famine.

Adonai has supplied us with provision in the fat years so that we will be able to advance His kingdom in the lean years ahead. That’s His words in:

Power in Hebrew is Koach: the ability to do something. That means He’s giving us the ability to sustain ourselves, to gain what we need to accomplish His covenant purposes. This is key as we advance into the season ahead.

We’ve already been experiencing significant issues with the supply chains the last 18 months. Adonai has given us “Multiplicative Blessings” of supplies. Adonai has already given us the authority to multiply what we have! How will we fill the house with the supplies and provisions that will sustain us in years to come? Fruit is the Key, fruit is critical because one fruit contains hundreds, even thousands of seeds which are future trees which in turn produce even more fruit. A tree that does not produce fruit will never produce more trees, there’s no harvest. If you don’t produce fruit, you don’t replicate more believers, if there are no more believers the Kingdom declines.  A fruitless tree may look strong, tall, vigorous, and be full of leaves, but it has no legacy; because it failed to reproduce the seed that it received to create itself, it’s the living dead. Fruitless trees are cut off and destroyed, trees that produce fruit are pruned so even more fruit comes forth.

One apple seed that is planted in good soil, nourished, and cared for will grow and mature into a large tree that will produce tens of thousands of Apples in its lifetime which contain millions of seeds!  You are the fruit from a seed planted sometime in your life. You then must produce fruit and sow seed, or you are not of the Kingdom of God. However, from one seed comes one tree that can produce millions of seeds. This is God’s multiplicative process known as fold. Here is where this all comes together, profoundly. Humanity (Mammon) works in simple interest format. You borrow money at a simple interest rate, let’s say 5 percent.  If you borrow $100 dollars in simple interest you’ll pay back $105 dollars.  5% of 100 is $5.  This is NOT how heaven works.  Heaven works on sowing and reaping.

When we stand in covenant with God, when we toil for Him, when we sow into the Kingdom of heaven we are not working for simple interest, we are working in the power of God, His multiplicative power of the supernatural, where a few loaves of bread and fish fed thousands of people, where a little amount of Olive oil will fill dozens of containers, where a little portion of meal will not run out and feed a widow and her son for weeks.  Where heaven will provide food for over six million souls every day for forty years in the wilderness!  Where Yeshua blesses a few fish and some loaves of bread and thousands are fed with twelve baskets of leftovers. That’s the 100-fold, the “Multiplicative Blessings” of Adonai! Remember, 1,000,000 times 0 equals zero. But 1,000,000 times 1 equal One Million! Fear not, we serve a Covenant keeping God as King David profoundly shares in:

Adonai will not abandon His children!  Rejoice as all things work together for the good of them that believe!  May you have a blessed and powerful Year!

There are 613 commandments in the Torah: 248 positive commands (what we should do); and 365 negative commands (what we should not do). According to rabbinical reckoning, the 248 positive commands correspond to the number of separate parts of our body and 365 negative commands correspond to the number of days throughout a year. We are commanded to do all the commands with all the joints and parts of our body, that’s why religious, Orthodox Jews rock back and forth while praying so that all their body parts are being used!

There is a significant difference between Biblical commands (Mitzvots) and Rabbinical commands.  Rabbinical commands are designed as a fence, a hedge surrounding the Torah to protect or buffer people from possibly breaking one of the Biblical commands (Mitzvots) and sinning. Those who don’t fully understand the Old Testament (Tanach) come to the above conclusions.  These statements could be true or far from the truth, let me explain further as we go on!

Torah is the Hebrew word meaning Teaching.  Its root means to throw or shoot an arrow.  God uses the word Torah scripturally to signify His teaching to His people.  The teaching that God gave to Moshe on Mt. Sinai is called the Torah of Moses,  but Moses did not author it……he only received it from Adonai.  God uses the word Torah to signify His instructions throughout the Hebrew scriptures.  Some Jews also believe in an oral teaching called the Talmud which is in error as the Word says:

“Moses came and told the people everything Adonai had said including all the rulings.  The people answered with one voice: “we will obey every word Adonai has spoken”. Moshe wrote down all the words of Adonai.  He rose early in the morning, built an altar at the base of the mountain and set up twelve large stones to represent the twelve tribes of Israel.” Exodus 24:3-4.  Gods covenant between Himself and His people is based exclusively upon the written words of God and nothing else!

Christians call the Torah “the Law” because most English translations of scripture translate Torah as law.  The reason this came about is because Hebrew scriptures were translated into Greek, called the Septuagint.  The Septuagint translated Torah into the Greek word Nomia.  Nomia was used in the Greek culture to mean “unalterable law”.  Following in the same tradition,  the Greek New Testament used Nomia to signify Torah.  The Word of God is in fact unalterable and can be construed as Law since breaking one of the commandments could lead to punishment (either from man or from God!). Torah is really a teaching tool of the Most High who loves his people, revealing to them what is or what is not sin.  Messiah Yeshua was the payment for our sins once and for all through His Blood, He bought and paid for our righteousness!  The Torah showed us what that righteousness was!  “⁷The Torah of Adonai is perfect, restoring the inner person.  The instruction of Adonai is sure, making wise the thoughtless.  ⁸ The precepts of Adonai are right, rejoicing the heart.  The mitzvot of Adonai is pure, enlightening the eyes.  ⁹ The fear of Adonai is clean, enduring forever.  The rulings of Adonai are true, they are righteous altogether, ¹⁰ more desirable than gold, than fine gold, also sweeter that honey or drippings from the honeycomb.  ¹¹Through them your servant is warned; in obeying them is great reward”.  Psalm 19:7-11.  Messiah Yeshua also said in Mathew 5:18-19. “ Don’t think that I have come to abolish the Torah or Prophets.  I have come not to abolish but to complete.  ¹⁸  Yes indeed!  I tell you that until heaven and earth pass away, not so much as a yud or stroke will pass from the torah – not until everything that must happen has happened.  ¹⁹ So whoever disobeys the least of these mitzvots and teaches others to do so will be called least in the Kingdom of Heaven.  But whoever obeys them and so teaches will be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven.”  Messiah Yeshua said here that Sin is forgiven through him and Torah is the life guidelines from God,  not the written word of man.  Rabbi Shaul (Paul) said in Romans 7:7,12.  “⁷ Therefore, what are we to say?  That the Torah is sinful?  Heaven forbid!  Rather, the function of the Torah was that without it, I would not have known what sin is.  For example, I would not have become conscious of what greed is if Torah had not said “Thou shalt not covet””.  “¹² So the Torah is holy; that is, the commandment is holy, just and good”.  Torah makes us accountable for our actions.  Mankind must walk within specific divine guidelines and regulations or we pursue perverted and sinful ways.  Without Torah, God would be unable to convict and condemn sin for without Torah, what would identify sin!  Paul struggled to explain this and stated in Romans 3:20. “ For in His sight no one alive will be considered righteous on the ground of legalistic observance of Torah commands, because what Torah really does is show people how sinful they are”. He also wrote in Galatians 3:23. “Now before the time for this trusting faithfulness came, we were imprisoned in subjection to the system which results from perverting the Torah into legalism, kept under guard until this yet-to–come trusting faithfulness could be revealed”.  Paul then explains how sins are forgiven in ACTS 13:38 “Therefore brothers, let it be known to you that through this Man (Yeshua) is proclaimed forgiveness of sins!”.  Lets look at some of these Mitzvot’s in the scripture and see what they say:

1. 1. Do not blaspheme Gods name or your leaders! Ex. 22:27.
   2. To know that God is one, a complete unity! Deut. 6:16.
   3. Do not put God’s word to the test! Deut. 6:16.
   4. To honor the old and wise. 19:32.
   5. To learn Torah and teach it. Deut. 6:7.
   6. Not to add or subtract from the Torah! Deut. 13:1.
   7. To circumcise the males. Gen 17:12, Lev 12:3. (I would still recommend this even though the New Testament says this is not necessary for the Gentiles to do, it is healthier for men. It’s a testament to the supreme knowledge of God.  Recent medical studies have shown that male babies antibodies and coagulants peek on the 8^th day of birth, the day when Brit Milah  (circumcision) is commanded to be perform, miraculous isn’t it!.)
   8. Not to stand by idly when a human life is in danger. Lev. 19:16.
   9. Do not cherish hatred in ones heart. Lev 19:17.
   10. Not to take revenge. Lev. 19:18.
   11. Not to bear a grudge. Lev. 19:18.
   12. Rebuke the sinner. Lev. 19:17.
   13. Don’t refrain from maintaining the poor man and giving him what he needs. Deut. 15:7
   14. To honor father and mother. Ex.20:12.
   15. Not to withhold food, clothing, and conjugal rights from your wife. Ex. 21:10.
   16. Not to indulge in familiarities with relatives which may lead to incest. Lev. 18:6
   17. Not to do wrong in buying or selling. Lev. 25:14.
   18. Not to commit fraud when measuring. Lev. 19:35.
   19. Not to delay payment of a hired mans wages. Lev. 19:13.
   20. That a man should fulfill whatever he has uttered. Deut. 23:24.
   21. Not to make a graven image (idol), don’t make it or have someone make it! Ex.20:4
   22. Not to covet what belongs to another. Ex. 20:14.
   23. Do not murder. Ex 20:1, 20:13.
   24. Not to indulge in evil thoughts and sights. Num 15:39.
   25. Not to practice astrology. Lev. 19:26.
   26. Not to consult wizards. Lev. 19:31.
   27. To set apart the tithe (ten percent). Lev. 27:30, Num 18:24.

These are sound rules to live by and of course there are many more, these are just a random sampling. Some deal with Government that should be abided by in Israel (and we really need these in our own legal system) and some deal with sacrifices which are no longer required as we are covered and cleansed of these commandments through the blood of the Messiah.  Yaacov stated in James 1:25. “But if a person looks closely into the perfect Torah, which gives freedom, and continues, becoming not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work it requires, then he will be blessed in what he does”.

Even in the early congregations, some from Judah to Antioch were saying that you could not be saved unless you undergo b’rit-milah (circumcision) (legalistic observance of Torah!).  The early Messianic Movement was in discord over Torah and the new Gentile believers, which we observe in Acts 5:5 “But some of those who had come to trust were from the party of the P’rushim; and they stood up and said, “It is necessary to circumcise them and direct them to observe the Torah of Moshe””.  This was taken to Jerusalem and a council meeting took place to decide the issue.  A decision was made and a letter was written to the Gentiles and sent with Paul and Barnabas.  Their decision reads in Acts 15:28-29. “For it seemed good to the Ruach HaKodesh and to us not to lay any heavier burden on you than the following requirements: ²⁹ to abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from fornication.  If you keep yourselves from these, you will be doing the right thing.  Shalom!”.  Yeshua said himself in Mathew 13:52 “ He said to them, “So then, every Torah teacher who has been made into a talmid (disciple) for the Kingdom of Heaven is like the owner of a home who brings out of his storage room both new and things and old”.  The Master Himself states that both new and old are valid and one!  The old is not done away with the new.  Dr. Michel Brown in: “OUR HANDS ARE STAINED WITH BLOOD” writes “Of course, most of us realize that the roots of our faith are Jewish.  But did we ever stop to consider that Jewish roots mean Jewish fruits?  Our faith not only began in Israel with Jewish people in the middle of everything, but it will also end in Israel with the Jewish people in the middle of everything.” Torah is clearly for today!

What is a sign?  It’s a motion or gesture by which a thought is expressed or a command or wish made known, a mark having a conventional meaning and used in place of words or to represent a complex notion, something material or external that stands for or signifies something spiritual.  Sign in Hebrew is Oth; a sign, signal, a distinguishing mark, banner, remembrance, miraculous sign, an omen, or a warning! Signs (Oth) are extraordinary events by which Adonai reveals His will through nature, people, dreams, and His word. Adonai does this to reveal His will, to instill trust, and or demonstrate His authority.  Signs are a heavenly revelation to your earthly senses of God’s divine power and will. God made a covenant sign with Noach and all living things:

Signs were the method God used to reveal Himself to both Israel and Egypt while Israel was enslaved in Egypt!

Signs were used by Yeshua, the Son of God to reveal that He is the Messiah sent by God:

Sign 1: Yeshua’s birth and death.

Sign 2: Yeshua’s second sign was healing an official’s son

Yeshua gave us signs regarding the season of His return:

The Adversary, HaSatan, will cause apostasy through deception and false signs:

There are three specific signs unique to Israel that reveal God’s covenant decision of choosing Israel as His very own people.  These signs mark the foundation of who and what we are as children of God:

1. Circumcision:

God states that He will bless the seed of Abraham, that His seed will be as numerous as the grains of sand at the beach, that His seed will possess the Land of Israel forever, and that through Abraham’s seed all the Nations will be blessed! Circumcision is a permanent mark on the body symbolizing the permanency of God’s covenant with his people. Because of its significance for personal cleanliness, it symbolized also the purity that the covenant demanded of them. Circumcision is a covenant act, a cut that releases blood which is always required for any covenant! The result is that Abraham’s seed passes through the covenant cut thereby becoming covenant seed. 

2. Shabbat:

Adonai’s covenant signs are what separate us from the world and those who don’t honor and serve Him. Representing God’s covenant, it’s no wonder that these three humble signs have experienced the brunt of HaSatan’s fury.  Every religion known today and many governments have attacked and attempted to change, altar, and or remove these covenant signs.  The Philistines, Midianites, Ammonites, the Persians did, the Greeks did (under Antiochus Epiphanies in the Hanukkah story), Christianity tried under the Constantine/Rome Hellenization influence, as well as communism and Islam.  Throughout History there have been numerous periods of time when it has been illegal to keep Shabbat, circumcise your children, display Mezuzahs, or wear Jewish symbols. Even Adonai’s covenant “Rainbow” sign after the great flood has been hijacked to represent the unbiblical LGBQT community. Remember who established the covenant signs, God and God alone, anything else is manmade and false.

Tefillin is dated to the second Temple period.  Prior to this time these verses were interpreted to have Adonai’s word in your mind.  Placing the word on the doorposts is the only part of this scripture that actual was done in both first and second Temple periods. Prior to the 2^nd Temple period silver amulets (bracelets, necklaces and rings) were worn (numerous ones having been found in archeological digs) that had the Shema (Deuteronomy 6:4) written on them.  These were worn in full view to express the wearer’s dedication to Torah and Adonai.

https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/how-to-put-on-tefillin/

Verse eight is performed in modern orthodox Judaism by wrapping Tefillin. Tefillin or phylacteries, are a set of small black leather boxes with leather straps containing scrolls of parchment inscribed with verses from Deuteronomy 6. One box is worn on the persons head above the forehead wrapped with the leather straps, the second box is wrapped on the left bicep with the leather straps while the remainder of the leather straps are wrapped down the arm creating the letters of one of God’s names, Shaddai (שׁדי) — shin (שׁ), dalet (ד), yod (י).  They are “written” across the hand using the tefillin straps. The Tefillin are worn by adult males during weekday morning prayers. You may read further on this subject by using the link below!

3. Torah: God’s Word.

The sins of Jeroboam are made up of manmade religious doctrines that are still being practiced in the greater Body of Messiah today!!

The Lord calls it His day and His day alone. God recognizes, honors, and keeps Shabbat! Anything else he doesn’t honor and becomes a sin according to His word. When Israel split into two kingdoms Jeroboam (Yarov’am) became king of Israel, the northern Kingdom and the ten tribes:

First this is perpetual, second it was established in the beginning of creation in Genesis Chapter 2.  Adonai stated that it’s His Shabbat, a Moedim, and appointed time like the feast days! Different days have not been established for different cultures or people! There’s not one scripture that states that Shabbat has been changed.