Undoubtedly part of the reason for moral failure within the church comes from deceptive theology and the doctrine called "antinomianism," that is, the idea that faith in Yeshua implies that we are no longer "under the law" and therefore we are free to live apart from what the Torah (and by extension, the New Testament) plainly says and teaches...  This is clearly a mistake -- a serious confusion between the terms of the former covenant at Sinai with the timeless truth of God's eternal Torah, or moral will... After all, the New Covenant (ברית חדשׁה) of Yeshua is the one in which the Torah of the LORD would be written upon our hearts (see Jer. 31:31-34).  Genuine followers of Yeshua therefore will love the Torah of the LORD, since God does not lie or change His mind, and Yeshua our Lord is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Num. 23:19; Psalm 33:1; Heb. 13:8).  As it is also written: “Blessed is the person who delights in the law of the LORD (תורת יהוה) and meditates upon its truth day and night (Psalm 1:1-2).  Amen, for the life of the follower of Yeshua "we cannot do anything against the truth, but only for the sake of the truth" (2 Cor. 13:8). 

It is frighteningly tragic that many so-called Christian ministers -- many of them perhaps well-meaning enough -- simply do not have the fear of the LORD within their hearts, as evidenced by their double-mindedness regarding sin and their ambivalence about the truth of God's law.  We tremble at these words of the Savior who died upon the cross for our deliverance: "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.  On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?' And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.' (Matt. 7:21:23).  

Simply put, those who truly know the Lord Yeshua understand that He is none other than the very Lawgiver and King of Israel, and it was He who spoke to Moses at Sinai regarding the moral will of God.  Yes, he is also our Savior who graciously died for us to be pardoned from the verdict of the law, but he did NOT die so that we should continue to sin but rather to be delivered from sin's power in our lives.... We are never perfected in this life, and each of us will struggle with sin, but we should never allow sin to become a regular practice, and we should never live a secret and double life of hypocrisy... If we struggle, fair enough -- we need to be honest, confess the truth, and get help, but we should never hide the truth about who we really are, since that leads to sickness of the heart and self-destructive despair.  May God have mercy and help us all be on guard from the deceptions of the enemy of our souls.

In this podcast I reflect on Psalm 119:97 and review some of the reasons why the Torah of the LORD is vital for followers of Yeshua the Messiah.  I hope you will find it helpful.

John Parsons
https://hebrew4christians.com

Dangers of Lawlessness...

The Dangers of Lawlessness...

Shalom chaverim. In this week's audio podcast I provide a brief overview of parashat Vayera with especial focus on the Akedah of Isaac as a picture of the gospel of Yeshua the Messiah.

For more see https://hebrew4christians.com

Shavuah Tov Parashat Vayera

In our Torah portion for Chanukah week, parashat Miketz (i.e., Gen. 41:1-44:17), we will read how imprisoned Joseph successfully interpreted Pharaoh's dreams and suddenly rose to power in Egypt. Because of a famine in the land of Canaan, however, his brothers (who had earlier betrayed him) came to Egypt in search of food. A disguised Joseph then tested his brothers to see whether they were the same people who had callously sold him into slavery, or whether they had undergone teshuvah (repentance).

The eventual revelation of Joseph and his reconciliation with his brothers is a prophetic picture of acharit ha-yamim (the "End of Days") when Israel, in Great Tribulation, will come to accept Yeshua as Israel's true deliverer.  Presently, the veil is still over the eyes of the Jewish people and they collectively regard Yeshua as an "Egyptian" of sorts.  In this connection, I list some of the ways that Joseph is a "type" or foreshadowing of the coming Yeshua as the Suffering Servant (see “Mashiach ben Yosef” on the H4C site). 

For more see: https://hebrew4christians.com
­

Chanukah / parashat Miketz podcast

At Sinai we heard the Voice of God (קוֹל אֱלהִים) speaking from the midst of the Fire (Deut. 4:33), an event that foreshadowed the great advent of the King and Lawgiver Himself, when the Eternal Word (דְבַר־יְהוָה) became flesh and dwelt with us (Phil. 2:6-7; John 1:1,14).  Any theology that regards God as entirely transcendent (i.e., God is beyond any analogy with the finite) will have a problem with divine immanence (i.e., God is inherent and involved within the finite), since the highness, holiness, and perfection of God will make Him seem distant, outside of us, far away, and unknown... Incarnational theology, on the other hand, manifests the nearness of God to disclose the divine empathy. Indeed, the LORD became Immanuel (עִמָּנוּ אֵל), "one with us," to share our mortal condition, to know our pain, and to experience what it means to be wounded by sin, to be abandoned, alienated, forsaken.

Hebrew for Christians

The Word Made Flesh - A Message for Christmas...

Our Torah reading for this week, parashat Vayechi (ויחי), recounts how the great patriarch Jacob adopted Joseph's two sons (Ephraim and Manasseh) as his own children. When Jacob blessed the boys, however, he intentionally reversed the birth order by putting the younger before the older, signifying that the old struggle he had faced as a child was over, and he now understood things differently. And note Ephraim and Manasseh’s reaction: the older did not envy the younger, nor did the younger boast over the older. The family had apparently learned that blessing from God is for the good of all, and that there is no real blessing apart from genuine humility that esteems the welfare of others.  Jacob was now ready to summon his family to hear his final words.  Among other things, he foretold how the Messiah would come from the line of Judah and then instructed his sons to bury him only in the promised land, and not in Egypt.

For more see www.hebrew4christians.com

Shavuah Tov for parashat Vayechi

Our Torah reading for this week is Ki Tisa (כי תשא), one of the longest of the Torah. It includes the tragic account of the Sin of the Golden Calf (עֵגֶל מַסֵּכָה) and Moses' passionate intercession for Israel. After a period of teshuvah (repentance) for Israel’s idolatry, the LORD graciously revealed the meaning of the Name YHVH (יהוה), that is, the thirty-two words that have become known in Jewish tradition as the Shelosh Esrei Middot, or the “Thirteen Attributes of God’s Mercy.” This was the LORD’s own definition of His compassionate character and attributes to Moses after the breaking of the Sinai covenant. 

For more visit www.hebrew4christians.com

Shavuah Tov for parashat Ki Tisa

Our Torah portion for this week (parashat Emor) lists the eight main holidays revealed in the Jewish Scriptures. In the Torah, these “holidays” are called “appointed times” (i.e., mo’edim: מוֹעֲדִים), a word which comes from the Hebrew root meaning “witness” (עֵד). Other words from this root include edah (עֵדָה), a “congregation,” edut (עֵדוּת), a “testimony,” and so on. The related verb ya’ad (יָעַד) means “to meet,” “to assemble,” or even “to betroth.” The significance of the holy days, then, is for the covenant people of the LORD to bear witness to God’s love and faithfulness.  

For more information, visit www.hebrew4christians.com

Shavuah Tov for parashat Emor

In our Torah reading for this week, parashat Tzav (פרשת צו), we learn how the priests of ancient Israel were consecrated for service by the blood of the lamb. First Aaron and his sons were washed with water, arrayed in priestly garments, and anointed with holy oil.  During this ordination ceremony, a sin offering and burnt offering were offered on their behalf, and then a special “ram of ordination” (i.e., eil ha-milu'im: אֵיל הַמִּלֻּאִים, lit. “ram of abundance [מָלֵא]”) was slaughtered. Some of this ram’s blood was applied to the right ear, right thumb, and big toe of the Aaron and his sons (a picture of Yeshua as our suffering High Priest), and the rest of the blood was dashed upon the sides of the altar. After its slaughter, Moses took some unleavened bread and put it in the hands of the priests to perform tenufah (a wave offering) before the altar (a picture of the resurrection).

For more information about Torah see:
https://hebrew4christians.com

hebrew4christians

parashat Tzav

Shavuah Tov for Parashat Tzav

Our Torah reading this week (parashat Kedoshim) begins with the call for us to be holy on account of our relationship with God:  "Be ye holy, for I the LORD your God am holy" (Lev. 19:2). Holiness is best understood as a sense of the awe and sacredness inherent in the apprehension of Reality and Grace.  The portion then goes on to define the expression of holiness in our relationship God and with others. For example, though it is inevitable (and psychologically necessary) that we make judgments about other people, the Torah states, be’tzedek tishpot amitekha, "in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor" (see also John 7:24), which implies that we must use the “good eye” (ayin tovah) when we think of other people.  Indeed, the focal point and the very heart of what practical holiness represents is stated as ve’ahavta le’re’akha kamokha - "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." Note that the direct object of the verb (ahav - to love) is your neighbor.  But who, exactly, is my neighbor? Some have claimed that the word rea (neighbor) refers only to one's fellow Jew - not to others at large in the world. However this is obviously false, since the “stranger” (ger) is explicitly identified to be an object of our love (Lev 19:34). And note that Yeshua the Mashiach answered this question by turning it around. Instead of attempting to find someone worthy of neighborly love, I am asked to be a worthy and loving neighbor myself (Luke 10:29-37).

For more information about Torah and salvation given in Yeshua, the Messiah and Savior of the world, visit: https://hebrew4christians.com

Shavuah Tov for parashat Kedoshim

Rating: Explicit
Original Text: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18826798
Summary:  Invalided home from Afghanistan, running out of funds and convinced that his surgical career is over, John Watson accepts a mysterious job offer to provide care and companionship for a disabled person. Little does he know how much hangs in the balance of his performance as he settles into his new life at Musgrave Court.
***WARNING FOR DISCUSSIONS OF ASSISTED SUICIDE***
Music: Brave by Dan Skinner and Adam Skinner

Proving a Point

13 Protective Measures

https://hebrew4christians.com/Blessings/Blessing_Cards/gen1-26a-lesson.pdf
­
“Then the LORD God formed the man from dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living soul” (Gen. 2:7). We tend to think of dust in self-effacing terms; for example, repenting in “dust and ashes” expresses unworthiness and sinfulness. Yet the dust God used to form Adam was not worthless, but instead represented very fine particles of creation, a substance suspended midway between heaven and earth, almost a “spiritual matter.” This is suggested by the fact that God first intended man to be his image bearer and only then used dust as the material for that higher end. 

Click the graphic while you listen to this audio lesson on the Hebrew text of Genesis 1:26 and learn what is meant by the “image and likeness” of God.

Genesis 1:26 Hebrew

The Dust of God... (podcast)

This site lists some of the Hebrew for Christians podcasts from over the years.  It is updated according to the Jewish calendar and holiday cycle.

Shavuah Tov for parashat Emor

Hebrew for Christians

Related tracks