Greek vs. Hebrew Mindset

John is stuck in the rat race of life.  He was in charge of the company picnic.  John was so mad he blew a fuse when it started raining cats and dogs.  His big plans were now ruined and he was boiling over.  Straight from the horse’s mouth, he was warned by his friend, a TV weatherman, that it was supposed to rain hard.  John thought he was just pulling his leg, yet now he was really up a creek without a paddle.  “Well, I guess that’s just the way the cookie crumbles,” John said.  He worried that because of this failure, his boss would give him the axe.

We have comments like “a bull in a china shop” and when the cows come home.”  Idioms add lively ideas to our speech.  These phrases have been adopted into our language over the years, to the point where, they have become part of normal speech.  They are word pictures that describe situations vividly.  “What’s the matter, cat got your tongue?” or “I’m just killing time.”

Various Hebrew idioms have found their way into the everyday talk of millions of people.  Take for example, these Biblical expressions in the story about a man unwilling to “go the second mile,” or we’re going to kill the fatted calf.”  She couldn’t see the “handwriting on the wall.”  He thought he could “walk on water.”

Yeshua quoted a Hebrew idiom when He said He came not to “destroy the Law or the prophets.”  He was using a familiar phrase easily understood during Biblical times.  Yeshua had been accused of misinterpreting the Torah, yet He said that He was actually rightly and correctly teaching it.  What does Yeshua mean by “destroy the Law” and “fulfill the Law”?  “Destroy” and “fulfill” are technical terms used in rabbinic argumentation.  When a sage felt that a colleague had misinterpreted a passage of Scripture, he would say, “You are destroying the Law!”  Needless to say, in most cases, he colleagues strongly disagreed.  What was “destroying the Law” for one sage was “fulfilling the Law” (correctly interpreting Scripture) for another.”  In plain English, Yeshua is saying, “Don’t even think for a moment that I intend to do away with the Law by misinterpreting it.  My intent is not to even weaken it, but by properly interpreting God’s Written word, I aim to establish it.  I would never invalidate the Law by removing something from it through misinterpretation.

Unfortunately, for many years translators and teachers have also struggled with the Hebraic concept of the “evil eye.

Matthew 6:22,23 The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.  But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. KJV (“But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness) NKJV

Matthew 6:22 If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. NKJV

Matthew 6:22 Therefore if your eye is sound, your whole body shall be full of light. MKJV  

Matthew 6:22 If then your eye is true, all your body will be full of light. BBE

Matthew 6:22 If your eye is unclouded, your whole body will be lit up; TCNT

Matthew 6:22 Thine eye may be perfect, all thy body shall be enlightened, YLT

This is very confusing!  The people who heard Yeshua speak these very words immediately recognized what Yeshua meant when he talked of the evil eye.  This idea was and still is common in the Hebraic culture.  What did Yeshua really mean?  Hebraically, what is an evil eye or a good eye?

To answer these questions and bring clarity to this idiom, let’s first look at the context of Yeshua’s words and the links in the Torah/Tanakh.

First, let’s look at the context.  The very next verse after the evil eye quotation, explains exactly what the evil eye is about.

Matthew 6:23,24 But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness.  If therefore the light that is thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!  No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other.  Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

When he spoke of the bad eye, Yeshua wasn’t talking about bad eye sight or the need for lasik surgery!  From the context it is easy to grasp that Yeshua was using a Hebrew expression to comment on people’s greed.  Each time Yeshua spoke of the eye he was speaking of the issue of greed.  An evil eye is a greedy eye.  A person with an evil eye is controlled by the desire of selfishness.

Proverbs 28:22 He that hasteth to be rich hath an evil eye, and considereth not that poverty shall come upon him.

Proverbs 22:9 He that hath a bountiful eye shall be blessed; for he giveth of his bread to the poor.

Deuteronomy 15:7-9 “If there is among you a poor man of your brethren, within any of the gates in your land which the LORD your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart nor shut your hand from your poor brother, but you shall open your hand wide to him and willingly lend him sufficient for his need, whatever he needs.  Beware lest there be a wicked thought in your heart, saying, ‘The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand,’ and your eye be evil against your poor brother and you give him nothing, and he cry out to the LORD against you, and it become sin among you.” NKJV

The most famous of Socrates’s pupils was an aristocratic young man named Plato who was born in 428BC, lived in Athens, Greece.  After the death of Socrates, Plato carried on much of his former teacher’s work and eventually founded his own school, the Academy, in 385BC.  The Academy would become in its time the most famous school in the classical world, and its most famous pupil was Aristotle.

Alexander the Great  356BC to 323BC

Gentile believers with a Greek mindset had a hard time believing that Jesus wa human as well as divine, because in Platonic thought the spirit was all-important.  The body was only a prison from which one desired to escape.  Heresies developed from a uniting of this kind of Platonic thought and Christianity.  A particularly widespread, false teaching, later called Docetism (from a Greek word meaning “to seem”), held that Jesus was actually a spirit who only appeared to have a body.  In reality they say, “he cast no shadow and left no footprints; he was God but not man.”

Another heretical teaching, related to Gnosticism (from a Greek word meaning “knowledge”), held that all physical matter was evil, the spirit was good, and only the intellectually enlightened could enjoy the benefits of religion.  Both groups found it hard to believe in a Savior who was fully human.

John answers these false teachers as an eyewitness to Jesus’ life on earth.  He saw Jesus, talked with him, touched him—he knew that Jesus was more than a mere spirit. 

1 John 1:1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon and our hands have handled, of the Word of life;

In the very first sentence of his letter, John establishes that Jesus had been  alive before the world began and also that he lived as a man among men and women.  In other words, he was both divine and human.

Through the centuries, many heretics have denied that Jesus was both God and man.  In John’s day people had trouble believing he was human.  Today, more people have problems seeing him as God.  But Jesus’ divine-human nature is the pivotal issue of Christianity.  Before you accept what religious teachers say about any topic, listen carefully to what they believe about Jesus.  To deny either his divinity or his humanity is to consider him less than Christ, the Savior.

It was easier to believe that holding to some intellectual belief or dogma could be the source of salvation rather than simple submission to the atonement and Lordship of Messiah.  As if doctrines constitute divine saving secret knowledge.  Many continue to act as if the only people saved are those who share the exact accurate knowledge of the Gospel as they understand it.

Gnosticism involves the relational or experiential knowledge of God and of the divine or spiritual nature within us.  Gnostics believe that they have secret knowledge about God, humanity and the rest of the universe of which the general population was unaware.  It became one of the three main belief systems within 1^st century Christianity.

A one-sentence description of Gnosticism: a religion that differentiates the evil god of this world (who is identified with the god of the Old Testament) from a higher more abstract God revealed by Jesus Christ, a religion that regards this world as the creation of a series of evil archons/powers who wish to keep the human soul trapped in an evil physical body, a religion that preaches a hidden Wisdom or knowledge only to a select group as necessary for salvation or escape from this world.

(EarlyChristianwritings.com)

Plato believed that reality existed in the realm of ideas not in the material world. 

Reality and truth exist only in the concept rather than in the thing itself: (Horsiness) (Unity and diversity)

For Plato truth was obtained through philosophy and reality is found in the mind not in the world in which you live.  Our existence is dualistic.

Acts 17:16-18 Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was stirred in him, when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry.  Therefore, disputed he in the synagogue with the Jews, and with the devout persons, and in the market daily with them that met with him.  Then certain philosophers of the Epicureans (pleasure is the sole intrinsic good), and o the Stoics (detachment from emotions and indifference to pleasure), encountered him.  And some said, “What will this babbler say?”

When the church separated from the wisdom of the Torah after the expulsion of the  Jews, they looked for educated men among the Greek universities who had been schooled in Greek thought for their leaders.  So they treated the scriptures allegorically looking for the “idea” behind the test rather than taking scripture literally.

The Hebrew perspective was unified rather than dualistic.  Reality exists in both realms, the visible and invisible, and neither was better.  So the physical world was not evil or inferior to the nonmaterial world.

Greek: It’s the thought that counts

Hebrew: It’s the actions that count

Constantine 280AD – 387AD

The end of the Roman Empire.  The Greek-speaking Eastern Roman, known today as the Byzantine Empire, preserved Greco-Roman legal and cultural traditions along with Hellenic and Orthodox Christian elements for another thousand years.  After 395AD, the emperors in the Western Roman Empire were usually figureheads.  (Wik)

Saint Augustine 354AD – 430AD In Roman Catholicism and the Anglican Communion, he is a saint and pre-eminent Doctor of the Church, and the patron of the Augustinian religious order.  Many Protestants, especially Calvinists, consider him to be one of the theological fountainheads of Reformation teaching on salvation and grace.  He was a student of Plato.

Saint Augustine was in his fifties and the bishop of Hippo when the Visigoths overran Italy and sacked Rome.  Augustine saw the refugees pouring into North Africa, including noble families from Rome, and he heard accusations that Rome’s destruction was the result of neglect to worship the city’s traditional gods.

Christians were responding with uncertainty to these allegations.  They believed that their god protected people, and obviously Rome had not been protected.  They believed, as had Eusebius, that God had linked Rome and Christianity.  And, with disaster befalling Rome, they needed a new view on God’s ties with Rome and with Christians.  Augustine supplied it, drawing from the old association of evil with the present world and on the habit to put things into the form of allegory.

The church has focused its attention on the hope of escaping this world and getting to heaven.  God wants us to live an active life here!  God wants to dwell with us here!

The church:  Goal of salvation is to escape here and go to where God is in heaven.

The Bible:     Goal of salvation is to be holy that God may dwell here among His people and influence others here.

The church:  Kingdom of Heaven is Heaven and is not on earth.

The Bible:     Kingdom of Heaven is God’s reign among His people here on earth.

The church:  Messiah is coming to take us away.

The Bible:     Messiah is coming to reign over us.

The church:  Get your ticket now or miss the train!

The Bible:     Kingdom of Heaven is coming get ready to serve the King!

Antisemitism in the Early Church

What is Replacement Theology?

Replacement theology teaches that when it comes to the promises of God in scripture, the Church has “replaced” Israel.  In this doctrine, the church views Israel as the “branch” that was broken off, (Romans 11:20), and the gentile church, now being grafted into the olive tree, has “replaced the branch of Israel.  In replacement theology, the Jewish people have no future in God’s plan. 

Replacement theology falsely teaches that the Church has taken the place of Israel.

Historical Roots of Replacement Theology.

Many today are still under the false assumption that the “Church” has replaced Israel in the plan of God.  For almost 2,000 years, there had been no Israel.  With there being no Israel, the Church has always assumed that they must be the ones to whom all the promises referred to. Then all of a sudden through God’s promises to the real Israel they became a nation again!  What is the Church to do?  There’s not room for both of us!  This doesn’t fit our theology.

This is actually a very old theology.  Let’s explore how old:

The antagonism of the early Christians towards the Jews was reflected in to writings of the early Church Father.  Here are some examples:

Justin Martyr (c. AD 160), in speaking to a Jew, said: “The Scriptures are not yours, but ours.”

Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyon (c. AD 177) declared: “Jews are disinherited from the grace of God.”

Tertullian (AD 160-230), in his treatise, “Against the Jews,” announced that God had rejected the Jews in favor of the Christians.

In the early 4^th century, Eusebius wrote that the promises of the Hebrew Scriptures were for Christians and not the Jews, and the curses were for the Jews.  He argued that the Church was the continuation of the Old Testament and thus superseded Judaism.  The young Church declared itself to be the true Israel, or “Israel according to the Spirit,” heir to the divine promises.  They found it essential to discredit the “Israel according to the flesh” to prove that God has cast away His people and transferred His love to the Christians.

In AD 306, Constantine became the first Christian Roman Emperor.  In AD 321, he made Christianity the official religion of the Empire to the exclusion of all other religions.  This signaled the end of the persecution of Christians, but the beginning of discrimination and persecution of the Jewish people. 

Numbers 9:6-12  And there were certain men, who were defiled by the dead body of a man, that they could not keep the Passover on that day; and they came before Moses and before Aaron on that day.  And those men said unto him, “We are defiled by the dead body of a man; wherefore are we kept back, that we may not offer an offering of the LORD in his appointed season among the children of Israel?”  And Moses said unto them, “Stand still, and I will hear what the LORD will command concerning you.”  And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If any man of you or of your posterity shall be unclean by reason of a dead body, or be in a journey afar off, yet he shall keep the Passover unto the LORD.  The fourteenth day of the second month at even they shall keep it, and eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.  They shall leave none of it unto the morning, or break any bone of it; according to all the ordinances of the Passover they shall keep it. 

2 Chronicles 30:1-3  And Hezekiah sent to all Israel and Judah, and wrote letters also to Ephraim and Manasseh, that they should come to the house of the LORD at Jerusalem, to keep the Passover unto the LORD God of Israel.  For the king had taken counsel, and his princes, and all the congregation in Jerusalem, to keep the Passover in the second month.  For they could not keep it at that time, because the priests had not sanctified themselves sufficiently, neither had the people gathered themselves together to Jerusalem.

Council of Nicea, 325 AD/CE:  From the letter of the Emperor (Constantine) to all those not present at the council.  (Found in Eusebius, Vita Const., Lib III 18-20).

“When the question relative to the sacred festival of Easter arose, it was universally thought that it would be convenient that all should keep the feast on one day; It was declared to be particularly unworthy for this, the holiest of festivals, to follow the customs (the calculation) of the Jews who had soiled their hands with the most fearful crimes, and whose minds were blinded.  In rejecting their custom we may transmit to our descendants the legitimate mode of celebrating Easter; We ought not therefore to have anything in common with the Jew, for the Saviour has shown us another way; our worship following a more legitimate and more convenient course (the order of the days of the week: And consequently in unanimously adopting this mode, we desire, dearest brethren to separate ourselves from the detestable company of The Jew.  For it is truly

shameful for us to hear them boast that without their direction we could not keep this feast.  How can they be in the right, they who, after the death of the Saviour, have no longer been led by reason but by wild violence, as their delusion may urge them?  They do not possess the truth in this Easter question, for in their blindness and repugnance to all improvements they frequently celebrate two Passovers in the same year.  We could not imitate those who are openly in error.

How, then, could we follow these Jews who are most certainly blinded by error? 

For to celebrate a Passover twice in one year, is totally inadmissible.  But even if this were not so, it would still be your duty not to tarnish your soul by communication with such wicked people(the Jews).  You should consider not only that the number of churches in these provinces make a majority, but also that it is right to demand what our reason approves, and that we should have mothering in common with the Jews.”

St Jerome (AD 347-407) describes the Jews as “…serpents, wearing the image of Judas, their psalms and prayers are the braying of donkeys.” 

At the end of the 4^th century, the Bishop of Antioch, John Chrysostom (Golden Tongued), the great orator, wrote a series of eight sermons against the Jews.  To quote him: “the synagogue is not only a brothel and a theater; it is also a den of robbers and a lodging for wild beasts.  No Jew adores God…  Jews are inveterate murderers, possessed by the devil, their debauchery and drunkenness gives them the manners of the pig.

In the 5^th century, the burning question was:  If the Jews and Judaism were cursed by God, then how can you explain their continued existence?  Augustine confronted this problem in his “Sermon Against the Jews.”  He maintained that even though the Jews deserved the most severe punishment for having “killed our Jesus” but that they have been kept alive by Divine Providence to serve, together with their Scriptures, as witnesses to the truth of Christianity.

In 1492 synagogues burned.

Martin Luther:  The Jews and Their Lies (excerpts) 1483-1546:

What shall we Christians do with this rejected and condemned people, the Jews?  Since they live among us, we dare not tolerate their conduct, now that we are aware of their lying and reviling and blaspheming.  If we do, we become sharers in their lies, cursing and blasphemy.  Thus we cannot extinguish the unquenchable fire of divine wrath, of which the prophets speak, nor can we convert the Jews.  With prayer and the fear of God we must practice a sharp mercy to see whether we might save at least a few from the glowing flames.  We dare not avenge ourselves.  Vengeance a thousand times worse than we could wish them already has them by the throat.  I shall give you my sincere advice:

First: To set fire to their synagogues or schools and to bury and cover with dirt whatever will not burn, so that no man will ever again see a stone or cinder of them. This is to be done in honor of our Lord and of Christendom, so that God might see that we are Christians, and do not condone or knowingly tolerate such public lying, cursing and blaspheming of his Son and of his Christians.  For whatever we tolerated in the past unknowingly – and I myself was unaware of it – will be pardoned by God.

Second:  I advise that their houses also be razed and destroyed.  For they pursue in them the same aims as in their synagogues.  Instead they might be lodged under a roof or in a barn, like the gypsies.  This will bring home to them that they are not masters in our country, as they boast, but that they are living in exile and in captivity, as they incessantly wail and lament about us before God.

Third:  I advise that all their prayer books and Talmudic writings; in which such idolatry, lies, cursing and blasphemy are taught, be taken from them.

Fourth:  I advise that their rabbis be forbidden to teach hencefore on pain of loss of life and limb.  For they have justly forfeited the right to such an office by holding the poor Jews captive with the sayings of Moses.  They wantonly employ the poor people’s obedience contrary to the law of the Lord and infuse them with this poison, cursing and blasphemy.

Fifth:  I advise that safe-conduct on the highways be abolished completely for the Jews.  For they have no business in the countryside, since they are not lords, officials, tradesman, or the like.  Let them stay at home.

Sixth:  I advise that usury by prohibited to them, and that all cash and treasure of silver and gold be taken from them and put aside for safekeeping.

Seventh:  I commend putting a flail, an ax, a hoe, a spade, a distaff or a spindle into the hands of young, strong Jews and Jewesses and letting them earn their bread in sweat of their brow, as was imposed on the children of Adam.  For it is not fitting that they should let us accursed Goyim toil in the sweat of our faces while they, the holy people, idle away their time behind the stove, feasting and farting, and on top of all, Boasting blasphemously of their lordship over the Christians by means of our sweat.  Burn down their synagogues, forbid all that I enumerated earlier, force them to work, and deal harshly with them; as Moses did in the wilderness, slaying three thousand lest the whole people perish.  They surely do not know what they are doing; moreover, as people possessed, they do not wish to know it, hear it, or learn it.  There it would be wrong to be merciful and confirm them in their conduct.  If this does not help we must drive them out like mad dogs, so that we do not become partakers of their abominable blasphemy and all their other vices and thus merit God’s wrath and be damned with them.  I have done my duty.  Now let everyone see to his.  I am exonerated.”

The Bible declares that there is nothing new under the sun.  It was happening  back then and it is happening; today.  We are only building upon the sins of the fathers.  There is a saying that the Church started it all with forced conversions declaring:

“Jews cannot live among us as Jews!”

Then, the nations of the world followed up on what the Church said and declared:

“Jews cannot live among us  as Jews!”

Hitler simply built on the foundation the Church had laid and simply stated: “Jews cannot live       among us as Jews!” 

Ezekiel 34:6,11,12:  My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and upon every high hill: yea my flock was scattered upon all the face of the earth, and none did search or seek after them.  For thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out.  As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so I will seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day.

Matthew 26:31: For it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad.

Acts 20:29:  For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock.

Mark 10:42-44:  But Jesus called them to him, and saith unto them, Ye know that they which are accounted to rule over the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and their great ones exercise authority upon them.  But so shall it not be among you; but whosoever will be great among you, shall be your minister; And whosoever of you will be the chiefest, shall be servant of all.

Did you realize replacement theology was even taking place during the time of the Apostle John?  After the Jews were scattered and gentile leaders began to take over the congregations, Yeshua said not to be like the Gentiles who “lord over the flock”.  The problem was that most gentile leaders had little to no foundation in Torah on which to build.  One Greek pastor would not allow the Apostle John and other Jews in the church, and he even kicked out any gentile who allowed Jews in!  Here it is:

3 John 1:9,10:  “I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to have the preeminence among them, does not receive us.  Therefore, if I come, I will call to mind his deeds which he does, prating against us with malicious words.  And not content with that, he himself do not receive the brethren, and forbids those who which to, putting them out of the church.

History is written by the victor:

What’s the Greek word for Church?   

Sunagoge/ecclesia: they both mean assembly of any kind – sporting event, town hall meeting…

The Hebrew word “Kahal” became ecclesia in the Septuagint

The Hebrew word “Edah” became sunagoge

Acts 18:26:  And he began to speak boldly in the synagogue. (sunagogue) 

James 2:1,2:  For if there come unto your assembly (sunagogue) a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment;

Revelation 2:9:  but are the synagogue (sunagogue) of Satan.

Acts 7:37,38:  This is that Moses, which said unto the children of Israel, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear.  This is he, that was in the church (ecclesia) in the wilderness.

Acts 19:35-41:  And when the town clerk had appeased the people, he said, Ye men of Ephesus, what man is there that knoweth not how that the city of the Ephesians is a worshiper of the great goddess Diana, and of the image which fell down from Jupiter?  Seeing then that these things cannot be spoken against, ye ought to be quiet, and to do nothing rashly.  For ye have brought hither these men, which are neither robbers of churches, nor yet blasphemers of your goddess.  Wherefore if Demetrius, and the craftsmen which are with him, have a matter against any man, the law is open, and there are deputies: let them implead one another.  But if ye enquire anything concerning other matters, it shall be determined in a lawful assembly.  For we are in danger to be called in question for this day’s uproar, there being no cause whereby we may give an account of this concourse.  And when he had thus spoken, he dismissed the assembly. (ecclesia)

Genesis 6:8:  But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.

Exodus 34:6,7:  And the LORD passed by before him; and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin,…

Hebrew 11:31-38:  By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace.  And what shall I more say?  For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon, and Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthah; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets:  Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens.  Women received their dead raised to life again: and other were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection: And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment:  They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword:  they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; (Of whom the world was not worthy) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.

Was English the first language in which the Bible was written?  If it wasn’t English, there is no “Church” in the New Testament!  There is only an Ecclesia which includes all the Jews who had faith.  It is the Jews into whom the Gentiles are grafted.

What Happens When a Church Replaces Israel?

1)    The Church becomes arrogant and self-centered.

2)   It boasts against the Jews and Israel.

3)   It devalues the role of Israel or has no role for Israel at all.

4)   These attitudes result in anti-Semitism in word and deed.

5)   Without a place for Israel and the Jewish people, today, you cannot explain the Bible prophecies, especially the very specific ones being fulfilled in Israel today.

6)   Many New Testament passages do not make sense when the Jewish people are replaced by the Church.

7)   You can lose the significance of the Hebrew Scriptures, the Old Testament, for today.  Many Christians boast of being a New Testament Christian or a NT Church as in the Book of Acts.  However, the Bible of the early Church was not the New Testament, which did not get codified until the 4^th century, but rather the Hebrew Scriptures.

8)   You can lose the Hebraic/Judaic contextualization of the Brit Chadashah.

9)   The Church loses out on the opportunity to participate in God’s plan and prophecy for the Church, Israel and the world today.

What Happens When We Relate To Israel?

1)    We take our proper role in God’s redemptive plan for the world, appreciating God’s ongoing covenant relationship and love for Israel and the Jewish people.

2)   We can see the consistency of God’s redemptive plan from Genesis to Revelation as an ongoing complementary process, not as disconnected snapshots.

3)   We show love and honor for God’s covenant people; not contempt.

4)   Bible prophecy makes sense for today and offers opportunities for involvement in God’s plan for Israel.

5)   We are able to appreciate the Hebraic/Judaic roots that fill in the definitions, concepts, words and events in the New Testament that are otherwise obscured.  Why?  Many were not explained by the Jewish writers of the New Testament, because they did not feel the need to fill in all the details that were already explained in the Tanakh.

Had the “Church understood this very clear message from the beginning, then the sad legacy of anti-Semitic hatred may have been avoided.  The error of Replacement Theology is like a cancer in the Church that has not only caused it to violate God’s word concerning the Jewish people and Israel, but it has made us into instruments of hate, not love in God’s Name.  Yet, it is not too late to change our ways and rightly relate to the Jewish people and Israel today.

10 Generations - I Will Show Compassion

The Hebrew Meanings of the 10 Generations Mentioned in Genesis 5

(Biblesoft's New Exhaustive Strong's Numbers and Concordance with Expanded GreekHebrew Dictionary. Copyright (c) 1994, Biblesoft and International Bible Translators, Inc.)

Adam, Seth, Enos, Cainan, Mahalaleel, Jared, Enoch, 

Methuselah, Lamech, and Noah

ADAM = MANKIND

OT;120 'adam (aw-dawm^'); from OT:119; ruddy i.e. a human being (an individual or the species, mankind, etc.):

SETH = I S APPOINTED TO

OT:7896 shiyth (sheeth); a primitive root; to place KJV appoint

ENOS = FEEBLE, FRAIL, MORTALITY (#582 FROM #605)

OT:582 ^'enowsh (en-oshe'); from OT:605; properly, a mortal OT:605 'anash (aw-nash'); a primitive root; to be frail, feeble

CAINAN = A FIXED DWELLING PLACE

OT:7064 qen (kane); contracted from OT:7077; a nest (as fixed)

MAHALALEEL = GOD WHO IS PRAISED

OT:4111 Mahalal' el (mah-hal-al-ale^' ); from OT:4110 and OT:410; praise of God

JARED = COMES DOWN, DESCEND

OT:3382 Yered (yeh'-red); from OT:3381; a descent;

ENOCH = TO INSTRUCT, TRAIN UP

OT:2596 chanak (khaw-nak'); to initiate or discipline: KJV - dedicate, train up.

METHUSELAH = A MAN SENT FORTH(#4968 FROM #4962, #7973)

OT:4968 Methuwshelach (meth-oo-sheh'-lakh); from OT:4962 and OT:7973; man of a dart;

OT:4962 math (math); an adult (as of full length); by implication, a man OT:7973 shelach (sheh^'-lakh); from OT:7971; a missile of attack,

LAMECH = TO BE BEATEN, SMITTEN, AND TORTURED

OT:3929 Lemek (leh^'-mek); from #4347

OT:4347 makkah, a blow, by implication, a wound; carnage, also beaten, slaughter, smote, X sore, stripe, stroke, wound((-ed)).

NOAH = BRINGING REST, A QUIET PEACE

OT:5146 Noach (no' -akh); the same as OT:5118; rest

OT:5118 nuwach (noo'-akh); or nowach (no'-akh); from OT:5117; quiet: 

MANKIND / IS APPOINTED TO / FEEBLE, FRAIL, MORTALITY / A FIXED DWELLING PLACE. / GOD WHO IS PRAISED / COMES DOWN / TO INSTRUCT / AS A MAN SENT FORTH / TO BE BEATEN, SMITTEN AND TORTURED / BRINGING REST, A QUIET PEACE,  

Messiah is the Priestly Blessing

Numbers 6:22,23 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to Aaron and to his sons saying, In this way you shall bless the sons of Israel, saying to them, 

Numbers 6:24 The Lord bless thee, and keep thee:

Romans 15:29 And I am sure that, when I come unto you, I shall come in the fullness of the blessing of the gospel of Christ.

Galatians 3:14 That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Yeshua HaMashiach; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

1Peter 1:3-5 Blesses be the God and Father of our Adonai Yeshua HaMashiach, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Yeshua HaMashiach from the dead, To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

Numbers 6:25 The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee:

2Corinthians 4:6 For God, who commanded the light to shine out of the darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Yeshua HaMashiach.

Ephesians 1:6 To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;

Numbers 6:26 The LORD lift up his countenance* upon you, and give you peace.

Jude 1:24,25 Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen. 

2Thessalonians 3:16 Now the Lord of peace himself give you peace always by all means. The Lord be with you all     

     

 *To “lift up your countenance” means to smile at with joy 

Water Baptism

1 Cor. 15:3,4 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:

Rom. 10:9-11 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.

Matt. 10:32 Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.

Acts 8:36,37 And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what hinders me from being baptized? And Philip said, If you believe with all your heart, you may. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.

Do you believe with all your heart that Yeshua HaMashiach is the Son of God, that He died for your sins and that He rose from the dead?

Eph. 2:8,9 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.

Titus 3:5,6 Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour;

Titus 3:8 This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that you affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men.

Col. 2:12,13 Buried with him in baptism, wherein also you are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead. And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;

Water baptism is an act of obedience that follows conversion to portray symbolically the washing away of our sins, the death and burial of our old nature and of us being born again as a new creation living a new life in Christ. Baptism itself does not bring salvation. One mush repent and be saved to be baptized.

Rom. 6:2-7 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together int he likeness of his death, we shall also in the likeness of his resurrection: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin.

Water baptism is a statement of faith: my old life is behind me -- I am a new person, with a new life.

Water baptism is a sign of repentance -- repentance means change -- a change so drastic that the old person is "buried". Burned all your bridges to your past.

Water baptism is a way of giving outward testimony to what has happened inwardly. It is a clear commitment to turn from the old life.

Water baptism helps you to grasp the reality of the spiritual truth that the old "you" has died.

Unless you really believe you have died, there is no need for a burial.

2 Cor. 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

Col. 3:1-3 If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.

Four Types of Commandments

Mitzvah – Those obligations from God that forge a bond between us and Him and express love to all beings. A yoking to God to learn His ways. 

Mishpatim - are the commandments with a clear explanation evident in the world (i.e., prohibiting theft, honoring parents). Dealing primarily with civil and criminal law.

Chukkim -  are the commandments with explanations that are less clear. This word has ritual connotations, and is traditionally associated with commandments "without reason," such as the rules on the red heifer.

Torah Teaching or instruction; the concepts revealed to us about the Lord and the world and how it should relate to Him.

http://www.torah.org/features/spirfocus/whatisamitzvah.html

It’s all about relationship! It is only through mitzvah observance that man can build a deep, enduring, and meaningful relationship with God. The Jew knows that the key to every good relationship is the obligations that it confers. It is a given that the stronger and more intimate the relationship, the more intense the level of responsibility. A husband's commitment to his wife is naturally in a different league than his commitment to a casual acquaintance. Every mitzvah is a demonstration of the fulfillment of obligations because of the close relationship between man and God. That a mitzvah is the very process of forging the bond is contained within the very word mitzvah "commandment," closely related to the word tzavta, meaning "a connection" or "a binding." Mitzvah performance creates a connection between God, the Commander, and man, the one being commanded. Every relationship has two components. There is an element of reaching out, of doing positive actions that build and foster the bond between the parties. Then there is an element of restraint, of holding back from any action that might sully or destroy the relationship. These elements are both found in the Torah commandments. 

How to Celebrate the Biblical Feasts

Rosh Hashanah (Lev. 23:24-25)

Rosh Hashanah is scripturally known as Yom Teruah which means “Day of Blowing” and is commonly known as the Jewish New Year. This is the only feast day when the shofar is blown during the service one hundred times. The shofars are blown in a set pattern of three different sounds, blown three times each for a total of nine blasts. This series of patterns is repeated eleven times for a total of ninety-nine blasts. The one hundredth blast is set apart and is known as the “Last Trump”. Rosh Hashanah occurs on the first and second days of the month of Tishrei. Rosh Hashanah lasts for two days, but it is referred to as one long day. It is customary to eat apples dipped in honey to symbolize a wish for a good and sweet year. It is also common to eat round challah to symbolize a crown that reflects our coronating God as the King of the world. It is customary to greet other by saying L'shanah tovah meaning "for a good year". This is a shorter version of "L'shanah tovah tikatev v'taihatem" (or when addressing women, "L'shanah tovah tikatevi v'taihatemi"), which means "May you be inscribed and sealed for a good year." Rosh Hashanah is a Holy Convocation in which no work is permitted.

Yom Kippur (Lev. 23:26-27)

Yom Kippur literally means “Day of Atonement” and is essentially your last chance to change the judgment that will come when the books are closed and to demonstrate your repentance and make amends with God. Yom Kippur is the day of atonement for the nation of Israel and was the only day the High Priest could enter the Holy of Holies. Yom Kippur is a Holy Convocation in which no work is permitted. Yom Kippur is also a fast day. It is a complete 25-hour fast that begins sunset on the evening before Yom Kippur and ends after sunset on the day of Yom Kippur. It is customary to wear white on Yom Kippur to symbolize purity and cleanness from sin.

Sukkot (Lev. 23:39-42a)

Sukkot is also known as the Feast of Tabernacles. Sukkot begins on the fifteenth of Tishrei and last for seven days. The first and eighth days are Holy Convocations in which no work is permitted. During Sukkot we are to “dwell in booths” or a sukkah for seven days. We dwell in booths to remind us of the temporary dwelling places in the wilderness. There are no laws in scripture pertaining to the specifics of how a sukkah must be built, just that it is temporary. Tradition however says it must have at least two and a half walls that will not blow away in the wind. The walls could be canvas, wood, bamboo, cornstalks, etc. And traditionally speaking you should be able to see stars through the ceiling. Many people also decorate their sukkah. During Sukkot we are to also worship the Lord with what is known as The Four Species (Lev. 23:40). The Four Species are also known as the Lulav and Etrog. The Four Species are made up of an Etrog (a citrus fruit native to Israel, similar to a lemon), a palm branch, two willow branches and three myrtle branches. The six branches are bound together and are referred to as the Lulav. While holding the four species a blessing is said and the species is waved in six directions, East, South, West, North, Up and Down to symbolize God being everywhere.  

Chanukkah

Chanukah begins on the twenty-fifth of Kislev and lasts for eight days. Chanukah is also known as the Feast of Dedication and the Festival of Lights. Chanukah is also spelled many different ways including: Chanukah, Chanukkah, Hanukah, Hanukkah, and many more. Chanukah is about the rededication of the Temple after it was defiled by Antiochus IV. According to tradition, at the time of the rededication, there was very little oil left that had not been defiled by the Greeks. The oil was needed to light the menorah in the Temple. Tradition says there was only enough oil for one day, but it miraculously lasted for eight days which is the amount of time it took to make more of the oil. There is no proof this actually happened, it is purely tradition. During Chanukah we light candles in a nine branched menorah often called a chanukiah. There are eight branches for the eight days of Chanukah as well as a ninth branch called the Shammus (servant) branch which is used to light the other candles. Each night one more candle is added. For example, the first night you will have one candle in the far right branch plus the shammus candle which is often in the center branch and is taller than all the other candles. The candles are placed in the chanukiah from right to left but the candles are light from left to right, always lighting the newest candle first. The shammus is always light first and then used to light all the other candles. There are traditionally three blessings recited after lighting the shammus candle on the first night and then only two of those blessings are recited for the remaining seven days. It is also a tradition to eat fried foods during Chanukah such as Latkes and Sufganyot. Latkes are essentially potato pancakes and sufganyot are doughnuts that are often filled with jelly. Latkes are pronounced like “lot-kuhs” or “lot-keys” depending on dialect. Sufganyot are pronounced like “soof-gone-E-oat”. Some people like to give gifts during Chanukah but it is not one of the most common traditions. Another fun tradition is playing dreidel. Dreidel is a game played with a spinning top called a dreidel. The dreidel is marked with four Hebrew letters, the Nun, Gimel, Hey and Shin. Each letter stands for the Hebrew phrase “Nes Gadol Hayah Sham”, meaning “a great miracle happened there”. Often dreidel is played for “gelt” (small amounts of money made of chocolate).  

Purim (Esther)

Purim means “lots” referring to the lottery that Haman used to choose the date for the massacre of the Jews. Purim is celebrated on the fourteenth day of Adar. The fourteenth was chosen because it is the day that the Jews battled for their lives and won. The fifteenth is celebrated as Purim also because the book of Esther says that in Shushan (a walled city), deliverance from the scheduled massacre was not completed until the next day. So the fifteenth is referred to as Shushan Purim. It is customary to read the book of Esther on Purim. While reading it is tradition to boo, hiss, stamp feet and rattle gragers (noise makers) whenever Haman’s name is mentioned for the purpose of “blotting out the name of Haman”. It is customary to have a party during Purim. It is tradition to dress up and to “eat, drink and be merry”. Gifts are often given during Purim to friends, family and charity. Hamentaschen is a triangular fruit-filled cookie that is common to make for Purim as well. Hamentaschen is pronounce like “Ha-men-tah-sh-en” and literally means “Haman’s pocket” and is meant to represent Haman’s three-cornered hat.

Passover (Lev. 23:5)

Passover is the fourteenth day of the month Nissan. Passover is celebrated in Jewish homes with a Seder. The story of Passover is often recounted during the Seder and read from a Haggadah. Traditionally symbolic foods like Charoset and Horseradish are eaten. The symbolic foods are placed on a specific plate called a Seder plate/tray. No leavened foods are eaten during Passover. The Passover Seder is a reminder to the families celebrating of their ancestors suffering in Egypt and of the miraculous deliverance from their bondage.

Unleavened Bread (Lev. 23:6-8)

The Feast of Unleavened Bread begins on the fifteenth day of Nissan and lasts for seven days. The first and seventh days are Holy Convocations in which no work is permitted. During the Feast of Unleavened Bread no food with leaven is eaten. In the days leading up to Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread Jewish families clean their homes of any leaven so as not to cause defilement during the feast. The unleavened bread eaten during the feast is called Matzo. Matzo is pronounced like “Ma-tzah”.

First Fruits (Lev. 23:10-14)

The Feast of Firstfruits is a celebration of the barley harvest which began in the month of Nissan. It was required of the Israelites to bring the first sheaf of their harvest to the Temple as a wave offering. Feast of Firstfruits also begins the counting of the Omer leading up to Shavuot.

Shavuot (Lev. 23:15-21)

Shavuot is to take place exactly seven Sabbaths and one day or fifty days total from Firstfruits. In Hebrew Shavuot means “weeks”. Shavuot is often called Pentecost which means “fifty” in Greek. Shavuot, like Firstfruits, is a harvest festival in which the Israelites were to present an offering of new grain (in this case wheat) to the Lord in the Temple. Today Shavuot is celebrated in Israel by reading the account of the giving of the Law in Exodus chapters 19 and 20. The book of Ruth is also read because it is a book of harvest and redemption. It is customary to eat dairy foods like cheese during Shavuot.