The Progression of Sin

Here are the first three different words for “sin”

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

1. Sin

#2403. hajx  chatta'ah,  khat-taw-aw' from #2398. 

ajx  chata',  khaw-taw' to miss, hence (figuratively and generally) to sin;

2. Transgression

#6588. evp  pesha`,  peh'-shah, a revolt, to break away from a just authority

3. Iniquity 

#5771. Nwe  `avon,  aw-vone'  perversity, to twist or distort

Shema means to hear and obey so the next sin is direct disobedience.

Deuteronomy 28:45  Moreover all these curses shall come upon thee, and shall pursue thee, and overtake thee, till thou be destroyed; because thou hearkenedst not unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which he commanded thee:

4. Not Obey

#8085. emv  shama`,  shaw-mah'

(Refuse) to hear intelligently (often with implication of attention, obedience)

We are to serve God so what follows is a direct refusal to by serving other gods.

Deuteronomy 8:19 And it shall be, if thou do at all forget the LORD thy God, and walk after other gods, and serve them, and worship them, I testify against you this day that ye shall surely perish.

5. Refusal to serve God

#5647. dbe  `abad,  aw-bad' to work (in any sense); by implication, to serve, enslave, etc.:--X be, keep in bondage.

Now it progresses to acting treacherously, translated as trespass:

Numbers 31:6 And Moses sent them to the war, a thousand of every tribe, them and Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, to the war, with the holy instruments, and the trumpets to blow in his hand.

6. To act treacherously

#4604. lem  ma`al,  mah'-al  from 4603; treachery, i.e. sin:falsehood, grievously, sore, transgression, trespass, X very.

This is followed by outright rebellion:

Isaiah 1:20 But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.

7. To make God bitter by being stubbornly disobedient

#4784  hrm  marah,  maw-raw'  to make bitter (figuratively) to rebel

This develops into wickedness:

Isaiah 57:20 But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt.

8. To be wicked with strong excitement

7563.  evr  rasha`,  raw-shaw' morally wrong; an (actively) bad person

  

We have a similar Hebrew word also translated as iniquity with the aleph at the beginning rather than the Ayin:

Micah 2:1 Woe to them that devise iniquity, and work evil upon their beds! when the morning is light, they practise it, because it is in the power of their hand.

9. To live worthlessly or without any worthy purpose

205.  Nwa  'aven,  aw-ven' to pant (hence, to exert oneself, usually in vain; to come to naught); strictly nothingness;

Concluding with the Hebrew word for evil:

Genesis 6:5 And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

10. To spoil or dash to pieces the moral worth 

7451.  er  ra`,  rah  evil (natural or moral):-- affliction,calamity,

This is why:

Genesis 6:6  And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.

El Shaddai Ministries 

Yom HaAtzmaut

In 1948, Israel signed a Declaration of Independence and established the State of Israel, the first and only Jewish State.

Happy Independence Day Israel!

Yom HaZikaron

Today is Israel's Memorial Day. It is a day of remembrance for the fallen soldiers of Israel's Defense Forces and victims of terrorism.

Biblically Clean & Unclean Animals

Last week's portion (Lev. 11) touched on foods that are clean and unclean for us to eat. Here is a list of those animals. 

NOTE: This is not an exhaustive list. 

Clean "Ruminant" Animals - Deut. 14:4-6 

• Antelope
• Buffalo
• Cow
• Deer 
• Elk 
• Goat
• Lamb
• Moose
• Ox 
• Sheep 
• Giraffe

Clean Fish - Lev. 11:9, 10

• Anchovy
• Bass
• Butterfish
• Carp 
• Cod
• Flounder
• Halibut
• Herring
• Perch
• Pike 
• Salmon
• Sardine
• Smelt
• Trout
• Tuna

Clean Birds - Deut. 14:11-19

• Chicken
• Coot
• Duck
• Goose
• Grouse 
• Pheasant
• Pigeon
• Quail
• Turkey

Unclean Animals - Deut. 14:4-6 

• Bear
• Pig 
• Rabbit

Unclean Birds - Lev. 11:20 

• Hawks
• Eagle
• Falcon
• Seagulls
• Owls
• Raven
• Stork
• Buzzard
• Bat

Unclean Fish & other Sea/Water creatures - Lev. 11:9, 10

• Amphibians (Frog and Toad)
• Crustaceans (Crab, Lobster, Shrimp and Prawns)
• Shellfish (Clams, Oyster, Scallop and Mussel)
• Scaleless fish (Catfish, Sturgeon, Puffer fish, Eel, Shark & Rays - not a true fish)
• Squids & Octopus
• Snail & Slug
• Abalone, Limpet & Nautilus
• Misc. Marine Invertebrates (Sea Cucumber, Star Fish, Jelly Fish, Sea Anemone)
• Reptiles (Alligator, Crocodile, Lizard, Snake and Turtle)
• Marine Mammals (Seal, Walrus and Sea lion)
• Cetaceans (Whale, Porpoise and Dolphine) 
• Insects (all except those of the Locust family) 

Never Again

"First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Socialist.

Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me."  

-Pastor Martin Niemöller (1892–1984), concentration camp survivor.

Today is Yom HaShoa, Holocaust Remembrance Day. Today we remember the 6 million Jews and the 5 million non-Jews murdered and persecuted including: "Gypsies, Serbs, Polish intelligentsia, resistance fighters from all the nations, German opponents of Nazism, homosexuals, Jehovah's Witnesses, habitual criminals, and the "anti-social," e.g. beggars, vagrants, and hawkers." *

Today we remember what it means to be silent in the face of such atrocities. Today we say Never Again. Today we say Never Again not just because we hope it will not happen but because we refuse to stay silent and let it happen. We say Never Again because we refuse to be intimidated into silence. We say Never Again because we refuse to sit by and watch people be slaughtered simply because they are different from the masses.

Today we not only remember the terrible things that happened but we remember what God has done for us. We remember that God heard our cries and liberated us. We remember that He is there even in His silence.  We remember His love and mercy that He showed us and continues to show us. We remember that God is a God of Healing and of Miracles. We remember that even if the World tries to wipe us out God defends us every time. We remember that God keeps His promises. We remember that He fulfilled promises made to our ancestors and took us back to His land. We remember the promises yet to be fulfilled and delight in them.

"I believe in the sun even when it’s not shining. I believe in love even when I don’t feel it. I believe in God even when He is silent."  -Found scratched into a wall at Auschwitz

* https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/36qs.html

Stipulating Eclipse Comments

From reading some of the blogs, I find people are really misunderstanding what I said and what I am trying to say. It may be because of different definitions of terms. First off, concerning the rapture, never do I mention the word. When I talk about the second coming I am not referring to the rapture but to Messiah’s feet landing on the Mt of Olives in Zechariah 14. I am not setting dates for the rapture. The only dates I am giving is the dates NASA gives us for eclipses and the dates God gives us on His calendar and then I bring in the connection. You can do whatever you want according to your own theology with this information. With much humor I say, “Put it in your own theological pipe and smoke it however you want.”  

I did say, and again say, IF these eclipses in 2015 are what the Lord was referring to, then 2015 would look like a possible year for His feet to land on the Mt of Olives. And, IF this is true then the tribulation could, not would, start this fall at the Feast of Trumpets, (which technically is 2 days long:  KJV Matthew 24:36  But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only).  In light of all the prophetic events going on, I would say it is likely but I’m not saying definitely. As far as the rapture, if you’re pretrib then 2008 could be interesting, if you’re midtrib, 2012 could be interesting, if you’re prewrath then 2014 might be interesting, if you’re a posttribber then 2015 might be interesting and if you’re amillennial just sit back and watch the show!

If you want my own personal view of the rapture it is this:

It’s not even on my radar! I’m not focused on it, I am focused on the mission at hand. I will work till Messiah comes. Believe me He will take whoever He wants to take, whenever He wants to take them and no one will lose points for being wrong. If your house is on fire and you escape are you satisfied that you are out or will you do all you can to get your children out as well? With any fire there are people rushing out and firemen rushing in. I guess it depends on what you feel you’re calling is. I don’t remember who, but someone said (and now in a popular song):

“Some want to live within  the  sound  of  church  or  chapel  bell;  but I want to run a rescue shop within a yard of hell!”    

That is my motto. If the Lord wants to keep me here during the tribulation on a mission run, I’m happy to stay. If He wants me out, then I’m happy to go! It’s not my will or rapture theology that will take me or leave me but His will.

After the sin of the golden calf God told Moses to go on and take the children of Israel into the Promised Land, but He wasn’t going. Moses said, “Hey! If you ain’t goin, we ain’t goin!” So what God told Moses next, you only notice in Hebrew not in English. God said, “Okay I’ll go with you” but Moses said that is not good enough. The reason is that the word “you” was in the singular not the plural. So in effect God was saying He would go with Moses but not the children of Israel. Moses, even though God was going to be with him, was not satisfied unless God went with the whole group. That is the difference between a “Greek Mindset” where it is all about the indivi-dual and the “Hebrew Heart” which is it being all about the community. I have a Hebrew Heart. My relatives died in Auschwitz. And I say never again! I am a pit bull for Yeshua and He will have to pry me off the enemy before I let him take any more of my relatives! Come hell or high-water or the tribulation I am running to the sound of the roar! As a mother or father who sees their child about to be taken, like a laser I am focused on the rescue! The Father wants His children saved and until He calls me out I’m going in. I am not afraid to run into the fiery furnace if I know God is with me. This is the culmination of all of history! What angels and all those before us have been waiting for. My hearts cry is to put me in. When it’s all over I’d rather be telling of the miracles of being in the furnace and God’s protection rather than being outside as a spectator.

Remember when Messiah said the gates of hell will not prevail against the church! Gates are a defensive piece of armory, not offensive!  The church has been terrified of being attacked by gates?! The truth here is that the gates are trying to keep people in captivity and the church is supposed to storm the gates of hell and rescue the people held captive! The truth is that Satan and his minions are terrified of us! It’s time to storm them and that’s my heart. Be Blessed!

 Run to the Battle: 

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUMcBELImd0

I hope you enjoyed listening to the song above and now watch the video.  May you be inspired to join me as we Wake, Watch and go to Work! Pass this on to other Warriors! We need to quit squabbling over the dating of the rapture and unite to the Work! Keeps this going, time is short, and the battle is near!

-Pastor Mark    

Top 10 Reasons Why Christians Should Know Torah

Know Torah - Know Jesus/Yeshua

1.     Jesus/Yeshua can be found there! 

John 1:45 Philip found Nathanael, and said to him, “We have found him, of whom Moses in the Torah, and the Prophets, wrote: Yeshua of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” 

How can you know the answer if you never knew the question? They only recognized Yeshua as the Messiah because they knew the Torah. The Torah is where the hidden treasure is found! Yeshua began with Moses and so should we. 

2.    So we can properly understand who Jesus/Yeshua is! 

Luke 24:27 Beginning from Moses and from all the prophets, he explained to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. 

How can we claim to know Yeshua if we know nothing of His family, His culture or His country? 

3.    So we can believe Jesus/Yeshua is the Messiah! 

John 5:46,47 For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote about me. But if you don’t believe his writings, how will you believe my words?” 

If you throw out the Torah and claim it is irrelevant you have no validation for your belief in Jesus/Yeshua. It is not a matter of Moses versus Jesus it is belief in what Moses says proves your belief in Messiah! 

4.    Torah sets your heart on fire! 

Luke 24:32 They said one to another, “Weren’t our hearts burning within us, while he spoke to us along the way, and while he opened the Scriptures to us?” 

There were no Gideon Bibles back then. All they had was the Tanakh. God says His Word is like a fire. Our hearts will burn when we allow the Holy Spirit to reveal the truths of the Torah to us.  

5.    Torah, as the beginning, is the Key to prophetic understanding! 

Isaiah 46:9,10 Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me; declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done; saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure;  

The Bible says it is to God’s Glory that he conceals matters and it is to our honor to search them out. You will never fully understand Revelations if you don’t understand Genesis and the Torah. 

6.    So we can know the promises to the family we are grafted in to! 

Romans 9:4,5 Who are Israelites; whose is the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service, and the promises; of whom are the fathers, and from whom is Messiah as concerning the flesh, who is over all, God, blessed forever. Amen. 

There are not two trees, one Jewish and one Christian. We are grafted into one tree and the early “church” fathers are Abraham, Isaac and Jacob! 

7.    Torah comes from the breath of God and is His Word! 

2 Timothy 3:16,17 Every Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. 

Again there was no New Testament when this was written. The Torah equips us for every good work. 

8.    Torah brings us liberty! 

Psalm 119:43-48 And take not the word of truth utterly out of my mouth; for I have hoped in your judgments. So shall I keep your law continually forever and ever. And I will walk at liberty: for I seek your precepts. I will speak of your testimonies also before kings, and will not be ashamed. And I will delight myself in your commandments, which I have loved. My hands also will I lift up to your commandments, which I have loved; and I will meditate in your statutes.  

Only when we know our boundaries do we have true liberty as well as safety for everyone.

 

9.    Torah reveals God’s heart and is what makes our lives go well! 

Deuteronomy 5:29 O that there were such an heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their children forever!  

God is the same yesterday, today and forever! God would never say that Torah is good, now Torah is bad, and now Torah is good again. The Torah is God’s instruction. His instruction is always for our good as He loves us! 

10.  Torah prevents us from being deceived and reveals false prophets! 

Deuteronomy 13:1-5 If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and gives you a sign or a wonder, And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spoke to you, saying, Let us go after other gods, which you have not known, and let us serve them; You shall not listen to the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your God proves you, to know whether you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. You shall walk after the LORD your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and you shall serve him, and join to him. And that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death; because he has spoken to turn you away from the LORD your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to thrust you out of the way which the LORD your God commanded you to walk in. So shall you put the evil away from the middle of you. 

Any person who believes the Torah is done away with is a false prophet. There are many modern day “prophets” going around claiming to hear from God. Just ask them if the Torah is done away with. If they say, yes, Run for your lives! 

Statement of Beliefs

We believe in one God, as He was revealed Himself in the Scriptures. “Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is One.”

(KJV Deuteronomy 6:4) We believe that the intended meaning of this word “One” is found in the original

Hebrew text, which used the word “echad” and means “a composite unity.”

We believe that Yeshua (Jesus) is the Son of God, the Messiah (Who’s the Christ), the Eternal One in Whom all the fullness of the deity dwells in the bodily form, and who is the Word who became flesh and dwelt among us, and whose glory we beheld, the glory of the uniquely begotten Son of God, full of grace and truth.

We believe that the Spirit of God comforts, teaches, leads, indwells and empowers all whom He regenerates.

We believe that the Bible, both the Tanakh (Old Testament) and the Brit Chadasha (New Covenant), is the only inspired, infallible and authoritative Word of God. (II Timothy 3:16-17)

We believe that all have sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23)

We believe that Yeshua’s death and resurrection accomplished the atonement for all who would place their faith in Him. Whoever trusts in God, in His work alone, is made a new creation in Messiah, indwelt by the Spirit of God, and is transferred from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of His own Son. (Ephesians 2:8-9; Romans 5 & 6)

We believe in the community of God’s covenants with the physical people of Israel according to Jeremiah 31:35-36 and parallel passages. Part of the fulfillment of these covenants is the physical return of the people of Israel to their Promised Land. (Deuteronomy 30)

We believe salvation is by faith through the grace of God alone, and not by human efforts. One may not earn, merit or keep this eternal salvation by his own efforts. A new creation is the work of God alone. (Ephesians 2:8-10; Romans 8:29-39)

We believe in the spiritual unity of equality of all believers in Messiah Yeshua. (Ephesians 2:11-22)

We believe that everyone who trusts in Yeshua is grafted into the “olive tree.” While this does not make them

Jewish, they are granted the privilege of having written upon their hearts, as participants of the New Covenant, God’s laws. (Romans 11:11-24; Jeremiah 31:33)

We believe in the immersion in living waters done in the name of Adonai Yeshua HaMashiach.

We do not hold to or believe in the following: “Two House” teaching as it is a form of replacement theology, that any nation is made up of any one of the lost tribes, in trying to determine which lost tribe you come from as our identity must be in Messiah, the “Sacred Name” movement, sighting of the new moon or by anyone’s personal barley crop to determine the Biblical calendar as they have no authority. We do believe that the Jews in Israel are made up of every tribe.  

Pastor's Bio

Mark Biltz, founder of El Shaddai Ministries in Washington State is a well-known and popular commentator on the Feasts of the Lord and has produced a series of Dvd’s on the Feasts that have gone around the world. His research and theories have earned him guest appearances on both radio and television as well the cover of magazines. He teaches how the Messianic prophecies that Jesus fulfilled 2,000 years ago when He came the first time happened to the very day. He then explains how the second coming events will also happen to the very day of the Fall Feasts. Yeshua died for our sins on Passover, was buried on the Feast of Unleavened Bread, resurrected from death on First Fruits, and then sent the Holy Spirit to indwell believers on the Jewish Feast of Pentecost (Shavuot). If He fulfilled the spring Feasts to the day of His first coming He will fulfill the Fall Feasts to the day of His second coming. 

He has also revealed a link between charts of solar and lunar eclipses from NASA’s website with Israel’s history, the Biblical feast days, and signs in the heavens drawing clear similarities between them, lining up through history.   He’s spoken at congregations & conferences in Sweden, Germany, Switzerland, and Canada as well in the U.S. in Alaska, Washington, Oregon, California, New Mexico, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, and Florida. He has been interviewed by FOX television, appeared on the Sid Roth television broadcast as well as on Prophecy in the News. He’s been interviewed by many radio stations across the United States and Canada. The website, www.elshaddaiministries.us  receives millions of hits from over 40 nations around the world every year. He has 40,000 regular visitors every month downloading messages from the website. 

Mark was born in 1956 in Wichita, Kansas and raised as a Roman Catholic. In 1975 at 19 years of age he was attending Kansas Newman College in Wichita when a childhood friend gave me a better understanding of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He left the Roman Catholic Church and joined a youth organization called the Agape Force. His teachers included Leonard Ravenhill, David Wilkerson, and Winkie Pratney. He then went back to Kansas where he went to a local bible college. The Pastor of the church moved to Washington State and asked him to move out there in 1987 and be his associate. Mark was also the administrator/teacher for South King County Bible College.  Mark felt a real need to refocus on Hebrew Roots and to get back to an original understanding of the context and culture to have a correct understanding of the Bible. His wife, Vicki, bought him a book by a Jewish Rabbi named Moshe Braun called The Jewish Holy Days - Their Spiritual Significance. He saw such depth to the material and realized that Christians were missing so much by seeing themselves as cut off from the Jewish mindset and culture. He became a passionate student of literature written from a Jewish mindset and was humbled by the grace, wisdom and insight that poured forth from our Jewish brethren. Mark realized the Jewish people loved the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and had been studying and mining the Bible for millennia looking for nuggets.  So he started El Shaddai Ministries in 2001 to educate Christians from all different denominations on how anti-Semitism and replacement theology has crippled our understanding of God and the covenants He has made with His people – the Jews.