Shalom friends (Havarim),
I want to bring you once again to look at the scriptures through biblical eyes, the eyes of the Messianic Jew. In the first century after the death, and resurrection of Yeshua, the congregation, khal, in Hebrew, were all Jews until about the year 50 AD.
There was no non-Jews in this body of Messiah. And the Tanach (Old Testament) was the words of Yehovah that was used to lead others to Yeshua, and to prove that Yeshua was the Messiah that was spoken about in the Tanach. Today, people are not even able to go to the Tanach, and lead anyone to Yeshua through these scriptures. In Luke 10:25-26 “And behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” He said unto him, “What is written in the Torah."
Many people today would say, “There are no teachings in the Tanach (Old Testament) on eternal life." The Jews were saved by keeping the Torah (Law); and the Law (Torah) was done away with, didn’t you know that? And there is no grace (chessed) in the Tanach. Yeshua was the one who delivered grace to the New Covenant (Brit Chadashah).
Well, Jews just like Christians are saved through faith and not by works. Habakkuk 2:4 “The just shall live by his faith." Galatians 2:15-16 “We who are Jews by nature, and not Gentile sinners know that a man is not justified by works of the Torah (Law), but by the faith of Yeshua HaMeshiach (Jesus Christ). Even we have believed in Yeshua HaMeshiach, that we might be justified by the faith of Yeshua, and not by the works of the Torah.”
During the time of the Sha’ul (Paul) there were many religious systems and many used the works of that system to earn salvation. The Romans had a system, the Greeks had a system and many who were coming into the Jewish Faith of Yeshua (Jesus) were trying to use Torah or Judaism as a way of salvation as well.
Sha’ul was fighting this mind set of the Gentiles and their way of thinking. Remember there was no G-d of Abraham, Isaac, or Ya’akov in the Gentile world, only religious systems of salvation. Many ways to work yourself to heaven through appeasing the Gods. This was the worlds mind set that Sha’ul was fighting. In Romans 12:1 Sha’ul tells the Gentles, “Be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of Yahweh.” Yeshua the Word of Yahweh was the way to renew the Gentiles minds. Pg.1a
Salvation In the Tanach ?
Is there salvation in the Tanach? Well Yeshua said in Luke 11:25-26 When asked how do I inherit enternal life? Yeshua answers, ”What is written in the Torah (LAW)? How readiest thou?” Is enternal life in the writings of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms? Could He be wrong?
To many people the Law (Torah) is bad. “Under the Law”, they say is going back to the Old Testament and that there is no salvation in that! Well, as a Jewish believer my salvation is in the Tanach the Word of Yehovah. The word made flesh in Yochanan (John) 1:14 “Yeshua”. Ya means G-D or father, Shua means salvation, thus, Yeshua (Jesus) is the salvation of the Father. This name, Yeshua, his mother, Mary gave him as instructed by the angel. So, let us look more deeply at the meaning of the word “Word” Yeshua.
The “word” in the concordance defines the word as ‘logos’ in the Greek. The word in Hebrew is the word ‘dabar’ it means thought, thing, something said, or utterance. The “word’ as we touched on before was YHVH Himself in the mind of the Jewish people. “The Torah”. The teachings and the instruction of Yehovah. The Hebrew mind was different than the rest of the world. They were the only ones that had the teaching and instructions of Yehovah. They were commanded pass these teachings and instructions on to the nations. But the nations had their own way of understanding things. Their own religions. Their own thoughts of who the gods were and the worship of the one god. The Greek and Roman civilization had a great influence on every culture around them. The thinking of the Greeks changed every culture that they touched. Even the Jewish culture was affected by their strong hand and teachings. Hellenism was the religion of the day in the culture of the Greeks and the Romans. Edwin Hatch records the effect of Hellenism in his book “The Influence of the Greek Ideas and Usage's Upon the Christian Church”. Published 1895 by William and Norgate.
Let us take a look at the change going on in the world before Yeshua came on the scene in the Brit Chadashah (renewed covenant). The Greeks were changing the world around them. Among the religious Greeks of the time of Yeshua and after Him the meaning of the word logos meant the ‘god of gods’, the devine mind of the gods. He or it was the “supreme knowledge” also known as gnosis. This was something Sha’ul (Paul) was fighting in his day. Logos was the right mind, the right thought ,the right purpose and the right creed. In other words the right Belief. Knowledge was Salvation: say the right thing and believe the right things and you were saved. And so we have a subtle shift from the teachings and instruction of Yehovah made flesh to a divine knowledge of the god of gods. Salvation became an intellectual pursuit, with structured creeds as it’s evidence.
Let us look at what the Christian historian, Edwin Hatch, says about Greek influence on the Church. “The word of faith came to be transferred from simple trust in YHVH to mean the acceptance of a series of propositions in the metaphysics... The proposition is : Belief in God came to mean the assent to certain propositions ABOUT God”.
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Devar: The Word : Yeshua
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| The sect of Gnositcs was one of the things that Yeshua and Sha’ul (Jesus and Paul) had to fight. In 1 Corinthians chapter 8, one can see Sha’ul addressing those that “know”, or “have knowledge”. This is much of what we fight today in the Church. Gnosticism was a religious sect that was a way of thinking. And disregarded the things of the Jews and their religion of Judaism, the Torah. They believed the transcendent G-d or demiurge sent down a redeemer (Christ), who brought them salvation in a form of a secret gnosis or knowledge.
To the Gnostics, salvation was not dependent upon faith or works but rather knowledge of one’s nature, so there was much indulgence in licentious behavior. There were no rules for the body since the logos or ultimate knowledge was not interested in physical or material things. This also meant that knowledge was not interested in physical or material things. This meant that marriage was held in contempt as well, for procreation involved the body.
Sholmo (King Solomon) said in Ecclesiastes 1:9 "The things that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done: is that which shall be done: and there is nothing new under the sun. Is there anything, where of it may be said, See, this is new?” Look at the Christian world today and the homosexuals and that movement. They say that G-d is only concerned with the heart or spirit.
The Word of Yehovah is different from the Logos of the Greek, or Roman way of thinking, when one looks at the concordance of the Renewed Covenant, the Tanach. When you read the Renewed Covenant you must always go back to understanding the culture of the people to whom it was written. Their culture was set by the observance of Torah. His WORD teaches us His ways and His truth and His Life.
Mizmor (Psalms) 119:105 "Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path."
Yochanan 1:1 “In the beginning (Beresheet) was the WORD and the WORD was with Yahweh and Yahweh was the WORD."
Luke 8:21 “And He answered and said unto them, My mother and my brethren are these which hear the WORD of God, and do it."
Luke 5:1 “And it came to pass, that, as the people pressed upon Him to hear the WORD of G-D, He (i.e the WORD of Yahweh) stood by the Lake of Kinneret."
Acts 11:1 “And the apostles and brethren that were in Judea heard that the Gentiles had also received the WORD of Yahweh."
Yochanan 1:14 “The WORD became a human being and lived with us, and we saw his Sh’khinah."
Acts 6:7 “And the WORD of Yahweh increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly; and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith”.
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Devar : The WORD : Yeshua
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| All the words in the B’rit Chadashah did not just appear out of the blue, they were already defined in Jewish culture and teachings of the day. The WORD of Yehovah!...Bersheet (Genesis) 15:1 “After these things the WORD of the YHVH came unto A’bram in a vision, saying Fear not A’bram: I’am your shield, and your exceeding great reward”.
Devarim (Deuteronomy) 8:3 "That he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every WORD that preceedeth out of the mouth of YHVH doth man live”.
B’midbar (Numbers) 15:30-31 “But the soul that doeth ought presumptuously, whether he be born in the land, or a stranger, the same reproacheth YHVH; and that soul shall be cut off from among his people. Because he hath despised the WORD of YHVH, and hath broken His commandments, that soul shall utterly be cut off; his iniquity shall be upon him”.
Dueteronomy 5:5 “I stood between YHVH and you at that time, to show you the WORD of YHVH”.
Psalm 33:4-6 “For the WORD of YHVH is right; and all His works are done in truth. He loveth righteousness and judgement: the earth is full of the goodness of YHVH. By the WORD of YHVH were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of His mouth”.
Yesha’Yahu (Isaiah) 5:24 “Therefore, as fire licks up the stubble, and the chaff is consumed in the flame; so their root will rot, and their flowers scatter like dust; because they have rejected the Torah of Adonia-Tzva’ot, they have despised the WORD of the Holy One of Isra’el.”
Yesha’Yahu 40:8 “The grass dries up, the flower fades; but the WORD of our Yahweh will stand forever.”
Yochanan 10:35 “If he called them gods, unto whom the WORD of Yahweh came, and the scriptures cannot be broken.” The scriptures that were being spoken of was the Tanach (Old Testament) they cannot be broken or explained away. They were written by the finger of Yahweh.
The New Testament (B’rit Chadashah) is a renewed covenant and not something new. It is not a new religion started by Sha’ul or by Yeshua, but a renewed way that makes all redeemed through the shed blood of the Messiah Yeshua. The Torah is enternal, and you see in the future everyone keeping the Torah. How is it that for now it is okay to break the Law, but in the future it is not okay? Think about this, when Yeshua is ruling in Jerusalem His Torah is followed and obeyed, but now when He is ruling in the heavenly Jerusalem His Torah is old and passed away. pg.4a
Mayim Hayim Ministries Amarillo, Tx. PO Box 454 79105-0454
A Messianic community of believers in Yeshua the Messiah of Israel to bring Torah to the nations. To the Jew first and then to the nations.
Our Ministry supports Prime Time Christian Broadcast
The Temple Institute in Jerusalem. Restoring the Third Temple. Rabbi Chaim Richman.
Kids for Kids. Supports children who have lost parents or family due to Arab terrorism in Israel.
North India New Life Society, Inc. Dr. M.V Thankachen Reaching the unsaved for Yeshua in urban and rural parts of Northern India
Our main project is the Messianic Bible Prophecy Project. Creating a Bible for our fellow Jewish brothers who need them to reach out to fellow Jews. Evangelist in Israel.
Archie Hunnicutt, JR. Director of Ministries. Mayim-Hayim.org (web site) E-mail huniarch@cox.net Services Friday night at 7:00 PM Shabbat service at 2:00 PM until Hadalah. Please feel free to contact us about our Ministry.
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