Tradition of Men

Layers of Tradition in both Jews and Christians need to be investigated and each group needs to alter according to God’s Word – Yeshua is needed and the Torah is also needed (both are evidenced in scripture), both together to form the one new man through Messiah.  However, each group has added their own customs and so called sacred religious traditions…  The question is:  Who Are You Obeying?

Matthew 15 v3 why do you transgress God by keeping your tradition?  V6 by your tradition you make null and void the word of God.

The ancient name Pharisee is today the modern name Orthodox Jew (which comes from the word Pharisee).  If you are a Pharisee then you have 2 torah’s which is the written word and the oral.  These are man-made additions called Takanot (enactments or in the dictionary – reforms that change biblical law).

List:  Oral Torah 

1. Mishnah 200CE (Pharisaical traditions, orals, law);  2. Jerusalem Talmud 350 CE (written in Tiberias);  3.  Babylonidan Talmud 500 CE;  4.  Midrash 200-900CE (The Midrash states the absolute authority of a rabbi - which sets him above God).

Eg. Kippah wearing was not around 1000 years ago and is a man-made law which has become sanctified over time.  You may say well it’s nice to wear one and it feels good, and what’s wrong with adding this….

What’s wrong is stated in deut 4v2 and other, about specific prohibitions of adding or detracting from the Torah (law of God or YeHoVaH).

Another eg. Do not boil a kid in mothers milk is not a dietary law, it simply means what it says, and this, in context, is because it was done as a fertility paganistic ritual.

Another eg, The Midrash (Rabbinical writings) says, a person mustn’t say I wont keep commandments of elders because it is not in the torah!  The Almighty will say, No, son etc.  (This is literally putting words in God’s mouth).  It goes on, ‘Even I G-d must obey their decree (which is taken by taking a sentence out of context ‘you will declare and I will fulfill’).  This is sanctifying traditions.

Another eg, washing hands before eating done in a very specific and ritualistic way according to jewish man-made law   Matt 15 v2-3 they ask why the men are breaking the tradition of the elders and Yeshua says why are you breaking the commands of God to keep your tradition?

Matt. 15v9 teaching for doctrines the commandments of men

Isa 29v13 a learned commandment of men

At the same time, The traditions of easter and Christmas are not only not in scripture, man-made but also their researched roots and source of where they came from… can be looked at by reading: http://www.shalom-peace.com/ischris.html

Not only are we not to remember them, we are not to mention them  Ex 23 v 13 Names of other gods you shall not ‘zekher’ (means remember but is broader and stronger meaning to say with mouth).      

See Deut 6 v 13-25…

You are to fear YeHoVaH your God, serve him and swear by his name.  You are not to follow other gods, chosen from the gods of the people around you, because YeHoVaH your God, who is here with you, is a jealous God. If you do, the anger of YeHoVaH your God will flare up against you and he will destroy you from the face of the earth.  Do not put YeHoVaH your God to the test, as you tested him at Massah (testing).  Observe diligently the mitzvot (commands) of YeHoVaH your God, and his instructions and laws which he has given you.  You are to do what is right and good in the sight of YeHoVaH so that things will go well with you and you will enter and possess the good land YeHoVaH swore to your ancestors, expelling all your enemies ahead of you, as YeHoVaH said.  Some day your child will ask ‘What is the meaning of the instructions, laws and rulings which YeHoVaH our God has laid down for you?’  Then you will tell your child…. What He did for you in Egypt…. V24 YeHoVaH ordered us to observe ALL these laws, to fear YeHoVaH our God, ALWAYS for our own GOOD, so that he might keep us alive as we are today.  It will be righteousness for us if we are careful to obey all these mitzvot before YeHoVaH our God, just as he ordered us to do.

Keeping His Word

YeHoVaH’s Commands V Man-made Law

Why We Should Still Keep Torah (HIS Law/Word)

Mattityahu (Matthew) 5 v 18  Yes indeed!  I tell you that until heaven and earth pass away, not so much as a yud (dot) or a stroke will pass from the Torah (law) – not until everything that must happen has happened.  V19 so whoever disobeys the least of these mitzvot (commandment) and teaches others to do so will be called the least in the kingdom of heaven.

Devarim (Deut) 4 v 2 [Specific prohibitions of adding to Torah or taking away – violation to do so].  

12 v 32 Everything I am commanding you, you are to take care to do.  Do not add to it or subtract from it.

Mishlei (Prov) 30 v 6 Don’t add anything to His words or he will rebuke you and you be found a liar.

Devarim (Deut) 30 v 10 However, all this will happen only if you pay attention to what YeHoVaH your God says, so that you obey his mitzvot and regulations which are written in this book of the Torah, if you turn to YHVH your God with all your heart and all your being.  V11 For this mitzvah which I am giving you today is not too hard for you, it is not beyond your reach.

(next verses go on to say the word, torah, is here on earth and near to us, not in heaven or somewhere where we still need to get hold of it – we have it).

…and How…

Sh’mot (Ex) 23 v 2 Do not follow the crowd when it does what is wrong, and don’t allow the popular view to sway you into offering testimony for any cause if the effect will pervert justice.

Devarim (Deut) 31 v 12,13 Assemble the people – so that they can hear, learn, fear YHVH your God and take care to obey all the words of this Torah and so that their children, who have not known, can hear and learn to fear YHVH your God, for as long as you live in the land you are crossing the Yarden to possess.   [How to keep Torah – hear, learn and do]

*By using correct interpretation of language and context, look at scripture from a Hebraic perspective, understand law/grace argument from perspective of writers and not our own, leave man’s doctrine and cling to scripture.  The dividing lines are being drawn.

His Name

Ex 6:3  He talks of having appeared to Avraham, Yitzhak & Yakov as El Shaddai & introduces himself to Moses here as YHVH (This gives more revelation of who He is and His character).

Names for God
The one that appears the most frequently in the Tanakh (Old Testament - Torah-Pentateuch, Prophets & Writings), 6,823 times is the Tetragrammaton YHVH, transliterated Ye-Ho-VaH.

Other Names are significant and shed light on the character & nature of God.
The Tetragrammaton means The Four Letters.

Gen 4:26 The men began to call upon the name of YHVH.

YeHoVaH OR Yawheh
The root of the name YHVH in Hebrew means "to be."  The letter V may well have been pronounced more like the sound W in ancient times. However, between the V or W pronunciation there is no difference in meaning, and therefore virtually no significance, in my opinion.

Biblical Hebrew was written only in consonants, as we see in the letters YHVH. Therefore, the main question of pronunciation concerns which vowel (points) to add to the consonants. The vowels can make a difference in the meaning. If we add the vowels - "e"-"o"-"a"- to the consonants, we receive the name YeHoVah.

In this format, the "e" (sh'va) stands for the future tense, the "o" (holom) for the present tense, and the "a" (patach) refers to the past tense. That gives meaning to the name YeHoVah as "He will be, He is, He was." In other words, the Eternal One. This meaning fits the understanding of the early patriarchs.

If one chooses the pronunciation, YaHWeH, there is no particular sense to the vowel pattern. For that reason I see YeHoVaH as preferable. Yet there is another reason grammatically. Hebrew vowels change form depending on the number of syllables, and on where the syllables are located in the name.

If there is just one syllable, such as Yah, then the "a" vowel is correct. Or if the letters come at the end of the word, such as Eliyah (Elijah), then the "a" is also correct. However, when the vowel comes at the beginning with multiple syllables, it changes. This can easily be proved by checking a concordance of the Bible.

Such names as Yehoyachin or Yehoshua or Yehoyada or Yehoshaphat contain the same root letters as YHVH, in the same syllable arrangement. All of the names in this pattern display the vowels as "e"-"o"-"a." If that same pattern is placed in the letters YHVH, we see the name again as Yehovah.

Since EVERY example of the YHVH root used in biblical names in this pattern shows the vowels as "e"-"o"-"a", one would have to show some other overwhelming evidence, textually or grammatically, to choose a different pronunciation. There is no such other overwhelming documentation weighty enough to refute the biblical and grammatical evidence.

In summary, 1) the meaning of the vowels, 2) the grammatical form, and 3) the list of biblical examples, all point to Yehovah (or Yehowah) as the preferred pronunciation over Yahweh.

Source: Revive Israel.org

** YeHoVaH (with these 3 vowels) appears over 50 times in the Leningrad Manuscript (the oldest copy of the Old testament in hebrew which is kept in a vault in Jerusalem.

YeHoVaH's Calendar

Real New Year:  Aviv (known as Nisan)... according to His clock.
It starts with Aviv, a season of Spring when the barley grain has reached it's full growth.  The Book of Exodus establishes the beginning of the Hebrew calendar.

The Biblical Year begins with the first sighting of the Crescent New Moon after the barley in Israel reaches a stage in its ripeness called Aviv.
Ex 12 v 2 You are to begin your calendar with this month, it will be the first month of the year for you.

(Passover is celebrated in Aviv.  Lev 23v5-6 In the first month, on the 14th day of the month, between sundown and complete darkness, comes Pesach for YHVH (YeHoVaH).)

The List of Months:
Nisan...
Iyar
Sivan
Tammuz
Av
Elul
Tishrei (sept)
Chesvan
Kislev (nov)
Tevet (started tonight...)
Shivat
Adar (added in a leap year so about 7 times in 19 years)

*All actually babylonian names (bible says call them Month 1, Month 2 etc)

7 Biblical Feasts

1. Pesach
2. Feast of unleavened bread
3. First fruits
4. Shavuot
5. Yom teruah (day of shofar blast or noise 'teruah')*See explanation below.
6. Yom kippur
7. Sukkot

The List is in Leviticus 23.  Shabbat is also commanded here.  It is a PLEASURE to keep the sabbath!
And Rosh Chodesh 'The New Moon (Num 10:10,Ps 81:3)/Head of the Month (known as/celebration)'.  The Book of Numbers God speaks about celebrating Rosh Chodesh, to Moses.
We read of a time when ALL flesh will come to bow in worship of Him from Rosh Chodesh to Rosh Chodesh & from Shabbat to Shabbat.  In the new kingdom we will certainly be recognizing Rosh Chodesh & Shabbat, as well as Sukkot.  It says in Isa. 66:23 & Zech 14:16-19.

Rosh Chodesh is not a celebration of the moon or a form of moon worship. It is a recognition of the beginning of a new month. Rosh Chodesh literally means “head of the month”. When HaShem gave His Biblical calendar to His people there wasn’t a fixed calendar in place. The people did in fact use the heavens to determine their calendar – their days, weeks and months, seasons and years. One could look up at the moon in the evening and know just where they were in the month. They could look up at the stars and see what season it was or navigate based on the constellations. The sighting of the new moon signaled the new month to begin and it was a time for a festive family celebration. It wasn’t until the fourth century CE (aka AD) that Hillel II established a fixed calendar for the Jews in the diaspora. Because the Jews had been dispersed from their land and were living among the nations, they needed to have a fixed calendar in order to keep HaShem’s holy days. Hillel II established this calendar based on mathematical calculations and it was accepted by the Sanhedrian. This is what today is referred to as the Jewish calendar.      Source:  followingtheancientpaths.wordpress

*Yom Teruah is the only one which is given no reason for its celebration, and has become known & celebrated incorrectly as Rosh Hashana...

Today few people remember the biblical name of Yom Teruah and instead it is widely known as "Rosh Hashanah" which literally means “head of the year” and hence also “New Years”. The transformation of Yom Teruah (Day of Shouting) into Rosh Hashanah (New Years) is the result of pagan Babylonian influence upon the Jewish nation. The first stage in the transformation was the adoption of the Babylonian month names. In the Torah the months are numbered as First Month, Second Month, Third Month, etc (Leviticus 23; Numbers 28). During their sojourn in Babylonia our ancestors began to use the pagan Babylonian month names, a fact readily admitted in the Talmud:

“The names of the months came up with them from Babylonia.” (Jerusalem Talmud, Rosh Hashanah 1:2 56d)         Source:   Nehemiah Gordon's write-up.

The Facts

Israel needs you.  And you need the facts:  

•    In the week preceding the launch of Operation Pillar of Defense, over 120 missiles were fired from Gaza into southern Israel.
•    From the beginning of 2012 until the launch of Operation Pillar of Defense, over 760 missiles were fired from Gaza into Israel's southern communities.
•    Since Israel launched this operation last week, an additional 880 missiles have been fired into Israel, killing three Israelis, injuring many more, and destroying homes and schools.
•    Hamas has fired missiles at Israel’s capital, Jerusalem, and at Israel’s financial center, Tel Aviv, expanding the number of Israelis living within range of Hamas rocket attacks to over 3 million.    

As Prime Minister Netanyahu recently noted, “No government would tolerate a situation where nearly a fifth of its people live under a constant barrage of rockets and missile fire, and Israel will not tolerate this situation.”  

Prime Minister Netanyahu is absolutely right.  We have to make sure that before anyone raises their voices to condemn Israel, they stop and think what they would do – what they would demand their government to do – if forced to live under enemy missile fire.  

Quoted from Christians United For Israel

Israel At War November 2012

Kim Kardashian should not have received the death threats in response to her twitter message ' praying for everyone in Israel ' and then have to remove and apologise for it.
There are many Israel supporters across the world and we should not have to be threatened because of this choice - a world in which we should still have this choice.
The God of Israel will neither slumber nor sleep at this time and has His hand and His eyes upon her, Jerusalem, continuously and He notes who decides this way and that regarding Her peace and security.

Jerusalem you have Watchmen on your Walls forever.

NEWSPAPER ARTICLE - EXCERPT FROM MANUSCRIPT 'HILQIYYAHU & THE VOICE'

5773 (2012)…

A NEW SWEEP OF THE AGE OLD BABYLONIAN TYRANT MANIFESTS ITSELF IN THE WESTERN SOCIETIES NOT ONLY ON THE ROUND TABLES AS THE MEN OF THE WORLD MEET TO DECIDE THE FATE FOR ALL 62 NATIONS.  IT LIES UNEXPECTEDLY AND NOW MORE AND MORE APPARENTLY RAMPANT WITHIN THE CHURCHES OF THE WEST AS EACH MAN MUST DECIDE WHOM HE WILL SUPPORT – THE GOD OF AVRAHAM, YITZHAK AND YAAKOV OR THE GOD OF… WELL WESTERN CHURCH.  LEADERS AND CONGREGATIONAL MEMBERS ARE PUTTING THEIR HEADS IN THE SANDS OF DENIAL, REFUSING TO MAKE A CLEAR STAND FOR THE NATION OF ISRAEL, AS THE ROOT OF THEIR FAITH, AS AN ONGOING ELEMENT TO THE WORD OF GOD AND WHAT HE IS DOING IN THE WORLD AND WILL DO IN THE FUTURE, AND THEY ALLOW MEN CLEARLY OPPOSED TO THE WILL OF GOD FOR ISRAEL TO HEAD THEIR CONNECTED CHURCES.  ANTI-SEMITISM IN NEW SUITS IS COMING FORTH AS WALLS OF DIVISION MUST GO UP WHEN EACH MAN MUST DECIDE FOR HIMSELF.  AS THEY DECIDE THE FATE OF ISRAEL, IN THEIR PERSEPCTIVE, THEY ARE SIMULTANEOUSLY DECIDING THEIR OWN FATE.

Succot

With the high holidays, Yom Kippur and Sukkot, just recently behind us, a time of both reflection and celebration, the Jewish New Year in full swing, winter is here and we are speeding towards the end of the year and even greater celebration!

For now, every week is a celebration on Shabbat (tomorrow!) as a benefit and a blessing - not a law or a curse.  To rest, reflect, enjoy time together and share in the meal, relationship and the word that we have been given and that has been passed down to us.  The first feast celebrated - Shabbat - and one in which Yeshua celebrated himself, part of the benefits that have never disappeared but have been altered many years ago to a more roman way of doing things, on a different day, with different names.  Hence the church as it is today and further and further away from its Hebraic Jewish Roots.

Shabbat is to be enjoyed and is for all.

Shabbat Shalom!

PRESSING TIMES & PRESSING MATTERS

     With Israel at the brink of imminent war, yet again, it is crucial to keep Israel and the inhabitants in our prayers and to do all that we can in an effort to support God's land and people during times of persecution.  The world and indeed the church are called now to wake up and to not only watch what is happening with Israel's surrounding enemies trying to annihilate the Jewish people, simply for being Jewish, whilst the world closes their eyes and currently stands with one foot on the brink of another hitler era.  It is here and now and we are to stop the annihilation of the Jewish people, who are the ones who have given us our faith, not vice versa, who are the ones chosen by God to do this and much more - to bring a fuller richness if we were to have a respect and deep study of the Word of God through hebrew eyes and seeking a revelation of the heart of God.  And His plan for the future and for a New Jerusalem.

If you have not learned to love the earthly Jerusalem, how then can you love the heavenly Jerusalem?

Israel's Watchmen

Israel’s Watchmen

Close to The Heart of God

v  God wishes to be known as ‘God of Israel’ in His Word.

v  Scripture instructs Believers to support Israel.  Ps 122v6  Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.

v  I have made you a Watchman for the House of Israel.

‘Promised return of Israel:  Promised return of Israel:  I will gather you from the nations and bring you back from the countries where you’ve scattered and I will give you back the land of Israel again.’                                                                                                                             Ezekial Ch 11v17

Why We Believe In Israel: 

§  Israel is mentioned 2566 times and Jerusalem 811 times in the Bible.  The three pillars of Christianity – Faith, Hope and Love are mentioned 257, 129 and 310 times.

§  It is the Origin and Birthplace of our faith and where we will return eternally in the New Jerusalem and the Feast of Tabernacles will be celebrated forever.  You will be there.

§  Jesus is a Jew and our Roots are Judaic.  The history of the church began as Messianic Judaism and a spit created Christianity Judaism.  Today’s model and persecution from the church hampers evangelism to the Jewish People.

§  It is the Heart of God, His Choice and His Plan for the Nations.

§  We are to humbly remember we are the ingrafted branches and salvation comes from the Jews and is to the Jew first (God’s Word).

§  Every believer has a biblical obligation to pray for, support and seek salvation for the Jewish People and Israel.  This is a responsibility of the church and its members no matter the other individual callings they might also have.  This is integral to blessing, fundamentals of the Bible and our faith, and central to the End Time Plan for Israel and the Nations.

‘What is this proverb you have in the land of Israel:  The days go by and every vision comes to nothing.  I am going to put an end to this proverb, and they will no longer quote it in Israel.  The days are near when every vision will be fulfilled.’                                              Ezekial Ch11v21-23

What To Pray For:

§  Salvation for Israel

§  Peace and protection for Israel

§  Healing in the hearts, body and minds of all who live there.

§  Restoration through salvation in Yeshua, The Messiah, between Jew and Arab (brothers in the One New Man).

‘I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them, I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh.’                                                            Ezek Ch11v19

§  God’s End Time Prophetic Plan for Israel and the world.

§  The Orthodox, The Army, War Victims, Israel’s Leaders and Children

‘carry their sons and daughters on our shoulders’

‘those who pray for the peace of Jerusalem will be blessed’

Scripture:

God’s attachment to the land:  ‘It is a land the Lord your God cares for, the eyes of the Lord your God are CONTINUALLY on it from the beginning of the year to its end.’                      Deut Ch11v12

Israel Central for God’s Plan for the Earth:  This verse mentions Israel as the centre of the earth.  ‘Tabbuwr’ in Hebrew which means bellybutton, where the umbilical cord between heaven and earth was once attached.  One day this will be re-attached in re-creation.                                                                Rev Ch21v1-4

We are living in very significant and serious times in which I hope you will not delay to seek the very Heart of God where you find… that God’s Word has not changed, nor has He changed and Israel is still Israel.   No other country of people have replaced this or His plan.

                God is a serious supporter of Israel which is the Jewish People and the Nation of Israel and has ALWAYS sent judgment upon those people, leaders and countries that have sought to come against His Promised Land and People.

                God identifies Himself as Israel’s God.  He chose her, shouldn’t we?

God supports Israel, shouldn’t you?

Jere. Ch31v35-36 He pledged to remember Israel for as long as the sun, moon and stars exist.  His support will continue until these celestial bodies disappear.  Those against Israel will have to find a way to remove these orbs from their God-given places!

                God ordained Israel and the Jewish People to be a light unto the nation and for salvation of those who believe.  Israel is God’s prophetic time clock for His plans and purposes for world events. 

We stand in repentance towards God, the Jews and Israel for the sin of replacement theology and neglect.  We are grateful for their sacrificial road which has brought much persecution and for keeping the word in tact.

WARRING FOR TRUTH, HIS TRUTH

'Christians who lack sound biblical understanding are being tossed about by every wind of unfortunate, anti-Semitic doctrine', Israel's Teaching Letter, Bridges for Peace.

This statement is fully supported and lies in the realm of such extensive, albeit unfortunate, reality in today's society and more shockingly the majority of 'believers.'

Remarks such as 'Israel is for some'

'It is just for you or your family'

'It is a passion for you only'

'Israel is not involved in the End Times, and/or isn't a prophetic time clock'

'He will not return and place His feet on the Mount of Olives'

'Israel's significance, and that of the Jewish people, is only based on history and not future'

'It is not a responsibility and call for every christian'

'It is not central to our faith, the bible or a call to the church'

'Put your pride in your pocket and continue with people and leaders who disagree with Israel's centrality in our faith and God's plan...', or others willing to remain silent on the matter as opposed to standing up for what God says is Right...

These such remarks come from our local churches, and leaders who profess to love the God of Israel and His Word (profess to know the Word), which mentions Israel thousands of times in comparison to the three pillars of christianity, namely, Hope, Faith and Love.  Remarks as above simply seem to be HERESY IN A NEW SUIT, which one could not put more aptly, like Bridges for Peace have noted in their recent newsletter.  If one cannot agree with the significance of Israel in the Word, for every church & believer, and in our lives and prayers... then something is wrong, severely amiss and put simply out of alignment with GOD's Word, not man's.  There should be no war in speech over matters such as these, except between people of a different spirit and who are anti-semitic although they would not confess it, others a little more hesitant on the topic lacking revelation and not knowing His Word.

It is unfortunate that such anti-semitism exists today - not the apparent face but a new, subtle wave of not wanting to stand out from the crowd, or lose a church badge, or be willing to agree with GOD's TRUTH about His land, His plan, His people... not willing to stand up for the truth being spoken about the place Israel has in The Infallible Word of God, and in His Heart, and His plan for the End Times and the nations.

We have no guidelines to go by as great as this Book, the book, the Bible... which reveals right and wrong, etc, and also God's story of a Land and People,  who are central for His plan for worldwide redemption.

In Conclusion for now, become a student of the Word and remember de-zionising the bible is subtracting from the word of God... and being willing to agree with, or not agree but walk along with and be silent to such anti-Israel support... not being willing to stand up for God's Truth, is a silent form of anti-semitism in itself and disbelief in God's Word and His Plan.