2024 Apostolic Letters and Prophesy

2024 Apostolic Letters and Prophesy

Romans 1, Romans 2

As we move into Romans, Paul's most amazing letter of Torah interpretation by the Holy Spirit, we can see Paul declare that Yeshua the Messiah was fully man—"descended from David physically"—and fully God—"powerfully demonstrated to be Son of God spiritually." He is risen from the dead and through His sacrifice we receive grace that covers our sins upon our repentance and our enduring faith. To live by trust/faith is to walk according to the righteous ways of Yeshua, which were written in the Tanakh even before He came. Writing to the Jewish and Gentile believers together in Rome, He hopes to bring the spiritual gift of encouragement to them by this letter.

Further, Paul notes that the Truth of God, His power and even His very nature, is plain to all men, for God had now poured out His Spirit on all flesh, per the prophesy in Joel 2:28-32. Faith is a choice we make according to our free will. Doubters and unbelievers know better. They have no excuse for their doubt. "Claiming to be wise they become fools!" This is their choice. Because they choose to doubt God and His Messiah, they become debased, and sin leads to more sin. Even accepting the sins of others, without rebuke, leads to death.

And when we rebuke, we had better check ourselves to make sure we ourselves are without sin. Whether Jewish or Gentile, Paul writes: "it is not merely the hearers of Torah whom God considers righteous; rather, it is the doers of what Torah says who will be made righteous in God’s sight." But knowing the Torah doesn't help us if we don't keep it. Even if we don't know the Torah and do what it says, we are righteous. And if we know it and do it, even better. In either case, Paul writes: "the real Jew is one inwardly; and true circumcision is of the heart, spiritual not literal; so that his praise comes not from other people but from God.”

Romans 3, Romans 4, Romans 5

The Jews had advantage over Gentiles in every way, because they were trusted with God's Word. But their disobedience despite this knowledge doesn't mean God abandoned them. God was faithful to them, and for this reason He gave all of us Yeshua, so that all men who have sinned and fallen short can be justified by His grace. There is no other justification besides His sacrifice on our behalf. But God forbid this gives us the occasion to sin. We must not allow grace to make us careless about God's desires for our righteousness. We ought to be righteous. And yet, we also cannot allow our righteousness to become an end to itself, for we aren't saved on account of our righteousness. The narrow road is in between these two errors. We are now cleansed from sin through Yeshua, whether Jew or Gentile, and we are no longer enslaved by sin. But now through God's faithfulness to us, we can be drawn toward Him through faith to do what He commanded. In this, our only boast ought to be in Yeshua, for He is the one who removes our shame and enables our righteous walk. Our faith and trust in Him is what helps us to endure until He comes, so we might be glorified in Him. We do not abolish the law through faith; rather we establish it in our lives.

Like Abraham, who trusted God's Word—what He accomplished and what He promised—and this was accounted to Him as righteousness, we too ought to trust the Word of God and His Messiah—what He has accomplished and what He has promised—and in this we are considered righteous despite our former sins.

Our total peace is in Yeshua the Messiah, and in Him we have grace and can stand before God, and this is why our boast must be in God and what He does on our behalf. Our hope ought to rest in Him alone. Trouble comes in our life specifically to build endurance in us, and that endurance builds us into better men and women, and with this character growth, we can have hope in what God is doing in us by His Holy Spirit. God is glorified by covering our sins and leading us toward His plan for us, and when we accept Him and His plan in faith, He will help us.

Romans 6, Romans 7, Romans 8

Paul, in his extremely complicated style of writing is saying one very clear thing: Once, before we came to know Yeshua, we were slaves to sin, dead in the world and subject to the eternal death, but once we come to KNOW Messiah Yeshua, we become slaves to righteousness, and righteousness is defined by God's Word. To Know Him is to live the way He lived.

Here are some key verses to contemplate:
"How can we, who have died to sin, still live in it?"
"Now since we died with the Messiah, we trust that we will also live with him."
"do not let sin rule in your mortal bodies, so that it makes you obey its desires; and do not offer any part of yourselves to sin as an instrument for wickedness. On the contrary, offer yourselves to God as people alive from the dead, and your various parts to God as instruments for righteousness."
"However, now, freed from sin and enslaved to God, you do get the benefit — it consists in being made holy, set apart for God, and its end result is eternal life."
"Rather, the function of the Torah was that without it, I would not have known what sin is."
"But when the commandment really encountered me, sin sprang to life, and I died."
"So the Torah is holy; that is, the commandment is holy, just and good."
"For we know that the Torah is of the Spirit; but as for me, I am bound to the old nature, sold to sin as a slave."
"Who will rescue me from this body bound for death? Thanks be to God! — through Yeshua the Messiah, our Lord!”
“Therefore, there is no longer any condemnation awaiting those who are in union with the Messiah Yeshua."
"For if you live according to your old nature, you will certainly die; but if, by the Spirit, you keep putting to death the practices of the body, you will live. All who are led by God’s Spirit are God’s sons."

God's love toward us is everlasting, and we are secure in it so long as we live in Messiah Yeshua and walk the way He walked. If we personally choose to live like we used to, we will die the second death, but if we turn to live in Messiah, by His Word, with the Holy Spirit, we will live. Think of our relationship with God as a marriage. He is true to His covenant promises, but are we also true to Him, our bridegroom? We must be true to Him to dwell with Him in His Kingdom.

Romans 9, Romans 10, Romans 11

I feel Paul's grief. It hurts my heart when anyone rejects Yeshua, but especially when I see Jews who seem to love God reject Him. And yet, Paul wrote, "it is not the physical children who are children of God, but the children the promise refers to who are considered seed," and Isaiah wrote: “Even if the number of people in Isra’el is as large as the number of grains of sand by the sea, only a remnant will be saved." And so, both faith in Yeshua and obedience are needed, and not one exclusive of the other. The solution is this: We must pursue the righteousness of God articulated in Torah because of our faith in Yeshua, and not by doing what the letter says without any faith. Those who do, whether Jew or Gentile, will be saved.

Our heart may be for the salvation of all that we know and love, but only those who have a correct understanding will be saved; those who understand God makes us righteous by following Yeshua in all faith, rather than trusting in our own strength or our own ways. We ought to know the Word so well that it becomes a second nature for us to apply it to our lives, for this is how the Holy Spirit can act within us to lead us in righteousness. And when we confess Yeshua and truly believe He is our eternally alive God, this is how we can endure in faith and continue living righteously. The LORD is the same for all, Jew and Gentile, to everyone who calls upon Him, knowing that He came in the flesh, died and rose again.

In Messiah Yeshua we are grafted-in to Israel. There is a remnant, chosen by grace, of Jews and Gentiles, both. And we who are called into this faith provoke the rest who don't know Him to jealousy when we have a true relationship with Yeshua. When we know Him, this is a living testimony to those who don't, and God willing some will turn toward Him on account of that jealousy. But let us also live in a way that reflects our faith; according to the goodness He has called us to. Let us not give God the occasion to find us hypocrites, lest we be broken off from the faith on account of disobedience. Our faith ought to endure fueled by the hope of His calling. And God will save the full number of people who turn to faith in Yeshua and keep His commandments. Yeshua redeems those who take upon themselves this new covenant, and God's mercy is irrevocable for those who accept it and remain in it.

Romans 12, Romans 13, Romans 14

We ought to devote our lives to serving God and doing His will, to please Him because we love Him. We ought to consistently renew our minds to align with God's Word, because what He desires is good, satisfying and perfect for our lives. We ought to be humble, though, knowing that only God is perfect. Nevertheless, we ought to cling to what is good and reject that which is evil. We ought to consider others needs before our own, but not at the expense of disobedience to God. Do good even in the face of such evil.

We ought to obey our congregation's leadership and even the secular governors, for all authority comes from God, but when these are opposed to God's will we ought to obey God and not man and be prepared to suffer the consequences. Everything we do ought to be for the purpose of expanding God's kingdom.

Romans 14 refers to vegetarians as opposed to those who eat clean meats, and food sacrificed to idols was also a concern. These were controversies in Paul's day. Never did Paul ever imagine people would use his writing to approve of abominable pork or shellfish, which is counter to God's Word. Likewise, Paul lacks authority to change God's Holy Days, for only God can change His Word. The days some observe and others don't are relative to fasting days. God has no law relative to fasting days, but the Rabbis certainly did. We ought not worry about people's traditions relative to their keeping Rabbinical law or not, but we certainly should be concerned about those polluting their bodies with what God has commanded us not to eat, especially when the Jerusalem Council of Acts 15 found that we must stop eating food that has been defiled immediately when we become Christians. We ought to have faith in God relative to our practices that we engage in relative to fasting and eating meat or becoming a vegetarian, but we ought not cause anyone else to stumble regarding these practices. When it comes to violating God's Word, we certainly ought to speak up and teach the Truth so that those who are ignorant can repent and return to God.

Romans 15, Romans 16

We ought to remain humble in the face of opposition and attempt to bear the weaknesses of those who try to cause offense to us. This is good advice for me for I am about to face this very thing on Tuesday evening this week. Please pray for me. May God also be the source of encouragement and patience and give me the heart of Messiah, and may He do the same for you.

As we teach others, on some points we ought to be gentle, but on others we ought to be bold, because they are important and error cannot be allowed to persist. We ought to read Paul's letter to Romans in this light, understanding that he was emphasizing points they were not quite getting right, though these points in no way negated the Truth of God's Word.

Paul was pleased that God had used Him to "bring the gentiles to obedience" by his words and deeds, through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Paul believes the Gentiles are debtors to the Jewish people and ought to grant much charity to the Jews particularly on account of the spiritual heritage they now share with all people through Messiah Yeshua and His Holy Word.

Paul warned right at the end to watch out for those claiming to be believers who cause divisions or who create snares that lead other believers into sin. This reflects both sides of the narrow path; namely, the legalists pushing Rabbinical tradition on the one side and the lawless pushing greasy grace and pagan tradition on the other. He exhorted believers to keep away from both, for they don't serve others but their own interests and they deceive to the ruin of those who follow them. Our narrow path is to wisely pursue God's righteousness while keeping free from all evil, and by enduring in this, God will ultimately bring the peace and joy of His Kingdom. We must pursue an obedience to God's law that is grounded in faith.

1 Corinthians 1

Paul's letter to the Corinthians was certainly written to the believers in Corinth, but also to "everyone everywhere who calls on the name of our LORD Yeshua the Messiah," and so we ought to understand this letter is also to us.

We ought to be mindful that Yeshua is our Rabbi, He is our High Priest, He is our King. Any divisions among those truly obeying God and keeping the testimony of Yeshua's death and resurrection and His LORDship is foolishness. While worldly people do not see the power of God working through Messiah Yeshua and the Word of God, those of us with faith understand and obey Him, and we resultantly receive the wisdom of God, which is to give God the glory in all things.

1 Corinthians 2, 1 Corinthians 3, 1 Corinthians 4, 1 Corinthians 5, 1 Corinthians 6

Paul's teaching is set on humility and morality, for we become the Temple of God when we come to follow Yeshua. We don't look to human teachers, denominations, or even the Patristics of old for our faith, but our doctrine should be determined by Yeshua, the Apostles, and the Word through the workings of the Holy Spirit. Only when the Holy Spirit dwells within us through faith in Yeshua can we discern what is True.

Jealousy and quarreling are signs that we do not have the Spirit. Understanding that all Teachers who point to Messiah Yeshua are doing His work allows us to move on to weightier ideas. And when we are built up into God's Holy Temple our desire to pursue and emulate God's Truth determines whether our work will receive rewards in Heaven when the cleansing fire of judgment comes.

All leaders must be aligned with the Word, and the LORD will be the judge, according to the motives of our hearts.

We must be mindful to keep our congregations free from intentional sinners, for they will become a cancer on the whole and destroy all. Excommunication is one way to facilitate repentance, though it also preserves the body. The Passover is so important that we cannot allow unbelievers or pretenders to come in to be among us during this annual feast that celebrates the death and resurrection of our LORD. We should not even eat with such men who call themselves Christian but continue to sin with hubris.

Our complaints against sinners ought to be handled internally, as Yeshua notes in Matthew 18, and those who go to the secular courts to manage disputes are sinning. People who live opposed to the Torah cannot inherit the Kingdom of God. We must flee from sin, especially on matters that affect the purity of our own body, for we are a Temple of the Holy Spirit when we follow Yeshua, who purchased our repentant souls with His blood.

1 Corinthians 7, 1 Corinthians 8, 1 Corinthians 9, 1 Corinthians 10

God must be first in our lives, and sexual immorality is perhaps one of the biggest distractions from walking with God. Thus we should marry, but not allow our marriage even to come first before God. We must obey God first or we have no love in us at all. But we also ought not instigate divorce, for God commanded that we become one flesh and multiply greatly, both in children and in faith.

We know that idols are controlled by demons, and these demons have no power over us, because we know Messiah Yeshua, the One True God, but we still ought not do anything that causes others to stumble by engaging in any pagan practice or eat any food that has been given over to paganism. Thanks be to God we have deliverance in Messiah when we fall short here, but Paul is clear that we cannot knowingly eat food sacrificed to idols and say we are worshipping the LORD. We must flee from idolatry.

Ministers of the Word of God deserve to be given the tithe for their sustenance, but Paul, not wanting to even appear compromised, did not take any offerings for himself. He worked instead in a tabernacle-making business and supported himself in that way. In this he could explain that His heart was fully devoted to God and he had no ulterior motive. But even Paul, in his walk, knew that he had to endure in it as a race, for we must make it to the end without falling away. God forbid we fall away! The possibility is there, so we must be mindful and constantly turn to God in prayer.

Israel in the wilderness was a prophetic template for our own walk of faith following Yeshua, and Paul explained how in chapter 10. This is a golden key of interpretation for Torah. Let us not be like those who died in the wilderness without faith, but like the two men, Joshua and Caleb, who endured until the end and made it into the Land.

Don't misuse Paul's words that we can eat anything in the meat market. Paul does not have the authority to contradict God's Word, and He doesn't do that here. The context of Paul's message is relative to idolatry. If we don't know whether clean meat has been sacrificed to idols, then eat away. But if we do know, we must abstain. We cannot knowingly sin and think God will be OK with it. He has said too many times that He won't be. Let us also not cause anyone else to stumble.

1 Corinthians 11, 1 Corinthians 12, 1 Corinthians 13

Paul instructs us to imitate him as He imitates Messiah Yeshua. This statement packs a punch, for in it we understand true Apostolic Judaism, which means to follow the teaching of the Apostles, who modeled Yeshua and passed along His Word to us.

Next, he laid out complementarian headship, which shows Messiah Yeshua's relationship with His followers as a model for how a husband ought to love his wife as her spiritual leader. A woman should never seek to rule a man spiritually, in the same way that Yeshua's followers should never tell the LORD what to do, for this is against God's order. We don't instruct Him; He instructs us. Likewise, our wives ought to follow our righteous, loving instruction with obedience, for we as men are responsible for leading them properly toward the LORD. See 1 Corinthians 7 for instruction on what to do in the case that this model isn't being realized properly.

Next, Paul explained how important it is for us to prepare our hearts for the Passover Seder each year. We cannot eat of the LORD's supper without first examining ourselves and coming before Him with pure hands and pure hearts. The Seder is not a time to fill our stomachs or get drunk, but rather to memorialize the LORD's death and resurrection on our behalf, just as He asked us to.

As members of the Body of Messiah, we ought to recognize that we each provide important roles and cannot be healthy without all who are meant to be among us, per the LORD's calling. Think about this if you ever consider staying home from church. Attending the Sabbath gathering each week is not about what you get out of it, but what you give into it for God's glory and the good of others. If you aren't there at all or if you're there for yourself alone, this is a sin against God. The Sabbath was made so that men could rest before God and learn from Him and serve one another. Yeshua said, "You will know my disciples because they have love for one another." More on this in a moment. Every part of the body is needed.

Love is not speaking in tongues and nor is it exercising any spiritual gift, but it is using spiritual gifts to heal, uplift and edify other believers. Love is not interpreting Scripture properly and contemplating God's Word all day for the sake of puffed up knowledge, and nor is it having faith to do miraculous works, such as casting out demons and raising the dead, but rather it is using Scripture and miracles to bring other believers closer in relationship to God through confession and repentance. Love is not charity, nor is it self sacrifice, or even martyrdom, but it is doing what is right to please God out of the motivations of a pure heart. Love IS the fulfillment of God's Word in action, which manifests as the fruits of the Spirit, such as long-suffering (patience), kindness, joy in the Truth, which is obedience to Torah, endurance in faithfulness to God's Word even in the midst of trials and tribulations, believing all things God has said and hoping in all that He has promised in His Word. Love is obedience to God. The one with false love desires what others have (no gratitude or satisfaction), elevates self importance and puts himself on display (rather than glorifying God), rudely asserts himself and seeks his own needs before the needs of others, is quick to anger, and rushes to walk away from God's law toward the ways of the world or of the flesh. False love fails to endure in the faith.

1 Corinthians 14, 1 Corinthians 15, 1 Corinthians 16

In continuation of his exhortation in chapter 13, Paul continues into Chapter 14 with "Pursue love." Let's first be clear what love is, then, for Yeshua defined it multiple times. He said the Greatest Commandment was to love God, and so we must do this first before even considering anyone else. The second greatest is to love one another, and so we ought to ALSO do this, but not at the expense of the first. And so what is love? Yeshua said, "If you love Me, keep my commandments." And so to love God we must keep His commandments in the Torah. In 2 John 1:5-6, the Apostle defines what it means to love one another. Speaking to the elect lady and her children, meaning the Body of Believers or the "Church,"  John wrote: "And now I plead with you, lady, not as though I wrote a new commandment to you, but that which we have had from the beginning: that we love one another. THIS IS LOVE: that we walk according to His commandments. This is the commandment, that as you have heard from the beginning, you should walk in it." And so it is clear that loving God and loving one another all has its root in obedience to Torah as exemplified by Messiah.

As the chapter continues, Paul qualifies his statement, "pursue love," by clarifying that love is not exclusive to any of the other spiritual pursuits of the faith, but rather that love ought to lead to them. Importantly, he also notes as I pointed out from 1 Corinth. 13 that love as the foundation ensures that all things are done to edify other people, whether or not they are believers. He explains that the gift of prophesy, which is proper interpretation of Scripture so as to apply it to our lives, is the greatest of the spiritual gifts. I agree. It is a gift that every teacher/preacher/pastor ought to have and ought to prioritize. As Paul wrote elsewhere, "the spirit of the prophets is subject to the prophets," meaning that all teaching must align with the Word of God and not contradict it. Paul spends the rest of the chapter deemphasizing the gift of tongues, which some churches overemphasize. If there is no interpretation of a tongue (foreign language) to bring understanding and faith, what purpose does it serve? None! Paul said let any tongues be private unless they can be interpreted for the edification of others. More important than any gift is to interpret Scripture properly, and this is the gift of prophesy.

In Chapter 15, Paul explains that the Gospel, meaning "good news," is that Yeshua the Messiah came in the flesh, died for our sins and was buried, and on the third day He rose again according to the Tanakh. He was witnessed as alive by more than 500 people. This teaching is fundamental to the faith, and without it none can be saved, so any teaching of any other Gospel ought to be dismissed as false. The Gospel is significant to us. Messiah is the First Fruits, having risen from the dead on the First Fruits Holy Day, and we now have a hope of being resurrected in Him when He returns, on the Last Day. That will take place at the last Feast of Trumpets, when all of the faithful, whether dead or alive, will all be changed into new spiritual bodies to dwell with the LORD forever. That is the day when all things will be fulfilled. Thus we must carry on in our faithfulness, as Paul wrote: "Awake to righteousness, and do not sin; for some do not have the knowledge of God."  If we have hope to be glorified in this way, we must be righteous, for justification comes by faith, but if we do not submit ourselves to Messiah for sanctification by the Holy Spirit according to God's Word, we cannot be glorified. Let us endure for glorification.

Paul's climax was Chapter 15, and in Chapter 16 he turns to more practical matters. Just like Torah instructs, we ought to put our first and best aside for the Sabbath on the First Day of the week. In other words, as we go out and back to work on Sunday, the first day of the week, we ought to put aside our first 10 percent to God. We ought to tithe. This tithe will then be collected on the Sabbath at the end of the week when we meet to worship God, learn from His Word, and bless one another in His name. Paul also taught that we ought to treat all teachers of Truth with the same respect, even though our flesh may desire those with greater knowledge and wisdom. Finally, he offers a final exhortation: "Watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong. Let all that you do be done with love." I'll save you the explanation for now, but to "watch" means to pray without ceasing. We also ought to regard one another with the same love Paul shows through his writing in his concluding remarks, for we are all one with Messiah Yeshua, if we are in Messiah Yeshua.

2 Corinthians 1, 2 Corinthians 2, 2 Corinthians 3, 2 Corinthians 4

Paul's second letter to the men of Corinth starts out with a bang! Consider who the Apostle Paul is to us, and then consider this statement: "The burden laid on us was so far beyond what we could bear that we even despaired of living through it. In our hearts we felt we were under sentence of death." This is not just depression, but despair that wishes for death. Have you ever been there before? I have. So has Paul and Timothy. So has the LORD—so much so that blood came out with sweat from His pores. —Dwell on this for a moment.— Then look at the deliverance that comes next; a deliverance that can only come from total brokenness and surrender before our God. Paul explains that his desparate experience "was to get us to rely not on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead!" How could we wish for death or even fear death when we know that the LORD of everlasting life is in control?!? "God rescued us from such deadly peril, and He will rescue us again! The one in whom we have placed our hope will indeed continue to rescue us." The only thing to add to what God has done and what He has promised to do is prayer, so that we might rely on Him to help us endure in faithfulness with directness in speech and godly pureness of motive in all things by His Spirit.

In Chapter 2 Paul explains that we ought to forgive those who confess their sins and repent, meaning that they have stopped sinning and turned to walk according to the will of God. Here he is referring to the man from 1 Corinth 5 who had relations with his father's wife. The men of Corinth had thrown him out of the community, per Paul's instruction, and this nearly destroyed him, but we are reading evidence here that he returned seeking forgiveness. Paul explained that in this case of sincere repentance we ought to offer total forgiveness, so Satan cannot do work on our hearts to divide us. Remember: A whole community can be torn apart by the sin of one man, and it is sin indeed to hold back forgiveness from one who is truly seeking it.

Paul explains that those walking in the Way of Messiah Yeshua put off a fragrance that reeks of death to those who are of the world and perishing, but allures like everlasting life to those who know the LORD. This is a reference to Enoch Chapters 24-25, which speaks about the Kingdom of God and the fragrance of the two trees from the Garden of Eden, which we are returning to. Enoch 25:4-5a reads: "And this beautiful fragrant tree, and no creature of flesh has authority to touch it until the Great Judgement, when He will take vengeance on all, and bring everything to a consummation for ever; this will be given to the righteous and the humble. From its fruit, life will be given to the chosen..." Through us Messiah Yeshua "leads in a triumphal procession ... and ... spreads everywhere the fragrance of what it means to know Him!" "To God we are the aroma of the Messiah." Amein!

And with this reference, Paul leads into Chapter 3, which explains the same thing using a different metaphor. You see, the Torah—even the whole Tanakh and the New Testament—is death to those who do not know the LORD. There is nothing but condemnation for those who don't accept Yeshua and receive His Holy Spirit. Those who don't know Yeshua cannot even understand the Word that was written. They may try to understand the Word and occasionally get a good idea, but just as those who say "line by line and precept by precept" and believe this is how we ought to study, so too are those without the Spirit—they are completely blinded to the Truth of God's Word. To understand the Tanakh, we must know Yeshua. When we know Yeshua, the Scripture becomes like a mirror for us so that by looking at it and comparing it to ourselves, we might conform ourselves into its Image, which is the Image of Messiah Yeshua. The Tanakh, understood with the Holy Spirit, is the "perfect law of liberty" and it brings freedom and blessings to all who live their lives by it.

And so, because we have such understanding—if the Spirit of Messiah dwells in us—, we must make clear what the Truth is to all who are also willing to surrender to God. The Word is only veiled to those who are being lost on account of their love for this world, but when the light of Messiah shines through the Word, we become living examples of what it means to serve God in the same way that Yeshua and His Apostles showed us. May others who are in darkness be illuminated by the lives we live in the peace and joy of our God, for it is His overwhelming power that works through us. It is for this reason, again, that we can endure through all trials and tribulations of this life. By suffering as Yeshua did, we are promised the same deliverance to eternal life in new heavenly bodies, and we will ultimately dwell eternally in the presence of God when we endure by giving all glory to God, offering Him thanksgiving and praise for molding us into His image. We are renewed, we are sanctified, and we are encouraged by the work that God does in us and through us.

2 Corinthians 5, 2 Corinthians 6, 2 Corinthians 7, 2 Corinthians 8

This life is temporary, and we groan in it seeking to have the fullness of life added to us. Even though we know Messiah Yeshua and are justified by His blood, this life and our justification in Messiah are not the end, but rather the beginning of our journey. We, who are being built into a Holy Temple in Messiah Yeshua, as the chief cornerstone, are still awaiting our place to be built in.

Paul is explicit about what we must do while we await the Heavenly Kingdom: "We try our utmost to please God, for we must all appear before the Messiah's court of judgement ... everyone will receive the good or bad consequences of what he did while he was in the body." Thus, our faith must have works of righteousness, or else it is not real faith and our salvation is false. God knows our hearts, but let us not deceive ourselves. We must live for the one who died on our behalf and was raised. And it is also our duty to work a ministry of reconciliation for others as ambassadors for Messiah to lead as many as we can toward His righteousness.

 Paul continues in Chapter 6, making it clear that we cannot receive the grace of God and then do nothing with it. In all ways, through all trials and tribulations, by all wisdom and knowledge of God, we ought to speak and do Truth according to God's Word, with all endurance and no stumbling.

We must be careful not to mix the holy with the profane. Righteousness and lawlessness cannot be partners. We must separate ourselves from what is pagan and unclean so God will accept us. We cannot have any fellowship with darkness or the world and believe we have a relationship with Yeshua. Grace does not cover lawlessness; but grace does cover confessed sin that is not repeated.

Even further than this in Chapter 7, Paul explains that we must "purify ourselves from everything that can defile either body or spirit and strive to be completely holy out of reverence for God." This is an act of our own will that we must undergo as we pursue Yeshua, who asked us to follow Him in all of His ways. We cannot go into this faith half-hearted, or we will not finish together with Him.

Note how Paul is not concerned by how He caused Godly sorrow among the faithful by boldly explaining the Truth based on God's Word. We ought to confront sin and sinners head on who claim to be Christians and not shy away for one moment from setting them straight. Do we fear God or do we fear man? If we can pull a sinning brother out of the fire, praise be to God! Even Charles Spurgeon wrote: "If the professed convert distinctly and deliberately declares that he knows the LORD's will, but does not mean to attend to it, you are not to pamper his presumption, but it is your duty to assure them that he is not saved."

We also ought to be generous, Paul explains in Chapter 8, particularly as the LORD has blessed us, so that when we are in need we too can receive the blessings from others.

2 Corinthians 9, 2 Corinthians 10, 2 Corinthians 11, 2 Corinthians 12, 2 Corinthians 13

The key to Paul's letter comes toward the end of 2 Corinthians 12, where he wrote: "I am afraid that when I come again, my God may humiliate me in your presence, and that I will be grieved over many of those who sinned in the past and have not repented of the impurity, fornication and debauchery that they have engaged in.” Paul's point here is that these men in Corinth were questioning his authority and motives, they were questioning his teachings; they were saying he was in it for himself. What foolishness. They were unwilling to turn from their sins, and so they questioned the messenger rather than look within themselves and repent. I have seen this happen, and nothing else makes me more sad. I can only imagine Paul's heart.

In Chapter 9-10 he wrote concerning the stinginess of the Corinthians, and I believe we can look to our fellow countrymen and see the same. Do we tithe 10% to our church home? Do we give in abundance above that 10% to those in need? This is what God's Torah commands! But Paul had traveled to Corinth using the gifts from other communities and felt there was no willingness to support the greater ministry in that city. The Macedonians, a poor people economically, had given more into the ministry than the Corinthians, who were a wealthy people. Whether spiritually or materially, "he who plants sparingly also harvests sparingly," but we ought not force giving, for "God loves a cheerful giver." And when we look to Israel to whom God had given the abundance of Egypt, they also gave all of this back to God through Moses willingly and with joy for the construction of the tabernacle in the wilderness. Ought we not do the same? The tabernacle we're building is one without hands—one without physical form—one in the heavens that will be revealed to us on the Last Day. Have we built up our treasures in heaven? Let everything we do bring glory to God!

Paul's ministry was criticized due to his humility. He was timid in public speaking, or even in one-to-one ministry, speaking with a soft tone and gentleness to heal and build up, but in his letters he brought hard truths that were difficult for people to swallow, because he desired to bring conviction and repentance. Let us also follow this model.

Paul explained his human ancestry, training and upbringing, not to boast, but to explain that those who were criticizing him using worldly arguments truly had nothing to boast about. From a worldly perspective, they were nothing compared to Paul. Had they had an experience with Yeshua Himself coming to them on the road to Damascus, even raising him into the highest heaven and showing him unspeakable things? Paul's accolades are abundant and surmount any other man in the whole ministry, but that was not what was important. What was important to Him was that Messiah had come, had died for our sins, had risen from the dead, and had made a Way for us to follow Him into His Kingdom. To follow Him, we need to walk in righteousness just as He did. It's not about Paul. It's about Yeshua.

Paul also explained that God had allowed literal demons to come and intimidate Paul, to test him and to buffet him. This is what is meant by the thorn in his flesh. Thorns (demons) and thistles (false teachers) were the curse given to Adam, and we are still living in this world and subject to the curse of death, even though we will conquer this curse like Messiah did. The LORD's grace is sufficient for us to overcome these feeble attacks of the enemy, and the Word of Truth with the Holy Spirit is powerful to demolish strongholds, arguments and any other arrogance that asserts itself against the knowledge of God. We must take every thought captive and subject it to obedience to the Word of God. Ultimately, God will punish acts of disobedience that persist, and so we must also call others to confess and repent from their sins. While weak in the flesh, we can live in the power of God's Spirit and destroy every attempt of the enemy to take us out and through this process we are being made perfect in Messiah Yeshua.

Galatians 1, Galatians 2, Galatians 3, Galatians 4

At the beginning of Galatians, Paul explained that his authority as a leader came through a direct call from God as well as confirmation from the existing elders. This is a consistent testimony of two needed for church leadership. He established this position so he could instruct the Galatians in righteousness.

I have experienced the problem facing the Galatians, and it is a serious one, but it is quite misunderstood by the modern church. Here it is in short: Some of the Jewish converts to Messianism believed that their Rabbinical oral tradition of interpreting Torah ought to be maintained within the New Covenant. But Yeshua fully abolished the Rabbinical order, and the study of Matthew 15 and 23, as well as Mark 7 and some other passages makes this quite clear. We are not to obey man and his fence laws or frivolous permissiveness, but rather God and His commandments in Torah, understanding that we are freed from our former sins through faith in Yeshua, the Messiah, the Son of God, and we can walk in righteousness by following Yeshua's example and a new Apostolic doctrine taught by Him.

Paul pointed out that Peter was still struggling between the old way of following the Rabbis and the new way of following Yeshua by the Spirit. The Jewish leaders were not going to allow their authority to be disregarded so easily and they tried every which way to maintain it. Peer pressure is a fierce foe to doing what is right, but Paul spoke boldly even to these leaders to draw them away from such ways. Read Acts 15 and some of what is told to the Galatians here is also explained there. Galatians can actually be seen as a second letter to this community, for the first letter can be read in Acts 15. The point is this: No one can be declared righteous by obeying man-made rules on how to follow Torah, but rather we ought to follow Torah according to the way Yeshua showed us and the way His Holy Spirit still convicts us. We cannot live in sin, Paul clarified, for Yeshua does not wash clean those who will not turn away from evil, but it is definitively not sinful to disregard errant teachings of men.

The trouble here is legalism, or obedience to the Rabbinical oral tradition, which required converts to be circumcised, to be baptized, to pledge allegiance to the Rabbis and to pay a fee to a local synagogue. Most of these things were not required by Torah, and nor were they shown by Yeshua's example, for Yeshua called sinners to repentance so they could obey Torah according to His Spirit. Legalism is based on a misuse of the text for human advantage, while true faith is obedience to God at the expense of human advantage. At the same time, Paul also warned about the trouble of lawlessness, for many of the Galatians were maintaining their pagan festivals and not adopting the ways of God. We cannot mix the Holy with the Profane, as Paul certainly made clear in his second letter to the Corinthians and also here in Galatians when reading the text critically. When we are baptized in Messiah Yeshua's New Covenant, both by water and the Holy Spirit, we become adopted children of God, whether Jew or Gentile, and heirs according to the promises of God, so long as we continue to walk in faithfulness.

Paul bemoaned those who disregarded the teachings he brought, which at the first caused great joy but later caused pain. When people realize how much the LORD actually calls us to change our lives to follow Him, many aren't willing to do this. Many want to fall back to their old traditions. We ought to be zealous for the cause of Yeshua rather than these former ways of men. As Abraham took Hagar to attempt to secure God's promise by his own strength, Abraham witnessed the power of God when God made  barren Sarah bring forth a miraculous son who was always intended to fulfill God's promise. Rather than wait on the LORD, we as men often attempt to accomplish God's purposes for us by our own strength. Instead, we should send away our own ways of life and the ways of the world and grasp on to the ways of God articulated in His Word through faith—a faith in God's accomplished Truth that brings blessing through obedience to His will. If we neglect God's promises, we will not realize them in our lives and will be stuck with the inferior work of our own hands. God's power is insurmountable and abundant beyond our wildest dreams. All we need is to trust Him and follow His way to be afforded power to use for good under His authority.

Galatians 5, Galatians 6

We ought not accept the freedom from condemnation we receive from Yeshua only to turn around and walk back into a ministry of condemnation, which is a ministry that creates fences around the law to avoid violation at all costs. What does this accomplish? If we are not changed by our faith in Yeshua to walk in the Spirit of God, then any attempt to keep the law is hallow and useless. Our obedience to the law of God must be according to desire to please our God empowered by the Holy Spirit of God dwelling within us on account of our faithful desire to please God. Mind the narrow path: We can't become legalists seeking to follow the law from obligation and we can't become lawless thinking that grace covers all sinfulness, falsely claiming that the law doesn't matter to us. The law is God's Word, and the faithful follow it, for obedience to the law is what comes from bearing the fruit of the Spirit, but this obedience stems from desire to be with the lawgiver, our husband. If we still find ourselves fighting against the fruit of the flesh and living within the lawless ways that unbelievers live, we ought to immediately question whether we truly have faith.

Circumcision was a major piece of Rabbinical conversion to Judaism, and thus this was Paul's focus in Galatians, but the Bible never requires circumcision for all converts. God requires circumcision on the eighth day, and this we ought to do. But our circumcision for conversion is done by the Holy Spirit, Who cuts out all sin from around our hearts and leads us in the Way of Messiah. That being said, to avoid any confusion, Paul is clear: we will reap what we sow. If we sow sinfulness and lawlessness, we will reap death. If we sow the Word of God by the power of the Holy Spirit, and live by what we're teaching, then we will inherit life. No one makes a fool of God! He will judge all the living and the dead and separate the sheep from the goats. Mind you, both of these are clean animals, but where the sheep hear the Voice of their Master and do His will, the goats wander off doing their own thing or following the voice of another. Our ministry ought to focus on the atonement we received through Yeshua on the cross, and then on account of this salvation, we ought to follow Yeshua's perfect example and teach others by our example how to live according to the perfect law of liberty.

Ephesians 1, Ephesians 2

I've preached from Ephesians recently in my sermon series on "Community." Today, in summary, Chapter 1 addresses the nature of Yeshua and our salvation in Him. We are not predestined to be saved or not, as some might suppose by the language here, but rather the Father predestined the physical birth, death, and resurrection of Yeshua to save those of us who choose to believe in Him and then follow His will. We are set free from condemnation only when we choose to accept His blood sacrifice for our atonement. God also predestined Messiah to rule the heavens, the Earth and everything in and under them following His accomplishment of dying and then rising from the dead. This is why Yeshua said in Matthew 28: "All authority in Heaven and on Earth has been given to me." This also was predestined for God to accomplish this very thing through Yeshua's life, death, and resurrection. Also predestined was the inheritance those who believe in and follow Him would receive in His Kingdom. The Holy Spirit is a downpayment of the fullness of God we will realize in the Kingdom, but we must not quench the Holy Spirit and forsake this inheritance. Yeshua is the cornerstone/head of the third temple that He is building through us.

Chapter 2 explains that the Adversary had dominion over the Earth because of Adam's failure, who handed it over to him, and Satan still has dominion over those who have not been freed from his grasp. But we are freed from condemnation in Messiah Yeshua, so long as we walk away from our old bondages and rather walk in the freedom of God's law. God's mercy is so rich for us that in Messiah's death and resurrection we now can walk, by grace, without condemnation from the enemy and reclaim the dominion that God originally gave to us. Nothing we do or did can accomplish this, for Yeshua accomplished this on our behalf. And now that He has, we can walk according to the commandments that God has already articulated without fear of condemnation. What's even better news than this is that God has brought together both Jews and Gentiles into one body, and now all people who believe in Messiah are a part of Israel, and the law that causes separation between ethnicities now only separates people on account of their faith in Yeshua or lack thereof. For those who have faith, we are being built into the third Temple by Messiah Himself, who is the cornerstone, and God will dwell in us for all of eternity.

Ephesians 3, Ephesians 4, Ephesians 5, Ephesians 6

It is specifically because Paul did not hesitate to explain the unity of Jews and Gentiles together in Messiah Yeshua, as one holy people called Israel, that he was imprisoned. The old doctrines of the Rabbis separated Jews and Gentiles quite strictly, but now there was no separation in Messiah. And all people who confess Yeshua and walk according to God's commandments can now stand before God's throne without being struck dead. May Messiah live in our hearts, for He is the living and applicable Word of God, and may His love abound in us, so that we might do what He did.

Chapter 4 says: We must: "lead a life worthy of the calling ... be humble, gentle and patient, bearing one another in love" preserving the unity of the Spirit in peace. There are different tasks within the community of faith, and those who are chosen to lead are called "to equip God's people for the work of service that builds up the Body of the Messiah." It's all about growing the Kingdom of God. Our standard of maturity is set by the Messiah's perfection. This is what we must achieve by "speaking the truth in love." The law is Truth and obedience to it is love. This is how we build up the Body. But while following Yeshua, Paul "INSISTS": "do not live any longer as the pagans live," because "they resist God's will." What is God's will other than to keep His commandments? We must turn away from our old way, which is "thoroughly rotted by its deceptive desires." Our new nature in Messiah is "to be godly, which expresses itself in the righteousness and holiness that flow from the truth," and "every Word that proceeds from the mouth of God is Truth." Let us not comfort our brothers with lies, but speak only words that lead them to repent and keep the will of God.

Chapter 5 continues: "imitate God ... and live a life of love, just as the Messiah loved us." How did Messiah love us? He died an innocent man—perfect actually—without a single sin, choosing to put the righteousness of God above His own life—He paved the way for us to also give our lives to the righteousness of God so that we can follow Him into His Kingdom. Paul is clear: no one who lives lawlessly will inherit Heaven; therefore repent and live righteously. He warned: "Let no one deceive you with empty talk; for it is because of these things that God’s judgment is coming on those who disobey him." He said: "Live as children of light, for the fruit of the light is in every kind of goodness, rightness and truth—try to determine what pleases the LORD." Have nothing to do with darkness, for that is sin. In fact, it is our duty to expose sin, for to do this is love. Use your time to determine what God's will is in all things, and then do God's will. Wives ought to obey their husbands, just as believers ought to obey God, but husbands also ought to give all to their wives, even their own lives in sacrifice, just as Messiah loved His people.

While the husband-wife relationship is the first representation of God and His people Israel, other metaphors are apt in Chapter 6 such as the father-child metaphor and the master-slave metaphor. In each of them, the subordinate ought to obey the ordinate while the ordinate ought to patiently and kindly wait for the subordinate to return to obedience using gentle prodding. Because we are living in an evil day, we must take on the armor of God, which is the Truth of God's Word by which all else hangs; a breastplate of righteousness protecting our heart from evil; the shield of faith in the testimony of Yeshua that protects us from the enemies devices; the helmet of salvation that protects our minds from evil infiltration; and the Word of God to wield as a sword as we go out sharing the Gospel of Yeshua's peace and freedom from condemnation. Our prayers keep us as branches connected to the vine, without which we can do nothing, but with whom we can bear much fruit. Among the things we pray for, we ought to pray most that the LORD allows us to speak boldly toward others so they might be saved.

Philippians 1, Philippians 2, Philippians 3, Philippians 4

The Philippians must have embraced the Truth soundly, for Paul gave this community much hope in his writing and some of the best passages of all his letters. I often recall how Paul is sure "that the One who began a good work among [us] will keep it growing until it is completed on the Day of Messiah Yeshua," and in this I place my hope, for I too share in the privileged work that Paul championed and pray for God's help in my endurance. Paul also prayed "that your love may more and more overflow in fullness of knowledge and depth of discernment, so that you will be able to determine what is best and thus be pure and without blame for the Day of Messiah, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Messiah Yeshua to the glory and praise of God." I too pray this for each of you, and also for myself. May Messiah be proclaimed in Truth and love every day of our lives, for to live is to live for Messiah and to die is gain. What can any enemy do to us? What victory can death have? Our suffering is only present to strengthen us in Yeshua until He comes.

So let us encourage one another to walk according to God's commandments for the glory of God, and not for any other purpose. When we do what pleases God according to His will, this will bring blessings, and when we elevate the needs of others above our own, this will bring abundant life. As Messiah humbled Himself until death and was highly exalted, so too must we do the same, but we also must remember that there is only one God who will be recognized by every eye and every tongue in every created and uncreated realm, and His name is Yeshua. We are living in a twisted and perverted generation, as Paul did during his day, and thus we must live as blameless and pure children of God, without defect, with no complaining or arguing, but only with thanksgiving and praise. Let us rejoice and always rejoice and one day we will shine among the stars of Heaven as the heavenly beings now shine.

Paul warns us to beware of dogs (male prostitutes engaged in cult, homosexual prostitution), as well as the unbelieving Jews who will twist the LORD's work into its opposite, setting up a dichotomy between the lawless and the legalists. We worship God by His Spirit and boast in our confession of Messiah Yeshua alone! There is nothing but advantage in knowing Yeshua intimately and thus doing everything to please our Bridegroom. And while we have faith and hope in His promises, we must endure in our faithfulness and gratitude so we can take hold of the Kingdom at the appointed time. We forget what was behind us—the sins of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life—and we look forward to walking the life of Messiah's example, for by this we obtain the prize of eternal life. If we are not thinking according to Yeshua's Way, God will reveal this to us. We must have eyes to see and ears to hear so we can confess and repent. What awaits our perseverance is the resurrection from the dead.

When we stand firm in our union with God through Messiah Yeshua, our names are written in the Book of Life. This is the only book we want our names written in. While we certainly ought to fear God, we ought not worry about any worldly concern, for God knows our desires. When we pray and petition Him, with thanksgiving, He enjoys providing what we ask for. We ought to spend our days focusing on what is true, noble, righteous, pure, lovable, admirable, virtuous, or praiseworthy, and we will find all of these things in the written and living Word of God when we apply it to our lives. God's peace dwells in us when we dwell on and in these things. We can do all things according to the will of God when we truly trust in Him to that end.

Colossians 1, Colossians 2, Colossians 3, Colossians 4

Yeshua said we would worship "in Spirit and in Truth." You can't have one without the other. God always operates with a testimony of two. Truth is the Word, and we understand it by the Spirit. This is how we understand and apply the knowledge of God.

Paul's prayer in the beginning of Colossians explains that we must have both the Truth of God's Word as well as the Spirit that helps us understand and apply it to our lives. We hear about Messiah Yeshua and the love God commands through His commandments "in the message about the truth," which is the Word of God. The Spirit helps God's Truth become "fruitful and multiplying" in our lives. Because the men of Colosse exhibited their circumcision in the Spirit of God, Paul prayed for "God to fill you with the knowledge of his will in all the wisdom and understanding which the Spirit gives, so that you may live lives worthy of the LORD and entirely pleasing to Him, being faithful in every good work and multiplying in the full knowledge of God." The knowledge of God comes from His Word; namely, the Torah and the Prophets and now the Apostolic writings. The Spirit brings wisdom and understanding to this Word. This union of Spirit and Truth ought to bring us into alignment with God's law, because He has said this is what pleases Him, and we ought to do it through desire and joy, rather than blind obedience or thoughtless submission to the commandments of human teachers.

Paul also makes some strong statements about Yeshua's divinity in the early part of this letter. He indicates that Yeshua is "the visible image of the invisible God ... for it pleased God to have His full being live in His Son and through His Son to reconcile to Himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace through Him," through the cross. Because of this, anyone Jew or Gentile separated from God by sin could be freed from condemnation on account of faith in Him, and we also are being built into His Holy Temple together. Thus we must present our bodies holy and without defect or reproach and continue in faithfulness—and God's Torah explains how to do this, as interpreted by the prophets and the Apostles—lest we be moved away from the hope offered in the Good News we heard. Yes, we can lose our salvation if we return to our fleshly lawless ways. Thus, we must strive to walk according to the Truth of God's Word with the power of His Holy Spirit.

Chapter 2 of Colossians is among the most confused passages from Paul, but the context does not allow an interpretation favored by mainstream Christianity. In past years, I have given extensive details that are available upon request; today, I will summarize His simple message:  Messiah Yeshua is the beginning and end of salvation, and without His grace we are completely lost. We need Him! To be in relationship with Messiah, we also have to follow Him and do what He commanded. We cannot say that we know Him and then do what we desire to do instead of what He commanded. Disobedience means we don't actually know Him. There are two ways to go astray: one is lawlessness, which Paul describes as "fleshly desires," our "old nature," or even our "foreskin" that the Holy Spirit cut off through our faith. The other is legalism, which is the adherence to the commandments of men rather than the commandments of God. Yeshua spoke about this in Matthew 15, Mark 7, and other places. Paul is not saying don't keep the Holy Days, New Moons and Sabbaths; rather, he is explaining that we ought not get caught up with the man-made traditions surrounding them. Our guide is Torah, the Prophets, the Apostles, and the Spirit. Nothing more, nothing less.

This is why in chapter 3, Paul begins, "IF you were raised along with the Messiah, then seek the things above." The things above are articulated in the Word of God. Keeping the law is a sign that we are actually following Yeshua. Disobeying it, through deception or ignorance, is a sign that we do not know Messiah Yeshua, or at least that we don't know Him fully. We must pursue Him in all things so that we can appear with Him in His Kingdom when He comes in His glory. Thus, we MUST "put to death the earthly parts of [our] nature." Paul then proceeds to list many evils condemned in the law of God to make sure we understand He is pointing back to God's law. He even makes clear: "God's anger is coming on those who disobey Him." We need to put these things away from us, so that we can be conformed into the image of Yeshua, which is the perfect law of liberty contained in the Torah. In our new self, we also must not discriminate between Jew and Gentile, or any category we as men choose to use to separate people, for the only discrimination is between those who know Messiah Yeshua and those who don't.

As Messiah's people, the Spiritual gifts of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience ought to guide our ministry of reconciliation in Christ. We must forgive to be forgiven, and embody love, which binds everything together perfectly. And when we love, obeying God, we will have perfect peace and can express gratitude to God! Our time ought to be occupied with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude as we go about our work on the six days of the week, and then on the seventh we ought to come in to rest with God as He commanded. We slave in everything for Messiah, and we subject ourselves to the persecution and oppression of others so that they too can come to know Yeshua through us. Prayer is the answer, and in it we must stay alert and remain grateful rather than mournful. God doesn't want to hear our grumbling, as he despised the grumbling and complaining of the people in the wilderness, but He desires our patient trust in Him. We do have to differentiate between the way we act with Christians and outsiders, for in our conversations with outsiders we ought to desire to leave the scent of Messiah for them to follow. In doing this and in doing everything we do, we must submit ourselves fully to God's will.

1 Thessalonians 1, 1 Thessalonians 2, 1 Thessalonians 3, 1 Thessalonians 4, 1 Thessalonians 5

The men of Thessalonica had only received a small bit of the Gospel, but they were running with it. Paul had sent Timothy to confirm this, and he returned to Paul with a good report, which comforted them both and filled them with gratitude to God. It's stark how different this letter of encouragement is compared to the letter of rebuke to the Galatians. This teaches me as a teacher that I ought to give instruction as needed, and that one size does not fit all.

The Gospel had become a matter of power and conviction for them, despite their troubles. They endured with rejoicing and became imitators of Yeshua. They turned from idols to serve God, and they looked to the coming of Yeshua who will rescue His sheep from the fury of God's judgment.
 
As teachers, we ought to emulate Paul who did not seek to flatter, and nor did he seek to put up a front to mask greed, but instead he spoke the Truth of God with gentleness, seeking to please God rather than men. This is true love and devotion. He also exhibited true holiness and righteousness, being blameless in behavior, exhorting others to follow in his example and live lives worthy of God. His source was God's Word, and He desired to teach it to those who understood its origin was not from men—that by the Spirit it works in us to make us into Messiah's image. We ought to pray hard as Paul did to fill in any shortcomings in our faith or understanding and fill us with God's love that leads to holiness.

Paul's instruction to the Thessalonians came with the authority of Yeshua and commanded them to be holy, meaning set apart for God from the world, "for God did not call us to live an unclean life but a holy one." If we reject God's call for us to be holy, we don't reject man but God and His Holy Spirit, he said.

Additionally, Paul called for these men to encourage one another with the hope of Yeshua's return, when the dead will be raised and those of us alive in Messiah will be caught up together with them all at once on that Great Day to be forever with the LORD. While we hope for this day, we don't know the precise moment of its arrival. We just know that when the world is celebrating peace and security in man's best attempts to rule himself, this is when destruction will come on all who denied the True King. We ought to look for this time's approach as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, with prophetic tribulations increasing in frequency and intensity until the child is born—in this case, the earth will give birth to her dead. We ought not to be surprised by this day, for our lives ought to be dedicated to the LORD in watchfulness and sobriety. We ought to be joyful, praying regularly, giving thanks to God always, testing everything, holding on to what is good and staying away from evil, so we do not quench the Holy Spirit and instead remain in the peace of Christ.

2 Thessalonians 1, 2 Thessalonians 2, 2 Thessalonians 3

In another loving letter to the Thessalonians, Paul said deceivers would try to take them off course from their narrow walk with Yeshua. They sent counterfeit letters claiming that the End had already come and they missed it. Paul explained that the End would not come until many who followed Yeshua claimed the law of God was done away with. When leaders of the Christian faith all around the world are doing this very thing, we know the end is near. Paul said: "For already this separating from Torah is at work secretly, but it will be secretly only until he who is restraining is out of the way. Then the one who embodies separation from Torah will be revealed, the one whom the Lord Yeshua will slay with the breath of his mouth..." It's certain there will be one man who embodies lawlessness, but there have already been many antichrists who have come. Paul explained that all who take pleasure in wickedness will be destroyed. We ought to stand firm and keep the traditions taught by the Apostles—the Apostle's doctrine—and not go astray after other doctrines that came later. We ought to keep working in our careers and for the LORD until that final day, and not stand idly by looking into the sky. Yeshua will come at the appointed time.

1 Timothy 1, 1 Timothy 2, 1 Timothy 3

Paul's letter to Timothy is instruction from an overseer of thousands to an overseer of hundreds, and it is specifically worthwhile for pastors to read for their own instruction. It is our duty as community leaders to order those who are causing strife and distracting debates to stop. Per Paul's example, it is sometimes OK to call them out by name, as he did for Hymenaeus and Alexander. Our Sabbath meetings should be focused on promoting love with a clean heart, from a good conscious and from sincere faith, meaning that we should be focused on instructing one another in righteousness having cleansed ourselves already with all faith in Messiah Yeshua as our Good Shepherd. Everyone in the congregation should not attempt to teach the Torah, but only those who use Torah properly according to the instruction it gives. Ultimately, Torah ought to be used to explain what is good and evil and to correct those who are living lawlessly by violating or ignoring the commandments of God, for which he lists a few examples. Living opposed to the law is in conflict with the Good News of God that Yeshua gave to us all.

In our meetings, we should be praying and interceding for all people, lifting up our hands in worship, also, asking the LORD to bring all to repentance and full knowledge of the Truth. We also should offer thanksgiving to God for the work He has already done through Messiah Yeshua. We ought to dress modestly when we come and act sensibly with love toward one another. Our meetings are not the time to dress up and look nice for other people, but to humble ourselves before God and man with all modesty of spirit, heart, mind and body. Women should not be teachers of Torah.

It is good to accept a true call to be an overseer of a congregation, but such leaders must meet the characteristics Paul lays out after reaching maturity in their faith. He must be faithful to one wife, temperate, self-controlled, orderly, hospitable, able to teach with kindness and gentleness, and overall he should be above reproach. No drunkenness or strife ought to come from him, and money should be far from his considerations. His children ought to be obedient. Anyone seeking to help as a deacon or any other servant in the congregation should meet these same requirements. The wives of such leaders must be submissive to their husbands.
 
1 Timothy 4, 1 Timothy 5, 1 Timothy 6

Paul was up against men called the Essenes who taught that eating meat was evil; they even changed Scripture to justify their doctrine. Here in 1st Timothy 4 as in Romans 14 Paul explained that neither eating meat nor eating only vegetables was of significance to the faith and ought not divide believers. It is clear that Paul stood by the Leviticus 11 food laws, because He said that these foes of Truth forbid "foods which God created to be eaten with thanksgiving." God did not create unclean animals to be eaten—be careful not to read false doctrine into Scripture where it does not exist. The modern church has abused this passage to its own dishonor. It's also interesting to note that there is a church in these latter days that does both of these things Paul warns about: It forbids marriage among pastoral leaders and requires abstinence from meat on Fridays during certain pagan festivals that have been relabeled with Christian names. We should be fleeing from that church, which from its founding in the 300s AD has mixed the holy with the profane (a "doctrine of demons") intending to change times and law and persecuting the saints of the Most High (Daniel 7:25). God said: "flee from her, My people."

Those who want to disobey God's law and call it grace are searing their conscience with a hot iron. Yeshua said to count the cost of following Him. If you make the choice to follow Him, you will have to change your life dramatically and you will lose friends and family—it is inevitable. But this is what HE said it would take to be His disciple. Paul is saying nothing different. People set up smokescreens and make all kinds of excuses why they don't have to obey God and why they don't have to change, but these are simply obfuscations and lies from the evil one that will lead to destruction for those with rebellious hearts. Paul said this: "we have our hope set on a living God who is the deliverer of all humanity, especially of those who trust." Do we trust God and His Word or do we trust man and how he has completely upended God's Word to serve his own desires? If you truly have faith in God and love Him, do what He commands.

Paul instructed Timothy: Pay attention to the Scripture (Old Testament), use the gift of prophesy to teach from it, and be diligent in this work so that those who hear this teaching have a chance to repent. Timothy himself would deliver himself by teaching such Truth, just like the watchman of Ezekiel 33.

The Truth ought to be taught plainly, but with gentleness. All of our human fathers have inherited lies (Jeremiah 16:19) from the pagan traditions and the ruling religious leaders, but this is not their fault and nor does it condemn those among them who have turned away from those lies toward the Truth. We ought to appeal to older men, love our peers as brothers, treat women like mothers and sisters, and encourage all people to endure the cleansing fire of God's Word. God's Word is a consuming fire to those who don't have the golden purity of Truth in their hearts.

Paul instructed Timothy to be mindful of people who will use the faith to take advantage of our generous hearts and spirits. We ought to mind their fruit so that we are not deceived by their lip service. Those of good fruit who truly need help ought to be our top priority. This includes widows, whom we certainly ought to care for. However, their children ought to care for them first before using church resources. If they don't have family to care for them, then the church ought to help. If they are younger, they ought to remarry so they can be under their husband's authority rather than gossip with other ladies and cause trouble. Good leaders communicating the Word and teaching ought to be compensated by the community, and no accusation against a leader should be taken seriously unless two or three witnesses can attest to the sin. If he refuses to hear the rebuke of three witnesses, then the whole congregation ought to rebuke him. Be careful before elevating anyone to leadership.

Servants ought to be mindful of their call to serve God first. We should not be hasty to advance our own position in society, but to grow where God has planted us into the image of Yeshua. God can make changes to our station, but in the meantime we ought to give our all and treat all people with respect. If anyone teaches differently, he is proud and will come to a fall. Those pursuing controversies, word-battles, dissensions, insults, evil suspicions, and wrangling are seeking their own benefit rather than God's, but true riches comes from contentment—we really ought to be satisfied and grateful if we have food and clothing alone. Anything more is abundance and blessing. When we get caught up in excess, nothing but evil can result. It may seem like there's too much to lose to follow Christ, but the one persisting in such doubt will reap destruction. The call to righteousness causes pain and torture in the heart of a lawless man. Flee from these things, fighting the good fight to pursue righteousness, godliness, faithfulness, love, steadfastness, and gentleness, enduring into eternal life. Obey any commission of the LORD without blame or reproach, hoping alone in God who richly supplies joy and peace to those who love Him.

2 Timothy 1, 2 Timothy 2

In Paul's second letter to Timothy, he explains: Rather than fear what we are up against in this world, which may in fact be the whole world itself, we ought to stand firm in God's power, with God's love and with the self-discipline to follow HIs example, bearing His testimony despite any shame or suffering that comes from it. We are united with the LORD on account of the grace He provided for us from the beginning of Creation, but this grace was only made public with the death and resurrection of Yeshua, Who when trusted leads us into eternity. Teach the testimony of Yeshua and God's Holy Word with boldness and the help of the Holy Spirit—the power of God.

We must commit the Word of Truth only to faithful people, such as will be competent to teach others. In fighting in the LORD's army with Yeshua as the commanding officer, we must keep ourselves free from worldly affairs but rather keep our eyes on the mission, and by all possible effort we ought to obey the law. When we do this work, we will receive the reward—it's guaranteed. But do not think for a second we will receive the reward without obedience to our Master. If we die with Him, we live with Him. So we ought to die daily to ourselves and take upon ourselves His life instead. If we do this from our deepest desire to please the One we love, the LORD will know. We must keep ourselves from defilement so we can be set apart for honorable use by God's Holy Spirit. Call on the LORD with a pure heart, pursue righteousness, faithfulness, love and peace. Gentleness may provide a chance for opponents of the Truth to repent, while resentment, bitterness or anger may turn them away.

2 Timothy 3, 2 Timothy 4

Paul's description of the Last Days in 2 Tim. 3 sounds quite like today, and I don't believe things have been so globally reminiscent until now. The most compelling of Paul's descriptions of these people is that they will be "loving pleasure rather than God as they retain the outer form of religion but deny its power." They're Christians in name only, falling into the "greasy grace" trap, following man's way instead of the Way of Christ. They are "always learning but never able to come to full knowledge of the truth." Why?!?! Because they fail to surrender to God's will to obey His commandments, being blinded by the deceit of men, never being able to look past it. On the contrary, "ALL who want to live a godly life united with the Messiah Yeshua will be persecuted."  If we are not being persecuted for Christ, we ought to wonder why not. Meanwhile, imposters will get worse and worse, deceiving others and deceiving themselves. Paul confirms that the Scriptures—the Old Testament was all that existed then—are the source of wisdom and Truth, which leads to deliverance through faith in Yeshua. Torah ought to be used to convict sinners, correct faults and train in righteousness, so that we who follow Christ can be made into His image.

Paul explained: It is our duty as teachers to speak this Truth—to proclaim the Word of God, whether it is convenient to do so or not—whether it is welcomed or not. Our job is to convict, to censure, and to exhort with unfailing patience and good solid doctrine, even if we must be like the prophet Jeremiah and preach to those who hate us for it. Christians-in-name-only will surround themselves with teachings and teachers that make them feel good about themselves as they continue in their sins—they won't listen to the Truth. Despite this, we must remain consistent in our teaching, doing everything that God requires, enduring all suffering in the process. It brings tears to my eyes to consider Paul's closing words: "The LORD stood by me and gave me power to proclaim the full message ... the LORD will rescue me from every evil attack and bring me safely into His heavenly Kingdom." The LORD indeed stands by, even when Christians we have known and love as brothers and sisters fall away, and death brings new life to the repentant and faithful. Demus, Paul's disciple, lost his salvation by loving the things of this world more than God. Too many fall away because of this. God forbid it among those I love! Let all who hear God repent!

Titus 1, Titus 2, Titus 3

Paul's letter to Titus also instructs this disciple how to appoint leaders of local congregations, and the requirements are the same as in his letter to Timothy. Above all, the overseer must hold firmly to the trustworthy Word and Apostle's doctrine so he can exhort and encourage the faithful and refute those who speak against the Truth. Paul was most adamant against those promoting Rabbinical Judaism, because their focus was on man's law rather than on God's law. It still is. He said: "They MUST be silenced!" Having experienced folks with this mindset, I have to agree. They distract from Yeshua and the beautiful elegance of God's Word. Having warned about legalism, Paul turns to warn against lawlessness. He wrote that we must beware of those who "claim to know God, but with their actions ... deny Him. They are detestable and disobedient" and "have proved themselves unfit to do anything good." This too is a scathing rebuke and one we ought to fully comprehend. We do not want to find ourselves in this camp.

The rest of the letter has good points, but really hones in on two powerful explanations of God's grace through Yeshua and how to properly understand it:
In Chapter 2, He wrote, "For God’s grace, which brings deliverance, has appeared to all people. IT TEACHES US TO RENOUNCE GODLESSNESS and worldly pleasures, and TO LIVE self-controlled, upright and GODLY LIVES now, in this age; while continuing to expect the blessed fulfillment of our certain hope, which is the appearing of the glory of our great God and the appearing of our Deliverer, Yeshua the Messiah."
In Chapter 3, He wrote: "We spent our lives in evil and envy; people hated us, and we hated each other. But when the kindness and love for mankind of God our Deliverer was revealed, He delivered us. It was not on the ground of any righteous deeds we had done, but on the ground of His own mercy. ... He did it so that by his grace we might come to be considered righteous by God and become heirs, with the certain hope of eternal life."
We have no hope without the grace of God through Yeshua, which frees us from condemnation, but on account of His grace, we ought to live according to the commandments of God so that we will be accepted upon Yeshua's coming as His righteous bride.

Philemon 1

Philemon is a good study on how to earnestly plead with a man who calls himself a brother to do what is right for his fellow believer, even though society considers the fellow believer to be a slave. We might look at illegal immigrants with this same heart as Paul, or even perhaps our employees if we own a company. Our service to one another ought to be voluntary and joyful, because above all we serve the LORD. And we also ought not hold ourselves in power above others, but serve those who are in our charge. Yeshua said, "the greatest among you shall be your servant."

Note also that at the end of Philemon Paul mentions Demus as "a fellow worker." In 2nd Timothy 4, which must have come later than this short letter, Demus had abandoned Paul and his faith for the allure of the world. Besides Judas, who cast out demons and did many wonders in the name of Yeshua, Demus is New Testament evidence that "once saved, always saved" is false doctrine. Demus had participated in the second greatest ministry of all time after Yeshua's own ministry, and yet he still wandered off toward the things in this world. This ought to terrify us so that we cling to Messiah Yeshua with our every breath and build faith upon faith.

Hebrews 1, Hebrews 2, Hebrews 3

Hebrews is one of the most brilliant pieces of theological Truth to ever be written. Unattributed, it may as well be straight from the LORD's own pen, though Paul probably had something to do with it, as well as Luke. Chapter 1 contains proof after proof that the Son is God, and the Father is God, and that they are One, and while God spoke through His prophets previously, He now speaks through His Son, who endures in the Holy Spirit. Yeshua is "the expression of God's essence." He upholds "all that exists" by His powerful Word. To the Son, the Father said: "Your throne, O God, will last forever and ever." While heaven and earth will vanish, folded up like a coat, Yeshua will remain the same eternally.

Chapter 2 continues to teach what we've read in Paul's letters to Timothy and Titus, which can't be missed: "if the word God spoke through angels (messengers/prophets) became binding, so that every violation and act of disobedience received its just deserts in full measure, then how will we escape if we ignore such a great deliverance?" In other words, because we have been offered grace through Yeshua, how can we possibly continue to disobey the Word of God that was delivered to the prophets, starting with Moses? It is because of God's grace that we ought to keep the law. The writer returns to Chapter one's theme to note that in Yeshua, God born into the flesh, the Messiah is both our brother as a Man and One with the Father who created all things. Through His death and resurrection, He rendered the condemnation of Satan ineffective and released all who are willing from bondage to sin when we choose to put our faith in Him. He has become our sin offering, our atonement, and now He makes intercession for us as our High Priest by helping those who trust in Him obey God as He did.

Chapter 3 explains how Israel in the wilderness became an example for us—a living, historical parable—so we would not fail in the same way they did, but instead would follow the Way of Christ. While Yeshua was indeed the prophet like unto Moses, He was more than a prophet. Moses built a model of God's heavenly tabernacle and Yeshua is building the actual Tabernacle comprised of human souls. Because we have been offered such deliverance—not from Egypt, but from sin, death and the world—we had better not grumble as Israel did. As our lives approach the Promised Land, we had better not harden our hearts as Israel did in the wilderness. We had better not put God to the test. How much worse will it be for us to insult the Spirit of grace than it was for Israel? All but two adults leaving Egypt lacked the faith to believe God's power and promises and their doubts destroyed them. God will not abide with those who doubt, and how much worse would it be for us to be removed from fellowship in the True Tabernacle? Watch out! Do not abandon the faith. Do not become hardened by the deceit of sin. "We have become sharers in Messiah, provided, however, that we hold firmly to the conviction we began with, right through until the goal is reached."

Hebrews 4, Hebrews 5, Hebrews 6, Hebrews 7, Hebrews 8, Hebrews 9

Hebrews 4 completes the thoughts of chapter 3, emphasizing our need to embrace the fear of God where our Israeli fathers failed—and both groups received the Good News of God. The message, whether received by them or by us, doesn't do any good if it isn't received with faith. We have to believe and therefore obey God's Word, or we also will not enter God's rest—a metaphor for God's Kingdom. This Eternal Rest is also prophesied by the weekly Sabbath. When we rest from our work on the Sabbath Day we also express our faith in God's Kingdom. The Sabbath is our rehearsal dinner for the wedding feast, and the one freedom God has given us from the curses of work that He placed upon Adam. We ought not harden our hearts, as the men in the wilderness, but we ought to obey with gladness as we pass through our own wilderness experience. We will all give a personal account. While Joshua didn't himself speak of another day, and enjoyed a temporal rest from God in the Promised Land, God has clarified in His Word that Joshua's rest foreshadowed another Day; namely, the Last Day when our perfect Messiah will return and bring His people Home. The Word of God reveals these Truths because it lives in us by the Spirit of God through faith in Yeshua.

Hebrews 5-9 contain mysteries too great to discuss in few words, but the writer of Hebrews does us a favor at the beginning of Chapter 8 and sums up a key point I will further explain. We read: "Here is the whole point of what we have been saying: we do have just such a High Priest as has been described. And He does sit at the right hand of glory in heaven. There he serves in the Holy Place, that is, in the true Tent of Meeting, the one erected not by human beings but by the LORD." Here is the simple Truth: The Tabernacle of meeting and all the laws surrounding the High Priest and the sacrifices in the Old Covenant were to be a model for the heavenly reality that we have in Messiah Yeshua. Now, Yeshua sits as High Priest inside the authentic Holy of Holies, having offered Himself as an eternal sacrifice, and He intercedes there on our behalf forever as our mediator. This is not to say that He will intercede for lawless rebels who reject God's law, for the law of God is written on the hearts of believers who make up the tabernacle in the New Covenant. This is not an entirely mystical experience, but is otherwise explained throughout the rest of Scripture. Indeed, when we read the law of God day and night, meditate on it, and pray using its words, and follow it as we follow Yeshua, the LORD by His Spirit not only helps us internalize God's law, but also helps us keep it by His Spirit. Those who reject the law, therefore, do not know the Spirit of God.

Be careful not to be deceived by the wickedness of this world and the wolves in sheep's clothing who preach lawlessness and call it grace. Grace was given through Yeshua, our High Priest, who died to atone for our sins, and then He rose indestructible, conquering sin and death. He doesn't minister to sin, but to sinners, who turn from their sins when they come to know the High Priest and Mediator we have in Yeshua. Though He is of the Tribe of Judah, a Jew, He is a High Priest after the order of Melchi-Tzedek of Salem, the King of Righteousness and the King of Peace. He is eternal. He is the One who stood before Abraham and took his tithe. He is the one who came in the flesh and offered up a better sacrifice than bulls and goats. When we turn toward Him and follow Him in all of His ways—remember that He fulfilled the law, and thus we should, also—He intercedes for us.

Don't be confused and equate the Old Covenant with the Old Testament and the New Covenant with the New Testament. While English has done us this disservice by naming two sections of our Scriptures in this way, the proper Biblical names for these books are the Torah, the Prophets, the Psalms, and the Apostolic Writings, and each of these books and sections describe both covenants. The New Covenant was offered to all who had faith from the very beginning, and the Old was given to judge those who lacked it. As Yeshua said Himself, "Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad.” Indeed, Abraham was saved by grace through faith, just like us, if we are indeed being saved through Messiah Yeshua.

Malchi-Tzedek was a pre-incarnate Yeshua, just as so many other unusual appearances of the Angel of God, and even Yahweh Himself who appeared before men. And while no one can see God and live, there were many who saw God and indeed lived, and many still do, because Yeshua is, always has been, and always will be the visible form of Almighty God, but no one can stand before the Invisible Father without the grace offered by Yeshua and live, for He is Holy beyond our comprehension. Our God is One, but His nature and complex unity are beyond human language. This is how Abraham could see the day of Yeshua and rejoice, and indeed all who call upon the name of the LORD will be saved!

Unfortunately, these wonderful Truths remain mysteries for too many who fall back into man-made doctrines that the Word itself proves false, and the writer of Hebrews bemoans this toward the end of Chapter 5 and into Chapter 6. The doctrines concerning faith in Yeshua, turning away from lawlessness, baptism, the power of laying prayerful hands, the resurrection of the dead, and the final judgment are elementary principles that all believers should fully grasp. The Word is clear about these things, and God willing He will deliver clarity to those who repent. But it is impossible for those who refuse to turn from sin, like dogs who return to their vomit, to clearly see the Truth of God's Word. God won't even hear the prayers of those who live in sin and attempt to justify it. Only Messiah justifies! We cannot continue to execute Christ for the same sins, but we must repent and live according to the law, which gives freedom and peace and joy to all who love God and serve the living Messiah! Because we have one life to live, and then eternal judgment, we must be diligent to endure in our faith, which produces the righteousness of Messiah Yeshua. He is our example, and an example we must follow.

Hebrews 10, Hebrews 11, Hebrews 12, Hebrews 13

Hebrews 10 continues and ends the previous dialogue on the purposes of the tabernacle and the laws of sacrifice, the Day of Atonement, the Mediator, the High Priest, and the law. These things all persist in the New Covenant, but with new spiritual understanding. In the Torah, God used these things as living, historical metaphors to point forward to what is authentic and eternal in His Kingdom. Think about this, though. If God loathed the sacrifices and therefore offered His Son Yeshua as the One-Time Sacrifice for sin to replace them, He also loathed the sacrifice of His Son and looked away. God hates sin, and repetitive sacrifices are a sign that we are not truly reformed and continue living in sin, which leads to death. How much worse will it be for those of us who do not turn toward the obedience of God's law when we have so great a sacrifice to redeem us? God wants us to be redeemed, and so He gave us His Son to redeem us, and this is how the sacrifice of Yeshua pleased Him; it literally took the focus off a cycle of death and turned it toward a focus on indestructible life in Messiah Yeshua. When our eyes are on Yeshua, we ought to do what He did in every way and thereby leave behind the sins that lead to death.

The Torah describes the shadow of those good things coming, in that they were the image of authentic Kingdom reality. A veil covers the eyes of those who don't know Yeshua so that they can't see the real image in the shadow, but only those who have spiritual eyes can see the real image there. But all these things described in the Torah are still being lived out in us through Messiah, and we are called to fully fulfill all of them as Messiah also did. If we are asked to follow Him, then follow Him we must. If He was both the High Priest and the sacrifice on Yom Kippur, then we remember the Atonement He made for us on that day, just as He and His Apostles showed us to do, for the Day of Atonement will still be realized in its fullness as also the Day of Judgment for the disobedient. Our justification comes in Christ, “But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is Christ therefore a minister of sin? Certainly not!" (Galatians 2:17). Our sins will never be justified by Christ! Let us therefore continue walking as Christ walked in perfect faith to God in righteousness, without wavering, and obey the law that He set before us for our good. How could we treat the blood He shed for us as common?

In Hebrews 11, we can see many examples of those whose faith was indeed shown to be enduring in the deeds that necessarily follows that faith. Our faith is not only an intellectual agreement with what God has done, but also an agreement with the example that Christ set for us that we must also follow. By faith, Abel offered, Enoch walked with God, Noah built an ark, Abraham obeyed and endured, he lived in temporary dwellings with Isaac and Jacob knowing that God's permanent kingdom is yet to come, he offered Isaac, Isaac and Jacob prophesied, Joseph commanded his bones be moved into the land, Moses left his rich estate, he trusted in the blood, he led all the people through the water, Joshua walked around Jericho seven times, Rahab helped the spies, Gideon fought thousands with 300, David waited on God's time to make him king, many endured persecution and even death, and there are so many other examples to cite. Faith is doing, and not hearing only. We must obey the law of God. And all these men whose faith was proven by their actions await the same resurrection of the dead that we will also enjoy, some for everlasting life with God and others for everlasting condemnation, depending on whether we have endured in our faith.

And thus in Chapter 12, the writer turns to speak about endurance, asking whether any of us yet have suffered the same torturous death as Christ for holding on to what is true. As of today, many have and they will be rewarded, but have you and I endured such things? How much more trivial are our tribulations and persecutions in comparisons. It ought to be understood among all believers that God puts us through trials and tribulations in this life on account of our faithful obedience to His Word that tests us—to see whether we will endure—and to strengthen us to do greater things for His Kingdom in the days that follow. If we are not enduring persecution and tribulation for our faith, then we aren't being faithful. All discipline from the LORD ought to lead us to righteousness and more righteousness, which is obedience to the law of God through our faith in Yeshua. Again, our eyes must remain focused on Him. Can we miss out on God's grace? Indeed, if bitterness rises up in us, if sexual immorality defined in Torah, or in any other godless disobedience, such as Esau exhibited. Could we give up God's eternal promise for something else? How could we do anything other than put God's will before our own will and understanding?

The writer reiterates as chapter 12 continues that we are not standing before Mt. Sinai in the flesh, but before the Mountain of God in Heaven! It's not the shadow, but the real and eternal Mountain from which God has told us what is good and given us every opportunity and every help to do it. We are part of the city of God, the heavenly Jerusalem, the myriads of angels, the Judge of all the universe, the lives of righteous ones who have completed their race in faith, the mediator Yeshua—for it is His blood that cleanses us—and so we had better not reject the Word of God. How could we expect to live in God's Kingdom after we have been given so much greater understanding of the Truth and still reject it? While God's voice shook the Earth and changed the hearts of few in times past, He will shake the heaven and the earth and remove all but the remnant who embrace the grace offered to them by living with reverence and fear in obedience to God's commandments. God will burn up into nothing all who reject His Way.

And the Gospel of Yeshua must also be spread abroad, the writer concludes in Chapter 13, for the promises of God do not belong only to us but to all of God's people, and God has chosen to use us to reach them. Our friendship, our gentleness, our love for one another ought to be in teaching all the commandments of God. The writer finishes with several examples that come from Torah, and then explain that we must imitate Yeshua's example of living this out. Thanks be to God for His Spirit Who helps us do this. Don't think of this Narrow Way as anything new, for Yeshua the Messiah is the same yesterday, today and forever. If forever stretches into the future indefinitely, then it also stretches back into eternal yesterdays. The revelation given to us was also given to Israel, even as far back as Adam himself and everyone in between. The cross of Yeshua was a point predestined and completed always, for God lives outside time and space. Our only hope is to go to Yeshua outside the camp of the world, for there is no permanent city that will be established in this place that is destined to be burned. Our eternal life will only be secured in the temple being built by Messiah Himself, which is all of His holy people who trust Him and keep His commandments. Let our sacrifices be praise to His name and prayers for His will to be done in our lives as it is done in Heaven, as we trust that the One who has given us promises through Him is faithful.

James 1, James 2, James 3, James 4, James 5

Trials in tribulation are opportunities to become more like the image of Yeshua, so in this we ought to repent. When tempted, we must speak the Truth of God rather than take the bait of our fleshly desire, for sinful desire realized leads to death. When we ask for wisdom with faith, the LORD will provide it. To doubt God's promises and say we follow Yeshua is the sign of a wolf in sheep's clothing.  We ought to listen first before speaking, and remove all evil from our ways, for we have to actively obey God's commandments and not just read and disregard them. To violate any law is akin to violating them all, but thanks be to God that He is merciful and just to forgive those who confess their sins and repent. Rather than waste time and risk death on self indulgence, we ought to serve others.

Our faith ought to treat the blameless man equally with the sex offender who repents, for Messiah Yeshua offers grace to us all. The law of liberty applies to us all, and we are blessed when we obey it. How could we say we have faith and then not change anything in our lives? Our entire life and everything we say and do ought to reflect the faith we say we have, which is grounded in the Word of God and Yeshua's living example.

Not many people should teach the Word of God, for we will be judged more severely. My sermon of 12/21/2024 exposited this verse extensively. Feel free to look it up on YouTube. We must watch what we say and what we do, knowing that we have a great impact on others in both of these things. Do we want to lead others toward Yeshua's Kingdom or toward the consuming fire of Hell? We must watch what we say and say and do everything for the LORD.

We should not fight with one another, but rather pray for the LORD's will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. The LORD opposes the proud who think their own way is acceptable, but favors the humble who loves Him and trembles before His Word. We must surrender to God and stand against the adversary with the Word of Truth. We must trust in God and His Word for every aspect of our lives, waiting on Him in every way for His will to be done.

We ought to focus our lives on storing up treasures in Heaven rather than wealth for our pleasure and comfort now, or if we do have wealth we ought to use it to serve the LORD. We should not take advantage of other people, but generously give them what we owe them. We should speak out against false teaching, for it will not only lead the speaker to death but also all who hear him. We ought to be honorable in our word, letting our yes be yes and our no be no. We should pray when we are suffering and praise when we are doing well. Prayer in faith by a righteous person will bring about the LORD's will. We ought to openly confess our sins because the LORD will forgive and restore righteousness when we do, but then we ought to sin no more.

1 Peter 1, 1 Peter 2, 1 Peter 3, 1 Peter 4, 1 Peter 5

Writing to congregations of believers in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bythinia, Peter explains that faith in Yeshua, by the grace of God, has given us deliverance from condemnation and prepares us for the Last Day. In this faith, which is followed by obedience to God, unbelievers and doubters will treat us with persecution that helps to strengthen us in our faith. Even though we have not lain eyes on Yeshua Himself, we trust Him and this trust fills us with joy. Living within our faith, we must head out to work for the LORD in fulfilling the Great Commission as people who obey God, not allowing disobedience, doubt, disillusionment, discouragement or lawlessness in general to take us off course. Our life should be conducted in all ways with the fear of God, abandoning the ways of men, whether passed down from Jewish fathers or Gentile fathers, and taking on the Way of Christ. By purifying ourselves, we develop a sincere love for our brothers and sisters in Messiah Yeshua who do the same, and anything else fades away, but the Word of God endures.
 
Malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy and contentions must depart from us, for we are becoming a part of the Messiah's Temple, and we are becoming priests in that Temple offering spiritual sacrifices for the LORD as we grow in our faith. All who reject the Word of God stumble, and then they ultimately fall, but those who embrace faith in the Word become a people set apart for God's eternal Kingdom. We have to maintain our peace in the Way of the LORD, and not fall away to the ways of the world. Where possible, we ought to submit to all worldly authority that doesn't contradict God so we can serve as a sweet aroma that others will desire for themselves. Even when we are mistreated, we ought to respond with grace for this too attracts others to the faith. Messiah is the one who took our sins upon Him so that we might live for righteousness and He will help us in this.

Wives ought to submit to their husbands, winning them over to what is good by good conduct, and husbands ought to love their wives with understanding and patience, so that God will hear our prayers. The LORD hears the prayers of the righteous, but He will not hear from those who turn away from the law to do evil. The LORD is holy, and we must regard Him as holy with humility and fear, keeping our conscience clear so that when people speak against us, they will be put to shame. Keep in mind: God literally wills that we suffer in this life, for it is what molds us into what we ought to be. Through voluntary baptism, we wash away our former way of life and begin our journey of faith; it is a very important part of the walk toward Messiah.

When we accept physical suffering, we are being cleansed of our fleshly desires and our perseverance will enable us to live closer to God's will by the power of the Holy Spirit. The goal of Yeshua in His Kingdom is near, and so we must remain alert and self-controlled, praying always and helping one another with sacrificial love. We ought to show hospitality, use our spiritual gifts to serve others, speak only the Word of God, and rely on the Spirit's help, glorifying God in everything we do. Again, we must not find any fiery ordeal as strange, but rather rejoice in it so that God can be praised. If we suffer for sin, it profits nothing, so we must not willingly seek persecution. All judgment begins in the Household of God, and so we must make sure to judge our Christian brothers and sisters and help them confess sin and repent. This is our duty, for even the righteous will be barely delivered. Doing what is good according to God's commandments prepares us for eternal life.

Congregational leaders must share also in suffering by putting the needs of congregants first, overseeing their lives but not forcing their confessions. Rather, we ought to gently lead those in our care to confession and repentance with the enthusiastic faith in Yeshua and example that we ourselves set. Those who have not been called to lead the congregation must submit to their leaders, and all should be humble toward one another and especially before God. At the appointed time, God will lift all of His people up. We ought to cast our anxieties upon God, stay sober, stay alert, stand firm in our faith, and God will indeed restore, establish and strengthen us at the time He believes is right. To Him be the power and glory forever!

2 Peter 1, 2 Peter 2, 2 Peter 3

In Peter's second letter to those who have the same faith that began in him offers a roadmap for sanctification that we ought to follow. From the promises of God come our faith in these promises and what Yeshua has accomplished for us, and this brings justification, but justification is only the beginning of the road to God's Kingdom. On the narrow Way, our faith ought to grow into goodness, and goodness then ought to be expanded in breadth, and depth, and height, with the knowledge of God obtained in His Holy Word, recorded in the Scriptures from Genesis to Revelation. When we have knowledge of God's Truth, we can add self-control according to God's commandments, and then when such righteousness is practiced, we gain perseverance. Perseverance practiced becomes godliness, and only when we stand on this foundation can we begin to appreciate what it means to treat others with brotherly love and ultimately be willing to sacrifice our own will for the will of God, which is the highest form of love. If we follow this progression, we will be fruitful and will never stumble, but if we fail to follow this path we will become blind, shortsighted and likely fall away when things get difficult. Yeshua will help those who desire to obey.

While we are on this walk, we must watch out for false prophets, who will bring in destructive heresies that are contrary to the Word, and some may even deny Yeshua's divinity. Those who deny Yeshua's divinity will face swift destruction. In fact, debauchery will result because the Holy Spirit does not abide with those who deny Yeshua—either who He is or the righteous law He represents. We must be heralds of righteousness in our hearts, words, and deeds, like Noah, to be spared as he was from the flood of unquenchable fire that is coming. The false prophets will indeed deny that this end is coming, but God's delay is grace to us, for He doesn't desire than any of us fall away, but that we all might come to repentance. The choice is up to us, and when we choose wisely the LORD will rescue us out of trials and tribulations as well as the Day of Judgment. The wicked and unbelieving will be destroyed on that Day, which is the prophetic fulfillment of Yom Kippur. Peter then provides many examples of the fruits of the wicked, because we shall know them by their fruits. Don't be caught up in calls for liberty from the law when indeed the law is what provides us with liberty. The holy command through Messiah is the only way to life.

Peter's letters are meant to keep us focused on the eternal life that matters so we do not get distracted by the world. Note the words that Peter uses to explain the scoffers—these are Christians—who will deny the power and Truth of God's Word. The LORD's long-suffering is wonderful in my eyes, for if He hadn't given me 40 years to finally recognize Him and His Truth, I would have perished in my sins. But He offered me grace in that very time so I could walk forward with new life with blessings, joy and peace! So help me God to persevere in this, and to pull as many out of the fire as have ears to hear and eyes to see! The ungodly will be destroyed. The day is coming, like a thief, but for those who are walking with Messiah Yeshua, the unexpected date will be of no consequence to us. We will be ready on whatever day He comes. Persevere! Everything will burn, but those who are in Messiah Yeshua will stand in the fire just like Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah who were thrown into the fire by Nebuchadnezzar, a type for the antichrist. We wait for the New Heavens and New Earth that await us on the other side of our perseverance. God's long-suffering is deliverance for us.

As an aside, Peter made it very clear that Paul's writing is Truth, but also very hard to understand. We must be careful when reading Paul so we do not misinterpret it to our destruction. It aligns with all of Scripture and does not contradict it. That is rule number one for understanding. Don't fall into the errors of the wicked.

1 John 1, 1 John 2

John's first epistle contains some solid Truth we must be able to grasp and internalize to be secure in our faith:
Yeshua is the Word who gives eternal life; He is God who came in the flesh, the Messiah, and we must believe this in our heart and confess this with our mouths to have fellowship with Him and one another.
God is light and in Him there is no darkness. If we have darkness in us, we do not know Yeshua, but Yeshua cleanses us from all sin.
We have sinned and we still fall short of God's glory, and as we are being sanctified we must confess our sins and God's Holy Spirit will then cleanse us of all unrighteousness so we can repent, and He will help us walk with Him.
It is critical that we who are being sanctified do not sin, but if we do sin we have an advocate with Messiah Yeshua, who is the atonement for our sin. This ought to be the exception rather than the rule, for we cannot make a mockery of the cross by living in sin.
We must obey the commandments of God to know Yeshua, and if we don't keep the commandments and say we know Him, we're lying. Love toward God is enduring in obedience.
We also ought to love one another, which is accomplished through obedience to God. If we don't love one another by exhorting one another in God's Truth, we don't know God.
Do not love the world or the things of the world. If we put the things of the world first before our love of God, then we don't know God. We must remain united with Messiah, who taught us what is right.

1 John 3, 1 John 4, 1 John 5

Continuing:
We are God's children when we know the Father through the Son, but what does it mean to know Him? It means to keep purifying us according to His Torah the way Yeshua taught us to keep it.
For anyone who keeps sinning is violating Torah, because sin is the violation of Torah. If we know Yeshua-Jesus, we cannot keep sinning. If we keep sinning and violating Torah intentionally, we actually don't know Yeshua-Jesus, even if we think we do.
Don't be deceived: Only the person who keeps on obeying God's Torah is righteous. We must endure in righteousness, also. The one who disregards the law of God is of the Devil, until they repent.
Those who fail to love their brothers (fellow Christians) are not from God, and those who do love their brothers and sisters know Messiah, but what does this mean? He explains emphatically, and I quote: "Here is how we know that we love God’s children: when we love God, we also do what He commands. For loving God means obeying his commands."
The world will hate us when we obey God's commands. If we are doing anything that worldly people who don't know Christ love, then we ought to think twice about whether we ought to be doing that thing.
When we have God's spirit, and not a deceiving spirit, we know that we know Him. And we must also be sure to test the spirits. The Holy Spirit allows us to proclaim that God has come in the flesh in the form of Messiah Yeshua, while all antichrists deny this. He is the Son of God who takes away the sin of the world.
Whoever knows God listens to the Apostles who were commissioned by God to teach the world about Messiah Yeshua. We follow the Apostle's Doctrine, and not the doctrine of the Rabbis nor of the pagans. This truly differentiates the spirit of truth from the spirit of error.
God showed His love to us by sending Yeshua the Messiah to die for our sins. This is the greatest form of love that can't be repeated, but we can offer our lives as a living sacrifice for God and our brothers, by doing the will of God alone, thus following Yeshua.
Our fear of punishment ought not drive our obedience to God, but rather our desire to please the one who saved us. We offer this love because He loved us first.
Following HIs example, we ought to love our brothers by keeping the commandments of God and teaching them to do the same, for this is love.
Keeping the commandments of God is not difficult, but man influenced by Satan has tried to make it appear so. It's actually nothing but blessing and joy to do what God commands.
God's witness comes through the Spirit, the Water, and the Blood, meaning that we receive the Spirit being baptized in water after accepting Yeshua's blood for the atonement of sin, and then the Spirit helps us live in Truth.
We only have eternal life if we have the Son. To possess the Son means that we believe and do everything that the rest of this letter explains, and we also endure in it. The Spirit helps us discern who among us is genuine and who is not.

2 John 1

In John's third letter he writes not to a human woman, but to the congregation of God's believers, the bride of Messiah Yeshua. John reports: Some of the children of God are living in Truth, which is to follow Yeshua in keeping the commandments of God, and this makes any teacher pleased as it did John. He then again defines what it means to "love one another." This isn't a new command, but rather it is to obey the same law of God that has been around since the very beginning, because love means to obey God's commandments. Deceivers say Yeshua didn't live as a human being, which is to deny that we have His living example as a new way to understand obedience to God. But we do have Yeshua's living example, and when we possess God's Holy Spirit in us, we will follow it. We should not associate with so-called "Christians" who deny Messiah, for to dine with unbelievers during the holy time of the Sabbath is to share in evil. The Sabbath ought to be set aside for believers only. The work of the Great Commission ought to be done outside of the fellowship on the other six days of the week.

3 John 1

The third epistle of John is just a short letter to a brother named Gaius. The name is of Latin origin, so the man is likely a Gentile convert to Messianic Christianity in Asia Minor/modern Turkey. What's important here is that he expresses joy that Gaius is faithful to the Truth, and that he is enduring in it. The Truth is the Word of God, from Genesis to Revelation, and the living example of Yeshua. The man was also showing hospitality for other Christians. John also warned Gaius about Diotrephes, who was rejecting the Apostle's Doctrine and authority but rather trying to make disciples for himself using the name of Yeshua. There are still those who do this today, and these types who will not submit to the authority of the Word are from the enemy. Demetrius, on the other hand, is doing well, for he was a living example of the Truth. The rest of John's exhortation was done in person, so we are sadly not privy to it.

Jude 1

Jude, or Judah, was the brother of James, actually Jacob, and likely the half-brother of Yeshua Himself. The brother was engaged in sharing the salvation that we have through Yeshua when he found it necessary to warn against those who came in as wolves among the flock. Because of their prevalence, our duty is to spend our days "contending earnestly for the faith" against such deceivers and for the benefit of God's children. The deceivers are ungodly, meaning they violate Torah, and they pervert God's grace by using it to give themselves license to sin. In doing this, they disown Yeshua. Jude warns us that God destroyed those among Israel who mistrusted God in the wilderness; He disowned the angels who slept with human women, and these He will destroy at the End; He destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah because of their sexual sins and perversions—and these are examples of what could happen to us if we turn from God's Truth. These deceivers defile their flesh (in the way God's Word explains one can do this), they despise the authority of the Word, they despise the messengers who speak the Truth of God's Word, and they insult anything they don't understand. These have their part with Cain, Balaam, and Korah. Even though they try to fit in during Sabbath and Feast Day celebrations, they are only there for their own benefit and not to do God's will.  They are spiritless, fruitless, and tossed about by every wave of doctrine, driven by impulse, grumbling and complaining about everything, causing divisions, flattering when they can to gain advantage. Yeshua will come with His angels to judge these hypocrites on the Last Day. We were warned about such people by Yeshua and Paul, and Jude warns us again. We should not be like them, but instead be built up in faith, in unity with the Holy Spirit, to love God by obeying Him while patiently waiting for the return of our LORD, for He is the author of mercy and eternal life. Our duty is to rebuke the false ones and pull those deceived by them out of their deception, while being merciful toward those who need the patient guidance of our love.

Revelation 1, Revelation 2, Revelation 3, Revelation 4

The Revelation is an amazing work with strong Torah and Prophetic references, and without a thorough understanding of the Tanakh, these are easily missed. Yeshua is One in Being with God, and He stands in the Spirit amidst the Congregation of believers, represented by the Menorah. He is the light of the world, and when He dwells within us and among us, we shine forth His light. He is the same that He always was and always will be. The book as a whole works in waves, retelling the same story multiple times over. It is NOT chronological, but rather follows a Hebraic writing style symbolized by the Menorah. A more scientific understanding may describe the book as "fractal recursive"—each layer builds upon the last and provides new imagery for more understanding.

In the first section, Yeshua reveals the Truth regarding the Messianic communities of the time, of all time, of each time, and of the last time. Ephesus is obedient to God and perseveres in suffering, but falls short by lacking the Spirit-filled joy required while doing this work. Smyrna is persecuted heavily and endures much testing, and continues in this to glory. Pergamum is set among pagan worship, sexual depravity, and empty legalism, and tolerates idolatry, compromise, and impurity. They must repent or face destruction. Thyatira succeeds in serving others and enduring in the face of many obstacles, but tolerates false prophets, sexual sins, and idolatry. The faithful are called out of this depravity, but those who adopt it fully are going to be destroyed. Sardis believes they follow Yeshua but they present no evidence of this because they deny the Holy Spirit is still at work in their lives, and without change they will face destruction. Philadelphia is doing everything right—keeping the commandments of God and faithful testimony of Messiah Yeshua—but very few people take her seriously and they are persecuted by the legalists as well as the lawless. All they have to do is endure to inherit life. Laodicea is going through the motions more focused on opulence, show, and life in this world than the Kingdom that is coming. They will be stripped bear, but those who repent will be victorious in Messiah.

Yeshua brought John up into Heaven to observe Him sitting on the throne. What an amazing scene to read through and imagine. It is beyond words, but words attempt to describe it. The scene aligns with the rest of Scripture and has significant meaning for future exploration.

Revelation 5, Revelation 6, Revelation 7, Revelation 8, Revelation 9

The Lamb of God, Yeshua the Messiah, was alone worthy to take up the scroll, which is the mortgage for the Earth and all her people. He paid the price, and thus He can open what He purchased with His blood—the saints who keep God's commandments and the testimony of Yeshua. All of Heaven celebrates Messiah Yeshua's victory.

With Yeshua's payment for sin among the faithful, there also comes judgment on those who won't confess their sins and repent. As it has come in all of Scripture, it comes here in the form of pestilence, war, famine, and the oppression and persecution of corrupted power. Many martyrs will lie in their grave waiting for the resurrection, but first all of God's people will face the test of their faith. On the Last Day, the heavens will be rolled up like a scroll and the disobedient and unfaithful will seek shelter but not find it, for all eyes will see Yeshua coming on the clouds, but only the faithful will rejoice, for the disobedient will face the Day of Judgment.

While a complete number of saints are sealed for the resurrection unto new life, when we are finally gathered up from our graves or raised up on the Last Day, the number of us will be too numerous to count. Peace and righteousness will be among the faithful, for Yeshua has achieved our victory and we will all worship Him for it. This group is the New Jerusalem that will descend to inhabit the New Heaven and New Earth, and among them will be saints from every nation from creation until the Last Day. We will worship the LORD forever.

At this point all of the enemies of God will be destroyed, while we are witnesses, like the Israelites hidden in Goshen while the LORD poured out His wrath on Egypt. The LORD will ensure that everyone knows He alone is God, and all of creation that opposes Him will be destroyed forever. Those who reject God's mercy and grace by keeping His righteous ways will dig in and double down on their lawlessness. Their end will be destruction.

Revelation 10, Revelation 11, Revelation 12, Revelation 13, Revelation 14

These next chapters of Revelation seem to prophetically explain the history of redemption as well as our role within that story, as well as the fate of those who reject the Truth. The little book that John ate was bitter in the stomach but sweet in the mouth because the Word of God, which is that little book, is indeed sweet for us to hear and learn but very difficult to actually do on account of the pull of the flesh in this world. To prophesy the Truth of God's Word is a wonderful thing, but it can also leave a bitter feeling in our gut when people we love do not listen to it. Nevertheless, to all people the prophetic Word must be spoken.

The two witnesses, also represented by two lampstands and two olive trees, are the law and the prophets and those who obey them. The LORD's Word is a consuming fire that burns up those who rebel against it, but purifies those who adhere to it. The whole world will ultimately rebel against the Law and the Prophets and even those who consider themselves God's people will cast them to the ground, calling them "nailed to the cross," and indeed they will appear dead and all the world will celebrate through idolatry and covetousness, seeking their own pleasure. But indeed the Word, with its testimony of two, will rise up on the third day. Our Yeshua was indeed this Word, the Law and the Prophets, who rose on the third day and then ascended to His throne on High. This is when the Kingdoms of the World became the Kingdom of the LORD and of His Messiah, who reigns forever. He reigns! He will raise the dead at the appointed time and judge all, dead or alive, based on their works. His wrath will destroy all godlessness and every eye will see Him on His throne before He comes.

John turned next to astronomy to explain this story. In brief the woman is Israel and her child is Yeshua, and the dragon came to try and upset God's plan. The women was scattered throughout the world following Yeshua's ascension, and Yeshua cast Satan from heaven at that time. We were warned that he roams the earth seeking God's children to devour. But Satan has been overcome by the blood of the Lamb and His Word, and His Apostles gave their lives to make sure this story was passed on for all to hear. The dragon would continue to make war with the woman Israel and her offspring who have faith in Yeshua and keep the commandments of God until Yeshua returns.

The Beast government systems rise up under the power of Satan, and God allows His people to be persecuted, even to the death by these powers. He does this to test us; to see whether we will endure until the end, despite the blasphemy against God, His Word, and all of the pressures of the world and the flesh to bend the knee to Satan. All will fall into the Devil's snare except those who are written in the Book of Life—our names are written there when we obey God and keep the testimony of Yeshua. Nevertheless, false prophets, additional systems, and men will rise up to destroy God's people. There may be a single man who ultimately rules the world under a global system who will be controlled by Satan, but we will know him by his fruit. His number is 666, which is the number of man multiplied three times; in other words, it is man's best attempt to achieve eternal life and joy without God, but it falls short of perfection regardless. The mark of God is on the right hand (words and actions) and foreheads (mind/thoughts) of those who keep God's commandments and the testimony of Yeshua, while the mark of the beast is written on the hands and foreheads of those who disobey God and therefore disbelieve in Messiah Yeshua.

In the End, Yeshua will come with His Holy Ones, the complete number of all saved saints (12x12), and they will have God's name on their foreheads. It's not meant to be literal, but symbolic, as are all prophetic numbers. The Saints are pure and follow Yeshua wherever He leads. The LORD will give one final warning to anyone who might still repent, but those who don't will fall with the world system that will be burned up with fire. There will be no second chance for those who miss this opportunity—note: this opportunity might be upon you today. Yeshua said "watch, for I will come like a thief in the night." The world will indeed be a place of darkness. They may even reject Yeshua when He comes, stuck on their desire to do their own will rather than His. The saints are those who patiently endure in faithfulness by keeping God's commandments and faith in Yeshua. These are the ones who are blessed, even though they might die, they will live. The Son of Man will appear before the whole world and will harvest the souls of His saints; then He will harvest the souls of the damned for destruction. These aren't two events; rather, we're observing a Hebraic writing style that creates bookends for the events that will occur in between.

Revelation 15, Revelation 16, Revelation 17, Revelation 18

The Day of Wrath is described in great detail, which is also the Day of the Resurrection. The prophet put the resurrection of the righteous first. They sing the Song of Moses and of the Lamb and they will be celebrated for their righteous deeds. From the true Tabernacle in Heaven comes forth blessing and also wrath against the disobedient.

The plagues against Pharaoh are repeated against the people of Pharaoh—meaning, the people of the world who would not submit to Yeshua and His commandments. Like Pharaoh, God's judgment doesn't cause repentance for them, but rather it causes even more hardness. They chose this path of destruction, and so God will make their destruction eternally memorable. They are gathered together at Har Megiddo, the Mountain of Invasion, which is certainly not the valley that most scholars point to for this verse. The Hebrew "Har" means mountain, and "Miggedon (מְגִדּוֹן)" is an ancient city in the in the Jezreel Valley of Israel, which is why many scholars point there. However, the root that makes up the word Meggedon is "(גָּדַד) gedad," which means to cut or to band together for an invasion. So, on account of many other prophesies, Har Megiddo may be referring to Mt. Zion, where the enemies of God will gather together to make their final stand against King Yeshua, but Yeshua will prevail for He is the victor! Our LORD of Hosts will come like a thief, but how blessed are those who stay awake in prayer, live righteously, and have no exposure to sin.

The LORD next turns to judge the whore of Babylon, and so it's interesting to note that first He judged Egypt and now He is judging Babylon, because both of these civilizations are prophetic representatives for the World system of man on his own without God. It's a Tower of Babel scenario. Do you want to know who this great harlot is? Think about those powers that rail against the Word of God and destroy her saints who keep God's commandments and the faith of Yeshua. Any power that has propped up its own man-made system to replace God's elegant law of liberty and the mercy of Messiah Yeshua will be subject to judgement as God has explained here through his prophet. Beware! Get out from among her, if you belong to Messiah. We are to be a people set apart.

It's clear that THE whore of Babylon, the one in the end, has interacted with every nation and people group in the whole world. She is probably a religious structure, rather than a political one, and one focused on opulence. She is wealthy with worldly possessions. She has killed all the prophets and true people of God. She also has her headquarters in a city set on seven hills, which is a direct reference to an imposter that attempts to replace the true city of God, which is set on seven mountains in the Spiritual realm. The imposter will ultimately be destroyed and what is righteous and true will stand forever.

Revelation 19, Revelation 20, Revelation 21, Revelation 22

The victory belongs to Yeshua. Hallelujah! He is the POWER of God and His judgments are both true and just. He will destroy the world system completely—and anything elevated above Him—and He will replace it with His eternal Kingdom and those who have humbled themselves before Him. He alone deserves thanksgiving and praise. Let us rejoice and be glad in Him. The Bride—God's people from the very beginning of creation until the very end—will be clothed with the full righteousness of Messiah Yeshua so we can stand before the throne of God and not be immediately consumed with fire. We will join Him—our husband—forever more, starting with the Marriage Supper, a final fulfillment of the Sabbath and Passover. Let us not miss the invitation He has given. We must worship God alone, and not any of His messengers. Yeshua is the One on the throne—the One on the white horse, who is faithful and true, the embodiment of His Word, the King of Kings and the LORD of LORDs. Perhaps we will worship Yahweh by a new name; perhaps that name is Yeshua; perhaps it is a new name that has not yet been disclosed? In any case, He will reign forever and His rule will be unbendable from what is True. Those who deny Him and His Truth will be no more.

The Adversary will be chained up and powerless to act on the Last Day, which may appear to be 1,000 years on the Earth, but in Heaven, it will not be more than a Day (See: 2 Peter 3:8, Psalm 90:4). Yeshua is victorious over the enemy; but the enemy will be released at the end of the Day to lead a final rebellion. The martyrs will receive special honor in God's Kingdom; they will take part in ruling, which is judgment on the Last Day (see Revelation 6, re: the souls under the altar). Those who are alive during the final tribulation who endure in their faith and obedience will join them. The disobedient will far outnumber the obedient on this Day and they will surround Jerusalem, which I believe is Har Megeddon. At that time, the fire that comes from the Mouth of God, which is His Word, will consume them completely, along with the adversary and any other being that is false. Will they be aware of this eternal torment? If so, I believe their torment will be the knowledge that they sinned without the ability to atone. They will be permanently separated from God—the choice they made. Those who said "LORD, LORD," but lived in lawlessness will be cast out also. The Book of Life contains the names of the Saints, as so often described.

The New Heaven & New Earth will be a refreshing of the Creation—a restoration of the Garden of Eden—when the Spiritual and Physical realms will be One. The New Jerusalem that descends into this place will be the community of believers—the multitude—that were saved by the blood of the Lamb and their diligent faithfulness. This is the ultimate fulfillment of the Feast of Tabernacles, when God will dwell with His people forever. Everything will be like it was in the beginning, but now with understanding of the fall and the redemption. Death will be destroyed: see 1 Corinth. 15. We must endure in our faith and obedience to achieve this victory in Yeshua. Those who are "cowardly, untrustworthy, vile, murderers, sexually immoral, occultist, drug-users, idol-worshippers, and liars"—those who violate God's commandments—will not achieve victory. The New Jerusalem is described here similarly to 1 Corinth. 3. We are all building blocks of the city, with Yeshua as the Cornerstone, the Apostles as the foundation, and Israel and the commandments God gave her as its gates. There will be people from all ages who build up this Holy abode. God's light will shine in us and among us, and the glory we have brought to His Name will magnify this light.

The people of God will be watered by the Holy Spirit, and fed by the Tree of Life, and the fruit of God's Way will mark the seasons for gathering and celebration. The people of God will see His face and not die because we followed Messiah and overcame the world. There will be One throne in Heaven for God and His Lamb, because the Father, Son and Spirit are One. Our original role will be restored, the role of having dominion over the Earth, which Adam surrendered to Satan but Yeshua reclaimed. In this way we will all be kings. The point of expressing this hope that we have in Yeshua is to endure in Him, because He is coming soon—at any time—a time we don't expect. None of us expects the day of our death, but it comes upon us all, thus we must be ready now! We will be awarded or punished on account of our works (see Matthew 7:21-23); how we fulfilled the will of God in our lives as Yeshua showed us to do. The lawless will not enter God's Kingdom, thus we must mind God's Word and ensure we obey it. Pay attention, we're warned! Let us live righteously in Messiah Yeshua. He invites us to "Come!" to Him, and He will give us rest. It is up to us to make this choice. I pray we all choose Yeshua and obedience to the Word He has given us.

I am honored that you all have studied with me this year and pray that you were as blessed as I was going through God's Word together with you. I invite you all to join me reading through the Bible again next year. If you would like to join in, please use this link to read "The One Year Chronological Bible" plan with me: https://bible.com/p/70694931/aa9663fec38c7e773270cdc19547780f. Whether you join me or not, may the peace and grace of our LORD Yeshua the Messiah be with you always as you work together with me on the sanctification of the Holy Spirit that prepares us for the Holy and enduring Kingdom of God where we will dwell with Yeshua and one another forever.