Month: August 2009

Beth Elohenu Messianic Congregation

P.O. Box 335761

N. Las Vegas, NV. 89033

The story of the serpent and Eve found in Genesis chapter 3 is perhaps one of the most widely known stories ever recorded. The phenomenom of the serpent counselling the first couple about God’s Commandment is an event of immense importance that applies to everybody today.

Let’s recap briefly. In Genesis 2.16-17, The Lord God Commanded the man Adam that he was free to eat from every tree in the Garden of Eden, but not from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. For in the day that you eat of that tree, the Lord said, you will surely die.

And of course it is well known what happened shortly after that. The serpent, whom Revelation 12.9 describes as satan, deceived Adam’s wife Eve by saying to her, Really, has God said you shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And Eve replied, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden, but of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, we must not eat of it nor touch it, lest we die. Satan’s answer! You shall not surely die. Well, Adam and Eve did eat from the tree of which God Commanded them not to eat. And because they embraced the words of satan and disobeyed the Commandment of the Lord their God, they forfeited God’s gift to live forever in the Garden of Eden and were expelled, and in time, they died. Genesis 3.22-24;5.5

So you may ask, what’s so important about this cute little story? Why is it so crucial? Because Genesis 3.1 describes the serpent as subtle, dishonest and deceitful. He succeeded in leading Adam and Eve away from God’s Truth. And satan’s lie never changes. Today his lie is bolder and more crafty. God’s Law is no longer in force, we are taught. His Law has ended, we are taught. However Yeshua warns us; satan was a murderer and a liar from the beginning, John 8.44. Because it was satan who ushered the couple to their death by his lie. Tricking them into believing it was not necessary to obey God’s Commandment and causing them to lose their Eternal Life, Genesis 3.22-23. We are taught by so many people today that God’s Law is dead. And that false teaching is from satan. And it is 100% wrong.

You will say correctly, Yeshua is my Redeemer. He died that I may have my sins forgiven. He is my atonement and the only atonement I will ever need. Correct on all points. But where in the Scriptures are we taught that we are free from God’s Law and not required to obey it? No where. That doctrine can not be found any where in the Scriptures from Genesis through Revelation.

Thus Yeshua calls on everybody to Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at Hand, Matthew 4.17. Repentance is taught extensively throughout the Bible. Ezekiel 18.30 explains repentance well. The Prophet writes; Repent and turn yourselves from all your trangressions, so iniquity shall not be your ruin. Repentance means turning from our sins. Sin is explained in 1John 3.4 as breaking God’s Torah or Law. We must stop violating God’s Law and that can be accomplished only by obeying it. The same repentance is taught in the New Testament. Hear Paul’s teaching on the subject; Testifying both to the Jews and Greeks (non Jewish people) repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Yeshua the Messiah, Acts 20.21. Sin is the same in the New Testament as in Tnakh, the Old Testament, breaking the Law of Moses. And there is no difference between the Jewish Person and the non Jewish Person, Romans 10.12. We both must submit to God’s Torah, Romans 8.6-8.

Again Paul writes; They (Jewish and non Jewish People) should repent and turn to God and do works worthy of repentance, Acts 26.20. James explains works of repentance as obeying God’s Torah. He wrote in James 1.25; But whoso looks into the Perfect Law of Liberty, and continues in it, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, that man shall be blessed in his deed. The perfect Law of Liberty is the Torah. It frees us from sin and its control over us, when we obey it. And for obeying Torah, James writes, we are blessed in our deed. It’s interesting to note that this word Deed comes from the Greek word Poiesis, meaning, Performance of the Law. We will be blessed, James writes, for performing the Law.

Yes, often we are quoted Galatians 5.1; Stand Fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Messiah has made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. Incredibly we are told, the yoke of bondage is the Law. Where does God and Jesus and the Prophets and the Law or the New Testament ever say that the Torah is bondage? No where. The yoke of bondage is sin and sin causes death, physical and spiritual. Yes, Yeshua has redeemed us from our sins by His loving grace and atoning sacrifice. But together with our faith in Messiah, we are expected to lead our lives in obedience to Moses, Luke 16.29. And when we choose to obey, we become “mispahkhah” family with Yeshua having eternal life with Him in the Kingdom of Heaven, Matthew 12.50.

The One we serve, Yeshua the Messiah, is the Redeemer, the King of Israel, The Lord of Hosts, the First and the Last. He is the One that formed us from the womb; He is the Lord that makes all things, that stretched forth the heavens alone and spread out the earth by Himself. He is the Holy One of Israel, Isaiah 44.6,24; 47.4. And He is the One who gave the Commandment to Adam. He also never changes, Malachi 3.6, Hebrews 13.8. And from His creation of the first two human beings, the Lord has always taught obedience to His Word and Law accompanied with wonderful and great blessings, Deuteronomy 28.

If A Person Loves Me, Yeshua says, He Will Keep My Words: And My Father Will Love Him And WE Will Come Into Him And Make Our Home With Him, John 14.23. After faith in Messiah and obedience to His Words and Law, we are then given the Holy Spirit, Acts 5.32. And believing in Yeshua is obeying Torah, Deuteronomy 18.18-19, etc. and John 1.45. So satan will continue his lie until he is tossed into the lake of fire forever, Revelation 20.10. Therefore, Choose Life. Do not be misled as the first couple was. For it is faith in Yeshua and obedience to God’s Law that lead to Eternal Life. It is God’s Commandment, Matthew 13.41-43.

Shalom, Ira Weinstein, Congregational Leader

www.bethelohenu.org

bethelohenu@gmail.com

Beth Elohenu Messianic Congregation

P.O. Box 335761

N. Las Vegas, NV. 89033

Coming from Orthodox Judaism, the criticism and hostile reaction I receive from Jewish people for believing in Messiah Yeshua, the Hebrew name for Jesus, is nothing compared to my reaction to those who are taught by the many Theologians that the Law (Torah) is dead. I have been told by so many Christians and Messianic Jews (Jewish Believers in Messiah Yeshua) that Jesus abolished the Law, brought it to an end, it’s inoperative today, Jesus has set us free from the Law, Hallelujah, we are no longer in bondage to the curse of the Law, etc., and so on. Why is the Law a curse and bondage? I say to that teaching, hogwash because it can not be found anywhere in the Scriptures. The Law of Moses is not dead. Never will be dead.

Believe me, I have prayed alot about this doctrine. Early in my walk with the Lord, I was taught that the Bible is the authority on life and certainly when it comes to the Word of God. And let me say this with as much emphasis as I possibly can; This teaching that the Law is dead, done away with, abolished, abrogated, etc., etc., etc., is wrong and does not line up with the Word of God. Why am I so offended? Because that teaching is dangerous to your Salvation. We’ll explain that in Matthew 7:21-23 a little later.

The New Testament, to the very highest degree teaches that the Law is alive and stands forever. This wonderful teaching comes from Yeshua in Luke 16:17. “It is easier for Heaven and Earth to pass, then one tittle of the Law to fail.” i.e., Not the smallest part of God’s Law will ever be abolished or changed.

From Paul, “Do we then make void the Law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the Law, Romans 3:31.

The apostle John writes in 1 John 3:4, “Sin is the transgression of the Law.” Clearly said, sin is breaking the Law. And, by the way, The wages of sin is death, Romans 6.23.

There is not one word in Scripture even hinting that God’s Law of Moses is dead. Not one word.

However Peter writes in 2 Peter 3:16; “Paul in his letters sometimes writes things hard to understand, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest as they do also the other Scriptures, unto their own destruction.”

Let’s recall a little story in Genesis 2 and 3 that we are all very familiar with. The Lord God commanded Adam, saying, in Genesis 2:16-17, ” You are free to eat of every tree in the Garden, but do not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for in the day that you eat of it, you will surely die.” And we all know what the outcome was. Genesis 3 teaches us that satan is a liar, a deceiver who causes people to disobey God. So Adam and Eve obeyed satan. And they of course ate what God told them not to eat. Was God pleased with their disregard for His Word? He certainly was not. Our troubles in life, sorrows, and death all originate from their defiance to the Lord God. PSALM 51.5, Hebrew Bible PSALM 51.7

And satan, still in his crafty and cunning ways, teaches us today to disobey God. Only in these contemporary times, he uses more intellectual means. Let’s call it Theological Intellectualism and this creative teaching that the Law Of Moses is dead is dangerous to your Salvation. I will say that again. This creative teaching that the Law Of Moses is dead is dangerous to your Salvation. Infact, the only way you can have a relationship with the Lord God is to receive His Messiah Jesus for your atonement, and obey God’s Laws that are written in the Law Of Moses.  Luke 8.21.

We are taught in just about every religious institution outside of Judaism that it’s Biblical not to submit to the Law of Moses. We are told Jesus ended the Law and if we obey the Law we are legalists or we are being judaized by judaizers. Or we are putting ourselves in bondage and under a curse if we obey God’s Laws that are written in the Law of Moses.

Some may even say, you will lose your salvation if you obey the Law of God which is the Law of Moses. Pretty strong words for our God Who is our Father, Who loves us and Who came here as a man to give His life for you to be your atonement for your sins. The reason we obey God and His Law is simple. Because God requires us to obey His Law.

Acts 5:32 teaches that, “The Holy Spirit is given by God only to those who Obey Him.” Those who obey His Law of Moses. Yeshua instructs us in John 5:45-47; “The One that will accuse you to the Father is Moses.” When Yeshua refers to Moses in this context, He means the Law. The Law of Moses will accuse you. God’s Law will charge you with the offence and sin of breaking His Law.

Paul writes these words in Romans 8.7; “Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the Law of God, neither indeed can be.” Does that sound like a man who teaches the Law is dead? Absolutely not.

In Acts 24:14, Paul confesses that he “Worships the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the Law and in the Prophets.”

Yeshua told satan in Matthew 4:4 and Luke 4:4; “It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by Every Word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.” These Words are from the Law in Deuteronomy 8:3. Does that sound like Yeshua abolished the Law? Certainly not.

Yeshua taught the Word of God, Mark 2:2. He teaches in John 8:31; “If you continue in my Word, you are my disciples indeed.” His Words are the Words of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob Who says in Deuteronomy 18:18 and 19, “I will put My Words in His (Yeshua’s) mouth, and He shall speak unto them all that I shall command Him.” And if anybody fails to heed the Words He speaks in My Name, I Myself will call Him to account.”

Peter responds to those Words in Acts 3:22-23; “And it shall come to pass, that every soul which will not hear (Obey) that Prophet (Yeshua), shall be destroyed from among his people. Those are strong words. Not only for Jewish people but for everybody.

“The duty of ALL mankind,” Solomon writes in Ecclesiastes 12:13, “is to Fear God and keep His Commandments.” Fearing God, is to obey His Law. See Deuteronomy 6.2 and Deuteronomy 28.58.

Yeshua tells us in John 14:24; “The Word which you hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me.” Thus the Word we hear from Yeshua is the Law, God’s Law. God’s Law of Moses. In Yeshua’s prayer to the Father, in John 17:6, Yeshua said, “They (His disciples) have kept your Word.” Luke 1:1-2 teaches that the disciples were “Ministers of the Word.”

James teaches in Acts 15:21; “For Moses of old time has in every city them that preach him, being read in the Synagogues every Sabbath Day.” Thus James is teaching the Non Jewish Believers to hear the Law of Moses, Learn It And Do It.

Paul writes in Romans 2:13; For not the hearers of the Law are Just before God, but the doers of the Law shall be justified.”

And Romans 2:20; “The truth is in the Law.” Romans 7:12; “Therefore the Law is Holy, and the Commandment is Holy, and just and good.”

And again Paul writes in Romans 7:22: “For I delight in the Law of God after the inward man.” And by the way, obeying the Law of God means believing in Yeshua the Messiah, John 1:45.

The New Testament teaches us, Jewish and Non Jewish people to Obey the Law of Moses, God’s Laws, because if we don’t, it is dangerous to our Salvation. Why? Hear the Words of Yeshua in Matthew 7:21-23; “Not everyone that says to me Lord, Lord, shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven; but he that does the Will of My Father which is in Heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your Name? And in your Name have cast out devils? And in your Name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you; depart from me you that work iniquity.”

The word iniquity comes from the Greek, Anomia. Anomia means; violation of the Law of Moses, or not obeying the Law. Doing the Will of the Father is obeying His Law. See Psalm 40:8. “I delight to do your Will, O My God: Yea, your Law is within my heart.” Not obeying God’s Law of Moses and following the nonsense that His law is dead is very, very dangerous to your Salvation.

But you will say to me. Look at these Scriptures that say Jesus and Paul did away with the Law. First of all, no one can do away with the Law. Not Paul, Not Jesus, not even God, because, “The Word of our God shall stand forever” Isaiah 40:8, 1 Peter 1:23-25. And, “God never changes.” Malachi 3:6 and Hebrews 13:8. The King of Israel, Who is Yeshua the Messiah is Commanded by God in Deuteronomy 17:14-19; “To fear the Lord His God, to keep all the Words of this Law and these Statutes, to do them.”

Yeshua, Himself, cannot change the Law, nor would He ever dream of doing so. Isaiah 24:5 and 6 tells us why God Will destroy the earth and few will be left. Listen to this. “Because the earth is defiled by its people; they have disobeyed the Laws, violated the Statutes and broken the Everlasting Covenant.” The Everlasting Covenant is the Word of God and His Law, Psalm 105:8-10.

Therefore, no one can change the Law or do away with it as satan has taught and many have been deceived and deceive others. See Matthew 10:28 and Deuteronomy 5:29, and Daniel 7:25.

So here are some of those Scriptures that are misunderstood where people will say to you, See, the Law is dead. Romans 6:14: “For sin shall not have dominion over you: for you are not under the Law, but under grace.” Answer.  The word Law here is also used for Talmud, the Jewish Law. We are never saved by doing the Talmud. We are saved by believing in Yeshua the Messiah, and obeying the Law of Moses.

If, if the translator who translated Romans 6.14 had the intent to mislead by saying we are not under the Law of Moses but under grace, this person like satan deceives and leads people astray. Because we are under the Law of Moses.

God Himself is under the Law of Moses. Yeshua is under the Law of Moses. As were the Prophets, the Disciples and the Apostles under the Law of Moses. And if you have any hope of being part of the body of Messiah, you too must be under the Law of Moses.

Simple fact. If Scripture written in the New Testament, even the Old Testament does not agree with the Law of Moses, that Scripture is wrong and mistranslated.

Abraham  was saved because of faith, Genesis 15:6. But Abraham did the Will of God, Psalm 40:8. He obeyed Him, Genesis 26:5. If Non Jewish Believers are to be “The Children of Abraham,” Galatians 3:7, you are required to obey the voice of God and keep His Commandments, Statutes Laws and Teachings, God’s Laws that are written in the Law of Moses, along with your faith in Messiah Yeshua for atonement.

So not being under the Law means we are not saved by the Talmud, the Jewish Law.  Or the verse is purposely mistranslated. We are saved by believing in Yeshua the Messiah. Then we are required to do the “Will of My Father which is in Heaven,” Obey God’s Law of Moses that the Lord God has given to all mankind to obey, Matthew 7:21, Psalm 40:8 and Romans 2:13.

God’s grace is not that we are free from the Law. That is so inconsistent with the Bible. God’s grace is that He gave his life for us, an atoning sacrifice, to forgive us our sins and give us eternal life with Him in Heaven, and so much more, Jeremiah 31:31-34.

Matthew 5:17-19; Jesus fulfilled the Law. He ended it. Verses 17 and 18 must be read to understand this. He did not come to destroy the Law or the Prophets. That should end the discussion right there.

What Messiah did fulfill was giving His Life for us to be our atonement.

Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the Law, till all be fulfilled. Answer: Heaven and earth are still here and not all is fulfilled. And nothing in the Law will change. Thus, He did not come to destroy the Law or the Prophets. That’s what’s being taught today; That He came to destroy the Law. That is anti God, and it’s blasphemous.

Yes, He did come to fulfill. But what did He fulfill besides our atonement? Luke 24:44 tells us. And He said to them, (His disciples after His resurrection) these are the Words which I spoke to you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the Law of Moses, and in the Prophets, and in the Psalms, Concerning Me.” He fulfilled all the prophecies concerning Him at His first coming. He would be born of a Jewish woman, a virgin, in Bethlehem, to heal, give salvation, etc., etc., etc. He certainly did not come to abolish the Law. Those words are satanic.

The word “fulfil” as in Messiah’s words, “I am not come to destroy but to fulfil,” comes from the Greek word “Pleroo” also meaning, complete. Yeshua has made the Law complete.  Again, Yeshua never came to end the Law. That doctrine is false.

By the way, verse 19 is, I would say, very frightening. “Those who teach men to break one of these least Commandments, he shall be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven. There is no least in Heaven. God’s children will be Kings in Heaven, Revelation 22:5. The Kingdom of Heaven is everywhere God rules. Heaven, earth and even hell. Hell is the least in the Kingdom, Psalm 139.8.

And continuing; “But whosoever shall do and teach them (God’s Commandments) that person shall be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven.” (The word Commandments comes from the Greek word Entolay, meaning Law. Here it means The Law of Moses.) Jesus did not come to abolish the Law but to make it complete. And His intention was and even now is to bring the Jewish People back to the Law and the Non-Jewish People to the Law, Matthew 12:18,50, Matthew 28:19-20 and Luke 11:28. And now that Messiah has come, He has made the Law complete.

Galatians 6:2 and Romans 8:2. We are free from the Law of Moses because we are now under the Law of the Spirit and the Law of Christ. The Spirit and Christ and God are One and the Same because the Biblical Jesus is God Almighty, the Father. Both are One and the Same. John 10:30, John 14:9, Genesis 1:26, Isaiah 48:16-18, etc.

Thus we are all to obey the Law of God which God gave to Moses, to give to the Children of Israel, to give to the world, Isaiah 43.10, Acts 22.15. Thus, when we obey God’s Law, we are free from the law of sin and death. That is indeed perfect freedom.

The food Laws. First of all, Acts 10 has nothing to do with the food laws. It’s about Gentiles getting saved. See Acts 10:28. This is simply a parable in a vision. The food laws of Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14 are effective today and always will be. Try it. You’ll be healthier and you will be in obedience to the Lord your God. God calls those unclean foods an abomination, polluted, foul and defiled. Why eat them? Also, see Genesis 2:16 and 17 and Genesis chapter 3.

Satan’s job is to lie, cheat, steal, deceive, murder and send us all to hell. And he’s doing a good job by lying to us.

Colossians 2:14. Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us and nailed it to the cross. The ordinances that are against the Gentiles are found in Ephesians 2.12. You were without Messiah, being aliens from the Commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world. These are the ordinances that were against you and are now nailed to the cross because now you are fully part of God’s covenant people and special family, the Jewish People through your belief in the Jewish Messiah Yeshua, and your obedience to God’s Law of Moses.

One more. Colossians 2:16. “Let no man therefore judge you (condemn you) in meat or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon or of the sabbath days.” When Non Jewish People are called to Belief in Messiah, God requires you to obey His Law of Moses. Indeed, all mankind is commanded to obey the Laws of the God of Israel. Therefore don’t let anybody judge YOU because you are now being obedient to the Lord your God. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.

The New Testament was never made to replace the Old Testament Scriptures. Again a teaching of satan.  In fact, the New Testament is part of the Law, and Tnakh (Old Testament), John 1:45, John 5:46. The New Testament or should I say, the New Covenant Who is Yeshua the Messiah, is given to us, Jewish and Non Jewish People, for atonement, and so much more. But never to abolish the Law.

Here are some key reasons God gave you His New Covenant, the Messiah Yeshua:

1/ For Atonement.

2/ For God to put His Law in your hearts, Jeremiah 31.31-34. When you received Yeshua the Messiah, God put His Law in your heart to obey His Law, His Law of Moses. If you are truly a Believer in Yeshua, you have God’s Laws written in your heart to obey them, and the Power through the Holy Spirit to obey God’s Law of Moses.  And the desire to obey God’s Law.

3/ For God to be your God, and for you to be part of His  Covenant  People, the Jewish People.

4/ For God to forgive your iniquity and remember your sins no more.

5/Through Yeshua the Messiah, the Lord God will teach His Laws to the Non Jewish People, Isaiah 49.6 and Proverbs 6:23. And Messiah Yeshua is the Salvation of God to everyone who believes. Belief in Messiah Yeshua also includes obeying His Law of Moses. And Messiah is God Almighty the Father, Elohim.

And 6/ To give us Eternal Life, John 8:51.

The New Testament, which is the New Covenant is the fulfillment of Messiah’s first coming and His Atoning death for mankind. Without His death, there is no atonement. Yeshua and His Law of Moses are for everybody, you and me.

Never does the Word of God teach the false doctrine that the Law is dead. No where. Yes, Messiah teaches that the road is narrow. Not because he has narrowed it but because of the opposition you will receive from so many, simply because you love the Messiah Yeshua and want to obey God’s Laws and Teachings in the Old Testament. And they are not difficult, 1 John 5:3. The key Laws to obey; The seventh day Sabbath, Exodus 20:8-11, the Food Laws of Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14 and the Festivals of Levitivus 23. And if we do sin, and confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness, 1 John 1:9.

And continue to learn Moses, the Laws that God gave Israel for all the world to follow, and do them. Acts 15.21

Yeshua says in John 14:15; “If you love Me, keep my Commandments”. His Commandments are the Law of Moses.

And John writes in 1 John 2:4-5; “He that says I know Him and does not keep His Commandments, is a liar and the truth is not in him. But whoso keeps His Word, in him verily is the love of God perfected; hereby we know that we are in Him”.

Shalom.  Ira Weinstein,  Congregational Leader

www.bethelohenu.org

bethelohenu@gmail.com