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Month: August 2009
TELL ME…. ARE YOU STILL JEWISH?
CHOOSE LIFE
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 God’s Law is no longer in force, we are taught.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
THE LORD YOUR GOD HAS CHOSEN YOU TO BE HIS OWN TREASURE
Beth Elohenu Messianic Congregation
P.O. Box 335761
N. Las Vegas, NV. 89033
Why did Ruth, a Gentile, so tenderly yearn to be with her Mother-in-Law Naomi? Because she knew that the Jewish people were special, the apple of God’s eye. For The LORD GOD says in Zechariah 2:8: “Surely, he that touches you touches the apple of GOD’s eye.” The Torah in Deuteronomy 7:6: “For thou art a holy people unto the LORD thy GOD: THE LORD thy GOD hath chosen thee to be His own treasure out of all peoples that are upon the face of the earth.” The Jewish people are a special people that The LORD GOD created for Himself to tell all the world of His “Tehillaw” (His praise) and His glory. The prophet says in Isaiah 43:21: “The people which I formed for Myself that they might tell of My praise.”
Ruth and Naomi were experiencing great grief. Naomi had lost her husband and two sons, one of whom was Ruth’s husband, Mahlon. Naomi even said, “Call me not Naomi. Call me ‘Marah’, ‘bitter’ for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. I went out full and The LORD has brought me home again empty.” Naomi knew she had nothing to offer Ruth and encouraged her as well as her other daughter-in-law, Orpah to return to their people, the Moabites, and their gods. But Ruth could not depart from her Mother-in-law, and cleaved to her saying: “Whither thou goest I will go and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: Thy people shall be my people, and thy GOD my GOD.”; Ruth 1:16. So, GOD’s Jewish people did as The LORD commanded them in Torah; “The stranger that sojourneth with you shall be unto you as the homeborn among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your GOD.” Leviticus 19:34
There was a near kinsman to Naomi, a man named Boaz who saw the love Ruth had for her Mother-in-law. Ruth had favor in his eyes and when she asked him why, he said: “It has been fully reported to me all that you have done for your Mother-in-law since the death of her husband, and how you left your father and your mother and the land of your birth and have come to a people whom you did not know before.” (Ruth 2:11) He then blessed her: “The LORD repay your work, and a full reward be given you by The LORD GOD of Israel, under whose wings you have come for refuge.” (Ruth 2:12)
And Ruth was blessed by The LORD when she became part of GOD’s Chosen People. She married Boaz who loved her and was a wonderful and devoted husband. They had a son named Obed. He is the father of Jesse, the father of David.
Just as The LORD GOD loved the Gentile woman Ruth, He loves you, too. So much so that He wants you to be with Him forever. But are we pleasing The LORD. Are we showing forth His praise and glory? Does he “kvell” (rejoice)? Is He happy with us?
The Prophet Malachi says in Malachi 3:7; 16 & 17: “Even from the days of your father ye are gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept them. Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the LORD of hosts. But you said, Wherein shall we return? Then they that feared the LORD spoke often one to another: and the LORD hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him, for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon his name. And they shall be mine, said the LORD of hosts, in that day when I make up My jewels and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him.”
WHO IS THE LORD MESSIAH AND HOW CAN WE RECOGNIZE HIM?
Micah 5:2: “But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, Though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto Me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.”
Isaiah 9:6: “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder; and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counseller, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.”
Isaiah 11:1 “And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots.”
And, Who fulfills these and hundreds of other prophecies?
Messiah Jesus (Yeshua is His Hebrew Name) was born in Bethlehem Ephratah.
What child is born to us (the Jewish people) Who is called “The mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace?
Messiah Jesus is the One; He is in the lineage of Ruth, Jesse and King David.
Search The Holy Scriptures and see for yourself. Isaiah 53; Psalm 22.
All He requires of us is to believe in Him and keep His commandments. Won’t you let Him treasure you?
Janice Weinstein
www.bethelohenu.org
bethelohenu@gmail.com
IS THE LAW OF MOSES, GOD’S LAWS DEAD?
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
WHY ARE THE JEWISH PEOPLE GOD’S CHOSEN PEOPLE?
In 1964 when the Shah was King of Iran, I was working for an International Investment conglomerate in Teheran, Iran. My responsibility included Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, India, Ceylon, today’s Sri Lanka, Nepal and East Pakistan. Money was flowing generously. Terrorism was an unknown entity. Tanks were in the streets at times because of assasination attempts on the Shah. Americans were loved. Jewish People were treated with respect. Life was good.
In that same year, a question came to mind. Why are the Jewish People God’s Chosen People? Although I am Jewish and come from an Orthodox family, this was never a question of serious study. Yes, some would express their views. “Let Him choose someone else. Who needs the grief.” In that year, the wife of a famous Reform Rabbi came to Teheran to visit us. Surely she would have the answer to why the Jewish People are God’s Chosen People. So I asked her,
“Pearle, why are we God’s Chosen People?” She answered, “We are chosen to survive.” Yes, that’s true, I thought, but I felt there was more to it than that.
Well, many years later, seventeen to be exact, circumstances changed. The Shah was overthrown, exiled by the Ayatollahs. America was the enemy. Jews were fleeing Iran, and the International Investment giant had collapsed. Money wasn’t flowing so generously. In fact, it wasn’t flowing at all. Consequently, I moved to Florida hoping to make life good again. And again that question entered my mind. Why are the Jewish People chosen by God? So I decided to purchase an Old Testament Bible at a Synagogue. Perhaps the answer would be there. And I immediately started my search. Little did I know that I would fall in love with The Word of God. Frankly, I was overwhelmed with awe reading His Word.
What quickly caught my eye while reading the Scriptures was that God appeared to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Moses and others in the form of a man. How can this be, I thought? God is Spirit only. Then later in my learning, I read Isaiah 53 which describes a Man Who is despised and rejected, Who was killed for the sins of His Jewish People, yet there was no sin in Him. His death was an offering for sin, an atonement. Yet The Lord prolonged His days after His death. God resurrected Him back to life. This is a description of Jesus in the Old Testament, I thought. And after constant urging by a friend to read the New Testament, I read in Matthew Chapter One that Jesus is The Son of God. I believed that without any doubt. Then I learned that Jesus is The Messiah (see Daniel 9.25-26) and also The One God of creation, The God of Israel, (Isaiah 9.5 (6)). Then I realized The One Who appeared to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Moses, was Jesus Whose Hebrew Name is Yeshua, meaning Salvation. And I also learned that His love for His Jewish People is beyond knowledge, it is so wonderful. My search had in fact brought me to my Messiah, The One Who forgives us all our sins, Jeremiah 31.31-34 and gives us eternal life with Him in Heaven forever, Daniel 12.1-2.
In time, I found the answer to my question, Why are the Jewish People God’s chosen People? I recognize today the great importance of knowing why God chose the Jewish People. Deuteronomy 7.6-8a gives us the answer in part. Because He loves us and that is plenty. The Scriptures read; “For you are a Holy People unto The Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be His own treasure out of all peoples that are upon the face of the earth. The Lord did not set His love upon you nor choose you because you were more in number than any, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but because The Lord loved you.”.
Reading further, The Lord God tells His Chosen People that we have a task. To be His witnesses. Hear His words in Isaiah 43.10; “You are My witnesses saith The Lord and my servant whom I have chosen; that you may know and believe Me and understand that I am He; Before Me there was no God formed, neither shall any be after Me.” So, besides loving us, we are given the responsibility of being His witnesses. The word witnesses comes from the Hebrew word Ayd, meaning one who testifies or declares what he or she has seen, heard or knows. Thus the Jewish People are God’s witnesses to all mankind, and the message is about God. All we have seen, heard or know about God from The Bible and what He has revealed to us. And yes, we have done that well. The Bible, from Genesis through Revelation is written entirely by Jewish People although some might say that Luke was not Jewish. Well, he was a doctor, Colossians 4.14, so we claim him also.
As witnesses for The Lord God, what do we testify to the world? We declare that there is only one God and He is The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. We are appointed to make known to the world His Word, His Law, His Statutes, His Doctrine and of course His Messiah Who is from His Jewish People declared in The Law and The Prophets. And that He is Yeshua Ha Mashiakh, Jesus The Messiah Who is The God of Abraham and was also 100% man, Isaiah 9.5(6), Isaiah 40.10, Micah 5.1(2), etc. That is why The Lord God chose the Jewish People. Because He loves us and to be His witnesses to the world. Making known that The Lord is God. There is none else beside Him. To declare His Messiah Yeshua, and reveal His Word and Law for all to obey.
Although some claim they have replaced the Jewish People as God’s Chosen People, that is not possible. No religion or people can replace the Jewish People as God’s Chosen People because Scripture clearly states, “For the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable,” Romans 11.29. And, “The Glory of Israel will not lie or change His mind; for He is not a man that He should change His mind,” 1 Samuel 15.29, etc. Yes, we Jewish People have our problems in obedience to Our God, and many have rejected His Messiah Yeshua, but Our God never changes. He is the same yesterday, and today, and forever, Hebrews 13.8.
Shaul (Paul) teaches the subject of God’s Chosen People well, especially in Ephesians 2.11-22. Non-Jewish people before turning to Messiah Yeshua, were without Messiah, aliens from the Commonwealth of Israel, strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world. But now, Shaul explains, Non-Jewish Believers who have received Messiah are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints (the Jewish People) and of the household of God. Non-Jewish Believers have now joined in with God’s Chosen People and have become fully God’s Chosen People with the Jewish People. And those ordinances which were against the Non- Jewish folk in Ephesians 2.12; being 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, are now nailed to His cross, Colossians 2.14, because you are now joined with God’s Chosen People through Messiah.
So now, what must we do knowing we have been chosen by God? We obey The Lord our God and love Him, Deuteronomy 6.4-5. We keep His Sabbath on Saturday, Exodus 20.8-11, obey His dietary laws, Leviticus 11, observe His festivals, Leviticus 23, rid yourselves of christmas trees, Jeremiah 10.1-4 and turn away from all vain things, 1 Samuel 12.20-21. And to encourage you, For The Lord your God has chosen you to be His own treasure out of all the peoples that are upon the face of the earth, hear the words of Yeshua in Luke 11.28; “Blessed are they that hear The Word of God, and keep it.”
Welcome
Welcome to our blog. If you have any comments or questions, even donations, which are nice, please check in with us at;
Beth Elohenu Messianic Congregation
P.O. Box 335761
N. Las Vegas NV. 89033
www.bethelohenu.org
bethelohenu@gmial.com
My name is Ira Weinstein and I’m the Congregational Leader.