Month: May 2013

                            EXODUS 21.15-36

Shalom.  Our teaching this morning will be from Exodus 21.15-36.

                            READ EXODUS 21.1, 15-36

We are continuing with GOD’s Laws that The LORD GOD put before the children of Israel for the Jewish people and in time for all the world to follow.  Many of these Laws were centered on criminal law and civil law.  Civil law is the body of laws that deal with the rights of private citizens.  Criminal law deals with crimes and their punishments.

And The LORD commanded the people to establish courts of law throughout every tribe in various cities and towns.  And judges and officers had the responsibility to judge the people with just judgment according to GOD’s Laws which collectively are The Law of Moses.  DEUTERONOMY 16.18-20

GOD commanded the people that judgment must be just and lawful according to GOD’s Laws.  The judges must not pervert or twist righteous judgment.  They must not respect or show favoritism to individuals no matter their status, nor take a bribe, for bribes blind the eyes of the wise, and pervert the words of the righteous.  The judges must follow that which is altogether just that they may live and inherit the land which The LORD your GOD gives you.

The same applies today for everyone.  All mankind should live their lives according to GOD’s Laws and judgments, and teachings that they may live and inherit the land which The LORD their GOD gives them.  That land is the Kingdom of Heaven.  Matthew 7.21-23.

EXODUS 21.15  The LORD demands honor and respect for our parents as He demands honor and respect for Himself.  And hitting our father or mother, GOD says, is punishable by death.

EXODUS 20.12  The word honor in Hebrew is KAHVAHD meaning glorify, glorious, honor, respect, cherish and adore our parents.

DEUTERONOMY 27.16, 26  VERSE 16  Cursed is he that dishonors his father or his mother.

VERSE 26  Cursed is he that does not keep and obey this law to do them.

MATTHEW 13.41-43  VERSE 41  The word offend comes from the Greek word skandalon meaning sin.  Sin is breaking The Law of Moses, GOD’s Laws.  1 John 3.4.

The word iniquity comes from the Greek word anomia, meaning transgressing or disobeying The Law of Moses.

VERSE 43  The word righteous in Greek is dikaios  Meaning law-abiding.  The righteous are the law-abiding, those who obey GOD’s Laws, The Law of Moses.  And the righteous shall shine forth as the sun in the Kingdom of their Father.  The earth also is the Kingdom of our Father.

EXODUS 21.16  This is GOD’s Law for kidnapping.  Those who kidnap others must surely be put to death.

EXODUS 21.17  In GOD’s heart, cursing our father or our mother is the same as murder.  That person must surely be put to death.  According to Webster’s Dictionary, cursing is an expression of a wish that misfortune, evil, or doom or the like will happen to someone.  LEVITICUS 20.9

Let’s talk about the Jewish high court in the days of Yeshua.  That high court was the Sanhedrin.  The Sanhedrin had supreme religious, political, legislative and judicial authority in the courts.  Judicial authority is the judgment of just and lawful verdicts.  Legislative authority had to do with the function of making laws throughout the time of Roman rule.  Sanhedrin was the name of a Jewish court.

The Sanhedrin was one part Sadducees, and the other part Pharisees.  The Sanhedrin, the Jewish high court was abolished in 425 C.E., A.D. years after the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in 70 C.E., A.D., and years after the Jewish exile in 70 C.E.  The Roman empire fell in 476 C.E., A.D.  As a point of information, the Roman empire continued on as the Byzantine empire up to the fall of Constantinople, today’s Istanbul, to the Ottoman Turks in 1453.  The Roman empire began in 27 B.C.

Thus the Jewish high court in the days of Yeshua was the Sanhedrin.  And according to Isaiah 53, Psalm 22, and many other prophecies, it was the Will of GOD to put Messiah Yeshua to death to make His Soul an offering for sin, Isaiah 53.10, for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul, Leviticus 17.11. And it is Yeshua’s blood that makes atonement for everyone who receives Him.

EXODUS 21.18-19  If the injured recovers enough to be able to walk outside, even with a cane, the one who struck him will be free of liability except to compensate the injured for his loss of time, and take responsibility for his care until his recovery is complete.

EXODUS 21.20-21  If the master strikes his male or female servant and the servant dies then and there, the master of the servant must be punished.  The court will decide the punishment.

Except if the servant lives for a day or two, the master of the servant is not punished since the servant is his money, or his property.  The following is Rabbinic thought on this particular law.  “The servant is the master’s property.  This means either that the master was in his rights to punish his servant bodily, however, his investment in the servant makes it unlikely that he would have intentionally killed him.”  Thus he is not punished.

EXODUS 21.22  If men or others fight, and happen to injure a pregnant woman, and her unborn child dies, and if no harm follows, the person who caused the unborn child to die must be punished and fined.  He must pay the amount set by the woman’s husband, and he shall pay as the judges determine.

EXODUS 21.23-25  Punishment is set by the judges according to GOD’s Laws; life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe, or bruise for bruise.  GOD’s Laws make punishment for death or injury fit the crime perfectly.  Biblical Law, that is GOD’s Laws, The Law of Moses is the same for everybody.
        LEVITICUS 24.16-23, NUMBERS 35.31, DEUTERONOMY 19.21

EXODUS 21.26-27  If the servant’s master hits his servant in the eye and destroys it, he must let the servant go free in compensation for the eye.

If he hits his servant and knocks out his tooth, he must let his servant go free in compensation for his servant’s tooth.

EXODUS 21.28  Stoning treats the ox or bull as a criminal because it has killed a human being.  The owner is not punished because the accident was not predictable.

But according to Scripture, the accident was an act of GOD.  EXODUS 21.13

EXODUS 21.29-31  If however the ox or bull was in the habit of goring people in the past, and its owner was warned and failed to prevent it, and it kills a man or a woman, the ox shall be stoned to death, and its owner shall also be put to death.

However, if a payment is demanded from the owner of the murderous bull by the relatives of the dead, he will save his life by paying whatever is demanded.

EXODUS 21.32  If the ox gores and kills a male or female servant, the owner of the ox must pay the master of the servant thirty shekels of silver, and the ox must be stoned to death.

EXODUS 21.33-34  When a man opens a pit or well, or digs one, and does not cover it, and an ox or donkey falls into it and dies, the owner of the open pit must pay for the loss of the animal.  He must pay the owner of the dead animal full compensation.  And the dead animal belongs to the owner of the well.

EXODUS 21.35-36  When a man’s ox injures the ox of another and it dies, they are to sell the live ox and divide the money from the sale.  And they are to divide the dead animal also.  Perhaps that means dividing the expenses for the dead animal’s removal.

However, if it was known that the ox had a habit of goring in the past, and its owner did not control it, the owner of the goring ox must pay full compensation for the dead ox.  And the dead ox belongs to the owner of the goring ox.

Thus The LORD gave the children of Israel laws to establish a just society based on GOD’s Laws with the focus on doing that which is right and good in the sight of The LORD.  DEUTERONOMY 6.17-18, DEUTERONOMY 17.6

It has been asked from time to time, WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF LIFE?  The answer is found in DEUTERONOMY 30.20

Our purpose in life is to love The LORD our GOD, and obey His Voice, that is His Word and His Laws, and cling to Him, for He is our life and the length of our days.

And by so doing, we will dwell in the land wherever we may be living, even Las Vegas, and inherit eternity in Heaven with The LORD our GOD Who is Yeshua The Messiah.  That is the purpose of our life.

And GOD’s purpose for the Jewish people is also found in The Bible, in The Law and in The New Testament.  GOD’s purpose for the Jewish people is to bless the Gentiles.  For Messiah said, “SALVATION IF FROM THE JEWS”.  How is Salvation from the Jews?

When the Gentiles, and the Jewish people love The LORD their GOD, and obey His His Word and His Laws that He taught the Jewish people in The Bible to do. And cling to The LORD their GOD, for He is their life and the length of their days.  And when the Gentiles, and the Jewish people receive and believe in the Jewish Messiah Yeshua Who is The One GOD of Creation, Ha Shem, the promised Messiah to the Jewish people. Doing all that GOD requires. That is how Salvation is received. That is how Salvation, Forgiveness of Sins, and Eternal Life in Heaven is Obtained. By obeying the LORD your GOD.  For Salvation is from the Jews.  JOHN 4.22.

Shalom,  Ira Weinstein

                            EXODUS 21.1-14

Shalom.  Our teaching this morning will be from Exodus 21.1-14.

                            READ EXODUS 21.1-14

EXODUS 21.1  GOD has set laws and rules before Israel, and not only for the Jewish people, but for all the world.

The word judgment in Hebrew is MESHPAHTEEM meaning GOD’s rules and laws, all part of the Torah, The Law of Moses.

EXODUS 22.2  According to Biblical Law, The Laws of GOD known as The Law of Moses, as compared to Rabbinic law, the laws of the Rabbis known as the Talmud, Hebrew servants were to be freed after six years, and the seventh year he was allowed to go free without any wages, but with conditions set by GOD.
DEUTERONOMY 15.12-18

GOD’s conditions when setting a servant free is to furnish him or her liberally out of your flock, and with food and wine.  Do not send him or her away empty.

Let’s take a moment to address the term Hebrew, and GOD’S purpose for the Jewish people. The quick answer for GOD’s Purpose for the Jewish People is to bless the nations.

A Hebrew is an ancient term for a Jewish person, or for the children of Israel.  The term Hebrew was generally used when making a distinction between the children of Israel and other peoples.  The terms Jewish and Jew came into being just prior to the first exile of Israel in 722 B.C.E., A.D. when the Assyrians captured Northern Israel and carried the Jewish people away into Assyria and Iran when Iran was part of the Assyrian empire.

The word Hebrew in Hebrew is EEVREE and has a number of meanings.
To cross over, overcome, deliver, a region across, opposite side of the Jordan, etc.

And the words Jewish and Jew in Hebrew is YEHOODI meaning “Praiser of GOD”.

Jewish and Jew became widely used in Judaism and in The Bible after the time of David some 3,000 years ago.  All the prophets of GOD were Jewish.  All the kings of Judah were Jewish.  The patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were Jewish.  Moses, Aaron, and Joshua were Jewish.  All the writers of The Bible, The T’Nakh, and The New Testament were Jewish.  All the disciples and apostles of Yeshua were Jewish.  Yeshua is Jewish, was Jewish, and is still Jewish.  When He returns to establish the 1,000 year Millennium and throughout eternity in Heaven, Yeshua will still be Jewish.  And since Yeshua is GOD Almighty, Ha Shem, GOD is Jewish.

The lineage of Yeshua from Abraham and David to His mother Miriam is Jewish.  Ruth, who is in Messiah’s lineage, and the great-grandmother of King David was a Gentile, but when she married Boaz, a Jewish man, and the great-grandfather of David, Ruth apparently became Jewish when she said to her Jewish mother-in-law Naomi earlier these words.  “For where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge.  Your people shall be my people, and your GOD, my GOD”.  Boaz and Ruth are both in the lineage of Yeshua.

Abraham and Sarah were originally Gentiles.  Up until Abraham and Sarah, the entire world was Gentile, until GOD separated them from the Gentiles some 2,000 years after the Creation to begin Judaism for the purpose of great importance for the peoples of all nations.  And GOD made Abraham and Sarah Jewish.

A Jew is one born from Abraham’s son Isaac whom GOD promised to Abraham and Sarah in their old age, and from Isaac’s son Jacob, Abraham’s grandson, and from Jacob’s twelve sons, plus Manasseh and Ephraim, Joseph’s two sons.  All their descendants are Jewish.  And of course all Gentiles like Ruth who have converted to Judaism, all make up today’s Judaism.

Jews, like everybody else, have had their share of troubles throughout history, but I believe the Jewish people were established by GOD for the benefit of the nations, for the Gentiles to be Blessed.  GOD said to Abraham, “You shall be a blessing”.  “And in you shall all the families of the earth be blessed.”

Yes, the Jewish people are GOD’s chosen people, to be His witnesses to the world for an extraordinary purpose.  That purpose is for the nations to be blessed.  To know Who the GOD of Creation is from the Jewish writings in The Bible in both The Old and New Testaments.  By Hearing, and Listening, and Obeying what GOD has commanded the Jewish people in The Bible, for GOD’s Word is for all the earth, the nations will know the GOD of creation.  Through GOD’s Word to the Jewish People, the nations will know the Truth of GOD.  Understanding GOD, and faith in GOD and Messiah will become so much greater.  And our walk with GOD and Messiah will become much more pleasing to The LORD our GOD.  And our lives will become more pleasing to ourselves, and healthier.

What do I mean?  In Biblical doctrine, yes, GOD’s teaching in The Bible to the Jewish people, the children of Israel, GOD told His Jewish prophet Malachi, He never changes.  Meaning, GOD Never Changes.  And GOD told His Jewish prophet Isaiah, His Word stands forever.  Meaning, His Word, His Laws, His Commandments, His Statutes and His Judgments, His Ordinances and His Decrees Will Never Change or End.  They Will Stand Forever.

GOD also told the Jewish people, there is only ONE GOD.  He said to Israel, “Unto you it was shown that you shall know that The LORD He is GOD.  There is none else beside Him.  Know therefore this day, and consider it in your heart, that The LORD, He is GOD in Heaven above and upon the earth beneath, there is none else”.  GOD never told the Jewish people that there is a trinity, or that The Holy Spirit is related to Christ.  That is foolishness.  GOD told the Jewish people there is only ONE GOD.

Yeshua, Who is Jewish, said, “Be therefore perfect as your Father in Heaven is perfect”.  Yeshua is our Father in Heaven, seeing there is only ONE GOD.  And Peter writes, “Messiah should be our example that we should follow His steps.  Yeshua obeyed every Word GOD gave to and commanded the Jewish people.  Gentiles as well as the Jewish People should certainly obey those words GOD commanded the Jewish people, for our good, and our children, and For Our Salvation.  That is GOD’s purpose for the Jews.  To Bless the Nations and the Gentiles. 

GENESIS 39.17, 2 KINGS 16.6, RUTH 1.16, MATTHEW 1.1-6, 16, MALACHI 3.6, ISAIAH 40.8, DEUTERONOMY 4.35, 39, MATTHEW 5.48, GENESIS 12.2, 3, DEUTERONOMY 32.1-4, 1 PETER 2.21-22, 1 JOHN 3.4

BACK TO
EXODUS 21.3  If the servant comes in by himself, he shall go out by himself.  If he was married when he came in, then his wife shall go out with him.

EXODUS 21.4  But the servant goes by himself if his master gave him a wife.  And if children were born to them, the wife and the children belong to the master, and the servant shall go out by himself.

EXODUS 21.5-6  But, if the servant desires to stay because he loves his master, his wife, and his children, his master must first go to the judges, and then the servants ear must be pierced with an awl, a nail-like thing, at the door, or the doorpost, and he will serve his master forever.

EXODUS 21.7-8  It seems that the purpose of this law is for the benefit of the daughter and not her father.  Her father is permitted to sell her in this case because the sale of her daughter is expected to result in her marriage, either to her master, or to his son.  The father sells his daughte
r to the master because it is an opportunity to provide for her future that would otherwise not be available.  This explanation is from Rabbi Hirsh.

However,  if neither of the two marries her, that is, the father or his son does not marry her, The Torah regards that the daughter was betrayed (Verse 8).  She has not pleased her master or his son who engaged her for marriage.  Then he shall let her be redeemed that is released.  He shall not have any power or rule to sell her to a strange or foreign man, a non-Jew, seeing he has dealt deceitfully with her, saith The LORD.

EXODUS 21.9  If this fellow has engaged her to his son, he must treat her as his daughter.

EXODUS 21.10-11  If he reneges on these three conditions; If he takes another wife, if her food, her clothing, and her marriage responsibilities are diminished, and if she is forced to marry a foreign man, not Jewish, she can leave, and go free, but without money.  And the same conditions of Deuteronomy 15.12-18 would apply to her, that her master would furnish her liberally with food when and if she leaves.

EXODUS 21.12  If premeditated murder has been committed, that is with willful deliberation, planned in advance, he or she that committed murder shall surely be put to death.  GENESIS 9.6, GENESIS 1.27

EXODUS 21.13  This is an extraordinary passage.  GOD says, “And if a man does not lie in wait (to kill someone) but GOD delivers him into his hand, I will appoint a place where he shall flee”.

Here is how the Hebrew reads where GOD says, “But GOD delivers him into his hand”.
                            VEE HA ELOHIM EENAH L’YAHDOE

Which reads, “And GOD lets fall into his hand”.  Meaning, that the killing was by accident, but was an act of GOD, or GOD allowed it to happen.  Then GOD will appoint a place for him to flee.  Thus GOD appointed cities of refuge for these types of killings that were by accident.
        DEUTERONOMY 19.1-13

EXODUS 21.14  But if it is determined that the person intentionally murdered another, he must be put to death.  Perhaps the murderer sought refuge at an altar or other places in the Sanctuary waiting for the court to decide his guilt or innocence.  But when it is determined he is guilty of premeditated murder, GOD says, that person must be put to death.

So in conclusion, I’ve been Jewish for almost 78 years, and what brought me to The Bible, and ultimately to Messiah Yeshua, was to find out why the Jewish people were GOD’s chosen people.  GOD chose the Jewish people because He loves us, and to be His Servant and His Witnesses to know and believe GOD, that there is only ONE GOD, and He is our Saviour.

And GOD told Abraham, The Father of the Jewish people, that he will be a blessing.  And in him, all the families of the earth will be blessed.  The Jewish people through The Bible have blessed the nations and the Gentiles, though very few realize it.  The Jewish people through The Bible have given mankind the entire Word of GOD, which include His Commandments and Laws to do, and by so doing them, The LORD our GOD blesses us.  And we have given the world the Jewish Messiah Yeshua to forgive all their sins, and the gift of eternal life in Heaven.  I would have to say that GOD appointed the Jewish people to be a gift and a blessing to the nations, but so few understand that, and so few receive it.  However Salvation is of the Jews.

Shalom,  Ira Weinstein
John 4.22

Shalom and Happy Shavuot.  Our teaching this morning will be from Acts 2.1-13.

                            READ ACTS 2.1-13

The Festival of Pentecost is also called in Hebrew, Shavuot meaning “weeks” or the “Feast of Weeks”.  It’s called The Feast of Weeks because it occurs seven full weeks after the “morrow”, or the next day after the Sabbath.  Also the name Pentecost in Greek meaning fiftieth, that is the fiftieth day after Passover.  These seven weeks begin from the second day of Passover, and adding the fiftieth day results in the Festival of Weeks, or Pentecost.  It always falls on the sixth day of the Hebrew month Sivan which is today.

Judaism celebrates Shavuot or Pentecost as the conclusion of the grain harvest, and also the day The LORD gave the ten commandments to the children of Israel at Mt. Sinai.

Shavuot or Pentecost comes fifty days after the first day of Passover.  The LORD said, And you shall count from the morrow, or the next day after the Sabbath FROM THE DAY THAT YOU BROUGHT THE SHEAF OF THE WAVE OFFERING seven Sabbaths shall be completed.  Israel brought the sheaf of the wave offering the day after the first day of Passover.  Thus the count of the fifty days starts on the day after Passover.
        LEVITICUS 23.10-11, LEVITICUS 23.15-16

Now that we’ve solved that problem, let’s move on to Acts Chapter two when the twelve Jewish disciples of Messiah Yeshua observed Pentecost by holding a Service in Jerusalem, and some 3,000 Jews were saved.

ACTS 2.1  “When the Day of Pentecost was fully come,” meaning, when the Day of Pentecost had arrived.  They were all in one accord in one place.  They being the twelve Jewish Disciples of Messiah Yeshua who were at the Pentecost Service.  They were all in one accord, or of one mind and understanding in their belief in Messiah Yeshua.  They believed Messiah Yeshua was Ha Shem, The Messiah, GOD Almighty The Creator of Heaven and earth, and that Torah, The Law of Moses must be honored, observed, followed, and obeyed.  They were all with one accord.

ACTS 2.2  Suddenly there came a sound, a very loud sound from Heaven.  A great sound as of a rushing, mighty wind from Heaven, and it filled the house where they were sitting.

ACTS 2.3  Appeared means the Disciples gazed at those cloven tongues that were like fire, with wide open eyes.  The cloven tongues that appeared to them were literal and actual tongues.  The tongues were cloven as our tongues with a hint of a line in the middle of our tongue.  Just as the Babylonians in the time of Daniel saw a man’s hand write on a wall, Daniel 5.5, the twelve disciples saw cloven tongues like as of fire, but not on fire.  And the tongues sat on or rested on each of Messiah’s Disciples.

ACTS 2.4  Tongues in Greek is glossa meaning a language, a language that is not acquired naturally.

And they, the twelve disciples, were all filled with The Holy Spirit.  The disciples had received The Holy Spirit earlier from Yeshua after His death, burial, and resurrection.  JOHN 20.19-22

Thus the disciples were filled with The Holy Spirit.  And the tongues were symbolic of the power that GOD gave them to speak the Word of GOD in other languages articulately and perfectly.

I believe that the cloven tongues that looked as though they were on fire but were not, had an important meaning.  Fire purges and refines, and the disciples would speak the Word of GOD to thousands of unsaved Jewish People in their own languages.  And GOD’S Word would be like fire that purges and cleanses of sin.

MALACHI 3.2-3  The offering to The LORD in righteousness is doing what is right in the sight of GOD.  That is obeying His Torah, The Law of Moses.

Messiah Yeshua, GOD Almighty is like a refiner’s fire, and like fuller’s soap that washes and cleanses us of our sins so that we will offer to The LORD an offering in righteousness by obeying GOD and His Law of Moses, The Torah.  Sin is breaking The Law of Moses, 1 John 3.4.  Thus the tongues that appeared like fire were symbolic of The Word of GOD the disciples would speak to the thousands of Jewish visitors.  The Word would be like a refiner’s fire and like fuller’s soap.  And the unsaved Jewish people would receive GOD’s Word and say to the disciples, What shall we do?  (Verse 37).

Thus the disciples were all filled with The Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues.  That is other languages as The Spirit of GOD gave them perfect and articulate speech in another language other than Hebrew.

Let’s spend a moment on The Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit is GOD.  The Holy Spirit is NOT the third person in the trinity as some teach, or related to Christ.  The Holy Spirit like the Father and Messiah Yeshua is GOD Almighty, Ha Shem, The Creator of Heaven and earth.  There is only one GOD, and The Holy Spirit is that ONE GOD.  The Father, The Son, The Messiah and The Holy Spirit are the ONE GOD.  They are the same without distinction or difference.

ACTS 2.5  Staying in Jerusalem during Pentecost were Jews who were devout and religious men and women, from every nation under Heaven, who had a reverence for GOD.

ACTS 2.6  When the religious Jewish people heard that great, mighty and loud sound from Heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, they came to the place where the disciples were, and they were amazed to hear them speaking in their own languages.

ACTS 2.7  How can this be, the religious Jews said?  They are Galilleans from Northern Israel.

ACTS 2.8  And the religious Jews from the other countries heard the disciples of Messiah speaking in their own language where they were born; perfectly and fluently.

ACTS 2.9-11  The Parthians were Iranian Jews.
    The Medes were Iranian Jews.
    The Elamites were Iranian Jews.
    The Mesopotamians were Jews from Iraq and Syria.
    The Judeans were Jews from Judea in Israel.
    The Cappadocians were Jews from Turkey.
    The Jews from Pontus were from Northern Turkey.
    The Jews from Asia were from Turkey and Greece.
    The Jews from Phrygia were from Turkey.
    The Jews from Pamphylia were also from Turkey.
    The Jews from Egypt were from Egypt.
    The Jews from Libya about Cyrene were from Libya and North Africa.
    Strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes were Gentiles who converted to Judaism, and Jews from Rome.
    Jews from the Greek Island of Crete.
    And Arabian Jews were Jews from Saudi Arabia.

All Jewish, all religious and devout, and they heard the disciples speak The Word of GOD in their own languages the wonderful works of GOD.  The wonderful works of GOD are more than can be numbered.  As The Song of Moses reads, Great and marvelous are Your works LORD GOD Almighty.  Just and true are Your ways Thou King of the Saints, the most Holy Ones of GOD.

ACTS 2.12-13  And the religious Jews were all amazed, and in doubt.  What does this mean, they said to each other?  Some mocked them and said they were drunk.  So Peter, who is Jewish, whose Hebrew name is Shimone, stood and answered them.

ACTS 2.14-17  VERSE 17  The last days are from the days of Yeshua.  The final days before He returns.

It’s happening now, Peter
said.  GOD is pouring out His Holy Spirit on all flesh.  All means as many as are His.  And GOD is pouring out His Holy Spirit today on all who are His.

ACTS 2.18-21  Peter said, Whosoever shall call on The Name of The LORD shall be saved.  But then a remarkable phenomenon occurs.  In Judaism, there are certain individuals who do their best to pull Messiah Yeshua out of Jewish hearts causing some to fall away.  And there are Christians who do their very best to pull The Law of Moses out of Christian hearts, the very Law that GOD put into their hearts when they were saved, (Jeremiah 31.31-34), causing many to fall away.  Thus the fulfillment of Messiah’s parable of the sower, and because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way which leads to Life, and few there be that find it.  But those who are His, GOD keeps, and saves.  Proof of being saved is belief in Messiah Yeshua and obedience to The Law of Moses.

ACTS 2.22-23  Messiah’s crucifixion, His death, burial and resurrection, Peter said, was by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of GOD.  That is, the crucifixion of Messiah, His death, burial and resurrection was GOD’s will.  GOD determined before the Creation that Messiah Yeshua, by His death, would be the atonement for all who call on His Name, and GOD saves.

ACTS 2.24-31  All Peter’s teaching was read and taught from TNakh, The Old Testament.  There was no New Testament at that time.  And even if there were the New Testament in Peter’s day, The New Testament never disagrees with The Old Testament.  Fact is, The New Testament is part of The Law of Moses.  Hebrews 8.6.

ACTS 2.32-37  VERSE 37  What shall we do?

ACTS 2.38  Here is Peter’s answer.  Repent and be baptized, every one of you in The Name of Yeshua The Messiah for the forgiveness of sins, and you will receive the gift of The Holy Spirit.

REPENT – the only way to repent is to turn to GOD and obey His Statutes, His Law of Moses.  There is no other way to repent.  EZEKIEL 18.21-23

BE BAPTIZED in The Name of Yeshua The Messiah.
        ROMANS 6.1-6

ROMANS 6.1-2  Shall we continue in sin, Paul writes?  Sin is breaking The Law of Moses, 1 John 3.4.  GOD forbid, NO, Paul answers.

Being dead to sin is no longer living in sin, no longer breaking GOD’s Law of Moses.

ROMANS 6.3-4  Walking in newness of Life is belief in Messiah Yeshua, and living a New Life obedient to Torah, GOD’s Law of Moses.  That is walking in Newness of Life.

ROMANS 6.5  The likeness of His resurrection is being like Messiah.  Messiah always obeyed Torah, The Law of Moses, and still does.  And so should all Believers in Messiah.

ROMANS 6.6  We should no longer serve sin.  And that is accomplished ONLY by obeying Torah, The Law of Moses, and doing what GOD says in it.

That is what being baptized in The Name of Yeshua The Messiah means, believing in Yeshua The Messiah, and walking in the newness of Life, obeying Torah, The Law of Moses, and doing it.

THEN, THEN you will receive the gift of The Holy Spirit.

ACTS 2.39-41  And some 3,000 Jews were saved.  So here in Acts Chapter 2, Peter explains how to receive Salvation.  Believe in Yeshua The Messiah.  Repent.  That is, turn to GOD and obey Him, His Torah, His Law of Moses, and do them.  And be baptized in The Name of Yeshua The Messiah.  And be like Messiah, obedient to GOD, obedient to His Law of Moses.  And then you will receive the gift of The Holy Spirit.

ACTS 2.42  The apostle’s doctrine is found in The TNakh, The Old Testament.  They never changed a word of it, not even a yud or a tittle.  They did not change a thing.  GOD’s Law of Moses stands forever and ever.

ACTS 2.43-47  VERSE 47  A much, much better word for church, especially in this teaching, would be Messianic Community.

So, that was quite a Shavuot Service, and a powerful message from Shimone, or if you like, Peter.  And with the supernatural help of GOD Almighty, Yeshua The Messiah.  And some 3,000 Jews were saved.  And the numbers keep growing.

Shalom,  Ira Weinstein

                            EXODUS 20.24-26

Shalom.  Our teaching this morning will be from Exodus 20.24-26.  In the Hebrew Scriptures, those verses are Exodus 20.21-23.

                            READ EXODUS 20.24-26

EXODUS 20.24-25 (H. EX. 20.21-22)  GOD spoke these words to the children of Israel immediately after He gave them the ten commandments from Mt. Sinai.  It was the third month after the children of Israel went forth out of the land of Egypt.  And on the third day of the month which was the third day of the Hebrew month Sivan; that would be somewhere around May 12th.  Also this year’s Mothers Day.

And The LORD came down upon Mt. Sinai in the sight of all the people.  And when The LORD descended upon Mt. Sinai, the mountain was altogether enveloped in smoke.  And the smoke ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked violently, and the sound of the shofar grew louder and louder…and The LORD called Moses up to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up.  And The LORD said to Moses, go down, charge the people lest they break through to The LORD to gaze, and many of them perish.  And Moses said to The LORD, the people cannot come up to Mt. Sinai for You charged us saying, set bounds about the mountain, and sanctify it.  So Moses went down to the people and spoke to them.

Thus the stage was set for the most awe-inspiring moment in history, GOD’s descent upon Mt. Sinai in fire, and His declaration of the ten commandments for the Jewish people and all the world.  And the first commandment GOD spoke is, “I AM The LORD your GOD Who has brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.  You shall have no other gods before Me”.

The angels in Heaven submit to and obey The Word of GOD, His ten commandments, and all GOD’s laws that are written in the Torah, The Law of Moses.  And GOD Himself lives by His laws, and follows them, and obeys them.  And all peoples are expected to the same, obey GOD’s laws, The Law of Moses.
DEUTERONOMY 32.1-4

VERSE 4  The word judgment in Hebrew is MESHPAHT – meaning, all GOD’s ways are right according to Torah, The Law of Moses.

GOD’s ways mean GOD lives His Life according to His Laws that are written in The Law of Moses.  And GOD lives forever.  And since GOD lives His Life according to all His Laws, GOD requires everybody, you and me to live our lives according to His Laws, The Law of Moses.  They are not difficult, 1 John 5.3, and they are for our good, Deuteronomy 28.

And for one year the children of Israel remained in the wilderness of Sinai that surrounded Mt. Sinai.  And The LORD continued their journey to the promised land Israel.
        NUMBERS 10.11-12

VERSE 12  The wilderness of Paran was/is in the region of the Sinai Peninsula.

And GOD fulfilled His promise to Moses when He said to him at the burning bush, certainly I will be with you, and this shall be a sign to you that I have sent you.  When you have brought forth the people out of Egypt, you shall serve Me upon this mountain.  That mountain was Mt. Sinai.  EXODUS 3.1-4, 12

I have learned from experience that GOD’s words are never hollow.  They are serious.

Let’s return to EXODUS 20.24-25.  An altar of earth was where the animal sacrifices were offered to The LORD GOD for the atonement of sins.  The way GOD gave the people to have their sins forgiven.  Sin is breaking GOD’s Law of Moses.  1 John 3.4  Any one of them.  Thus the altars were made of earth, that is soil and dirt.  And if they were made of stones, the stones could not be cut and shaped by tools because GOD said, if you lift up your tools upon it, you have polluted it.  That is, you have defiled it and made it unclean.

The purpose of the altar was for the sacrifice of certain clean animals according to Torah that were offered to The LORD, for the children of Israel to have The LORD their GOD forgive them of all their sins.  And the sacrifices were performed every day from the time the Jewish people left Egyptian bondage some 3,400 years ago, and ceased when the Romans destroyed the second Temple in 70 C.E., A.D. And the sacrifice was performed daily.
        NUMBERS 28.1-10, LEVITICUS 1.1-4

The LORD required all sacrifices to be offered at the Tabernacle or Temple.  Not in the Tabernacle or in the Temple but at the door of the Tabernacle or Temple.  And if GOD’s command was not obeyed and the person slaughtered the animal for sacrifice at someplace other than the door of the Tabernacle or Temple, that person was cut off from his people, or removed from the people.  That’s how serious this commandment was.  LEVITICUS 17.1-9

Thus without the Temple standing in Jerusalem today, the sacrifice is prohibited.

However the sacrifice will be established again when The LORD returns and sets up His Messianic Kingdom in Israel for 1,000 years and builds the Temple of The LORD in Jerusalem.
        ZECHARIAH 14.1-5, 20-21

The LORD is The Messiah Yeshua, The GOD of Israel, GOD Almighty.  He will destroy all the enemies of Israel in an instant, establish the Messianic Kingdom in Israel, and build the Temple in Jerusalem.

ZECHARIAH 6.9-15  VERSE 12  These words are prophecy concerning the return of The Messiah Yeshua.  The Branch is Messiah, and He will flourish and build the Temple of The LORD.

After the destruction of the second Temple in 70 C.E., A.D., the animal sacrifice for atonement ended.  So the Rabbis replaced the animal sacrifice that atones for sins with charity.  But the Torah, The Law of Moses teaches that it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul.

Also the Rabbis teach that the tables on which meals are eaten in the Jewish home are considered a substitute for the altar.  That is taught in Talmud, the oral law written by the Rabbis, but not taught in GOD’s Law, The Torah which is the written law.  The Torah teaches emphatically that it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul.  LEVITICUS 17.11

The word atonement in Hebrew is KAHFAR meaning to cover, cancel, cleanse, forgive, be merciful, and make reconciliation.

And many more customs derived from Talmudic teaching concerning atonement for sins.  However the T’Nakh, The Old Testament, and The New Testament describes no other way for atonement but by the shed blood.  It is the blood that make atonement for the soul.

Today,  atonement for our sins, for Jewish people, and non-Jewish people alike comes only from the blood of the Jewish Messiah Yeshua.  It is the blood that makes atonement for us.  And that lines up with Jewish prophecy in T’Nakh, The Old Testament that Messiah’s soul would be an offering for sin.  That is atonement and forgiveness of our sins for all people, Jewish and non-Jewish.  And The Messiah Yeshua fulfilled all those Jewish prophesies given them by GOD some 2,000 years ago, in Jerusalem where GOD has put His Name.
        ISAIAH 52.13-15, ISAIAH 53.1-12, ISAIAH 7.14
        PSALM 22. 1, 14-23, PSALM 16.10, ZECHARIAH 12.10

BACK TO EXODUS 20.24  Your sacrifices shall be in all places where I record My Name.  The wor
d record in Hebrew is ZAHKHAR meaning, where I make mention of My Name, or where I put My Name.  GOD has put His Name in Jerusalem forever.

2 KINGS 21.4  In Jerusalem will I put My Name.  That is, GOD’s eyes and heart will be in Jerusalem forever.

Thus GOD’s Name is in Jerusalem forever where Solomon built the first Temple, and where the second Temple stood, and where I believe the Temple in the Messianic era will stand.
        2 CHRONICLES 3.1

Jerusalem is the holiest place on earth.  There is no other city in the world that can compare to the holiness GOD has given Jerusalem.  And outside of Jerusalem, there is no holy city.  GOD has not put His Name in any other city but Jerusalem.  Jerusalem is and will be the capital of Israel and Judaism forever.  And according to The Word of GOD in Exodus 20.24, all sacrifices must be in the place where GOD has put His Name.  And that place is Jerusalem.

I bring this to our attention for an important reason.  Why?  Because the sacrifice of Yeshua The Messiah for the atonement of our sins had to be in Jerusalem where The LORD GOD has put His Name, and where The LORD GOD requires all sacrifices.  And Messiah Yeshua, our atonement for our sins was put to death in Jerusalem.  LUKE 18.31-33, EXODUS 20.24

Yeshua’s atoning death is fulfillment of prophecy from the Jewish prophet Jeremiah concerning the New Covenant that forgives our sins.

GOD made a New covenant with the House of Israel, and the House of Judah.  The New Covenant GOD made with the House of Israel is this:
        JEREMIAH 31.31-34

VERSE 31  The New Covenant is Messiah Yeshua.

VERSE 32  The Covenant we Jews broke was GOD’s Law of Moses.  Yes, we broke it, but that doesn’t mean The Law has ended because we broke it.  The Law stands forever.

VERSE 33  The Covenant GOD made with the House of Israel is The New Covenant that is established in Yeshua The Messiah Whose blood He shed for us.  That is the blood that makes an atonement for our soul, Leviticus 17.11.  And when we receive Messiah Yeshua, GOD puts His Law in our hearts.  That is His Torah, His Law of Moses, and writes it in our inward parts, to do them.  And GOD will be our GOD, and we His people.

VERSE 34  For GOD will forgive our iniquity, and remember our sin no more.  It is the blood that makes an atonement for our souls. And that blood was shed from the Jewish Messiah Yeshua, Who in the flesh was and is Ha Shem, God Almighty. 

Before we received Messiah’s sacrificial atonement according to the TNakh, The Holy Scriptures, our iniquities separated us from GOD, and our sins caused GOD to hide His Face from us.

But now our sins are forgiven by the blood of Messiah because we love Him and have faith in Him, and believe in Him.  Yeshua The Messiah is Ha Shem, The GOD of Israel.  And with our faith in Messiah, we are required to walk in GOD’s Statutes, The Law of Moses.  And GOD gives us a new heart that obeys GOD, and a new spirit, The Holy Spirit, that GOD has put within us.  The Holy Spirit is GOD Himself and He causes you and me to walk in His Statutes, The Law of Moses.  And He will save you, that is deliver you from all your troubles.  He will keep your name in His Book of Life, and give you eternal life in Heaven with The LORD your GOD, Yeshua Ha Mashiach, Yeshua The Messiah.  Those are just some of the great blessings.  GOD will come to you, and bless you when you receive Messiah Yeshua and lead your life according to The Law of Moses that GOD has written in your heart.  GOD lives His Life according to His Laws.  So must we.  See MATTHEW 5.48 and 1 PETER 2.21-22
        ISAIAH 59.1-2, EZEKIEL 36.26-27, DANIEL 12.1-2

So in conclusion, Messiah Yeshua is our only Atonement for the forgiveness of our sins, all of them.  There is no other atonement available anywhere.  Thus GOD Himself, Ha Shem, when He appeared to His people as Yeshua the Messiah, is our Atonement.  And He has put His Law, The Law of Moses in our hearts to do them. 

The truth of Messiah is hidden from most people.  Obeying GOD’s Laws, His Law of Moses is also hidden from most people.  They are a mystery.  But that is the plan of GOD for our good, and for His purpose.

Shalom,  Ira Weinstein

Shalom.  Our teaching this morning will be from Exodus 20.18-23.

                            READ EXODUS 20.18-23

EXODUS 20.18  After GOD spoke all the words of the ten commandments to the children of Israel out of the fire, and the thick cloud, and thick darkness, and with a great Voice, and the people witnessed the thunder and lightnings, and the long blast of the shofar, and the mountain smoking, and Mt. Sinai trembling violently, the people, some three million, moved back somewhat staggered, and stood at a distance.

EXODUS 20.19  Meaning, Moses should hear the commandments from GOD, then he can reveal GOD’s laws to the people, and they will hear.  But don’t let GOD speak to us, they said, lest we die.  Out of fear, the people preferred to hear from Moses rather than GOD.

The word hear in Hebrew is SHEMA meaning, they will HEAR GOD’s commandments and OBEY them.  But don’t let GOD speak to us lest we die.

Moses at that moment was accepted by the people as a prophet.  A prophet is a person who hears the word of GOD directly from GOD, and the prophet then tells the people the exact words that GOD spoke.  Moses is known as the greatest of all prophets.  Yes, Yeshua was the greatest Prophet, but Yeshua is The LORD GOD Almighty, The GOD of Creation, the Author of history, declaring the end from the beginning.

And Moses captures the moment when the people were so frightened when GOD gave them the ten commandments on a smoking, quaking Mt. Sinai that burned with fire.  DEUTERONOMY 5.22-27

The people were frightened that the great fire of GOD would consume them if they hear the Voice of The LORD their GOD anymore, and thought they would die.  Verse 25.

The Exodus out of Egypt some 3,400 years ago is one of the great and crucial events in Israel’s history, and one of the greatest events in world history.  It was the powerful deliverance carried out by The LORD their GOD in bringing the entire people of Israel out from Egyptian slavery into the promised land Israel.  And resulted in the establishment of Israel as a nation, and the land of Israel as the Jewish homeland.  And the giving of the ten commandments to the people of Israel by The LORD their GOD was the beginning of GOD’s laws for Israel and all the world, all written in The Law of Moses.

Some might say that Moses was the greatest man to walk on the face of the earth.  But Moses had fear when he met GOD at the burning bush.  He was afraid to look upon GOD.  EXODUS 3.2-6

GOD warned the children of Israel that they would perish if they broke through to the mountain and gazed at GOD.  EXODUS 19.16-25.

People, certainly in The Bible, have seen and heard GOD but have not seen Him in the fullness of His glory, in the fullness of His brilliant radiance like devouring fire.  Let’s let The Bible explain.

EXODUS 33.9-11  The LORD spoke to Moses Face to face as a man speaks to his friend.  GOD was in the form of a man, and certainly not in the fullness of His glory and brightness.

EXODUS 33.18-23  In Verse 18, Moses asked GOD, show me your glory.  Glory in Hebrew is KAHVODE.  Moses said to GOD, show me your glory, that is, show me your presence, show me your spiritual nature, your majesty, your splendor, your radiance, your brilliance.

And we all know GOD’s answer.  GOD told Moses, you cannot see My Face, for there shall no man see Me and live.  And The LORD GOD was speaking to Moses Face to face at the time, as a man speaks to his friend.  What’s going on here?

When GOD spoke to Moses Face to face as a man speaks to his friend, GOD’s glory and splendor was toned way down so that Moses could see GOD, and speak to Him Face to face, in full view.  Visualize the sun at its brightest.  You can’t look at it very long.  But on a cloudy day, perhaps you can look at the sun and not be blinded.  We would not live if we looked upon GOD in the fullness of His brightness.  Not only can we not look upon Him in the fullness of His splendor, we cannot even see His Face in the fullness of His brightness, and live.

EXODUS 33.20  My Face in Hebrew is PAHNY meaning My Face and/or My Presence.  And GOD’s Face and His Presence in the fullness of His radiance is like devouring fire that no human being in our present and earthly form can look upon without melting like a piece of Kleenex tissue in a flame of fire.  But when GOD tones down His glory as He did when He appeared to Abraham, Jacob, Moses and others; when GOD Almighty appeared in the human body of Yeshua The Messiah, mankind as we are today, is able to look upon GOD.  But in the fullness, the very fullness of His brightness, we as Moses in our human earthly bodies cannot look upon the Glory of GOD and live.

ZECHARIAH 14.1-3, 12  When The LORD GOD Almighty, The Messiah Yeshua returns, like the Son of Man in the fullness of His Glory, that is devouring fire, and all the saints with Him, His holy ones, GOD’s brilliance will consume all the enemies of Israel, who are the enemies of GOD.  And they will melt away.  They will die and not live because they will see the fullness of GOD’s Glory.  No man in human form can see GOD and live.  HEBREWS 12.29

EXODUS 24.9-11, 15-17  GOD lightened His glory when He ate with Moses and the elders.  But His glory was like devouring fire on the top of Mt. Sinai.

EXODUS 34.29-35  Moses however could not soften GOD’s glory, the radiance from His Face from talking to GOD, so he put a veil on his face when he spoke to the children of Israel.

ZECHARIAH 14.9  reads, And The LORD shall be King over all the earth.  In that day, there shall be one LORD, and His Name One.  ZECHARIAH 14.9

This will happen when Messiah Yeshua, The LORD GOD Almighty returns and sets up His Messianic Kingdom in Israel, and every living being will see Him, and look upon Him.  And His glory will be sufficient for all the living world to know The Messiah Yeshua is The LORD GOD of Israel, The GOD of Creation.  EZEKIEL 43.1-2
GENESIS 1.3,  GOD’s glory lit up the world.  The first day.
GENESIS 1.16, 19  GOD, on the fourth day created the sun and the moon.

In Heaven throughout eternity when we are with The Messiah Yeshua, The GOD of Israel, The GOD of Creation, we will have the same spiritual body GOD has, and we will see His Face, and His presence in the very fullness of His glory, and we will live and reign as kings forever.
REVELATION 22.1-5

EXODUS 20.20  Fear not, for GOD has come to prove you.  The word prove in Hebrew is NAHSAH meaning to subject you or me to a test, to determine our GODliness.  Will we obey GOD or not?

Fear not Moses said.  You will not die because of the fire of GOD.  For GOD has come to test you so that the fear of GOD will remain with you forever so you will not sin.  You will not violate and break GOD’s laws that are all written in The Law of Moses.  1 John 3.4.

The word fear in Hebrew is YEER’AH meaning fear, dreadful fear, terror, exceeding fear, great fear, and also reverence.  Reverence is deep respect with awe, which is an overwhelming feeling of admiration and fear.  That is what fearing GOD is, being terrified of Him, because as Yeshua says, it is GOD Who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell, Matthew 10.28.  And when we fear GOD, we obey Him, and we don’t sin.
        DEUTERONOMY 5.29-33, PSALM 103, 11, 13, 17, 18

If The LORD is your GOD, you should fear GOD, and keep all His commandments always that it will be well wi
th you and your children forever.  Obey Him as He has commanded you.  You shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left; that is do not change His Law.  You should walk in all His ways which The LORD your GOD has commanded you, that you may live and that it will be well with you, and that you may prolong your days in the land which The LORD your GOD has given you.

EXODUS 20.21-23  Don’t make any idols.  Don’t worship any idols, and don’t have any idols in your possession.

Let’s talk for a moment about the word gods, gods plural as in gods of silver, and gods of gold.  The word gods, gods plural in Hebrew is elohim.  Elohim means gods.  However when speaking of The GOD of Israel, THE ONE GOD OF CREATION, GOD refers to Himself as Elohim, GOD plural, though He is One, the ONE and ONLY GOD.  And there are no other gods besides Him.  But yet GOD calls Himself Elohim.

GENESIS 1.1  In the beginning GOD created the Heavens and the earth.  In Hebrew
BEHRAYSHEET BAHRAH ELOHIM ATE HA SHAMAHYEEM VEEATE HA AHRETZ.
 
In the very first Scripture of The Bible, GOD teaches His Creation that there is only ONE GOD, Elohim.  But The ONE GOD though He is ONE, and there are no other gods besides Him, reveals Himself throughout history as The Father, The Son, The Messiah, and spiritually The Spirit, and The Holy Spirit.  Various appearances, and various manifestations, BUT ALL ONE AND THE SAME GOD, ELOHIM, THE ONE GOD OF CREATION.  Hear O Israel, The LORD our GOD, The LORD is ONE.  At times Elohim is The Angel of GOD, or The Angel of The LORD, The Presence of GOD, and The Glory of GOD.  All being Elohim, The One GOD of Creation.  Yeshua said in John 14.9, he that has seen Me has seen The Father.  Yeshua could just as easily said, he that has seen Me has seen Elohim, The One Who said, In the beginning GOD created the Heavens and the earth.

There is only ONE GOD and no others.  He is Elohim.  The LORD GOD can appear in as many manifestations and appearances as He so pleases; such as The Father, and The Messiah, and The Holy Spirit, and The Spirit, and The Son of GOD.  GOD is GOD.  He has no limitations, no restrictions, no boundaries.  GOD is ONE.  He is Elohim.

GENESIS 19.24  The LORD Who rained upon Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from The LORD out of Heaven are ONE and the SAME.  GOD can be in Heaven and earth, in the sea, in us, everywhere at the same time because He is GOD.

So yes, GOD is The Father, The Son, The Messiah, The Spirit, The Holy Spirit.  All ONE and the SAME,  Elohim, and that is no doubt why GOD calls Himself Elohim.  Though He is ONE, GOD has various and many appearances and manifestations.

So in conclusion, fear GOD and keep His Commandments.  That is the duty of all mankind, Ecclesiastes 12.13.  And there is only ONE GOD Who has many various manifestations and appearances.  He is Yeshua The Messiah, Elohim.

Shalom,  Ira Weinstein

                            EXODUS 20.12-17

Shalom.  This morning, we will continue our teaching on the Ten Commandments, from the fifth Commandment to the tenth Commandment.

                            READ EXODUS 20.12-17

The Ten Commandments are arranged in two groups.  Our responsibilities to GOD come first.  And our responsibilities to people come after.  And GOD Himself spoke all the words of the Ten Commandments for Israel and all the world to follow and obey.

The first commandment is, I AM The LORD your GOD. 
You shall have no other gods before Me.

The second commandment is the law against idols and idolatry.

The third commandment is you shall not take The LORD’s Name in vain.

The fourth commandment is the Sabbath on the seventh day of the week, Saturday.

The fifth commandment is honoring your father and your mother.

EXODUS 20.12  The word honor in Hebrew is KAH’BAYD meaning having and showing high respect.  That includes obedience to your parents.

There is a special significance that GOD attaches to honoring our parents.  GOD regards that as honoring Him.  JEREMIAH 35.17-19

And for honoring our father and mother,  GOD will grant us long life.

But there are penalties for not honoring our parents.
                            EXODUS 21.15, LEVITICUS 20.9, DEUTERONOMY 27.16

Other Biblical counsel for honoring our fathers and mothers.  LEVITICUS 19.3, DEUTERONOMY 5.16, EPHESIANS 6.1-4, 1 TIMOTHY 5.4, COLOSSIANS 3.20

Let’s look at some examples of people in The Bible who honored their parents.
                            GENESIS 47.11-12, EXODUS 18.5-7, 1 SAMUEL 22.1-4,
                            1 KINGS 2.19, 1 KINGS 19.19-20, JOHN 19.25-27

Honor your father and your mother, The LORD commands, that your days may be long upon the land which The LORD your GOD gives you.

EXODUS 20.13, the sixth commandment is, You shall not kill.  Actually, you shall not murder.

The Hebrew word for kill in this commandment is RAH’STAKH, meaning to murder.  The true believer in GOD The Messiah Who holds fast to GOD’s Laws and Commandments will never commit murder.

The King James reads, you shall not kill.  This implies that the death penalty for murder is prohibited, and according to the King James Version, killing in war is prohibited.

Murder is the unlawful killing of a person.

Justifiable homicide, or killing when a person kills another in self defense, or when one’s life is threatened, however is lawful.  Killing an enemy in the case of war is also lawful.

A number of times The LORD commanded the children of Israel to kill their enemies, who also were enemies of GOD.  DEUTERONOMY 7.1-7, 1 SAMUEL 15.1-3, PSALM 144.1

A murderer is one who willfully murders or plans a murder.  Murder is the unlawful killing of another person.  And Biblical Law decrees the murderer be put to death.  GENESIS 9.6, NUMBERS 35.31, DEUTERONOMY 24.16
 
Jews down through the ages have been called Christ killers by ignoramuses and anti-Semites.  I was called a Christ killer when I was four or five years old.

It was the will of GOD, and His love for His Creation to have Messiah killed, to be the sacrificial atonement for all mankind, and GOD’s Salvation for all humanity, Isaiah 53, Jeremiah 31.31-34.

Messiah was killed for our transgressions, Isaiah 53.5.  The LORD laid on Him the iniquity of us all, Isaiah 53.6.  He was killed, cut off out of the land of the living for the transgressions of His people was He stricken, Isaiah 53.8.  It pleased The LORD to bruise Him, to put Him to grief, to make His Soul an offering for sin.  The pleasure of The LORD prospered in His Hand.  By GOD’s power and love, His purpose succeeded, Isaiah 53.1-2.  Messiah’s death made atonement for many, Jews and Gentiles, Isaiah 52.15.

For Messiah died for sins once and for all.  The just for the unjust, that He might bring us to GOD, being put to death in the flesh, and made alive by The Spirit, 1 Peter 3.18.  Messiah came to die just as T’Nakh, The Old Testament said He would die, Matthew 26.24.  He was hated without a cause, Psalm 69.4, rejected by rulers, Psalm 118.22, betrayed by a friend, Psalm 41.9, sold for thirty pieces of silver, Zechariah 11.12, and forsaken by His Disciples, Zechariah 13.7, Matthew 26.56.

His appearance was so marred, more than any man, and His form more than the sons of men, Isaiah 52.14.  He was spit on and beaten, Isaiah 50.6, and mocked, Psalm 22.7-8, and killed, Psalm 22.16 for the sins of His people was He stricken, Isaiah 53.8.  And not one of His bones was broken, Exodus 12.46, Psalm 34.20.  He was buried with the rich in His death, because He had done no violence, neither was any deceit in His Mouth, Isaiah 53.9.  GOD made Him an offering for sin, Isaiah 53.10, 12, for it is the blood of Messiah that makes atonement for our soul, Leviticus 17.11.  And He rose from the dead, Isaiah 53.10, Psalm 16.10, on the third day, on the day after the Sabbath, Leviticus 23.11.

These are all prophecies from T’Nakh, The Old Testament. All fulfilled in Messiah Yeshua at His first coming some 2,000 years ago.  Yes, Messiah gave His Life for a sacrificial atonement for the sins of all mankind, Jewish and Gentile.  For that purpose He came, and for that cause He was born, John 18.37, that Salvation can also come to the Gentiles, Romans 11.11.

Paul has some interesting words that he wrote in 1 Corinthians 2.6-8.

1 CORINTHIANS 2.6-8  VERSE 6  Paul writes, we speak wisdom, among them that are perfect.  Those who are Believers in Messiah, and live by every Word of GOD, Matthew 4.4, who obey every Law of GOD written in The Law of Moses, GOD sees as perfect.  We do not speak the wisdom of this world, nor of the rulers, and leaders and princes of this world whose wisdom is useless spiritually.

VERSE 7  Paul continues, but we speak the wisdom of GOD in a mystery that is hidden to most people. That is His Word and His Laws written in The Law of Moses.  FEW see and understand.  But MOST DO NOT SEE, AND MOST DO NOT UNDERSTAND.  In Judaism, most do not see and understand Messiah’s first coming which GOD ordained from eternity before the world was created.  In Christianity, most do not see that the Law of Moses must be obeyed, and that the trinity teaches three distinct and different gods.

VERSE 8  Which none of the princes of this world, the rulers and leaders, especially the Jewish and Roman leaders knew who had a part in putting Yeshua to death.  For had they known that Yeshua was GOD Almighty in the flesh, the promised Messiah, they would not have killed Him.

And Paul continues his teaching in verses 11-14 in 1 Corinthians 2.

1 CORINTHIANS 2.11-14  VERSE 11  For who knows the things of a person except the person’s own spirit inside him.  So too, no one knows the things of GOD except the Spirit of GOD, GOD Himself.

VERSE 12  Now we have not received the spirit of the world, but
we have received GOD’s Spirit, that is The Holy Spirit that we may know the things that are freely given to us by GOD, such as GOD’s Word, and His Law of Moses to obey.  But the spirit of the world rejects GOD’s Word, and His Law of Moses.

VERSE 13  We speak the Words The Holy Spirit teaches.  That is, we speak the words that GOD teaches in The Bible.  We do not speak man’s wisdom which rejects GOD’s Word, and His Laws, and even Messiah’s first coming.  But we speak that which GOD teaches.  And we compare spiritual things with spiritual.  That is, we compare things of GOD with GOD.

VERSE 14  But the natural man, the person without The Holy Spirit does not receive the things of The Holy Spirit, such as submitting to GOD’s Word, His Laws and His Commandments, even Messiah’s first coming, for they are foolishness to him.  Neither can he know them because they are spiritual.  They are of GOD.

Proof of having GOD’s Holy Spirit is believing in Messiah Yeshua and submitting to GOD’s Laws, His Law of Moses.  ROMANS 8.6-7
The person with GOD’s Holy Spirit submits to GOD’s Ten Commandments, and all GOD’s Laws written in the Law of Moses..

EXODUS 20.14  The seventh commandment is, you shall not commit adultery.

Webster’s Dictionary describes adultery as voluntary sexual intercourse between a married person and someone other than his or her wife or husband.  And The Bible warns that adulterers will not enter the Kingdom of GOD unless they repent and turn away from their sins, and turn to GOD and obey His statutes, and do that which is lawful and right.  And GOD will forgive them and remember their sins no more.
                            1 CORINTHIANS 6.9-10, HEBREWS 13.4, EZEKIEL 18.20-22

EXODUS 20.15  The eighth commandment is, you shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.  Meaning you shall not lie, you shall not make a false accusation, or falsely accuse someone.  You shall not give false testimony, or lie under oath.  You shall not gossip or slander, defaming another’s character.

Yeshua was asked the question, Who is my neighbor?
                            LUKE 10.25-37
Your neighbor is anyone, and everyone.

Here are some Scriptures concerning the ninth commandment, you shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
        EXODUS 23.1, PROVERBS 6.16-19, PROVERBS 10.18, PROVERBS 12.17, PROVERBS 19.9

EXODUS 20.17  The tenth commandment is, do not covet.

Webster’s Dictionary defines covet as desiring what belongs to another.  Covetousness is also greed, envy, and jealousy.

A Rabbi Hirsh had these words about covetousness.  “The last commandment is one that only a divine lawgiver could have decreed.  A mortal ruler can legislate against murder and theft, but only GOD can demand that people sanctify their thoughts and attitudes.  That is purify their thoughts and attitudes to the point where they purge themselves of such natural tendencies as jealousy and covetousness.”

So here again are the Ten Commandments, all spoken by GOD to Israel and the world to obey.

The first commandment is, I AM The LORD your GOD.  You shall have no other gods before Me.

The second commandment is the law against idols and idolatry.

The third commandment is, you shall not take The LORD’s Name in vain.

The fourth commandment is The Sabbath on the seventh day of the week, Saturday.

The fifth commandment is, honor your father and your mother.

The sixth commandment is, you shall not murder.

The seventh commandment is, you shall not commit adultery.

The eighth commandment is, you shall not steal.

The ninth commandment is, you shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

And the tenth commandment is, you shall not covet anything of your neighbor.

Thus our responsibilities to GOD, and our responsibilities to people are written in the Ten Commandments.  And the Ten Commandments are the foundation of GOD’s laws; all are written in The Law of Moses.

Shalom,  Ira Weinstein