Ancient Words from YHWH that fit today’s news

“Why do the righteous suffer?”

PSALM 12

A psalm of David: Help, YAHWEH! For no one godly is left; the faithful have vanished from humankind. They all tell lies to each other, flattering with their lips, but speaking from divided hearts. May YAHWEH cut off all flattering lips and the tongue that speaks so proudly, those who say, “By our tongues, we will prevail; our lips are with us. Who can master us?” “Because the poor are oppressed, because the needy are groaning, I will now rise up,” says YAHWEH, “and grant security to those whom they scorn.”

The words of YAHWEH are pure words, silver in a melting pot set in the earth, refined and purified seven times over. You, YAHWEH, protect us; guard us forever from this generation. The wicked strut about everywhere when vileness is held in general esteem.

Comment:  The most vile and despicable people of society now gloat over their victories for licentiousness, favorable rulings by the courts, freedom to parade their depravity before everyone in public; such as the despicable “gay pride” parades in the city streets.  Anyone who has a shred of decency retches at the filth and despairs of even the survival of a generation that is learning from such depravity and viewing it as acceptable behavior.  Those in leadership of the nation who are in agreement with such vileness cause the people to sin, just as the ancient kings of Israel did evil in the sight of Yahweh and caused “all Israel to sin.”

Judgment will be severe on any nation that struts around in pride over their most disgusting practices.

If Yahweh’s people have not opposed the steady decline in morals up to this point, then the adversary has had a clear battlefield, an established beachhead and now a stronghold that would require extreme measures to destroy. 

The so-called people of God have shrunk back in fear of the PC establishment and have lost even their own children into the quagmire of the sewer with its sticky footing, which includes the many forms of fornication with its severe punishment by the Almighty.  Not only heterosexual promiscuity leading to unwanted pregnancies leading to abortion, but also including terminal diseases and all the natural punishments that follow this gross sin.  The people of God choose to deny and hide from the sins that produce these awful judgments and choose only one outcome (abortion), and march, write, cry and wail over this suicidal genocide.  Never mind that young people are allowed more freedom at earlier ages in which to seek mischief, more latitude in shameless parading of partial nudity along with lewd behavior and language.  Boys are not trained to be respectful toward young girls or to restrain their animal urges; instead they are encouraged to bed as many females as they can without reprimand.  It is so much easier to do as Adam did and say, “…it is this woman…” who made me do it.   Males who indiscriminately deposit their seed wherever they can are a very large part of the problem, but one mostly ignored, and the blame is put on the female.  Females are guilty, indeed, but not alone.  Lacking the true, pure parental love and understanding, they often seek love and acceptance elsewhere.  Males are very accomplished liars and aggressors in matters of satisfying their lusts, and females very gullible in searching for their fulfillment.  Both genders must be trained as soon as language is understood that a human being is to live life on a plane above the jungle animals.

Now, people report seeing baby showers in neighborhoods and even in churches where unwed pregnant girls are encouraged by being provided everything needed for their illegitimate expected offspring.  Of course, the male half of the equation is absent, and scouting for his next victim, boasting to his friends of his many conquests, accepting none of the responsibility for the result.  If abortion is chosen as a solution, he is often the one who pays the abortionist in order to escape his “inconvenience” and having his freedom to continue to fornicate at will, unhampered.  His actions are usually paraded as acceptable and responsible by this perverse generation.

Psalm 15

A psalm of David: YAHWEH, who can rest in your tent? Who can live on your holy mountain? Those who live a blameless life, who behave uprightly, who speak truth from their hearts and keep their tongues from slander; who never do harm to others or seek to discredit neighbors; who look with scorn on the vile, but honor those who fear YAHWEH; who hold to an oath, no matter the cost; who refuse usury when they lend money and refuse a bribe to damage the innocent. Those who do these things never will be moved.

Comment:  Does this not describe the present situation reported by today’s news in America?  Holding to an oath would include acting honorably toward one who is promised love.  Even if it is inconvenient to behave morally, nothing less is acceptable.  Today’s people have no regard for responsible action.  “If it feels good, do it” is the present day PC mantra. It feels good to criticize others while ignoring ones own sins and errors. Blaming others for the ills of society feels good to most people, but searching one’s own heart to see where we fall short is uncomfortable and is avoided like the plague. 

There will be a time of weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth, not only for the blatantly evil, but for those who say they are God’s people and who chose to do nothing except point fingers at others while hiding secret sins in their own lives.  Slander is rampant today in every segment of society and will have to be answered.  In order to be secure in ones place with the righteous, all these things need to be seriously considered, not just the sins of “others”, but our own as well.

Walking on the road to Emmaus, Erlene Talbott

A MAN OR A CHILD?

1 Corinthians 13:11 say: “When I was a child, I spoke like a child,

thought like a child, and argued like a child; now that I have become a man,

I have finished with childish ways. (CJB)

“As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.”  (Proverbs 23:7)

It would seem that in America today, most men have not matured into real men with all the historical and biblical attributes and responsibilities of men, but instead, have remained as little children, clinging to mothers apron strings in a literal fashion, allowing themselves to be ruled by motherly women who generally have been abused by evil men and have a deep seated hatred and distrust of men in general. The Feminist movement influences these societal and statistical majorities of unwed, single by choice or divorced mothers, which lifestyle model they follow is an influential branch of socialistic communism. The sons, unexposed to biblically based male role models, become feminized in mindset, which is displayed in a twisted, ineffective life, many times accompanied by drugs, alcohol, lost work ethic and smoking, all sins against the body and soul. Living with mother, using her money and resources and being fed and cared for by her alone, finishes off any thoughts of male ambition, independent thought or job seeking skills in these overage male children.

This childish unscriptural behavior is the twisted legacy of physically gown men in a society in which boys grow up under American new normal “single” mother ruled households and these men remain immature under households where no physical or any spiritual father figure is present as a male role model in accordance with biblical standards that are set by God Almighty. As a matter of fact, these men generally reject any father figure that is possibly presented to mom’s life as a real threat to both themselves and to their mother’s role as the sole provider of their life of comfortable complacency. One does not upset the applecart of the matronly mother controlled sole authority position of the “good” life.

“The sins of the fathers are visited upon the children, unto the third and fourth generation” is a Proverb of truth in America and is being fulfilled in our present generation of Boy/Men with the majority of these overage juvenile delinquents falling under the Satanically created gap between reality and deception.

Relying on mom to supply all their needs and comforts of home is a denial of manhood in general, leaving these deceived ones free to pursue loose women, various mind numbing drugs and like minded other juvenile sports loving drinking friends as a support group, thereby justifying the twisted mindset of those lost souls living in mommies created comfort zone.

The uncaring, and God cursing attitude of these children does not lead to repentance, the first step toward salvation in Yeshua, whom these men despise, along with scripture itself.

My father was such a man from a “Victorian” cultish feminist woman dominated home with no scriptural male role model, but an absent, spiritually and alcoholic father, and thus he spent a lifetime of hating God and even denying salvation through Jesus on his deathbed with but minutes to live. He was an intelligent, articulate man with many friends, all of whom hated the Almighty creator and religion in general, but who were sport loving men that pursued pleasure and “silly captive” women for “manhood’s” sake. I spoke to him often about God and the plan of salvation, but got no response but an immediate and curt shutdown of any discourse at all. The only time I ever heard him curse was when I mentioned God or Jesus.

This is the new pagan Manchild of America today.

This is the boy by choice, the product of a broken society and who is also the legacy of broken homes throughout this fractured nation of broken antibiblical relationships.

As we are now entering the end times, the “Acharit Hayamim”, can this sorry broken nation be repaired? I do not think so!

As the Almighty killed off all of the rebellious generation in the Wilderness and allowed only a new uncorrupted generation to enter the Promised Land, so also will God deal with these present “froward and untoward” generations of today, wandering about in a godless wilderness of Sin.

Hopefully walking on the road to Emmaus,

Rabbi James Talbott, Yeshua HaTikvah Yisrael Ministries 

RUNNING ON INERTIA

By: Sheriff Jim R. Schwiesow, retired

 THE WAY OF THE FORMER ROMAN EMPIRE IS THE WAY OF THE UNITED STATES

The United States could correctly be likened to a huge glacier that has – through the years of its being – run a broad and seemingly non interruptible course through the world panorama, a course that emphasized its power and magnificence and illumined a connected series of divinely enhanced events, actions and developments throughout its diachronic existence. Unfortunately there has also been concomitantly a broad and morality dissipating U.S. national progression that has extraordinarily eroded its base and shorn from it the last steadying vestiges of the anchoring social and spiritual appendages that brought it into being and helped greatly to steady the journey and to stabilize the course of the whole of the mass. 

The United States now rests on the precipice of last hope, overlooking a sheer chasm of despair, and struggles frantically to hang on to the last vestiges of promise as it struggles against a nation of a collectively polluted morality and clings to a now mostly vanished – and neigh onto impossible to recover – given the apostasy that is upon it – promise of its former glory and greatness. With a will born of desperation the people and their political leaders cling to a grudging hold on the nation’s former glory. Like that glacier previously mentioned this nation is slipping from that last desperate grip and is poised for a final slide into the boiling brine that will forever dissolve its greatness and dissipate into nothingness the residuals of its former glory and magnificence.

It will be an ignoble end to a greatly noble dream. As with Jericho, God has set into motion the cadence of that final march around the borders of this nation that will precipitate the collapse and eternal extinction of what was arguably the greatest nation to ever exist on this earth. The nation runs wobbly on, but its continuance is mostly fueled by the illustriousness of its previous existence and glory, in other words an inertia born of God’s divinely and blessedly bestowed gift of magnificence and prominence.    

SECULAR HUMANISM – A BLUEPRINT FOR DISASTER

The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied. Proverbs 13:4

For we hear that some among you walk in idleness, not busy at work, but busybodies. Now such persons we command and encourage in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living. 2 Thessalonians 3:11-12

Rise up, you women who are at ease, hear my voice; you complacent daughters, give ear to my speech. In little more than a year you will shudder, you complacent women; for the grape harvest fails, the fruit harvest will not come. Tremble, you women who are at ease, shudder, you complacent ones; strip and make yourselves bare, and tie sackcloth around your waist. Beat your breasts for the pleasant fields, for the fruitful vine, for the soil of my people growing up in thorns and briers, yes, for all the joyous houses in the exultant city… Isaiah 32:9-20

Upon close inspection intelligent thinking people ought to be able to discern the source of the liberal/progressive ideology, it is an ideology spawned by the demonic realm under the auspices of that dragon of old, Satan, and it has been diligently pursued by our exceedingly ignorant politicians as a birthright and as a cradle to grave doctrine emphasizing a person’s supposed innate capacity for self-realization. This, though none can exist or prosper without the staying hand of God…None!

Man was created in the image of God. God hates sloth and feigned whining helplessness; He has equipped mankind with the tools to make His world one of worth and great dignity. Satan, who looks upon men as usurpers of what he believes to be rightfully his, despises mankind and continually endeavors to eliminate the whole of mankind from God’s creation. In the United States he has made great headway in this quest…thanks to the liberal/progressive community, particularly the satanically endowed Elite and the collective of spiritually deprived politicians who carry out the debilitating programs hatched in the mind of Satan, the greatest criminal in the Universe.  

CORRUPTING THE YOUTH

Our youths – those who were fortunate to escape the butchering hands of the filthy abortionists, and from equally despicable mothers who deliver them up as sacrifices to the idols of worldly and temporal desires, are increasingly being abandoned by non nurturing parents to the inducements of progressively promoted socially destructive pursuits. These young people enter communities as dominates of the political and social secular humanists who immerse them into the nasty and debilitating vices promoted by the now dominant corporate elite that fancies itself, as a whole, as our social authoritarian motivator.

These unfortunate young people are enrolled into public schools and indoctrinated, Kindergarten through College, in the corrupting values of these same conscientious less and irreverent liberalists; they learn to live on the dole and expect that the necessities and luxuries of life will be handed them on a Silver platter by an ever increasingly indebted society.

They are possessors of totally worthless liberal arts degrees paid for by the taxpayers, and must after graduation live either on their parents or on the welfare dole. They have learned nothing in regard to useful trades and believe that the world owes them a living and a cushy life at the expense of the hard- working industrious souls that pay exorbitant taxes to support this collective of pampered lifetime drags on society. 

GROUPING THE FACTIONS     

Ours is a bifurcated society, and it is divided thusly:

 The first group is comprised of the hard- working industrious souls that pay exorbitant taxes to support a rapidly burgeoning collective of pampered lifetime drags on society, this group – spoken of earlier – are rapidly dwindling and since they are the life’s blood of society, when they have become extinct through the stupidity of the progressives of the political domain, this nation will collapse and become non-consequential on the world scene.  

Next we have the totally worthless eaters, too damn lazy to work and provide for themselves or families, but not too proud to ease their shiftless carcasses down to the welfare offices to dip into the appropriated assets that have been stolen and accumulated by government entities for distribution to the pokes who have no pride or worth.

The third group is comprised of those who believe themselves to be elites bestowed with the wisdom to order the rest of society to comply with their every wish and desire in regards to social duties and responsibilities. These have attained their status by happenstances of life and in most cases have accumulated obscene wealth; a wealth that they believe affords them an exalted place in society and places upon them a responsibility to create the rules that govern the entirety of the people whom they believe to be inferior and undeserving.   

PAYING THE PRICE ONE WAY OR ANOTHER

God holds all governments and the peoples of the Nations morally accountable for their actions. Evil and wrong will be punished; and by His will societies adhering to moral principles pronounced by His commandments will be honored and recompensed. Goodness and righteousness will ultimately prevail over evil, and we reap, by God’s power, the profits, good or bad, of that which we have sown. National morality will, in the end, profit the obedient. The moral choices we make in this life are infused with an eternal significance. This nation must change course, lest it be swallowed by the roiling tide heretofore described.

The slaughter and sacrifice of innocent babies to worldly lusts must cease, sodomy must not be either condoned or promoted, unlawful expropriation of personal chattel by the government, thievery by business interests and service providers must be eradicated, and the denigration of Biblical truth and of the living God must cease. If this nation is to survive, God’s laws must be enforced and obeyed. If the Ten Commandments are not honored, we can kiss this nation goodbye.

Repentance is in order and it must be immediately forthcoming. This nation will either live by the Word of God, or it will die by the will of God.

Heart Stopping Fear; the time of the signs

Luke 21:25- 26  “There will appear signs in the sun, moon and stars, and on earth, nations will be in anxiety and in bewilderment at the sound and surge of the sea as people faint with fear at the prospect of what is overtaking the world, for the powers in heaven will be shaken.”

We see so many of the frightening occurrences; we can scarcely catalog the gamut of them all.  We know that our Heavenly Father is not the source of our fear, because He tells us God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of love, power and a steady and healthy mind.

Fear is a spirit, and that spirit is behind much of the trouble that attacks the people of earth.  It can take many forms, and it has been in operation forever since man left the Garden of Eden.  Satan himself must be filled with fear, because he knows what his fate will be, and he knows his time is short and he will soon lose his freedom forever.  He is called the prince of the powers of the air, and he will be pulling out all the stops in his final push to conquer as many of earth’s dwellers as possible. 

Fear causes people to do outrageous things to their own detriment.  It causes them to act with selfishness, anger, greed, pride and many other unfortunate ways, which make living in peace nearly impossible. 

There is only one kind of fear that is beneficial; and that is fear of the Almighty, and that fear is to be combined with a genuine love for Him and a good understanding of His sovereignty, goodness, holiness and love.  Aside from this beneficial fear, we are constantly exhorted all through Scripture to “fear not”.  Yeshua spoke this many times to those around Him, and also encounters with angels in their awesome appearance to humans almost always had to speak in the same manner because man is so prone to the spirit of fear which attacks when anything beyond our understanding and our familiarity is encountered. 

The mind is a battlefield where the lion roars and defeats people without actually doing anything further than instilling fear.  This is a strong spirit to do battle with, and many simply succumb to the damage inflicted to their emotions, imaginations and weaknesses and abandon the battlefield in defeat. 

We are taught by Yeshua to be overcomers by “speaking to” the mountains in life, and giving them orders to be gone.  If we believe what He taught us, we are well able to overcome the adversities that can appear as real, while actually they are illusions projected on our minds through the means of the spirit of fear.  Seemingly tangible forces attack us many times, when in fact they are only used as camouflage to cover the real spirit behind them.  Fear, the spirit, has many foot soldiers with different uniforms worn to deceive and they are very astute at their cover up tactics. 

 To defeat such an enemy, we must exercise our faith; it is our shield to deflect the fiery darts aimed at us.  We have to always be aware that behind the scenes, there is a very clever tactician who is constantly roaming about the earth seeking whom he can devour.  If we let our guard down in these days, in the time prophesied as the time of the end, discouragement can overtake us and defeat not only our witness to the world, but effectiveness in every situation.  We have a glorious hope and cannot allow ourselves to become sidetracked by a defeated spirit being.  We have been given the power to overcome the world, and I John 5:4 tells us it is our faith.  Fear has power to destroy, but faith has a greater power to enable us to be victorious.

 This does not suggest that we should be reckless and over confidant.  Proverbs14: 16, “A wise person fears and turns away from evil, but a fool is reckless and over-confident.”  The foolish runs straight into trouble and suffers for it.

Proverbs 8:12, “I, wisdom live together with caution.  I attain knowledge and discretion.”  These two qualities go hand in hand.  Wisdom, the Scripture says is the principle thing. 

James 1:5-8 tells us how to acquire this wisdom, which is so precious a tool in living a successful and peaceful life.  “If anyone lacks wisdom, let him ask of God who gives liberally to all without finding fault. “

But we are to ask in faith, no doubting.  The doubter cannot expect to receive anything from the Lord Yahweh. 

In these days of so many troubling signs of wars, violence, and evil on every side, it behooves us all to be in constant contact with the One who possesses all the wisdom we will ever need to make wise decisions, to live in peace and with caution and discretion, but without overwhelming fear.  He is with us always even to the end of the age.  Be strong (Chazak) and take courage.

Erlene Talbott, Yeshua HaTikvah Yisrael Ministries

HEBREW ROOTS STUDIES

People ask me, “What is your theological/doctrinal position?” my answer is, “I have no position at all theologically, but my boss, Yeshua has one and my job is to implement His position in this world.”

Another big difference between this writing and others of its kind is the denomination of its author. I have none. The works of people are biased by their beliefs. Most people belonging to a denomination are biased, and they tend to change the Bible to suit their beliefs. As I am non-denominational, I change my beliefs, to suit the Bible. So you can rest assured that when I try to convince you that the Bible says something, it really does say it.

“Let us read the Sacred texts in terms of what they say, 

not what we have to superimpose on these texts.
We will come to this very distinct conclusion.”
-Baruch Spinoza (1632-1677)

“It is possible to evangelize the world in this generation, if the

Church will but do her duty. The trouble is not with the heathen. A
dead Church will prevent it, if it is prevented. Why should it not be
accomplished? God will have all men to be saved and come unto
the knowledge of the truth. The resources of the Church are
boundless. Let the will of the Church be brought into line with the
will of God, and nothing will be found to be impossible. May God
grant it!” – Griffith John

“The Church has not yet touched the fringe of the possibilities of

intercessory prayer. Her largest victories will be witnessed when
individual Christians everywhere come to recognize their
priesthood unto God and day by day give themselves unto prayer.”
 - John R. Mott

“Whether we like it or not, asking is the rule of the Kingdom. If 

you may have everything by asking in His Name, and nothing
without asking, I beg you to see how absolutely vital prayer is.”
 - C. H. Spurgeon

Beginning with NIMROD And the TOWER of BABYLON on the plains of SHINAR, and continuing until today, the Satanically ruled Babylonian system of Governments and Religions has never left mankind! YAHWEH Elohim, our God, the Creator of Darkness and Light, has allowed mankind to continue to use and develop this Babylonian model throughout history. From the Watchers described in the Book of Enoch, the Nephilim, Anakim and Rephaim, mighty men of old, the stone images of “gods” on Easter [Ishtar] Island in the Pacific Ocean, the Meso-American “gods” of human sacrifice, the religions of cannibalism and death, and the many bloody kings, dictators, popes and conquerors described in history show that the story of mankind is one of blood and death sowed on the infamous pages of man’s sojourns on this planet Earth. This is how it was and this is how it shall be until the end comes and YESHUA returns. Myriads of human beings have been summarily slaughtered with malice aforethought, in the name of Religion and in the name of some god, and men, in the name of the “God” of the Bible reimaged, have accomplished the largest slaughtering of their fellow human beings as recorded from ancient times until now. The Biases of men color and obscure the truth, even though it is self-evident!

I actually believe that Yahweh [YHVH] God has slowly been restoring His truths to the church bit by bit over the centuries, mostly since the Great Reformation of the middle ages. If you look at church history you will see that it started with “Justification by Faith” in the 1500′s, then the “New Birth” and Sanctification, then Baptism by Immersion, then healing, then Baptism of the Holy Spirit with ‘tongues’, etc, until today we have the opportunity to fully enter into virtually everything that the early church entered into – and powerful Spirit-filled Revivals are today happening around the globe, primarily in third world countries. The church has come full circle in many ways, but still I feel we need one last Great Hebrew roots based Reformation to fully restore all of the scripture understanding that was lost through the Traditions, Takanot and Ma’asim of men.

It has taken a very long time for the church to emerge out of the dark ages, and there have been many “heroes” along the way. To me, men like John Wesley, George Whitefield, Charles Grandison Finney, etc, are a great inspiration – and I write about them all the time. But yes – they lived in an era when Christianity seemingly had less light than she does today. Thus I believe all the people of those times and also the present time, will be judged and affirmed by the light that they walked in. It is as simple as that. I do not condemn them at all – in fact I admire many of those old time revival preachers and learn as much from them as I can, especially those in the Brush Arbor revivals of the 1800s, a cardinal century in the faith. The study of biblical Hebrew Roots occurring today and for the over last quarter century is another step forward in understanding and promoting the beauty of scriptural truth.

The “New” Testament is a trumpet call by the writers of scripture to defend Father God’s Torah as Jesus did, while modern semi-paganized Christianity throws it on the dung heap. I find it difficult to accept the claims of any religious tradition that accepts the Edict of Constantine in 321AD that changed the biblical eternal 7th day Sabbath as being in authority over and in place of scripture. The same church tradition that cannot count to 3 days and 3 nights; that replaces God’s Holy days in scripture kept by Jesus with 2 totally pagan “CHURCH” holidays, Christmas and Easter, and that denigrates the Hebrew language Jesus and the Apostles spoke, and instead, being in favor of a limited Greek pagan rooted language, which was developed to worship the sungods of Mount Olympus. Paul defended YHWH God’s Torah Laws in Romans 2 through 8, Galatians, Ephesians and in all his letters and explained the casting of the CURSES of Torah on the dung heap that Jesus won the right to do via His final victory over those curses on the Cross.

The traditions of men put the things of God to naught!

I am eternally grateful for the positive comments I have received from serious and mature Bible students sent by email and comments to my postings and forwarding. To stir one mind and one heart to delve deeper into the liquid gold depths of scripture is my intent and I shout Omein to the following quote of Emerson:

“Beware when great God lets loose a thinker on this planet. Then all things are at risk. It is as when a conflagration has broken out in a great city, and no man knows when it will end. There is not a piece of science but its flank may be turned tomorrow; there is not any literary reputation, not the so-called eternal names of fame, that may not be revised and condemned. The very hopes of man, the thoughts of his heart, the religion of nations, the manners and morals of mankind are all at the mercy of a new generalization.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson

ALL advances in biblical knowledge including the current Hebrew Roots of Scripture studies have been soundly opposed by biased traditionalists and the work of men is done with vigor, especially by those ecclesiastics in Catholic churches that have murdered multiple millions of the children of Judah over the centuries, to their eternal damnation by the Almighty Elohim of Israel. The Hebrew Roots study of the Bible is NOT a cult or sideshow, but is a study that greatly enhances the purity of scripture as it was originally written, much to the dismay of fearful tradition bound clerics.

Walking on the road to Emmaus,

Rav James Talbott

Yeshua HaTikvah Yisrael Ministries

[Jesus the Hope of Israel Ministries] 

THE NEW TESTAMENT, A WARTIME DOCUMENT

The entire New Testament narrative was written during a major War of World Conquest by the Roman Empire and at a time of a hostile occupation of Israel by victorious Roman Armies and also, a major Jewish gorilla war against Rome and its Edomite (Idumean) allies who were then governing Israel as Roman appointees during Yeshua’s first Advent as Messiah ben Joseph.

 Most Christians know this to be a fact, but it does not usually enter their minds under modern Bible studies and also is not addressed under the preaching of New Testament scripture. Christian Pastors and Bible Teachers generally leave out of their teaching, these unbiased basic facts. Yet, Yeshua and His Talmudim along with the other Apostles all lived their entire daily lives under the oppression of a bloody Roman occupation and their writings reflect that sad situation. Messianic Believers in Yeshua have also lived under the same Roman thumb of murderous intent over the last two millennia. The New ‘Second Babylon’ was instituted at the first advent of the Messiah, Yeshua, and has been active ever since as Alexander Hislop’s book of 1860, ‘THE TWO BABYLONS’, clearly documents.

One needs look no further than Nazi Germany and Islam to see the modern continuation of the Babylonian Empire in action. To put these historical facts into the Biblical equation makes for a clarified, unbiased and mature Biblical Worldview.

Since the American Civil War of the 1860s, we Freemen and Freewomen have not lived under a hostile occupation of an enemy in our local neighborhoods unless one considers the present political turmoil as a prelude to a soon coming slide into entropy and a bloody occupation promulgated by a hostile government which is now ruling under an underhanded, deceptive and historically ‘unchanging’ Anti-Christ system of oppression, occupation and terrorism.

Yeshua/Jesus lived under such a hostile and dictatorial government, which was fully in league with a renewed occupying Babylonian empire, and we may be there also in this present renewed time of troubles. I speak from personal experience. It is, therefore, not surprising that the Savior constantly spoke as an encourager and an exhorter to the poor and oppressed Jewish people of His day living under the murderous and hostile occupiers coming from the deep pit of the satanic empires of this world. There is, indeed, nothing new under the sun.

Understand the present ‘signs of the times’ in the context of this continuing war against Christians and Jews and then apply that wisdom into your Biblical life and your prayers to the Almighty Elohim of the universe and our Messiah, Yeshua.

 Walking with you on the Emmaus road,

Rabbi James Talbott,

Yeshua HaTikvah Yisrael Ministries

THE TORAH ROOTS OF GRACE AND FAITH

The pattern is this: Yahweh has chosen Israel as His set apart covenant people and Israel has accepted the election.  When asked by Moses if they would obey the Holy Covenant, they responded in the affirmative. The later accounts of disobedience have no bearing with the Almighty except as events that required correction, forgiveness, repentance and divine mercy through the Providence of YHWH God. Yahweh gave Israel 613 Mitzvoth [commandments], which they are to learn and observe as best they can. Obedience is rewarded and disobedience punished. In case of failure to obey, however, man has recourse to divinely ordained means of atonement; in all of which repentance is required. As long as man maintains his desire to stay in the covenant, he has a share in Yahweh’s covenantal promises, including life in the world to come. The intention and effort to be obedient constitutes the condition for remaining in the covenant, but the included men and women do not earn it. This pattern, given by Yahweh to Moses on the Holy Mountain, is eternal for all believers who include themselves as a part of the Israel of Yahweh Elohim.

Today, there are those in the Church community who would tell us that the Ten Commandments of the Torah are just for the Jews. That’s because most Christians do not realize who they really are in scripture. The Tanakh, “Old Testament”, book of Hosea tells us that one day the people of the book who were not considered to be the people of YHWH God would one day be called his children – sons of the living God. The instructions and blessings intended for Israel, as specified in the “Old” Testament Tanakh scriptures were not “just for the Jews. “

Based on the fact that historically, most Jewish people rejected Yeshua, [Jesus Christ], as the Messiah, some would wrongly persuade us that “The Church” has replaced “the Jews” as God’s chosen people. That heretic idea is most commonly referred to as “Replacement Theology,” a confusing ideology that separates Christian believers from Israel. It is a theory-ology that creates two distinct groups of people, the children of Israel to whom the law was given and “the Church” to whom grace was given. Two-covenant doctrine is not in the Bible.

Well, a careful examination of scripture reveals that there was both law and grace in the “Old” Testament; and there is law and grace in the “New” Testament as well. In fact, if there were no law in the New Testament there would not be any need for grace. To further complicate things, another even more confusing premise, advanced by some theologians, is that the Jews and the church, as separate entities, have separate plans of salvation. I call this ‘exclusion theology’- the idea that somehow Jewish people do not need Jesus – that somehow they are excluded from the plan of salvation established by their own Messiah.

The first believers – the first church members, if you will, were all Jews. It was only later that the then pagan Gentiles, or nations [ethnos], were incorporated into the assembly of believers through trust in Yeshua; and even after that time, the book of Acts informs us that thousands of Jewish people became believers and that they were all zealous of the Holy Torah law of God. They believed in Yeshua/Jesus and never once had the idea that their belief would in any way oppose the commandments of YHWH God. 

The truth is there is only one Israel, and that title is not exclusive to the Jews or to the Church. As we read in the New Testament – former Gentile believers joined Israel by being grafted in with the believing remnant of Israel to become part of covenant Israel – the very same Israel that we read about in the Old Testament: As the book of Galatians states: ‘The Israel of God.’

Were the Ten Commandments just for the Jews [Judah]? No, those Ten Commandments were all inclusive for Israel and also her companions that were and are now grafted into Israel. (Jeremiah 31: 31-37; 50:6; Matthew 15:24)

Christian thinking has a tendency to regard the Torah law of the “old” covenant as irrelevant because of the grace of Yahweh, which is only revealed in the New Testament according to modern replacement theory-ology thought. Popular Christian theology, especially that of the dispensationalists and replacement theologians, often seemingly maintains that the divine character was transformed from a “God” of legalism and law in the Torah/Tanakh [Old Testament], into the “God” of grace and love in the New. The “Old Testament” is characterized by churches as a book which endorses “legalism” in order to bring each individual to faith. Moreover Judaism of the time of Yeshua is described as a works-righteousness religion where every individual is required to earn his or her own salvation through personal merit and good deeds. This fundamental misunderstanding of early Hebrew thought and the relationship between the Old Testament roots and the faith of the early church has so fouled the popular modern Christian perception of Sha’ul [Paul], that to many, what is true about Sha’ul’s opinion of the purpose of the law and faith in Yeshua sounds like heresy.

The Almighty Yahweh of the Old Testamenthas not undergone a strange metamorphosis like a schizophrenic patient revealing different patterns of behavior. We must recognize that the Yahweh of the Old Testament is the same forever as Jesus/Yeshua is of the New Testament. He is described as being full of grace and mercy in both testaments. Even when Moses received the Torah on Mt. Horev [Sinai], the Scripture says, “Yahweh passed before him, and proclaimed, “Yahweh, Yahweh [Eyeh-Asher-Eyeh], an Elohim merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love…” (Exodus 34:6f.). Here in the heart of the law of God. On Mt. Horev itself, Yahweh is described in terms of mercy and grace. In fact, this is not the only place in the Hebrew Scriptures where mercy and grace are attributed to Yahweh. The same description appears in many other Tanach “Old Testament” passages. Consider for example the words of Psalm 103:8, “Yahweh is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.” The Psalmist quite probably is hinting at Exodus 34:6 because he knew that his hearers would be acquainted with this verse and the grace message that is flowing through the words of Torah. The Eloah of Israel, Yahweh, loves his people and shows them compassion. The Hebrew mindset of the Hebrew authors of the Bible was dominated by the concept of divine mercy and grace.

While the grace of Yahweh is apparent in the Hebrew Scriptures; one cannot escape the warnings of future recompense and judgment, which appear in the New Testament also. Just as the Old Testament is not exclusively a book of retribution and judgment, the New Testament is not exclusively a book of mercy and grace. Numerous warnings of the coming wrath of Yahweh appear in the New Testament. Sometimes because of the way Christian teachers have spoken, we do not expect judgment for wrong in the New Testament and grace in the Torah. In the words of Yeshua, however, there are more references to the fires of eternal punishment in the NT than in any other part of sacred scripture. The book of Revelation describes the “lake of fire.” This graphic image certainly presents a strong warning. Yahweh, who is described in both testaments, is the Eloah of creation to whom every human being owes obedience. Each individual is responsible to Yahweh for his or her actions. According to the apostle Sha’ul, every person must give an account before the judgment seat (Romans 14:10).

Not only is the Tanach (Old Testament) incorrectly deemed as legalistic but also the mainstream of Judaism is mischaracterized from the time of Yeshua until today. The result has been the wholesale murder of millions of Jews by Catholicism and twisted Christianity. The misrepresentation of the Torah as preaching a “save yourself by your own good works gospel” contributes to a completely distorted view of Hebrew faith during the period of the New Testament. Late Second Temple Judaism, the Judaism during the time of Yeshua, was not a salvation by works religion! Most Hebrew teachers belonging to Pharisaic and later rabbinic Judaism emphasized Yahweh’s goodness and willingness to accept all sinners who repent.

The theme of mercy – whether put in terms of Yahweh’s mercy in electing Israel, Yahweh’s mercy in accepting repentant sinners (repentance does not earn a reward, but is responded to by Yahweh in mercy), or Yahweh’s ‘rewarding’ the righteous because of his mercy – serves to assure that election and ultimately salvation cannot be earned, but always has depended fully on Yahweh’s grace. One can never be righteous enough to be worthy in Yahweh’s sight of the ultimate gifts, which depend only on his mercy.

Grace is a given gift, for it is written, “Peace, peace, to him that is far off, and to him that is near” (Isaiah 57:19), thus, first, he that is “far off,” then, he that is “near.”

The rabbis and sages before them further cultivated the Old Testament idea of mercy and promoted the significance of divine compassion. In fact the rabbis believed that a person could attain the future life in a moment of true repentance. Yahweh’s mercy will be given to the sinner.

When Christians misconstrue these elements of Hebrew theology from both the Old Testament and Second Temple Judaism, they fail to grasp Sha’ul’s intent. What did Sha’ul want? Did he desire to repudiate the law? Whom was he confronting with his argument of righteousness through faith in Yeshua? In this brief discussion it is impossible to deal adequately with all the problems surrounding these issues, but we will examine Sha’ul’s words in Romans and Galatians in order to shed light upon these penetrating questions. As a start, it is helpful to observe Luke’s description of the crisis which Sha’ul, the Barnaba, Yoseph of Cyprus and later the members of the Jerusalem council addressed when a group of Rabbinical Oral law teachers from Judea began preaching to the non-Jews that without circumcision there is no salvation: “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved” (Acts 15:1). Is circumcision a prerequisite of salvation for the Gentiles? This pressing question, which was legal, or halachic in nature dominated the discussion of the relationship between Jews and non-Jews in the community of faith. Should the Gentiles convert to Judaism before they are accepted as followers of Yeshua and received into the congregation?

Concerning the issue of salvation, Sha’ul was adamant that the observance of the law was not the means by which the individual could become righteous. The redemptive act of Yeshua’s suffering on the Roman tree provides the way of salvation. But does this mean that the law serves no good purpose? Sha’ul maintained that God’s Torah provides an indispensable guide for a moral life, which Christians and “Jews” must follow. One is not saved by observance of the law and non-Jews are not required to convert to Talmudic Judaism in order to be good Christians. In Hebrew thought, all of the commandments of Torah are required of Israel but the Gentiles are responsible only for its moral demands, which are epitomized in the covenant with Noah and his children as an initial ENTRY POINT into the full Christian grafted in life. The new former pagan (gentile) believer is then expected to learn Yahweh’s instruction in righteous living detailed in the Almighty’s Torah. This is basically the position endorsed by the Jerusalem council (Acts 15:28-29). Former Gentiles who have accepted the message of Yeshua and want to join the fellowship of the Messianic community will be responsible for this moral standard outlined in the Noachic and Mosaic covenants, but they do not have to be circumcised and assume Israel’s entire covenantal responsibilities at first, but are expected by God to grow and mature in the faith. However, new former gentile converts are expected to grow in the knowledge of Yahweh’s loving Torah instructions for life by studying Torah and applying it as a pattern required in order to become pleasing to Him.

But does this mean that believers should continue in sin in order to enjoy the over abundance of Yahweh’s grace? Sha’ul replies with an emphatic “no” (Rom. 6:1). “The law is good”, Paul says (Rom. 7:12). The problem is that some people have difficulty obeying it. Yeshua did not cancel the law nor did He ‘do away with it’ (Matthew 5: 17-19) and the preaching of faith does not destroy its message (Rom. 3:31). Should murders and adulteries be permitted in a mindset opposed to Torah? Is that what Sha’ul means by freedom from the law? The CURSE of the Law was nailed to the cross, not the Law of God! By no means – Sha’ul demanded a high moral standard of all his congregations. Even in Galatians, he solemnly warns,

“…Do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh… Now the works of the flesh are plain: immorality, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealously, anger, selfishness, dissension, party spirit, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and the like. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of Yahweh.”

Like other Hebrew teachers, Rabbi Sha’ul desired conduct in harmony with the Torah laws of God. Sha’ul the Hebrew apostle to the former Gentiles [former pagans] teaches, “The commandments, ‘You shall not commit adultery, you shall not kill, you shall not steal, you shall not covet,’ and any other commandment, are summed up in this sentence, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’”

Similar summaries of the law are attributed to the eminent teacher Rabbi Hillel as well as to the famous R. Akiva. Rabban Gamaliel, the grandson of Rabbi Hillel, Yeshua’s childhood teacher, would have filled his pupil Sha’ul with the teachings of Judaism. This law of love from Lev. 19:18 was considered to be a summary of the whole Torah. It embodied all the commandments of the Almighty. If one upholds this command, one will observe the rest.

Leviticus 19: 18: “You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am YHWH.”

Sha’ul teaches that faith enables a person to attain the righteousness of Yahweh and that there is no tension between it and the law. The term faith is better understood in certain contexts as faithfulness, because the concept includes so much more than the English words, belief or trust. Righteousness involves the redemptive work of Yahweh in the salvation process and in the renewed lives of the faithful. It is so much more dynamic and forceful than the motionless, actionless idea that one is declared righteous at a fixed time. Righteousness is rooted in Torah. It is active and powerful to bring about a transformation of conduct. For Sha’ul, faith, righteousness and Torah go together. With what seems to be great enthusiasm he argues, “Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law” (Rom. 3:31). After stating his case firmly, Sha’ul launches into a deep discussion about the righteousness of Abraham, which is based upon faith (Romans 4). Sha’ul’s interpretation of Gen. 15:6, “Abraham believed Yahweh and it was accounted to him as righteousness,” is in the form of a Hebrew Midrash, a distinct type of commentary on Scripture. Sha’ul uses Midrash here in order to penetrate the deeper meaning of righteousness in the Scripture. Sha’ul is not alone in interpreting righteousness with this sense.

Great indeed is faith before Him who spoke and the world came into being. For as a reward for the faith with which Israel believed in Yahweh the Holy Spirit rested upon them…And so also you find that our father Abraham inherited both this world and the world beyond only as a reward for the faith with which he believed, as it is said: ‘And he believed in Yahweh,” etc. (Gen. 15:6).

The merit of the Hebrew fathers is a powerful concept in Hebrew thought. Here the concept of the merit of the fathers of our faith (Hebrews11) is connected to faith and righteousness. In many ways, it is the example of the fathers that shows others the path to follow. The Rabbis viewed Abraham’s faith as his benefit and his future reward. His faith in Yahweh produced obedience. Abraham actively believed the Lord and followed him. It was credited to him as righteousness. Like the other Rabbis, Rabbi Sha’ul (Rabbi Paul) employed a similar motif when he preached about Abraham’s faith as producing divine favor.

The tremendous challenge for us today is to read Sha’ul’s letters without being influenced by the multiplicity of opinions of learned churchmen in the past. First and foremost among such men is the anti-Semitic “Catholic reformer” Martin Luther. Luther wrote an anti-Jewish triptych called, “Against the Jews and their lies” which formed the basis for Hitler’s, “Mien Kampf” and the “Christian ” murder of 6 million Jews in the Shoah. The Catholic Priest, Martin Luther, more than any other interpreter, has erected a stained glass window through which we view Sha’ul and his message. Instead of viewing Sha’ul against the background of first century Judaism, we see him through the eyes of later interpreters who knew little about early Hebrew thought. Even today, Luther’s Catholic ideas about Sha’ul continue to circulate widely in Protestant theological discussion. Certainly Luther’s anti Israel influence reaches beyond his time and place in history. But Sha’ul’s concerns about Jews and non-Jews living together in the community of faith did not trouble Luther. He faced radically different challenges and set other priorities, such as his three books entitled “Against the Jews” which were the basis of Hitler’s murderous views toward Jews. Muslims who share his desire to murder all Jews also revere Martin Luther. His three books [triptych] titled, “Against the Jews and their lies” is a best seller today in all Muslim countries, as it was in Nazi Germany. This truth is hidden from Christians by their leadership.

Interpreters of Sha’ul must ask the questions that Sha’ul asked before they apply his answers to their own problems or else they may find themselves coupling Sha’ul’s answers with the wrong set of questions. Beginning ones studies with a skewed or twisted presupposition guarantees a twisted Scripture, (2 Peter 3: 16). Luther developed an ambivalent attitude to the Scriptural Torah law because of his own Catholic based struggles which were essentially foreign to New Testament Christianity as it should be. For instance, his stance on the epistle of James implies that the Torah canceled faith. He also leaned too far in the opposite direction suggesting that genuine faith canceled Torah. In the end, had Luther had his way, he probably would have opted to drop from the New Testament these five troublesome chapters penned by Yeshua’ brother James. So, uncritical acceptance of Luther’s twisted interpretation ultimately leads to questioning the content of the canon itself. While Luther has made significant positive contributions to Christian theology helping many to understand divine grace and human need, his approach to faith and works was radically influenced by his own time. Students of Pauline literature must comprehend first century Judaism apart from later Catholic Church controversies and Protestant replacement and dispensational heresies.

Students of Sha’ul must seek to understand the first century social and religious issues, which divided the early Christians. For Sha’ul, justification by faith united Jews and Gentiles in a rich cultural diversity, which paved the way for a righteous lifestyle. He stated that we are all one in Messiah.

Sha’ul believed that the fruit of the faith would produce a holy life style. He is very much aware of the activity of the Holy Spirit in the life of the individual. James; on the other hand never denied the value of faith. He esteemed faith in the life of the believer but emphasized that true faith always produces corresponding actions. Faith without works is no faith at all. Perhaps the origin of these wanting scholarly approaches to the beginnings of Christianity is rooted in a misunderstanding of pre-talmudic Judaism during the time of Yeshua. Did Luther understand Sha’ul and his context properly? No! Sha’ul’s message must be interpreted in its context of a mixed community, comprising both Jews and Gentiles, united in their embracing of faith in the one Yahweh of Israel and His Messiah, Yeshua of Nazareth. Faith leads to righteousness, in other words, a righteous way of living, which is pleasing to Yahweh.

The most effective way to correct these misleading interpretations is to translate the Scriptures with sensitivity to Rabbi Sha’ul’s cultural Hebrew root context. The problem of understanding Sha’ul’s use of the term “righteousness” is indeed a complex and a difficult issue of exegesis. In light of the above facts, often the term righteousness would be better translated, “life of righteousness” or “way of righteous living” rather than accepting the sole standard meaning of a state of justification. In Sha’ul’s faith experience, he walked in the way of righteousness, as he believed in Yeshua and received empowerment from the Holy Spirit. The “life of righteousness” or “way of righteous living” means true salvation or true redemption. It culminates in Yahweh’s final judgment. This life is the preparation for the eschaton. The disciple becomes involved in the redemptive actions of helping others as a consequence of his or her relationship with Yahweh through faith in Yeshua. The hungry need food, the destitute must receive clothing, the homeless require shelter, and the sick and those in prison need personal attention as Yeshua commanded us. All of these actions are Torah based [the Tree of Life and the garden of truth]. The follower of Yeshua must pursue purposeful acts of redemption – living a life of selfless service for suffering and lost humanity. For Sha’ul, the way of righteousness is indeed Yahweh’s highest salvation because it is the liberation of the flesh into the life of the Spirit and that holy life is characterized by joining with Yahweh in his redemptive outreach to a hurting world.

Paul confirmed Yeshua’s words of Matthew 5:17-19 with his words in First Corinthians 15:52-54. Read these verses and ask yourself, “How much of this do I not understand?”

Matthew 5:17-19 says:

 Think not that I am come to weaken, or destroy the Torah, or the neviim: I have not come to weaken, or destroy, but to completely reveal it in its intended fullness. For truly I say to you, Until the current shamayim and earth pass away, not one yud, or one nekudah shall by any means pass from the Torah, until all be fulfilled. Whoever therefore shall break, or weaken one of the least Torah commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the malchut ha shamayim: but whoever shall do and teach the commands, the same shall be called great in the malchut ha shamayim.

First Corinthians 15 says:

 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last Shofar: for the Shofar shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality; then shall be brought to pass [fulfilled] the saying that is written in the Tanakh, Death is swallowed up in victory.

In the final analysis, the conceptual values of grace and faith in Sha’ul’s teachings are riveted in the Almighty Elohim’s Torah. Faith leads to righteousness. Grace opens the door for the individual to experience Yahweh in the dynamics of every day life. Sha’ul boldly proclaims, “But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of Yahweh, the return you get is sanctification and its end, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of Yahweh is eternal life in Yeshua our Messiah.” (Rom. 6:22-23)

Walking on the Emmaus road,

Rabbi James Talbott, the wilderness teacher,

Yeshua HaTikvah Yisrael Ministries