Messiah's Bible

"God's Word is absolute. He keeps His Word through eternity. For I [am] The LORD, I change not..."
Malachi 3:6


In my Scripture studies I've found that God does not change, but I needed to. 

I'm still working on that with the help of God's Spirit. I've learned we all need to seek understanding of the teaching and instruction from heaven because it is the good "way" of life on earth. 

The Bible Jesus read, taught and lived out has never changed.

Almighty God's word is absolute, there's really no room for man's religion if we allow religion to stand above God's instruction or replace any part of it. 

There's no "sword" of truth if we shortcut God's teaching by taking away from or adding to it.

To begin to understand the ways of our Abba Father God and live life as our Creator intended us to do in His image, we must get to know the Bible Jesus knew. 

It might blow your mind but it's not the King James version. 

Not only that, I learned that the Bible was divided into chapters only in the 13th century by an Archbishop by the name of Stephen Langton. 

Most people that remember Langton, think of him as drafting the Magna Carta, but many Jews remember him as the Archbishop of Canterbury forcing the Jews of England to wear a white badge. 

Langton was typical of churchmen of the Middle Ages, believing the church had replaced the Jews.

Eight years ago, I started my journey to learn the truth about that and the Bible.

The trip wasn't planned but I started in the beginning under explicit instruction. Before long, I learned about the Bible and I was shocked that it wasn't written in Greek. The Bible is Hebrew, not Greek or Latin as I'd thought.

I soon realized the back of my Bible is a window to the promises given in the front. 

In the process, I realized something even more SHOCKING about Jesus. He was Yeshua of Nazareth and He never read the New Testament. 

I was dumbfounded and realized it was time to put Jesus back in the synagogue. 

The reason, He read and taught the Hebrew Bible, the Tanach. 

That's the Torah, the Nevi'im and the Ketuvim. 

The Hebrew Bible of Messiah includes the five books of Moses, the Prophets and the Writings. It's the Bible that the so-called second century church fathers relabeled as a done away with Old Testament. 

As I thought about their new church tradition, I realized that tradition and truth can have a conflict.

The Hebrew Bible (the Tanakh) contains the truth, the Torah (instruction), the Nevi'im (spokespersons) and the Ketuvim (writings).

Yeshua would have never called God's word old or done away with.

What did Jesus do?

Jesus or rather Yeshua as everyone knew Him the time read and explained the truth in the instruction manual of The Father filled with promises and stories about God's connections and relationships with people every Sabbath as was His custom. Luke 4:16 is the witness to that fact. 

Jesus the Jew filled them up with meaning, in other words He explained them and lived them out. 

Yeshua explained the written word of God as a sword against religious confusion, embedded opinion and encrusted traditions with the bright light of unchanging truth!

In the most famous sermon of all time, that may well be the most misunderstood, Yeshua said this: 

"Do not think that I came to abolish the Law [Torah] or the Prophets [Nevi'im] ]; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished."

"Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others [to do] the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches [them,] he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 5:17-19 NASB95

So, let go of your pew opinion if it opposes Jesus, if we believe Almighty God's instruction manual, His constitution of His Kingdom is old and done away with, we oppose Jesus and Messiah's Bible and our standing in the Kingdom of God is at rock bottom!!

If we insist on adding dark shadows of manmade religion to it, we dim the Bible's light for others like our brothers and sisters the Jewish people.

If we think of Messiah's Bible as old and done away with, hung on a cross, we are like the bad actors stuck in an TV episode from the "Twilight Zone" or "The Outer Limits" without knowing it. The truth is those old shows are not real, they're pure fiction, filmed in fantasy land.

When Paul wrote to his young understudy Timothy, he encouraged him to read the Hebrew Bible in public and he gave Timothy two other assignments, which are: exhortation and teaching.

Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching. 1Timothy 4:13 

The charge that we all need to understand is in that assignment. It is the charge to start in the beginning of Messiah's Bible and turn faith into action, that's the exhortation! 

Living a Kingdom life requires action and good conduct toward God and others. 

Faith requires believing and doing something about it if we want to contend for the one faith delivered through God's Word. 

A man named Jude wrote about that:

"for me to write unto you, and exhort you that you should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered" Jude 1:3

It was delivered "once" because truth and faith does not change, there's no old vs. new faith.

The faith delivered once is found in the heart of the Bible Messiah taught. It's the same Bible Timothy read and taught, the same Bible Paul wrote letters to the all the former Gentiles about. It's the same Bible Josiah read, the same Bible David wrote psalms about and the same Bible Moses gave to Joshua to carry into the Promised Land. 

It's the same Bible Yeshua taught in public and read every Sabbath. You have to believe that if you believe Luke wasn't making things up in Luke 4:14-16.

The custom of weekly Sabbath reading in a synagogue gathering that Yeshua in faith practiced can be credited to Ezra and Nehemiah. 

Yeshua read and taught from the same scrolls they did. Yeshua didn't just read, He gave life lessons and lived out the Torah scroll perfectly in faith. 

That's why I like to call it Messiah's Bible. 

We can earnestly contend for the same faith. To do it, we have to repent first, then we can turn back to the Bible, read and do God's living message as we ask God's Spirit to lead us. Messiah's Bible includes God's gospel plan for redemption from the slavery of sin in atonement and life giving restoration in resurrection in the end. 

Just as Yeshua always taught, faith starts with repentance. There's no shortcut to turn back.

We can all start our daily life journey on the right road, first humbly praying for God's Spirit and then fearfully studying the amazing, inspired writings of the Bible that weave prophetic hints about Messiah's first and second trip mission throughout the Hebrew Scriptures that is revealed in the back of the Bible.

Bottomline, we must believe what Jesus said: 

"For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me.: John 5:46 

Proverbs provides the key to the exit door from the outer limits of sin in the twilight zone:

My son, if you accept my words
and store up my commands within you,
turning your ear to wisdom
and applying your heart to understanding—
indeed, if you call out for insight
and cry aloud for understanding,
and if you look for it as for silver
and search for it as for hidden treasure,
then you will understand the fear of the LORD
and find the knowledge of God.
Proverbs 2:1-5

If you seek to understand God's will for your life, the answer is in the wisdom that Almighty God gives us all in the Bible. 

Moses was God's scribe, he wrote everything God said about how we are to live and love God and others. To start our journey, we have to believe Almighty God does not change. 

That's the hidden treasure Yeshua (Jesus) taught at the Sermon on the Mount. 

The road of life can be very difficult at times, but God's voice leads the way down through the valleys and up the mountain for every situation we can encounter. His Word offers the road map to show everyone the way including His will for Kingdom life with the bright light of His wisdom and mercy. 

At Yeshua's Roman trial, Jesus was asked a simple question by Pilate: "What is truth?" 

What were are not told the answer and there's a reason: the answer should be obvious by what Pilate said after he posed that question to Jesus the Jew:

Pilate said to Him, "What is truth?" And after saying this, he came out again to the Jews and said to them, "I find no grounds at all for charges in His case." John 18:38 

Pilate was right. Yeshua was without sin. He was innocent of blasphemy.

When you read the back of the Bible, you'll find that Jesus always declared the journey back starts with repentance. In doing so Yeshua was repeating the prophetic exhortations of Jeremiah and Ezekiel as well as words Isaiah and Samuel:

"I bring near My righteousness, it is not far off; And My salvation will not delay. And I will grant salvation in Zion, [And] My glory for Israel. Isaiah 46:13 NASB95

He said to him, "Far from it, you shall not die. Behold, my father does nothing either great or small without disclosing it to me. So why should my father hide this thing from me? It is not so!" 1Samuel 20:2 NASB95

And Moses:

"And you shall again obey the LORD, and observe all His commandments which I command you today."

"For this commandment which I command you today is not too difficult for you, nor is it out of reach. "It is not in heaven, that you should say, 'Who will go up to heaven for us to get it for us and make us hear it, that we may observe it?' "Nor is it beyond the sea, that you should say, 'Who will cross the sea for us to get it for us and make us hear it, that we may observe it?' "But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may observe it." Deuteronomy 30:8; 11-14 NASB95

That is the Messiah Bible truth. 

That's why we must repent for the Kingdom is near! Yeshua said that over again at every chance for good reason. 

It is His gospel, because God will forgive in mercy and grace. Moses learned the same thing from Almighty God and why we need Messiah:

Then the LORD passed by in front of him and proclaimed, "The LORD, the LORD God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave [the guilty] unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations." Exodus 34:6-7 NASB95

Almighty God gave Solomon wisdom on how to repent that's never changed and it comes with a promise from the God of Israel to all humble God fearers both native born or sojourner. It's the same gospel of God Jesus taught:

"If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land." 2 Chronicles 7:14 

Abba Father God's forgiveness calls for us to do something to humbly reexamine ourselves, pray, to turn away from sin and turn in teshuvah to the truth of God's Kingdom way. The promise is God will forgive sin and iniquity.

When we do that He will heals our hearts, our land. Our life on earth can be repaired, that''s why faith includes action, not just a belief just and the disciples wrote. 

The faith of the Jewish people brought us Messiah. The faith of the Jewish people has now brought healing back to the Promised Land.

It's not longer desolate filled with swamps and whether you know if or not, the Jewish people are there to prepare it for the Messiah's second trip, the return.

In the Hebrew Bible Jesus taught, faith is acted on with caring and integrity. Moses describes Almighty God as faithful like a rock, perfect in His work and ways of justice, God of אמונה 'ĕmûnâ. That Hebrew word is seen 49 times in the Hebrew Bible. It's there 22 times in the Psalms.

"The Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright is He." Deuteronomy 32:4 

Psalm 33 celebrates Moses' description: 

Sing to him a new song; play skillfully on the strings, with loud shouts. For the word of the LORD is upright, and all his work is done in faithfulness. Psalm 33:3-4 

God's faithfulness is seen in what He does in love. 

Worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness; tremble before him, all the earth! Say among the nations, "The LORD reigns! Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved; he will judge the peoples with equity." Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; let the sea roar, and all that fills it; let the field exult, and everything in it! Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy before the LORD, for he comes, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness, and the peoples in his faithfulness. Psalms 96:9-13

The Psalmist describes God's creative work in what we can see in the earth, the seas and in the heavens. We must stand in awe of His splendor and rejoice for what we can see that He has done and will do in righteousness.

The disciple James (Jacob) explains our part. It's faithfulness and this is found in his second letter. 

James 2 tells us that a person's faith is what they do, because the body without the the breath of life is dead, so faith without action is dead. In other words, faith not accompanied by action is like burnt toast. 

In Greek thinking, faith is what you believe. In Hebraic thought, faith is what you believe and do because it is the right thing to do. 

A faithful disciple follows his Master, by doing that he acts in faith. Be a disciple, imitate Jesus and begin your faith journey, open your Bible, start in the beginning and do something. Your call to action is to do what Jesus did. 

There's even a set apart time to do it. Jesus read and taught every Sabbath as was His custom (see Luke 4:16 if you doubt this).

The key to understanding the Bible is to understand  that God gives heavenly instruction on how we are to live on earth. 
Our Creator has shared His voice of instruction with us because He loves us and because of that, He teaches us His golden principles about how we are to live near Him and with each other.

It's the original message of the "deceiver" to fall for the lie that God does not mean what He says or that He changed His mind. Don't listen to the lie of the adversary any longer. Our response to God's love is to return the love. We get to do the Word of God to prepare us as it leads us to eternal life.

A Jewish man named Paul admonished his understudy Timothy in a letter about this:

You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned {them} and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Messiah Yeshua. All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work." 2Timothy 3:14-16

The Bereans (see Acts 17:11) heard the preaching of Paul, but they did not take his word as gospel truth so they did something:

Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. Acts 17:11

Think about those Bereans... they "examined" the Scriptures. What were those Scriptures? They were the Torah, the Prophets and the Writings filled with meaning by Yeshua.

Ask yourself two questions:

1. What "Scriptures" and "sacred writings" did the Bereans examine?
2. What Bible did Jesus read, teach and live out so others could see the truth?

What about Paul's famous understudy Timothy - what Scriptures had he read "since childhood" for wisdom and faith?

The same Bible scrolls Jesus taught were the same Scriptures the Bereans examined. 

Now it's your turn. 

Open the Bible, read it, study, teach it and do it. They are the Scriptures I like to call the Messiah's Bible. 

From my own Scripture studies, it dawned on me one day that the Newer Testament wasn't around when Timothy received his letter of admonition and Paul likely never thought that his letters would be called Scripture.

Paul's letter are misunderstood. He was explaining the Bible to some people that had never studied the Word of God as he wrote his letters to Gentiles he met along the way.

Believe it or not, the twelve disciples, like Paul never had the opportunity to read a Newer Testament, but it's the wonderful story of their journey so it can't be diminished in any way. That's not the message here. 

When we reconsider the noble Bereans... we have to realize at some point that they were not examining the words of Matthew, Mark, Luke or John. They found the promises of God in the Hebrew Bible, the Prophets and the Writings just as Jesus did.

When they heard and received the good news message of God's mercy and grace in Messiah, the promise of forgiveness of sin, of resurrection and restoration to the Kingdom of God, they believed it. Why?

When I asked myself this question, I found something absolutely astounding in my own faith. I found that I was lacking a foundation in the faith and wisdom of the Hebrew Bible that they read and lived out and I found myself arguing and debating with the Serum on the Mount.

The Master Rabbi from Nazareth taught the written word from the Hebrew Scriptures as truth. His authority that people recognized was that He completely submitted to it and lived out the Torah of God's voice. Shouldn't we ask what did Jesus do? Instead, we argue with His admonition in Matthew 5:17-19 and think He came to abolish, destroy or do away with the mitzvot of Torah.

His message was: Don't think that I came to destroy the Torah or the prophets. I didn't come to destroy, but to fill those words up with meaning. Without a doubt, I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not even one smallest letter or one tiny pen stroke shall in any way pass away from the Torah until all things are accomplished. Whoever breaks one of the least mitzvoth and teach others to do so the same will be called least in the Kingdom of Heaven; but whoever does them and teaches them to others will be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven.

Jesus is the King of the the Kingdom, He is the greatest, He teaches all of the Torah.

Do you consider yourself a Christian, a Jesus follower - if so, have you ever thought about the Messiah's teaching about the Bible is His way?

It's time to consider what that question means to you and what it means about Messiah and your relationship with Almighty God.

Just a few years ago, I learned that for me to understand God's plan for my life, I had to read, study and do God's Word. The reason - it's the unchanging, living Word of life and like the disciples, I needed to follow in the dust of the footsteps of their Rabbi - Yeshua of Nazareth. My journey through life required His roadmap, so I now seek to do the same as Yeshua taught. I seek to honor the same mitzvot of Scriptures Paul embedded in his letters and the same Scriptures Timothy studied that the Bereans searched for truth in.

To do that, I knew had to make a left turn at Matthew, tear out the blank page that divided my Bible and go back to Genesis.

I wanted to begin to understand Messiah's Bible the way He taught about it in the sermon on the Mount because I knew that heaven and earth had not passed. Soon, I learned my walk behind Messiah Yeshua was nothing  “new” but rather a faith walk that is rooted in Messiah's Bible and that is just as He said -  the Torah, the Prophets and the Writings.

I soon discovered that the Bible not Greek, it was written by Jewish men. I also learned that the first century believers were Jews and that their faith was based on the foundation promises in the words written by Moses and the prophets. I was shocked to realize that not one jot or tittle had changed just as Jesus declared in His sermon on the Mount recorded in Matthew 5.

I learned as I reread the "New Testament," it wasn't so new as the gospel narratives and the Jewish writings of John, James, Jude, Peter and Paul have a firm foundation, it's the the Bible they all knew and relied on. I also learned I must study the Hebrew words that provide the prophecies of Messiah's ministry and the foundation of His teaching if I was to ever to gain a deeper understanding of His purpose, my own and the meaning of life.

Bottomline, I discovered something from the beginning - we must all open our eyes to understand that Messiah's Bible is the unchanging voice of our Almighty Creator and dedicate our faith and action to the ways of the Messiah of all Israel. The Scriptures He taught are focused on God's gift of love and mercy offered to everyone on this planet that seeks God's Kingdom. I repented and turned back to Messiah's Bible. It teaches us how to live a blessed life like the Master Rabbi Yeshua. It provides the background story and the good news promise of God's Kingdom restoration.

Messiah's Bible was written to point all of mankind toward repentance.

Every storyline, every theme, every offering and sacrifice, every Feast Day and prophecy was written as a living witness like a parable of Yeshua's purpose. They all speak of His heritage, teaching, ministry, healing miracles, His suffering and resurrection.

Not only that, if we read the Scriptures in the same order that He read them, we have to re-order our bookstore Bible to line up with the books He taught. My head was spinning because I learned that somehow the order of the canon of the Tanach He taught from was changed and that only creates confusion.

The so-called Old Testament found in most any Christian bookstore ends with Malachi, but the Bible Messiah Yeshua taught from ends with 2Chronicles. That record ties directly to the opening of Matthew's chronology of Jesus. Matthew syncs perfectly with the Chronicles, check it out for yourself. 

The record of Chronicles opens up the genealogies that summarize the Biblical storyline of heritage from Abraham in the account we call the book of Matthew.

Like Matthew's opening on the family line of Jesus, the gift of Chronicles gives us promise and hope in God’s eternal Kingdom promise that was given to David by the prophet Nathan. That promise is about a son and a King, a new Jerusalem and a restored Israel and it points directly to the questions asked in Proverbs 30:4...

• Who has ascended to heaven and come down?
• Who has gathered the wind in his fists?
• Who has wrapped up the waters in a garment?
• Who has established all the ends of the earth?
• What is his name, and what is his son's name?
• Surely you know!

Did you know that Nathan gave his prophecies of Messiah to David before he ever triumphed over the Philistines? David believed Nathan delivered God's word of promise of a son, a King, that's one big reason he was so confident in facing down the giant as described in 2Samuel 17:

"When your days are complete and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your descendant after you, who will come forth from you, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be a father to him and he will be a son to Me..." 2 Samuel 7:12-14

"Your house and your kingdom shall endure before Me forever; your throne shall be established forever.” In accordance with all these words and all this vision, so Nathan spoke to David. 2 Samuel 7:17 

The hidden message within the ancestry of Chronicles is the key that links Matthew's account to king David's successor and God’s covenant promise of a son, the Messiah King of God's Kingdom on earth with a name that would reveal His mission that would come through David's family line.

Chronicles is the perfect fit for Matthew's introduction to Yeshua of the tribe of Judah.

Consider too where God's covenant as recorded by Moses was kept.

After God spoke and wrote His covenant of Ten Words, aka the Ten Commandments from the top of Mount Horeb at Sinai, the stone tablets inscribed by God's finger were kept in "The Holy of Holies" the most set apart place. They were there to protect us all beneath the Mercy Seat of the Ark of The Covenant, the earthly golden throne within the most holy place in the earthly Tabernacle of our Almighty Creator.

This was by God's purpose, instruction and design. His most holy place was where no man could just enter anytime he wanted to approach God's throne room of glory and live. Only the High Priest could sprinkle the blood of sacrifice there once a year and live.

If we will just consider the meaning and the implication of this, the unchanging covenant of God could never be taken away or changed by any man. If it were changed it would no longer remain the truth and certainly its outline for the balance of the Torah given to Moses would have never been written in stone by God's hand.

In Paul's second letter to Timothy, the repentant rabbi from Tarsus points us to this truth although we can miss it if the letter is read too quickly and without its proper Jewish context. There in that short letter to his understudy, Timothy's mentor Paul talks about two men, Jannes and Jambres. Paul describes them as "always learning" yet never able to come to the knowledge of "the truth" because they opposed it.  What truth was that?

Paul explains it, they opposed Moses:

"Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men of depraved mind, rejected in regard to the faith. But they will not make further progress; for their folly will be obvious to all..." 2Timothy 3:8-9 NASB

In their foolish, unprofitable belief, Jannes and Jambres thought the truth (the Torah) was "done away" with. Do you know anyone like that?

I soon realized if the truth given to Moses was done away with, there's no longer a "Golden Rule" in Matthew 7:12:

"Therefore, however you want people to treat you,  so treat them, for this is the Torah and the Prophets."
Paul does not hold back comparing Jannes and Jambres to "the depraved and rejected" like me in regard to "the Torah and the Prophets." This message is that they will always be stuck in the mud by a folly of "forgetting" never able to come to the full knowledge of "the truth" because they reject The Torah and the Prophets which are the words of God recorded by Moses.

Paul was teaching the same Torah taught by Yeshua and I'd never seen the Torah that way before:

"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" Jesus replied: 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law [Torah] and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." Matthew 22:36-40 NIV

This may be a difficult message for you too, just like it was for me, but we must all come to know the truth is God's Word if we want to live and follow the walk of Messiah shown in the Bible He taught. 

That's why I call it Messiah's Bible!

The prophet Malachi was told firsthand to deliver the truth that God does not change, yesterday, today or tomorrow which is why Malachi records this very powerful message given to Him directly by our Creator:

For I [am] the LORD, I change not; therefore you sons of Jacob are not consumed. Malachi 3:6

A prophet is one that declares the word of God. To prophesy is to uplift and declare its truth to those that need to hear it.

The scroll of Malachi begins with this verse:

"The burden of the word of the LORD to Israel by Malachi." Malachi 1:1

Here, in the common language of 1611, the King James translators used the word "burden" to translate the Hebrew word massa מַשָּׂא. The thing is, massa means "lifting, uplifting, tribute" so by this we can see that Malachi's word is not a burden, it actually gives us this power-packed message:

"The uplifting tribute of the word of the LORD to Israel by Malachi." Malachi 1:1

King David knew God's word too, like Messiah, it is to be uplifted:

"The counsel of the LORD standeth for ever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations." Psalms 33:11

So, "the truth" we have been given from the beginning is as certain for us today as it was yesterday, Just as Yeshua said in His sermon on the Mount as declared by this proverb:

"Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar." Proverbs 30:6

I realized that ignoring the foundational instruction and teaching of God, which is His Torah and the words of His prophets is the great "falling away" that I had fallen into. I felt like a Thessalonian. Yet, Paul warned the Thessalonians of a falling way before the day of Messiah's return in power and glory as King. 

Paul writes, “Let no one deceive you by any means; for that day will not come unless the falling away comes first...” 2 Thessalonians 2:3

Many of us have slipped and fallen, but it is time to get up, to repent and turn away from the lie that began in the garden that God does not mean what He says. It's time to return to Messiah's Bible, the tree of life. We may have fallen in sin, but we can get up and be saved by the grace, mercy and lovingkindness of God revealed at Sinai and the cross and believe in the power of the First Fruits resurrection.

God's Torah is about life, fellowship and relationship with God and others. Keeping God's instruction is how we get to demonstrate love for our Creator and others through what He has done for our redemption.

Jeremiah speaks about the falling away that Paul warned of. That's where Paul got the idea in the first place, it wan't new at all. The prophet likens it to a false inheritance:

"O LORD, my strength, and my fortress, and my refuge in the day of affliction, the Gentiles shall come unto thee from the ends of the earth, and shall say, Surely our fathers have inherited lies, vanity, and [things] wherein [there is] no profit." Jeremiah 16:19

Old English translations of the Bible have many of us confused thinking the word Torah only as "law." Even the folks at PBS tell us that is not accurate:

"The English word "Bible" is from the Greek phrase ta biblia, "the books," an expression Hellenistic Jews used to describe their sacred books several centuries before the time of Jesus. Christians adopted the phrase "Old Testament" to refer to these sacred books they shared with Jews.

Jews called the same books Miqra, "Scripture," or the Tanakh, an acronym for the three divisions of the Bible: Torah (" teaching and instruction" or less accurately "the law"), Neviim ("prophets"), and Kethuvim ("writings," including Psalms, Proverbs, and several other books). Modern scholars often use the term "Hebrew Bible" to avoid the confessional terms Old Testament and Tanakh."

Jesus would never call the words of God "Old." Some even say God gave the "New Covenant" to the Christian Church and turned His back on the Jewish people, but hold on to your pulpit pew, God Almighty disagrees and says this:

"Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the LORD. "But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. "No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more." Jeremiah 31:31-34

The Jewish people call the "Scriptures" the Tanakh. This is an acronym for the three divisions of the Hebrew Bible that Jesus spoke of. The are: Torah ("instructions" or less accurately "the law"), Neviim ("prophets"), and Kethuvim ("writings," including Psalms, Proverbs, and several other books). Modern scholars rightly use the term "Hebrew Bible" to avoid the terms Old Testament and Tanakh.

As for the New Testament, its current twenty-seven books have been proclaimed since the fourth century CE, even though the constituent parts come from the first century. Yet, Christians did not agree on the exact extent of the New Testament for several centuries. That is NO condemnation, just fact.

It's true that there has been some disagreement on this. After all, the original New Testament manuscripts no longer exist and even from the oldest manuscript copies available, one translator’s work often differs widely from another as current records are translations of available manuscripts or revisions of previous translations.

Even the King James version of the Bible in common use today is not identical to the 1611 original. Today we have the 1769 version which was widely published and made "official" after some 24,000 changes in punctuation and text were made in four major revisions of the King James Bible from 1611 to 1769.

English translations can conceal the Bible's original meaning as the English language morphs or drifts over time. The issue is not with the Hebrew, it's English, the meaning of the phrase "lost in translation" is real. The English

language has changed over time from the "Old English" period in which the language was a synthetic language with many inflections to today where "Modern English" is a rather analytic language with few grammatical endings. English words find their origin in other languages. Just watch any Scripps National Spelling Bee contest on TV and you will hear the question: "what is the word's origin?" After all, the official study booklet published by Merriam-Webster is divided primarily by language of origin.

The important issue is that most Bible versions translated from the most ancient texts are trustworthy. English translations can conceal the rich depth and graphic Hebraic pictures conveyed because cognates and word etymology is difficult to translate as Hebraic metaphors are missed.

All this simply means that you should simply dig into the word meanings for yourself and not always allow a translator to do this for you especially when you come across a potential word conflict or confusion as noted in the proverb below, and thanks to technology you can do that pretty easily with comparative online dictionaries, interlinear Bibles and concordances. Just like the Spelling Bee contestants that seek to spell a word correctly go back to the language of origin, so should you!

For example, check out Proverbs 28:21 in the King James Version. Here the ancient proverb seems to caution oddly, that "to have respect of persons is not good." But in 1611, the word "respect" actually meant "to be partial" so the point of the word of God is to avoid favoritism and partiality. After all, people are made in the image of God and all people deserve respect. That is the same message of Jesus taught in Luke 14 and a message from Paul.

The transformation back to the image of God is what Paul wrote about when he penned this referencing the veil Moses wore only after he stood in the presence of The LORD. In the tent of meeting, in freedom from sin he never wore the veil:

But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. 2 Corinthians 3:16-18   

The words of Jesus agree that the Word of God the Torah (law), the Nevi'im (prophets) and the Writings (Psalms) still stand:

"Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil." Matthew 5:17

"He said to them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.” Luke 24:44

Like I did for many years, many today also misunderstand Paul's teaching about the unchanging "sacred writings". Once you realize that the "Newer" Testament wasn't even compiled for centuries and certainly not when Paul wrote to Timothy, the whole "Word of God" comes alive - unchanged from the beginning, and filled up with meaning by the life and teaching of Messiah Yeshua (Jesus Christ). In fact, from Genesis to Malachi, one can see the message of the first and second coming of our Savior, the Anointed, the Seed of David, the suffering Servant, the Prince of Peace and King of Kings.

Every reference to "the word" or "the word of God" or "the Word of the Lord" in the New Testament (the B'rit Hadasha) is either logos or rhema, both of which mean "words spoken by a living voice."

The words of the Writings (Psalms) are living too and they reveal Messiah Yeshua's coming, his work accomplished and His work to be done.

Yeshua taught on Psalms 22 as men mocked Him on the cross. It is a great witness of His suffering: “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Psalm 22:1). Matthew 27:42 shows that He taught this while nailed to the wood of the cross: "All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads. “He trusts in the LORD,” they say, “let the LORD rescue him. Let him deliver him, since he delights in him.” (Psalm 22:7-8). John 20:25 shows that the exact details of the events at His death were prophesied in the Psalm: “They pierced my hands and my feet” (Psalm 22:16) and “They part my garments among them” (Psalm 22:18).

In fact, one of the most remarkable features of the Writings (the Psalms) is found in the prophecy of Yeshua’s resurrection and righteous place at the right hand of God. The Psalm found in Psalm 16:8-11 does not portray the experience of King David, but finds its fulfillment in the life of Yeshua. It is the prophecy noting King David which has nothing to do with his own death because David's body certainly already saw corruption and decay. The words are about the man of David's lineage:

“I keep my eyes always on the LORD. With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure, because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, nor will you let your faithful one see decay. You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.”

The deity of God is applied to Yeshua by none other than the Father - YHVH himself: “Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever” (Psalms 45:6-7). Yeshua is called the Son of God. “Thou art my son. This day have I begotten thee” (Psalms 2:7). Yeshua is worthy of worship. “And let all the angels worship him” (Psalms 97:7). The Psalms anticipated his work. “I come to do thy will, O God” (Psalms 40:7-8). The role of King and High Priest is also given: “Your throne, O God, is for ever and ever. A sceptre of equity is the sceptre of your kingdom” (Psalm 45:6-7). King David knew of Messiah as He wrote: “YHVH saith unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool. YHVH will send forth the rod of thy strength out of Zion: Rule thou in the midst of thine enemies” (Psalm 110:1-2) and “Thou art a priest for ever, after the order of Melchizedek. YHVH is at your right hand; he will crush kings on the day of his wrath. He will judge the nations, heaping up the dead and crushing the rulers of the whole earth.” (Psalm 110:4-6). His rejection as Messiah ben Joseph, was given centuries before: "The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; YHVH has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes. YHVH has done it this very day; let us rejoice today and be glad." Psalm 118:22-24

Messiah Yeshua quoted from Psalm 41:9, teaching:

“I speak not of all of you: I know whom I have chosen: but that the scripture may be fulfilled, he that eateth my bread lifted up his heel against me”. (John 13:18)

Revelation 6:16 even teaches of Psalms 2:10-12 saying: "They called to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb!"

“Now therefore be wise, O ye kings: Be instructed, ye judges of the earth. Serve Jehovah with fear, And rejoice with trembling. Kiss the son, lest he be angry, and ye perish in the way. For his wrath will soon be kindled. Blessed are all they that take refuge in him” (Psalm 2:10-12).

The fact is Jesus never called His Bible... the Old Testament. Instead He spoke and taught from the Torah, the Prophets and the Writings. The evidence includes Matthew 7:12, Matthew 11:13 and Luke 24:44.

The Torah, the Prophets, and the Writings are:

The Torah (Teaching) - Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy

The Neviim (Prophets) - Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, the 12 Prophets: Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi.

The Kethubim - (Writings) - Psalms, Proverbs, Job, Ruth, Song of Solomon, Ecclesiastes, Lamentations, Esther, Daniel, Ezra and Nehemiah, the Chronicles

Just as Jesus always did, Paul taught from the sacred writings to fill them with life in the lives of those he taught through the Torah, the Prophets and the Writings. To get a better idea of this just look at this list of some 175 quotes from Paul's letters. This gives you a good feel for some the extensive reference Paul made as he quoted from the Tanakh, which is "Messiah's Bible" in his letters to the Romans, 1Corinthians; 2Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1Thessalonians; 2Thessalonians as well as 1Timothy and 2Timothy.

Hum... as many call it today, only the so-called "Old" Testament, the Torah, the Prophets and the Writings existed in Timothy's day!

As a matter of fact, it might amaze you to know some facts about a Torah scroll. After all, wisdom is hidden unless we seek it. Unless you pursue it, you will not find it:

First it is important that there are 22 letters in the Hebrew aleph-bet that comprise every word of the Book of Life and it just so happens that there are 22 amino acids and 22 chromosomes in your body keeping you alive.

There are 5 scrolls of Torah just as there were 5 loaves of bread that "fed" the multitudes and 5 kinds of sacrifices and just look you have 5 fingers on your hand for doing God's work on Earth and 5 toes for walking in His walk.

Paul never started a "new" religion, he never once read or taught from the King James Bible or the New Testament!

If you want to be a true disciple of Yeshua and if you want to teach and witness to others like Paul of Tarsus, you need to study the Bible of Yeshua, the same Bible Paul read. Today, many call this the "Old Testament". But you need to ask yourself, is "old" the proper description of the books and sacred writings that Messiah taught? Would He call them old?

They are the living word of our living God and we must know and use them as the foundation of understanding God's message to us. Jesus is the same message, the living word for us. Like Messiah, the Word of God is alive, it is the root, the foundation to all that is called the "New" Testament. The New Testament gives us the great commentary of The Tanakh and the 'Word of God' allows us to see the picture of His unchanging presence that we are to seek out within "the Torah, the prophets, and the psalms".

Just look at the words of our Savior:

"He said to them, "This is what I told you, while I was still with you, that all things which are written in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms, concerning me must be fulfilled." Then he opened their minds, that they might understand the Scriptures. He said to them, "Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Messiah to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name to all the nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things." Luke 24:44-48

These men that Messiah taught had known and followed Him for a while, yet they did not understand until it was shown to them that the Torah - the writings of Moses, the prophets and the Psalms, the scrolls that were the "Messiah's Bible" were all written about Him.

Like the parables He taught, and the Psalms, Messiah Yeshua is hidden within the stories and their patterns with amazing prophetic detail and significance.

Prepare yourself, put on your "whole" priestly armor, read The Messiah's Bible, after all - it's about Him. This is what Paul spoke of when he wrote these words:

“Therefore, take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.” Ephesians 6:13

The Torah, God's teaching and instruction, His principles for righteous living were never designed to be followed to achieve salvation. Instead, the Torah is designed to show one the need for salvation. he words all lead to Yeshua and they show how to live the life of a people 'set apart' in obedience to God's principles. Just as they showed Yeshua, the words remain there to show us how to walk in a redeemed lifestyle under the personal instruction of The Spirit of God. A life 'set apart' (holy) from the ways, the traditions of man and the world. By walking in the ancient paths of the Torah scroll, the "leaves" of life, we can demonstrate our love and worship through obedience to God's heavenly teaching that hinges on two things: love God and fellow man. Jesus said:

“If you love me, keep my commandments.” John 14:15

Did you see that? He said His commandments... that would mean He not only read from and taught the Torah, the Prophets and the Writings, He is the very "One" that was speaking to those that wrote and recorded His words.

Jesus tells us the mystery, He and the Father are One and John calls Jesus "The Word" doesn't he?

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him; and without Him was not anything made that was made. In Him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not."
John 1:1-5

To better understand this, we have to look at His creation and to do that we have to look "In the Beginning". We need to go to Genesis. The very first word of Messiah's Bible offers the world a very powerful message on God's plan. The first Hebrew word of the Bible is Bereshiyt... it translates to English as "in the beginning" and the meanings behind the letters of God's first word to mankind holds a powerful message to mankind. It gives us His "gospel" promise right there 'hidden' within the letters of the first Hebrew word!!

I'd encourage you to be blessed and see the gospel of Bereshiyt here for yourself.

So to consider just "who" Jesus really is - requires that we consider the words God spoke at creation. To do that we can break them down into their basic terms to understand them. "In the Beginning" proves that.

For example, water was a key word in the creation week. From science, we know it is a key to life on Earth. The easiest way for me is to consider water which is a molecule comprised of the combination of one oxygen and two hydrogen atoms is to know that water has several states or forms of existence depending on temperature and these include: gas, liquid and solid. But regardless of its state of appearance or form... water is water.

Why do I like this comparison, well after all, the Bible is full of reference to water. Interestingly, the key Biblical number of seven (7) is represented by water. There are two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom in a water molecule. A hydrogen atom has an electron and a proton but no neutron, so it has two particles, two hydrogen atoms therefore have four parts. An oxygen atom has three parts, an electron, a proton and a neutron. Combined, the life giving water molecule H₂O is a unit of seven parts.

As an analogy, in the natural world, which was complete in seven days, God created water vapor in the form of a cloud and we receive the blessing of rain! There is running water in a mountain stream or a great river, and there's standing water in a lake or pond. There is frozen water in a glacier of ice or on a snow capped mountain. Yet they are all water, yet water appears in three different life giving physical states and forms. And while in each form, they each have different "names" to describe their physical state of being.

So, if you really slow down and think about it for a moment - isn't this much like the manner in which God presents Himself to us? Look to the heavenly sky surrounding our earth and you can see the clouds and consider our infinite God is Spirit.

I can't fully comprehend it but I am comfortable with this comparison and I know it is one of the key reasons Yeshua (Jesus), the living word, referred to Himself as water when he spoke to the woman at Jacob’s well in Samaria (John 4). Messiah Yeshua came to give us pure living water. His message was that we must refresh our minds, our lives and learn from the original themes and word meanings as to what God is saying in His Word so that we can live it out and teach others. That is why it is called the living Word. Like water His word gives life.

Yeshua was teaching the woman at the well that He was the same Yeshua, the salvation promises found throughout the Psalms and the promise of the well of salvation given in Isaiah 12:2-4. It was a teaching she may have know well. It is a teaching we must know - His name is exalted.

"Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for Yah is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation. Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation. And in that day shall ye say, Praise YHVH call upon his name, declare his doings among the people, make mention that his name is exalted."

Here the word salvation is יְשׁוּעָה yĕshuw`ah. Yeshua gives the water of life!

His promise that is before us today was given to Ezekiel:

“For I will take you from among the nations, gather you out of all countries, and bring you into your own land. Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean. I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new Spirit within you. I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.” Ezekiel 36:24-27

John tells us Jesus is the word of God, by this he is telling us that the one we know by name as Jesus Christ, the Anointed One, the Messiah [or in the Hebrew language: Yeshua HaMashiach] is the physical and human expression of the invisible spiritual Creator, "The" One God and King of the Universe. He is indeed God, yet He lived and died (for three days) as a man out of His love for us.

He came into our earthly realm and was born of a virgin mother and He lived a perfectly Biblical [Torah] observant and sinless life. Indeed, just as John said He is the living Word, His Word - The Torah.

He lived out the Torah's sacrificial system as he suffered as Messiah ben Joseph and He died as the Passover lamb of God so that He could redeem mankind from sin and its death penalty with His blood which is Life. God established sin’s penalty in Eden so He had to be the One to overcome it. Yet He lives. His body, His flesh remained in the grave three days as the fulfillment of Torah's instruction. We can see this with the Feast of Unleavened Bread and when He arose in resurrection from the dead three days after His crucifixion He fulfilled the Feast of FirstFruits. Forty days later, He ascended into an invisible dimension that He created, another dimension it seems that none of us understand, but we call it “heaven”.

The good news is, at a future time... He will come back into the physical realm of the time and space we know on earth to fulfill His instructions on the Fall Feasts and regather His lost sheep, His people Israel. See the blog The Lost Sheep Scriptures.

Eventually, He will restore all the earth to the original perfect physical state it was in prior to Adam's invoking the law of sin and death, the law of physics we know as the 2nd law of thermodynamics. Jesus will return not as the “suffering servant” but as reigning King, “Messiah ben David” and He will restore His people to the Kingdom that was originally established in Eden. See my blog The Three Fall Feast of The Lord.

I know, that to participate in this restoration, to enter into this "heavenly" Kingdom of God, we must receive God's salvation by grace, the free gift of God apart from good deeds and works because Salvation is through personal faith in the "sent" one [Jesus] Yeshua HaMashiach, the one who was, who is and who is to come. YHVH declared Himself to be the "I AM" to Moses, Yeshua is the same "I AM". Please open your Bible today and read His "I AM" statements:

Exodus 3:13-15, John 10:9, John 14:6, John 10:14, John 10:7, John 8:12, John 10:11, John 10:36, John 15:1, John 6:51, John 6:41 and Revelation 1:18

Today, we must understand that Yeshua is one with God, the "I AM" of God, which is why John calls Him the Creator, the word. He is the Torah giver, the voice on the mountain, the one seen by Abraham (John 8:56). Abraham told Issac as they climbed Mt. Moriah that God would provide a lamb, and later at the top of the mount he found a ram! What did Abraham really see there? The Bible tells us that Abraham looked in the distance. When he looked in the distance, he saw Messiah, who was the Lamb sent by God. Yeshua told us that Abraham saw Him.

"And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together." Genesis 22:8

He was the voice that saved Isaac and the man that was wrestling Jacob.

If you wonder how can the "sent one" be One with God, just read Exodus 3 very carefully and you will see that He says He is "sent" to Moses. Even then as He spoke from the fire of the burning bush to Moses:

"God also said to Moses, "Say to the Israelites, 'YHVH, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob has sent me to you.' This is my name forever, the name by which I am to be remembered from generation to generation." Exodus 3:15

When we realize who Jesus really is we can begin to understand many mysteries. Have you ever wondered how people that lived and died prior to Christ could be saved if they did not know of His atoning death and resurrection? Perhaps we need to actually reconsider exactly what "He" said.

Before He ever hung on the cross, before he ever told anyone about His plan to offer Himself as the Passover lamb, before He died and resurrected from the dead, He said this:

“… Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 18:3

He also said:

“… I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.” John 14:6-7

With my limited understanding of the mysteries of God, I believe that those people that looked forward but died on earth before His Passover crucifixion, those that followed, believed and knew Him by the heavenly name “YHVH” are indeed “saved”. I also believe that those that look back and have known and follow Him as Jesus (in Hebrew "Yeshua") the "Passover lamb" are also redeemed and saved by His atonement and offering on the cross.

A lot of questions can be answered when we know that He is the "sent one" the great "I AM" in the burning bush. "The Word" that spoke creation into existence and the word who thunderously spoke from the fiery mountain top at Sinai as “YHVH” are One. I know it seems radical but a great mystery that we all need to grasp is that Jesus is the "law" giver. The word is actually Torah, it means teaching and instruction. When we realize that, it may cause quite a problem for those that believe the "law", the teaching and instruction (Torah) of God was “hung on the cross”.

The law, the Torah was not the law hung on the cross... just the death penalty for breaching it. This goes against this generation that claims God's grace with no responsibility but that's the message from Paul in Romans 3. Today, want grace to cover them but continue to walk contrary to the word of God. Many miss this truth, perhaps because they only listen to a quote or except of full message of Paul's letter. I encourage you to always read the entire context of a message from the Bible for yourself.

In summary Paul's letter to the Romans simply says:

"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus... Do we then make void the law through faith?"  

"God forbid: yea, we establish the law."

This is the same message found in 2Chronicles 7:14:

"If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land."

Jesus' life and His Bible is easier to understand when we know Him as John 1:1-5 teaches.

He is the word, the Torah-Giver, the one who taught and instructed Moses. He is the one who led Israel from within the cloud of shechinah glory over the Tabernacle. He is the on who used his finger to write the 10 commands into stone! He is the one who walked in the Garden of Eden and breathed life into Adam. He is the one who taught Noah how to build a ship and He is the one that gave His promise of nations and land to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He is the one who comforted Hagar and Ishmael out in the desert. He is the one that appeared in the furnace in Babylon and He was seen by Daniel and the prophets. The list goes on.

As the son of Man, He is the one that walked the earth as a humble man, the anointed one, Yeshua of Nazareth.

These are why John said He is the "Word". He is the one Messiah that said "I and the Father are One." (John 10:30) Perhaps the concept of the "son of God" is misunderstood. Indeed, the son of God is the physical state, the flesh of God’s Spirit presence. He is the light of the world and it helps me to think of His presence in different dimensions in terms of “light”.

Just consider a fiber optic cable. With just one single light source at the end, there can be dozens of separate stands that all show their light individually from hundreds or thousands of miles away, yet there is just one light source. You may want to check out another study on The Spectrum of Light.

The apostle Peter confirms the gospel comes from His Word:

"For all flesh [is] as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you." 1Peter 1:24-25

Through His Word - His Torah, the light of the world gives us the story of Israel and our instruction for living after Passover. He gives us His instruction manual for worshiping Him, His manual for righteous living. Jesus - Yeshua tells us, if we love Him we must follow Him - His teaching and instruction, His Word, ALL of it! For more "thought" on this you might also enjoy another study Old and New.

The English Standard Translation of the Bible records these words from Jude... that Jesus saved those coming out of Egypt:

"Now I want to remind you, although you once fully knew it, that Jesus, who saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe. And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day" Jude 1:5-6

Jude goes on to state:

"Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen." Jude 1:24-25

Throughout the “English” translation of the Scriptures, God’s name (Yod Hey Vav Hey) is transliterated as “The Lord”. 

Not only do people today not know Him as Creator, we who do not know His name. 

We need to know the transliteration of God's name  יהוה to "The Lord" actually is recorded nearly 7,000 times in Hebrew Scripture. The name is clear and present, not disguised in translation.

When Yeshua spoke to Paul on the road to Damascus, He spoke in the Hebrew language according to the account in Acts 26. Years later, Paul wrote this to the Romans in chapter 10:1-16:

"Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved. For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. 

For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God."

Paul is teaching on the purpose of the Torah (teaching and instruction) for submission to righteousness to everyone who believes. 

Paul is not tossing it away righteousness for grace:

"What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law (Torah), but under grace? God forbid." Romans 6:15

In Deuteronomy 30:12 Moses writes about the righteousness that is based on the Torah of God, that the person who does the commandments shall live by them. According to Paul righteousness based on faith says:

"Do not say in your heart, 'Who will ascend into heaven?'" (that is, to bring Messiah down) or "'Who will descend into the abyss?'" (that is, to bring Messiah up from the dead).

But what does that mean?"

Paul explains speaking about the Word, the Hebrew Bible:

"The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart" (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); because, if you confess with your mouth that Yeshua is The Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.”

He references Isaiah 28:16; Isaiah 49:23 and Joel 2:32:

For the Scripture says, "Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame." For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same to The Lord collectively, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For "everyone who calls on the name of The Lord will be saved." But how are they to call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent?”

It's critical to understand some things from the Hebrew perspective, otherwise our orientation can confuse the truth.

Read the Hebrew Bible Jesus read and taught.

There's more in Revelation. Did you know the Greek word “kai” καί is translated as: “and” in Revelation 14:2, but in also means "indeed." 

Did the translators miss something critical in the translation of this word? 

“Here is the patience of the saints: here [are] they that keep the commandments of God, [indeed] the faith of Yeshua.” Revelation 14:2

Indeed we are to walk like Yeshua, the real Jesus. My prayer is this:

"Thank you Father for Messiah's Bible, your living word.

Please Father, sweeten the words and open the seals of the Torah scrolls so that we may see Messiah Yeshua in them.

Empower us with your Spirit to prophesy of Him there before many peoples, nations, tongues, and kings fulfilling Your commission to spread this Gospel to the world."

Don't just believe in Jesus, believe His word, study the Messiah's Bible. 

Leave behind preconceived ideas and opinions, search out what the Hebrew Bible reveals as truth. 

Paul gave an important admonition to Timothy about that:

Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long-suffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away [their] ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. 2Timothy 4:2-4

I would like to recommend a book to you: They Loved the Torah: What Yeshua's First Followers Really Thought About the Law.

Update May 16, 2011: I think you might find this teaching: "Hebrew Mysteries Revealed" from Larry Ollison Ministries worthwhile. He does a great job of introducing the pure Hebrew language God chose to speak to us in Messiah's Bible.

What does this all mean? 

It's time for you to repent and return to God's voice, return to hear and do His word and walk in the faith of His Kingdom path so that you can ready your lamp for your assignment. 

It means we need to know "Who is the One Called Jesus.

Consider a prayer: Please, God guide me by your Spirit as to what I should hear and do.

It's time to repent and return to God's voice, return to hear and do His words and walk in the faith of His Kingdom path so that you can ready your lamp for your assignment. 

Stretch out your hand, and take from the tree of life, and live forever.

Open Messiah's Bible, the one Jesus read, listen to God's voice and do Yeshua's teaching about the forever jots and tittles. 

You can learn how the things which are written in the Torah, the Prophets, and the Psalms are concerning Messiah and you can teach others to live life like Jesus, it's love in God's way:

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 

For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved." John 3:16-17

Today is the time, open your eyes if you're dead in your own valley of dry bones.

Look up and you'll recognize Messiah from Abraham's promise passed on to Isaac and Jacob as written by Moses in the Torah. You can see Him too in the Prophets and the Writings.

Repent and walk your Emmaus Road with Messiah. Study the Scriptures He taught every Sabbath that are filled with doing life God's way in the Kingdom, and tell others about Him. Be a gatekeeper until the house is complete.

Shalom.