We have faced a budget shortfall in July! We must raise at least $350 by the end of the day Friday (July 23rd, 2021), or our account will go into the negative!
I want to thank all of you supporting this work. I literally could not do it without you!
This work takes hours of my time. As many of you know, my wife is very ill, and I spend most of my time at home as her caretaker. I work at a desk less than six feet from her bed. So I am in a position to dedicate many hours to this important work that I have been directed to do.
But I also realize that it is not the activity of James Trimm alone who is responsible to do this work, it is all of us together who are charged with the responsibility of accomplishing this work. I very much look on the efforts of this restoration work as a cooperative one with each one of you. We are all joint heirs with Messiah and should always be about our Father’s business. I am honored to be able to be partnered with truth seekers as this restoration of Scripture moves forward in fulfillment of prophecy.
Donations can be sent by Paypal to donations@wnae.org.
Two or Three are Gathered in My Name- What Does that Mean? By James Scott Trimm
One of the most taken out of context passages in the Scriptures is Matthew 5:20:
For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them (Matthew 18:20 KJV)
This passage has been taken out of context to teach all kinds of false doctrines, including the doctrine of a “name it claim it” promise, that if two believers “stand in agreement” that they will get an [insert luxury car] it will be done.
But lets look to see what this verse is actually saying in context. To get the context, we must go back to 15. Let us look at this passage from the original Hebrew and Aramaic (in the HRV version):
15 And if your brother sins against you, go and reprove him between you and him alone: and if he will hear you, you have won your brother. 16 But if he will not hear you, take to yourself one witness or two: that at the mouth of two or three witnesses, every word may be established. (Deut. 19:15) 17 And if he will not hear them, speak to him in the assembly: but if he neglects to hear in the assembly, let him be to you as a Goy or a transgressor. 18 Truly I tell you, all that you will prohibit on earth has been prohibited in heaven also, and all that you will permit on earth has been permitted in heaven also. 19 Again I tell you: If two of you might be worthy on earth as touching a thing that they will ask, it will be for them of My Father which is in heaven. 20 For in every place where two or three will assemble in My Name, there am I in the midst of them. (Matthew 18:15-20 HRV)
Notice that verse 16 is quoting from the Torah concerning the law of witnesses. This gives us the context of the “assembly” in verse 17. If we simply look to the context of the passage quotes (Deut. 19:16) we read:
15 One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin, in any sin that he sins. At the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall a matter be established. 16 If an unrighteous witness rise up against any man, to bear perverted witness against him, 17 Then both the men, between whom the controversy is, shall stand before YHWH; before the cohanim and the judges that shall be in those days. 18 And the judges shall inquire diligently: and behold, if the witness be a false witness, and has testified falsely against his brother, (Deut. 18:15-18 HRV)
The “assembly” that hears these witnesses is the beit din, the “judges that shall be in those days”. It is the Torah court, not your local church or synagogue, or the general [worldwide] Church or Assembly!
This “assembly” is the “assembly” that has the power to “bind” and “loose” (as we read in the KJV) in verse 18, which the HRV renders “prohibit” and “permit”. “Bind” and “loose” are idiomatic terms in Hebrew and Aramaic, used in the Talmud to describe the Torah courts prohibiting or permitting activities (as laid out in Deut. 17:8-11), i.e. the halachic authority to determine difficult matters which are not clearly laid out in the written Torah.
Now we see that when verse 19 says “If two of you might be worthy on earth as touching a thing that they will ask, it will be for them of My Father which is in heaven.” in context it is saying: “If two [witnesses] might be worthy on earth as touching a thing that they [the beit din] will ask, it will be for them [the beit din] of My Father which is in heaven.”
Where the Aramaic of Matthew has “might be worthy” (נשתוון) the Greek has “agree”. The Aramaic assumes the agreement of the witnesses, and concentrates on their worthiness. In the Second Temple Era there was some debate as to who was worthy to serve as a witness.
For example, in the Mishnah we read:
And these are they who are invalid to serve as witnesses or judges: “He who plays dice; he who loans money for interest; those who race pigeons; and those who do business in the produce of the Sabbath Year.” Rabbi Simeon said, “In the beginning they called them ‘Those who gather Seventh Year produce,’ When oppressors became many (who collected taxes on this produce) they reverted to calling them, ‘Those who do business in the produce of the Seventh Year.” Rabbi Judah said: “Under what circumstances? When they have only that as their profession. But if they have a profession other than that. They are valid.” (m.San. 3:3)
And in the Dead Sea Scrolls we read:
“No one who has knowingly violated a single word of the commandment will be considered a reliable witness against his fellow until he is considered fit to return to full fellowship.” (Damascus Document 4Q270 frag. 9 col. 10 lines 2-3)
(For more light on this issue of valid witnesses from Yeshua see my blog The Woman Caught in Adultery and the Torah). Once you start heading down the path of a true, Torah based understanding of Yeshua’s words, it all starts to fit together and inter-relate!
So Yeshua’s point here (Matthew 18:19) is that if the two witnesses agree and are “worthy” (valid witnesses) then their testimony is to be accepted by the beit din, it is to be counted as “of My Father which is in Heaven”.
Finally Yeshua sums all of this up by saying “For in every place where two or three will assemble in My Name, there am I in the midst of them.” meaning that when these two or more witnesses agree and are worthy, their testimony is to be counted by the beit din as if YHWH was testifying with them.
So now you understand one of the most misunderstood passages in the Scriptures.
We must raise at least $600 by the end of the day today (10/18/24) or our account will plunge into the negative and start a cascade of returned items and fees. We need your help today!
I want to thank all of you supporting this work. I literally could not do it without you!
This work takes hours of my time. As many of you know, my wife is very ill, and I spend most of my time at home as her caretaker. So I am in a position to dedicate many hours to this important work that I have been directed to do.
But I also realize that it is not the activity of James Trimm alone who is responsible to do this work, it is all of us together who are charged with the responsibility of accomplishing this work. I very much look on the efforts of this restoration work as a cooperative one with each one of you. We are all joint heirs with Messiah and should always be about our Father’s business. I am honored to be able to be partnered with truth seekers as this restoration of Scripture moves forward in fulfillment of prophecy.
Donations can be sent by Paypal to donations@wnae.org or by Zelle or Go Fund Me.
Enoch on the Apostasy and Last Days Restoration By James Scott Trimm
The Book of Enoch prophecies of a great apostasy in the last days:
6 And unrighteousness shall again be consummated on the earth, and all the deeds of unrighteousness and of violence and transgression shall prevail in a twofold degree. 7 And when sin and unrighteousness and blasphemy and violence in all kinds of deeds increase, and apostasy and transgression and uncleanness increase, a great chastisement shall come from heaven upon all these, and the Set-apart YHWH will come forth with wrath and chastisement to execute judgment on earth. (1Enoch 91:6-7)
The Book of Enoch tells of how 200 fallen angels led by Shemikhazah and Azazel “saw and lusted after” human females and copulated with them producing a race of giants (1Enoch 6) and taught mankind secrets such as sorcery, the making of weapons (1Enoch 7-8) and how to perform an abortion (1En. 69:12). YHWH’s judgment finally comes. Shemikhazah and “all his associates” are bound fast “for seventy generations” until “the judgment that is forever is consummated” (1En. 9:11-12) (compare Y’hudah 1:6 & 2Kefa 2:2-10). The giants are killed by the flood but their spirits remain on earth as evil spirits (1En. 15:8-12).
The Book of Enoch tells us that Shemikhazah and his associate fallen angels would be bound up for seventy generations:
11 And YHWH said unto Mikha’el: ‘Go, make known to Shemikhazah and his associates who have united themselves with women so as to have defiled themselves with them in all their uncleanness. 12 And when their sons shall die, and they have seen the destruction of their beloved ones, bind them fast for seventy generations in the valleys of the earth, till the great day of their judgment and of their consummation, till the judgment that is for ever and ever is consummated. (1Enoch 10:11-12)
Now if one counts the generations from Enoch to Yeshua one finds there were seventy generations (Luke 3:23-37).
So the seventy generations end immediately after the generation of Yeshua and hit Talmudim. This brings us to an interesting statement made by the Nazarene writer Hegesippus around 185 C.E. as he recounted the beginning of the apostasy:
Up to that period the Assembly had remained like a virginpure and uncorrupted: for, if there were any persons whowere disposed to tamper with the wholesome rule of theproclaiming of salvation, they still lurked in some dark place of concealment or other. But, when the sacred band ofEmissaries had in various ways closed their lives, and thatgeneration of men to whom it had been vouchsafed to listen to thegodlike Wisdom with their own ears had passed away, then did theconfederacy of godless error take its rise through the treacheryof false teachers, who, seeing that none of the emissaries anylonger survived, at length attempted with bare and upliftedhead to oppose the proclaiming of the truth by proclaiming“knowledge falsely so called.” (Hegessippus; Memoirs)
The generation which followed the life of Yeshua and his emissaries was the generation in which Shemikhazah and his associates were to be released. And this was the very generation in which false teachers began with bare and uplifted head to oppose the proclaiming of the truth, the very generation in which the apostasy began.
The long night of the apostasy is ending. The Book of Enoch is again coming to light that it may be a cause of joy and uprightness and much wisdom to those who observe the Torah in the last days. The culmination of all things is at hand.
One of the great revelations of the Book of Enoch is that the fallen angels were set loose for a period of time pending their final judgment, beginning with the generation immediately following Yeshua and his Talmidim. In other words, by the late first Century, the apostasy was well underway!
The prophet Enoch continues:
7 And when sin and unrighteousness and blasphemy and violence in all kinds of deeds increase, and apostasy and transgression and uncleanness increase, a great chastisement shall come from heaven upon all these, and the Set-apart YHWH will come forth with wrath and chastisement to execute judgment on earth. 8 In those days violence shall be cut off from its roots, and the roots of unrighteousness together with deceit, and they shall be destroyed from under heaven. 9 And all the idols of the heathen shall be abandoned, and the temples burned with fire, and they shall remove them from the whole earth, and they (i.e. the heathen) shall be cast into the judgment of fire, and shall perish in wrath and in grievous judgment forever. (1Enoch 91:7-9)
According to the Talmud, Elohim has postponed bringing judgment to the Gentile nations because they have at least kept three commandments:
Said Rab Judah: These are the thirty righteous men among the nations of the world by whose virtue the nations of the world continue to exist. Ulla said: These are the thirty commandments which the sons of Noah took upon themselves but they observe three of them, namely,(i) they do not draw up a kethubah document [marriage contract] for males, (ii) they do not weigh flesh of the dead in the market, and (iii) they respect the Torah. (b.Chullin 92b)
The Talmud teaches that Elohim withholds judgment from the nations of the world because they do not give marriage certificates to homosexuals, they do not sell human meat in the market, and while they do not keep the Torah, they do at least respect the Torah. But the world is in these last days descending into a darkness not seen on this planet since the days before the flood, and the time of YHWH’s judgment cannot be far off!
On June 26, 2015 in Obergefell v. Hodges the US Supreme Court plunged this world into an even deeper darkness by inventing is a supposed Constitutional right to a “gay marriage”. (This despite the fact that the US Constitution never mentions marriage and the Tenth Amendment reserves all powers not delegated by the Constitution to the Federal government to the States and the People)
Yeshua warned that the last days would be like the days of Noach:
37 And as it was in the days of Noach, so will it be at the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For as they were in the days that were before the flood–eating and drinking, marryingand giving in marriage, until the day that Noach entered into the ark, (Mt. 24:37-38 – HRV)
And this is a major theme of the Book of Enoch. Enoch forewarns of the coming judgment of the flood, and parallels this with the judgment of the last days. The Book of Enoch even prophecies that in the last days:
“women shall become pregnant and abort their babies and cast them out from their midst” (1En. 99:5).
The very same week that the Supreme Court ruled there is a right to a gay marriage a video was released of a Planned Parenthood official chatting about selling human organs from aborted babies… as casual dinner conversation! Finally Enoch the Prophet prophecies a last days restoration:
10 And the righteous shall arise from their sleep, and wisdom shall arise and be given unto them. 11 And they shall have rooted out the foundations of violence and the structure of falsehood in it, to execute judgment. (1Enoch 91:10-11)
This will be a last days restoration of Torah truth, as the Book of Enoch states that it was written “for those who will come after him, and keep the Torah in the last days.” (1Enoch 108:1)
Enoch the Prophet prophecies that the restoration would include a bonus, a restoration of lost books:
But when they write down truthfully all my words in their languages, and do not change or diminish ought from my words but write them all down truthfully –all that I first testified concerning them. Then, I know another mystery, that books will be given to the righteous and the wise to become a cause of joy and uprightness and much wisdom. And to them shall the books be given, and they shall believe in them and rejoice over them, and then shall all the righteous who have learnt therefore all the paths of uprightness be recompensed.’ (1Enoch 104:10-13)
These words have been fulfilled as the original Hebrew and Aramaic manuscripts of the books of the so-called “New Testament” have been translated and published, and as lost books like the Book of Enoch itself are restored.
This is where we are right now in Biblical prophecy! And I am delighted that this ministry has been on the cutting edge of this great last days work of restoration!
We need your help today! Donations have been low in recent weeks.
I want to thank all of you supporting this work. I literally could not do it without you!
This work takes hours of my time. As many of you know, my wife is very ill, and I spend most of my time at home as her caretaker. I work at a desk less than six feet from her bed. So I am in a position to dedicate many hours to this important work that I have been directed to do.
But I also realize that it is not the activity of James Trimm alone who is responsible to do this work, it is all of us together who are charged with the responsibility of accomplishing this work. I very much look on the efforts of this restoration work as a cooperative one with each one of you. We are all joint heirs with Messiah and should always be about our Father’s business. I am honored to be able to be partnered with truth seekers as this restoration of Scripture moves forward in fulfillment of prophecy.
Donations can be sent by Paypal to donations@wnae.org or by Zelle or Go Fund Me.
In recent times there has been great concern and interest in the Nazarene movement on the issue of Halachic authority. Because this issue is of vital importance to the restoration of the ancient sect of the Nazarenes (Netzarim) I have found myself compelled to clarify the matter by treating the issues involved.
Halachic authority is the authority to make halachic determinations interpreting the Torah forbidding and permitting activities based on these interpretations, and resolving matters between fellow believers. The word “halacha” means “the way to walk.” Torah observance requires halachic authority for three reasons. First there are matters about which the Torah is ambiguous and must be clarified. For example the matter of what a “bill of divorcement” must actually say is not clarified. Secondly is the matter of conflicting Torah commands. For example the Torah requires the priests to circumcise on the eight day after a birth, but also requires rest from work on the Sabbath. Which commandment holds priority? Finally the Torah requires us to establish courts (see Deut. 16:18).
IN THE TANAK
In the Torah the Halachic authority was originally held by Moses himself (Ex. 18:13) but later a council of Elders were appointed (Ex. 18:13-26; Dt. 1:9-18) These Elders showed men “the way wherein they must walk” (i.e. Halacha) (Ex. 18:20) Their judgments were regarded as the judgment of G-d himself (Dt. 1:17) and were even called “Torah” (Dt. 17:11) At first these men had authority only in small matters (Ex. 18:22, 26; Dt. 1:17) but later their authority was expanded (Dt. 17:8). This council was later defined as seventy Elders whom G-d placed his Spirit upon (Num. 11:16-17; 24-25).
The Torah also allowed for the Halachic authority to be held by a King (Dt. 17:8-12; 14-20). Eventually the Elders decided to establish such a monarchy (1Sam. 8:1-7). The throne of these Kings was sees as being “the throne of G-d” (1Chron. 29:23) Their Halachic authority became termed “the key of the House of David” (Is. 22:21-22).
Upon the invasion of Jerusalem and the Babylonian captivity the monarchy was brought to an end. When the captivity ended and exiles returned, Ezra reestablished the council of Elders (Ezra 7:25; 10:14, 16) which immediately began making halachic decisions (Ezra 10:10-19). According to tradition this council was called the Great Assembly and consisted of 120 Elders.
IN THE POST-TANAK ERA
As time went on Judaism became fragmented into various sects. These included the Pharisees, Sadducees and Essenes. As time continued the Sadducees gained more and more control of the Great Assembly. By the first century the centrality of the Halachic authority had fragmented. Each of the various sects had their own Halachic councils with their own Halachic authority.
THE PHARISAIC HALACHIC AUTHORITY
Now great confusion has been created by the fact that there were at least two Sanhedrins (Great Assemblies) in the first century. One of these was a political body which had become an instrument of Rome. This body is that often mentioned by Josephus and in the New Testament. It was headed by the High Priest (a Sadducee) (Josephus Ant. 20:9:1; Mt. 26:57-27:1;Mk. 14:53-15:1; Lk. 22:66-23:1; Jn. 18:12-28; Acts 4:5-23; 5:22-42; 23:6) and was made up of both Pharisees and Sadducees (Acts 5:22-42; 23:6) . (This may have been the remnants of the original “Great Assembly”). By contrast the Pharisee Sanhedrin was made up of Pharisee scholars only. It had seventy Elders plus the Nasi (m.San. 1:6). This is the body spoken of in the Mishna, Tosefta and Talmuds in tractate Sanhedrin. It was headed by Zuggot (pairs) made up of a Nasi and an Av Beit Din (m.Hag. 2:2). Hillel and his descendants served as Nasi of this Sanhedrin (m.Hag. 2:2; b.Pes. 66a; b.Shab. 15a; t.San. 2:6; b.San. 11b) who were descendants of King David (b.Ket. 62b; Gen. Rabba 98). Whereas Gamliel was Nasi of the Pharisee Sanhedrin (t.San. 2:6; b.San. 11b) he was only a member of the Political Sanhedrin (Acts 5:22-42).
THE QUMRAN HALACHIC AUTHORITY
The Qumran community, who are believed to be Essenes, also held their own Halachic authority. They saw themselves as the “sons of light” and all outsiders as “sons of darkness” (Man. of Disc. I,9; II, 24). The “sons of light” did not go to the “sons of darkness” to tell them how to walk in true Halacha. Their Halachic rule was headed by the Mevakker (Overseer) (Dam. Doc. xii, 7-9). The community also had panels of Judges as described in the Manual of Discipline:
In the deliberative council of the community there shall be twelve laymen and threepriests schooled to perfection in all that has been revealed of the entire Law. Theirduty shall be to set the standard for the practice of truth, … and how one can walkwith all men with the quality of truth and in conduct appropriate to every occasion. (Man. of Disc. viii 1ff)
Thus the Qumran community had its own Halachic authority apart from the rest of Judaism.
THE NETZARIM HALACHIC AUTHORITY
Now we must address the issue of Halachic authority among the ancient sect of the Nazarenes. As I have shown in the article “What is Nazarene Judaism?” the Nazarenes were a coalition of Essenes and Pharisees.
It is apparent that the Nazarenes also had their own Halachic authority.
Like the Qumran community the Nazarenes also saw themselves as the “sons of light” (Lk. 16:8; Jn. 12:36; 1Thes. 5:5). Now in 2Cor. 6:11-18 Paul gives us a Midrash (in the form of a poem) on Dt. 22:10 which ties the passage to Is. 52:11/Ezkl 20:34, 41/Zech. 2:11) The midrash is as follows:
Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? And what accord has the Messiah with B’liya’al? Or what part has he who believes with an unbeliever? And what agreement has the Temple of Elohim with idols? For you are the Temple of the living Elohim. As Elohim has said: I will dwell in them And walk among them. I will be their Elohim, And they shall be My people. (Lev. 26:12; Jer. 32:38; Ezkl. 37:27; Ex. 6:7) Therefore come out from among them And be separate, says YHWH. Do not touch what is unclean, (Is. 52:11; Zech. 2:11, note 2:7) And I will receive you. (Ezkl. 20:41, 34) I will be a Father to you, And you shall be My sons and daughters, Says YHWH Almighty. (2Sam. 7:14, 8; Is. 43:6) (2Cor. 6:11-18)
Paul here tells us that just as the Torah forbids us to yoke different kinds of animals together (Dt. 22:10) the sons of light should not be yoked to sons of darkness and believers should not be yoked to unbelievers. “Halacha” means “the way to walk.” Like different animals yoked together, believers and unbelievers cannot be halachicly yoked together. This is because they do not walk the same way. As a result the Nazarenes had to have their own Halachic authority.
The Nazarene Halachic authority, that is the Nazarene Sanhedrin, is documented in Acts 15. Here we are shown a Halachic court which has worldwide authority and which seems to be led by Ya’akov HaTzadik (James the Just) as Nasi and Kefa (Peter) as Av Beit Din. But how did this body get the Halachic authority? For the answer we must turn to the teachings of the Messiah himself.
In Mt. 23:2-3 Yeshua makes a surprising statement, he says:
The Scribes and Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. Therefore whatever they tell you to observe, That observe and keep. but do not according to their works; for they say, and do not.
This passage is often used to show that Yeshua endorsed the Pharisaic halachic authority. However there is serious question as to what this passage actually say or means. For example the Hebrew of the Shem Tob Hebrew version of Matthew reads:
Upon the seat of Moses the Pharisees and sages sit. Now all which he says to you keep and do; but their ordinances and deeds do not do because they say, and do not.
(The “he” in line two reads “they” in Howard’s English translation, however the literal Hebrew has “he.”)
At any rate Yeshua cannot be giving a blanket endorsement of Pharisaic halacha here because in verses 16-22 he specifically differs with a point of Pharisaic halacha.
Mt. 23:13 is key to understanding Yeshua’s attitude to the Halachic authority of the Pharisees. Here Yeshua says:
But woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the Kingdom of Heaven against men; for you neither go in, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.
A parallel passage appears in Lk. 11:52:
Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge. you did not enter in yourselves, and those who were entering in you hindered.
Now when we look at these two passages together it becomes clear that the “key” in Luke 11:52 had the potential to open up or shut up the Kingdom of Heaven. This “key” is clearly then “the key of the house of David” in Is. 22:22:
The key of the House of David I will lay on his shoulder; so he shall open, and no one shall shut; and he shall shut and no one shall open.
This key is the halachic authority. Yeshua recognized that the Pharisees held that halachic authority but he also tells us that they had squandered it by rejecting the Kingdom offer (see article “The Kingdom Offer”) and refusing to use the key to help Messiah open up the Messianic Kingdom.
The Messiah himself also had the Key of David (Rev. 3:7). In Mt. 16:18-19 Yeshua says he would give “the keys of the Kingdom” to Kefa and his students:
And I also say to you that you are Kefa, And upon this rock I will build my assembly, and the gates of Sheol shall not prevail against it. And I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in Heaven and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.
This passage is best understood when compared to Mt. 18:15-20 This passage deals with the law of witnesses (Mt. 18:16 = Dt. 19:15) and refers to an “assembly” (Mt. 18:17) which has the power to “bind” and “loose” (Mt. 18:18) just as does Mt. 16:18-19. Since Mt. 18:16 quotes Dt. 19:15 it is clear that the “assembly” in Mt. 18:17 (and also Mt. 16:18) is the “priests and judges who serve in those days” in Dt. 19:17. This is also clear because this “assembly” has the power to “bind” and “loose.” These are two Semitic idioms used in Rabbinic literature as technical terms referring to Halachic authority. To “bind” means to “forbid” an activity and to “loose” means to permit an activity (as in j.Ber. 5b; 6c; j.San. 28a; b.Ab. Zar. 37a; b.Ned. 62a; b.Yeb. 106a; b.Bets. 2b; 22a; b.Ber. 35a; b.Hag. 3b). Thus in Mt. 16:18-19 & 18:18 Yeshua gave his students the Halachic authority which we see them using in Acts 15.
Today we as restored Nazarenes must also have our own unique halachic authority apart from that of Rabbinic Judaism. As “sons of light” we cannot be halachicly yoked with unbelievers. While we cannot be halachicly yoked with unbelievers (Rabbinic Judaism) we must “come out from among them and be separate” (2Cor. 6:14-18 & Is. 52:11) for we must ourselves establish courts (Dt. 16:18) so that we may “walk by the same rule and be of the same mind” (Phil. 3:16) and have “no factions among” us “but be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgement” (1 Cor. 1:10) so that we might endeavor “to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Eph. 4:3).
We cannot turn to the “wisdom” of the “Pharisaic Rabbinical” Rabbis and sages of the last two thousand years and simply “accept all the Rabbinical Halakhah, except where Mashiach and His Talmidim clearly and definitely offer another position of Halakhah” for the Tenach warns us:
How can you say, “We are wise, and the Torah of YHWH is with us”? Look, the false pen of the scribe certainly works falsehood. The wise men are ashamed, they are dismayed and taken. Behold they have rejected the Word of YHWH; So what wisdom do they have? (Jer. 8:8-9)
The unbelieving sages and Rabbis of “Pharisaic Rabbinical” Judaism claim they “are wise” and that “the Torah of the LORD is with us.” But they have “rejected the Word of YHWH” (i.e. Yeshua the Messiah; see Jn. 1:1, 14; Rev. 19:13) “So what wisdom do they have?”
There are preserved for us five fragments from an ancient Nazarene Commentary on Isaiah in which the fourth century Nazarene writer makes it clear that Nazarenes of the fourth century were not “following Pharisaic Rabbinical Halakhah.” The following is taken from the Nazarene commentary on Isaiah 8:14:
And he shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel” The Nazarenes explain the two houses as the two houses of Shammai and Hillel, from whom originated the Scribes and Pharisees… [they Pharisees] scattered and defiled the precepts of the Torah by traditions and mishna. And these two houses did not accept the Savior.
The Nazarene commentary on Isaiah 8:20-21 has:
The Scribes and the Pharisees tell you to listen to them answer them like this: “It is not strange if you follow your traditions since every tribe consults its own idols. We must not, therefore, consult your dead [sages] about the living ones.
So it is clear that the original Nazarenes were not “following Pharisaic Rabbinical Halakhah.”
To those who would teach that Nazareans should “accept all the Rabbinical Halakhah, except where Mashiach and His Talmidim clearly and definitely offer another position of Halakhah” and “practice and behave alike Orthodox Jews, following Pharisaic Rabbinical Halakhah” I must cite the following from The Dead Sea Scrolls an New Translation by Wise; Abeg and Cook (p. 34):
For Jews, the Qumran texts say, “Our family was larger than you knew.” The watchword is diversity. Modern Judaism comes from Pharisaism, but in the first centuries B.C.E. and C.E. there were also other kinds of Judaism, and it was not obvious that the Pharisees would be the ones still standing at the end of the day. Understanding the world of the first century C.E. now means understanding the fact of diversity, and the scrolls have helped cultivate a sense of the historical complexity of the matrix of Judaism and of early Christianity. The scrolls teach, indirectly, a message the scroll writers themselves would have repudiated; that is, that there are different ways of being authentically Jewish. Any effort to “reclaim the scrolls for Judaism” must acknowledge that truth.
In reconstructing the ancient sect of Nazarene Judaism we must recognize that Rabbinic/Pharisaic Halacha is not the only “authentic” Judaism. We must not Halachicly yoke ourselves with unbelievers. We must not blindly turn to the “wisdom” of Rabbinic sages that rejected the Word of YHWH (the Messiah). Although we must examine what these sages, as well as the Qumran writers, have written. We must examine their conclusions in light of ancient Jewish methods of interpreting the Scriptures to determine if their rulings constitute a valid Nazarene position on any given issue.
Emergency Alert! At the first of the month we had to borrow $600 to pay the rent, which we had to pay back last week. In addition, my wife was given a new prescription I had to pick up last week which was $275! As a result we must now raise $1,033 in the next 48 hours or our account will plunge into the negative and start a cascade of returned item and fees!
As you know we have been digging ourselves out of a budget shortfall. As I have said to you many times, I look on this work as a co-operative one with me, and all of you combining our resources together in order to get the job done of helping to teach this great truth to all in the world who will listen. Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart for your continued support, you are the ones who make it all possible by your contributions and your prayers for our work. I truly appreciate your help in every way.
If you can make a one time donation of $500 or $1,000 dollars to support this work.
Donations can be sent by Paypal to donations@wnae.org
Restoring Chag Yeshua: The Feast of Deliverance By James Scott Trimm
There is an amazing and important festival on the Biblical calendar coming up (beginning at sunset, Aug. 28th, 2023) which has been lost and has only been restored in the last ten years or so. The festival was enacted in the 3rd Book of the Maccabees, but since this book was removed from the canon (along with the rest of the apocrypha), this festival was effectively removed with it. As the restoration of truth continues, one of the things that we need to do is restore this lost, biblical festival to our observance.
What is the background of this festival? After the Battle of Raphia in 217 B.C.E. Ptolemy IV sought to enter the Holy of Holies in Jerusalem, but was miraculously repulsed (3Macc. 1:1-2:24). Upon returning from Egypt he seeks to punish the Jews there for his humiliation. He lowers their political status and seeks to impose paganism on them (3Macc. 2:25-33) and tortures and kills those that refuse to renounce Judaism (3Macc. 3:1-5:51) An elder priest named Eleazar prays for the deliverance of his people (3Macc. 6:1-25), YHWH intervenes bringing about the repentance of the king and the deliverance of the Jews (6:16-7:23) The Jews declared an annual festival called “The Feast of Deliverance” (Chag Yeshua) as an annual celebration of the salvation of the Jews in Egypt at this time. The festival enacted from the 8th to the 14th of the Egyptian month of Epeiph. The Egyptian calendar was a Solar Calendar and these days correspond to 19 August 217 BCE on the Julian Calendar and this was 12th Elul 3544 on the Hebrew calendar. This festival should be observed on the 12th of Elul each year.
And there is another element in this festival for us as believers in Messiah. The Hebrew word for “deliverance” is YESHUA so we have here “The Feast of Yeshua”. The deliverance of the Jews from the hand of Ptolemy IV points us forward to the deliverance of Israel by the Messiah Yeshua. This feast gives us another important theme, Messiah and the deliverance of Israel.
What do we do on Hag Yeshua? The text of 3 Maccabees tells us that the day was celebrated with rejoicing and they “were crowned with all kinds of fragrant flowers.” The text also tells us that they:
1. A celebratory meal called “The Banquet of Deliverance” or “The Banquet of Yeshua”. This should not be confused with the Passover Sader and would be more akin to a “Thanksgiving Dinner”, or this time of year, a barbeque. (3Macc. 6:31)
2. Traditional songs (“Songs of their fathers”) and praising Yah as “savior”. Particularly appropriate are songs about “Salvation” or which speak of Yah’s defense as our shield. (3Macc. 6:32)
3. Traditional Hebraic Dance (2Macc. 6:35)
4. Obviously the festival should involve recounting the story of 3 Maccabees.
Since the festival is in the summer (at least in the northern hemisphere) this points obviously to summer festivities. Modern activities could include barbecues and pool parties.
In 2024 Chag Yeshua (The Feast of Deliverance) will run seven days beginning at sunset Saturday night Sept. 14th, 2024. I want to encourage you to join us around the world this summer as we observe this festival.
My wife has surgery on the 10th and our cost after insurance is $350! We need your help today!
You can now donate thru PayPal, Zelle or Go Fund Me!
I truly want to thank each of you for the support that you give to us in order to present the truth of Torah and the goodnews of Messiah to this lost world. As I have said to you many times, I look on this work as a co-operative one with me, and all of you combining our resources together in order to get the job done of helping to teach this great truth to all in the world who will listen. Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart for your continued support, you are the ones who make it all possible by your contributions and your prayers for our work. I truly appreciate your help in every way.
I am not going to recount all the work this ministry is doing bringing the message of Torah and Messiah to the lost world, bringing milk to new believers and nice juicy steaks for mature believers.
Don’t forget to support this work with your contributions, tithes and offerings. We are reaching a lost world with Torah and Messiah. Through our blogs, literature and podcasts we are also feeding young believers milk and mature believers nice juicy steaks.
You make this work possible.
Donations can be sent by Paypal to donations@wnae.org or by Zelle or Go Fund Me!
Hebrew Nazarene Creed of Emissaries Found! By James Scott Trimm
When the fourth Century “Church Father” Jerome described the beliefs on the Nazarenes, he seemed to give a truncated version of the so-called “Apostle’s Creed”:
“The Apostles Creed” (Hebraicized):
I believe in God the Father Almighty: And in Yeshua the Messiah his only begotten Son, our Lord.
Who was conceived of the Ruach HaKodesh and was born of the virgin Miriam,
And suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, was dead and was buried, He descended into hell; and the third day rose again from the dead,
He ascended into heaven and sits on the right hand of God the Father Almighty
From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead;
I believe in the Ruach HaKodesh
The Holy Universal Assembly; the communion of the saints.
The forgiveness of sins;
And the resurrection of the body,
Amen.
Today there still exists among the Jews in all the synagogues of the East a heresy which is called that of the Minæans,and which is still condemned by the Pharisees; [its followers] are ordinarily called ‘Nazarenes’;
they believe that Messiah, the son of Elohim,
was born of the Virgin Miriam,
and they hold him to be the one who suffered under Pontius Pilate
and ascended to heaven,
and in whom we also believe.” (Jerome; Letter 75 Jerome to Augustine)
From this we may conclude that the so-called “Apostle’s Creed” is actually a Nazarene document. perhaps a genuine product of the Emissaries. An old Hebrew version of the Apostles’ Creed has now turned up in a book titled Precationes aliquot Celebriores (Some Well Known Prayers) and published in Paris France in 1554 in connection with the the Munster and DuTillet texts of Hebrew Matthew.
The Precationes aliquot Celebriores contains a number of prayers and related items, mostly from the Tanak, in Greek, Latin and Hebrew. It contains the “Lord’s Prayer” in Hebrew in a version similar, but not identical to those of the Munster and DuTillet versions. It also contains an old Hebrew version of the so-called “Apostle’s Creed”.
Click Here to see the Hebrew and English Interlinear at our Scripture Nexus site.
I believe in God the Father almighty; and in Messiah Yeshua His only Son, our Lord, Who was born of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, Who under Pontius Pilate was crucified and buried, on the third day rose again from the dead, ascended to heaven, sits at the right hand of the Father, whence He will come to judge the living and the dead; and in the Holy Spirit, the holy Assembly, the remission of sins, the resurrection of the flesh (the life everlasting).
We need your help today! Our rent is due tomorrow!
I want to thank all of you supporting this work. I literally could not do it without you!
This work takes hours of my time. As many of you know, my wife is very ill, and I spend most of my time at home as her caretaker. I work at a desk less than six feet from her bed. So I am in a position to dedicate many hours to this important work that I have been directed to do.
But I also realize that it is not the activity of James Trimm alone who is responsible to do this work, it is all of us together who are charged with the responsibility of accomplishing this work. I very much look on the efforts of this restoration work as a cooperative one with each one of you. We are all joint heirs with Messiah and should always be about our Father’s business. I am honored to be able to be partnered with truth seekers as this restoration of Scripture moves forward in fulfillment of prophecy.
Donations can be sent by Paypal to donations@wnae.org
The Green Tree and the Dry Tree: By James Scott Trimm
There are many cases of ambiguous Hebrew and Aramaic words which the Greek translator seems to have mistranslated. This type of mistranslation is very common and a clear evidence that a document has been translated. The reason this occurs is that a translator often works much like a typist, translating word for word without actually comprehending the context of the words. This often, but not always results in the translator choosing the most common meaning of an ambiguous word despite the fact that another meaning was intended. This problem is compounded when translating from Hebrew and Aramaic which anciently had no vowels, thus increasing the number of ambiguous words.
One of the more difficult sayings of our Messiah is found in Luke 23:21. The KJV translates the Greek as follows:
For if they do these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry? (Lk. 23:31 KJV)
Contrary to a common misconception, this verse does NOT mean that Yeshua was crucified in/on a tree, green or dry.
Now in Hebrew and Aramaic the “b-” preposition (which appears in the Aramaic text of this verse) can mean “in” but it can also mean “with” in the sense of “to.” In this verse the passage is best rendered:
For if they do these things with a green tree, what will be done with the dry? (Lk. 23:31 HRV)
In the original Aramaic the passage is a clear allusion to the parable of the greet tree and the dry tree as found in the Tanak in Ezekiel 20:45-21:7:
1 (20:45) And the word of YHWH came unto me, saying: 2 (20:46) Son of man, set your face toward the South, and proclaim toward the South, and prophesy against the forest of the field in the South, 3 (20:47) And say to the forest of the South, Hear the word of YHWH, Thus says the Adonai YHWH: Behold, I will kindle a fire in you, and it shall devour every green tree in you, and every dry tree; it shall not be quenched–even a flaming flame, and all faces from the south to the north, shall be seared thereby. 4 (20:48) And all flesh shall see, that I YHWH have kindled it; it shall not be quenched. 5 (20:49) Then said I, Ah Adonai YHWH! They say of me, Is he not a maker of parables? 6 (21:1) Then the word of YHWH came unto me, saying: 7 (21:2) Son of man, set your face toward Yerushalayim, and proclaim toward the sanctuaries, and prophesy against the land of Yisra’el, 8 (21:3) And say to the land of Yisra’el, Thus says YHWH: Behold, I am against you, and will draw forth My sword out of its sheath, and will cut off from you, the righteous and the wicked. 9 (21:4) Seeing then that I will cut off from you the righteous and the wicked, therefore shall My sword go forth out of its sheath against all flesh: from the south to the north. 10 (21:5) And all flesh shall know, that I YHWH have drawn forth My sword out of its sheath; it shall not return any more. 11 (21:6) Sigh therefore, you son of man. With the breaking of your loins and with bitterness, shall you sigh before their eyes. 12 (21:7) And it shall be, when they say unto you: Wherefore sigh you? That you shall say, Because of the tidings, for it comes…. And every heart shall melt, and all hands shall be slack, and every spirit shall be faint, and all knees shall drip with water. Behold, it comes, and it shall be done, says the Adonai YHWH. (Ezekiel 21:1-12 (20:45-21:7) HRV)
In these verses the “green tree” represents the “righteous” and the “dry tree” represents the “wicked.” The parable of the green tree and the dry tree shows that both righteous and wicked face the judgment.
Yeshua uses a kol v’khomer statement here. Kol V’chomer is the First Rule of Hillel, it is a method of exegesis that involves presenting an argument from one of even greater weight. For example if X is true or Y then it must also be true of Z because Z is of even greater weight than Y. Yeshua is saying:
If they do this with a righteous one, What will happen to the wicked man?
In other words:
If they do this with me, What will happen to them?
Any donation will help, and any donation is better than no donation!
I want to thank all of you supporting this work. I literally could not do it without you!
This work takes hours of my time. As many of you know, my wife is very ill, and I spend most of my time at home as her caretaker. So I am in a position to dedicate many hours to this important work that I have been directed to do.
But I also realize that it is not the activity of James Trimm alone who is responsible to do this work, it is all of us together who are charged with the responsibility of accomplishing this work. I very much look on the efforts of this restoration work as a cooperative one with each one of you. We are all joint heirs with Messiah and should always be about our Father’s business. I am honored to be able to be partnered with truth seekers as this restoration of Scripture moves forward in fulfillment of prophecy.
Donations can be sent by Paypal to donations@wnae.org or Zelle or Go Fund Me.
Rabbi Rob Miller (left) and James Trimm (right) the day we first met.
My old friend Rabbi Rob Miller passed away today. While he did not directly call it Covid-19, he did say he was concerned about being censored and that he was sick with something that “had been in the news for the last 2 years and is worse than the flu”. Rob and I were best friends and fellows in ministry until he made a life changing decision seven years ago. We still remained friends, but had to agree to disagree after that. Rob was an amazing individual. When my wife Kitty Trimm and I went thru a crisis in 2006, it was Rob who counseled us thru it and literally saved our marriage. And that marriage celebrated its 31st anniversary just yesterday. There are no words! Shakespeare makes Marc Anthony to say in memoriam of Julius Caesar “The evil that men do lives after them, but the good is often entered with their bones, so let it be with Caesar” but let this not be with Rob. Let the good that he did live after him and let his personal failures be now forgotten.
Rob and I used to make the rounds to the used book stores together looking for interesting theology books, and make the rounds of the comic book shops. We were both comic book nerds. He was into the Green Hornet and Flash Gordon, I was into The Shadow (among others)
Robert Owen Miller was born in Killeen Texas on September 24, 1957. After he graduated from Killeen High School he attended Southern Bible College and Berean Bible College. He was licensed with the Assemblies of God; Full Gospel Fellowship of Ministers & Churches Intl. I recall that he once told me that Dr. Gene Scott, then in good standing with the Assemblies of God, handed him and his classmates their certificates of ordination.
Later Rob studied at the Chabad (an ultra-orthodox Jewish rabbinical school) in Austin Texas for 2 1/2 years. On October 15th 1996 he formed Agudat Bris congregation in Temple Texas, which he led until he resigned that position in 2014 and relocated to Thailand were he spent the rest of his years.
On January 19th 2000 Agudat Bris became members of the Messianic Israel Alliance, and on April 4th 2001 they became members of the Union of Two House Messianic Congregations later known as the Union of Nazarene Yisrael Congregations. In 2004 Agudat Bris became a member of the Worldwide Nazarene Assembly of Elohim. Rob served as the traveling shepherd for the Union of Nazarene Yisrael Congregations for several years.
On Wednesday July 14th Rob posted that he had gotten sick on Friday July 9th:
Then on Thursday July 15th he posted “it is serious… my lungs hurt I have difficulty breathing”:
Two days later, on Saturday July 17th (the eve on the 9th of Av) Rob collapsed and could not be revived. He will be missed.
Testament of Rabbi Rob
In 2005, in the event of his passing, Rabbi Rob asked to have this message shared. It was originally narrated to a video which is now lost:
If you are reading this well, I’m dead. “[Theres] A time to be born, and a time to die. (Ecclesiastes 3:2)” Seemed just as good a time as any. You know the Word says: “A good name is better than fine perfume, and the day of death better than the day of birth. (Ecclesiastes 7:1)” It also says, “…it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: so Messiah was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation. (Hebrews 9:27)” You’ve got a day, you’ve got a time and you’ve got a place and your name is on it. People keep that appointment every day, three every second, 180 people every minute keep that appointment, 11,000 people very hour keep that appointment, 260,000 today kept that appointment. This year 95 million people will keep this appointment. You cannot delay it and you cannot deny it. As you can see, I kept my appointment. Remember, life’s journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting.. “Wow!! What a Ride!!”
To my son, RJ, I love you very much. You have always been a breath of sunshine in my life. You could always make me laugh even when I was blue. We’ve been through some ups and downs together and that served to bring us closer. I’m thankful that it could not destroy our bond. I’m proud of you son.
To my daughter Alyssa, you were always the tender one. It always hurt me to see you cry. When you cared for someone you cared deeply and that is admirable. Never let anyone steal that quality from you. I’ll always remember the 28th of Feb. 1991, it was the saddest day of my life. I waited for you to go to bed and then I just broke down and cried. It seemed my whole life was imploding and there was nothing I could do about it. You got out of bed, crawled up on the couch put my head in your lap and petted my brow and told me it would be alright and that you still loved me. That meant the world to me. I love you very much.
To my daughter Megan, you are my miracle. You weren’t suppose to happen but you are. Stuck in the middle of RJ and Alyssa you bare there best qualities and some of your own. Your witty, wiley, and fun. I have never known quite what to expect from you and I’m never disappointed. I love you very much.
To my son Scotty, thank you for coming back into my life. I was with you the first three years of your life and they were some of the happiest moments I cherish. You were always in my heart. I wanted you so very much that I would have waited indefinitely. It is interesting how all my children have the Miller sense of humor. We are definitely marked. I love you very much.
To the children my precious wife gave me. Jeanie, John and Jason, you were easy to love.
Jeanie and Ronnie you gave me two handsome grandchildren that I love very much. Raise them in the fear and adminition of the Heavenly Father.
Jason, do not forget what I taught you. You have been an exceptionally good son to me and I love you very much.
John make a new start in life based on a relationship with Yahweh. You hit bottom now push upward. This is a whole new beginning. I love you very much.
If I may I want to talk to you about death. Not the tragic deaths of innocent babies and children, nor of those who languish in comas or with advanced disease for years. Rather about a death after a life well-lived. My death. It still seems a tragic loss in your lives. However, for me, death is a natural punctuation point on my life – I like to view it as rather an exclamation point as far as punctuation goes. But I digress.
Now don’t get me wrong, death is no friend. Death is an ugly intruder that tears the soul and body asunder but it can’t touch my spirit. The reality is, we don’t have to be afraid of death. King Messiah YahShua came to “release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage” (Hebrews 2:15).
These words might sound arrogant to those who do not espouse the messianic perspective of a Netzarim. For us, death is but a last enemy we must deal with before our expiration causes us to go though the door through which we pass from the Olam Hezeh (Present World) into the Tabernacle not made with hands into the presence of our Messiash Who currently is ministering as High Priest before the Golden Altar.
“Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto Yahweh who gave it. (Ecclesiastes 12:7)”
“I looked, and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Sheol was following close behind him. They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth. When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the spirits of those who had been slain because of the word of Yahweh and the testimony they had maintained. They called out in a loud voice, “How long, Sovereign King, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?” (Revelation 6:8-10)”
That gives us a unique look into where the dead are and where I am right now. You see, since a disembodied righteous spirit is not allowed to roam around we must go to our next phase of ministry – interceding, albeit in a personal mode, for the manifestation of the Kingdom of Yahweh. We uniquely become part of the concentrated ministry of our High Priest MelechiTzaddik Messiah YahShua.
As you know I believe a righteous man may know the end of his days. So I can tell you, He does nothing without first revealing it to His prophet. I know it was my time to die. “The days of our lives are seventy years; and if by reason of strength they are eighty years, yet their boast is only labor and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away…So teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom” (Psalm 90:10, 12).
It is time for us, as mishpochah, to speak frankly, no I don’t look good, I look dead. “For…the body without the spirit is dead (James 2:26).” And had better not catch one person trying to communicate with me – no body, period! That is necromancy and strictly forbidden by Torah.
I’ve got to tell you this story, you see a minister, a priest and a rabbi were all discussing death. The minister asked ‘When you are in your casket, and friends, family, and congregants are mourning over you, what would you like to hear them say?’ I would like to hear them say that I was a wonderful husband, a fine spiritual leader, and a great family man.
The priest said, ‘I would like to hear that I was a wonderful teacher and mentor who made a huge difference in people’s lives.’
The rabbi replied, ‘I would like to hear them say, ‘Look, he’s moving!’ I know death is a harsh reality, but it is better to endure reality and act through knowledge than to be bop through life by an illusion.
Hear from someone who received a revelation of Who Messiah YahShua is for every Believer: “For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.…Then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: ‘Death is swallowed up in victory. O Death, where is your sting? O Sheol, where is your victory?'” (1 Corinthians 15:53-55).
All my ministry I’ve been preaching about Zion. I am interested in that land because I have held a clear title to a bit of property there for many years. I did not buy it. It was given to me without money and without price. But the donor purchased it for me at a tremendous sacrifice. I am not holding it for speculation since the title is non-transferable. It is not a vacant lot. Since the age of 5 I have been sending material out of which the greatest architect and builder of the universe has been building a home for me, which will never need to be repaired because it will suit me perfectly, individually, and will never grow old. Termites can never undermine its foundation for it rests upon the Rock of Ages. Fire cannot destroy it. Floods cannot wash it away. No locks or bolts will ever be placed upon its doors, for no advesary can ever enter that land where my dwelling stands, now almost completed and ready for me to enter it and abide in peace eternally without fear of being ejected. There just a few more things I must do first. There is a valley of deep shadow between the place where I live and that to which I shall journey in a very short time. I cannot reach my home in the City of Yahweh without passing through the dark valley of shadows. But I am not afraid, because the best friend that I have ever had went through the same valley alone, a long, long, time ago and drove away all the gloom. He has stuck by me through thick and thin since we first met and became acquainted years ago, and I hold His promise in printed form, never to forsake nor to leave me alone. He will be with me as I walk through the valley of shadows, and I shall not lose my way when He is with me.
He has called me to a great prayer meeting in the Heavenlies. There I will intercede for our next mission. Then I will meet you all again as I come galloping to Petra to join you in the Valley of Jehosaphat.
I understand what Rabbi Sha’ul, that the world knows as Paul, was trying to say when he said he was caught between two worlds. “Yes, and I will continue to rejoice, for I know that through your prayers and the help given by the Spirit of Messiah YahShua, what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance. I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Messiah will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Messiah and to die is gain. If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Messiah, which is better by far; but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body. Convinced of this, I know that I will remain, and I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith, so that through my being with you again your joy in Messiah YahShua will overflow on account of me. (Philippians 1:18-26)” That dynamic changed when Yahweh said, it’s time. I could not argue nor complain, it was time. So now I am present in that Great Tabernacle in the Heavenlies enjoying the direct presence of Messiah YahShua – the express image of Yahweh. “For this Elohim is our Elohim for ever and ever: He will be our guide even unto death. (Psalms 48:14)” “Precious in the sight of Yahweh is the death of his saints. (Psalms 116:15)” Let Yahweh be glorified and sanctified throughout the world; let the world become a perfect place soon in YOUR lifetime and let us say: Amien. “[Yahweh] will swallow up death in victory; and the Sovereign Yahweh will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for Yahweh hath spoken it. (Isaiah 25:8)”
The following is a poem my wife Inga “Kitty” Trimm composed to memorialize his passing:
Yeshua and the Two Messiah Theory By James Scott Trimm
In the Book of Matthew, Yochanan sends two of his talmidim to ask Yeshua an important question, the significance of which has been lost on most readers today:
1 And it came to pass, when Yeshua had finished commanding His twelve talmidim, He passed over from there, to teach and to proclaim in their cities. 2 Now Yochanan, when he heard in the prison the deeds of the Messiah, sent two of his talmidim, and said to Him, 3 Are you He that is destined to come, or do we await another? (Mattmew 11:1-3)
Yochanan asks this question because of the “two Messiah theory”. There are two basic versions of the two Messiah theory:
The “rabbinic” two Messiah theory which held to a Messiah the son of Joseph, sometimes called “Ephraim.” who would come and suffer to redeem his brothers (like the patriarch Joseph); and a Messiah the son of David who would come and rule from David’s throne forever.
The “Qumran” two Messiah theory which held to a Priestly Aaronic Messiah and a Kingly Messiah.
The Rabbi’s have always recognized an apparent conflict between certain Messianic passages. For example:
R. Alexandri said: R. Joshua opposed two verses: it is written, And behold, one like the son of man came with the clouds of heaven (Dan. 7:13) whilst [elsewhere] it is written, [behold, thy king cometh unto thee . . . ] lowly, and riding upon an ass! (Zech. 9:9). (b.San. 98a)
The Rabbinic “two Messiah” theory was one of several answers that the Rabbis found for these contradictions. It delegated the lowly, suffering servant passages to Messiah the son of Joseph (sometimes called Ephraim); and the Kingly passages to Messiah the son of David. A good example of the Ephraim Messiah in Rabbinic literature is a Midrash in which the Messiah is being warned by Elohim of what awaits him:
Their sins will be upon you like a yoke of iron. They will choke your spirit. Because of their sins, your toungue will cleave to the roof of your mouth. Do you accept this? If not, I will remove the decree from you.
The Messiah replies: “Master of the worlds, how long will this last?
Elohim replies: “Ephraim, my true Messiah, ever since the six days of creation you have taken this ordeal upon yourself. At this moment, your pain is my pain”
Messiah replies: “Master of the worlds, I accept this with gladness in my soul, and joy in my heart, so that not a single one of the House of Israel should perish. Not only for those alive, but also the dead. It is enough that the servant be like the Master. (Midresh Pesqita Rabbah 36)
Rabbi Dosa (who lived around 250 CE) was a chief advocate of the two Messiah theory. The Talmud records that he taught regarding Zech. 12:10:
What is the cause of the mourning [of Zech. 12:12]–… It is well according to him who explains that the cause is the slaying of Messiah the son of Joseph, since that well agrees with the Scriptural verse: And they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, And they shall mourn for him as one mourns for his only son. (Zech. 12:10) (b.Sukkot 52a)
And the Qumran community also believed in two Messiahs:
They shall govern themselves using the original precepts by which the men of the YAHAD began to be instructed, doing so until there come the Prophet and the Messiahs of Aaron and Israel. (Manual of Discipline 1Qs Col. 9 lines 10-11)
Two Messiahs are also evident in 1QSa, 1Q28a where the two Messiahs are pictured at a future Messianic banquet table.
It has been stated in recent years that the two Messiah theory did not exist in the first century. These theorists claim that a “suffering servant” Messiah who dies was invented to get Bar Kokhba off the hook. However the Talmud tells us that Bar Kokhba failed, not because he was a suffering servant Messiah, but because he was not a Messiah of any kind whatsoever. Moreover First century sources attest to both the idea of a suffering servant Messiah and the two Messiah theory.
The earliest sources for the two Messiah theory are the Dead Sea Scrolls and Targum Jonathan. Targum Jonathan identifies the pierced one of Zech. 12:10 as the “Messiah son of Ephraim.” Targum Jonathan was supposed to have been written in the first century by Jonathan ben Uziel the student of Hillel. Another question that arises is, can the priestly Messiah of the Qumran community be identified with the suffering servant Messiah? The answer is, I believe, yes. The critical clue lies in the way that the Dead Sea Scrolls use Is. 61:1-4.
One document among the scrolls (11Q13) applies Is. 61:1-3 to a priestly eschatological figure who is called “Melchizadek” the document then speaks of a “Messiah” who is called the one “anointed of the spirit” (Is. 61:1) and to whom Is. 62:2 is also applied. This “Messiah” is identified as the figure spoken of in Is, 52:7 and as the Messiah who is “cut-off” in Dan. 9:26. This implies a connection to the suffering servant in Is. 53 who is also cut-off. A final clue is found in 4Q521 which also applies Is. 61:1 to the Messiah and which closely parallels Mt. 11:5 (which will become important later).
Finally, was there to be two Messiahs or one Messiah? There does seem to have been confusion on this issue. While 1QS 9:10-11 refers to the “Messiahs of Levi and Israel” The Damascus Document three times refers to the “Messiah of Levi and Israel” (12:23; 14:19; 19:10) was there a question as to whether these would be two Messiahs or one?
A tradition found in Midrash Rabbah may provide the answer:
Like Moses, Messiah will be revealed, then hidden, then revealed again. (Bamidbar Rabbah 11:2)
The Zohar also seems to allude to the fact that the “two Messiahs” are actually combined into a single Messiah. The Zohar says:
This is also hinted at in the verse “the scepter shall not depart from Judah nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet”, “the scepter” referring to the Messiah of the house of Judah, and “the staff” to the Messiah of the house of Joseph. (Zohar 1:25b)
Here the Zohar alludes to Gen. 49:10 obviously in light of Ezekiel 37 where two sticks represent the two houses of Israel and become one stick. The Zohar is clearly identifying these with the scepter and the staff from Gen. 49:10 and thus indicating that in reality these “two Messiahs” are one.
So when Yochanan asks of Yeshua “Are you He that is destined to come, or do we await another?” he was asking if there would be one Messiah or two. Yochanan knew Yeshua was the “lamb”, the servant of Isaiah 53 (John 1:29, 36). His question was, would Yeshua also fulfill the role of Messiah Ben David, or would there be another?
Yeshua responded by citing several prophecies related to the Messiah Ben David, assuring Yochanan that he was Messiah Ben David as well (Matthew 11:4-5)
We need your help today!!!
I want to thank all of you supporting this work. I literally could not do it without you!
This work takes hours of my time. As many of you know, my wife is very ill, and I spend most of my time at home as her caretaker. I work at a desk less than six feet from her bed. So I am in a position to dedicate many hours to this important work that I have been directed to do.
But I also realize that it is not the activity of James Trimm alone who is responsible to do this work, it is all of us together who are charged with the responsibility of accomplishing this work. I very much look on the efforts of this restoration work as a cooperative one with each one of you. We are all joint heirs with Messiah and should always be about our Father’s business. I am honored to be able to be partnered with truth seekers as this restoration of Scripture moves forward in fulfillment of prophecy.
Donations can be sent by Paypal to donations@wnae.org
A major prophetic event that the Scriptures state will occur before the return of Messiah, is just about ready to occur, in fact it is happening right now!
… but in the land of their captivities they shall remember themselves. And shall know that I am YHWH their Elohim: for I will give them a heart, and ears to hear: And they shall praise me in the land of their captivity, and think upon my name, And return from their stiff neck, and from their wicked deeds: for they shall remember the way of their fathers, which sinned before YHWH. And I will bring them again into the land which I promised with an oath unto their fathers, Avraham, Yitzchak, and Ya’akov, and they shall be masters of it: and I will increase them, and they shall not be diminished. And I will make an everlasting covenant with them to be their Elohim, and they shall be my people: and I will no more drive my people of Israel out of the land that I have given them. (Barukh (Baruch) 2:30-35)
Romans 11 discusses this stage of the restoration, but it also tells us that an even more powerful stage will involve Judah being grafted back into its own olive tree:
And if their stumbling became riches for the world, and their loss, riches to the Goyim:how much more therefore,their fullness? (Rom. 11:12 HRV)
For if their reprobation was reconciliation to the world, how much more therefore,their return, but life that is from among the dead? (Rom. 11:15 HRV)
23 And those, if they do not remain in their lack of trust, also will be grafted in: for Eloahis able to graft them in again. 24 For if you, who are from the olive [tree] that was wild by your nature, were cut off andwere grafted–contrary to your nature–into the good olive [tree], how much more then,those, if they be grafted in their natural olive [tree]? (Rom. 11:23-24 HRV)
Paul says here: You think the restoration of Ephraim is great, wait until you see the restoration of Judah!
That is what this restoration work is about, not just the grafting in of Ephraim (although that is part of it) but the restoration of Judah, the restoration of the ancient sect of Nazarene Judaism, the original Jewish followers!
This restoration is upon us. Even as the Churches continue to proclaim a “Jesus” that frees them from the “bondage” of the Torah.
Yes the Churches will continue to teach a Torah-less “Jesus” who came to “free you from the bondage of the Law”, but truth seekers are learning that the Torah is truth, that the true Messiah, Yeshua, is that Torah truth incarnate and that the Torah is not bondage, but will set you free!
I am honored to be able to be partnered with truth seekers as this restoration of Nazarene Judaism moves forward in fulfillment of prophecy.
It is you who make this restoration work possible. I realize that it is not the activity of James Trimm alone (in my quest to teach Torah and Messiah to a lost world with all the vigor and enthusiasm I can muster) who is responsible to do this work, it is all of us together who are charged with the responsibility of accomplishing this work. I very much look on my efforts as a cooperative one with each one of you. We are all joint heirs with Messiah and should always be about our Father’s business in teaching the Torah and the Messiah (and the Messiah is the Word, the Living Torah) to this lost world.
We need your help today! We must raise at least $500 by the end of the day tomorrow, or our account will go into the negative!
I want to thank all of you supporting this work. I literally could not do it without you!
This work takes hours of my time. As many of you know, my wife is very ill, and I spend most of my time at home as her caretaker. I work at a desk less than six feet from her bed. So I am in a position to dedicate many hours to this important work that I have been directed to do.
But I also realize that it is not the activity of James Trimm alone who is responsible to do this work, it is all of us together who are charged with the responsibility of accomplishing this work. I very much look on the efforts of this restoration work as a cooperative one with each one of you. We are all joint heirs with Messiah and should always be about our Father’s business. I am honored to be able to be partnered with truth seekers as this restoration of Scripture moves forward in fulfillment of prophecy.
Donations can be sent by Paypal to donations@wnae.org.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Cookie settingsACCEPT
Privacy & Cookies Policy
Privacy Overview
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.