NazareneSpace Blog

The Two Qualities of the Last Days Remnant

So many these days are concerning themselves with questions about the mark of the Beast and the Number of the Beast. But lets see what the Scriptures tell us about the Last Days Remnant. In the Book of Revelation, we read about a great war in heaven and HaSatan and his angels were cast to the earth:

2 And [she was] with child, and crying and laboring in childbirth, also being in pain to bring forth.
3 And another sign was seen in heaven. And behold, [there was] a great dragon of fire, that had seven heads, and ten horns, and seven crowns, upon its head.
4 And its tail drew away, a third of the stars that were in heaven, and cast them upon the earth. And the dragon was standing before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she gave birth, he could devour her Son.
5 And she gave birth to a male child,2036 who was about to rule all the nations with a rod of iron: and her Son was caught up to Eloah, and to His throne.
6 And the woman fled to the wilderness, where she had a place that was prepared by Eloah: that they should nourish her [for] one thousand, two hundred, sixty days.
7 And there was war in heaven: and Mikha’el and his angels were fighting with the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought,
8 And they did not prevail, and no place was found for them in heaven.
9 And the great dragon was cast out–that head serpent who is called, Akel Kartza and HaSatan–who deceived the whole earth: and he was cast out upon the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
10 And I heard a great voice from heaven saying, Behold, there is deliverance, and power, and the Kingdom of our Eloah: for the accuser of our brothers is cast out, who accused them night and day before our Eloah.
11 And they overcame, by the blood of the Lamb, and through the word of His testimony: and they did not love their own nefeshot, even unto death.
(Rev. 12:1-11 HRV)

Having been defeated by two key factors: “by the blood of the Lamb, and through the word of His testimony” (Rev. 12:11) HaSatan persecutes the woman and wages war with “the remnant of her seed” who have two key qualities ” they “keep the commandments of Eloah and have the testimony of Yeshua.” (Rev. 12:17):

12 Because of this, rejoice O heavens, and those who dwell in them. Woe to the earth and to the sea, because the Akel Kartza, who has great fury, has come down to them, while knowing that the time is short for him.
13 And when the dragon saw that he was cast upon the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male child.
14 And two wings of a great eagle were given to the woman, that she might fly to the wilderness to her place: to be fed there [for] a time, times, and half of a time, from before the face of the serpent.
15 And the serpent cast water, as a river, out of his mouth after the woman, that the water might cause her to be carried away.
16 And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed the river, that the dragon cast out of its mouth.
17 And the dragon was angry concerning the woman, and he went to wage war with the remnant of her seed–those who keep the commandments of Eloah and have the testimony of Yeshua.
(Rev. 12:12-17 HRV)

Then we read in the next chapter:

7 And it was given to him, to wage war with the Set-Apart [ones] and to overcome them: and authority was given to him over all the tribes, and peoples, and tongues, and nations.
8 And all the inhabitants of the earth will worship him–those who are not written in the book of Life (which is of the slain Lamb)–before the foundations of the world.
9 Whoever has ears let him hear.
10 Whoever leads into captivity, goes into captivity: and whoever kills with the sword, will be killed by the sword. Here is the Trust and the patience of the Set- Apart-Ones.
(Rev. 13:7-10 HRV)

And what is this “patience of the Set-Apart-Ones?” (Rev. 13:10) That question is answered in the very next chapter:

9 And another–the third angel, followed them, saying with a great voice, Whoever worshiped the beast and his image, and took his mark between his eyes:
10 Will also drink of the wine of the wrath of YHWH, that is poured without mixture into the cup of His anger. And he will be tormented with fire and with sulfur, before the Set-Apart angels, and before the Lamb,
11 And the smoke of their torment will rise forever and ever. And they will not have rest day and night–those who were worshiping the beast and his image, and who took the mark of his name.
12 Here is the patience of the Set-Apart-ones who keep the commandments of Eloah, and the Trust of Yeshua.
13 And I heard a voice from heaven saying, Write, Blessed [are] the dead who depart in our Adon from now on. Yes, says the Spirit, because they will rest from their labors.
(Rev. 14:9-13 HRV)

The patience of the Set-Apart Ones is that they “keep the commandments of Eloah, and the Trust of Yeshua.” (Rev. 14:12 HRV). This leads to their ultimate victory in the next chapter:

1 And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous–angels who had the last seven plagues, in which are completed the wrath of Eloah.
2 And I saw as it were, a sea of glass mingled with fire: and those who were innocent from the beast, and from his image, and from the number of his name, were standing on top of the sea of glass, and they had the harps of Eloah.
3 And they were singing the song of Moshe— the servant of Eloah, and the song of the Lamb, and saying, Great and marvelous [are] Your works, Adonai YHWH Almighty; just and true [are] your works, King of the ages.
(Rev. 15:1-3 HRV)

They were Torah observant, they kept the commandments, they were singing “the Song of Moses” (Rev. 15:3) and they were believers in Yeshua as the Messiah, they were also singing “the Song of the Lamb”.

Notice that throughout these chapters (12-15) we read that this victorious last days remnant have two qualities, repeated in various terms: They are Torah Observant and they are believer in Yeshua as the Messiah!

These are precisely they two qualities which the so-called “Church Fathers” ascribed to the ancient Jewish sect of the Nazarenes:

The “church father” Jerome (4th Cent.) described these Nazarenes as those “…who accept Messiah in such a way that they do not cease to observe the old Law.” (Jerome; On. Is. 8:14).

And the “Church Father” Epiphanius (4th Cent.) wrote of the Nazarenes:

But these sectarians… did not call themselves Christians–but “Nazarenes,” … However they are simply complete Jews. They use not only the New Testament but the Old Testament as well, as the Jews do… They have no different ideas, but confess everything exactly as the Law proclaims it and in the Jewish fashion– except for their belief in Messiah, if you please! For they acknowledge both the resurrection of the dead and the divine creation of all things, and declare that God is one, and that his son is Yeshua the Messiah. They are trained to a nicety in Hebrew. For among them the entire Law, the Prophets, and the… Writings… are read in Hebrew, as they surely are by the Jews. They are different from the Jews, and different from Christians, only in the following. They disagree with Jews because they have come to faith in Messiah; but since they are still fettered by the Law–circumcision, the Sabbath, and the rest– they are not in accord with Christians…. they are nothing but Jews…. They have the Goodnews according to Matthew in its entirety in Hebrew. For it is clear that they still preserve this, in the Hebrew alphabet, as it was originally written.
(Epiphanius; Panarion 29)

So many these days are speculating about the identity of the Beast. So many are worried about identifying the mark of the beast and/or the number of the Beast. If you want to know the significance of the number of the Beast, you can read my recent blog on this number. But what you should really be concerning themselves with, is are you part of this victorious remnant? Are you Torah Observant and a believer in Yeshua as the Messiah? Are you part of the last days restoration of Nazarene Judaism?

A great restoration is taking place today, and I want to invite all of you to be part of it. Congregations and home groups are meeting all over the world, in places like Belgium, Australia, Brazil etc. If you have a Nazarene Congregation or home study please let us know, so we can all be connected.

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Go Forth!

Go Forth!
By
Rabbi Robert O. Miller

“…you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. (Acts 1:8)”

אֲבָל תִּתְאַזְּרוּ עֹז כְּנֹחַ עֲלֵיכֶם רוּחַ הַקֹּדֶשׁ וִהְיִיתֶם עֵדַי בִּירוּשָׁלַיִם וּבְכָל־יְהוּדָה וּבְשֹׁמְרוֹן וְעַד־קְצֵה הָאָרֶץ׃

This was accomplished 10 days later when Shavu’ot had fully arrived.

“All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. (Acts 2:4)”

“The whirlwind and the chariots of fire that marked the Elijah story became the mighty rushing wind and the tongues of fire in the Pentecost story…Elijah was able to pour a double portion of his…spirit on his single disciple. The ascended [YahShua] could pour the infinite power of [Yahweh’s] Holy Sprit on the entire gathered community of believers.” (John Shelby Spong, Liberating the Gospels, p. 318)

Why were we to be filled with the Ruach HaKodesh – the Holy Spirit? Messiah YahShua said to “be my witnesses… to the ends of the earth.” Why was it important for us to go “to the ends of the earth”? To sift Israel from the nations.

“For, lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, like as corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth. (Amos 9:9)”

Our Messiah commanded His disciples to “Go…to the lost sheep of Israel. (Matthew 10:6)” Notice they did not say, “But Rabbi no one knows where they are!”The disciples expressed no difficulty with the commission given to them.

“These twelve Rebbe YahShua sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: but go rather to the lost sheep of the House of Israel. And as ye go, preach, saying, The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. (Matthew 10:5-7)”

“…Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, immersing them in the name of the Father, by authority of the Son through the inspiration of the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit), teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you, and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age. (Matthew 28:19)”

Symbolic of this, Rabbi Silas in his Book of Acts, makes careful mention of the representatives of those “lost sheep of Israel.”

“Now there were staying in Jerusalem Yahweh-fearing Jews from every nation under Heaven. When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. Utterly amazed, they asked: ‘Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language? Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts to Judaism, Cretans and Arabs) —we hear them declaring the wonders of Yahweh in our own tongues!’ Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, ‘What does this mean?’ (Acts 2:5-12)”

“The leaders of the exaltation possess tongues of knowledge [so as] to bless the Elohim of knowledge for all His glorious works.” – Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice, 4Q405 Frag. 23 2.12

They understood the experience of “speaking in tongues” as given to Elders and Sages, as we see in Numbers 11:24, 25: “So Moses…brought together seventy of their elders and had them stand around the Tabernacle. Then Yahweh came down in the cloud and spoke with him, and he took of the Spirit that was on him and put the Spirit on the seventy elders. When the Spirit rested on them, they ‘il sof’ (אל סוף incomprehensibly spoke), and they could not stop.” But they could not understand what these 120 disciples of the Netzarim Sect were doing, so Rabbi Kepha explained: “Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say. These men are not drunk, as you suppose. It’s only nine in the morning! No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: ‘In the last days, Yahweh says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy. I will show wonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious Day of Yahweh. And everyone who calls on the name of Yahweh will be saved. (Joel 2:28-32)‘ (Acts 2:14-21)”

Rabbi Kepha has just announced to Judaism that the Prophetic Time Clock had just started ticking – the Last Days had begun. Time was rushing to the Endtimes – the Day of Yahweh.

“’Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: Yahweh has made this YahShua, whom you crucified, both King and Messiah.’

When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Rabbi Kepha and the other apostles, ‘Brothers, what shall we do?’

Rabbi Kepha replied, ‘Teshuvah (turn around) and be immersed, every one of you, in the name of Messiah YahShua for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom Yahweh our Elohim will call.’

With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, ‘Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.’ Those who accepted his message were immersed, and about three thousand were added to their number that day. Acts 2:36-41)”

Rabbi Kepha saw this as the beginning of the fulfillment of Ezekiel’s vision of “Two Sticks.”

“The word of Yahweh came to me: ‘Son of man, take a stick of wood and write on it, “Belonging to Judah and the Israelites associated with him and his companions.’ Then take another stick of wood, and write on it, ‘Ephraim’s stick, belonging to Joseph and all the house of Israel associated with him and his companions.’ Join them together into one stick so that they will become one in your hand.

When your countrymen ask you, ‘Won’t you tell us what you mean by this?’ say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Yahweh says: I am going to take the stick of Joseph—which is in Ephraim’s hand—and of the Israelite tribes associated with him, and join it to Judah’s stick, making them a single stick of wood, and they will become one in my hand.’ Hold before their eyes the sticks you have written on and say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Yahweh says: I will take the Israelites out of the nations where they have gone. I will gather them from all around and bring them back into their own land. I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel. There will be one king over all of them and they will never again be two nations or be divided into two kingdoms. They will no longer defile themselves with their idols and vile images or with any of their offenses, for I will save them from all their sinful backsliding, and I will cleanse them. They will be my people, and I will be their Elohim.

‘My servant David will be king over them, and they will all have one shepherd. They will follow my laws and be careful to keep my decrees. They will live in the land I gave to my servant Jacob, the land where your fathers lived. They and their children and their children’s children will live there forever, and David my servant will be their prince forever. I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant. I will establish them and increase their numbers, and I will put my Sanctuary among them forever. My dwelling place will be with them; I will be their Elohim, and they will be my people. Then the nations will know that I Yahweh make Israel holy, when my Sanctuary is among them forever.’ (Ezekiel 37:15-28)”

Who are these “companions” Yahweh is talking about? They are Gentile converts.

“They are to atone for all those in A’aron who volunteer for holiness, and for those in Israel who belong to truth, and for Gentile proselytes who join them in community.” – Community Rule 1QS 5.6

“In the story of the Tower of Babel (Gen. 11:1-9), “the divisions in the human family created by human brokenness destroyed the human attempt to build a tower…The symbol of that division was the confusion of languages. Now…in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the human family was invited anew into [Yahweh].” (John Shelby Spong, Liberating the Gospels, p. 319)

As they came into the Community – the Commonwealth of Israel – they left their old identity at the door. They were now Israelites purchased by King Messiah YahShua’s precious blood. The first step to citizenship was to become a Ger Toshav – the returning Gentile. What is expected from him? Rabbi Yakkov (James) said this: “It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to Yahweh. Instead we should write to them, telling them to abstain from uncleanliness, idolatry, from sexual immorality, from the strangled meat of animals and from blood. For Moses has been preached in every city from the earliest times and is read in the Synagogues on every Sabbath. (Acts 15:19-21)”

Was this just his opinion? No, for Rabbi Sha’ul stated who the true author of this opinion was: “It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond the following requirements. (Acts 15:28)”

The next step to citizenship was to become a Ger ha-Shaar – the Gentile at the Gate. He wants to enter a little further. He is called a Yah-fearer. “At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion in what was known as the Italian Regiment. He and all his family were devout and Yah-fearing; he gave generously to those in need and prayed to Yahweh regularly. One day at about three in the afternoon he had a vision. He distinctly saw an Angel of Yahweh, who came to him and said, ‘Cornelius!’

Cornelius stared at him in fear. ‘What is it, Sir?’ he asked.

The angel answered, ‘Your prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before Yahweh. Now send men to Joppa to bring back a man named Shimon who is called Kepha. He is staying with Shimon the Tanner, whose house is by the sea.’ (Acts 10:1-6)”

The last step to citizenship was to become a Ger Tzaddik – the Righteous Gentile. He is fully taken on the identity of being an Israelite. Like Ruth who ceased being a Moabite who were forbidden from included, to being an Israelite of promise. She said, “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your Elohim my Elohim. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May Yahweh deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me. (Ruth 1:16, 17)”

This is what Rabbi Sha’ul is talking about: “And you (Gentiles) He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins,in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience,among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.

But Yahweh, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Messiah …and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Messiah YahShua,that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Messiah YahShua.For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of Yahweh,not of works, lest anyone should boast.For we are His workmanship, created in Messiah YahShua for good works, which Yahweh prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh–who are called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands–that at that time you were without Messiah, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without Yahweh in the world. But now in Messiah YahShua you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Messiah. (Ephesians 2:1-13)”

Once you’ve made a choice to come on into the Kingdom there shall be one law for all: “And when a stranger dwells with you and wants to keep the Passover to Yahweh, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and keep it; and he shall be as a native of the land. For no uncircumcised person shall eat it. One law shall be for the native-born and for the stranger who dwells among you. Thus all the children of Israel did; as Yahweh commanded… (Exodus 12:48-50)”

“You shall have the same law for the stranger and for one from your own country; for I am Yahweh your Elohim. (Leviticus 24:22)”

Yahweh poured out His Spirit on the Gentile Converts:

“And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Rabbi Kepha, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Spirit for they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify Yahweh. Then answered Rabbi Kepha, can any man forbid water, that these should not be immersed, which have received the Holy Spirit as well as we? And he commanded them to be immersed in the name of Yahweh. Then prayed they him to tarry certain days. (Acts 10:45-48)”

Now King Messiah YahShua had ordained Rav Yakkov HaTzaddik (James the Just, His brother) to succeed Him in the leadership of the Netzarim Movement. He had also been made Nassi (President) of the Sanhedrin of 70 Elders.

“The disciples said to YahShua, ‘We know that you are going to leave us. Who will be our leader?’
YahShua said to them, ‘No matter where you are, you are to go to Yakkov HaTzaddik, for whose sake heaven and earth came into being.‘ (Thomas Logion 12)”

“Control of the ‘Called Out Ones’ passed to the apostles, together with the Lord’s brother James , whom everyone … has called the Righteous…”- Eusebius (quoting Hegesippus, an early second century Jewish Christian writer), Ecclesiastical History, 2.23

Rav Yakkov also saw all this as a fulfillment of Ezekiel’s and Amos’ prophecy: “Brothers, listen to me. Rabbi Shimonhas described to us how Yahweh at first showed his concern by taking from the Gentiles a people for himself. The words of the prophets are in agreement with this, as it is written: ‘After this I will return and rebuild David’s fallen Tabernacle. Its ruins I will rebuild, and I will restore it, that the remnant of men may seek Yahweh, and all the Gentiles who bear my name, says Yahweh, who does these things (Amos 9:11, 12)‘ that have been known for ages. (Acts 15:13-18)”

We have been told by old belief systems that Messiah YahShua chose the twelve talmidim (disciples), ordained them apostles, sent them to preach to the Jews, when they, rejected that message, they turned to the Gentiles replacing the Jews but nothing could be further from the truth. Rav Yakkov sees the Gentiles coming in as a sign that Yahweh is gathering Israel from the nations.

Even in his first official letter, Rabbi Yakkov Ha Tzaddik, the brother of our Messiah and leader of the Messianic Movement of the Netzarim addressed his it: “Yakkov, a servant of Yahweh and of King Messiah YahShua, to the twelve tribes scattered among the nations…(James 1:1)” This letter is not addressed to the Gentiles. It is not addressed exclusively to the Jews. It is addressed to all the Tribes of Israel!

Rabbi Kepha, one of our Messiah’s most trusted talmidim described himself as: “Kepha, an apostle of Messiah YahShua, (sent) to Yahweh’s elect, strangers in the world, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia” (1 Peter 1:1)” The word “strangers” used here does not mean Gentiles. The original Greek is “parepidemos”. It means literally, “an alien alongside,” “a resident alien ” living “throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia” He wrote this letter from Babylon, which at the time was under the rule of the Parthian Empire! Abraham, as you remember from Scripture, was a stranger, an alien, when he lived among the Canaanite Gentiles. Rabbi Kepha was addressing part of the lost ten tribes who dwelt among the Gentiles as aliens or strangers. Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia are all located in the northern half of Asia Minor in modern Turkey. These lands lay immediately west of the Parthian Empire!

Rabbi Sha’ul was chosen by Messiah to be His “chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel. (Acts 9:15)” Rabbi Sha’ul spent his years in ministry in the southern, half of Asia Minor and Europe. “Yea, so have I strived to preach the Full Messianic Message, not where Messiah was named, lest I should build upon another man’s foundation” (Romans 15:20). Not preaching in the areas where Rabbi Kepha and others of the Talmidim had carried the Full Messianic Message. Remember, Rabbi Sha’ul was forbidden by the Spirit to preach in Bithynia. “After they (Rabbi Sha’ul and his companions) were come to Mysia, they assayed to go into Bithynia: but the Spirit suffered [permitted] them not. And they passing by Mysia came down to Troas” (Acts 16:7, 8).

With Rabbi Sha’ul’s arrival in Rome he went first seeking the Israelites: “[The Israelites at Rome] replied, “We have not received any letters from Judea concerning you, and none of the brothers who have come from there has reported or said anything bad about you. But we want to hear what your views are, for we know that people everywhere are talking against this sect.” They arranged to meet Rabbi Sha’ul on a certain day, and came in even larger numbers to the place where he was staying. From morning till evening he explained and declared to them the Kingdom of Yahweh and tried to convince them about YahShua from the Torah of Moses and from the Naviim (Prophets). (Acts 28:21-23)”

After Rome, Rabbi Sha’ul continued to preach the Full Messianic Message to the nations looking for “Lost Israel.” “Rabbi Sha’ul, full of the blessings of Messiah, and abounding in the Spirit, departed out of Rome, determining to go into Spain, for he had a long time proposed to journey thitherward, and was minded also to go from thence to Britain. For he had heard in Phoenicia that certain of the children of Israel, about the time of the Assyrian captivity, had escaped by sea to “The Isles afar off” as spoken be the Prophet [Ezra], and called by the Romans – Britain. And the King commanded the Full Messianic Message to be preached far hence to the Gentiles [nations], and to the lost sheep of the House of Israel. (Act 9:15, 22:21) And no man hindered Rabbi Sha’ul…(Acts 29:1-4)” Rabbi Sha’ul’s commission, after he revealed Messiah to the kings and rulers at Rome, was to bear the name of King Messiah YahShua to the “children of Israel” (Acts 9: 15)

The Catholic Historian Eusebius, in his third book of “Evangelical Demonstrations”, chapter 7, admitted that the apostles “passed over to those which are called the British Isles.”

William Camden in his book “Remains of Britain” written in 1674 said: “The true Christian Religion (Messianic Faith) was planted here most anciently by Joseph of Arimathea, Simon Zelotes, Aristobulus, by St. Peter, and St. Paul, as may be proved by Dorotheus, Theodoretus and Sophronius.” He said this in contention that the religion of the day had been hijacked by paganism.

Rabbi Adam (Andrew) according to Cave’s “Antiquitates Apostolicae” went into “Scythia and the neighboring countries primarily allotted him for his province. First then he travelled through Cappadocia, (Upper) Galatia and Bithynia, and instructed them in the faith of Messiah, passing all along the [Black Sea]… and so into the solitude of Scythia.” Rabbi Adam preached to the very area in Asia Minor which Rabbi Sha’ul had bypassed.

Rabbi Yakkov haKatan (James the Lesser) preached in Spain where he planted the [Faith]” (Cave’s “Antiquitates Apostolicae”).

Rabbi MattenYahu (Matthew) according to Metaphrastes: “went first into Parthia, and having successfully planted [the Messianic Faith] in those parts, thence travelled to Aethiopia, that is, the Asiatic Aethiopia, lying near India” slightly east of the area where the Assyrians settled the Israelite captives.

Rabbi Thomas journeyed into Northwest India to whom the Greeks called the “Nephthalite Huns.”

Rabbi Bartholomew also spent part of his time in neighboring Armenia and a portion of Upper Phrygia in Asia Minor.

Rabbi YaHudah ministered in Assyria and Mesopotamia which at that time were part of Parthia which Josephus designated as still inhabited by the Ten Tribes.

Remember, Rabbi Yakkov HaTzaddik referred to Israel as “scattered among the nations” and that is exactly where we have found them. I am reminded of the witnesses of the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) being poured out on the Talmidim on Shavuot (Feast of Pentecost): “Utterly amazed, they asked: “Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language? Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts to Judaism Cretans and Arabs) —we hear them declaring the wonders of Yahweh in our own tongues!” Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?” (Acts 2:7-12)”

What was Rabbi Kepha’s response: “…this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: ‘In the last days, Yahweh says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy. I will show wonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of Yahweh. And everyone who calls on the name of Yahweh will be saved. (Joel 2:28-32)‘Men of Israel, listen to this… (Acts 2:16-22)”

We have been gifted: “…receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses (Acts 1:8)”

One thing the Holy Spirit will do for you is to allow to discern whether you are speaking to an Israelite or a Gentile. For the Israelite all you have to do is reveal the Kingdom to them and they’ll embrace it if they are not wicked. With the Gentile, you have to build a relationship with them before you can ever witness the Kingdom to them.

We have been commanded:“…this full Messianic message of the Kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come. (Matthew 24:14)”

“…ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Spirit is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. (Acts 1:8)”

It is our responsibility to get this message out: “How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring the full message! (Isaiah 52:7)” (Romans 10:14,15)”

You have been sent: “…to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And as ye go, preach, saying, The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. (Matthew 10:5-7)”

This is our responsibility; this is our commandment; this is our commission; and this is our message.

“…you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light (1 Peter 2:9).”

Originally written by Rabbi Robert O. Miller on August 8th 2007
(Robert Owen Miller 1957-2021)

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Depart From Me, All You Workers of Torahlessness!

Depart From Me, All You Workers of Torahlessness!
By
James Scott Trimm

We read in Matthew:

13 Enter you in by the narrow gate: for wide is the gate, and wide the way, that leads to destruction, and many there be that go there.
14 How narrow is the gate, and narrow the Way, which leads to Life: and few there be that find it.
15 Be warned of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s garments: but beneath their garment they are <as full of deceit> as ravening wolves.
16 But by their fruits you will recognize them. Are grape clusters gathered from thorns, or figs from thistles?
17 Even so every good tree yields good fruit, but every bad tree yields bad fruit.
18 A good tree cannot yield bad fruit; neither can a bad tree yield good fruit.
19 But indeed, every tree that yields not good fruit is cut down, and cast into the fire.
20 And you, by their fruit, you will know them.
21 Not everyone that says to Me, Adonai, Adonai, will enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. But he that does the will of My Father, which is in heaven–the same will enter with Me, into the Kingdom of Heaven.
22 Many will say to Me in that day, Adonai, Adonai! Did we not eat and drink in your Name: and have we not prophesied in your Name, and in your Name have cast out shadim: and in your Name done many powerful works?
23 And then will I profess to them, that I know them not Depart from Me, all you workers of Torah-less-ness.
(Matt. 7:13-23 HRV)

Some Greek manuscripts contain a marginal note to Mt. 7:21-23 which reads “The Judaikon [Jewish version] has here:

If you are in my bosom and do not the will of my Father which is in heaven,
out of my bosom will I cast you away.

The “Church Father” Clement (early 2nd cent.) seems to support such a reading. He writes:

The Lord has said “Though you should be joined to me, even in my very bosom andkeep not my commandments, I would cast you off, and say to you, ‘Depart from me; I know not who you are, you workers of iniquity.”
(2Clement 4:5 (2:15 some editions))

So here we read that the true path is a narrow one that few people find (obviously not Christianity, which is the world’s largest religion). We read of false prophets who pretend to be sheep, but are actually wolves. We are told that true believers will be known by their actual fruits. Finally we are told that there are a group of believers who will be on the earth at the time of Messiah’s return and the last day’s judgment who believe that follow Him, but whom he does not know!

The Greek word which I translated “Torah-less-ness” (Mt. 5:23) is ANOMOS. NOMOS is made up of the Greek prefix A- (there is not/without) with the Greek word NOMOS (Torah). ANOMOS means “without Torah” or “Torah-lessness.”

We are told that these people call upon the “Lord” (Adonai), they eat and drink [the bread and the wine] in His Name. They even prophecy, cast out demons and perform miracles in His name, and yet on the last day He says “I know them not Depart from Me, all you workers of Torah-less-ness” and even “out of my bosom will I cast you away.”

You have Turned Aside from My Ordinances

The prophet Malachi speaks of the return of the Messiah to judge the earth as follows:

1 Behold, I send My messenger, and he shall clear the way before Me: and the Adon whom you seek, will suddenly come to His Temple. And the messenger of the covenant, whom you delight in: behold, he comes says YHWH Tzva’ot.
2 But who may abide the day of his coming? And who shall stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner’s fire, and like fullers’ soap.
3 And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver. And there shall be they, that shall offer unto YHWH, offerings in righteousness.
4 Then shall the offering of Y’hudah and Yerushalayim be pleasant unto YHWH: as in the days of old, and as in ancient years.
5 And I will come near to you to judgment: and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages; the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not Me, says YHWH Tzva’ot.
6 For I YHWH change not! And you, O sons of Ya’akov, are not consumed.
(Malachi 3:1-6 HRV)

The Prophet Malachi tells us about a very interesting group among the “workers of Torah-less-ness” which Yeshua finds upon his return:

7 From the days of your fathers, you have turned aside from My ordinances, and have not kept them. Return unto Me, and I will return unto you, says YHWH Tzva’ot. But you say, Wherein shall we return?
(Malachi 3:7 HRV)

Here we have a group among these “workers of Torah-less-ness” who believed they were Torah Observant even though they are not! They are surprised to be counted among the “workers of Torahlessness” because they thought they were Torah observant, yet they are among the “workers of Torahlessness” to whom Messiah says “If you are in my bosom and do not the will of my Father which is in heaven, out of my bosom will I cast you away.” So they ask Messiah “Wherin shall we return?”, they are confused and want to know in what way they have rejected the Torah. And Messiah answers them saying:

8 Will a man rob Elohim? Yet you rob Me. But you say, Wherein have we robbed You? In tithes and heave-offerings.
(Malachi 3:8 HRV)

Wherin Have We Robbed You?

So here we are told that when Messiah returns in the last days, he will not only encounter a groups of “workers of Torahlessness” that openly taught that the Torah is not for today and rejected the Torah as bondage, but He will also find believers who believed they were Torah observant but were robbing YHWH by stealing His Tithe. The Tithe is not a gift, the tithe already belongs to YHWH (Lev. 27:30). No one in the Scriptures ever GIVES the tithe, they always PAY the tithe.

Here the Scriptures give us an amazing prophecy that in the last days, in the Torah Observant movement, there would be an attack on the Torah from within, from those who seek to subtract the Tithe from the Torah and replace the true Torah of YHWH with their own modified Torah. Of course the Torah tells us that we must not subtract form it:

2 You shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall you diminish from it, that you may keep the commandments of YHWH your Elohim which I command you.
(Deut. 4:2 HRV)

1 (12:32) All this word which I command you, that shall you observe to do; you shall not add thereto nor diminish from it.
(Deut. 12:32 (13:1) HRV)

We are told that those who subtract commandments from the Torah are to be rejected as false prophets (Deut. 13:1-8).

This is why Yeshua warned in Matthew 7:15 that these Torah-less-ones are misled by “false prophets” who present themselves as sheep, but are actually wolves.

15 Be warned of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s garments: but beneath their garment they are <as full of deceit> as ravening wolves.
(Matt. 7:15 HRV)

Specifically Malachi 3 is telling us that in the last days there would be workers of Torahlessness who profess Torah observance, but have subtracted the commandment of the Tithe of YHWH from the Torah, and have instead professed their own modified Torah in place of YHWH’s Torah.

This is an amazing prophecy that some in the last days would seem to teach that the Torah is for today, but would also teach that the tithe, for one reason or another, no longer needs to be paid.

To these Messiah says:

9 You are cursed with the curse: yet you rob Me, even this whole nation.

These are counted among the Workers of Torahlessness of whom He says “I know them not. Depart from Me, all you workers of Torah-less-ness.” (Matt. 7:20 HRV)

And in the Judaikon (Jewish version):

If you are in my bosom and do not the will of my Father which is in heaven,
out of my bosom will I cast you away.

Yet in his mercy YHWH has given us this prophecy as a warning, and thus the text goes on to say:

10 Bring you the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house, and try Me now herewith, says YHWH Tzva’ot: if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall be more than sufficiency.
11 And I will rebuke the devourer for your good, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your land: neither shall your vine cast its fruit before the time in the field, says YHWH Tzva’ot.
(Malachi 3:10-11 HRV)

Just as in the Wisdom of Ben Sira (in the Apocrypha) we read:

In a generous spirit pay homage to YHWH,
Spare not freewill gifts.
With each contribution show a cheerful countenance,
and pay your tithes in a spirit of joy.
Give to Elyon as he has given you,
generously, according to your means.
For YHWH always repays,
and he will give back to you sevenfold.
(Sira 35:8-10 HRV)

YHWH has blessings for those who pay the tithe, but there are curses for those who so not pay the tithe. You may have heard that for some reason or another we do not need to pay the tithe today. That teaching is absolutely false. If you have any questions about the Tithe and whether or not we should pay the tithe today, see our article The Tithe of YHWH.

The tithe is the one commandment about which YHWH actually challenges us to test him and see if he will not bless us.

HaSatan HATES the tithe, he wants to steal the blessings that YHWH has in store for us, and he wants to destroy the work of YHWH. He is terrified at the thought of Nazarenes all over the world tithing. If we wish to stand against HaSatan we must start by getting serious about the Tithe. Go ahead… test YHWH and see if he does not repay you seven fold in His blessings!

HaSatan wishes “to steal and to kill and to destroy” (Jn. 10:10) and he knows the time is short and has stepped up his war with those who proclaim both Torah Observance and Faith in Messiah (the two pillars of Nazarene Judaism) (Rev. 12:12, 17; 13:7). But no weapon forged against us will prosper (Is. 54:17).

If you do not feel this ministry is worthy of your tithe, then find one that is and tithe there instead!

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Freewill vs Predestination

Freewill vs Predestination
By
James Trimm

The Essenes believed strongly in Predestination:

…the sect of the Essenes affirm that fate governs all things,
and that nothing befalls men but what is according to its
determination.
(Josephus; Ant. 13:5:9)

From the God of Knowledge comes all that is and shall be.
Before ever they existed He established their whole design,
and when, as ordained for them, they come into being, it is
in accord with His glorious design that they accomplish their
task without change. …
(1QS 3:15f)

However the Pharisees had a more moderate view:

When they say that all things happen by fate,
they do not take away from men the freedom
of acting as they think fit; since their notion
is that it has pleased God to mix up the decrees
of fate and man’s will, so that man can act
virtuously or visciously.
(Josephus; Ant. 18:1:3)

The Mishna gives the Pharisaic view as follows:

All things are foreknown,
but freewill is given.
– m.Avot 3:16

One of the primary “predestination” schools in Christendom is known as “Calvinism”. “Calvinism” is actually a term which refers to all of Calvin’s teachings however it has come to be used primarily to refer to Calvin’s teaching of “predestination”. After Calvin’s death his followers formulated his teachings into five basic points called “the Five Points of Calvinism” which they compare to the five pedals of a tulip. Calvinists use the word
TULIP as a memory device for these five points by making the following acronym:

[T]otal depravity of man
[U]nconditional election
[L]imited atonement
[I]rresistable grace
[P]erseverence of the Saints

In this paper we will discuss the first four of these in depth, though not in the same order as TULIP.

Calvanist thinking goes something like this:

Elohim is ultimately sovereign and all powerful while man is totally depraved. As a result man cannot resist Elohim. Since all men are not saved, but the “elect” are saved, Elohim has only willed certain men to be saved, while others he has willed to be damned. If the all powerful irresistible Elohim has called a man to be saved, then he will be saved. By contrast if the all powerful irresistible Elohim has not called a man to be saved, then that
man will never (and can never) be saved.

OK now lets show the fault in the “TULIP logic”:

The Calvinist concept of Elohim’s soveregnty is that he is irresistible. That no man could ever resist the will of Elohim. This is based on a flawed interpretation of Romans 9 as well as misunderstanding the key terms in the KJV “foreknown”, “predestined” and “elect”. We will discuss each of these in depth under another heading. However the scriptures plainly teach that man can and has at times resisted the will of Elohim. A prime
example appears in Acts 7:51:

“…You men are always resisting the Ruach HaKodesh.”

If in fact the will of Elohim cannot be resisted by man, then all men would be saved. This is because the scriptures tell us that ALL men have been called by Him to salvation:

…by the righteousness of one [Messiah]
the free gift came upon all men
unto the justification of life.
(Rom. 5:18)

…our Eloah and Saviour;
who will have all men to be saved,…
(1Tim. 2:3-4)

[YHWH is]…not willing that any should perish,
but that all should come to repentance.
(2Pt. 3:9)

In fact it seems that these three verses, coupled with the concept of “limited atonement” (i.e. that only some men will be saved) actually disproves Calvinism. Since Elohim has willed all men to be saved, yet only some of them will be saved, it stands to reason that some of these men resist his will and are damned by their own choice.

One major problem with Calvinist thinking is that it is deeply rooted in Replacement Theology. One key term that is central to Calvinism is “the Elect”. But what is the difference between the “Elect” and the “Chosen”? None at all. The KJV translates the same Hebrew and Greek words as “Chosen” or “Elect” depending on the mood of the translator, or more likely so as to imply that the “Elect” is the “Church”. For example if you compare 1Pt. 2:9 with Is. 43:20 and Deut. 10:15 you swill see that the “Elect” of 1Pt. 2:9 is drawn from Tanak passages about the “Chosen” people Israel in Is. 43:20f and Deut. 10:15.

Now if we are good Bereans (Acts 17) we will check the scriptures, the Tanak to see what Paul and other “New Testament writers” are saying. If we do so we will see that clearly the term “Elect/Chosen” refers not to “the Christian Church” but to Israel (Deut. 7:6; 10:15; 14:2; Is. 41:8-9; 42:1;43:20f; 45:4; 65:9, 22 & Ps. 135:4).

Now the misunderstanding of the Elect as the Christian Church has created a problem in logic that has helped to support Calvinism. By must Christian theology the Christian Church is made up of all believers in “Jesus Christ”. But this seems to conflict. If the term “the Elect” refers to the Christian Church then it implies not that they chose Elohim, but that Elohim chose them. The Calvinist resolution is that Elohim chose a certain class of people who would choose Elohim because Elohim predestined them to do so. Thus they are the “Elect” because Elohim chose them to be those who would choose him. The real resolution is that replacement theology is wrong in the first place. The term “Elect/Chosen” is a euphemism for Israel and not the Christian Church at all.

A keystone to Calvinist thinking is Romans 9. Since Calvinists has so misunderstood this chapter we will cover it in detail.

The topic of Romans 9 is to reassure Paul’s readers. He has just told them that Elohim has predestined believers to be conformed to the image of the Son (which in no way indicates the doctrine of predestination as explained above). He has just been telling them about the promise of redemption. But what good is that promise. Did he not make promises to Israel? In Romans 9 thru 11 Paul will explain that YHWH will indeed be faithful in keeping his promises to Israel. However this has cause Paul to cover a parenthetical thought. This thought is to explain to his readers that Elohim had the right to Choose Israel. Notice the term “Election” in 9:11 refers to Israel NOT the Christian Church.

In the next few verses Paul will justify Elohim’s right to make Israel his chosen people.

In Rom. 9:11-16 Paul cites Gen. 25:23 and Mal. 1:2-3 to express that Elohim chose to have his chosen linage to pass through Jacob rather than Esau. It must be noted that this resulted from Esau selling his birthright to Jacob of his own freewill (Gen. 25:24-34). Elohim “hated” Esau for not cherishing his birthright.

In Rom. 9:17-18 Paul refers to Elohim’s sovereignty when he hardened Pharaoh’s heart. Paul here quotes Ex. 9:16 and is referring to the material in Ex. 9:15-17. The Calvinist misunderstanding here comes from a lack of understanding the idiom Biblical Hebrew. Ex. 4:21 & 9:16 are examples of a common Hebrew idiom in which an active verb is used to express not the doing of a thing, but permission to do it. Another example of this idiom is found in Jer. 4:10:

Then said I: ‘Ah, Adonai YHWH! surely
You have greatly deceived this people and
Yerushalayim, saying: You shall have peace;
whereas the sword reaches unto the soul.’
(Jer. 4:10 HRV)

Meaning not that YHWH deceived them but that he ALLOWED them to be deceived.
(other examples of this idiom: Mt. 6:13a; 2Thes. 2:11; Rom. 1:24-26; Zech. 1:10b).

In the case of Pharaoh we have a man who was not a believer (Ex. 5:2) and who hardened his own heart (Ex. 8:11, 15, 28; 9:7). Paul simply refers to this story to show that Elohim had the sovereign right to allow Pharaoh to harden his own heart of his own freewill. This concept is also taught in the Talmud:

In the way in which a man wishes to walk he is guided.
(b.Mak. 10b)

If one goes to defile himself, openings are made for him;
and if he goes to purify himself, help is afforded him.
(b.Shabb. 104a)

If a man defiles himself a little, he becomes much defiled:
[if he defile himself] below, he becomes defiled from above;
if he defile himself in this world,
he becomes defiled in the world to come.
Our Rabbis taught: Sanctify yourselves,
therefore, and be ye holy:
If a man sanctify himself a little,
he becomes much sanctified.
[If he sanctify himself] below,
he becomes sanctified from above;
if he sanctify himself in this world,
he becomes sanctified in the world to come.
(b.Yoma 39a)

Elohim, has the sovereign right to further harden the heart of the man who has chosen himself to harden his heart. This does not conflict with freewill, it is an amplification of freewill.

Elohim hardened Pharaoh’s heart further because Elohim had made Israel his Chosen people Egypt. The point of the story here is that Elohim chose to reveal himself to Israel, typified by Moses, while allowing Egypt (typified by Pharoah) to harden their hearts.

Finally in Rom. 9:19-23 Paul recounts the parable of the potter and the clay. This is a common parable in Jewish literature. It also appears in Is. 29:16; 45:9; Jer. 18:1-10 and Wisdom 12:12, 20; 15:7). In this parable the potter is Elohim and the clay is mankind. The point of the parable is that Elohim is sovereign over mankind and therefore has the right to make the Jews his chosen people. This is revealed as the meaning of the parable in Rom. 9:24.

Some important points about this parable overall. Jeremiah reminds us that Elohim responds to our freewill in exercising sovereignty over us (Jer. 18:8, 10) and actually condemns those who ascribe this to fate/predestination by stating that we have a freewill (Jer. 18:12) a point Paul also seems to agree with in speaking of allegorical vessels in 2Tim. 2:20-21.

Thus the purpose of Romans 9 is to justify Elohim’s right to choose the Jewish people as his Chosen people (Elect) and NOT to teach the Calvinist concept of predestination and an Elect Christian Church.

There are two words which are translated three ways in the KJV these are Strong’s Greek number 4309 Translated “predestined” and Strong’s Greek number 4267 translated “foreknow/foreknew” in Rom. 8:29 and 11:2 but as “foreordained” in 1Pt. 1:20.
(this word appears in Acts 2:23; 15:18 = Amos 9:11-12; Rom. 8:29; 11:2 & 1Pt. 1:20)

First we will address the issue of “foreknowledge”. Judaism maintains this concept as the Mishna says:

All things are foreknown,
but freewill is given.
– m.Avot 3:16

Foreknowledge is simply the concept that Elohim foreknows the future, and does not require that he predestine the future.

A heathen said to Rabbi Joshua,
“You believe that God knows the future?”
“Yes,” replied the Rabbi.
“Then,” said the questioner, “wherefore is it written,
‘The Lord said, I will destroy everything which
I have made, because it repents me that I have made
them?’ Did not the Lord foresee that man would
become corrupt?”
Then said Rabbi Joshua, “Have you children?”
“Yes,” was the answer.
“When a child was born, what did you?”
“I made a great rejoicing.”
“What cause had you to rejoice?
Do you not know that they must die?”
“Yes, that is true; but in the time of enjoyment
I do not think of the future.”
“So was it with God,” said Rabbi Joshua.
“He knew that men would sin; still that
knowledge did not prevent the execution of
his beneficent purpose to create them.”
(Gen. Rabba 27:4)

Next is the word “foreordain” in 1Pt. 1:20. As we have already shown this same word is elsewhere translated simply as “foreknow”.

Finally we reach the keyword “predestined” This word appears five times in the KJV. However in none of its usages does it actually refer to the doctrine of “predestination” as understood in Calvinism.

Rom. 8:29-30 says only that believers are predestined to be conformed to the image of the Son, not that they were predestined to believe.

Eph. 1:5, 11 says only that believers are predestined to have a life in the world to come.

These passages in the KJV use the word “predestined” but do not at all teach the concept of “predestination”.

It should be noted that the Aramaic of these passages actually has the phrase “marked from before” which implies only marking and not predestination.

The Calvinist concept of the total depravity of man is largely rooted in a misunderstanding of Jn. 6:44, 64-65 which states:

No man can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him.

While this is true, Calvinists have totally ignored a whole series of other passages which tell us that God has called all men to him:

…by the righteousness of one [Messiah]
the free gift came upon all men
unto the justification of life.
(Rom. 5:18)

…our Eloah and Saviour;
who will have all men to be saved,…
(1Tim. 2:3-4)

[YHWH is]…not willing that any should perish,
but that all should come to repentance.
(2Pt. 3:9)

The trick is that they must respond by their own freewill.

It remains to be said that the doctrine of predestination is totally counter-Torah. Freewill is an important element of Torah as well as freedom/liberty. Without freewill there is no real freedom/liberty. The Tank tells us:

So shall I keep your Torah continually forever and ever,
And I will walk in freedom: for I seek your precepts.
(Psalm 119:44-45)

As well as by Ya’akov HaTzadik (James the Just) who called the Torah “the Torah of freedom” (James 1:25; 2:12).

Yeshua said:

… if you continue in my word,
then are you my disciples indeed.
And you shall know the truth,
and the truth shall make you free.
(John 8:31-32)

With Ps. 119:142:

…your Torah is truth.

So the Torah makes one free. Freedom requires freewill. Freewill is constantly reflected in the Torah. The following are just a few examples:

Gen. 2:16 – Adam could FREELY eat of any tree in the garden except one. Adam CHOSE to eat that fruit as well anyway.

Ex. 5:2; 8:11, 15, 28; 9:7 – Elohim allowed Pharaoh to harden his heart (see expatiation of idiom under Rom. 9 above)

Lev. 1:3 – Freewill offerings

Num. 13-14 Ten of the 12 spies and the majority of the people chose not to enter the promised land. God yielded to their choice.

Deut. 11:26-28; 28:1; 30:15 – Elohim has set two choices before us, giving us the choice to follow his Torah or rebel against it. In the Midrash Sifre to this passage there is an interesting explanation to these passages from Deuteronomy:

‘Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse’
(Deut 11: 26). Why is this stated, since it has likewise
been said, “See, I have set before you this day life and
good, and death and evil” (Deut. 30:15)? Perhaps the
Israelites will say, “Since God has set before us two ways,
the way of life and the way of death, we can walk in
whichever of them we like.” Therefore it is taught,
“Choose life that thou may live, thou and they seed”
(Deut. 30:19). There is a Parable of a person who was
sitting at the cross-roads, before whom two paths branced
out. The beginning of one was plain and its end full
of thorns;the beginning of the other was thorny and its
latter part plain. He used to warn the passers-by and say
to them, “You see this path that its beginning is plain
and for two or three steps you walk in comfort, but
at its end you meet with thorns. You also see the other path
the beginning of which is thorny; for two or three steps
you walk through thorns, but in the end you come to a
straight road.” Similarly said Moses to Israel,
“You see the wicked prospering; for two or three days
they prosper in this world, but in the end they will be
thrust out. You also see the righteous in trouble; for two
or three days they suffer in this world, but in the end they
will have occasion for rejoicing”’
(Sifre Deut. 86a)

It is important also to cover the pagan origins of the Calvinist doctrine of predestination. According to the World Book Encyclopedia:

A belief in some form of predestination is found…
in the ancient religions of Greece, China, India and Egypt.
(Vol. 15 p. 659; 1975 edition)

The Greeks and Romans believed that reality was weaved out by three goddesses called “fates” who spun out mens lives like thread. The ancient Scandanavians believed this also calling them “norns”. Predestination is in fact the Hellenistic philosophy called “Fatalism”.

This doctrine was first introduced into Christianity by the Catholic writer Augustine (354-430 C.E.) (ibid vol. 15 p. 659) and was later expounded by another Catholic writer Thomas Aquinas (1226-1274 C.E.) (ibid). Protestants initially rejected the doctrine until it was reintroduced by John Calvin (1509-1564 C.E.) (ibid).

Thus this pagan doctrine made its way from Paganism into Catholicism and eventually into Protestantism. Now it seems to be raising its pagan head in Messianic circles as well.

Calvinism teaches a an Elohim who creates faulty humans and then punishes them for being exactly what he forced them to be by his own irresistible will.

Calvinism makes Elohim ultimately guilty of every sin ever committed. By Calvinist thinking it would seem to be unjust to punish any person for any crime or sin since they were only following the irresistible will of Elohim.

Ask a Calvinist: “Do you believe in predestination because you chose to of your own freewill?”

In closing I quote to passages, one from the Mishna the other from the “New Testament”:

All things are foreknown,
but FREEWILL is given.
– m.Avot 3:16

…that your goodness should not be as it were by compulsion,
but of your own FREEWILL.
– Phil. 1:14 New American Standard

And as we read in Ben Sira (from the Apocrypha)

Say not thou, It is through the Lord that I fell away: for thou oughtest not to do the things that he hateth.
Say not thou, He hath caused me to err: for he hath no need of the sinful man.
The Lord hateth all abomination; and they that fear God love it not.
He himself made man from the beginning, and left him in the hand of his free will;
If thou wilt, to keep the commandments, and to perform acceptable faithfulness.
He hath set fire and water before thee: stretch forth thy hand unto whether thou wilt.
Before man is life and death; and whether him liketh shall be given him.
For the wisdom of the Lord is great, and he is mighty in power, and beholdeth all things:
And his eyes are upon them that fear him, and he knoweth every work of man.
He hath commanded no man to do wickedly, neither hath he given any man licence to sin.
(Ben Sira 15:11-20)

I need to fill a $277 prescription for my wife by tomorrow, and rent will be due in just six days.

As I continue this work of feeding the restoration, I very much need your help today. I cannot make bricks without straw.

Last week I received an email from our single largest contributor over the last two years, informing us that their business has been doing very poorly this year, and that they would have to cut back their donations considerably.

Life has never been the same since my wife’s late 2018 53 day hospitalization changed our lives forever. She came home disabled, chronically ill, and in chronic pain, and I became her care taker. As a result I lost a secular full time job I had at the time. When she first came out of the hospital people donated and we were making it. But once our predicament became old news, donations dried up, and by March 2019 we came very close to being evicted. Once we posted the eviction papers, donations came in again, and we were able to get the eviction dropped. With my wife’s medical expenses (even after insurance) we were still running short every month. We were no quite making it.

Then in June of 2019 an individual with a thriving nationwide distribution business stepped in and began making regular donations that bridged the gap. Sometimes we had to reach out with an “emergency alert” still, but over the next two years plus, we made it, paying the rent on time. Now this supporter has no choice but to reduce (not eliminate) his support by about 80%.

Now is not the time to be moving backwards instead of forwards! Now is not the time to become complacent!

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

James Trimm

Did Any of the Lost Tribes Go North? Is the Sambatyon the Bosphorus?

Did Any of the Lost Tribes Go North?
Is the “Sambatyon” the Bosphorus?
by
Yochanan Hevroni Ben David
(John Hulley)

One of the three places where the lost tribes are located –so the sages say 1–lies 1 beyond the “Sambatyon”. There live some of the descendants of those Israelites who were into exile by the conquering Assyrians a little before 700 BCE. 2 According to the Torah3 the redemption of Israel is to include not only return of the Jews to the land but also reunion of the tribes. Vast resources, both human and material, will thus be added to the infant state. The union will be achieved at the spiritual level. 4

From time to time rabbinic and other travellers have gone in search of the lost tribes. Today the quest continues under the authority of the Chief Rabbi of Israel. As a part of this effort, attempts have been made to indentify the “Sambatyon” in lands to the east in Asia or southwards in Africa; but the result to date have been meager. In this paper the direction of inquiry is northwesterly towards Europe.

The investigation may begin with a saying by Rabbi Akkiva as quoted in a midrash (symbolic commentary) :

“…the river Sambatyon carries stones the whole week but allows them to rest on Sabbath.” (Genesis Rabba 11:5) The Ramban (Nachmanides), commenting on Deuteronomy 32:36, wrote “…it is called Sabatyon because of its rest on the Sabbath. “[Sabbatyon is a variant spelling. In Hebrew it is written either rest on the Sabbath. “[Sabbatyon is a variant spelling. In Hebrew it is written either

סנבבטיון סבטיון סמבטיון

or שבתיון

It is characteristic of midrash that factual accuracy takes second place to the spiritual message (in this case the holiness of Sabbath!); the content may be even fantastic. Thus far the “Sambatyon” has remained in this category; it has eluded the efforts of generations of searchers to find its actual location. More startling, if less consistent, details are given in classical sources: Pliny National History 31:24; Josephus Wars of the Jews 7:96-99 and also medieval writings.5

The larger rivers of the Earth have been identified; but none has been found which stops regularly Sabbath. Some of them do sometimes stop, for instance if they dry up in the summer; but such changes are seasonal, not weekly. At river mouths the incoming tide may block the out-flowing waters; but such interruptions occur roughly twice a day, not once a week.

The Bosphorus however has characteristics reminiscent of the “Sambatyon”. It is a narrow strait – the one through which the waters of the Black Sea rush past of Istanbul towards the Aegean (see map). There the current does slow down drastically, stop or even reverse on average about once in a week. This condition may last for a day or more.

How the Bosphorus “rests”

Contrary (i.e., southwest) winds can pile up water on the northeastern shore of the Sea of Marmora, while drawing it off the southwestern shore of the Black Sea. Maximum effect results when the winds over both seas are in this direction. In such conditions the normal gradient of the Bosphorus can be reduced, eliminated or even reversed. The current may slow down, stop or go back. and the effect may last as long as a day or two. 5 It has been estimated that such a combination of winds occurs on average on about five days a month. Observations cited by Labaree 7 for a six month period from April through September yield an average of 4.8 days a month. The average is not far from once a week.

The phenomenon is not new. It was mentioned in the first century by Strabo: “..the strait at Byzantium.. as Hippachus reports, even stands still sometimes..”. (Geography 1.3.12) The effect is irregular; it does not fall on any fixed day of the week. However in certain circumstances (illustrated below) it would have been possible for a group of migrants to come away with the impression that it did.

For the most people the crossing would present a major obstacle. There were no bridges there in those days, nor power boats. Xerxes, the Persian Emperor, had a bridge of ships built for his invasion of Europe (513 BCE). For others the only practical choice was to sail over – a difficult task. At its narrowest the Bosphorus is 700 meters from one side to the other. At mainstream it is at least 40 meters deep. The current averages five kilometers an hour, sometimes rising to double that. 8 Treacherous whirls, eddies and crosscurrents compound the dangers.

Travelers would accordingly have needed help from the local inhabitants – the Bithynians. These were known for their sailing skill; 9 but in those days mariners possessed only the technique of sailing before the wind, and had to rely primarily on rowing. To sail up to the Bosphorus is reckoned to have been impossible on average days. It is supposed that Greek merchant ships heading for the Black Sea would wait a few days at the southwestern end of the Bosphorus. 10 When the current slowed, stopped or reversed, they might sail up it in a few hours.

For the same reason people trying to cross would also have needed to wait. Rowers of freight or passenger craft would not have been able to equal the average rate of the current. Crossing on a typical day, they would therefore have been carried further downstream than the distance across; they would then have faced the arduous task of dragging the boat upstream against the powerful current. Thus a group of migrants is likely to have waited for the opportunity to cross.

No doubt the Bythynian ferrymen would have explained the reasons. However, if the migrants were Assyrian deportee of Israelite extraction, the language could have been strange to them. Bithynian is believed to have been a dialect of Thracians; 11 this was spoken across the Bospherus in southeastern Europe, but was an instrutive exception in Asia Minor. Even if learned men were counted among the Isralite migrants, they would have been unlikely to know the language.

Thus it would have been possible for them to come away with an inaccurate impression, particular if the crossing fell on a Sabbath. The latter event could have been erroneously blended with information that the current stopped roughly every seven days. In this way the tradition of a river which stops regulary on Sabbath could have originated. Beginning with the migrant group of Israelites deportees, the story could eventually have transmitted back to Jerusalem, perhaps better aboard a ship plying to the Mediterranean.

This is conjecture. The fact that the tradition could thus have originated does not prove that it actually did so. It does make clear however that the Bosphorus has characteristics conducive to such an origin in a way that other rivers and straits do not. Further lines of evidence that the “Sambatyon” could be the Bosphorus may be worth checking.

How the Stones were stilled

According to the midrash (see above) stones came to rest in the “Sabatyon” on the Sabbath. A parallel may be seen in the best-known tradition relating to the Bosphorus, the legend of the Argonauts. An important part of the story centered on the “clashing Rocks” (Symplegadae”). At the entrance to the straits stand two giant rocks which still today are a peril to shipping. In times gone by these were said to have been so loosely emplaced that they would on occasion strike each other. Boats attempting to pass between them might thus be smashed to pieces, with the loss of all on board. According to the legend, the rocks would come to rest only if and when heroes would successfully pass through them.

The legendary voyage of Jason and his Danaan Argonauts in search of the Golden Fleece fulfilled the condition. They passed through, sustaining only slight damage to the stern of the ship “Argo”. And the rocks are said to have become stationary. According to tradition, the Black Sea was thereby opened to navigators from the Aegean from that time forth.

The tale was probably still fresh in the seventh and sixth centuries BCE; it was often referred to by Greek writers in classical times. 12 It is reasonable to assume that passengers crossing the Bosphorus would have heard it from the Bythian boatmen. And they may have found it worthy of mention in a letter to Jerusalem. To combine the stilling of the rocks with the stilling of the current is a simple step. The physically characteristics tradionally attributed to the “Sambatyon” would thus be accounted for.

“Sam-batyon” or Sam-bythion”?

Another line of evidence can be found in the name- possibly an ancient one. “Bosphorus” is Greek (“Bosporus” in the original), and Greek names presumably did not come in general usage in the area until the period of Greek preeminence. Greek traders and colonists began to penetrate the Bosphorus in the seventh century. 13   After that their presence increased only gradually. An older non-Greek name is therefore more likely to have been used by the locals at least until the fith century BCE.

The Bithynians controlled the left bank of the strait. It would not been surprising therefore if they identified the waters by their own name. The latter part of the word “Sambatyon” is radical similiar to “Bithynia”. In those days vowel signs were not used in Hebrew script; nor was there a dot in the letter tav to distinguish the “t” from “th”. “Sambatyon” is usually spelled with a   (tet), although it is also found with (tav). All available Hebrew texts were written centuries after the event. For the present hypothesis it would be necessary that (tav) be the original spelling. Thus “batyon” and “bithyon” would be written identically. A letter from the Israelites could have contained a word by which they meant to convey bithyon; but if those in Jerusalem were unfamiliar with it, they could as well read it as “batyon”.

The word “bithyon” would probably mean of the “Bithyai”. The letter was an early name for Bithynians (the additional letter “n” there being apparently adjectival). The same root may be seen in the river “Bithyas”, the town “Bithylopolis” and the eponym “Bithys” which was a common personal name locally. 14

The first syllable – “sam” – is less clear. It could be modified form of a prefix “san”; following linguistic laws of euphony, the “sam” would reflect a substitution of “m” for “n” before the letter “b”. Indeed “Sanbatyon” is open of the variant spellings of the name. What “san” would mean is doubtful; but a possible meaning might be inferred from its appearance in the name of Bithynia’s largest river, the Sakarya, which was known in ancient times as the Sangarios. In Thrace there was also the Sandanos. 15 Thus in the same linguistic area there would have been:

Sangarios – in Bithynia

Sanbithyon- Bosphorus

Sandanos – in Thrace.

Despite the apparent parallelism, the possibility of coincidence cannot be excluded, so long as the meaning of “san” remains unknown. Perhaps it pertains in some way to rivers or straits.

By another interpretation, the first syllable “sam” could be a garble for “yam”, the Hebrew word for “sea”. In the ancient alphabet then in use, the letter for “y” (yud) was closer to (samech), one of the letters for “s” than it is today. 15 (In Hebrew “Sambatyon” is usually written with a   (samech) though sometimes with a   (shin). As may be seen both letters Yud; samech   consisted of a long vertical or near vertical stroke and three short horizontal ones. They could have easily been garbled; errors were common in ancient letters. Thus the word(s) intended by the writer could have been “yam Bithyon” or “sea of the Bithynians” (The word for “sea” may have meant both the Bosphorus and the Sea of Marmora below it, since the Bithynians and their kin controlled the land adjacent to both.)

The possible derivation of a pre-Greek name for the Bosphorus from the word “Sambatyon” adds to the probability that the two are the same.

Why the Name remained a Mystery

It is easy to understand why this name was not known in Jerusalem. After all, Bithynia was a small country a thousands kilometers away from the northwest. It is not even mentioned in the Tenach ( the Torah, the Prophets and Wrtings). But why was its meaning not sought and found?

One of the reason could be that a message about it arrived in Jerusalem in a period of maximum confusion. Early in the sixth century nearly all the religiuos leaders, along with the ruling classes and many others, were deported in successive stages to Babylon. 17 The first temple was destroyed. In these terrible circumstances information coming from exiles of the northern kingdom may not have received much attention. The current exile of the southern kingdom would have taken priority.

With the passage of time, correct identification of the “Sambithyon” became more diffecult because of the change of the name to “Bosporus”. The return of Ezra and Nechemiah from Babylon did not occur until more than a century after that exile. Meanwhile Greek power and, with it, Greek names were spreading through the east Mediteranean area. By the time the people of Judah had begun to recover from the effects of the Babylonian exile it would have been more diffecult to rediscover the whereabouts of a river which they still called “Sambatyon”.

Conclusion

Several lines of evidence converge on an identification of the “Sambatyon” with the Bosphorus. The peculiarity of stopping on the Sabbath can be plausibly explained by reference to a single crossing on that day, combined with the information that the Bosphorus does slow drastically, stop or reverse every few days. The peculiarity of stones coming to rest can be explained as a blend of the stopping of the curent with the Argonaut legend. The name itself, with an acceptable change of pronunciation, can be derived from that of the neighboring

country of Bythnia. And the fact that the Greek name “Bosphorus” soon replaced it can explain the subsquent inability of the Jews (themselves disorganized by the Babylonian exile) to locate what they still knew as the “Sambatyon”. These pieces of evidence are circumstantial, and the identification can therefore only be conjectural. On the other hand they are unique, and their combination is exceptional. Not only the behavior of the water and the stones, but also the origin and disappearance of the name can all be counted for. The Bosphorus may thus be the best candidate so far proposed for the “Sambatyon”.

*****

But the evidence is of little avail unless a group of Israelites can reasonable be supposed to have crossed this body of water during the period that the older name would have been in use. The Bithynians arrived in the area shortly after 700 BCE. The Greek name “Bosporos” probably became common after 500 or so. A crossing by Israelite deportees therefore should have occurred between 700 and 500 or not long thereafter.

At the time of the Assyrian exile, Iranian tribes – Mees, Persians, Scyths – were already pressing hard on the eastern borders of the Empire; soon the pressure would become overwhelming. Assyria collapsed in 605. In those conditions opportunities arose for the deportees; what actually happened can be reconstructed in part with the aid with modern archaeology. Evidence on this will be published separately.

______________________________________________________________________________ Footnotes
1    Babylonian Talmud Sanhedrin 65B; Jerusalem Talmud Sanhedrin 10:6; Lamentations Rabba   2:9; Genesis Rabba 11:5 , 73:6, Targum Pseudo-Jonathan to Exodus 34:10; Nachmanides on Deuteronomy 32:36.

2    2.Kings 17:6; 18:11; 1. Chronicles 5:26.

3    e.g. Deuteronomy 30:1-5; Jeremiah 3:18, 33:14-26. For summary and references see Rafael Eisenberg. A Matter of Return (Jerusalem: Fledheim, 1980), chapter 6.

4    Genesis 49:22-6; Deuteronomy 33:13-17.

5    Eisenberg, pp. 135-7; Encyclopedia Judaica on ” Sambatyon”.

6    C.G. Gunnarson and E. Ozturgut, “The Bophorus” in E.T. Degens and D.A Ross, eds. The Black Sea Geology, Chemistry and Biology. (Tulsa Oklahoma: American Association of Petroleum Geologists), 1974, p. 103

7    B.W. Labaree “How the Greeks sailed into the Black Sea”, American Journal of Archeology vol. 61 (1957), pp. 29-33. cf. “Currents”. Black Sea Pilot Hydrographic Department, Admirialty, London, 1955 edition (or other editions presumably)

8    Taken from Labaree

9    “Bithynia” in Realenclopedie der klassischen Aletrtumswissenschaft, A. Pauly. G. Wissowa et al. eds. (Stuttgart: Druckenmuller Verlag, 1894), vol. III, p. 514.

10    See Labaree.

11    Pauly, loc. cit, p. 510.
12    References in Pauly, op. cit. “Argonautai” in vol. II, 1. pp. 759-762; “Kyaneai” in vol. XI. 2. p. 2236.

13    J.M Cook the Greeks in Ionia and the East (London: Thames and Hudsons, 1962), p. 50 ff.

14   Dimiter Detschew. Die thraktische Sparchreste Vienna: Österreichische Akademie Wissenschaften, 1957, pp. 63-6.

15   Pauly, “Thrake” loc. cit. vol. VIA 1, p. 408.

16   Encyclopedia Judaica, on “Alphabet, Hebrew”, pp. 683-4.

17 In 597 BCE: II.Kings 24:8 ff,; Jeremiah 13:18-19; II.Chromnicles 36:9-10. In 586 BCE: II.Kings 25:1-21, Jeremiah 39:1-10, 52:1-30; II.Chronicles 36:17-20.

* * *

Originally published in the Chasidic Chabad Lubavitcher journal B’Or HaTorah back in 1987: B’Or Ha’Torah 6 (1987): 127-133

John Hulley
1921-2014

Holding a BA in Economics from Harvard University, Yochanan Hevroni Ben David (John Hulley) worked as a senior economist at the World Bank for ten years. He has published on subjects ranging from geophysics to trade, in journals such as Nature and World Politics.

In 1983 Ben David came to live in Israel, where he settled in Kiryat Arba. This paper was said to be an excerpt from a book in progress on the lost tribes and related topics. Unfortunately that book was never published before his death in 2014.

This article appeared originally in a copyrighted magazine. It is presented here in accordance with the Fair Use provision in that it is presented here for a non-profit, educational purpose, the original work was non-fiction, educational article, the material here comprises only four pages of the original copyrighted work, and this use has essentially no effect on the potential market for, or value of the original work.

I need to fill a $277 prescription for my wife by Thursday, and rent will be due in just seven days.

As I continue this work of feeding the restoration, I very much need your help today. I cannot make bricks without straw.

Now is not the time to be moving backwards instead of forwards! Now is not the time to become complacent!

Donations can be sent by Paypal to donations@wnae.org

James Trimm

Was the Torah Abolished? (Eph. 2:14-16)

Was the Torah Abolished?
By
James Scott Trimm

When I speak to people about the truth of Torah, they often quote Ephesians 2:14-16 which says in the KJV:

14 For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;
15 Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;
16 And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby:
(Ephesians 2:14-16 KJV)

Eph. 2:14 from the Greek reads:

For he himself is our peace, who has made both one,
and has broken down the middle wall of division between us.

The Aramaic for “and has broken down the middle wall of division between us” reads:

wash’ra s’yaga d’kamem h’va bam’tzata

The word for “loosed” (broken down in most translations, but
literally “loosed”) here is in the Aramaic “sh’ra” This particular Aramaic term was used in ancient Jewish literature as a technical theological term relating to halacha. To “bind” an activity means to prohibit it, while “loosing” (sh’ra) an activity, meant that the activity was to be permitted. This terminology appears throughout the Talmuds (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)

The word for “hedge” (middle wall in most translations) is s’yaga
this word means hedge (compare usage of Hebrew cognate in Song. 7:3). This is a technical term in Judaism found in the Mishna where we read “Make a hedge (Hebrew cognate of s’yaga) about the Torah.” (Avot 1:1). This precept meant to establish a protective barrier around the Torah to protect the Torah from trespasses. The protective barrier consisted of commandments which were more stringent than those actually found in the Torah. The purpose was to make it unlikely to even accidentally violate a real Torah command.

Now seeing these two halachic terms connected together one should
immediately notice that the text should read “loosed the hedge” i.e. that Yeshua permitted certain acts that another School of halacha had bound (forbidden).

There were various schools of halacha in the first century. One such precept did not allow Jews to enter the home of a Gentile (see Acts 10:28). (the custom was probably of Essene origin. Peter (Kefa) who held to the custom, had been a student of John the Baptist who had been closely associated with the Qumran community. The Essenes were also intolerant of outsiders) Paul opposed this hedge and taught that Yeshua had “loosed” this “hedge.”

Ephesians 2:15a has long presented difficulties to Bible translators.
This can be seen by comparing the many ways in which this passage has been translated in the many English translations.

Most translations of Eph. 2:15a follow the lead of the KJV which reads:

Having abolished in his flesh the enmity,
[even] the law of commandments [contained] in ordinances;

Some English paraphrases have become blatantly anti-semitic in their
renderings. The Living Bible, for example, reads:

By his death he ended the angry resentment between us,
caused by the Jewish laws which favored the Jews and
excluded the Gentiles, for he died to annul the whole
system of Jewish laws.

The Messianic Jewish version of the Living Bible (The Living Scriptures; Messianic Edition of the Living Bible; Tyndale; 1982) has edited out this anti-Semitic phrase reading only:

By his death he ended the angry resentment between us.

One of the major problems with this verse is that of its apparent conflict with Mt. 5:17 & Rom. 3:31, which state that Yeshua did not abolish the Law. In fact the Greek uses the same word for abolished (KATARGEHO Strong’s Gk. #2673) both in Rom. 3:31 and Eph. 2:15a. The Aramaic also uses the same word for “abolished” (BATEL Strong’s Heb. #989) in both passages.

In his commentary on Eph. 2:15a David Stern addresses many of the
problems related to this verse (see Jewish New Testament Commentary; David Stern; 1992; pp. 585-588) However Stern’s paraphrase from the Greek reads:

By destroying in his own body the enmity
occasioned by the Torah, with its commandments
set forth in the form of ordinances.

This paraphrase has difficulties of its own. To begin with the word “occasioned” is inserted by Stern, there is no corresponding Greek word. Secondly Stern’s rendering leaves a lengthy and rather off-the-subject phrase describing what the Law is.

The Aramaic Peshitta text reads in Eph. 2:15a as follows:

ובעלדבבותא בבסרה ונמוסא דפוקדא בפוקדנוהי בטל

Now the traditional understanding of this verse has been:

And enmity, by his flesh,
and the Law of commandments, by his mandates
he abolished

This understanding is reflected in Murdock’s translation, which reads:

and the enmity, by his flesh;
and by his prescriptions
he hath abolished the law of ordinances;
[The Syriac New Testament; James Murdock; 6th ed. 1893]

Lamsa concurs in this understanding, reading:

And he has abolished by his precious body, the enmity
between them, and he has abolished by his commandments,
the ordinances of the law,
[The New Testament according to the Eastern Text; George M. Lamsa; 1940]

One of the most easily misunderstood elements of Aramaic, is the Dalet Clause. This very ambiguous preposition is so easily mistranslated into other languages.

The Aramaic particle ד (or די in some dialects) (in the dialect of the Peshitta it appears ad a prefix) can mean any of several things. This preposition can mean “of; that; which; that which; who, because, or because of”; this ambiguity caused the Greek translator to misunderstand Eph. 2:15a. The Aramaic reads:

ובעלדבבותא בבסרה ונמוסא דפוקדא בפוקדנוהי בטל

This translates word by word as:

he abolished	in his commandments	because of commands	and the Torah	by his flesh	And enmity
בטל	בפוקדנוהי	דפוקדא	ונמוסא	בבסרה	ובעלדבבותא

Thus the correct meaning is:

And enmity (by his flesh and the Torah,
because of commands in his commandments),
he abolished.
However, the Greek translator misunderstood the DALET CLAUSE here, to mean “of”, thus producing the meaning:

And enmity in his flesh,
and the Torah of commands in commandments he abolished.’
or as the KJV reads:

Having abolished in his flesh the enmity,
even the law of commandments [contained] in ordinances …

As I write this message, we have $3.15 to our name, groceries are running short, nearly $400 in bills will be pending in our account tonight, I need to fill a $277 prescription for my wife by Thursday, and not one donation has come in since Thursday! (And rent will be due in just eight days).

As I continue this work of feeding the restoration, I very much need your help today. I cannot make bricks without straw.

Now is not the time to be moving backwards instead of forwards! Now is not the time to become complacent!

Donations can be sent by Paypal to donations@wnae.org

James Trimm

What is the Number of the Beast?

What is the Number of the Beast?
By
James Scott Trimm

Times being as they have been, there has been a lot of talk, once again, about the mark of the Beast and the Number of the Beast. We read in Revelation:

15 And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.
16 And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:
17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.
(Rev. 13:15-18 KJV)

Now there is much I could say about who or what is the beast?, who is the woman who rides the beast? (in Rev. 17) who is this false prophet? and what is this mark? I will teach on all of these things in the future, if I am permitted.

But today I want to address what is this “number of the beast”?

The first, most important thing is that the number is six hundred, sixty and six. It is not 6, 6, 6. This number may look like three sixes in our modern base ten system, but that is just a result of reading ancient Hebraic Scripture through the distortion of modern western eyes.

This confusion of 666 with 6, 6, 6 (when it is really 600 + 60 + 6) has resulted in viral internet memes identifying the number of the beast with the World Wide Web, on the bases that the Hebrew letter ו which also has a numeric value of six, is equivalent to the English letter “W” with “www” then being “666”, but the number is not ווו. This brings us to another internet meme which identifies the number of the beast with the logo for the Monster energy drink, which can be said to resemble three ו’s (ווו). And the latest is an attempt to identify 666 with the space age super-material graphene. The argument goes that graphene is one atom thick, crystalline carbon, and that carbon has 6 protons, 6 electrons and 6 neutrons. Of course raw carbon and diamonds are also carbon, and fit this profile as well. Moreover all life on this planet is carbon based. I could go on and on with the strange doctrines that have emerged from the error of replacing 666 with 6, 6, 6.

However the number of the beast is not 6, 6, 6 and is therefore not ווו or www.

In Hebrew letters are numbers and numbers are letters, so that every Hebrew word also has a mathematical value. Words that have the same mathematical value (called a gematria) are said to have some deep connection.

The number six hundred, sixty and six is written in Hebrew as תרסו. This is an anagram for the Hebrew word סתור “hidden or secret”

So when Revelation says “Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.” it is actually telling us, through gematria, that the identity of the Beast has been “hidden” or is a “secret”. It is not telling us that the Beast is the World Wide Web, Monster energy drinks, or graphene.

If I am permitted, I will share more on these hidden things in Revelations, as the time is coming for some of these deep things to be better understood.

We need your help today! Donations have been low, bills are hitting our account Monday (11/11/24) and we do not have funds to cover them!

You can now donate thru Pay Pal, Zelle or Go Fund Me!

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.

We need your help today! Donations have been low and bills are due!

Donations can be sent by Paypal to donations@wnae.org or by Zelle or Go Fund Me.

Click HERE to donate

Rent will be due in just four days.

Donations can be sent by Paypal to donations@wnae.org.

Rent will be due in just five days.

Donations can be sent by Paypal to donations@wnae.org.

אֲבָל תִּתְאַזְּרוּ עֹז כְּנֹחַ עֲלֵיכֶם רוּחַ הַקֹּדֶשׁ וִהְיִיתֶם עֵדַי בִּירוּשָׁלַיִם וּבְכָל־יְהוּדָה וּבְשֹׁמְרוֹן וְעַד־קְצֵה הָאָרֶץ׃

Rent will be due in just five days.

Donations can be sent by Paypal to donations@wnae.org.

I need to fill a $277 prescription for my wife today, and rent will be due in just five days.

Donations can be sent by Paypal to donations@wnae.org.

Donations have been very low in November. We must raise at least $700 by the end of the day tomorrow (11/12/24) or our account will plunge into the negative and start a chain reaction of returned items and fees. We need your help today!

Donations can be sent by Paypal to donations@wnae.org.

You can now donate thru Pay Pal, Zelle or Go Fund Me!

Click HERE to donate

I need to fill a $277 prescription for my wife by tomorrow, and rent will be due in just six days.

Donations can be sent by Paypal to donations@wnae.org

I need to fill a $277 prescription for my wife by Thursday, and rent will be due in just seven days.

Donations can be sent by Paypal to donations@wnae.org

ובעלדבבותא בבסרה ונמוסא דפוקדא בפוקדנוהי בטל

ובעלדבבותא בבסרה ונמוסא דפוקדא בפוקדנוהי בטל

As I write this message, we have $3.15 to our name, groceries are running short, nearly $400 in bills will be pending in our account tonight, I need to fill a $277 prescription for my wife by Thursday, and not one donation has come in since Thursday! (And rent will be due in just eight days).

Donations can be sent by Paypal to donations@wnae.org

We need your help today! Donations have been low, bills are hitting our account Monday (11/11/24) and we do not have funds to cover them!

You can now donate thru Pay Pal, Zelle or Go Fund Me!

Donations can be sent by Paypal to donations@wnae.org.

Or click HERE to donate