Understand, Paul Did not do away with Torah, Translators Did.

Joseph F. Dumond

Isa 6:9-12 And He said, Go, and tell this people, You hear indeed, but do not understand; and seeing you see, but do not know. Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn back, and be healed. Then I said, Lord, how long? And He answered, Until the cities are wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land laid waste, a desolation, and until Jehovah has moved men far away, and the desolation in the midst of the land is great.
Published: Jun 27, 2013

News Letter 5849-020
17th day of the 4th month 5849 years after the creation of Adam
The 4th Month in the Fourth year of the third Sabbatical Cycle
The Third Sabbatical Cycle of the 119th Jubilee Cycle
The Sabbatical Cycle of Earthquakes Famines, and Pestilences

June 29, 2013

 

Shabbat Shalom Family,

Sightedmoon.com has now sailed past the 2 and ÂĽ million hit mark between the two sites. I can still remember when we used to get 1000 hits in one month and I was very excited.

But now we have a job to do, a work that needs to be completed. As we showed the brethren in Sarnia last Shabbat the 70 Shabua of Daniel and exactly what Daniel 9:24-26 says, you all also need to understand this and how it shows us again as so many of the other Sabbatical and Jubilee teachings do, that the USA and UK will be defeated in 2020.

We need your support to do this. It is now 2013; that is less than 7 years from now. The time for playing religion and for pretending to be holier than everyone else is over. The time to stop straddling between obeying Yehovah and continuing to go to church on Sunday is coming to an end.

1Ki 18:21 And Elijah came to all the people and said, How long are you limping over two opinions? If Jehovah is God, follow Him. But if Baal is God, then follow him. And the people did not answer him a word.

How much longer are you going to continue to be wishy washy over this new walk you have just come to learn and over the former walk you were in that you know does not produce any fruit, just dried up confusion.

At some point in history one generation was destined to be that last generation that would have to go through the great Tribulation; The great and awful Tribulation. Brethren that generation is you!!!

So do the math, we have to reach the rest of these mighty and great countries before 2020. Not one other Hebrew Roots teacher is teaching about the Sabbatical and Jubilee years; not one. We need to focus on these two nations because the Parable that Yehshua tells us in Mathew 22, says once these two nations are destroyed then we must go on to the rest of the world and the Gentile nations after 2020 and do this work until the end when Satan is locked away.

This past week Calgary Alberta was flooded by a torrent of rain on a number of rivers which converged in Calgary flooding it and other cities down stream. As happened in Australia after it was flooded, people in Alberta will get sick from the mold and sewage plant over flow that is now mud in the homes. Once it dries then that sewage turns to dust which many are inhaling.

This past week also saw many communities across the Northern states flooded as rains dumped huge amounts of rain on them. And while it pours in these cities there is extreme severe drought in the south west of the USA.

All of this is part of the second curse of Lev 26 for not keeping the Sabbatical and Jubilee years. But there is more news that matters this past week.

In a pair of major victories for the gay rights movement, the Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled that married same-sex couples were entitled to federal benefits and, by declining to decide a case from California, effectively allowed same-sex marriages there.

Neither yesterday’s Supreme Court decisions nor recent legislative victories for same-sex marriage are the turning point in the redefinition of marriage. The tipping point occurred decades ago. The embrace of same-sex marriage rests on a revision of our culture’s understanding of marriage, love and sexuality beginning in the 1960’s.

When we understand this then we will also understand that one of the primary rationales for the cultural shift on marriage is not connected to same-sex issues but rather our new understanding of the place of sexuality in human relational and personal fulfillment.

Beginning with the generation that came of age in the 1960’s, it has become commonly understood that a person needs to be (or have the option to be) in a consensual sexual relationship in order to experience the deepest and most fulfilling relationships. Accordingly, any of us ought to have the right to engage in a consensual sexual relationship with an adult and if both parties deem this relationship to be of lasting import, should have the right to be married as long as they both shall choose.

This conception of marriage and sexuality forms the foundation of our present relational landscape and has for decades. It is the rationale for the hook-up culture, no-fault divorce and the increase in cohabitation. Our society is logical enough to realize it should extend to any adult sexual relationship, including same-sex relationships.

The irony is that at the same time society embraced this new sexual and relational ethic, marriage began to implode as an institution. Young people are delaying marriage longer then ever before in American history—it’s possible we have now come to place where a majority of Americans will never be married. Over 40 percent of our children are now born outside of marriage and when children of divorce are added to the equation, a minority of children spends their entire childhood living with both biological parents.

When Lot sat in the gates of the city of Sodom he was one of the Judges of that city and in a similar position as the judges who this week voted in the case striking down the federal Defense of Marriage Act. It was a 5 to 4 vote, and Justice Kennedy was joined by the four members of the court’s liberal wing. The ruling will immediately extend many benefits to couples married in the states that allow such unions, and it will allow the Obama administration to broaden other benefits through executive actions.

Lot was found to be in the minority in his day as well. Lot’s children were also conditioned by the society around them. It was not that bad they thought. It is just giving them the same rights as those of us who are straight. It is just being fair for everyone.

They had their Pride parades just like Toronto has had this week, and many other cities around the country now do.

Pro 16:18 Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.

So we can expect a mighty fall to come soon. Last week instead of teaching on Assyria I taught the group in Sarnia about the 70 Shabua of Daniel and what the passage in Daniel 9:24-26 actually does say and how when it is read correctly lines up with the rest of scripture. Daniel is being told that the fall of the USA and UK would come in 2020 the middle of this Jubilee cycle.

When I came home from this teaching, I began to work on the 2300 Days of Daniel 8. It was in the completion of this previous teaching and then seeing where this 2300 days is leading me compounded with the news of the week as I have shared above and more below that I have become extremely depressed with what is going on and what is soon to come. I can see plainly why Daniel was sick to his stomach for three weeks over this.

Like the two angels that came to get Lot and his family out, the two witnesses are soon going to show up on the world scene. Again like the angels the two witnesses and you will be hunted and sot after by the liberal majority and they will want to do things to you that cannot be mentioned here. But will our families; will our children ignore the warnings like Lots children did? Will only a part of your family go with you? Will your spouse turn back and long for the good ol’ days when you were in Egypt and could eat all the Rib Fests and shrimp cocktails you could get a hold of; When sex was easy and available everywhere; when morals were constantly being eroded. Are you ready to go or are you like Lot trying to find a way to stay where you are? Have you become accustomed to Sodom and like it?

I have some news articles this week that terrifies me and as you read through them I hope you too will see the over all picture and again consider helping us to get this message out to the rest of the USA and UK countries.

We are raising money to put our Sabbatical and Jubilee teachings on TV. We are still looking to maintain the Vineyard in Israel that we planted in the fall of 2012. Please keep these things and myself in your prayers. Thank you.

This week I was going to advice you that maybe with all the spying going on by the US Gov. that maybe you might consider getting a hushmail account or using other means of searching the internet which are not traceable.

And then I was sent this link below. But as you read it keep in mind this bit of information as well as those news items to follow. China is leading the USA in computer quantum technology.

http://www.naturalnews.com/040859_Skynet_quantum_computing_D-Wave_Systems.html

China has surpassed the U.S. in the field of supercomputer technology, building the world’s fastest machine, according to the semiannual top500 Supercomputers listing released Monday. The Tianhe-2 was completed a full two years ahead of its expected deployment date, and is about twice as fast as the American supercomputer that previously held the record.

Supercomputers are instrumental in developing nuclear weapons, aerospace engines, vital chemicals and more. For decades, the U.S. had the largest and fastest arsenal of such computers, but now, as in many other races, America is the runner-up. The Tianhe-2 may not hold the record for long since the U.S., Japan and China are constantly developing faster machines, and taking turns occupying the number one slot. But the news underlines China’s rise as a power- house of science and technology.

The first time China ascended to the number one slot in November 2010, some analysts called it a “Sputnik moment.” But that time around, it wasn’t Moscow one-upping America in the space race, but China overpowering the

U.S. in one of the most crucial sectors of national security. If America falls behind in supercomputing, it could lose?its dominance in certain military fields, many branches of science, and in industries like pharmaceutical development and oil/natural gas production.

At present, China has 66 of the 500 most powerful supercomputers on the planet—up from zero just 12 years ago. That makes it second only to America. While the U.S. scrambles to pay for new supercomputer development, Beijing is awash with cash to pursue its ambitious technological goals. China has also become the largest nation on the Internet, climbing from 22.5 million Internet users in 2000 up to more than half a billion in 2012.

These trends illustrate how Beijing is leveraging speedy economic growth and sharp increases in research spending to join the global technology elite. Steady evidence of China’s burgeoning power will hasten the decision of weaker Asian nations to abandon the sinking U.S. ship and instead rally behind Beijing.

Iran underestimates Europe

A recent meeting between the Iranian government and prominent leaders of the Taliban highlights how all eyes are distracted from the most dangerous player in the region. While nations such as Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan fight to influence the Taliban in order to shore up their borders and counter U.S. influence, they underestimate the European presence. To Iran, the Taliban is a tool by which it can exert influence over the region and counter the United States. By focusing so intently on the U.S., however, it is neglecting the more dangerous influence of Germany. German influence in the region is expanding, while the U.S. is becoming less of a threat. German policies and plans in the Middle East will not allow Germany’s influence in the region to be undermined. If Germany lost its power in the region, it would lose its encirclement of the oil “golden triangle.” Germany imported 366,000 barrels of oil per day from the Middle East in 2011. The European Union imports around 40 percent of its oil from the Middle East. German positioning in the Middle East helps?it maintain access to Middle Eastern oil, thus offsetting its dependence on Russia, while at the same time placing German troops in positions capable of decisive military action if needed.

https://www.thetrumpet.com/article/10731.19.0.0/united-states/iran-counters-the-us-and-underestimates-europe?print

US and Germany grow closer U.S. President Barack Obama arrived in Berlin on May 18 after attending the G-8 Summit in Northern Ireland. Former U.S. ambassador to Germany John Kornblum noted that U.S.-German relations are stronger now than they were 50 years ago. Ezekiel 23 prophesies that Germany and America will indeed share close relations for a while. But this will lead to a double cross. After gaining America’s trust and support, Germany will betray the U.S. Watch for America to draw closer to Germany.

Obama Gives Away America’s Nuclear Arsenal

investor’s BUsiness DAiLy | June 9
Disarmament: President Obama has proposed targeting cuts in deployed atomic weapons of up to a third below levels achieved in a 2010 treaty with Russia. He wants a world without nuclear arms—specifically ours. … It was Obama’s vision of a “world without nuclear weapons” set out in a speech in Prague in 2009, three months into his presidency that arguably earned him the Nobel Peace Prize. He ignored the fact that before 1945 we lived in such a world, and it was neither peaceful nor secure.

On Wednesday in Berlin, he renewed that pledge, committed to the fantasy that weapons cause war, not the tyrants and thugs who would use them against others.

The U.S., as the world’s only effective defender of freedom and representative government, has a slightly different mission statement and military needs than Russia, China or any of the rogue states.

To morally equate us with them is to say there is no difference between law enforcement, armed citizens and criminals because they all carry guns, never mind the quite dissimilar reasons for having them, so let’s put restrictions on the guns—and the nuclear weapons.

Here we see the kind of “flexibility” Obama promised Russian President Dmitry Medvedev last year at the Nuclear Security Summit in Seoul, South Korea. Obama assured Medvedev that after his reelection he would have more leeway to weaken missile defense, which would help him fulfill his dream of U.S. disarmament.

In a video made for the group Caucus for Priorities, Obama pledged: “I will set a goal of a world without nuclear weapons. To seek that goal, I will not develop new nuclear weapons; I will seek a global ban on the production of fissile material; and I will negotiate with Russia to take our icbms off hair-trigger alert, and to achieve deep cuts in our nuclear arsenals.”

It is one campaign promise he has kept. …
Nuclear weapons in the right hands ended the violence of World War ii. In the right hands, they kept Western Europe free and helped win the Cold War. And the fact that they’d been used made it less likely they would ever be used again.

We once lived in a world free of nuclear weapons or the need for them. That world ended [on] Dec. 7, 1941.

Sequestration Grounds More Air Force Planes

Lexington institute | June 18
The greatest number of Air Force
(Army Air Corps in those days) planes destroyed or damaged on a single day was 205 during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. An additional 123 Navy aircraft were destroyed or damaged for a total of 328. To put these losses in perspective, the average daily loss of American aircraft during

World War II from all causes was 170. Now the United States Congress has beaten the record set by Japan as well as the average for the entire war. According to published reports of a speech by the Air Force chief of staff, Gen. Mark Welsh, sequestration has forced his service to ground about 33 squadrons, 12 of them “combat-coded” fighter and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (isr) units. In addition, seven more squadrons, apparently including four strategic bomber units, have been reduced to doing only basic “takeoff and landing” training. Included on the casualty list is at least one squadron of F-22s, the most advanced fighter in the U.S. inventory, four F-15E Strike Eagle squadrons, the Air Force’s premier air- to-ground platform and two squadrons each of B-1Bs and B-52s. By my admittedly back-of-the-envelope calculation, without firing a shot, sequestration has already inflicted “losses” on the U.S. Air Force alone on the order of 300 aircraft. If one includes the additional squadrons placed in a similar status?by the Navy and Marine Corps, the total cost of sequestration in terms of “downed” U.S. aircraft rises to some- thing like 600.

This bloodbath amounts to approximately 20 percent of the air combat capability of the U.S. military. There are additional casualties in the form of squadrons involved in training, airlift, intelligence and support. Moreover, the costs imposed by sequestration extend over time. According to the above-referenced article, General Welsh said that “it takes 150 percent more money to get a fully grounded squadron combat- ready again than it would to simply keep it trained up all along.” …

Then on June 25, 2013 it was announced that In a massive restructuring, the U.S. Army is slashing the number of active duty combat brigades from 45 to 33, and shifting thousands of soldiers out of bases around the country as it moves forward with a longtime plan to cut the size of the service by 80,000.

Officials say the sweeping changes would eliminate brigades at 10 Army bases in the U.S. by 2017, including in Texas, Kentucky, Georgia, Colorado, North Carolina, New York, Kansas and Washington.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/06/25/army-to-cut-combat-brigades-at-10-us-bases/#ixzz2XTFTsu5b

 

Scrapping equipment Key to Withdrawal

Washington Post | June 19
Facing a tight withdrawal deadline and tough terrain, the U.S. military has destroyed more than 170 million pounds worth of vehicles and other military equipment as it rushes to wind down its role in the Afghanistan war by the end of 2014.

The massive disposal effort, which U.S. military officials call unprecedented, has unfolded largely out of sight amid an ongoing debate inside the Pentagon about what to do with the heaps of equipment that won’t be returning home. Military planners have determined that they will not ship back more than $7 billion worth of equipment—about 20 percent of what the U.S. military has in Afghanistan— because it is no longer needed or would be too costly to ship back home. …

“We’re making history doing what we’re doing here,” said Maj. Gen. Kurt J. Stein, head of the 1st Sustainment Command, who is overseeing the drawdown in Afghanistan. “This is the largest retrograde mission in history.” …

With China and Russia working together and strengthening their armies, and with the US Urging Germany and Europe to take on a bigger role on the world scene all at the same time the US is destroying it hardware instead of bringing it home and grounding squadrons of airplanes, I am getting nervous. Deep down inside me I had hoped I was wrong in all those things I have been saying. But the world scene continues to march in the direction shown to us through prophecy and it is scaring me also.

Many of you think you can ride this out on your pensions and don’t expect anything to come your way. We have written a number of times to you warning you of the pension short fall. We do so again now. With the stock market in disarray and having no sure direction people have moved from low paying or non interest paying pension funds to stocks. With zero returns the funds invested are being eaten up. Are you really going to rely on your pension being there for you when you get there?
Pension crisis about to get worse

American pension plans, already severely underfunded, are about to hit unsustainable levels as more baby boomers reach retirement age. A newly proposed credit evaluation standard would change how the government’s pension liability is determined. If Moody’s starts issuing new state credit ratings based on its new evaluation standard, it could spotlight a funding crisis that is hiding behind the scenes. California’s unfunded pension liability would “officially” double to $328.6 billion, according to Reuters. States like Illinois, which according to a September 2012 report from Republicans on the Senate Joint Economic Committee has only a 30 percent-funded pension fund, face running out of money completely. The report noted, “By standard accounting methods, some state pension funds will run out of assets within as little as five years.” When combined, state and local pensions are more than $4 trillion underfunded—this is money needed today and earning interest—to pay for retirement promises.

Glenn McWilliams had not read last weeks News Letter when he wrote this following paragraph; but his words are so true I have to copy them here. I have been called arrogant and a number of other things as I share with people the truths I have come to know. It forces them to as Glenn so aptly put it to get outside the current circle they are in; Their comfort zone. This is why my teachings rub people the wrong way. They do not consider the god small “g”; the god they worship to be the one that is going to send these severe curses on them. I keep telling you the God I worship with a large “G” Yehovah does and is and will continue to send these curses that you and the world is now experiencing. This weeks news letter is addressing this very subject.

Glenn McWilliams

It is often our fear of transgressing the accepted doctrine that prevents us from seeing the truth. We all know what lies inside the circle of our accepted doctrines and traditions, but to see what lies beyond the circle we must step outside the circle. We all know intuitively that the moment we do so, we will be judged and condemned by those still standing in the circle. We may even be excommunicated from the circle and left standing alone outside. As long as we stay inside the circle we feel like we belong. As long as we stay inside the circle, everyone else in the circle affirms us that we belong and that we are right. But if we challenge, if we question, we risk our comfort, security, affirmation, identity, and possibly our place inside the circle. The journey for the truth does not stop at the boundary of the circle. The truth may even lead beyond the circle. It is truly an adventure.

Hi Joseph,

All of us who take God’s word for what it says and have given up previous beliefs and practices have been the target of judgement, criticism, and ridicule. Dealing with this is the point of Paul’s comments in Colossians 2:16-17. My thoughts on these verses follow.

The members of the congregation at Colossae were made up primarily of gentile converts and were certainly very familiar with the rites and requirements of the dominant pagan religions before their conversion to Christianity as some of them would likely have been involved in one or more of those religions. All of those religions promoted a lifestyle and a system of worship that was contrary to that which is taught in Hebrew scripture and which was certainly taught by Paul, Barnabas, Silas, and other early missionaries. Many of the pagan religions held in common the worship of the sun on the first day of the week. Mithra, the official religion of the Roman Empire, also set aside the 16th of every month as a day dedicated to the worship of Mithra, and the entire seventh month was dedicated to Mithra. Certain holidays were also expected to be celebrated. The celebration of the winter solstice, held on December 25, also coincided with the mythical birthdays of Mithra, Baal, Tammuz, and many others. The celebration of the mythical resurrection of Tammuz each spring at Easter, with its Easter eggs, Easter bunnies, and Easter lilies, was observed by the adherents of Ashtoreth for 500 years before Jesus was born in Bethlehem. This is part of the backdrop against which Paul wrote to the congregation in Colossae.

A major reason for writing this letter to the Colossians is to counter the teaching of Gnosticism which had made significant inroads in the belief system of several Christian congregations. This teaching promoted the concept that the spirit is good, but matter and the body are evil. With respect to Jesus, it taught that the Spirit of God had entered the human form of Jesus at His baptism, remained in this human body until the trial began, but that the Spirit of God departed from the human body and returned to heaven just before the crucifixion because it is not possible that God can suffer pain. It was only the human body that Jesus had occupied and left behind that suffered the pain and death on the cross.

The Christian converts were not only taught about Jesus as the fulfillment of the Messianic prophecies of the Hebrew scriptures, the gracious character of God which He demonstrated throughout His life, death, and resurrection, and the hope of eternal life promised by God, but the necessary change in lifestyle and worship that should result from gaining familiarity with the God of creation and redemption. They were taught to observe the dietary and other health laws expressed in Leviticus. They were taught to keep the entire plan of the Lord’s festivals: the Sabbath festival, the new moon festivals, and the annual festivals. These gentile converts continued to work and live with their unconverted family and friends who on occasion made fun of the new lifestyle and plan of worship that was so different from their former pagan traditions. The ridicule of family and friends, neighbors and co-workers is not easy to withstand and many of them must have felt tempted to lapse back into the former lifestyle.

Paul tells them to allow no one to judge, criticize, or ridicule them for adopting the new lifestyle and plan for worship promoted by scripture. In verse 17 Paul tells them that following the new lifestyle and plan for worship is a shadow of the reality that will be theirs when they are united in Christ. A shadow is a silhouette of an object and tells us a little bit about the size and shape of the object that casts the shadow, but only a few details of the object are revealed by the shadow. This shadow is a silhouette of what will be experienced when Christ comes and those who have embraced the lifestyle and plan for worship directed by the Lord are united with Him for eternity. Verse 17 is a parallel to his statement in 1 Corinthians 13:12 where he wrote: “For now we see through a glass darkly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then shall I know even as also I am known.” This is a promise that, just as Moses looked on the face of God and was blessed, so those in the New Testament era who trust His instructions regarding lifestyle and worship, and embrace their practice will have the privilege and blessing of being face to face with Christ for eternity. The judging, criticism, and ridicule of family and friends, neighbors and co-workers should not be allowed to derail their relationship with their Savior and their newly adopted lifestyle and worship pattern.

God requires the same thing from us as He required of Adam and Eve in the garden. He requires us to listen to Him, learn from Him, trust Him, and obey Him. The word for “belief” and “trust” in the Greek is the same word: pistas. When you write that Abraham believed God, it also means he trusted God, obeyed God, and relied on God as his life-coach. He wants us to take Him seriously in that same way. I’m glad you do!
Keep up the good work.

Shalom,

Gerald Brown

My Friend Sandy Bruce posted this short article and I think it adds to those things we have been addressing here in the past few weeks.

But avoid foolish disputes, genealogies, contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and useless. (Titus 3:9)

In the verse: “about the law” is SCRIBES ( nom-ik-as’ ??????? ; LAWYERS)

It comes from the word which is translated as “LAW” ( nomos ????? ), which is used to translate the Hebrew word TORAH.

But LAW ( nomos ????? ) does NOT always means TORAH. Sometimes it means SPIRITUAL LAW, like the SPIRITUAL LAW of Sin and Death (Rom 8:1-2 and Rom 6:14) or the SPIRITUAL LAW of Life in Messiah (Rom 8:1-2 )

 

Corrected translation:

But avoid foolish disputes, genealogies, contentions, and strivings about SCRIBES ( nom-ik-as’ ??????? ; LAWYERS ); for they are unprofitable and useless.

The MEANING of the word used here: SCRIBES ( nom-ik-as’ ??????? ) is: about law / relating to law ( but NOT the “law” or “Torah” itself )

The GRAMMAR of the word used here:
Number: PLURAL, not SINGULAR. Therefore, it can NOT be translated as “LAW” [ Torah ] ( nomos ????? ), which is SINGULAR.

In the EIGHT (8) other times used in the ReNewed Covenant writings, this word ( nom-ik-as’ ??????? ) is ALWAYS translated as SCRIBES.

So why in this once instance is it mistranslated as “LAW”, misleading people to think that Sha’ul ( Saul – Paul ) is allegedly talking about “LAW” [ Torah ] ( nomos ????? ), when the word for “LAW” [ Torah ] ( nomos ????? ) is NOT used here?

Even if someone did NOT know Hebrew and did NOT know Greek, they could still come towards the Truth, by applying PRINCIPLES of TORAH ??????? knowing that Sha’ul could simply NOT be teaching that we should NOT talk about or discuss TORAH ??????? – since that is what the IsraElites have been taught to do since they came out of Egypt: Talk about and discuss TORAH ??????? and teach TORAH ??????? to your children: night and day ( see the Shema: Deut 6:4-9 )

LAW ( nomos ????? ) singular
LAWS ( nomon ????? ) plural

CONTENTIONS ( machas ????? ) is a PLURAL.
About SCRIBES ( nom-ik-as’ ??????? ; LAWYERS ) is also a PLURAL
“about the law” would be SINGULAR, and does NOT fit the Greek here.

I read, write, speak and translate Russian, whose alphabet comes mostly from Greek. The grammar is also similar as far as CASES goes and how adjectives work.

In Luke 11:45, the same word is also used (and as an ADJECTIVE ) and in the PLURAL, and it is one of the 8 other instances where it is translated as “SCRIBES” / “LAWYERS”

In Luke 11:46, the same word is also used (and as an ADJECTIVE ) and in the PLURAL, and it is one of the 8 other instances where it is translated as “SCRIBES” / “LAWYERS”

In Luke 11:52, the same word is also used (and as an ADJECTIVE ) and in the PLURAL, and it is one of the 8 other instances where it is translated as “SCRIBES” / “LAWYERS”

In Luke 14:3, the same word is also used (and as an ADJECTIVE ) and in the PLURAL, and it is one of the 8 other instances where it is translated as “SCRIBES” / “LAWYERS”

——-

Acts 15 is a ONE-QUESTION discussion among the Messianic Hebrews “about the Torah” (“law” )
Guess who created all of that?
Sha’ul, the very one who wrote to Titus.

Some Perushim who had come to faith in Yeshua, believed that gentiles could only be saved if they FIRST were circumcised. So Sha’ul went up to Jerusalem to seek the counsel of the assembly there.

The issue was NEVER … IF gentiles should become circumcised, but WHEN.
Shimon Kefa ( Peter ) explained that the Torah is read in every SYNAGOGUE ( not CHURCH ) on SHABBAT ( not on sunday )…so therefore the new gentile believers in Yeshua, the Hebrew Messiah, were hearing the TORAH read and LEARNING and OBEYING.

They only needed to do FOUR (4) things to START, so that they would not be unclean and be prohibited from entering into the SYNAGOGUES and hearing the TORAH read and taught.

SO does Sha’ul now contradict himself in what he writes to Titus? Answer: No.
Again, we must always follow TORAH and the PRINCIPLES of Torah to understand the ReNewed Covenant writings. The English translation is WRONG.

——-

Now, better understanding Acts 15 as well, we see better what Sha’ul may have been talking about here:

Avoid contentions about things related to the Scribes beliefs in their man-made rules and regulations.

We must understand things from a Hebrew and Hebraic mindset, culture, language and background and NOT from Greek, English, western or christian mindset.

——-

One pastor wrote to me and said that the Greek word means:
” of those who are of the law”

So using his words ” of those who are of the law” we then have: “CONTENTIONS … of those who are of the law ( SCRIBES )”

If Sha’ul wanted to say CONTENTIONS about the “LAW” ( nomos ????? ) [ TORAH ] he would have used something like: OF ( tou ??? ) the LAW ( nomou ????? ) where the Grammar CASE of “of the Law”: Genitive

In Romans 2:13, we read:
(for not the HEARERS of the “LAW” ( nomou ????? ) [ TORAH ] are just in the sight of ELohim, but the DOERS of the “LAW” ( nomou ????? ) [ TORAH ] will be justified.

HEARERS ( ???????? akroatai)
Grammar: NOUN, Case; Nominative, Gender: Masculine; Number: PLURAL

of the “LAW” ( nomou ????? ) [ TORAH ]
Grammar: NOUN, Case; Genitive / , Gender: Masculine; Number: Singular

Thus, if Sha’ul intended: “about” or “of” the “LAW” / TORAH, the Greek would be different.
Instead, the Greek is about: “those who are of the law” (your words ), but NOT about: the LAW itself.
——-

That pastor wrote back and said:
< But I stand firmly by the translation of nomikas in this passage as “quarrels about the law.”>

This absolutely CONTRADICTS the very essence of Hebrew culture and society.
Yeshua Himself repeatedly had quarrels with the religious leaders of His day in “quarrels about the law.”

Sha’ul likewise had them.

So Messiah Yeshua is guilty of doing something that Sha’ul later teaches NOT to do?
And Sha’ul himself is also guilty of doing (Acts 15) what he himself later teaches NOT to do?

This is WHY those who REJECT the TORAH can NOT understand the ReNewed Covenant writings correctly, properly or fully. TORAH is the FOUNDATION of all spiritual Truth.

“Circumcision is nothing and unCircumcision is nothing, but keeping the commandments of God is what matters.”

Without going into a lot of detail, we know from all of Shaul’s (Saul – Paul) writings, and also the Book of Acts, that he KEPT Torah and taught Torah, to both Hebrews and non-Hebrews.

When we take a single verse OUT of CONTEXT, we lose or distort its meaning. So 1 Cor 7:19 must be understood in light of what he is teaching in the surrounding verses.

That being said, ENGLISH translations are not always correct or accurate, especially when so often they are written to appear as anti-Torah.

Nevertheless, when we read the Greek of 1 Cor 7:19, we find the word “BUT” ( ah-lah ???? ) which is a CONJUNCTION comparing what is said BEFORE this word to what is said AFTER this word.

Thus, we would compare:
Circumcision ( peritom? ???????? ) (ie: the act, or the condition, done by Hebrews keeping the commandment given to Abraham )
and ( kai ??? )– ( ? h? ) UnCircumcision ( akrobystia ?????????? ) ( not being circumcised, done by non-Hebrews ) nothing ( ouden ???? ) is ( estin ???? ) BUT ( ah-lah ???? ) KEEPING ( tee-ree-sis ??????? ) COMMANDMENTS ( entol?n ??????? ) of ELohim ( Theou ???? )

The CONJUNCTION translated as the word “BUT” ( ah-lah ???? ), might better be translated “except that”

In other words, even if a Hebrew is circumcised, but he is NOT keeping the commandments of ELohim, what good does that do him? It is supposed to be an OUTWARD SIGN of an INWARD circumcision of the heart – which is a heart that WANTS to LEARN and OBEY the COMMANDMENTS.

Therefore, “BUT” ( ah-lah ???? ) might better be understood as “EXCEPT THAT” he is also walking in OBEDIENCE to the rest of the commandments of Torah, his PHYSICAL circumcision is of no value, because his heart is NOT SPIRITUALLY circumcised — something which was properly pointed out by someone else on this thread above.

Thus, there is no problem with what Sha’ul would have written in HEBREW. This would have been translated into Greek, in the SECOND century, by non-Hebrews. The problem is in the ENGLISH translation or in the understanding of those who do not or can not see the Hebrew thoughts of Torah in what Shaul is teaching here.

The same understanding would apply to other passages concerning circumcision, which are likewise misunderstood and taught wrongly, incorrectly and falsely.

 


Triennial Torah Cycle

We continue this weekend with our regular Triennial Torah Reading Cycle

Deut 24      2 Chron 1-5     Philemon

 

Divorce; Concern for Others Mandated (Deuteronomy 24:1-25:4)

Moses, because of the hardness of the hearts of the people, allowed for divorce—although Christ later explained that “from the beginning” it was not so. For converted Christians, only a few valid reasons for divorce exist—such as fraud before marriage, sexual immorality while married and desertion by an unconverted mate (compare Matthew 19:3-9; 1 Corinthians 7:12-15). Indeed, in Matthew 19, Christ was apparently explaining that people had been applying even the words of Deuteronomy 24:1-4 far too liberally, taking the word “uncleanness” to mean anything the husband didn’t like and allowing him to divorce his wife for virtually any reason at all. In fact, in Christ’s day it was not even necessary to state a reason. A husband had only to tell his wife, “I divorce you” before witnesses. The same liberty was, in this corrupt tradition, not extended to wives. With this understanding, we can perhaps see how the certificate of divorce, while a concession to human weakness, could actually prove helpful to a wife whose husband wrongfully divorced her, allowing her to remarry and still be provided for (compare verse 2). Yet, if her next marriage ended in divorce or widowhood, the first husband was not permitted to take her back after she had become the wife of another man in the intervening time. This law is still valid today.

Verses 6 and 10-13 demand mercy and compassion for a poor person who had to give a pledge or security for a debt. The creditor was not allowed to accept certain necessities as a pledge (verses 6, 17), and he was, in any event, to return whatever he had received from a poor person as a pledge before sunset (verses 12-13). Further, he was not given the right to go into the poor person’s house without permission to get the pledge (verse 10), thus preserving personal privacy and dignity. Although a poor person might find himself in a temporary financial predicament, he was still made in the image of God as a potential member of His very family, and thus was to be treated with respect.

In the same context, an employer was to pay his employee his wages on time. In ancient times, employees or hired servants were paid daily, and God declares it to be “sin” not to do so—regardless of whether the employee was an Israelite or a foreigner (verses 14-15). The principle is that employees be paid at mutually agreeable intervals.

Verse 16 sets forth an important principle: “Fathers shall not be put to death for their children, nor shall children be put to death for their fathers; a person shall be put to death for his own sin.” We are all individually responsible for what we do. Parents must teach their children, but the children must choose. The same is true for converted children who can teach their unconverted parents God’s way of life—but it is again the parent’s responsibility to accept or reject the truth.

Verses 19-22 address compassionate conduct again—this time of landowners towards the poor. Rather than greedily harvesting every last sheaf in the field, or every last grape or olive, God commanded generosity. Thus, some of the harvest was to be left for the stranger, the fatherless or the widow, i.e., the poor in the land, “that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.” He reminds Israel that they, too, had been slaves in the land of Egypt, and how much they would have appreciated it if such a law had been in Egypt for them (see verse 22).

Deuteronomy 25:1-3 demand justice in court. A wicked person is to be condemned, and a righteous person is to be acquitted. In ancient Israel, to inflict physical pain on a convicted criminal was not considered inhumane, cruel or unusual. Rather, it was to satisfy the victim’s demand for some sense of justice, to deter others from committing crime and to reinforce to the criminal himself the fact that sin and crime brings pain and suffering. We might ask ourselves whether it is more “humane” to lock up a convicted criminal for months or years in a tiny cell, caging him like an animal. God saw to it, however, that the offender was not to be “humiliated” in the sight of Israel when he received the beating—the maximum number of blows could not exceed 40. Thus, rather than being inhumane, this law recognized the guilty person as a human being whose dignity should be preserved. In other nations, people were sometimes beaten with a lash or rod to extract a confession (Acts 22:24). This was not allowed under God’s code of law. Blows were to be used only to punish after guilt had been established.

Verse 4 of Deuteronomy 25 teaches compassion for animals. An ox that works should be fed. Indeed, to restrain an animal from eating food that it continually before it is frustrating and torturous to the animal. Moreover, there is a practical benefit: To keep an ox engaged in its job of treading grain, it is best to allow it to eat the very grain it is treading. The principle even has practical applications in the human realm. Paul would later apply it to the ministry, who for their service should have their living expenses paid out of the tithes and offerings collected from the members and supporters of the Church (1 Corinthians 9:7-11). This also allows them to devote more time to their ministerial responsibilities rather than an outside occupation.

 

2 Chronicles 1-5

We read about Solomon a few weeks ago in 1 Kings. 2 Chronicles focuses less on examples of Solomon’s wisdom and more on the details of having the Temple built on Mount Moriah on land that David, his father, had purchased from Araunah the Jebusite where the angel had stopped the plague, and David had worshipped. Solomon contacted Hiram, King of Tyre, about the plans to build the Lord God of Israel a temple – a place not to contain Him, but to offer sacrifices to Him. For the project supervisor, Solomon contracted with Hiram to send Huram-Abi, a skilled craftsman whose mother was from Dan and whose father was from Tyre. Hiram accepted the price Solomon offered for Tyre woodsmen to cut and deliver valuable logs from the forests of Lebanon.

In Israel, Solomon took a census of the 153,600 aliens living there, and assigned some to be carriers, some to be stonecutters, and some to be foremen, overseeing that the work got done.

The temple plans called for the building to be about 90 feet long and 30 feet wide. Obviously the writer of the book of Hebrews had closely studied the description in Chapter 3, of how the temple was built, and compared it (Hebrews 3:3-6 and 9:1-10) with the temple of Christ’s New Covenant. Hebrews also revealed that the plans for Solomon’s Temple and the articles made to be used in it were all based upon the Temple and the cheubim in heaven.

 

Solomon’s choice of wisdom, His strength and wealth.

SOLOMON began his reign with a pious, public visit to God’s altar. Those that pursue present things most eagerly, are likely to be disappointed; while those that refer themselves to the providence of God, if they have not the most, have the most comfort. Those that make this world their end, come short of the other, and are disappointed in this also; but those that make the other world their end, shall not only obtain that, and full satisfaction in it, but shall have as much of this world as is good for them, in their way. Let us then be contented, without those great things which men generally covet, but which commonly prove fatal snares to the soul.

Solomon’s message to Huram respecting the temple, His treaty with Huram.

Solomon informs Huram of the particular services to be performed in the temple. The mysteries of the true religion, unlike those of the Gentile superstitions, sought not concealment. Solomon endeavoured to possess Huram with great and high thoughts of the God of Israel. We should not be afraid or ashamed to embrace every opportunity to speak of God, and to impress others with a deep sense of the importance of his favour and service. Now that the people of Israel kept close to the law and worship of God, the neighbouring nations were willing to be taught by them in the true religion, as the Israelites had been willing in the days of their apostacy, to be infected with the idolatries and superstitions of their neighbours. A wise and pious king is an evidence of the Lord’s special love for his people. How great then was God’s love to his believing people, in giving his only-begotten Son to be their Prince and their Saviour.

The building of the temple.

There is a more particular account of the building of the temple in 1 Kings 6. It must be in the place David had prepared, not only which he had purchased, but which he had fixed on by Divine direction. Full instructions enable us to go about our work with certainty and to proceed therein with comfort. Blessed be God, the Scriptures are enough to render the man of God thoroughly furnished for every good work. Let us search the Scriptures daily, beseeching the Lord to enable us to understand, believe, and obey his word, that our work and our way may be made plain, and that all may be begun, continued, and ended in him. Beholding God, in Christ, his true Temple, more glorious than that of Solomon’s, may we become a spiritual house, a habitation of God through the Spirit.

 

The furniture of the temple.

Here is a further account of the furniture of God’s house. Both without doors and within, there was that which typified the grace of the gospel, and shadowed out good things to come, of which the substance is Christ. There was the brazen altar. The making of this was not mentioned in the book of Kings. On this all the sacrifices were offered, and it sanctified the gift. The people who worshipped in the courts might see the sacrifices burned. They might thus be led to consider the great Sacrifice, to be offered in the fulness of time, to take away sin, and put an end to death, which the blood of bulls and goats could not possibly do. And, with the smoke of the sacrifices, their hearts might ascend to heaven, in holy desires towards God and his favour. In all our devotions we must keep the eye of faith fixed upon Christ. The furniture of the temple, compared with that of the tabernacle, showed that God’s church would be enlarged, and his worshippers multiplied. Blessed be God, there is enough in Christ for all.

The ark was a type of Christ, and, as such, a token of the presence of God. That gracious promise, Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world, does, in effect, bring the ark into our religious assemblies, if we by faith and prayer plead that promise; and this we should be most earnest for. When Christ is formed in a soul, the law written in the heart, the ark of the covenant settled there, so that it becomes the temple of the Holy Ghost, there is true satisfaction in that soul.

 

Commentary on 2 Chronicles 5:11-14

God took possession of the temple; he filled it with a cloud. Thus he signified his acceptance of this temple, to be the same to him that the tabernacle of Moses was, and assured his people that he would be the same in it. Would we have God dwell in our hearts, we must leave room for him; every thing else must give way. The Word was made flesh; and when he comes to his temple, like a refiner’s fire, who may abide the day of his coming? May he prepare us for that day.

 

Philemon

Philemon is a letter from the Apostle Shaul along with Timothy, to a man and brother in faith named Philemon. Shaul calls him beloved, brother, and fellow worker. He also mentions some others in the opening of his letter to Philemon, namely Apphia (a woman), Archippos (a fellow soldier), and all the assembly at the house of Philemon. He tells Philemon how much of a good report he has heard of him concerning great love and tenderness towards the set apart ones of Messiah.

Shaul is writing to Philemon to share with him his desires concerning one Onesimos who seems to have previously either been struggling in the faith or a slave. Shaul is appealing to Philemon for Onesimos to be able to stay with him and be of service and live as a brother. Whatever Onesimos has obtained in matter of debts or wrongs, Shaul states he will assume those things and pay or repay all.

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