What's Love Got to Do With It?

A couple of weeks ago, as counselor specializing in relationships and marriage, I was asked on a local TV program to talk about the Five Love Languages developed by Gary Chapman in his book, "The Five Love Languages". The main idea is that of the five love languages (gifts, words of affirmation, physical touch, quality time, and acts of service) one and perhaps a close second is the way we prefer to be loved and indeed when we are loved in these ways, feel the most significant and cared for. We find we can rank these from 1 to 5 in importance, number one being our prefered love language and number five just not speaking to us.

Very often, couples will choose their polar opposite in terms of love language preference which can set up a bit of disconnect.  I end up loving you in the way I want to be loved and if its at the bottom of your list, I  may completely miss the mark. When this occurs, it may be that the way your spouse desires to be loved is the very thing that's most uncomfortable or difficult for you. This turned out to be true for Tim and I. Wouldn't you know that my love language was "gifts" which he ranked as fifth on his list and his love language was "acts of service" which, you guessed it, ranked lowest on mine.  Now to cut each of us some slack, we were totally unaware of this discrepancy. We were merrily going down the path of marriage loving each other in our own love language...how we wanted to be loved. Now, it wasn't awful. Good things were happening, but there was some disconnection, disappointment, and maybe some feelings of being unappreciated and misunderstood. Fortunately we discovered the concept of love languages early on and it really brought a new level of understanding. We had to step out and learn to love the other in the way they desired. Interestingly enough, over the years our love languages have shifted toward the other. The places that were difficult became a joy...once we understood what touched each other's heart.

Something really struck me one day when someone compared loving God to loving our spouse when the question was posed, "What if we decided to love our spouse in the way that we wanted to love them and not how they have expressed the way they desire to be loved?" If my spouse felt the most loved when I showed affection, and this was the way they wanted me to express love to them, what if I said, nah, I'm not comfortable with that. I'm going to love them the way I want to. How do you think your spouse would feel? How would you feel if that's how your spouse loved you? How would that bode for the relationship? I am discovering that often we love God in the way that we want to and not how he has expressed how he wants to be loved in the scriptures. 

 How does God want to be loved? As I look back over my life there are several ways I thought God wanted to be loved. In our love relationships, so often we think of love as a feeling and part of my definition included if I had "that loving feeling" towards God. But you know how that is, sometimes I just didn't feel those same feelings or keep that "high" I would get after a particular experience or time of closeness or answered prayer.  I also thought of love in terms of being a loving person doing loving things toward others. Love my neighbor. (Sometimes I would go overboard when I would get into my "people pleasing" mode.) Loving God also included Bible study, prayer and quiet times.

 

Yeshua (Jesus) tells us,"If you love me, you'll obey what I command" (John 14:15) and "Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my father and I too will love him and show myself to him." (John 14:21,22). John (the disciple beloved by Christ) wrote again in 1 John 5:3, "This is love for God; to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome".

When Yeshua was asked in Matthew 22:36 "Rabbi, what is the greatest commandment in the Torah?" he quoted Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18 when he replied, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind" This is the first and the greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Torah and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."

What does it mean to obey His commandments? What commandments? Then I was struck with the fact that when Yeshua and John spoke the definition of loving God, the New Testament had not yet been written. Yeshua was referring to the Torah  (First five books of what we have called the Old Testament) in his reply to the question of the greatest commandment. Torah is translated as "law" in the New Testament which turns out to be a poor translation. Instead of "law", the more accurate translation is "Torah" which means teaching or instruction.

I also remembered that John said in John 1:1 that Yeshua is the Word of God and was with God in the beginning. Yeshua, therefore is the whole of scripture. If I want to know how to love God, I need to start at the beginning where Yeshua refers us.

Torah in ancient Hebrew means:
Tav: cross, covenant or sign of the convenant
Vav: Nail or tent peg, to secure
Resh: person especially the highest person, head
Hey: Reveal. At the end of a word hey can mean what comes from or out of, belonging to
Torah: The covenant secured by the highest person revealed or that which comes from the highest person nailed to the cross.
(For ancient picture language, scroll down to the end)

Recently, I learned that a better translation of the word "commandment' is "Mitzvah" in Hebrew. Mitzvah means "obligations that bind us to God", like superglue, or on the same team. There are different types of Mitzvah, but all are about being in relationship. These also includes statues, precepts, judgements and ordinances. Only through observing these Mitzvah can we build a deep, enduring relationship with God, forging the bond. Mitzvah performance creates a deep connection between God and us.


God's commandments are for those who are in a covenant relationship with Him. They are instructions for how to live in relationship with Him and with each other, and with ourselves. It's like our marriage vows. In the beginning you don't fully know the other or even how to really love your spouse. But as you grow in your understanding and knowledge of the other, your love and commitment deepen and you have a greater desire to love them, especially how they desire to be loved, even when it's the most difficult for you. 


Psalm 119 (all 176 verses), which David wrote, describes the life, joy, light, truth, and delight (to name a few) that result from following God's commandments, statues, judgements and precepts.
Consider Psalm 119:12-20

"Blessed are you, O Yahweh; teach me your Statutes. I have declared your judgements with my lips; I have rejoiced in the way of your Testimonies (recorded witness) as over all riches. I will meditate in your Precepts and I will regard your paths. I will delight myself in your Statues. I will not forget your word. Deal bountifully with your servant that I may live, and I will keep your word. Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your Torah. I am a sojourner in the earth; hide not your Commandments from me. My soul is crushed for longing for your judgements in every season.

And Psalm 119:1
Blessed are the upright in the way, who walk in the Torah of Yahweh. Blessed are those keeping his testimonies, who seek Him with the whole heart."


I discovered that Torah also means, "hitting the mark" like a bulls eye on a target and sin means "missing the mark". This gives a whole new understanding to 1 John 3:4 where John says, " Whoever commits sin also commits Torahlessness and sin is Torahlessness. It is God's desire that we obey His Mitzvah, His Torah that we may know Him, love Him, know what He is doing and going to do in the future, know how to love others, and know how to live in a way that gives the greatest provision and care for ourselves. (Like how to eat healthy and how to stay out of debt, to name a few.) I had been missing the mark in many ways.


A huge area, besides the 10 commandments, that I discovered that are God's statutes forever (appointments, commandments, decrees) are the Lord's Feasts which include the Sabbath (weekly appointment) and the 7 Feasts (4 Spring, 3 Fall) described in Leviticus 23. These are set times that God has established for us to meet with Him where He has promised to show up. They are His appointments and rehursals where He reveals Himself more fully, reveals His plan and purpose and lets us know what He has done, what He is doing and what He is going to do.  They are weekly, monthly and yearly cycles that continually bring us back to how to get right with God, ourselves and others. They promote self reflection and repentance which bring us back into proper relationship with the Father as well as with others and ourselves.


I had studied the Feasts along the way in Bible studies and always thought they were so interesting and gave a deeper meaning, especially to the death, sinlessness, and resurrection of Yeshua. I understood how the Spring feasts were about Yeshua's first coming and had some awareness that the fall feasts were about his return to set up the Kingdom of God on earth. But what I completely missed was that these were His set appointments to meet with Him and by "doing" or celebrating them, I was showing up, showing my love for Him. This really grieved me. It was like finding out that my husband had been waiting for me on our anniversary every year or for our special weekly date and I wasn't showing up! For our whole marriage.


When I discovered this, I went about learning how to celebrate the feasts and began celebrating. There is such a difference on every level between just knowing and doing! As I celebrated I was stepping into a new realm of understanding and awareness that I was participating in something profoundly larger than my life (to say the least). And I really had to step out and believe God.


This fall was my first time celebrating the feast of Tabernacles or Sukkot. It is a week long celebration and God instructs us to build sukkahs or little shelters/tents outside to eat and perhaps sleep in. It is a remembrance of how the Israelites tabernacled in the wilderness with God when they were delivered out of slavery in Egypt, how Yeshua became flesh and dwelt with us (dwelt means tabernacled in Hebrew) and how we will tabernacle with God the Father and Yeshua when His Kingdom is restored and set up on Earth forever.


We built our little sukkah on our deck and even invited some friends and family to share a meal.  When I first began building it I felt a little bit like Noah must have felt. (By no means an equal comparison!) I had some doubts, feeling a bit foolish even crossed my mind.(Good grief, what will the neighbors think?) But the more I built and then stepped into the tabernacle, bearing this witness to God on earth and in obedience to Him was profound. He showed up just as He promised. My faith was enlarged by doing, not merely knowing. Our relationship grew more intimate. I was commemorating what God had done in the past and remembering (lest I forget) and rehearsing what is to come in the future. I was joining millions today and countless millions through the ages for 3500 years! God is all about celebrating. It brings a fuller sense of joy, life and purpose!
(I understand that these feasts are celebrated in Heaven with the angels.)


Loving God by learning to obey His commandments is not about perfection or salvation. It is about relationship. It is about loving our Creator in the way that He desires. And we are told that God's commandments are not burdensome. But I may need to learn to love Him in the places that are the hardest for me. And this is the main point! I am discovering that Love has everything to do with it!


The first Spring feasts of the year are Passover, the feast of Unleavened Bread and Feast of First Fruits. Join me in showing up and celebrating these set times with our Father.

TORAH- TVRH (Hebrew uses no vowels) In ancient Hebrew:

Tav- cross, covenant, sign of the covenant

        Vav- nail or tent peg, to secure

 Resh- person especailly the highest, head

Hey- reveal. At the end of a word Hey can mean what comes from or out of, belonging to



TORAH= The covenant secured by the highest person revealed or that which comes from the highest person nailed to the cross.

Shadows of the Messiah in Shabbat (Sabbath)

I noticed I felt a wisp of sadness last evening when the Shabbat (the Sabbath) came to an end. I experience more and more the profound significance of this weekly appointment with our Father, Abba. Especially this Sabbath, coming on the heels of the death of our close friends' son and nephew, the lessons of Sabbath bring comfort and rest.

One of the many excellent resources on line, Moedministires.com, offers a study called "Shadows of the Messiah in the Torah". In their study of the Sabbath, they offer some wonderful insights into this weekly meeting with Adonai. (The Torah is the first 5 books in the Bible, Genesis through Deuteronomy.) The Sabbath isn't about what day your worship God, as we can worship
Him every day. The Sabbath is the day that is set apart for rest but so much more.

Here are some thoughts from the study:

Like all of His appointed times, the Sabbath is both a remembrance and a promise/prophecy.

The Sabbath is a Remembrance:
It is a remembrance that God is the creator of all; that He created the heavens and the earth in 6 days.
(Genesis 2::1-3)
It is a day to re-enthrone God in our lives (Ex 20:8-11)
It is a remembrance that God is our King and our Redeemer. He brought Israel out of slavery in Egypt. God redeems us from our slavery to sin bringing us new life. (Deuteronomy 5:15, Romans 6:22-23)

Sabbath means intermission, to repose, rest. In Hebrew the word is Shabbath, reading from right to left: Sheen-Beit-Tav

Beit ("B")                                                                            Sheen ("S")

                 

                 Beit-Sheen, "Shuuv": repent or return

Tav ("T) : cross, sign or mark of the covenant

The Sabbath calls for us to return to the cross.

The Sabbath is a Promise of Provision:

 He will take care of us if we honor His Word. God used the provision of manna in the wilderness to show the  Israelites that He would provide. The manna was provided for 6 days with a double portion on the sixth day to provide for the 7th day as well, the day of rest. (Exodus 16:4-5)

The Israelites were undergoing training in faith. Isaiah promises that if we put aside our own will and hold the Sabbath in delight, we will find joy in the Lord and be provided for. (Isaiah 58:13-14) Yeshua (Jesus) tells us in Matthew 6:25-34 not to worry about what we eat or what we wear, but to look to our  Heavenly Father to provide and to seek first His kingdom and His righteousness. The Sabbath was made for us to learn to trust in God's provision.

What did Yeshua do on the Sabbath? He attended Synagogue, healed and did good deeds, ate and fellowshiped. The Sabbath is a day to love and show love to each other, fellowship together and learn about God.

We are promised God's Rest
God promised rest to the Israelites in the wilderness. That rest was to be found in the Promised Land. The promise to us is to enter God's promised land, the salvation offered to us through faith in Yeshua. (Hebrews 4:1-3)
As we rest on the Sabbath, we are reminded that salvation does not come by our own works but by faith. Salvation only comes from God. (Psalm 62:1, Ephesians 2:8-9) The Sabbath is a time to rest in our salvation.

The Sabbath looks ahead to the Rest we will have in His Eternal Kingdom

We have a Sabbath rest to look forward to.
Hebrews 4:9-10   There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God's rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his.

Revelation 21:3-4  And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be His people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."

The Sabbath is a time to look forward to and rejoice in the eternal kingdom to come when God will live with men.

Ezekiel 20:20: Hallow My Sabbaths, and they will be a sign between Me and you, that you may know that I am the Lord your God"

http://moedministries.com/

Digging in the Dirt

When I turned 50, Tim asked me what I wanted for my birthday and I told him that I always wanted to go (on my bucket list!) on an archaeological dig in Israel. He granted that wish! Off I went, through the University of Nebraska to work at the Bethsaida site in Israel. Nebraska? Yes, Nebraska.  A leading Israeli archaeologist teaches there and leads expeditions every summer. You might remember that Bethsaida was the fishing village on the Sea of Galilee where Peter and Andrew lived.

Our group stayed at the Ginnesart Kibbutz on the Sea of Galilee. Yes, it was everything you might imagine it to be. The sights, scent, sounds and food provided vivid imagery of 1st century life in Israel. The wonderful thing about the Galilee is that little has changed scenery-wise from when Yeshua (Jesus) walked along the sea.

Every morning we would wake early to get our digging in before the summer sun became too uncomfortably hot to work. We would arrive at the site around 6AM. There were two sites you could choose from, one from 1000 BC around the time of David (the Kingdom of Geshur...the king was the father of one of David's wives) or the fishing village of Bethsaida from Yeshua's day. I chose Bethsaida! It was here that Yeshua healed the blind man with His spittle.

We used a small pick to loosen an area of dirt where we were working, transfer our dirt to a bucket which was then gently "sieved" and objects caught by the sieve were reserved. We would break for breakfast around 8:00 which included fresh Turkish coffee and then finished the day's work and headed back to the Kibbutz by noon. After a wonderful lunch in the hotel kitchen, we would get cleaned up and have a pottery reading at 4:00PM. Here our Archaeologist, Dr. Rami would "read" the pottery and other artifacts to identify our "finds". There was some pretty exciting stuff!

What was the most amazing thing is that as we sifted through the dirt, we would find  remains from multiple centuries. The "finds" just at our site would include pottery shards from the 9-10th Century BC, cooking pots from the Roman era of Yeshua's (Jesus) day, pottery from Greece in 5 BC, an Islamic juglet jar from the 9th century AD, and a bullet from the 1967 war! Such a depth of history in one digging place.
Here is some of our crew at Bethsaida:

Pottery readings

                                                                         "Finds"

I've been digging in another treasure trove recently called the Hebrew language. But believe me, I've only scratched the surface so far! I've not only been exploring the modern Hebrew but also unearthing the ancient Hebrew which is a picture language used by all Semitic people prior to 1200 BC. Why you might ask? That is a really good question.

First, it made sense that if I was going to study the scriptures from a Hebrew view point, I needed to know more about the Hebrew language. Beginning to explore this alone brought new understandings. For instance, in our English alphabet, the letter A or B doesn't mean anything in of itself. These letters are put together to form words that mean something. But in Hebrew, each letter means something and the AMAZING thing is, each letter in each word gives a fuller understanding of the word itself.

The Hebrew alphebet started out in the form of pictographs with each character representing a specific picture. Words were constructed by putting pictures together illustrating a characteristic of a word creating layers of rich understanding in every word. And the miraculous thing is that the modern Hebrew letters and words mean the same thing as the ancient picture language.

In English we read the text from left to right but in Hebrew the text is read from right to left.
For example, the Hebrew word for "sign" which first appears in Genesis 1:14 is "owt". In modern Hebrew it looks like this: ( aleph-vav-tav reading from right to left):

 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        
Tav (T)                                                        Vav (W)                                       Aleph (silent)

                                                                                                         

Hebrew is spelled without vowels. Vowel sounds are added to the text with points.

Here is the word "owt" or "sign" in the ancient Hebrew picture language which Moses would have used (read from right to left):

Tav means sign, cross                        Vav means nail,                  Aleph means           
covenant, seal                                     to secure                           ox, strong leader

 
Put all together: "The strong leader is nailed or secured to the cross."
How much we miss when we read our Bible just in English and what a rich depth is uncovered when we examine the ancient Hebrew language!

We could conclude that God the Father really wanted us to "get" that His greatest sign would be One who was a strong leader nailed to a cross that would secure the covenant.
What an awesome God we serve!




Here are some great links to learn more:

livingwordpictures.com

ancient-hebrew.org

And for some great video series:
Mark Biltz at El Shaddai Ministreis gives a weekly presentation on each Hebrew letter. This link is to the study of Aleph, the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet.
http://elshaddaiministries.us/audio/hiddentreasures/20111128.html

Below is the beginning of a series on how the Hebrew language is found embedded in all of God's creation.

You can order the series here:http://www.wildbranch.org/marketplace/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=3&products_id=47




                                                                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                                                     

                 

Following....and getting lost!

I've had the wonderful, yet challenging experience of going on 3 backpacking trips in my adult life...all over the age of 40! Talk about adventure! These backpacking trips were through Young Life, two in Colorado and one in British Columbia. On two of the trips, I was a volunteer leader, (not the backpacking guide!), along on the trip with a group of high school and college students. The trip in British Columbia was an opportunity for our family and friends to hike all together with Jessica serving as one of the guides.

I have great respect for those back packing guides on every level. Even though they may be nearly half my age, it requires stamina and knowledge about climbing, snow arrest, ropes and knot tying, minimalist no-trace living, and navigation, to name a few. The navigation maps are not the easiest to decipher.

On all three trips there were times we got lost. How lost and for how long varied. With no-trace backpacking, there isn't necessarily a well worn path, if one at all. On my very first trip in Colorado, we got really lost. We were still out in the dark, after taking the wrong turn, trying to snake our way back, hanging on to branches along a creek so we wouldn't fall into the water, in pitch blackness...with a 40 lb pack on your back. Yikes! But we finally made it to our campsite and Ramon noodles never tasted so good. What an adventure!

We can get off the track and loose our way scripturally (Biblically) as well, I am discovering. When the scriptures were written (or translated) into Greek , and then into English, sometimes words are translated or understood a bit differently than the original intent. This mainly has to do with the difference between a Greek vs a Hebrew mindset. (Hebrews wrote the scriptures) One of the many differences between the two is a linear vs cyclical thinking process. Greek (and we in the West) think more linear. We tend to view things in the past, present and future as a time line  and where we are located on that line. Hebrew thinking is cyclical, repeating as seen in nature in terms of the seasons, growing and harvesting, day and night, new moons to full moons, etc.

For example, when I think of the word "paths" such as in Psalm 23...."you lead me in paths of righteousness for your name's sake...", as a Westerner, with Greek-like thinking, I view it as a path leading out to the horizon somewhere, or a destination, like our lost campsite we were desperate to find in  the dark! So here I am wanting to follow Yeshua (Jesus). With a Greek understanding of him leading me and of "paths" I interpret that to mean he's out there in front of me, like my backpacking guide, and we are on a path that I can't see very well and I'm not sure where it's going...except at the end is eternal life. It seems vague sometimes.

In Psalm 23 the word "paths" in Hebrew means, "to make a cycle", and you do it so often and consistently that you make a groove in the dirt. Another idea entirely.  So how does Yeshua lead me in paths of righteousness? What are the cycles he is showing me to repeat? What cycles did He repeat?

When I look at the scriptures through a Hebrew lens, I find out that follow means to "be in the same way with, accompany, unified" and comes from a root word meaning"to hear"(and then) "do". If He is leading me in paths of righteousness, put all together,  I am walking in unity, side by side with Yeshua (we are yoked together). I hear what He says to do and see what he does and I do that too as we repeat these cycles, over and over, and wear a well trodden groove. With each time around I learn more and more about Him and about me and  I come to understand more of Yeshua's and His Father's love for me and how to love the Father and Yeshua. I come to understand more and more His purposes and plan not only for my life but for the ages.

What are these cycles of righteousness in which God leads me to walk? One of the things we see Yeshua doing in scriptures is following His Father's instructions to celebrate the Feasts. The word "Feast' in Hebrew  means "appointed time". These are set times that God has appointed for all his people to meet with him. When we meet with Him at theses appointed times, He promises to show up! "Feast" comes from a similar root word as 'paths" which means "revolve, cyclical." We also see Yeshua's followers celebrating the feasts in this cyclical pattern and continued to do so for over 100-200 years after his death and resurrection until the feasts were outlawed by Rome. Interestingly, there has always been a remnant of believers somewhere in the world who have continued to follow the Lord's Feasts.

The Feasts are indeed cyclical and even follow a pattern of "7"s. The first Feast listed in Leviticus 23 is the Sabbath, celebrated every 7 days on the 7th day. The 7 remaining feasts of the Lord are kept yearly, 4 in the spring (Passover, Unleavened bread, First Fruits, Shavuot or Pentecost) and 3 in the fall (Trumpets or Rosh Hashanna, Yom Kippur

Here is a sampling of discovery, how we can see Messiah Yeshua in the 7 feasts:

He is the Lamb of Passover
He is the unleavened, sin-free bread in the Feast of Unleavened Bread
He is the firstfruits from the dead on the Feast of Firstfruits
He is the one we wait for during the Counting of the Omer (the counting of 50 days until Pentecost)
He is God's Spirit on Shavuot or Pentecost
He is the trumpet of the Feast of Trumpets, a wake-up call to holy living (set apart)
He is the High Priest of Yom Kippur, who sprinkles His own blood
He is our Shelter, our sukkah, at Sukkot or the Feast of Tabernacles (an 8 day celebration)
He is the Living Water of Hoshanna Rabba, the day of Great Hosanna (7th day of Tabernacles)
He is the one we meet on Shemini Atzeret, the Eight Day of Assembly (8th day of Tabernacles)

There is so much to experience and learn in regards to the feasts. We can learn what God is doing prophetically through the feasts, in other words, have deeper understanding of what Yeshua prophetically fulfilled in the first four feasts at His first coming and what will happen in the future when he returns. God accomplishes all His major plans on Feast days. When we rehearse them, celebrating them year after year in these cycles, we commemorate the feasts that have been given their fullest meaning in Yeshua and we will know what is happening on future feast days so we "are not in darkness that this Day should overtake us..."

Here is how Yeshua fulfilled the first four feasts in the spring:

Passover- Pesach, the day of Yeshua's crucifixion. He died the same hour that Passover lambs were slaughtered. (John 1:29, 1 Corinthians 5:7)
Feast of Unleavened Bread-begins the day after Passover. It began as Joseph of Arimthea laid Yeshua in the tomb.
Feast of Firstfruits- the day of Yeshua's resurrection. he rose as the firstfruits from the dead (1 Corinthians 15:20)
Feast of Weeks- Shavuot or Pentecost, the day the Holy Spirit touched the disciples in the Upper Room with tongues of fire. This is also the same day that God gave the commandments to Moses on
Mt. Sinai with burning fire.
When you study these more in depth, the degree of detail fulfilled is astounding.
The fall feasts are a rehearsal for future events that accompany Yeshua's return: the resurrection of the dead (1 Corinthians 15:52), God's final judgements (the Prophets and Revelation), and the thousand-year Messianic Age. (Revelation 20:6) These all occur in the 7th month on the Hebrew calender.

Feast of Trumpets or Rosh HaShanah
Yom Kippur or Day of Atonement
Feast of Tabernacles or Sukkot

God also says these feasts are to be everlasting, statutes to follow forever. What? Forever? Yikes. The scriptures say that God does not change His mind. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. Turns out it wasn't God that changed His mind. History tells us it was Rome.  .

So why now? Why has it taken nearly 2000 years for these things to come "full circle"? That is what I was asking myself when I began to discover all of this.  Someone made the observation that it took Martin Luther 1100 years to get us back to the biblical truth that salvation is by grace, not by works. Perhaps now it has taken another 500 to reclaim the rest of the story. How to walk with and love God in the way that he desires.

It is also interesting that a reoccurring theme in the Bible is Restoration. The disciples asked Yeshua about this in the gospels and Acts; When would the Kingdom be restored to Israel and when would be the time of the Restoration of all things? Restoring things back to the beginning as they once were  originally.  In Acts 3:17-22 Peter speaks of Yeshua remaining in Heaven until the times of the restoration of all things..." Frequently the idea of the "the end being in the beginning of all things" occurs in scripture. Perhaps all these things are being made known in our day so that we can return to the beginning because the time of the restoration of all things is drawing near. There are so many things that are beginning to be restored. Scripture talks about how we will celebrate the feasts and the Sabbath when the Kingdom is restored when Yeshua returns to reign as King! (Isaiah 66:23, Zacariah14:16)

There is  much depth and richness in the significance of the feasts, but the real learning and knowing comes from "doing", the walking of the cycles. Though I have just only begun to walk these cycles in the last year, I'm no longer walking on a path that sees ahead dimly or only catches glimpses of my guide, let alone getting lost (off the path). I've done plenty of that over the years. This gives me a clearer picture of how God desires to be loved. The paths, the cycles, are clearly marked. It takes study. And frankly it takes courage that He provides. But as we follow (hear and do) more and more is revealed and understood.  And as the Psalmist says, "He leads me beside still waters and restores my soul". There is a deep and abiding peace and  joy that flows.

Want some resources to learn more about the Biblical Feasts?

Here is presentation giving an introduction to the Feasts
http://www.glc.us.com/site/watch.php?program=36&video=1075

Here is a DVD series on the Biblical Feasts that you can download for free
http://elshaddaiministries.us/storefront/dvd_n.html

This is a wonderful book giving a deeper, rich understanding of the Biblical feasts
http://www.moedministries.com/Reasons.html

This is a great book if you want more information on the biblical feasts and ideas for how to celebrate.

http://hebrewdiscovery.com/index.php?page=store

Enjoy!

Janer the Entertainer

I was reminiscing about "momisms" the other day with my adult children and they all came up with their classic favorites of funny memories of things I've said or the way I've said them (as in pronounced in some hilarious, incorrect way) that I have gotten good naturedly teased about over the years...and brings me to laughter-tears as well.

One of the memories had to do with more of a nick name Dave came up with for me that got morphed into various "titles". It stated out by affectionately calling me "Jane", my middle name. Then it became "Counselor Jane", then Janer, and even Janer the Complainer. I think Janer the Entertainer is my favorite. It must be the "momisms" that must be so entertaining! But you'll have to check that out with them. I find this all particularly endearing as some of my nicknames growing up were not so much!

Just as "Jane" got morphed over the years, Jesus' name did as well. This came about through transliteration, which I discovered means translating a word using the closest corresponding letters in another alphabet, rather than by the definition of the word.

You may know what your name means depending on the language from which it derived. In the Bible, the Hebrews would give their children names that specifically meant something important about the circumstances the child's life or character traits. For instance Jacob means "surplanter" and he was named this because when he and his twin brother Esau were born, Jacob was grasping Esau's foot. But it would be like, when his Mother called to him, hearing, "Surplanter, time to come home!"

Yeshua, means salvation. The angel told Mary (Miriam) and Joseph that she would "bring forth a son and they shall call him Yeshua, for he shall save his people from their sins." (Matt 1:21) So how did the name Jesus end up in our New Testament translation? It happened through transliteration. Rather than translate his name "Salvation" they just used the corresponding letters in the alphabet they were translating.  When Yeshua was translated to Greek, it became Iesous. When it was translated into Latin from Greek it became Iesus. His name begins with an "I" because prior to the 14th century, their was no letter "J" existing in any language. It first showed up in the King James version as Jesus in the 1600's. And the name Jesus does not mean anything in English, Latin, or Greek.

So in the spirit of returning to Hebrew Roots of the faith, I decided to use Jesus' given Hebrew name, Yeshua, which means Salvation.

What Does Hebrew Roots Mean Anyway?And How Did I Get Here?

Following. I remember following my son Dave (or attempting to) on a backpacking trip with Young Life in British Columbia. We were on Day 1. We were heading up the mountain on an old logging road that was covered with thick alders...like giant, thick sticker bushes you had to push through and Dave was in front of me. It was raining. It started to get cold. We were hungry. It was miserable and only morning of Day 1! I was trying to keep up. There was barely a trail. All I could see was Dave's blue rain coat ahead of me. For a few seconds I would see him, then he would disappear into the thicket and the mist.  I would feel lost, unsure of where I was going...then that blue rain coat would reappear. Thankfully. Like grasping in the mist to make sure I was still on the right path. Thank goodness for that blue raincoat! (This trip was infamous...and there's a song all about it called Alder Roads by Dave Beck)

I have to admit that my experience of following Jesus (Yeshua is His name in Hebrew) over the course of my life has been like our hike up Alder Road. Sometimes the way seemed clear and I could see Him. A lot of the time it has been more like trying to grasp at someone walking through the mist. But I would have to say that since I have been on this journey of returning to the Hebrew Roots of the faith, following has never been more clear. And the view is amazing. And everything is beginning  (I mean everything) to make sense. From a Hebrew perspective.

What does "Hebrew Roots" mean anyway? Good question. I didn't know. Then I found out. Now some of this was familiar to me, given my years of Bible study and 3 trips to Israel over the last 12 years. But most of it was not.

Returning to the Hebrew Roots of the faith means to study and view the Bible through the Hebraic lens. That makes sense to me given nearly all the writers of the entire Bible were Hebrews! A Hebrew is a descendant through the line of Abraham, Issac and Jacob. Jacob who's name was changed by God to Israel had 12 sons...creating the 12 tribes of Israel. The Jewish people descended from one of those tribes, Judah.  Jesus, or Yeshua, His name in the original Hebrew language, descended from the tribe of Judah, so He is Jewish as well!

Why does this matter? Well, when I started exploring history, in the first 3-4 centuries after Yeshua was crucified and rose again,  I learned that many changes were made to "The Way" (the original name of our faith in Yeshua) that "Romanized" the faith, making it hardly recognizable from what Yeshua and the early disciples  practiced. Including renaming it to Christianity. And a good part of these "romanized" doctrines and practices that we engage in today are not found in the Bible. In addition, our western point of view and culture emanates from the Greek/Roman mindset. We naturally will read/study the Bible through that lens rather than a Hebrew lens from which it was written and in many cases, that looses and changes the meaning.
I can imagine your reaction right now. I know what mine was. Disbelief. I didn't want to believe this or accept it. I was kind of squirming in my chair. It doesn't sit well. At all. It creates a cognitive dissonance. Part of me did not want to accept it.

But I plunged on. Getting back to the Hebrew Roots of the faith then, is getting back to the original meaning, intent and practices that Yeshua taught and practiced as did his disciples and followers for 1-200 years until many of these things were outlawed because the practices were Jewish. If I want to truly follow Yeshua, which is what He is inviting me to do, I want to know what that really means. So, I go back to the Hebrew Roots of the faith. And interestingly enough, I am also reminded that I have been "grafted in" to the vine of Israel (Romans 11) and am an heir of Abraham's (Galatians 3 :29) as is every one who believes on Yeshua for salvation. That makes me a Hebrew too. Adopted into the family.

So how did I come across all of this? What got me started on this path? As I look back there are several markers that I believe were very significant.

In November of 2010, a little over a year ago, while doing a study on the book of Daniel, I was led to begin submitting my life under the Father's authority every day, on my face even. Now this wasn't my idea. It was a Beth Moore study, and she was sharing the impact it had on her life. It was something she had begun to do and Daniel was certainly our role model as He prayed 3 times a day on his face. I had felt restless in my faith, off and on for years. I really desired to let God have authority over my life, so I began to submit to Him daily. Things began to shift. Everything was about to change.

First I began to see that there have been times in my life I have too quickly held to theories or ideas as  "truth", only later to find some refuting evidence. Now this could be in any realm such as nutrition, psychology, scientific theories, or spiritual/biblical thought. In December 2010 I was attending a training for consulting therapists, and something I had been taught previously about the brain and taught in my couple workshops was pretty much refuted by a neuro biologist. The trainer asked us what our take away from that discussion had been and  I shared that I'd made an intentional decision from that point on to hold theories "lightly" until more fully substantiated. I believe this was a small shift that not only helped me be more open to question other long held stands of my own, but also become a better Barean. A Barean were people from Barea who Paul describes in Acts 17:11-12 as examining the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul taught was true. They didn't just take his word for it. The scriptures they were examining was the Tanach (what we call the Old Testament) as the New Testament had not yet been written down. When I started to come across information that was different than some of my long held Biblical convictions or beliefs, instead of just dismissing them or too quickly adapting them, I began to examine the scriptures on my own. I consulted Strong's Concordance from which both a Hebrew and Greek understanding/definition of the words are found in the original Greek and Hebrew. I learned about Hebraisms and how the Hebrew mindset is different from the Greek/Roman mindset under which I have been cultured, educated and raised being a westerner. I kept studying.

In the midst of this, in February 2011, our small group was watching a DVD series by Ray Vanderlaan, an in-depth Bible teacher who covers the cultural, archaeological, and especially the Hebrew or Jewish context of the scriptures. He was teaching on the Essenes, a Jewish sect who withdrew into the wilderness out of the Greek/Hellenized culture of Jerusalem/Israel about 150 years before Christ was born. They wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls. A thought that Ray shared was how they approached and lived life from a Hebrew mindset rather than a Greek mindset. One important aspect of a Greek mindset is "all about me" and living life in pursuit of my own happiness. This definitely resonated with my experience living in the USA and my tendencies The Hebrew mindset is all about God and living life with Him at the center, in  pursuit of His desires. This really spoke to me. I took note, and wrote it down.

Later in Fevruary I reveived an email from a frenid asking me to checkout a teaching on the blood moons diocvered by Mark Biltz at El Shaddai. Ministries. This really got my attendtion as he discovered a unique and rare pattern of blood moons on NASA's website lining up on Passover and Sukkot (spring and fall) in 2014 and 2015.
Upon visiting the El Shaddai website and others I noticed messages and themes about returning to the Hebrew Roots of the faith. I thought at first they were Messianic Jewish congregations (and some of them were) but soon discovered these were believers who had formed congregations and were returning to following the Torah.. In other words, they were returning to the beginning and following the commandments and instructions that Yshua followed and commanded. And this was happening all over the USA and all over the world, in ever increasing numbers, especially over the last 10 years.


Not too long after, I came across a book on a website I was visiting called "The Hebrew Yeshua vs The Greek Jesus" by Nehemiah Gordon, a Dead Sea Scrolls Scholar and Semitic language expert. That familiar phrase "hebrew vs greek" was surfacing again. I took interest and downloaded it on Kindle. Gordon explores how the modern Greek text of Matthew depicts "another Jesus" from the Yeshua portrayed in the ancient version of Matthew written in it's original Hebrew. (They have discovered Matthew was originally written and translated from Hebrew and have a copy in Jersusalem.) When Matthew was translated into Greek from the original Hebrew, it was through a Greek/Roman mindset as well as having a antisemitic bias. (Everything Jewish was outlawed and expunged.) It was an excellent example of how in the translation or even transliteration process, from Hebrew to Greek and then to English the original meaning can be lost and in some cases, changed, resulting in a different meaning. This has occured as well when the New Testament was written in Greek, unable to translate the Hebraisms as well as the differnces between Hebrew and Greek thinking and culture. (And then consider Greek to Latin and Latin to English!)

The Greek Jesus is portrayed (and I've been taught) as opposed to Torah and that's why He challenged and disputed with the Pharisees and Saducees (religious leaders/scholars of His day). But Gordon shows how Jeshua (Jesus) was in fact living out the Torah as prescribed in the whole Tenach perfectly and the religious leaders were not. The pharisees/saducees were practing additional man-made laws that they had added (like protective fences around the Torah to protect it) and placing these burdens on the people, laws that God never intended. Plus they were counting on following the law for salvation instead of faith in God and repentence.


 In our modern translation we can get the idea (and indeed it is taught) that Yeshua was against Torah (the first 5 books of the Bible) but what we find, over and over, is that he was admonishing the religious leaders of the day because they were not following Torah, God's instructions, (Which is what Torah means), but their own man-made traditions and doctrines which they added. He had come to turn the hearts back towards the Kingdom and the ways of God the Father....repent....return...return back to the beginning of your faith. Return to following Torah. Yeshua is the Word of God, and the Torah is His word.  He is Torah.

I began to see there are huge reasons to study scripture from a Hebrew mindset and understand what the words mean in Hebrew and from a Hebrew perspective if I want to follow Yeshua. Turns out Judaism and Christianity both got off tract and here we are today.  Christainity has gotten it wrong by sutracting from the faith the very instructions of God in Torah so then not following the wayYeshua lived, though believing in Him. In addition, Christianity had added all kinds of man-made religious practices and rules that are not Biblical or part of God's instruction. Judaism has gotten it wrong in that they are still practicing man-made laws added and Rabbinical Judaism places the word of the Rabbi above God. They also do not beleive that Yeshua is the Messiah. They should be on the exact same page. Turns out they will be in the future as it is prophesied all over the Bible.  Could that be what's beginning to happen with the Hebrew Roots movement? And the fact Jewish people are believing on Yeshua as the Messiah in amazing numbers? I wonder.



A really striking thought which became obvious to me once I heard it, is that what we call the New Testament was not written at the time that Yeshua was teaching and preaching. Nor was it written when Paul, Peter, James and others penned their letters and the Gospels to the various believers. They were all referring to the Torah and the Tanach (the entire Hebrew scriptures or what we call the Old Testament). So when Jesus was saying "If You love me you'll obey my commands" it makes sense that He was talking about the whole of scriptures, specifically the Torah. I was reminded that He taught in Luke 24 that all the scriptures from Moses to the prophets spoke of Him.

Wow. I had a lot to think about and a lot to learn. I began to study, and study some more. The more I studied, the more there was to study. What began as a trickle, became a flood. The earth was moving beneath my feet. You know, when your world view is pulled out from under you. I experienced a full range of feelings. Astonishment, deep sorrow, grief, anger, excitement, disbelief, overwhelmed, thrilled, repentant, recommitted, flooded, consumed, compelled, humbled, unworthy, and the list goes on.

 This is but a thumbnail sketch of what transpired in the early days/months of this journey. But this was only the beginning. Big changes were on the horizon.

Here is a short 3-part article that gives an excellent overview:
http://thewatchman.org/en/2007/10/the-hebrew-movement-part-1/
http://thewatchman.org/en/2007/10/the-hebrew-movement-part-2/
http://thewatchman.org/en/2007/10/the-hebrew-movement-part-3/


Want a couple of websites to begin to learn more?

http://moedtorah.blogspot.com/
http://elshaddaiministries.us/index.html