The Messianic Torah Observer

What does Shemini Atzeret reveal about Yeshua, the nations, and the heart of Yehovah? In this teaching, beloved, we bring together the grief and commanded joy of the Eighth Day, Yeshua's cry for the thirsty in John 7:37–38, Solomon's prayer for the foreigner, the seventy bulls of Sukkot, and the one remaining bull. This is the Feast nobody leaves—the intimate Moed where the King says, "Stay with M...

Beloved, Sukkot is far more than a memorial of our wilderness sojourn. In this installment of The Messianic Torah Observer, we   turn to Leviticus 23, John 1:14, Zechariah 14, Revelation 7, Nehemiah 8,   Psalm 27, and Isaiah 4 to examine the Feast of Tabernacles from the ground   up, the top down, and the inside out. We consider what it means that Yeshua   tabernacled among us, why every surviving...

Beloved, Ha'azinu is more than Moshe's final message to Yisra'el. It is the Song of Moshe. It is a Covenant witness deliberately placed in the mouths of our Jewish cousins by the so-called sages of old so that Yah's warning, judgment, and His promise of restoration would not be forgotten. In this installment of The Messianic Torah Observer, we walk through Deuteronomy 32 and examine why Yah chose...

This episode explores  Yom Teruah (aka the Day of the Blowing of Trumpets) as the only feast in the biblical calendar given no explanation, the only feast that begins on the New Moon when the moon is dark and hidden, and the only feast whose arrival literally could not be known in advance. Drawing from Leviticus 23 , Matthew 24:36 , 1 Samuel 1–2 , and the ancient two-witness system for declaring t...

Beloved, the traditional month of Elul carries with it one of the most beautiful pictures in all of Jewish thought: a King leaves His royal palace and walks into the field where His subjects live, labor, repent, and long to be reconciled. But as moving as that image is, the question remains: who is this field-wandering King? Well, in this teaching, we take the Elul tradition seriously, but we also...

This installment of the Messianic Torah Observer connects the weekly Torah reading Ki Teitzei with the teachings of Yeshua in the Sermon on the Mount, showing that Moshe and Messiah are not at odds with one another. Rather, they stand as two powerful witnesses in one divine conversation that reveals the heart and intent of Torah. Through topics such as divorce, vows, retaliation, generosity, justi...

Most of us were never taught to question the lens through which we read Scripture. We inherited a way of thinking from Sunday school, seminary, commentaries, hymns, and Western church tradition that many scholars identify as a Greek or Hellenistic mindset. But beloved, the Bible was not written by Greek philosophers. It was written by covenant people who thought in Hebrew, lived in covenant, told...

Beloved, this installment of The Messianic Torah Observer takes us deep into Parashat Ki Teitzei, one of the most commandment-rich and, at first glance, challenging readings of the annual Torah cycle. But buried in the middle of its warfare ethics, family laws, property responsibilities, and moral instructions are powerful Kingdom truths that point us directly to Messiah, the nations, and Yah's co...

In this installment of the Messianic Torah Observer, we discuss one of the hottest topics and subjects of the day: UFO and UAP. In this discussion, we explore the UFO/UAP phenomenom from a Messianic/Hebrew/Biblical perspective and determine how we answer a questioning world on what these things and beings are and how we are God's chosen and elect must treat them. Be prepared to have your worldview...

In this installment of The Messianic Torah Observer, we turn our attention to Parashat Re'eh, contained in Deuteronomy 11:26–16:17, and to Moshe's opening admonishment to Yah's covenant people: "See." Re'eh is not merely an invitation to notice something with our natural eyes. It is a divine call to perceive, discern, and rightly assess what Yehovah has placed before us: blessing and curse, covena...

Beloved, this discussion is not about chasing titles, defending camps, or winning theological arguments for the sake of argument. It is about understanding where Hebrew Roots and Messianic Judaism agree, where they part company, and why that distinction matters to every Torah-honoring disciple of Yeshua Messiah. In this episode, Rod Thomas responds to the First Fruits of Zion article, "Hebrew Root...

Saints, Tu B'Av is one of those days on the Jewish traditional calendar that most of us in the Messianic and Hebrew Roots community have simply walked past without ever realizing it was there. And although it is not one of the mandated Feasts or Moedim of Yehovah, this 15th day of the 5th biblical month bears within it a beautiful redemptive pattern that speaks directly to the redeemed of the Most...

Beloved, accusations that Torah-honoring believers have embraced a false gospel, fallen from grace, or placed themselves back under the Law are serious and deserve a careful, Word-based response. In this installment of The Messianic Torah Observer, Rod Thomas addresses three common criticisms against the Hebrew Roots and Messianic Torah communities and shows why grace-motivated obedience is not le...

Beloved, in this second installment of our brief Tisha B'Av series, we turn our attention to what should and should not matter to the modern-day Messianic, Hebrew, Netsari disciple of Yehoshua HaMashiyach. Tisha B'Av is not one of the mandated Feasts of Yehovah. We are not commanded to keep it. But that does not mean the day is spiritually irrelevant. If our Master wept over Yerushalayim and the c...

Greetings Saints. This is the week that pivots. There is one week in the Jewish calendar that moves from mourning to comfort in the space of just 48 hours. It begins with Tisha B'Av, the fast and memorial connected to the destruction of both Temples and other tragedies in Jewish history. But beloved, mourning is not the final word. The very next Sabbath brings Shabbat Nachamu, the Sabbath of Comfo...

Welcome, beloved, to this Shabbat Chazon teaching from The Messianic Torah Observer. Today, on the Sabbath of Vision, we slow our rhythm down and consider what Yah may be showing His set-apart people as we approach Tisha B'Av and sit inside Parashat Devarim — Moshe's final words to the generation preparing to enter the Land. In this discussion, we look at Deuteronomy 1:1–3:22, Isaiah 1:1–27, and J...

In this solemn and timely teaching, we explore Tisha B'Av — the ninth of Av — and its connection to Yeshua's tears over Yerushalayim. Drawing from Luke 19, Matthew 23, Lamentations, Jewish tradition, and the historic destruction of the Temples, this episode calls believers to recover lament as a necessary and righteous discipline of covenant faith. This is Part 1 of a two-part teaching leading int...

In this episode of The Messianic Torah Observer, we examine Ezekiel 38 in light of the death of Iran's Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, and the renewed speculation surrounding Persia's prophetic role. We identify the nations in Gog's coalition, consider the Russia-centered and historical-geographic interpretive views, and return to the central purpose of the prophecy: that the nations may know that H...

In this installment of The Messianic Torah Observer, I pick up from Parashat Massei (this past Sabbath's reading) and invite you slow down and take another look at Numbers/Bemidbar 33 . What first appears to be a simple travel log of our 42 wilderness encampments is, in fact, a powerful witness that Abba Yah records every stop in our covenant journey. From Rameses of Mitsrayim to the plains of Moa...

In this installment of The Messianic Torah Observer, we unpack Parashat Mattot–Massei through the lens of covenant responsibility, spiritual warfare, Israel's prophetic standing, and the narrow places facing Yah's people today. We explore the weight of vows, the war with Midian, the 42 wilderness journeys, the covenant boundaries of the Land, and the sobering realities surrounding Israel, Iran, Ju...

In this installment of The Messianic Torah Observer, Rod Thomas offers a biblically grounded and Torah-centered reflection on Artificial Intelligence and its place in the life of Yah's covenant people. Rather than approaching AI through fear, hype, or sensationalism, this episode asks how disciples of Yehoshua Messiah should think about AI in ministry, study, creativity, and spiritual discernment....

Beloved, in this final installment of our "What Torah Can and Cannot Do for Us" series, we examine what Torah cannot do: it cannot save us, justify us, or cancel the certificate of indebtedness that stands against us because of sin. Only Yehoshua HaMashiyach can satisfy that debt and call us back to faithful, obedient covenant living.

In Part 4 of What Torah Can Do for Us , we explore what Torah does for the redeemed believer. Torah does not save or justify us apart from Yeshua Messiah, yet it reveals Yehovah's character, points us to Messiah, makes us wise unto salvation, grounds us in truth, and strengthens us for covenant faithfulness and spiritual warfare.

Greetings saints of the Most High. In this installment of the Messianic Torah Observer, I offer a needed clarification regarding Israel, the Jewish people, and the broader discussion from this teaching series, "What the Torah Can and Cannot Do for Us." In this episode, I examine what Scripture says about Yah's everlasting covenant with Israel, Paul's teaching that God has not rejected His people,...