Bible Back Story

This is a great section of Scripture as chapter 18 begins with Abraham welcoming the three guests in the desert. Who are these guys? It ends with the father Abraham, taking the Son Isaac, up the Mount Moriah which means “will see God”, after he ties the ates, (or tree in Hebrew), to his son and raising the knife to sacrifice him … well you know the account, at least you know some of it. We witness...

This is the second Torah portion of the year and is about the flood of Noah. OK, OK, I know it was not his flood, but Noah is the primary character in the event. Here is a brief synopsis of some of the lesser known messages contained in this chapter. We touch a bit on why the flood came and what was different about Noah that God saw him as “perfect in his generations” (spoiler alert Noah was not p...

Is Grace sort of like a get out of jail free card? We began last week with the rich, young ruler asking Jesus what he must do to be saved. Do we “bless ourselves in our heart saying I shall have peace though I walk in the imagination of our heart?" Deut 29:19-20. No offense to the Beatles, but is love really all we need? If God is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow, why do we not believe what...

A quick and partial discussion about what Jesus, John, Paul, Peter and the rest might mean when they say “ keep the commandments ”, and why they tell us " the remnant ” at the end of days are only those who both keep the commandments and have the testimony of Jesus . 

A quick overview of the first Torah Portion.  This portion contains a lifetime of study material including: The House YHVH is building, a house includes a family a son a wife and children, the creation, the Sabbath, man and women, marriage, the priesthood and the temple, sin and disobedience, the enemy, murder and mercy, the entire account of Scripture, mans decent into self, YHVH regretting...

This is the final Torah Portion of the year, ending the book of Deuteronomy. Moses has completed his tasks of leading the children out of Egypt and through the desert. They are poised to enter the Promised Land, and Moses has already given his last bit of instruction and warning, and Moses is preparing to meet the Lord on Mt Pisgah. His last offering to the people he loved is to bless the tribes....

In this Torah Portion, Moses gives a song to the people before he leaves for Mt. Pisgah. For the current crop of younger sound byte sorts, Moses covers the entire history and future of Gods people in 48 verses. When the children entered the wilderness from the Red Sea, Moses sister Mariam gave the people a song to help them remember the events of the parting of the sea. Now 40 years later as the p...

The last feast of the year, and the feast called The Greatest Feast, is that of Sukkoth; also known as Tabernacles. It takes place from the 15th day to the 21st day of the seventh month. In 2019, that is Sunday October 13th at sunset through Saturday October 26th at sunset. Celebrants were to build booths – Sukkoth – to live in for these 7 days. The roof was to have gaps to see the moon and let th...

In this Torah Portion, Moses has finished his recapping of the words and instructions of God for the people as they enter the Promised Land. He finishes writing the Torah and places it near the arc. He gives his final thoughts to the people and the Lord tells him what will become of the people after they enter the Land. They will turn their faces from YHVH and He will turn His from them. His last...

We have a quick study answering the question, “is America and Republic or a Democracy”? For most of us, we have forgotten or perhaps never really knew if the country we live in was founded as a republic or democracy, and even for those that can correctly answer most find it difficult to explain. I suggest it is vitally important in these times that we do understand the difference to be able to mak...

In this Torah portion, called standing, Moses encourages the people … sort of. Moses has already told the people that in time they will begin to ignore the Lord and will be cast out of the Land, due to the abundance of the Land. These last few chapters are both truthful in word and difficult to hear. In this portion, Moses continues to warn the people to obey the commandments, instructions, statut...

This Torah Portion is called “when you enter the land” and was given to the people by Moses as they were about to enter the Promised Land. Have you ever wanted to obey God but did not know what to do about the offerings at the Temple and just pushed it aside believing this has nothing to do with us? Have you been taught the Holy Spirit is the restrainer, holding back evil, and secretly wondered wh...

In this week’s Torah portion, Moses reads 74 commandments or instructions including personal matters, civic matters, domestic matters, farming matters and general instructions highlighting the way a person of God will walk and act. This section includes several of the “standard” reasons some people do not follow the Torah; all bogus of course. We will look past the simple words at the real picture...

In this portion, Moses is instruction the people about judges, kings, and princes; yesterdays equivalent to politicians today. His instructions are to both the leaders and to the people. For the leaders, what it looks like to be a good one, and to the people to be able to identify a poor one. Moses gives instructions, later echoed by Jesus, about the importance of unity under YHVH’s instructions....

This Torah Portion is called re-eh' or behold or see. Moses continues his recapping of the instructions of YHVH to the people before they enter the Land, so they can see the reasons for these lessons. This sections begins with the words “Behold I have set before you this day a blessing and a curse” And more than an attention grabbing headline, the lessons in this section teach us how to choose the...

The Torah Portion called Ekev, or rewards, is perhaps the most important lesson in Scripture, and certainly one of the most overlooked. Paul reminds thous of us us living in the last days to look to the exodus generation as examples of what we should and should not do. 1 Corinthians 10:1-10. Ekev takes place as Moses is instructing, warning, and actually prophesying about the exodus generation as...

Have you ever wondered what is up with the cool artistic little things on the door post of most Jewish homes? They are called a Mezuzah and contains a parchment scroll with a hand copied (in Hebrew of course) section of Scripture known as the “Shema” (hear and understand not simple to listen) found in Deuteronomy 6:4-9 4 Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord: 5 And thou shalt love the Lord...

The Torah portion called Mattot or tribes contains some interesting instructions on vows and insight on how the Lord provides for His people sometimes. Have you ever wondered how it came to be that 2 1/2 of the tribes were scattered on the other side of the Jordan? Was this punishment or reward? Roben and gad of all tribes show what it means to keep a vow and are rewarded appropriately. This year...

We met Pinchas last week at the conclusion of the section about Balak and Baalam. He was zealous for God and was rewarded by God for his actions. We learn of the continual struggle between the Jews and Arab and why it will never end this side of Heaven, why it is important, and why there can never be peace in the Middle East no matter which President tells you he has worked it out. The Lord comman...

Balak was King of Moab, he saw “the people that came up out of Egypt” camped at his door step and became fearful. He sent to Mesopotamia for the seer called Baalam offering riches and prestige if he would come and curse these people for him. having been cursed by Baalam perviously he thought this would be the answer to his problems. Baalam who was related to Abraham and Laban was, in fact, able to...

Have you ever read something in Scripture and just sort or rolled your eyes? It OK you don’t have to answer, I know you have, we all have. This Torah Portion called in Hebrew Chukat חקה contains ordinances, the meaning of the word Chukat, supposedly beyond human understanding. In this Torah portion, which is the shortest of the year, but contains some of the most important information in the Torah...

This Torah portion provides insight in the death of Korach. He lead a rebellion against Moses and in that way against YHVH, who had the earth open and swallow him, taking him to Sheol alive. God wants to once again wipe out the people, and Moses once again intercedes for the people. Scripture makes the tie in between Cain, Nimrod, Korach and pictures the politicians of today. Do we expect the resu...

This Torah Portion is called "Send for Yourself" and is found in B’Midbar (Numbers) 13:1 to 15:41 and the haftorah is Joshua 2:1-24, and John 19:11-17 is read also. It is recorded Moses listened to the people and agreed to send 12 spies into the land, the Lords response to Moses “send them yourself” belies that YHVH already knew what was going to happen. Many Bible believers do not know the spies...

The lighting of the Menorah in the Tabernacle is the highest form or praise, greater than offerings, or good deeds. YHVH desires obedience more than sacrifice, and His kingdom can not be attained through violence or gifts or work. We learn more about the people set apart from the rest of the people who are already set apart from the world. We encounter an interesting rabbit trail about a second Ex...

This week, we are discussing the idea of the firstborn blessing or birthright and why many "firstborns" in the Bible were not worthy of the blessings bestowed upon them.