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Loving your brother is practical, not ethereal. So if your brother has worldly needs, you shall not close your hand against him. This is Torah 101.

Faced with calamity on all sides caused by their turning away from the ways of God, Judah cried out for God to remember His covenant and send them relief. God does not believe their sincerity and tells Jeremiah that there will be no relief and that the nation is going into exile.

The Declaration of Independence and the formation of the United States were a watershed in human history. Only two times have nations been established based on the word of God and the Bible - Israel and the United States. In both cases God's project has been to show the rest of the nations the superiority of His ways.

The love of the Father and the sacrifice of Messiah has allowed us to be children of God. In this we are, in a sense, estranged from the world because He was also.

The clergymen of Anathoth, a Levite city, are speaking religious bromides which give evil Judah false comfort. Jeremiah, by speaking the truth, has brought embarrassment to the men in his home town. Thus they plot to silence and perhaps kill him.

On His way to Jerusalem a number of people offer to become disciples. He turns them down, perhaps because He sees that they do not understand what will be required of them. Looking at the various figures in the Bible, it becomes clear that the dividing line between those who are approved and those who are rejected is their willingness to accept responsibility. So too with discipleship. Those who s...

John speaks of the Torah as both an old commandment and a new commandment. In this view, the text has not changed but our understanding of it must be adjusted in light of the sacrifice of Y'shua. His light shines upon us and allows us to understand the spirit of the Torah as well as the letter.

In explaining how Judah has fallen so far, God says that they followed the way of the nations which lead them to fear other gods - which are no gods at all. He mocks the stupidity of those who make idols from wood and stone and then fall down to worship the work of their own hands.

According to an article by Rabbi Dunner, romantic love is unique to humans and defies explanation. His conclusion is that it helps us understand and relate to God. Consider a human family, the man typically works to sustain and support those he loves. He also does things like bring flowers to his wife on special occasions. Looking at all of the opportunities to give to God in the Torah, we can see...

John is writing to address heretical confusion sown among believers as to the nature and person of the Messiah. He starts by stating that he has personally seen, heard and touched Y'shua.

Judah had fallen into idolatry and wickedness but still maintained some of the form of the worship of God. Their prophets and priests were encouraging the people with religious platitudes. Whereas those platitudes had been true when the nation walked with God, the same words were now false and misleading because God was not in them. This trust in what had become false kept the nation from seeing i...

In Numbers 13 Moses sent twelve men to look at the Promised Land and report back. Two of those men brought a good report and urged the nation to rise up and begin the invasion. Ten, however, did not believe it was possible for Israel to prevail and they spread panic among the people. Why did they bring a bad report? Why did God punish the entire nation for their failure?.

During his time in the cave at Mount Sinai, God gave Elijah a task to perform. It is only toward the end of his ministry that Elisha actually completes it.

God sends Jeremiah to Jerusalem looking for even one who does justice and seeks truth. None is to be found either among the poor or the great. As Y'shua says, the only way to the Father is through Himself who is the Way the Truth and the Life. Since Jerusalem has abandoned the truth and gone after worthless idols, God's words will be to them a consuming fire.

Numbers 11 is a watershed for Israel. When they complained about the manna and said it was better for them in Egypt, they began the slide that would result in a whole generation perishing in the Wilderness. Bread, first mentioned in Genesis 3 is a metaphor for the thing that people eat who are going to die eventually. Bread from heaven then is a metaphor that something better is coming. Y'shua exp...

Being a prophet of God was tough duty. Very often powerful people did not appreciate what you had to say and would have you to be slapped around or worse. The Syrian siege of Samaria.

Here God talks of the spiritual adultery of Israel and declares that her sister Judah is worse. At the time of the prophecy Israel had been in exile for over a century and Judah had not yet been exiled to Babylon. Even though God declares all of the reasons for His sorrow, He also promises a return and a reunification of the two houses.

In Luke 8 Y'shua casts a legion of demons into a heard of pigs. Why did He not cast them into the abyss? What does that mean for us as we navigate a world where there are still demon about? What is it about our current culture that is so demon friendly? Clearly, dealing with demons was a big part of Y'shua's ministry and when He sent his disciples out, he gave them authority over demons.

As a prophet, Elisha wields the power of God with a confidence and accuracy that seems more like sight than faith. He cures Naaman the Syrian of leprosy in so casual a manner that Naaman does not initially have any faith that the cure will work.

The calling of Jeremiah. The first of his visions depicts God being faithful to His own word and the second, a northward facing boiling pot, prefigures the Babylonian invasion that would sweep Judah and Jerusalem away into exile.

When God met with Israel at Mt Sinai. He established a relationship of a type that had never existed before. He asked for their consent to the relationship - other 'gods' and rulers had simply taken power. He spoke to everyone, not just the elite - before only the adept were initiated into the mysteries of their gods. He told them all what He expected, not just a small occult group. This relations...

Elisha succeeds Elijah asking for a double portion of Elijah's anointing. He raises the Shunamite's son from death.

Writing to Hebrews, James does not present a balanced approach to wealth. Rather he simply condemns its unjust accumulation and use. Since God uses wealth to motivate us, Proverbs presents both sides of wealth. James' advice on healing mirrors that of the Great Commission.

In the world as we know it, there are great spiritual forces contending for human worship and dominance. In this, the world is a battleground. On side is YHVH, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. On the other side is everything else. While the forces on the other side may offer many temptations, their goal is ultimately our destruction. God, on the other hand, loves us and wants us to live and fl...

Idol worship eventually leads to murder and Jezebel is not above murder to obtain what she wants. Elijah passes on his mantle to Elisha.