Jubilee, Yom Kippur and Isaiah 61

Posted on May 10, 2014 by Pete Rambo

This week’s Torah Portion, Behar (‘on the Mount’), is primarily about the seventh year Sabbaths and the year of Jubilee.  Leviticus 25 gives us many details of this joyous event of freedom that was commanded to occur every

From Wiki:Shofar... Old Jerusalem Yochanan ben Zakkai synagogue - A flask of oil and a shofar for the anointing of the eagerly-awaited Mashiach.[1]

From Wiki:Shofar… Old Jerusalem Yochanan ben Zakkai synagogue – A flask of oil and a shofar for the anointing of the eagerly-awaited Mashiach.[1]

50 years in Israel’s calendar.  On this date that began a Sabbatical year, slaves received freedom, debts were cancelled and land was returned to families who might have lost it during difficult circumstances.  What joy!

In our Torah study today at Davar Chaim, I pondered aloud the juxtaposition of this first day of Jubilees occurring on Yom Kippur, traditionally a day of mourning, of ashes, and of weakness induced by fasting.  Here is the verse,

8 ‘You are also to count off seven sabbaths of years for yourself, seven times seven years, so that you have the time of the seven sabbaths of years, namely, forty-nine years. 9 You shall then sound a ram’s horn abroad on the tenth day of the seventh month; on the day of atonement Continue reading →

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eHow to pray for the (errant) Messianic

Posted on May 6, 2014 by Pete Rambo

Do you have an errant Messianic or Hebrew roots person in your life that you pray for?  Well, here is exactly how you can pray for them!!  I think I can promise you, with full assurance, that God will answer this prayer!!prayer_requests2

First, a little background.

I am one of those who Christendom perceives to be errant, so, feel free to pray this very prayer for me as well…  I try to the best of my abilities and by the leading of the Spirit to be obedient to God’s ways as expressed in the Torah.  I also firmly hold to my faith in Yeshua (Jesus) the Messiah.  By traditional Christendom I am at best, confused and at worst, LOST!  So, if you pray this for me, I will not be offended!  In fact, I will thank you!

Here is the deal.  A couple weeks ago, someone wrote me asking for help with a passage from 2 Corinthians 3 about the veil of Moses and the hardening of hearts and minds.  Continue reading →

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“Shalom Aleichem, Yidden” — Peace be upon you, Jews, you are free

Posted on May 5, 2014 by Pete Rambo

A terrific article taking us back to some of the discussion we had about a month ago on the Holocaust and how Christian doctrines and antisemitism not only contributed, but through the writings of Martin Luther, fueled it!

May we learn, understand and repent!!

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Why don’t you eat skunk?

Posted on May 5, 2014 by Pete Rambo

Seriously.  Why don’t you eat skunk?

Well, because anybody with half of a brain knows that skunk is not food!skunk

In the discussion of food, many want to run to Mark 7:19 and errantly declare that ‘Jesus made all foods clean.’

Well, a simple reading of the context of the passage reveals that the topic is not even about food. The topic is TRADITIONS of men that are used to override clear Scripture.

IF Yeshua/Jesus declared skunk (or pork) to be clean, then He was teaching against the Torah and the Pharisees had a legitimate reason to kill Him (Deuteronomy 13:1-5) and did not need false witnesses (Mark 14:55-59)!  The very fact that nobody lifted a finger or voice of dissent in Mark 7 indicates that everyone in the crowd knew that when He said ‘food’ He was, by definition, speaking of ‘clean’ food…  that which the Torah already defined! They knew, without any question that skunk was still NOT food…  Neither was pork, hamster, cockroach, lobster, shrimp, alligator, armadillo, buzzard, etc…

Put yourself in the shoes of the listeners that day and ask yourself, Continue reading →

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And His name shall be called…

Posted on May 4, 2014 by Pete Rambo

Recently, I have been pondering Isaiah 9:6-7, a couple verses often quoted by Christendom about the Messiah.  What has struck me is the seeming incongruity it has with several theological tenets often postulated by those who quote it.

Isaiah 9:6 For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us;
And the government will [a]rest on His shoulders;Isaiah-46-9
And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.
7 There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace,
On the throne of David and over his kingdom,
To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness
From then on and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this.

Read that slowly and carefully a couple times.

It is the verses that we have heard so many times that we can rattle them off without thinking that are hardest to understand mostly because we get set in a particular paradigm and then never see past that lens/filter. Continue reading →

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My Take On “That Jew Died For You”

Posted on May 3, 2014 by Pete Rambo

Another terrific article from Ruth. Honestly, as she hits the nail on the head, I think, ‘so many in Christendom talking about our historic antisemitism, but how many are DOING something about it??’

We MUST humble ourselves and come with tears of repentance!!

Her best line: “I’m pretty sure this is at least part of what God had in mind by allowing us Gentiles to draw near; to create a barrier between the Jews and the nations that seek to annihilate them.”

What a concept!! Laying down our lives to protect them!! OH! This is NOT hard!

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Thoughts and update after the Hanoch Young event.

Posted on May 1, 2014 by Pete Rambo

I’ve received a couple emails asking for an update on the Hanoch Young Event we just hosted…  Frankly, I have been meaning to write something, but have been exhausted this week and am still processing the event.hanoch tour guide

In a word, it was FANTASTIC!!

The details…

The event was hosted about 70 miles from our fellowship, and everyone involved, save one family, are not from the area where we hosted the event.  From the beginning, we felt led to do this in the upstate expressly to help reach and put together a number of scattered little groups we had been hearing about.  Add to that, Hanoch’s heart to speak directly to those in the ‘church,’ and we have an interesting scenario.

We prayed about a location and the first door we tried closed, but the second, Greenville First Church of the Nazarene, was flung wide open.  As a congregation, they have a HUGE heart for Israel and a terrific relationship with the Synagogue that abuts their property, so in many ways, this was a perfect fit!  Add the fact that they have a wonderful facility that was opened to us, and we were very excited. Continue reading →

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‘IF,’ and ‘AND.’ Three perspectives….

Posted on April 30, 2014 by Pete Rambo

Ever noticed some verses can have totally different meanings, depending on whose perspective or lens you read it through?prism

5 Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My [a]own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine;  Exodus 19:5

Christendom sees,

5 Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My [a]own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine;

They have and speak of the ‘Spirit.’

Judaism sees, Continue reading →

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Sabbath and Marriage. Interesting thought.

Posted on April 29, 2014 by Pete Rambo

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Leviticus 19 ~ Apologetically, A Most Useful Chapter!

Posted on April 27, 2014 by Pete Rambo

The Parsha for this last Shabbat was ‘Kedoshim,’ and it is a dynamite chapter dealing with holiness and how to be ‘holy ones.’  We took a super look at that in our weekly shabbat that you can download and listen to here.  broken_glassOf particular interest is our  critical look at ourselves in the Messianic movement and how we need to keep a balance between the greater commandments and those perceived as ‘justice and mercy.’

Here though, I want to share some of the thoughts I’ve had concerning how useful this chapter is for Messianic apologetics on multiple fronts!  Frankly, this chapter is extremely useful in putting to rest multiple false teachings of Christendom, Judaism and the bilateral ecclesiology teaching of some Messianic Jews.  A few foundational Scriptures:

16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: 17 That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works. Continue reading →

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Pope John Paul II crucifix crushes pilgrim 3 days before canonization

Posted on April 26, 2014 by Pete Rambo

I have covered a few things related to the Vatican, mostly because they seem to have prophetic significance to me. We saw the Ukrainian children release doves that were BmAE2NGCMAEbY-Iattacked by a sea gull and then killed by a raven… You see what is happening there now.

We looked at tomorrow’s global broadcast in 3D by the current Pope for some purpose, later revealed to be the canonization (declaring sainthood) of two deceased Popes.  The actual result remains to be seen, but there is an interesting related development…

BBC News reports:

John Paul II crucifix crushes man in northern Italy

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A visitor described hearing “a loud rumble” as the structure collapsed

Continue reading →

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Deborah the Bee Part II

Posted on April 25, 2014 by Pete Rambo

The Judge, Deborah, has always been a fascination and heroine of mine. Grace in Torah has an excellent article with many details and word nuances revealing more about this leader of men and prophetess! Loved the article and learned some neat new things!

Highly recommended!!

K. Gallagher's avatarGRACE in TORAH

Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidot, was judging Israel at that time. (Jdg. 4:4)

Flaming © K. Gallagher

The Flaming Bee

The fourth judge of Israel was Deborah, a woman of flames/torches/lamps/lightning.[1] This is according to the bolded phrase above when viewed in the Hebrew (eshet lappidot). I find it captivating that the Hebrew uses such fiery connotations when it presents this unique woman in the Bible. All this imagery is lost and falls flat with the transliterated word Lappidot. Blazing torches and fire brands are much more exciting and unpredictable — another reason I love the holy tongue! Have you ever thought of Deborah as fiery? This is how the Bible describes her. Not only that, but she was a prophetess and a judge! Talk about a woman with weighty responsibility! I even imagine her with flaming red locks to accompany her…

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A Matter of the Heart!!

Posted on April 24, 2014 by Pete Rambo

Lately, I have been marking instances of ‘heart’ in the Tanakh, or ‘old’ Testament.  My specific reason is that on so many occasions, in conversations with others regarding the importance of Torah in our day, I am told that it is written on our hearts by the New Covenant, therefore, we do not have to worry about or try to keep it.

The very root of that thought is contrary to the New Covenant, so we need to demonstrate briefly that the New Covenant is not yet fulfilled before addressing the ‘heart’ of the matter.  The New Covenant says,

31 “The days are coming,” declares the Lord,
    “when I will make a new covenant
with the people of Israel
    and with the people of Judah.
32 It will not be like the covenant
    I made with their ancestors
when I took them by the hand
    to lead them out of Egypt,
because they broke my covenant,
    though I was a husband to[a] them,[b]”
declares the Lord.
33 “This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel
    after that time,” declares the Lord.
“I will put my law (Torah) in their minds
    and write it on their hearts. Continue reading →

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Avion Blackman “Yeshua”

Posted on April 23, 2014 by Pete Rambo

Was taking a break from a piece I have been working on and saw a link for this tune in YouTube…  Curious, I checked it out and think I found a little gem.  Apparently, a few others have found it too, judging by the 750,000 hits.  Better late than never!!

Enjoy!

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The Brilliance of Rachel Slick

Posted on April 23, 2014 by Pete Rambo

Here is an interesting short case study.  I’ve watched it twice and am encouraged that others are ‘getting’ it, only saddened by Rachel’s reaction.

The key quote from the Patheos article is,

This changed one day during a conversation with my friend Alex. I had a habit of bouncing theological questions off him, and one particular day, I asked him this: If God was absolutely moral, because morality was absolute, and if the nature of “right” and “wrong” surpassed space, time, and existence, and if it was as much a fundamental property of reality as math, then why were some things a sin in the Old Testament but not a sin in the New Testament?

EXCELLENT question…  One that should be asked by EVERY Bible believer!

Continue reading →

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