Friday, January 14, 2011

AMALEK

Amalek

Rabbi Yehudah ben Shomeyr

In Judaism, there is what is called the Six Remembrances and it deals with passages in the Torah that is commands to remember something or an event. One of which is:

REMEMBER AMALEK'S ATTACK

- "Remember what Amalek did to you as you left Egypt. He met you on the way, struck down the weak ones lagging behind you while you were tired and exhausted and he did not fear Elohim. When it will be that when the Almighty will allow you to rest from all the enemies that surround you, in the land that YHWH your Elohim gives to you as an inheritance to bequeath - wipe out the memory of Amalek from under the Heavens. Do not forget" (Deuteronomy 25:17-19).

It is the 3^rd out of the Six Remembrances, the Six Remembrances is not necessarily in order of priority in regards to importance.

The Nelson’s Illustrated Dictionary of the Bible says that Amalek means, “warlike,” some say it means, “dweller in the valley” others seem to believe it means, “kinglike people.” The Arabic rendering of the words seems to suggest that the people of Amalek were unusually tall. If so, they could have been related somehow to the Nephilim (Gen. 6).

“According to the Book of Genesis and 1 Chronicles, Amalek was the son of Eliphaz and the grandson of Esau (Gen. 36:12; 1 Chr. 1:36); the chief of an Edomite tribe (Gen. 36:16). His mother was a Horite, a tribe whose territory the descendants of Esau had seized.
According to the genealogy in Gen. 36:12; 1 Chr. 1:36. Amalek is a son of Esau's son Eliphaz and of the concubine Timna, a Horite and sister of Lotan. Gen. 36:16 refers to him as the "chief of Amalek" thus his name can be understood to be a title derived from that of the clan or territory over which he ruled. Indeed an extra-Biblical tradition recorded by Nachmanides relates that the Amalekites were not descended from the grandson of Esau but from a man named Amalek after whom this grandson was later named. Such an eponymous ancestor of the Amalekites is also mentioned in Old Arabian poetry.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amalek

In the Torah we read:
Ex. 17:14-16 And the LORD said unto Moses, Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua: for I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven. And Moses built an altar, and called the name of it YHWHnissi: For he said, Because YHWH hath sworn that YHWH will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.

“Amalek’s name must be completely eradicated. Otherwise, according to the oarth of the LORD, the kes-YAH (abbreviation for throne of the Holy One) shall not be shalem (whole).” – Walk Exodus! J.E. Feinberg

Ex. 17:14-16 and Deuteronomy 25:17-19 call for a complete eradication of Amalek; men, women, children, their culture, their “things” even their very memory. It’s as if YHWH wants Israel to wipe them out in such a way that there is no archeological evidence left in the future to suggest they even existed!

This oath mentioned above is so serious that King Saul was dethroned for his failing to annihilate the cattle and king of Amalek (I Sam. 15:14-28)!

If they indeed where tainted, genetically linked to the demonic human hybrid of the Nephilim (Giants – Fallen Ones) of Genesis chapter six then as those eradicated in the flood of Noah’s time, it is understandable why they must be destroyed, to preserve the pure human line so the Messiah could come. After all, they were not mentioned in the seven nations of Canaan Israel was divinely charged to destroy. But what if they were just rebellious anti-nomian and anti-Semetic humans?

What of this loving and just G-d of Israel commanding whole peoples to be utterly destroyed?

Deut. 7:1-2 When the LORD thy God shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it, and hath cast out many nations before thee, the Hittites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than thou; And when the LORD thy God shall deliver them before thee; thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor shew mercy unto them:

Even if these nations deemed to be destroyed lost the knowledge of the One True G-d they carried away from Babel and eventually perverted or suppressed, Rav Sha’ul says they are still without excuse.

Romans 1:20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, [even] his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:

There is a spiritual version of the drug L.S.D.

James 1:15 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.

L.S.D = Lust, Sin, Death

There is absolutely no redeeming cultural quality about the Canaanites that was worth preserving.

You know when you do things you know is wrong or will push your mother buttons and your mother said, "I've had enough!" Then you got a spanking or were sent to your room. Well, with mothers, so with G-d there is an imaginary container like a rain gauge and it's called, "Wrath" and once it is filled with willfully unrepentant and unremorseful sin, G-d has had enough and no one can say it's not fair or the people did not know better or were not warned. Just as we know our mother’s expectations and she gives us several warnings before she declares that she has had enough, so too with G-d, from the beginnings people know His expectations (Torah) and through prophets and events ample warning and time to repent before G-d's Divine Wrath gauge is brimming to the top and about to overflow.

With the flood in Noah’s day, He gave people hundreds of years to repent and so too with many of the prophets, he gave pagan peoples more than enough time to repent and see the error of their ways, generations of time. So no one can say G-d is hasty and not fair. He is more than generous.

Nineveh of Jonah’s day was an example of a pagan people whom G-d gave plenty of time to repent and they did! Even through a reluctant prejudice messenger.

So this is not divinely sanctioned genocide or ethnic cleansing, it's simply a G-d who has had enough and a wicked people who crossed the point of no return. Even an Infinite G-d has His limits and lines drawn in the sand no one should cross.

Through Scripture doesn't specifically say but, because I know what Scripture says about Holy YHWH's character, I can say with confidence certainly that these Canaanite Nations were not blindsided, but were given ample warning and time to repent.

YHWH will set the stage for these Canaanite Nations to fall and be destroyed and if Israel would be obedient from not relating to them in anyway (v.2-3). YHWH will use the scourge of Judgment and destruction upon these nations.

The verse used the word "charam" translated destroy and actually means exterminate. "What about the women and children!?" "How can G-d allow innocent women and children and even animals be killed!?" G-d isn't the one and Israel isn't the one doing the exterminating of the innocent. Then who is it!? The Canaanite Nations who knew better and yet continued to rebel without blushing or batting and eyelash and corrupted their children to be and do the same. Similarly to a drug addict who O.D.'s, it's not the heroines fault, it's not the drug pushers fault, it's not the addictions fault. It's the addicts fault. "What!? The addict can't help it!?" HE may be a slave to the addiction, but nothing is stopping him from seeking help for his addiction. And so nothing was stopping the Canaanite Nations from repenting. Continuing with their satanic and hedonistic religion and culture, they may not have wanted to admit their rebellious end. They may have actually have fooled themselves into believing they could overthrow G-d when in reality, like satan in denial, they knew their eventual end and the end of their women and children with them. The Canaanites themselves were alone are responsible for their own extermination and that of their own women and children.

Deut. 7:3 Neither shalt thou make marriages with them; thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son.

II Cor. 6:14 Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?

Intermarriage with out the Gentile spouse converting leads to Israelite assimilation into the pagan Gentile culture and the spiritual and genetic Israel will face slow extinction. Verse four confirms this.

This is sadly what happened to King Solomon when he married the myriad of gentile and pagan wives.

V.4 Unrepentant, smug and haughty Canaanite Nations were like a highly contagious fatal disease; a cancer that had to be cut out lest it irreparably infects the whole body. It is kill or be killed.

V.5 Like most diseases it can be transmitted through air or by touch and lest exotic remnants of such cultures remain like the forbidden fruit that is pleasing to the eye the temptation to get sucked in is too great and such artifacts and remnants of the culture needs to be destroyed as well. There is a mystic draw and allure to discover learn and try to revive a dead culture and religion. It is a case of curiosity killing the cat. It is a matter of the danger being guilty by association. It is like radioactivity, it corrupts and poisons objects around it and infects anyone who comes in contact with it.

Spiritually speaking seducing spirits attach themselves to physical and usually ritual objects and can influence the possessor of such items and produce even poltergeist type activity. The spirit realm is nothing to mess with or take lightly.

Above all else, bottom line G-d said destroy it. Why? Because He said so and Father knows best. This verse should bring to mind the consequence of disobedience with the story of Akin and the lost campaign against Ai.

If verses 1-5 of Deuteronomy 7 is summed up by the question "Why?!" The verses 6-16 of that same chapter is the answer because....

V.6 We are holy, chosen and special:

- Holy; meaning selected and set apart for a specific purpose and use and meaning.
- Chosen; meaning to be selected to be tried and made distinguished.
- Special; meaning to be G-d's own private and prized possession.

This does not mean we are supreme or better than. This has absolutely nothing to do with racial supremacy. Because to be chosen, we (Israel), had to chose and so we did at Mount Sinai.

To say the Torah is only for the Jews is ridiculous. When the Torah was given, yes, it was given to B'ney Yisrael, but remember, there was the mixed multitude that went out with them during the Exodus. (Exodus 12:38) The mixed multitude was there when the Torah was given. And they, like Israel, agreed to obey and live by the Torah.

It is in my opinion (and some Sages will agree with me) that in the mixed multitude there was a representative from all the seventy nations of the world at that time. For everyone present, even the mixed multitude, said "Yes, we will obey!" (Ex. 19:8), Even BEFORE they heard all that was expected of them! Levi, who wasn't born yet, gave tithe to Melchizedek through Avraham (Heb. 7:1-5), so in like manner mankind agreed to obey the Torah through those ancestors who were at Sinai when the Torah was given. G-d does not have one rule book and or expectations for the Jews and another for the Gentiles. That is not what the Torah says (Exo. 12:49, Lev. 24:22, Num. 15:16. Acts 15:19-21).

We are Holy, Chosen and Special because we ourselves chose YHWH and Torah. We are Holy, Chosen and Special and used of G-d for His Honor and Glory.

V.7 G-d is on the side of the underdog, so HE and not man would get the glory and credit.

1 Cor. 1:27-29 But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, [yea], and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: That no flesh should glory in his presence.

V.8 G-d chose (Israel) also because HE keeps all His promises and His end of the bargain even when we don't. HE is faithful even when we are not. Before the Mosaic covenant there was the Adamic, Noahtic and Abrahamic Covenant and He has kept them all even when we drop the ball.

V.9-16 Just as because He keeps His covenant even when the party He engages in such a covenant doesn't, does not mean we don't have to reap the repercussions of our breech of Covenantal contract. Deut. 27-28 is all about Covenantal stipulations.

Obedience = Blessing and Life

Disobedience = Curses and Death

Simple as that.

Bottom line is that G-d is Holy, Good and Just and if He condemns a people group to extinction, you know that there is a Holy, Good and Just reason and purpose behind it. Divine Genocide doesn't sit right with us because again you have the Infinite and Omniscient Holy G-d trying to be understood and comprehended by finite, fallen man.

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Why We Don’t Say “Yahshua”

Rabbi Yehudah ben Shomeyr

There is a huge push within Messianic and Natsari circles to pronounce the Name of the Messiah as “Yahshua” or Yahoshua” or a variation of it, instead of “Yeshua.” Even I, early on in my walk had got caught up in it that nonsense.

People doctor up the Name of Messiah using faulty Hebraic grammar in order to back up the verse:

John 5:43 I am come in my Father's name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive.

And Hebraically we know the first syllable of YHWH’s Name is “Yah” and thus some feel we have to say “YAHshua” or a variation of it for it to be correct and back up that verse.

Look HIS Name (YHWH) is in HIS Name (Yeshua) by definition, nor by literal pronunciation. Yeshua means “Yah’s Salvation” or “Yah Saves.”

Most people don't have a clue at how English grammar and structure has jaded their view and study of the Hebrew, how based their logic is on English culture, and not Hebrew thinking. There is nothing in Hebrew linguistics that would lead you to conclude that the proper way to say the Messiah’s Name is “YAHshua” or a variation thereof.

I will not try to reinvent the wheel but quote from an excellent article regarding thus subject by Yoseph Viel of MessiahAlive.com:

“The logic is that because the short form of "YHWH" is "YaH", then “YHWH” must be “YaH” + something with “WH” or "YaH-H-H", and we need to figure out what vowels go where I have put hyphens. Actually, “YaH” is not the only short form of the Divine Name. “YeH” is another and so is “Yo”, though “Yo” is usually written “יו”, but the pronunciation of the Divine Name used on Yom Kippur starts with “Yo” even though there's no VAV after the YUD. This is why the short form of Yoseph is Yose', which isn't much shorter than Yoseph. It's because "Yo" is a short form for the Divine Name. Of course in English, "Joe" is used because the "J" is not part of the Divine Name and essentially an ENGLISH abbreviation, not a Hebrew one. But we never use "Yo" in Hebrew.

And most of these people do not realize that if English speakers were accustommed to shortening “Joseph” to “Jeph” instead of “Joe” and “Marcus” to “Mus” instead of “Marc”, they would be assuming that a known use of “YaH” implies that “YHWH” is “Y-H-WaH” with the first two vowels yet to be figured out. They do not realize how much English based logic is going into their assumptions. HEBREW DOES NOT WORK LIKE ENGLISH and short forms are not based on using the first syllable from the long form of the word!!!! Those who insist that YHWH must start with YAH are refusing to recognize the fact that Hebrew does not work like English and are forcing their English ideas into a Hebrew problem.

But in Hebrew , when a short form is used, it doesn't necessarily retain the original vowels from the original form at all. We call the TOrah + NEviim (Prophets) + Ketuvim (Writings) the TaNaK, not the ToNeK. One cannot look at the short form of a name and draw any conclusions whatsoever about the vowels for the long form is because Hebrew just doesn't work like English, and those trying to fit "Yah" into everything are making the assumption that Hebrew works like English where the short forms are derived from the long forms by retaining the first consonant and first vowel, when Hebrew just doesn't work that way. Apply the "Yah Error" logic to the word "Tanach" would have you calling the Torah the "Tarah" and saying "Naviim" instead, because "a" is used in that abbreviaiton too!!!!!

But also, if someone doesn't trust the Masoretic scribes to have written the vowels for one word correctly, why trust them for another? Why trust their writing "Yah" if you don't trust the vowels they put to the entire name? So this argument assumes as true what it is trying to disprove in order to disprove it!!! It assumes the Masorets got it right when they wrote "Yah" but got it wrong when they wrote other vowels in for YHWH!!!! That is inconsistently illogical.” -- The "Yah" & "Yehudah" errors & why the Name of "Jesus" is NOT "Yahshua" – Yoseph Veil – www.messiahalive.com

In well, yet misguided intentions to exalt, promote and praise the Name of Messiah and YHWH others have inadvertently have taken His Name in vain by such pronunciations.

“Understanding how to say the Divine Name is a Hebrew problem. It needs a Hebrew solution and Hebrew logic. Any attempt to approach this issue through English logic could result in something worse that just failure. In some cases, the end result is a pronunciation that is blasphemous. People should not try to rewrite the Divine Name or Yeshua's Name with "Yah" in it. In the case of Yeshua's Name, it can lead to something blasphemous.

What's wrong with "YAHshua"? First off, His Name is written as "ישוע" (Y'ShUA) or "יהושע" (YeHoShUA), not "יהשוע" (YHShUA). And "יה + שוע" (YaH + ShUA) is not something you would want to say.

"ישע" = YaShA is the verb "to save"
"ישעוה" = YeShUaH is the noun "Salvation" and it is a feminine word. Yeshua's Name is derived from "YeShUaH" be dropping the final "H" (HEY) in order to make it masculine.
"שוע" = ShUA is the PUAL form of the verb "save" and means "cry for help" or "being saved". The Pual form inverts who is saving and who is being saved, so it reverses things from the subject of the sentence being the one doing the saving to the subject being the one being saved. "שוע" = ShUA is used in Job 30:24 where it says "...though they CRY OUT FOR HELP (SHUA) in his destruction" .

Now many armchair theologians have concluded that "shua" means the same thing as "yasha" , or to save, and that "Yahshua" means "Yah is salvation". But that's false. Shua means to be saved, or to cry out for salvation - just like it was used in Job 30:24!!! So when one says "Yah" + SHUA, what he is saying is "Yah is crying for help". Thus, by trying to reinvent the Saviors Name by inserting English logic into the mix, they have inverted the meaning of His Name so that it says something blasphemous.

Now with over 70 ways to say the Name of "YHWH", do some of them start with "Yah"? Yes. But they don't ALL start with "Yah" and we should not take what we know to be legitimate pronunciations that start with something else (Like "יְהֹוָה" or "יְהִוָה") and change the first syllable to "Yah" just because we've seen the short form of "YaH" (which is only one of SEVERAL short forms) used in some places. Such a change could result in completely changing the meaning into something that should not be said. Stick with pronunciations EXACTLY as you learned them from Hebrew sources, without trying to "improve" upon them. What the English mind considers an "improvement" might result in something that is actually a deterioration, meaningless, or worst yet blasphemous if you don't understand Hebrew grammar well enough to understand what effect that change makes to the meaning.

The moral of this is several fold.

Don't apply English logic to a Hebrew problem.
If you don't know Hebrew, don't argue with Hebrew speaking people over how to speak Hebrew.
Don't use a pronunciation for a Hebrew word if you can't find it used in Hebrew writings.
Often we never realize how much our culture is affecting our thinking.” –

-- The "Yah" & "Yehudah" errors & why the Name of "Jesus" is NOT "Yahshua" – Yoseph Veil – www.messiahalive.com

Yeshua to Jesus

One of the big mysteries in Christianity and Messianic/Natsari Judaism is the alleged cover up of Yeshua the Messiah’s Hebrew Name. There are a lot of religious conspiracy theorists out there who claim this. I use to believe it too because of all the Anti-Semetic and Anti-Nomian garbage that has made its way into the English versions of the Brit Chadasha (New Testament). But I think I have finally figured it out.

We know that the Messiah’s Name, “Yeshua” is shortened form of the Hebrew, “Yehoshuah (Joshua)” but why in the Greek Septuagint they used “Joshua” but for the Greek New Testament they call, Yeshua/Joshua; Jesus!?

I am by no means fluent in Koine Greek or Hebrew, whether ancient or modern… Heck, I’m not the greatest of my mother tongue, English! But I have taken Koine Greek and Biblical Hebrew in College and I am increasing my knowledge and proficiency in the languages one day at a time and I think I discovered how they got Jesus out of Yeshua.

Since Yeshua means, “Yah’s Salvation.” I use to say, “Why not make the Greek name of Messiah, “Theo-Sotar” (which is Greek for “G-d’s Salvation”) to symbolize Yeshua’s Name in the Greek? But I believe I have discovered why the translators did what they did, and it wasn’t to hide the Hebrew Name of Messiah, nor was it to secretly link Messiah to Zeus as I have heard and read by many Messianic/Natsari believing circles. On the contrary, it was, I believe to distinguish Messiah’s Name from others.

My thoughts are confirmed by this author of this website:

“The reason that the interpreters made the mistake is because the Greek translation of Jesus and Joshua are exactly the same. The same translation is used in the Septuagint (for the name of Joshua) as in the Greek scriptures of the New Testament. I'm just guessing that somewhere along the line, someone thought that the Lord's name should be distinguishable from the other "Joshuas" in the Bible (because there are others). I'm just guessing on that one. I also guess that Anglo Saxons, fresh from defeat at the Crusades, were willing to give the Lord a more Englishly pleasing name than, Yeshua (I'm using the more modern name and the one recognized worldwide as our Lord's true name in Hebrew), which had (and has) a Middle Eastern sound to it.” -- http://www.wheres-the-church.com/yhoshua.html

In the Septuagint the translators transliterated the Hebrew name Yehoshuah to sound as close to the Hebrew as possible in the Greek and thus we get in the English; Joshua. Now so as not to confuse the Old Testament Joshua with the Messiah or any other Joshua for that matter the translators translated Yehoshuah into Greek. They took the Hebrew Yud and made it a Greek Iota. The Shin became a Sigma and the Vav became an Omicron-Upsilon and it is necessary for a final sigma to be placed at the end of the word to distinguish that the name is masculine. Greek grammar rules require that the Hebrew Ayin, the “ah” sound be dropped and BAMB! Yeshua becomes Jesus in the English.

“Dr. Daniel Botkin pinpoints the interchangeableness of the names Joshua and Jesus noting that Neh. 8:17 has Yeshua (Jesus) for Yehoshua (Joshua). Joshua’s name in Greek is (also) Yeasous and is seen in the Septuagint (Josh. 1:12; 2:11; 3:1; 4:4, etc.) which predates the Messiah’s birth by more than 200 years. Botkin also says that this too is proof that ‘Yesous has no connection to Zeus’ for the Jewish Sages who wrote the Septuagint would have been well aware of the pagan god by that name and wouldn’t have used those Greek letters to form Joshua’s name with it if they thought there was a connection to it or to ‘Hail Zeus!’ as some infer.”-- http://www.seedofabraham.net/jesusyeshua.html

Now, I do not use the name Jesus Christ, I do not like it for what anti-Semites and anti-Nomians have made the name to come to symbolize. I use Messiah’s Hebrew Name, Yeshua Ha Moshiach. But even though this issue of Yeshua to Jesus has caused a lot of confusion in religious circles today I pray that a little knowledge of the languages involved we can see how Yeshua became Jesus.

Sacred Namer’s

Look, I’m all for finding and using the Sacred Name of YHWH, but there is so much to consider in such a venture; time, lost manuscripts, the inevitable evolution of a language, various dialects and accents, conflicting historical and grammatical sources and unanswered grammatical questions, the list goes on. These things and more cause me to be very trepidatious about backing anyone’s choice pronunciation of the Sacred Name of YHWH. I believe that only a handful of high elite Levites know the true Name as it has been passed down from generation to generation and I even question if they truly know it see as when it is passed on it is only spoken once and the degradation of such a pronunciation over the generations is likely because of what we learn from the child party game “telephone.” Each generational pronunciation is subject to slight corruption, like a bad carbon copy. I’m not sure that we will truly know the Name until Moshiach returns again and reveals it by speaking it Himself. However, I think we can come close with an educated approximation. Then again, we may actually have it and be oblivious to the obscure evidence. All I’m saying is you say, “Tamaytoe,” I say “Tahmahtoe.” I have my personal way of saying YHWH and reasons why I say it that particular way, but I’m not going to be hard nosed and push that on everyone else. I’m not on some crusade to make the sect I belong to say the Sacred Name a certain way.

Though I realize that English names, Jesus, G-d and L-RD, the etymology of which is questionable and is soiled and tainted with pagan roots; so as not to alienate nor ostracize Christians I am ministering too by refusing to speak these questionable versions of the Name, I will use them by also speaking the Names I use right after such as, Yeshua, Elohim and Yahuweh. Nor will I stop writing, G-d or L-RD and because I have tons of past articles and because I use the KJV in my posts only because it is public domain with no copyright laws attached to it, I will not waste time and go back and edit them to please a Sacred Namer social networks rules regarding their posts. This is why I left some networks. I have much more important things to do.

I have a degree in Missiology and Bible and I know how to outreach to other peoples and cultures. Just as my name is Judah in English and Yehudah in Hebrew, I know YHWH is known by a multitude of different variations and pronunciations. Growing up Christian, finding out I have a Jewish heritage and converting to Judaism I cannot deny that I have seen bonafide miracles and deliverances in the name of JESUS AND YESHUA! Jesus is just how some people know Him. YHWH and Moshiach are not stupid, when someone directs their prayers to Him in the Name of Messiah they happen to know, G-d looks at the heart and not how they pronounced His Name. He knows who they mean. Now don’t misunderstand me I AM NOT saying you can call YHWH; Zeus, Buddha or something ridiculous like that, but what ever name a culture has assigned to the Elohim of Israel, He knows and understands people when they pray to Him in that Name.

Some Sacred Namers can be just as bad as the Christians who say you have to speak in tongues or be baptized to be saved. Gee Wilikers! I fell sorry for Kunatu of the deep dark Amazon who sincerely calls out to the One True G-d of the Universe but doesn’t know the “True Name,” I guess he’s just damned and out of luck!

Look, I know the prophecies that the use of the True Name will be restored:

In reading many English translation of the Scriptures, such as the King James Version, one would think the Creators Name is The LORD GOD. When actuality they are tricks of the translators to cover up the real Name of the Divine. You see, when you see the word, “LORD,” in all capital letters it is referring to the Sacred Name of the Creator, rendered in the transliteration of Hebrew, as YHWH. This is because Hebrew has no vowels, today special marks indicate what sound to use in pronouncing a Hebrew word but still the true pronunciation has been covered up my Judaism at large today, so many people still don’t know how to correctly pronounce the Name of the Creator.

The word, “God,” is the Hebrew word, “Elohim.” If you see the phrase, “The LORD GOD,” in English it is really, “Adonai (meaning Lord or Master) YHWH” in Hebrew. The scary part is where the English word, “god” came from, which was a Canaanite deity called, “God,” phonetically pronounced, “Gawd.” Actually this is the correct pronunciation of one of the Twelve Tribes of Israel we call in English, “Gad.” Ironically when Roman Catholic Missionaries came to the British Isles to convert people there the Pope instructed the missionaries not to rock the boat but to use the name “God/Gawd” to refer to the Creator. As a result we call the Creator by the title “God” to this day. This is a classic move because the same thing happened in Arabia where Mohammed cleaned out the Kabbah of its Arab multiplicity of gods and left Allah, the Arabian Moon god and called him the Creator. This would be no different than me going into the Parthenon and ousting all the gods except Zeus and proclaim him as the Creator.

The English word “Lord” (lower case) in Hebrew means lord or husband, but is related to a Canaanite deity called, “Ba’al,” in English we say Baal. So the English phrase, “Lord God” in Hebrew actually refers to pagan deities, “Ba’al Gawd!” Scary! And we toss this around all the time in ignorance without even thinking when we want to refer to the Divine Creator, the Elohim of Israel.

It has been a long standing taboo even from Yeshua’s time that Jews do not use or speak the Name YHWH for fear of taking it in vain, meaning making it common or to the extreme of actually profaning it. So they have adopted the Hebrew word, “Adonai,” which means Lord/Master. But if one reads the Scriptures it is no big secret that Elohim wants His Name known and spoken.

Exd 3:15 And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, The LORD (YHWH) God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this [is] my name for ever, and this [is] my memorial unto all generations.

Exd 9:16 And in very deed for this [cause] have I raised thee up, for to shew [in] thee my power; and that my name may be declared throughout all the earth.

This is only barely scratching the surface of all the places in Scripture that Elohim desires His Name to be known and used in a proper way.

So how does one pronounce, “YHWH?” Well, without getting to deep into all the details we know we at least know the correct pronunciation for the first half of His Name which is Yah (Ps.68:4). But what about the rest?

Exodus 6:3 And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of El Shaddi , but by my name Yahuweh was I not known to them.

The KJV has “Jehovah” which was a hideous butchering of the Name because there is no “J” sound in Hebrew, nor in ancient Hebrew was there a “V” sound. Only in Modern Hebrew do we have the “V” sound. So the best way (I believe) is to say the Sacred Name is: “Yahuweh,” but when one says it fast it tends to sound like, “Yahweh” This is similar to my Hebrew Name, “Yehudah,” spelled YHWDH (Yod-Hey-Waw/(Vav)-Dalet-Hey) Just take out the Dalet and you have Elohim’s sacred Name, “Yahuweh”

Remember when I talked about the words, “Lord” and “Baal”? Well check this out:

Jer.23:27 Which think to cause my people to forget my name by their dreams which they tell every man to his neighbour, as their fathers have forgotten my name for Baal.

It was prophesied that this would happen, that people would end up calling Yahuwah, Baal!

Prepared to get wigged out further:

Matt. 7:21-23 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord (Baal, Baal), shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name (a false name)? and in thy (false) name have cast out devils? and in thy (false) name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity (Torahlessness / without the Torah/Law).

Check out this prophecy found in the Apocryphal book of Baruch, which was Jeremiah’s scribe:

Baruch 2:30-35 For I know that they will not obey me, for they are a stiff-necked people. But in the land of their exile they will come to themselves, and they will know that I am the Lord their God. I will give them a heart that obeys and ears that hear; and they will praise me in the land of their exile, and will remember my name, and will turn from their stubbornness and their wicked deeds; for they will remember the ways of their fathers, who sinned before the Lord. I will bring them again into the land which I swore to give to their fathers, to Abraham and to Isaac and to Jacob, and they will rule over it; and I will increase them, and they will not be diminished. I will make an everlasting covenant with them to be their God and they shall be my people; and I will never again remove my people Israel from the land which I have given them."

This seems to be a prophecy of the Restoration and use of the Sacred Name by believers in the Diaspora, in exile!

It’s great that we are attempting to restore the Sacred Name of YHWH by using whatever pronunciation that we are convinced of, but to fight each other about which way is correct with scant and unsure evidence that we do have is just flat out WRONG!

Just as I think many of us will be shocked who we will see in the World to Come, I think we will be just as surprised when Moshiach comes and reveals the Name once and for all. I wonder who will turn beat red and feel stupid and shameful? Many of those in the Sacred Name movement came out of Christianity and just trading one doctrinal horse to beat for another. This needs to stop or a unity that even the Sacred Namers desire will never be achieved.

Yehudah = Yehuwah?

Some people takes the name of the Patriarch and Tribal leader Yehudah (Judah) and see that the Name of the Divine is spelled the same minus the “D”, the Hebrew letter Dalet and so one uses their English Grammar and Western Logic and concludes that YHWH’s Name must be “Yehuwah.”

“This is a horrible error that can lead to someone making a blasphemous mispronunciation of the Divine Name. There are many people out there that love G-d with all their heart, and would never dream of INTENTIONALLY saying something blasphemous about G-d, but they do not realize that what they are saying has a meaning in ancient Hebrew that is blasphemous. “Ye-quw-wah” (substituting a "q" for a "h" here to avoid offense) is a pronunciation one would not want to use because what it means in Hebrew is "He Will Be the one who has become", as if to suggest that at one time he did not exist. In fact, it almost implies that he will go BACK to not existing, if he presently exists, but used to, but will become something else. Grammatically, it's built on the plual form, which changes the grammar of a verb to indicate that the action is done TO the subject of the sentence, rather than vice versa. Yes - the same grammar form overlooked in the "Yaqshua" error (changing "h" to "q" here again to avoid offense). As I said, many people out there use this pronunciation, and love G-d with all their heart. They just don't know what they are saying…

Say "YHWH" one way and it means "He Who Is". But a slight slip of the tongue away from that is another pronunciation that means "He Who Is Evil". Say "YHWH" with another set of vowels and it means "He Who Causes To Be". But even that can be a slight slip of the tongue away from "He Who Caused HIMSELF to Be". This is why Judaism quit saying the Name. They were afraid you'd mispronounce it in a blasphemous way. But a lack of guidance also seems to cause people to make blasphemous mispronunciations. Before you TRY to speak the Divine Name - LEARN HEBREW! Get the accent down. Learn the grammar. Otherwise, you just simply won't know when you are mispronouncing the Name. You can't learn "just enough Hebrew" to say the Name correctly. You English accent will seduce you into saying a pronunciation that is wrong. The bad habits your English accent introduce can only be overcome by submerging yourself in the correct way to pronounce the entire language...

There's no grammatical connection between these two words.

· YeHuDaH (יהודה) is built from the root HWD (הוד) by adding a "H" (ה) to the end and a "Y" (י) to the beginning.

· YHWH (יהוה) is built from the root HWH (הוה) by adding a "Y" (י) to the beginning.

With no grammatical connection between them, why is there any reason to conclude that one word sets a precedent for anything about the other word?

Pual to Pial : Some modern day Israelis may be a bit slow to recognize the Pual form because it has dropped out of use in modern day Israel. There are people who live in Israel and speak Hebrew fluently who might have to look this point of grammar up if they are not Biblical scholars simply because this form of grammar is not longer used in modern day Hebrew and has been replaced by a Pial form instead.”

-- The "Yah" & "Yehudah" errors & why the Name of "Jesus" is NOT "Yahshua" – Yoseph Veil – www.messiahalive.com

Therefore in light of this information is just some of the reasons why Modern Day Non-Believing Judaism does not pronounce the Name of YHWH, as well as the various pronunciations have been buried in antiquity because only the Kohen HaGadol (High Priests) would say it only one a year in the Temple at Yom Kippur in the Holy of Holies. I do believe the Kohen in training for the third Temple know the various pronunciations of the ineffable, but they aren’t telling, even upon pains of death!

Sunday, January 9, 2011

Helping the Tribe of Gad

Shalom Family, Friends and Associates,

Seeing as a new secular year is upon us what are your plans, your goals to make a difference in this world and in the Kingdom of Elohim?

Did you ever think you would be living in a time where so much prophecy is being fulfilled before your very eyes? Have you ever wanted to have a direct hand in aiding the fulfillment of prophecy? Well, you can.

My name is Rabbi Yehudah ben Shomeyr of AD International (www.adint-ministries.com). I have been asked by Abrahamic Faith Netzarim of Nigeria, a Messianic organization in Africa, who invited me to minister to them for two weeks in August 2010, to contact and work closely with Messianic and Natsari synagogues in order to help our Messianic believing brothers and sisters in Nigeria.

I was invited to minister to the Nigerian Tribe of the Ibu who are descendants of Eri (Gen. 46:16) the son of the Biblical Patriarch of the Tribe of Gad. On my website is a full report regarding the evidence and proofs that link the Ibu’s to the Lost Tribe of Gad. I look forward getting in contact with you, ministering and partnering together to raise up Messianic leaders in Nigeria and bring Torah and Messiah to the people of that Land.

The Ibu’s are discovering who they are and where they belong. Orthodox Judaism sees and believes this as well and are even now sending anti-missionaries among them in an attempt to destroy the Ibu peoples belief in Yeshua Ha Moshiach and make them blind Orthodox Jews like themselves.

Matt. 23:15 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.

We are NOT asking for money. The Ibu people do not need money. What they DO need however is for you to kindly donate new and gently used:

Sacred Name Bibles (ISR Scriptures, HRV, Complete Jewish Bible, Aramaic-English New Testament), All four volumes by Michael Brown’s, “Answering Jewish Objections to Jesus,” Tzitzit, Kippot, Tallit Gadolim, Tallit Katans, Mezuzot, Messianic and or Natsari books, Messianic prayer siddurim, Artscroll Siddurim, Messianic music and worship CD’s, Messianic and or Netzari Teaching DVD’s etc.

Once we have sufficient amount of goods we will ship them to our contact who will distribute them among the various congregations.

Please let us know if you can think of other ways you or your congregation can help.

Please send all Donations to:

A.D. International

PO BOX 822

Fayetteville, NY. 13066

I sincerely hope and pray that you decide to be apart of this prophetic and monumental task of restoring the lost Tribe of Gad to Israel, Messiah and to the world.

Thank you, your generous and sacrificial donation will help make these Messianic Ibu believers remain strong in the faith once delivered to the saints (Jude 1:3) and combat the anti-messianic propaganda of the Orthodox Jewish anti-missionaries and reclaim their rightful place as sons and daughters of Gad.

You can learn more facts, history and genealogy of the Ibu people of Nigeria and how they are apart of the tribe of Gad by going to:

www.adint-ministries.com/tribeofgad.html

You can see photos of my trip to Nigeria, labeled “Nigeria 2010,” on my facebook profile:

www.facebook.com/raybashkatan

Thank you for your kind attention. I sincerely hope you and your congregation decides to become involved and help in this prophetically monumental cause.

Founder and CEO of A.D. International,

In the service of the G-d of Israel,
Shalom,
R. Yehudah ben Shomeyr
Mr. Kris Shoemaker

Joseph’s Lovely Bones

Rabbi Yehudah ben Shomeyr

Ever since I was a child mummies and skeletons have always fascinated me. Well, what little boy doesn’t like bones and mummies!? Though I am a Rabbi and not a Mortician or Medical Examiner I am still fascinated with human remains. It’s the first place I look for at museums. There is something awe inspiring to gaze upon the remains of a real person who lived hundreds or thousands of years before you and they are still here.

Possibly one of the most famous Jewish mummies, besides Jacob who was mummified by the Egyptians (Gen. 50), was Joseph.

The following is the account of Joseph’s bones according to Scriptural and extra-Scriptural texts:

Gen. 50:24-26 (KJV)And Joseph said unto his brethren, I die: and God will surely visit you, and bring you out of this land unto the land which he sware to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. And Joseph took an oath of the children of Israel, saying, God will surely visit you, and ye shall carry up my bones from hence. So Joseph died, being an hundred and ten years old: and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.

Jasher 59:21-28 And when the days of Joseph drew nigh that he should die, he sent and called for his brethren and all his father's household, and they all came together and sat before him. And Joseph said unto his brethren and unto the whole of his father's household, Behold I die, and God will surely visit you and bring you up from this land to the land which he swore to your fathers to give unto them. And it shall be when God shall visit you to bring you up from here to the land of your fathers, then bring up my bones with you from here. And Joseph made the sons of Israel to swear for their seed after them, saying, God will surely visit you and you shall bring up my bones with you from here. And it came to pass after this that Joseph died in that year, the seventy-first year of the Israelites going down to Egypt. And Joseph was one hundred and ten years old when he died in the land of Egypt, and all his brethren and all his servants rose up and they embalmed Joseph, as was their custom, and his brethren and all Egypt mourned over him for seventy days. And they put Joseph in a coffin filled with spices and all sorts of perfume, and they buried him by the side of the river, that is Sihor, and his sons and all his brethren, and the whole of his father's household made a seven day's mourning for him. And it came to pass after the death of Joseph, all the Egyptians began in those days to rule over the children of Israel, and Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who reigned in his father's stead, took all the laws of Egypt and conducted the whole government of Egypt under his counsel, and he reigned securely over his people.

Exodus 13:19 And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him: for he had straitly sworn the children of Israel, saying, God will surely visit you; and ye shall carry up my bones away hence with you.

Jasher 80:62-63 And Moses hastened and rose up and went to the river of Egypt, and brought up from thence the coffin of Joseph and took it with him. The children of Israel also brought up, each man his father's coffin with him, and each man the coffins of his tribe.

Testament of Joseph 2:80-84 But ye shall carry up my bones with you; for when my bones are being taken up thither, the Lord shall be with you in light, and Beliar shall be in darkness with the Egyptians. And carry ye up Asenath your mother to the Hippodrome, and near Rachel your mother bury her. And when he had said these things he stretched out his feet, and died at a good old age. And all Israel mourned for him, and all Egypt, with a great mourning. And when the children of Israel went out of Egypt, they took with them the bones of Joseph, and they buried him in Hebron with his fathers, and the years of his life were one hundred and ten years.
Hebrews 11:22 By faith Joseph, when he died, made mention of the departing of the children of Israel; and gave commandment concerning his bones.

Now here is what the Torah says in regards to the effect of human remains:

Numbers 19:16-19 And whosoever toucheth one that is slain with a sword in the open fields, or a dead body, or a bone of a man, or a grave, shall be unclean seven days. And for an unclean person they shall take of the ashes of the burnt heifer of purification for sin, and running water shall be put thereto in a vessel: And a clean person shall take hyssop, and dip it in the water, and sprinkle it upon the tent, and upon all the vessels, and upon the persons that were there, and upon him that touched a bone, or one slain, or one dead, or a grave: And the clean person shall sprinkle upon the unclean on the third day, and on the seventh day: and on the seventh day he shall purify himself, and wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and shall be clean at even.
Leviticus 21:1-3 And the LORD said unto Moses, Speak unto the priests the sons of Aaron, and say unto them, There shall none be defiled for the dead among his people: But for his kin, that is near unto him, that is, for his mother, and for his father, and for his son, and for his daughter, and for his brother. And for his sister a virgin, that is nigh unto him, which hath had no husband; for her may he be defiled.

“Become a dreamer like me. Come here to gather up my bones. Carry them like compass of vision through the long years in the desert.” – Judith Schmidt, “Joseph’s Bones”

The Talmud Tractate Sotah says that when Moses came to retrieve Joseph’s Bones and Moses declared unto them that it was time to journey to the Promised Land, that the coffin Joseph lay in shook!

Like a divining rod pointing to water, Joseph, the last vestige and direct link to the Patriarchs and the Patriarchal promise YHWH gave to them, being the possession of the Promised Land. Joseph’s bones are portrayed in the modern Midrash mentioned above by Judith Schmidt. Joseph’s bones is like a compass, an ancient GPS navigational tool that always pointed the way to the Promised Land that the Children of Israel was destine to posses.

It says Moses took the bones, meaning most likely that his house, his kin, his clan, the Kohathites of the Tribe of Levi, whose responsibility it was to care for and bear the most holy sacred Ark of the Covenant along with the other holy pieces of furniture also carried Joseph’s bones.

Little is known about those who carried Joseph’s bones because little information is presented in the Biblical narrative and so we must extrapolate such conclusions by other information available to us, such as the extra-biblical and rabbinical texts as well as taking into consideration various laws, customs and traditions of the Jewish people.

Seeing as those who most likely carried the Ark were the Levitical Kohathites, such a responsibility would be seen as a blessing and a burden. A blessing in that it must have been considered such a privilege to carry the bones of the beloved Patriarch, but a burden in that it puts one in s state of ritual uncleanness which required particular days of sacrifices and washings to return one to a ritually pure state so as to be able to participate in the task imbued to the priests of the Tabernacle. This likely being the case, we can safely deduce that just as there was an established rotation of priestly service (Luke 1) that there too was likely a rotation among the Kohathites on who carried the Ark, Menorah, the Altars and finally Joseph’s bones so that all had the privilege to experience carrying the Patriarchs bones and becoming unclean for a most holy and noble reason. In Judaism it is considered a great mitzvah to care for the dead because it is a good deed in which the recipient cannot repay. Matter of fact, there are Jewish Burial Societies (Chevra Kadisha) dedicated to this holy task.

Leviticus 21:1-3 And the LORD said unto Moses, Speak unto the priests the sons of Aaron, and say unto them, There shall none be defiled for the dead among his people: But for his kin, that is near unto him, that is, for his mother, and for his father, and for his son, and for his daughter, and for his brother. And for his sister a virgin, that is nigh unto him, which hath had no husband; for her may he be defiled.

Legends of the Bible compiled by Louis Ginzberg says regarding the caretaking of Joseph’s bones:

“During the 40 years of wandering through the desert, the coffin was in the midst of Israel, as a reward for Joseph’s promise to his brethren, “I will nourish you and take care of you.” God had said, “As thou livest, for 40 years they will take care of thy bones.”

All this time in the desert Israel carried two shrines with them, the one the coffin containing the bones of the dead man Joseph, the other the Ark containing the Covenant of the Living God. The wayfarers who saw the two receptacles wondered and they would ask, “How doth the Ark of the dead come next to the Ark of the Ever-Living?” The answer was, “The dead man enshrined in the one fulfilled the commandments enshrined in the other.””

In the Talmud Tractate Sotah Joseph’s bones was like a protection against Ishmael and Esau’s kin who desired to fight Israel.

“They all came to wage war; but when they saw Joseph’s crown hanging upon Jacob’s coffin they all took their crowns and hung them upon Jacob’s coffin… 63 crowns were hung upon Jacob’s coffin.”

Upon further mussing one may wonder where was Joseph’s casket put when Israel stopped to set up camp? Legends of the Bible says it was put in the “midst” of Israel. What was in the midst of the camp? The Tabernacle. Could it be that within the center of camp surrounded by the Levitical clans they erected a special tent in which to rest Joseph’s bones?

Joseph’s bones were like an ancient seed with an ancient promise locked inside and when Israel finally made it to the Promised Land they buried him and then all Israel (Land and People) sprung to life.

Jill Hammer in her book, “The Jewish Book of Days” said:

“The story of Joseph bones… the descent into the grave and the rising to new life. Isaiah (66:14) states: “Your bones will flower like new grass.” Surely this verse must refer to Joseph.”

The journey of Jospeh’s bones ends with Joshua.

Joshua 24:31-32 And Israel served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that overlived Joshua, and which had known all the works of the LORD, that he had done for Israel. And the bones of Joseph, which the children of Israel brought up out of Egypt, buried they in Shechem, in a parcel of ground which Jacob bought of the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for an hundred pieces of silver: and it became the inheritance of the children of Joseph.

What is recognized today as Joseph’s Tomb is located in Palestinian occupied West Bank city of Nablus.

“Some archeologists believe that the site is only a few centuries old and may contain the remains of a Muslim sheikh named Yossef….

When violent clashes between Israelis and Palestinians began in the West Bank in October 2000, six Palestinians and one Israeli were killed in fighting around the tomb. The Israeli army subsequently agreed to withdraw on October 7 and turn over control of the site to the Palestinian police, who were supposed to guard it. Instead, the Palestinian Police stood by as a mob ransacked the site, burned books and destroyed reading stands; the mob also burned down the army outpost. On that same day, an American-born rabbi, who taught at the seminary, was found slain outside Nablus.
The Mayor of Nablus, Ghassan Shakaa, said that the site would be repaired. Workers were seen fixing the damage, however, they were also painting the top of the dome green - the color of Islam. Workers say that they want to return the shrine to its former appearance before 1967, but news reports indicated the Palestinians were planning to build a mosque on the spot.
For Israelis, the destruction of a Jewish shrine raised serious doubts as to whether the Palestinian Authority would protect religious sites belonging to Jews and Christians and guarantee access to them. Israel guarantees access to all holy places under their control according to 1967 Law for the protection of the holy places.” -- http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Judaism/joetomb.html

The future of Joseph’s bones:

Hebrews 11:22 By faith Moses, when he was born, was hid three months of his parents, because they saw he was a proper child; and they were not afraid of the king's commandment.

According to the Psudopigraphal book, The Testament of Joseph, he prophecies of Israel’s enslavement and Exodus and has faith that his bones would one day rest in the Promised Land

I Thess. 4:16-18 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.
I Cor. 15:20-22 But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

One day upon Messiah ben Joseph’s return, Joseph’s coffin will shake again and those bones will rattle, connect and be robed in resurrected incorruptible flesh as in Ezekiel 37. They will be raised up to life forever more! So too is the future of all who die in the Torah obedient faith Messiah walked and taught.
In museums I gaze at mummies and bones of those who lived so long ago and wonder if I will see them alive again in the World to Come. I may not have seen Joseph’s bones, but I will see Joseph one day when Messiah returns!

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Is the God of Israel a Genocidal God?

Rabbi Yehudah ben Shomeyr

A question that has plagued believer and non-believer alike for eons. In Deuteronomy chapter seven G-d tells Israel to utterly wipe out certain people groups. So does this mean G-d promotes genocide or ethnic cleansing?

Verse one tells Israel to totally destroy the Canaanite culture.

Why!? Doesn't this sound genocidal and a lot like ethnic cleansing? So why?! Because they were the consort of nations of the Babel conspiracy headed up by Nimrod of Cush which he being the cousin of Canaan (Gen. 10:6-10a).

Collectively this litany of peoples made up what is referred to as the Canaanite Nations.

It is speculated and believed by most that these people were all related and somehow attached to the linage of Hamm. Therefore they all stuck close together and had much in common between them in regards to language, religion and culture. The dastardly thing that made them so dangerous is their ambition to storm the heavens (Gen. 11:4-6).

In other words they wanted to be as gods, a tempting desire in us even before the fall (Gen. 3:5-6a).

Almost as if satan was trying to live vicariously through fallen man (Is. 14:12-19).

Well, we all know how that turned out for the Canaanite Nations, they too were cast down (Gen. 11:7-9).

So their whole cultural disposition was fleshly, hedonistic, selfish and lustful of power and greedy for material things; all on the far end of the spectrum of Divine Holiness. The human race all being one at one time means everyone knew G-d and His Holy standards and expectations for man to live right before Him and the Canaanite Nations knew better and lived totally contrary, regardless. They knowingly and willingly disobeyed and rebelled against G-d and became fully and irreparably unrepentant, much like Lucifer and as a result had the potential to poison and corrupt and infect all mankind with their anti-Theocratic ways. G-d could not allow this to happen. Just as He lovingly kicked Adam and Eve out of the garden to keep them from eating of the tree of life after they had eaten of the tree of knowledge and therefore risk living in eternal sin, eternally separated from the Creator, so too G-d allowed unrepentant Canaan to be destroyed by Israel.

There is a spiritual version of the drug L.S.D.

James 1:15 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.

L.S.D = Lust, Sin, Death

There is absolutely no redeeming cultural quality about the Canaanites that was worth preserving.

You know when you do things you know is wrong or will push your mother buttons and your mother said, "I've had enough!" Then you got a spanking or were sent to your room. Well, with mothers, so with G-d there is an imaginary container like a rain gauge and it's called "Wrath" and once it is filled with willfully unrepentant and unremorseful sin, G-d has had enough and no one can say it's not fair or the people did not know better or were not warned. Just as we know our mother’s expectations and she gives us several warnings before she declares that she has had enough, so too with G-d, from the beginnings people know His expectations (Torah) and through prophets and events ample warning and time to repent before G-d's Divine Wrath gauge is brimming to the top and about to overflow.

Saturday, January 1, 2011

The Ghost of Christianity Past

Ghost of Christianity Past

Rabbi Yehudah ben Shomeyr

Recently I was personally attacked for my video and blog entitled, “The Ghosts of Christmas Past,” because I admitted and acknowledged fond memories I have of my past ignorant involvement and participation in Christianities version of Christmas. The attacks had taken my words and meaning grossly out of context. I, unlike some can separate my blind and ignorant, well intended emotions from the pagan origins of what we fully know now as Christmas. The same can be said about Christianity itself which many of us came out of. It’s infected with paganism, and yet I still have fond memories of when I was a Christian; always will. Just because I have fond memories of when I was worshiping YHWH the best way I knew how at the time in sincerity and yet ignorance, doesn’t mean I agree with it or will return to revel in it.

Acts 17:30 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:

In our sincere ignorance regarding our past, G-d winkled at what we didn’t know, and therefore we genuinely felt the Presence and move of the Ruach of Elohim and we saw bonafide healings, salvations and deliverances that cannot be refuted or denied. We all had genuine personal relationship with YHWH and He taught us, touched us and we grew. No one can deny or refute this; and this all the while we were blinded by the paganism rife within Christianity. In HIS mercy He was patient with us and winked at our ignorance until our hearts were in such a place as we could accept the Truth, know better, repent and follow correctly. The grace and patience HE extended us, we MUST extend to Christians still in the blissful, ignorant dark where miracles still occur.

So will I renounce and repent of the day I bowed at the altar of a Christian church with my best childhood friend and asked who I knew then as Jesus to come into my heart and forgive me and save my soul? So will I renounce and repent of the times when I seen people, even that of my own family, truly healed from sickness and addictions and delivered from demons? Not on your life! Though most of Christianity is ignorant of Torah, at least it introduced us to Yeshua who then opened us up to the truth and blessing of Torah and Natsari Judaism. How quickly we forget where we came from and bite the hand that fed us up until we discovered the Truth of Torah. The Rabbis tell us that though the Nile river symbolized a pagan Egyptian deity and was to be cursed, it was Aaron that did it, for HaShem prohibited Moses from cursing that which kept him as a child in that basket.

Folks we need to stop being so ignorantly ungrateful, pagaphobic, critical and self righteous. Because of our sometimes venomous attitude toward Christianity, no wonder few want to follow us in Torah and I can’t say that I blame them. I know I don’t want their blood on my hands because of a bad attitude toward a corrupted faith that at the very least showed me Messiah which set me up to eventually find the Truth of Natsari Judaism and Torah.

Ghosts of Christmas Past for the Natsarim

Rabbi Yehudah ben Shomeyr

Why is it so hard for Christians to give up Christmas, a holiday not found in Holy Writ anywhere!? It was never divinely commanded by G-d to celebrate. So why do they cling so tenaciously to it?

I think what is difficult for Christians in regards to giving up Christmas is that they cannot separate memory and emotions attached to Christmas from the pagan factual aspects of the day. They feel that if they give up Christmas they have to renounce the fond memories of Christmas past. Not so. Though I know better today and have forever put Christmas and the cloaked paganism with it behind me forever, I will nonetheless always have fond memories of celebrating Christmas in innocent, well indented ignorance, because for me growing up, it was about Jesus and not about Santa Claus or Mithra, Tammuz or Saturnalia.

I think many Christians and those of us who have come out of Christianity into Torah Observant Messianic/Natsari Judaism secretly feel guilty for once enjoying Christmas and even now still having fond memories of it. Don’t! You have no reason to feel guilty for those feelings, because as I said it was in innocent well meaning ignorance. But now it is time to make new fond memories in full knowledge of the truth with the Feasts of Adonai found in Leviticus 23 and the Jewish Holidays commemorating moves of G-d among His People, such as Chanukah and Purim. Again, as I said before we need to separate memory and emotion from enlightenment and facts.

As an example, I could give up soda because although it tastes wonderful and makes me feel good it is not healthy or beneficial for me. So I begin to drink only healthy drinks such as water, juices and such. This doesn’t mean I will forget how pleasant soda was, nor will I feel guilty for at one time in my life enjoying it. A weak analogy I know, but all analogies have their flaws, but one can easily draw the necessarily similarities to the subject at hand.

I think if we, in witnessing to our family and friends who do celebrate Christmas, if we not only present the facts, but also address and admit the emotional and nostalgic attachment to it, it may help people more easily break away from it and embrace the truth.