Podcast Episode: Peter’s Three Little Pigs

Podcast Episode: Peter’s Three Little Pigs

Pip: Peter had a vision involving a sheet full of animals, and somehow it became the most consequential real-estate dispute between clean and unclean in all of scripture.

Mara: Today we’re looking at a piece from cj that works through Acts 10 — Peter’s rooftop vision, what it actually meant, and what Israel had quietly forgotten about its own calling to the nations.

Pip: Let’s start with the vision, the pigs, and what Peter finally understood.

Peter’s Vision and the Nations

Mara: The post opens with a question that Acts 10 has been answering for centuries: what does it mean for something — or someone — to be called unclean, and who gets to decide?

Pip: And the anchor is Peter’s own words, once the vision lands. The setup is Acts 10:28-29, where Peter explains himself to Cornelius’s household: “You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a man who is a Jew to associate with a foreigner or to visit him; and yet God has shown me that I should not call any man unholy or unclean. That is why I came without even raising any objection when I was sent for.”

Mara: So the vision was never about dietary law. The sheet full of animals was a teaching tool — the real subject was the Gentiles standing at Peter’s door.

Pip: The post takes care to show how Israel arrived at this moment. The Torah was clear about welcoming the stranger — Leviticus 19:34 says to treat the foreigner as a native and love him as yourself. Exodus 12:49 and Numbers 15:16 both establish one law for native and stranger alike.

Mara: But somewhere between Sinai and the first century, a protective instinct calcified into total separation. Contact with Gentiles became a purity issue requiring Temple sacrifice and ritual cleansing. That’s the tradition Peter is carrying when the vision hits.

Pip: Which is why the Spirit’s staging is so deliberate — three times the sheet descends, three times Peter refuses, and then three Gentile men knock on the door. The number isn’t coincidence; it’s the lesson repeating until it sticks.

Mara: The post traces the original purpose back to Exodus 19:5-6, where Israel is called “a kingdom of priests” — priests exist to mediate between God and others, not to wall themselves off. Isaiah 42:6 and 49:6 frame the Messiah as the fulfillment of that priestly, outward-facing calling.

Pip: So Yahoshua isn’t dismantling Israel’s structure — he’s restoring what Israel was always supposed to be doing.

Mara: Peter’s conclusion in Acts 10:34-35 makes it explicit: “I most certainly understand now that God is not one to show partiality, but in every nation the man who fears Him and does what is right is welcome to Him.” The apostles in Jerusalem respond: God has granted the Gentiles “the repentance that leads to life.”

Pip: A kingdom of priests that forgot it had a congregation — and needed a rooftop vision to remember.

Mara: The post is careful to note what the vision does not revise. The animals on that sheet were still unclean as food — the point was the people at the door, not the menu.

Pip: Isaiah 66:17 gets cited as a prophetic bookend: judgment still falls on those who eat swine’s flesh. The dietary instructions, the post argues, were not the thing being cleansed.

Mara: What shifts is the wall between peoples. What stays is the Torah’s instruction — and the post frames both as consistent expressions of the same God calling humanity back to His ways.

Pip: One vision, one sheet, one centurion — and the whole architecture of who belongs gets reexamined.

Mara: The thread from Sinai to Acts to Isaiah 66 is longer than it looks. There’s more to follow here.

Read the full post here: Peter’s Three Little Pigs

Peter’s Three Little Pigs

Peter’s Three Little Pigs

“Now I know not to call any man common or unclean.”

Once upon a time there were three little pigs. They were traveling the country side selling their wears. “Come and buy my brother, kill and eat him. He is fat and juicy and will make a great sandwich.” Said the oldest of the three pigs. The brother didn’t flitch but seemed to accept his fate. “Today, just moments ago on your rooftop you saw a vision and in that vision, we three pigs came to knock on your door. “‘Rise up kill and eat,’ the voice said. And now here we are your lunch has arrived.” The man who opened the door invited the three visitors in and after exchanging a few shekels, bought the portly brother. He prepared him and the entire household partook in the kingly feast of the fatted pig.

This amazing story is found in Acts 10. Let’s have a look. We find Peter, on the rooftop in prayer. He is seeking wisdom from Adonai, as we all should do. Now as we all do, he became hungry. In that time of prayer and using that urge of hunger Adonai gives Peter a vision. What is the vision, what does it entail? Before we get there we need the back story. We need more information to put into context what is unfolding within the words, and lines, and spaces of the page.

Although the Tanakh (Old Testament) instructed Israel to be a welcoming people, a light to the world. Overtime they cut themselves off from the nations. Rather than obeying the commandment to not assimilate into the cultures around them, adopting their practices and worshiping their gods. They took the extreme approach and had nothing to do with the nations around them. To do so made one unclean and required sacrifices and offerings at the Temple, ritual cleansing. Let’s look at three passages that talk about Israel and the foreigner together.

Leviticus 19:34
You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am Yahweh your Elohim

Exodus 12:49
There shall be one law for the native and for the stranger who sojourns among you.

Numbers 15:16
One Torah and one rule shall be for you and for the stranger who sojourns with you.

This is what Israel had lost sight of and this is what Yahoshua (Jesus) is restoring. Not just reconciliation to the Father but of humanity itself and the order designed from the beginning of Israel. Isaiah writes:

Isaiah 42:6
“I am Yahweh, I have called You in righteousness, I will also hold You by the hand and watch over You, and I will appoint You as a covenant to the people, as a light to the nations.” (Granted these first two passages are about the coming of Messiah Yahoshua but it was through Judah a tribe of Israel in which Elohim would fulfill the promise of Israel being a light to the nations.)

Isaiah 49:6
“He says, ‘It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also make You a light of the nations so that My salvation may reach to the end of the earth.'”

Isaiah 60:3
“Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.”

Let’s take it one step further back. In Exodus 19:5-6 Elohim begins to layout the purpose of Israel. “‘Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine; and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel.‘” What is the role of priests? One of reconciliation, healing, instructors of the Way. But something went drastically wrong.

Now fast forward, Israel is broken apart the northern tribes are mostly scattered. Some have regathered and are known as the Samaritans of which many lessons were taught by Yahoshua. However, the Southern Kingdom, in part remains. Made up of mostly Judah, Benjamin, and some of the tribe of Levi as they were spread out throughout Israel not having any land of their own.

What a mess. There was a separation that remained as part of the curse pronounced against Israel for not obeying the instructions, the Torah, of Elohim. And at this point although there was an attempt to do so it was lost in man made traditions of which the Pharisees and religious leaders were very proud. This is what Peter knew and he would struggle with it for some time. His awakening however begins or continues, with this vision.

Acts 10:11-16
“And he saw the sky opened up, and an object like a great sheet coming down, lowered by four corners to the ground, and there were in it all kinds of four-footed animals and crawling creatures of the earth and birds of the air. A voice came to him, ‘Get up, Peter, kill and eat!’ But Peter said, ‘By no means, Adonai, for I have never eaten anything unholy and unclean.’ Again a voice came to him a second time, ‘What God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy.’ This happened three times, and immediately the object was taken up into the sky.”

As you could imagine Peter is greatly perplexed, he doesn’t know what to do with the vision. Then the Spirit said to him, “Behold three men are looking for you. Get up, go downstairs and accompany them without misgivings, for I have sent them Myself.” Who were these three men? They were gentiles, men sent from Cornelius a centurion and a believing Gentile. He was instructed by an angel of God, “Cornelius!” He responded, “What is it, Adonai?” And the Angel said, “Your prayers and offerings have ascended as a memorial before God. Now dispatch some men to Joppa and send for a man named Simon, who is also called Peter.”

The men explain who they are to Peter in this way. “Cornelius, a centurion, a righteous and God-fearing man well spoken of by the entire nation of the Jews, was divinely directed by a holy angel to send for you to come to his house and hear a message from you.” So we have Peter having a dream about unholy things and then three ‘unholy gentiles’ come knocking at the door. Sent by a Centurion named Cornelius, who just so happened to be a God-fearing man, who had a vision to call Peter to his home. Do you see the correlation the reason for unholy and unclean things to be lowered before Peter. Can you see why God chose this visual as a lesson?

Let us hear from Peter his interpretation of the vision. “You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a man who is a Jew to associate with a foreigner or to visit him; and yet God has shown me that I should not call any man unholy or unclean. That is why I came without even raising any objection when I was sent for.” (Acts 10:28-29). Later in that same chapter (V34-35) Peter says this: “I most certainly understand now that God is not one to show partiality, but in every nation the man who fears Him and does what is right is welcome to Him.”

After these things Peter reports to the Apostles in Jerusalem. In closing the apostles said; “Well then, God has granted to the Gentiles also the repentance that leads to life.” (Acts 11:18). Much more can be said concerning this and all of it reflects the heart of God towards all the nations and tribes and tongues and people coming to know God. It is a calling back to God’s instruction the same instruction that calls Israel a light to the nation, still calls swine unclean and not meant for food. That has not nor will it change, it was unclean in getting on the Ark. It was unclean in Leviticus. It was unclean in Acts. And it is unclean now.

To drive this point home a bit further let’s look at Isaiah 66 a prophetic chapter looking at the second coming of Messiah and the Kingdom that follows. Isaiah records this in verse 16-17; “For Yahweh will execute judgment by fire and by His sword on all flesh, and those slain by Yahweh will be many. ‘Those who sanctify and purify themselves to go to the gardens, Following one in the center, Who eat swine’s flesh, detestable things and mice, will come to an end altogether,’ declares Yahweh.”

What is my motivation? It is to point to the Word and show anyone who will listen, that God from the fall has been calling mankind back to Himself and His ways. Will you choose to listen and obey the instructions of Elohim? This is the way of the Rabbi.

You are loved,
cj

Profound Life Advice: Stay Teachable and Discern Truth

Profound Life Advice: Stay Teachable and Discern Truth
Daily writing prompt
What’s the most profound piece of advice you’ve been given? Did you take it?
View all responses

my grandfather was a minister. He served the Church in many capacities, pastor, evangelist, director of interracial evangelism, conference superintendent, and editor of the denominations preachers monthly magazine, ‘The Sermon Builder’. He was also an author of several books. Finally he was a devoted husband, father, grandfather, and above all a servant. my grandfather gave me a lot of great advice over the years but one particular bit of advice stands out over the rest.

i was in my early 20’s. We had just been discussing life and what the future holds for me over a game of Rummy. We played Rummy a lot my grandfather and i, and it was over those games many profound conversations took place. i wish i could remember them all. However, the one i believe he wanted me to take to heart, to make a part of who i was and who i was becoming was this; “Don’t ever think that you know everything about anything so that you remain teachable. However, know your stuff so that you can discern truth from lies.”

In a world of A.I. and content being created faster than anytime in known human history, no advice is of greater importance. Especially, if you are a follower of The Way. If you call yourself a Christian. If you want to follow Jesus it is absolutely imperative that you heed the advice of my grandfather, especially that last part. “However, know your stuff so that you can discern truth from lies.”

The Church, perhaps more so than anytime in its history, must be discerning. Why? Because the deception talked about in Revelation and by Yahoshua (Jesus) in Matthew 24, is without a doubt approaching. We must be like the Berean’s in Acts 17 (v11-12). “Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so. Therefore many of them believed, along with a number of prominent Greek women and men.”

Paul reiterates this to a young preacher named Timothy. In a letter to him he gives the following advice: “But evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Messiah Yahoshua. All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.“

We must know the Word inside and out. We must take the notes from the messages we are being taught and search out the Scriptures to see whether or not what is being taught is truth. The “All Scripture” that Paul is referring to is the Tanakh, what is known unfortunately as the “Old Testament”. i say unfortunately, because, ‘Old’ gives the impression that it is outdated or unnecessary and that couldn’t be farther from the truth. It is in fact where we test things. Does it lineup with what the Father has already revealed?

It is important to remain open-minded however even more so it is important to remain rooted in Scripture. “Don’t ever think that you know everything about anything so that you remain teachable. However, know your stuff so that you can discern truth from lies.”

You are loved,
cj

Podcast Episode: Light vs Darkness: The True Meaning of God’s Instruction

Podcast Episode: Light vs Darkness: The True Meaning of God’s Instruction

Pip: If you’ve ever wondered whether “let your light shine” was secretly a Torah study prompt, cj at The Way of the Rabbi has thoughts — and citations.

Mara: This episode works through one sustained argument: that light and darkness in Scripture are symbolic language for Torah and the absence of it, and that the stakes of misreading that language are higher than most churches acknowledge.

Pip: Let’s get into what Isaiah 5:20 is actually saying — and who it might be aimed at.

—

Light vs Darkness: Torah as the True Instruction

Mara: The post opens with a familiar cultural reference — Isaiah 5:20 and the idea that good is called evil and evil good — then immediately pivots: the argument is that the church has been reading this verse too narrowly, missing that it describes the rejection of Torah itself.

Pip: And the verse lands hard in context. The setup is “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil,” and the post defines evil through 1 John 3:4: “Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness” — where lawlessness means outside the Torah.

Mara: That definition does real work here. If sin is lawlessness and lawlessness means outside God’s instruction, then calling Torah obsolete isn’t a minor theological quibble — it’s the very inversion Isaiah is warning against.

Pip: The post goes further and names the problem directly inside the church. It argues that mainstream Christianity rejects Torah while claiming Paul as the authority for doing so — and then quotes Peter pushing back on exactly that reading.

Mara: The quote is pointed: “the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction.” That’s 2 Peter 3:16, and the post uses it to argue that Paul has been systematically misread, that he upheld Torah, taught it, and instructed Timothy to hold fast to it.

Pip: So the light-darkness imagery isn’t decoration — it’s load-bearing. The post walks through passages from John, Ephesians, and 1 Peter and asks the reader to substitute “Torah” for “light” in each one.

Mara: The substitution exercise is the heart of the argument. “He that follows me shall not walk in darkness” becomes “he that follows me shall not walk outside of instruction.” The post’s claim is that Yahoshua as the Word made flesh makes this reading not just poetic but literal.

Pip: And the bitter-to-sweet axis from Isaiah 5:20 gets the same treatment — Psalm 119:103, Hebrews 6:5, the honey imagery — all pointing to Torah as something to be tasted, not discarded.

Mara: The post closes with a direct challenge: “Did God change so we wouldn’t have to?” It cites Isaiah 29:13 and Matthew 15:7-9 on lips-versus-heart worship, and ends with a single question — are you following the instruction of the Father, or the commandments of men?

Pip: That question doesn’t resolve neatly, which is probably the point.

—

Mara: The through-line here is that language carries theology — and that reading light as instruction rather than sentiment changes what obedience actually looks like.

Pip: Next time, we’ll see what else that thread pulls on.

Read the Post: Light vs Darkness, here.

Podcast Episode: Prepare for Deception: Strengthening Faith in Troubling Times

Podcast Episode: Prepare for Deception: Strengthening Faith in Troubling Times

Pip: If you have ever wanted someone to tell you that the aliens are actually demons, that your family might turn on you, and that Psalm 3 has something useful to say about all of it — cj has your episode.

Mara: This one goes deep into spiritual preparedness: what deception looks like in the current moment, where Scripture points when faith is under pressure, and how an ancient psalm becomes a framework for holding on.

Pip: Let's start with the deception itself.

Prepare for Deception: Strengthening Faith in Troubling Times

Pip: The post opens with a provocation — we are not just in another rough patch of history. The argument is that the sheer convergence of events, from geopolitical chaos to the mainstream normalization of UFO disclosure, marks something qualitatively different, and that the primary threat is not physical but spiritual.

Mara: The post draws on a reframing of Matthew 28:19-20 to make the preparedness case concrete: "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, immersing them in the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit; Teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you."

Pip: The move there is to take the word "baptize" back to its root meaning — to saturate — and apply it inward. Preparation is not stockpiling information about UFOs; it is becoming so thoroughly grounded in Scripture that a competing narrative cannot displace it.

Mara: And the warning is specific. Matthew 24:4 is cited directly: "See to it that no one deceives you." The post frames the coming pressure as something that will reach into personal relationships — family, friends, even church community — not just the broader culture.

Pip: That is where Psalm 3 enters, and it earns its place. David writes it while his son Absalom is actively trying to seize his kingdom — betrayal at the closest possible range. The post reads "Selah" not as a footnote but as a deliberate pause, a moment of sorrowful reflection before the turn.

Mara: The turn being: "But You, Yahweh, are a shield about me. My glory, and the One who lifts my head." The post uses David's arc — distress, pause, declaration — as the emotional template for anyone whose faith is being tested from the inside out.

Pip: Colossians 2:8 gets woven in as the doctrinal anchor alongside it — the warning against being taken captive by philosophy and tradition rather than Messiah. The structural argument is that Scripture, read whole and taken seriously, is the only preparation that holds.

Mara: The post closes on Psalm 3:5-8, which lands the practical note: "Salvation belongs to Yahweh; Your blessing be upon Your people." Rest, steadiness, and the refusal to stay in defeat are presented not as temperament but as theological conviction.

Pip: Which is a harder sell than it sounds, and the post does not pretend otherwise.

Mara: The thread running through all of this is really about where you anchor when the ground shifts — whether that is geopolitical noise, personal betrayal, or something stranger.

Pip: Selah, as they say. More from The Way of the Rabbi next time.

Podcast Episode: Understanding Repentance and Return in Faith

Podcast Episode: Understanding Repentance and Return in Faith

Pip: There's a site called The Way of the Rabbi, and it asks the kind of questions most people spend a lifetime dodging — what does it actually mean to turn around, and what exactly are you turning back toward.

Mara: cj has been working through that territory, and today we're following the thread from repentance and return all the way through the Torah, the prophets, and what obedience looks like in practice. Let's start with what repentance actually requires.

Understanding Repentance and Return in Faith

Pip: The word "repentance" gets used so often it can lose its edges. This post is trying to restore those edges — repentance as a direction, not just a feeling, and return as a destination with a specific address.

Mara: The post opens with Peter's second sermon in Acts, and the framing is immediate: "Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of Adonai."

Pip: Two verbs, not one. Repent and return — and the post argues that second verb points somewhere specific: back to Torah, back to the instruction of God, not law as a legal system but as a living guide for righteousness.

Mara: Right, and the post is careful about what "law" means here. Torah means instruction — the things commanded by God to be obeyed. And the definition of sin follows directly from that. First John 3:4 is quoted more than once: "Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness" — Torahlessness, in the post's framing.

Pip: So repentance isn't just remorse. It's definitionally a return to Torah observance. That's a tighter claim than most Sunday sermons make.

Mara: The post backs it with a parable — the fig tree in Luke 13, planted in a vineyard, given time to bear fruit, cut down when it doesn't. Then it sets that alongside Mark 11, where Yahoshua curses a fig tree at the end of his earthly ministry. The parallel is deliberate.

Pip: The Pharisees had the Torah but replaced it with tradition. The post draws a direct line to the western church today — same substitution, same fruitlessness.

Mara: And the resolution the post offers is genuinely personal. There's a passage about a ministry that preached repentance for years under the name Jesus, now using the Hebraic name Yahoshua — but the post says the message is unchanged, with one addition: that conditional "IF." Turn, and He will hear. The heart has to move first.

Pip: Which is why the post ends where it does — not with a doctrinal checklist but with Psalm 139: "Search me, O God, and know my heart." The argument and the prayer land in the same place.

Mara: That tension between obedience and grace runs through everything here — and it's worth sitting with before we close.

Pip: What stays with me is that the post refuses to let repentance be passive — it's a turn, a direction, a destination.

Mara: The heart issue, as the post calls it. That's the thread worth following into whatever comes next.

Podcast Episode: Understanding False Teachings in Today’s Church

Podcast Episode: Understanding False Teachings in Today’s Church

Pip: There's a question that's been following believers around for about three thousand years, and it goes like this: what happens when the people entrusted with the Word stop reading it?

Mara: That's the thread running through cj's recent writing on The Way of the Rabbi — false teaching, the authority behind it, and what the Scriptures actually say about how to spot it. Let's start with the heart of it: what false teaching looks like in the church today.

Understanding False Teachings in Today's Church

Pip: The post opens with a sharp diagnostic: the church has no shortage of prophets, pastors, and platforms — but the people following them largely aren't checking the source material. The question the post is asking is whether that's an accident or a preference.

Mara: The post goes straight to Jeremiah for the answer. Here's the verse it opens with: "The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule by their own power; And My people love to have it that way. But what will you do in the end?"

Pip: That last line is the weight-bearing one. It's not just a critique of leadership — it's a warning aimed at the people who are content to be misled. The congregation is implicated, not just the pulpit.

Mara: Right, and the post makes that explicit. It draws a contrast with the Bereans, who searched the Scriptures daily to verify what they were being taught. The concern here is that followers are doing the opposite — accepting teaching wholesale without that kind of scrutiny.

Pip: TikTok prophets is a phrase that earns its place in a theological argument, I'll give it that.

Mara: The post does use that language, and the point behind it is serious. The argument is that unschooled teachers are circulating false doctrine not always out of malice but out of ignorance — reading one false prophet and passing the error along.

Pip: And the test the post offers for spotting them comes from Matthew 7. Yahoshua's warning about wolves in sheep's clothing, and then the harder follow-up: "I never knew you; Depart from Me, You who PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS (TORAHLESSNESS)."

Mara: That word — Torahlessness — is central to the post's argument. The claim is that false teaching, at its root, is teaching that leads people away from the commandments. Deuteronomy 13 is brought in to reinforce this: a prophet whose signs come true but who directs people toward other gods is still a false prophet.

Pip: So the fruit test and the Torah test are the same test, essentially.

Mara: That's the post's position. Yahoshua's own words in Matthew — "I did not come to abolish but to fulfill" — are read as a direct refusal to set aside the commandments. The post argues that righteousness, by definition, is obedience to Torah, and that the Pharisees were wrong not because they followed commandments but because they substituted human tradition for divine ones.

Mara: The post closes where it opened — with Jeremiah's question. "What will you do in the end?" It's less a rhetorical flourish than a genuine appeal.

Pip: The stakes are personal, not just institutional — and that's what makes the question land.

Pip: Three millennia of the same warning, and the post argues it's still the most urgent one on the shelf.

Mara: The thread between Jeremiah, Deuteronomy, and Matthew is tighter than most people are taught. That's the kind of connection worth sitting with before the next episode.

Understanding Repentance and Return in Faith

Understanding Repentance and Return in Faith

“Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of Adonai.” Acts 3:19

Repent: repentance is not only seeking forgiveness but also turning around. It is a 180 degree life course correction, from a life of sin. Peter in his second sermon found in Acts also states return, return to what? It is a return to righteousness, it is the opposite direction of sin. If sin is the transgression of the law, one can have confidence that to return means to return to the instruction of God. A return not to law as we define it today but to what the word law means, Torah, Instruction, the things commanded by God to be obeyed by man. Perhaps this point could be debated if we only read this verse however, Peter continues.

“And that He may send Yahoshua (Jesus), the Messiah appointed for you, whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time.” Acts 3:20-21

Peter is giving continued validity to the Tanakh and its teachings on repentance. From the pages of Torah to the writings of the prophets, the message is “IF”, if you will turn from your wicked ways and follow Yahweh’s commandments, He will bless you and the land. As Peter says, “that times of refreshing may come from the presence of Adonai.” You see Peter is referring to the time between Yahoshua’s coming, his death, resurrection, and His ascension into the heavens, until He returns in the clouds to rule and reign from Jerusalem as King.

What did Yahoshua declare to Pilate? “You say correctly that I am a king. For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.” (John 18:37). What is truth? His Word is Truth! And therefore if we are of His Word then we hear His voice, and if you hear His voice do not harden your heart but repent of your sin. What is sin? John writes in 1 John 3:4 – “Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness.” Lawless, without or outside of Torah, the instruction, the things commanded by God to be obeyed by man.

For the entirety of my ministry I preached repentance, and to believe in the Name of Jesus for salvation. Although, now I use His Hebraic name Yahoshua, the message is still the same. However, with one major change, ‘IF’. For roughly three and a half years Yahoshua taught repentance and walking in humility with the Father. What does it mean to walk in humility? It is to set aside yourself and live for Him, by His instruction. Yahoshua came to present the Torah as a living, breathing, instruction manual of how to live righteously, set apart for the kingdom. One must ask the question, “What is one to repent of?” The answer of course is sin. That begs the question, “What is sin?” If sin is Torahlessness which John states than repentance is by its very definition observance of Torah.

In Luke 13 Yahoshua tells this parable: “A man had a fig tree which had been planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and did not find any. And he said to the vineyard-keeper, ‘Behold, for three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree without finding any. Cut it down! Why does it even use up the ground?’ And he answered and said to him, ‘let it alone, sir, for this year too, until I dig around it and put in fertilizer; and if it bears fruit next year, fine; but if not, cut it down.'” Luke 13:6-9

If we compare this parable and the scene Mark tells in 11:12-14 we will see something striking. “On the next day, when they had left Bethany, He became hungry. Seeing at a distance a fig tree in leaf, He went to see if perhaps He would find anything on it; and when He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. He said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again!” And His disciples were listening.” This scene takes place at the end of Yahoshua’s earthly ministry just after His Triumphal entry into Jerusalem. He went straight to the Temple looked around and departed.

What is the significance you ask? There was no fruit in the lives of the Pharisees or other ‘Religious’ leaders. They had replaced much of Torah with their own traditions of man. It is the same thing the western church has done today. The Word calls us back to Himself throughout its pages from Genesis to Revelation. Yet, most will separate the ‘Old’ from the ‘New’ and miss the whole point of the story. The Torah was not found in the people. They were void of righteousness i.e. the righteous acts of the saints, which is obedience to the Ways of God. “The beginning of wisdom is: Acquire wisdom; And with all your acquiring, get understanding.” Proverbs 4:7 – The whole passage is on gaining and keeping wisdom, about faith and the heart. It is and always has been a heart issue!

“The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; Who can understand it? I, Yahweh, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give to each man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doing.” Jeremiah 17:9-10

“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation and sustain me with a willing spirit.” Psalm 51:10-12

“Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts; And see if there be any hurtful way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way.” Psalm 139:23-24

We have a promise in all of this spiritual battling that rages for our very souls. “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” Romans 8:28

We read in Act 5:32 – “And we are witnesses of these things; and so is the Holy Spirit, whom Elohim has given to those who obey Him.” To whom is the Holy Spirit given? To those who obey Him. Are you obeying God or man? Are you seeking His ways or are you trapped in a man made religion that is on the wrong side of the spiritual battle?

“If you love Me, you will obey My commandments.” John 14:15

“So you shall keep My commandments, and do them; I am Yahweh. You shall not profane My Holy Name, but I will be sanctified among the sons of Israel; I am Yahweh who sanctifies you.” Leviticus 22:31-32

“So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh– for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.” Romans 8:12-14

We who are under grace are not devoid of Torah, by no means! We are to put on Messiah who is the Word made flesh. The one who sanctifies us and puts us on the good path. As the Proverb states: “He who turns away his ear from listening to the Torah, Even his prayer is an abomination.” Proverbs 28:9 – Psalm 119:53 states, “Righteous indignation has seized me because of the wicked, who forsake Your Torah.” Those who know God’s commands but choose not to obey them, that is the one being described here. As a reminder again 1 John 3:4 tells us what is sin. “Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is Torahlessness.“

My hope is that you will be challenged in heart and mind to search out the Scriptures. To seek what the good way is and to walk in it. That you will desire good works that have been prepared for you to do and that you will do them. Deuteronomy 6:17 “You should diligently keep the commandments of Yahweh your Elohim, and His testimonies and His statutes which He has commanded you.” To put to death the old self and put on the new self, this is repentance, turning from sin (outside of Torah) to righteousness (in Torah).

“All who sin apart from the Torah will also perish apart from the Torah, and all who sin under the Torah will be judged by the Torah. For it is not the hearers of the Torah who are righteous before God, but it is the doers of the Torah who will be declared righteous. Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the Torah, do by nature what the Torah requires, they are a Torah to themselves, even though they do not have the Torah. So they show that the work of the Torah is written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts either accusing or defending them on the day when God will judge men’s secrets through Messiah Yahoshua, as proclaimed by my gospel.” Romans 2:12-16

“I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Messiah Yahoshua, who testified the good confession before Pontius Pilate, that you keep the commandment without stain or reproach until the appearing of our Adon Yahoshua Messiah.” 1 Timothy 6:13-14

“For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome.” 1 John 5:3

The lawless one, the deceiver of nations, the prince of this world, is a lier and a thief. Yahoshua came to present Himself the living Word and as He declared to Pilate, “and for this I have come into the world, to testify to the Truth.” Yahoshua already told us what Truth is; “Your Word is Truth.” (John 17:17; 18:37) – Yahoshua said, “I am door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”

“IF My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” 2 Chronicles 7:14 – Wickedness is being outside of Torah, sin is Torahlessness, the repentant heart will humble itself and pray and seek the Face of God through Yahoshua, turning from wickedness and sin (rebellion to the Torah for those with Torah and for the Gentile born outside of Torah but by nature turning and doing the work of Torah as it is written on the heart through faith) to righteousness in Messiah by faith that He who began a good work in you will see it through to completion.

Humbly return to His Ways, this is the Way of the Rabbi.

You are loved,
cj

Understanding False Teachings in Today’s Church

Understanding False Teachings in Today’s Church

Jeremiah 5:31
“The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule by their own power; And My people love to have it that way. But what will you do in the end?”

Have you ever wondered about the state of the church? There are many self proclaimed prophets out there and many pastors operating in their own authority. Yet, they have hundreds of thousands of followers, books for sale, conventions and schools. They lead a people, that although have access to the Word, fail to read it. They are not like the Berean’s, searching the Scriptures daily to see if what they are being taught lines up, or even adds up. No, they swallow it whole and regurgitate the falsehoods. Where are the Jeremiah’s, the Isaiah’s, the Ezekiel’s, the Enoch’s? Where are the Peter’s, Paul’s, and John’s?

Instead we have TikTok prophets, unschooled and unlearned babblers in pulpits. The blind leading the blind. They read a book from a false prophet and are now spewing the same falsehoods in ignorance. But what does the Word say? They don’t care, they will take one verse out of context and shout you down with it. They are weak willed individuals with no discernment. How can i be so harsh? Who am i to say such things? What gives me the right? i am not the one saying it, Jeremiah is: “The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priest rule by their own power; And My (Elohim’s) people love to have it that way. But what will you do in the end?”

“Behold, you are trusting in deceptive words to no avail. Will you steal, murder, and commit adultery and swear falsely, and offer sacrifices to Baal and walk after other gods that you have known, then come and stand before Me in this house, which is called by My name, and say, ‘We are delivered!’ – that you may do all these abominations? Has this house, which is called by My name, become a den of robbers in your sight”? Behold, I, even I, have seen it,” declares Yahweh.” Jeremiah 7:8-11

What is a false prophet? What is considered false teachings? Yahoshua (Jesus) tells us through Matthew’s writing: “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. you will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs form thistles, are they? So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So then, you will know them by their fruits. Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Adonai, Adonai,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Adonai, Adonai, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; Depart from Me, You who PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS (TORAHLESSNESS).'” Matthew 7:15-23

When Yahoshua is teaching on false prophets He was drawing on the Word, the Torah. Where it teaches about false prophets. He also throughout His ministry challenged those teaching the commandments of men rather than the Commandments of the Father. Let’s look at Deuteronomy 13:1-4.

“If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign of a wonder, and the sign or the wonder comes true, concerning which he spoke to you, saying, ‘Let us go after other gods (whom you have not known) and let us serve them,’ you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams; for Yahweh your Elohim is testing you to find out if you love Yahweh your Elohim with all your hear and with all your soul. You shall follow Yahweh your Elohim and fear Him; and you shall KEEP HIS COMMANDMENTS, LISTEN TO HIS VOICE, SERVE HIM, and CLING TO HIM.”

Anytime that we do mans commandments over Elohim’s commandments we are essentially following other gods. If a prophet teaches us to obey other commands than he is a false prophet, and that would include the Greco-Roman Jesus. But Yahoshua never taught a different way, in fact He said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.” He was the very unchanging Word of Elohim made flesh. To do away with the commandments of God would have been to do away with Himself.

No, He said, “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill (Bring fullness or clarity to). For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law (Torah) until all is accomplished. (Note, heaven and earth have yet to pass away. See Revelation 21) Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and the Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 7:17-20.

Many will say that we cannot be more righteous than the Scribe or the Pharisees and therefore Jesus meant we actually didn’t have to. However, that isn’t at all what Yahoshua was getting at! For time and time again He challenged the Pharisees that they were teaching the commandments of men rather than the commandments of God. And by definition righteousness is “the things commanded by God to be obeyed by man.” Therefore righteousness is obedience to God’s Torah. It is that simple. The Torah is not a burden, mans tradition is the burden. God is not a yoke that we cannot bear and to say so means you lack understanding.

Time is drawing short. Even if you live to be 90 before Yahoshua returns. Why? Because, deception is growing. Hearts are growing cold, sound doctrine is drying up, the wheat and the tares are being separated. What pile do you want to find yourself in? As Jeremiah said, “But, what will you do in the end?”

You are loved,
cj

Light vs Darkness: The True Meaning of God’s Instruction

Light vs Darkness: The True Meaning of God’s Instruction

When you think about the passage where it says, “Good will be called evil and evil good,” what comes to mind? The verse found in Isaiah has been used often to describe our culture, and rightfully so. However, I wonder if we aren’t missing the actual meaning of the verse. Let’s take a look at the verse in question.

Isaiah 5:20
“Woe to those who call evil good
and good evil,
who change darkness into light
and light into darkness,
who change bitter into sweet
and sweet into bitter!”

Woe, profound grief or distress, woe to those who call evil good and good evil. What is evil? Is sin evil? And what is sin? 1 John 3:4 gives us the best definition, “Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness.” The word lawlessness means outside the Torah. The Torah is the instruction of God to man on how to live, love, worship and be. You may have heard the acronym given to the BIBLE, Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth. Well, that is the Torah by its very definition, only it describes inheriting the earth; not leaving it.

Anything, outside of God’s instruction therefore can be considered evil or rebellious. The Psalmist writes, “Righteous indignation has taken hold of me because of the wicked who reject Your Torah.” (Psalm 119:53). Yet, today, within the majority of the church, “christians” forsake, even reject the Torah.” They call it obsolete, done away with, complete. They claim Paul teaches this as fact when in reality he upheld Torah, taught Torah, and instructed Timothy to hold fast to the Torah. Peter, writes a warning about Paul being taken out of context. The church ignores Peter too. “. . . as also in all his (Paul) letters, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction.” (2 Peter 3:16).

Isaiah gives us a few comparisons to drive home his point, which also gives us a clearer understanding of his point. “Who change darkness for light and light for darkness, who change bitter into sweet and sweet into bitter!” The Word of Elohim is a light to our path. Often the idea is presented that coming into the Word is stepping out of darkness. Darkness is being outside of God’s Word. The same is true for sweet. The Word is described as tasting good. These present a clear understanding, that it isn’t only what the world once called evil becoming good, but what God has declared evil. And where do we find good and evil? Scripture.

Psalm 119:105
“Your word is a lamp to my feet, and a light to my path.”
Matthew 5:16
“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”
John 8:12
“Then Yahoshua spoke to them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that follows me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.”
John 12:46
“I have come as a light into the world, that whosoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness.”
Ephesians 5:8
“for at one time you were in darkness, but now you are in the light of Messiah. Walk as children of light“
John 1:5
“And the light shines in darkness, and the darkness could not understand.”
1 Peter 2:9
“But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people; that you should be the praises of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.”

In each of these passages replace light with instruction or Torah and reread those passages. This is the very idea that is being presented. For example, ‘Then Yahoshua spoke to them, saying, I am the Torah in the world: he that follows me shall not walk outside of instruction, but shall have the instruction of life.’ It isn’t always clean but the idea is always there as Yahoshua is the Word made flesh. The use of light and darkness is symbolic and poetic language to drive home a point. ‘And the Torah shines in darkness, and the darkness could not understand.’ Now here in 1 Peter 2:9 we are called chosen, royal, priests, why? Because we hold the Torah, the instruction of the Father for His people. ‘But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people; that you should be the praises of Him who has called you out of darkness (without instruction) into His marvelous Torah!.’ And it is sweet.

Psalm 119:103
“How sweet are Your words to my taste,
sweeter than honey to my mouth!“
Psalm 34:8
“Taste and see that Yahweh is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!”
1 Peter 2:2-3
“as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby, if indeed you have tasted that Yahweh is gracious.”
Hebrews 6:5
“who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age—“

I have asked this before and I will ask it again; Did God change so we wouldn’t have to? The God who declares, “I am the same yesterday, today, and forever.” Has He redefined sin? Or does He call us out of sin and into righteousness (the things commanded by God to be obeyed by man)? These are the questions that demand an answer. These are the questions one should wrestle with for relationship is found in love, love is based on action and expression. For even the demons believe and tremble. How many say they follow Jesus with their lips but their hearts are far from Him?

Isaiah 29:13
“And the Adonai said: “Because this people draw near with their mouth and honor Me with their lips, while their hearts are far from Me, and their fear of Me is a commandment taught by men.”
Ezekiel 33:31
“And they come to you as people come, and they sit before you as my people, and they hear what you say but they will not do it; for with lustful talk in their mouths they act; their heart is set on their gain.”
Matthew 15:7-9
“You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said: “‘This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me; in vain do they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’”

Are you following the instruction of the Father or are you following the commandments of men?

You are loved,
cj