Tag: Faith

He Will Never Fail You: Trust, Obedience, and Psalm 118 Hope

He Will Never Fail You: Trust, Obedience, and Psalm 118 Hope

He will never fail you or abandon you. He, is God, and His promises are true.

Give thanks to Adonai, for He is good, for His grace endures forever.
Now let Israel say, “His grace endures forever.”
Now let the house of Aaron say, “His grace endures forever.”
Now let those who fear Adonai say, “His grace endures forever.”

From my being hemmed in I called on Yah; He answered and gave me more room.
With Adonai on my side, I fear nothing – what can human beings do to me?
With Adonai on my side as my help, I will look with triumph at those who hate me.

It is better to take refuge in Adonai than to trust in human beings;
better to take refuge in Adonai than to put one’s trust in princes.

The nations all surrounded me; in the name of Adonai I cut them down.
They surrounded me on every side in the name of Adonai I cut them down.
They surrounded me like bees but were extinguished [as quickly] as fire in thorns;
in the name of Adonai I cut them down.

You pushed me hard to make me fall, but Adonai helped me.
Yah is my strength and my song, and He has become my salvation.
Psalm 118:1-14

As the world steps more and more into uncertainty let me remind us; those of us who call on the name of Yahoshua Messiah (Jesus), who seek the Father by way of His Son; we CAN rest in His promise that He will never fail us or abandon us. Psalm 118 is a great reminder of this and it begins by reminding us that we need to GIVE THANKS to Adonai, for HE IS GOOD, for HIS GRACE ENDURES FOREVER.

This understanding goes back, way – way back. We see it present through out Genesis and throughout the succession of leadership. Moses said to Joshua, “Be strong, be bold, for you are going with this people into the land Adonai promised to their ancestors He would give them. You will be the one causing them to inherit it. But Adonai – it is He who will go ahead of you. He will be with you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you, so don’t be afraid or downhearted.” Deuteronomy 31:7-8

This is the message many Christians love to repeat, and it is true. However, each time this promise is given there is a reminder, just as Elohim tells Joshua; “Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will neither fail you nor abandon you. Be strong, be bold; for you will cause this people to inherit the land I swore to their fathers I would give them. Only be strong and very bold in taking care TO FOLLOW ALL THE TORAH (Instruction) which Moses My servant ordered you to follow; do not turn from it either to the right or the left; then you will succeed wherever you go. Yes, keep this book of the Instruction (Torah) on your lips, and meditate on it day and night, so that you will take care to act according to everything written in it. Then your undertakings will prosper, and you will succeed. Haven’t I ordered you, ‘Be strong, be bold?’ So don’t be afraid or downhearted, because Adonai your Elohim is with you wherever you go.” So He tells you and i.

Psalm 118 continues:
The sound of rejoicing and victory
is heard in the tents of the righteous:
“Adonai’s right hand struck powerfully!
Adonai’s right hand is raised in triumph!
Adonai’s right hand struck powerfully!”

I will not die; no, I will live and proclaim the great deeds of Yah!
Yah disciplined me severely, but did not hand me over to death.

Open the gates of righteousness for me; I will enter them and thank Yah.
This is the gate of Adonai; the righteous can enter it.
I am thanking You because You answered me; You became my Salvation.

The very rock that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone!
This has come from Adonai, and in our eyes it is amazing.
This is the day Adonai has made, a day for us to rejoice and be glad.
Psalm 118:15-24

A few things to point out here as this Psalm is so rich in content. Joshua son of Nun, was originally named Hoshea, that was his birth name. Names have meaning and significance throughout Scripture and cultures for that matter. Hoshea, means ‘Salvation’. When Hoshea’s name was changed it was changed to Yahoshua, meaning, YAH is Salvation. This is significant in that it is the story of redemption told in a single name. Man cannot save themselves, we need a savior. Yah is our salvation. This name of course would come back into play, as Yahoshua son of Nun led the Israelites into the promised land so Yahoshua the Son of Elohim, leads His people into the Kingdom.

Righteous or righteousness as defined by Scripture means; one who is obedient to the instruction of Elohim. Another way to say it, ‘those things commanded by Elohim to be obeyed by man’. This didn’t change under the new covenant as the new covenant is simply the ‘old’ covenant written on our hearts. It is written there by the Holy Spirit, through the finishing work of Yahoshua, Yah’s Salvation, the Word made flesh as John writes in his gospel recording.

Yahoshua does not diminish the responsibility for obedience. He made several references to the ongoing need to walk according to the commands of Elohim. Matthew records Messiah saying: “Don’t think that I have come to abolish the Torah (Instructions of Elohim) or the Prophets. I have come not to abolish but to bring to fullness. Yes indeed! I tell you that until heaven and earth pass away, not so much as a dot or a stroke will pass from the Torah – not until everything that must happen has happened. So whoever disobeys the least of these commandments and teaches others to do will be called least in the Kingdom of Heaven. But whoever obeys them and so teaches will be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven.” (Matthew 5:17-19)

Yahoshua Messiah also said:

“But why do you call Me ‘Adonai, Adonai,’ and not do the things which I say?” Luke 6:46

“If you love Me, you will obey My commandments.  I will ask the Father, and he will give you another helper who will be with you forever.  That helper is the Spirit of Truth. The world cannot accept him, because it doesn’t see or know him. You know him, because he lives with you and will be in you.” John 14:15-17

Remember that Yahoshua is the WORD made flesh, He is the Torah, He is the written instruction and He is commanding us to obey. Not without help, He is providing the Holy Spirit who not only writes the instruction on our hearts but also enables us to live obedient lives IF we listen, for He doesn’t force obedience, He encourages it. Even more of His own He demands it.

Some say it is too hard to keep the commands of Elohim. Yet, we read in His word that His Word is not too cumbersome. Who is telling the truth, man or God? There is only one right answer, “Let God be true, even if every man is a liar.” Psalm 118 concludes:

Please, Adonai! Save us! Please, Adonai! Rescue us!
Blessed is he who comes in the name of Adonai. We bless you from the house of Adonai.

Adonai is God, and He gives us light. Join the pilgrim festival with branches all the way to the horns of the altar.

You are my God, and I thank You. You are my God; I exalt You.
Give thanks to Adonai; for He is good, for His grace endures forever.
Psalm 118:25-29

The writer of Hebrews records this in the thirteenth chapter beginning with verse five; “Keep your lives from the love of money; and be satisfied with what you have; for God Himself has said, ‘I will never fail you or abandon you.’ Therefore, we say with confidence, ‘Adonai is my HELPER; I will NOT be afraid – what can a human being do to me?'”

By God’s grace He has made away for salvation through His Son Yahoshua. Yah is Salvation, for all those who call upon the Name of Adonai Yahoshua Messiah. The very Word made flesh, who like the finger of Elohim, wrote the Ten Commandments on tablets of stone, so too He writes the Commandments of God on our hearts. Who then shall we fear? We trust only in the God of Heaven, by faith in Messiah Yahoshua, guided by the Holy Spirit – the promised HELPER.

Trust and Obey for there’s no other way to be happy in Yahoshua, than to trust and obey.

You are loved,
cj

Podcast Episode: The Transformative Power of Music: Healing Through Frequency

Podcast Episode: The Transformative Power of Music: Healing Through Frequency

Pip: There is a particular kind of rabbit hole that starts with live music on a street corner and ends at the fall of Lucifer — and somehow the journey makes complete sense.

Mara: That is exactly the territory cj maps out in this episode’s post, moving from the healing properties of musical frequency through scripture, ancient cosmology, and the question of what we let shape us from the inside out.

Pip: Let’s start with the music itself — and what it actually does to a person.

The Transformative Power of Music: Healing Through Frequency

Mara: The central tension here is deceptively simple: music is powerful, and that power cuts both ways — it heals, it seduces, it shapes the listener whether they intend it or not.

Pip: The post anchors that claim in a quote from composer Jacob Collier, framed around a teaching session in Australia: “As a teacher, as a performer, as a parent, you are only as powerful as you make other people feel.”

Mara: And the post immediately connects that to the golden rule — loving your neighbor as yourself. The upshot is that music is not just aesthetic; it is relational, and its power is measured in what it does to the person receiving it.

Pip: Which is where frequency enters the conversation — and it gets specific. Researchers at MIT and the National Institute of Health have published on how particular frequencies influence the mind and body, and the post points readers there without overclaiming what it can explain on its own.

Mara: The scriptural grounding runs deep. First Samuel 16 describes David playing the harp before King Saul: “And whenever the spirit from God came upon Saul, David would pick up his harp and play. Then Saul would find relief and feel better, and the spirit of distress would depart from him.” That is a clinical description wrapped in ancient language.

Pip: Three thousand years before the NIH study, someone noticed that sound moved a man’s inner state — and wrote it down.

Mara: The post also interrogates the popular image of angels singing at the nativity. Luke 2:13 uses the Greek word legō — meaning to say or speak — not to sing. The post raises this not to diminish music but to sharpen the focus on frequency and spoken word as equally potent carriers.

Pip: Then comes the Lucifer thread — Ezekiel 28 describes timbrels and pipes prepared in him on the day of his creation, which is where the theory of heaven’s fallen choir director originates. It’s speculative, the post says so plainly, but the implication lands: if music could draw a third of the angels into rebellion, it deserves more than casual listening habits.

Mara: The post closes personally — soft jazz at work as “serenity music in the midst of chaos,” and a prayer drawn from Psalm 40: that Adonai would put a new song in the mouth, one not borrowed from the world’s playlist.

Pip: What stays with me is the image of Jacob Collier conducting an audience that didn’t know they were about to become an orchestra — no script, just presence and gesture.

Mara: That is the post’s real argument: frequency shapes us whether we consent or not, so the question worth asking is whose song we are actually carrying.

Pip: And for that we have to make sure that we are filtering the frequencies we allow ourselves to hear.

Mara: Precisely, this post has so much to offer its worth reading in its entirety at thewayoftherabbi.com until next time.

The Transformative Power of Music: Healing Through Frequency

The Transformative Power of Music: Healing Through Frequency

Most people who know me, know that I love music. Once, I was out to dinner and the conversation was on music. I was asked, “What about you?” I responded, “I just like live music.” To clarify, it is music of all sorts. It could be a guy on the corner playing a one string guitar, I would stop and listen. If someone is doing what they love and making music to entertain others, I appreciate it. I appreciate them and I show it by stopping and listening and if they are asking I give them money.

I recently stumbled upon a young composer named Jacob Collier . . . a brilliant musical mind, almost too brilliant, really. I was watching one of his teaching sessions from Australia and this quote from him hit me. So, I thought I would pass it on here with a note. He said, “As a teacher, as a performer, as a parent, you are only as powerful as you make other people feel.” It reminded me of the golden rule. “Do unto others what you would have them do to you.” Or “Love your neighbor as yourself.” These principles are what make a person successful. Life is about relationships, be relational, be intentional, love always, forgive often.

I don’t know about power or making people feel powerful, but forgiven, loved, hopeful, encouraged. These are right and good. Music, is a powerful influencer. Frequencies, are known to heal and harm. Now I don’t know enough about it to tell you anything specific or matter-a-fact. But, different frequencies have been used scientifically to influence the mind and body. Researchers at MIT and the National Institute of Health have articles on the subject if the idea intrigues you beyond what I have to say here.

As well, people have been influenced by the music they listen to throughout time. Young David, would play the harp before King Saul when he was being tormented and it would sooth his spirit. 1 Samuel 16:22-23 – “Then Saul sent word to Jesse, saying, ‘Let David remain in my service, for I am pleased with him.’ And whenever the spirit from God came upon Saul, David would pick up his harp and play. Then Saul would find relief and feel better, and the spirit of distress would depart from him.”

Some believe that music is a form of spell casting, or that it can be used in such away. Jacob Collier, mentioned above said that when he was a kid he would watch his mother conduct the orchestra and that it looked like she was casting a spell. He was referring to her hand gestures and the way her body moved as she conducted. He described it as ‘mesmerizing’. Music is a powerful tool.

It is often depicted as a choir of angels appearing to the shepherds in the field to tell them that Yahoshua (Jesus) was born. The actual reference in Luke 2:13-14 says: “And suddenly there appeared with the angel a great multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying: ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom His favor rests!‘” The word ‘lego’ being translated here as ‘saying‘ according to Strongs G3004 means exactly that, ‘say, speak, call, tell’. It is the same word legō that is used in Revelation 4:8 which tells of the angels around the Throne of God. “And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say, “Holy, holy, holy, is Adonai Elohim Almighty, who was and is and is to come!”

There are plenty of musicians who incorporate the spoken word into musical rhythms. So I don’t say this to detract from the idea of music but perhaps to more focus on the frequency than how the words of a melody are presented. One thing that fascinated me about Jacob Collier is his ability to create melody with the voices of people who had no idea he was going to do such a thing. At a jazz festival, he got the audience involved with just their voices, no knowledge before hand, no script, he just simply gave them the example. He gave out different parts to sections of the audience and then by simply gesturing to them he created a melodic sound so captivating the people were left in awe. That is the power of music, melody, and frequency.

It is said that Satan, aka Lucifer, was the choir director or orchestra conductor in heaven before his fall. Whether or not this true there isn’t definitive proof. However, in Ezekiel 28 there is perhaps a hint. A hint great enough to create the theory. Ezekiel is directed by Elohim to write a lament for the king of Tyre. Ezekiel 28:11-15 says:

“Again the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, “Son of man, take up a lament for the king of Tyre and tell him that this is what Yahweh Elohim says: ‘You were the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God. Every kind of precious stone adorned you: ruby, topaz, and diamond, beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, turquoise, and emerald. Your mountings and settings were crafted in gold, the workmanship of your timbrels and of your pipes were prepared in you in the day that you were created, prepared on the day of your creation. You were anointed as a guardian cherub, for I had ordained you. You were on the holy mountain of God; you walked among the fiery stones. From the day you were created you were blameless in your ways—until wickedness was found in you.”

Timbrels: Translated from a Hebrew word (toph) typically meaning a hand drum, tambourine, or percussive instrument.
Pipes: Translated from a less clear Hebrew word (neqeb) that some scholars and historic translations interpret as flutes, wind instruments, or hollow cavities meant for sound.

Understanding now both the beauty Lucifer is described with and the potential ability to conduct music, one can see how great the potential for pride there was. Look at the music industry today, the pride, and the superficial emphasis on beauty. There are very few ‘ugly’ frontmen in the music industry. Obviously, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and I am not saying they don’t exist but they are far and few between. Forest Frank, not too long ago ruffled a few feathers when he refused to attend an award show and receive an award for his music. Essentially saying, he didn’t want the credit for his music but rather that the glory should go to God alone. Needless to say that was not a popular opinion amongst his peers.

Music is powerful, it is seducing in its appeal, it draws the heart and the mind. If the theory of Satan/Lucifer is true and he was the director/conductor of music we can certainly see how it was possible to draw a third of the angels with him. A third is not a small number. If someone is polling at 33% they are considered a threat in politics. There had to be some sort of influence being wielded about to garner 33% allegiance from his fellow angels. Strong enough to cause them to join his rebellion. Imagine that if you will and then consider what influence music has over you.

As I stated in the beginning, I love music. I enjoy listening to live music. I will go out of my way to support musicians. Especially, if I know them and if their music lightens my mood. I often play soft jazz in the background at work. I call it my serenity music in the midst of chaos. I certainly notice when it isn’t playing and there is a higher level of stress in the work place. So perhaps I am simply writing to myself, to caution myself to the power of music, to its influential powers, and hypnotic potential. As they say, ‘garbage in, garbage out.’

So, I am constantly asking Adonai to fill me with His melody. To place His song in my heart and mind and lips. As the Psalmist says 48:1-5:

I waited patiently for Adonai;
And He inclined to me and heard my cry.
2 He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay,
And He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm.
3 He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God;
Many will see and fear
And will trust in Adonai.

4 How blessed is the man who has made Adonai his trust,
And has not turned to the proud, nor to those who lapse into falsehood.
5 Many, O Adonai my God, are the wonders which You have done,
And Your thoughts toward us;
There is none to compare with You.
If I would declare and speak of them,
They would be too numerous to count.

May our hearts cry, be that Adonai Elohim fill us with His song, His music, His lyric, His melody, His frequency, that we would not be influenced by the worlds music but by His alone. May we seek to love our neighbors, to do for others what we would have them do for us. To seek first the Kingdom of Elohim and His righteousness. To live out the example set out for us in Messiah. Above all, to love Elohim with our whole heart, soul, mind, and strength. Singing unto Him all the praise and honor due His Name.

You are loved,
cj

Podcast Episode: Historical Events Modern Application: Joshua and the Battle of Jericho

Podcast Episode: Historical Events Modern Application: Joshua and the Battle of Jericho

Pip: There is a battle strategy in the Hebrew scriptures that involves walking in circles and shouting, and somehow it works — which raises the obvious question of what exactly is going on beneath the surface of that story.

Mara: That question is exactly where cj takes us on The Way of the Rabbi — into the Battle of Jericho, and what obedience and covenant actually mean when you read the text closely. Let’s start with the walls, and what had to happen before they fell.

Historical Events Modern Application: Joshua and the Battle of Jericho

Pip: The post opens with a military strategy that, on its face, makes no sense — march around a city for six days, then seven laps on day seven, blow some trumpets, shout, and the city falls. The real argument, though, is about what happened the night before any of that, in the chapter break most readers skip right over.

Mara: The setup is Joshua 5, where Joshua encounters a figure with a drawn sword. The post reads the commander’s reply to “Are you on our side or on the side of our enemies?” as something more conditional than a flat no: “Nought, but I am the commander of Adonai’s army.”

Pip: And that word — nought — is doing a lot of work. In early English it means nothing, zero, but also whether or otherwise. So the commander is not saying he is neutral. He is stating a condition: if you obey, I fight for you; if not, I stand aside.

Mara: The post makes the grammar explicit: “If you will obey Adonai, you will defeat the enemy and will enter the promise land. The Commander wasn’t saying, ‘No, I am neither here for you nor them.’ He was saying in a poetic way which Joshua, a Hebrew would have understood, ‘If you obey, than I have been commanded to fight for you, but if not than I have been commanded to standby.'”

Pip: So obedience is not a tactic — it is the condition that determines whether divine backing is even in play. Which makes the Achan episode immediately after Jericho the proof of concept.

Mara: Achan takes from the devoted spoils, and Israel is routed at Ai. Adonai’s explanation to Joshua is direct: “Israel has sinned; they have transgressed My covenant that I commanded them, and they have taken some of what was devoted to destruction. Indeed, they have stolen and lied, and they have put these things with their own possessions. This is why the Israelites cannot stand against their enemies.”

Pip: One person’s disobedience, and the whole army loses its footing. The stakes are not abstract.

Mara: The post then draws the line into the New Covenant — the punishment has changed, death is not the sentence for those in Messiah, but the covenant itself is not void. Confession and repentance replace the death sentence Achan faced, but the call to walk in obedience remains. As the post puts it, grace saves us to walk in the commands, not away from them.

Pip: The modern church has, apparently, run the logic backward — decided that if obedience is work, and works are bad, then disobedience must somehow be grace. The post calls that out pretty directly.

Mara: It closes with Paul’s line to Timothy — “ALL of Scripture is profitable for instruction, for conviction, for correction, and for training in righteousness” — and frames every good work as obedience to God’s instruction. The challenge issued to the reader mirrors Joshua’s challenge to Israel: choose this day whom you will serve.

Pip: Covenant, obedience, consequence — the walls of Jericho are just where the story gets concrete enough to see all three at once.

Mara: What stays with me is the chapter-break problem — meaning hidden in the seam between two passages most readers treat as separate.

Pip: Read the whole thing. The walls are still falling.

Read the entire post here: Historical Events Modern Application: Joshua and the Battle of Jericho

Historical Events Modern Application: Joshua and the Battle of Jericho

Historical Events Modern Application: Joshua and the Battle of Jericho

One of my favorite historical events in Scripture is the ‘Battle of Jericho‘. It has always sparked interest into the idea of what it truly means to follow the instruction of God. Joshua, was instructed to lead Israel into battle against the city of Jericho. However, the military tactic employed seems a bit suspect. Joshua 6 is where we read the instructions for battle. Circle the city once a day for six days then on the seventh day circle it seven times. At which point instruct the priests to blow the trumpets, the people to shout, and in this there will be victory? I am no military expert but this doesn’t seem like a winning strategy. Often there are historical accounts that leave humanity scratching their heads. This is one of them. What I think is often missed by many, due to the arbitrary barriers set up to make our Bibles more easily navigable, is what preceded the instruction we read in Joshua 6.

Obedience or disobedience is the trigger. At the end of Joshua 5. Israel had just crossed the Jordan River and were healing from circumcision. They were now also preparing to battle Jericho. “One day, when Joshua was there by Jericho, he raised his eyes and looked; and in front of him stood a man with his drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went over to him and asked him, ‘Are you on our side or on the side of our enemies?’ ‘No,’ he replied, ‘but I am the commander of Adonai’s army; I have come just now.‘” Here is an interaction with an intriguing question. Joshua asks, “Are you on our side or on the side of our enemies?”

Depending on your translation the response from the Commander of Yah’s Army is; ‘Neither’, ‘No’, ‘Nay’, or ‘Truly’. The word being translated is the Hebrew word לֹא – lôʼ – or לֹה lôh; an easy pronunciation is ‘low’. In Hebrew, Aramaic and other poetic languages, word order changes the definition, causing meaning to alter. Sometimes slightly and other times dramatically. In this instance if we look at the variables there are a few defining words that are being overlooked. Those words being, otherwise, whether, and nought. Each of these possibilities relay a message to the question at hand, which is or was, “Are you on our side or on the side of our enemies?” The word I find most fascinating is nought.

His response, “Nought, but I am the commander of Adonai’s army . . .” This is easily glanced over because the chapter comes to a close and in our trained minds we close the chapter and enter the next. Connect, yes, but separate, new thoughts enter and because the poetic nature of the original language is lost we lose the deeper meaning. Even if it is subtly there in the shadows. Nought, from early English, means nothing, a zero sum. However, it is also, whether or otherwise. In this defining moment the Commander of God’s Army is there to instruct and now the variable ‘IF’ comes into play.

Somewhere along the way the modern church has taken walking in obedience to works. And in that definition has labeled work as bad, grace as good, and if obedience is work, then disobedience must by reason mean grace. Can you imagine what would have happen if Joshua had the same modern understanding to God’s instruction? Joshua would have went back to the people of Israel and said, “Ok, the plan is we do nothing because obedience is work and works are bad, so we will be disobedient because disobedience is grace.” Yikes, Jericho doesn’t fall and Israel continues to wander the desert.

You see Nought, Otherwise, Whether; these words tell a story. If you will obey Adonai, you will defeat the enemy and will enter the promise land. The Commander wasn’t say, “No, I am neither here for you nor them.” He was saying in a poetic way which Joshua, a Hebrew would have understood, “If you obey, than I have been commanded to fight for you, but if not than I have been commanded to standby.” Neither for or against but an observer.

Let’s draw on another story which occurs after Jericho has fallen. Joshua is obedient, relays the instruction of Adonai to the people. The people follow the instruction. The Commander of Elohim’s Army, deployed his troops, the walls of Jericho come crumbling down. Israel is victorious. However, one Israelite, Achan, of the tribe of Judah, disobey’s the fullness of the command. He takes from the bounty Adonai said not to. Now when the Israelites go up against Ai they are pushed back and defeated. What happen? Adonai tells Joshua this in the 7th Chapter . . .

“But Adonai said to Joshua, “Stand up! Why have you fallen on your face? Israel has sinned; they have transgressed My covenant that I commanded them, and they have taken some of what was devoted to destruction. Indeed, they have stolen and lied, and they have put these things with their own possessions. This is why the Israelites cannot stand against their enemies.“

Clearly, we see what is at stake when it comes to being obedient to the commandments of God and remaining in covenant with Him. The importance is not lost in the New Covenant found in Jeremiah and Ezekiel, and later quoted in Hebrews. What has changed is the punishment for disobedience. What was the punishment Achan suffered? Well, after he confesses his sin Achan is put to death.

“So Joshua said to Achan, ‘My son, give glory to Adonai, the God of Israel, and make a confession to Him. I urge you to tell me what you have done; do not hide it from me. “It is true,” Achan replied, “I have sinned against Yahweh, the God of Israel. This is what I did: When I saw among the spoils a beautiful cloak from Shinar, two hundred shekels of silver, and a bar of gold weighing fifty shekels, I coveted them and took them. They are hidden in the ground inside my tent, with the silver underneath.’”

Today under the New Covenant, we are no longer under the penalty of sin if we are in Messiah Yahoshua. Instead we are under the Covenant of Grace. Our penalty is paid, but this doesn’t render the Covenant void, by NO MEANS! Rather, by grace we have been saved to walk in the covenant, the commands, ordinances and statutes of Adonai without the fear of death, when we brake His commandments. You see, when we sin, we confess and are forgiven under the new covenant but under the old covenant confession did not lead to a commuting of the death sentence as we read in the account of Achan.

“So Joshua sent messengers who ran to the tent, and there it all was, hidden in his tent, with the silver underneath. They took the things from inside the tent, brought them to Joshua and all the Israelites, and spread them out before Adonai.Then Joshua, together with all Israel, took Achan son of Zerah, the silver, the cloak, the bar of gold, his sons and daughters, his oxen and donkeys and sheep, his tent, and everything else he owned, and brought them to the Valley of Achor. “Why have you brought this trouble upon us?” said Joshua. “Today Adonai will bring trouble upon you!” And all Israel stoned him to death. Then they stoned the others and burned their bodies. And they heaped over Achan a large pile of rocks that remains to this day. So Adonai turned from His burning anger. Therefore that place is called the Valley of Achor to this day.”

Praise be to Adonai that through Yahoshua Messiah we have the forgiveness of sin. Not that we are free to live in sin. But that we walk in freedom, knowing that if we sin trying to walk out obedience, we remain under grace. We only need to repent from our sin, and return to Gods way, return to His instruction, His Torah.

Don’t listen to me but the Word. My hope is that my letters lead you to study the Word not man. Put down the commentary, the latest book by your favorite preacher/teacher and get into the Word. Learn languages, not that you have to become bilingual or multilingual but study its grammar, structure, meanings, to discover the poetic nature of Gods writings so that you can grow in understanding. “Knowing that ALL of Scripture is profitable for instruction, for conviction, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete, fully equipped for every good work.” As Paul writes to Timothy. And know that “every good work”, IS obedience to Gods instruction.

As Joshua challenged Israel so I also challenge you today: “Now, therefore, fear Yahweh and serve Him in sincerity and truth; cast aside the gods your fathers served beyond the Euphrates and in Egypt, and serve Adonai. But if it is unpleasing in your sight to serve Yahweh, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living. As for me and my house, we will serve Adonai!”

To make this challenge modern and fitting for today I say: Now, therefore, love Adonai our Heavenly Father and serve Him in sincerity and truth; cast aside the gods your fathers served and the traditions of men, and serve Adonai. But if it is unpleasing in your sight to serve God by obeying His Word, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods of the land you now dwell or the traditions of man regardless of there basis. As for me and my house, we will serve Adonai, observing all that Yahoshua has taught including keeping the commands of the Father as Revelation 14:12 says: “Here is a call for the perseverance of the saints, who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Yahoshua.”

You are loved,
cj

Podcast Episode – Eschatology Explained: Will Believers Face the Anti-Christ?

Podcast Episode – Eschatology Explained: Will Believers Face the Anti-Christ?

Pip: If you have ever wanted someone to walk you through the end times with the calm urgency of a person who has genuinely thought this through, cj at The Way of the Rabbi has been doing exactly that.

Mara: This episode follows one extended argument about eschatology — specifically, whether believers will be present when the final Anti-Christ arrives, and what Scripture actually says about that moment.

Pip: Let’s start with the question of who exactly is still on earth when things get very, very bad.

Will Believers Face the Final Anti-Christ?

Mara: The central tension here is timing — specifically, whether the Church will be present during the tribulation period, or whether a pre-tribulation rapture removes believers before the worst of it unfolds.

Pip: And the post goes straight to the source, opening with Matthew 24 and the disciples asking Yahoshua directly about the signs of the end. The audience for that teaching matters enormously to the argument.

Mara: The post sets up the key passage this way — Yahoshua is speaking privately to His disciples, and here is what He says: “So when YOU SEE, the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place, then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be.”

Pip: The word “you” is doing a lot of heavy lifting there, and the post leans on it hard. If Yahoshua is warning His disciples to flee, the pre-tribulation reading has to explain who exactly He thought He was talking to.

Mara: Right, and the post addresses that directly. The pre-tribulation response is that the disciples were Jewish, not the Church. The rebuttal offered is pointed: were they not Messianic Jews, and are Messianic Jews not worthy of the rapture?

Pip: There is also the nursing-infants problem — which is the kind of scriptural detail that quietly dismantles a tidy theological system.

Mara: Exactly. The post asks why Yahoshua would say “woe to the pregnant women and for those who are nursing infants” if infants are raptured. It is a concrete, textual inconsistency the pre-tribulation reading has to account for.

Mara: The stakes the post names are pastoral, not just theological. The concern is that believers shaped by pre-tribulation teaching may be spiritually unprepared to resist the final Anti-Christ — and the post is direct: “I fear if they are not ready to stand against the final Anti-Christ, they will end up standing with him.”

Pip: That is the real weight of the argument. It is not a debate about timelines — it is a warning about readiness.

Mara: And the post closes by reading Matthew 24:29-31 alongside 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 and asking the listener to notice how much they sound like the same event. The gathering of the elect, the trumpet, the clouds — the post invites the comparison and lets it sit.

Pip: The eschatology is the stakes. And the stakes are whether you are spiritually braced for what comes next.

Mara: The thread running through all of this is preparation — not fear, but clear-eyed readiness to stand when the pressure is real.

Pip: Next time, we will keep following where the signs point. There is more ground to cover.

For More check out the posts series *Signs Read the entirety of this post here: Will Believers Face the Final Anti-Christ?

Signs 1, Signs 2, Signs 3, Signs 4

Podcast Episode: Understanding God’s Covenant: Written on Our Hearts

Podcast Episode: Understanding God’s Covenant: Written on Our Hearts

Pip: There is a corner of the internet telling you not to be afraid — 365 times a year, apparently — and then there is cj, writing for The Way of the Rabbi, who would like a word about what the fear of God actually means.

Mara: This episode goes deep into Hebrews 10 — covenant, Torah, sacrifice, and what it means to have God’s instruction written on your heart rather than carved in stone.

Pip: Let’s start with the covenant itself.

Understanding God’s Covenant: Written on Our Hearts

Mara: The post opens with a tension the internet tends to flatten: the difference between “fear not” as comfort and the fear of God as the beginning of wisdom. Both live in Hebrews 10, and the post argues the church has traded one for the other at its own cost.

Pip: The anchor quote comes early, and it does not ease you in. “It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” That is Hebrews 10:31, and it is not a metaphor being softened anywhere in this piece.

Mara: What that verse is doing is framing the whole chapter. Hebrews 10 opens as a commentary on Psalm 40, arguing that the Torah’s yearly sacrifices were a shadow — not the substance. The substance is Messiah’s offering, which accomplished what the shadow could only gesture toward: the exchange of sin for righteousness.

Pip: So the yearly sacrifice covered. The one offering exchanged. That is a meaningful distinction — covering versus exchange is not just a theological nicety, it is the hinge the rest of the argument swings on.

Mara: And the post brings that home through Jeremiah 31, quoted in Hebrews 10. “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says YHWH: I will put My Torah upon their heart, and on their mind I will write them.”

Pip: Which raises the honest question the post actually asks out loud: if Torah is abolished, why write it on anyone’s heart?

Mara: The answer the post gives is precise. What Messiah’s blood removes is the law of sin and its consequence — death. Not the call to walk in obedience. The covenant written on the heart beckons toward the throne of grace, not away from instruction.

Pip: Holiness as destination, not as the price of entry. That reframe is doing a lot of work quietly.

Mara: It lands in Hebrews 10:19-25 — the “let us” passage. Draw near, hold fast, spur one another on. And then the warning: willful sin after receiving the truth leaves no remaining sacrifice. The post closes on Revelation 14:12 — “the perseverance of the saints who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Yahoshua.”

Pip: Fear and confidence, written on the same heart.

Mara: The thread running through all of this is covenant as living obligation — not abolished, not optional, written inward.

Pip: Next time, we will see where that obligation leads when it walks out the door and into the world.

Read the full post: Understanding God’s Covenant: Written on our Hearts

Understanding God’s Covenant: Written on Our Hearts

Understanding God’s Covenant: Written on Our Hearts

“It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” Hebrews 10:31

There are many meme’s and TicToc posts that will tell you to “fear not”. They will claim that “fear not”, is quoted 365 times in Scripture. And although this is a great comfort to many and there is some truth behind its sentiment, the reality remains, “The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom.” As found in Proverbs 1:7 and 9:10.

Now before you jump on me saying that these are not the same thing, I know, but I want to draw a line of comparison. The Church has gone from reverent fear of God, to a flippant cursory reading and understanding of His Word. Which has lead to misunderstandings and false teachings of what God calls His followers to.

Let’s dive into Hebrews 10 where we will discover both, security–fear not, and fear– the beginning of wisdom. Hebrews 10 opens up as a commentary on Psalm 40:6-8. There is a lot that is being said here. It begins talking about the Law, ‘Torah’, being only a shadow of things to come and not the very form of things. The writer says, this “can never, by the same sacrifices which they offer continually year by year, make perfect those who draw near.” The shadow is not the fullness. Where the yearly sacrifice stated in the Law brought a covering for sin. The fullness of what was to come in Messiah, was the exchange our sin for His righteousness.

Which brings to light the importance of Passover and why holding to all of the Feasts, as memorial stones, is so important. We see the permanence of Messiahs offering and the victory won for those who are found in Him.

Now continuing in Hebrews 10 what is the conclusion drawn by the author on the significance of Messiah’s offering over the yearly sacrifice? “Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, because the worshippers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have had consciousness of sins?” The writer now draws directly on Psalm 40; “Sacrifice and offering you have not desired, but a body you have prepared for Me; In whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You have taken no pleasure. Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come (In the scroll of the Book it is written of Me) To do Your will, O God.'” Interestingly the author leaves off the last line of verse eight, “Your Law is within My heart.” Which is done on purpose as the author will shortly bring this idea home.

We who are in Messiah Yahoshua (Jesus), can rest in knowing that our sins have been exchanged for the righteousness of the Son of God, once and for all. “But He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time onward until his enemies be made a footstool for His feet. For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified.” No longer are we bound by the early restrictions of a brick and mortar temple and beholden to priests to offer sacrifice. We now can come boldly to the throne of grace having written on our hearts the Law of God. His Holy Instruction, the Torah.

“And the Holy Spirit also testifies to us; for after saying, ‘This is the covenant that I will amen with them after those days, says YHWH: I will put My Torah upon their heart, and on their mind I will write them,’ He then says, ‘And their sins and their lawless (Torahless) deeds I will remember no more.‘” Here the author of Hebrews quotes Jeremiah 31.

Honest question if the Torah is done away with, why then would He write it on our hearts? When in true understanding we see that what is done away with by the blood of Messiah is the law of sin and its conclusion, death. Not the need to walk in obedience of the Fathers instruction. In Messiah, we are not free to sin or to walk according to our own desires, but to walk according to what has been written on our hearts.

We have a new boldness in Messiah on how we ought to walk and conduct ourselves, in love and kindness, and in obedience to the Fathers instruction found in the very scrolls, that the author of Hebrews is quoting.

“Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Yahoshua, by the new and living way opened for us through the curtain of His body, and since we have a Great Priest (Yahoshua) over the house of God, let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold resolutely to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to spur one another on to love and good works. Let us not neglect meeting together, as some have made a habit, but let us encourage one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” Hebrews 10:19-25

To what are we encouraging one another on to? It is in the conduct of those set apart for good works. Are we to make the sacrifice of Messiah to no effect by living as the world? The author of Hebrews says NO! “For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries.”

You have been called to holiness, you have been called to return to Gods instruction. We are no longer bound by sin unto death by the blood of Messiah but we are still bound by a covenant that is written on our hearts and on our minds. It beckons us onward towards the throne of grace. In the presence of the saints who encourage us to keep the faith, to keep the promises, to keep the instruction. “Here is the perseverance of the saints who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Yahoshua.” Revelation 14:12.

“Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much more severely do you think one deserves to be punished who has trampled on the Son of God, profaned the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and insulted the Spirit of grace?” Do you honestly believe that we insult the Spirit of Grace by seeking to honor the covenant written on our hearts? The very covenant God said, “I WILL put MY TORAH upon their HEARTS, and on their MIND I WILL write them.”

“For we know Him who said, ‘Vengeance is Mine, I will repay.’ And again, ‘YHWH will judge His people.’ It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” Hebrews 10:30-31

I encourage you to read God’s Word daily, make it a practice to know Him and His instruction. Desire to know that covenant has He or wants to write on your heart and on your mind. Seek Him, seek truth.

You are loved,
cj

Podcast Episode: Gluttons of Grace: The Spiritual Dangers of Gluttony

Podcast Episode: Gluttons of Grace: The Spiritual Dangers of Gluttony

Pip: There’s a spiritual danger hiding in plain sight — and it’s not the one the church usually wants to talk about at the potluck.

Mara: cj’s latest post on The Way of the Rabbi takes on gluttony — not just the physical kind, but what the piece calls “gluttony of grace,” the habit of treating God’s patience as a license to keep sinning. Let’s start with what that actually means and why it matters.

Gluttons of Grace: The Spiritual Dangers of Gluttony

Pip: The post opens with a disarmingly ordinary scene — a fast food order, a one-dollar add-on, and a question: is that gluttony? But that small moment is a doorway into something much larger, the idea that we overindulge spiritually the same way we overindulge at the counter.

Mara: The post grounds the argument in Ephesians 2:10, setting up the kind of life we’re actually called to: “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Messiah Yahoshua to do good works, which God prepared in advance as our way of life.”

Pip: So the stakes here aren’t just dietary. The argument is that grace was never meant to be a standing permission slip — it was meant to launch us into something, a life shaped by the Father’s instruction, the Torah.

Mara: Right, and the post is careful to separate that from works-based salvation. The point isn’t that obedience earns anything. It’s that continuing deliberately in sin while claiming grace is its own kind of excess — the “gluttony of grace” the title names.

Pip: The church’s reluctance to preach on gluttony gets a dry observation here — that it hits too close to home and is harder to hide than most sins. Which is a fair point. Gluttony is the one vice you can’t keep in a private browser tab.

Mara: The post invokes Ezekiel 36:26-27 to answer the objection that Torah-keeping is simply impossible: “I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.” The Spirit, not willpower, is the mechanism.

Pip: And then Paul — the one, as the post puts it, “in whom so many twist to justify their sinful natures” — gets quoted directly against that very use. Shall we continue in sin so grace may increase? Certainly not.

Mara: The post closes on Matthew 7, the sobering passage where Yahoshua tells those who performed miracles in his name: “I never knew you; depart from Me, you workers of lawlessness.” That’s the endpoint of gluttony of grace taken to its conclusion.

Pip: And the landing is Proverbs 23 — a father’s plea to a son to guide his heart on the right course. The frame shifts from warning to invitation.

Mara: Which is really the post’s whole posture. Not condemnation, but a call to search out truth and walk in it — a heart of flesh instead of stone.

Pip: Grace as a floor rather than a ceiling — that reframe does a lot of quiet work.

Mara: It does. The question underneath all of it is what we’re actually being saved toward, not just saved from. Worth sitting with until next time.

Read the full post: Gluttons of Grace: The Spiritual Dangers of Gluttony

Gluttons of Grace: The Spiritual Dangers of Gluttony

Gluttons of Grace: The Spiritual Dangers of Gluttony

The other night I ate out. It was fast food so nothing fancy and I brought it home so is that actually eating out, technically? The place I chose had a special menu option of a one dollar item. So I added it to my order. However, I didn’t take anything away from what I was already ordering. Therefore, in the end I over ate. Is this the definition of gluttony?

What is the definition of gluttony? The definition is quite simple, gluttony is “excessive eating and drinking.” It is also numbered among the often spoken of, seven deadly sins. Side note here the seven deadly sins although can be found separately within Scripture they do not appear as a list. It is believed that the seven deadly sins was coined by Pope Gregory I. Now gluttony in Hebrew can also be translated as, to be vile, to be worthless, to be insignificant. Based on these definitions, being glutinous, doesn’t sound so appealing.

The church doesn’t like to talk much about gluttony. If you ask me it is because this one hits way too close to home and is far harder to hide. Everyone has their struggles so I am not trying to be insensitive just pointing out an observation. There is plenty that I have had to overcome and others I am still battling, to that I say fight the good fight.

One issue I see abounding in the church today is, gluttony of grace. Taking advantage of Elohim’s patience. Without a doubt I have fallen into this trap as well. However, once one begins to realize that Yahoshua (Jesus) kept and taught the Torah and that He used it to teach, it cannot be denied or swept away.

In John eight Yahoshua makes a statement that many ignore or give it a cursory glance. In being brought the woman caught in adultery at the end of the encounter He says to the woman; “Neither do I condemn you: go, and sin no more.” Rather than take this verse as a statement of fact, many treat it as an invitation to change. Although they are partly correct they are missing the bigger picture. We are called to abound in good works.

Not a works based salvation but good works because we are saved. Abounding in the good works prepared for us before the foundation of the world. “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Messiah Yahoshua to do good works, which God prepared in advance as our way of life.” (Ephesians 2:10 Berean Study Bible). What are these good works? Some would say they are the fruit of the Spirit found in Galatians five. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. And those who are in Messiah have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.”

Again this isn’t a wrong belief it is simply incomplete. The good works involve keeping that which the Father established for His people. His instruction, the Torah, as we walk in the light of His Truth. The problem is that we see a list of rules and say it is impossible. Rather than holding to the promise that the Holy Spirit brings in fulfillment of Ezekiels prophecy. Ezekiel 36:26-27 says, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.”

Paul himself, the one in whom so many twist to justify their sinful natures, said, “What then shall we say? Shall we continue in sin so that grace may increase? Certainly not! How can we who died to sin live in it any longer? Or aren’t you aware that all of us who were baptized into Messiah Yahoshua were baptized into His death? We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death, in order that, just as Messiah was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may walk in newness of life.”

Newness of life is not to continue to sin. Essentially becoming gluttons of grace. Then in the end finding out the one we claim to know, never knew us. Yahoshua said, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Adonai, Adonai,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Adonai, Adonai, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you workers of lawlessness!’ Matthew 7:21-23.

Imagine finding out that we are vile, worthless, or insignificant. Because, instead of putting on the newness of life we walked as gluttons. Continuing in the traditions of man rather than searching out truth and living according to the Fathers instruction. Proverbs 23:15-19 is a good place to wrap things up. “My son, if your heart is wise, My own heart will indeed rejoice. My inmost being will rejoice  when your lips speak what is right. Do not let your heart envy sinners, but always continue in the fear of the YHWH. For surely there is a future, and your hope will not be cut off. Listen, my son, and be wise, and guide your heart on the right course.”

May we all seek for a heart of flesh from the Father. This is the Way of the Rabbi.

You are loved,
cj