LIGHT OF MENORAH

LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AND HATE YOUR ENEMY!!

Today we can not dismiss those around us that call evil good and good evil.  They flipped the Bible and what God says in good and righteous on its head.  Isaiah writes about this and it is so appropriate for our time.  He wrote ...

Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight! Woe to those who are heroes in drinking wine and valiant men in mixing strong drink, who justify the wicked for a bribe, and take away the rights of the ones who are in the right! Therefore, as a tongue of fire consumes stubble and dry grass collapses into the flame, so their root will become like rot and their blossom blow away as dust; for they have rejected the law of the LORD of hosts And despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.  (Isa 5:20-24)

This is a warning directly from the Lord for those today who call evil good and good evil.  The problem is we now must live in their midst.  They are more than political ones who we disagree with.  They believe in evil and walk according to the ways of their "father" the devil.

The phrase "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy'" comes from Matthew 5:43 in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:43-48).

LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR

The first part ("love your neighbor") is found in Leviticus 19:18, but the second part ("hate your enemy") does not exist anywhere in the Bible, Torah, or normative Rabbinic Jewish scripture.  In Jesus' day Jewish law explicitly commands kindness toward an enemy's property or distress. For example, Exodus 23:4–5 instructs that if you see your enemy's ox or donkey wandering away or fallen under a heavy load, you must help unload and return it.  This was applicable in Jesus' day since Jesus' Bible was the Old Testament or the Hebrew Scriptures.  In other Jewish commentary emphasized letting go of the internal hatred in one's heart rather than fostering animosity

Where the "Hate Your Enemy" Idea Came From

The Essenes / Qumran Community taught this as part of their community.  The Dead Sea Scroll texts (such as the Community Rule, 1QS) show that the sectarian Essene community explicitly taught its members to love the "Sons of Light" and hate the "Sons of Darkness" or the unjust.  Some other Jewish groups or individuals during the Second Temple period misconstrued national conflict texts to justify personal or sectarian hatred. In Leviticus 19:18, "neighbor" (רֵעַ or RAY-A) was sometimes interpreted narrowly by certain sects to mean fellow Israelites or covenant members, whereas mainstream Rabbinic and Torah tradition progressively broadened ethical obligations toward strangers and resident aliens.

[1] (https://ourrabbijesus.com/articles/love-your-enemy-jesus-most-radical-words-explained/)

[2] (https://rabbisacks.org/covenant-conversation/mishpatim/helping-an-enemy/)

[3] (https://www.jcstudies.store/who-taught-hate-your-enemy-and-why/)

[4] (https://www.gotquestions.org/love-your-neighbor-and-hate-your-enemy.html)

[5] (https://www.quora.com/How-did-ancient-Jewish-rabbis-interpret-the-concept-of-loving-enemies) 

Jews and Samaritans

Jews and Samaritans were bitter historical and religious enemies for centuries through the New Testament era.  After the United Monarchy split around 930 BCE, the northern Kingdom of Israel (with its capital in Samaria) and the southern Kingdom of Judah (with its capital in Jerusalem) developed separate political and religious identities.  When the Assyrians conquered the northern kingdom in 722 BCE, many Israelites were deported and foreigners were resettled in the region. Jews from the south viewed the remaining northern population as ritually impure, mixed-lineage "half-breeds" who had compromised their faith.  The Samaritans built their own temple to God on Mount Gerizim (near Shechem), rejecting Jerusalem and the Temple Mount as the sole legitimate place of worship.  Samaritans accepted only the Samaritan Torah (the first five books of Moses), rejecting the rest of the Hebrew Bible and rabbinic traditions.

 

Around 128 BCE (or c. 110–150 BCE), the Hasmonean Jewish leader John Hyrcanus (the brother of Judah the Maccabee, the hero of Chanukah) marched north and destroyed the Samaritan temple on Mount Gerizim.  Hostilities included physical ambushes of travelers, exclusion from construction projects, and acts of sacrilege—such as Samaritans scattering human bones in the Jerusalem Temple to defile it.  Jews often avoided traveling through Samaria altogether, taking longer routes around the Jordan River to bypass the region. This deep-seated prejudice is why the New Testament story of the "Good Samaritan" was so shocking to its original audience. 

[1] (https://www.masters.edu/thinking_blog/the-unlikeliest-ally/),

[2] (https://www.ingermanson.com/jesus-and-the-bad-samaritans/)

[3] (https://uscatholic.org/articles/202005/why-didnt-the-jews-and-samaritans-get-along/)

[4] (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samaritans)

 

Rev. Ferret - who is this guy?  What's his background? 

 Why should I listen to him?  Check his background at this link -

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/8qth6w4e56oub9js1w1gu/BackgrndTeacher-mar-25-2020.pdf?rlkey=f14fr2wmde5fezjmnrny8cycl&st=8dy5sa2s&dl=0

 

 

 

The series entitled, “Five Small Stones,” its name comes from the David and Goliath battle.  It is found in 1 Samuel 17.  This five minute Bible study video develops the reasons for the name and what it means for us.  It is a review since this is also the topic of episode 1 of the series.  I did this repeat to help the listener to remember what this was all about. 

This is episode 19 in the series.  The link to the YouTube playlist for all the episodes is shown below.

Five Small Stones playlist link - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bolCKsqNqc&list=PLvcIXun2BQDLrT9lFv4zupz1VmYwMBpwn

Rev. Ferret - who is this guy? 

(Rev. Ferret - at the airport headed to Israel again!!)

What's his background?  Why should I listen to him?  Check his background at this link - https://www.dropbox.com/s/ortnret3oxcicu4/BackgrndTeacher%20mar%2025%202020.pdf?dl=0

 

TRUTH NUGGETS 19 Part 2

Against the Gods - Genesis 1:21 Great Sea Dragons

In this video lesson 2 we focus on Gen. 1:21.  What did God create; great sea creatures or were they whales or big fish or, as found in one Jewish translation of the Hebrew Scriptures (a.k.a. the Old Testament) were they were crocodiles?  Our translators had difficulty with this verse since in Hebrew the actual meaning is great sea monsters!  This sounds like a children's story rather than God's word.  So, our translators may have decided it had to make sense for us today in the 21st century.  I mean guys, I haven't see any sea monsters lately.  

But, for the Hebrews, they had lived in Egypt and lived with man-made visions of the gods.  One god is a ram another is a jackal and another a falcon.  And God is taking them to Canaan, the "Promised Land," where the Canaanites also had gods that were clearly figments of man's imagination.  So, the phrase in Gen. 1:21 of great sea monsters might mean something to the Hebrews.  Perhaps God is teaching them something that relates only to what the Hebrews faced 3400 years ago.  Perhaps He is using a pagan god or a pagan mythological beast to teach His people.  God knows there are no sea monsters.  But the pagans did!  Perhaps even the Hebrews fell victim to such beliefs.  He needs to prepare His people for entering Canaan and be ready to bring the "Gospel of the Kingdom" to the Canaanites and later the world and to help the Canaanites to understand "there ain't no sea monsters" and to grasp truth and who is God. For Israel this was their mission as we see in ...

He says, "It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant (in Jesus' day it was understood that Israel was the 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 (Jesus' name in Hebrew means salvation) may reach to the end of the earth."  (Isa 49:6)

Rev. Ferret - who is this guy?  What's his background?  Why should I listen to him?  Check his background at this link - https://www.dropbox.com/s/ortnret3oxcicu4/BackgrndTeacher%20mar%2025%202020.pdf?dl=0

 

TRUTH NUGGETS 19 part 1

In this vidcast (video), "Against the Gods,"  we will again study God's word in its historical context.  However, this time we add a new perspective to our study.  We will continue to ask what those early believers heard and saw and understood when they first heard God's word.  But, we will also see how God comes against the pagan gods and man made religions in the ancient Middle East in very unique ways in His word.  This time we will see how God taught His people, the Hebrews, in ways that would make sense only to them in their day. 

We would not recognize it as we read the Bible.  God is writing to a people thousands of years ago using concepts only they understood and not us.  Dr. John Currid, a highly credible Egyptologist, archaeologist, and theologian, wrote a book entitled, "Against the Gods."  His thesis in the book is to show us how we in the 21st century miss how God taught His people in their time using things they were familiar with.  Here's an example Dr. Currid uses his paper, "The Nature of Polemical Thought and Writing."  He writes ...

A STRONG HAND - Some common expressions found in ancient Egyptian texts to describe the power of Pharaoh over his foes are that the monarch had “a strong hand,” or “he possessed a strong arm,” or he was “the one who destroyed his enemies with his arm.” It is ironic that the author of the book of Exodus assigns the same features to the Lord as he humiliates and destroys Pharaoh and Egypt (Ex. 3:19–20; 6:1; 7:4; 15:6, etc.). 

James Hoffmeier, a famous Egyptologist, comments on this parallel, asking, “what better way for the Exodus traditions to describe God’s victory over Pharaoh, and as a result his superiority, than to use Hebrew derivations or counterparts to Egyptian expressions that symbolized Egyptian royal power?” 

For most of us this would have escaped us completely.  We are not familiar with ancient Egyptian writings nor are we into the ancient culture and customs on Egypt in the days of Moses.  But, God is clearly inspiring Moses to use an Egyptian idiom that the Hebrews would have been familiar with.  God uses this to come against Pharaoh and show His power over Pharaoh and all Egypt.  In this way God uses something Egyptian to teach His people about Himself and His character.  However, we will also see that these amazing lessons that made sense to those first believers also make sense to us today in the 21st century.   Ready?  Let's begin our first lesson.  Let's see how God uses Genesis 1:1 to teach His people coming out of Egypt that He is God and not Amun Ra.  Let's also see how this relates to us today, us being His people, and knowing that God never changes (Mal. 3:6).  He was the same 3400 years ago and today.  

Link to John Currid's article referenced above - https://www.monergism.com/thethreshold/sdg/polemic.html

Rev. Ferret - who is this guy? 

What's his background?  Why should I listen to him?  Check his background at this link - https://www.dropbox.com/s/ortnret3oxcicu4/BackgrndTeacher%20mar%2025%202020.pdf?dl=0

There is so much of Christmas that can hide the real significance of this season. It is not a HOLIDAY but it is a HOLY DAY. I wonder if הַשָּׂטָן Ha Satan - the adversary or the devil - is the one who did this and thus leading so many away from the chance of knowing the Savior. We almost need to take Christ and take Him OUT of Christmas and restore that which we lost. This video suggests the awesomeness of this event, the birth of Jesus, the Messiah. This video gives a picture of the Light of Messiah that came as John writes of it in John 1:9. It presents a picture that the birth of Jesus takes us from Genesis 1:1 to Revelation 22:21. This picture shows us this time of remembrance is a HOLY day and not a holiday. Let's study the Chiasm of the Light.

I mentioned in the video that I would provide scholarly links to study the events and the archaeology of Jesus’ birth from the Associates for Biblical Research. These are a must if you want to come to grips with the reality of His birth and to expand your understanding of the Gospel of the Kingdom.

Link 1 to an article by Dr. Ken Bailey entitled, “The Manger and the Inn.” - https://biblearchaeology.org/new-testament-era-list/2803-the-manger-and-the-inn?highlight=WyJtYW5nZXIiLCJtYW5nZXInIl0=

Link 2 to a video by Gary Byers entitled, “Away in a Manger but Not a Barn.” - Part 1 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YveeRv50lmg

Part 2 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzRG6jIVGoY Part 3 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3I-YhXcx0qU

Link 3 to an article by Gordon Melish, “There Wasn’t an Inn.” - https://biblearchaeology.org/research/devotionals/3643-there-wasnt-any-inn?highlight=WyJtYW5nZXIiLCJtYW5nZXInIl0=

Link 4 - Joel Kramer's video on the archaeology of Bethlehem - https://sourceflix.com/our-video/born-in-bethlehem/

Rev. Ferret - who is this guy?

(Ferret - just outside a Bedouin tent in Timnah Park just north of Eilat Israel)

What's his background? Why should I listen to him? Check his background at this link - https://www.dropbox.com/s/ortnret3oxcicu4/BackgrndTeacher%20mar%2025%202020.pdf?dl=0

 

Moses is still in an intense conversation with the awesome God of the universe at the burning bush.  Moses learned of His name - he was the first human to encounter the Lord and be given His name.  But, the Lord tells Moses that He picked Moses to go up against Pharaoh to get Pharaoh to let God's people go; the give freedom to Israel.  Moses starts objecting.  Wouldn't you?  He is to return to Egypt.  Yes, the Lord said He'd go with him.  But, don't forget Moses killed an Egyptian and he faces death if he returns for this act.  But, on top of that this shepherd, this lowly man of the wilderness, is to go up against the most powerful king of the most powerful nation on earth at the time, and convince Pharaoh on letting the Hebrews go.  Moses knows this is futile.  He wants out.  Moses is thinking what is the matter with this God?  There is NO WAY Moses wants any part of this. 

In this lesson we hear Moses' first two objections of five as he continues his intense dialogue with יהוה‎ Yahvay אֱלֹהִים‎ Eloheem, the LORD God. 

Come join us as we continue as we have a front row seat to this amazing meeting at the bush that didn't burn.

 

Rev. Ferret - who is this guy?  What's his background?  Why should I listen to him?  Check his background at this link - https://www.dropbox.com/s/ortnret3oxcicu4/BackgrndTeacher%20mar%2025%202020.pdf?dl=0

The way is closed to the Father and the Tree of Life.  This was the ending of Genesis chapter 3.  Now what?  This is where it is clear that Jesus, when He says in John 5:39, sometime between 24-30 A.D., that scripture (it was only the Old Testament then) testifies of Him, we see the GOOD NEWS, the GOSPEL according to Moses.  Jesus says He is the Way and the Truth and the Life.  He is the Way and the only way to the Father!  This is obviously so connected to the fact that the way is closed to the Father after the sin of Adam and Eve.  But, Jesus is clearly telling us the WAY is open, we can go back , we can enter Gan Eden, Paradise, if we chose Him. 

Adam and Eve freely chose to disobey God and they lost it all.  Now, God sets up the same situation in reverse.  If we chose Jesus then we gain it all, we gain eternal life!   But, in Matthew's Gospel Jesus says that there are many who will come and say they did this or that in Jesus' name.  And Jesus said that is nothing.  It amounts to NIL.  Why?  Jesus said

He did not KNOW them

I wonder.  Jesus is speaking Hebrew and not Aramaic.  He says they did not KNOW Him.  The first time this word comes up in the Torah is Genesis 4:1, or Adam KNEW his wife.  Is there something about this word KNOW in Hebrew that will give us insight into our relationship with Yeshua?  You bet.   

 

Rev. Ferret (above - teaching at the gates of the ancient city of Gezer) - who is this guy?  What's his background?  Why should I listen to him? Check it out at this link - https://www.dropbox.com/s/ortnret3oxcicu4/BackgrndTeacher%20mar%2025%202020.pdf?dl=0

 

 

 

 

TRUTH NUGGET #17

Jesus is the Lamb of God and the original Bible never says He is the Passover Lamb. This is clear in the ancient Greek manuscripts like Codex Sinaiticus dated to 330 A.D. We said He is the Passover Lamb. It is easy to see why but the Bible like the NASB or the KJV, the best translations from the ancient Greek and the Hebrew, state Jesus is the Passover and NOT the Passover Lamb in 1 Cor. 5:7. But, if we see Jesus as distinct from the Passover Lamb, if we see Jesus as the Lamb of God, these lambs on Passover create an amazing picture of God's redemption of His people, Israel, through Moses the first redeemer, and God's ultimate redemption of Jew and Gentile, the whole world, through Messiah Jesus the Ultimate Redeemer. Once again God has created an amazing literary structure in His Bible that creates a mirror to help us see His awesome truth. Let us now study the Mirror of Passover and see the centrality of the Cross from Genesis to Revelation.

Rev. Ferret - who is this guy? 

What's his background?  Why should I listen to him?  Check his background at this link - https://www.dropbox.com/s/ortnret3oxcicu4/BackgrndTeacher%20mar%2025%202020.pdf?dl=0

 

TRUTH NUGGET #16

 

For Hebrews they have a Middle East mindset unlike us who have a Greek mindset (Western). For Hebrews they represent major theological concepts many times in pictures. Like Jesus as a Jewish Rabbi telling teaching us that we are branches of the true vine and He is the true vine. In the psalms the writers like David use this Hebrew mindset and create pictures that those who lived in 1200 or 1000 or 900 B.C. would completely understand from the culture of those days. This video will consider two dramatic "pictures" of major attributes of the Lord in Psalm 52:8 and Psalm 18:33 and Hab. 3:18-19.

Does His word give us specifics as to how He does support us and help us in trials, troubles, suffering, and perhaps even in death?  The Bible seems to give us a picture of times of trouble and suffering.  The Bible seems to picture them as "high places" - like dangerous steep high cliffs that we must walk, saint and sinner, as we live and persevere in a fallen world. These pictures present amazing truths of our Lord and His love for us His people that can only be understood if you are Hebrew and lived in David's day of the days of Messiah Jesus.

Rev. Ferret - who is this guy?  What's his background?  Why should I listen to him?  Check his background at this link - https://www.dropbox.com/s/ortnret3oxcicu4/BackgrndTeacher%20mar%2025%202020.pdf?dl=0

 

 

In this vidcast (video) we focus on a small detail the Lord inserted in the book of Esther.  For all my years I have never heard anyone teach on it - it was mentioned but no one took it deeper.  This small detail we all have read it.  But, it seems it doesn’t jog our minds to perhaps pursue what the small detail means and why it is there.  But, when we do.  WOW!!

So, some say God is not in the book of Esther. That’s right!  There is no mention of God or of faith or religious Jewish practices.  But, this is God’s inspired book.  Thus, call it His TORAH תּוֹרָה which does not mean law but instruction or the Lord's teaching.  What is the Lord trying to get at in the book of Esther?  Some things are very very obvious.  But, we miss things.  Why? We are so disconnected for studying the Bible in its historical context.  When we do this small detail in the book of Esther will lead us to places that will blow us away.

So, in this inspired book of the Lord, He is teaching us.  He is giving us His TORAH תּוֹרָה.  Could it be He is connecting us to the Gospel and the Messiah and His redemption plan?  Could it be that the book of Esther is part of His design and plan but we have failed to see it since that small detail is something we’ve ignored?  The answer is YES.  Watch the video.  All this is not my theory, opinion, or view.  It is The Very Word of God and wait till you see where this takes us.  Amazing.

Rev. Ferret - who is this guy?  What's his background?  Why should I listen to him?  Check his background at this link - https://www.dropbox.com/s/ortnret3oxcicu4/BackgrndTeacher%20mar%2025%202020.pdf?dl=0