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The study of the Bible in its historical context - with a focus on the archaeology, history, geography, customs , culture, and even the languages of the ancient Middle East. WE ask what did they understand THEN - the original intent of the Lord - so that we can expand and enrich our understanding NOW and thus become true disciples of Adonai Yeshua as in John 8:31-32.
Episodes
Monday Jan 08, 2024
The Lord’s Prayer - Lesson 9 - Passed, Failed Matt. 6:13
Monday Jan 08, 2024
Monday Jan 08, 2024
This is the last lesson in the podcast series on the Lord's Prayer (in Hebrew - HaTehfeelah Adonai) which He gave to us, His disciples, and we can now call it, HaTehfeelah Talmidim, the Prayer of the Disciples. We will focus on Matt.6:13 and once again return to the 1st century A.D., the days of Yeshua HaMashiach, Jesus the Messiah (the Christ), and try and hear what His disciples heard. We will try and understand what they understood. We will study to see like they did.
The main focus of the lesson will be on the beginning phrase in Matt. 6:13, "and lead us not into temptation ..." (NASB). For us the English word the translators use "temptation" seems to relate only to that which might entice us to sin or evil. Temptation to us seems to focus on the evil desire to commit sin and go against Adonai, the Lord. However, the translators use this word in many places in the Bible to mean testing or trials or difficulties. So, what's going on in Matt. 6:13? Does it mean that God may come to us to lead us into situations where He knows we will be tempted to commit sin, to do evil? Or, are the translators using it as it relates with a different concept?
Here are the links I mentioned in the audio plus more.
Link to the complete Didache (pronounced Dida Key) - http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/didache-roberts.html
Link to a number of great articles on the Hebrew concept of prayer from En Gedi Resource Center - https://engediresourcecenter.com/hebraic/prayer/
Link to Shmuel Safrai's article on the spoken languages in Jesus' day at the Jerusalem School of the Synoptic Gospels (you may have to sign up to be a subscriber) - https://www.jerusalemperspective.com/2551/
Link to a translation of the Lord's Prayer the way it may have been read in Hebrew - https://www.dropbox.com/s/v4boue5uy4oinwk/THE%20LORD%27S%20PRAYER%20FROM%20THE%20HEBREW.pdf?dl=0
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
Sunday Jan 07, 2024
The Lord‘s Prayer - Lesson 8 - Debts & Sins & Debtors & Sinners
Sunday Jan 07, 2024
Sunday Jan 07, 2024
(Note - it is highly recommended that you listen to lesson 1 of this series on the Lord's prayer. I provided the link below).
I remember a time when I had hurt someone in one of my classes. I reacted to their opinion on a specific issue very harshly. Later I did learn from others in the class that 1) they did not appreciate my intense reaction to this person and 2) they knew this person was hurt and angry with me and 3) they understood why I got so angry but it was not the proper way of handling the situation. Needless to say, I hurt someone with my words. It reminded me me of ...
"The good man brings out of his good treasure what is good; and the evil man brings out of his evil treasure what is evil. But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned." (Mat 12:35-37)
Ouch! His Spirit was working in me telling me that I sinned. Something needed to happen.
On one hand, this person I hurt may have forgiven me "in his heart." He may have done this based upon what Jesus teaches that ...
"My heavenly Father will also do the same to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from your heart." (Mat 18:35)
Many of us do this as Christians today. Someone hurt us, abused us, sinned against us and we forgive that person "from our heart," but the one who hurt us doesn't know it. For us it is a way we think we are listening to Rabbi Yeshua and living as true disciples.
On the other hand, even though this person I hurt may have "forgiven me in his heart," and I didn't know it, I was dealing with the Father and through His Spirit I was being plagued with guilt that I have not gone to this person, confessed my sin, repented, and asked for this person's forgiveness. I had already done this with the Lord. I knew I was forgiven. But, the Lord would not let me off the hook! Why? Because He taught us this ...
"Therefore if you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your offering there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering." (Mat 5:23-24)
He didn't mean to seek forgiveness from Him and let it all go. NO!! He is teaching clearly that I need to go to the person, confess, repent, and seek their forgiveness. I did go to that person. I did confess, repent, and I asked for this person to forgive me. I was forgiven by that person. I must say this was one of the most difficult things I have ever done. It was easy to go to the Father and confess and repent and seek forgiveness. But, doing that with the person who I sinned against, that is entirely a different matter.
So, we now return to the Lord's Prayer -
תפילת האדוי - HaTehfeelah Adonai
We will focus on the verse Matt. 6:12 where we pray that the Lord will forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. Why use the word debt or debtors? Why didn't Jesus use the word sin and sinners? Besides that it seems as if Jesus is showing us that if we want to be forgiven by the Lord we first need to forgive. Is that what this all means? Once again, we are reading in English translated from the Greek which is translated from the Hebrew and it comes out of a totally Jewish culture of 2000 years ago. Is it possible then as we put this verse into its historical context that things will begin to make real sense? Answer! You better believe it. Moreover, we will see how it relates to the situation I described from my own life.
Links promised in this session ...
1) Brad Young's article at Jerusalem Perspective (Note - this is a pay site. Cost is $60 per year. It is a highly credible scholarly site that if you are serious about your Bible study this is one site that is a must) - https://www.jerusalemperspective.com/2300/
2) Link to lesson 1 of this series - listen to this to understand how this prayer is related to being a true disciple of Rabbi Jesus - https://lightofmenorah.podbean.com/e/truth-nuggets-6-the-lords-prayer-part-1-pray-like-the-rabbi/
Link 3 - Ray Vander Laan's article on "Rabbi and Talmidim" - https://www.thattheworldmayknow.com/rabbi-and-talmidim
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
Wednesday Jan 03, 2024
The Lord’s Prayer - Lesson 5 part 2 - Hallowed Be Your Name
Wednesday Jan 03, 2024
Wednesday Jan 03, 2024
This is part 2 of the Lord's Prayer series as we focus on the phrase, "hallowed be Your name." In this episode we turn to the Ten Commandments and to commandment #3 (commandment 2 if you are a Catholic) or "You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain." How is this related to us today? If we reconnect to the Hebrew and the Jewish culture of the 2nd Temple Period, the days of Jesus, it is connected to being a true disciple of Yeshua, but how? How is this related to the Lord's Prayer and "hallowing?"
There are many links I mention in this podcast. They are all listed below. At this time I want to recognize these scholars and for their amazing credible Bible resources to help us reconnect to the Jewish culture of Jesus' day so we can have our understanding expanded and enhanced. These amazing scholars are Lois Tverberg, Dennis Prager, Joseph Shulam, Dr. Brad Young, and David Biven. This is just a few of the many scholars and teachers I have learned from. I just needed to make sure I gave them the credit and recognition for most of what I present. I don't teach my own opinion and try to teach with the backup of such great scholars as these.
Link - Lois Tverberg' article, "What Does It Mean to Hallow God's Name? - https://engediresourcecenter.com/2019/06/06/what-does-it-mean-to-hallow-gods-name/
Link - Lois Tverberg's website - https://ourrabbijesus.com/
Link - Dennis Prager's video "Misusing God's Name" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=nI8OtOfzUDE&app=desktop
Link to Dennis' website and in the "store" you will find his 25 years of Torah lessons on a flash drive - https://www.dennisprager.com/
Link to Joseph Shulam's ministry website - this is a great learning resource - https://netivyah.org/
Check out the free "journals" you can access at Netivyah - https://netivyah.org/library/
Link to David Biven's awesome article on the Lord's prayer found at Jerusalem Perspective - https://www.jerusalemperspective.com/769/
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
Tuesday Jan 02, 2024
The Lord’s Prayer - Lesson 5 part 1- Hallowed be thy name
Tuesday Jan 02, 2024
Tuesday Jan 02, 2024
When was the last time you hallowed? Is it allowed in your church? Where you work? Did you learn how to hallow in Sunday school? Why aren't more 21st century Christians hallowing? But, perhaps they are!
In the 2nd Temple Period, the first century A.D. or Jesus' day, Jesus' talmideem, Hebrew for disciples, knew exactly how to hallow! Jesus' fellow rabbis helped all know how to hallow the name of Adonai. So when Jesus teaches His talmideem HaTehfeelah Adonai, the Lord's Prayer, and gives it to them so it becomes, HaTehfeelah Talmideem, the Prayer of the Disciples, the disciples understand clearly what all this means. It was part of their culture and probably taught in their בֵּית סֵפֶר - pronounced Bait Sefer, elementary school, so the Jewish kids right from the get go would know how to "hallow the name of Adonai."
Now it's our turn - let's learn what they did. Let's try and understand how they understood so that HaTehfeelah Talmideem, the Prayer of the Disicples, becomes that much more meaningful for us today.
Once again there are links I bring up in the podcast. See below for the links for this lesson.
Link - Lois Tverberg' article, "What Does It Mean to Hallow God's Name? - https://engediresourcecenter.com/2019/06/06/what-does-it-mean-to-hallow-gods-name/
Link - Lois Tverberg's website - https://ourrabbijesus.com/
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
Monday Jan 01, 2024
The Lord’s Prayer - Lesson 4 - ”Who Is In Heaven”
Monday Jan 01, 2024
Monday Jan 01, 2024
We continue with the words of the Lord's Prayer, HaTehfeelah Adonai. Our focus is now on the words, "...who is in heaven." This begs the question where does God live? Where is His abode, where does He dwell 24/7? Isn't heaven the sky above and space with the moon and sun and planets and galaxies? If so does God live out there behind a nebula or a galaxy hidden from our eyes? Or, does the English language cause some issues? We have put the Lord's Prayer into its historical context and we see that it was first taught in Hebrew to a specific group of people, the religious Jewish disciples, and in a specific culture and time; He taught it sometime between 24-30 A.D. to those who practiced Second Temple Judaism and who only had the Old Testament, the Hebrew scriptures, as their only Bible. So, let's jump in. Let's see what they knew and understood in Hebrew. Let's find out where God lives and dwells 24/7.
Once again here's links I mentioned in the lesson. Check them out as they hopefully will add and enrich your study of HaTehfeelah Adonai, the Lord's Prayer which He gave to us, His disciples, and we can now call it, HaTehfeelah Talmidim, the Prayer of the Disciples.
Link Gethsemane 1 - https://www.facebook.com/lightofmenorah/videos/229720674906046/
Link 2a - Dr. Brad Young's videos on the Hebrew background of the Lord's prayer - https://www.bradyoung.org/index.php/videos/40-dr-young-s-youtube-links-on-god-s-learning-channel
Link 2b - Dr. Brad Young's scholarly work on the Jewish background of the Lord's prayer - click here to access all his books in the bookstore
Link 2c - Dr. Brad Young's article on the Lord's prayer at "Jerusalem Perspective" - https://www.jerusalemperspective.com/2229/
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
Sunday Dec 31, 2023
The Lord’s Prayer - Lesson 3 - ”Our Father”
Sunday Dec 31, 2023
Sunday Dec 31, 2023
In this lesson we start our study of the exact words of the Lord's prayer. This lesson will focus on the first two words, "Our Father."
Is Jesus teaching something new? Is Jesus bringing in a new idea? Were the disciples of Jesus amazed at the start of the prayer when they heard the words, "Our Father?"
Again, we return to 24-30 A.D. - the time when Jesus was here as a rabbi, as a Torah teacher. Torah does not mean law but instruction. Jesus was teaching the Father's instruction and not laws. That makes sense when you understand what Torah means and that all the had in Jesus' day was the Hebrew Scriptures that we call the Old Testament. There is nothing OLD about it. And, as we reconnect to those days we find that these two words, "Our Father," show that the Lord's Prayer that He gave to His disciple, and therefore to us, is a prayer coming out of a Jewish culture; we can therefore more fully appreciate the prayer when we understand its Jewish background and foundation.
I said I'd supply some links. The links in this lesson are referenced below.
Dead Sea Scrolls Link 1 - https://www.deadseascrolls.org.il/
The Tobit fragment - Link 2 - https://www.deadseascrolls.org.il/explore-the-archive/search#q='4q200'
Gethsemane - Link 3 - https://www.facebook.com/lightofmenorah/videos/229720674906046/
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
Saturday Dec 30, 2023
The Lord’s Prayer - Lesson 2 - Don’t Repeat, Repeat, Repeat
Saturday Dec 30, 2023
Saturday Dec 30, 2023
In this 2nd lesson on the Lord's prayer we will focus on Jesus' specific guidelines He taught when we pray. 1st, go into your inner room. Next, do not use meaningless repetition like the pagan Gentiles. Are these instructions unique? Is Jesus teaching us something that is different than praying as a religious Jewish person in His day? Are these guidelines uniquely Christian? NOPE. Jesus is teaching and emphasizing what His disciples have been taught as they grew up in their hometown synagogue schools. As we study this in its historical context we find we are dealing with things so common in the Hebrew culture of the 1st century, Jesus' day. But, Jesus is emphasizing that prayer is not just going through the motions. Jesus is teaching us this act of prayer is a big deal in that praying to the Father is talking to Him in a deeply personal, intimate, and private manner. He is teaching us that concentrated and intentional prayer is a mark of a true disciple.
Again, in this session I mention a few resources. I am providing the links to two of them. The first is a link to the early Jewish Christian instruction booklet called the Didache (Greek for "teaching") written in the late 1st century. It provides guidelines and instruction for living as a true disciple. The second link is Ray Vander Laan's article on Rabbi and Talmid or Rabbi and Disciple. The Lord's prayer has been given to His disciples since one of His disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray. Knowing what a disciple is is important background for us to know the Lord's prayer and how it relates to us.
Link to the Didache - http://www.thedidache.com/
Link to Ray's article on Rabbi and Talmid - https://www.thattheworldmayknow.com/rabbi-and-talmidim
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
Friday Dec 29, 2023
The Lord’s Prayer - Lesson 1 - Pray Like the Rabbi
Friday Dec 29, 2023
Friday Dec 29, 2023
This is a NEW podcast series. We will focus on the Lord's Prayer or what we sometimes call, "The Our Father." There are 100's of excellent books from excellent scholars on this prayer. What we will do is simply look at this prayer in its historical context. And, God willing, this perspective will only add to the understanding we have of this prayer and prayer in general. In this first session we ask why did Jesus give the disciples this prayer? The Jewish people in Jesus' day were known as a praying people. They had a set of prayers they prayed three times a day! This was normative as relates to the Jewish culture of Jesus' day, 2nd Temple Judaism. So why does Jesus add to their list of prayers? As we reconnect to the culture the reason is explosive and only challenges us to also understand how this prayer relates to us in the 21st century.
In this session I bring up various links to other resources. Here's the links below.
Link 1 - Dr. Brad Young's videos on the Hebrew background of the Lord's prayer - https://www.bradyoung.org/index.php/videos/40-dr-young-s-youtube-links-on-god-s-learning-channel
Link 2 - Dr. Brad Young's scholarly work on the Jewish background of the Lord's prayer - click here to access all his books in the bookstore
Link 3 - Dr. Brad Young's article on the Lord's prayer at "Jerusalem Perspective" - https://www.jerusalemperspective.com/2229/
Link 4 - Ray Vander Laan's article on "Rabbi and Talmidim" - https://www.thattheworldmayknow.com/rabbi-and-talmidim
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
Friday Jan 05, 2024
The Lord’s Prayer - Lesson 6 Part 2 - Your Kingdom come, Your Will be done
Friday Jan 05, 2024
Friday Jan 05, 2024
In part 1 we learned that the Kingdom of God was a concept in Second Temple Judaism, the religion of Jesus' day, that was understood by the Jewish people. We saw that Moses states that God will reign forever and ever (Exod. 15:18). Thus, if God reigns, He is king. If God is King then He has a Kingdom. But, His Kingdom does not have a territory or borders or a palace or castle. In Jesus' day the Kingdom of God meant only that God rules and reigns over His creation, the heavens and the earth, the universe. It is like what the Jewish people say in their daily blessings that Adonai is King of the Universe. Here's the blessing over bread ...
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה׳ אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם הַמּוֹצִיא לֶחֶם מִן הָאָרֶץ
Baruch ata Adonai Eloheinu melech ha’olam hamotzi lechem min ha’aretz.
Blessed are you, Lord our God, KING of the universe who brings forth bread from the earth.
So, in the first century A.D. in Israel, God's Kingdom was and is and will always be. So, as we continue to study the phrase in Matt. 6:10, "Your Kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven," we ask then if His Kingdom was and is and will always be why are we praying that His Kingdom should come? Are we missing something? Again, we are. We are disconnected from how the disciples of Jesus understood the Kingdom of God 2000 years ago when Jesus taught this prayer. We need again to reconnect to those days to expand our understanding of the Lord's Prayer and what it all means to them and to us today.
I mentioned I would link several articles that are examples of my resources that I have accessed to develop these podcasts on the Lord's Prayer and on the Kingdom of the Lord. These links are shown below. The links that have a "*" before them will take you to the website www.JerusalemPerspective.com
which has an annual fee to access the entire article and the remaining 100's of articles available from highly credible Christian and Jewish scholars. I highly recommend this website for any of you who are serious students of the Bible. This is one resource that is worth paying the annual fee for real scholarship and study.
* The Kingdom of God: God’s Power Among Believers. Robert L. Lindsey
https://www.jerusalemperspective.com/2445/
* Literary Languages in the Time of Jesus. Shmuel Safrai
https://www.jerusalemperspective.com/2563/
* Jesus and the Oral Torah: The Unutterable Name of God. David Biven.
https://www.jerusalemperspective.com/2087/
* The Lord's Prayer. David Biven.
https://www.jerusalemperspective.com/769/
* The Lord’s Prayer 1: Introduction. Brad Young. (Note: this is part 1 of 10)
https://www.jerusalemperspective.com/2229/
The following articles are accessed for free at the amazing website www.EnGediResourceCenter.org
including articles by Lois Tverberg on the Lord's Prayer and the Kingdom of God.
Articles on the Lord's Prayer - https://engediresourcecenter.com/tag/lords-prayer/
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
Saturday Jan 06, 2024
The Lord‘s Prayer - Lesson 7 - Our Daily Bread
Saturday Jan 06, 2024
Saturday Jan 06, 2024
In lesson 7 we focus on the phrase of Matt 6:11, "Give us this day our daily bread." Was Jesus teaching His disciples, His talmideem תלמידים in Hebrew, something new? As Dr. Brad Young states in his amazing article, "The Lord's Prayer," (see the link below to Jerusalem Perspective, a scholarly website of Christian and Jewish Bible scholars presenting the Jewish background of the Synoptic Gospels - Matthew, Mark, and Luke) ...
"Too often, the importance of the Jewish background of the prayer and of the language that Jesus used has been overlooked or minimized. Jesus was a Jew, speaking Hebrew to his Jewish followers during the difficult days of the Roman occupation of Israel in the Second Temple Period. A modern Christian has a quite different understanding of prayer, Scripture, and faith than a Jewish teacher like Jesus, not to mention the great differences of language, culture, and history. One easily can miss the great depth of Jesus’ message, even while believing in him. Here we will try to rediscover something of the original Jewish atmosphere in which Jesus taught his followers how to approach God in prayer."
So we will reconnect again to the historical context of this prayer that Jesus taught to His disciples, His talmideem תלמידים and we will see that awesome meaning behind the simple phrase of Matt. 6:11. It will help us again pray this prayer with a new expanded understanding of this central prayer for any disciple of our Lord Jesus. Our walk as disciples of Yeshua HaMasheeiachk, Jesus the Messiah, Jesus the Christ will be enriched and strengthened.
The Lord’s Prayer 1: Introduction. Brad Young. (Note: this is part 1 of 10)
https://www.jerusalemperspective.com/2229/
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