Parashot Acharei Mot–Kedoshim & Sermon "The Great Anti-Virus"

Shalom and blessings;

If political rhetoric and name calling were a commodity, Israel would be a rich country. Bibi Netanyahu is having a hard time putting together enough seats to reach the 61-seat majority and the religious parties, who now support him, threaten to pull their support if he makes a deal with the moderate Arab party. So, the anti-Bibi wolves are circling their prey, salivating as they get ready to devour him. The wolves led by Lapid (center left); I believe will have no problem accepting the Arabs 5 seats to form their majority. Biblically, that will be a sad day for Israel.

Do you consider yourself a disciple? Maybe you do not understand that a disciple is just an ordinary Believer in Messiah Yeshua. In fact, Yeshua defined a disciple for us in: Luke 6:40 "A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone who is perfectly trained will be like his teacher." So, simply put, a disciple is a student and in our case Yeshua is our teacher. Learning from Yeshua is a lifelong process and none of us should ever expect to know everything about the Word. As a disciple we will all continue learning until we meet Yeshua in the air. In the meantime, we need to make Yeshua the center of our lives; learn from Him through Bible reading and Bible studies (God speaks to us through His Word); then take what we have learned and share it, so as to make other disciples. So, I ask again, "Do you consider yourself a disciple?"

Hi Ellen here…Did you notice the list of blessings and the list of curses in Deuteronomy 28? Astounding, isn't it? Well, we want to be on the positive side so let us look at the blessings!

The first one takes care of all of them so we will discuss verse 1… "Now it will come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, that the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth." How can we achieve such a high calling…only through prayer! We can hear God's voice through the reading of His Word and in speaking with Him. Next, we read that we need to obey all His commandments…this was done for us through the shed blood of Messiah Yeshua because it is impossible to be able to achieve all His commandments we need His Grace. This next and final part is one I really like, "…then He will set us high above the nations of the earth!" What a promise!! This has been done through the death and resurrection of Messiah Yeshua. How blessed are we to have a God, a King, a Father and a Friend such as He…wow! Jack and I close our morning prayers with the reading of Deuteronomy 28:1-14. Won't you join us in these incredible blessings?

Visit our blog for more teaching and to view previous Torah commentaries:

https://weeklyparasha02.blogspot.com/

Yours in Messiah Yeshua; our Lord, our God, our soon coming King;

Rabbi Jack & Ellen

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Parashot Tazira-Metzora

Shalom and Blessings

 

As of this writing, there is still no resolution to our election dilemma. You have heard it said, "Two Jews, three opinions," well that is holding true with Netanyahu's attempt to form a government. However, without counting the Arab parties, the saying should be more like, "One hundred and five Jews, one hundred and seventy opinions." Everyone is jockeying for their own advantage and few if any are considering the country and the people. What can I say except, welcome to the world of politics!

 

In these difficult times God's people are experiencing; increasing persecution, eroding of the pure Gospel message of Messiah, deception, false prophets, false teachers and the effects of liberal government's anti-God laws, to name just a few things. For this reason, we must never take our eyes off the Blessed Hope of the return of our Messiah Yeshua.

 

Titus 2:11-13 11) For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, 12) teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, 13) looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Messiah Yeshua,

 

From this passage I want us to notice that the apostle Paul calls Yeshua God and Savior; He is not just the Messiah, not just our Savior but He is God and Savior! If we as Believers want to survive in this spiraling downward world, we must never stop anticipating the return of our Savior and our God Yeshua. If we lose our expectation of the Lord's return it will be impossible to maintain His standard of holiness and thus survive in a wicked world. The world hates us because they first hated Him and as His disciples, we are not greater than our Master. The more difficult the times, the greater our resolve should be to live holy lives if we ever expect to see Him.   

 

 

Hi Ellen here…What a wonderful week this has been!  We remembered the holocaust last week (Yom HaShoah) and this week we are remembering all those that have fallen to war and terrorism (Yom Hazikaron). Thursday was Independence Day here (Yom Ha'atzmaut), and for that we have reason to rejoice. It is an incredible thing to live in Israel, a place where ALL acknowledge these events and are on the same page.  We pray it would be the same with our government as Jack mentioned above.  There is nothing to be concerned about because Isaiah states in his book that the government is on HIS shoulders, not Isaiah's but on our Lord. 

 

I would like to shift from the above and share a wonderful answer to prayer.  Jack and I have an extensive prayer list as we are sure you all do…we have been praying for a little boy, I'll call him "Y" to be healed of cancer.  We do not know him personally but we have been praying throughout the lockdowns for a year and this week he has been pronounced CLEAR of this disease, hallelujah!  Telling you about the remembrance days, the government and our precious "Y" this scripture danced in my spirit…  Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Messiah Yeshua...Phil. 4.6-7. Thank You Lord!

 

Visit our blog for more teaching and to view previous Torah commentaries:

https://weeklyparasha02.blogspot.com/

 

Yours in Messiah Yeshua; our Lord, our God, our soon coming King;

Rabbi Jack & Ellen

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Parasha Shemini

Shalom and Blessings

Well, the election opera is not over yet here in Israel and the fat lady has not yet sung, we are just listening to another aria now. Round and round and round she goes, as operas normally do, with ups and downs, villains and heroes. With all the suspense it is still not clear who is going to be jilted, who is going to be politically murdered and who is going to commit political suicide. One thing we can be sure of, however, God wrote this story and the outcome is of the Lord!

What is your motive? I would like to share a great pitfall which God has placed upon my heart that is at work among Believers and many people in ministry today; MOTIVE. How can we tell if our motivation in serving the Lord will withstand the test of fire? It is by understanding that the only motive of service that is acceptable to God is for Him to be glorified. Too many people are serving God with the wrong motive. We can hardly tune into a Christian channel or listen to a preacher on YouTube without them trying to empty our pockets or promote a book they have written. I find nothing wrong in writing books glorifying God but I do have something against using God's glory to promote a book for the author's glory or personal financial gain. Sadly, there is a lot of that going on in people and ministries today. But it is not limited to preachers and books, every one of us needs to examine what our motivation is in serving the Lord. Our service should only be motivated for the sole purpose of glorifying God!

1 Corinthians 10:31 So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.

There is only one acceptable motive for our service unto the Lord and that is that He might be exalted and us abased, everything else will be burned up by fire like stubble and hay. So, ask yourself as you are serving God, "How by what I am doing will God get the Glory?"

Hi Ellen here…I don't know about you, but sometimes I just cannot pray. Maybe because too many distractions; so many things on my mind…and whatever excuse we can find, right? Wrong answer, because our Lord gave us an out, He is the WayMaker and even makes a way for us to pray, thank You Lord! We all know the prayer in Matthew 6.9-13…here the Lord gave us a model so we may apply it to our lives. Take a look at it with me and personalize it…acknowledge His abode and His will; ask Him to supply all your needs; pray His forgiveness in your life along with His divine protection and as Jack spoke above…GIVE HIM ALL THE GLORY forever, Amen!

Visit our blog for more teaching and to view previous Torah commentaries:

https://weeklyparasha02.blogspot.com/

Yours in Messiah Yeshua; our Lord, our God, our soon coming King;

Rabbi Jack & Ellen

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Parasha Pesach & sermon "Towels of Mercy"

April 2, 2021

Shalom and Blessings

We have all heard the expression "The opera is not over until the fat lady sings," well the fat lady has yet to sing in the opera of Israel's election. Polls predicted that the election's outcome would be a stalemate similar to what occurred in our last election, but no one expected that a new obscure Arab party with a mandate of five seats would hold the balance of power between us having a leftwing or rightwing government. This has added new meaning to the scripture: "But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then it shall be that those whom you let remain shall be irritants in your eyes and thorns in your sides, and they shall harass you in the land where you dwell." (Numbers 33:55). Where do things go from here? As with all questions the Bible has the answer; "And as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man:" (Luke 17:26). Shaalu Shalom Yerushalayim (Pray for the peace of Jerusalem).

2 Corinthians 6:17 17) "Therefore, COME OUT FROM THEIR MIDST AND BE SEPARATE," says the Lord. "AND DO NOT TOUCH WHAT IS UNCLEAN; And I will welcome you. 18) "And I will be a Father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to Me," Says the Lord Almighty."

God does not unconditionally offer to be a Father to anyone who wants Him, we have to meet His conditions. That is what the "therefore" is there for!

Hi Ellen here…Jack is so right; all answers are in the Bible! There are some bills sitting in the United States Senate that have been hovering over us for a very long time. I remember when we were still ministering in Toronto this same subject arose. I really do not want to name these bills or even discuss what was hovering over us in Toronto but I am sure you have guessed or heard as we have. Bottom line is the devil wants to divide, destroy and taint and twist the biblical family unit…that's right, a husband (man), a wife (woman) and children. Well after hearing the news and a short sermon online with prayer and discussion we opened our Bibles and this is what we read…astounding!!!

Isaiah 24:1-6… 1) Behold, the Lord makes the earth empty and makes it waste, Distorts its surface and scatters abroad its inhabitants. 2) And it shall be: As with the people, so with the priest; As with the servant, so with his master; As with the maid, so with her mistress; As with the buyer, so with the seller; As with the lender, so with the borrower; As with the creditor, so with the debtor. 3) The land shall be entirely emptied and utterly plundered, For the Lord has spoken this word. 4) The earth mourns and fades away; the world languishes and fades away; The haughty people of the earth languish. 5) The earth is also defiled under its inhabitants, because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant. 6) Therefore the curse has devoured the earth, and those who dwell in it are desolate. Therefore, the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men are left.

(It is as if Isaiah was reporting the news…)

Visit our blog for more teaching and to view previous Torah commentaries:

https://weeklyparasha02.blogspot.com/

Yours in Messiah Yeshua; our Lord, our God, our soon coming King;
Rabbi Jack & Ellen

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D’Vat Torah Pesach Day 7