The Real Yeshua

Yeshua came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and went into the synagogue on Shabbat, as was his habit. (Luke 4:16) It was Yeshua’s habit (custom) to go to a synagogue on Shabbat. Shabbat began at sundown on Friday and ended at sundown on Saturday . It was the seventh day of the Jewish week. Shabbat is a special period of time in the Jewish culture. On the seventh day ELOHIYM (the Creator) completed His work which he had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all his work which He had done. ELOHIYM blessed the seventh day and set it apart, because in it He rested from all his work which ELOHIYM had created and made. (Genesis 2:1b-3) Remember the Shabbat by keeping it holy.   Six days you shall labor and do all your work,   but the seventh day is a Shabbat   to YAHWEH your ELOHIYM. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. ...

The new movie titled "Jerusalem," opening this week, takes advantage of IMAX 3-D technology to produce an ultra-big-screen vision of the city, its history and its people. The amazing 7 minute trailer will give you a fantastic overview of the land of Yeshua and the places he knew. W atch it at -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkKytHCHCYI be sure to view in in “Full Screen.”

By the time Yeshua finished his message on anger, every Jew listening that day would have recognized its connection to one of the most important accounts in the Torah. It is an account that was, and still is, considered so important because when past generations failed to observe the principles it taught, the result was the Great Flood and the conquering of Israel and Judea by foreign kings. Its message is clear -- the greatest threat to the existence the Jewish people -- and to mankind – is the failure of man to be his brother’s keeper . Yeshua’s teaching on anger was a commentary on the account of Cain and Abel – Cain’s anger led to Abel’s murder. At the end of days Cain brought an offering to YAHWEH of the fruit of the ground. And Abel, on his part also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of their fat portions. [i] Cain and Abel brought QORBAN to YAHWEH. Now pay close attention to what happened next: And YAHWEH gazed toward Abel and toward for his offering; ...

In the first blog in this series -- An Angry Person Should be Tried in Court like a Murderer -- we saw that Yeshua’s message about anger was linked to Leviticus 19:17-18: You shall not hate your brother in your heart. You shall YAKACh with your neighbor lest you bear sin because of him. You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your people. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am YAHWEH. In the Torah, anger is linked to the Hebrew word translated “ grudge ” in the above verse. In the previous blog in this series -- Settle Matters With Your Brother While There is Still Time – we learned that unresolved anger could block one’s forgiveness from YAHWEH and negate the value of one’s sacrifice. The man who had committed one of the three degrees of offenses related to anger, according to Yeshua, was to leave his QORBAN (sacrifice) at the altar, go find the one who he had committed the offense against, be reconciled with him, and the...

Let’s continue with Yeshua’s teaching on anger (Part 6): Agree with your adversary quickly while you are still on the road with him; lest at any time your adversary deliver you to the judge, and the judge deliver you to the officer, and you be thrown into prison.  Amen! I tell you, you will not come out of there until you have paid the last kodranthn ( KODRANTEN ). (Matthew 5:25-26) The three key terms in the closing of Yeshua’s lesson on anger are adversary, amen and kodranthn . Let’s begin by discovering the meaning of the Greek word kodranthn . A number of English translators chose to use the word “ farthing ” -- “until you have paid the last farthing.”  Their decision to use “farthing” reveals something important about the influence of their culture on their translation of the Bible. They chose a familiar English word from their culture that readers would have clearly understood – but the word they chose no longer is used or familiar to American English reade...

Why did Yeshua tell his disciples to leave the QORBAN (sacrifice, gift) at the altar in the Temple and walk away from the presence of YAHWEH? Therefore if you bring your QORBAN to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you , leave your QORBAN there, before the altar, and first be reconciled to your brother , and then come and offer your QORBAN. (Matthew 5:23-24) Notice that Yeshua gave a specific reason – your brother has something against . What does “has something against you” mean? Keep the context in mind -- Yeshua was teaching about a person being angry with his brother . The person at the altar has committed at least one of the three offenses indicated above by Yeshua:  (1) unresolved anger against his brother (2) called his brother useless, of no value and empty out of anger (3) accusing his brother of denying that there is a Creator and that no one does TOV out of anger In Yeshua’s example, there is no question about the g...

Let’s review Yeshua has made the following points about the different types of offenses related to anger, from the least to the most serious: Offense #1 : Anger is equivalent to murder . Offense #2 : An angry person that says the person he is angry with is useless, empty and of no value commits a more serious offense than Offense #1. Offense #3 : An angry person that says the person he is angry with denies that there is a Creator and that YAHWEH does not do acts of TOV commits a more serious offense than Offense #2. Now Yeshua continues his lesson: Therefore if you bring your QORBAN to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your QORBAN there, before the altar, and first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your QORBAN . (Matthew 5:23-24) Yeshua was clearly addressing people who understood what he was talking about because it was something they did. The Temple’s sacrificial rituals were part of all of...