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The parallels between Joseph and Yeshua (Jesus) aren't just remarkable, they are prophetic and establish our understanding of the relationship between Yahweh and His Son.
Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.
Romans 13:11-12 ESV
Paul often wrote as if he expected Yeshua to return at any moment. Was he making a false prediction in this passage? Or was he just longing for that day whether it comes tomorrow or in ten thousand years? What did he mean by salvation? What is the night and the day?
From Jay Carper at Common Sense Bible Study (https://CommonSenseBibleStudy.com) and American Torah (https://www.AmericanTorah.com).
This content is free, but I accept contributions via Paypal at https://jaycarper.com/paypal.
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For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
Romans 13:9 ESV
Was Paul saying that "Love your neighbor as yourself" sums up only the Ten Commandments and not all the rest of God's instructions? No! Because all of the rest of God's commandments are summed up in the Ten. To love your neighbor is to keep all of God's commandments, not just the Ten.
From Jay Carper at Common Sense Bible Study (https://CommonSenseBibleStudy.com) and American Torah (https://www.AmericanTorah.com).
This content is free, but I accept contributions via Paypal at https://jaycarper.com/paypal.
Follow me on Truth Social: https://truthsocial.com/@AmericanTorah
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Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.”
Romans 12:19 ESV
"Vengeance is mine, says the Lord" does not mean we shouldn't pursue justice or restitution, but it does mean that we shouldn't be trying to get even, to make other people hurt just because they made us hurt. Our goal should always be to make the world a better place, not to make everyone equally miserable.
From Jay Carper at Common Sense Bible Study (https://CommonSenseBibleStudy.com) and American Torah (https://www.AmericanTorah.com).
This content is free, but I accept contributions via Paypal at https://jaycarper.com/paypal.
Follow me on Truth Social: https://truthsocial.com/@AmericanTorah
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How can you bless someone who curses you? Is it just saying nice things about them? Or is it taking an active role in repairing the broken relationship?
From Jay Carper at Common Sense Bible Study (https://CommonSenseBibleStudy.com) and American Torah (https://www.AmericanTorah.com).
This content is free, but I accept contributions via Paypal at https://jaycarper.com/paypal.
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Paul said we are to abhor what is evil and hold fast to what is good, but what is evil and what is good? The Bible is the only reliable source we have to identify these things. Whatever God says is evil, we should abhor. Whatever God says is good, we should hold fast to.
Food is nothing. Circumcision is nothing. Holy days are nothing. Obedience to God and relationship with him is everything, and so we abhor what he abhors and hold fast to what he holds fast.
From Jay Carper at Common Sense Bible Study (https://CommonSenseBibleStudy.com) and American Torah (https://www.AmericanTorah.com).
This content is free, but I accept contributions via Paypal at https://jaycarper.com/paypal.
Follow me on Truth Social: https://truthsocial.com/@AmericanTorah
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The Christian Truth of Hanukkah
This study shows how Yeshua the Messiah, Jesus the Christ, was referring to something that had already happened in Matthew 24 when He spoke of the Abomination of Desolation. In fact, His words about praying that their flight not be in winter or the Sabbath, that the would have to leave for the hills in haste, and women with children would have a difficult time were all a call-back to something that had already happened once. If you wish to understand what He was really telling them, we must study the Maccabees and the truth of Hanukkah, which contains much needed truth for Christians.
Messianic Torah Portion Vayeshev (and he lived) is about Joseph being sold into slavery by his own brothers. There are many parallels between Joseph and Yeshua, the Messiah, which we discuss in this study. The focus of our congregational discussion is on prophecy and its ultimate purpose, which is to further the kingdom of God.
Division in the body of Messiah does not bring glory to God. Although such division is prophesied throughout Scripture in stories like that of Joseph and his brothers, it's a shameful thing. We need to submit to one another on matters of opinion on which the Bible is silent or ambiguous.
The story of Judah and Tamar is inserted in the middle of the story of Joseph so that we can see the contrast between the two men. There are numerous parallels between their stories. Here are just a few:
-Signs of authority: Joseph's robe and Judah's ring/staff/cord
-Identity via signs: Whose robe is this? and Whose ring/staff/cord is this?
-Relation to Father: Joseph is favored and Judah seeks favor
-Separated to foreigners: Joseph by force and Judah by choice
-Priest's daughter: Asenath the Egyptian and Tamar the Canaanite
-Tempted: Potiphar's wife and Tamar
-Twin swap: Ephraim/Manasseh and Perez/Zerah
-Loss of sons: By adoption and by death
Wild Branch Community in Brenham, Texas, also talked about the adoption of foreigners (such as Tamar, Rahab, you, and me) into Israel, the reasons for levirate marriage, and some of the cultural norms behind this controversial story.
Wild Branch Community is a home fellowship of Torah-observant believers in Texas between Houston and Austin. Find out more about us at https://WildBranchTX.org.
Chanukkah and Christmas collide!
Channukkah and XMAS collide
1st night of chanukkah 12/25. The contrast is stark. But with the real history of Chanukkah from the Apocryphal book of 1 Mac.
I encourage you to read the first four chapters of 1 Mac. To get that, look at the Brenton translation of the Old Testament.
Matthew 24:15-20 is a direct reference to the Maccabean revolt and Channukkah.
The abomination of desolation had already been set up once by the Greeks. Their flight was indeed in winter. And they refused to fight the first Sabbath of the revolt due to their obedience to Torah and they lost.
The crux of this was compromise and mixing. The first time the Greeks came to Judea, they were welcomed. Many of the Israelites mixed Greek customs with Torah and compromised themselves. The Greeks came back after a battle with Egypt and compromise was no longer an option. They forced Israel to forsake the commandments. No more Sabbath, no more circumcision, no more festival days, temple defiled, and they had to eat pork. Or die. And they had to adopt the Greek holidays and culture wholesale, including the sacrificing of pigs and the eating of the same.
This was very bad. Judas Maccabeus couldn’t take it and started a revolt, ultimately pushing the Greeks out and restoring Torah to judea.
How does this align with Christmas? XMAS is a non-biblical observation where people partake in rituals derived from pagan religions and dine on pork. But they do it in the name of God. This is impossible if we understand Matthew 24 to be warning us against these abominations.
I’ll be talking about Chanukka on Friday night, December 20, on a friend’s study group if you want to learn the details about this commemoration. However, don’t lose the irony that the Greeks forced believers into pagan customs while modern Christianity voluntarily partakes. Hopefully more folks will read their bibles and history and come to the realization that the worship of Yahweh is easy if we just relent and to it the way His Son showed us. Have a blessed week!
Messianic Torah Portion Vayetzei means “and he left”. This portion chronicles Jacob’s departure from the land of Canaan into the land of Haran to find a wife. Jacob made a deal with God when he left and had many lessons to learn in his 21 year away. When he returns, he is a changed man who properly credits Yahweh for his deliverance and wealth. Along the way, we have a lesson on idolatry. Jacob was not raised to be an idolator but he had to live in the land of false gods for 21 years. At the end of the journey, he rightly credits the God of Abraham for his blessings and rejects idolatry. The sages associate this passage to the rejection of idolatry and we connect this to Paul’s work in Ephesus, teaching that gods made with hands are no gods at all. The lesson for us with Messianic Torah Portion Vayetzei is that we also must reject idolatry despite being immersed in a culture of false worship.
Many historians and archeologists assume that the Bible isn't true and spend their entire careers trying to disprove it. They have persuaded a great many people who don't want to believe. Unfortunately, they've caused a lot of good people who *do* want to believe to doubt the Bible and therefore their own faith. If the Hebrews were never really in Egypt, how can there have been an Exodus? If there was no Exodus, how can there have been a Passover? If there was no Passover, how can we believe anything else in Scripture?
Dr. Douglas Petrovich is not like those archeologists. He has spent the last 16 years proving the Scriptures from the physical evidence left behind by the people who lived and wrote them.
Dr. Petrovich currently serves as adjunct Professor of Biblical History and Exegesis at Brookes Bible College, which is located in St. Louis, Missouri. He teaches remotely and resides in Richmond, Texas. From 2017–2022, he served as full Professor of Biblical History and Exegesis at The Bible Seminary, in Katy, Texas. Professor Petrovich was born and raised in Akron, Ohio. He has lived in California (twice), Illinois, Siberia (Russia), Toronto (Canada), and Texas. He is passionate about pouring his life into those whose lives God has given him the opportunity to influence, whether in the setting of the local church or an academic environment. He is committed to modeling his life after that of the incarnate son of God, Jesus Christ, albeit quite imperfectly. He has been married to his wife, Sherri, since 1991, and they have three adult children.
He has taught over 50 different courses in his teaching career, which includes courses in biblical studies (especially biblical languages and exposition) and in ancient Near Eastern history and archaeology. His Ph.D. includes a major in Syro-Palestinian archaeology, a 1st minor in (Middle and Late) Egyptian language, and a 2nd minor in ancient Near Eastern religions. He has participated in archaeological digs at Hazor, Tell Tayinat, and Shiloh, which reflects his love for seeing how ancient history converges with the events and people of the Bible.
Professor Petrovich has been an ordained pastor since 1998, having begun as an assistant pastor at a church in Glendale, California. For the majority of his 10 years in Siberia, he served as a church-planting pastor in the city of Berdsk. He has appeared in two documentary films, the more recent being Patterns of Evidence: The Moses Controversy (2019), which features his groundbreaking discovery that connects the world’s oldest alphabetic script with the Israelites’ initial national script. The earlier film in which he appears is entitled Is Genesis History? (2017), which became the most watched documentary film on Netflix during the summer of 2018. In that film, he identifies the correct location for the city of Babel in Genesis 11, as well as its famous tower.
** Books by Dr. Petrovich **
The World's Oldest Alphabet, https://store.carta-jerusalem.....com/archaeology/734-
Origins of the Hebrews, (affiliate link) https://amzn.to/4eYKEW0
Nimrod the Empire Builder, (affiliate link) https://amzn.to/41gwzA4
From Jay Carper at Common Sense Bible Study (https://CommonSenseBibleStudy.com) and American Torah (https://www.AmericanTorah.com).
This content is free, but I accept contributions via Paypal at https://jaycarper.com/paypal.
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Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.
Romans 12:6-8 ESV
God gives everyone a range of skillsets that we can use in service to his kingdom. Leadership, administration, mechanics, languages, etc. The list of possible gifts of God is endless! In this passage Paul mentions several of those gifts, and here's what each of them is really about.
From Jay Carper at Common Sense Bible Study (https://CommonSenseBibleStudy.com) and American Torah (https://www.AmericanTorah.com).
This content is free, but I accept contributions via Paypal at https://jaycarper.com/paypal.
Follow me on Truth Social: https://truthsocial.com/@AmericanTorah
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Messianic Torah Portion Toldot
This is a discussion on the Torah Portion called Toldot from a New Testament perspective. Topics covered:
• How covenants are often inaugurated with meals and how that ties into the New Covenant.
• How incredibly evil circumstances can be used by God to bring about His ultimate plans.
• Why we need to embrace predestination and understand it is not at odds with free will.
For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.
Romans 12:3 ESV
The grace Paul is speaking of is the favor God showed him in appointing him as an apostle to the nations, and all of the authority and responsibility that comes with that commission.
Grace isn't a divinely bestowed super power. It's unobligated favor, an honor bestowed on one person by another. Just as God showed Paul grace in making him a teacher and evangelist, he graces every person in his kingdom with a unique set of skills and a mission to accomplish for the his glory and for the growth of his kingdom. That doesn't mean we all have a commission as high as Paul's, but as Paul pointed out elsewhere, every part of a body is important, no matter how lowly it might seem.
God has given you grace by making you who you are and by giving you a role to play in his plan.
From Jay Carper at Common Sense Bible Study (https://CommonSenseBibleStudy.com) and American Torah (https://www.AmericanTorah.com).
This content is free, but I accept contributions via Paypal at https://jaycarper.com/paypal.
Follow me on Truth Social: https://truthsocial.com/@AmericanTorah
Send me a friend request on The Torah Network: https://social.ttn.place/jaycarper
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Connect with me on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/americantorah/
The Torah is the Foundation
The book of Revelation quotes or alludes to the Old Testament no less than 505 times. The book of Revelation only has 404 total verses. Did you know this? Did you know that to understand what the future holds we must study the bible from Genesis 1 all the way through?
This path we are on is a fundamental re-orientation of our thought process with respect to Christianity. Almost all of us learn the NT first then think the OT is like a glossary of terms or just a place to look to bolster the information in the New Testament. This is backwards. The Torah is the foundation that informs the NT. Learning the bible in the order in which things happened, i.e., starting in Genesis and really learning the Tanakh, then learning the New Testament, is what the first century Christians did. The Messiah did not come to start a new religion but to build on existing faith of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Isaiah, Ezekiel, etc.
As we discussed in last week’s Torah portion, the order Paul refers to in Romans 13 was established through the Torah. When Paul wrote that people must be subject to governing authorities, we see that begin when Abraham gave a tenth to Melchizedek. Abraham was a known leader who had just won a military battle and still gave proper respect to one whose rank was higher than his. Abraham also made the deal for Sarah’s tomb in a public setting, insisting on paying full price with witnesses, so there would be no doubt of his ownership of that land.
When Paul went on to talk about honoring authorities for the sake of conscience, that also harkens back to Abraham’s servant who was trusted to bring back a bride for Isaac. Abraham could not do this work himself, so he made his servant swear to do it. His servant could have gone rogue, kept the camels and gold, and never came back. Or came back and lied. But that’s not what happened. Abraham’s servant did what was right in the sight of YHVH and Abraham even when nobody would have known he did wrong.
You see that honoring authorities is a virtue established in the earliest parts of the Old Testament. Paul was not issuing some new edict but rather re-iterating an existing biblical truth. Those of us who study the Torah while believing in Yeshua the Messiah have put the truth back in the proper order. The Torah informs the rest of the Old Testament, the Old Testament in total informs the New, and we look for the return of the Messiah who will establish peace by ushering in an orderly kingdom based on the truths we hold dear that are established from Genesis to Revelation.
Our challenge, though, is re-orienting our minds. Most of Christianity has been taught the New Testament is the foundation and the rest of the bible is just handy to have when it bolsters a point of doctrine or makes a point we want to make. It’s incredibly difficult to rebuild a foundation, especially one that is this ingrained into us. It’s akin to learning a second language. For many years, everything you learn of the foreign language will be compared to your native tongue. In fact, you may never get to the point where you can completely break from using your native tongue as the foundation.
Remember how I said that the book of Revelation quotes or alludes to the Old Testament at least 505 times? This is not unique to the book of Revelation. The Gospels refer to the OT almost constantly, too. So do the letters and epistles. If you want to understand the New Testament, you must first understand the Old. This is a tall task, but as the Messiah said, believing in Him is founded on Moses…. Because Moses wrote of Him! Shalom and have a blessed week!
Romans 11:30-32 ESV For just as you were at one time disobedient to God but now have received mercy because of their disobedience, 31 so they too have now been disobedient in order that by the mercy shown to you they also may now receive mercy. 32 For God has consigned all to disobedience, that he may have mercy on all.
How does God use our disobedience to bring us (and the Jews!) to repentance and restoration to relationship with him?
From Jay Carper at Common Sense Bible Study (https://CommonSenseBibleStudy.com) and American Torah (https://www.AmericanTorah.com).
This content is free, but I accept contributions via Paypal at https://jaycarper.com/paypal.
Follow me on Truth Social: https://truthsocial.com/@AmericanTorah
Send me a friend request on The Torah Network: https://social.ttn.place/jaycarper
Follow me on Twitter: https://jaycarper.com/twitter
Connect with me on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/americantorah/
