The Samaritan woman at the well shows us how we are supposed to receive the Messiah.
The series of the study is available at https://firstcenturychristiani....ty.net/the-gospel-of

"⁣Amazing Grace" - Performed by Sabbath Keepers Fellowship

⁣Quoting Deuteronomy 30:14 in Romans 10:8, Paul makes a powerful rhetorical connection between Yeshua and the Law of Moses. The Torah gives life, but only to those who have already confessed Yeshua as their Master and Savior.

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/

Preparing for the Fast
Be aware. Last year, October 7 was both the Sabbath and a high day. Israel was attacked. This year, October 12 is the Sabbath and the fast. This is a dangerous time.
The ten days between Yom Teruah and Yom Kippur, aka the Feast of Trumpets and the Day of Atonement, are referred to as the Days of Awe. In Judaism, it is a time of repentance and soul searching ahead of the fast, which they consider to be the holiest day of the year. These are traditions so we take this info with a grain of salt understanding we can learn from traditions.
There’s also something to consider…. Christianity started as a sect of Judaism. The two were indistinguishable for decades after the ascension of the Messiah. Acts 15 was addressing what to do with Gentiles who accepted Yeshua, Jesus, as the Messiah and then showed up at synagogue. It’s more than reasonable to consider that our Messianic forefathers influenced Judaism before Messianics, aka Christians, were forced out of the synagogue. Jews associated the Day of Trumpets with having people be inscribed in the book of life and then, on the Day of Atonement, sealed in the book of life. These concepts have a New Testament eschatology flavor to them, don’t they?
We don’t know what the ten days between Yom Teruah and Yom Kippur signify. The bible doesn’t tell us. But they mirror the ten days between the first day of the first month of the year and the selection of the lamb for Passover. We know that Yom Teruah, the Day of Trumpets, signifies the return of Yeshua. We also know the Day of Atonement is associated with Yeshua’s sacrifice. Sometimes this is hidden, like in the special linen garment He was buried in and the one piece tunic He was crucified in. Those are reminiscent of the special clothes the High Priest wore on the Day of Atonement, when the High Priest came into the presence of Yahweh. We can see an easy parallel here. Sometimes the hints are not so subtle. In the book of Hebrews, it is written that Yom Kippur is a day for the forgiveness of sins committed in ignorance and the Messiah asked God to forgive His executioners because they did not know what they were doing. This would be a direct correlation. The Holy Days of Leviticus 23 are not just relevant to a New Covenant believer, they contain a lot of information about past and future events.
As you prepare for the fast, which starts at sunset October 11 through sunset October 12 this year, meditate on what the Messiah’s sacrifice has done for mankind. He has made a way for the forgiveness of sins committed in ignorance, to include His own executioners. This means He has made a way for the billions of people who have never known Him and His Father like we do. And praise Yahweh for sending His Son into the world for this purpose.

How the collision of the USS Fitzgerald gives insight on the end of days

⁣If the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, so is the whole lump, and if the root is holy, so are the branches.
Romans 11:16 ESV

What does "firstfruits" and "root" refer to in Romans 11:16? The context makes it clear. This chapter is talking about how God will never forsake the natural branches of Israel because of the promises he made to Israel's patriarchs. The firstfruit of the dough and the root of the tree are the patriarchs: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

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/

⁣May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Romans 15:5-6 ESV

Disciples of Yeshua shouldn't divide over relatively minor issues. We don't have to agree on everything, but we also shouldn't bring shame on God's name by public (or private!) bickering over matters of opinion that aren't central to our common faith in God and the Messiah of Israel.

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/

⁣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/

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!

⁣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
Follow me on Twitter: https://jaycarper.com/twitter
Connect with me on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/americantorah/

⁣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.

⁣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
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/

⁣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.

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/

⁣Whoever thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men. So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding.
Romans 14:18-19 ESV

The one who is accepted by God isn't the one who serves himself, but who serves Christ and the body of Christ. Pursue peace with your fellow believers, not conflict. Build each other up; don't tear each other down.

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/

Did DOGE Accidentally Reveal the Babylon of Revelation?
There have been some significant developments with the world’s economy in recent years that shows us who the Babylon from Revelation may be. This video also includes a lesson on when to take the bible literally and when to not.

Why are Christians Keeping the Feast of Tabernacles?
The page to learn about the North Kansas City Feast site is https://firstcenturychristianity.net/fot-2025/
You may be hearing about Christians who keep the biblical festivals and are wondering what that’s all about. As it turns out, the first century church continued to observe the biblical holy days. In fact, both Gentile and Jewish people who accepted Yeshua, Jesus, as the Messiah, continued to fellowship in the synagogues for over a hundred years after Yeshua ascended. We see hints of this in the New Testament, notably at 1 Cor 5 when Paul reminds the Corinthians to continue keeping Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread, the Spring biblical holy days, as an analogy for addressing some other problems in their assembly. Keeping these days were so not in doubt that Paul is able to use them as analogies, like we would use Thanksgiving or the 4th of July today. In other words, it is completely taken for granted that the gentile converts in Corinth are observing Passover that Paul is able to use that practice at a teaching tool.
What about the Feast of Tabernacles, also called Sukkot? This festival happens in the fall. It was ordained, just like Passover, as a memorial of the Exodus. The Israelites had to live in temporary dwellings for 40 years in the wilderness so this festival is a reminder of that. But it’s also a humongous celebration because they got to cross into the promised land and enjoy the food and freedom that came with living the way God intended in the land He set apart!
Passover is a memorial of the Exodus and crossing into the Promised land but we all know now that it was a prophecy of the Messiah, the Lamb of God, coming down from heaven to live a sinless life and bear our transgressions. Tabernacles follows this same pattern. It’s a memorial to living in temporary dwellings, called sukkot, the plural of sukkah. That’s a reminder that our time in this life is temporary, that there is something more out there. But there is a specific prophecy about this observance in the Old Testament book of Zechariah, chapter 14, verses 16-18. This prophecy states that at a future time, the entire world will either observe the Feat of Tabernacles. Those who don’t will die by famine because there will be no rain on their lands.
This is a future prophecy. Nothing like this has ever happened in history. Most who study prophecy and believe this will happen place the event in the 1000 year Messianic kingdom that begins when Yeshua, Jesus, returns. Whenever this happens, though, it’s a prophecy about all nations keeping the Feast of Tabernacles in the future. So many of us ask why not now?
Many Christians have returned to the practices of the first century church because it just makes sense. The bible is one story, from Genesis to Revelation, about God’s relationship with mankind and His desire to have a relationship with us. A big blessing in keeping God’s holy days is that our faith and our lifestyle become one. We who keep these days walk out our faith all year long, planning for the next set of holy days, enjoying the last ones, and living the way we believe all mankind will live when Yeshua, Jesus, returns.
We will be hosting the Feast of Tabernacles in North Kansas City this year (2025). This year, we are going to teach the basics of why the holy days apply to Christians. The dates are October 7-14 and we would love for you to join us whether you are local or coming from out of town. Please consider joining us and you can find the information and register at the FOT25 link on firstcenturychristianity.net. I will post that link wherever this gets posted. You may also join us each week for services, online or in person, every Saturday at 1pm central time.
Thanks for your time and may YHVH bless you and keep you, in the Name of His Son, Yeshua.

Authorship, structure, and purpose of the Book of Proverbs with Common Sense Bible Study

⁣Common Sense Bible Study's complete discussion of Proverbs 2.

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/

As it turns out, the bible tells us quite plainly when Jesus Christ aka Yeshua the Messiah was born. It's not December 25 and it's not Sukkot. What's really shocking is that it's right in plain view!

⁣Throughout Paul's story in Acts and his letters, it seems that he was comfortable among people with power, both political and religious. Acts 22 and 23 show that his family had money or some other strong connection with the Roman authorities. His personal history and apparent influence of his nephew show a strong connection with the Jewish religious authorities. Paul was smart, educated, well-spoken, and a political force to be reckoned with, even with the whole Roman and Jewish worlds against him.

Wild Branch Community is a home fellowship of Torah-observant believers in Texas between Houston and Austin. We are centrally located near Brenham, Burton, Somerville, Navasota, Chappell Hill, and Round Top. Find out more about us at https://WildBranchTX.org.