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!

⁣I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means! For I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. Do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he appeals to God against Israel?
Romans 11:1-2 ESV

People love to use Romans and "A true Jew is one who is a Jew inwardly" to say that God has permanently rejected the Jews and canceled his covenant with them, but Paul refutes that idea in the very same letter.

The apostate Israelites of Elijah's day didn't stop being Israel because they were apostate. God always preserves a remnant of the natural descendants of Jacob and, through them, the whole nation. Nor can he reject his covenant with them. So long as God himself lives and a single descendant of Jacob lives, God cannot annul the covenant that made Israel his people.

From Jay Carper at Common Sense Bible Study (https://CommonSenseBibleStudy.com) and American Torah (https://www.AmericanTorah.com).

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The Gospel message includes loving your neighbor more than yourself which was the fabric of western civilization. Yeshua explains this in His last words before going to crucifixion.
For this entire series, please go to https://firstcenturychristiani....ty.net/the-gospel-of

⁣"HARRIS-TRUMP 2024; The Professor vs. The Prophet; Allan Lichtman's Prediction and Kim Clement's Prophecy," written, produced, narrated, and compiled by George Lujack of Scripture Truth Ministries.

⁣So I ask, did [the Jews] stumble in order that they might fall? By no means! Rather, through their trespass salvation has come to the Gentiles, so as to make Israel jealous. Now if their trespass means riches for the world, and if their failure means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their full inclusion mean!
Romans 11:11-12 ESV

How did the failure of the Jews to accept their Messiah mean riches for the Gentiles? In the same way that the failure of Israel to repent in Jonah's day meant riches for at least one generation of the people of Ninevah. The ministries of Paul and Jonah are parallel in many ways. Jonah can even be thought of as the first apostle to the nations, a foreshadowing of Paul's ministry.

From Jay Carper at Common Sense Bible Study (https://CommonSenseBibleStudy.com) and American Torah (https://www.AmericanTorah.com).

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Messianic Torah Portion Vayera is the foundation for John 3:16 that God gave His only begotten Son so that whoever believes in Him may not perish but have everlasting life. This truth is founded upon Abraham’s willingness to slay Isaac, the son of the Promise and God substituting the ram for Isaac. In this discussion, we show how Abraham’s obedience foreshadowed the Messiah and the many direct parallels from this Torah portion to New Testament scripture.

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.

⁣And even they, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God has the power to graft them in again. For if you were cut from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and grafted, contrary to nature, into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, the natural branches, be grafted back into their own olive tree.
Romans 11:23-24 ESV

Very few native branches of Israel were left on the tree after the first few centuries of Christianity, so that today both the native and the wild branches need to be grafted back into the olive tree of Israel. God has promised that he will restore the genetic descendants of Jacob, and he has the power to do it!

From Jay Carper at Common Sense Bible Study (https://CommonSenseBibleStudy.com) and American Torah (https://www.AmericanTorah.com).

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⁣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.

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The goal in raising children is to produce productive adults that can contribute to the betterment of mankind. Today, this is best achieved by breaking from the traditional education system in whole or in part. This is a testimonial about our experience with home schooling meant to encourage others who are looking for alternatives. Tips for how to home school or employ alternative paths while keeping your children in the government schools can be found at https://firstcenturychristiani....ty.net/homeschooling

⁣It's amazing and beautiful to see so many people returning to God's commandments, but there is also a lot of ugliness along the way. We are still human, after all. Whether you call this movement Messianic Judaism, Hebrew Roots, Pronomianism, or something else, everyone has their own idea of what it means and how to live it out. Sometimes those differences can turn into arguments and division.

This is not how YHWH wants his people to be!

On Thursday, January 16th, Ed Doss joined the Common Sense Bible Study crew for a live conversation about Unity in the Kingdom.

Ed Doss is a former evangelist with more than 30 years of outreach and evangelistic experience. As a missionary, Ed has planted two churches in Los Angeles and Victorville, California, alongside two campus ministries in Phoenix, Arizona, and in Los Angeles. Ed served as an evangelist in the Phoenix Church of Christ for five years and founded Digging Deeper, a Biblical teaching group in Dallas that explores the often overlooked and untaught parts of Scripture.

Ed has authored papers on topics such as the six-day creation week, the two houses of Israel, and understanding the book of Job. He is the author of the book Finding the Ancient Paths: the Harmony of Law & Grace (affiliate link: https://amzn.to/4fCYEFb) and host of "Finding the Ancient Paths" on YouTube with many great videos on Biblical topics.

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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Heirs according to the promise.
Prelude – rebuilding the wall of separation. Attractive for both sides. One wants the commandments to be exclusive. The other wants nothing to do with the commandments. In effect, both sides want the law to be exclusive, I suppose. Out of pure practicality, this answer can’t be true. For people to accept anyone as Messiah, they must understand what a Messiah is. That is established solely though the Law and the Prophets. It’s not a concept for the nations. A Messiah is one who has been anointed by God for a mission. The Messiah, the Son of God, is the very image of God and our Mediator between us and God. It’s impossible for those who accept the Messiah to then not accept the law because there would be nothing to mediate. Let’s get into the details.
Ephesians 1: 3-7 Paul refers to “us”. He does not make a distinction. He includes himself in the adoption. This is strange as he was surely native born. Ephesus is where Paul started a riot preaching against idolatry so at a minimum it’s a mixed congregation of both native and grafted in.
The promise – Galatians 3: 26-29 Abraham was promised to be the father of countless people. This promise is fulfilled in this adoption. That through His seed, Yeshua, we have the opportunity to join the family of God. We do not replace that family, but we join in. We have the choice to accept adoption. The native born have the choice to also accept Yeshua.
The wall is broken down – Eph 2: 11-13 Commonwealth of Israel. You understand Paul is including gentile converts as Israel here. Not as a replacement for Israel, but a joining, a grafting in. Both groups into one. The gentiles who accept Yeshua as Messiah become part of Israel. Grafted in, not a replacement. Not a separate class of people, either. The goal here is unity.
Acts 15: 19-21. The gentiles are showing up at synagogue on Shabbat all over the world. They are accepting Yeshua as the Messiah and following the commandments. The question is whether conversion to Judaism is requires through circumcision prior to allowing them to commune and study. The answer is no. Many take this to mean that’s the end of the story, that these directives issued by the council of Jerusalem are the permanent ordinance and all people have to do to be consider Christians forever. That all who accepted Yeshua from the nations forever were to just stop right here and be done. Believe in the Messiah, learn, and basically continue to live as you did prior expect with these few requirements. This cannot be true because it would legalize sin for most of mankind. It would make the rest of the New Testament gibberish as there would be nothing for converts to learn or do. What would they be persevering in? If their behavior barely changed from prior, how would anybody even know they changed? It’s bizarre this concept keeps coming up on both sides. Mainstream Christians believe the law doesn’t apply to them and Jews concur. This is the divide between us and mainstream Christianity.
1 Cor 5: 4-8 become a new lump. Written to a gentile area in the Name of Yeshua. Assuming a mixed group of prior Jew and Gentile. And they are expected not only to know Torah but to be keeping ULB. Does this sound like this group stopped at the few things commanded in Acts 15? Of course not. Because Acts 15 is just a starting point. The believers were expected to keep attending Shabbat, hearing Moses, learning, and doing as they learned.
Rev 14:12 – the remnant are those who keep Torah and believe in Yeshua. You want to be the remnant.
https://firstcenturychristianity.net/

⁣In Genesis 49, Jacob blesses his sons, but many of these blessings sound more like curses. What's really going on? By recognizing who each of his sons were and prophesying over them accordingly, Jacob set them on a course to reinforce each other's strengths and minimize each other's weaknesses.

This is how the body of Christ should be. A blessing for one of us should be a blessing to all of us, and a curse to one of us should be an opportunity to defend and encourage a brother, not to tear him down.

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.

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.

⁣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.

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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 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.

⁣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.

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Mainstream Christianity First Century Christianity
Go to church on Sunday or Keep the Sabbath
Sunday, Christmas, Easter or The Holy Days of the Bible
Dead people are now spirits or Dead people are dead awaiting resurrection
Trinity is mandatory or Accepting Yeshua as the Messiah and Son of God is the key to life
Works optional/not required or Repentance and change mandatory
Goal of life is going to heaven or Being in a better resurrection/the kingdom of God/ the Olam Haba
Old Testament for reference onlyor The Old Testament was the only bible they had for decades
Christianity is a different/new religion pr Christianity is the continuation of the faith of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob

⁣One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God.
Romans 14:5-6 ESV

These verses don't mean that we can choose what day we observe as a Sabbath or no day at all. It's possible that Paul was talking about arguments over ambiguous aspects of the calendar, such as when exactly a day begins and ends. He could also have been talking about days on which one might encounter meat that had been sacrificed to idols offered for sale in the market. However, the most likely explanation is that he was talking about controversies over which days of the week should be set aside for fasting. There are no commanded weekly fast days, so this would be entirely a matter of personal opinion, not obedience to God.

If Paul wasn't saying that God's commandments concerning the weekly Sabbath no longer apply, then how can we know exactly which day is the seventh day of the week? It's been thousands of years since Creation! This video addresses that question too.

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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