FOUNDATIONS & HEBRAIC MINDSET

Does God Exist?

Does God Exist? (pdf)
A look at this most fundamental and significant of questions. Is there a God? How can we know?

Living Truth - the Hebraic Mindset

Living Truth - the Hebraic Mindset (pdf)
Viewing the Bible with Hebraic eyes and the mindset of Israel in the 1st century.

Understanding the Bible 101

Understanding the Bible 101 (pdf)
How do you ascertain that you are reading and interpreting the Bible 'right'? This article offers some helpful directions for productive Bible Study.

A Presentation on the Hebraic Mindset

Hebraic Mindset (ppt)

More on the Hebraic Mindset and perspective - a copy of a presentation given to a Feast of Tabernacles celebration in 2010. 

Hebraic Mindset - Contradictions

Contradictions in the NT
The Bible appears to be full of contradictions: Up is down; High is low, first is last, wide is Gods grace and narrow His Way.

Righteousness Before Messiah

Righteousness Before Messiah (pdf)

This article looks at what it meant to be right with God in the days of Israel before the arrival of Yeshua. Righteousness is not about perfection, it’s about a connection with God that brings a swift response of repentance upon the understanding that transgression has taken place. 

Amazing Grace - do we really understand it?

Amazing Grace (pdf)
Have we really understood what grace actually is? What does Ps 89 mean when it informs us that we are to build the world with grace?

Hebraisms in the Gospel of John

Hebraisms in John (pdf)
This short article investigates and illustrates some of the use of Hebraisms in John's Gospel.

Cast the first stone -the pericope adulterae

Cast the first stone -the pericope adulterae
A brief overview of how this famous passage about the women caught in adultery is further inferential support for the Gospels having a Hebrew language origin

Discerning Truth & Detecting Error

Discerning Truth, Detecting Error 
How do we discern truth. What foundations and procedures can help us?

Betraying Yeshua

Betrayal?
Is Christianity betraying the Jewishness of Jesus? Consider the words of Prof. David Flusser

To Fulfil Torah

Fulfill (pdf)
To argue that someone was 'destroying the Torah' or that they were 'fulfilling Torah' was a Hebraic idiom. What does that mean in terms of Yeshua's famous statemnt? '

Insecurity

Insecurity (pdf)
God calls us to be ‘lovers of truth’; to be ‘seekers of truth’. The Apostle Paul tells us in 2 Thessalonians 2 that people perish because they refuse to love the truth. Not only that, but that when the refuse to love the truth; God’s sends a deluding influence so that they can believe a lie.

TORAH TRUTHS

Freedom and the Law

Freedom & the Law (pdf)
This article tries to demonstrate that the idea that the Ten Commandments are legalistic, and that obedience to them somehow brings death,  is a very false and damaging understanding.

Siblings of the King - Living in the Will of the Father

Siblings of the King - Living in the Will of the Father (pdf)

Yeshua states (Mark 3:35) that those who DO THE WILL OF GOD are his mother, brothers and sisters. This article addresses this issue in some detail. 

Update on the Dividing Wall of Ephesians 2 (pdf)

A review of a new translation and its implications 

Living The Way - the Path of the Circumcised Heart

Living The Way (pdf) 
How to live righteously and enjoy the freedom and abundant life that Yeshua promised.

It is NOT too hard for you - the practicality of Torah

The Practicality of Torah (pdf)
We can obey Torah. We can be righteous; we can be obedient! It is not too hard for us.

James The Just - Re-evalutaing his legacy

James the Just
A re-evaluation of the Epistle of James and its place in the NT Canon. James,the brother of Yeshua has been described by Eusebius, Clement of Alexandria, Epiphanius, as well as Josephus. What can we learn from them.

Torah, Righteousness & the Messiah’s death - Gal 2:21

Torah, Righteousness and the Messiah’s death

The argument made from here is that ‘Yeshua did it all, therefore we don’t need to do anything ..., it’s all about Grace and only Grace.”

Colossians 2:16 and the Sabbath

Col 2:16 & The Sabbath

The common interpretation of this passage flies in the face of the evidence of who the Apostle Paul was, and the situation and context that existed when he wrote this epistle.

Circumcision - a step of obedience?

Circumcision - a step of obedience?
Is male physical circumcision and the associated 'works of the law'; a necessary act of obedience for Gentiles to join the Abrahamic Covenant. 

The Sabbath: A Re-evaluation

The Sabbath - a re-evaluation
This article evaluates the Christian rejection of the Sabbath using Rabbi Blumenthal's 4 Step approach (as used with the Preterism & Judaism article)

The Tripartite Salvation Paradigm

Tripartite Salvation Paradigm
This article investigates the criteria that the Almighty has set for both community and individual salvation. It also examines the exclusiveness of the salvation criteria of ‘belief in Jesus’ and the consistent biblical revelation of how God extends His grace to all who repent and walk ‘The Way’ of Psalm 119. 

MESSIAH TRUTHS

Who is the Messiah from a Hebraic Perspective?

The Messiah from a Hebraic Perspective (pdf)
This is a background paper for this Podcast
'Part 1' and 'Part 2'

The Resurrection & Jewish Scepticism

The Resurrection & Jewish Skepticism (pdf)
A revisit to this foundational question. A look at standard Jewish objections to this very Jewish issue and question.

Was Yeshua a Torah Observant Jew

Was Yeshua Torah Observant? (pdf)
A response to a video by Greg Deuble arguing against this reality.

The Times of Yeshua

The Times of Yeshua (pdf)
The Times of Yeshua (ppt)
The Times of Yeshua - audio
A up-to-date look at life in Israel in the 1st century of the Common Era.

The Goal of Messiah

The Goal of Messiah (pdf)

Is the Goal of Torah the Messiah or the Goal of Messiah the Torah? 
These are not simple questions as there appear to be some conflicting answers.

The Faith of Yeshua - what's in a word?

Faith of Yeshua (pdf)
We are to have the faith of Yeshua/Jesus, the faith he lived by. There can be no faith in (or  better: trust in) Yeshua if we do not have the faith of Yeshua, the faith he lived by, the faith he modelled, the faith he taught. ‘Faith in Jesus’ is not diminished by this understanding but it helps us focus on the Message of the Messiah.

The Torah dressed itself in Flesh

The Torah dressed itself in Flesh (pdf)
This article looks at a different take on John 1:1 and the argument that John was really referring to Torah.
More:
Arianism's Fatal Flaw

Yeshua THE High Priest

Yeshua THE High Priest
If Yeshua became the High Priest of Israel on his resurrection or in the Olam HaBah, what does this mean? What is actually involved in the role and for whom is he High Priest?

Yom Teruah - the Day of Trumpets & the arrival of Messiah

The Day of Trumpets & the Return of the King
What is special about this day? vEvidence of its importance is also seen in the reference in Nehemiah 8. It was on Yom Teruah that the priest Ezra read the Torah to the people and their ears were opened. This short article looks at the very distinct possibility that Yeshua will return on this day in some year in the near future

An Introduction to the Pre-existence of the Messiah

Pre-existence (pdf)
This article is a relatively short investigation of the common Christian doctrine of 'pre-existence'

Righteousness Before Messiah

Righteousness Before Messiah (pdf)

This article looks at what it meant to be right with God in the days of Israel before the arrival of Yeshua. Righteousness is not about perfection, it’s about a connection with God that brings a swift response of repentance upon the understanding that transgression has taken place. 

Yeshua Preached God

Yeshua preached God
Many Christians, even Unitarians, seem to make the mistake of worshiping the Messiah, the one anointed by God, as if he was God Himself.

The Genealogy of Yeshua

The Genealogy of Yeshua
Was Yeshua really quailified to be the end-time Messiah? What about the Virgin Birth? Appendix: A debate on the Virgin Birth

Pharisees as a Metonym for Hypocrite

Pharisees as a Metonym for Hypocrite
What was the reality of the relationship between Yeshua and the Pharisees

KINGDOM OF GOD

Resurrected to Life - The New Heavens & the New Earth

Resurrected to Life
An exhortation to set our eyes, our minds and our hearts on the Kingdom of God.  This fairly detailed article is written with the wish to uplift and encourage you as I have been so uplifted and encouraged by my deeper knowledge of our future time in the Kingdom of God and by setting my mind on that place

It's Life Jim, but not as we know it -a look at the Coming Age

It's Life Jim, but not as we know it (pdf)
This is the text for a speech to Restoration Fellowship (Aust), and focuses on the time AFTER the ‘new heavens and new earth’ have been created and are inhabited without end. See restorationfellowship.info for the audio version

The Great Reunion of the Two Olives Trees

The Two Olive Trees
The Hebrew Bible, is full of descriptions of the Coming Kingdom, often described in relation to great banquets and so eloquently described by Isaiah and other prophets as a time when peace would pervade Israel and the whole earth..  

Immortality and the Ultimate Re-Boot

Isaiah 49 - A Commentary

Isaiah 49 - a commentary (pdf)

 

Isaiah writes about the return of Israel from exile; the end-times arrival of the Messiah & the establishment of the Kingdom of God and the arrival of the Messiah.

God's Goodness

God's Goodness
This article will hopefully challenge you, and even disturb you, and so stretch you out of your comfort zone.  Along the way I hope you will learn more about how truly good our God is!

THE APOSTLE PAUL

Defending The Apostle Paul

eBook at Amazon.com

This book looks at how Rav Sha'ul has been mis-represented and demosntrates that he was a Torah Observant Jew.

The Works of the Law: Much maligned and misunderstood

The Works of the Law (pdf)
This phrase has been, and continues to be wrongly interpreted, as keeping or doing the commandments, that is, 'keeping Torah'. 

The Mystery of Romans: A Torah and Shema Centric View

The Mystery of Romans (pdf)
Understanding the true meaning behind Paul’s epistle also adds strong circumstantial evidence for the reality of Yeshua and his resurrection. 

Re-evaluating Phillippians 3

Reevaluating Philippians 3
The most common interpretation of Philippians 3 is that it is a polemic against either ‘the circumcision’ (Jewish people) or, even more commonly, against ‘Judaizers’. 
Given the very common Hellenistic (and anti-Semitic) mindset that most uncritically approach this text with, it is not at all surprisingly how it is then understood in this way. 

Romans 15 & Gentile inclusion 

Romans 15 & Gentile inclusion

The Apostle Paul is speaking here to the ‘strong’ (Gentile believers), and telling them that the Tanakh contains truth to teach and encourage.

Romans 10: Toward the Autograph

Romans 10: Toward the Autograph
In Romans 10:9 we have a most significant verse with respect to common Christian understandings of faith and salvation. But there's a problem.

The Goal of Messiah

The Goal of Messiah (pdf)

Is the Goal of Torah the Messiah or the Goal of Messiah the Torah? 
These are not simple questions as there appear to be some conflicting answers.

The Challenge of 2 Corinthians 3

The Challenge of 2 Corinthians 3

"The letter kills ...' Many see this statement as conclusive proof that the ‘letter’ (Torah?) is bad; that it kills! But just a few verses earlier we read that the Gospel of Messiah can ‘kill’ as well!

The Apostle Paul - Disciple or Fraud?

Defending the Apostle Paul

Was the Apostle Paul a loyal and observant Jew or a fraud/liar and progenitor of a new religion? My article has now been replaced with a book on this subject.

A Review of a New Translation of Galatians

A Review of "El ha’Galatim"

Uriel ben Mordechai’s re-translation of the Letter to the Galatians by Rav Sha’ul (the Apostle Paul), is a most fascinating and illuminating read.

DOCTRINAL FALSEHOODS

Doctrinal Pitfalls of Hellenism

eBook at Amazon.com

This book looks at some of the major doctrinal errors introduced from the 2nd century CE on. Volume 1

Replacement Theology - an insidious and woeful error

Replacement Theology (pdf)
A response to an article arguing that Jesus replaced the Torah and Israel has been replaced by Christianity.
 

Preterism - Not Even on Judaism's Radar

Preterism (pdf)
This article looks at the prophecies that Preterists argue were fulfilled in 70 CE with the fall of Jerusalem.

Response To Mr Zac Leon's attempted rebuttal

The 'Prophetic Perfect' Hebraism & its impact on Preterism

Prophetic Perfect (pdf)
Biblical Hebrew has no real future tense and many future prophetic events are spoken of as if they are past. This Hebraism is very significant to helping understanding how Preterism has developed & been embraced by so many.

Amillenialism - some thoughts

Amillenialism - some thoughts
The view, that the Kingdom of God arrived in 70 ce with the 'spiritual' return of Yeshua, originated with Augustine in the 5th century CE. It is not a biblical view.

Preterism - a brief reply

Preterism - a brief reply
Preterism is a doctrine that twists that whole purpose of God as expressed in Dan 7:18; and Rev 11:15 and which was the mission of our Messiah (Luke 4:43; Mark 1:38 & 1 John 3:8).

An Introduction to the Pre-existence of the Messiah

Pre-existence (pdf)
This article is a relatively short investigation of the common Christian doctrine of 'pre-existence'

Universalism

Universalism (pdf)
The belief that all people alive today and that ever lived will ultimately find salvation and will all one day live life eternal.  If true then it could be considered the best news that most of humanity could ever hear.

Ps 51:5 & the Doctrine of Original Sin

Ps 51:5 & Original Sin
This short article looks at whether Psalm 51:5 is indicating the Christian concept of Original Sin.

Replacement Theology - another Hellenistic error

A Study on Replacement Theology
This is a fairly comprehensive study in how the Hellenistic mindset has led Christians to adopt this insidious and erroneous doctrine. Many of the supposed scriptural 'proof-texts' are examined in detail.

The Wineskins Parable

The Wineskins Parable (pdf)

This parable has been misunderstood and mis-applied for an awlful long time! 

The Challenge of 2 Corinthians 3

The Challenge of 2 Corinthians 3

"The letter kills ...' Many see this statement as conclusive proof that the ‘letter’ (Torah?) is bad; that it kills! But just a few verses earlier we read that the Gospel of Messiah can ‘kill’ as well!

Yeshua - Eternal Son of God or Son of the Eternal God?

Eternal Son of God or Son of Eternal God?
A number of Christian denominations believe that Jesus was eternally preexistent. This article is a short look at one man's argument for this understanding. 

Demons - Real or Imagined

Demons- real or imagined?
The question of what is meant by ‘demons’ and ‘evil spirits’, etc.,  in the Bible is a challenging one. 

Retroactive Atonement

Retroactive Atonement
Is Vicarious Atonement retroactive? Can it apply back through time to Adam and Eve, as the RaMCHaL appears to argue? 

Was Yeshua a Torah Obervant Jew?

Was Yeshua a Torah Obervant Jew?
A response to a video that falsely presents some of my corresspndence and argues that Yeshua was not Torah observant! 

Acts 13 and swapped verses

Acts 13: 38 & 39
A Great Piece of Detective Work in the Book of Acts: Investigating the veracity of Acts 13:38,39

TRANSLATION ISSUES

The Greek NT & the LXX

eBook at Amazon.com

This book presents the argument that the majority of the NT, and especially the Gospels, were first written in Hebrew. PDF version here

The Works of the Law: Much maligned and misunderstood

The Works of the Law (pdf)
This phrase has been, and continues to be wrongly interpreted, as keeping or doing the commandments, that is, 'keeping Torah'. 

Re-Translating & Reconsidering a portion of Isaiah 53

Yishaiyahu 53

This brief article looks at a portion of the amazing translation of the Great Isaiah Scroll by Uriel ben Mordechai.
The section considered is a prophecy very much for our times.

Re-evaluating Phillippians 3

Reevaluating Philippians 3
The most common interpretation of Philippians 3 is that it is a polemic against either ‘the circumcision’ (Jewish people) or, even more commonly, against ‘Judaizers’. 
Given the very common Hellenistic (and anti-Semitic) mindset that most uncritically approach this text with, it is not at all surprisingly how it is then understood in this way. 

Some thoughts on 1 Thess 2:14-16

Some thoughts on 1 Thess 2:14-16 
An 'interpolation' or a corruption; a sinister, evil, inexcusable perversion.

German translation - Thessalonicher-Gedanken

The Wineskins Parable

The Wineskins Parable (pdf)

This parable has been misunderstood and mis-applied for an awful long time! 

Psalm 2:6 - the King will be 'poured out' on His Holy Hill

Psalm 2 Verse 6?
While there are over 300 prophecies that may relate to Yeshua as the Messiah and perhaps another 500 which may relate to his Second Coming, which of these prophecies tells us specifically that he was going to be killed in Jerusalem? Frank Selch has shown us that the answermay be in Ps 2 verse 6:  “I pour out (as a libation) my king on Zion, my holy hill."

And godly was the Torah - More on Jn 1:1c

More on John 1:1c
A further look at Yochanan (John) 1:1c and the flawed approach of Arianism

ISRAEL & THE FESTIVALS

Israel: Return in Belief or Unbelief?

Israel - return in 'belief' or 'unbelief'?
Is the current return of the Jewish people the final return before the Messiah stands on the Mount of Olives (Zech 14)? There are a number of very significant biblical prophecies about the ‘last days’ which also describe a return of the Jewish people to the land of promise.

Isaiah 49 - A Commentary

Isaiah 49 - a commentary (pdf)

 

Isaiah writes about the return of Israel from exile; the end-times arrival of the Messiah & the establishment of the Kingdom of God and the arrival of the Messiah.

Does the 'Body of Christ' replace Israel?

Body of Christ & Israel (pdf)
What was the true situation in Rome at the time of the Apostle Paul and how this sheds light on the question of the relationship between Israel and the new body of believers in Yeshua as the Messiah.

The Great Reunion of the Two Olives Trees

The Two Olive Trees
The Hebrew Bible, is full of descriptions of the Coming Kingdom, often described in relation to great banquets and so eloquently described by Isaiah and other prophets as a time when peace would pervade Israel and the whole earth..  

The Wineskins Parable

The Wineskins Parable (pdf)

This parable has been misunderstood and mis-applied for an awful long time! 

The Passover & The Messiah

The Passover and The Messiah
This article was written to illustrate some of the amazing parallels between the Exodus and the week of Yeshua's crucifixion.

Shout in Unity - the Day of Shouting

10 Questions on Yom Teruah
The Feast of Trumpets is an amazing and intriguing Day of Celebration instituted by the Almighty. Why? What is it's significance?

The Holiest Day - The Day of Atonement

The Day of Atonement
This article looks at the significance of this very special Festival of God, the holiest day of the year, the Sabbath of Sabbaths, and why and how, followers of Yeshua might consider embracing it.

Sukkot - from slavery to trusting

Sukkot
This article looks at the significance of this very special Festival of God, from a different perspective.

Colossians 2:16 and the Sabbath

Col 2:16 & The Sabbath

The common interpretation of this passage flies in the face of the evidence of who the Apostle Paul was, and the situation and context that existed when he wrote this epistle.

MISCELLANEOUS

Amazing Grace

Amazing Grace (pdf)
Have we really understood what grace actually is? What does Ps 89 mean when it informs us that we are to build the world with grace?

God as Father - a new revelation of Yeshua?

Abba and Father
Yeshua's use of Father or ‘Abba’  when referring to God was common in Israel 

German version of Abba and Father by Michael Schrimpf

Where is the Outcry? Why is the Church silent?

Where is the outcry?
In this article I discuss the issue of ‘rescuing’; that is, standing or sitting in the entrances to abortion clinics with the goal of persuading pregnant women not to enter and destroy their child.  Some argue that rescuing is disrespectful of police authority and have said they cannot imagine Yeshua acting in such a way.

The Canonization of the Tanakh (OT)

Canonization of the OT
This short article gives a very brief overview of how the books that comprise the Hebrew Bible, the Tanakh or Old Testament were selected and fixed.

Psalm 83 and the Coming Conflict

Psalm 83 & the Coming Conflict
Psalm 83 is an intriguing prophetic Psalm which many Bible Scholars agree has not been totally fulfilled.  If it is indeed a prophecy of a future war, could this war issue in the time of Jacob’s trouble.

Creation and Evolution

Creation vs Evolution - Session 1
Creation vs Evolution - Session 2
Creation vs Evolution - Session 3
A series of lectures on this topic.See the Intelligent Design page for more.

Let us Revisit our Christian Foundations

Let us Revisit our Christian Foundations (pdf)
One of my very first articles. Christianity should clearly be focused on Yeshua. Does today’s Christian community have the same desire and goals as Yeshua? Does it share his mission statement? Can it or should it share His mission statement? 

Feeling for Rebekah

Feeling for Rebekah
Rebekah lost a lot when she deceived her husband Isaac. Ya'acov also received 'tit for tat' punishment.

An Eye for an Eye or Measure for Measure

An eye for an eye
The allegory 'an eye for an eye'.

German version of An Eye for an Eye by Michael Schrimpf

The Day/Age Principle - a brief comment

Day Age Principle - a brief comment
Many who believe that the ‘day-year’ principle, where the 2300 days of Daniel's prophecy are believed to refer to 2300 years, is invalid. From my brief study I believe that the critics of this principle make some serious errors of logic, as well as making some errors of biblical interpretation.

An Introduction to the Spirit of God

The Spirit of God - an Hebraic View
What does it mean to have the indwelling Spirit of God
or to 'put on the Mind of Messiah'?

Yehovah - the Personal Name of God

Yehovah - God's name
A look at why Yehovah not Yahweh is the correct transliteration of YHVH

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