Ask the Scriptures

[Pages:20]"The following is a direct script of a teaching that is intended to be presented via video, incorporating relevant text, slides, media, and graphics to assist in illustration, thus facilitating the presentation of the material. In some places, this may cause the written material to not flow or sound rather awkward in some places. In addition, there may be grammatical errors that are often not acceptable in literary work. We encourage the viewing of the video teachings to complement the written teaching you see below."

Ask the Scriptures

Have you ever asked a question about the Bible and received several conflicting answers? That is most certainly a frustrating experience. The Bible does not have contradictions, but men's understanding of the Bible are not always compatible.

Perhaps the best way to answer a Biblical question is to let Scripture speak for itself. The less commentary, and the more of God's Word, the better.

This simple study asks questions and allows Scripture to establish the answer. Before we begin, from time to time you will hear our Savior's Hebrew name Yeshua used instead of the more common transliterated form "Jesus." This is just to familiarize you with the name He was referred to in the first century; which simply means "Yahweh is Salvation" in translation. Every name in Hebrew has a real, profound meaning attached to it versus English transliterations that really carry no meaning. Thus, every time we say the name, Yeshua, it is affirming that salvation is from YHWH through His son, Yeshua.

Also, every time that LORD is mentioned in the Old Testament, you might hear us say, YHWH. In the original Hebrew Scriptures, translators replaced "YHWH" with "LORD". We simply bring it back closer to the way our Creator's name was originally written. It is simply because we encourage learning about the depth and blessings of learning the Hebrew language that we include forms of it in our teachings.

So, let's begin with the questions and see what the Bible has to say.

Q. What is sin?

A. 1 John 3:4 "Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness."

Q. If we love God, what does He want us to do?

A. John 14:15 "If you love me, keep my commandments."

Q. What is love as defined by Scripture?

A. 2 John 1:6 "And this is love, that we walk after His commandments. This is the commandment, that, as you have heard from the beginning, you should walk in it."

Q. Who did we receive this commandment from?

A. 2 John 1:4 "I rejoiced greatly that I have found some of your children walking in truth, as we received commandment from the Father."

Q. Is this commandment new? And, if not, how long have we had it?

A. 2 John 1:5 "And now, dear lady, I am not writing you a new command, but one we have had from the beginning. I ask that we love one another."

Q. What message have we heard from the beginning?

A. 1 John 3:11 "For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another."

Q. When was the beginning?

A. Genesis 1:1 "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth."

Q. Has the Word really been from the beginning?

A. John 1:1-5 "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him; and without Him was not any thing made that was made. In Him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it."

Q. How do we love God and what does loving God really mean?

A. 1 John 5:3 "For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments: and His commandments are not burdensome."

Q. Really? The Law of God as written by Moses is easy?

A. Deuteronomy 30:9-16 "The LORD (Yahweh) will again delight in you and make you prosperous, just as He delighted in your ancestors, if you obey the LORD your God and keep His commands and decrees that are

written in this Book of the Law and turn to the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, "Who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?" Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask, "Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?" No, the Word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it. See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. For I command you today to love the LORD (YHWH) your God, to walk in obedience to Him, and to keep His commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the LORD (YHWH) your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess."

Q. What is the whole responsibility of man?

A. Ecclesiastes 12:13 "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep His commandments: for this is the whole duty of man."

Q. So then, how is keeping all the commandments loving God and loving others?

A. Matthew 22:37-40 Yeshua said unto him, "You should love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, you should love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets."

Q. If we love Him, how should we feel about His commandments?

A. Psalm 1:2 "But his delight is in the law of the LORD (YHWH), and in His law he meditates day and night."

Psalm 119:35 "Make me walk in the path of Your commandments, for I delight in it."

Proverbs 29:18 "Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keeps the law, happy is he."

Q. Did Yeshua abolish or remove any commandment from God's law? And, what happens if we teach and act like He did?

A. Matthew 5:17-19 "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I do not come to destroy but to fill up. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all (law and prophets) be fulfilled. Whosoever, therefore, shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven."

Q. Did Paul abolish or remove any commandment from God's law or did he agree with the teaching of

Yeshua?

A. Romans 3:31 "Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the law."

Q. How did Paul feel about the law? Did he claim the law was a burden?

A. Romans 7:22 "For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:"

Q. Did Paul and James state and prove that Paul followed, taught, and was obedient to all of what Moses wrote?

A. Acts 21:20-26 When they heard this, they praised God. Then they said to Paul: "You see, brother, how many thousands of Jews have believed, and all of them are zealous for the law. They have been informed that you teach all the Jews who live among the Gentiles to turn away from Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or live according to our customs. What shall we do? They will certainly hear that you have come, so do what we tell you. There are four men with us who have made a vow. Take these men, join in their purification rites and pay their expenses, so that they can have their heads shaved. Then everybody will know there is no truth in these reports about you, but that you yourself are living in obedience to the law. As for the Gentile believers, we have written to them our decision that they should abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality."

The next day Paul took the men and purified himself along with them. Then he went to the temple to give notice of the date when the days of purification would end and the offering would be made for each of them.

Q. When Paul was again and continuously accused by the Pharisees for breaking the law of Moses, did he clarify himself again and again of what he believed just like in Acts 21?

A. Acts 24:13-14 Nor can they prove the things of which they now accuse me. But this I confess to you, that according to the Way which they call a sect, so I worship the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the law and in the prophets.

Q. So Paul kept stating he observed and taught what Moses wrote when he was accused of not teaching what Moses wrote?

A. Acts 25:8 "While he answered for himself, `Neither against the law of the Jews, neither against the temple, nor yet against Caesar, have I offended any thing at all.'"

Q. So, if Paul taught what Moses wrote, did Moses write that there is a different law of God for converted Gentiles?

A. Numbers 15:15-16

One ordinance shall be for you of the assembly and for the stranger (alien/foreigner/Gentile) who dwells with you, an ordinance forever throughout your generations; as you are, so shall the stranger be before the LORD (YHWH). One law and one customer shall be for you and for the stranger who dwells with you.

Q. Really? So, if Paul was teaching what Moses wrote, he also had to be teaching the same for the converted Gentile or the foreigners?

A. Leviticus 19:34 "The foreigner who dwells among you shall be to you as one born among you, and you shall love him as yourself; for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD (YHWH) your God."

Q. Did Yahweh really intend for converted Gentiles to follow the same law of God?

A. Leviticus 24:22 "You shall have the same law for the stranger and for one from your own country; for I am the LORD (YHWH) your God."

Q. Did Paul keep God's feast days, too?

A. Acts 18:20-21 When they asked him to stay a longer time with them, he did not consent, but took leave of them, saying, "I must by all means keep this coming feast in Jerusalem; but I will return again to you, God willing." And he sailed from Ephesus.

Q. Again, did Paul keep God's feast days?

A. Acts 20:17 "For Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus, so that he would not have to spend time in Asia; for he was hurrying to be at Jerusalem, if possible, on the Day of Pentecost (which is Shavuot)."

Q. Did Paul teach his converts to keep God's feast days?

A. 1 Corinthians 5:8 "For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth."

Q. Should we let ourselves be judged by others because we keep God's feasts, Sabbaths and dietary instructions? And, are they upheld because the feasts and Sabbaths prophetically teach us of things to come?

A. Colossians 2:16-17 So, let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or Sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, and the substance is of Christ.

Q. Did Paul also follow and teach the law of Christ?

A. Galatians 6:2

"Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ."

Q. Did Yeshua teach something different from the Father's commandments? Are Yeshua and the Father the same (in other words, is there a difference between the law of God and the law of Christ?)

A. John 10:30 "I and My Father are one."

John 8:28 "Then said Yeshua unto them, `When you have lifted up the Son of man, then you shall know that I am He, and that I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father hath taught Me, I speak these things.'"

John 8:19 "Then said they unto Him, `Where is your Father?' Yeshua answered, `You neither know Me, nor My Father: if you had known Me, you should have known My Father also.'"

John 14:24 "He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father's who sent Me."

Q. In the great tribulation, does Satan go after those who just have the testimony of Yeshua the Messiah, or those that also keep God's commandments?

A. Revelation 12:17 "And the dragon was enraged with the woman (Israel), and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Yeshua the Messiah."

Q. Did Yeshua state that receiving the sword of truth would bring peace or division?

A. Matthew 10:34-38 Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. For I have come to `set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man's enemies will be those of his own household.' He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.

Q. What does the sword do to people?

A. Luke 2:35 "(Yes a sword shall pierce through your own soul also,) that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed."

Q. What is the sword?

A. Hebrews 4:12 "For the Word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart."

Q. What did Yeshua state would happen if we follow His commandments and walk in His path?

A. Mark 13:13 "And you shall be hated by all for My Name's sake. But he who endures to the end shall be saved."

Q. What does it mean to "endure?"

A. Revelation 14:12 "Here is the perseverance of the saints who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Yeshua."

Q. How do we know if we know Him?

A. 1 John 2:3-6 And hereby we do know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He that says, "I know Him," and keeps not His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps His Word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him. He that says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk, even as He walked.

Q. Should believers do what is right in our own eyes and follow after our own heart? Or, should we just simply follow His commandments?"

A. Deuteronomy 12:8 "You shall not all do as we are doing here today - every man doing whatever is right in his own eyes -"

Ecclesiastes 11:9 "Rejoice, young man, during your childhood, and let your heart be pleasant during the days of young manhood. And follow the impulses of your heart and the desire of your eyes. Yet, know that God will bring you to judgment for all these things."

Numbers 15:39 "Seek not after your own heart and your own eyes."

Q. Should we be careful not to add or take away from His commandments?

A. Deuteronomy 12:32 "Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it; you shall not add to it nor take away from it."

Deuteronomy 4:2 "You should not add unto the Word which I command you, neither should you diminish from it, that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you."

Q. Should we serve, worship, and remember God in the same ways that false gods have been worshipped and remembered?

A. Deuteronomy 12:30

"Take heed to yourself that you are not snared by following them, after that they be destroyed from before you; and that you do not enquire after their gods, saying, `How did these nations serve their gods? We will do the same.' You must not worship the LORD (YHWH) your God in their way!"

Jeremiah 10:2 "Thus says the LORD (YHWH), Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them."

Deuteronomy 12:4 "You must not worship the LORD (YHWH) your God in their way."

Q. Will He have the same commandments during His reign when He returns?

A. Isaiah 2:2-4 Now it shall come to pass, in the latter days, that the mountain of the LORD (YHWH)'s house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow to it. Many people shall come and say, "Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD (YHWH), to the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, and we shall walk in His paths." For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the Word of the LORD (YHWH) from Jerusalem. He shall judge between the nations and rebuke many people; They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.

Q. Will we be celebrating the feast of Tabernacles in the 1000 year reign?

A. Zechariah 14:16-19 And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD (YHWH) of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles. And it shall be that whichever of the families of the earth do not come up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD (YHWH) of hosts, on them there will be no rain; 18If the family of Egypt will not come up and enter in, they shall have no rain; they shall receive the plague with which the LORD (YHWH) strikes the nations who do not come up to keep the feast of tabernacles. This shall be the punishment of Egypt and the punishment of all the nations that do not come up to keep the feast of tabernacles.

Q. When Yeshua returns, is one of the things that angers Him and is part of His judgment the eating of unclean things, such as pig?

A. Isaiah 66:15-17 See, the LORD (YHWH) is coming with fire, and His chariots are like a whirlwind; He will bring down His anger with fury, and His rebuke with flames of fire. For with fire and with His sword the LORD (YHWH) will execute judgment on all people, and many will be those slain by the LORD (YHWH).

"Those who consecrate and purify themselves to go into the gardens, following one who is among those who eat the flesh of pigs, rats and other unclean things - they will meet their end together with the one they follow," declares the LORD (YHWH).

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