Letter To My Dad
Last week I left off with looking into the mindset of the double standard of Saul of Tarsus. This week I would like to expand those thoughts through my own personal experiences in the form of a letter to my Dad.
I did not know much about my grandfather. I know he came to America from Lithuania sometime in the early 1900’s. He owned a horse stable in Center City Philadelphia, and then a store in Audubon, New Jersey.
I know that your Jewish education was very limited. I would say that was because Grandpa might have been rebelling against his own upbringing. He likely was brought up in a modest Jewish household and came to America to seek fame and fortune. When he arrived he found he could live a different life than the one he was brought up in.
The thing of it is, Dad, he did leave you with a big degree of the values and duties of the Torah. You and Mom decided to give us a good Jewish education that you were never given. My problem started when I learned about the Torah and what it was saying about the Levites and how they were supposed to be cared for, in their service to God. It truly began to bother and anger me. I was always bothered by the fact that you would always be working on something at the Synagogue or having to fix something there. Over the past few months I have come to realize that as Levites this is what we are supposed to be doing and in doing that service. Serving God, and yes, that can mean fixing the air conditioner, making games for the Purim Carnival for the kids to play, or whatever is needed. The problem I have with this is, all thought the Levities do there part, the Synagogues have forgotten them. See Numbers Chapter 18.
What I found out in researching for this series is that the rest of the tribes for many centuries have been living in a world they choose to forsake. Commandments they choose to not apply. The requirement to care for the Levites in their community according to what I received from a question posted to ask the Rabbi. The response he gave me, is this Law for caring for the Levites only applies in the time of the Temple or when the Jewish people will live in Israel and rebuild the Temple. Dad, this is what angered me so, not about what you were doing, but what they were not.
You sent me to a Temple with a bunch of spoiled wealthy kids, ones who acted pious by observing Sabbath and the rest of the Holidays. Over time, the thing that really started to bother me was their arrogance towards you and others like you. Jewish people who had very little, but tried to raise their children the right way by giving them a proper Jewish education.
They claim to follow Jewish Law, yet only as they see it applies. They claim that the Synagogue is supposed to be treated like the Temple, because of its destruction so you are to tithe your 10% to them, and in order to maintain your membership you must. So we build big Synagogues and claim they are for the Lord God, while claiming that the other part of the Law is to care for the Levites only applies to them in Israel.
Finally Dad I wanted to tell you that although you don’t believe that the Messiah has come, it really doesn’t matter. What really mattered was that you taught me to live my life to do what is right in God’s eyes in service to him as a Levite as we are supposed to do. Just like I’m sure you learned from my grandfather. In following these teachings God will provide for the things I need. I may not be given the things I desired, but God will meet my needs.
This may seem it doesn’t belong in this series, but I hope that in these words to my Dad you can see and understand Saul of Tarsus, son of Benjamin, in a different light. That a lot of what I see as wrong doings stem from this mentality I see of the Jewish people and the Sanhedrin to enact laws or rules only to apply them to suit their own desires.
The big thing Jesus taught about was those same thing that angered me and many others Jewish People. We say one thing but do another. When you boil it all down, Christians are following the same mind set Saul of Tarsus instilled in all his writings. Apply the Law, and use that Law as you see fit. Create a group of men to decide how the Law should apply to their own community of followers.
The Lord Bless you and Protect you!
The Lord deal kindly and graciously with you!
The Lord bestow His favor upon you and grant you peace!
The Articles presented here are copyrighted by The Light In Christ Ministry in Sherman, TX.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Friday, April 24, 2009
Saul of Tarsus, son of Benjamin Part 2
This week we will examine who the Sanhedrin where and what part they played in the life of Saul of Tarsus, son of Benjamin.
If you will look at the book of Numbers chapter 11:16-26, God directed Moses to go amongst the Tribes and collect 70 Elders from the community of Israel to be the Judges of the Law. God then brought his spirit upon them to assist Moses as a High Court over all of Israel.
The example that most of us will understand is it would be like Congress generating a Law and the Supreme Court deciding on the intent and meaning of that Law. I would like to equate it this way. A law is created in Congress then it is questioned by a law suit. The case is brought to the Supreme Court and they make a ruling. That ruling is then considered case law and will stand as the interpretation of the law until it has been rewritten. This is how the Talmud came to be, it was in these interpretations that 71 of the elders of Israel made the Oral Law or Talmud. To a large part of the Jewish people including Saul of Tarsus this was and is to this day no less then God’s Law.
There is one group of Jewish people who are called Karaites who do not believe the Talmud is God’s Law and only follow the Torah. As for me I fall into the category of the Karaites. I find it hard to accept that any man can know the mind of God or the intent of his law. His law was pretty explicit in details and what I believe, is that the Sanhedrin was created in order to assist Moses in judging the people of Israel. Moses knew that he would not be around forever Moses also knew that he was having trouble bearing all the decisions over the Law. So he sought a way to allow them to be part of the process, of holding themselves accountable to these laws that God had given them.
In doing this it gave them a power to determine what the meaning and intent of God’s Laws were and how they applied to all in the future. The sad part in all this is it left them believing that they could apply any Law as they saw fit, applying it in a manner that would suit there own desires at the time.
A good example of this mind set is that since there is no longer a Temple in Israel the gifts to be given to the Priesthood of the Levites is no longer observed, and these Laws only applied during the time of the Temple when the a large part of the Jewish people were to be living in Israel. While on the other hand they state that the synagogues are to replace the Temple and you are to give your 10% tithes to them. Thus setting up the mind set of a double standard.
So when I read the writings of Saul of Tarsus, a Pharisee, who came from a background and education in Talmud, this might assist you in understanding the mind set that I see as a double standard. Do as I say not as I do.
The Lord Bless you and Protect you!
The Lord deal kindly and graciously with you!
The Lord bestow His favor upon you and grant you peace!
The Articles presented here are copy written by The Light In Christ Ministry in Sherman, TX. We are a Teaching Ministry whose goals are to teach Christians about the Daily prayer life of Jesus. Please consider if you are able, make a contribution to our ministry by contacting Brian Brody at 903-819-6777 or bbrody1306@aol.com.
If you will look at the book of Numbers chapter 11:16-26, God directed Moses to go amongst the Tribes and collect 70 Elders from the community of Israel to be the Judges of the Law. God then brought his spirit upon them to assist Moses as a High Court over all of Israel.
The example that most of us will understand is it would be like Congress generating a Law and the Supreme Court deciding on the intent and meaning of that Law. I would like to equate it this way. A law is created in Congress then it is questioned by a law suit. The case is brought to the Supreme Court and they make a ruling. That ruling is then considered case law and will stand as the interpretation of the law until it has been rewritten. This is how the Talmud came to be, it was in these interpretations that 71 of the elders of Israel made the Oral Law or Talmud. To a large part of the Jewish people including Saul of Tarsus this was and is to this day no less then God’s Law.
There is one group of Jewish people who are called Karaites who do not believe the Talmud is God’s Law and only follow the Torah. As for me I fall into the category of the Karaites. I find it hard to accept that any man can know the mind of God or the intent of his law. His law was pretty explicit in details and what I believe, is that the Sanhedrin was created in order to assist Moses in judging the people of Israel. Moses knew that he would not be around forever Moses also knew that he was having trouble bearing all the decisions over the Law. So he sought a way to allow them to be part of the process, of holding themselves accountable to these laws that God had given them.
In doing this it gave them a power to determine what the meaning and intent of God’s Laws were and how they applied to all in the future. The sad part in all this is it left them believing that they could apply any Law as they saw fit, applying it in a manner that would suit there own desires at the time.
A good example of this mind set is that since there is no longer a Temple in Israel the gifts to be given to the Priesthood of the Levites is no longer observed, and these Laws only applied during the time of the Temple when the a large part of the Jewish people were to be living in Israel. While on the other hand they state that the synagogues are to replace the Temple and you are to give your 10% tithes to them. Thus setting up the mind set of a double standard.
So when I read the writings of Saul of Tarsus, a Pharisee, who came from a background and education in Talmud, this might assist you in understanding the mind set that I see as a double standard. Do as I say not as I do.
The Lord Bless you and Protect you!
The Lord deal kindly and graciously with you!
The Lord bestow His favor upon you and grant you peace!
The Articles presented here are copy written by The Light In Christ Ministry in Sherman, TX. We are a Teaching Ministry whose goals are to teach Christians about the Daily prayer life of Jesus. Please consider if you are able, make a contribution to our ministry by contacting Brian Brody at 903-819-6777 or bbrody1306@aol.com.
Friday, April 17, 2009
Saul of Tarsus, son of Benjamin Part 1
I want to start this series out with some very important background information about Paul and where his roots came from.
Saul of Tarsus was a descendant of the Tribe of Benjamin and the son of a Pharisee. One distinction I would like to make here is the difference between a Pharisee and a Priest. An example today of a Modern day Pharisee would be the Hasidic Jewish people who you would see in Photographs standing before the walling wall in Jerusalem praying. Only a direct descendant of Aaron could hold the position of the High Priest and it was only a member of the Tribe of Levi who would be considered a Priest.
I want to take you to Judges Chapter 20. The Benjamites refused to give up certain men in their city that raped and murdered a woman. In their refusal to do so it forced the entire Nation of Israel against them. The entire nation refused and pledged before the Lord to not give any of their daughters to any member of the Tribe of Benjamin.
The end result was that out of 26,000 men only 600 men who were hiding in the Mountains were left alive. There was one tribe who had not banded together and taken the oath before the Lord, so the directions were to put to death all the men in the city and all of the women who had had sex with a man. There were 400 hundred virgins taken from that city and given to 400 men of Benjamin. The remaining 200 women came from the city of Shiloh, thus the Lord had spared the Tribe of Benjamin, in order to not allow this Tribe to perish from existence.
Next week I will cover Saul of Tarsus a member of the Sanhedrin. What was the Sanhedrin, were do the requirements come from to establish the Sanhedrin, and were Saul of Tarsus fit into it.
The Lord Bless you and Protect you!
The Lord deal kindly and graciously with you!
The Lord bestow His favor upon you and grant you peace!
The Articles presented here are copy written by The Light In Christ Ministry in Sherman, TX. We are a Teaching Ministry whose goals are to teach Christians about the Daily prayer life of Jesus. Please consider if you are able, make a contribution to our ministry by contacting Brian Brody at bbrody1306@aol.com.
Saul of Tarsus was a descendant of the Tribe of Benjamin and the son of a Pharisee. One distinction I would like to make here is the difference between a Pharisee and a Priest. An example today of a Modern day Pharisee would be the Hasidic Jewish people who you would see in Photographs standing before the walling wall in Jerusalem praying. Only a direct descendant of Aaron could hold the position of the High Priest and it was only a member of the Tribe of Levi who would be considered a Priest.
I want to take you to Judges Chapter 20. The Benjamites refused to give up certain men in their city that raped and murdered a woman. In their refusal to do so it forced the entire Nation of Israel against them. The entire nation refused and pledged before the Lord to not give any of their daughters to any member of the Tribe of Benjamin.
The end result was that out of 26,000 men only 600 men who were hiding in the Mountains were left alive. There was one tribe who had not banded together and taken the oath before the Lord, so the directions were to put to death all the men in the city and all of the women who had had sex with a man. There were 400 hundred virgins taken from that city and given to 400 men of Benjamin. The remaining 200 women came from the city of Shiloh, thus the Lord had spared the Tribe of Benjamin, in order to not allow this Tribe to perish from existence.
Next week I will cover Saul of Tarsus a member of the Sanhedrin. What was the Sanhedrin, were do the requirements come from to establish the Sanhedrin, and were Saul of Tarsus fit into it.
The Lord Bless you and Protect you!
The Lord deal kindly and graciously with you!
The Lord bestow His favor upon you and grant you peace!
The Articles presented here are copy written by The Light In Christ Ministry in Sherman, TX. We are a Teaching Ministry whose goals are to teach Christians about the Daily prayer life of Jesus. Please consider if you are able, make a contribution to our ministry by contacting Brian Brody at bbrody1306@aol.com.
Monday, April 13, 2009
Jesus the new Temple
As a Christian raised in a conservative Jewish household I personally find some of Paul’s teachings to be not only out of character but also in some ways ludicrous. Let us take for example Paul’s argument with Peter about Gentiles being circumcised. Paul preaches here that although he personally follows the Laws of Torah, gentiles are not required to, as they are not Jews, but rather adopted. Let us examine this with simple logic, if one adopts a child born of a voodoo priestess and her lover, do we not require them to follow our household rules in raising them to be adults, or due we allow them to run around sacrificing chickens in the living room. I say no my friend when one is adopted into a religion he would be most certainly required to follow the tenants of that religion.
Over the past several weeks I have read some interesting articles covering Jewish culture and Faith. It is and has been my goals in writing about Jesus’ life as a Jew to help Christians to get to know the Jesus I know and Love. The Jewish Messiah who died on the Cross in order to complete God’s divine plan for the destruction of the Temple and removal of the Physical requirements for a Blood sacrifice.
Let’s take a look at the Tabernacle (Tent of Meeting) prior to the Temple and how it was used. During their travels in the desert, and up until King Solomon built the Temple, the Jewish people used the Tabernacle to house the Ark of the Covenant and the altar to perform their sin offerings to the Lord. These Blood offerings to the Lord were to be done in great detail. The details can be found within Chapter 16 of Leviticus.
Within the details of this Chapter we find that Aaron and his descendants are to perform these Sacrifices. Only a direct descendant of Aaron was able to go behind the curtain in the Tabernacle or the Temple whichever was in effect at the time. Jesus’ death on the Cross was God’s way to cancel the need for Aaron’s family to perform this Blood offering for the Sin’s of their family and the Community of Israel. Once and for all the need to do blood sacrifice would no longer be needed to release us from our sins.
It is the requirement once a year to repent for the sins we commit against God or against others. All this is to be performed in the Seventh month on the Tenth Day. This day is known today as Yom Kippur or The Day of Atonement. Jesus’ crucifixion (Blood Sacrifice) took place on the Passover the time when God gave the Israeli people the requirements in the first place to sacrifice an unblemished Lamb to signify that the angel of death was to pass over their house. What better time to remove the Blood Sacrifice then when it began in order to symbolize eternal life to where the angle of death will pass over our spiritual body forever.
There is still one thing that is important to understand in this chapter, besides the Blood Sacrifice is the requirement for the observance of The Day of Atonement. Although many Christian Pastors understand and have knowledge of this and some preach at this time of repentance, it would be considered political suicide if they came out and truly explained where the requirements originate from, and that the sermon they chose was based on the observance of Yom Kippur.
Never mind that any of them will tell you that Jesus died on the cross as the atonement for the sins of man. The exact sacrifice required at the Temple on Yom Kippur. In this instance the Yom Kippur sacrifice was a Bullock and two Goats, the first Goat had all the sins of Israel symbolically cast upon it and it was taken into the wilderness, this was called the scapegoat and is where the term originated. The bullock and second goat were to be sacrificed as a Blood offering for our sin. In this instance we see that Christ has become not only the Passover sacrifice, but also the Yom Kippur sacrifice including the scapegoat upon whom all the sins of man were case. This fulfills all of the Blood Sacrifice requirements of Torah, and there for the statement of Jesus’ “I did not come to take away the Law, but to fulfill it”.
Over the next several weeks we will exam Paul’s thought process concerning the Gentiles as to the requirements of Torah and whether or not his beliefs were actually based in his own Judaic elitism.
The Articles presented here are copy written by The Light In Christ Ministry in Sherman, TX. We are a Teaching Ministry whose goals are to teach Christians about the Daily prayer life of Jesus. Please consider if you are able, make a contribution to our ministry by contacting Brian Brody at 903-436-1876 or bbrody1306@aol.com.
Over the past several weeks I have read some interesting articles covering Jewish culture and Faith. It is and has been my goals in writing about Jesus’ life as a Jew to help Christians to get to know the Jesus I know and Love. The Jewish Messiah who died on the Cross in order to complete God’s divine plan for the destruction of the Temple and removal of the Physical requirements for a Blood sacrifice.
Let’s take a look at the Tabernacle (Tent of Meeting) prior to the Temple and how it was used. During their travels in the desert, and up until King Solomon built the Temple, the Jewish people used the Tabernacle to house the Ark of the Covenant and the altar to perform their sin offerings to the Lord. These Blood offerings to the Lord were to be done in great detail. The details can be found within Chapter 16 of Leviticus.
Within the details of this Chapter we find that Aaron and his descendants are to perform these Sacrifices. Only a direct descendant of Aaron was able to go behind the curtain in the Tabernacle or the Temple whichever was in effect at the time. Jesus’ death on the Cross was God’s way to cancel the need for Aaron’s family to perform this Blood offering for the Sin’s of their family and the Community of Israel. Once and for all the need to do blood sacrifice would no longer be needed to release us from our sins.
It is the requirement once a year to repent for the sins we commit against God or against others. All this is to be performed in the Seventh month on the Tenth Day. This day is known today as Yom Kippur or The Day of Atonement. Jesus’ crucifixion (Blood Sacrifice) took place on the Passover the time when God gave the Israeli people the requirements in the first place to sacrifice an unblemished Lamb to signify that the angel of death was to pass over their house. What better time to remove the Blood Sacrifice then when it began in order to symbolize eternal life to where the angle of death will pass over our spiritual body forever.
There is still one thing that is important to understand in this chapter, besides the Blood Sacrifice is the requirement for the observance of The Day of Atonement. Although many Christian Pastors understand and have knowledge of this and some preach at this time of repentance, it would be considered political suicide if they came out and truly explained where the requirements originate from, and that the sermon they chose was based on the observance of Yom Kippur.
Never mind that any of them will tell you that Jesus died on the cross as the atonement for the sins of man. The exact sacrifice required at the Temple on Yom Kippur. In this instance the Yom Kippur sacrifice was a Bullock and two Goats, the first Goat had all the sins of Israel symbolically cast upon it and it was taken into the wilderness, this was called the scapegoat and is where the term originated. The bullock and second goat were to be sacrificed as a Blood offering for our sin. In this instance we see that Christ has become not only the Passover sacrifice, but also the Yom Kippur sacrifice including the scapegoat upon whom all the sins of man were case. This fulfills all of the Blood Sacrifice requirements of Torah, and there for the statement of Jesus’ “I did not come to take away the Law, but to fulfill it”.
Over the next several weeks we will exam Paul’s thought process concerning the Gentiles as to the requirements of Torah and whether or not his beliefs were actually based in his own Judaic elitism.
The Articles presented here are copy written by The Light In Christ Ministry in Sherman, TX. We are a Teaching Ministry whose goals are to teach Christians about the Daily prayer life of Jesus. Please consider if you are able, make a contribution to our ministry by contacting Brian Brody at 903-436-1876 or bbrody1306@aol.com.
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Surrounding yourself in the Name of God
Look at the Tallis, God tells the Jewish people to place fringes on the corners of their garments. The reference is found in Numbers 15: 38-40. Yes they do make them stand out as different, but that is not the most important reason they were to wear them. It is to remind them all the time to do God’s commandments and to seek his WILL, so to understand this better the four fringes on the Tallis spell out the name of God and are tied in a way to count the Ten Commandments and the 613 laws of Torah.
Although we have covered this in prior articles this paragraph was found in last weeks Living a Sinless Life, Rick and I felt the need to expand on this topic, with some greater detail, than we were to do in last weeks article.
The Tzitzit are tied in such a way that equate with the Hebrew Numerical values that can be counted in the manner as described in the reference table seen here designed by Dr. Karl D. Coke. It is how you would see the Tzitzit tied on the corners of Jesus’ garment. In his book “The Hem of His Garment” by John D. Garr goes into much greater detail on how the numerical values fit into the design of the Tzitzit. On thing that I feel is real important to mention here is that in the Torah there are 365 (thou shall not do) negative commandments and 248 (Thou Shalt do) positive ones. The human body has 248 bones wrapped with 365 ligaments holding it all together. The other relationship we should also consider, is there are 365 days in our calendar year; if you subtract the holidays and the Sabbaths it also equals 248.
The point in this article is for us to consider how this requirement is indeed a means of surrounding ourselves with God. In doing so it makes it more difficult for our human self to follow our will instead of God’s divine will and plans for our life.
One point to consider is in the adoption of Gentiles into Judaism. If one accepts Jesus as the Hebrew Messiah then maybe as the adopted child of the faith, one should consider if he practices the faith of his adopted parents?
The Articles presented here are copy written by The Light In Christ Ministry in Sherman, TX. We are a Teaching Ministry whose goals are to teach Christians about the Daily prayer life of Jesus. Please consider if you are able, make a contribution to our ministry by contacting Brian Brody at 903-436-1876 or bbrody1306@aol.com.
Although we have covered this in prior articles this paragraph was found in last weeks Living a Sinless Life, Rick and I felt the need to expand on this topic, with some greater detail, than we were to do in last weeks article.
The Tzitzit are tied in such a way that equate with the Hebrew Numerical values that can be counted in the manner as described in the reference table seen here designed by Dr. Karl D. Coke. It is how you would see the Tzitzit tied on the corners of Jesus’ garment. In his book “The Hem of His Garment” by John D. Garr goes into much greater detail on how the numerical values fit into the design of the Tzitzit. On thing that I feel is real important to mention here is that in the Torah there are 365 (thou shall not do) negative commandments and 248 (Thou Shalt do) positive ones. The human body has 248 bones wrapped with 365 ligaments holding it all together. The other relationship we should also consider, is there are 365 days in our calendar year; if you subtract the holidays and the Sabbaths it also equals 248.
The point in this article is for us to consider how this requirement is indeed a means of surrounding ourselves with God. In doing so it makes it more difficult for our human self to follow our will instead of God’s divine will and plans for our life.
One point to consider is in the adoption of Gentiles into Judaism. If one accepts Jesus as the Hebrew Messiah then maybe as the adopted child of the faith, one should consider if he practices the faith of his adopted parents?
The Articles presented here are copy written by The Light In Christ Ministry in Sherman, TX. We are a Teaching Ministry whose goals are to teach Christians about the Daily prayer life of Jesus. Please consider if you are able, make a contribution to our ministry by contacting Brian Brody at 903-436-1876 or bbrody1306@aol.com.
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