matthew 14

Read Matthew 14 at Bible Gateway.

There are two key phrases in this chapter, that jumped out at me today:

1) He was moved with compassion for them (vs. 14).

"Moved with compassion" is a single Greek verb; it means to have sympathetic consciousness' of others' distress, together with a desire to alleviate it. Jesus not only had the desire to alleviate whatever distress was being experienced by the multitude, but He also had the ability to alleviate it. And He did so out of love, out of compassion, out of sympathy. He had just received devastating news that His cousin and the Lord's prophet had been beheaded because of drunken promises made at a licentious, worldly, depraved feast. I am sure His desire to be alone to grieve or pray was great. However, the distress suffered by the multitude moved Him to compassion, and He willingly served them and met their needs before His own.

2) Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid (vs. 27).

"Be of good cheer" is a single Greek verb; it means to be of good cheer, comfort, or courage. It means to encourage to greater hope, courage, or comfort; to give strength or hope to. Do not be terrified, frightened, or seized with alarm; it is Jesus! Who is moved with compassion for us. :)

I know this happens to me: those who spend a great deal of time studying Torah, and who are conscious of their desire to be obedient to it, can have the Scriptural admonition to fear the Lord sometimes eclipse the Scriptural admonition that the Lord greatly loves us. He greatly loves us!

Jesus is the express image of the Father, and he who has seen Jesus, has seen the Father. If Jesus was moved with compassion, sympathetic to our distress coupled with a desire to alleviate it, you can bet that it is because the Father was first so. If Jesus wanted us to be encouraged to greater hope, courage, and comfort, it is because the Father was first so.

We can come boldly before the throne of grace - He is moved with compassion to alleviate our distress, and desires to give us greater hope, courage, and comfort. :)

matthew 13

Read Matthew 13 at Bible Gateway.

In this chapter, Jesus begins teaching in parables about the kingdom of heaven. We learned a few chapters ago that the message, “The kingdom of heaven is at hand” IS the gospel. The kingdom of heaven is where Messiah rules and reigns as King. Where His will is done, and His commands are obeyed. Jesus teaches us, that the kingdom of heaven is like:

• seed
• yeast
• hidden treasure
• dragnet cast into the sea

Seed and yeast are alike, in that they are something small, that is hidden from sight in the beginning, but then its growth makes itself known. The kingdom of heaven does not appear full grown overnight, in anyone's life, in any family, community, or country. The advancement of the kingdom of heaven is a process, that starts small, and increases over time. Growth from seeds requires patience, trust, faithfulness (in providing what the seed needs to continue), and time.

The truth about a seed is, as long as it is given what it needs to grow, it will grow and increase. Wherever we are today, we will be more tomorrow, if we give our hearts what it needs in order to nourish the seed of the kingdom that is planted there. This is true, whether want is planted there is of the Spirit or of the flesh. We can determine, in other words, whether we will grow or not, and whether the kingdom of heaven will increase in us or not.

A seed needs things like water, food, soil, and sunlight. And we need things like communion with the Lord in prayer and worship (water and light), reading the Word of God (food), and a soft heart yielded to His voice (soil). We need all of those things going in our lives on a daily basis if we are going to grow right, strong, without weaknesses or defects.Whatever we don't have at the moment, we can change, we can add.

And when we cast out the seed of the Word of God into the lives of others, the fact is we might not see a result right away. There is a period of time when a seed is planted, where nothing is visible at first, but that does not mean the seed is not growing below the surface. We can take heart, that if we are doing our job of sowing the seed, of casting out the Word, that God will do His job of watching over that seed and nurturing it in everyone whose heart is ready to receive it.

All of the parables have an interesting commonality, and that is that the kingdom of heaven is hidden, not visible, not evident, until the end. Seeds and yeast are hidden in the soil, or in the lump of dough, where they do their work unseen, below the surface. When it is finally evident that something is growing, like fruit or a leavened lump, the plant or the yeast is so well established that it cannot be uprooted. The lump of dough or the soil of the garden by that time has been completely transformed by the little amount of yeast or seed that was from the beginning. The hidden treasure is hidden, out of sight. The dragnet is below the surface of the sea, and the fishermen do not know what they have, quantity or quality, until the end when it is time to pull the net up and see what the catch has been.

We can focus our attention, our effort, on sowing and casting the Word of God out. On being witnesses. And we can trust the Lord to do His job, whether we ourselves see a result or not. :)

matthew 12

Read Matthew 12 at Bible Gateway.

In today's chapter the question rose of what is lawful to do on the Sabbath. What is commanded to do and not do on the Sabbath, according to Torah, is rest and do no work (Exo 23:12), and set the day apart and honor the Lord in it.

How does abstaining from our daily work give honor to God? Daily labor, especially in those days, required all a person's time and energy to accomplish. Men (and women for that matter) did not work eight hours and day and then have eight hours for leisure, and eight hours for sleep, as they do today. The normal work day was at least twelve hours (Mat 20:1-16). Having a day of rest from work meant that people had time to assemble together to worship the Lord, to fellowship, and to learn from His Word - something the work week would preclude because there are only so many hours in a day.

Another significant way a day of rest honors the Lord as God, is that on a day of no work, no crops or food or merchandise is produced, nothing is bought, and nothing is sold. On the Sabbath, a man stops trusting in the strength of his labor to provide for his needs, and must trust in the Lord his God to provide for his needs.

The reason we rest and do no work on the Sabbath, is historic- prophetic, like all of the Torah. The history relayed in Torah is also prophecy of the Messiah. The history that God delivered His people from slavery in Egypt, and brought them to the Promised Land, and caused them to inherit it, is history- prophecy: it prophesies that God will deliver His people from the kingdom of darkness and bring them into His promise and cause them to inherit it. All of the Torah is in fact history- prophecy, and the command concerning Sabbath is no exception.

The history part, is that God created the universe in six days and rested on the seventh, and blessed the seventh day as a set apart day to Him (Exo 20:11). So when we rest on the Sabbath, we are acknowledging that it is Elohiym who is our Creator and God. We honor Him as God when we hallow the day He hallowed as Creator and God. We identify ourselves as His people by our action of resting.

The prophecy part, is that for 6000 years man and sin and the curse of work which man brought upon himself by sin (Gen 3:16-19) has reigned, but the seventh millennium will be a millennium of rest -- freedom from sin and the curse and work (works? as in works of self righteousness which cannot benefit the worker) -- under the reign of the returned Jesus Christ (Rev 20:1-6). So when we rest on the Sabbath, we are acknowledging that it is Jesus who is our Savior and Messiah. When we rest on the Sabbath, we proclaim His return and millennial reign in anticipation.

By the time Jesus arrived on the earth, the Pharisees had added all kinds of safeguards around the Torah, additional things that they taught men were to do. The purpose was to be a "fence" around Torah, so that if you don't transgress the "fence," then there is no possibility of coming close enough to Torah to transgress it. The problem with this is, the concept of a fence in itself is a violation of Torah:

"You shall not add to the word which I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you." Deu 4:2.

But the fence, the additional regulations, add to the word which the Lord commanded. God didn't want more than He commanded, because at some point the sheer weight of regulations makes it impossible to keep them all. It becomes burdensome, as we saw last time. So as we have been seeing throughout Matthew, Jesus is restoring the proper meaning of Torah, and that often got Him on the Pharisees' bad side.

When Jesus' disciples ate grain from the wheat field on Sabbath, they were eating only what they needed to satisfy their momentary hunger. They were not engaged in the work of harvesting a crop or making food out of that crop, and this is why Jesus said to the Pharisees, in essence, they were more concerned about making rituals out of Torah than they were about showing mercy to others -- what the heart of Torah is all about.

It is lawful to do good on the Sabbath. Doing good to others, if they need help, is not engaging in making a living for yourself. Yes, hauling a sheep out of a well into which it has fallen is hard work. But it is not the work that violates the Sabbath. Taking care of life- threatening emergencies does not violate the Sabbath. This made the Pharisees so angry that they began plotting against Jesus.

They were less concerned that Jesus had violated the Sabbath (which He hadn't) and more concerned about losing their position of authority as Torah experts. They leapt on the excuse that Jesus violated the Sabbath as the explanation for their animosity, but it was not. That is usually the way with people who are consumed by pride. Even if they see a miracle, such as mute and deaf man instantly healed, it will not speak to them, as it did to the common people, "The Spirit of God is at work here, this might be the Son of David." The Pharisees had eyes to see, but they did not see the message of the miracle, because their pride had blinded them.

We have to be on guard ourselves, because as soon as we start learning Torah in order to obey it, this becomes a tool the enemy uses to derail us. When we were ignorant of Torah, his weapon was lawlessness, the idea that we have been forgiven so do whatever. But when we begin to obey Torah, he will either try to beat us up in the points that we stumble in, or seek to make us feel proud in our obedience. Self- righteousness. That pride chokes out mercy for other believers that maybe don't see or do everything the way we do, and it also quenches the Spirit who desires to flow through us to be living water to a thirsty and dying world out there.

This entire chapter from verse 1 through 50 is an exposition on how the enemy works, it is full of gold nuggets of truth and wisdom -- I wish we had more space to get into it deeper. This is a great chapter to discuss further if anyone has any thoughts to add. :)

matthew 11

Read Matthew 11 at Bible Gateway.

Jesus tells us that John fulfills two prophecies concerning the coming of the Messiah. Interestingly enough, they are both from Malachi. Malachi, the last book of the Old Testament, was the final prophet to prophesy and to tell Israel, “Thus saith the LORD,” before the coming of the Messiah. In fact his book is about how to wait for the coming of Messiah.

The first prophecy concerning John is from Mal 3:1, and Jesus quotes it in Mat 11:10:

“Behold, I am going to send My messenger,
and he will clear the way before Me
And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple;
and the messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight, behold, He is coming,”
says the LORD of hosts.” Mal 3:1

“This is the one about whom it is written, 'BEHOLD, I SEND MY MESSENGER AHEAD OF YOU, WHO WILL PREPARE YOUR WAY BEFORE YOU.'” Mat 11:10

The second prophecy concerning John is from Mal 4:5, and Jesus alludes to it in Mat 11:14:

“Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the LORD.” Mal 4:5

“And if you are willing to accept it, John himself is Elijah who was to come.” Mat 11:14

All of this matters to us, because it has been prophesied that Elijah would also precede His return. In Rev 11, two witnesses witness of the Lord, who are persecuted and killed by the beast. Then after 3-1/2 days, their dead bodies are raised from the dead, and they ascend to heaven. Then the next thing that happens, is the blowing of the 7th trumpet, with the proclamation that “the kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!” (Rev 11:15). The two witnesses are one who does the signs of Moses (turns water into blood and strikes the earth with plagues), and one who does the signs of Elijah (shuts up the heavens so that no rain falls).

It is interesting that Moses and Elijah appear with Jesus in another place in the New Testament, and that is when Jesus is transfigured. Moses represents the Law, and Elijah represents the Spirit. If you go back to the Old Testament and read the stories of these two men, you will see that this is so. Elijah was the first prophet whose ministry was characterized to the greatest degree by supernatural signs and wonders, or the operation of the Spirit with power. Elisha, his disciple, did the same, because he received the mantle of Elijah, and asked for the a double portion of Elijah's spirit (which was the Holy Spirit).

The prophecy of the transfiguration is: Jesus will appear in all His glory, and when He does, Moses will be at His right hand (the Law), and Elijah at His left (the Spirit). Jesus was not revealed in glory in His first coming, but will be in His second.

So all of this is to say, that I believe two things precede both comings of Jesus: obedience to the Law, with a revival or resurgence of the working of the Spirit with power, signs and wonders. In Malachi 4, in the verse right before the announcement of the coming of Elijah, the prophet says,

“Remember the Law of Moses, My servant,
Which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel,
With the statutes and judgments.” Mal 4:4.

The reason the Law and the Spirit must be together, and both witnessing, as it were, is that the Law cannot be obeyed unless it is through a new Spirit from a transformed heart (Jer 31:33, Eze 36:24-27).

I believe it is no accident that Jesus ended His discourse about John, the Spirit, the messenger of His coming, and those who would not receive Him, with these words:

“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” Mat 11:28-30.

What is the yoke of Jesus? What are we to learn from Him? When He taught the multitudes at the Sermon on the Mount (Mat 5), He taught them how to obey the Law with love from the heart, not grudgingly with obligation. This is why even saying “You fool!” in anger to a brother puts one in danger of breaking “Do not murder,” because love for God and one's neighbor (or lack of it) comes from the heart. His heart is gentle and lowly, and it is that love, that gentleness, that lowliness, that we are to put on as a yoke.

Obedience to the Law from the flesh, as a list of 613 statutes and judgments not to be transgressed, is laborious work which weighs us down with a heavy burden. But learning to walk in love, gentleness, and humility with the heart of Jesus, by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, gives us rest. We cannot forget that love is the fulfilling of the Law, and every one of the 613 is summed up by the 10, and the 10 are summed up by the 2 (Love God, and Love your neighbor), and the 2 are summed up by the one verb, LOVE.

This is the balance of what both testaments of Scripture are teaching. We are not to obey the Law from a self righteous spirit, from the flesh, with a stony heart, as the Pharisees did, who looked down their noses at everyone else because they did not measure up to tithing dill and mint and cumin -- that is the one extreme of the pendulum -- but we are to let the Law teach us what the definition of love means, and keep our feet walking in the way, not embracing every immorality or throwing off every restraint because of a mistaken idea that only the Spirit matters and the Law (the Word) has been abolished -- the other extreme of the pendulum.

matthew 10

Read Matthew 10 at Bible Gateway.

Matthew 10 contains instructions for ministry. At this time the instructions were just for the twelve. But they are also valid for any disciple who leaves their daily work, and their family, to go out and preach "The kingdom of heaven is at hand."

So the message, "The kingdom of heaven is at hand," is a different one than most of us are used to hearing evangelists or preachers preach. Why that message, what did it mean to Jesus' Hebrew disciples and their Hebrew audience?

First a little background. Since the day of Adam's sin, the righteous line (Seth --> Noah --> Shem --> Abraham --> Israel) had believed that the promise of God was coming. And that promise was, the Seed of the woman will bruise Satan's head, and he shall bruise the Seed's heel (Gen 3:15). They were waiting for the coming of the One who would deliver them from Satan --> sin --> death, and all that he instigated in the earth (the Tower of Babel rebellion which dethroned Elohiym as God, and enthroned man, who established paganism (nature worship) as god, Gen 11:1-9). Remember Daniel and Nebuchadnezzar (Dan 2)? Babylon (Babel) is the head of gold; it is the philosophy and worldview of Babylon (Babel) which rules the kingdoms of this world, which is the kingdom of man.

Ever since, the righteous line has lived in subjection to the kingdom of Man, where men are king, where men decide what is right and wrong, where men establish their own law, and force others to bend to it. Where men rule their own hearts, lives, and nations.

To preserve the righteous line, through whom the Promised Seed would be born, which Satan was continually trying to harrass and kill (Sarah was barren. Then when she bore a son by a miracle, his wife Rebekah was barren for 20 years. Then when she bore sons in answer to prayer, the son who held the birthright and blessing -- through whom the Line would continue -- married Rachel, who was barren, and who only began having children when God intervened and opened her womb).

To preserve His people, God set apart one nation for Himself which would bring forth the Promised Seed. This nation was unique in that it was to be subject to King Elohiym rather than a fallen human king. It was to be a mirror or a visual, historical prophecy of the kingdom of heaven, where the two greatest laws were, Love God with all you are, and Love your Neighbor as yourself.

But the nation rebelled, and men ruled that kingdom in the same way that the kingdoms of the world were ruled. So for thousands of years, the Hebrews were looking for the Promised Seed who would establish the Kingdom of Heaven, who would rule as King from the sons of David, the shepherd- king. They were looking for the abolishment of Satan and his works, the abolishment of the rebellions of man against God, and the establishment of righteousness, or lawfulness, or torah-fulness instead of lawlessness. The establishment of the will of God being done in the earth, just as it is in heaven.

Jesus sent His disciples with the message, that the end of the rule of Satan and the rule of man was at hand, and the establishment of the kingdom of heaven -- where God reigns as sovereign and where His will is done on earth as it is in heaven -- was at hand.

When we hear the gospel, we usually hear the part about the destruction of the rule of the devil, as it pertains to our sins being forgiven. We hear that Jesus is our Savior. But we usually don't hear the second part of the message, about the establishment of the rule of heaven on earth. That Jesus is our Lord and King, and His word is (ought to be) our command.

2000 years later, we are still living under the kingdoms of this world. But that is the point. We have been freed from the world, and are no longer to live in subjection to it, but to God. We are in the world, but not of it. So when we obey God rather than men, because the kingdom of heaven has dawned within our hearts, within our households, we will get turned in, turned over, hauled before kings and governors (the kingdoms of this world), who will then hear the witness of the Spirit that their kingship is over. They may kill the body, but they will not be able to make the heart of that one they kill bow to them or serve them.

And soon, when the Lord returns, the physical reign of man and the world will come to an end, and will never be again forever. :)

matthew 9

Read Matthew 9 at Bible Gateway.

Matthew continues relating the healing miracles of Jesus begun last chapter. But in each instance, Matthew brings out the faith or belief of the person being healed.

• The paralytic: “When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic ...” Mat 9:2.
• The dead daughter: “My daughter has just died, but come and lay Your hand on her and she will live,” Mat 9:18.
• The woman with the issue of blood: “Be of good cheer, daughter; your faith has made you well,” Mat 9:22.
• The two blind men: “According to your faith let it be to you,” Mat 9:29.
• The demon- possessed mute (Mat 9:32-34): there is no overt mention of faith on anyone's part, except perhaps the people who brought the mute man to Jesus. They would not have brought him, had they not believed that He would be able to do something about it.

Again in verse 35, the mention is made that Jesus healed every sickness and disease among the people - Not one disease, not one sickness, not one person, was left out. In this verse, there is no mention of faith. But by this time, His fame had spread abroad, and I believe people expected Him to be able to heal. So the Lord makes an issue of faith for a reason.

The reason is, it is a biblical principle that to receive what God has for us, we need to believe Him.

An Old Testament example, is that God brought the Israelites to the edge of the Promised Land, and told them to go in and possess it. They would not because they did not believe Him that He was able to give it to them (Num 13-14). The writer of Hebrews says they did not receive the promise because of their unbelief (Heb 3:16-19). In fact, Hebrews equates unbelief with rebellion, which is as we know, as the sin of witchcraft (1 Sam 15:23), or paganism and idolatry.

A New Testament example, is that Jesus died for the sins of the whole world (1 Joh 2:2), and it is God's will that no one perish (2 Pet 3:9), however, we must receive the free gift of eternal life through faith in Christ Jesus (Rom 6:23, Eph 2:8-9). Those who do not believe, will not receive.

So we have seen from the last two chapters that the Lord is willing and able to heal every disease of every person, and sometimes does without regard to faith. But in the normal course of things, it is the person that believes who receives, as a biblical principle. He wants His people to believe Him and to believe His Word, not only in His ability, but in His compassion and His willingness and His desire to alleviate suffering! For it is not only His desire to do good, it was His purpose in coming in the flesh:

“Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows;
Yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.
But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities;
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way;
And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” Isa 53:4-6

“The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me,
Because the LORD has anointed Me
To preach good tidings to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives,
And the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD,
And the day of vengeance of our God;
To comfort all who mourn,
To console those who mourn in Zion,
To give them beauty for ashes,
The oil of joy for mourning,
The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness;
That they may be called trees of righteousness,
The planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.” Isa 61:1-3

“Then Jesus answered and said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner.” Joh 5:19

“... how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him." Act 10:38

Now in the middle of this chapter, it seems there are two stories that do not fit the pattern: Matthew the tax collector (Mat 9:9-13), and the question about fasting (Mat 9:14-17). But I believe the Word of God to be deliberate, and there is no misplaced word. It is a literary device of Torah, to establish a pattern, and then break the pattern in order to draw attention to the break, in order to teach something. And as Jesus is the Living Torah (Joh 1:14), I believe the same study principles apply across God's Word.

In the story of Matthew the tax collector, when Jesus is questioned as to why He is eating with sinners, He answers, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.” Well, there is our theme again: Jesus is the Great Physician - but this time, the definition of “sick” has just been expanded to include those who are sinners, needing to be brought to repentance in order to have (spiritual) life restored to them.

It is so exciting to see wondrous things out of His Word!

So I would like to open a discussion about Mat 9:14-17, the paragraph concerning fasting and the wineskins. It seems truly out of place with the flow of the rest of the chapter, but in my experience, every time something in the Word of God jarrs out of sync like this, God has a connection to teach that is truly awesome. The fact that it comes on the heels of the revelation that sinners are spiritually sick and in need of the Great Physician, might have some bearing also.

What do you think? Leave comments!

matthew 8

Read Matthew 8 at Bible Gateway.

The last few chapters recorded the beginning of the teaching ministry of Jesus. Now this chapter begins recording the healing ministry of Jesus. We should keep in mind that most of the Gospel writers did not arrange their material in chronological order as it is common for us to do. Only Luke claimed to have put everything down "in order," (Luk 1:1-3). Matthew seems to have arranged his material around themes.

The very first healing recorded in the Gospels is the leper who comes to kneel before Jesus, and asks Him, "Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean." Boy, that is the 64,000 dollar question, isn't it? We all know that God is able to heal anyone of anything, but is He willing to do so?

"Willing" in Greek is thelo, and it means, "to will, have in mind, intend, as in, to be resolved or determined, to purpose, to desire, to wish, or even to love; to like to do a thing, be fond of doing; to take delight in, have pleasure in doing."

The leper is asking Jesus, in essence, "Do You want to heal me? Do You desire to heal me? Or is this something You might be doing begrudgingly, out of obligation or some sense of duty, but You could really care less whether I have leprosy or not?"

And Jesus answered him, "I am willing." -- I am resolved to heal you, I am determined to heal you, I want to heal you, and it even gives Me pleasure to do so. This is such a key to understanding the character of God!

Pter says of Jesus:

"... how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him." Act 10:38

It is in the Lord's nature to alleviate the suffering of others, to lift the oppression of the devil off of those who are afflicted, to make them clean and to set them free. That is the first thing we are to understand about Jesus as Matthew begins to reveal His healing ministry. So I believe it is no accident that this story of the leper is the first one Matthew chose to tell about Jesus. He wanted to lay the foundation right off the bat that it is the Lord's will to heal people.

We find from this chapter Jesus healing Jews and Romans, men and women, slaves and free, the clean and the unclean (leprosy was considered a disease indicating impurity or uncleanness as defined by Torah), diseases affecting the body, as well as afflictions affecting the mind or soul; temporary illnesses (fever) as well as permanent conditions (leprosy), those illnesses which were momentary inconveniences as well as those illnesses which led to death's doorstep.

In verse 16-17, it says that Jesus healed all who were sick, in fulfillment of prophecy in Isaiah 53.

"He took our infirmities, He bore our sicknesses," (vs. 17).

The Hebrew for "took" means "to take away completely, to lift off, to carry away, as well as to support, to sustain, and to endure." The fact of the matter is, in these days, some people get healed when they pray, and some don't. I cannot even begin to explain why. My own mother died of cancer, even though I prayed for her, while my son was completely and instantly healed of a life-threatening skull fracture and brain damage with absolutely no side effects whatsoever. For my son, Jesus took away completely his infirmity, and for my mother, He supported her and sustained her while she endured that illness. For both, He took their infirmity.

Now I tend to believe that it is the Lord's will to heal every sickness of every person. Why some people don't get healed is a puzzle that we talked about yesterday. I know the faith teachers teach that it is because the person did not have enough faith (suggested by verse 13), while the Calvinists teach it is all in the hands of a sovereign God. I tend to think the answers might be less trite.

If someone desires something from the Lord, and they have not received it yet, what should their response be? I think it should be, get on their face before God night and day and ask Him what is going on and what must be done. Daniel was a righteous man who began seeking God for something, and he fasted 21 days in tears before he received his answer (Dan 10). The reason it was not immediately given him did not having anything to do with God not wanting to answer him, or him not deserving an answer. It just required persistence on Daniel's part.

As Jesus taught us yesterday, "Ask and you will receive, seek and you will find, knock and the door shall be opened," (Mat 7:7). The Greek tense of those verbs (which does not come through in the English translation), is, ask and keep on asking, seek and keep on seeking, knock and keep on knocking. God wants to alleviate our suffering, so keep on seeking Him until we have an answer from Him!

matthew 7

Read Matthew 7 at Bible Gateway.

Today in the first few verses of Mat 7 we find the favorite Scripture in the whole Bible of the unrighteous! We know right away that Jesus is NOT telling us to not make judgments about right and wrong actions and behavior. We know, because He tells us in just a few more verses, TO make judgments based on behavior. (“You will know them by their fruits," vs. 16.) We need to evaluate what fruit is being produced in someone's life, and then make a judgment based on that fruit, whether we want to listen to them or not, or associate with them or not.

Also, Torah commands nations and communities to set up judges who will judge cases according to the Law. We know that the Word of God is truth, Genesis to Revelation, and truth cannot contradict. So if two things seem to contradict, then it is our understanding that is off somewhere, not the Word of God.

So what does Jesus mean, when He says, “Judge not, that you be not judged?" “Judge" in Greek is krino, and it means, by implication, to try, condemn, or punish. We might make decisions based on someone's fruit, and even pass a judgment in a court of Law based on someone's action or behavior, but we are not to try the heart of another human being or condemn the heart of another human being. When we do that, we are taking on ourselves something only God can do.

We are to measure grace to people, and forgiveness, because the fact is, we are not at the point of judgment yet! Jesus has not returned yet and has not separated the sheep from the goats. So there is still time for anyone to have their eyes opened, or for anyone to be saved and redeemed, even at the last hour!

I know that when I stand before the Lord, I want grace and mercy measured to me (Mat 7:2), so I try to be careful to measure it to others. I want to be given the benefit of the doubt!

The discussion on specks and planks (Mat 7:3-5) continues the Judge not theme. Isn't it something that Jesus assigned the speck to our brother's eye, but the plank to our own? So no matter who is reading this passage, that person has a plank, and everyone else has a speck. It is human nature to play down our own faults and play up our neighbor's. Unregenerate man always tries to make the sin someone else is doing far worse than the sin that we are doing. Just listen to an argument between a husband and a wife!

The fact is, we are far too harsh on other's faults, and far too lenient with our own. If we remember that we are the ones with the plank, it will help us to hold our tongue when we want to start "helping" someone else by pointing out what is wrong with them. "Help" like that really disguises a desire to accuse. Accusations are not what we are to be about, but edification! The enemy is the accuser of the brethren (Rev 12:10), so we ought to be very careful not to be about his business.

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ Mat 7:21-23

So what about this difficult passage? I do believe Jesus is warning us here, to not deceive ourselves into thinking that just because we talk the talk, we have our fire insurance and all is well. If we talk, we must also walk, and the manner of the walk is defined by God Himself and not us. Jesus will judge with perfect judgment, and He will judge whose hearts are truly His, by who does the will of His Father, which is revealed in the Word of God, including Torah. He will tell those who practice Law- lessness (Torah- lessness) to depart from Him. The key verb in this sentence is "practice:" ergazomai; to work, or labor to accomplish an end. He is not talking about the occasional lapse. He is talking about a lifestyle in which disregarding Torah is the cornerstone.

I do not know how Jesus will judge sincere believers who eat bacon every day, or gay pastors who are leading their flocks to disregard the Word of God. I just know that this is a serious warning, and I do not want to be found among those who practice Lawlessness! So I have determined for myself to obey the Lord and His Word, including Torah, and then measure grace and forgiveness out to others, not dwelling on their specks, but concerning myself with my plank only.

clean and unclean food, matthew 15

Last time we said that Mark 7 was talking about clean and unclean HANDS, not clean and unclean FOODS. We even went so far as to say that the little note in verse 19, about Jesus ending all “dietary quibbling” by declaring all things fit to eat, was a complete addition to the text and not what Jesus said, and not in the Greek.

So were we right? If we were, then the rest of Scripture will bear witness to that understanding, but if we weren't, then the rest of Scripture will bear witness to the understanding that “dietary quibbling” has been done away with.

Matthew recorded this same incident and conversation in chapter 15.

“Then the scribes and Pharisees who were from Jerusalem came to Jesus, saying, Why do Your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread.” Mat 15:1-2

Here we see the discussion is about clean or unclean HANDS, not clean or unclean FOODS.

“He answered and said to them, “Why do you also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition? For God commanded, saying, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘He who curses father or mother, let him be put to death.’ But you say, ‘Whoever says to his father or mother, “Whatever profit you might have received from me is a gift to God”— then he need not honor his father or mother.’ Thus you have made the commandment of God of no effect by your tradition. Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying:
‘These people draw near to Me with their mouth,
And honor Me with their lips,
But their heart is far from Me.
And in vain they worship Me,
Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’” Mat 15:3-9

Here we see the dispute was over elevating the traditions of men (Talmud or Oral Law) above the commandments of God (Torah or Written Law). So far Matthew is point for point with Mark.

“When He had called the multitude to Himself, He said to them, “Hear and understand: Not what goes into the mouth defiles a man; but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man.” Mat 15:10-11

Remember the discussion is about whether unclean HANDS defile a person, not whether unclean FOODS defile a person. Matthew is still point for point with Mark.

“Then His disciples came and said to Him, “Do You know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying?” But He answered and said, “Every plant which My heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted. Let them alone. They are blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind leads the blind, both will fall into a ditch.” Then Peter answered and said to Him, “Explain this parable to us.” So Jesus said, “Are you also still without understanding? Do you not yet understand that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and is eliminated?” Mat 15:12-17

Mat 15:17 above is the counterpart to Mar 7:19, the verse with the extra commentary. Notice that Matthew records Jesus saying that what goes into the stomach is eliminated or purged from the body, which is what we understood Mark to mean from the King James Version. Here, in Matthew's account, Jesus added not a word about declaring all foods clean. The discussion was never about FOOD but HANDS. Matthew bears that out.

“But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. These are the things which defile a man, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile a man.” Mat 15:18-20

Here in His conclusion, Jesus reiterates that the discussion has been about unclean HANDS, not unclean FOODS.

So far we are two for two!

matthew 6

Read Matthew 6 at Bible Gateway.

We saw in the last chapter of Matthew that Jesus began teaching on what it means to truly obey the Ten Commandments. In this chapter He continues in that vein. I believe His over all theme in Mat 6 has to do with not coveting; not keeping our heart fixed on our material needs or possessions.

Verses 1-18 have to do with doing religious things in order to be seen by men. What does that have to do with coveting? Being seen provides a reward which men give you because they esteem you when they see you doing righteousness. Therefore the motivation for doing good, whether of giving, praying, or fasting, is GIVING TO GET, praying to get, or fasting to get. If that is the case, the real desire of the heart is to get something; i.e. coveting or not being content with what God has provided for you at present.

So Jesus teaches us that we need to cultivate time in the secret place, where only God sees what we are doing. Giving in secret, praying in secret, and fasting in secret, is the antidote for a covetous heart.

In verses 9-13, Jesus teaches us to pray. This is the prayer that I pray when I have my daily prayer time. I figured that if anyone knew how we ought to be praying to God, it would be Jesus, and this is how He encouraged us to pray. I like it because it covers all the bases: it ensures we enter into the throne room as a son and a fellow heir with Christ Jesus, because only a son can say, "Father." So before the prayer even begins, you are reminding yourself of your status before God, that your access to His presence is a free gift of grace bought for you by the blood of Jesus Christ. Because the prayer begins, "Our Father," and not "My Father," already you are reminded that you are brothers with your fellow believers. It is SO much harder to come before the throne of grace and complain about so and so when before you even open your mouth, you are reminded that so and so and you are joint heirs before the Father! That the Father loves him (or her) as much as He loves you!

And on and on. A person could write a book about the benefits of praying the Lord's Prayer. All I know, is that God is pleased by our obedience, even in little things like praying the Lord's Prayer just because Jesus said it was a good idea. Blessings follow obedience, and the effectiveness of my prayers have increased in the results I have seen since. Not because God is a respecter of persons, but because He is not, and what He respects is His Word.

So if this chapter is about coveting, why insert the Lord's Prayer in the middle of it? Jesus is teaching us that whatever material need we have, cultivate the habit of asking God to "give us this day our daily bread," to go to our Provider to provide for us. The flip side is also true; that when we trust God to meet our needs, we can settle our hearts to be content with what He chooses to provide.

In verses 19-21, the passage on laying up treasures in heaven, and not on earth, is conveniently ignored by many teachers who teach biblical finance. I have gone through several different programs, books, and bible studies, and NONE of them transgress the perceived wisdom that thou shalt invest in the world's economy to increase thy wealth.

Listen, if the world's economy collapses, how can a person who has laid up treasures on earth receive a return for their investment? How is even gold worth something when what is really scarce is bread? But the person who has laid up treasures in heaven, -- i.e., provided for the kingdom of heaven, church, missions, giving to the poor, widows, and orphans, etc. -- trusts in God for a return on their investment, and God is more than able to provide it, even when the world's economy collapses and what is really scarce is bread. God has bread, and everything else a person might need. :)

I realize the above is a controversial position. But at the same time, how can Jesus' words be interpreted any differently? That is a legitimate question, and if someone sees something I am not seeing, please, let us discuss!

matthew 5

Read Matthew 5 at Bible Gateway.

The most controversial passage in today's chapter is this one:

“Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the Law till all is fulfilled. Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.” Mat 5:17-20

The traditional church teaching is that with the resurrection of Jesus, He fulfilled the Law, therefore since all has been fulfilled, we can ignore this passage now, and it is no longer required of us to do the commandments in the Law. So let us look at this a little more critically.

Jesus did not come to abolish the Law or the Prophets (verse 17). The Law (Torah) is full of foreshadows which illustrate and point to the Messiah. Many commandments are commanded because they illustrate the Messiah. The one we talked about a few days ago, about being purified in a mikvah, is a good example. According to Torah, one must wash with living water (be immersed in a mikvah) when one has touched a dead body. Of course there are physical health reasons of why this is a good idea.

But also, this commandment illustrates that when one has been in contact with DEATH, one must be made clean from it by being purified in living water! We have all been in contact with death, through our natural father Adam, and we all need to made clean by the living water which only Jesus can give (John 4:10).

Likewise, the Prophets are full of prophecies which proclaim the Messiah. So when Jesus says, “I came to fulfill the Law and the Prophets,” He is in essence saying, “I am He to whom the Law and the Prophets point!”

The meaning of this verse is NOT that Jesus kept the Law so now the rest of us can ignore it! If that was the meaning, then it would contradict verse 17. For in verse 17, not only does Jesus say He did not come to abolish the Law and the Prophets, but He also verifies the permanency (for now) of the Law by saying that the smallest letter shall not pass from the Law until heaven and earth pass away.

Heaven and earth have not passed away yet, so according to Jesus' own word, the Torah will not pass away until all that has been written in the Law and the Prophets has been fulfilled. All that has been written in the Law and the Prophets has not been fulfilled: Jesus has not yet returned for example. So the Law, i.e., God's definition of what is righteous conduct and what is sinful conduct, is still in effect.

Now there is a portion of the Law which Jesus has fulfilled: that is the law concerning animal sacrifice for the forgiveness of sins. Jesus fulfilled that law when He died on the cross, and became the sacrifice for sin, once for all. God reiterated that this law was fulfilled, by allowing the Temple, the only lawful place for the animal sacrifices to be performed, to be destroyed and not rebuilt after the resurrection of Jesus.

How do we know what law has already been fulfilled and what law still remains? This is the purpose of the book of Hebrews, to explain that question to the Church, and we will get to that book eventually.

As we progress through the Gospels and Acts and the Epistles, I will point out passages where Jesus and the apostles reiterate that the Law was still in effect for believers in Yeshua Messiah.

Beginning in verse 21 of Mat 5, Jesus begins a teaching on the meaning and obedience of the Ten Commandments. The Commandments can be divided in half, the first five having to do with righteousness toward God, and the second five having to do with righteousness toward one's fellow man. This division is inferred also by the teaching of Jesus, that the greatest commandment is to love God, and that the second which is like it, is to love one's neighbor (Mat 22:34-40). The first five commandments teach us what loving God looks like, in summary form, and the second five teach us what loving our neighbor looks like, in summary form. Jesus begins His teaching in the middle, with the Commandments having to do with men, beginning with the first of them, Do not commit murder.

(The commandment is not, Do not kill. It is, Do not commit murder. There are instances in Torah where killing another person is commanded, for example when a capital offense has been committed. If the command was, Do not kill, then the Torah would be contradicting itself, and that, we know, God does not do. We have to continue searching in our understanding until the Scriptures harmonize, because the Scriptures are true, and truth cannot contradict itself and remain true. If we have an understanding that puts Scripture in contradiction with other Scripture, then our understanding is faulty somewhere, and we need to keep digging until the Scripture harmonizes. By the way, understanding that the commandment is Do not commit murder, and not, Do not kill, should answer the question for the Church, on whether God allows His people to serve in the military (YES) and whether capital punishment for certain crimes is moral (YES).)

Essentially, what Jesus teaches us in the rest of chapter 5, is that outward obedience to the Commandments is not enough - it is not obedience, if the HEART is not on board. Obedience is a matter of the heart, and not of just doing or not doing the commanded thing. Not only is Jesus NOT teaching that the Law has been abolished, but He just raised the bar of what constitutes obedience to the Law to a very much higher standard.

The final verse of chapter 5 summarizes His point: “Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.” A person cannot read Jesus' actual words and believe that He taught that obedience to the Law is now a thing of the past -- it is just the opposite. His standard is perfect obedience.

We have all fallen short of the glory of God and His standard, perfect obedience. He has extended grace and forgiveness toward us and our violations of Torah. Therefore let us rejoice, and seek not to despise His grace, but out of love express our gratitude by obeying Him from the HEART, as He desires, which can only happen by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and with fire. And let us extend grace toward the flaws in our fellow human beings. :)

matthew 4

Read Matthew 4 at Bible Gateway.

In the last chapter, we saw Jesus being baptized in the Jordan, and we have been discussing the immersion in the mikvah. We have discussed that John's preaching and Jesus' baptism most probably took place in the fall, during the days of teshuvah (repentance). Teshuvah in Hebrew culture begins at the new moon of the 6th biblical month. Now it just so happens that there are 40 days from the new moon of the 6th biblical month to the Day of Atonement, then a few days after Atonement, a week of joyful feasting at Tabernacles, when every male was required to go to Jerusalem and rejoice before the Lord his God for the goodness He had poured out on His people for that year (Lev 23:39-40). So I do not think that Jesus spent Tabernacles fasting in the wilderness -- I think he spent the 40 days before Atonement fasting in the wilderness, during the days of teshuvah.

Fasting is a tool to aid in repentance, in subduing the flesh, and drawing near to God. Jesus didn't need to repent of anything, and we suppose His flesh was already subdued to His will and that He was already near to God. But in obedience to the Spirit, He fasted above other men (for the Torah only commands a fast on the Day of Atonement itself, Lev 23:26-32) and endured extreme temptation from the devil. I believe He had to be tested, to show forth that He was the Lamb Without Blemish.

The enemy tempted Jesus in the three ways He tempts every person (1 Joh 2:16):

1. 1) The lust of the flesh (turn these stones into bread);
2. 2) The lust of the eyes (I will give you all the glory of these kingdoms);
3. 3) The pride of life (throw yourself down and the angels will catch you).

The enemy is a one trick pony. This is how he tempted Eve:

"So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food [the lust of the flesh], that it was pleasant to the eyes [the lust of the eyes], and a tree desirable to make one wise [the pride of life], she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate." Gen 3:6

Jesus overcame temptation by knowing the Word of God, by knowing what the will of God is which is revealed in the Word, and by using the Word of God as a weapon which shuts the mouth of the enemy. The Word of God is living and active, and power is intrinsic within it, not only to shut the mouth of the enemy, but to turn the desire of our heart from the flesh to the Spirit. Jesus showed us the way to overcome temptation, if there is a besetting temptation that we struggle with in our lives.

I keep a 3x5 file box with Scriptures written on index cards, filed under different topics. While some of them are topics I am constantly in prayer about with the Lord (such as my children and grandchildren), others are topics in which I need to wield the Word as a sword to overcome my besetting weaknesses. I keep the box on my desk, and also, if necessary, a packet of cards in my purse. I find that when I am under assault, I need to not trust myself to remember everything I need to say or do. I can grab my cards, and begin speaking the Word of God to my temptation until it passes, just as Jesus showed us to do.

This is what we are called to do, when we are tempted: resist the devil as Jesus did, so that he will flee from us (Jam 4:7). Overcome the sin that so easily besets us, and walk in His ways. :)

matthew 3

Read Matthew 3 at Bible Gateway.

In Mat 3, John the Baptist appeared and began preaching repentance, because the kingdom of heaven was at hand. When the people repented, they were immersed in the Jordan River, what we know as baptism.

Baptism was not a new practice beginning with John the Baptist. In fact, every Christian sacrament has its foundation in Torah (the first five books of the Bible). Torah will come out a lot in this Bible study, and one thing I want to make clear, is that Torah is not for Jews only. We saw in Mat 2 that Jews (who are 2/12 of the tribes of Israel) were not even formed as a people until after the destruction of the first Temple in 586 bc. And today's form of Judaism, rabbinical Judaism, is an even later creation, which came into being after the time of Jesus and the apostles.

The Torah predates all of that, and is simply God's explanation of His ways -- what He considers right and wrong (or to put it in theological language, righteousness and sin). Torah shows how a man is to live life in a manner which pleases Him by its holiness. Any person who desires to join himself to the God of the Bible can live according to God's ways of righteousness, they do not have to be Jewish. (Of course, If one wants to have their violations of Torah forgiven once and for all, then one needs to come to faith in Messiah Yeshua and receive His substitutionary death on the cross.)

Back to repentance, kingship, and baptism: John was calling the people to repent, to turn from sin. Sin, to a 1st century Jewish person, would be identified with anything which was a violation of Torah (1 Joh 3:4), summarized by the Ten Commandments (Deu 4:13). Why repent now? Because the kingdom of heaven was at hand.

John was announcing the kingship of the Messiah. The kingdom of heaven is in juxtaposition to the kingdoms of this world, the kingship of men, which has been opposed to the kingdom of heaven ever since the Tower of Babel (Gen 11), the first kingdom of this world since the Flood.

So living according to the world's ways, according to man's ways -- sin, defined by Torah -- was sort of like announcing your citizenship in the kingdom of the world. Living according to God's ways -- righteousness, also defined by Torah -- was sort of like announcing your citizenship in the kingdom of heaven. This would be the 1st century Jewish understanding of John's message.

Since the kingdom of heaven was coming, then it was time for men to repent of sin, and re-establish their citizenship in the kingdom of heaven.

The ceremony which showed that repentance had taken place was immersion in water. This is a Torah practice, called immersion in a "mikvah" (pool) in Hebrew. There are several places where God commands immersion in water to purify oneself from uncleanness or defilement in Torah. An example is:

"And when he who has a discharge is cleansed of his discharge, then he shall count for himself seven days for his cleansing, wash his clothes, and bathe his body in running water; then he shall be clean." Lev 15:13

Interesting enough, the Hebrew word translated "running" in this passage is most often translated "living" when it is used to describe something other than water. One is to immerse themselves in living water, to purify oneself from something that causes him to be unclean.

So when the people came to John the Immerser, they had repented, and were wanting to be immersed in the mikvah - the running or "living" water of the Jordan - in order to be purified from the uncleanness that sin and separation from God had conferred upon them.

The time of the year when John was most likely preaching repentance was during the days of teshuvah, or repentance, from the new moon of the 6th month to the new moon of the 7th month, which was the Feast of Trumpets. This is the traditional time of repentance in Hebrew culture, because the Day of Atonement was celebrated on the 10th of the 7th month. This piece of trivia is important to biblical prophecy which we will come across later, so just file it away for now.

So it is not the process of baptism, or immersion in the mikvah, that saves a person -- Jesus had not yet died on the cross or been raised from the dead. But it is like a declaration of intention to change the way of life from here on out. Observant Hebrews were immersed in a mikvah multiple times during the year, or whenever they came into contact with an uncleanness of some kind.

Now the Torah is a book of history, which history also prophesies. Think of the Exodus and its prophetic implications for the Lamb of God which takes away the sin of the world. Even the laws concerning the mikvah, of being purified from uncleanness, is a law which prophesies about the living water which would one day purify us from the uncleanness which the world and sin has imposed upon us.

Today I am reflecting on my baptism, when I announced to the world that I had decided to follow Jesus, no turning back. And to thank God for imputing His purity upon me by the living water, the baptism in the Holy Spirit and fire, with which Jesus baptized me. The new moon for the 6th biblical month, which heralds the days of teshuvah, is coming. Let us repent of anything which smacks of the world's ways, and let us apply ourselves to God's ways, out of love for Him. :)

matthew 2

Read Matthew 2 at Bible Gateway.

One of the things that struck me about Mat 2 today was how many times in one chapter, Matthew brings out, "Thus it was fulfilled that was written in the Prophets ...". Matthew was writing to a Hebrew audience, and the purpose of his gospel was to show that Yeshua (the Hebrew form of the anglicized Greek name Jesus) was the son of Abraham, the Promised Seed, whose coming fulfilled all that had been written in the Prophets concerning the coming of the Promised Seed, the Messiah. Matthew's was probably the first gospel written. Each gospel writer wrote their gospel to witness to a slightly different point, as we will see as we go through the New Testament.

The History of King Herod

The two tribes of Israel, Judah and Benjamin (along with some Levites, and remnants of the other tribes) were taken captive by the Babylonians in 586 bc and deported to Babylon. When they returned, they were known as Jews ("of Judah"). By this time the Babylonians had been overthrown by the Persians. During Persian rule, the Jews enjoyed some autonomy and dignity, and were largely left to govern themselves under their own laws, only promising loyalty and tribute to the Persian empire.

But the Greeks under Alexander the Great overthrew the Persian empire, and soon Greek kings were ruling over Judea. The cultural influence of the Greeks greatly divided Judean society, into those ethnic Jews who wished to live like pagan Greeks, and those ethnic Jews who remained Torah observant.

When a Greek king made the worship of YHVH illegal, a family of observant Jews led a revolt against the Greeks and won indepedence for their nation. This family, the Maccabeans, were the ones who cleansed the Temple during the miracle of the holy oil lighting the lamps for eight days when it should have only lasted one day - the miracle which Hanukkah commemorates.

Now the Maccabeans took over the neighboring province of Edom, and forced the Edomites to convert to Judaism or leave the country. Herod's father was an Edomite and a high ranking official in the Maccabean king's government. The Maccabean's came under Rome's disfavor because they supported Mark Antony in his failed bid to overthrow Julius Caesar. So when Herod's father wanted to overthrow the Maccabeans as rulers of Judea, he had Rome's support. This is how a dynasty of Edomites, who were nominal Jews, and culturally like Greeks, indebted to Rome, came to be rulers of Judea.

Herod the Great was a cruel man, an expert politician who knew how to navigate the Jewish chief priests and elders, as well as Rome. He murdered his family once he came to the throne to solidify his power, and as we saw from today's reading, was not above murdering every baby boy in an entire district in order to eliminate a possible rival to the throne, even if that rival was the long prophesied Messiah of Israel.

But as we also saw in today's reading, God is on His throne, and His will and His plans and purposes will come to pass, regardless of who sits on the world's throne, how corrupt they are or how powerful they are. No man can thwart God in bringing about His kingdom in this earth.

I remind myself of that when I read the news. :)

matthew 1

Read Matthew 1 at Bible Gateway.

There are 42 forefathers mentioned in Jesus' lineage from Joseph, Mary's husband, to Abraham. And there are 5 foremothers mentioned. Those 5 are:

Tamar,
Rahab,
Ruth,
Her who had been the wife of Uriah (Bathsheba),
and Mary.

The interesting thing is, all of these women have something in common: The circumstance surrounding their inclusion in the lineage of the Messiah, involves a violation of Torah or they are an outsider to Torah. Tamar was Judah's daughter in law, and her story is found in Gen 38. She bore her children by Judah, when a relationship between a father and daughter in law is forbidden in Torah.

Rahab is a Canaanite, and her story is found in Jos 2. Canaanites were outsiders to Israel, and not only outsiders, but the only nation in the history of the earth where God commanded His people to destroy them all down to every last man, woman, and child, because their wickedness was so great (Deu 20:16-18). Not only that, but she was a harlot before Joshua led Israel into Canaan.

Ruth was a Moabitess, and her story is found in Ruth 1-4. The Moabites were descended from the offspring of Lot and his older daughter, a forbidden relationship in Torah. And also, the Moabites were the only people who sought to destroy Israel by the occult when they were preparing to enter the Promised Land (Num 22-25).

Bathsheba committed adultery with King David, a forbidden relationship in Torah. Her story is found in 2 Sam 11.

And Mary did not do anything in violation of Torah, but to every one around her it appeared as if she had - she appeared to have become pregnant with Jesus before she was wed to Joseph.

Now there are 37 foremothers of the Messiah who are not mentioned in Jesus' lineage, and I am sure every one of them were proper and righteous. And only these 5 "notorious" foremothers were mentioned. Why were they mentioned at all, when the pattern was already established that the lineage was from father to son?

I believe it was to confer honor upon those women, who left the life they had been born and raised to (as in the case of Rahab and Ruth) or who, like the woman caught in adultery, had repented of their sin, and gone and sinned no more (Bathsheba), or who had been censored by society for perceived unrighteousness (as in the case of Tamar and Mary), in order to attach themselves to the one true God, the God of Israel, and live for Him once they have found Him and found His forgiveness.

He is good, and His mercy endures forever - He forgives iniquity and sin. When He does, He drops our past into the sea of forgetfulness, and we have a fresh start in life.

Aren't you glad? I am!

matthew

matthew 1
matthew 2
matthew 3
matthew 4
matthew 5
matthew 6
matthew 7
matthew 8
matthew 9
matthew 10
matthew 11
matthew 12
matthew 13
matthew 14
matthew 15, clean and unclean food

expert studies on the book of matthew at bible.org*

*There is a lot of valuable material at bible.org, so enjoy digging around! However, I do not agree with every premise made or conclusion drawn in every study. Many have a traditional, learned bias against the Torah which God is stripping away in His Church in these last days.