Jacob Ben Avraham Posted February 12, 2023 Group: Senior Member Followers: 7 Topic Count: 627 Topics Per Day: 0.18 Content Count: 696 Content Per Day: 0.20 Reputation: 317 Days Won: 0 Joined: 09/17/2014 Status: Offline Share Posted February 12, 2023 PARASHA: “Yitro” (Jethro) EXODUS 18:1-20:26 (Good Advice from Jethro and the "Ten Commandments") We see in this parashah, a lot of wisdom on the part of Moshe and Yitro, his father-in-law. First, we learn that Moshe had sent his wife and children back to stay with her father and his son's grandfather. I believe this was for safekeeping. When one sees danger, it is wise to care for one's family, as Moshe did, His wife and children might have been in danger. The Egyptians might have retaliated, might have kidnapped his wife and children, or killed them, so Moshe took precautions, which is a good thing. The second piece of wisdom comes from Yitro, He is a man of experience, so he says; “Moshe, what are you doing to this people?” hey, you are only one man, and a few million of them? Come on dude, get wise-er, this isn't a one-man deal here." no such things as “lone rangers” in ministry, even the “Lone-Ranger” was not alone, he had “Tonto”. Ministry is to be shared with other believers, that is why the Ruach Ha Kodesh has given the Spiritual gifts, to be shared, to minister to others, by many, not just one. The rabbi cannot do it alone, and neither can the pastor. The rabbi needs his co-workers, and so does the pastor, if not, they are going to run themselves ragged. This is called “pastor/rabbi Burn-out” Another thing to point out is that it directs us to a question. The scripture says that Moshe sat in judgment of the people and made known the ordinances of God. But…Moshe and the people had not received the Torah yet. That came afterward. So, if Moshe hadn’t received the commandments yet, how did he know the ordinances of God with which to judge the people? Two possibilities. The “Oral Torah” was probably given to Adam, who passed it on to Seth, from Seth to Enoch and from Enoch to Methuselah, and so forth until it reached Moses. So, he knew, from the teaching of the patriarchs. The other possibility is that during the time that Moshe was sent back to Egypt, God revealed his laws and statutes to him personally through visions or dreams. Remember that God spoke to Moshe as one man speaks to another. These are just possibilities, then on Sinai, they were given on stone tablets and written down on parchment papers or o lamb skins. From the “Oral Torah to the Written Torah.” This is the parashah of the “Ten Mitzvoth” the “Ten Commandments” but before the giving of these, YHVH presents the deal to the people, kind of like when the bride-groom presents himself to the bride, these are beautiful words; ” Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you unto myself, therefore IF you harken unto my voice and keep my covenant, THEN ye shall be my own treasure from among all peoples; for all the earth is mine, and you shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation” (19:4-6) It is all conditional, like all contracts, and covenants. We see the “IF” and “THEN” He says that He bore Israel on eagles' wings. An eagle will carry her young on her wings to protect them from harm. So did YHVH, He brought Israel through the Sea on dry land, and brought them nigh unto Har Sinai, now, they have to decide, will they accept YHVH as their one and only God? And obey HIS words? It is like asking the bride to accept the groom as her only husband, provider, and loving ruler, (not tyrant) BUT…even though Israel broke the covenant many times, YHVH has remained faithful and we are HIS HOLY PEOPLE, his ELECT, whether we were born and raised in Israel or from the nations, doesn't matter, we are HIS because we have accepted HIS sacrifice in YESHUA our “Goel” (Redeemer), and we choose the follow his Torah, his LIVING Torah. The HE lays out the first 10 of the 613 commandments, which generalize, one can say “all” of the Torah: We need to realize that the first ten were given directly by Adonai to his people, HIS voice to HIS people, the other 603 were given to the people THROUGH Moshe, but still, they are all GOD’s commandments. Moshe simply did not make them up. ”ANOCHI YHVH ELOHEIHA” ( I AM ADONAI YOUR GOD) with the I AM emphasized, one can say “Ani” (I) or Anochi (I really AM) He is saying, I am who I have claimed to be, the God who took you out of Egypt and brought you here, I am ready to be your God, so if that is the case, there can only be ONE God in your life, that is ME, I don't want statues of me, that what the Egyptians did, so, don't do as they did, (It took one day to take Israel out of Egypt, but 40 years to take Egypt out of Israel if you get the meaning). Don't bow down and worship other gods, that will NOT be accepted. It is interesting to see that the word “Egyptians” and “Egypt” is the same in Hebrew, it is the word “Mitzraim”. When Israel crossed the Red Sea, the “Egyptians” were drowned in the sea, yet “Egypt” followed Israel still, in the manner of “mindset” “philosophy”, “and influence”. Today when we reject the ways of the world, and come to “Yeshua” there are still “world-ways” one tends to follow, sometimes we do things even without thinking, which reminds us of the “ways of the world” (evil things). Yet we see today, even though we don't make or bow down to silver, gold, wooden statues that symbolize who God is, or TRY to symbolize who he is, sorry guys, they didn't have cameras back then to take pictures, many bow down and consider more important things like; football, soccer, money, sex, TV, fast cars, work, you name it, if these come before our worship and service to our God YHVH, then those things ARE OUR gods!! put them in their proper places, lest YHVH take them from us by force!! THOU SHALT NOT TAKE THE NAME OF YHVH IN VAIN.... What is being said here? When many take oaths, and promises, many times the name of GOD is used; like “I swear to God I'll pay you back next week” Well, if next week rolls around and you pay back what you owe, you will have HONORED the NAME of GOD, yet if you don't, you will have taken the NAME of God in vain! It is better not to make promises and use God's name, we can always say “I'll do my best to pay you back as soon as I am able” and leave it at that. One can take the name of the LORD thy GOD in vain without words, our mere actions and comportment speak of God and who He is, if we behave unlike born-again believers, if we behave like a lost person, using foul language in front of others, getting upset and throwing temper fits, we are TAKING HIS NAME IN VAIN. And using those ugly 4 letter words, And other sorts of ugly language...well. that is not swearing, that is just plain vulgar. REMEMBER THE SABBATH DAY TO KEEP IT HOLY.... The sabbath is and always will be Saturday, it was never changed to Sunday, nothing wrong with going to church on Sunday, to me, it is a “double blessing” to worship Adonai two days straight. Yes, the early believers met on the first day of the week (Sunday) to break bread and have fellowship, this was “Havdalah” this was the close of the Sabbath and the welcome of the new week. This was a “custom” that they did, and we still do, it was not a CHANGE of sabbaths. Yeshua resurrected on the first day of the week, Baruch HaShem!! great! And we also can worship on Sundays at local churches, but it was NEVER a change of sabbaths. We should dedicate the sabbath day to be in the Synagogue or at church, to worship, and learn from his word through God's chosen ministers, Sunday school teachers, and Torah teachers. Go home and rest, or take the family out to lunch, give the wife a break from the kitchen, or eat lunch at the synagogue (Oneg) and leave the material things and worldly things to the next day. Rest means rest! I have read in rabbinical commentaries that when “The World keeps the Sabbath perfectly...THEN… Messiah will return!” well, He still has never returned, does that mean that the world has not kept Shabbos perfectly? Guess so. Shabbat is Satan's perfect and favorite time to stir up trouble and tempers so that we will NOT have a restful Shabbat. Be aware of that. HONOR THY FATHER AND THY MOTHER... This really needs no explanation, it is common sense to honor our parents and respect them because of WHO they are, and what they have done for us. My mom and dad used to say to me; “We went without many times to give you the things that you have today” Our parents give us love, and raise us, hopefully, to love God. ( I can't speak for all of you readers, since everyone is different) But, if our parents gave us love and taught us about God and Yeshua/Jesus, then, we ought to do the same for our kids. Honoring fathers and mothers does not mean sticking them in a rest home when they are old and going off and forgetting about them. It doesn't work like that. Were your parents rotten to you? Did they mistreat you? Well, love them anyway! It is what Yeshua taught. THOU SHALT NOT MURDER, THOU SHALT NOT COMMIT ADULTERY, THOU SHALT NOT STEAL..... Ever wonder why those three commandments are together? If one commits adultery, sleeping with another man's wife or husband, one is “murdering” a marital relationship, and “stealing” what does not belong to you, being another person's spouse. Yeshua explains it even better, He said if you only “think” of sleeping, or having sex with another person's wife or husband, that person has already committed adultery in his or her mind, it gets pretty intense if you look at it that way. “Murder” does NOT include going to war and fighting for your nation, you are DEFENDING your family and homeland. “Stealing?” that can be a two or three-page explanation, if you come back late from lunch, you are “stealing” time from your employer, if you do not do your very best, then you are “stealing” from your employer, your own ability and usefulness. Can a man rob God? Malachi says, “Yes” God speaking through his prophet, “You have ROBBED me of your tithes and offerings” One can rob from God when we do not utilize our spiritual gifts, or waste them on worldly things. The rabbis of old say that every sin is a manner of theft. We need to think about that. DO NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS.... This is another lengthy subject, but with simple words, always tell the truth, and do not hide the truth from others. If to know that some thieves are planning to rob your neighbor, and you remain silent and do not alert your neighbor, it is if you opened your neighbor's door for the thieves, you are being false. To tell a half-truth is to be false. Yes, the truth at times can be costly, and painful, but being false can be worse. It seems that at times the cheaters and liars get ahead in this world, and those who are 100 percent truthful about everything are left behind sucking their thumbs. DO NOT COVET.... Be satisfied with what you have, the job you have, the bank account you have, the car you have, with the wife or husband you have...Coveting can lead to worse crimes, look at Aachen, who coveted the Babylonian tunic and gold from Jericho, it cost him his life, and his family's lives too. If you want more than you have already, take it to the LORD in prayer, if the LORD sees that there is nothing wrong with giving you a little more, HE will give it to you in HIS perfect time. You never know, people with “more things” usually have “more headaches” or “more” to worry about. I remember what the TV preacher Rex Humbard said once, “God may give you what you want, but you're not going to want what you get!” So, give thanks for what you already have, when we go to heaven, we will leave it ALL BEHIND. Ben Avraham A passageway in the old city of Joppa, Israel 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
other one Posted February 12, 2023 Group: Worthy Ministers Followers: 29 Topic Count: 598 Topics Per Day: 0.08 Content Count: 56,128 Content Per Day: 7.56 Reputation: 27,856 Days Won: 271 Joined: 12/29/2003 Status: Offline Share Posted February 12, 2023 Quote 37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’[a] 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Born again Christians will be judged against these two and not old testament commands and laws. Example::: Quote Matt 25:31-46 31 "But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. 32 "And all the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; 33 and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left. 34 "Then the King will say to those on His right, 'Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 'For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; 36 naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.' 37 "Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You drink? 38 'And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? 39 'And when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?' 40 "And the King will answer and say to them, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.' 41 "Then He will also say to those on His left, 'Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; 42 for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; 43 I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.' 44 "Then they themselves also will answer, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?' 45 "Then He will answer them, saying, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.' 46 "And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life." NASB Make a note that these people being sent to hell are not noted for breaking any of the old testament commandments, however they did break the second of the New Covenant. i do believe if we are going to stress laws and commands, we should speak of the which ones are important today. As for the 4th I would just remind everyone::: Quote Ex 20:8-11 8 "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a sabbath of the Lord your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you. 11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and made it holy. NASB Quote John 5:16-17 And for this reason the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because He was doing these things on the Sabbath. 17 But He answered them, "My Father is working until now, and I Myself am working." NASB Note that Jesus did not correct them of their accusations, he just confessed he was working on the Sabbath. The new covenant commands started before he died, not after. And to be in the new covenant, one must be sold out completely having Jesus as one's Lord (confessing it out-loud) and not just one day a week. We can now have the Holy Spirit indwelling in us 24/7/365 and one day extra every 4 years. Constant contact with the Godhead every day in whatever we are doing. Every mundane thing we do every day we can ask about and share with the creator of the entire universe. And How does Jesus expect us to live....????? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’[a] 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Not loving your neighbor can send you to hell..... it is important to remember that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kwikphilly Posted February 12, 2023 Group: Worthy Ministers Followers: 96 Topic Count: 307 Topics Per Day: 0.08 Content Count: 18,136 Content Per Day: 4.63 Reputation: 27,817 Days Won: 327 Joined: 08/03/2013 Status: Offline Share Posted February 12, 2023 36 minutes ago, other one said: Born again Christians will be judged against these two and not old testament commands and laws. Example::: Make a note that these people being sent to hell are not noted for breaking any of the old testament commandments, however they did break the second of the New Covenant. i do believe if we are going to stress laws and commands, we should speak of the which ones are important today. As for the 4th I would just remind everyone::: Note that Jesus did not correct them of their accusations, he just confessed he was working on the Sabbath. The new covenant commands started before he died, not after. And to be in the new covenant, one must be sold out completely having Jesus as one's Lord (confessing it out-loud) and not just one day a week. We can now have the Holy Spirit indwelling in us 24/7/365 and one day extra every 4 years. Constant contact with the Godhead every day in whatever we are doing. Every mundane thing we do every day we can ask about and share with the creator of the entire universe. And How does Jesus expect us to live....????? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’[a] 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Not loving your neighbor can send you to hell..... it is important to remember that. Hi Brother... Some are going to argue your final statement,not I though Because ,Jesus Said "IF" you love ME,you will follow MY Commands.... Which of course you posted the 1st & 2nd Commandment and that's what Jesus is Telling us is the Greatest of all-LOVE Indeed,if anyone does NOT love his neighbor then he cannot love our Lord & Savior!!!!!! Cool post- love Kwik 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jacob Ben Avraham Posted February 15, 2023 Group: Senior Member Followers: 7 Topic Count: 627 Topics Per Day: 0.18 Content Count: 696 Content Per Day: 0.20 Reputation: 317 Days Won: 0 Joined: 09/17/2014 Status: Offline Author Share Posted February 15, 2023 (edited) Nice to hear from you again. Of course, we will not be judged according to the commandments, but according to what we have done with Messiah Yeshua as our LORD and Savior. However, our receiving or losing rewards might be according to how we have acted to the commandments, whether keeping or ignoring. Just a thought. I still think you are the image of my mother. You look just like her (Antonnetta Nappi Macarro) (1912-1971) Edited February 15, 2023 by Jacob Ben Avraham Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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