Israel ben Betzalel

I can certainly read for myself that there are some laws that apply to women, some to men, some to those in the land of Israel, and that others do not.

I certainly do not find, however, laws that apply only to Jews except for three, and even then, they are clearly in the context of showing the foreigner and even the alien in the gates who is not yet a convert, that they are dead, separated from God, and need redemption.

Let’s take a look at them shall we?

Deuteronomy 14:21
Do not eat anything you find already dead. You may give it to an alien living in any of your towns, and he may eat it, or you may sell it to a foreigner. But you are a people holy to the LORD your God. Do not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.

This is an interesting bit of scripture.

It begins with a carcass found “already dead.” This is the condition and context. We may give a carcass found “already dead” to the alien in our gates to show them that if they choose to eat it, they are identifying with the carcass found “already dead” and have thus not chosen to identify with the people of God (as elsewhere in Deut 29 the “alien in the gate” are those who are the people of God, so now here the Torah makes a distinction within that group of aliens and the alien who chooses to eat things “already dead”, thus showing that alien that he is of those who are not part of Israel but are simply dwelling in the land). We may “give” it as opposed to selling it, because the alien is already in the land and is closer to becoming a convert than a foreigner outside the land. By choosing to receive it and eating it, an alien in the gates is made very much aware that they, like the meat “already found dead,” are “already found dead” too and in need of the Messiah.

So then “But you are a people holy to the LORD your God” refers to the “alien in your gates” who Deut 29 identifies them as “his people”. Clearly distinguishing the “alien in your gates” who may be “given” and “may eat” of things “already dead” to choose between “life and death.”

Likewise a foreigner, is an alien outside the land of Israel, and is someone we may “sell” a carcass found “already dead” - showing the foreigner that they are not only “already dead,” but that they actually desire their current state of death by their willingness to purchase it from Israel. From the same people from whom the King comes who will judge the foreigner if they do not in fact repent, and so continue to choose death and refuse to join the “people holy to the LORD your God.”

Also, we may “sell” to a “foreigner” to show them that we will profit from their death in the World to Come, if the foreigner actually chooses to buy a carcass “already dead” from us for themselves. It is clearly a warning to them that they are outside of the “people of God” and need redemption from their sin, and it is a prophesy to us that the “wealth of the wicked are stored up for the righteous.”

Finally the choice we present to the alien in our gates and the foreigner is clear: “choose life” with “Do not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.” Do not mix death with life. Do not mix Ishamel’s seed with Isaac’s Seed (when Ishamel brought meat he prepared, and Abraham brought milk he prepared, and HaShem choose Abraham and gave him the promise that the Seed-the Messiah would come through Isaac). Choose between the seed of the serpent, or the Seed of the Woman, choose between death or life; choose between haSatan and sin and death; or the Messiah, holiness to HaShem as his people, and life.

I hardly call this verse to not eat of things already dead a law for Israel only since the context shows us that our responsibility is to cause the alien and foreigner to be made aware of their condition and thus enable them to choose life over death and become part of “his people.” Thus the alien and the foreigner, through this “allowance” (not commandment) to eat things “already dead” are therefore called to make teshuvah to the entire Torah, the Tree of Life, that God gave to his people Israel, in order to call that new convert as “his people.” It is the same choice given to even us who are native born: we are all called to choose life, not death, since the passage begins with what we can eat - choosing between clean and unclean.

another is

Deuteronomy 15:3
You may require payment from a foreigner, but you must cancel any debt your brother owes you.

This one is obvious after what we’ve just talked about. This teaches the foreigner that their sin will be called to account, and teaches us that our sins will be forgiven. Again, the Torah tells us to do this so that the foreigner ceases to be a foreigner and joins Israel as an “alien in the gates” - and not just as a resident alien, but one who is also called “his people.”

Deuteronomy 17:15
be sure to appoint over you the king the LORD your God chooses. He must be from among your own brothers. Do not place a foreigner over you, one who is not a brother Israelite.

This one is also obvious based on what I explained above. Do not mix meat with milk. Do not mix death with life, for the Messiah, the King, is living, not dead. Do not mix the seed of Ishmael with the seed of Isaac, do not place HaSatan on your throne, but rather place the Messiah there - the Toarh calls him our “brother Israelite” meaning that we will then share in his inheritance, which is eternal life.

Deuteronomy 23:20
You may charge a foreigner interest, but not a brother Israelite, so that the LORD your God may bless you in everything you put your hand to in the land you are entering to possess.

This teaches the foreigner that the debt of their sin (death) will be multiplied against him beyond what he can pay. And this teaches us that we (who are Israel) will not have to pay any debt for our sin, and by showing this same favor to one another, HaShem will bless us with eternal life in the land.

So with these verses out of the way, clearly demonstrating their redemptive message of the need for the foreigner to repent and join Israel as an alien in the gates who is called HaShem’s people; what verse in the Torah remains that is not for all mankind?

You have probably heard the Romans road, but did you know that it’s really a summary of the Genesis Road?

The Genesis Road

• God commanded us eternal life, and blessed us with it. Gen 1:28
• He then told us to be fruitful - to have fruits of obedience to his commandment. Gen 1:28
• He then told us to multiply - to make disciples of his commandment. Gen 1:28
• He then told us to fill the earth - to immerse the earth in the fullness of the Messiah. Gen 1:28
• He then told us to subdue it - to teach all mankind the Torah. Gen 1:28

• God made the “old” covenant of eternal life with us: we will continue to live forever as long as we keep the law, or else we will die on the day we break it. Gen 2:15-17

• We didn’t keep the law, so we died - we lost what we were blessed with, that is, eternal life (we were still breathing in and out). Gen 3:7

• Realizing our condition, we attempt to cover up our fault with our own works again, but no matter how hard we try, we can not gain back through our own merit and works that which we lost - the eternal life that God blessed us with. Gen 3:7

• We miss our meeting with God, and God calls out to us, asking where we are spiritually, so that we may repent and come to him. Gen 3:9
• Instead in our depravity, we attempt the futile impossibility: we try to hide from the God who made us in his image. Gen 3:10.
• When approached by God, we respond, but instead of repenting we attempt to justify our sin. Gen 3:11
• We ultimately blame Eve. Gen 3:12
• Eve blames the serpent who deceived her (the Adversary, the Satan). Gen 3:13
• God curses the serpent with eternal damnation. Gen 3:14

• God promises a renewal of the covenant of eternal life with us, through the promised Seed who remains keeping the Torah perfectly for us. Gen 3:15
• God promises that the serpent’s head (strength) (death through sin) will be crushed (destroyed) by the Seed of the woman (the Messiah). Gen 3:15
• God promises that the Seed of the woman (the Messiah) will be born of a woman, and not from the union of a man and woman. Gen 3:15
• God decrees that this crushing of the serpents head will be accomplished at the cost of the promised Seed’s own death. Gen 3:15.
• God decrees that the serpent, and sin and death will be totally defeated by the promised Seed. Gen 3:15
• God decrees that the heel of the promised Seed will only be bruised (wounded with death), but not crushed (death forever). Gen 3:15
• God therefore decrees that the promised Seed will rise to life again, showing us that we too will rise to life again on his merit as his righteous death atones for those who identify with him. Gen 3:15
• God therefore makes a “new” or renewal of the covenant of eternal life with us: rather than us keeping Torah in order to keep eternal life - a covenant which we broke and lost eternal life as a result - we now are promised that one of our offspring, the promised Seed (the Messiah), will remain faithful to the covenant forever, and by his faithful keeping of the Torah perfectly, his reward, which is eternal life, becomes his (and thus our) inheritance, an inheritance which he shares with all those who identify in him and by implication, who identify in his merit alone for the hope of eternal life. Gen 3:15

• To the woman, the mother of all the living, God decrees that she will have increased pain in making and raising disciples. Gen 3:16
• To the woman, the mother of all the living, God decrees that she will desire her husband (the Messiah). Gen 3:16 (Isaiah 54:5)
• To the woman, the mother of all the living, God decrees that that he (the Messiah) will indeed rule over her. Gen 3:16
• To the woman, the mother of all the living, God decrees that she will inherit the promise of eternal life in his kingdom. Gen 3:16
• God decrees the rule of the husband (the Messiah). Gen 3:16

• To the man, the dust of the earth, God decrees that his obedience to the Torah will be flawed. Gen 3:17
• To the man, the dust of the earth, God decrees that the fruit of his obedience to the Torah will only come through hard work and toil. Gen 3:17
• To the man, the dust of the earth, God promises that even then his fruit of obedience will be flawed with sin. Gen 3:18
• To the man, the dust of the earth, God decrees that he will receive satisfaction only when he studies about the Messiah. Gen 3:18
• To the man, the dust of the earth, God promises eternal life if he relies on the Messiah for his redemption from sin and merit to eternal life. Gen 3:19

• God ratified the new covenant with the shedding of blood, when he made skins for Adam and Eve. Gen 3:21

• God has prevented man from obtaining eternal life on his own merit, in order that man not live forever in sin. Gen 3:22
• God banished sinful man from himself, to instead serve the ground from whence he came (the Torah, the Messiah who made him). Gen 3:23
• The Way back to eternal life is guarded until Messiah comes. Gen 3:24

• Eve knew (had sex with) her husband Adam, and gave birth to Cain, and believed he was the promised Seed. Gen 4:1
• Cain cannot be the Messiah because he is a sinner like Adam and Eve and Adam and Eve know it Gen 4:25
• Eve knew her husband Adam, and gave birth to Abel, and believed Abel was the promised Seed. Gen 4:25
• Abel cannot be the Messiah because he is dead and does not rise from the dead  Gen 4:25
• Eve knew her husband Adam, and gave birth to Seth, and thought Seth was the promised Seed. Gen 4:25
• Seth himself had a son, and it was then that men realized that the promised Seed does not come with man being involved. Gen 4:26
• At that time men began to call upon the name of the promised Seed, which is HaShem, the beginning of the “church”, by relying on the Messiah for eternal life. Gen 4:26
• At that time men began to profane the name of the promised Seed, which is HaShem, by not keeping his commandments. Gen 4:26
• The Messiah is HaShem. Gen 4:26

• All who call upon the name of HaShem (the promised Seed) (and so rely on his merit alone for eternal life), shall be saved. Joel 2:32.

We truly have no other King, Savior, or Redeemer than HaShem. Psalm 45:6, Psalm 18:46, Psalm 78:35

Thoughts? Questions?

from: http://jerusalemcouncil.org/midrash/viewtopic.php?f=29&p=2563#p2563

On the gospel:

The basics from B’resheit 1-4 on the Torah:

the commandment/the blessing of eternal life in 1:28,

the Great Commission of 1:28:
to have fruits of obedience, be filled with the fruit of the Spirit
multiply, make disciples,
fill the earth with the knowledge of Messiah,
and subdue it/teach them to obey the Torah
all in 1:28,

the old covenant (keep the law to keep eternal life) in 2:16-17

and the new covenant (promised seed, the Messiah who keeps the law for us) in 3:15-16,

the virgin birth “Seed of the Woman” in 3:15,

we are to desire the Messiah in 3:16,

the kingship of the Promised Seed 3:16,

and the corresponding prophecy of being ruled by him in eternal life in 3:16,

the imperfection of mankind’s Torah keeping in 3:17

and the divinity of the Promised Seed who is perfect and who we call upon in 4:26

We have no other King, Savior, or Redeemer than HaShem. He is the Messiah we are to desire, obey, and identify in for our merit to eternal life.

Call it a “Genesis Road” if you will. If you need details, just ask. The rest of the bible is commentary.

Almost everyone knows that the first word of the Torah is “B’reisheit” or “In the beginning,” but not many know where this first word is last found in the Torah. It’s found in the last parasha in the Torah, V’Zot HaBracha in Deuteronomy 33:21.

Deuteronomy 33:21
And he provided the first part for himself, For there was the lawgiver’s portion reserved; And he came with the heads of the people; He executed the righteousness of HaShem, And his ordinances with Israel.

“He provided ” (or he choose) is “Yareh” and “first part” is “reisheit.” He choose the firstfruit for himself.

This is interesting because Yareh ends with an the Hebrew letter, aleph.

As anyone who knows the first Hebrew word of the Torah begins with “B’reiesheit” with an oversized hebrew letter bet, the connection is then seen as chronological. The Torah teaches us that Deuteronomy 33:21 occurred before Genesis 1:1.  It could even be argued that all the writing between Deut 33:21 and the end of the Torah was intended by God, all before the foundation of the world, including:

“For there was the lawgiver’s portion reserved;”

The firstfruit that he choose for himself, is all Israel, as the Torah ends with “chol Israel,” “all Israel.” The purpose of the Torah is to get to that point. So then it is “in the firstfruit,” “all Israel” that the “lawgiver’s plot” is “reserved” the death of the lawgiver. Who then is the ultimate lawgiver? The Messiah, the Word of HaShem. In other words, the Torah teaches us that the death of Lawgiver, the Messiah, who is like Moses, is in Israel, and this is decreed before “B’reisheit.” It is therefore surmised that before creation, God not only choose us as his firsfruit - as “all Israel,” but he also decreed that Messiah also died - slain before the foundation of the world, in “all Israel.” as it is also said:

Revelation 13:8
All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast—all whose names have not been written in the book of life belonging to the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world.

It is to this subtlety of linking reisheit in Deuteronomy with reisheit of Genesis, that the Torah shows us clearly God’s intent for understanding “B’reisheit” - in the Firstfruit - the first word of the Torah, to tell us that the Torah is all about the Messiah(alpeh) who choose his people: all Israel(bet). Conversely the Torah teaches us that the Torah is meant to bring “B’reishet” to “‘a reishet” to bring Israel to the Messiah.

For Messiah is the firstfruit from among us all as is testified of him:

1 Corinthians 15:20
But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

So then what is the purpose of the Torah? To tell us of the firstfruit, the Messiah (aleph), who is “in” Israel (bet).  I hope this thought encourages you to look for the Messiah in the entire Torah.  Shabbat Shalom!

After studying the Karaite movement, it has become obvious to me that it’s primary aim in sharing its theology with Messianic Jews, is in its ability to prey on anti-orthodox sentiments within the Messianic movement, and so get it to legitimize its authority over Messianic believers.

What Messianic believers who have subjected themselves to Karaite halacha don’t realize is that they’ve been sold a package of counterfeit goods by a sleight-of-mind which exchanges the authority of orthodox Judaism and the majority of Israel’s leaders, with that of the Karaites, under the guise of doing what is “biblical” - again, usually also defined and taught according to the authority of the Karaites. This sleight-of-mind, coupled with unjustified, emotional anti-orthodox sentiments produces the result of a Messianic Judaism inundated with Karaite observers who ascribe to a “do it my own way” halacha at worst (and eventually slide into the lunar Sabbath camp and its derivatives), or “do it like the Karaites and not like the orthodox,” setting up ourselves as the authority or simply replacing that authority with that of the Karaites. Doing so creates general discord and disunity with the rest of Israel where we aren’t even gathering on the same day to observe the moedim which are themselves holy convocations with the aim for all Israel to gather together. You can’t have a moed with all Israel if all Israel isn’t observing your moed.

Many arguments have been raised, and none of them are without debate, but the primary cause for me to accept the orthodox calendar concerning moedim, as well as their halacha, is that I have given up assuming the orthodox are wrong. I have given up assuming that their arguments, positions, reasoning, and halacha are not worth investigating from the start. I have given up assuming that I know all the answers, or assuming that I could figure them out just by myself without the input of the Sages (which left a vacuum for solid halachic authority that the Karaites rush to fulfill). I have finally given up my Protestant baggage and stopped protesting; and I have surrendered my rebellious heart to HaShem, trusting that he is the one who leads us all to truth through his Torah, and through those he has placed in authority over Israel (which at it’s head is Messiah Yeshua). And ever since I did, I have come to respect the learned wisdom of the Sages, and even the authority of orthodox halacha as it applies and is practiced by all Israel. Certainly some differences in halacha abound, and even more so within orthodoxy. But concerning moedim, all Israel is united on the dates we should all be convocating on, and only the Karaites stand apart and alone from all Israel in this regard. We as Messianic Jews must recognize the sleight-of-mind that is being pulled on us by the Karaite movement, and recognize why we were so vulnerable to fall for its deception: our rebelliousness. We need to repent, and recognize that HaShem calls us all to convocate as one people, not as a splintered faction.

It is clearly known that there were deceivers in the days of the old Sanhedrin who would come in and “witness” to the sighting of the new moon - for the sole purpose of causing confusion and getting people to not observe the established calendar. The Karaites today appear to continue in this tradition of sending ” witnesses” in which to cause confusion from the established orthodox calendar.

What some do not realize yet is that there is a new Sanhedrin, though they have not ruled on establishing a new calendar based on witness sightings in Israel, they have continued to uphold the orthodox calendar. The Karaite argument in this regard simply shows its ugly face for what it is when it denounces the new Sanhedrin: in that the Karaite movement truly is designed to replace the authority of the leaders of Israel with that of the Karaites. It is nothing short of a heart of Korach that desires to rebel and separate from all Israel under the guise of “doing what I think is biblical,” and until we realize this, we will continue to be duped as long as we sit on the throne of heart, and not submit to Messiah Yeshua’s words “do everything (the Pharisees who sit in the seat of Moses) tell you.”

We as a generation are not left without our leaders. Make teshuvah and return the Torah. If our leaders are wrong about the date, the sin is upon them, not us. We are not called to break the Torah, yet who are we to decide the Torah concerning moedim for all Israel? Since when did we become the established judges for all Israel in this regard? According to the Torah, we are not to rebel against the judges that are established in our day, but to do everything they tell us - and even much more so when we are submitted to Messiah Yeshua who is King over all Israel! So then it naturally follows that deceivers will always exist to draw us away from being in unity with the rest of Israel and to cause us to separate even further. As Messianic Jews we are already separated from the rest of Judaism by our acceptance of Yeshua as the Messiah; why must we add to that the separation of our convocations? If we do, then we’d be just as guilty as if we were the Council of Nicea mandating Sunday worship - and that is certainly the result of those who rebelled against the leadership of Israel in that day too.

At this point, I can only conclude then that it is better to err on the side of Orthodox authority - one that is established and tested and accepted by the majority of Torah-observant Israel, recognized by Messiah Yeshua, and unifies rather than divides, than err on the side of Kararaite authority which is established from a root of rebellion against the leadership of Israel; especially concerning the matter of setting the dates of convocation required for all Israel. Based on this, Orthodox authority should be given the benefit of the doubt concerning halacha for all Israel. I have found it to be a safe starting position for any halacha, with Messiah Yeshua as the boundary, and I hope you do too.

Read and respond to the original article at JerusalemCouncil.org