It is often said that we want to learn the lessons of history so that we ourselves do not need to repeat the same mistakes. Well, if we are hoping to learn from the mistakes of history, then what better group to follow than our own beloved forefathers? The children of Israel who left Mitzrayim (or Egypt) as a nation betrothed unto Yahweh’s Son.
And yet, still they missed their old lives in the world. They never sat down, they never counted the cost, and they never truly made a commitment to love and to serve Yahweh their Elohim the way He wanted to be served.
Luqa (Luke) 14:28-29
28 For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it—
29 lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him,
(Seems like serving Elohim was not their idea of a good time; was not their idea fun.)
Well, in Shemote (or Exodus) chapter 14 and verse 11 our forefathers asked Moshe, “Is it because there were no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? Oh, poor us! Oh, we must trust in Yahweh to deliver His armies.”
Shemote (Exodus) 14:11
11 Then they said to Moses, “Because there were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you so dealt with us, to bring us up out of Egypt?
And then, in Shemote chapter 16 and verse 3 our forefathers cried out, “Oh that we had died by the hand of Yahweh in the land of Egypt when we sat by the pots of meat, and we ate bread to the full! For you have brought us out into this wilderness to make us suffer inconvenience and to kill this whole assembly with hunger!”
“We want to be like the third kind of soil; we put the cares of this world ahead of devotion to Yahweh Elohim.”
Shemote (Exodus) 16:3
3 And the children of Israel said to them, “Oh, that we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat and when we ate bread to the full! For you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”
And then in Shemote chapter 17 and verse 3 our forefathers thirsted for water. And so, they complained against Moshe and said, “Why is it that you brought us out of Mitzrayim to kill us and all our children and all our livestock with thirst? We have just seen Yahweh do so many miracles, and we have just seen him cast down all the false gods of Egypt and bring judgment on them.”
“Even parting the Sea of Reeds, so we walk through on dry ground; delivered us from Paro. But we do not really trust that if we will serve Yahweh with all that we have; with all our heart with all our soul and all our strength, we do not believe He is going to take care of us.”
“We do not trust Yahweh. And besides, we love our creature comforts. Why did Yahweh not warn us that we might have to go without our creature comforts? Why did He not warn us we might have to suffer inconveniences, as the armies of the living Elohim?”
Shemote (Exodus) 17:3
3 And the people thirsted there for water, and the people complained against Moses, and said, “Why is it you have brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?”
Ah, well, seems like Yahweh brought the children of Israel out of the land of Mitzrayim, but for some reason the land of Mitzrayim did not want to come out of the hearts of our forefathers, the children of Israel. And they never really did dedicate themselves to Yahweh; they never really did sit down and make a true commitment. Not at the same level as a Moshe or a Joshua or a Caleb or someone who pleased Yahweh in that scenario.
Bemidbar (Numbers) 14:22-23
22 Because all these men who have seen My glory and the signs which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have put Me to the test now these ten times, and have not heeded My voice,
23 they certainly shall not see the land of which I swore to their fathers, nor shall any of those who rejected Me see it.
Most of the people just did not have the same Spirit. So, most of our forefathers never truly committed their lives to Yahweh. They never realized, “Hey! Wait…yea! Whoa! I know, since I love Yahweh, I should really make a commitment to Him! I should really dedicate my life to serving my King and Husband the way He wants to be served. Of course, I want to keep all His Commandments”, because He says, ‘If you love Me, then keep My Commandments.’ So, I love Him so I should keep all His Commandments! Yea, that should be my main thing. That should be my reason for being. I will show Him how much I love Him by walking out His Commandments in love, following His example. That is perfect because that is our reason for being anyway; that is why we exist.”
Now, most of our forefathers never really stumbled to that. So, obeying and serving their Husband Yahweh, seemed like one big inconvenience for most of them. That was like one big, long nagging complaint.
Bemidbar (Numbers) 14:2
2 And all the children of Israel complained against Moshe and Aharon, and the whole congregation said to them, “If only we had died in the land of Egypt! Or if only we had died in this wilderness!
(Oh! Oh! And are there no parallels for us in the House of Ephraim today?)
Join us as we talk about how most Ephraimites, most Jews, (especially Messianic Jews and most Two-House believers) are making the exact same kinds of mistakes as our forefathers made in the wilderness when they were coming out of the land of Mitzrayim (or Egypt).
And just like our forefathers, they did not even know anything is wrong. Most Ephraimites are unaware that by putting emphasis on their lives in the world (in spiritual Egypt) they are no longer able to serve their Husband and King the way He says He wants to be served.
Yochanan (John) 4:15
15 The woman said to Him, “Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw.”
And so doing, they become lukewarm, and they effectively make Him want to vomit them out of His mouth.
Hitgalut (Revelation) 3:16
16 So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.
So, if you love Yahweh and if you want to know the full truth, no holds barred, join us for this commentary on Parasha Yitro 2022.
In Shemote (or Exodus) chapter 18 and verse 5 we see that Israel is camped at the Mountain of Elohim, which is Mount Horeb (or Mount Sinai) which we also know as Jebel Al-Lawz in Saudi Arabia. And Moshe’s father-in-law Yitro (or Jethro) the priest of Midian has come, and Yitro sees how Moshe is trying to do everything by himself and it is just too much for him.
Shemote (Exodus) 18:5
5 And Yitro, Moshe’s father-in-law, came with his sons and his wife to Moshe in the wilderness, where he was encamped at the mountain of Elohim.
So, now we get to see what a humble person Moshe is and how his humility benefits Israel.
Shemote (Exodus) 18:14
14 So when Moses’ father-in-law saw all that he did for the people, he said, “What is this thing that you are doing for the people? Why do you alone sit, and all the people stand before you from morning until evening?”
Yitro advises him that he really needs to select good servant leaders from the people who are honest and not greedy for gain and place them as leaders and judges over tens, fifties, hundreds, and thousands. And that way, Moshe can teach what the standards are and then the leaders will all handle the lesser cases.
Shemote (Exodus) 18:21-22
21 Moreover you shall select from all the people able men, such as fear Elohim, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them to be rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens.
22 And let them judge the people at all times. Then it will be that every great matter they shall bring to you, but every small matter they themselves shall judge. So, it will be easier for you, for they will bear the burden with you.
So, if we are willing to receive it, Yitro effectively advises Moshe to set up what looks like a military tribunal system; to lead the armies of Elohim and to lead the people and to take care of their needs.
And in verse 23, Yitro says that if Elohim commands this kind of order and organization then Israel would be able to endure and then all the people would be able to come to their place in peace.
Shemote (Exodus) 18:23
23 If you do this thing, and Elohim so commands you, then you will be able to endure, and all this people will also go to their place in peace.”
Well, let us note the timelessness of Yitro’s advice because Yeshua commands the very same type of organization in Luqa (or Luke) chapter 9 and verse 14 in the feeding of the five thousand. Yeshua tells His disciples to make the people sit down in groups of 50.
Luqa (Luke) 9:14
14 For there were about five thousand men.
Then He said to His disciples, “Make them sit down in groups of fifty.”
So, Yeshua still used this ordering and organizational technique some 1,500 years after the Torah was first given; and that Yeshua instituted organization in the Renewed Melchizedekian Order in His day is just one more indication that organization is a good (and necessary) part of serving Yeshua.
Now, Moshe could easily have said, “Why do I want to listen to my father-in-law for? He is from Midian. Yahweh is talking to me; Yahweh gave me the victory over Paro. So, what do I want to listen to my father-in-law from Midian.” But he does not do that.
Rather, Moshe listens humbly to see if there is anything he can benefit for the mission or for the people. Because with Moshe, the thing is it was never about him. Moshe was all about serving Yahweh first and then second, serving Yahweh’s other people and Moshe put himself last and he put Yahweh first.
That was the kind of thing that pleased Yahweh. Most of the people never served like that. Now, the thing is, even though Moshe’s father-in-law Yitro was a Midianite he was also a priest. And how interesting that a priest would tell the leader of Israel of the need to order and organize the nation as it emerged from Mitzrayim so that they could all arrive at their destination in Shalom.
So, if even a Midianite priest can recognize the need to order and organize a nation as it is coming out of the world, then what’s Ephraim’s problem? (Uh) why can most of the Ephraimites not see it?
Now, in Shemote chapter 19 and verse 1, it tells us that it was the third month after the children of Israel come out of the land of Egypt that they came to the Wilderness of Sinai. So, we know that they are here at Mount Horeb (or Sinai) in the third month. And Shavuot (or Pentecost) also happens in the third month.
Shemote (Exodus) 19:1
1 In the third month after the children of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt, on the same day, they came to the Wilderness of Sinai.
We also know that the next phase of the ancient Hebrew wedding ceremony after the Pesach is called erusin, which is the public betrothal.
And we know that the groom customarily gives his bride a Ketubah, which is a written wedding contract that spells out the duties and responsibilities of the groom and bride. It also spells out any special instructions for the bride and that is how we know that the Torah serves as our marital contract; that the Torah serves as our Ketubah because it tells us what to do if we want to be taken as Yeshua’s bride. That is the context it was given in, and everything is right there.
Shemote (Exodus) 19:5
5 Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My Covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine.
So, just like Asaph, in Psalm 73 (we will look at later), all we really need to do is let Yahweh lead us, and if we let Him, He will take us by our right hands (so to speak) and show us the way so He can take us up in glory.
Tehillim (Psalms) 73:23-24
23 Nevertheless I am continually with You; You hold me by my right hand.
24 You will guide me with Your counsel, and afterward receive me to glory.
That is what He promises to do. It is amazingly simple. It is not easy, but it is simple.
We just need the discipline; to discipline ourselves to do what Yahweh says. Just do what He says, hear His voice and follow His Commandments. And then, one day we also can be married to the Son of the King of the universe.
So, can you even imagine what it will be like to be married to the Son of the King of the universe? I can barely imagine it.
Now, especially for those of us who are coming to the truth from the Jewish side of the house, let us remember, in Shemote chapter 12 and verse 38 it tells us there was a mixed multitude that came up out of Mitzrayim with Israel, but what happened with this mixed multitude?
Shemote (Exodus) 12:38
38 A mixed multitude went up with them also, and flocks and herds—a great deal of livestock.
Well, the simple fact is that when they integrated, they became part of the nation of Israel. This is very hard for people who have racial bias and racial bets but let us remember that Ephraim and Manasseh are both two tribes, they are both half Egyptian and they were taken to Israel as his sons.
So, one thing that we see is there has always been genetic (uh) in grafting; in and out grafting, in the nation of Israel. And there is a lot of people who will tell you the opposite, but do not let anyone tell you that there has not been genetic in grafting and out grafting from Israel, because that would be a lie.
Now, what is so amazing is that not only could the children of Israel choose to refine themselves according to Yahweh’s Torah, to become the bride of the son of the king of the universe, but anyone of the mixed multitude could do so as well.
Ephraim and Manasseh were free to do so as well because they had been taken to the nation of Israel. So, we are told there will be one Torah for the native born and for the stranger.
Well, now even though the mixed multitude did not have to have Israel’s genetics, what they had to do was to dedicate themselves to Yahweh Elohim and to serve the Elohim of Israel with all their hearts with all their soul and with all their strength, and that is it.
Marqos (Mark) 12:29-30
29 Yeshua answered him, “The first of all the commandments is: ‘Hear, O Israel, Yahweh our Elohim, Yahweh is One.
30 And you shall love Yahweh your Elohim with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment.
Then, they were to worship the Elohim of Israel and then they became Israelites because they worshiped the Elohim of Israel. And that is because in Scripture, your religious belief is your nationality because Yahweh cuts to the chase (basically).
So, what happened? What went wrong in our history?
Well, the mixed multitude saw how Yahweh delivered the children of Israel from the plagues. They also saw how Yahweh cast down the false elohim of Mitzrayim in judgment. And the mixed multitude made the wise choice; they decided that if Yahweh could do all that, they wanted to follow Him.
And there was no rabbinical giur (or Gentile conversion process). Back in those days, if you wanted to convert you simply made it like Ruth; you simply made the decision to convert and follow Yahweh and be one of His people and to worship Him. So, it was a simple change of allegiance and subsequent obedience that was required.
You had to hear His voice and do what He said. So, all you had to do was just believe on Him and hear His voice and do what He said, and you were an Israelite. And in fact, Yahweh emphasizes this fact.
For example, in Shemote chapter 19 and verse 3, Moshe went up to Elohim and Yahweh; called to him from the mountain saying, “Thus you shall say to the House of Yaakov (or Judah ) and tell the children of Israel (or Ephraim).”
Shemote (Exodus) 19:3
3 And Moshe went up to Elohim, and Yahweh called to him from the mountain, saying, “Thus you shall say to the house of Yaakov, and tell the children of Israel:
So, Yahweh Himself is referring to both houses here, right after the first Exodus, so we already see a difference between the two houses. And He says:
Shemote (Exodus) 19:4
4 ‘You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself.
And then, Yahweh says the most important thing that we need to focus on right now- He says:
Shemote (Exodus) 19:5
5 Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My Covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine.
What an amazing thing that is. But let us notice that there are two components here. The first one is, we need to hear and obey His voice. So, if we do not hear His voice, how can we obey His voice? Or if you do not hear His voice, then at least you should follow someone who does hear His voice; that is the prophetic and apostolic gifts.
Because only once we hear His voice, that is the only way we can submit to it, except for the example of the apostle and the prophet. Now, that is step one; is following His voice, moment by moment.
And the second step is to keep His Covenant (namely meaning His Commandments). Also, His statutes, His ordinances, His judgments; the things that He says to do the things His word says to do. But just like our forefathers in Scripture, Ephraim today has a really hard time with this.
And I am also just learning. My walk is not perfect. I am just trying to keep my eyes on the upward call; trying to keep my eyes on the prize. But the thing is, this is not a point that anyone in Ephraim can afford to miss because this effectively makes the difference between life and death in the coming tribulation.
The main thing is that Elohim wants to restore the broken communication that was lost in the Garden of Eden when Adam and Havvah (or Eve) disobeyed. And the solution is that we do what Yahweh says to do, through the leading and guiding of His Son Yeshua’s Spirit.
So, once we believe on Yeshua and we abide in Him; and Him in us and Him in the Father and the Father in Him. Once we are abiding in Him, brothers, and sisters, we need to listen carefully for His voice and then we need to do everything He commands us to do.
And again, if we cannot do that then we need to be listening to someone with the apostolic or the prophetic gift. That is what the Word says.
Either we are going to do what Scripture says, or we are not going to do it. If we are not going to do it, then goodbye…
We are in the End Times, brothers, and sisters. So, it is like Yahweh says in Yirmeyahu (or Jeremiah) chapter 7 starting in verse 21; it is exactly like this, He says, “Thus says Yahweh of hosts the Elohim of Israel, ‘Add your burnt offerings to your sacrifices. Eat meat the same, eat good, get full. Roast up every animal you have, because I was never really impressed with sacrifice and burnt offerings in the first place. That is never really what I wanted. “
Yirmeyahu (Jeremiah) 7:21
21 Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the Elohim of Israel: “Add your burnt offerings to your sacrifices and eat meat.
“I only gave you the Levitical system because you failed miserably at the Firstborn Priestly system. You could not handle it, so I had to give you the Levitical system where I spelled things out to you in more detail; connect the dots style, because all you could handle was paint by numbers and step by step at that point.
“Because why? Because you have peanut butter in your ears. I did not speak to your forefathers, and I did not command them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Mitzrayim concerning: ‘give me this burnt offering and that sacrifice and this oblation’. None of that; I did not say anything of the sort.”
“You know what? I am Spirit, so blood and barbecues do not really do much for Me. You could roast Me all the cattle you got; you could sacrifice a river of blood, that does nothing for Me because that is not even what I wanted from you in the first place. And if you knew Me, you would already know that.”
Hoshea (Hosea) 6:6-7
6 For I desire mercy and not sacrifice, and the knowledge of Elohim more than burnt offerings.
7 “But like men they transgressed the covenant; there they dealt treacherously with Me.
“How much time do you spend trying to get to know Me? If you knew Me, you would know that already. I gave you guys Levitical Order to try to help you understand; to try and give you some symbolic references and some pictures and just look at what you have done with it. You got all legalistic on Me and you turn this into something I never desired.”
“I do not want a checklist religion. I do not want a checklist faith, but this is what I commanded your forefathers, in that day saying, ‘Obey My voice and then I will be your Elohim and you shall be My people. And walk in all the ways that I have commanded you that it may be well with you, because the Torah is given to us for our own good. Meaning you do not just have to know what I say to do. You actually have to do it.”
Shemote (Exodus) 19:5
5 Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My Covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine.
“But your forefathers they did not obey. They did not even incline their ears. They did not even listen. Rather, they followed the councils and the evil dictates of their own evil hearts. And they went backward and not forward because they created false systems of worship that I did not command. They set up a substitute system of worship to confuse all the people.”
Yirmeyahu (Jeremiah) 7:24
24 Yet they did not obey or incline their ear, but followed the counsels and the dictates of their evil hearts and went backward and not forward.
“Because what I really wanted was to restore the lost and broken relationship with you, the communication that we had in the Garden of Eden, before you decided to disobey me. I must restore this communication with you before I can use you as My body.”
“If you are going to be My bride, then can we really be one flesh together? Are you really pulling for Me? Are you trying to help Me get this kingdom set up?”
“Cause, really when I stand back and look, it is like you guys just do not even really care about a relationship with Me. Do you just want the status?”
Because brothers and sisters look at us today do, we all hear His voice? Is it our number one tip-top priority in life, to learn to how to hear His voice and obey it?
And if we have His Spirit and we are hearing His voice then do we obey all His Commandments?
If we love Him, do we keep His Commandments? I mean, at least do everything we can (we cannot do the sacrificial law at the moment because we need first a cleansed Temple and a cleansed Levitical Order).
But where is our commitment level really? Are we just going to keep the easy Commandments? We are just going to rest and read and do what is easy and free?
We are going to come into His house, we are going to eat His spiritual food on Shabbat. And somehow, we are going to let ourselves into His house, and we are going to clean out His fridge for Him. And somehow, we are just never really going to get around to doing anything to build Yeshua’s global unified kingdom, are we?
A lot of talk, a lot of learning; not a lot of commitment. Yahweh promises, “If you will do both of these things, obey My voice and keep My Covenant, then you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests in a set apart nation.”
But we have been explaining this for years. This takes order and organization, because you still must fulfill all the offices; you still need to fill the kingship, the priesthood, and the office of the Prophet within the nation; and that does not come without organization. And the thing is, Yahweh has already given the organization, we just must acknowledge it. We just must accept it.
And to have a nation, brothers, and sisters, it takes all of us doing Yahweh’s Word together. We must do His Word and not just be hearers of the Word only, like most of the Messianic movement; deceiving ourselves watching Saturday Night Live. Telling ourselves, “Oh, we are in Yahweh’s favor, even though we are not really applying ourselves at building a kingdom for His Son.”
If we are not hearing and obeying His voice or if we are not helping Yeshua to build His kingdom (either one of those two) then Yahweh is going to have no delight in us, because we are effectively lukewarm, brothers and sisters.
And Yeshua promises to vomit out of His mouth all those who are lukewarm because they received the fullness of His sacrifice for them, but it seems they do not really care enough about Him to help Him build His kingdom, so He can fulfill the mission for His Father.
Hitgalut (Revelation) 3:15-19
15 “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot.
16 So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.
17 Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked—
18 I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see.
19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore, be zealous and repent.
So, if we receive salvation and we receive the immersion (the immersion of the Spirit), we are willing to take the free gifts, we are going to learn all the good things, we take the free schooling, but then we do not really care enough to give anything back to our King? Our Husband, the one who died for us suffered a miserable horrible death?
What is that going to look like in the judgment? They knew all the things to do, they just did not want to do it.
If they ever write a third Testament, we should ask ourselves, “How are we going to be recorded?” If they write about these times (which we imagine they will), what is going to be said about us? Is the Scriptural record going to record that we were truly the kinds of people, faithful obedient servants who only wanted for ourselves what was good for our Husband and King Yeshua?
Will Scripture record that we only wanted what Yahweh wants like a Moshe or Joshua or a Caleb? Will we be one of the ones dedicated and devoted to Him, giving our lives in service? Or will Scripture record that we went the same way as our forefathers did, who were called out of the land of Egypt (or Babylon or Mitzrayim) to marry the Son of the King of the universe?
And they went all the way through with the public betrothal ceremony erusin (Pentecost) and they became liable to the death penalties of the Torah for adultery. Oh! Oh, so they took the vow, but then they did not really want it enough to do it because it was not easy? Is that not how it really went?
Shemuel Aleph (1 Samuel) 12:15
15 However, if you do not obey the voice of Yahweh but rebel against the commandment of Yahweh, then the hand of Yahweh will be against you, as it was against your fathers.
They did not really care about being married to the Son of the King of the universe if it was not easy: “Oh if there’s work or sacrifice or inconveniences involved in being Yeshua’s bride, we do not want it anymore because it is not easy”, right?
I am a repentant sinner like everyone else, but when you see something that people are just not getting, and it is going to make the difference between surviving the tribulation or not surviving the tribulation…
Please forgive me for caring enough to speak so boldly and directly with you, but one time I was with another brother, and I was having dinner with him, and his wife and I were explaining the vision; how Scripture says we are supposed to serve one another. And the wife was halfway jumping out of her chair. She could hardly contain herself. You know what the brother said? He just said, “Oh man, that just sounds like a lot of work.”
So, here is an Ephraimite brother who thinks of himself as a faithful servant of Yeshua HaMashiach, even though he does not tithe, he does not volunteer, does not want to do anything to build Yeshua’s Kingdom. He wants the revelations; he wants the knowledge because knowledge puffs up. But he does not have enough love to help build up Yeshua’s Kingdom.
I mean, you just sometimes, you do not have the words and then later you think “You think I should ask that brother if he means to be lukewarm?”
Is this goal to be lukewarm? That is the vast majority of the Ephraimite movement today, because they are busy watching Saturday Night Live and deceiving themselves.
So, what do you do? You realize that Yahweh promised to let the bones of all the unfaithful drop in the wilderness in the Bemidbar (or Numbers) Chapter 14 and verse 29.
Bemidbar (Numbers) 14:29
29 The carcasses of you who have complained against Me shall fall in this wilderness, all of you who were numbered, according to your entire number, from twenty years old and above.
And do we realize (as we covered last week) that the prophecies also tell us that the vast majority of the Ephraimites are not going to make it home? The vast majority of Ephraim and Judah, that sojourns with Ephraim, are going to die during the tribulation because they are not obeying Yahweh Their Elohim; they are not keeping Yeshua’s Commandments.
For one example, Yeshayahu (or Isaiah) chapter 10 and verse 22 tells us that, “Although your people, O Israel (here meaning Ephraim), be as the sand of the sea, yet only a remnant of them shall return.” This says, “The destruction decreed shall overflow with righteousness.” It is like, what?
Yeshayahu (Isaiah) 10:22
22 For though your people, O Israel, be as the sand of the sea, a remnant of them will return; the destruction decreed shall overflow with righteousness.
Okay, so we are looking at right here, in this verse, we are looking at the death of most of the House of Ephraim and that is going to overflow with righteousness? Now, can we understand this?
Well, Yeshua came to die for us so that we might live for Him. Not for ourselves, but for Him. And the problem is He gives a lot of free gifting’s that go along with that. And most of the people receive the free gifting’s and they abuse the favor; asking for things just to spend them on their own lusts.
And they do not really care. They do not care about Yeshua’s Kingdom; they do not care about the Great Commission. The Great Commission does not get done and Yeshua’s unified Kingdom never gets built. What is it to them? What do they care?
They think falsely that they have salvation and eternal life because they are deceiving themselves. They are not doers of the Word they are hearers only, deceiving themselves.
Yaakov (James) 1:22
22 But be doers of the Word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
Brothers and sisters, I am talking about groups, synagogues, churches, where they discuss the Word. Home fellowships, people gathering, having a shared meal, reading Scripture, and doing nothing more than that? How does that build Yeshua’s kingdom?
Brothers and sisters, if we allow ourselves to be deceived, then are not we giving place to the Deceiver? And who is the Deceiver but Satan?
And so, why are we giving place to Satan when all we must do is to resist Him and focus on the kingdom; focus on what we are called to do; hear His voice and obey it and obey His written Word?
Yaakov (James) 4:7
7 Therefore submit to Elohim. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
Why are we giving place to the devil? Why are we not organizing?
We do not know what goes on in each person’s heart, but is it possible that some of the Ephraimites are being disobedient for the same reasons as our forefathers were disobedient? And for the same reasons that our forefathers’ bones dropped in the wilderness?
It is because Yahweh does everything for us. He gives us everything we have, and we are only willing to go so far in serving Him?
“No, we are not going to tithe, we are not going to volunteer time. Oh no. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. My time and my money is mine.”
Brother, let me ask you. Have you received salvation in Messiah Yeshua, but perhaps you have not yet really sat down to count the cost of what it means to be His servant or His slave?
Have you really sat down to count the cost of what it takes to please Him? And have you received the immersion of the Spirit? Have you received a new life and eternal life? Have you been immersed into Yeshua’s death so then you can be raised in newness of life in Yeshua’s salvation?
Laying down our lives for Him? Have we decided to make a commitment to help our King get what He wants? Have we decided to make a commitment to help our husband get His unified Global Kingdom?
Or perhaps are we not willing to give our money? We are not willing to give up our time? We do not really want to do any work to build Yeshua’s Kingdom? We are not really supporting those who are?
How do you get through to people?
But may I please ask those of you directly to whom this pertains, how do you expect to please Yahweh in the day of judgment with an attitude that says, “I do not really care about your Son”?
“Thank you for eternal life. Yes, I want to be Yeshua’s bride. Yes, I want to serve Him. I did not serve Him. I do not have any money. I do not have any time for Him. It is not my number one priority in life. I have other things to do. My children have soccer. I have investments. I got the house to maintain. Come on, give me a break! What do you want from me here? What do you expect?”
It has been about 3 500 years since Yahweh gave us His bridal contract (His Ketubah) the Torah and it has been about 2 000 years since we received Yeshua’s Spirit so that we know now how to walk the Torah out in love, in Yeshua’s Spirit. We claim to be faithful disciples, we claim to be filled with Yeshua’s Spirit and we claim not to be quenching it, but then we are not found doing the things that Yeshua’s Spirit is already doing.
How does that match? Hmm…let us see. How can we truly have Yeshua’s Spirit and yet we are not doing the same things as what Yeshua’s Spirit is doing. But we are not quenching His Spirit.
Thessaloniquim Aleph (1st Thessalonians) 5:19-22
19 Do not quench the Spirit.
20 Do not despise prophecies.
21 Test all things; hold fast what is good.
22 Abstain from every form of evil.
So, how does that fit together?
Well, we need to pray about it because some people believe that quenching His Spirit is the unforgivable sin. If we do or say something wrong, that is forgivable, but if we are not trying to follow His Spirit, are we not trampling on the grace? On His favor?
And brother, sister, if we are not doing the same things as Yeshua’s Spirit is doing, then are we even really connected to the Vine, Yeshua, in the first place? Because Yeshua tells us that a tree is known by its fruit.
Luqa (Luke) 6:43-45
43 “For a good tree does not bear bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit.
44 For every tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they gather grapes from a bramble bush.
45 A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.
If you bear good fruit that means you are eagerly helping to build Yeshua’s unified global kingdom according to all He commands, because that is what He wants. That is His will. We know that we are in His will when we are doing His will and He wants to build a unified global kingdom which He will then submit to His Father.
So, if we are not eagerly doing that; if we are not actively helping him to build His unified global kingdom then how are we showing good fruit?
And if we are not showing good fruit; if we are not eagerly helping Yeshua to build His unified global kingdom so He can serve His Father, then how are we connected to the Vine?
Building Yeshua’s unified global kingdom on a single foundation of apostles and prophets, that is the good fruit that He wants. And He will help us to produce good fruit, but we must follow His Spirit; we must obey all His instructions and not just the ones we like.
Ephesim (Ephesians) 2:20
20 Having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Yeshua HaMashiach Himself being the chief cornerstone,
It is like that old saying, if Yahweh is your co-pilot, switch seats! Hand Him the steering wheel! Let Him lead you!
We promised that we would look at Psalm (or Tehillim) 73 and the psalmist Asaph, tells us that Yahweh is continually with us. It is as if He leads us by our right hand (so to speak).
Tehillim (Psalms) 73:23-24
23 Nevertheless I am continually with You; You hold me by my right hand.
24 You will guide me with Your counsel, and afterward receive me to glory.
So, if we will just follow His leading and guiding and obey the still small voice which we hear in our inner ears, He is gladly going to take us by our right hand and lead us up to glory and take us up to Him. All we need to do is to let Him lead us by the right hand and then He will show us how to be His Proverbs 31 bride. That is all we need to do; we just need to let Him lead and do everything He says. That is the catch.
Though, we need to do it eagerly and with lots of love for Him. He wants to lead us like that. He wants to help us learn to become His Proverbs 31 bride. He wants to help us grow spiritually in Him. He wants to lead us to victory in Him, but we need to let go of the world; we need to let go of Egypt (or Mitzrayim).
When we come out of spiritual Mitzrayim, we come into His service. Do we not need to sit down and count the cost and place Him and His Son truly first? Tithing first, giving of our spare time first, because that is the only way to please Him it says in Scripture.
Do we think He does not mean what His Word says? We are willing to stand on the promises, but we are not willing to stand behind the responsibilities?
Listen…yes, I am a sinner like everyone else, but the thing is, does He really want a bride who is half stepping for Him? Does He really want a bride who is dragging her heels; does not want to do anything? Why does He want that when He could have a Moshe or a Joshua or a Caleb or an Eliyahu or a Shaul or whoever He wants?
Do we realize what it means when Shaul counsels us that, do we not know that all those who run in a race indeed all run but only one receives the prize? We are to run in such a way as that we may obtain it and the reason is that it is the Spirit, that is the commitment, that is the eagerness He is looking for and anything else seems lukewarm to Him.
He wants a bride for His Son that wants to serve His Son, that is what He is looking for.
Well, I do not know why the rabbis chose to end the Parasha at the conclusion of the Ten Commandments. We could easily go for a whole year just on the Ten Commandments (or the Ten Words or they call them the Ten Things in Hebrew) but let us remember that we are still under the Firstborn Priesthood at this point when the Ten Commandments are given.
So, what we see is that this is the wedding ceremony. This is erusin, this is the public betrothal. And so, the Ten Commandments are the bride’s Ketubah.
Now, and that is because the Levitical Order will not be called for four more Parashiot. So, at this moment in time (at the time of the wedding) it is the 10 words or the 10 things that is the Ketubah; that is our bridal Covenant.
Now, be careful! It does not mean that we only need to follow the ten things, because these ten things (or ten words) really are much more like ten principles (or ten precepts) because the very first of the ten precepts is the idea that Yahweh alone is our Elohim.
We are to serve Him first; in Him only. He is our Elohim He is our Commander; He is our King. He could direct us however He wants to do, whatever He wants and that is just like a military general is in charge. They have the authority to issue new directives and new strategies when the operation changes or progresses from one phase to the next, to the next, to the next. They can change the operating instructions however they see fit.
So, if it is the time for the Firstborn Priesthood and Yahweh tells Israel to organize a certain way, then we do it that way. And if it is the time in Levitical Order and Yahweh tells us to unify the nation around a blood altar three times a year, then we need to follow the specific instructions that Yahweh gives for unifying the nation around a cleansed blood altar three times a year; if we are under the Levitical Order (which we are not right now, we are under the Melchizedekian Order).
And if we are in the time of Yeshua establishing A Renewed Melchizedekian Order, then we are to re-raise (or to re-stand back up) the Tabernacle of David which has fallen down. And if that is the case (it is the case), then we need to follow Yeshua’s instructions for organizing and operating outside the land under the Melchizedekian Order.
So, it is really very simple and while the specifics of how we operate can change from one priesthood to the next, to the next, to the next, we never ever violate the 10 words (or the 10 things). We never lose our zeal for building the coming kingdom of Mashiach. If we lose our zeal for building Yeshua’s coming kingdom, then is there not a problem that needs to be resolved?
If we want to be a helper for our Husband and if we want to survive the Great Tribulation, then do we not need to learn to help Him?
Well, to talk about the Haftara a prophetic portion: I could not figure out why the rabbis chose this section, so I looked it up on Wikipedia and under Parasha Yitro; under the section Haftara connection to the Parasha it says, “Both the Parasha and the Haftara recount Elohim’s revelation.”
Okay, well that is nice, but so what? Kind of…
It says, “Both the Parasha and the Haftara describe divine beings as winged”
I am like, “Are you kidding me?!”
And it says, “Both the Parasha and the Haftara report Elohim’s presence accompanied by shaking and smoke, and both the Parasha and the Haftara speak of making Israel a set-apart community.” But they do not give us any instructions on how to do that. They have their own ideas how to make a set-apart community apart from the ideas that Yahweh gives in his Torah?
Okay, well, if the rabbis do not really have a message in this passage, then what is Elohim trying to say here?
So, when I read it, I get the message that Yahweh’s people think they are doing a splendid, spectacular, great job of serving Him they think that, just like the House of Ephraim thinks, they are doing a great job of serving Him today. Just like our forefathers thought they were doing a really great job of serving Him back in the wilderness when they had nothing, but complaints and no trust in faith.
Yaakov (James) 1:22
22 But be doers of the Word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
Well, perhaps they were serving Him by even bringing their tithes, but they were not serving Him in a transformative way and that is the key point. If we are not transformed by the infilling of His Spirit, what is it all about? A checklist of Commandments that we are going to kind of half-heartedly do? We are going to (kind of) give our tithe because we must.
Like, “Well I suppose I should donate some work to the set-apart community”, that kind of a thing, but not in a transformative way. Not in a happy, joyful way. That Yahweh has chosen us of all people. Why us as His bride? Like, are you kidding me?
And Yahweh says because these people do not get that He is going to burn the place down. And the reason Yahweh is still going to burn the place down is that His treasured daughter-in-law whom He redeemed personally from Egypt, He betrothed to His Son, and then He sent His Son to die to redeem her.
What is it to them? They are not really putting Him first in their life. We all know what first is. We all know what it is to put Yahweh’s tithe first. We all know what it is to put Yahweh’s Word first. By the time we are three years old we know the difference between right and wrong. Now, it is just a matter of choices. We need to make those correct choices for Him.
Well, Yahweh says, His people – they are hearing His Word, but they are not really getting it. They keep on seeing great things in His Word, but they regard them as strange; they do not really understand “What is Yahweh on about?” They do not understand what Yahweh is on about because they are not truly committed to Him. Their heart is not truly with Him.
They even know Him? How can they say they know Him when they do not care about the same things He cares about?
Brother, sister, in your own relationship with your own spouse, how well does the relationship go if you do not care about what your spouse cares about?
Well, most of our brethren in the Ephraimite movement, again I am a repentant sinner, but what I see is, most of Ephraim both in Scripture and today, they do not want to enter into a real family relationship with Him. They do not want to be real with Him. They do not want to be real about the extent of the sacrifice His Son made.
I do not know, but I just imagine that, with what amounts to utter disrespect and complete lack of honor, coming from His Son’s bride to be. Maybe Yahweh is thinking, “Okay, fine, whatever. She does not want to be My Son’s spouse, or excuse me, she wants to be My Son’s spouse, and He died for her, but she does not want to come together and work for Him. She does not want to tithe, she does not want to help, she does not want to do anything. She does not even want to leave spiritual Babylon in Egypt. Do not ask her to endure hardship as a good soldier of Yeshua Messiah. Do not ask Ephraim of old to endure hardship serving our King, the Commander of our army.”
I do not know how He is thinking, “if that is how she is, then forget her. She wants to be subject to the Torah, she wants to be subject to the punishments for adultery, she just wants to be lukewarm. Fine, let her heart be dull.”
Yeshayahu (Isaiah) 44:18
18 They do not know nor understand; for He has shut their eyes, so that they cannot see, and their hearts, so that they cannot understand.
“And while we are at it, let us stop up her ears with peanut butter and put scales on her eyes because if I am going to do all that for them – I am going to plan this whole thing around them and then I am going to send My Son and He is going to die a miserable, horrible, gruesome death to redeem them from death and they still do not even care enough to find out what My Son wants? They do not even care enough to make a real commitment to put Me and My Son in first place?”
“Okay, I will tell you what. You just watch as I burn this place to the ground and start over with the faithful remnant. But the problem is, things are so bad, things are so impure with My children, I am going to burn it down again because they are not listening for My voice, and they are not doing the things I say to do in My Word. They are picking and choosing; they are doing the part of The Commandments that they want to do. That is not the same as faithfully obeying Me.”
I am also not sure what the rabbis are trying to say when they decided to include Isaiah chapter 9 verses 5 and 6.
Now, clearly this is a Messianic passage. This passage clearly speaks of Yeshua, but if you are from the Jewish side of the house (specifically rabbinical and you believe the Talmud version), can you please explain to me how a human can fulfill the requirements here in verse six? Because I am not seeing it.
It tells us, “For unto us a child is born and unto us a Son is given, and the government shall be upon His shoulder.” And that is how we know it is a Messianic passage, “And His name shall be called wonderful counselor, El Gibbor (which means Mighty Elohim), Everlasting Father and Sar Shalom (or Prince of Peace).”
Yeshayahu (Isaiah) 9:6
6 For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty Elohim [El Gibbor], Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace [Sar Shalom].
Now, how can a human man be named El Gibbor (or Mighty Elohim), unless He is a manifestation of Elohim? And how can a human man be named Everlasting Father, unless He is a manifestation of the Everlasting Father?
Well, the rabbis have their ways to explain these things away, but we are not going to spend time on them here. If you want to know how we understand Yeshua as a manifestation of Yahweh, please see our study on “Yeshua Manifestation of Yahweh” found in Nazarene Scripture Studies, Volume One.
But as long as we are here, I personally believe that a much better passage, a much better match for this Parasha would have been Yirmeyahu (or Jeremiah) chapter 11.
Now, here Yahweh is speaking to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and He says, “Thus says Yahweh Elohim of Israel, ‘Cursed is the man who does not obey the words of this Covenant which I commanded your forefathers in the day I brought them up out of the land of Mitzrayim; out of the iron furnace’ saying, ‘Number one, obey My voice. And two, do according to all that I command you. Then you shall be My people and I will be your Elohim that I may establish the oath which I have sworn to your fathers; to give them a land flowing with milk and honey as it is this day.’”
Yirmeyahu (Jeremiah) 11:4-5
4 Which I commanded your fathers in the day I brought them out of the land of Mitzrayim, from the iron furnace, saying, ‘Obey My voice, and do according to all that I command you; so, shall you be My people, and I will be your Elohim,’
5 that I may establish the oath which I have sworn to your fathers, to give them ‘a land flowing with milk and honey,’ as it is this day.”’”
And that is exactly what He wants; He just wants us to take Him at face value here. You do not need to reinterpret Him. You do not need to make fence laws. You just need to read what He says and then do it, that is all you need to do.
He does not say He wants a third Temple that denies His Son, Yeshua. He does not say, “Give it a hybrid Rabbinical/Levitical priesthood and rewrite the Torah.” He does not command anything like that not anywhere; He specifically commands the opposite.
He commands us not to change His Word, but if we do not change it, brothers in Ephraim, do we not still need to obey it?
Now, He tells us what He wants in verse 7. He says, “For I earnestly exhorted your forefathers in the day I brought them up out of the land of Mitzrayim until this day. Rising early and exhorting saying, ‘Obey My voice!’” And from the language here it sounds like Yahweh was saying this for a very long time.
Yirmeyahu (Jeremiah) 11:7
7 For I earnestly exhorted your fathers in the day I brought them up out of the land of Mitzrayim, until this day, rising early and exhorting, saying, “Obey My voice.”
The Spirit is always calling out. In Proverbs 8, the Spirit cries out and He says, “I am trying to talk to you.” He says, “Yet they did not obey, they did not even incline their ears. They were not listening, but everyone followed the dictates of his evil heart. Therefore, I will bring upon them all the words of this Covenant which I commanded them to do but which they have not done.”
Yirmeyahu (Jeremiah) 11:8
8 Yet they did not obey or incline their ear, but everyone followed the dictates of his evil heart; therefore, I will bring upon them all the words of this covenant, which I commanded them to do, but which they have not done.’”
And here He is talking about the blessings and the cursings. Blessings for obedience, cursings if you do not obey everything contained in the Torah. That is what He is saying. Just like today in the House of Ephraim, our forefathers who are not obeying the Torah back in those days.
Well, here in this context, the problem Yahweh is speaking about, to brother Judah, is that brother Judah is following a Torah; it is not really the Torah. Judah instead follows what they call, rabbinic Torah Law. But it is not Yahweh’s Torah, it is Talmud dressed up to look like the Torah. But it is not the words of Elohim, it is a modification of the words of Elohim. So, really, Yahweh says it is the words of men.
Well, in verse 9 Yahweh continues. Listen closely to what He says:
Yirmeyahu (Jeremiah) 11:9
9 And Yahweh said to me, “A conspiracy has been found among the men of Judah and among the inhabitants of Yerushalayim.
[Oh, no! Is Yahweh a conspiracy theorist?]
He says, “They have turned back to the iniquities of their forefathers in the wilderness who refuse to hear My words. They did not do what I said. They have gone after other elohim to serve them (such as Adonai and HaShem, among others).”
Well, Yahweh says both houses are violating His will. He says, “The House of Israel and the House of Yehuda have both broken My Covenant which I made with their fathers. Therefore, thus says Yahweh, ‘Behold I will surely bring Calamity on them. (He is talking to both houses) which they will not be able to escape. And though they cry out to Me, I will not listen to them.’”
Yirmeyahu (Jeremiah) 11:10-11
10 They have turned back to the iniquities of their forefathers who refused to hear My words, and they have gone after other elohim to serve them; the house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken My covenant which I made with their fathers.”
11 Therefore thus says Yahweh: “Behold, I will surely bring calamity on them which they will not be able to escape; and though they cry out to Me, I will not listen to them.
He is talking about both houses here. He says:
Yirmeyahu (Jeremiah) 11:12-13
12 Then the cities of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem will go and cry out to the gods to whom they offer incense, but they will not save them at all in the time of their trouble.
13 For according to the number of your cities were your elohim, O Yehudah; and according to the number of the streets of Yerushalayim you have set up altars to that shameful thing, altars to burn incense to Baal.
[We show in our studies about the names, that HaShem and Adonai, those are the names of Baal, they are not Yahweh’s name.]
Well, does that sound like Yahweh is pleased? Okay, so what is He not pleased about?
Is He not pleased because His people are not eagerly listening for His voice? And they are not eagerly doing all that He commands in His Word as an eager Proverbs 31 fiancée should do?
But what, Ephraim? We think we are special just because we have Yeshua and just because we know about Shabbat and the feast, and we know about the Torah? We read from it every week at our friend’s house.
Great… How do you plan to survive the tribulation? How do you plan to survive the destruction we are talking about here because He is talking to both houses.
Okay, let us forget about the rest of the house, let each man save his life as it says in Jeremiah 50-51.
We are talking personal, okay? I am a repentant sinner trying to walk in repentance. Are you walking truly in repentance? If Yahweh was standing right here, are you walking in repentance? Are you truly obeying everything that you know how to do? Or are all these warnings against Ephraim and Judah disobeying falling on deaf ears?
Because we think we are “too cool for school” (or something like that). We do not really need to do anything to serve our King, is that it?
Well, in the Brit Chadasha (or the Renewed Covenant) portion it is the same thing. Yeshua keeps trying to tell us not to focus on the things of this world; do not set your sights on spiritual Mitzrayim; do not set your sights on material things (money and material goods). Set your sights on how you can lay up spiritual treasures for yourself in heaven.
But it costs! You must put your time, your money, and your life energies into building Yeshua’s kingdom. That is the only way it can get built, because it is not easy.
Look, Yahweh gave us brains. He expects us to use them, so let us sit down for a minute and let us count the cost, okay? Let us decide if we can overpower Yahweh Elohim of hosts with all the forces that we have at our disposal.
Maybe we are stronger and mightier with our armies than Yahweh Elohim of hosts. So, maybe we do not really need to obey all His Commandments like He says to do. Maybe we are stronger than Him; such that we do not need to hear and obey His voice.
Maybe we do not need to do what He says because…” Oh! Oh, I know. Yea, the judgment, it does not apply to us! Yea, that is it! That is the ticket yes because we know who Yeshua is, right? We already rest on the Shabbat and feasts just like Yeshua rested on Shabbat and feasts and we bring a dish to our friend’s house, and we have some light duty Torah discussion.”
“Because that is enough, we do not need to obey all of Yahweh’s Commandments. No, we do not need to be active in the Great Commission. No, we do not need to unify in a single foundation of apostles and prophets. No, because we are superior, we are not like those mere mortals that Yahweh says He is going to judge in Scripture. You know, those people Yahweh writes about that are disobeying Him. That is not us. He is not talking to us; He is talking to someone else.”
Hello… Ephraim, is anybody home?
What are we saying here? “Maybe Yeshua will know that we love Him even though we do not keep His Commandments and we do not do anything He said. We do not help Him build His kingdom”?
Is that what we think? We think we do not need to make a living sacrifice because that was all done by Yeshua and the apostles back in the first century? Is that what we think deep in our heart of hearts?
These are those who say in their hearts, “I do not really need to do anything, I have Yeshua’s blood covering my sins, so I do not actually have to do anything for Him.”
Yea, yea… I mean, is it not amazing how so many of Yeshua’s followers seem to want to misunderstand completely what Yeshua said in His very first sermon? We are talking the Beatitudes; the first time He taught Yeshua tells us not to focus on the world and on spiritual Mitzrayim. If we are going to come out of Mitzrayim, we need to come out of Mitzrayim. We cleanse the Mitzrayim leaven from our hearts.
Devarim (Deuteronomy) 6:5
5 You shall love Yahweh your Elohim with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.
Rather, I mean, does He not say to make building His kingdom our number one priority in life? Does Yeshua not tell us to spend our time with our spiritual family that they are our brothers and our sisters and our mothers and to spend our riches building His kingdom?
I mean we should behave like we actually love Him and want to build Him a kingdom, because we know Him, and we know that is what He wants? We read His Word, we try to make Him happy by doing the things His Word says to do, (you know) like building the kingdom?
Really, it is our pride and joy; it is our labor of love; we enjoy building the kingdom for Him because we love Him? We want to see Him happy; do you know what I mean?
Well, in Matthew (or Mattityahu) chapter 6 in verse 19, Yeshua tells us not to focus on earthly treasures such as nice cars, nice homes, nice clothing, vacation packages, because these are not truly treasures that last; moth, fire, rust, flood, mildew, war, are going to destroy all those earthly treasures. Thieves can break in and steal, they can take our diamonds, our gold, our jewelry, our silver, all our valuables.
Mattityahu (Matthew) 6:19
19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal;
But why spend money on those things if they are not essential? Why not spend our money instead on laying up spiritual treasures in heaven, because there is no way that moth or rust or even war is going to do away with anything we have done for Yeshua. These are not going to break in and steal treasure we have laid up in heaven.
So, then Yeshua says something very key that we need to understand. He says, “For where you spend your treasure there your heart will be also.” And what that means is where you spend your money, that shows where your heart really is.
Mattityahu (Matthew) 6:21
21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
So, we can talk a great game about what great disciples we are and what faithful servants of Yeshua, but do we put our money where our mouth is? Are we doing all the things that are written in His Commandments? Or are we just all about lip service and empty talk, a bunch of malarkey?
Yeshua tells us plainly, He says, “No one, none of us can serve two masters. Where they are going to hate the one and love the other or we are going to be loyal to the one and despise the other.” He says we cannot serve both Elohim and money; it does not work like that. Money is a thing of the world; Elohim is of the Spirit; Elohim is Spirit.
Mattityahu (Matthew) 6:24
24 “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve Elohim and mammon.
Well, it is like Yeshua is trying to get people’s attention. He is trying to say, “Look, would you just please snap out of it?” in the very nicest, most loving way possible. It is like He is trying to say, “Okay, look, you need to put Me and my Father first. And do not think we cannot tell the difference between whether you are really putting Us first and when you are not putting Us first, because We can tell.”
It is up to those of us who truly love Him to do something good with the clues He is given us in Scripture. It is up to us to build the kingdom for the next generations.
So, when we plan our time are we stopping and considering the eternal consequences of what we are planning? Because sooner or later we are all going to come to the end of our lives and then we will be in the judgment.
Either we walked correctly, or we did not walk correctly. Either He was our first and only priority or He was not our first and only priority.
And Yeshua says He is coming quickly, and His reward is with Him to give to every one of us according to our work.
So, what are we doing for Him? Are we doing much of anything for Him? Because being an obedient disciple, that is something we must walk out step by step and day by day. We do not get to just be obedient by showing up at our friend’s house and reading Scripture. We must remain obedient to Him in every moment in every decision that we make.
We must use stewardship in our lives to steward the resources of our lives to help build His Son’s kingdom. That is what He wants to see.
He is going to say, “Did you read My book? Did you do what it said?”
Well, our forefathers did not want to obey Yahweh when they were coming out of Egypt, but did they not think they were obedient Israelites? Did they not think they were doing just fine? But the fact is, their hearts were not really turned to Yahweh; they did not have the same Spirit as Moshe or Joshua or Eliyahu or Caleb or King David.
They did not really serve Him with all their heart, with all their soul, and with all their strength; and it reflected in everything that they did.
Devarim (Deuteronomy) 6:5
5 You shall love Yahweh your Elohim with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.
So, brothers and sisters, the point is what about us? Are we going to do everything that Yahweh’s Word asks us to do like being a good and loyal Proverbs 31 bride? And if we want to be part of the bride, are we helping Yeshua to get His kingdom set up for His Father?
Because a bride is described as a helper, so are we helping Him? Or are we perhaps lying to ourselves, telling ourselves that we are doers of the Word when really, we are hearers only, deceiving ourselves?
Yaakov (James) 1:22
22 But be doers of the Word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
Are we truly walking a broad easy pathway that anyone who does not really want to give of himself or his time or his life energy or his money can walk that broad easy road?
Or perhaps walking in narrow and afflicted pathway that leads unto life? It just seems like very few there are, whoever really find it, because there is very few who are willing to sit down and count the cost and still choose for Elohim.
Well, our forefathers used to say a word of the wise is sufficient, so I hope this information will be helpful to those of you who truly love Yeshua and want to serve Him the way that He says.
He who has ears let him hear.
Hitgalut (Revelation) 2:29
29 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”’
Shabbat Shalom.