Q. In Matthew 23.1-2 it says that the Scribes and Pharisees have seated themselves in the chair of Moses and we should do what they tell us. Does that

A. Yeshua is talking to the people about the scribes and Pharisees and says that they have been making rulings about how to obey the commandments in the 1st century. Their rulings did not apply to everyone especially if you were not following them in the first place. However, they made up much of the ruling councils and the Sanhedrin so it was not a good position to be in if you came before them for an infraction. The Orthodox rabbis today are the spiritual descendants of these 1st century rabbis and follow many of the same teachings today and many believers today blindly follow their teachings thinking they have authority over messianic believers in Yeshua. The truth is they don’t and let’s look at what Yeshua said about them and this will answer your question. There several fatal mistakes the rabbis have made that we need to go over first. They believe there are 2 Torahs, one written and one oral. The oral tradition is where many of these rulings can be found. Of course there are not 2 Torah’s, the written Torah is a believer’s only authority. Secondly, the rabbis teach that their authority is to be obeyed even if it goes against the Torah. Third, they make irrational interpretations that are almost hilarious if it wasn’t so tragic. Then there are the traditions they add and lastly there are the man-made laws called “takafot” and these are just a few of the mistakes in their premise to begin with. Yeshua had much to say about the teachings of the rabbis. He said their teachings were like plants that will be uprooted (Matt 15.13) and planted by the enemy (Matt 13.37-39). He said their teachings affect the outer man but do nothing for the inward man (Matt 23.25-28). He added that their teachings were leaven and left unchallenged would leaven everything (Matt 16. 6-12). Yeshua himself disagreed with many of their teachings (Mk 7.1-8). In Deut 17 it says that judges and others were there to make rulings and you had to obey them or suffer the consequences. But, when this law was given they had a priest with the Urim and Thummim and prophets who could communicate directly with the Lord about a matter and when you did not obey the ruling it was because you went directly against the Lord. The rabbis of the 1st century and the rabbis today do not have that communication anymore and their rulings are rulings of men and men make mistakes. So, we are not bound by these rabbinical rulings especially if they go against the written scripture. But Judaism isn’t the only place you find this. Christianity and other belief systems today have done the same thing. Every one of the things mentioned above applies to Christian theology and if one is going to scrutinize the rabbis you need to use the same logic on what is being taught today. There is nothing new under the sun. Some denominations claim direct authority to the apostles. Some claim to hear God speak to them and then teach things that are against written scripture. Some tell stories about visions and dreams to try and give weight to their words. They claim signs and wonders so that people will think they are from God. People needed to be on guard against false prophets in every age, but this one in particular because they are everywhere. They are on TV, radio and printed media, and in our towns and able to travel from one place to another faster than ever. We have more access to false teaching then the 1st century people did and that is to be expected if we are in the last days.

Q. In Luke 24.53 it says the apostles were continually in the temple praising God. So, was this the temple or a house?

A. This was the Temple sanctuary in Jerusalem located on Mt. Moriah. It says in v 52 they went back to Jerusalem. Contrary to the prevailing theology of today the 1st century believers were Torah-observant and went to the Temple daily in some cases (Acts 2.46) although they also had a house to stay in during the festivals and visits to the city apparently (Acts 1.13). They attended the prayer services there (Acts 3.1) and there are many other examples of this. The truth is, they continued to worship, pray and attend services in the Temple until its destruction. Paul went there often and offered animal sacrifices there nearly 30 years after Yeshua’s resurrection (Acts 21.15-28, 24.10-21). The question you have to ask yourself is this. If the Law was done away with by Yeshua’s death and resurrection, why did the apostles disobey him? Why did they write in the gospels and epistles that we should follow the commandments if they were told they were done away with? Were there other commandments? The only choices you have is either they disobeyed Yeshua and kept the commandments anyway, or Yeshua never came to do away with them and he never told the apostles to stop obeying them either. The answer is Yeshua never came to do away with the Law and the 1st century believers and the writers of all the gospels and epistles never taught it either. In fact, what is taught in Bible schools and seminaries today would have never been allowed in the congregations of Yeshua in the 1st century. So, to see the apostles and other believers going to the Temple is perfectly consistent with the life of a believer in Yeshua back then, and would be now if there was a Temple, and it will be in the future when Ezekiel’s Temple is built. Read Ezekiel chapters 40-48, Isaiah 66.18-24, 56.6-8 to name a few places that talk about worship in the messianic age. You are going to have worldwide Sabbath observance, kosher laws, biblical festivals and all the things theologians have said has been done away with. I can’t make someone understand the scriptures, only God can open your minds. We have two examples of this in our chapter in Luke. The two who walked with Yeshua on the road to Emmaus and the apostles themselves had the best biblical training anyone had ever had in the history of the world because they were students of Yeshua and yet they did not understand all that was going on and the scriptures until their eyes were finally opened by the Spirit of God in v 31 and 45. I will say the same thing the apostles said in their epistles. If anyone tells you the Law, the Sabbath, the festivals, food laws and the like have been done away with and replaced by a “new” covenant that has replaced the “old” covenant they are false prophets and you need to avoid them. Then, with the proper understanding given by the Spirit of God verses like this make sense. The true test of the Holy Spirit’s working in one’s life isn’t tongues, feelings, goose bumps, miracles, singing or what passes as a move of the Spirit today. It is pure doctrine which is the true fruit of His working (Deut 13.1-5, Matt.7.15-29, I Jn 2.3-4, 4.1, 5.1-3). The world is being set up for the false messiah and his anti-Torah doctrines (1Jn 2.18) and only the Spirit can help us discern the truth.

Q. Wasn’t the Law given to show man he couldn’t keep it?

A. No, the Law was given for man to obey it. For example, why do we have laws in our homes? Do you have rules and regulations for your children to show them they can’t do it? Of course not, the rules are there to maintain order and to teach them how to conduct themselves. How many times has a father or a mother told their children that how they behave reflects upon the family? Do you make rules to show they can’t keep it, then just let them do whatever they want? Well, God doesn’t either. The Torah was given for the same reason. It came in because of the wickedness in man, or transgression (sin). It restores things and keeps our wicked hearts “in check” and from going astray after other gods and philosophies. But people will say the “Law is bondage” and other such things. If God’s word is true, how can that be bondage? He says it sets us free. If truth sets us free than error is bondage. Those that neglect the Torah for man-made religious systems are the ones in bondage and Yeshua came to set us free from all these things. The Torah is God’s instruction book on how to live. It tells us what sin is. Breaking the Sabbath is sin, eating pork is sin, hating our neighbor is sin, working on Yom Kippur is sin and so on. We wouldn’t know that unless God told us. So, if the Law has been “done away with” how do you know what sin is? The scriptures say that the transgression of the Law is sin and that was written by John and it is a New Testament doctrine. On the other hand we are not saved by keeping the Law. We were chosen in Him before the world ever was (Eph 1.4) and we are brought to salvation and born again through the Spirit of God and Yeshua is the author and finisher of all of it. We can’t even come to God unless He draws us to him. While we were yet sinners Yeshua died for us. He draws us to Him and we are forgiven. He has grace and mercy on those He calls and fills us with His Spirit and saves us, keeping the Law has nothing to do with all that. Once we are His the Torah is written on our hearts and we begin to think and act like Him. If you want to know what the Lord is like, read His book. It sets us apart from what the world does. It’s a book about a holy (set apart) life. He said be holy as I am holy, and that is also in the New Testament. The world and false religions have another definition of what holiness is but God tells us. Blasphemy is calling something “holy” when it isn’t or saying something isn’t “holy” when it is. Read the book of Leviticus for a start and you will see what God calls holy. Leviticus 11 tells us what God considers food and to be holy we eat what he says to eat and avoid what he says to avoid. Leviticus 23 tells about the holiness of time and discusses the Sabbath and biblical festivals. If you want to be holy keep the Sabbath, if you don’t want to be holy keep another day. If you want to be holy keep Passover and the festivals, if you don’t want to be holy keep Christmas, Easter, St. Valentines Day, Lent and other man-made traditions that are in direct opposition to the Lord. If you don’t get upset for obeying man’s commandments why do you get upset when someone tells you to obey God’s? That attitude certainly does not come from the Spirit of God so you will have to ask yourself where it comes from. God does not lead you away from his word and to teachers and denominations or religions that go against what He has already told us to do. So, the commandments were not given to show man he couldn’t keep them. There are hundreds of verses that tell us we are to keep them God wouldn’t give us rules that were too hard to do especially when He has given us his Spirit (Deut 30.1-20). People will ask “how do I keep them” and I tell them “one at a time” just like you keep any law. Do we realize how many traffic laws there are? Are the traffic laws given to show us we can’t keep them? Then why do people think that God’s Laws were given for that reason. How do you keep all those traffic laws? We keep them one law at a time and as they apply. If I’m out walking I don’t stop at stop signs or worry about the speed limit because they don’t apply to me at that time. Compare all the laws in our country (criminal, tax, civil, family, state, etc) to the few contained in the scriptures and you will see why Yeshua said His yoke was easy. It’s not that we can’t keep His Laws it’s because we won’t and there is a big difference. And when I sin according to what God calls sin, I confess my sin and don’t try to hide it. Confession is when the words of my mouth are consistent with what He calls sin, to say the same thing He says about it. If I broke the Sabbath I say so. If I hated my neighbor I say so. And I know He is faithful and just to forgive me and cleanse me from all unrighteousness. Well, I trust you get the point and I hope this gives you something to think about.

Q. How do you answer a person when they say the Yeshua could not be the Messiah because the Bible does not say there will be two comings?

A. This is a common objection from people who do not believe that Yeshua is the Messiah, but to say the Scriptures are silent about this is not exactly accurate and reveals a severe lack of knowledge. Here is how I answer that question. The material in Scriptures and the Jewish writings on this subject is overwhelming. In Psalm 40.7 it says that the Scriptures point to the Messiah. If a doctrine is true you will find it there. The Scriptures not only point to his family, birthplace and personality but it also details his work of redemption. Daniel tells us that the Messiah will come when the fourth kingdom is ruling and he will establish his kingdom and that would be approximately 400 years after the return of the Jewish people from Babylonian captivity. The people were in high expectation of the coming of the Messiah in the first century (Lk 3.15-16) and by the time Jon the Baptist comes along the anticipation was at an all-time high. This anticipation fueled many writings called apocalyptic literature and interpretations. This started about 100 years before the birth of Yeshua and continued for some time after his death. These interpretations were called “midrashim” and they tied together obvious and obscure messianic passages into an eschatological picture concerning the coming of the Messiah. It was here they saw a problem. On one hand there are passages that spoke of Messiah coming as a conquering king and other passages as a humble, suffering servant who would die for the people. The idea of a conquering king who would destroy Israel’s enemies was very popular, especially when the Jewish people were under the Babylonian, Medo-Persian, Greek and finally Roman occupation. The idea that Messiah would come and crush these enemies and establish peace was very encouraging. But the suffering servant who would die was the counter-point to all this. The Scriptures are very clear about this. The answer they came up with was that the there would be two Messiahs, one to suffer and the other to conquer. They were given names like Messiah Ben Joseph and Messiah Ben David. John the Baptist posed a question to Yeshua about this very question .Many well-meaning teachers have said John was doubting when he asked Yeshua if he was the one or should they expect another (Mt.11.3). He was not questioning whether or not Yeshua was the Messiah because he knew he was (Jn 1.19-36). He was asking a specific eschatological question about whether Yeshua would fulfill all the prophecies himself or whether the idea of two Messiahs was accurate. Yeshua answered John with Scriptures pertaining to both Messiah Ben Joseph and Messiah Ben David. Rather than send two Messiahs God was going to send Yeshua to fulfill all the messianic prophecies in two separate appearances. So, the objection by some that the Scriptures do not teach two comings of the Messiah is not accurate and can’t be supported very well if you use the Scriptures themselves. Yeshua came the first time as the suffering servant, the Messiah Ben Joseph figure and he will come again as the Messiah Ben David, the conquering king very soon. So, the answer to this objection would be that the Scriptures clearly teach that the Messiah will have two separate and distinct comings to fulfill all the messianic prophecies and this is also testified to by Jewish Targumim and Midrashim written approximately 100 years before and 100 years after the birth of Yeshua.

Q. What does it mean when it says the “Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath?”

A. Let’s go to Luke 6.1-5 where one of the accounts is written and analyze what is going on so you will understand why he said this. In v 1 it says this was “on the second chief Sabbath” literally in the Greek. So there are several possibilities. This was during the feast of Unleavened Bread and the second chief Sabbath of that week was the feast of First Fruits when the barley can be eaten. The first chief Sabbath was the 15th of Nisan, the first day of Unleavened Bread (Lev 23.7). The other possibility is that this was the second Sabbath of 7 leading up to the feast of Shavuot and you were to count them off (Lev 23.15-16). Whatever the day, it was a sabbath and he was passing through the barley fields and they were picking some of the heads and rubbing them together to eat them. The Pharisees saw this and accused them of breaking the Sabbath by “reaping” in a field. The Pharisees had 39 categories of work that was prohibited on the Sabbath and reaping was one of them so this was part of their “halakah”(how to walk in the commandments). These categories are still in existence today and many still follow the Pharisees in this. Modern halakah today follows the Pharisees and sadly many messianic believers in Yeshua still follow this too. In v 3 Yeshua asked them about the story of David and how he ate bread that was consecrated only for the priests. This bread was changed on the Sabbath in the Mishkan/ Temple. David and his men were fleeing from Saul and hungry. Achimelech the High Priest gave them permission to eat the bread (1Sam 21). So, here is the point of all this. Yeshua is our High Priest and he sets halakah for a believer. He created the Sabbath and he is the one who sets the rules. He can do what he wants and his followers can do what he allows them to do, just like Achimelech did with David without violating the heart of the law, which was to preserve life. So Yeshua is Lord of the Sabbath day and people come first. When he says Sabbath day he means the seventh day Sabbath (Saturday) and the feast days as prescribed in Leviticus and other places. These days have not been done away with. Man does not have the authority do that no more than the Pharisees had the authority to make the rules. If Yeshua is saying that man can’t make the rules for the Sabbath because he created it and can make the rules (it’s his day) how much more evil is it to say the whole day has been changed to another day in violation of what he said and created?. Those that keep Sunday as the Christian Sabbath have now said Yeshua is not their Lord. He already said he is Lord of the seventh day, not the first day of the week or any man-made holiday. People who keep Sunday have a different “lord” otherwise they would not be observing it. He did not authorize anyone to change the day to Sunday so to do it means you did it without his authority and so he is not their “Lord”. He said himself “why do you call me Lord and don’t do what I tell you?” It’s true he is Lord of all the days of the week but there is one day of the week he has set apart to himself and he calls “His Day” and that is the seventh day and that has never changed (Gen 2 1-3; Lev 23.1-2; Isa 58.13; Lk 4.16; Rev 1.10). This also applies to the biblical festivals as well. In Leviticus 23.2 he calls the Sabbath day and festivals “the Lord’s appointed times” and they are his days. Those that say that the Sabbath and the festivals listed in the Bible are “Jewish” are mistaken. So that’s why he said he was Lord of the Sabbath. It’s his day and he makes the rules as opposed to what man says about it, Pharisee or otherwise.

Q. What do the Scriptures teach about tithing and is it for today?

A There has been a lot of misinformation about this subject over the centuries and this is not the place to clear them all up so I will attempt to give the simple teaching about this subject. The Scriptures teach the concept of giving. Two main areas we will concentrate on is tithing and biblical giving. So, let’s talk briefly about tithing. The Hebrew word for it is “ma’aser” which means a tenth part. We see Abraham giving a tenth of the war spoils after rescuing Lot. Jacob will give a tenth if God delivers him (Gen. 28). This is in the category of biblical giving. There is no indication that either of them made it an ongoing practice as we understand it later in Leviticus and Deuteronomy. You can give whatever percentage you want of your increase but that is not considered tithing as presented in the Torah. Tithing was done when in the land of Israel. It was agricultural in nature (animals and produce) because you were making your living off the land, God’s land, and He gave it to Israel, sends the rain and gives the increase. As a result, you gave a tithe like “rent” to the real landowner. The tithe was given to the Levite and he in turn gave a tithe to the priests. You did not tithe money. The tithe was brought two times a year for six years. It went like this. The years were counted by sevens, called a “shavuah” (seven) and the seventh year was called a “shemittah” and 7 seven -year cycles equaled 49 years. The next year was the Yovel year (50th), or jubilee, when all debts were cancelled and land went back to the previous owners and so on. So the first year of the 7 year the first tithe was brought to the Levitical city near you at the feast of Shavuot. The animals were put in stockyards and the produce was put into storage areas. The second tithe was brought to the Temple and eaten in a banquet style with the priests, Levites, poor and the needy. You stayed there until it was gone (Deut. 14.22-29). The second year of the cycle you repeated the process. The third year you brought the first tithe to the storehouses at Shavuot but the second tithe was given to the Levites to be given to the widows, orphans and the needy (Deut. 26.12-15). The fourth and fifth year repeated the first and second year of the cycle and the sixth year repeated the third. The seventh year of the cycle is called the shemittah and there was no tithe because there were no crops planted. This cycle repeated for seven cycles or 49 years. So, the 49th and 50th year there was no planting or tithing (Lev 25.20-22, Isa. 37.30). You ate what grew of itself and God promised to provide enough for those two to three years. That is biblical tithing and it can’t be done today. It is wrong to bring out Malachi and other prophets to reprove people for not tithing today trying to make them feel guilty and give up their money. The church is not the storehouse and Christian ministers are not the Levites and you did not tithe money. If these ministers want the people to tithe like the people of Israel than they need to live like Levites, which won’t happen. Besides, these same ministers will tell their people they are “free from the Law” and the Law has been “done away with” except when it comes to money. Don’t you find a strange inconsistency with that? So, in short, tithing is not in force today as described in the Scriptures because there is no Temple, no Levitical cities with their storehouses, or priests. Even if there was all of the above, if you lived outside the land you were not obligated to tithe. However, if you decided to give ten percent to the Lord you could and it was considered biblical giving, not tithing. There is a difference. If you left the corners of your field with a lot of produce for the gleaners you were considered generous and had a “good eye”. If you were stingy and had an “evil eye” you cut the corners close and didn’t leave much. Boaz in the book of Ruth was generous because the reapers left extra for the gleaners. You can give whatever you want and that applies no matter who you are or where you are. Biblical giving is not limited to money. You can give time, buying study materials, talents and other things. Also keep in mind you should give to your family first and those in need in your own household. The whole concept of tithing and biblical giving cannot be totally discussed here but hopefully there is enough here to answer your question or at least give you something to work with so you can check this out for yourself.

Q. Why was Saul’s name changed to Paul?

A. His name wasn’t “changed” to Paul. He had that name because he was a Roman citizen. Some think that his name was changed because he was a “Christian” and he was separating from his Jewish roots, but Paul never said that and in fact never disregarded his Jewishness or the keeping of the Torah so it wasn’t for that reason. Yeshua referred to him by his Jewish name “Shaul”.The plain fact of the matter is he had several names which was not unusual. He had his Jewish name and a Roman name “Paulus” and it was a common name. In Acts 13.7 we read about a proconsul of Rome called Sergius Paulus. The historian Josephus was a Jewish general in the 1st century revolt against Rome. His Jewish name was Matatiyahu (Matthew) but later was captured by the Romans and eventually was known as Flavius Josephus. So the simplest answer is he had two names. His Jewish name was Shaul (Saul) and also had a Roman name Paulus (Paul). He was known by Paul because of his ministry in the Roman world and it also revealed his Roman citizenship but he also went by Shaul. There is an allusion to this name in the story of Shaul and David in 1 Sam 26.17-18 and Acts 9.4. King Shaul (Saul) was from the tribe of Benjamin and he was persecuting David from the tribe of Judah. In Acts 9.4 another Shaul from the tribe of Benjamin is persecuting a descendant of David from the tribe of Judah. That is why Yeshua calls him by his Jewish name and asks Shaul, like David did in 1 Sam 26 “Why are you persecuting me?” Names mean things and there is always something to learn. However there is no truth to the teaching that Shaul’s name was changed to Paul to illustrate his rejection of the Torah or that he was starting a new religion.