Author: Jeff

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Appointments With God Prophets and Writings Tabernacles

Purpose amid futility: Lessons from Ecclesiastes

Ecclesiastes is customarily read during Sukkot, the festival of Booths or Tabernacles, to pour a bucket of reality on the rejoicing of the promised time when God will dwell with mankind.

We look for an explanation for the misery and battle between good, bad and evil explored in the book of Ecclesiastes both from the beginning of history and the end. Revelation 21–22 assures us that God will wipe away all tears and there will be no death, mourning, pain or frustration. All those things will pass away. That is what we are all looking forward to when Yeshua will tabernacle with men forever.

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Apostolic Writings Discussions Life With God Sexuality

Sermon on the Mount: Yeshua and the Torah on adultery and divorce

"Do not think I came to abolish the Law and the Prophets" (Matthew 5:17-19): Discover how Jesus' Sermon on the Mount has been long misunderstood

Adultery and divorce are rampant problems in modern society, even among the body of believers in Yeshua (Jesus) as the Messiah. Rather than changing the words of Torah, Prophets and Writings on these two topics, Yeshua closes loopholes in interpretations of adultery laws and expands the meaning of adultery, in keeping with other teachings in the Scriptures.

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Apostolic Writings Discussions Prophets and Writings

Luke 6:20-26: Sermon on the Mount vs. Sermon on the Plain, part 2: Beatitudes in Isaiah 61

Yeshua preaches in the synagogue in Nazareth quoting from Isaiah. Photo by the LUMO project (www.LumoProject.com).

The focus of Isaiah 61 is the status of the poor. Notice there are several similarities between that passage and Yeshua’s “happy are”/“woe to” discourse, commonly known as the Beatitudes.

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Apostolic Writings Discussions

Luke 6:17-26: Sermon on the Plain vs. Sermon on the Mount, part 1: ‘Happy are’ vs. ‘woe to’

Retired Navy SEAL, Jocko Willink and Director, Echo Charles discuss discipline and ownership in business, war, relationships and everyday life.

It’s difficult to feel “blessed” when life is difficult, when bad and evil things of our existence seem to dominate. However, one of the promises God makes throughout the Bible is that He will bring “woe,” or judgment, to the evil of the world. “Blessed are,” or “happy are,” those who trust that God will make good on those promises.

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Apostolic Writings Discussions

Luke 6:12-16: Duties of Yeshua’s 12 closest disciples

Yeshua outlined duties for His 12 closest disciples, and these instructions help guide us today.

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Apostolic Writings Discussions Shabbat

Luke 6:1-11: Law vs. mercy: Does picking grain violate the Sabbath?

There are three main classes of interpretation: 1. Yeshua is heralding the “end of Torah” and the “beginning of Grace.” 2. Yeshua was simply correcting unwarranted additions to the Torah. 3. Yeshua is talking about a “higher standard” for the Torah.

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Apostolic Writings Discussions

Luke 5:17-39: Yeshua heals a paralyzed man lowered through Peter’s roof, calls Levi-Matthew, tells parables of cloths and wineskins

Yeshua had authority to heal paralytics, forgive sins and call tax collectors to His select 12 disciples. The punchline and the context of these stories and the parables Yeshua told are crucial clues to the meaning of Yeshua’s parables and miracles. A common interpretation of the parables of the cloths and wineskins is that Yeshua is teaching that one needs to unlearn the Torah to learn the gospel, but parables of the same time period employing the same symbols have a different point.