The prophet Yokhanan (John the Baptizer) said of Yeshua (Jesus), “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”(John 1:29 NASB 1995). This study explores Hebrews 1–10, a thorough explanation of what Heaven is teaching and reminding us about in יוֹם הַכִּפֻּרִים Yom haKippurim (Yom Kippur, Day of Atonement), that it is an annual memorial of Yeshua as the ultimate high priest of Heaven to take away our guilt and allow us to go confidently to God.
The “bad report” brought by the spies about the land God promised to give Israel was a dishonest report. Yet because the majority of the spies were willing to spread lies, the honest report of the two faithful spies was drowned out. The leaders of Israel believed the false report so completely that they were planning an insurrection to have Moses and Aaron stoned and then appoint a “leader” who would return them to Mitsraim (Egypt).
Numbers 14 is an example of democracy gone wrong. It also shows us God’s great patience with us in our lack of trust. We would not have tolerated the 10 times of grumbling that God tolerated from ancient Israel during the journey from Mitsraim. Yet He had to enact discipline too.
What is “grace” in the New Testament of the Bible, and who gives it? Did Yeshua’s grace replace or usurp God’s grace? No, God gave us grace when he gave mankind the Torah and then He gave us even more grace when He gave us Yeshua. One does not replace the other. Works of Torah obedience are only of use to the believer after one trusts in God for salvation — not before — because salvation cannot be earned.
God is careful to make sure that holy things are treated with respect and covered up. Anyone who touched a holy thing unworthily would die. However, if God’s holy people — His assembly — sins, that sin will be uncovered and dealt with by Him. He will make sure it’s exposed. However, if someone is falsely accused, He will vindicate them too.
Here is part 2 of the Be a Berean video study series by Sean Hilton. In this episode, Sean explores dozens of New Testament verses that seem to say be contradictory on whether the Law (aka the Torah) is what believers in Yeshua the Messiah (Jesus Christ) should be keeping or is “nailed to the cross.” Sean asks those interested in knowing God better whether the Bible is double-minded on grace and the Law.
Galatians 4, with its discussion of freedom from being “under [the] law” and not of the Jerusalem related to the flesh, is often cited by those who argue that observing the Torah is a backward step for believers in Messiah Yeshua. However, considering what Paul already wrote in chapters 1 through 3 and the parallel discussion in Romans 5–7, his point in this chapter is that both Jews and non-Jews are in the same situation without God’s method of salvation, which isn’t God’s Law. Yet God’s goal for humanity long-term is heart-led obedience to His Law.
Who makes us holy? Paul calls his hearers to remember that it is Yeshua who makes us holy. Yeshua makes us holy when He creates in us a new heart. We discover the definition of sin and the remedy for sin in the same text. Paul is not giving the Galatians a new Torah, a new teaching. He is sending them back to the old ways that were there all along yet hidden and ignored. We explore the “new covenant” transformation from “old self” to “new self” in Colossians 2–4 and Romans 5-7.