J. Jury @ Y knot J

This is fascinating. Judaism has a somewhat different breakdown of the Ten Commandments, namely that, unlike gentile Christianity, the First Commandment is actually the statement, that Yahweh is our God. They also combine what gentile Christianity would traditionally consider to be the 2nd and 3rd commandments, not to have other gods before Him, and not to make idols. So here is the new breakdown.

1st Commandment: Acknowledge that Yahweh is God.

Exodus 20:1-2, God spoke all these words, saying, “I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

2nd Commandment: Have no other Gods or idols before Yahweh.

Exodus 20:3-6 “You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourselves an idol, nor any image of anything that is in the heavens above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: you shall not bow yourself down to them, nor serve them, for I, Yahweh your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and on the fourth generation of those who hate me, and showing loving kindness to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.

3rd Commandment: Do not bring Yahweh’s Name to nothing.

Exodus 20:7, “You shall not take the name of Yahweh your God in vain, for Yahweh will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.

4th Commandment: Remember the Sabbath, and keep it holy.

Exodus 20:8-11, “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. You shall labor six days, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to Yahweh your God. You shall not do any work in it, you, nor your son, nor your daughter, your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your livestock, nor your stranger who is within your gates; for in six days Yahweh made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day; therefore Yahweh blessed the Sabbath day, and made it holy.

5th Commandment: Honor your father and mother.

Exodus 20:12, “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land which Yahweh your God gives you.

6th Commandment: Do not murder.

Exodus 20:13, “You shall not murder.

7th Commandment: Do not commit adultery.

Exodus 20:14, “You shall not commit adultery.

8th Commandment:Do not steal.

Exodus 20:15, “You shall not steal.

9th Commandment: Do not bear false witness against your neighbor.

Exodus 20:16, “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.

10th Commandment: Do not covet anything belonging to your neighbor.

Exodus 20:17, “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.”

I’ve recently come to the realization that the term “church fathers” is really quite misldeading. In fact, the term refers to a body of ancient writing that spans from the time of Yahshua’s death until the the end of the sixth century.  In my vigorous studies of these “lost books of the Bible”, I have come to accept writings of some of these so-called “church fathers” as authoritative documents, possibly even Scripture, while approaching them from a Hebraic mindset.

The point of this?

It is important to note that somewhere within this time frame of the “church fathers”, i.e. between the first six centuries, we know that great apostasy set in very shortly after the passing of the original Apostles. We have threefold evidence of this event:

1. A drastic shift in Torah-less writing. None of the earliest of these “church fathers” spoke against breaking Torah, but perpetually urged obedience to “the commandments of God”, and relied heavily upon the influence of First Covenant writings to establish their points. (I will make another post about this later.)
2. Hegesippus, an early chronicler of the events of the early Assemblies, wrote in the mid second century, “Up to that period, the Assembly had remained like a virgin pure and uncorrupted: for, if there were any persons who were disposed to tamper with the wholesome rule of the preaching of salvation, they still lurked in some dark place of concealment or other. But, when the sacred band of apostles had in various ways closed their lives, and that generation of men to whom it had been vouchsafed to listen to the Godlike Wisdom with their own ears had passed away, then did the confederacy of Godless error take its rise through the treachery of false teachers, who, seeing that none of the apostles any longer survived, at length attempted with bare and uplifted head to oppose the preaching of the truth by preaching ‘knowledge falsely so called.’ “ Here we have an open admission that apostasy had set in within the early Assembly!
3. The Book of Enoch recounts, “Go, bind Semjaza (a fallen angel) and his associates who have united themselves with women so as to have defiled themselves with them in all their uncleanness… bind them fast for seventy generations in the valleys of the earth.” We can see from the Good News according to Luke, that seventy generations is exactly when the Messiah arrived. So after the seventieth generation, Semjaza had been released to once again corrupt mankind. This is when the great anti-Torah apostasy had begun to take place. It is no wonder that the church had, by the fourth century, eliminated the book of Enoch from reading circles. It cast the spotlight on them!

So I want to (briefly) distinguish between which “early church fathers” I accept, and reject. I will be posting a thorough flow-chart with reasons for acceptance and rejection later; this is a brief synopsis.

Examine the earliest of these “church fathers”: Clement, Polycarp, and Ignatius, for example. Their writings seem to be a logical continuation to those of John, Peter, and Jacob, for they continue to teach Sabbath observance, Torah obedience, Yahweh’s appointed times, etc.

Shortly after them, however, the focus of the writing shifted. Writers like Irenaeaus, Eusebius, and Jerome all grew to become anti-Torah, replacing the Sabbath instead with “the lord’s day”, and rejecting circumcision of the flesh for circumcision exlusively of the heart. Yet any good student of the Scriptures knows that Yahweh’s appointed times cannot change (Exodus 31:16), and that true believers in God will have both circumcision of the heart and circumcision of the flesh (Ezekiel 44:7-9).

This post has been brief, and most certainly a more thorough study will follow soon as my passion and knowledge for this body of sacred writing increases.

Until then, shalom.

In addition to producing The Apostolic Fathers, I have decided to produce a short edition that will include several of the apocryphal books of the Renewed Covenant.

I have created two separate pages under the Writings tab to give a further description and progress updates for these each of these projects.

The Apostolic Fathers
The Apocryphal Renewed Covenant

My newest project, which is well underway, is a study of the writings of the so-called “early church fathers” from a Messianic / Hebraic perspective. I plan to use my initial work on the “Letter of Yosef bar Naba” (Barnabas) as a jumping off point to delve into a volume of writing produced directly by the disciples of Yahshua’s apostles.

A big undertaking? Perhaps. Lucritive? Probably not.

But as our beloved rabbi Paul said, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as if working for Yahweh.” So with that in mind, I pray that this volume will be done as if for Yahweh Himself.

Updates to the project will be posted here as time allows.

The Letter of Barnabas ranks with great popularity among the ancient writings of the Apostolic period. It shares canonical status as one of the books of the “New Testament” in several manuscripts of the Greek Septuagint (Codices Sinaiticus and Hierosolymitanus).

This edition of an ancient piece of forgotten Scripture is presented in a truly Hebraic fashion, emphasizing Torah observance and utilizing the sacred names of the Most High and of His Son, the Messiah.

It is available for sale ($10 paperback, $7 download) at my website, http://www.yknotj.com, or more directly, here.

Thank you for your support!

Here’s how I see it… the reunion of the two houses of Israel isn’t a minor side note of Scripture; it’s the major point of Scripture; the central plot if you were to put it in a storybook sense. I agree that it’s important to study each verse in context, but I do think you’ve got to look at the greater whole as well… and that is where my heart lies: the greater whole.

Let’s look at 2nd Kings 17:23-24 again, I don’t think we’ll make much progress on Matthew 4:15 until we first go over 2nd Kings 17:23-24.

So the Assyrians, Babylonians, and other nations possessed Samaria, the capital of the Northern Kingdom. But let’s see how this ties into the famous story of the woman at the well in John 4:3-19…

So we see from New Testament Scriptures that the Samaritans, i.e. those living in the regions of the “gentiles”, i.e. those from Naphtali and Zebulon, or “Galilee of the Gentiles”, are in fact half-blood descendants of the original Israelites.

Despite what “church tradition”, grace is not a “New Testament” concept, nor did it first dawn with the Renewed Covenant.

Genesis 6:8
But Noah found grace in the eyes of Yahweh.

Exodus 33:12-18
Then Moses said to Yahweh, “See, You say to me, ‘Bring up this people.’ But You have not let me know whom You will send with me. Yet You have said, ‘I know you by name, and you have also found grace in My sight.’ Now therefore, I pray, if I have found grace in Your sight, show me now Your way, that I may know You and that I may find grace in Your sight. And consider that this nation is Your people.” And He said, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” Then he said to Him, “If Your Presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here. For how then will it be known that Your people and I have found grace in Your sight, except You go with us? So we shall be separate, Your people and I, from all the people who are upon the face of the earth.” So Yahweh said to Moses, “I will also do this thing that you have spoken; for you have found grace in My sight, and I know you by name.” And he said, “Please, show me Your glory.”

Psalm 84:11
For Yahweh God is a sun and shield: Yahweh will give grace and glory. No good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.

If we are now under a “dispensation of grace” as some falsely teach, then how can they explain the existence of grace before the advent of Yahshua? This is why I am so fascinated lately with the book of Ecclesiastes…

Ecclesiastes 1:9-11
That which has been is that which shall be, and that which has been done is that which shall be done, and there is no new thing under the sun. Is there a thing of which it may be said, “See, this is new?” It has been long ago, in the ages which were before us. There is no remembrance of the former generations, neither shall there be any remembrance of the latter generations that are to come, among those that shall come after.

Thus I say again: grace is not a New Testament concept. As there is nothing new under the sun, and that which was done long ago (grace given to Noah) is the same as that which is done today (grace given to us).

I was recently asked to show support for Sabbath observance from the New/Renewed Covenant writings… so here goes.

Colossians 2:13-17, “And you, though you were dead through your trespasses (a) and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made you alive together with him. Having forgiven us all of our trespasses (a), He has blotted out the bond written in ordinances (b) that was against us, and held against us. He has taken it (b) out that way, nailing it to the cross. (c) Having disarmed the rulers and authorities, He has made a public example of them, having triumphed over them through it. (d) Therefore let no man judge you by what you eat or drink, or for celebrating a feast day or a new moon or a Sabbath day. These things are a shadow of the things to come (e), but the main objective is the Messiah. (f)”

(a) Torah violations according to Aramaic manuscrips, “lack of law” according to Greek.
(b) Not referring to the Torah itself, but to the judgement of sin that was against us.
(c) Upon the shedding of Yahshua’s blood, the sins were forgiven, and lost Ephraim could be united once again in the covenant relationship with Yahweh.
(d) Since He has disposessed the our spiritual bondage which at one point chained us in darkness, He has now through His death triumphed over them.
(e) If they are a shadow of things to come, then does not a shadow always represent the same thing, but in greater detail? For instance, if the shadow of a man goes before him, it is known of his shadow that he is a man, and not something else. In the same way, the Torah casts a shadow, giving us guidelines for eating, drinking, holy days, and the Sabbath: when the shadow is gone, and the full realization comes, it still bears the same shape as the shadow! By this I mean that we still have Torah, Kosher eating, Sabbath observance, etc. even within the New/Renewed Covenant under the leadership of the Messiah.
(f) Aramaic Peshitta, according to Lamsa.

Christianity teaches that these verses have released us from the Torah of our Father Yahweh, and emphasizes the understanding of these final sentences, “let no man judge you… regarding eating, drinking, Sabbath, etc.” to mean that you can pick your own Sabbath day and eat what you want (hence the Catholic church arbitrarily chose Sunday to cater to pagans). What Paul was really trying to get accross, if I may paraphrase, was, “Let no man judge you from what Yahweh has already established.” Let me backtrack a couple of steps to guide you through my logic…

Genesis 1:14, “God said, ‘Let there be lights in the firmament of heaven to divide the day from the night, and let them be for signs, for seasons, for days, and for years.’ “

The Hebrew here for seasons is “moedim”, or appointed times. The lights in the sky were given to determine Yahweh’s appointed times.

Genesis 2:2-3, “On the sixth day God finished His work which He had made, and on the seventh day He rested from all His work which He had made. God blessed the seventh day, and declared it holy, because in it He rested from all His work which He had created.”

This is the first written record that Yahweh established the Sabbath- an appointed time- as revealed by the lights in the sky (hence, being able to determine the seventh day). Now here in the 10 Commandments the Sabbath observance was fully revealed and recorded.

Exodus 20:8-11, “Remember the Sabbath day, and keep it holy. Six days you will labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath unto Yahweh your God, and in it you will not do any work, neither you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your man-servant, nor your maid-servant, nor your cattle, nor the stranger that is within your gates. For in six days Yahweh made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and He rested on the seventh day. Therefore Yahweh blessed the Sabbath day, and made it holy.”

Moving on… I examined Isaiah the prophet to see how this fits in with the “New Testament” writings…

Isaiah 56:1-7, “This says Yahweh, ‘Keep justice, and do righteousness; for my salvation (a) is almost here, and is my righteousness to be revealed.’ Blessed is the man who does this, and the son of man that holds strong to it; he that keeps the Sabbath, and does not profane it, and keeps his hand from doing any evil. Let not the foreigner, once He has joined himself to Yahweh, say ‘Yahweh will surely separate me from his people.’ Neither let the eunuch say, ‘Behold, I am a dry tree.’ For this says Yahweh, ‘To the eunuchs that keep My Sabbaths, (b) and choose the things that please Me, and hold strong to My covenant: to them I will give in My house and within My walls a memorial and a name better than of sons and of daughters; I will give them an everlasting name (c) that will not be cut off.’ He also says to the foreigners that join themselves to Yahweh, to minister to Him, and to love the name of Yahweh, to be His servants, ‘Every one who keepeth the Sabbath and does not profane it, and holds strong My covenant (b), I will bring them to My holy mountain, and make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted upon my altar, for My house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.”

(a) Yahshua
(b) Many Christians teach that this prophecy is saying that ‘gentiles’ will be ‘grafted in’ to Yahweh’s eternal kingdom. What they miss is that this prophecy also clearly says that to receive the promise of Yahweh’s salvation (Yahshua), and to dwell in His eternal house, these eunichs and foreigners must submit to honoring the Sabbath.
(c) Israel, heir to the everlasting covenant made with Isaac in Genesis 17:19.

Sabbath is an eternal covenant that was given since the beginning. Yahweh is eternal, unchanging in all His ways, and nothing He establishes can ever be undone (Isaiah 40:8). There is no way that Colossians 2:13-17 can change that. Rather, Paul upholds the Sabbath, admonishing us to not let go of the covenantal pact between Yahweh and man.

In a nutshell: here’s the NT verse supporting Sabbath.

In the Hebrew language, the original names for the first five books of Scripture (the Torah) tell a story. The names of these books were typically taken from the first word(s) of the book. So for instance…

Genesis = Bereshith / Beginning, or “In the Beginning”.
Exodus = Shemot / Names, or “These are the Names”.
Leviticus = Wayikra / Wilderness, or “In the Wilderness”
Numbers = Bamidbar / Calling, or “Those who are Called”.
Deuteronomy = Devarim / Words, or “These are the Words”.

So putting these together we have…

“In the beginning, My Name I revealed in the wilderness to those whom I called by My Word.”

Hebrew literature is really quite beautiful.

John 5:43, “I (Yahshua) have come in my Father’s Name (Yahweh), and you receive me not; yet if another comes in his own name, him you will receive.”

“Yahshua” is a Hebrew/Aramaic name meaning “Salvation of Yahweh”. Yahshua literally came bearing His Father’s Name; YAH brings SHUA (salvation).

“Jesus” comes from nothing. It is an English translation of the Latin translation of the Greek translation of an Aramaic name. “Jesus” literally came in his own name, and Christianity accepts him with open arms. Yahshua, on the other hand, is unanimously rejected, despite the fact that there is no other name under heaven which can bring salvation besides Yahshua…

“…For neither is there any other name under heaven, that is given among men, by which we might be saved.” - Acts 4:12

And yes… they are different people entirely.

Jesus came to destroy the law of Moses, and to establish a church of gentiles.

Yahshua, on the other hand, came to perfectly follow and uphold the Torah of His Father Yahweh, and to regather the lost sheep of Israel, the northern kingdom of Ephraim.

Thus I submit to you… that Jesus is the false messiah spoken of by Paul, John, Daniel, the Book of Revelation, and even by Enoch.