[First posted in 2014. This Q was an entry in ‘search terms’ dated 4/28/14: “a 15th century rabbi claimed adam and eve had the faces of monkeys” – and so we dealt with it in Yo Searchers! Can we help you? – April 2014.-–Admin 1]
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Image from www.mattcalcavecchia.com
A: Really? That sounds more like the image created by evolutionists rather than a rabbi.
Some humans not only like to reconfigure God but strangely have such a low opinion of humanity. They can’t believe humans are the epitome of creation, the last of living creatures to be designed with a life-nurturing environment already perfectly set up by the Designer of all existence to sustain them. If it was truly a rabbi who said that, then he needs to review his scriptural legacy, the Torah, and align his thinking with it instead of speculating outside of the text.
Would the Creator who designs the first human who is later split into two—perfectly designed in all ways, endowed with free will, PLUS bear the stamp of His ‘Image’— choose to make them look like the ape species He had already designed as a different and unique animal species with some variations (gorilla, orangutan, monkey, etc.)? Aw, come on, let’s give the Creator all the credit He deserves.
When we look at the diversity of God’s creation, each species remains the same, identifiable in characteristics and function; that is why scientists can come to final and predictable conclusions and not guess forever what a creature would evolve into next. True, the germ and virus and other organisms mutate so that their species could survive, but they do not evolve into the next level of created species and still remain as germs and viruses; perhaps their immune system become stronger because all living things are programmed to survive even if the rule of life is the survival of the fittest. Yet and unfortunately, many species have become extinct because the two-legged animals with the brains do not heed the command of the Creator to ‘tend the garden.’
Do we see any current species evolving into the next level today? Yes there are freaks of nature but they can hardly be categorized as the organism between one species and another. Have they discovered “missing links” at every stage of the supposed evolutionary process? Unless scientists tamper with the balance of nature and recreate mixed species (prohibited in Torah), most of nature, including humanity, remain as originally created— “good” and “very good” . . . NOT “could be better” or “improve later.” And when humans so decide to “improve” the original (usually for commercial gain and out of greed), there are consequences to health and environment. Genetically modified organisms are perfect examples. Man recreates and ends up with Frankenstein . . . is that an improvement?
So, would the Creator make His crown of creation — humanity — look like the species that almost look human but fall short for obvious reasons? Each person simply must decide whose word will he believe, man ‘s or God’s.
All works are original unless stated otherwise. Feel free to remix, distribute, display and share my work, as long as you mention me via a link and don’t use my work for commercial use.
I am of the opinion that evolution is no longer a theory. It is a proven thing. A virus can evolve from one type into another in the matter of a few months.To prove my point I would like to share with you the evolution chart of a pig.
Could it be true? The missing link is akin to link sausage?
*photo found on the internet G.L.J., the wisecrack?
All works are original unless stated otherwise. Feel free to remix, distribute, display and share my work, as long as you mention me via a link and don’t use my work for commercial use.
[First posted 2012. The occasion for the revisit in 2017 was this: Sinaites BAN & NSB attended a seminar held in Manila Stock Exchange on February 8, 2017. The guest lecturer? Rabbi Tovia Singer, who is based in Indonesia. Most of those who attended were former Christians/Messianics who ventured out of their religious roots, just like us. Not a surprise, what BAN & NSB discovered and realized for the first time is this: that those who attended who left their Christ-centered religion seem to share the same mindset—and what is that? That the only alternative for any ex-Christian is to join Judaism. So there were many questions about how to join and would non-Jews be accepted in that Jewish religion? Rabbi Singer was frank, that yes, Gentiles will often be discouraged from joining and that Rabbis will usually say ‘no’ 3X to test how zealous is the interested party and if still insistent, they get a foot in the door to start learning all the requirements to qualify. He added one more information that Sinaites had never heard before: that joiners of Judaism become “Jews”. What????
And that’s the crux! And here are more cruxes:
End up in yet another religion?
And lose one’s native-born identity/nationality?
Isn’t the difference between Jew and Gentile a matter of ethnicity, not religion?
Is that really what an ex-Christian is expected to do and become, to be a Jew?
Did the God of Israel intend for all to become Jews?
Or is the Divine intention for ALL humanity, Jew or Gentile, to know Him, declare His Name, so that all might live His Torah?
Question: Did we Sinaites ever consider joining Judaism? Admittedly, at the beginning, we explored it, read extensively about it, consulted online rabbis, did our thorough research. Because indeed, where does an ex-Christ religionist-believer go after leaving one of the three monotheistic religions? What is the alternative for Gentiles who don’t want to become Moslem, Buddhist, Noachide, etc.?
This post answers that question and explains the Sinaite’s adventurous spiritual journey: basically,
AWAY from man-made religion
toward the Source of Divine Revelation,
toward YHWH, the God Who revealed Himself, His NAME and His WAY on historic Sinai, once upon a time 6 millennia ago.
Did BAN & NSB try explaining that to the seminar attendees? To those who gave them a hearing, yes. Were they taken seriously? Not really. Why not?
“Sinai 6000? What is that? Yet another new religion?” Well, how does one explain in 5 minutes, a 7-year pilgrimage recorded in over 900 articles posted in a website?
Here’s the original INTRODUCTION to the 2017 post:
Revisiting a statement (written in 2012) takes us back to the beginning of our journey (2010), focusing on one of the many books that influenced us to make a difficult and crucial decision to leave Christianity, a religion we had been born in, embraced without question, lived for decades of our lives, and successfully evangelized many others to convert from their former faith.
This is self-explanatory. —Admin1]
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Image from amazon.com
One of the books that greatly influenced our Sinai 6000 community is a book authored by James D. Tabor, Restoring Abrahamic Faith, available on the web at www.Genesis2000.org.
Since majority our affiliates are gentiles who were former Catholics, Evangelicals, Messianics, (and a few unaffiliated independent God-seekers), we felt that turning away from our former Christ-centered faith to turn to the God of Israel placed us in a neither-here-nor-there situation. Having left institutional religions, most of us were not inclined to get into yet another major religion such as Judaism, even as we embraced the God of Israel Whose Name is YHWH. We checked out gentile groups like the Noachides and web communities like the Synagogue Without Walls but did not fully agree with their credo. Why? Because after the flood that saved Noah and his family, what has been formulated as the ‘Noachide Laws’ (7 of them) were superseded by the Sinai revelation.
In time, we found our niche in Abrahamic faith, as defined by James D. Tabor.
While we don’t agree with some of the details he outlines in his Principles of Abrahamic Faith, we fully agree and endorse the following:
That there is ONE CREATOR GOD, YHWH.
He who always was, is, who will be, besides Whom there is no other.
He is Awesome, Great, Mighty, Merciful and Gracious, slow to anger and abounding in love and faithfulness. Our deepest love and highest devotion is offered to Him alone.(Genesis 1:1; 17:1; Exodus 3:13-15; 6:3; 34:5-7; Deuteronomy 6:4; Isaiah 42:8; 43:10-11; 44:6-8, 24; 45:5-6, 21-22; Hosea 12:5).
We agree that—
the Holy Scriptures, that are divinely inspired, are limited only to the Hebrew Scriptures, the TNK, or Tanakh/Tanach; but we go further in limiting what we consider as “Divine Revelation” or “the very words of God” as the Torah, known as the Pentateuch or the Five Books of Moses. Update 2015: We qualify that those ‘five books’ have been ‘attributed to Moses’ but are in process of being challenged by the most recent scholarly research.
As Tabor explains, “the Hebrew and Aramaic texts of these books reflect the fundamental historical revelation of YHWH to humankind.”(Deuteronomy 4:4; 12:32; Psalm 1:2; 19:7-11; 119:89, 142, 160; Isaiah 8:16-20; Malachi 3:22-24 [4:4-6])
We fully agree, without reservation that—
“The WAY OF GOD for humanity is revealed and reflected in the TORAH and amplified in the Prophets and Writings.
It is chiefly summed up in the Ten Commandments spoken to all Israel at Sinai, but is known and illustrated by precept, example, principle, and admonition, throughout the Holy Scriptures.
That WAY is ultimately applicable to all nations –the universal WAY of peace, justice, love, truth, and righteousness for all humankind (Psalm 119:89, 142, 160; Isaiah 2:2-4).
We agree with Tabor that:
SALVATION is an individual matter, not a church/religious connection or membership, since what it involves is
REPENTANCE, the turning away from belief in false gods or idols
and dedicating one’s life of faith, trusting in the One True Self-Revealing God on Sinai —YHWH.
All who call upon YHWH as Savior, Redeemer and Lord, receive forgiveness and grace.
As Tabor correctly states, “there are no mediators required, no sacrifices, animal or human” because like a compassionate parent, YHWH forgives sins for His own sake so that those who turn to Him begin to have an intimate relationship just like sons and daughters of a heavenly Father.
Just like Abraham, they enter into the Abrahamic Covenant of faith and become the “friends of God.”
the First Coming of YHVH occurred on Mount Sinai and that He will come again; in the words of Tabor,
“The SECOND COMING OF YHVH as Lord, Redeemer, Savior, and King of Kings, to rule over all the earth is the hope of humankind. This great turn in history will be ushered in by His prophetic Messiahs/Anointed Ones, as His chief human agents who prepare the way for His coming — the Branch of David as Prince, and the final Priest/Teacher who stands beside him. They will be empowered by YHVH to fully restore TORAH faith in the land of Israel, complete the re-gathering of the Twelve Tribes, rebuild the Sanctuary as a House of Prayer for all Peoples, and call upon all nations to repent and turn to God. (Isaiah 11; Micah 5:2-4; Jeremiah 23:5-6; 33:14-26; Zechariah 2-4; 6:11-14; Malachi 3-4).
What made me devote a whole article to this question are two words: first, “Ha Shem” and second, “gentile.” Additionally, I would like to share insights on prayer that we Sinaites have gained in the past two years of pouring over the Hebrew Scriptures.
First, “haShem.” The dictionary defines ‘circumlocution’ as “the use of many words where fewer would do, esp. in a deliberate attempt to be vague or evasive”. Except for the part “deliberate attempt to be vague or evasive”, the word “HaShem” might be categorized as circumlocution, one of the ways Jews avoid saying the Tetragrammaton Name of God. The English for ‘ha Shem‘ is “the Name.” Whose name? The God of Israel. ArtScroll Tanach (AST), one of the Jewish translations we recommend substitutes ‘HaShem’ for YHWH. We have a post about our lack of agreement on the use of “YHWH”:
The Sinaite’s position on saying/writing the Name of the True God as He Himself revealed it in His Revelation is this: how can anyone know the name of the True God if they never read it nor hear it because there is this avoidance by the very people to whom it was declared? Is there any prohibition for saying or writing the Name YHWH? If none, why do the Jewish Scriptures resort to G-D, L-RD, while the Christian Bibles resort to LORD? Why not just declare the NAME—YHWH with all the reverence it deserves?
Sinaites believe that reverence for the True God is actually expressed in declaring His Name to all people on earth who so badly need to hear it! If God Himself revealed His Name, we should declare it loudly and clearly. How else can we identify who is our God if we keep using “Lord” or “Master” or “God” which religions that worship other Gods also use?
Name is identity. Identify your God, and let’s see if we’re on the same page. This is why the official translation of the TORAH (The Five Books of Moses) that we have chosen for this website is Everett Fox who not only uses a poetic format but more importantly, has restored the Tetragrammaton Name YHWH where all other translations have used LORD or HaSHEM.
But back to our question . . . . As for the word ‘gentile’ – how does a gentile pray to YHWH? Do we gentiles pray any differently from the Jews?
If YHWH the God of Israel/the God of the Nations had given specific instructions on ‘how to pray’ in His revelation on Sinai, this question would not even be asked. Does His TORAH teach Israel how to pray? And if so, would it be different for Jew or Gentile?
The TORAH usually teaches through its narratives about the beginnings of humankind and the beginnings of a people named after its patriarch Jacob/Israel, set apart for God’s purposes of teaching the whole world (yes, Israel and the nations, Jews and Gentiles) HIS WAY of living on planet earth. Hence, it records key figures (i.e.the first couple, the first brothers, Noah, Israel’s Patriarchs and Prophets), conversing and interacting with the God who calls them, directs them, gives them instructions. Would we consider such conversations as ‘prayer’?
The TORAH also includes ‘tributes’ and ‘songs’, all declaring the greatness of their Deliverer and His acts on behalf of Israel. Are they samples of how we should pray to God?
The TNK has many other examples in Neviim (The Prophets) and Ketuvim (The Writings) of prayers written by men inspired by love, awe and reverence for the God of Israel: read Solomon’s prayer after finishing the Temple in Jerusalem; David’s personal prayers at different stages of his life are part of the Psalms, considered as the prayer expressions of Israel.
The custodians of the Divine Revelation, the Jews, have resorted to their own specific ways of addressing God; Judaism has its SIDDUR which has prayers for every conceivable occasion and they traditionally begin their prayers by blessing God first. We have a series featuring the Jewish prayer tradition:
Are non-Jews, gentiles supposed to follow their lead?
Outside of the Hebrew Scriptures, there are prayers from all over the world by gentiles who love and worship the God they do not know (specifically through the TORAH), and yet they reflect almost the same expressions of awe and reverence for the God whose existence they acknowledge in prayer. They see His Hand in His visible creation; His invisible workings they understand from natural phenomena, the balance and harmony and beauty they attribute to a Designer of all things that sustain life on earth.
Christianity has its own prescription for prayers for its flock, depending on the sect or denomination. Catholics pray their way, Protestants their way, Messianics pray like Jews, but they infuse their Christocentric theology in their prayers; all ending “In Jesus Name!” Does YHWH need a mediator between man and Him? Read the TNK and find out for yourself.
How indeed ‘does a gentile pray to hashem’ ?
The Jews have the Siddur to guide them, but what is an unaffiliated gentile’s guide? I for one have bought about as many ‘how to’ books on prayer as I have every translation of the Christian Bible and the TNK. Have these books taught me how to pray? Occasionally I have learned how NOT to pray . . . but yes, I’ve learned much about how OTHERS pray. So would I simply recommend what so-called ‘prayer warriors’ prescribe, like a formula that works for getting prayers answered the way the prayor wants? ‘How to get your way with the Heavenly Father’ . . . . virtually ‘my will be done’.
Individual expression is an individual’s choice; this God of Providence we understand as OMNIscient, OMNIpresent, OMNIPOTENT, loving-merciful-and full of grace—most likely hears any sincere utterance from the heart in whatever language expressed, simple or elaborate. A child’s simple words; a dying person’s last words; and everything said between the beginning and end of one’s life, addressed to that SOMEONE he needs to communicate with, whom he presumes would hear him anytime, anywhere; WHO would hopefully understand his expressions of every emotion he feels whether joy or anger, desperation in need, maybe even hate . . . . after all, HE created man with all those emotions, wouldn’t HE understand more than anyone?
Is this presumptuous thinking? Really, would God be picky about what, where and when He wants to hear from us? If so, He’d have included it in His Guidelines for Life. Connection with Him is the first step, in whatever way it happens in one’s life, in good or bad times. Any time of connection is an ideal time. He is the Eternal while our time on earth is assured only in the ‘now’ moment.
Would He answer ASAP? It depends, say prayer-book authors: ‘always’ there is an answer but it could be any of the three: ‘Yes’, ‘No’, ‘Maybe’, or ‘in His time’. ‘Unanswered prayer’ only means God did not answer the way we wanted or expected.
Some people set limits to prayer, where to do it, how to do it, what to say; others require specific positions, kneel, clasp hands, bow heads, or raise arms, heads up, individual preference is part of free will! There is a time and place for such requirements, sometimes conditions are set and promises are made. In a foxhole, it is said there are no atheists. When the earth shakes, guess what word is on everyone’s lips ‘Oh my God!’? Would you consider such as ‘prayer’?
Connection is key, right? We Sinaites simply say, ‘just pray’! Individually we’re free to pray as we are inclined to; corporately or in church; formal prayers understandably follow traditional patterns of prayers for their faithful.
Image from cartoonstock
Have you been guilty of resolving to focus on God in your prayer, only to resort to turning the focus back to yourself, your need, your this, your that? What we Sinaites have finally understood about prayer is — to quit telling God what to do, the ‘gimme’ self-centered prayer, the ‘change my will, the other person’s will (according to what I want or expect on my time schedule, please God!)’. God will never invade our will or another’s will; CHOICE is His gift to us.
Free will is a gift and a blessing when we use it as we should, according to His will. He might arrange circumstances to make us or the other change our direction or choice pattern, but the changing is always up to the individual. There are people we have prayed for (like forever!) who have remained unchanged, until we were the ones who eventually had to adjust, resigned to the fact the other will probably never change and actually never did! But in the process, God heard frequently from us and we probably heard from Him, we just weren’t listening because we were too full of “my wants”!
So again, ‘how does a gentile pray to Hashem’? First, KNOW and UNDERSTAND this awesome GOD through His declarations in His Revelation on Sinai, and next, pray accordingly.
[This is the Sinaite’s liturgy about liberation from bondage. Bondage to what? Man-made religion and teachings that run counter to YHWH’s Sinai Revelation, the Torah. This liturgy is significantly timed at the end of the week-long Jewish observance of the Passover, the date of which changes every year. This year 2019, it runs from April 20 to 27, following the Christian celebration of Holy Week, April 14 to 20.Being neither Jewish nor “Jew-wannabe” (which we are often mislabeled as), we choose to simply celebrate the Sabbath with a special liturgy recounting the Sinaite ‘spiritual ‘exodus’, our liberation from bondage to our former god/church/religion and our move toward the God we have come to recognize and embrace as our Lord—Creator, YHWH the Revelator on Sinai, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of Israel. This liturgy well expresses our spiritual journey. If your experience has been similar, dear Visitor, then we hope this serves to express your sentiments as well and become meaningful for your own celebration of your personal faith pilgrimage on this ‘Deliverance Sabbath’.—Admin1]
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KINDLE THE SABBATH LIGHTS
O YHWH, Creator God, Lord and Master of the Universe,
Giver of Life, Source of Light, Author of All that Exist—-
You revealed Yourself on a mountain in the wilderness of Sinai
to a people You had formed into a nation
descended from Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov.
With them You cut a Covenant,
that You would be their new Lord and Master, that they might serve You,
and make known Your will and purpose for all humanity,
by modeling Your Way of Life,
so that peoples and nations might be drawn to them as Your ‘light to the gentiles’,
so that all might come to know You as the One True God
and call upon Your Name, O YHWH.
Yet today, even as that revelation on Sinai
has long been recorded and preserved in the Scriptures of Israel,
for posterity, for all time, for all humanity,
only a remnant of Your people live Your Way, live Your Torah,
only a remnant call on Your Name.
The nations still go their way instead of your Way,
and majority of humankind continue to worship
—-not You, O YHWH—
but gods of their own making, gods according to man’s image,
replacing You and calling on names other than Yours.
It is as though everything you had accomplished in time past
and through the history of your chosen people
have come to naught.
As remnant Israel commemorate the liberation
of the ‘exodus generation’ from bondage
under Pharaoh’s cruel taskmasters,
we Sinaites,
just like the non-Israelites in the ‘mixed multitude’ that left Egypt,
reflect on our own ‘exodus’ from the ‘Egypt’ of today
which hold sway over people in religions
led by ‘pharaohs who ‘know You not,’
just like’ the pharaoh who knew not Yosef’ and his God.
Born in man-made religion,
raised to accept inherited beliefs without question,
we blindly and faithfully served gods whom we did not fully understand,
whose mysterious nature we simply accepted ‘by faith’;
and even as we diligently studied the “newer” testament
which we mistakenly believed were‘the very words of God’.
So misled were we and fully convinced that the truth we were fed
was divinely-sourced and not of human invention.
Through the decades we spent serving a god that was not You,
little did we realize we were in ‘bondage’ as well,
ignoring Your commandments,
neglecting Your teachings and instructions
as revealed in Your one-time, complete Revelation on that mountain in the wilderness of Sinai.
Like blind guides we led others into idolatry,
propagating ‘truths’ based on questionable writings of men
passed off as ‘the very words of God’,
teaching to live ‘by grace
and not by ‘Your Torah’ which was ‘done away with’.
In the historic exodus of Your chosen people,
You accomplished through miracle after miracle,
their deliverance from Egyptian bondage.
The record of their deliverance
has been available and accessible to all humanity,
no one has any excuse not to learn about You
and Your acts in the history of Your servant people.
And so we chose to shift our allegiance
from the strange god of our former faith
to You, O YHWH,
the One and Only True God,
God of Israel, Revelator on Sinai.
We have been liberated from our self-imposed bondage to ignorance;
our darkened minds have been enlightened
by the Sacred Scriptures of Israel.
Your truth had been staring us and all humanity in the face;
Your truth was imbedded in the very ‘bibles’ we carried,
to discover, to study, to learn from, to lead us to You;
and yet for so long we missed seeing Your Light,
and we failed hearing Your voice
because we mindlessly followed the same beaten path
that many God-seekers had worn out for two millennia;
because by individual choice, even as we endlessly studied
the ‘map’ we had been given and followed,
little did we know it was headed in a different direction
leading to the wrong destination.
Image from artwork of Kathleen Reilly, www.ubm1.org
And yet Lord YHWH just as You had promised
“You will seek Me and find Me,
when you seek Me with all your heart,
I will be found by you.“
[Yirmeyahu 29:31]
Certainly that promise was not for Israel alone,
but for all who have been led to Your Torah in the Scriptures of Your chosen people.
So we have responded,
just like the non-Israelites who joined the mixed multitude in the first Exodus from Egypt:
We will go with you [O Israel],
for we have heard that GOD is with you.”
[Zechariah 8:23]
And so finally we did find the life-map leading to You,
not toward Rome, not toward Jerusalem,
but toward the symbolic mountain of Sinai,
the historic site of Your Self-Revelation,
unidentified and unlocated in this day,
but it matters not; for what ultimately matters is
You, O YHWH,
the God Who spoke to the ‘mixed multitude’
about how all humankind are to live with one another
on this beautiful planet You created,
perfect in all ways to sustain life for all your creatures,
and specifically for humankind.
Now that we have partaken of Your Tree of Life, Your Torah
which nurtures us with its life-nourishing fruit,
we look back to the beginning of our final journey
that turned us toward Sinai in year 2010,
and it bewilders us to think that as misguided as we had been,
how we backtracked to the foundational Scriptures
in our bible that had always pointed to ‘the WAY’
that would lead to ‘the TRUTH’ about YOU
Who is the only Source and Giver of ‘the LIFE’.
We fervently believe that all through the ages
since You crafted humankind on day six of Creation week,
You have been calling every person
ever blessed with your ‘breath of life’ on this earth—-
for each one to seek to know You
and recognize You as the One and Only God,
and know that there is no other, none before and none after.
You have cued us to watch with wonder and amazement
Your Mighty Hand upon Your firstborn son, Israel
as they interact with the nations.
Israel reached the Land of Promise,
then lost it to gentile powers,
but is providentially back in the Land,
once again defending its right to re-establish itself
in a territory whose divinely-set boundaries
have been redefined and reassigned by humanity’s league of nations.
O God of Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov,
strangely by its very survival and existence,
Israel continues to reflect Your Light,
even as nations fail to understand Your designed purpose
in setting apart a people, a reborn nation.
We join Israel in their ‘wilderness wandering’ today,
except their destination is different from ours,
because it has been Your design,
that they will be based in the Land promised to their Patriarchs,
and so their Passover Seder ends with
“next year in Jerusalem.”
We Sinaites are not of Israel, have not been promised the Land,
and so we choose to return to the mountain of Your Revelation,
and live according to what You have taught from there,
ever learning to discern and determine what is for Israel,
and what is for us, gentiles.
We heed the prophet Isaiah’s reminder:
“To the TORAH and the TESTIMONY,
if they speak not according to this Word
there is no light in them”
(Isaiah 8:20).
We are grateful to You, O YHWH,
for liberating us from our ignorance,
from our lack of understanding,
from being for so long blind and deaf to Your call
yet so quick to speak half truths and non-truths,
in our zeal to proclaim what we mistakenly thought was Your Truth.
We are beholden to You, O YHWH, for delivering us—–
from the cowardice that made us shirk from Your truth,
from the laziness that made us content with half truth,
from the arrogance that made us think we knew all truth.
We reiterate our conviction that
there is no knowledge more important than
the knowledge of You, O YHWH,
and that the beginning of wisdom is reverence
not just for a ‘god’ or any ‘god’
but for You as You have declared Yourself through Your prophet Moshe:
”YHWH, YHWH God,
merciful and gracious,
slow to anger,
and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness,
keeping steadfast love for thousands,
forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin,
by no means clearing the guilty . . . “
[Exodus 34:5-7]
And through the prophet Yirmeyahu 9:23:
“Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom
or the strong man boast of his strength
or the rich man boast of his riches
But let him who boasts boast about this:
that he understands and knows
Me,
that I Am
YHWH
Who exercises
kindness, justice and righteousness on earth,
for in these I delight,”
declares the LORD.
Blessed are You, YHWH, God of Israel and the nations,
Whose Name all Sinaites proclaim,
Amen.
BLESSINGS
[Tune: Bless this House O Lord we pray, revised lyrics]
Bless this wine O Lord we pray,
joy in life from day to day.
Bless this bread that from the earth,
It has nurtured us from birth,
Bread and wine for us to share
from your providential care.
Image from Image from Image from www.mcjc.org
Bless our loved ones, if You may
keep them safe from day to day;
may they choose to live Your Way,
may they learn to serve and say
how they love You more each day,
Bless us all, this Sabbath day.
[Name your loved ones:
parents, siblings, spouse,
sons, daughters, grandchildren,
in-laws, extended family, friends.]
SABBATH MEAL
Image from hakallah_by_badusev-d5veid1.png
TORAH STUDY
Image from www.messianicjudaism.me
HAVDALAH
[Jewish Source: The New Union Prayer Book,
For the Days of Awe]
The God of all, who reigned supreme,
Ere first creation’s form was framed;
When all was finished by Your will,
Your Name Almighty was proclaimed.
When this, our world, shall be no more,
in majesty You still shall reign,
Who was, Who is, Who will remain,
Your endless glory we proclaim.
Alone are You, beyond compare,
Without division or ally,
Without initial date or end,
Omnipotent You rule on high.
You are my God, my Saviour You,
To whom I turn in sorrow’s hour—
My banner proud, my refuge sure,
Who hears and answers with Your pow’r.
Then in Your hand myself I lay,
And trusting sleep, and wake with cheer,
My soul and body are Your care;
You are my Guard, I have no fear.
A restful and peaceful and joyful SABBATHto all Sabbath-observers all over the world, from SINAI 6000 CORE COMMUNITY based in Baguio City, PhilippinesNSB@S6K
[During this Easter celebration of the life-death-resurrection of the 2nd Person of the Christian Trinitarian God who dominates the New Testament scriptures, it is only fitting to go back to basics and feature the God of Israel Who dominates the “Old” Testament, i.e., the Hebrew Scriptures, the TNK.
At the culmination of creation week, the Sabbath —which was modeled as a day of cessation from work by the Creator Himself — was not only reiterated later on Sinai as the 4th Commandment in the Decalogue, but also was significantly chosen as the ‘sign of the Covenant’ between Israel and the Creator/Revelator on Sinai Who declared His Name as YHWH. Hence, while the Christians are referred to as the “Sunday People’ and the Moslems the“Friday People”, Jewry are the “Sabbath People”.
Sinaites being among the Gentile “Sabbath People” with Jehovah Witness, Seventh Day Adventists, and Messianics who are “Sabbatistas”, we feature the Jewish prayer tradition once again. Selections here are from The Jewish Prayer Book and My People’s Prayer Book and The Expanded ArtScroll SIDDUR. Translation of quoted scripture is from Everett Fox’s The Five Books of Moses.
Please bear in mind — we declare the Name of YHWH in this website as a sign of reverence and awe for the God we love and worship; so even if these prayers are from traditional Jewish prayerful expressions which avoid the Tetragrammaton Name. It is important to us that we name the God to Whom these Sabbath prayers are lovingly directed by His chosen. The language has also been modernized from archaic expressions “Thy, Thee, Thou, reignest, etc.”—Admin1.]
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KINDLE THE SABBATH LIGHTS
Image from www.kibitzspot.com
Blessed are You, YHWH our God, King of the universe,
who has sanctified us by Your commandments,
and commanded us to kindle the Sabbath lights.
Exodus/Shemoth 31:12-13, 16-17
YHWH said to Moshe:
And you, speak to the Children of Israel, saying: However: My Sabbaths you are to keep!
For it is a sign
between Me and you,
throughout your generations,
to know that I, YHWH, hallow you.
The Children of Israel are to keep the Sabbath,
to make the Sabbath-observance throughout their generations
as a covenant for the ages;
between Me and the Children of Israel,
a sign it is, for the ages,
for in six days, YHWH made the heavens and the earth,
but on the seventh day, He ceased and paused-for-breath.
Image from fineartamerica.com
“Come, my friend, to meet the bride;
let us welcome the presence of the Sabbath.”
“Observe” and “Remember the Sabbath day,”
the only God caused us to hear in a single utterance:
the LORD [YHWH] is One,
and His name is One to His renown and His glory and His praise.
Come, let us go to meet the Sabbath,
for it is a wellspring of blessing;
from the beginning from of old, it was ordained—
last in production, first in thought.
Come in peace, thou crown of thy husband,
with rejoicing and with cheerfulness,
in the midst of the faithful of the chosen people:
come O bride, come, O bride.
Come my friend to meet the bride;
let us welcome the presence of the Sabbath.
Leader: Bless the LORD [YHWH] who is to be blessed.
ALL: Blessed, praised, glorified, exalted and extolled
be the name of the supreme King of kings,
the Holy One, blessed be He, Who is the First and the Last,
and beside Him, there is no God.
Extol Him that rides upon the heavens by His name YAH,
and rejoice before Him.
His name is exalted above all blessing and praise.
Blessed be His Name,
whose glorious kingdom is forever and ever.
Let the Name of the Lord [YHWH] be blessed
from this time forth and forevermore.
Leader and All: Blessed is the LORD [YHWH] who is to be blessed forever and ever.
Blessed are You O LORD [YHWH] our God, King of the universe,
who at Your word brings on the evening twilight,
with wisdom opens the gates of the heavens,
and with understanding changes times and varies the seasons,
and arranges the stars in their watches in the sky,
according to Your will.
You create day and night;
You roll away the light from before the darkness,
and the darkness from before the light;
You make the day to pass and the night to approach,
You divide the day from the night,
the LORD [YHWH] of hosts is Your name;
a God living and enduring continually,
may You reign over us forever and ever.
Blessed are You, O LORD [YHWH]
who brings on the evening twilight.
With everlasting love You have loved the house of Israel, Your people;
a Law and commandments, statutes and judgments have You taught us.
Therefore. O LORD [YHWH] our God,
when we lie down and when we rise up
we will meditate on Your statutes:
yea, we will rejoice in the words of Your Law and in Your commandments forever;
for they are our life and the length of our days
and we will meditate on them day and night.
And may You never take away Your love from us.
Blessed are You, O LORD [YHWH] who loves Your people Israel.
Image from rlst2500-fall2014.blogspot.com
BLESSINGS
Blessed are You, YHWH, our God, King of the universe,
Who creates the fruit of the vine.
Blessed are You, YHWH, our God, King of the universe,
Who creates species of nourishment:
the fruit of the tree, the fruit of the ground,
through Whose word everything came to be.
Blessed are You, YHWH our God, King of the universe,
who feeds the entire world in Your goodness—-
with love, kindness, and mercy.
You give food to all people because Your kindness lasts forever.
May the Merciful God let us inherit
the Shabbat of the World to Come,
which will be a complete rest day forever.
The Way of the Righteous Man
Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly,
Nor stands in the path of sinners,
Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;
But his delight is in the Law of YHWH,
And in His law he meditates day and night.
He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water,
That brings forth its fruit in its season,
Whose leaf also shall not wither;
And whatever he does shall prosper. . . .
For YHWH knows the way of the righteous.
A Woman of Valor
Who can find a capable wife?
Her value is far beyond that of pearls.
Her husband trusts her from his heart,
and she will prove a great asset to him.
She works to bring him good, not harm, all the days of her life. . . .
Clothed with strength and dignity,
she can laugh at the days to come.
When she opens her mouth, she speaks wisely;
on her tongue is loving instruction.
She watches how things go in her house,
not eating the bread of idleness.
Her children arise; they make her happy;
Her husband too, as he praises her:
“Many women have done wonderful things,
but you surpass them all!”
Charm can lie, beauty can vanish,
but a woman who fears YHWH should be praised.
Give her a share in what she produces;
let her works speak her praises at the city gates.
Sons: May YHWH make you like Ephraim and Menashe: (name them)Daughters: May YHWH make you like Sara, Rebecca, Rachel, and Leah: (name them)
HAVDALAH
Blessed be the Lord [YHWH] by day;
blessed be the Lord [YHWH] by night;
Blessed be the Lord [YHWH] when we lie down;
blessed be the Lord [YHWH] when we rise up.
For in Your hand are the souls of the living and the dead, as it is said.
In Your hands is the soul of every living thing,
and the spirit of all human flesh.
Into Your hand I commend my spirit;
You have redeemed me, O YHWH God of truth.
Our God who are in heaven,
assert the unity of Your Name,
and establish Your kingdom continually,
and reign over us forever and ever.
May our eyes behold, our hearts rejoice,
and our souls be glad in Your true salvation,
when it shall be said unto Zion, Your God reigns.
The Lord [YHWH] reigns;
the Lord [YHWH] has reigned;
the Lord [YHWH] shall reign forever and ever:
for the kingdom is Yours, and to everlasting, You will reign in glory;
[We are grateful to God-inspired and gifted composers of Christian hymns for their music that we proudly use for our “musical liturgy”; the lyrics have been revised to reflect the Sinaite’s credo.—Admin1.]
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Image from messianicpublications.com
KINDLE THE SABBATH LIGHTS
Blessed are You,
YHWH our GOD,
KING of the universe,
Who commanded us
to set apart a day of rest,
a day You created
for the blessing of all
who would obey
Your 4th commandment.
Blessed are You,
YHWH,
LORD
of the Sabbath.
[Original Music: “Alleluia, Sing to Jesus”; revised lyrics]
1. Let us kindle the Sabbath lights,
let their glow flow through
our vision and sight.
Like the gleam from the Light of Torah
which reaches deep
in heart and in mind.
CHO: When the darkness fades in the distance
as brightness follows to fill up its space,
Shadow and dimness that darken the heart and mind of man
brighten up when His Word is heard.
2. Let us kindle the Light of Torah,
that ‘Tree of Life’ that nurtures our soul;
Fill our minds, be enlightened daily
by Words of LIFE that do make us whole.
CHO: ‘Hear” and “Heed’ are not just for Israel,
These are words for all Gentiles as well;
Blessings for those who obediently live the Torah life,
through life’s conflicts and through all strife.
3. Let us kindle the love for others,
enough to lead them toward the LIGHT:
Light of Israel, Light of Torah,
Two lamps that lead the way to HIS LIGHT;
CHO: Primal BRIGHTNESS was there
before any sun, moon, star ever lit up His sky,
“Let there be light” for all seasons and signs to view at night,
how can anyone miss that sight!
4. Let us worship the LORD of Sabbath,
CREATOR-GOD Who first led the Way:
Six day-workweek deserves a rest
on the seventh day, the true Sabbath day!
CHO: Sabbath lights in our hearth and home
warm our hearts from knowing that ‘God’s Way is Best’;
May His Words linger for guidance each day and everyday,
through the week till next Sabbath’s Rest.
Psalms 115
1 Not for our sake, YHWH, not for our sake,
but for Your Name’s sake give glory,
for Your kindness and for Your truth!
2 Why should the nations say,
“Where now is their God?”
3 Our God is in the heavens,
whatever He pleases, He does!
4 Their gods are silver and gold,
the handiwork of man.
5 They have a mouth, but cannot speak;
they have eyes, but cannot see;
6 they have ears, but cannot hear;
they have a nose, but cannot smell.
7 Their hands—they cannot feel;
their feet–they cannot walk;
they cannot utter a sound from their throat.
8 Those who make them should become like them,
whoever trusts in them!
9 O Israel, trust in YHWH;
their help and their shield is He!
10 House of Aaron,
trust in YHWH; their help and their shield is He!
11 You who fear YHWH,
trust in YHWH; their help and their shield is He!
12 YHWH Who has remembered us will bless:
He will bless the House of Israel,
He will bless the House of Aaron.
13 He will bless those who fear YHWH,
the small as well as the great.
14 May YHWH increase upon you,
upon you and upon your children!
15 You are blessed of YHWH,
Maker of heaven and earth.
16 As for the heavens, the heavens are YHWH’s,
but the earth, He has given to mankind.
17 Neither the dead can praise God,
nor any who descend into silence,
18 but we will bless God from this time and forever.
Halleluyah!
[Original Tune: Beneath the Cross of Jesus/Revised Lyrics]
Image from Guide to the Pilgrims Progress|Christians return to the Way
1. Beneath that sacred mountain I virtually take my stand;
The shadow of a mighty rock within a weary land;
A home within the wilderness, a rest upon the way––
from the burning of the noontide heat, and the burden of the day.
2. O safe and happy shelter, O refuge tried and sweet;
O trysting place where Heaven’s Love and Heaven’s Justice meet!
As Jacob in his wondrous dream had wrestled with the One,
A ladder full of angels going up and coming down.
3. There lies beneath its shadow but on the farther side;
The darkness of man’s ignorance that gapes both deep and wide;
But Light shines forth from Sinai’s peak, a thunderous voice that speaks —
To multitudes of Israelites and Gentiles in their midst.
4. Upon that sacred mountain, my eye at times can see—
Though centuries have passed and I was not and could not be —
among the generation that received His Covenant,
All that I need to do is read the Exodus account.
5. I take Sinai, Thy shadow for my Abiding Place;
I ask for nothing more than that I meet Him face to face,
I’ve journeyed for so long to know the One True God’s true Name,
YHWH is the God I worship, His the Name I claim!
Image from www.mastergreetings.com
[Borrowed Music: “Oh how He loves you and me”/Revised Lyrics]
Any inventor/maker/creator of any item that has to function properly and efficiently gives instructions to the user on how to take care of the item. And let’s say it’s a motor vehicle that uses a particular fuel, the manufacturer specifies ‘this’ and ‘not that’ fuel or it might bog down. I’ve gassed up my vehicle ignoring that rule and yeah, they’re right, trust the manufacturer.
So what’s the point? Read the title of this post again!
Image from www.christianpost.com
And so, we’re resurrecting the series of articles that deal with that Q with this in mind:
If the CREATOR made different living creatures
and we see some varieties of the animal kingdom eating only vegetation,
while others have the flesh of animals as their natural diet,
(yup, vegan and carnivorous even among those belonging to non-human species),
then it makes sense that the CREATOR — if he loves HIS prime creation, humanity—
will include in his DESIGNER’s instructions,
the dietary prescription for this special species that share His Image of free will because this one was gifted with a superior brain;
and yet, with free will, is given the freedom to obey or not obey His Designer’s Instructions,
specifically, in this topic, His Ideal Prescribed Diet for all Humanity.
Is there confusion about what humans should eat or not eat as specified in Leviticus 11?
Yup, but only if you misinterpret the words [fast forward to NT/Gospels] of the Christian 2nd Person of their Trinitarian God—the God-Man Jesus who is quoted in the Gospel of Mark 7:1-23 as having declared: “All foods are clean.”
How to hermeneutically interpret that? CONTEXT.
Jesus was a Jew.
To Jews, there is a dietary prescription in Leviticus 11 about clean and unclean meat.
And so, to Jesus the Jew, if he was indeed the Creator of Genesis 1:
he would know why he prescribed only specific animals for human consumption, in the “Old” Testament;
he would know if he was indeed the Creator, that ‘Unclean’ animals have certain enzymes called ‘putrescine’and ‘cadaverine’in their flesh that allow those animals to survive ingesting rotting poisonous meat because that is their assignment, their function, their purpose: to clean up the earth of such debris;
and he would know (as medical/dietary scientists learned so late but we thank them nevertheless for finally discovering the scientific reason for the prohibition given six millennia ago by the God of Israel to His chosen people)
that those enzymes are still in unclean meat to this day! Pigs and carnivorous animals who feed on rotting flesh did not suddenly change their nature just because Jesus supposedly declared “all foods clean”.
What we choose to feed on as humans is our choice, but if we find out that the Creator had prescribed what is the right food for humanity in His Instructions for Life, the TORAH, then why not adjust our tastebuds to the specific diet programmed by God Himself for His prime creation, the one He shared His Image with. Yes, the one with the brain!
Ultimately, we are the ones who suffer from the choices we make, for good or for ill. So, go ahead and enjoy your lechon, porkchops, ham, non-kosher food—and deal with the consequences.
Someone asked if it’s a “sin” to disobey the Creator’s dietary prescription for man? Well . . . it’s probably more of a sin against yourself, since who suffers the resulting disease when you indulge in no-no foods for a period of time? Your neighbor? Nah, look in the mirror.
So, here’s what we have already posted about the Maker’s Diet:
[“TSTL” is our acronym for “Thus Saith the Lord.” Here are verses in the TORAH from two translations: AST/ArtScroll Tanach, and EF/Everett Fox’s The Five Books of Moses.]
Translation 1:
[AST] DEUTERONOMY
4:5-8
See, I have taught you decrees and ordinances, as HaShem my God, has commanded me, to do so in the midst of the Land to which you come, to possess it. You shall safeguard and perform them, for it is your wisdom and discernment in the eyes of the peoples, who shall hear all these decrees and who shall say. “Surely a wise and discerning people is this great nation! “For which is a great nation that has a God Who is close to it, as is HaShem, our God, whenever we call to Him? And which is a great nation that has righteous decrees and ordinances, such as this entire Torah that I place before you this day?
4:20
But HaShem has taken you and withdrawn you from the iron crucible, from Egypt,to be a nation of heritage for Him, as this very day.
4:33-39
Has a people ever heard the voice of God speaking from the midst of the fire as you have heard and survived?Or has any god ever miraculously come to take for himself a nation from amidst a nation, with challenges, with signs, and with wonders, and with war, and with a strong hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with greatly awesome deeds, such as everything that HaShem your God, did for you in Egypt before your eyes? You have been shown in order to know that HaShem, He is the God! There is none like Him!
From heaven He caused you to hear His voice in order to teach you, and on earth He showed you His great fire, and you heard His words from the midst of the fire, because He loved your forefathers, and He chose His offspring after him and took you out before Himself with His great strength form Egypt, to bring you, to give you their land as an inheritance, as this very day. You shall know this day and take to your heart that HaShem, He is the God—in heaven above and the earth below —there is no other.
7:1–
When HaShem, your God, will bring you to the Land to which you come to possess it, and He will thrust away many nations from before you —the Hittite, the Girgashite, the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivvite, and the Jebusite— seven nations greater and mightier than you, and HaShem your God will deliver them before you. . .
7:6-9
For you are a holy people to HaShem, your God; HaShem, your God, has chosen you to be for Him a treasured people above all the peoples that are on the face of the earth. Not because you are more numerous than all the peoples did HaShem desire you and choose you, for you are the fewest of all the peoples.Rather, because of HaShem’s love for you and because He observes the oath that He swore to your forefathers did He take you out and with a strong hand and redeem you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. You must know that HaShem, your God –He is the God, the faithful God, Who safeguards the covenant and the kindness for those who love Him and for those who observe His commandments, for a thousand generations.
9:5-6
Not because of your righteousness and the uprightness of your heart are you coming to possess their Land, but because of the wickedness of these nations does HaShem, your God, drive them away from before you, and in order to establish the word that HaShem swore to your forefathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. And you should know that not because of your righteousness does HaShem, your God, give you this good Land to possess it,for you are a stiff-necked people.. Rather, because of HaShem’s love for you and because He observes the oath that He swore to your forefathers did He take you out and with a strong hand and redeem you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. You must know that HaShem, your God –He is the God, the faithful God, Who safeguards the covenant and the kindness for those who love Him and for those who observe His commandments, for a thousand generations.
10:12-17
Now, O Israel, what does HaShem , your God ask of you?Only to fear HaShem, your God, to go in all His ways and to love Him, and to serve HaShem, your God, with all your heart and with all your soul, to observe the commandments of HaShem and His decrees,which I command you today,for your benefit. Behold! To HaShem, your God, are the heaven and highest heaven, the earth and everything that is in it. Only your forefathers did HaShem cherish to love them, and He chose their offspring after them–you–from among all the peoples, as this day. You shall cut away the barrier of your heart and no longer stiffen your neck. For HaShem, your God –He is the God of the powers and the Lord of lords, the great, mighty, and awesome God, Who does not show favor and Who does not accept a bribe.
15: 6
For HaShem, your God, has blessed you as He has told you; you will lend to many nations, but you will not borrow; and you will dominate many nations, but they will not dominate you.
26:16-19
This day, HaShem, your God, commands you to perform these decrees and the statutes, and you shall observe and perform them with all your heart and with all your soul. You have distinguished HaShem today to be a God for you, and to walk in His ways, and to observe His decrees, His commandments, and His statutes, and to hearken to His voice. And HaShem has distinguished you today to be for Him a treasured people, as He spoke to you, and to observe all His commandments, and to make you supreme over all the nations that He made, for praise, for renown,and for splendor, and so that you will be a holy people to Hashem, your God, as He spoke.
28:1-15
And it shall be that if you hearken to the voice of HaShem, your God, to observe, to perform all His commandments that I command you this day, then HaShem, your God, will make you supreme over all the nations of the earth. All these blessings will come upon you and overtake you, if you hearken to the voice of HaShem, your God: Blessed shall you be in the city and blessed shall you be in the field. Blessed shall be the fruit of your womb, and the fruit of your ground, and fruit of your animals. . . blessed shall you be when you come in and blessed shall you be when you go out. HaShem shall cause your enemies who rise up against you to be struck down before you; on one road will they go out toward you and on seven roads will they flee before you. HaShem will command the blessing for you in your storehouse and your every undertaking; and He will bless you in the Land that HaShem, your God, gives you. HaShem will confirm you for Himself as a holy people, as He swore to you—if you observe the commandments of HaShem, your God, and you go in His ways. Then all the peoples of the earth will see that the Name of HaShem is proclaimed over you, and they will revere you.
But it shall be that if you do not hearken to the voice of HaShem, your God, to observe, to perform all His commandments and all His decrees that I command you today, then all these curses will come upon you and overtake you . .
28:64
HaShem will scatter you among all the peoples, from the end of the earth to the end of the earth, and there you will work for gods of others, whom you did not know — you or your forefathers — of wood and stone. And among those nations you will not be tranquil, there will be no rest for the sole of your foot; there HaShem will give you a trembling heart, longing of eyes, and suffering of soul.
29:13-14
Not with you alone do I seal this covenant and this imprecation, but with whoever is here, standing with us today before HaShem, our God, and with whoever is not here with us today.
23-28
And all the nations will say, “For what reason did HaShem do so to this Land; why this wrathfulness of great anger? And they will say, “Because they forsook the covenant of HaShem, the God of their forefathers, that He sealed with them when He took them out of the land of Egypt; and they went and served the gods of others and prostrated themselves to them—gods they knew not and He did not apportion to them. So God’s anger flared against that Land, to bring upon it the entire curse that is written in this Book, and HaShem removed them from upon their soil, with anger, with wrath, and with great fury, and He case them to another land, as this very day!”
The hidden [sins] are for HaShem, our God, but the revealed [sins] are for us and our children forever, to carry out all the words of this Torah.
Translation 2: The Five Books of Moses, Everett Fox
DEUTERONOMY
4: 5-8
See, I am teaching you laws and regulations as YHWH my God has commanded me to do thus, amid the land that you are entering to possess. You are to keep (them), you are to observe (them), for that (will be) wisdom-for-you and understanding-for-you in the eyes of the peoples who, when they hear all these laws, will say: Only a wise and understanding people is this great nation! For who (else) is (such) a great nation that has gods so near to it as YHWH our God in all our calling on him? And who (else) is (such) a great nation that has laws and regulations so equitable as all this Instruction that I put before you today?
20. But you, YHWH took
and brought you out of the Iron Furnace, out of Egypt,
to be for him a people of inheritance, as (is) this (very) day.
33-40
Has a people ever heard the voice of a god speaking from the midst of the fire as you have heard, yourself, and remained-alive? Or has a god ever essayed to come and take himself a nation from within a nation, with trials, signs, portents and deeds-of-war, with a strong hand and an outstretched arm and with great awe-inspiring (acts), according as all that YHWH your God did in Egypt before your eyes? You yourself have been made-to-see, to know that YHWH—He is God, there is none else beside him! From the heavens he had you hear his voice, to discipline you; on earth he had you see his great fire, and his words you heard from the midst of the fire. Now since he loved your fathers, he chose their seed after them and brought you out of his presence with great power from Egypt, to dispossess nations greater and mightier than you from before you, by bringing you out, by giving you their land as an inheritance, as (is) this (very) day— know today and lay it up in your heart, that YHWH—he is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath, (there is) none else! You are to keep his laws and his commandments that I command you today, that it may go-well with you and with your children after you, in order that you may prolong days on the soil that YHWH your God is giving you, all the days (to come).
Deuteronomy 7:1-2
When YHWH your God brings you to the land that you are entering to possess, and dislodges great nations before you —the Hittite, the Girgashite, the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perrizite, the Hivvite, and the Yevusite– seven nations more numerous and mightier (in number) than you, and YHWH your God gives them before you and you strike them down: you are to devote-them-to-destruction, you are not to cut with them a covenant, you are not to show-them-mercy!
vss. 6-10
For you are a people holy to YHWH your God, (it is) you (that) YHWH your God chose for him as a treasured people from among all peoples that are on the face of the soil. Not because of your being many-more than all the peoples has YHWH attached himself to you and chosen you, for you are the least-numerous of all peoples! Rather, because of YHWH’s love for you and because of his keeping the sworn-oath that he swore to your fathers did YHWH take you out, with a strong hand, and redeem you from a house of serfs, from the hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. Know that YHWH your God, he is God, the trustworthy God, keeping the covenant of loyalty with those who love him and with those who keep his commandments, to the thousandth generation, and paying back those who hate him to his face, by causing them to perish– he does not delay (punishment) to those who hate him to his face; he pays them back!
9:5-6
Not because of your righteous-merit, or because of the uprightness of your heart, are you entering to possess their land, but rather because of the wickedness of these nations is YHWH your God dispossessing them from before you, and in order that he might uphold the word that YHWH swore to your fathers, to Avraham, to Yitzhak, and to Yaakov. You are to know that not because of your righteous-merit is YHWH your God giving you this good land to possess,for a people hard of neck are you!
10:12-21
And now, O Israel, what does YHWH your God ask of you except to hold YHWH your God in awe, to walk in all his ways and to love him and to serve YHWH your God with all your heart and with all your being, to keep the commandments of YHWH and his laws which I command you today, to have it go well for you? Here, HYHWH your God are the heavens and the heavens of heavens, the earth and all that is on it! Only to your fathers was YHWH attached, to love them, so he chose their seed after them, you, above all (other) peoples, as (is) this (very) day. So circumcise the foreskin of your heart, your neck you are not to keep hard anymore; for YHWH your God, he is the God of gods and the Lord of lords, the God great, powerful, and awe-inspiring, he who lifts up no face (in favor) and takes no bribe, providing justice (for) orphan and widow, loving the sojourner, by giving him food and clothing. So you are to love the sojourner, for sojourners were you in the land of Egypt; YHWH your God you are to hold-in-awe, him you are to srve, to him you are to cling, by his name you are to swear! He is your praise, he is your God, who did for you these great and awe-inspiring (acts) that your (own) eyes saw.
15:6
indeed, YHWH your God will bless you as he promised you; you will cause many nations to give-pledges, but you will not (have to) give pledges; you will rule over many nations, but over you they shall not rule.
26:16-19
This day YHWH your God commands you to observe these laws and the regulations; you are to take care and observe them with all your heart and with all your being. YHWH you hae declared today, to be for you a god, to walk in his ways and to keep his laws, his commandments and his regulations, and to hearken to his voice. And YHWH has declared you today, to be for him a specially-treasured people, as he promised you, to be-careful (regarding) all his commandment, and to set you most-high above all the nations that he has made, for praise, for fame, and for honor, f or you to be a people holy to YHWH your God, as he promised.
28:1-15
Now it shall be: if you hearken, yes, hearken to the voice of YHWH your God, taking-care to observe all his commandments that I command you today, then YHWH your God will make you most-high above all the nations of the earth. Then there will come upon you all these blessings, and overtake you, since you have hearkened to the voice of YHWH your God: Blessed be you, in the town, blessed be you, in the (open) field; blessed be the fruit of your womb, the fruit of your soil, and the fruit of your animals, the offspring of your cattle and the fecundity of your sheep. Blessed be your basket and your kneading-bowl. Blessed be you, in your coming-in, blessed be you, in your going-out. May YHWH make your enemies, those that rise against you, be smitten before you; by one road they will go out against you, by seven roads they will flee before you. YHWH will ordain for you the blessing in your storehouses, in all the enterprises of your hand, and he will bless you in the land that YHWH your God is giving you. YHWH will establish you to be a people holy to him, as he swore to you, when you keep the commandments of YHWH your God and walk in his ways. And when all the peoples of the earth see that the name of YHWH is proclaimed over you, they will hold you in awe. YHWH will leave-excess for you of good things, in the fruit of your womb, the fruit of your animals, and the fruit of your soil, on the soil that YHWH swore to your father, to give them. YHWH will open for you his goodly treasuries, the heavens, by giving the rain of your hand in its set-time, and by blessing all the doings of your hand; you will lend to many nations, but you yourself will to have to take-a-loan. YHWH will make you the head and not the tail you will be only top, you will not be bottom, – —if you hearken to the commandments of YHWH your God which I command you today, by taking-care and by observing (them), that you not turn aside from all the words that I command you today, to the right or to the left, by walking after other gods, by serving them. But it shall be: If you do not hearken to the voice of YHWH your God, by taking-care and by observing all his commandments and his laws that I command you today, then there will come upon you all these curses and overtake you . . .
64 YHWH will scatter you among all the peoples, from the edge of the earth to the (other) edge of the earth; you will serve there other gods, whom you have not known, (either ) you or your fathers, of wood and of stone.
29:13Not wit you, you alone
do I cut this covenant and this oath, but with the one that is here, standing with us today, before the presence of YHWH our God, and (also) with the one that is not here with us today.23-28Then shall say all the nations: For what (reason) did YHWH do thus to this land, (for) what was this great flaming anger? And they shall say (in reply): Because they abandoned the covenant of YHWH the God of their fathers that he cut with them when he took them out of the land of Egypt: they went and served other gods and prostrated-themselves to them, gods they had not known and that he had not apportioned to them. So the anger of YHWH flared up against that land, to bring upon it all the curse that is written in this document. So YHWH uprooted them from their soil in anger, wrath, and great fury, and he cast them into another land, as (is) this day. The hidden things are for YHWH our God, but the revealed-things are for us and for our children, for the ages, to observe all the words of this instruction.
[First posted in 2012; a timely revisit in 2019.–Admin1]
Question: Why did G-d take an animal’s life to provide clothing of skin for Adam and Eve? What’s wrong with covering nakedness with leaves?
This gives Christians/Messianics a springboard to justify blood atonement that only Jesus could fulfill, “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sin.”
Our sages teach that it was not just any animal skin. Rather, it was snake skin!
This teaches that even when we sin, it itself can be a springboard for a rectification and even a new path with which to grow.
Regarding forgiveness there are four requirements when seeking atonement:
* Regret. Realizing the extent of the damage and feeling sincere regret. * Cessation. Immediately stopping the harmful action. * Confession. Articulating the mistake and ask for forgiveness. * Resolution. Making a firm commitment not to repeat it in the future.
I think that the following article should help give us some insight into the matter:
The idea of how the animal offerings worked is most often misunderstood. Many believe that sacrifice was the only way to achieve atonement. Actually, atonement always was accompanied by sincere prayer, teshuva (spiritual return), and charity. Hoshea (8:13) decries people bringing offerings without making an attempt to get closer to God. For this reason, their offerings were rejected.
The animal offering aided the atonement process, as it drove home the point that really the person deserved to be slaughtered, but an animal was being used in his/her place. The offering also helped atonement in many spiritual mystical ways. But we should not mistake the animal offering for more than what it is. It was an aid to atonement. It did not cause atonement.
Logically, how can one think that the death of an animal could atone for their sins? If a person were to commit an atrocity, such as murder, stealing, adultery, or even less severe sin, could one possibly think that slaughtering a cow and a sheep will atone for the sin? Of course not! God is not a child who is appeased by gifts and animal slaughter. God, the true judge, provides atonement for those who sincerely desire to fix their ways. An offering must be accompanied with the will to get closer to God (prayer), a promise to observe the words of the Torah more carefully (teshuva), and concern for God’s creation (charity).
The verse says: “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit” (Psalms 51:19). This teaches us that a person who does teshuva is regarded as if he had ascended to Jerusalem, built the Temple, erected the Altar, and offered all the offerings upon it. (Midrash – Vayikra Rabba 7:2)
When a person transgresses a mitzvah in the Torah, he destroys some of his inner holiness. He cuts himself off from the Godliness that lies at the essence of his soul. When a person does teshuva — “spiritual return” — he renews and rebuilds the inner world that he has destroyed. On one level, he is rebuilding his personal “Temple” so that God’s presence (so to speak) will return there to dwell.
Today, without the Temple service, one of the most powerful ways to teshuva is through the inspiration of prayer. In fact, the Talmud (Brachot 26b) says that’s why the main “Amidah” prayer is recited at the exact same time that the daily offerings weresacrificed!
The text of the “Amidah” was formulated by prophets who knew how to awaken deep yearnings within the Jewish soul. Through prayer, we are to achieve a spiritual desire for a full and total connection to God.
The following is from the Jewish prayer book:
“Master of the Universe, You commanded us to bring the Daily Offering at its appointed time; and have the Kohanim perform their service, and the Levites sing and play music at the platform, and the Israelites attend at their stations. And now, because of our sins, the Holy Temple is destroyed and the Daily Offering discontinued. We have neither a Kohen at his service, nor a Levite on his platform, nor an Israelite at his station.
However, you have said, ‘Let the offerings of our lips replace bulls.’ Therefore, let it be Your will, our God and the God of our ancestors, that the prayer of our lips be considered and accepted and regarded favorably before You as if we had offered the Daily Offering at its appointed time, and stood in attendance at its service.”
Also, the Jews have had an oral tradition from the time of Moses (when the sacrifices started) that God considers the study of offerings as if the offering was actually brought. This is evident from Leviticus 7:37 in which it states, “This is the Law of the elevation-offerings…” (Talmud – Menachot 110a)
