“…Just as God in Messiah also has Forgiven You.” (Ephesians 4:32)
Learning to forgive someone who has hurt or offended us is an essential ingredient of maintaining relationships, and guarding our hearts against bitterness. Bitterness is to the soul what metal shavings are to an engine. If they are allowed to remain, failure is inevitable. But one does not overcome
Let us look again at Acts 15 and the decision of the Apostolic Council convened in Jerusalem. What was the issue at hand? What had brought about the need for the Council in the first place? And how should the decision of the Apostles be interpreted? What does all of this tell us about
In our “post-Torah” era, the New Testament is read through the lenses of modern Christianity in which the issues of the Torah have long since been determined. The foundational question of the place of Torah within the life of the Christian has been so thoroughly answered by longstanding theologies
One of the questions that inevitably arises when people began to see the beauty of the Biblical Festivals is whether or not they are for believers today. The theological categories in which many modern-day believers have been schooled insist that the Festivals were “merely shadows” of
A Critical Review of “One Law and the Messianic Gentile”
The recent issue of Messiah Journal (#101, Aug, 2009) published by First Fruits of Zion (FFOZ) has taken many of its readers by surprise. The article “One Law and the Messianic Gentile” (pp. 46–70) authored by Boaz Michael and D. Thomas Lancaster has boldly stated the desire of FFOZ to distance
We’ve all had the experience of traveling to some place new and trying to find directions to a given location. With map or directions in hand, we look intently for street signs and road markers as we try to find our way. Then we come to an intersection where we must turn either right or left
Today we have all sorts of Bible websites, apps, and software that are linked to many translations, languages, lexicons, and commentaries. You can take a virtual stroll through a seminary library on your smart phone! At times, the sheer volume of Bible-related content available at our fingertips can
During the recent presidential campaign in the States, now President Obama utilized one primary word to focus his message: Change. The mantra was “Change you can believe in.” Now that he is the new president, his victory slogan is: “Change can Happen” and “Change has Come.” The well-worn adage is
Some Background from the Ancient Near Eastern Covenants
When we read the Scriptures, it is immediately clear that we are reading ancient literature. We are taken into a world of past millennia where language and culture differed dramatically from our own. And if we are honest with ourselves, we must admit that often the greatest difficulty in
And Yeshua came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.” (Matt 28:18) I. In His incarnation, Yeshua voluntarily set aside the use of His ultimate authority and lived as the Servant of Adonai. (Phil 2:5–11)
The basic meaning of the verb ר ַשׂ ָבּ (basar) is “to bring news.” The context must determine whether the news is considered “good” or “bad.” The verb is found 24 times in the Tanach, while the noun, ה times. ָ ר שׂ ְבּ (besorah) is found 6
The current debate over the Law in the NT has advanced the discussion along familiar lines. Continuity/Discontinuity continues to set the extremes of the continuum, with scholars placing themselves toward one pole or the other. Evangelical scholars have also renewed the discussion of the Law in the
My purpose in this paper is to explore the theological significance of circumcision within the narrative context of Genesis 17. My approach is to utilize literary methods of narrative interpretation, allowing these data to interpret the significance of circumcision found in the Abraham story.
In Acts 15:1 and 5 we are confronted by two distinct halakhot, each reflecting Jewish concern for the boundaries of the people of Israel. Though the text of verse 1 was altered by later scribes who seemed to believe both statements originated from believing Pharisees, a closer look at the Greek
The last thing we read about Yeshua’s life upon this earth was His ascension into heaven. Our Master had gathered His talmidim together to give them their final instructions. He told them not to leave Jerusalem, but that they should wait there until they received “what the Father had promised”
In our modern world, many voices vie for our attention. Whether it’s tele-marketers, email blasts, television, billboards, print media, or whatever, we are being called by many voices in many different directions. The situation is not much different even if we narrow the circle to the religious
An Inquiry into the Divergent Methods of the 1st Century Judaisms
The festival of Unleavened Bread (chag hamatzot) is connected to the festival of Shavuot via the counting of 49 intervening days. This counting, according to Leviticus 23, commenced with the waving of a sheaf of grain by the priests:
Can Royal Grant Treaties Shed Light on the Abrahamic Covenant?
Introduction The study of the ancient Near Eastern “ covenant” or “ treaty” has had far-reaching implications for Old Testament studies in general. The past decades have given to the biblical scholar data from covenant structure and vocabulary which shed light on the biblical text itself and upon
