In summary, the remnant and the elect are closely tied together.  In New Testament usage, the elect or election appears to be synonymous with the remnant, or those through whom God would be doing a specific work.

Romans 11:5 - In the same way, then, there is also at the present time a remnant chosen by grace.

The word used here for chosen comes from the same Greek root phrase that is used for the elect, and Paul, speaking of events taking place at that time, says that the elect group, the group of the chosen, was the remnant. Today we discuss how the remnant was prophesied to be the group of faithful ones from among Israel, "the elect" then, would be another way of describing those from among Israel who were considered the faithful ones with whom God maintained his covenant relationship in that generation, and through whom God would be glorified.

MORE INFO:

Visit the blog articles and full podcast archive at: coreofthebible.org

Email questions or comments to Steve at: coreofthebible@gmail.com

MUSIC:

All music in today's episode: "Brittle Rille" by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

My definition of a biblical believer is someone whose actions and lifestyle express their faith in Yahweh as the one true God, and in Yeshua as his Messiah, or Anointed One. A non-believer's actions demonstrate that they have no faith in Yahweh as the one true God, or in Yeshua as the Messiah, even if they claim to be associated with believers.

Most people who call themselves Christians today are not aware of the academic dispute about the actual phrase used in the Greek: was it christianoi meaning "anointed ones" or "those who follow the anointed" or was the term chrestianoi meaning "good ones" or "those who do good"? There is only one letter difference in the Greek between these two terms, and based on some convincing manuscript evidence (like the Codex Sinaiticus of the 4th century), some scholars think that chrestianoi is the original or preferred rendering.

Next time, we'll be looking at the terms "remnant and elect", so be sure to come back and visit for more perspectives on these titles of God's people.

MORE INFO:

Visit the blog articles and full podcast archive at: coreofthebible.org

Email questions or comments to Steve at: coreofthebible@gmail.com

MUSIC:

All music in today's episode: "Brittle Rille" by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

While the details of these conversations that Yeshua had with these disciples and the explanation of how he fulfilled what was written in the Tanakh are not recorded for us, I believe we can still glean some of the passages that he may have represented to those disciples by reading how the early believing congregations interpreted key passages from Moses, the psalms, and the prophets.

Yeshua’s resurrection proved that everything Moses was for the natural, fleshly nation of Israel, Yeshua was going to be for the spiritual, heavenly kingdom of God.

That Yeshua was not just like Moses, but was also a prophet is illustrated by these few examples.

• He foresaw his own death and resurrection. Mark 8:31: “He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.“
• Yeshua also prophesied of the expansion of the worship of the one true God beyond the land and leadership of Israel. John 4:20-21 – [The woman at the well said] “Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews say that the place to worship is in Jerusalem.”  Yeshua told her, “Believe me, woman, an hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.
• He foresaw the complete destruction of the temple within that generation. Matthew 24:1-2, 34 – As Yeshua left and was going out of the temple, his disciples came up and called his attention to its buildings. He replied to them, “Do you see all these things? Truly I tell you, not one stone will be left here on another that will not be thrown down.”  … “Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things take place."

Isaiah 9:7 – The dominion will be vast, and its prosperity will never end. He will reign on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish and sustain it with justice and righteousness from now on and forever. The zeal of Yahweh of Armies will accomplish this.

This prophetic announcement of the permanent rule of Messiah over God’s Kingdom, a David-like figure, became the hope of Israel. Even to this day, Jews are expectantly awaiting their Messiah. Sadly, they do not recognize that he has come and he is already reigning in the eternal kingdom of God.

Psalm 110 is one of the most quoted passages in the New Testament writings.

Psalm 110:1-4 – A Psalm of David. Yahweh says to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.” Yahweh sends forth from Zion your mighty scepter. Rule in the midst of your enemies! Your people will offer themselves freely on the day of your power, in holy garments; from the womb of the morning, the dew of your youth will be yours. Yahweh has sworn and will not change his mind, “You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.”

This teaches us how Yeshua’s resurrection established him not only as the permanent ruler of God’s Kingdom, but also a High Priest after the order of Melchizedek. The writer to the Hebrews explains how this oath of God ensured that Messiah had to rise from the dead in order to establish the eternal priesthood within his Kingdom.

Without an eternal Prophet, we cannot know the will of God. Without an eternal King, we have no righteous authority. Without an eternal Priest, we have no atonement for sin. However, the whole thing put together results in a beautiful harmony of God’s three-fold provision for his people, and for any who choose to align themselves with the God of Israel. He has established his eternal King upon his throne, an eternal Prophet who reveals the will (or Word) of God to his people forever, and an eternal Priest who always lives to intercede for those who come to him.

---

Well, this series has been a long journey and has taken us into some areas that are not typically reviewed in the context of resurrection. However, I truly hope that through all of these scriptural detours and rabbit holes that there are at least a couple of concepts and ideas to encourage you to meditate on and to study out further on your own. But remember, if you have thoughts or comments that you would like to explore further with me, feel free to email me at coreofthebible@gmail.com. And be sure to visit coreofthebible.org for all of the podcasts on our podcast page there.

All music in today's episode: Brittle Rille by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

MORE INFO:

Visit the blog articles and full podcast archive at: coreofthebible.org

Email questions or comments to Steve at: coreofthebible@gmail.com

MUSIC:

All music in today's episode: "Brittle Rille" by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

As I have already suggested earlier, the judgment that was imminent in the day of Yeshua and his disciples was the complete annihilation of the city of Jerusalem, and the removal of the temple system, both of which had become extremely corrupt. The power of the holy people was about to be shattered, once and for all time. This theme of the coming judgment was the theme of both John the baptizer and Yeshua:

Matthew 3:7, 10, 12 - But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he [John] said to them, "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? ... Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. ... His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire."

Matthew 4:17 - From then on Yeshua began to preach, "Repent, because the kingdom of heaven has come near."

This was to be a judgment on Jerusalem and Israel, not the whole world, as can be seen in the prophecies concerning the resurrection concept.

The main thrust of the resurrection Daniel discusses eternal life. As mentioned earlier, this element of eternal life is what separates Daniel's prophecy from those of Isaiah and Ezekiel that we reviewed last time. This fact, along with its specific timing and corroboration with Yeshua's teaching places the representative resurrection/restoration of believers into the sphere of the eternal, and not just a worldly kingdom. The corrupted fleshly city of Jerusalem was about to be transformed into the spiritual city on a hill, the "true light of the world which could not be hidden," (Matthew 5:14).

---

Well, with everything we've covered today, I'm hoping there's at least a couple of concepts and ideas to meditate on and to study out further on your own. But remember, if you have thoughts or comments that you would like to explore further with me, feel free to email me at coreofthebible@gmail.com. And be sure to visit coreofthebible.org for all of the podcasts on our podcast page there.

All music in today's episode: Brittle Rille by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

MORE INFO:

Visit the blog articles and full podcast archive at: coreofthebible.org

Email questions or comments to Steve at: coreofthebible@gmail.com

MUSIC:

All music in today's episode: "Brittle Rille" by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Ezekiel 37:1-3, 11-14 - The hand of Yahweh was upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of Yahweh and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones. And he led me around among them, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, they were very dry. And he said to me, "Son of man, can these bones live?" And I answered, "O Lord GOD, you know." ... Then he said to me, "Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, 'Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are indeed cut off [from the land].' Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I will open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will bring you into the land of Israel [from your state of exile]. And you shall know that I am Yahweh, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live [you shall be "resurrected"], and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I am Yahweh; I have spoken, and I will do it, declares Yahweh."

While both of these resurrection passages in Isaiah and Ezekiel can provide us with study material on its own, taken together we can see how this collective resurrection theme or motif is consistent with the idea of a national revival or reawakening from a previously dead and disconnected or exiled state. In the historical context, each of these prophets was prophesying to the nation of Israel of a promise for them to be revived and renewed as a people of God's favor among which he resides and in which he is honored and glorified. This renewal was looked at as being so dramatic as to represent becoming alive again from the dead.

The New Testament writings reveal that despite the lack of spiritual revival in the restored nation of Israel, there remained a deep and abiding unspoken hope that another revolutionary figure would arise and establish Israel's independence once and for all. The golden age of David and Solomon was hoped to be reestablished, where spiritual truth would once again flow from Mount Zion to the ends of the earth.

For example, at the miraculous provision of the loaves and fishes, we read the following:

John 6:11, 14-15 - Then Yeshua took the loaves, and after giving thanks he distributed them to those who were seated ​-- ​so also with the fish, as much as they wanted.  ... When the people saw the sign he had done, they said, "This truly is the Prophet who is to come into the world."  Therefore, when Yeshua realized that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain by himself.

The writer to the early Hebrew believers in Messiah related how this light would shine from the prophetic city of Zion:

Hebrews 12:22-24 - But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Yeshua, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

The ages of men would come and go, but the age of the Kingdom would be eternal and would reach to the ends of the earth. As we have seen, both Isaiah and Ezekiel spoke not just of physical bodily resurrections, but they used the language of collective resurrection to illustrate the physical restoration of the nation to the land after their captivities, providing the appearance of a destroyed nation being resurrected to life once again. But their resurrection prophecies also hinted at a spiritual revival that would usher in a new age which would never end.

This theme of physical restoration to the land was a hint, a foreshadowing of future glory. Even during the time of judgment and destruction of Jerusalem, its demise would not be the cessation of God's people, but they would ultimately be transformed into something grander and everlasting as the prophetic Zion, the new Jerusalem described in the prophets and apocalyptic literature.

---

I really hope that these discussions on the topic of resurrection are bringing you some concepts and ideas to meditate on and to study out further on your own. But remember, if you have thoughts or comments that you would like to explore further with me, feel free to email me at coreofthebible@gmail.com. And be sure to visit coreofthebible.org for all of the podcasts on our podcast page there.

 Take care!

All music in today's episode: Brittle Rille by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

MORE INFO:

Visit the blog articles and full podcast archive at: coreofthebible.org

Email questions or comments to Steve at: coreofthebible@gmail.com

MUSIC:

All music in today's episode: "Brittle Rille" by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

The complexity of this concept is evident even among the Jews in the time of Yeshua, as there was sharp disagreement between the Pharisees and Sadducees on the nature and reality of resurrection.

Matthew 22:31-32 – “Now concerning the resurrection of the dead, haven’t you read what was spoken to you by God: ‘I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob?’ He is not the God of the dead, but of the living.”

So, what exactly was Yeshua driving at by bringing up this statement of Yahweh at the burning bush? This same passage is related by Matthew, Mark and Luke, so it obviously carried some heavy weight with the early believers. By saying that “God is not the God of the dead, but of the living,” Yeshua appears to be teaching that at least the righteous dead (exemplified by Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob) were to be considered alive to God, and therefore, already in a resurrection state. While the Sadducees were talking of a general resurrection in a future tense (who’s wife will she be?), Yeshua speaks about it in the present tense (they do not marry and are like angels in heaven). This implied that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, all of whom had lived physical lives fifteen hundred to two thousand years prior to the time of Yeshua, by the power of God had been retaining their identities and were to be considered already living in the resurrection state.

Yeshua would have made his point clearly that the Sadducees not only did not understand the true nature of Scripture but also the power of God to provide life after physical death for the faithful. In these passages Yeshua seems to me to be implying that the righteous dead are already living in a resurrected state of some sort. For us, this broadens the meaning of the resurrection to become illustrative of the reality of life after physical death for believers.

John 17:3 – And this is [present tense] eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Yeshua Messiah whom you have sent.

Well, it's my sincere hope that this introduction to the topic of resurrection has brought you some concepts and ideas to meditate on and to study out further on your own. But remember, if you have thoughts or comments that you would like to explore further with me, feel free to email me at coreofthebible@gmail.com. And be sure to visit coreofthebible.org for all of the podcasts on our podcast page there.

Take care!

All music in today's episode: Brittle Rille by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

MORE INFO:

Visit the blog articles and full podcast archive at: coreofthebible.org

Email questions or comments to Steve at: coreofthebible@gmail.com

MUSIC:

All music in today's episode: "Brittle Rille" by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

From viewing passages that mention the eighth day, we can see that the eighth day has to do with the following themes and rites:

• consecration or setting apart of the priests, firstborn and sacrificial animals, and circumcision of male infants (indicating a setting apart from the world)
• ritual cleansing from impurities related to death and uncleanness
• new beginnings at the completion of faithful obedience

In these aspects, the Eighth Day therefore becomes representative of cleansing and being set apart for God’s purposes. It is a day of new beginnings, where uncleanness involving blood and death is left behind. 

We have to remember that the Bible is a book written by Hebrew people, for Hebrew people. In their culture, judgment had to do with God’s disfavor, while life had to do with his favor. Yeshua proclaimed that the word which he spoke would judge individuals on the last day. This did come to pass as the nation was judged within that generation, demonstrated by the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD. Remember, Yeshua had prophesied that judgment would be passed upon that very generation, those who were alive at that time.

As the last day of the annual appointed times, there are no more; it is the termination of God’s appointed times for the year. The root meaning of the solemn assembly implies a restraining, or a retaining aspect. Jewish thinkers throughout the ages have interpreted this day as a yearning to prolong the last appointed time of the year by one more day; a longing to remain in God’s presence and the presence of his people before departing the festival days until the following year.

In like respects, man is appointed only one life, the timing and length of which is in God’s hands. Though we may desire to linger just a bit longer with family and friends in our community of faith, there comes a time where the offerings are complete, and rest has come. As the holiday comes at the culmination of the agricultural cycle, it provides hope for a new beginning in God’s presence at the culmination of this life, just like the new crops were to begin being planted after the harvest cycle was completed.

The day of Shemini Atzeret, the Eighth Gathering, intimates that believers are to be joined with the Spirit of God in the company of the faithful after the pure offering of a righteous life, providing hope for renewed life in God’s Kingdom and presence for eternity to come.

---

Well, it's my sincere hope that these studies on the fall festivals of the biblical calendar have brought you some concepts and ideas to meditate on and to study out further on your own. But remember, if you have thoughts or comments that you would like to explore further with me, feel free to email me at coreofthebible@gmail.com. And be sure to visit coreofthebible.org for all of the podcasts on our podcast page there.

Thanks for joining me today!

All music in today's episode: Brittle Rille by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

MORE INFO:

Visit the blog articles and full podcast archive at: coreofthebible.org

Email questions or comments to Steve at: coreofthebible@gmail.com

MUSIC:

All music in today's episode: "Brittle Rille" by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Additional symbols of this week include the command to rejoice in that which God has provided. This is a harvest festival after all, sometimes called the Feast of Ingathering.

Along with celebration in the provision of God is the theme of rest, with the first and last days being Sabbaths, or days of rest. The rest after a great harvest provides a deep sense of satisfaction and joy, as it is the completion of all of the hard work that has occurred throughout the spring and summer months. 

Each day was also to have an offering made by fire, which as we have seen in other studies as being representative of complete consummation in service to God. Even through the rejoicing in the hard physical work which has been completed, there was always to be a remembrance of who was ultimately responsible for their bounty, and their undivided devotion to his purposes.

Besides the celebratory aspect of the waving of the branches, this command in Leviticus comes on the heels of the previous verse which states to celebrate the holiday “for seven days after you have gathered the produce of the land,” (Leviticus 23:39). This produce of the land would naturally include the fruit of the various fruit-producing trees of the land as well.

Ultimately, Yeshua claims to be the very source of the true branches and fruit in which believers can rejoice for all time:

John 15:5 – “I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without me.

So if we are to carry the themes of the First Exodus with Moses into this Second Exodus beginning with the ministry of Messiah Yeshua, we can conclude the nation of Israel in the first century was being disciplined during this time for rejecting God’s promised kingdom which Yeshua announced during his ministry. Yeshua had taken them to the brink of the land so they could see the Kingdom of God for themselves, but they wavered in faith and rejected his message, just as Caleb and Joshua’s report was denied. They were choosing instead to hold tight to the principles of Egypt (the political world and their traditions) rather than recognize the presence of God among his people to lead them into the spiritual land of promise: Zion.

---

Well, I hope these studies on the fall festivals of the biblical calendar are bringing you some concepts and ideas to meditate on and to study out further on your own. But remember, if you have thoughts or comments that you would like to explore further with me, feel free to email me at coreofthebible@gmail.com. And be sure to visit coreofthebible.org for all of the podcasts on our podcast page there.

All music in today's episode: Brittle Rille by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

MORE INFO:

Visit the blog articles and full podcast archive at: coreofthebible.org

Email questions or comments to Steve at: coreofthebible@gmail.com

MUSIC:

All music in today's episode: "Brittle Rille" by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Because the ancient Day of Atonement was a national event, the disobedience of the nation was completely resolved through dual atonements of the goat of sacrifice and the goat of departure. In Yeshua’s day, this same result was effected through his simple and profound faithfulness in submitting to the will of the Father. As Israel’s representative king, he willingly took on the sins of the entire nation at once, allowing the covenant of Sinai to be fulfilled before Yahweh, and releasing those who placed their faith in him from the effects of sin and death. All that has been required for his people is faith in the substitutionary gift of himself, just as faith in the substitutionary goats was required in the original institution.

As mentioned in the previous discussion surrounding Yom Teruah (Day of Trumpets), this period of the fall cycle of biblical holidays is the corroborating balance of the spring cycle.  In the spring pattern, God raised up Moses as a deliverer for Israel from slavery and the worldliness of Egypt. In the fall pattern, God raised up Messiah to deliver his people from slavery to sin and the worldliness of corrupted religion. Just as the lamb at Passover provided physical deliverance from death for the firstborn of each family, the Yom Kippur ritual provided spiritual deliverance from sin for the firstborn nation of God: Israel. As Yom Kippur is six months removed from Passover, it is the counter-balance of the annual cycle, harking back to the same redemptive themes of that event. They are both about God redeeming and delivering his people from both sin and death; two witnesses to the faithful work of God.

As Israel was to be a light for the rest of the nations, the patterns established in their history still teach us in the nations about God’s faithfulness today. Since the spiritual Kingdom was established at the time of Yeshua, and it is eternally growing until it fills the earth, we can apply principles learned by their example. The principles set down in their narrative allow us to draw conclusions about how God desires to interact with all of humanity for all time. 

---

Well, I hope these studies on the fall festivals of the biblical calendar are bringing you some concepts and ideas to meditate on and to study out further on your own. But remember, if you have thoughts or comments that you would like to explore further with me, feel free to email me at coreofthebible@gmail.com. And be sure to visit coreofthebible.org for all of the podcasts on our podcast page there.

Once again, thanks for joining me today!

All music in today's episode: Brittle Rille by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

MORE INFO:

Visit the blog articles and full podcast archive at: coreofthebible.org

Email questions or comments to Steve at: coreofthebible@gmail.com

MUSIC:

All music in today's episode: "Brittle Rille" by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

On this annual appointment day, the shofar is sounded as a reminder, a memorial, of the importance of God's instruction (torah) which was summarized in the Ten Commandments. The trumpet represents God appearing on Sinai and announcing his standards of conduct for his covenant people. They were to be his physical kingdom representatives on earth, and this was the outline of their constitution. This Kingdom of God was about to become a physical reality on the earth, and they were expected to be obedient to his ways and to abandon the ways of Egypt and the surrounding nations. This horn-blast was a symbol of awe to remind them of God's power and majesty, which was to have brought them to self-reflection and repentance.

In the same way, this day should be for us a memorial of that same event, as if we were standing at the foot of that fiery, quaking mountain, a shofar-like blast piercing through our bodies amidst the deafening peals of thunder at the awesome sound of God's voice. Remember the voice of God; this is what the day is for. On that day he spoke his torah, his instruction, in the declaration of those ten phrases we have come to know as the Ten Commandments.

---

Well, I hope this introduction to the fall festivals of the biblical calendar brings you some concepts and ideas to meditate on and to study out further on your own. But remember, if you have thoughts or comments that you would like to explore further with me, feel free to email me at coreofthebible@gmail.com. And be sure to visit coreofthebible.org for all of the podcasts on our podcast page there.

Once again, thanks for joining me today! 

All music in today's episode: Brittle Rille by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

MORE INFO:

Visit the blog articles and full podcast archive at: coreofthebible.org

Email questions or comments to Steve at: coreofthebible@gmail.com

MUSIC:

All music in today's episode: "Brittle Rille" by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Today, we are moving into the New Testament writings and how Yeshua's disciples interpreted his life and death.

• Lamb of God
• Paschal lamb (lamb sacrificed at Passover)
• Mediator/High Priest (Day of Atonement)

In all of these examples, God was teaching his people through object lessons, patterns, and foreshadowing that they would have understood from their own writings of how the fulfillment of these preparatory examples were completed and fulfilled in his Anointed One, his Messiah. Once we rise above the limiting horizon of scholarly theories, tradition, and orthodoxy, we can then begin to see the biblical picture of atonement for what it truly is. The atonement that Messiah provided was not one of literal blood sacrifice to calm the wrath of an angry deity, but a representative and allegorical atonement providing mercy and reconciliation that reaches into the very depths of each soul who trusts in him, Jew and non-Jew alike. The mercy and reconciliation of this atonement provides true freedom from sin and causes us to walk in the righteous ways of Yahweh as he always intended: from the heart, not through the traditions and rituals of men. Anyone, therefore, who exhibits faith in Messiah is therefore accepted into the Kingdom, and this is how it was always designed by God to be from the very beginning: to start like a seed from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and then at the fulfillment of all things in Messiah, to spread and grow like a blossoming tree until it fills the earth.

---

Well, I hope this two-part study on the atonement brought you some concepts and ideas to meditate on and to study out further on your own. But remember, if you have thoughts or comments that you would like to explore further with me, feel free to email me at coreofthebible@gmail.com. And be sure to visit coreofthebible.org for all of the podcasts on our podcast page there.

Thanks for listening today!

All music in today's episode: Brittle Rille by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

MORE INFO:

Visit the blog articles and full podcast archive at: coreofthebible.org

Email questions or comments to Steve at: coreofthebible@gmail.com

MUSIC:

All music in today's episode: "Brittle Rille" by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

• How was atonement represented in Israel’s past (the Old Testament, or Tanakh)
• How did Yeshua view his role in that worldview

This whole ritual on the Day of Atonement or Yom Kippur is a vivid illustration of themes that would have been commonly understood within that culture and that are continually built on in later biblical stories.

God has ordained that the the symbolic aspect of animal sacrifice in the process of atonement is that its blood is substituted in a representative way for the life of the one presenting the sacrifice. The one offering the sacrifice is essentially saying to God, “My life is now intertwined with the life of this creature which is provided completely to you.” While the offerer continues to live, they have had to provide something of great value to them as a substitute for their own life. This then would become the deterrent to future sin because of the high cost of sacrificing a perfectly good animal which would have had great value to an agrarian family, especially one that was perfectly healthy as it had to be provided without blemish.

As the primary indicator of atonement, I think it’s most important to see how Yeshua himself viewed his role and mission as it applies to this concept. These include the themes of the Good Shepherd, the Ransom, and as the institution of a new blood covenant.

The new covenant was not about a new set of instructions; it was about a new location for the existing instructions: on the heart instead of on pieces of stone in a box.

Jeremiah 31:31-33  – “Look, the days are coming” ​– ​this is Yahweh’s declaration ​– ​”when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. This one will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors on the day I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt ​– ​my covenant that they broke even though I am their master” ​– ​Yahweh’s declaration. “Instead, this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days” ​– ​Yahweh’s declaration. “I will put my teaching within them and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.”

Next time, we will continue into the writings of the New Testament to see how this concept of atonement was viewed in relation to the work of Yeshua, and I will hopefully be able to provide some measure of summarizing all of this information in order to make it more applicable for us today.

---

Well, I hope this first part of our study on the atonement brought you some concepts and ideas to meditate on and to study out further on your own. But remember, if you have thoughts or comments that you would like to explore further with me, feel free to email me at coreofthebible@gmail.com. And be sure to visit coreofthebible.org for all of the podcasts on our podcast page there.

Thanks for listening today!
 

All music in today's episode: Brittle Rille by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

MORE INFO:

Visit the blog articles and full podcast archive at: coreofthebible.org

Email questions or comments to Steve at: coreofthebible@gmail.com

MUSIC:

All music in today's episode: "Brittle Rille" by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

To accomplish this feat of collective repentance of the remnant, this would mean individuals would need to repent of their sinful actions. This is why salvation many times appears to be personal and spiritual. For national repentance to take place, individuals must repent of individual disobedience. If this is the case, then this puts forgiveness of sins and salvation in a new light for modern eyes and ears: that perhaps the thrust of these New Testament passages are speaking about a collective, national salvation and restoration much more than a personal and private one. However, a personal and private repentance and experience of salvation would result in growing the overall restoration of the nation. This is the logic behind the Kingdom of God language.

In summary, when the Bible speaks of salvation, it is almost always in the context of Israel’s national unity and restoration. It is this context in which the Kingdom of God is preached by John the baptizer and Yeshua, a warning of impending judgment upon Israel’s unfaithfulness and yet a promise of a new and everlasting hope for all who would repent and accept their Messiah. As the national phase of Israel in that first century was disappearing, that is, the “[then] present Jerusalem” (Galatians 4:25), it was simultaneously ushering in the “Jerusalem [from] above” (Galatians 4:26), an eternal city whose architect and builder is God (Hebrews 11:10, 16), the prophetic city of Zion (Hebrews 12:22) whose gates would never be shut (Revelation 21:25) and where the presence of God would always remain with his people for all time (Revelation 22:3-5). This, then, is what I consider to be the good news of salvation and participation in the Kingdom of God!

---

I hope this broad overview of salvation and the Kingdom of God brought you some concepts and ideas to meditate on and to study out further on your own. But remember, if you have thoughts or comments that you would like to explore further with me, feel free to email me at coreofthebible@gmail.com. And be sure to visit coreofthebible.org for all of the podcasts on our podcast page there.

Once again, thanks for joining me today! 

You can find the full text of the "Kingdom of God" article referenced in today's episode here. 

All music in today's episode: Brittle Rille by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

MORE INFO:

Visit the blog articles and full podcast archive at: coreofthebible.org

Email questions or comments to Steve at: coreofthebible@gmail.com

MUSIC:

All music in today's episode: "Brittle Rille" by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Genesis 12:1-4 Now Yahweh said to Abram, "Go forth from your country, And from your relatives And from your father's house, To the land which I will show you;

1. And I will make you a great nation,
2. And I will bless you,
3. And make your name great;
4. And so you shall be a blessing;
5. And I will bless those who bless you,
6. And the one who curses you I will curse.
7. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed."

So Abram went forth as Yahweh had spoken to him; and Lot went with him. Now Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.

At this point, no covenant was in place; God simply promised that all of these things would come about. Here the Bible tells us that Abraham simply believed in these promises of the one true God. This is the exhibition of faith that Abraham is primarily remembered for. Understanding this principle is key to how the apostle Paul would use this simple faithfulness of Abraham later on in his letters to illustrate faith in Messiah.

Galatians 3:16, 29 Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say, "And to seeds," as referring to many, but rather to one, "And to your seed," that is, Messiah ... for you are all one in Messiah Yeshua. And if you belong to Messiah, then you are Abraham's descendants, heirs according to promise.

The physical covenants and genealogies were for physical blessings for Abraham's fleshly descendants through Jacob. They were necessary and proper until the fulfillment of the promises and covenants in Messiah. From Yeshua’s time on, genealogies would no longer be necessary, since they had served their purpose of identifying Abraham's ultimate "seed," Messiah. Physical covenants related to blessings of the land would also no longer be necessary, as the children of Abraham would be defined by their simple faith in God’s Messiah. And this would not be to gain or prosper in a specific, physical land but to live in an eternal, universal Kingdom covering the entire earth.

Those who exhibit this faith in God by believing in his Messiah, just like Abraham's elementary faith, will be counted within the idiomatic expression of believers spanning many ages, known collectively as "children of Abraham." These are the ones whom, like Yeshua taught, will "come from east and west, and recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven," (Matthew 8:11).

---

Remember, if you have thoughts or comments that you would like to explore further with me, feel free to email me at coreofthebible@gmail.com. And be sure to visit coreofthebible.org for all of the podcasts on our podcast page there. Thanks for listening today!
 

All music in today's episode: Brittle Rille by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

MORE INFO:

Visit the blog articles and full podcast archive at: coreofthebible.org

Email questions or comments to Steve at: coreofthebible@gmail.com

MUSIC:

All music in today's episode: "Brittle Rille" by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

God’s covenant with Abraham was to be the start of a set-apart tribal community that would eventually become the physical nation of Israel. Hundreds of years after Abraham, his physical descendants, the children of Israel, became enslaved in Egypt (as God had foretold). He raised up Moses to lead them out of their captivity and to become their own nation and representative Kingdom of God based on the covenant of the Ten Commandments.

As the nation of Israel grew, God provided an ideal example of kingship in David. The surrounding nations became subject to David’s rule and at that time the nation rose to all that had been prophesied before. This physical, national ideal became the type and foreshadowing of the spiritual kingdom which was to be realized a millennium later through the direct descendant of King David, Yeshua.

By Yeshua proclaiming that he was speaking the word of God, and by the accompanying signs done through him, the covenant God made with Israel when they were led by Moses was fulfilled. By Yeshua coming from the line of David, the covenant that God made with David was fulfilled. Since Yeshua was a true descendant of Abraham, the promises to Abraham were also fulfilled in Yeshua.

Now, the really good news (for us) is, because Yeshua also fulfilled the pre-covenant promises that were made to Abraham, Yeshua then also became the way to God for anyone who was not part of covenantal Israel and Judah. In this way, anyone from anywhere who expressed faith in Yeshua as being sent by God, whether Jew or non-Jew, could now approach the God of Creation through simple faith, just like Abraham.

---

Next time, we will review this concept of the faith of Abraham to demonstrate how believers even today can be considered “children of Abraham.”

Remember, if you have thoughts or comments that you would like to explore further with me, feel free to email me at coreofthebible@gmail.com.

All music in today's episode: Brittle Rille by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

MORE INFO:

Visit the blog articles and full podcast archive at: coreofthebible.org

Email questions or comments to Steve at: coreofthebible@gmail.com

MUSIC:

All music in today's episode: "Brittle Rille" by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

This disobedience severs man’s relationship with God resulting in a condition which God calls “death.” This death or separation from God can only be overcome by a new “birth.” The results of this new birth allow man to have a re-established relationship with God. Through this relationship, man can gain mastery over the ignorance, covetous desires and pride of this mortal condition. This allows humans to function as God intended: in God’s image, having free will, and ruling benevolently as God intended over God’s Creation.

While the Bible does not describe an inherent sin nature, it does indicate we have a wayward propensity toward sin that, for each of us, at some point creates a severed relationship with our Creator, who then considers us as dead because of our sinful actions. As we are made aware of this, we must then die to ourselves to become re-born, and then the relationship is re-established.

We are no longer obligated to always follow the propensity toward sin in by metaphorically eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and bad; it can now be redirected toward the tree of life in obedience to our Creator. We have been freed to serve God in righteousness and truth, according to his Word. 

-----

Remember, if you have thoughts or comments that you would like to explore further with me, feel free to email me at coreofthebible@gmail.com. You can also search the catalog of hundreds of articles over at www.coreofthebible.org.

All music in today's episode: Brittle Rille by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

MORE INFO:

Visit the blog articles and full podcast archive at: coreofthebible.org

Email questions or comments to Steve at: coreofthebible@gmail.com

MUSIC:

All music in today's episode: "Brittle Rille" by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

2 - Righteous and holy. God's commandments and laws define God's righteousness (that which is morally and truly right), and by obeying those laws we are imitating him and becoming more like him.

3 - Compassionate, forgiving, and just. Exodus 34:6-7 Then Yahweh passed by in front of him [Moses] and proclaimed, "Yahweh, Yahweh God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave [the guilty] unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations."

4 - The Most Powerful. The word Almighty literally means "most-powerful." Two of God's titles in Hebrew are El Shaddai, which is translated "God Almighty," and El Yon meaning "the Uppermost or Most High God."  The Bible has declared from ancient times that Yahweh is the Almighty and most powerful God of all, and the events outlined throughout the Bible relate how he demonstrated that by calling a people to himself, delivering them from their enemies, and fulfilling all that he had promised them through his own Son, the Messiah.

5 - All-knowing and All-wise. God's wisdom is so far removed from our ability to comprehend its depths, we can only glean the revealed wisdom of God through the teachings of his prophets and his Messiah, the Anointed One.

6 - Present everywhere at once. Since God is spirit, his presence is not limited to any one specific location. He has the innate ability to be present at all places at all times. Within his physical Creation, all things are limited by space and time, but the Bible hints to us that in the spiritual realm of God's existence, those limits do not exist.

7 - His Name defines who he is. The root of the proper name for God comes from a Hebrew word meaning "(the) self-Existent" or "Eternal." In English, it roughly translates out to "I am" or "I always have been and will always be".

8 - The Ultimate Authority. God truly is the sovereign power over everything that was created by him. We have already seen one of his titles, El Yon, means that he is the Most High God. He can rightfully expect complete loyalty, reverence and obedience.

9 - Most importantly, God is love. Love really gets to the root of God's nature, and love is what He most wants to see in the character of His children. Therefore, it's no surprise that his greatest commandments are to love—to love God and to love people.

---

Well, I hope this overview of the character of God brought you some concepts and ideas to meditate on and to study out further on your own. But remember, if you have thoughts or comments that you would like to explore further with me, feel free to email me at coreofthebible@gmail.com.

Once again, thanks for joining me today! 

All music in today's episode: Brittle Rille by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

MORE INFO:

Visit the blog articles and full podcast archive at: coreofthebible.org

Email questions or comments to Steve at: coreofthebible@gmail.com

MUSIC:

All music in today's episode: "Brittle Rille" by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

But what I want to focus on is how the biblical calendar is filled with symbolism of the Kingdom and God’s relationship with his people. I believe it is as we maintain recognition of these days that we can be reminded of God’s, and our, purpose. These days become practical object lessons that point to the totality of God’s work among his people, and his presence in this world.

How are we to keep these appointments? Certainly we are not to sacrifice animals; as mentioned earlier all sacrifice has been fulfilled in Messiah. However, on these special days we can still gather together as his people to review the symbolism of those sacrifices to bring greater awareness to our understanding of our relationship with God. Whether it is through deeper fellowship and community among his people, as well as renewing our total devotion to him and consummation in his service, we can become serious about our faith by living it out as object lessons that others can see and learn from, as well.

Even though we don’t bring actual sacrificial animals before Yahweh anymore, I believe these offerings were designed by Yahweh to represent real aspects of our spiritual lives, and I think it’s important that we continue to recognize these. So let’s take a look at what each of these different types of sacrifices means from a symbolic perspective:

• A burnt offering represents total consummation in God’s service.
• A sin offering represents that which is a substitute for us due to our disobedience to God’s torah.
• The trespass offering was offered for unintentional or unknown sin.
• A fellowship or peace offering represents thankfulness for God’s mercy and enjoyment of his relationship.
• The grain and drink offerings represent our gratitude for God’s provision as firstfruits of all he has provided us.

I think it becomes readily apparent how these emblematic sacrifices apply in the life of the modern believer. If we are to honor these appointed times throughout the year, I believe they should be memorialized in the spirit of these attributes.

---

I hope this brief introduction to the biblical holidays and the restoration Shavuot or Pentecost brought you some concepts and ideas to meditate on and to study out further on your own. But remember, there is also a Core of the Bible virtual Bible study group that is hosted through the Marco Polo video chat app. It is designed to discuss the topics that we cover each week and to help people with responses to questions that may come up. If you are interested in joining the discussion, simply download the free Marco Polo app and email me a request to join the group at coreofthebible@gmail.com. I will be happy to send you a link to join the virtual Bible study group. You can also feel free to email me any of your thoughts or comments at that email, as well.

Once again, thanks for joining me today!  Take care!

All music in today's episode: Brittle Rille by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

MORE INFO:

Visit the blog articles and full podcast archive at: coreofthebible.org

Email questions or comments to Steve at: coreofthebible@gmail.com

MUSIC:

All music in today's episode: "Brittle Rille" by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Since God is eternal and his Kingdom is eternal, enduring characteristics of being influenced by the Spirit of God (fruit of the Spirit) that were present then will continue to be present for all time. As people continue to enter the Kingdom and learn about God through his Word and truth, he continues to bring people to new life by his Spirit through faith in Messiah Yeshua. They are then empowered by his Spirit to demonstrate love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control; all of the out-workings of the Spirit of God through his people today. I believe these are the "gifts" that believers have to offer the world today: positive spiritual influences that God uses to draw all people to himself.

The Spirit of God therefore separates (or sanctifies) his people to seek first the Kingdom and then empowers them to do so with vigilance. The Spirit of God creates in his people a love for himself with all of the heart, mind, and strength, trusting him for everything. And the fruit of that same Spirit prompts them to love others with integrity, forgiveness, and compassion.

---

Remember, there is also a Core of the Bible virtual study group that is hosted through the Marco Polo video chat app. It is designed to discuss the topics that we cover each week and to help people with responses to questions that may come up. If you are interested in joining the discussion, simply download the free Marco Polo app and email me a request to join the group at coreofthebible@gmail.com. I will be happy to send you a link to join the virtual Bible study group. You can also feel free to email me any of your thoughts or comments at that email, as well.

Once again, thanks for joining me today! Take care!

All music in today's episode: Brittle Rille by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

MORE INFO:

Visit the blog articles and full podcast archive at: coreofthebible.org

Email questions or comments to Steve at: coreofthebible@gmail.com

MUSIC:

All music in today's episode: "Brittle Rille" by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

God’s anointed ones or messiahs have been numerous and characteristically fulfill a role as a priest (as an intercessor or mediator) or prophet, or as a ruler. They are all humans through whom God accomplishes his specific purpose. It is through his empowerment that they have been able to achieve what he has desired. So, for someone to be considered a messiah, an intercessor, ruler, deliverer of God, they must be a human being who has been selected and identified by God for a specific purpose. This is the role that the ultimate Messiah, Yeshua, had been destined for since birth.

In the Bible, Yeshua is revealed as the Son of God, in both the context of a miraculous birth and in his unique role as God's deliverer and savior, his ultimate human Messiah. This places Yeshua at the center and the culmination of the Bible narrative becoming the exemplary human ideal in relation to his self-sacrificial service to God and to others. It is only through the example of Yeshua's self-sacrificial obedience that we can also become the fully obedient humans that God desires us to be.

-----

Remember, there is a Core of the Bible virtual study group that is hosted through the Marco Polo video chat app. It is designed to discuss the topics that we cover each week and to help people with responses to questions that may come up. If you are interested in joining the discussion, simply download the free Marco Polo app and email me a request to join the group at coreofthebible@gmail.com. I will be happy to send you a link to join the virtual Bible study group. You can also feel free to email me any of your thoughts or comments there, as well.

All music in today's episode: Brittle Rille by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

MORE INFO:

Visit the blog articles and full podcast archive at: coreofthebible.org

Email questions or comments to Steve at: coreofthebible@gmail.com

MUSIC:

All music in today's episode: "Brittle Rille" by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Deuteronomy 6:4-5 "Hear, O Israel! Yahweh is our God, Yahweh is one! "You shall love Yahweh your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might."

The Shema has been the primary defining statement of the Hebrew people since it was revealed to them. This fierce monotheism is what has distinctly set apart the Hebrew people since God first revealed himself to Abraham in approximately 2000 BC. The Babylonian, Egyptian, and Eastern religions (and later the Greeks and the Romans) have all been polytheistic religions, filled with hundreds, and sometimes thousands, of gods. The Hebrews were first and unique in their strict rejection of all other gods but one.

Yeshua himself confirms the importance of this concept of one God through the Shema, as well.

Mark 12:28-29 One of the scribes came and heard them arguing, and recognizing that [Yeshua] had answered them well, asked Him, "What commandment is the foremost of all?" Yeshua answered, "The foremost is, 'Hear, O Israel! Yahweh our God, Yahweh is one...'

So, if this has been the historical understanding of the nature of God as being singular, how is it that over the centuries after Messiah, a concept known as the trinity came about? This is what we will be discussing today.

---

Remember, there is a Core of the Bible virtual study group that is hosted through the Marco Polo video chat app. It is designed to discuss the topics that we cover each week and to help people with responses to questions that may come up. If you are interested in joining the discussion, simply download the free Marco Polo app and email me a request to join the group at coreofthebible@gmail.com. I will be happy to send you a link to join the virtual Bible study group. You can also feel free to email me any of your thoughts or comments there, as well.

Thanks for listening today!

Other helpful sites and resources regarding monotheism of the whole Bible:

Trinity Delusion | TrinityDelusion.net

What is a Biblical Monotarian - The Biblical Monotarian (Copyright 2023)

Why Biblical Unitarianism? | BiblicalUnitarian.com

Trinities – Theories about the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit

The UCA Affirmation - Unitarian Christian Alliance

All music in today's episode: Brittle Rille by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

MORE INFO:

Visit the blog articles and full podcast archive at: coreofthebible.org

Email questions or comments to Steve at: coreofthebible@gmail.com

MUSIC:

All music in today's episode: "Brittle Rille" by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

The word torah itself simply means instruction or direction. It comes from a Hebrew root word, yara, meaning to throw or shoot, as in shooting an arrow toward a target. This is what torah's purpose is, what it is designed to do; to point us to the target, or goal, that God would have us accomplish. This is why I believe that torah is all through the Bible: the whole collection of these writings is designed to point us toward the goal God has for every one of us: Messiah-like obedience as God's children in the Kingdom of God.

If the whole Bible is based on torah, or instruction, from God, then it becomes obvious why I believe torah is relevant for believers today, since it is essentially God's word that he expects us to abide by. When we act reflexively with the spirit and intent of torah that is when we know life has actually come into being and changed us.

----

Remember, there is also a Core of the Bible virtual study group that is hosted through the Marco Polo video chat app. It is designed to discuss the topics that we cover each week and to help people with responses to questions that may come up. If you are interested in joining the discussion, simply download the free Marco Polo app and email me a request to join the group at coreofthebible@gmail.com. I will be happy to send you a link to join the virtual Bible study group.

Thanks for listening today, take care!

All music in today's episode: Brittle Rille by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

MORE INFO:

Visit the blog articles and full podcast archive at: coreofthebible.org

Email questions or comments to Steve at: coreofthebible@gmail.com

MUSIC:

All music in today's episode: "Brittle Rille" by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

• I believe that complete message of the Bible points to the faithfulness of God with his people Israel, culminating in the person and ministry of the Lord Yeshua.
• Through God's holy Spirit and his Word, the Bible, God desires to lead people to faith in Yeshua and to guide them in a life of faithful obedience to his will.
• I accept the entire Bible as authoritatively testifying to the nature, work, and wisdom of God. These are the Scriptures or sacred writings concerning God's revelation of himself to mankind. 
• God's purpose in these revelations has been an exhibition of his own glory and the establishment of his Kingdom on the earth.

Remember, if you are interested in joining the Core of the Bible virtual Bible study, simply download the free Marco Polo app and email me a request to join the group at coreofthebible@gmail.com. I will be happy to send you a link to join the virtual Bible study group.

Thanks for listening today!

All music in today's episode: Brittle Rille by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

MORE INFO:

Visit the blog articles and full podcast archive at: coreofthebible.org

Email questions or comments to Steve at: coreofthebible@gmail.com

MUSIC:

All music in today's episode: "Brittle Rille" by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

As ancient Christianity was trying to understand itself, its writings, and its beliefs, there were historical councils that were organized to make official statements about these types of practices and beliefs. The relevance of these types of councils was to provide official stances on biblical topics ranging from the nature of God to what religious holidays should be celebrated and when. However, while the intent may have been to unify believers into a cohesive orthodoxy, the end result was that these councils actually tended to cause fragmentation, as people began to choose sides over various important biblical topics. Rather than showing where believers all agreed, they began to reveal how believers had many different opinions about many important biblical topics. Some critics of Christianity view this as a sign of division and contradiction, while others see it as a manifestation of the richness and complexity of the Christian faith.

To this end, as of this recording in 2023 I am embarking on a new project for the next year and beyond, and I invite you to come along with me as I explore 52 different aspects of my worldview and the doctrines that form its basis. Each week, I intend to focus on a brief overview of my understanding of some of the key topics that are usually brought up in statements of faith or denominational creeds, like "the Character of God," or "Man and Sin," along with some additional insights into topics that may not typically be covered within other denominational literature and thinking, like studies on the biblical feasts.

Finally, throughout this upcoming project of worldview exploration, I also do not want to lose sight of the Core of the Bible topics, as that is the overall focus of my endeavors with this podcast. I hope to show how the wider theological topics are imperative to the core principles which should guide the daily lifestyle of the Bible believer.

As a unique experiment tied to this project, I would like to interact on a more personal level regarding these topics with anyone who is interested in doing so. I am always available by email at coreofthebible@gmail.com. However, for those who may want a more immersive communication style, there is an app that allows people to create video discussion groups called Marco Polo. It is a free app that you can download to your phone that allows you to have video conversations back and forth, kind of like video messages that can be watched and responded to by anyone else who is in the group. It is not publicly shared online, but anyone in the group can see and respond to anyone else's video conversation. Additionally, joining the group does not require one to talk on video; members can simply watch the conversations going on in the group. The goal is to have this as a kind of on-going virtual Bible study in between the weekly podcast episodes.

Next week, we are going to begin the worldview discussions with "The Bible: A Divine Revelation."

If anyone on this journey would like to join the Core of the Bible virtual Bible study, simply download the free Marco Polo app and email me a request to join the group at coreofthebible@gmail.com to receive a link to join the Core of the Bible group. Once you're in, you're free to watch and listen to everyone's video chats and add your own comments, as well.

I look forward to having you along on this journey of exploration in the coming weeks and months, both as listeners to the podcast and potentially joining the Core of the Bible virtual study group in the Marco Polo app. Whether you decide to join the virtual group or not, thanks for your interest in listening today. Take care!

All music in today's episode: Brittle Rille by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

MORE INFO:

Visit the blog articles and full podcast archive at: coreofthebible.org

Email questions or comments to Steve at: coreofthebible@gmail.com

MUSIC:

All music in today's episode: "Brittle Rille" by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Throughout the Proverbs, Solomon is writing in the context of conveying all of this information and instruction to his child. As a parent wants to instill their children with all of the right information they can, he continually reminds his son to maintain what is right in the face of surrounding adversity.

Proverbs 4:20-27 - My son, pay attention to my words. Open your ears to what I say. Do not lose sight of these things. Keep them deep within your heart because they are life to those who find them and they heal the whole body. Guard your heart more than anything else, because the source of your life flows from it. Remove dishonesty from your mouth. Put deceptive speech far away from your lips. Let your eyes look straight ahead and your sight be focused in front of you. Carefully walk a straight path, and all your ways will be secure. Do not lean to the right or to the left. Walk away from evil.

Here we see revealed for us how the root of remaining vigilant and keeping one’s way pure is centered on the heart: “…keep [my words] deep within your heart…Guard your heart more than anything else, because the source of your life flows from it.”

According to the Bible, the heart is the wellspring of life. All thoughts and consequent actions flow from the heart, therefore, a pure heart means a pure walk.

A thousand years after Solomon, Yeshua also instructed his followers that what one says, and thereby does, comes from what is within the heart:

Luke 6:45 - The good person out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil person out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart.

So, taking the full counsel of God's wisdom into account, in like fashion, when we keep God’s word deep within our hearts, our walk becomes more sure. Dishonesty and deceptive speech disappear. Distractions from the way of truth become less frequent. Our way becomes more firm as we stay on the path laid out for us. We find the strength to walk away from evil.

----

If you enjoyed this week's podcast, be sure to visit coreofthebible.org to read hundreds of articles on these topics and to find out more about the message of the Bible reduced to its simplest form in the Ten Commandments and the Sermon on the Mount.

Have questions about today's topic, or comments or insights you would like to share? Feel free to email me at coreofthebible@gmail.com.

Thanks for your interest in listening today!

All music in today's episode: Brittle Rille by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

MORE INFO:

Visit the blog articles and full podcast archive at: coreofthebible.org

Email questions or comments to Steve at: coreofthebible@gmail.com

MUSIC:

All music in today's episode: "Brittle Rille" by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Deuteronomy 12:28 – Observe and hear all these words which I command you, that it may go well with you, and with your children after you forever, when you do that which is good and right in the eyes of Yahweh your God.

Doing what is right in the sight of God is the biblical definition of integrity. It means following his instruction or acting according to his precepts. Today, I would like to take a look at some examples of ancient Israelite kings who have done what is right in God’s eyes: King Asa and King Josiah. I believe this can help us to understand what this practical righteousness or biblical integrity looks like.

• 2 Chronicles 14:2-5 – Asa did what was pleasing and good in the sight of Yahweh his God. He removed the foreign altars and the pagan shrines. He smashed the sacred pillars and cut down the Asherah poles. He commanded the people of Judah to seek Yahweh, the God of their ancestors, and to obey his law and his commands. Asa also removed the pagan shrines, as well as the incense altars from every one of Judah’s towns. So Asa’s kingdom enjoyed a period of peace.
• 2 Kings 22:1-2 Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem thirty-one years. … He did what was pleasing in Yahweh’s sight and followed the example of his ancestor David. He did not turn away from doing what was right.
• 2 Kings 23:24 Josiah also got rid of the mediums and psychics, the household gods, the idols, and every other kind of detestable practice, both in Jerusalem and throughout the land of Judah. He did this in obedience to the laws written in the scroll that Hilkiah the priest had found in Yahweh’s Temple.

Notice in these examples that Asa and Josiah were considered doing what was right in God’s sight because they were taking action according to God’s Word. The texts tell us that “Asa did what was pleasing and good in the sight of Yahweh his God,” and that Josiah “did what was pleasing in Yahweh’s sight.” How did they know what God’s perspective was? It says that Asa followed God’s “law and his commands” and Josiah acted “in obedience to the laws written in the scroll” that had been found in the temple.

By contrast, those who instead follow their own ways do what they think is right, not paying any attention to the commands of God.

• Proverbs 16:25 – There is a path before each person that seems right, but it ends in death.
• Proverbs 21:2 – People may be right in their own eyes, but Yahweh examines their heart.

Essentially, we as humans have the capacity to justify whatever we think is right and appropriate for ourselves, whether those things are right in God’s eyes or not. Unfortunately, as Solomon wrote in his Proverbs, typically those ways “end up in death.” This doesn’t necessarily mean that our own ways always lead to our physical death (although many times they do), but the path of “death” in these ancient texts is typically the antithesis of the path of “life.” Our own ways driven by our own understanding cannot come to the realization of what is truly right. This is the symbolism contained within the meaning of the story of Adam and Eve: they had the right to eat from the tree of life (i.e., in obedience to God’s righteous ways) or the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (i.e., operating within their own understanding of what they thought was good or bad). When they chose incorrectly, they experienced “death” and were cast away from God’s presence.

What about us? It is easy for us to become overwhelmed by the negativity, divisiveness, and corruption we see around us every day. But, as believers, that’s what we’re here for. We are to be the city on a hill, the light shining in the darkness, standing up for what’s right according to God’s Word. We have to take action on the instruction of God for it to be impactful in the lives of those around us. It’s been said that believers are the only Bible that some people will be exposed to, so what kind of example of God’s instruction do you want your life to emulate?

As believers, even if the rest of the world doesn’t understand our motivation, we can still do what’s right in God’s eyes. Meditating on his word and understanding it in its entirety provides us the correct context for our outward actions. Like Asa and Josiah before us, this type of obedient integrity purifies God’s people and accomplishes God’s purpose in each generation.

-----

If you enjoyed this week's podcast, be sure to visit coreofthebible.org to read hundreds of articles on these topics and to find out more about the message of the Bible reduced to its simplest form in the Ten Commandments and the Sermon on the Mount.

Have questions about today's topic, or comments or insights you would like to share? Feel free to email me at coreofthebible@gmail.com.

Thanks for your interest in listening today!

All music in today's episode: Brittle Rille by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

MORE INFO:

Visit the blog articles and full podcast archive at: coreofthebible.org

Email questions or comments to Steve at: coreofthebible@gmail.com

MUSIC:

All music in today's episode: "Brittle Rille" by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

As I have mentioned many times before, when God set the Hebrew people apart as a people for himself, he provided them a basic set of community rules, the Ten Commandments, to maintain order within their new society. I believe these rules were the baseline of God's expectations for all humans that would become evident in the continual outworking of his Kingdom throughout all history for all time.

As such, this specific commandment about bearing false witness includes the restriction against telling an intentional falsehood for the purpose of causing a neighbor harm. To bear false witness against someone is to misrepresent the truth of a situation that one has personal knowledge of to the detriment of someone else. It is intentional deception for the purpose of vengeance or personal gain. Simply stated, falsehood is the simplest way to subvert any relationship or institution. Jealousy and selfish ambition lie at the root of deception. Recognizing this, and knowing the tendency of men to preserve themselves at all costs, God built in to the kingdom charter, the Ten Commandments, a specific command about the necessity of not bearing a false witness against another.

John 8:43-44 - "Why don't you understand what I say? Because you cannot hear my word. You are of your father the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he tells a lie, he speaks from his own nature, because he is a liar and the father of lies.

Yeshua taught that a liar, a falsifier who misrepresents, distorts facts, or misleads others (for that is what the word means) has an innate tendency to do so. They cannot be trusted in anything because the ability to lie and spread falsehood can be present in anything they say. He uses the representative word picture of being born of that which is adversarial to God, and it is therefore within their nature, just as the child has the representative traits of the parent. Once one is consigned to lies, misrepresentations and distortions come more easily as new situations arise, and unfortunately they then spiral into layers of falsehoods piled one on top of another.

Paul used the analogous contrast of the “old man” and the “new man” of the heart. As believers’ hearts were renewed, it was as if there was a new person who could only do what was right, and who would stand in judgment of the practices of the old man.

Ephesians 4:22-25 - …that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness. Therefore, putting away lying, “[Let] each one [of you] speak truth with his neighbor,” for we are members of one another.

The encouragement to truthful dealings within the community was to be based on this newness of righteousness and holiness of heart. Because of this community in which all were “members of one another,” that is, parts of an integral body, they were to always provide a truthful and honest example in everything, with everyone, in all of their words and actions.

-----

If you enjoyed this week's podcast, be sure to visit coreofthebible.org to read hundreds of articles on these topics and to find out more about the message of the Bible reduced to its simplest form in the Ten Commandments and the Sermon on the Mount.

Have questions about today's topic, or comments or insights you would like to share? Feel free to email me at coreofthebible@gmail.com.

Thanks for your interest in listening today!

All music in today's episode: Brittle Rille by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-licens

MORE INFO:

Visit the blog articles and full podcast archive at: coreofthebible.org

Email questions or comments to Steve at: coreofthebible@gmail.com

MUSIC:

All music in today's episode: "Brittle Rille" by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

For us to be truly compassionate with others, we should be operating from a base of harmony with one another, and recognizing one another’s needs sympathetically. Once we are able to show brotherly love to each other through humility and compassionate actions, we can then have a united purpose with those outside the faith.

Peter's direction to maintain humility and compassion among each other could not come at a more needed time in the history of society. However, he was only building on the teaching of his master. Yeshua taught, "Blessed are the humble, for they will inherit the earth," (Matthew 5:5), and, "Take up my yoke and learn from me, because I am lowly and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls," (Matthew 11:29).

Peter says that the believers have been called by God to consistently swim upstream against the current of wickedness around them.  We must maintain righteous behavior, not to be congratulated for doing so, but because it is simply the right thing to do. And when we do so collectively as believers, we demonstrate a unity with one another that can be recognized by others. We create a firm foundation to then stand united in the face of opposition and evil. Not only that, but more than just standing firm against opposition, it is the believer's obligation to turn away from evil, to provide blessings in return for insults, and to seek and pursue peace with all others. We have no other alternative approved by God; we must always stand for peace and righteousness with one another and with all others.

-----

If you enjoyed this week's podcast, be sure to visit coreofthebible.org to read hundreds of articles on these topics and to find out more about the message of the Bible reduced to its simplest form in the Ten Commandments and the Sermon on the Mount.

Have questions about today's topic, or comments or insights you would like to share? Feel free to email me at coreofthebible@gmail.com. Thanks for your interest in listening today!

All music in today's episode: Brittle Rille by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

MORE INFO:

Visit the blog articles and full podcast archive at: coreofthebible.org

Email questions or comments to Steve at: coreofthebible@gmail.com

MUSIC:

All music in today's episode: "Brittle Rille" by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

The problem that arises in our modern context is that most people, even bad people, do not consider themselves as bad people. They justify themselves in their actions based on their own rationale stemming from comparing themselves with those around them who may do even worse things, thinking themselves better and therefore not guilty of wrongdoing.

However, God’s standards are uncompromising. Even at the most basic level, the Ten Commandments exhibit a baseline standard for people to evaluate themselves in any culture and in any time in history. The universality of the commandments stand as a testimony against every individual as a performance standard that God expects of people who would consider themselves as his own people. That was the purpose of delivering them to the assembled congregation at Sinai, as God was laying out the constitution or charter of his Kingdom to be evidenced among his people for all time. The commandments lay out the appropriate actions toward God and toward others, and all other instruction from God’s Word stems from this blueprint.

Yeshua expanded on the spiritual motivations behind the Ten Commandments with his Sermon on the Mount. This teaching appears in both the gospels of Matthew and Luke in slightly different settings, highlighting the likelihood this was a basic teaching of Yeshua’s which he shared wherever he went. These methods of seeking God's Kingdom first involve integrity, vigilance, holiness, trust, forgiveness and compassion. When people truly evaluate their actions in view of the standards God has provided to us in these teachings of Moses and Yeshua, and not the standards of society, then there is a more complete picture of their standing before God.

For all those who recognize they have transgressed the commands and intentions God has provided in his Word, forgiveness is always available, along with strength through his holy Spirit which can enlighten and guide in the correct ways. Repentance of wicked ways and thoughts paves the way for God to expand his influence in the life of not only those who have not yet experienced spiritual regeneration, but in the life of the believer, as well. The Word of God comes to life through our obedient thoughts and ways, and God is glorified when we lay down anything that offends or transgresses his instruction for us. This is how the Kingdom of God continues to expand and grow, and we become privileged to become his co-laborers in the fulfillment of these things.

-----

If you enjoyed this week's podcast, be sure to visit coreofthebible.org to read hundreds of articles on these topics and to find out more about the message of the Bible reduced to its simplest form in the Ten Commandments and the Sermon on the Mount.

Have questions about today's topic, or comments or insights you would like to share? Feel free to email me at coreofthebible@gmail.com.

Thanks for your interest in listening today!

All music in today's episode: Brittle Rille by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

MORE INFO:

Visit the blog articles and full podcast archive at: coreofthebible.org

Email questions or comments to Steve at: coreofthebible@gmail.com

MUSIC:

All music in today's episode: "Brittle Rille" by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Matthew 6:31-33 – “Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the nations seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”

Here we see that Yeshua is explaining how anxiety is the result of over-focus on self and selfish needs. By contrast, when becoming engaged with the things of God, personal problems and concerns tend to fade into the background. A commitment to the Kingdom of God helps to keep the correct perspective that allows balance in daily living. Recognizing that the needs of the Kingdom outweigh self-directed problems helps believers to remain productive and fruitful in walking with God.

The second way Yeshua teaches about overcoming anxiety, in addition to his teaching for us to stay focused on the Kingdom, is to focus on one day at a time. Each day has its own challenges, so just take the challenges you face one day at a time. 

Matthew 6:34 – “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”

By maintaining a focus on the Kingdom, and taking one day at a time, Yeshua provides a practical two-step plan for overcoming anxieties that the rest of the world may be experiencing.

Philippians 4:6-7 – Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Messiah Yeshua.

Paul says to remove anxiety by prayer and thanksgiving in everything. This is the pattern of behaviors that instills peace that only God can provide. Paul’s instruction to the Philippian congregation is to pray and be grateful for everything. When we express ourselves and our thanks to God, we are recognizing him as the one who is ultimately in control of all things. This recognition is the basic foundation of our trust and faith in God to begin with. We are deferring to him as the ultimate authority in all aspects of life. We are allowing God to be God.

Paul says that our hearts and minds can have peace “in Messiah Yeshua.” To be “in” the Messiah is to follow his ways, his teachings, and his example. When we do so by seeking first the Kingdom of God and his will, our lives will bear the fruit of righteous actions that he desires for his people.

-----

If you enjoyed this week's podcast, be sure to visit coreofthebible.org to read hundreds of articles on these topics and to find out more about the message of the Bible reduced to its simplest form in the Ten Commandments and the Sermon on the Mount.

Have questions about today's topic, or comments or insights you would like to share? Feel free to email me at coreofthebible@gmail.com.

Thanks for your interest in listening today!

All music in today's episode: Brittle Rille by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

MORE INFO:

Visit the blog articles and full podcast archive at: coreofthebible.org

Email questions or comments to Steve at: coreofthebible@gmail.com

MUSIC:

All music in today's episode: "Brittle Rille" by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Paul was encouraging Timothy to stick to these basics of Kingdom living to ensure he would remain separated from falsehood. To pursue righteousness, Paul argues, one needed only to focus on faith, love and peace with all, especially those within the community of Messiah. This would breed righteous actions, indicating pureness of heart among the believers and all would be encouraged.

Yeshua also illustrated with his own life the steep price that that his followers would have to pay in order to live out these principles in the process of following him.

Matthew 16:24 - Then Yeshua told his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me."

So, now we get to the heart of the matter. Being set apart as pure of heart and a peacemaker involves a critical practice: denial of self. To deny oneself is to set oneself apart for some other, greater purpose. When we can get outside of ourselves and our personal, selfish impulses, it is then that we have the capacity to be filled with God's Spirit so he can teach us how to become the pure and peaceful people he wants us to be.

How like Timothy and those early believers we should strive to be! We must remain steadfast in the things we have learned, cleansing ourselves from every false way so that we may live righteous lives that honor God. 

-----

If you enjoyed this week's podcast, be sure to visit coreofthebible.org to read hundreds of articles on these topics and to find out more about the message of the Bible reduced to its simplest form in the Ten Commandments and the Sermon on the Mount.

Have questions about today's topic, or comments or insights you would like to share? Feel free to email me at coreofthebible@gmail.com.

Thanks for your interest in listening today!

All music in today's episode: Brittle Rille by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

MORE INFO:

Visit the blog articles and full podcast archive at: coreofthebible.org

Email questions or comments to Steve at: coreofthebible@gmail.com

MUSIC:

All music in today's episode: "Brittle Rille" by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

In this passage, God made it clear that those who obey him by keeping his covenant would be his people. The word we translate as keep or to keep in English comes from the Hebrew root word shamar which at its most rudimentary level means to observe and watch. In its primary sense, it means to heed, pay attention to, or observe (in practice) the covenant and the commands of God. This is the generally accepted meaning when it is used.

However, it also means to guard, preserve, or protect. This is a huge concept in Hebrew thought as it relates to the commands of God. Based on passages like Exodus 19:5 that we just reviewed, both the ancient and modern Israelites have understood themselves to be the receivers of God’s wisdom above all other nations in the world. As such, it was their responsibility to preserve his words through oral traditions and written records. Thankfully for all believers today, it was due to this dutiful caretaking of God’s words that we even have a Bible today.

But over the centuries some of the caretakers of the written records had taken this instruction to the extreme by making additional traditions and rules which were intended to guard the Torah even further, to prevent people from violating the original commands. The original intent of creating these extra rules may have been sincere enough, but soon the traditions and rules became equivalent, or even superior to, the original command of Yahweh and they ended up elevating the man-made traditions above the word of God itself. By the days of Yeshua, there were so many rules and regulations about the rules and regulations of God that it had become a hot mess of traditions mixed over the top of the original commands of God.

In our practice of watching carefully over God’s Word, ourselves, and each other, we must ensure that our vigilance in keeping his Word centers on honoring God, not on our personal theories about God or our personal traditions beyond what the text really says. The stories and message of the Bible are all meant to express the reality of God’s Kingdom, and his faithfulness with his people, reassuring us that God is the Creator of all and that he always does what he says. If this is the case, and we are to be his children, then we should also always do what we say so we can honor and represent him faithfully in all things.

-----

If you enjoyed this week's podcast, be sure to visit coreofthebible.org to read hundreds of articles on these topics and to find out more about the message of the Bible reduced to its simplest form in the Ten Commandments and the Sermon on the Mount.

Have questions about today's topic, or comments or insights you would like to share? Feel free to email me at coreofthebible@gmail.com.

Thanks for your interest in listening today!

All music in today's episode: Brittle Rille by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

MORE INFO:

Visit the blog articles and full podcast archive at: coreofthebible.org

Email questions or comments to Steve at: coreofthebible@gmail.com

MUSIC:

All music in today's episode: "Brittle Rille" by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

What Yeshua was teaching the audience of his day was nothing new. God had continually put before the Israelites that the integrity of the actions they were to pursue and the decisions they made should have been coming should have been coming from a genuine place in their hearts, not just outward compliance. Moses had urged this of the Hebrew community over a millennia earlier:

Deuteronomy 6:4-6 – Hear, Israel: Yahweh is our God; Yahweh is one: and you shall love Yahweh your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. These words, which I command you this day, shall be on your heart…

In order to continue this focus in their culture Moses had provided them a specific set of instructions or a template that they could implement in the lives of their communities. Moses then proceeds to explain how to imbue the entire community with the richness of God’s Word.

Deuteronomy 6:7 – “Repeat them to your children. Talk about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.”

This constant focus on God’s commands would show that his Word is being implemented within the daily fabric of the family, not only at home but when running errands or traveling. When children see that the God’s Word is a vital part of the parents’ lives at all times and in every place, they are more likely to be receptive to it themselves seeing that it has universal application.

It’s been said that immersion in a foreign culture is the best way to learn another language. In a sense, the Kingdom of God is foreign to the cultures of this world, and it takes immersion for us to truly understand the scope and power of its presence here in the lives of believers.

-----

If you enjoyed this week's podcast, be sure to visit coreofthebible.org to read hundreds of articles on these topics and to find out more about the message of the Bible reduced to its simplest form in the Ten Commandments and the Sermon on the Mount.

Have questions about today's topic, or comments or insights you would like to share? Feel free to email me at coreofthebible@gmail.com.

Thanks for your interest in listening today!

All music in today's episode: Brittle Rille by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

MORE INFO:

Visit the blog articles and full podcast archive at: coreofthebible.org

Email questions or comments to Steve at: coreofthebible@gmail.com

MUSIC:

All music in today's episode: "Brittle Rille" by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

The thief upsets the system of civilized conduct because they feel that the same rules that govern others do not apply to them. Whatever their justification is for taking something that belongs to someone else is to consider their reason more important than obeying the command to not steal and the rights of others to enjoy their own possessions. Theft is dangerous because it mocks the integrity of civil order in any society, and must be punished in order to maintain the economic integrity and security of the community.

However, interestingly, the torah or instruction of God reveals that theft is not punishable by death. Instead, a thief must face a fate that very well could be worse than death for them: they must pay restitution.

At a minimum, they were to pay double what they stole (if the goods are recovered). But if what had been stolen had been sold or, in the case of a stolen animal, killed, then they were to pay up to four or five times the amount. If they were unable to pay, then they were to be sold into forced servitude to pay off the debt.

So it turns out that God’s solution for discouraging theft is its exact opposite: a type of forced generosity. They were to give abundantly out of their own possessions, or they were to be forced to give of themselves through servitude.

Therefore, in keeping with the torah or instruction of God within his Kingdom, and as a follower of Yeshua, we should never secretly take anything that does not belong to us. Instead, we should always be willing to give generously of all resources that have been entrusted to us. And because the life he has given us is a debt we can never repay, the remainder of our existence should become an offering of voluntary servitude to the one who has provided us this immeasurable gift of life.

-----

If you enjoyed this week's podcast, be sure to visit coreofthebible.org to read hundreds of articles on these topics and to find out more about the message of the Bible reduced to its simplest form in the Ten Commandments and the Sermon on the Mount.

Have questions about today's topic, or comments or insights you would like to share? Feel free to email me at coreofthebible@gmail.com.

Thanks for your interest in listening today!

All music in today's episode: Brittle Rille by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

MORE INFO:

Visit the blog articles and full podcast archive at: coreofthebible.org

Email questions or comments to Steve at: coreofthebible@gmail.com

MUSIC:

All music in today's episode: "Brittle Rille" by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

The concept of giving to those in need is evident all through the biblical writings. Traditionally, this has come down to us through the ages as the giving of “alms.” However, when it comes to giving to those in need as mentioned in our passage in Deuteronomy 15, the idea of helping the poor is depicted as lending to them, not outright giving. Why is it important to understand this distinction?

Well, it has more to do with the receiver than the giver. Many times, people will struggle to accept outright handouts because of their pride. They don’t want to be made to feel they are unable to meet their needs on their own. This is actually an emotionally good and healthy response for anyone who is otherwise able to provide for themselves but may have just fallen on hard times; it happens. When encountering someone who is need, whether a friend or relative, to provide them assistance with the idea that they can pay back what was lent to them whenever they are able to allows for a sense of dignity in providing that assistance.

As we move into the New Testament writings and the teaching of Yeshua, we find that some of the familiar passages where Yeshua is teaching on generosity have even more meaning when he relates how believers should be viewing acts of giving and loaning to others. For example:

Luke 6:35 - “But love [even] your enemies, do what is good, and lend, expecting nothing in return. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High. For he is gracious to the ungrateful and evil.

Now, here is where we begin to see God's true heart of compassion for those in need. Yeshua teaches that even if our intent is to genuinely help others by providing them a loan of some sort, he says if you are doing so, don’t expect anything in return. This echoes the instruction of Moses in not expecting to receive interest on the loan, and takes it to the next level of not even expecting to be repaid at all.

This is a radical upgrade to the principle of generosity that the Jewish culture of his day would have been familiar with from the previous passages of Torah. Just as Yeshua upgraded the command against adultery to not even looking at a woman with lustful intent, Yeshua here upgrades the command to not charge interest to not being concerned about being repaid at all!

This is an indication of how Yeshua continued to uphold Torah yet demonstrate its true intent when operating from the heart, not just the written command.

Having a larger understanding of the context and social dynamic of biblical giving can make us more responsible givers. In outwardly loaning to those who have need, we can allow them dignity. Inwardly considering these helper-loans as outright donations or charitable giving, not expecting anything in return, we free ourselves from any negative ties to those relationships if the money is never repaid in the future.

---

If you enjoyed this week's podcast, be sure to visit coreofthebible.org to read hundreds of articles on these topics and to find out more about the message of the Bible reduced to its simplest form in the Ten Commandments and the Sermon on the Mount.

Have questions about today's topic, or comments or insights you would like to share? Feel free to email me at coreofthebible@gmail.com.

Thanks for your interest in listening today!

All music in today's episode: Brittle Rille by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

MORE INFO:

Visit the blog articles and full podcast archive at: coreofthebible.org

Email questions or comments to Steve at: coreofthebible@gmail.com

MUSIC:

All music in today's episode: "Brittle Rille" by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

If, as Yeshua teaches, “each tree is known by its own fruit,” then we can ascertain very quickly what is in a person’s heart by what they say, how they say it, and what they do. What we say is important, because our speech is what makes the contents of our heart known to others; it is the authorized (by us) commentary on what is in our heart.

Today we will be looking at the topic of forgiveness, and how it relates to the condition of our heart. If forgiveness resides in our heart, we can then speak and act on that forgiveness. However, if what we say is unforgiving, then the words we speak illustrate or reveal what is actually in our hearts.

Luke 6:45 – The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings out that which is good, and the evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings out that which is evil, for out of the abundance of the heart, his mouth speaks.

I knew a man who was recently honored at his work for being an outstanding performer, always receiving gracious comments from customers with whom he interacted on a regular basis. He even received national recognition and many accolades from his company for his achievements. However, when a particular crisis arose and he was challenged by his boss with a sharp disagreement over his mishandling of a particular situation, what began as a discussion of strategy degraded into a string of profanity and lashing out. He ended up blaming a customer for what was in reality his own inability to bring a situation to its proper conclusion. This indignation, it would seem, was always simmering and bubbling under the surface of the polished outward appearance of his performance. When a situation challenged his work, what was truly in his heart boiled over and out of his mouth, revealing the true nature of his character.

Yeshua calls this the “fruit of the tree.” The wider context of our verse today demonstrates this idea.

Luke 6:43-45 – For there is no good tree that brings forth rotten fruit; nor again a rotten tree that brings forth good fruit. For each tree is known by its own fruit. For people don’t gather figs from thorns, nor do they gather grapes from a bramble bush. The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings out that which is good, and the evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings out that which is evil, for out of the abundance of the heart, his mouth speaks.

If, as Yeshua teaches, “each tree is known by its own fruit,” then we can ascertain very quickly what is in a person’s heart by what they say, how they say it, and what they do. What we say is important, because our speech is what makes the contents of our heart known to others; it is the authorized (by us) commentary on what is in our heart.

Proverbs 10:20 – The tongue of the righteous is pure silver; the heart of the wicked is of little value.

Notice how the tongue of the righteous is contrasted with the heart of the wicked. By locking these two themes together, Solomon is passing commentary on how the tongue (that is, what we say) and the heart are absolutely connected.

In a heated discussion with the Pharisees, Yeshua says the following:

Matthew 12:34-37 – “Brood of vipers! How can you speak good things when you are evil? For the mouth speaks from the overflow of the heart. A good person produces good things from his storeroom of good, and an evil person produces evil things from his storeroom of evil. I tell you that on the day of judgment people will have to account for every careless word they speak. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.”

Yeshua teaches that the heart is like a storeroom where either good things exist, or where evil things exist. The underlying Greek term is where we get our word thesaurus from. Consider what a thesaurus is: a thesaurus is a storehouse of words that have similar meanings. Our heart is a storehouse where similar things are stored, either good or bad. It implies a wealth, abundance, or treasure; either a treasure of positive, helpful things or an abundance of unhelpful and wicked things. We make deposits in our hearts with every thought, every interaction, and every distraction. Based on what we allow ourselves to be engaged with every day, it is up to us if those things that we are storing up are good or evil. Either way, Yeshua teaches that the mouth speaks from the overflow of the heart, so whatever we have stored up in our heart is what is going to come out at some point.

If we are to be speaking and demonstrating forgiveness and reconciliation with others, then that forgiveness and reconciliation will truly need to be in our heart. This can only be accomplished when we step out of the way of our old natures and allow God to work through our renewed nature in those situations.

2 Corinthians 5:16-19 – Therefore we know no one after the flesh from now on. Even though we have known Messiah after the flesh, yet now we know him so no more. Therefore if anyone is in Messiah, he is a new creation. The old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new. But all things are of God, who reconciled us to himself through Yeshua Messiah, and gave to us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Messiah, God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and he has committed the message of reconciliation to us.

If you enjoyed this week's podcast, be sure to visit coreofthebible.org to read hundreds of articles on these topics and to find out more about the message of the Bible reduced to its simplest form in the Ten Commandments and the Sermon on the Mount.

Have questions about today's topic, or comments or insights you would like to share? Feel free to email me at coreofthebible@gmail.com.

Thanks for your interest in listening today!

All music in today's episode: Brittle Rille by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

MORE INFO:

Visit the blog articles and full podcast archive at: coreofthebible.org

Email questions or comments to Steve at: coreofthebible@gmail.com

MUSIC:

All music in today's episode: "Brittle Rille" by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

But Hezekiah was not doing this as a popularity concession; he was dutifully upholding the law of God, as a king should:

Deuteronomy 12:10-11, 13-14 - "When you cross the Jordan and live in the land Yahweh your God is giving you to inherit, and he gives you rest from all the enemies around you and you live in security, then Yahweh your God will choose the place to have his name dwell. Bring there everything I command you: your burnt offerings, sacrifices, offerings of the tenth, personal contributions, and all your choice offerings you vow to Yahweh. ... Be careful not to offer your burnt offerings in all the sacred places you see. You must offer your burnt offerings only in the place Yahweh chooses in one of your tribes, and there you must do everything I command you."

Hezekiah took this command seriously because the people had strayed back into their comfort zone of local idolatry. But by any standard, this was a bold move that demonstrated just how zealous Hezekiah was for God's honor.

When Assyria laid siege to Jerusalem, Hezekiah's faith and trust in Yahweh, relying on Yahweh to provide the necessary and appropriate resolution to the defense of his favored city, was rewarded. When we truly trust God, we need to learn to get out of his way and allow him to move in situations and arrange outcomes that are far beyond our capacity.

It took a clear understanding of God's Word and bold action to re-set the time-honored practices of God's people who had strayed from the truth. This corruption of idolatry is contrasted with the faith and zeal of Hezekiah. That which can be seen (a false god) is devalued in light of that which cannot be seen (the one, true God). We must not only repent of our own idolatrous tendencies, but to provide God's perspective for those who may not yet realize the depth of their own complacency and compromise with the culture, much like those who would worship Yahweh at the idolatrous high places throughout the land of Israel.

-----

If you enjoyed this week's podcast, be sure to visit coreofthebible.org to read hundreds of articles on these topics and to find out more about the message of the Bible reduced to its simplest form in the Ten Commandments and the Sermon on the Mount.

Have questions about today's topic, or comments or insights you would like to share? Feel free to email me at coreofthebible@gmail.com.

Thanks for your interest in listening today!

All music in today's episode: Brittle Rille by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

MORE INFO:

Visit the blog articles and full podcast archive at: coreofthebible.org

Email questions or comments to Steve at: coreofthebible@gmail.com

MUSIC:

All music in today's episode: "Brittle Rille" by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

What promises is he referring to?

• 2 Corinthians 6:16-18 – And what agreement does the temple of God have with idols? For we are the temple of the living God, as God said: I will dwell and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.  Therefore, come out from among them and be separate, says Yahweh; do not touch any unclean thing, and I will welcome you. And I will be a Father to you, and you will be sons and daughters to me, says Yahweh Almighty.

These are, indeed, amazing promises:

• that God would dwell among them
• that he would be their God, and they his people
• that he would welcome them
• that he would be a Father to them, and they would be as sons and daughters

But all of these wonderful promises are contingent on this cleansing of defilement of body and spirit, involving a setting apart of some sort. Paul is using these passages as a way of weaning them off of their cultural traditions and practices that were hindering their walk with Yahweh through their new-found faith in Messiah Yeshua. He is using these texts to remind them of their true purpose as God’s people, and God’s care and concern for them as his own children. If they were to forsake their idolatry, God would indeed live among them and be a Father to them.

But if this is how Paul is applying these texts, then we can also begin to see how these wonderful prophetic indicators were not necessarily meant to be about a literal migration back to Israel, but a spiritual one. God was indeed calling his people back to himself from among the nations, but they were not necessarily returning to physical Jerusalem, but instead to the prophetic Zion, the New Jerusalem.

Paul’s admonition is that when we do actively separate ourselves, when we cleanse ourselves from these things, then we are truly behaving like God’s sons and daughters, and only then will he be present among us. This is the fulfillment of those ancient promises that generations have looked forward to. When we take decisive actions to maintain our holiness out of godly respect and honoring of him, we demonstrate the validity of God’s Word and the kingdom of God becomes visible to others in our actions.

-----

If you enjoyed this week's podcast, be sure to visit coreofthebible.org to read daily articles on these topics and to find out more about the message of the Bible reduced to its simplest form in the Ten Commandments and the Sermon on the Mount.

Have questions about today's topic, or comments or insights you would like to share? Feel free to email me at coreofthebible@gmail.com.

Thanks for your interest in listening today!

All music in today's episode: Brittle Rille by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

MORE INFO:

Visit the blog articles and full podcast archive at: coreofthebible.org

Email questions or comments to Steve at: coreofthebible@gmail.com

MUSIC:

All music in today's episode: "Brittle Rille" by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

It seems that Paul was basing this concept of seeking the things that are above on the same principles that Yeshua had taught. Yeshua taught that we should always keep asking, knocking, and seeking in order to receive, to have doors opened, and to find what it is we’re searching for.

Matthew 7:7-8 - "Ask, and it will be given to you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened."

According to Yeshua, this type of vigilance is rewarded with the objectives sought for. If we are consistently asking and seeking and knocking, then we will definitively obtain those things which we seek.

Living a sacrificial life for God is going to be something that is different for every believer because we are all at different places in our walk with him. To Paul, placing one’s faith in the Messiah was, in no uncertain terms, a matter of life and death: death to self and traditions of men, and new life as a new self that seeks after the things of God.

Romans 8:13 - For if you live after the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

Each of us only has a certain remaining time here to accomplish what God desires, and we don't know when that eventuality will occur. If we are being led of God's Spirit to grow in him, being molded into his image more and more each day, we should work diligently to be sure that God is receiving the benefit of his investment in us by our faithful and obedient representation of him.

If you enjoyed this week's podcast, be sure to visit coreofthebible.org to read daily articles on these topics and to find out more about the message of the Bible reduced to its simplest form in the Ten Commandments and the Sermon on the Mount.

Have questions about today's topic, or comments or insights you would like to share? Feel free to email me at coreofthebible@gmail.com.

Thanks for your interest in listening today!

All music in today's episode: Brittle Rille by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

MORE INFO:

Visit the blog articles and full podcast archive at: coreofthebible.org

Email questions or comments to Steve at: coreofthebible@gmail.com

MUSIC:

All music in today's episode: "Brittle Rille" by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

From this description of Noah, we can begin to paint a portrait of what type of person pleases God. Noah was righteous, blameless, and walked with God as a way of life. By looking at each of these characteristics, we can draw some application for our own lives as we seek to honor and magnify God as his representatives in this world.

Noah had believed that what God had revealed to him about a coming flood, even though it had not yet been fulfilled, was going to happen. He took it seriously and built a giant boat, rearranging his entire life and enterprise to commit to this faith in what God had said. There are few greater examples of what a living faith looks like.

The fact that Abraham simply believed what God told him was considered by God as an act of righteousness, not the change of some legal standing before him. We know Abraham was also considered a righteous individual because he was obedient to all of God's revealed instruction, most likely oral at that point, just like it was with Noah.

A righteous individual believes in the instruction of God (taking God at his word) and then obeys it. In God's view, believing what he says, even though it may not yet be fulfilled, is an act of righteousness as valuable as any other act of obedience. It is the sign of ultimate trust which is considered by God as the action of a righteous person.

God may not task each of us with building a literal ark, but we should be just as mindful of our responsibility to "become the righteousness of God" by positively influencing those around us through our integrity and faithful obedience to God’s revealed word.

If you enjoyed this week's podcast, be sure to visit coreofthebible.org to read daily articles on these topics and to find out more about the message of the Bible reduced to its simplest form in the Ten Commandments and the Sermon on the Mount.

Have questions about today's topic, or comments or insights you would like to share? Feel free to email me at coreofthebible@gmail.com.

All music in today's episode: Brittle Rille by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

MORE INFO:

Visit the blog articles and full podcast archive at: coreofthebible.org

Email questions or comments to Steve at: coreofthebible@gmail.com

MUSIC:

All music in today's episode: "Brittle Rille" by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

According to Yeshua here, the true intent of the command not to murder is to reach to the emotion underlying the act. By condemning the inner emotion, the outward act is eliminated, and the command is enhanced. In essence, Yeshua is saying, “While everyone knows that murder subjects you to judgment, I tell you, in God’s eyes, the same applies to unchecked emotions. Therefore, do not call someone a fool or an idiot or be unrighteously angry with anyone.”

If judgment is the result of the combination of the emotion and the action, then conversely, a blessing can be inferred from the inverse emotion and action combination. For example, if the command is to not murder or even be angry with anyone, and if we do the opposite by not being unrighteously angry with anyone at any time and instead safeguard the lives and interests of others, this will result in a blessing both for them and for us. The action flows from the intention and inner emotion, and when the inner intent is good, the actions will be good. This is how Yeshua taught that a tree (its inner goodness or badness) will be known (demonstrated) by its fruit (its actions).

Paul speaks about the supremacy of the law of the spirit.

2 Corinthians 3:7-8 - "Now if the ministry that brought death, engraved in letters on stones, came with glory, so that the Israelites were not able to gaze steadily at Moses's face because of its glory, which faded, how will the ministry of the Spirit not be more glorious?"

If the stone commandments were powerful enough to cause Moses' face to physically shine with glory, albeit only temporarily, how much more will the application of the inner spiritual motives of those commands cause believers to shine even more gloriously for all eternity? This is the whole point of the law: to lead us to the new covenant of the kingdom in Messiah, in whom the fullness of the law through the Spirit of God, enabling those inner motives to truly conform to his will, is revealed. The law is not done away; as Paul writes, it is "holy and just and good." But what I believe he is trying to convey is that the letter of the law, empty of the power of the Spirit of God, is what has faded away. In its place, through Messiah, is a renewed heart that is enabled to keep that same law through the empowerment of God's Spirit. This is the message of Jeremiah and Ezekiel; this is the gospel of the kingdom!

-----

If you enjoyed this week's podcast, be sure to visit coreofthebible.org to read daily articles on these topics and to find out more about the message of the Bible reduced to its simplest form in the Ten Commandments and the Sermon on the Mount.

Have questions about today's topic, or comments or insights you would like to share? Feel free to email me at coreofthebible@gmail.com.

Thanks for your interest in listening today!

All music in today's episode: Brittle Rille by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

MORE INFO:

Visit the blog articles and full podcast archive at: coreofthebible.org

Email questions or comments to Steve at: coreofthebible@gmail.com

MUSIC:

All music in today's episode: "Brittle Rille" by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

In our English Bibles, sometimes verses that express compassion will mention mercy or kindness; sometimes compassion is equated with forgiveness. However it is expressed, we are commanded by Yeshua to be like God in regard to his mercy and compassion.

God’s compassion has been evident in choosing to take care of Israel as caring for an abandoned baby. His compassion is evident in forgiving them when they were consistently unthankful and disobedient to him. His compassion is evident in restoring Israel to the land he had promised them even after their captivity for disobedience.

If we are to be merciful and compassionate like our Father, we need to recognize that the examples he sets for us are teaching us that compassion is all about reaching out to and helping those who are unable to help themselves.

Yeshua also exhibited this same type of compassion, just like his Father, helping those who could not help themselves. Most importantly, in a representative fashion Yeshua took up the sins of the rebellious upon himself.

Romans 5:6-8 - For while we were still helpless, at the right time Messiah died for the ungodly. (For rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person perhaps someone might possibly dare to die.) But God demonstrates his own love for us, in that while we were still sinners, Messiah died for us.

In the most famous parable of Yeshua regarding the good Samaritan, the illustration is placed before us of the depth of compassion shown to be evident in someone caring for the needs of another, an anonymous individual who had no ability to help themself after being assaulted and left for dead. I can think of no greater example of helplessness than this. We are encouraged to follow the example of the Samaritan in the parable in the summation of the lesson by Yeshua.

Luke 10:36-37 - Which of these three do you think became a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?" The expert in religious law said, "The one who showed mercy to him." So Yeshua said to him, "Go and do the same."

This is the end-goal of the command for us to be merciful and compassionate with others. It has less to do with our obedience and more to do with genuinely desiring to help those who cannot help themselves. When we lay down our own lives (our personal ambitions and plans) for the sake of others, we are then acting in a godly fashion that God expects of his children. To exhibit the characteristics of God by helping the helpless is not only an honor and privilege he affords us, but we also then become the avenues through which God can work in practical ways in their lives.

-----

If you enjoyed this week's podcast, be sure to visit coreofthebible.org to read daily articles on these topics and to find out more about the message of the Bible reduced to its simplest form in the Ten Commandments and the Sermon on the Mount.

Have questions about today's topic, or comments or insights you would like to share? Feel free to email me at coreofthebible@gmail.com.

Thanks for your interest in listening today!

All music in today's episode: Brittle Rille by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

MORE INFO:

Visit the blog articles and full podcast archive at: coreofthebible.org

Email questions or comments to Steve at: coreofthebible@gmail.com

MUSIC:

All music in today's episode: "Brittle Rille" by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

1 Peter 3:9 – Don’t repay evil for evil. Don’t retaliate with insults when people insult you. Instead, pay them back with a blessing. That is what God has called you to do, and he will bless you for it.

This is the true calling of all believers, and yet it does not appear that we all have come to understand it very well. With all of the denominational divisiveness and inflammatory rhetoric we express towards each other at times, it seems unlikely that we are living up to our true calling in the eyes of Messiah. If we can’t even speak well with each other among ourselves, how can we be expected to speak well of those who are truly antagonistic towards us or toward the cause of Messiah and the Kingdom of God?

If, as Peter instructs, we are called to “pay back with blessing,” then we should understand this is an obligation we have, not an optional action of some kind. The real challenge we face in our calling is in not only speaking well of anyone who could be considered an adversary, but truly meaning it from the heart. Certainly, as we have seen, this is not a natural inclination. But as believers, we have to recognize that we are not just natural beings. The apostle Paul speaks of it this way:

2 Corinthians 5:17 – “Therefore, if anyone is in Messiah, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”

Paul makes the point that as believers we no longer are to view our life in this world as we have in the past. If we are living the born-again life from above, we have become part of the new creation, and everything is now new. We have new thought process which should drive new actions and new ways of doing things. We have new convictions and new purpose. Everything we see and touch should be driven from this new identity we have in Messiah. This means that we now have new hearts with new qualities and capacities, as well.

If, in obedience to Yeshua, we are to truly bless those who work against us at all times, then we need to ensure that our spring, our river of the heart, is flowing from the Spirit of God with unlimited measures of real forgiveness. Then no wrongs can be too harsh, no hurt can be too severe. Our obligation to bless the haters becomes as natural as the air that we breathe within the rarefied atmosphere of the new creation. In this way, blessing and prayer for all others will become the living water flowing from our hearts.

-----

If you enjoyed this week's podcast, be sure to visit coreofthebible.org to read daily articles on these topics and to find out more about the message of the Bible reduced to its simplest form in the Ten Commandments and the Sermon on the Mount.

Have questions about today's topic, or comments or insights you would like to share? Feel free to email me at coreofthebible@gmail.com.

Thanks for your interest in listening today!

All music in today's episode: Brittle Rille by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

MORE INFO:

Visit the blog articles and full podcast archive at: coreofthebible.org

Email questions or comments to Steve at: coreofthebible@gmail.com

MUSIC:

All music in today's episode: "Brittle Rille" by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Trust in God is not an abdication of all responsible action; it is a recognition of power or skill beyond your own that will ultimately accomplish the outcome. That trust can be present at every skill and responsibility level. When we pray about everything, we are demonstrating that our trust is not in our own abilities or resources, but in God.

Isaiah 26:3 – You will keep the mind that is dependent on you in perfect peace, for it is trusting in you.

Another aspect of trusting in God is remaining flexible. Many times, we may believe we are headed toward a desired outcome when God has something totally different planned. This is not always a negative thing, but it may require a pivot in our thinking and expectations. Being obedient in those times can yield new experiences and more fruitful results.

At other times, God provides guidance through or during the adverse condition or situation. If he has other plans for us along the way, plans of which we had no idea or had even considered a possibility, our trust in him will provide the confidence needed to operate in these unfamiliar areas and terrain.

This is what it means to walk by the Spirit. Yeshua taught:

John 3:8: “The wind blows where it wants to, and you hear its sound, but don’t know where it comes from and where it is going. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.””

-----

If you enjoyed this week's podcast, be sure to visit coreofthebible.org to read daily articles on these topics and to find out more about the message of the Bible reduced to its simplest form in the Ten Commandments and the Sermon on the Mount.

Have questions about today's topic, or comments or insights you would like to share? Feel free to email me at coreofthebible@gmail.com.

Thanks for your interest in listening today!

All music in today's episode: Brittle Rille by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

MORE INFO:

Visit the blog articles and full podcast archive at: coreofthebible.org

Email questions or comments to Steve at: coreofthebible@gmail.com

MUSIC:

All music in today's episode: "Brittle Rille" by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Paul wrote to Timothy:

2 Timothy 2:20-21 - "In a large house there are dishes and bowls of all kinds: some are made of silver and gold, others of wood and clay; some are for special occasions, others for ordinary use. Those who make themselves clean from these things will be used for special purposes, because they are dedicated and useful to their Master, ready to be used for every good deed."

Holiness is about being sanctified or set apart for God’s specific purposes. In the example that Paul uses here with Timothy, there is also an ongoing refinement that is similar to recognizing the differences between ordinary plates for everyday use and fine china that would be used for special occasions. There is a cleansing or refining process that he mentions: “those who make themselves clean.”

Psalm 119:9 – "How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word."

In an overall sense, God has set us apart by drawing us to faith in Messiah so that we may do the good things he has prepared for us to do, according to his word. But by continuing to sharpen our obedience to God’s word, we also distinguish ourselves from those in God’s household who are content to remain simply with their sanctification from the world.

In Paul’s example, these are the plates used for ordinary purposes, for the basics of eating and drinking, for the rough and tumble of everyday existence. These are the plates and bowls that have chips and cracks, that have rough edges, blemishes and marks from use. They are serviceable in the uses they are designed for, but they all carry evidence of that use, and are not as likely to be used for special occasions.

By contrast, the gold and silver plates and cups are those which would be used for specific events that are noteworthy, the holiday gatherings with friends and family, or the formal dinners with respected individuals and guests. Paul is implying that, apart from God’s sanctification from the rest of the world, believers can “cleanse themselves” further from rough, ordinary use into something that is more useful to God in special ways. But this has to be an intentional purpose on their part, something that is chosen to do by disciplining themselves in his word to create and maintain the luster and polish required of the fine china.

The context of the passage with the dishes, plates, and cups helps us frame a reference for this concept of living worthy of the calling, as Paul had just mentioned it to Timothy a few verses earlier.

2 Timothy 2:15 – "Make every effort to present yourself approved to God, an unashamed workman who accurately handles the word of truth."

In this way, we can continually prepare ourselves to be the most useful to him and provide him the greatest amount of "special dishes" to use as he sets the banquet wide for any and all to come to him.

-----

If you enjoyed this week's podcast, be sure to visit coreofthebible.org to read daily articles on these topics and to find out more about the message of the Bible reduced to its simplest form in the Ten Commandments and the Sermon on the Mount.

Have questions about today's topic, or comments or insights you would like to share? Feel free to email me at coreofthebible@gmail.com.

Thanks for your interest in listening today!

All music in today's episode: Brittle Rille by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

MORE INFO:

Visit the blog articles and full podcast archive at: coreofthebible.org

Email questions or comments to Steve at: coreofthebible@gmail.com

MUSIC:

All music in today's episode: "Brittle Rille" by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Please visit coreofthebible.org for hundreds of Bible articles, other podcast episodes, and videos!

MORE INFO:

Visit the blog articles and full podcast archive at: coreofthebible.org

Email questions or comments to Steve at: coreofthebible@gmail.com

MUSIC:

All music in today's episode: "Brittle Rille" by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Please visit coreofthebible.org for hundreds of Bible articles, other podcast episodes, and videos!

MORE INFO:

Visit the blog articles and full podcast archive at: coreofthebible.org

Email questions or comments to Steve at: coreofthebible@gmail.com

MUSIC:

All music in today's episode: "Brittle Rille" by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Please visit coreofthebible.org for hundreds of Bible articles, other podcast episodes, and videos!

MORE INFO:

Visit the blog articles and full podcast archive at: coreofthebible.org

Email questions or comments to Steve at: coreofthebible@gmail.com

MUSIC:

All music in today's episode: "Brittle Rille" by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Please visit coreofthebible.org for hundreds of Bible articles, other podcast episodes, and videos!

MORE INFO:

Visit the blog articles and full podcast archive at: coreofthebible.org

Email questions or comments to Steve at: coreofthebible@gmail.com

MUSIC:

All music in today's episode: "Brittle Rille" by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Please visit coreofthebible.org for hundreds of Bible articles, other podcast episodes, and videos!

MORE INFO:

Visit the blog articles and full podcast archive at: coreofthebible.org

Email questions or comments to Steve at: coreofthebible@gmail.com

MUSIC:

All music in today's episode: "Brittle Rille" by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Now, what's interesting to note here is that in the original text, two different Greek words are used to describe the status of the animals. Peter says that he never had eaten anything common (koinou ) nor had he eaten anything ritually unclean (akatharton). Now there is wisdom in understanding the difference between that which is common and that which is unclean.

We can learn that the distinction between holy and common appears to be one of purpose: that which is holy is set apart for a specific use by priests or God's people only and that which is common is for everyday use by anyone. By contrast, that which is clean or unclean appears to be inherent in the thing itself, for example, those animals which were approved for eating versus those which were not approved for eating, likely due to the risk of contracting illness or disease.

Peter had taken the real meaning of the vision to mean that God was breaking down the barriers between men of different nations, and that the door of faith in Messiah would be opened to all who were willing to come. This was even confirmed to be the correct interpretation as the foreign men were visibly affected by receiving the Spirit of God (10:44-45).

Ultimately, vigilance in our walk before God comes in many forms, whether our own personal commitment to holiness, or our obedience to the things that God may reveal to us along the way. Peter exemplifies for us a measure of personal vigilance that we can learn from and follow in our own lives. He held tightly to the understanding of Judaism and maintained those traditions faithfully, believing that he was honoring God in doing so. Yet, when God revealed something radical within his current worldview, he was still willing to follow this new understanding wholeheartedly and unreservedly.

-----

If you enjoyed this week's podcast, be sure to visit coreofthebible.org to read daily blog posts on these topics and to find out more about the message of the Bible reduced to its simplest form in the Ten Commandments and the Sermon on the Mount.

Have questions about today's topic, or comments or insights you would like to share? Feel free to email me at coreofthebible@gmail.com.

Thanks for your interest in listening today!

All music in today's episode: Brittle Rille by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

MORE INFO:

Visit the blog articles and full podcast archive at: coreofthebible.org

Email questions or comments to Steve at: coreofthebible@gmail.com

MUSIC:

All music in today's episode: "Brittle Rille" by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Please visit coreofthebible.org for hundreds of Bible articles, other podcast episodes, and videos!

MORE INFO:

Visit the blog articles and full podcast archive at: coreofthebible.org

Email questions or comments to Steve at: coreofthebible@gmail.com

MUSIC:

All music in today's episode: "Brittle Rille" by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Please visit coreofthebible.org for hundreds of Bible articles, other podcast episodes, and videos!

MORE INFO:

Visit the blog articles and full podcast archive at: coreofthebible.org

Email questions or comments to Steve at: coreofthebible@gmail.com

MUSIC:

All music in today's episode: "Brittle Rille" by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Please visit coreofthebible.org for hundreds of Bible articles, other podcast episodes, and videos!

MORE INFO:

Visit the blog articles and full podcast archive at: coreofthebible.org

Email questions or comments to Steve at: coreofthebible@gmail.com

MUSIC:

All music in today's episode: "Brittle Rille" by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Please visit coreofthebible.org for hundreds of Bible articles, other podcast episodes, and videos!

MORE INFO:

Visit the blog articles and full podcast archive at: coreofthebible.org

Email questions or comments to Steve at: coreofthebible@gmail.com

MUSIC:

All music in today's episode: "Brittle Rille" by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Please visit coreofthebible.org for hundreds of Bible articles, other podcast episodes, and videos!

MORE INFO:

Visit the blog articles and full podcast archive at: coreofthebible.org

Email questions or comments to Steve at: coreofthebible@gmail.com

MUSIC:

All music in today's episode: "Brittle Rille" by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Please visit coreofthebible.org for hundreds of Bible articles, along with other podcast episodes, and videos!

MORE INFO:

Visit the blog articles and full podcast archive at: coreofthebible.org

Email questions or comments to Steve at: coreofthebible@gmail.com

MUSIC:

All music in today's episode: "Brittle Rille" by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Proverbs 11:3, 5 - Honesty guides good people; dishonesty destroys treacherous people. ... The godly are directed by honesty; the wicked fall beneath their load of sin.

By contrast, when our lives are in disarray and when our actions are inconsistent, we struggle more to keep our focus where it needs to be. The wickedness of those who do not walk with integrity is said to “overthrow their sin offering.” This is a demonstration of how even the best of intentions can be counteracted by a pattern of inconsistent behavior or outright sinful rebellion.

God's judgment comes into play in the sense that he has made it abundantly clear through his Word and with the historical example of the nation of ancient Israel that he expects mankind to follow his commands, and he has also shared the consequences of not following his commands. His commands are the key.

1 John 5:3-4 - Loving God means keeping his commandments, and his commandments are not burdensome. For every child of God defeats this evil world, and we achieve this victory through our faith." 

When we recognize Yahweh God as the one true authority in the universe, and make a conscious decision to abide by his Word we will be empowered to do so by his Spirit guiding us.

Galatians 5:16, 22-25 - "So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won't be doing what your sinful nature craves. ... But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things! Those who belong to Messiah Yeshua have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit's leading in every part of our lives."

To make righteous choices every day means the expansion of the Kingdom of God into the world of chaos. This is the effect our faith can have when we choose to be obedient to the Creator of all and live by his standards established for all time.

-----

If you enjoyed this week's podcast, be sure to visit coreofthebible.org to read daily blog posts on these topics and to find out more about the message of the Bible reduced to its simplest form in the Ten Commandments and the Sermon on the Mount.

Have questions about today's topic, or comments or insights you would like to share? Feel free to email me at coreofthebible@gmail.com.

Thanks for your interest in listening today!

All music in today's episode: Brittle Rille by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

MORE INFO:

Visit the blog articles and full podcast archive at: coreofthebible.org

Email questions or comments to Steve at: coreofthebible@gmail.com

MUSIC:

All music in today's episode: "Brittle Rille" by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Please visit coreofthebible.org for hundreds of Bible articles, other podcast episodes, and videos!

MORE INFO:

Visit the blog articles and full podcast archive at: coreofthebible.org

Email questions or comments to Steve at: coreofthebible@gmail.com

MUSIC:

All music in today's episode: "Brittle Rille" by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Please visit coreofthebible.org for hundreds of Bible articles, other podcast episodes, and videos!

MORE INFO:

Visit the blog articles and full podcast archive at: coreofthebible.org

Email questions or comments to Steve at: coreofthebible@gmail.com

MUSIC:

All music in today's episode: "Brittle Rille" by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Please visit coreofthebible.org for hundreds of Bible articles, other podcast episodes, and videos!

MORE INFO:

Visit the blog articles and full podcast archive at: coreofthebible.org

Email questions or comments to Steve at: coreofthebible@gmail.com

MUSIC:

All music in today's episode: "Brittle Rille" by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Please visit coreofthebible.org for hundreds of Bible articles, along with other podcast episodes, and videos!

MORE INFO:

Visit the blog articles and full podcast archive at: coreofthebible.org

Email questions or comments to Steve at: coreofthebible@gmail.com

MUSIC:

All music in today's episode: "Brittle Rille" by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Please visit coreofthebible.org for hundreds of Bible articles, other podcast episodes, and videos!

MORE INFO:

Visit the blog articles and full podcast archive at: coreofthebible.org

Email questions or comments to Steve at: coreofthebible@gmail.com

MUSIC:

All music in today's episode: "Brittle Rille" by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Please visit coreofthebible.org for hundreds of Bible articles, other podcast episodes, and videos!

MORE INFO:

Visit the blog articles and full podcast archive at: coreofthebible.org

Email questions or comments to Steve at: coreofthebible@gmail.com

MUSIC:

All music in today's episode: "Brittle Rille" by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

In today’s culture this has become a controversial stance, but I firmly believe that the significance of man and woman in the kingdom is a basic building block upon which everything else is built. The male and female component is inherent within the DNA of the kingdom, right back to its origins in Genesis, in the Garden of Eden.

Genesis 1:27-28 – So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground.”

The very first royal edict of the kingdom had to do with man and woman reigning and having dominion over God’s Creation. So, in Hebrew culture, the father and the mother are therefore figures representing divine authority over the family. They are the representatives of God’s authority because they have been made in his image, and to be respected as possessing and implementing the wisdom of God.

The God-given authority of the father and mother was an ongoing kingdom principle for the early Messiah believers, also. Yeshua firmly taught the Ten Commandments as a basis for the kingdom, sometimes used as a synonymous phrase for the principle of eternal life.

Paul writes to the Ephesian congregation about the promise of faithful obedience to parental authority.

Ephesians 6:1-3 Children, obey your parents because you belong to Yahweh, for this is the right thing to do. “Honor your father and mother.” This is the first commandment with a promise: If you honor your father and mother, “things will go well for you, and you will have a long life on the earth.”

Paul writes here that this commandment to honor father and mother is the first command that is not only the right thing to do, but it carries within it a promise for well-being and long life. The idea is that a believing father and mother, as God’s agents, can provide the best guidance and direction that would lead to those things for the children who are obedient to their instruction.

If you enjoyed this week's podcast, be sure to visit coreofthebible.org to read daily blog posts on these topics and to find out more about the message of the Bible reduced to its simplest form in the Ten Commandments and the Sermon on the Mount.

Have questions about today's topic, or comments or insights you would like to share? Feel free to email me at coreofthebible@gmail.com.

Thanks for your interest in listening today!

All music in today's episode: Brittle Rille by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

MORE INFO:

Visit the blog articles and full podcast archive at: coreofthebible.org

Email questions or comments to Steve at: coreofthebible@gmail.com

MUSIC:

All music in today's episode: "Brittle Rille" by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Please visit coreofthebible.org for hundreds of Bible articles, other podcast episodes, and videos!

MORE INFO:

Visit the blog articles and full podcast archive at: coreofthebible.org

Email questions or comments to Steve at: coreofthebible@gmail.com

MUSIC:

All music in today's episode: "Brittle Rille" by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Please visit coreofthebible.org for hundreds of Bible articles, other podcast episodes, and videos!

MORE INFO:

Visit the blog articles and full podcast archive at: coreofthebible.org

Email questions or comments to Steve at: coreofthebible@gmail.com

MUSIC:

All music in today's episode: "Brittle Rille" by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Please visit coreofthebible.org for hundreds of Bible articles, other podcast episodes, and videos!

MORE INFO:

Visit the blog articles and full podcast archive at: coreofthebible.org

Email questions or comments to Steve at: coreofthebible@gmail.com

MUSIC:

All music in today's episode: "Brittle Rille" by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Please visit coreofthebible.org for hundreds of Bible articles, along with other podcast episodes, and videos!

MORE INFO:

Visit the blog articles and full podcast archive at: coreofthebible.org

Email questions or comments to Steve at: coreofthebible@gmail.com

MUSIC:

All music in today's episode: "Brittle Rille" by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Please visit coreofthebible.org for hundreds of Bible articles, other podcast episodes, and videos!

MORE INFO:

Visit the blog articles and full podcast archive at: coreofthebible.org

Email questions or comments to Steve at: coreofthebible@gmail.com

MUSIC:

All music in today's episode: "Brittle Rille" by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Please visit coreofthebible.org for hundreds of Bible articles, other podcast episodes, and videos!

MORE INFO:

Visit the blog articles and full podcast archive at: coreofthebible.org

Email questions or comments to Steve at: coreofthebible@gmail.com

MUSIC:

All music in today's episode: "Brittle Rille" by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

In the twenty-third chapter of Matthew, Yeshua goes into great detail regarding the specific failings of the ruling elite in Israel. They were essentially holding people to the letter of the law while they themselves circumvented it through loophole justifications. Their hypocrisy and corruption was known to all but rarely, if ever, challenged.

It was within this larger context that Yeshua sought to provide instruction, real instruction from the Torah, to the people. When they heard his words and saw they great works that validated his teaching, they were amazed and excited that a true teacher had arisen within Israel, and they didn't want to miss any opportunity to hear him.

From the miraculous feeding of the five thousand, this was the lesson Yeshua wanted the disciples to understand: those who rely on the provision of God will never lack to provide to those who are truly in need. God will always meet the needs that are present when believers step out in faith that he can do so. All that is required is the compassion to want to help others, and God will make the rest happen.

If you enjoyed this week's podcast, be sure to visit coreofthebible.org to read daily blog posts on these topics and to find out more about the message of the Bible reduced to its simplest form in the Ten Commandments and the Sermon on the Mount.

Have questions about today's topic, or comments or insights you would like to share? Feel free to email me at coreofthebible@gmail.com.

Thanks for your interest in listening today!

All music in today's episode: Brittle Rille by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

MORE INFO:

Visit the blog articles and full podcast archive at: coreofthebible.org

Email questions or comments to Steve at: coreofthebible@gmail.com

MUSIC:

All music in today's episode: "Brittle Rille" by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Please visit coreofthebible.org for hundreds of Bible articles, other podcast episodes, and videos!

MORE INFO:

Visit the blog articles and full podcast archive at: coreofthebible.org

Email questions or comments to Steve at: coreofthebible@gmail.com

MUSIC:

All music in today's episode: "Brittle Rille" by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Please visit coreofthebible.org for hundreds of Bible articles, other podcast episodes, and videos!

MORE INFO:

Visit the blog articles and full podcast archive at: coreofthebible.org

Email questions or comments to Steve at: coreofthebible@gmail.com

MUSIC:

All music in today's episode: "Brittle Rille" by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Please visit coreofthebible.org to find hundreds of Bible articles, along with other podcast episodes, and videos!

MORE INFO:

Visit the blog articles and full podcast archive at: coreofthebible.org

Email questions or comments to Steve at: coreofthebible@gmail.com

MUSIC:

All music in today's episode: "Brittle Rille" by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Please visit coreofthebible.org for hundreds of Bible articles, other podcast episodes, and videos!

MORE INFO:

Visit the blog articles and full podcast archive at: coreofthebible.org

Email questions or comments to Steve at: coreofthebible@gmail.com

MUSIC:

All music in today's episode: "Brittle Rille" by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Please visit coreofthebible.org for hundreds of Bible articles, other podcast episodes, and videos!

MORE INFO:

Visit the blog articles and full podcast archive at: coreofthebible.org

Email questions or comments to Steve at: coreofthebible@gmail.com

MUSIC:

All music in today's episode: "Brittle Rille" by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Please visit coreofthebible.org for hundreds of Bible articles, other podcast episodes, and videos!

MORE INFO:

Visit the blog articles and full podcast archive at: coreofthebible.org

Email questions or comments to Steve at: coreofthebible@gmail.com

MUSIC:

All music in today's episode: "Brittle Rille" by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Colossians 3:13 - "Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others."

Paul is here reminding the Colossian believers of an obligation they have to forgive anyone who offends them.

The answer to the problem of unforgiveness, sin and the flesh, Paul says, is to live by the empowering of God's Spirit. This should be the reality for the believer, not the see-saw of frustrated obedience in Romans chapter seven; no, that is the result of trying to serve God in the flesh and not through his indwelling Spirit.

This teaching on living by the Spirit actually dovetails perfectly with our current discussion regarding forgiveness of others, because when we are attempting to serve God in the flesh, we open ourselves to all of the negative connotations of worldly religion. Among other things, we can fall prey to a measure of hypocrisy, something hated by all and cautioned against by Messiah.

Matthew 6:14-15 - “If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins."

When we refuse to forgive, it's the flesh that is rising up because it has been offended by something that it does not approve of. That is the natural reaction of the natural person, the one who has not been regenerated by the Spirit of God. But it is hypocritical of us to be subject to the flesh and to remain unforgiving of others. Why? Because the admonition of Paul in Colossians 3:13 says because “the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.” A literal rendering of this instruction would be “in the same manner or to the same degree that God has forgiven you, you should do in like fashion to others.”

With what measure and how much has God forgiven you? When we realize the depth of that forgiveness, it should reveal our ability, and our obligation, to forgive others in a new light.

If you enjoyed this week's podcast, be sure to visit coreofthebible.org to read daily blog posts on these topics and to find out more about the message of the Bible reduced to its simplest form in the Ten Commandments and the Sermon on the Mount.

Have questions about today's topic, or comments or insights you would like to share? Feel free to email me at coreofthebible@gmail.com.

Thanks for your interest in listening today!

All music in today's episode: Brittle Rille by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

MORE INFO:

Visit the blog articles and full podcast archive at: coreofthebible.org

Email questions or comments to Steve at: coreofthebible@gmail.com

MUSIC:

All music in today's episode: "Brittle Rille" by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Please visit coreofthebible.org for hundreds of Bible articles, other podcast episodes, and videos!

MORE INFO:

Visit the blog articles and full podcast archive at: coreofthebible.org

Email questions or comments to Steve at: coreofthebible@gmail.com

MUSIC:

All music in today's episode: "Brittle Rille" by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Please visit coreofthebible.org for hundreds of Bible articles, other podcast episodes, and videos!

MORE INFO:

Visit the blog articles and full podcast archive at: coreofthebible.org

Email questions or comments to Steve at: coreofthebible@gmail.com

MUSIC:

All music in today's episode: "Brittle Rille" by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Please visit coreofthebible.org for hundreds of Bible articles, other podcast episodes, and videos!

MORE INFO:

Visit the blog articles and full podcast archive at: coreofthebible.org

Email questions or comments to Steve at: coreofthebible@gmail.com

MUSIC:

All music in today's episode: "Brittle Rille" by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Please visit coreofthebible.org for hundreds of Bible articles, along with other podcast episodes, and videos!

MORE INFO:

Visit the blog articles and full podcast archive at: coreofthebible.org

Email questions or comments to Steve at: coreofthebible@gmail.com

MUSIC:

All music in today's episode: "Brittle Rille" by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Please visit coreofthebible.org for hundreds of Bible articles, other podcast episodes, and videos!

MORE INFO:

Visit the blog articles and full podcast archive at: coreofthebible.org

Email questions or comments to Steve at: coreofthebible@gmail.com

MUSIC:

All music in today's episode: "Brittle Rille" by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Please visit coreofthebible.org for hundreds of Bible articles, other podcast episodes, and videos!

MORE INFO:

Visit the blog articles and full podcast archive at: coreofthebible.org

Email questions or comments to Steve at: coreofthebible@gmail.com

MUSIC:

All music in today's episode: "Brittle Rille" by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

If you are a believer, why are you trusting God? Are you trusting him to save you from the flames of a fiery hell? What if, for his own purpose and glory, there was no guarantee that he would deliver you from that fate, would you still trust in him? What if when you die, you cease to exist; would you still trust in him today?

What if God had chosen to abandon those three men in the furnace? Perhaps he could have decided that their perishing in light of their undying trust in him would have better served glorifying his name: three martyrs for Yahweh. It would still be a good story and they would still be honored as heroes of the faith. Yet God chose their miraculous preservation as a way of honoring their faith and converting a pagan king. That served his purpose better. Case in point: we’re still talking about the impact of this incident thousands of years later. It is still serving his purpose to this day.

Is your salvation an unspoken condition of your trust in God? Then you are believing in God for what he can do, not for who he is. As believers, we need to remove ourselves from the center of our own faith universe and make sure that we are recognizing and trusting God simply for who he is: God. We need to let him be God, and to unswervingly place our everything: our well-being, our lifestyle, our security, into his hands and let him accomplish his own purpose in his own way. The end result may not look like we expect it to, but it shouldn’t matter. We can be confident it will always be the outcome that best serves his purpose and provides him the most glory.

If you enjoyed this week's podcast, be sure to visit coreofthebible.org to read daily blog posts on these topics and to find out more about the message of the Bible reduced to its simplest form in the Ten Commandments and the Sermon on the Mount.

Have questions about today's topic, or comments or insights you would like to share? Feel free to email me at coreofthebible@gmail.com.

Thanks for your interest in listening today!

All music in today's episode: Brittle Rille by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

MORE INFO:

Visit the blog articles and full podcast archive at: coreofthebible.org

Email questions or comments to Steve at: coreofthebible@gmail.com

MUSIC:

All music in today's episode: "Brittle Rille" by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Please visit coreofthebible.org for hundreds of Bible articles, other podcast episodes, and videos!

MORE INFO:

Visit the blog articles and full podcast archive at: coreofthebible.org

Email questions or comments to Steve at: coreofthebible@gmail.com

MUSIC:

All music in today's episode: "Brittle Rille" by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Please visit coreofthebible.org for hundreds of Bible articles, along with other podcast episodes, and videos!

MORE INFO:

Visit the blog articles and full podcast archive at: coreofthebible.org

Email questions or comments to Steve at: coreofthebible@gmail.com

MUSIC:

All music in today's episode: "Brittle Rille" by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Please visit coreofthebible.org for hundreds of Bible articles, other podcast episodes, and videos!

MORE INFO:

Visit the blog articles and full podcast archive at: coreofthebible.org

Email questions or comments to Steve at: coreofthebible@gmail.com

MUSIC:

All music in today's episode: "Brittle Rille" by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Please visit coreofthebible.org for hundreds of Bible articles, other podcast episodes, and videos!

MORE INFO:

Visit the blog articles and full podcast archive at: coreofthebible.org

Email questions or comments to Steve at: coreofthebible@gmail.com

MUSIC:

All music in today's episode: "Brittle Rille" by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Please visit coreofthebible.org for hundreds of Bible articles, other podcast episodes, and videos!

MORE INFO:

Visit the blog articles and full podcast archive at: coreofthebible.org

Email questions or comments to Steve at: coreofthebible@gmail.com

MUSIC:

All music in today's episode: "Brittle Rille" by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Please visit coreofthebible.org for hundreds of Bible articles, other podcast episodes, and videos!

MORE INFO:

Visit the blog articles and full podcast archive at: coreofthebible.org

Email questions or comments to Steve at: coreofthebible@gmail.com

MUSIC:

All music in today's episode: "Brittle Rille" by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

To this day, what sets God’s people apart is this same covenant, the Ten Words. There is no equal among the religious communities of the world. The illustration for believers today comes through what is pictured in the wilderness journeys of Israel: just as God resided in that Most Holy Place within and above the ark of this covenant, God’s very presence resides within these Ten Words, the Ten Commandments. Just as the Ten Commandments were placed into the "heart" of the tabernacle within the ark of the covenant, God's commands are placed in the heart of every believer through the renewal of the holy Spirit. As we seek to fulfill these commands placed in our heart, then we are truly following in the footsteps of our Lord, the Messiah Yeshua.

This is holiness, being set apart for the purposes of God. He is present within the words of his covenant, and as the covenanted words are in our heart, he is present within us. This holiness through obedience to his words in our heart is the very essence of his kingdom on the earth.

-----

If you enjoyed this week's podcast, be sure to visit coreofthebible.org to read daily blog posts on these topics and to find out more about the message of the Bible reduced to its simplest form in the Ten Commandments and the Sermon on the Mount.

Have questions about today's topic, or comments or insights you would like to share? Feel free to email me at coreofthebible@gmail.com.

Thanks for your interest in listening today!

All music in today's episode: Brittle Rille by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

MORE INFO:

Visit the blog articles and full podcast archive at: coreofthebible.org

Email questions or comments to Steve at: coreofthebible@gmail.com

MUSIC:

All music in today's episode: "Brittle Rille" by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Please visit coreofthebible.org for hundreds of Bible articles, other podcast episodes, and videos!

MORE INFO:

Visit the blog articles and full podcast archive at: coreofthebible.org

Email questions or comments to Steve at: coreofthebible@gmail.com

MUSIC:

All music in today's episode: "Brittle Rille" by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Please visit coreofthebible.org for hundreds of Bible articles, other podcast episodes, and videos!

MORE INFO:

Visit the blog articles and full podcast archive at: coreofthebible.org

Email questions or comments to Steve at: coreofthebible@gmail.com

MUSIC:

All music in today's episode: "Brittle Rille" by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Please visit coreofthebible.org for hundreds of Bible articles, other podcast episodes, and videos!

MORE INFO:

Visit the blog articles and full podcast archive at: coreofthebible.org

Email questions or comments to Steve at: coreofthebible@gmail.com

MUSIC:

All music in today's episode: "Brittle Rille" by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Please visit coreofthebible.org for hundreds of Bible articles, other podcast episodes, and videos!

MORE INFO:

Visit the blog articles and full podcast archive at: coreofthebible.org

Email questions or comments to Steve at: coreofthebible@gmail.com

MUSIC:

All music in today's episode: "Brittle Rille" by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Please visit coreofthebible.org for hundreds of Bible articles, other podcast episodes, and videos!

MORE INFO:

Visit the blog articles and full podcast archive at: coreofthebible.org

Email questions or comments to Steve at: coreofthebible@gmail.com

MUSIC:

All music in today's episode: "Brittle Rille" by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Please visit coreofthebible.org for hundreds of Bible articles, other podcast episodes, and videos!

MORE INFO:

Visit the blog articles and full podcast archive at: coreofthebible.org

Email questions or comments to Steve at: coreofthebible@gmail.com

MUSIC:

All music in today's episode: "Brittle Rille" by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Please visit coreofthebible.org for hundreds of Bible articles, other podcast episodes, and videos!

MORE INFO:

Visit the blog articles and full podcast archive at: coreofthebible.org

Email questions or comments to Steve at: coreofthebible@gmail.com

MUSIC:

All music in today's episode: "Brittle Rille" by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

The story of Phinehas killing an Israelite man and a Midianite woman in Numbers 25 is remembered because he unhesitatingly did a difficult thing that God required, and in so doing, saved the rest of the assembly. In his vigilance for righteousness, he saw the iniquity of their combined idolatry and took immediate action.

This story is a metaphor for us today. The example is extreme because God wants to make sure we understand how serious it is for us to remain in blatant disobedience to his purposes. In our modern permissiveness, we excuse all types of aberrant behavior as being acceptable based on the fact that the biblical culture was distant and removed from our current relativistic and inclusive morality today. However, while the culture may indeed be distant, the moral underpinnings that anchored the ancient Israelites should be the exact same foundation we build upon today. When we shy away from our duty to not compromise with the surrounding culture, it can affect us in ways that will continue to erode spiritual stability throughout the believing community.

How are we to overcome these varieties of challenges to the purity of the kingdom message?

The good news is that the same Spirit which empowered Yeshua and the early disciples still lives within the regenerated lives of believers today. As Paul wrote in Romans 8, "if through the power of the Spirit you put to death the deeds of your sinful nature, you will live." It is the power of the Spirit of God that provides the ability to overcome sinful practices of whatever culture among which we find ourselves.

Collectively, we need to mimic the no-compromise mentality of a Phinehas, not waiting, but taking immediate and decisive action on the habits and practices in our lives that are offensive to a holy God.

---

If you enjoyed this week's podcast, be sure to visit coreofthebible.org to read daily blog posts on these topics and to find out more about the message of the Bible reduced to its simplest form in the Ten Commandments and the Sermon on the Mount.

Have questions about today's topic, or comments or insights you would like to share? Feel free to email me at coreofthebible@gmail.com.

Thanks for your interest in listening today!

All music in today's episode: Brittle Rille by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

MORE INFO:

Visit the blog articles and full podcast archive at: coreofthebible.org

Email questions or comments to Steve at: coreofthebible@gmail.com

MUSIC:

All music in today's episode: "Brittle Rille" by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Please visit coreofthebible.org for hundreds of Bible articles, other podcast episodes, and videos!

MORE INFO:

Visit the blog articles and full podcast archive at: coreofthebible.org

Email questions or comments to Steve at: coreofthebible@gmail.com

MUSIC:

All music in today's episode: "Brittle Rille" by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Please visit coreofthebible.org for hundreds of Bible articles, other podcast episodes, and videos!

MORE INFO:

Visit the blog articles and full podcast archive at: coreofthebible.org

Email questions or comments to Steve at: coreofthebible@gmail.com

MUSIC:

All music in today's episode: "Brittle Rille" by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Please visit coreofthebible.org for hundreds of Bible articles, other podcast episodes, and videos!

MORE INFO:

Visit the blog articles and full podcast archive at: coreofthebible.org

Email questions or comments to Steve at: coreofthebible@gmail.com

MUSIC:

All music in today's episode: "Brittle Rille" by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Please visit coreofthebible.org for hundreds of Bible articles, other podcast episodes, and videos!

MORE INFO:

Visit the blog articles and full podcast archive at: coreofthebible.org

Email questions or comments to Steve at: coreofthebible@gmail.com

MUSIC:

All music in today's episode: "Brittle Rille" by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Please visit coreofthebible.org for hundreds of Bible articles, other podcast episodes, and videos!

MORE INFO:

Visit the blog articles and full podcast archive at: coreofthebible.org

Email questions or comments to Steve at: coreofthebible@gmail.com

MUSIC:

All music in today's episode: "Brittle Rille" by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Yeshua taught:

Matthew 5:6 - "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled."

This is a reference to the wanderings in the wilderness which Israel experienced, and how God provided for them. They neither hungered nor thirsted, they were protected from the scorching sun by the cloud that covered them, and he had pity on them and led them by springs of water. In a physical way, they were experiencing what would ultimately be fulfilled within the spiritual kingdom of God.

This exodus event is when God proved himself as a protector and provider of his people. This is how the Israelites could be assured that Yahweh is the one true God. This is the essence of Hebraic thought, woven into all of their storytelling and tradition. Based on this consistent theme of the exodus story, we can see how the biblical writers drew from this resource time and again to provide spiritual application of the exodus story in other contexts.

John 8:34, 36 - Yeshua answered them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. ... So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

1 Peter 2:9  - But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

As believers, we identify with the passionate expression of these principles of our faithful spiritual ancestors because we are ignited with the same Spirit. We desire to share in the exodus experience that they have given voice to over the centuries and millennia as these words were collected and compiled into our Bibles. Like the writer of Hebrews, we have the privileged opportunity to step back and view the entirety of the faithful ancestors who followed God and learn to copy their exemplary lives:

Hebrews 12:1 - Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.

-----

If you enjoyed this week's podcast, be sure to visit coreofthebible.org to read daily blog posts on these topics and to find out more about the message of the Bible reduced to its simplest form in the Ten Commandments and the Sermon on the Mount.

Have questions about today's topic, or comments or insights you would like to share? Feel free to email me at coreofthebible@gmail.com.

Thanks for your interest in listening today!

All music in today's episode: Brittle Rille by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

MORE INFO:

Visit the blog articles and full podcast archive at: coreofthebible.org

Email questions or comments to Steve at: coreofthebible@gmail.com

MUSIC:

All music in today's episode: "Brittle Rille" by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Please visit coreofthebible.org for hundreds of Bible articles, other podcast episodes, and videos!

MORE INFO:

Visit the blog articles and full podcast archive at: coreofthebible.org

Email questions or comments to Steve at: coreofthebible@gmail.com

MUSIC:

All music in today's episode: "Brittle Rille" by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Please visit coreofthebible.org for hundreds of Bible articles, other podcast episodes, and videos!

MORE INFO:

Visit the blog articles and full podcast archive at: coreofthebible.org

Email questions or comments to Steve at: coreofthebible@gmail.com

MUSIC:

All music in today's episode: "Brittle Rille" by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license