Aug 24, 2010
Posted on Aug 24, 2010 in Apostolic Writings, Miscellaneous, Yeshua | 2 comments
I have the privilege of being a part of the editing team for the Delitzsch Hebrew Gospels translation from Vine of David. Every time I go through Aaron Eby’s translation I learn something about either Hebrew or our Master, or both.
Today, I was finishing up reviewing chapters 9-16 of Luke and came across a phrase which Aaron has translated: “He returned to his heart.” It was in the context of Yeshua’s parable of the prodigal son, and his making the decision to return home after his time of rebellion. This reminds me of the phrase we hear so often, “Follow your heart.” However, most of the time we hear that phrase, “Follow your heart,” it generally means: “Go for it!” “Dream big!” “Live the American Dream!” It is usually in the context of self-indulgence, where we are supposed to find that “inner-voice” that is telling us what we need to be doing with our lives to get the fullest experience of life…to “drink in life” with passion. It’s really the opposite of the Hebrew meaning of this phrase (which I will explain further momentarily).
It reminds me of this new movie Eat, Pray, Love, based on the book by Elizabeth Gilbert (which could be subtitled, “Hinduism has allowed me to cast off restraint”). Sadly many Christians are looking to this as a spiritual expression for believers. They are searching for something “more.” They want adventure & romance, and if their current situation can’t provide it they search it out. I’ve seen countless Christian marriages fail in the last 3-4 years because of this. And the answer is usually the same, “I’m following my heart” or “God is leading me in a new direction.” But would God really wreck a marriage, the most primal institution of the world, in order to make “me” happy? Is it really all about me? According to the philosophy of “Follow your heart” it is. However, Scripture actually warns us about the deceptions of the heart:
The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? (Jeremiah 17:9)
How many people are being told this? How many people have bought into the lie already, and it’s too late to recognize this? This is where being a diligent student of the Word will allow it to drive our lives, rather than allowing our hearts to drive them. In the context of the passage to which I referenced, the Hebrew literally says the same thing. It is וַיָּשֶׁב אֶל־לִבּוֹ. “And he returned to his heart.” But what does that mean? Does it mean that he finally found his “purpose” in life through reading The Purpose Driven Life? Does it mean he finally got up enough courage to hike the Himalayas? Does it mean he gave up his family, went off to a foreign country and lived it up? Wait… that’s what he did before he “returned to his heart.” So you see, “returning to one’s heart” in the Hebrew sense is not about all of these things, but about “coming to your senses.” It’s about following your head, not your heart. It’s about doing what’s right, rather than what feels good. Why? Because the right path and the difficult path are often the same, and when we choose the right over the wrong, the blessing will be in the journey. The joy will come from within, rather than from anything external. And the fruits will be eternal, rather than momentary.
Have you returned to your heart?
May 11, 2010
Posted on May 11, 2010 in Events | 0 comments
May 23 • 2:30pm • Conway, AR
Learn the words of Jesus from a Messianic Jewish perspective. “A Jewish Sermon on the Mount: Exploring the Core Teachings of Jesus from a Hebraic Perspective” introduces the Hebrew idioms, Jewish contexts, and rabbinic methods at work in Jesus’ most famous sermon. Jewish Sermon on the Mount provides a brief introduction to Matthew 5–7 using a new, Hebrew-based translation of the New Testament that allows English readers to see the Hebraisms of the Master’s teaching and the richness of the Hebrew words.
Enjoy a challenging and inspiring look at Jesus’ teachings and the transformative message of the Sermon on the Mount.
- See Jewish parallels to Gospel texts and find out why Bible scholars believe the parallels are important for greater understanding.
- Discover Hebrew words that are impossible to translate into English and how translators deal with these difficult words. See the words—understand the concepts they represent and expand your understanding of the Bible.
- Hear the compelling story and see the New Testament translation of Franz Delitzsch, a nineteenth century Christian Bible-translator considered one the greatest lights of Messiah to the Jewish people.
Learn and see what was so distinctive to Jesus’ teaching in this passage that produced such a response, “the crowd was amazed at his teaching, for he was teaching them as a man of authority, and not like the soferim” (Matthew 7:28–29).
The Hebrew/English Sermon on the Mount
There will be three teachings in a course of 2.5 hours. There will be breaks and time for questions. Everyone attending will receive an extract of Matthew 5–7 from the new Hebrew/English Gospel edition scheduled for release in the fall of 2010. Attendance is free—there will be a donation box on a table for all those that desire to help with the related expense.
CONTACT:
Jeff Croswell or Darren Huckey
HOST:
Simchat Torah
LOCATION:
Faulkner County Library
ADDRESS:
1900 Tyler Street
Conway, AR 72032
PHONE:
501-242-3687 (Jeff)
501-339-8151 (Darren)
E-MAIL:
info@simchattorahar.com
Download the PDF to distribute or post on your site.
Dec 11, 2009
Posted on Dec 11, 2009 in Yeshua | 0 comments
This morning I listened to an audio teaching by Daniel Lancaster again and was reminded of the importance of this topic. This teaching is a really good reminder of how we should be actively treating others and thinking the best of one another. I was just going to post the link to the audio from the Beth Immanuel site, but it’s currently not listed (they are in the process of re-posting a lot of their audio). So, I have uploaded the audio file for your benefit here. Just click on the audio player below.
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Aug 25, 2009
Posted on Aug 25, 2009 in Judaism, Torah, Yeshua | 1 comment
Recently, someone started a discussion on Facebook as to whether followers of Yeshua should follow either a rabbinic (Pharisaic) path verses a more Karaite path in their Torah observance. I’ve got a lot of thoughts on this, but unfortunately am nearly always short on time due to pressing deadlines with my work. I would like to share, however, the brief response I wrote for this discussion:
It is natural to think that the Karaite way of doing things would be a better way of doing things. However, the Karaite interpretation is actually anti-Scriptural. Let’s think about it. If we were to go to a Karaite interpretation of Scripture, we would all being living out the Scriptures as we interpret them. Which means, we would not be in any kind of unity. Which means we would be celebrating the feasts at different times, celebrating them in different ways, trying to fulfill the commandments in different ways. In short, this is chaos and anarchy. The Master (Yeshua) was a Pharisee among Pharisees, in that he was in agreement with the Pharisees in all but one point: hypocrisy.
Here are 3 short examples of the many that can be sited to show his Pharisaic affinity:
- He & his disciples kept the feast at the same times as greater Israel (which was determined by Pharisaic halachah)
- He reclined at the Passover meal (a Pharisaic invention, seemingly contrary to the biblical mandate in Exodus)
- He gave a blessing before eating, strictly a Pharisaic invention
The list could go on and on. These are just off the top of my head. It boils down to this: Yeshua was in agreement with Pharisaic tradition so long as it did not contradict with the written Word. We must examine the words of the Master and the Apostolic writings to determine whether a tradition is able to be kept or not, and follow his example.
The Karaite method is not even an alternative. If we were following the Karaite method, we would revert to the days of the Judges when “Every man did what was right in his own eyes…And they again did wickedness in the eyes of Hashem.”
May 28, 2009
Posted on May 28, 2009 in Miscellaneous | 1 comment
I wanted to post a brief note on Session 1 from this morning (Shavuot Conference 09) in which Aaron Eby did an excellent job at making a definitive disconnect between the Jewish “rejection” of Yeshua and the destruction of the Temple. He did an excellent job in showing that the destruction of the Temple was not due to the rejection of the theological assent to Yeshua as Messiah, but the rejection of Yeshua’s central message of teshuva /repentance and acceptance of the Kingdom as the authority over one’s every day life. His mission was to call people to repentance, returning them to the Torah of Moses which defines proper conduct. He (Eby) stressed time and again that Yeshua’s message was, “Kindness takes precedence over Temple service. Without kindness, there will be no service,” saying that his message actually revolved around his love for his Father’s House (the Temple), with the ultimate message being that we will only see redemption when we personally carry out the teachings of our Master (Yeshua) in our lives. Great stuff…!
