Experience the Kingdom of Heaven Today!

Almost everything Jesus taught was linked to teaching people how to do acts of tzedaqah. He made it clear that this was what God had anointed him to do – his mission as “the Christ” was to do and teach people how to do acts of tzedaqah. So, what is tzedaqah? Every “follower of Yeshua” knew the answer to that question by heart. But today, most “believers in Jesus” have never heard the question, much less know the answer. Read the complete blog and find out by clicking here.

Be the Kingdom of Heaven Today!

If you had been a follower of Yeshua, aka Jesus, what would he have told you to do? The answer is found in his announcement about being the “Anointed One” – the Christ. This happened at his hometown synagogue at Nazareth. Read the complete article at -- https://therealyesua.blogspot.com/2019/01/be-kingdom-of-heaven-today.html

Did Jesus Promote Violence or Shalom?

From the days of John the Baptist until now the Kingdom of Heaven

suffers violence, and the violent take it by force.

The English translation of the verse above has influenced Christian theologies and Western cultures for centuries. Some Christians have used it to promote violence as part of their mission. You can even find graphics of Jesus in military gear with an AK-47 urging people to use violence and force in Google searches. But for most Christians, the thought of Jesus promoting violence simply feels wrong. However, some of them also believe the English words of their Bible are the inerrant and infallible word of God -- God said it so that means it is true! It’s a crazy religious matrix that we live in. So, did Jesus actually say those words? Read the complete blog by clicking here.

Unleashing the Power of Yeshua’s Key Words - Tzedaqah

TZEDAQAH is the transliteration of the Hebrew word above; ZAH-DAKH-AH is how it sounds. It is one of the most important words Yeshua taught. Yeshua said:

1. Those who do tzedaqah will enter eternal life.

2. Unless your acts of tzedaqah are greater than the scribes and Pharisees you will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

3. You love and serve God by doing tzedaqah.

4. Those who pursue opportunities to do tzedaqah are blessed.

5. People that do tzedaqah will let their light shine before people and glorify God.

6. Doing acts of tzedaqah will lay up treasures in Heaven.

Read the complete blog at -- https://therealyesua.blogspot.com/2019/01/unleashing-power-of-yeshuas-key-words.html

The Christian Doctrine that Destroyed the Gospel of Yeshua (the Jewish Jesus)

Everyone has a right to believe and say what they want in America. Those who value the teachings of Yeshua have the responsibility of making his voice and Gospel are heard too. Make sure you understand what Yeshua, the Jewish Jesus, actually taught. Read the complete blog at -- https://therealyesua.blogspot.com/2018/10/the-christian-doctrine-that-destroyed.html

Speaking the words of the scrolls instead of reading the Bible

To speak about the books of the Bible is misleading on more than one account. Historically, the Hebrew Bible is a collection of scrolls, and scrolls cannot be simply equated with books. The difference between the two is not merely a matter of form; it affects the mode of writing, editorial strategies, and the way in which readers use the text.¹

The ancient world was a world without books. Reading and writing were restricted to a professional elite; the majority of the population was nonliterate. If we are to understand the making of the Hebrew Bible, we must familiarize ourselves with the scribal culture that produced it. They practiced their craft in a time in which there was neither a trade in books nor a reading public of any substance. Scribes wrote for scribes.²

Reading was an oral activity. In order for the message to reach its destination, however, the written text needed a voice. Texts were for the ears, rather than the eyes. Written documents were read aloud, either to an audience or to oneself. Silent reading was highly unusual. Even the student who read in solitude “muttered” his text.³

This scroll of the Torah shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate/utter in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.⁴

  

Students of the Bible first listened to their teachers speak the words of the scrolls. The teachers would then teach the students the meanings of the texts they read and ask their students questions. Students were encouraged to ask their own questions. But the key skill all students learned to develop was memory. Very few students owned scrolls, so they memorized texts taught by their teachers. When called upon to discuss those texts they first had to quote the portion they were discussing from memory. Recalling words of different scrolls in discussions was a very different experience than flipping pages of one book.

The next time you read your Bible, try speaking the words loud enough for your ears to hear them. If a Bible verse pops into your head, speak it so your ears will be able to hear. This will change the way your brain processes those words. Of course, before you memorize any words, do your best to discover what those ancient words meant to the scribes that wrote them. Get ready to experience your Bible in new and powerful ways!

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SOURCES

¹ Scribal Culture and the Making of the Hebrew Bible by Karel Van Der Toorn © 2007 Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts; p. 23.

² Scribal Culture and the Making of the Hebrew Bible; pp. 1-2.

³ Scribal Culture and the Making of the Hebrew Bible; p. 12.

⁴ Joshua 1:8

Repentance is a way of life not a ritual.

The first word in Yeshua’s first message was TESHUVAH:

From that time Jesus began to preach and to say,

“TESHUVAH, for the Kingdom of Heaven is here!”

(Matthew 4:17)

English translators translate the words above as -- “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!” Today people think of “repent” a ritual that is done as part of “being saved,” or “a prayer that is prayed after committing a sin.” That is not what “TESHUVAH” meant to Yeshua or his Jewish audience. They knew that Yeshua was “teaching a way life.” Learn what TESHUVAH meant to Yeshua at -- https://therealyesua.blogspot.com/2018/09/repentance-is-way-of-life-not-ritual.html