Utter Contradictions
So Jesus answered them and said, “My teaching is not Mine, but His who sent Me. If anyone is willing to do His will, he will know of the teaching, whether it is of God or whether I speak from Myself. John 7:16-17 NASB
He will know – How do you know that the things Yeshua taught are from God? Yeshua himself gives you the test. If you are willing to do what God asks, you will know. But this is absurd! Think of all those who claimed to be willing and yet led the body astray. Think of all those who still claim to be willing and yet present a good news that denies Torah, Israel and the Jewish Messiah. How in the world can Yeshua be so naïve?Even demons could make this claim.
The Greek text helps clear up some of this confusion. Both the words for “willing” and “will” are from the same root, thelema. In the apostolic writings, this verb expresses definite action, completed execution, divine desire and absolute readiness. It does not express wishful hope, cognitive acknowledgment or good intentions. Try boulomai for those meanings. If you are willing to do the thelema of God, you do it! You don’t analyze it, think about it, contemplate it or imagine it. You do what He says. It’s not actually a matter of willing to do it. It is in fact doing it. To thele to thelema is to execute and perform. Yeshua says that if you do what God asks, then you will know that what He says is from God.
So how will you know? You will know because what you are doing is in total agreement with what Yeshua is teaching. His words and your God-instructed actions are completely compatible. Sounds good, but what about all those who seem to be doing what God asks and yet they are not in alignment with the Torah of Yeshua? Ah, this statement doesn’t say anything about them. It only says that if you do what God asks, precisely as He asks it, then you will know something about the teaching of Yeshua. It doesn’t say anything about claiming to know what Yeshua teaches but not executing exactly what God asks.
But it does raise a question, doesn’t it? If I make claims about the teaching of Yeshua, but I am not following the expressed will of YHVH, can I really know that what Yeshua says is from God? Interestingly, the verb for “know” in this sentence is not what we might expect. We might expect eido, a verb about intuitive insight, revealed knowledge, the kind of thing we might feel from the Spirit. But that isn’t the verb here. The verb is ginosko, the kind of knowledge you acquire from evidence, the perception of the senses, the conclusions drawn from examination of the facts. This might imply that the knowledge you gain about Yeshua’s teaching must come from experiential involvement. It isn’t theological theory. It is found in practical application. Do you want to know if Yeshua’s teaching comes from God? Then do what God desires and see what results. In other words, the proof really is in the pudding, not in the recipe. If you keep God’s Torah, you will find that the outward expression of that Torah is the same as the lessons Yeshua gives. The results are equivalent. Of course, if you don’t keep Torah, then your results will be different. You can claim that they are the real meaning of Yeshua’s lessons, but He might object. After all, you wouldn’t expect the living Word to be in utter contradiction to the given Word, would you? Thele and thelema are from the same source.
I hope you know Yeshua’s teachings are from God. If you do, then you are seeing them before your eyes, in your ears, on your tongue, in your hands, in your nose. If you don’t, then you will have to make “senses” of it all as you go along.
Topical Index: know, ginosko, will, thelo, thele, thelema, John 7:17
You Talkin’ To Me?
Who is Yeshua HaMashiach? – Is He who He claimed (claims) to be?
Liar? Lunatic? or (living) LORD?
~ Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world..~
If He is LORD, (since) He is LORD.. – He (Himself) has stated: “If you love Me- keep My commandments..” “Commandments?” (May we inquire?) Does He have the authority to command..? Most assuredly..- He does!
~ If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever;~
(John 14.15)
Oh.. but here, the waters become (for some) “murky..” There are three “persons (?)” represented. There is “I” and the “Father” and then there is Another “Helper” that is “with us forever..”
But.. we worship (only) one God. How is it then there are “three” who are represented (or revealed) here? One? or Three? Or Three-in-One?
~ And if you will indeed obey my commandments that I command you today, to love the Lord your God, and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul, He will give the rain for your land in its season, the early rain and the later rain, that you may gather in your grain and your wine and your oil.
~ And He will give grass in your fields for your livestock, and you shall eat and be full. Take care lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside and serve other gods and worship them; then the anger of the Lord will be kindled against you, and He will shut up the heavens, so that there will be no rain, and the land will yield no fruit, and you will perish quickly off the good land that the LORD is giving you.
“You shall therefore lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall teach them to your children, talking of them when you are sitting in your house, and when you are walking by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, that your days and the days of your children may be multiplied in the land that the Lord swore to your fathers to give them, as long as the heavens are above the earth ~
Friends, what father (or mother) among us does not delight in obedient children?
When we, (the children of God) obey HIm.. when we (the children of God) DO as He (our LORD and our God) asks.. when we (the children of God) love one another with a pure heart (a purified heart) “fervently..”- the result of this “right-relatedness,” this “righteousness” is?… Peace.. Shalom.. – “wellness..”- One healthy, happy and holy family.
Yes, it has been well-spoken, what this country needs, what this community needs, what this family needs, what “this man” needs..- is an outbreak of obedience.. We will love the LORD our God (and to love one another!) for by this.. (love) shall all men know – that *you* are My (“modern day”) disciples..- if you love one another..
LORD, help us, (teach us, train us, discipline us, lead us) to love.. Deepen our love for You and strengthen our love for one another.. Love us LORD, show mercy unto us, and give unto us (this day) our daily bread. And for this.. we will give You praise.. We will give unto You, our ABBA, our Guide, our Protector, our Provider, our Peace .. (only our small part of) the glory that is due Your Name, for Blessed is (and always will be) – the Name of the LORD.. Amen.
~ And all the people responded together, (Today) “We will do everything the LORD has commanded.” ~ (Exodus 19.8)
So how will you know? You will know because what you are doing is in total agreement with what Yeshua is teaching. His words and your God-instructed actions are completely compatible. Sounds good, but what about all those who seem to be doing what God asks and yet they are in alignment with the Torah of Yeshua?
Please clarify.
I could be wrong, and I certainly don’t want to speak for Skip, but I read that several times and was confused as well, but I *think* that he meant to say “aren’t in alignment…”
Hoping he will chime in to clarify. 🙂
Yes, the correction has been made.
The correction: Should have read “but what about all those who seem to be doing what God asks and yet they are NOT in alignment with the Torah of Yeshua.”
Sorry for the error.
Now it should be rather obvious. If actions are not in alignment with Torah, then they do not allow full disclosure of God’s will. He uses whatever we are open to, but if we want the full picture, we must adopt His way of living.
Thank you Skip after reading TW for the last four years I’ve come to understand your heart enough that I was reasonably certain this was the idea.
However I have FINALLY learned after MANY painful experiences, that what I understand someone to say is not always what they intended when they said it. Then later on, while going along my ignorantly merry way believing something about that person, I found out that my assumption was not their take on the subject at all. Poor God! 🙁
Plenty of people believe that what they are doing/thinking is correct, and they all act and think differently. Although, I believe if they were so sure, they wouldn’t feel the need to argue, or to create fear in order to prevent others from even considering possibilities that disagree with their own.
“After all, you wouldn’t expect the living Word to be in utter contradiction to the given Word, would you?” NO, certainly not!
YET, many would vehemently stand by the written Word inspite of coming to the understanding that it has gone through various translations, and translators’ doctrines.
Here’s a good read-
“However, if one prints the term, “Jesus” in Hebrew letters one can readily determine the following:
1) The term, “Jesus” is beyond question an artificially contrived deity word; and when the word, “Jesus” is written in Hebrew (read/written from right to left), the Hey, Samekh, Vau, Samekh, it literally translates, “haSoos”; meaning, “The horse”.
2) The term, “Jesus” is undeniably a counterfeited designation assigned to a pagan deity; and it is despicable that such forgery is superimposed upon the “Jewish Messiah” as unashamedly depicted within the Hellenist’s version of The New Testament.
3) The “Samekh” is the 15th letter of the Hebrew alphabetical system and carries the numerical value of 60. The “Vau” is the 6th letter of the Hebraic system of written and spoken communication and carries the numerical value of 6.
4) By disregarding the “0” placeholders in the Samekhim, the Samekhim numerically become 6, 6; and by including the Vau (6), one can unmistakably detect the, “6, 6, 6” that easily identifies both the name (Jesus) and the number of the beast (a mythological “man”) which is to be identified by a mythological name (Jesus) and its mythological number (6, 6, 6).
5) Prophesied in GilYahna (Revelation) 13:17-18.
Reader, nowhere is this concept more important than in the personally-revealed treasured designation of the Messiah’s true Hebrew Name, YahuShah; and just as it did/does with Yisrayl (Israel), YahuShah’s treasured Name directly binds Yisrayl’s redemption to the Yahudi (Jewish) nation and to one’s Creator, YaHUaH.
However, the term, “Jesus” accomplishes right the opposite effect and separates the Redeemer/Savior of the Yisraylite world from one’s Yisraylite Hebraic roots. Resultantly, people at large are inadvertently subjected to worshipping a pig, a fish or a horse; and to be honest, we, Netzar Yahudim (Nazarite Jews), feel certain that no thinking person with all their mental faculties would do so without prior mental and emotional conditioning. Therefore, we trust that all who have read thus far will realize that, “not only do words have meanings, but names have meaning as well.” Selah!
Moshiach le-Melech al kol haEretz le olam va-ed!
Messiah is King over all the earth forever and ever!
Shalom Aleichem,
Yoseph & Yaki Downing
Ironically, many from Christiandom intercedes zealously for the ‘Jews’ and Israel to come to know Jesus “the messiah” that they many be “saved”!
Thank you very much, Ester.