In-depth Study
Starters
Popular Topics
General
|
Sermons Series 3:16, 17 December 2005
Discernment
When the Truth Doesn't Feel Right
Main Themes:
Minor Themes:
".. Purif[y] yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart. For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring Word of Elohim" (1 Peter 1:22-23, NIV), said the apostle Peter. Or in other words, once you have been born again - once the living seed of love which comes from Yahweh has been planted in your garden, which comes through the Word of Elohim, which is Yah'shua - He who is living and enduring - then we are under an obligation for the rest of our lives to purify ourselves with one express purpose: and that express purpose is to love deeply from the heart. The question that then arises is this: how do we purify ourselves so that we can have this deep heart-love? And the answer is simple: by obeying the truth.
Without exception, every single human being in this world is craving for love. Though their pride, invariably fed by the demonic, often claims that love is not needed, or that love makes life too complicated, love is what life is all about. There is no life, no living, without love. The pinnacle of revelation is to be found in a three word-long Scripture: "Elohim is love" (1 Jn.4:16). Yahweh-Elohim, our Heavenly Father, is love. And "whoever lives in love lives in Elohim, and Elohim in him" (Ibid.). Moreover, "Whoever does not love does not know Elohim, because Elohim is love" (1 John 4:8). You can believe in Yahweh without loving, but you cannot know Him as a Person until you do. Until then He is just an idea, a theory. And it is much the same with the people around us: we meet people all the time and think we know and understand them, but until you have loved them, you can never know them, because you can never understand until you love. You cannot love until you are born again and have made a conscious decision to purify yourself by pursuing the truth with all your might, mind and strength.
This dysfunctional world in which we live talks most about the things it does not understand. It acts out love without ever really knowing what it is, because true love communicates divine personhood. True love opens the door to people so that they are communicating as people in Yahweh and not merely as objects. How do people communicate? People communicate when their spirits meet. But the world mistakes psyche for spirit and assumes that they are one and the same. They aren't. They are two totally different spheres of activity. "The Ruach gives life; the flesh counts for nothing" (John 6:63, NIV). The psyche belongs to the physical body and passes away with it at death. And though we shall have it restored to us in the resurrection along with our physical bodies, it will not be linked to that fallen carnal nature which Scripture calls the 'flesh'. The core you, where your personhood resides, is the spirit, and the spirit is that part of you which lives naturally in the Garden of Yahweh. When you first enter it you more than likely bring a lot of psychic baggage with you, plus a train of demons, and because of that you feel uncomfortable and out of place. The Garden - which is the heart-sphere - is the natural home of our spirits, where our spirits are comfortable and at rest. The unease and discomfort arise because the unredeemed psyche is not in its natural environment - not, that is, until it has been purified.
Peter says that to be able to love you must purify yourselves. You have to do it. You can't sit back and wait for Yahweh to do it. Yes, it is true that Yahweh is the purifying agent, since we do not possess the power to cleanse spirit and psyche, yet it is we who must take the steps to be purified. And how do we do that? We do that by 'obeying the truth', wherever it is presented, and however it is presented, but most especially when it is presented in Torah.
Now it is true that Yah'shua is "the way, the truth and the life" (John 14:6) because He is the living embodiment of truth. This leads most lazy and carnal Christians to leap to the conclusion is that all we have to do is 'receive' Yah'shua's and somehow we 'have' the truth. They often say: "Yah'shua is in my heart therefore the truth is in my heart". And they can say the same about life - Yah'shua is life, Yah'shua is in my heart, therefore life is in my heart. And yes, if Yah'shua is in your heart, then truly you have life and truth in your heart as well. And if that is true, your life will demonstrate this fact by its fruits. "By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another" (John 13:35, NIV). Now how often have you heard this statement by Yah'shua cited! Plenty I have no doubt. But a question remains: how does one know what true love is? What is 'loving one another'? Perhaps that question sounds a bit facetious but it is not meant to be.
Let me give you an example of what I am driving at here. There have been times when I have been with people who, by the definition of most, are 'loving'. They are warm, friendly, and seem to genuinely care about one another. They help each other and do what one commonly would call 'good works' - they take care of one another when they are ill and generally try to make life more comfortable for one another, all of which, we have to admit, are signs of the kind of love Yah'shua seems to speak of in the Gospels. And yet if you go to someone who is, say, a Sunday-worshipper and point out to him the commandment given in Genesis at the Creation, and reitterated in the Torah given to Moses at Mount Sinai, and lived by Yah'shua and the disciples in the New Testament, that it is the seventh day which Yahweh has set-apart and made holy for worship and rest from worldly activities, what typically is the response you are met with? Well, I am sure you have received many responses ranging from disbelief to outright hostility. But whatever the response is, there is always some sort of emotional or psychic content, and if you can persuade one of these men or women to describe to you the inner processes they are going through, they will, if they honest, probably tell you that it doesn't feel right. And they might even claim that the Spirit or Ruach is telling them that what you are saying is wrong as their mind flips back to what their pastors or Sunday School teachers have taught them about the 'law' supposedly being 'done away' with. Mind and feelings will be engaged as they process what you are saying that will lead to a negative reaction.
Now you and I, who are conversant with Scrtipture and know how the Greek versions of Galatians and Romans in particular have been mutilated to give the impression that somehow Torah is 'bad', know what the truth is. We know it because the Hebraic originals completely harmonise on the matter. We know because we have probed deeply into the Word and have not simply accepted eveything we have been taught in the churches. And frankly, at times, our depth of knowledge intimidates those who have not probed, or if they have probed, have brushed it aside as being too 'uncomfortable' or 'threatening', for whatever reason. Most people are just too plain scared to make life-changes - changing churches, losing friends, and so forth, because they love these things more than the truth.
When the truth doesn't feel right then some part of you is in rebellion. If the truth is uncomfortable then you are believing in a lie. And if there is a force that is seemingly pushing you away from receiving the truth, then you know you have a demon problem because knowing the truth will lead to your becoming purified if you embrace that truth, and if you become purified then you will see the concealed demonic which has been influencing you to resist the truth. The great danger for Christians comes when we trust our feelings more than we do the truth because what that means is that our feelings are coming from an impure source. It means, in other words, that our feelings are not Holy Spirit or Ruach haQodesh but psyche. People coming out of the pentecostal and charismatic movements are particularly prone to this deception because they are not usually well grounded in the Word, even by evangelical standards.
Now I chose to use the Sabbath to illustrate this confusion between psyche and Ruach because of the way our Greek translations are often mutilated. In this case, however, the Greeks did not make a mistake when they translated our Aramaic and Hebbrew New Testament texts but our English translators did. I would like to draw your attention to the opening verse of Paul's letter to Titus to illustrate my point by first reading from a typical English version which I am leaving unaltered: "Paul, a servant of Elohim and an apostle of Yah'shua the Messiah for the faith of God's elect and the knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness" (Titus 1:1, NIV). What is Paul saying in this greeting to Titus? He is saying that "truth leads to godliness." Very good. I quite agree. Truth leads to godliness. So my next question is: what is 'godliness'? You would be forgiven for going to an English dictionary, looking up the word 'godly', and reading: 'the state of having a religious character; being pious or devout'. Now if the original text had said this, you would be perfectly justified in concluding that a knowledge of the truth leads to piety and devotion. Unfortunately for the Sunday-worshippers it means much more than this as I will now explain.
The Greek word we translate into 'godliness' is eusebeia which literally means 'good well-done Sabbath-keeping' and is a word used throughout the New Testament epistles. Now in classical Greek, unlike modern Greek, there was no word for 'sabbath' because this was not a concept known to the Greeks but belonged exclusively to the Hebraic mindset. To a Hebrew a Sabbath-keeper was one whose lifestyle was pious. In other words, to be pious was to be a Sabbath-keepper. That is how piety as defined. There was no such thing as being pious without observing the seventh-day Sabbath. To be pious was to be eu sebio, or in other words, 'into faithful Sabbath-keeping', and was considered to be the basic test of piety then as it is now. So instead of transliterating eusebeia they translated it and put the word 'godly' or 'godliness' into the text, instead of using the true meaning of a pious life bent toward Sabbath observance. Thus Titus 1 should properly read: "Shaul (Paul), an servant (erved) of Yahweh, and an apostle (shlociach) of Yah'shua the Messiah, according to the faith (emunah) of Yahweh's chosen ones [i.e. Israel] and the acknowledging of the truth (emet) that is after a lifestyle of Sabbath-guarding piety" (Titus 1:1, RSTN; cp. 2 Pet.1:3).
How the Scripture meaning changes when we get to the root! It means that those who violate the seventh-day sabbath are by definition impious, impure, and ungodly. And if you are lacking in these things, then what is going to be the nature of your love? It means, if you continue to adhere to the falsehoods of Sunday worship (Yahweh has said that this is to be a day of ordinary work), that you will not love in a deep way those who are adhering to the truth but only those who are adhering to the same lie, and look down on the true Sabbath-worshippers as off-the-mark sinners and apostates. And if you do that, what are you, in fact, saying about Yahweh the Creator? You are denying the Creator and worshiping a deity after your own tradition and imagination once you know the truth and openly deny it because in rejecting the truth you are rejecting the witness of the true Ruach (who only ever witnesses to the truth) and are choosing instead to follow your own psyche. In short, each time you reject the clear Word of Elohim, you start worshipping yourself. And once you start doing that, then the truth will always 'feel' wrong - naturally.
Now as I said, this comes as no surprise to those of us who know our Bibles but it can cause great offence to whose whose faith is underpinned by a tradition that is founded on falsehood and lies, a tradition that is historically traced back to the Roman Catholic Church who made a conscious decision to abandon Torah in order to make their quasi-Christian religion more attractive to the pagans. It is here that our acceptance or rejection of the plain truth determines whether we are loving or not. Yes, we may have a love for man in our twisted version of the truth, but this love is not the love of Yahweh. When you reject the truth having been confronted of it, then there is little equivalence between loving man and loving Yahweh. Yah'shua said:
"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'"(Matt.7:21-23, NIV)
or better translated, "you that work Torah-less-ness" (RSTN). It is perfectly true that we are commanded to love our neighbour as we love ourselves but this is never apart from "love Yahweh your Elohim with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength" (Mt.22:37; cp. Dt.5:6; 11:1). Until you are loving Yahweh with all your heart and all your soul/psyche and with all your strength, you will not be able to love either your neighbour or youself in purity. Indeed, I think most religions would have little problem in accepting the second part of this Great Commandment of Yah'shua. In fact, even humanists use it but they ommit the first part to love Yahweh.
My point in saying this is that loving people is not evidence that you love Yahweh unless you are loving Yahweh with all your heart, psyche and strength - all of it. If any part of this love is given to man exclusively, as a direct extension of your heart to them apart from Yahweh, then it is idolatrous, because the love that is sought in return will be sought exclusively for self-worship. Anything that is sought or given that does not pass through the love of Yahweh is the love of man and is psychic, not spiritual.
Now I am not saying that everyone does this consciously because I think most are ignorant, having been taught a Torah-less gospel that exalts man rather than Yahweh, because piety is defined in terms of man-to-man works apart from man-to-Yahweh works. The moment we are living man-made laws and rules apart from Torah, we cease to love Yahweh with all our soul and end up giving what is His to man. And when we do that, we start becoming dependent on man's love for us instead of Yahweh's as the source of our well-being. It is subtle-idolatry yet rampant in Christendom, and it brings with it false spirits counterfeiting the true Ruach haQodesh. Then everything gets redefined, including purity.
There is a story told about two thieves who went into a church to ransack it. They stood on a chair to take down the chandelier but the chair wasn't high enough. So they went and got a table and tried standing on that, but the table wasn't high enough either. So one of the thieves went and got the thick pulpit Bible, put in on the table and got up on it. Now the other thief was indignant that he had done such a sacreligious thing and said: "What are you doing?? That's the Holy Bible you're standing on!!" "So what?" the other thief replied. "As long as we have pure hearts, what difference does it make?"
This rather comical anecdote belies are major deception that people fall into. When values and morals start getting defined with the self as a reference point, then perversion enters in. Paul said to Titus:
"... pay no attention to ... the commands of those who reject the truth. To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure. In fact, both their minds and consciences are corrupted. They claim to know Yahweh, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good" (Titus 1:14-16, NIV).
People will often justify disobedience with the excuse "as long as my heart is pure ..." And they will often claim it is pure because Yah'shua has 'saved' them. However, what they forget is the difference between jurisdictional salvation and literal salvation. By trusting in Yah'shua the wrath of Yahweh is turned away from us because He sees Yah'shua instead of us. We are covered by the blood of atonement. However, as everbody knows, even after salvation, people continue sinning and demons keep turning up. There are believers who don't love, believers who reject Torah, believers who think that grace entitles them to do whatever they want. Most accept only those Scriptures which appeal to them and reject the rest. There is, however, no way you can be pure that way, because as Peter said, we must purify ourselves by obeying the truth, so that because of this we can truly love as Yahweh loves, selflessly, from the bottom of our hearts, without counting the cost, measuring, or expecting to be loved quid pro quo, and with no aim other than to bring glory to our Heavenly Father.
There are sceptics, like Pilate, who will, of course, retort: "What is truth?" (John 18:38) as an excuse not to confront it. "Everyone on the side of truth listens to Me", said Yah'shua (John 18:37, NIV). This emet or truth is the absolute sense of what is real and complete as opposed to what false and lacking. Yah'shua, the personification of truth (Jn.14:6; Eph.4:21), also mediates the truth (Jn.1:17). The job of the Ruach haQodesh is to lead all men and women into the truth (Jn.16:13; 14:17; 1 Jn.4:6). So if the 'spirit' within you reacts against the truth of Torah, it cannot be the Ruach haQodesh leading you into the truth, can it? We, in our turn, are commanded to know the truth (Jn.8:32; 2 Jn 1), do the truth (Jn.3:21) and live in the truth (Jn.8:44) - all of it, without exception. Our new birth as Yahweh's children rests upon the truth (Jas.1:18). And we are not here just talking about a credal formula - it is Yahweh's active Word which must be obeyed (Rom.2:8; Gal.5:7).
What tricky things feelings are, aren't they? They are rarely what we think they are until we are firmly grounded in truth and divine agapé love. Look at your average person who lives mostly on the instinctual level. They are like vegeatbles eating, drinking, sleeping, having sex, and doing some work. Their life is purely psychic. Then there are those who have a little more 'zest' in themselves - they're animated and buzz around but don't seem to have any clear thoughts - they are just unleashed instincts, passions, anger, jealosies, and sensuality. Then there are those who have a slightly more developed emotional life, who have more feelings, more imagination - there is something poetic, musical and romantic about them, but they have no philosophical system or divine ideal. Then there are those who have a highly developed intellectual side - they study, read and write and get to the bottom of things - writers, thinkers, scientists, philosophers. And yet none of these people are what one might call 'spiritual' - everything is still in the realm of the psyche. They dissect, analyse and want to know everything, but they only seek to know through their intellect, and you know, your intellect is so limited! And despite its enormous capabilities, the intellect can't do everything, because intellectuals do not live in the clarity and light of the Ruach. Finally, there are those who seek the spiritual, knowing that there is something 'more' to all of these functions of being human. The problem here is that if you go into anything that claims to be spiritualilty which is not of Yahweh or Torah, it is not spiritual but psyche in disguise, no matter what label it wears, because the only access to the true Spirit or Ruach is emet (truth) in ahavah (love) - not any old 'love' or 'feelings', but the love that proceeds from the very presence of Yahweh-Elohim Himself which is mediated only by the Ruach haQodesh through Yah'shua.
It is possible to believe in Yah'shua as Messiah, listen to Torah and even participate in Torah-works (observing the festivals and moedim) and remain closed to this divine ahavah or agapé love. It is even possible to go through the motions of love - smiling, showing consideration, and doing good deeds - without ever meeting it or knowing it. This is called formalism - a kind of 'love-acting' in the absence of the real thing. It may be better than rudeness, anger and thoughtlessness in general but it still not the real thing and cannot nourish your being. As such, formalism is exposed in the Garden of Yahweh, for you cannot pretend to love there - everything is exposed in this holy environment and you appear exactly as you are. You cannot play-act there. You are what you actually are in your heart. The Garden of Yahweh is the Garden or Emet (Truth) in Ahavah (Love). Ascetism, which seeks to annihilate warmth and love through strict withdrawal and meditation, is not spirituality. Look at the faces of these ascetics - they grow cold, hard, rigid, and distant, like empty shells because their object is the triumph of will-power - of self - which, incidentally, is the goal of communism, nazism, and occultism as well. Suppressing or massacring your feelings is not the way to bringing order and harmony to them. The only way to bring your feelings into alignment is by seeking purity through truth in Yah'shua which opens the heart to the divine love of Yahweh. Only pure love brings about harmony, wholeness and echad (oneness).
So the next time the truth doesn't 'feel' right, make those feelings captive and give them to Yah'shua, asking Him to expose any demonic roots. Ask Him to shine the truth on them. Then covenant to obey the truth, no matter what, and entrust Yah'shua to empower you to live the truth and become it. It does not require fasting and praying in solitude for weeks in a monastery or nunnery because that is just another form of self-effort or will-power, but in learning to be true to covenants. And the first covenant for a seeker after truth is a desire to know Yahweh and to give Him first place in your heart. At once the Ruach haQodesh will start bathing you in light, love and truth. Then all the cells in your body, and all the psychic particles around them, and the spirit that is the core 'you', will start vibrating, radiating, and emanating this divine ahavah-love. And once that starts happens, those who are seeking for Yahweh will want to be in your company, they will begin to spontaneously love you and listen to you as the honest-in-heart listened to and loved Yah'shuah in mortality. And as for the rest - well, they will simply hate you without a cause (Ps.69:4; Jn.15:29) because their lives are ruled by lies and the demonic. May Yahweh's shalom be upon you. Amen.
Author: Lev-Tsiyon
Glossary of MLT Hebraic, Greek and English Terms For other terms and full details please see the Micropedia
A
Adon(ai) = Master, a pagan fertility god, Adonis; used by many Messianics but not MLT
(a)eon(ian) = 7 dispensation- or age-long time periods, not forever (see le-olam-va-ed)
Alef-Tav = Alpha-Omega, A-Z, first and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet = Yah'shua
Amen = truly, let it be so, written Amein by some Messianics
Apocrypha = Hebraic Scriptures not a part of the Protestant canon (e.g. Baruch)
Anti-Messiah = Hebraic term for the end-time Antichrist or anyone opposed to the Messiah
antinomian = lawless Christian who disregards all or part of Torah/commandments
Ashkenazi Jew = East European Jew descended from the Turkic-Japhethite Khazars
Assembly = church, congregation, ekklesia, community, fellowship, koinonia, gathering
Azazel = the Yom Kippur scapegoat
B
Baal, Ba'al = any other master than Yahweh, usually demonic in MLT terminology
Bachor(im) = firstborn son(s)
Bar/Bat Mitzvah = Son/Daughter of Commandment, covenant to obey Torah at age 12
being = soul, the whole person (spirit and body), e.g. "my whole being"
Beit, bet, beth = house, e.g. Beit Yisrael (House of Israel), Beth Lechem (House of Bread)
Beit haMikdash = Yahweh's Temple in Yerushalayim
B'rit Chadashah = the New Covenant; B'rit Chadashah Scriptures = New Testament
B'rit Milah = circumcision - abolished in the B'rit Chadashah, replaced by Mikvah
C
canon = authoritative Scripture (Heb. qaneh, Gk. kanôn = measuring instrument)
Catechumen = a serious, covenanted investigator seeking Mikvah or Baptism in MLT
Chag haMatzah = Feast of Unleavened Bread, second of the annual feasts of Yahweh
Chavurat Bekorot = MLT's Priesthood Order, Holy Order and Assembly of the Firstborn
Cohen = priest; Cohen Gadol = High Priest (also spelled Kohen)
Council of Yah's elohim = the heavenly Assembly of the Firstborn or Chavurat Bekorot
D
demon = fallen malek or angel in rebellion against Yahweh (Heb. shad; see Êl-Shaddai)
derech = the Way, Path or Road - Yah'shua and the Gospel are the Way
Drash = moral or homiletic interpretation of Scripture - see PaRDeS
E
Echad = One, Union of two or more in one (as opposed to Yachid) - see Elohim
Echad Godhead Doctrine = Father Yahweh, Son Yah'shua and Sevenfold Ruach (Mother)
Êl, Eloah, Elah = God the Father, Yahweh
Êl-Elyon = Most High God, Yahweh
Êl-Shaddai = Master/Lord over all shads or demons
Elohim = God, the Godhead (Father, Son & Holy Spirit), lit. 'Mighty One(s)', 'Ruler(s)'
elohim = Israelite judges, rulers, angels or gods (false deities, idols, demons)
emunah = faith, actively trusting, clinging or adhering to (especially Yahweh or Yah'shua)
emet = truth, Yah'shua is the Emet
Ephraimite = descendant of the patriarch Ephraim and head of Messsianic Israel
F
Feasts of Yahweh = the 7 annual Moedim (Pesach, Chag haMatzah, Yom haBikkurim, Shavu'ot, Yom Teruah, Yom Kippur and Sukkot)
G
Gan-Eden = Garden of Eden, Paradise and state of the purified heart in Messiah
goy(im) = nation(s), Israelites or gentiles not born in or converted to the Covenant
H
hallelu-Yah = praise Yah(weh)!
Heylel = proper name of Satan or haSatan = the Adversary, the devil
Sabbath = Yom Shabbat (Friday to Saturday sunset, add 1 day in IDL Zone)
Hochmah = Wisdom, title of the 7-fold Ruach haQodesh
I
IDL = International Date Line, false man-made time division in Pacific Ocean
IDL Zone = Area between the true Divine Date Line (Lake Van/Eden) and the false one
Israeli = citizen of the modern Edomite-Khazar Republic of Israel (not Biblical Israel)
Israelite = citizen of biblical state of Israel or a modern follower of the Messiah
J
Jew = post-biblical term describing descendants of Edomite and Khazar converts to Judaism
Johannine = pertaining to the Apostle Yochanan (e.g. Gospel of John)
Josephite = descendant of the patriarch Joseph, the head of Messianic Israel
Judahite = a person in direct descent from the patriarch Judah, forefather of the Messiah
Judaism = a Talmudic-based religion rejecting Yah'shua the Messiah
Judean = a citizen of the Kingdom or Province of Judah until the 2nd Century diaspora
K
Kadosh la Yahweh = set-apart or dedicated to Yahweh, 'Holiness to the Lord', MLT motto
Karaites = Jews (from 700 AD) who reject the Talmud and accept only the Tanakh
kashrut = keeping kosher, food laws of Yahweh and correspinding lifestyle
Ketuvim = Writings or Hagiographa of the Tanakh
Khazar = a Turkic convert to Judaism ~700 AD forming the Ashkenazi Jewish community
kosher = clean foods authorised by Yahweh for human consumption
L
Lashon Hara = evil-speaking, gossip or slander
legalism = false route to salvation through works (self-salvation)
le-olam-va-ed = dispensation- or age-long, aeonian, not eternal, forever or for eternity
Lev = heart, as in Lev-Tsiyon = heart of Zion
Lev-Tsiyon = Heart of the Fortress [of Yahweh], Hebrew name of MLT's founder
M
Master = Lord, Sir, Adon(ai) - (one in authority, a ruler - a king, husband, prophet, judge)
Malak(im) = Angel(s), heavenly supernatural messenger(s)
manna = wafers of honey, bread from heaven (lit. 'what is this?')
matzah = unleavened bread, see Chag haMatzah
Menorah = 7-armed candlearbra = the 7 annual Moedim and 7-fold Ruach haQodesh
Messiah = Christ; Anti-Messiah = Antichrist
Messianic Community = Body of Christ, sum total of all true believers; all true fellowships
Messianic Israel = all who worship Yahweh, trust in Yah'shua, obey Torah and overcome
Messianic Jew = Messianic convert from Judaism still clinging to Talmudic traditions
Midrash = aggadic interpretation of scripture viâ Drash, a scriptural discussion
Mikvah = baptism by immersion of convert into Yah'shua or of wife into husband
Mishpachah = family: nuclear, congregational, tribal or the whole of Messianic Israel
MLT = Mishpachah Lev-Tsiyon = family of the heart of the fortress [of Yahweh]
Mishpat = right-ruling or judgement
mitzvah/mitzvot = commandment(s)
moed(im) = appointment(s) of Yahweh, 7 Annual Feasts, Sabbath and Rosh Chodesh
N
Nefilim, Nephilim = giant offspring of materialised demons and human women
Nevi'im = prophetic writings of the Old Testament or Tanakh
New Birth = spiritual conversion in the Ruach haRishon, being 'born again' with new heart
Nidah = a woman's menstruation period during which no intercourse is permitted
O
Olive Branch = collection of revelations, prophecies and visions published by MLT
P
Paraclete = Comforter, Advocate (NEB), Counsellor, Ruach haQodesh (Gk. paraklêtos)
PaRDeS = method of textual interpretation (homiletics) - see P'shat, Remez, Drash, Sod
Patriarch = a father who is head of his family, clan or tribe (lit. 'father-ruler')
Pentateuch = first five books of the Tanakh (Genesis-Deuteronomy), also called Torah
peribolaion = headcovering worn by daughters/wives in submission to fathers/husbands
Pesach = Passover, first of the annual feasts of Yahweh
Peshitta = an Aramaic version of the Bible
Prototrinitarianism = early, simplified MLT formulation of the Echad Godhead Doctrine
Prush(im) = Pharisee(s)
Pseudepigrapha = Non-canonical Hebrew writings additional to the Apocrypha
P'shat = literal, contextual, philological, exoteric, outer meaning of Scripture - see PaRDeS
Q
Qadosh Qadoshim = Holy of Holies, most sacred set-apart room of the Beit haMikdash
Qodesh, Kodesh = set-apart, holy (see Ruach haQodesh)
R
Rabbi = Teacher, term used by Messianic Jews and some Messianic Israelites = Pastor
Refuge, the 12 Cities of = divinely protected MLT fortresses during the 7-year Tribulation
Remez = hint or allegorical level of Hebraic understanding of Scripture - see PaRDeS
Rosh Chodesh = monthly New Moon appointment of Yahweh
ruach = spirit of a person (lit.'breath')
Ruach Elohim = Spirit of God (the Spirit of the collective Godhead or Elohim)
Ruach haChamashee = 5th Ruach presides over Yom Teruah and Yom Chamashee
Ruach haQodesh = the Sevenfold Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost (lit. 'Set-Apart Breath')
Ruach haRevee = 4th Ruach presides over Shavu'ot, Yom Revee and Bar Mitzvah
Ruach haRishon = 1st Ruach presides over Pesach, Yom Rishon and the New Birth
Ruach haShanee = 2nd Ruach presides over Chag haMatzah and Yom Shanee
Ruach haSheshi = 6th Ruach presides over Yom Kippur and Yom Sheshi
Ruach haShleshi = 3rd Ruach presides over Yom haBikkurim, Yom Shleshi and Mikvah
S
Sabbath = Yom Shabbat (Friday to Saturday sunset, add 1 day in IDL Zone)
Satan = rebel archangel Heylel, father of lies, devil, chief demon (lit.'Adversary')
Sephardic Jew = West European Jew of mixed blood containing many Judahites
Septuagint = Greek translation of the Tanakh, LXX
Shegal haShabbat = 7th Ruach (Sabbath Queen) presides over Sukkot and Yom Shabbat
Shekinah = Divine Presence and Glory of Yahweh-Elohim
Set-apart = holy, sanctified, consecrated, dedicated, separated (to and by Yahweh)
Shabbat-Shabbaton = High Sabbath (e.g. Yom Kippur)
Shalom = heavenly peace, standard Hebraic greeting invoking Yahweh's peace
Shamash(im) = servant(s), deacon(s), attendant(s)
Shavu'ot = Pentecost or Weeks, fourth of the annual feasts of Yahweh
Sheol = grave or pit, euphamism for Hades or hell - also see Tartarus
shofar = ram's horn, blown during Yahweh's Moedim
simcha = joy, keynote of Sukkot
Sod = mystical, anagogic, inner or esoteric understanding of Scripture - see PaRDeS
Sukkot = Tabernacles or Booths, seventh of the annual feasts of Yahweh
Synagogue = Greek word used by Jews and Messianics (but not MLT) for a meeting house
T
talmid(a) = male/female disciple or student
Talmud = scriptures, teachings and commentaries belonging to non-Messianic Judaism
Tanakh = acronym for Old Testament Scriptures - Torah, Nevi'im & Ketuvim
Tartarus = place of imprisonment under the earth for rebellious angels and Nephilim
teshuvah = repentance, remorse and contrition leading back to Torah obedience
Torah = Yahweh's teachings or Law; New Covenant Torah includes Yah'shua's teachings
Tribulation, the Great = the final 7 years of the present aeon when Anti-Messiah rules
Trinity = Catholic Godhead formula - see Echad Godhead Doctrine and Prototrinitarianism
Tsiyon = Zion, a fortress, a name of Jerusalem and a prominent hill
Tzitzit/Tizitziyot = tassel(s) worn by men in remembrance of Torah
U
Universalism = salvation of all at the cosmic Yovel, with different rewards and punishments
Y
Yachid = one, single person or item, as opposed to Echad (many in one, unity)
Yah'shua the Messiah = Jesus Christ (the Son)
Yahudah = Judah - see Judahite
Yahweh, Yah, YHWH = the true Name of our Heavenly Father, also carried by Yah'shua
Yahweh-Elohim = LORD God (the Father, Yahweh as Head of the Godhead or Elohim)
Yahweh haQatan = the sent Yahweh = Yah(weh)'shua, Malak of Yahweh's Presence
Yam Suf = Sea of Reeds, the true Israelite Exodus water crossing, not the Red Sea
Yarden = Jordan River (lit. 'meanderer')
Yerushalayim = Jerusalem
Yisrael = Israel (lit. 'ruling with Êl') = true believers under the New Covenant
Yom Chamashee = 5th day of the week (Thursday, Friday in IDL Zone)
Yom Din, Yom haDin = (the) Day of Judgement
Yom haBikkurim = Feast of Firstfruits, third of the annual feasts of Yahweh
Yom Revee = 4th day of the week (Wednesday, Thursday in IDL Zone)
Yom Rishon = 1st day of the week (Sunday, Monday in IDL Zone)
Yom Kippur = Day of Atonement, sixth of the annual feasts of Yahweh
Yom Shabbat = 7th day of the week and Sabbath Rest (Saturday, Sunday in IDL Zone)
Yom Shanee = 2nd day of the week (Monday, Tuesday in IDL Zone)
Yom Sheshi = 6th day of the week (Friday, Saturday in IDL Zone)
Yom Shleshi = 3rd day of the week (Tuesday, Wednesday in IDL Zone)
Yom Teruah = Day of Trumpets, fifth of the annual feasts of Yahweh
Yosef = Joseph - see Josephite
Yovel = Jubilee or Year of Jubilee
Z
Zaqen(im) = elder(s) of an assembly or congregation, or senior members of a community
Zoë Life = Greek term for spiritual life in the Messiah
Commonly Used MLT Abbreviations
For additional abbreviations and explanations, please see the Micropedia
A
Amp.V(er). = Amplified Version of the Bible
Aram. = Aramaic
AV = Authorised Version of the Bible - see KJV
B
BCAY = B'rit Chadashah Assembly of Yahweh - see NCCG
BoA = Books of Abraham (e.g. 1Abr., 2Abr., etc.)
C
cp, cf = compare with
CB(Q) = Chavurat Bekorot
CEV = Contemporary English Version of the Bible
ch. = chapter
CJB = Complete Jewish Bible
CLNT = Concordant Literal New Testament
CYe = Council of Yah's elohim
E
Eng. = English
F
ff. = and onwards/forwards
fn = footnote
G
Gk. = Greek
GNB = Good News Bible - see TEV
H
Heb. = Hebrew, Hebraic
HEM = Holy Echad Marriage, eternal marriage
HO = Holy Order - see Chavurat Bekorot
HOC = Holy Order Collection of revelations - see OB
HRV = Hebraic-Roots Version of the Bible
I
ibid. = ibidem (lit. 'in the same place'), referring to a book previously cited
ICJC = Independent Church of Jesus Christ, earlier name of NCCF
ISRV = Institute for Scripture Research Version of the Bible
J
JB = Jerusalem Bible
JBP/Phillips = J.B.Phillips translation of the New Testament
JNT = Jewish New Testament
K
KJV = King James Version of the Bible - see AV
L
LB = Living Bible
lit. = literally or literature
LXX = Septuagint, Greek translation of the OT
M
MLT = Mishpachah Lev-Tsiyon
Moff. = Moffatt translation of the Bible
MRC = Messianic Renewed Covenant Version of the NT
MS(S) = Manuscript(s)
N
NASB, NASV = New American Standard Bible/Version
NC&C = New Covenants & Commandments - see OB
NCCF = New Covenant Christian Fellowship, earlier name of NCCG
NCCG = New Covenant Church of God, earlier name of MLT - see BCAY
NCP = New Covenant Press, publishing arm of MLT
NCW = New Covenant Witness, MLT magazine
NEB = New English Bible
NIV = New International Version of the Bible
NKJV = New King James Version of the Bible
Nor. = Norwegian
NT = New Testament, B'rit Chadashah
NWT = New World Translation of the Bible, unreliable Jehovah's Witness version
O
OB = Olive Branch - see NC&C
op.cit. = opere citato (lit. in the work cited)
OT = Old Testament, Tanakh
P
p(p). = page(s)
pl. = plural - see s.
PWNC = Prophetic Words of the New Covenant, revelation cataloging system - see OB
Q
QED = quod erat demonstrandum (lit. which was shown to be proved)
R
RCF = Restoration Christian Fellowship, earlier name of ICJC
RhQ = Ruach haQodesh, Holy Spirit
RSTNE = Restoration Scriptures True Name Edition of the Bible
RSV = Revised Standard Version of the Bible
RV = Revised Version of the Bible
S
s. = singular - see pl.
S&G = Smith & Goodspeed Version of the Bible
T
TEV = Today's English Version of the Bible - see GNB
V
Vulg. = Biblia Vulgata, Latin Vulgate translation of the Bible
W
WEB = World English Bible
Glossary Copyright ©2007 Mishpachah Lev-Tsiyon (MLT) - All Rights Reserved
|
This page was first created on 7 March 2007
Last updated on 7 March 2007
Copyright ©2005 Mishpachah Lev-Tsiyon (MLT) - All Rights Reserved
|
|