Chapter 1: Personal fellowship
I wanted to share this because it it warmed my heart so much. Uh, as you know, the couple in the picture,
Christine and David, that’s my sister and my brother-in-law, David Baronson.
And they’re in our group, obviously, and one of my backdrop voices quite often.
And the other person in the picture is Daria.
Well, they they’ve been traveling through Europe and such in the last several weeks. and Daria took a train for I
don’t know how at long to meet them and they spent the day together talking and fellowshipping. And look what Daria is wearing. She’s wearing one of my shirts.
That’s awesome. Fortuitous.
Um but I just wanted to show four hours four hours at was the train.
Four hours was the train just just to meet them. And the reason why it’s so encouraging to me is because, you know,
how long have we been talking about real life fellowship with people that we know and people that are likeminded with
us? And we find a way and they found a way. And I’m I’m just excited about this. We had
um the Lychans visit us a couple of weeks ago. They’re in our group. They drove down from Arkansas to be with Joy
and I for the day and that was a a blessing. And we’ve had other people, you know, come to the house from time to
time, but we’ll find a way to to do this. And um hopefully we’ll be able to
continue to do it and find each other and fellowship with each other. But I wanted to start with that. Let’s see if this will let me advance. Okay, here we
go. Why wash tombs? How obedience became burden and tradition became law? Why did I do this lesson? Well,
Chapter 2: Introduction to the Pharisees
um I I I’m I’m not really sure. Uh it just I just was feeling something, sensing something um just based on my
interactions with um certain people, brothers, sisters online, in person. It
was just something that um I couldn’t stop thinking about, I guess.
And to be brutally honest, as I sat down to start writing this lesson, I wasn’t
entirely certain in which direction to go.
Uh, I kept changing my mind all week, all week long. I would say I didn’t
really start on working on this lesson uh until Thursday night because I felt like man I just I’m I was
praying about it, praying for wisdom, praying for insight and uh and then I just sat down and looked at the screen
and out it came. So, I’m I I’m I’m encouraged because after I listened to
this morning’s fellowship, I thought, “Wow, this this was a timely lesson.” Uh because a lot of what you
guys were talking about this morning in the fellowship we’re going to be discussing in the course of our lesson.
Chapter 3: Historical roots and growth
So, where did they come from? What is the origin of the Pharisees?
Nobody really knows. That’s shocking. I spent quite a bit of time researching their origin. And
the bottom line is the precise origin of origin of the Pharisees is historically uncertain.
Neither the Hebrew scriptures nor, you know, current contemporary records or
even Jewish literature provides a definitive account of their beginning
and later sources offer only retrospective explanations shaped by tradition and interpretation.
Hopefully you know that the title Pharisee is not an office given in scripture.
So where did they come from? Well, the really the only thing that we can really figure out is sometime after Babylon,
the 70 years that Judah spent in Babylon. Um they kind of began their their forming there. Let’s continue on.
I think we’ll we’ll learn a little bit more here. The group we see in the New Testament called Pharisees emerged in the second temple period particularly in
the centuries following the return from Babylonian exile. Their roots are traced to the Hassadim a devout group mentioned
in the um in the time of the Makabinum revolt. These men were zealous for the law. That’s a good thing. Who resisted Henistic influence. That’s a good thing.
And sought to preserve covenant faithfulness. That’s a good thing. By the 2n century BC during the Hasmonian
period, the movement developed into a distinct sect. The name Pharisee is generally linked to the Hebrew word Perishim, meaning separated ones.
Their separation was not geographic but ideological and practical.
They distinguished themselves through strict observance of the Torah along with traditions.
They believed safeguarded obedience. Now, as I’m going through this study, I’m underlining
things. I’m highlighting things in different colors because I want you to pay attention to them.
I want you to take mental notes uh in your head, in your heart of what I am highlighting here because they’re
super important. Right off the bat in this two paragraph little section here, we can see
two things that are diametrically or diabolically opposed to one another.
On one hand, they were zealous for the law. They resisted outside influence. They sought to preserve the covenant.
Those are good, good, good things.
On the other hand, they morphed into a group that took it upon themselves to do this thing called safeguarding obedience.
In other words, they became micromanagers of the body.
They’re zealous for the law, resisted influence, covenant faithfulness,
come to be known as separated ones. And I’m saying all of that sounds pretty good so far. So when what went wrong?
And it’s this. It began with this.
It began with however big they were at the time when this started, 10, 20, 100,000, I don’t know.
that it was their duty somehow to take the role of safeguarding obedience.
Now, I I come from a a conservative Christian group that
I’ve spoken of many times in these lessons.
Tim was a part of that group. Christine and David were a part of that group.
Um several of the people at garrisons were a part of that group. Our loving brother and sister Sasha and his wife in in in Finland were a part of that group.
And it’s safe to say that in that group we had the same mentality where we thought it was our duty through
the discipling relationship to safeguard obedience. And I can also tell you as all of them can tell you
that that created a great deal of strife and problems um in the church.
Chapter 4: Building the hedge
But this is the Pharisees.
They held to traditions that they believed in. And this is really the beginning. These these measures that they took to safeguarding obedience was the um womb, if you will.
for the traditions that they would eventually embrace as a people. And they called it building a hedge around the Torah.
In the Talmud, in the Mishna, this is a very well-known phrase.
this whole idea of building a hedge, building a fence around the Torah, which was a creation of additional behavioral
boundaries intended to prevent violation of a command which are not themselves commanded in scripture.
So what did that look like for a group like mine? Well, I can remember early on in my campus
days, I became a member of the church when I was a student at Arizona State University, and I can remember back in those days that if you liked a a a
sister and you wanted to say have a relationship with her, there had to be some period of of um warming up, so to
speak, in the relationship, having a date or two with her, but you couldn’t have a date week after week,
you’d have to date her once and then maybe three or four weeks later date her again and then maybe three or four weeks later date her again. And and those were
the guidelines that the leadership had put in place for our young group.
And I see some wisdom in that suggestion, especially for a man like me who was coming out of immoral relationships.
I understood the wisdom. But before long that practice, those suggestions became law in the church.
And if you violated that law, oh well, you’re not being a good disciple. And there were so many things like that.
So these things became cemented in the mentality of the members of the
group which is what happened in the days of the Pharisees development.
They took on this role of building a fence around the Torah so that if you stumbled, you would stumble on the fence and not actually on the Torah. Sounds wonderful.
Sounds like a good idea. Until the hedge became the law.
Until the fence became something that you could sin in crossing it, it would be called sin.
So, we can begin to see how they started and it’s very similar to how many of us got started in many other uh groups.
Matthew 20 uh what is that? Matthew 23.
Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you are like whitewashed tombs, which indeed appear beautiful outwardly,
but inside are full of dead men’s bones and of all uncleanness. Even so, you
also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
Chapter 5: Whitewashed tombs
So, here’s our theme text where Yeshua is calling these men of respect,
these men of uh spiritual authority, whitewashed tombs.
Historically, the Pharisees have become the people that believers love to hate.
And isn’t that true? When you think about as much as we read about them in our
coming up in the church or the lessons that we’ve heard preached or the things that we saw ourselves and reading the
scriptures, we no doubt were all of us alike reading about these Pharisees and thinking to ourselves, man, what a bunch of jerks.
I’m glad I’m not like him. I’m glad I’m not like them.
And so they became the obvious enemy, so to speak, of Christ, the obvious bad guy.
They are treated in our Bible study as the clear enemy of Christ and the obvious example of what not to be. Would
we agree with that, Tim? Uh Samuel, would you agree as you as you read about the Pharisees, did you have these thoughts pop into your head?
Oh, yeah. Definitely, Kim.
Absolutely. For sure. I mean, they’re vilified, right? Um, but we have to be careful that we don’t vilify ourselves is by being by being them. Yeah.
Focusing on it.
Go ahead, Sam. Samuel, you were going to say something.
All I was going to say is that the last thing you want to do is is get painted with the brush of being a Pharisee. Yes. Any walk at all.
Yes. But let’s look at this next sentence. Oddly enough, we
never seemed to look at them through the prism of our own lives.
I didn’t, like so many others, as I would read about the Pharisees, I would look at them and go, “Wow, I’m
so glad I’m not like those guys.” But I never stopped to consider and ask the question, “Am I like those guys?”
We just don’t. That’s not something that we inherently do when we read about bad guys in scripture.
And that distance creates this false sense of security as if their failure
belongs only to them and not to a pattern that can repeat itself in our hearts.
One has to stop and wonder why the Holy Spirit desired to have so
much about the Pharisees in scripture as Yeshua’s enemy
if not to teach us the eklesia a lesson about what we could become and in our
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hearts and I think history has proven that it has. And I’m going to show you that here in a moment. But look at the
some of the things that Yeshua laid at their feet. He called them hypocrites.
Ed, have you ever been a hypocrite in your walk? I have.
Sam, Samuel, Tim, have you ever been a hypocrite in your walk? Absolutely. Yes. Blind guides.
Have I ed been a blind guide? I have.
For the many years that I taught, preached, pastored in [clears throat] my old group, I was a lawless person and I taught lawlessness.
I was a blind guide. Fools. Yeah. Blind men. Yeah.
Lawless. Guilty. already confessed it.
Serpents and vipers. He used these words [snorts] to describe what it looks like
for someone who stands opposed whether they intend to or not. And we’re going to get into that in a moment.
What he is and who he and what he stands for.
And he lands on this word called whitewashed tombs which for the people at the moment provided a stark
visual image in their heads because what does that mean?
They would whitewash tombs. They would take they would they would paint them white so that that they would be easier
to see. They would paint the stones over graves and in on tombs so that they
would be easier to see, so that they wouldn’t get unclean by walking near or touching a tomb or a grave.
And so these words that Yeshua was laying at the at the Pharisees feet were drastic and they didn’t stop there.
He says that they elevated their appearance over substance.
And here’s a funny thing, try as I might, and I did try for a whole day
to find the history behind the garb that Pharisees chose to wear.
And like just like their origin, there is nothing
in scripture, in Jewish literature, anywhere
that can tell us why they as a group chose to wear the robes they wore, chose
to wear the hats that they that they wore.
The only viable answer is that they wanted to elevate their appearance. They
were set apart and they wanted everybody else to know it.
They magnified minor details while neglecting what actually mattered.
They loved position and authority even though nobody ever gave them position or authority.
They blocked others from truth. We’re going to go into what that looks like here in a moment as well. They ultimately corrupted what they taught.
And we all know because we’ve let read this so many times in our study how they distorted the law through weird little technicalities.
They’re called whitewashed tombs because they constructed a system that looked like righteousness. Stop. This is for
all of you in the in the YouTube audience who are currently in a Christian environment.
You are a member of a Christian church and you stumbled across this video. This what I’m about ready to say is is for you and for you alone.
I’m going to read that sentence again.
They’re called whitewashed tombs because they constructed a system that looked like righteousness.
That is a very important statement because if you’re like me, and I think most of you probably are,
when you read things about Yeshua’s interaction with the Pharisees and you
saw Yeshua rebuking the Pharisees so often,
you were either led to believe or chose to believe that what Yeshua was rebuking
was their radical dedication to obedience.
He wasn’t because they constructed a system that looked like righteousness. It wasn’t righteousness. It was lawless.
They were changing the father’s laws. They were rewriting the father’s laws.
In many cases, they were overwriting the father’s laws. And this to the
untrained eye like mine, like yours, looked like Jesus had a problem, Yeshua had a problem with them taking righteousness so seriously.
But that wasn’t the case at all. They constructed this system that actually looked like righteousness, taught righteousness, and was honored as
righteousness, yet was internally driven by pride, control, and distortion of Yahw’s commandment.
like a tomb. They carefully maintain the exterior.
They wanted to look right. They wanted to sound right.
But inside was the very uncleanness that the law was meant to expose and remove.
Chapter 6: Authority and interpretation
Samuel, can you read that box?
Gladly. Development into teachers and leaders. Over time, the Pharisees became recognized as interpreters of the law.
Unlike the priestly class tied to the temple, their authority was not based on lineage, but on knowledge and instruction.
They functioned in synagogues, taught to people, and influenced daily religious life. Their authority grew because they
presented themselves as guardians of proper interpretation.
They emphasized detailed application of commandments into everyday life, creating structured systems of practice that extended beyond the written text.
Oh, thank you. So hopefully by paying careful attention to the underlined and highlighted parts of that statement, you can already see some of the problem.
They became recognized as interpreters of the law. Not because someone gave
them that authority or gave them that right. They weren’t Levites.
They were Judah. They were Benjamin. How do I know that?
Well, we know that by Paul. Paul was from Benjamin. The Levites operated in and around the temple. That was their service.
And yet these guys had this authority where they were influencing daily life outside of Levitical teaching within the temple.
So in other words, they claimed authority when none is given in the Torah.
And oftentimes that authority that they claimed was in conflict with Levitical teaching on matters of lawful interpretation.
Through social interaction and ruling synagogue gatherings, they influenced people’s lives, setting themselves up as
guardians of truth. Here’s a picture that I I had AI make, so it’s by no means accurate. It’s just for the purposes of making a point.
In the middle, you had the temple which the Levitical priesthood was responsible for maintaining. Much of
their teaching happened within the temple. Much of their serving happened in the temple. Uh they didn’t all live at the temple, but that’s where the
concentration if you will of the teaching and the learning was going on.
But we also had these outlying villages that were not in or close to the temple.
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And the this is where the Pharisees lived.
So the Pharisees kind of living amongst the people became this source of authority.
And over time the people in those cities just looked to them as they would a Levitical priest.
even though the Pharisees not in any way, shape or form had that authority.
So that’s important little information to know about the history of these bad guys. Tim, can you read this with me here?
Chapter 7: The slide into elitism
Yeah. So what did we see? They began as a reform movement seeking to preserve covenant faithfulness.
They developed into a body of interpreters who extended the law into detailed applications based solely on
their interpretation. They gained social and religious authority through teaching and public recognition not by calling or
priestly lineage i.e. Aaron but they sought to influence people’s daily lives based on these interpretations.
They presented themselves as guardians of proper interpretation and they became identified with positions of honor, titles, and invisible expressions of piety.
Yeah.
Giving you a little insight into my past, I’m afraid, um, in this lesson,
but I realized in doing this lesson how much of this, uh, hit me right in the forehead.
Let me explain.
before I came to my old church of which I was a member for 35 years.
Again, I was a college student and before meeting up with the the church, I
was a part of several other Christian churches in my upbringing.
My grandmother exposed me to a church at an early age, a unified church of Christ, which is not in any way, shape,
or form a part of the Church of Christ I was a part of, but it was church nonetheless.
And then denominational Christian groups where I would go to camp and become, you know, youth leaders and that kind of
stuff. Charismatic church, even my other grandmother exposed me to a charismatic church. I had a lot of church background.
before I actually sat down and studied the Bible with the group that I eventually spent so much time with.
And the person that was studying the Bible with me and trying to teach me what it
meant to be a disciple recognized this about my character.
And during the course of one of the studies, he pulled out Matthew 23.
And if you know about Matthew 23, the entire chapter is dedicated to Yeshua’s rebuke of the Pharisees.
And he read the entire chapter, the entire time pointing his finger at me.
Was he wrong to do that? No, I don’t think he was. I think he was absolutely right based on my past.
But it again it nailed me to the wall and it helped humble me because like them I this was this was me.
But you know what the reason I’m teaching this lesson to you is because some of this stuff can sneak into the
eklesia and has snuck into the eklesia.
The Pharisees began as a movement devoted to preserving obedience to the law. Is that you? Yeah, it’s me too. But
over time, their authority, their traditions, and their public identity became central. Can that be true?
Yeah, it can.
Yeshua’s rebuke identifies the end result of this trajectory. A form of righteousness that is externally maintained
yet internally defiled where visible purity conceals inward corruption likened to the tomb filled with death.
And so I asked, did you see anything in this these last few slides that kept popping up to you? Hopefully you did, but I’m going to make sure you do.
Chapter 8: The trap of groupthink
They all began with a zeal for the law and a heart of faithfulness.
That that’s the origin of the Pharisees. That’s how they began.
They they began with truth. They began with wanting to love Yahw.
They began with the zeal of Phineas to covenant faithfulness.
And we would call that faith.
They be they became proficient in understanding lawful teaching. Have we
become proficient in understanding lawful teaching? I hope so. I hope we’re growing in that every day. I believe I
am. I believe Sam is. Samuel, I believe Tim is. And I believe you are, too. I believe we’re all exceeding in our
understanding of what the father is communicating through his law and we would call that wisdom.
They separated themselves from the world.
Are you separating yourselves from the world? I think you are. I think we all are. I think we all want to trying to be
separate from Babylon. Trying to remove ourselves from ungodly practices and ways. And we would call that conviction.
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And so like the Pharisees, they also began with faith and wisdom and conviction.
But then something happened.
They began to separate themselves not just from the world but from the people of Israel.
They wanted to be separate even within the separate. [laughter] Do you understand why I giggle at that Samuel?
Yes.
The the chosen, the elect, the separate Israel, they they wanted to be separate even from that bunch,
which is a problem. And we would call that pride and elitist.
Now before I continue, we have to internalize the things that I’m saying here
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because one of the things I’ve sensed in the in the last oh I don’t know five to seven
years is this beginning to happen within the global body of believers.
Oh yeah, there are some people who are embracing Torah, but they’re not embracing it like I am. Those people are
serving Yah, but they’re missing A, B, and C, and they’re not like me and my
group. And historically that signified the beginning of the
ultimate downfall of this sect of believers called the Pharisees.
Before I move on, Tim Samuel, any thoughts on this so far? Yeah, I I I I I
have some thoughts on, you know, Yeshua like was totally against uh the
external, you know, external practice of religion. I it reminds me of, you know, in Matthew 19 just a couple chapters
earlier, you know, he just got talking done talking about the the rich man going through the eye of the needle, you know, is similar to like a camel, you
know, to go through an eye of needle, but he’s talking not really talking about wealth. If you look at the word, he’s talking about our identity. we have to lose our identity. Um everything
everything gets put at the cross and we and we give up. So we need to be internally internally pure and so he was
all about that. So anyway, just a just a contrasting thought is all the the one thing that I would I would
say, brother Ed, and I would unpack this a little carefully, is the the the tribe of Judah did have elements of of Levi
amongst them. The priesthood was was still present. Um Caiaphas and and Annis
were were priests. They served in the capacity of high priest but they were also a part of the of the of the
Pharisees. So you did have elements of of those who probably could trace some heritage to Levi within Judah who
participated within the structure of the Pharisees. Um just as you had Sadducees also that were part and parcel of the Sanhedrin.
Um the the the the one thing though with respect to to Levites, all Levites were not Cohen.
And you can look back in the um the Torah and you see the story of of Kora
and his rebellion because he was a Levite, but he wanted to be elevated to the place of a Cohen. Um in
you have to define that word Samuel for the I’m sorry. I’m sorry. Um Cohen is is priest. So you have the Cohen which is a
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priest and then you have the Cohen Gdal which is the high priest and Aaron was the high priest and his sons all four at
the time I believe of of Kora’s uh rebellion who were also priest and ultimately it went I believe to Eleazar
as a successive high priest. So there’s a whole history that’s packed within that. But suffice it to say that during
the time of the the Mcabes um the Hasmonian um dynasty, you had the elements of Levites that were not of the line of Zadok that took over the role.
Um and that’s part of what transpired with respect to the establishment of the Pharisee sect. um because of the
compromises that were made with uh with Greece um that denigrated the the Torah. There’s a
whole history behind that, but I won’t go into it right now, but I just wanted to add that that element to it. Brother Ed, thank you. Appreciate it. Interesting little bit of study for you if you’re
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interested. not you Sam but Samuel but everybody is uh do a little bit of research on Caiaphas and how he got that role who installed him as high priest
and and why side note but that’s good stuff thank you Samuel okay so they separated themselves from they began to separate themselves from the people of
Israel becoming prideful and elitist they elevated their interpretations above all and
historically even against Levites as Samuel I think just said that there
historically there were some Levites who tended to uh side with rabbitical interpretations and others that didn’t.
So there was a division on what the Pharisees were teaching even amongst the Levites.
And when they elevate their interpretations above everybody else, we’ve come to know that as what?
Terrorists. Torah terrorist. Someone said that who’s got a mic on. [laughter]
Make sure your mic’s off. Um, yes, they became Torah terrorists and including
their traditions, forcing their traditions down people’s throats. Right?
So, in doing so, the scriptures tell us that they became enemies of Christ.
They were lost, spiritually lost, potentially,
eternally lost. And the scriptures say that they were making disciples just like themselves, thus perpetuating this ideology.
What does Yeshua say? serpents, brood of vipers.
How can you escape the condemnation of hell?
Chapter 9: Self-examination for believers
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So, man, look at the swing.
What kind of a swing was this? Well, some say that the Pharisees started to appear shortly after their arrival back
into Israel after the Babylonian exile.
That would put them around the 400 to 300 BC mark.
And by the time Yeshua came, they were already a fullfledged system,
a full-fledged sect that embodied all of these prides, terrorism, elitism.
How long was that?
300 years? three and a half, 350 years before they went from loving the law
and had a heart for faithfulness to having Yeshua asking them how they’re going to escape hell.
You recall a few weeks ago when I taught you that the direction of your life matters?
Ask yourself this question. Tim, can you read that for us?
Did Yeshua take their beginning into account when he made this statement? Did he?
I think so. Explain.
I mean, I think he knew they loved the law, but it bec they became corrupt. He verse 25, two verses before your theme
passage, he he he’s really going after them for now hidden corruption. But I
think he knew um their origin potentially started out good, but it quickly ended.
Their origin, of course, he knew their origin.
Knowing their origin did not soften his words to them about hell.
So I my answer to that question would be no.
And the reason I’m saying that is because there’s this mentality in the lives of a lot of believers who think that just because they prayed Jesus in
their heart or they made some type of, you know, faithful gesture at some point in their life that when they’re standing before the Lord, he’s going to take that
in consideration even though the rest of their life was a mess and they weren’t faithful at all.
It’s the E ticket for salvation. Consider the Pharisees.
Consider how they started. Faith, wisdom, conviction.
Less than 400 years later, Yeshua is wondering if they’re going to make it at all.
And he’s calling them blind guides and serpent serpents.
The direction of your life matters. What was the direction of their life then? That’s the question.
Hence the stark the stern words from Yeshua. Samuel, can you read that?
Where are we in this progression of the climate?
Yeah, I left that bottom part of the screen open so that you could answer this question.
That’s how we need to read the Pharisees by always comparing ourselves to what
the spirit is saying in scripture. So the question is in this progression where are we?
Well, I’m sorry to say this, but all of us, all of us are on one of
these stages and may not even realize it. It’s safe to say that each of us are here because
we began with a pure heart of faithfulness and wanting to obey Yahw. That’s true.
Several of us have become proficient in understanding the scriptures and are considered to be wise among our peers. That’s true.
We’ve all made the decision to come out of the world and be separate from Babylon. That’s true.
However, I think we’ve all seen and experienced those who have attempted to set
themselves apart from within the eklesia by elevating their interpretation of
scripture above everyone else as if they alone have discovered the real truth.
And in doing so, they have often embraced teachings that are handed down to them as truth,
which upon examination proved to be nothing more than traditions established by men rather than the authority of the
text itself. And I’m here to tell us this morning that we, who’s the we,
the eklesia, the people who have had our eyes opened to the truth of the scriptures, the people who have been awakened, the
people who have been called, that’s us.
We are the people who are at most risk of becoming Pharisees in our hearts.
Not the church, not the Christian church. They’re already there.
They’ve been there for 2,000 years. It’s us.
We are the people who are most at risk of becoming like them. And that needs to [snorts] humble us.
Becoming like the Pharisees is our greatest threat as believers. Thus the
reason so much is taught about them in the gospels and beyond.
Consider Israel. Consider the kings.
Consider the prophets. Some of them consider the seven churches.
And consider 2,000 years of Christianity in in addition to the Pharisees who within 400 years lost their way.
Israel did.
Most of the kings did. A handful of prophets did.
The seven churches, some of them, not all of them did.
and 2,000 years of Christianity, humanity, even when beginning with sincere faith
and pure intentions, has consistently demonstrated a tendency to drift toward
human centered reasoning, gradually elevating its own interpretations and practices until they
become established traditions that over time obscure the original authority and simplicity of what was first received.
Chapter 10: Solutions for the path
What’s the solution? How do we escape this inevitable trap?
Because we’re susceptible to it. I’ll tell you one thing that I’ve adopted in
my life that’s helped me tremendously is this. When I first came to the
realization, the real hard realization, that Yhovah’s laws are eternal
and they were never abolished, they never went away and all of them are applicable to me if I call myself a believer.
When I really realized when that really settled in my heart, it was like a nuclear bomb went off in my life
because not only was I pleasantly refreshed by the idea that all these things applied to me.
On the flip side of that coin, I was devastated
that I had spent 35 years opposed to Christ, not knowing these things, teaching
against these things, things that I was absolutely certain that I was correct
on, but I was absolutely wrong. and and coming to grips with the fact that I had
been wrong about so much, I resolved at that moment in my heart
that I would never be dogmatic again about anything that I thought I believed.
Minus the cross, minus the resurrection, on those two things, I am immovable.
But everything else, am I gonna stand on something that I’m absolutely convicted of and not listen
to a Samuel, not listen to a Tim, not listen to a Luke or somebody else? No. I I will not do that. I refuse to do that.
I examine everything against scripture now, and I never did that before.
But I’m here to tell you that story because it’s a safeguard.
It’s it’s in it’s part and parcel how we escape this trap by not allowing things to solidify in
our hearts that have no place being there because we listen to somebody teach something.
How do we escape this trap? Understand the problem with humility.
Samuel Jeremiah 17:9 says, “The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Who can know it?”
How do you explain that passage?
To my understanding, we live in self-d delusion.
So we’ll tell ourselves things to make ourselves look right in our own eyes and justify certain decisions that we take
and certain stances that we we take as well. Yeah. Go ahead. I’m sorry.
No, I was just I was just going to ask Tim if he agreed, but go ahead if you have more to say. No, no, I’ll leave it there, brother Ed.
Okay, Tim. Yeah, I think it’s making a point that we are subjective and God is objective. Yahw is objective.
And he’s basically saying, “Hey, you you guys you’re you’re not what you think you are. In fact, you’re so bad or lost
without me that you are incorruptible and unredeemable without me.” So, I just think that’s what he’s trying to say.
Uh, yeah. All of which is true. Well, both both of you brothers shared when I look at this scripture, what I think of is I’m hopeless.
I cannot trust my heart. And aren’t we all so prone to trust what’s in our heart?
We we we love to trust the things in our heart. We just do.
And yet Jeremiah is saying, “No, you can’t do that. You you cannot trust your heart.” Why?
Because it lies to you. It’s desperately wicked.
49 minutes
And it’s so desperately wicked we we don’t know who can know it except for the father.
So we have to understand that’s a problem that we live in this world with a heart that is deceitful above all else.
And that thing is beaten in our chest right now. Ecclesiastes 9. Ecclesiastes 9. This is an evil that in all that is
done under the sun that one thing happens to all truly the hearts of the sons of men are full of evil.
Madness is in their hearts while they live and after they go to the dead.
So Solomon like Jeremiah is reminding us that all under the sun have a problem.
And it’s the madness in our hearts.
And it’s the tendency to become what the Pharisees became.
We all search for like-minded individuals. And that’s true. And that’s not really wrong.
What becomes wrong is when that group of like-minded individuals begin group think, which I’m going to go into here
in a second that stands opposed to the scripture. And then this verse,
Zechariah, then he showed me Joshua, the high priest, standing before the angel of the Lord. And well, guess what?
Satan standing right next to him to oppose him.
And that’s part of the equation that we have to understand with humility.
One, we have our fleshly body, our fleshly heart and mind working against us.
But two, we have an enemy that is, guess what? sometimes standing right next to you,
ready to oppose you, ready to take advantage of the weakness that is your heart.
The second thing is we have to have only one standard. Trust in Yahw with all of your heart.
Stop. Look at the two verses in red, the two words in red. On one hand, Jeremiah said, “Oh, the heart’s deceitful above
all else.” Proverbs says, “Trust in him with all of your heart.” So, how do we overcome the curse of Jeremiah 17?
By trusting in him with all of our heart. And one other thing, lean not on
your understanding, lean not on what your heart is telling you,
but to trust in him with all of your heart. When that happens, the scripture says, “He shall direct your paths.”
You, we all know the theme verse of this entire channel. Jeremiah 6:16,
stand in the ways and ask where the right path is, the good path, the path that leads to understanding and walk in that path.
we choose to walk in that path or not because the rest of that verse says they said they wouldn’t. So there’s always that option.
But no, we stand in those ways. We look at the paths and we make a decision which path to follow. Hopefully his. And then once that happens, the father says
he’ll direct you on that path if you can trust him with all of your heart
and not step into run into these traps that humanity has fallen into time and time again. Isaiah 8.
And when they say to you, seek those who are mediums and wizards who whisper and mutter. Should not a people seek their own God? to the law and to the
testimony. If they do not speak according to this word, it’s because there is no light in them.
Okay, here’s where we’re going to finish up on this lesson. It’s very important part.
Isaiah, seek th these people are seeking those who are mediums and something called wizards.
The word for medium in the Hebrew is basically what you think it would be, a mediator between spiritual things and earthly things.
But the word for Hebrew, the word in the Hebrew for wizards is interesting.
The term is derived from the root yada, a word that we looked at some weeks ago in another lesson, meaning to know.
It refers to someone called a knower.
one who claims supernatural knowledge.
And the people are being rebuked for seeking out these knowowers. Why? To know what they know.
To get the secret sauce, to get the secret wisdom that they know.
And Yahw says to the law and to the testimony, if they don’t speak according to this word, then what they know is
useless. Why? Because there’s no light in them.
And that’s striking because it’s the knowowers who claim to have the light.
And sometimes it’s the knowowers that we look to for light.
But if their knowledge is not conformed through the prism of what is written and
what is revealed, then that’s a problem. And that’s what the Pharisees became. So I want to take a quick final
look at this. Pharisees are Pharisees in part because they are or were nepotistic
in their approach to truth. one of your brothers care to take a stab at defining that word. Nepatism.
Go ahead, Tim. You get it. [laughter] Oh, man. I got to go back to university.
Uh, nepotism is typically a a privilege that’s passed down from a father to a son.
Yeah. Yeah. It’s family. It’s it’s it’s um inheritance.
Yeah. Familiar authority, familiar, you know, uh inheritance, as you said.
They were feeding off each other. The Pharisees became Pharisees or they were Pharisees because in part because they were nepotistic in their approach to
truth, receiving, preserving, and enforcing what was handed down
56 minutes
within their own circle as authoritative rather than submitting all things to the written word. What does that mean in
layman’s terms? They formed a group and within this group things were handed down. And how was it handed down? Well,
they would start writing down in the Mishna in the documents that would become the Talmud their interpretation of scripture.
That interpretation was then passed down to the next generation of Pharisees of rabbis who would then put their interpretation and most of the time it was in line with the previous one.
Sometimes it wasn’t.
But this authority that they took was based on this handed down
quote unquote truths which were no truths at all.
The question we have to ask is do we do that?
57 minutes
They were knowers. And like the Pharisees, some well-intentioned believers claimed to have special
insights which they’ve heard from others who had similar claims, who heard from others who had similar claims,
etc., etc., etc. And this became a thing called group think, which just perpetuated falsehood until
it became their truth. And I point you back to Isaiah 8.
Everything has to be filtered through scripture. I don’t care who said it or why they said it. That includes this group. That includes me and Samuel and
Timothy and David and who whoever else has the boldness to speak in this group.
If it does not conform to the word, there is no light.
A belief, a claim, a conviction must agree with prior revelation. Who’s his? the fathers.
And again, even if the person doing the talking says some miraculous thing, and it has happened, if it doesn’t conform to the word, then it’s garbage.
Well-intentioned believers. The Pharisees were well-intentioned believers when they started. That defines us. But
there’s also this thing in scripture called wolves, right, in scripture.
And my question here as we end, do you think the people of Israel believed that their Pharisee leadership had good intentions?
Yes or no, Sam? Tim?
[laughter]
I’m I’m going to say I’m going to say yes and no because well mo mostly no.
But well, your your your answer is tainted by what you know now.
Correct. putting yourself back then Samuel back then um what we would call the lay
people yes they they would have entrusted the religious authority yeah they would have believed that that
that they had good intentions Matthew 7 beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep’s clothing
well intended right they look like a believer. They sound like a believer, but inwardly they are wolves.
Chapter 11: Avoiding the wolf’s trap
Yeshua said in Matthew 10, “I’m sending you out as sheep in the midst of these well-intended people.
Therefore, be wise as serpents and harmless as doves.” So, the intention of a person doesn’t
even matter. And that’s why I started this lesson by saying, “You’re one of these without even knowing it possibly.
You have to examine yourself to see where you are on that list because you may be well intended, but
you’re not holding to the truth. You’re not you’re not staying on the path and you’re trying to take people with you.
Even though your intentions are good, Yeshua has some stark things to say about that.
Don’t limit your knowledge from men like this. Now, this is an AI image that I had created this morning.
They all look really good except for me.
[laughter]
That’s awesome.
I look more like Glenn Garrison than I do me in that picture. But who do you have here? You have Ed Doss. You have Doug Hamp. You have Luke. You have Jim.
You have RDE. You have Cortez.
All these guys are well intended, right?
Scripture says, “Don’t be called Rabbi, for one is your teacher, the Christ, and you are all brethren.” Why does he say that?
I believe these men to have good hearts and are seeking Yahw like you are.
But they are human and are subject to the very same traps that you are subjected to.
They can’t be your rabbis.
They can’t be the people that you follow in group think lest you fall like them.
Yeshua has to be your rabbi. I might say some great things. Fine. Doug might say some great things. Fine.
So can Luke, Jim, all of them.
But they are human and they are fighting the fight that you’re fighting right now.
Yeshua has to be your rabbi. Remember the question we’re trying to answer. How do we escape the trap?
By enduring. Enduring how? by keeping Yeshua your your rabbi.
Psalm 25, show me your ways, Yhovah.
Teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth and teach me. You are the God of my salvation, and on you I wait all the day.
The these are the solutions from us falling into that trap. And I’m teaching this lesson in a way
that would cause you hearer, listener, watcher
to have the humility to stop and ask, “Okay, where am I at on that list?” And and if you’re in a bad place, if
you’re down in the red section, that’s okay. Just just repent. recognize that half the battle of winning anything spiritually
1 hour, 3 minutes
is understanding where you’re at. That’s half the battle.
And when you realize where you’re at, there’s really only one way to go, and that’s up if you let him take you there.
But again, it’s time for me to shut up. I want to hear your thoughts, your words, your
comments, your rebukes. As you know, I always take them and I want to hear them. Let’s see. I can see Luke’s hand up. Go ahead, Luke. Shabbat shalom, Ed.
Shabbat shalom, Mishbaka.
[clears throat]
Matthew 24 4 and 5. And Yeshua answered and said unto them, Take heed that no
man deceives you, for many shall come in my name, saying, I am Messiach, and shall deceive many.
The same way Yeshua came in his father’s name representing him having full
authority to give credence to his word.
That is how all men come saying I’ve got the answers. I’ve got you know uh
I’ve read scripture and I understand it and this is what it says. My morning shema consists of a prayer where I where
it I say, “Father, let me not and let me not be deceived.” And that is so important, humility. And Ed, I I pray
you’ll do a teaching on humility, a really deep dive into what humility
is. And I I believe it comes down to being willing to listen to all arguments
and come away with your own spirit-led
deep prayerled interpretation of what anybody ever presents to us. And that includes you,
that includes anybody and all people that I listen to. I say, Father, please let me not be deceived.
Just lead me on the narrow path of righteousness that leads to your coming kingdom.
Do not let my foot turn to the left or to the right. Humility is so important.
And I the first 50 plus years of my life
[laughter]
look like an ongoing slow motion train wreck.
And I am the first person to raise my hand when they somebody says, “Does anybody know not what’s going on?” Yep, that’s me.
Yep, that’s me. I have no idea what’s going on. And all I can do is pray and pray for discernment.
So with that, Shabbat shalom.
Amen, brother. Thank you. Appreciate your insights as always. Okay, let’s see. Gordon’s got his hand up. Go ahead, Gordon. Shalom, Ed. And I appreciate the lesson.
Um, I think since we’re going down this direction, I think it’s just a great idea as far as what Luke said, you know,
to dive more deeper into um um humility. And I think, you know, um I
think one of the things about it is is that I was thinking about is in Luke 18 when it’s talking about the tax
collector and the Pharisee. And I think often times I put down the notes as far as what it was in the section, but I
think it’s just one of those things where like I know sometimes in myself, for example, like I don’t want to give up control.
Like I feel like I want to be control of everything all the time. And God’s been showing me more often and kind of
pruning me in a way to to say, “No, I’m in control. you’re not.
You think you’re in control, but you’re not. And I think giving the control over to God and letting God just do what God does in all humility is a great way.
And, you know, it’s one of those things that God has been Yahovah has been teaching me more often than anything
else. And I, you know, um, and I think one of the things that it comes down to that humbles me more often than anything
else is serving. And this could be in some directions like food pantries. This could be in like soup kitchens. This can
be giving um food to the poor, you know, things of that nature because it takes
it off of you of being the supreme thought, the perceived ego. And I try to
do that as much as possible. Not because I’m trying to show off, but because I’m trying to force my brain to humiliate me
in a sense of saying like, you know what, you don’t have to go and do XYZ. You can serve. That’s how you can show.
And and I think more often than not, I think even in the Old Testament, even in the Torah, it just shows over and over
again for God saying, “I don’t want you to be a stiff neck people. I don’t want you to even go that route.” They didn’t
listen. But I think it’s just one of those things that it has to be something we have to keep going on about discernment. And even what Luke was
saying is praying to not be deceived cuz it’s so easy to get on our own footprint. But uh I just want to leave
it at that. I can keep ranting all day, but I want to basically have humility and not think of myself more highly than I ought. So [laughter] thanks again.
Amen, brother. I appreciate you. Um let’s see. Sean and Charlene Nap, I think you’re I think this is this the
first time that you’re with us? [snorts] Not the first time, but Oh, okay.
question. So, um I don’t know. I don’t know. It’s a question that I don’t know if there’s time for answer. Maybe I can bring it up in the Telegram group later.
But my question I kind of relates to the discussion that was happening ahead of time and then all that you just said and you know wanting to walk in humility and not thinking that we have it all right.
So, Yah has opened my eyes to much of it, right? to this to the Sabbath to the feast to the it is his laws are still in
effect, right? Um but I don’t have it all down. I don’t I don’t have all understanding. I don’t have all
knowledge about it. And so my question is about those in the Sunday church. Um because I was once there, right? I think most of us were once there. Um are they
still our brothers and sisters? And if so, how do we still love them and um
again not be the Pharisees or the whatever, but also how do we be a light if we’re not even interacting with them at all? So, I’m really always struggling
1 hour, 10 minutes
with how how are we to interact with those that are they still they may
follow 95% of the Torah, right? But they don’t have those maybe some of the new openings that we have because they’ve been taught not to, right? And so, how
Chapter 12: Q&A and closing thoughts
do we have compassion on that? And how do we interact and are we supposed to completely avoid that? Um
well that’s my question and it kind of relates also to you know and that you see in the scriptures that Yeshua and the Pharisees or not sorry Yeshua and the disciples excuse me. Um you know it
said they would go to the synagogues as was their custom on the Sabbath. And my question is you know did they go there primarily to worship to hear the
scriptures read which possibly but also they were always interacting they were always proclaiming truth they were
always um being a light there right um not compromising trying to reach their brethren um and so to bring that into
our world how do we how would we do the same if we avoid the Sunday church if we won’t participate even in the outer court I’m not talking about worship or
or hearing you know things that we know to be false. But there are outer courts even in in church settings. Um there’s lobbies, there’s potluck dinners,
there’s there’s outer courts where you would be interacting in somewhat the same way. Um and so how do you do that without compromising your own faith? Um
what is the right answer to that? You see what I’m saying? It’s a struggle for me because I know that many of them probably may have a deeper walk with
Yahw in many other areas than I do. So am I any better because I can tick the Sabbath box? I don’t know. You see what I’m saying? How do I um discern that?
How do we how do we do that? Because they don’t meet on Saturday. They don’t meet on Sabbath for us to go to the synagogue. They meet on Sundays. And are we going to completely stay away from
that? Or are there some outer courts where we can still interact and love and be part of our brethren in some way? Or are they not our brethren? There we go.
Very, very good question, sister. Uh, I have an answer, but I wanted to open it
1 hour, 12 minutes
up to the rest of the group first. If any of you feel like you have some words of wisdom in answering her, please do so
and then I’ll I’ll finish. Anybody want to jump in there and answer her questions?
I I can probably share some some things with Sister Charlene.
I I’ve I’ve stated this before and this is just my understanding of my stance.
I consider those who submit to Yeshua Hamashiach and who embrace guarding the Torah as
brother and sister. And that doesn’t mean hatred or animosity towards anyone who is outside that covenant relationship.
But if you’re not within the covenant, I I don’t embrace you as a brother or a sister. Maybe a cousin,
maybe a second cousin, but not a brother or a sister until you come into covenant. Covenant is the
important aspect of it. And covenant is what determines whether or not you are a part of the family. We are all Yhovah’s
Elohim’s creation, but we are not all his children. And some who may profess
to follow the way. Some who profess to obey are actually the seeds of Satan and
they show so by their fruit or their lack thereof.
With respect to your question in terms of how to navigate witnessing, I think first and foremost is your own walk.
You have to get your relationship right with Messiah and with the father. That is your first and primary concern to
deepen your understanding and to come to understand what is your purpose and role in service to Messiah and in service to
the body and through the light that you shine as you come into greater understanding.
There will be others who will be able to see that light and those that are going to gravitate towards it will start asking you questions
and you because you have studied and you have prayed and you are receptive to the ruakadesh will be able to give voice to an answer
so that they may indeed also receive understanding and too may come into the knowledge of the truth. Now, where you
have to be careful is thinking that you’re going to go into a Sunday church and that you’re going to overturn the
traditions of men and that you’re going to be able to impose upon them your understanding.
When you think about leadership and being a leader, that doesn’t mean that you’re pulling. It doesn’t mean that you’re pushing, but it means that you
1 hour, 15 minutes
are guiding. You’re showing the way. And yes, you do want to interact with others who may be lost, but not to the point
where you place yourself in a situation where you become subject to false doctrine and then you end up questioning
your own walk. That’s a dangerous thing, especially if you’re new in the walk and you’re not quite settled yet. People
like Brother Ed, people like Brother Snow, people like Brother Luke, um even people like Brother Cordon may be more
advanced in their walk. So they can walk into certain scenarios and because they’re firm in their faith and they
have understanding when they’re challenged on something, they can speak to it effectively.
But when you’re still wobbling and you need support, you want to stay within the boundaries of the covenant relationship to receive edification and
receive um further rooting in the word and the knowledge of the truth to strengthen you. And the last thing I’ll
say, everyone isn’t called to teach, but everyone is called to witness. And the chief witness, the chief testimony is
the work of the Ruak Kakadesh in your life. And the fact that because you follow Torah, you follow the instructions, and you do so faithfully,
there’s fruit that you can bear, and that can be clearly seen, even if it’s not heard from your lips.
Amen. Um I I would I would I I’m not going to reiterate everything that Samuel just said. I’m just put it this
way. Um you guys can hear me? Yeah. Okay, good.
I look at it through typology when I think about your first question. Um, I think about the people of Israel when Yeshua was on the planet and teaching.
Um, imagine yourself sitting there amongst a few thousand people listening to
Yeshua teach what we know as the biatitudes or some other thing that he was doing.
You might look around at that group and go, “Wow, look at all these awesome brothers and sisters who are
here listening to the truth and being taught by the truth.
But hindsight is 2020. At the end of the day, were all those people your brothers and sisters?” No, they weren’t. How do we know that?
Because the book of Acts tells us that only 120 of them stuck around.
And those 120 you could say were your brothers and sisters. Israel, they’re all connected by blood.
So genetically they’re all brothers and sisters. But the ones who ended up being true
brothers brothers and sisters in the faith were the faithful were the ones who were holding to Yeshua’s word.
So apply that to today’s world that we live in. A lot of people want to claim faith in Christ.
Doesn’t mean that they are as Samuel put it in covenant.
Covenant is a relationship. It’s a contract where we are called to be obedient to
his ways. And many in the church just aren’t. Now, the funny thing about the church is at the end of the day,
just like what happened to the 5,000 in Yeshua’s day, it’s going to happen again
where only a fraction of those people who call themselves Christians or believers are going to end up being a part of the eklesia.
When I say at the end of the day, I mean a judgment.
So what should our relationship be with them? The same that the same kind of relationship that Yeshua had with them.
He loved them. He taught them when he could if they would listen. He interacted with them.
But it consider Paul’s words. What unity does darkness and light have with one
another? They just they don’t they don’t.
So, should I be fellowshipping with these people all the time? Well, that’s a that’s a that’s a wisdom call, and I think Samuel said it correctly.
If you can hold your faith, if you can be firm in your convictions about things, then then continue to love them and spend time with them. But if they
and they will eventually make their stripes known, and you quite honestly, you won’t be welcomed there anymore.
So, I hope those things helped answer your questions. If not, come back around
and we’ll touch on it again. But let’s move on to uh brother Ed. Brother, I just wanted to say thank you.
Um I think that it did I think that it did answer the questions. And um it was definitely not going in as an interloper or a you know, I’m going to come and
tell you all great truth. It’s more how do you even cross paths with someone, you know, if you’re not at least in the outer courts, but there might be outer
courts out in the grocery stores and you know, other places that y’all will cross our paths with. But it was just question that just and I don’t think I’m the only
one that’s had that. So, I appreciate that you’ve addressed that very much and it just want to say Samuel’s um statement that all are part of his creation, but not
all are his children. That was very helpful. So, thank you very much for that. Amen. Amen. Okay, Gary, you’re up next. Make sure you turn your mic on.
Shabbat shalom everyone.
I just want to be I just want to say thank you for a a great lesson and just I’m very thankful that I found this group and um
each week seems to speak to me about what’s going on in my life and um
a little testimony this week. I’ve been lifted in my spirit and I’m very grateful and thankful everyone you know
the diff the most difficult part of our walk I find is challenges that affect
our family life and like I’ve shared over two weeks ago that my son wasn’t well he had two open heart surgeries in
the past few months and it’s been such a difficult journey that my heart has felt like it’s gone through a ringer and back
again And I’ve fallen into anger, bitterness, frustration, and learning lots along the way as well.
But there has been some anger and bitterness and frustrations. And it came to a a point yesterday when I
was out power washing my back patio and it stopped and I put my hand down on the exhaust and I melted my hand off the
exhaust and it was just like the the last straw and I just let a roar out of me and I shouted and I had a pity party
and um a poor me. That’s what it was. A big sucky Bobby like big poor me. everything’s not going my way.
And I went in, I shared this with my wife.
And as I said that to her, she says, “You can’t do that, Gary.” I said, “I know. I’m a sucky baby. I’m having a
pity party.” And [laughter] it made me actually feel better that I was just honest in what I was doing. You know, you in America call it a pacifier.
We call it a doi. I spat out my pacifier, you know, and and someone said it in the comments when
they were sharing that the best way to come out of all of this is to serve. And I realized I had to bring my eldest
daughter and I rang her, she’s 19, she’s struggling in the transition of me going
into Christianity for 9 months and then going straight into Torah 10 years ago.
and her whole her whole teenage years were you know learning trying to learn what I was learning and it must have been very
difficult but I just served into her and I felt better and I went outside and I start power washing again and the father put one thing on my heart and I hope
this blesses one of you as has blessed me and lifted me greatly he just put on my heart he put in my mind a thought he
said Gary if my son is your perfect example and he said he could do nothing without me then why do you think you can
do all of this without me? That’s what you’re doing, Gary. You’re trying to go through this this great difficulty in your family’s life in your own strength.
Why are you doing it? And I for the life of me, I would not let that thought leave my mind for all that day and all
this morning. is I meditate upon it and brother Ed you shared scripture we read in my family’s daily
reading last night when you stand before the Sanhedrin don’t worry what to say for the holy spirit will give you exactly what you need to say and it’s
that union that Messiah said I am one with my father that he was in complete alignment with the father and he had
like perfect love casts out all fear fear I fear of confrontation I fear of many different things. But if I am in
the father’s will and he wants me to do something, then that fear should subside because my love for the father should
embolden me to do everything that he wants me to do. It’s kind of like a child being shy yourself,
[laughter]
you know, but a father would tell his child, “Don’t be shy. Say, it’s lovely to meet you. My name is Amelia.” Right?
Shabbat shalom. [laughter] So that’s one thing the father put on my heart yesterday
that is a pitfall in this walk because we have the so we have this the the parable of the so and the seed that the
cares of this world were starting to encroach around me and they were starting to block out the light and
[clears throat] I I started to fall and stumble and he he redirected me to to understand
that I must be in alignment with him and trust that he who began a good work in me, he will bring it to completion. But
I have to trust this process. And just because I’ve come into the Torah for the last 10 years doesn’t mean I’m better than the Christians doesn’t mean I’m better than everyone. And I love
everyone’s humility and how they share today. But I have to remember that too.
For he who thinks he stands, take heed lest he fall. You know, for he who thinks he’s somebody when he’s a nobody.
Galatians 6:3. These scriptures really help me stay grounded.
that just because I’m keeping Shabbat now. It’s not a ticking of the box. Oh, I’m doing it 10 years now. It’s easy. I
know what I’m doing. It’s it’s it’s remembering that we can’t do it without him. That we have to fully trust that he
began the work in us. And it’s our mission to die of ourselves daily, pick up our cross, and follow him. And he will do the work in us. He will love through us. He’ll be kind through us.
He’ll love our wives through us. He love us our children through us because it’s his love. It’s not our love. We can’t do
it. If we were able to do it, we wouldn’t need him. We need him for everything. And that that has blessed my heart and I feel very soft in my heart
right now. Everything that’s going on, I just wanted to share that in the hope that it might bless one of you. Shabbat shalom. I love you all.
Amen. Gary, thank you so much for sharing. I really appreciate your humility in sharing those stories with us. They are very impacting. And I would
say this, not just to you, but to everyone listening. As believers, your lives are a stage.
You are on a stage and the father is watching. And he’s always watching because there’s always a lesson to be learned somewhere, even during the tough
times and the hard times. So, thank you very much for sharing that, uh, Gary.
And what a beautiful little girl you’ve got there. Hello, sweetheart.
[laughter]
All right, Sammy. You got about a minute, brother. And I mean a minute because we’re over time.
Shabbat shalom. There’s two ways you can look at that. Um courage is is not the absence of fear, but it’s the acting
with integrity in spite of it. And then secondly, reverence for the father should be able to overshadow any fear that we have of
men and of any shame that they can bestow upon us. I think part of the problem that we deal with with modern Pharisees
is they’re trying to give instruction without intimacy. So, how can you really instruct someone if you don’t know them
and if you don’t take the time to know them and to speak to them? That is the essence of the problem. I don’t care how long you study the Torah. I don’t care
how much revelation you have. If all you’re saying is just to place yourself in preeminence and it’s not done in love
and above all else done in service to the body of Messiah, then you’re wasting your time and your breath. Shabbat shalom.
Good job, Samuel, Gary, all you guys who shared. Man, I’m so fired up for this group. I love you all. I tell you that
every week. I really mean it. It’s not just talk. It’s not hyperbole. I I truly mean it. grateful that you spent the week or the weekend with us here on
Shabbat. And I hope today has been helpful. Um, I’ll try to get a video out uh this week of of a finished studio so you can see what what what’s happening.
When the studio is finished, I’m going to start pumping out a lot more content.
Some uh for, you know, shorts for Facebook or um not Twitter, but uh what’s the other one? Tik Tok and other
things like that. I’m going to start pumping out a lot more stuff, so be looking for that. But, um, thank you so much for being here. Shabbat shalom.
Have a great rest of your day, a great weekend, and we’ll see you next time.
Shabbat shalom. And we love you, too, brother. Shalom. Shalom.
Shalom. Shabbat shalom. Shabbat shalom.
Blessings to you all. Shalom everyone.
Love you guys. Love you too, guys.
[laughter]
You’re so sw