RESTORATION MAGAZINE SPRING 2018 ISSUE by RESTORATION Magazine

RTB

Bible Pathway Adventures

Issue 1 // Volume 1 // Fall-Winter 2017

RECONNECTING TO THE ROOT INSIDE THIS ISSUE…

Editor’s Corner: Profaning the Things of YAH

Featured Author: Ma’uryahu

Stand Still & See the Salvation of YAH A Boldness for Him: Obedience How I Woke Up to My True Identity

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RESTORATION MAGAZINE is published for FREE distribution in the public interest. No part of this magazine may be reproduced without permission. All Rights Reserved. RESTORATION MAGAZINE is published by Restoring the Branches Ministry. Editor & Graphics Designer: Kelly Vonner Cover Image: Photo by Jeremy Bishop on Unsplash

Email: restoringthebranches@gmail.com

Mission Statement The mission of Restoring the Branches Ministry is to reconnect YAH’s people to the root and truth of His Word. We have been called to take YAH’s healing to the nations, remove the stumbling blocks out of the way of His people and teach as well as model the importance of serving YAH in spirit and truth.

Photo by Trent Erwin on Unsplash

On March 10th, part of the Torah Portion discussed the Shabbat and the consequence for profaning it. Death. Why death? That question drew me to the word profane. According to the Ancient Hebrew Lexicon, one of the biblical definitions of profane is to make something common that is meant to be set apart for a special function. Pictorially you see the idea of separating from the Shepherd or the One who gathers. So why death? Because the creature has told the Creator that what He has deemed as holy was a mistake and it was not meant to be set apart for a specific purpose. Making it common in our minds does not change YAH’s original intent. Why death? Because death is the full wage for sin. Because we cannot speak to the One in authority while we are questioning His commandments, statutes and judgments. Why death? Because YAH has called us to life, but disobedience to His Word repeatedly means that we are more comfortable choosing the opposite. We have to live like we’ve been redeemed because we have. Love redeemed us just like love redeemed the children of Israel out from under the bondage of the Egyptians. We must wage war against wickedness and choose the righteousness of YAH. We have to learn that obedience is our greatest weapon. We have to accept that YAH’s thoughts and ways are higher, and if we choose to acquire His wisdom, we will go higher in Him as well. Neither shall ye profane my holy name; but I will be hallowed among the children of Israel; I am YAH with hallow you… (Leviticus 22:32). We must know who sets up apart and worship Him accordingly. Shalom to the hearers and doers of the word of YAH; continued prayers for your strength as you strive to be a light to the nations. Be that city upon a hit and honor His Ways.

Kelly Vonner 5

RTB Maurice Lindsay, now known as Ma’uryahu, is a social historian, writer and publisher. He is best known for his internationally-read blog, which features his essays on biblical and historical truths relating to the African Diaspora. He is also the author of the book series, Wake Up To Your True Identity. To connect with Ma’uryahu, you can follow him on Instagram @Ma’urYahu.

‫ּוראּו אֶת־י ְשּועַת י ְהוָה‬ ְ ‫יראּו הִּ ִֽתְ יַצְבּו‬ ָ ִּ‫וַי ֹּאמֶר מ ֹּשֶה אֶל־ ָהעָם ַאל־ת‬ And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord. Exodus 14:13 The beginning of the deliverance of the children of Israel did not start in Exodus; it started in Genesis. The promises of YAH stand forever; His faithfulness is without measure and yet we act in disobedience and unfaithfulness to Him. We roll around in fear and worry and forget that His promises are sure. When Moses questioned why he was sent and why deliverance had not yet happened, YAH responded with authority. And God spoke to Moses and said to him: “I am the Lord. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by My name YHWH I was not known to them. I have also established My covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their pilgrimage, in which they were strangers. And I have also heard the groaning of the children of Israel who the Egyptians keep in bondage, and I have remembered My covenant. Therefore say to the children of Israel: ‘I am YHWH; I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, I will rescue you from their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments. I will take you as My people, and I will be your Elohim. Then you shall know that I am YHWH your Elohim who brings you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. And I will bring you into the land which I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and I will give it to you as a heritage: I am YHWH’” (Exodus 6:2-8 NKJV). The Passover In Exodus 12, we read more about the institution of Passover as Moses delivers YAH’s instructions to the elders. Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel and

said to them, “Pick out and take lambs for yourselves according to your families, and kill the Passover lamb. And you shall take a bunch of hyssop, dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and strike the lintel and the two doorpost with the blood that is in the basin. And none of your shall go out of the door of his house until morning. For YHWH will pass through to strike the Egyptians; and when He sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, YHWH will pass over the door and not allow the destroyer to come into your houses to strike you. And you shall observe this thing as an ordinance for you and your sons forever. It will come to pass when you come to the land which the YAH will give you, just as He promised, that you shall keep this service. And it shall be, when your children say to you, ‘What do you mean by this service?’ that you shall say, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice of YHWH, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt when He struck the Egyptians and delivered our households.’” So the people bowed their heads and worshipped.

Not only did the people worship, they obeyed. They went and did just as YAH commanded Moses; they responded with obedience. The blood on the two doorposts and the lintel reminds us that our obedience to YAH must be visible to all. It’s not enough to hear and not do. Their lack of obedience would have brought death to all the firstborn among their people. Today, our lack of obedience has brought iniquity, willful sin (lawlessness), error and death within in homes. The Egyptians were not given the opportunity to be passed over. YAH addressed Moses, and Moses gave instructions to the elders. If we choose Egypt, or the bondage of sin and the nothingness of this world, we will miss the voice and the call to return. 9

We will miss the opportunity to be passed over. We will miss being spared, and we will leave ourselves open to the destroyer. There will be no exodus for us. We come to the place every year—introspection, self -evaluation, confession, and repentance. While YAH has hovered over us in love, there are still issues of the heart that need to be addressed. In our brokenness, Father, allow us to say that we choose You, and please give us the strength to walk like it. There is deliverance, redemptive and saving power in this season. This is the beginning of months for us—new life and renewal. YAH saw; He judged and He choose to set us free. The Exodus We can no longer choose to remain in the places that hold us in bondage, places that keep us from the freedom and peace that YAH has promised. In our obedience to YAH, we have to leave behind the weight and stain of sin. There has to be a mass departure from the things and cares of this world. We draw others to Christ when we stand for righteousness. We increase our faith and hope in Him when we can stand still and watch Him move on our behalf. It was the power of YAH that called to Moses from the burning bush. It was His outstretched arm that showed forth great signs and wonders in Egypt. YAH has always wanted to spare us from death. He has always wanted life for us. Encamped by the sea with Pharaoh and his army in sight, Israel deemed it better to serve the Egyptians than be free. And when Pharaoh drew near, the children of Israel lifted their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians marched after them. So they were very afraid, and the children of Israel cried out to the LORD. Then they said to Moses, “Because there were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you so dealt with us, to bring us up out of Egypt? Is this not the word that we told you in Egypt, saying, ‘Let us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to

serve the Egyptians than that we should die in the wilderness.” And Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will accomplish for you today, you shall see again no more forever. The LORD will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace” (Exodus 14: 10-14). When we’re fearful, we say things that we do not mean, and we shy away from opportunities that are meant to grow us. The children of Israel did not see YAH as their salvation until after they had crossed the Sea of Reeds. As they sang, “The LORD is my strength and my song, he has become my salvation” (Exodus 15:2). We too will have a song of praise when we choose to cross over, but I pray that we see His hand working in our lives even before that point. I also pray we see Him in the trials and obstacles that are sent to better our character. His Salvation YAH’s salvation is available today, and He is full of grace and truth. Consider who YAH choose as the Lamb offered to spare the people and take away the sins of the world. Perfect in all His way is our Elohim. The God of righteousness and truth. Yahshua, the image of the invisible God, whose blood cleanses our conscious and can truly get to the root of the matter. Apart from Him we can do nothing; He who is able to save to the upmost has called us to live righteously and to be willing, living offerings every day. This plan of salvation has existed since the foundation of the world, and every year at Passover we make the choice to humbly choose the Lamb of YAH. Has He made His mark on the doorposts and lintel of your heart and mind? Take time to see the salvation of YAH. Accept Him and walk anew. Kelly Vonner is the co-founder of Restoring the Branches Ministry. She is the wife of Jeremy Vonner and mother of three sons—Jeremiah, Joshua and Josiah. Her and her family live in West Tennessee. She desires to see people committed to following YAH and loving Him with all their heart, mind , soul and strength. Jeremy & Kelly have a congregation in Humboldt, TN that meets every Shabbat @12:30p. 10

A boldness for Him:

obedience to yah By Kelly D. Vonner Many times we find ourselves willing to give God everything but our all. We expect obedience from our children, respect from our peers, and love from our families, but we fail to obey, respect, and love the God who is our Father, Friend, and Master. In order to obey God, we must first be willing to listen. God set the tone in the beginning. His process, His logic, His order, and His ways are good and for our benefit. “And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments of the LORD and His statutes which I command you today for your good?” (Deuteronomy 10:12-13). Obedience, only when it’s convenient, is not obedience at all. God has called us to be hearers and doers of His word. Remember, Christ was obedient unto death (Philippians 2:8), and we’ve been called to take up our cross and follow Him (Matthew 16:24). Christ can only compare us to the man who built his house on the rock if we are willing to come to Him, hear His Word, and do it (Matthew 7:24-25). As we die to our flesh daily, our obedience to the

Word of God produces life more abundantly. “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does” (James 1:22-25). The perfect law of liberty is the Word of God, specifically the first five books of the Bible--God’s Law--His Torah or Instructions. Obedience to God is our reasonable service; it is the duty of man (Ecclesiastes 12:13). There is nothing to obey if we’re not obeying the Word of God. He is not in favor of our words without our hearts attached. This space of grace that He has lovingly allowed is for repentance and learning to obey Him completely. If we are in pursuit of Christ, then we are in pursuit of holiness, righteousness, peace, and love, and this pursuit starts with obedience. Our failure to return to God and obey Him in all things will leave our Messiah to say, “I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness” (Matthew 7:23). 11

How long will we fill the places, designated for God, with the vain things of this world? Our flesh is constantly in a state of rebellion. Our job is to bring it under the authority of Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5). It is not surprising that obedience seems to be the word we use the least when referencing our relationship with Jesus. The Word of God says that “He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked” (1 John 2:6). Christ was obedient unto death (Philippians 2:8), and it was by His obedience that many were made righteous (Romans 5:19). Christ is calling; He has always wanted our hearts circumcised and broken before Him. A boldness for Him comes when we understand that obedience to God builds His Character within us. A boldness for Him comes when we realize that God is looking for those who will worship Him in spirit and truth, in love and obedience. A boldness for Him becomes set in the hearts of those who have acknowledged that God’s word is eternal and true and for us to obey without reservation. It is the same word that has the power to uphold all things (Hebrews 1:3). Who are we not to obey Him? We tend to get angry when someone mentions obedience. It’s almost like a four-letter word to some people. We have it made up in our minds that we are grown, and no one can tell us what to do. We have assumed that our reasonable service, our lives as a living sacrifice, can be offered to God however we please. God forbid! It will always be to our benefit to heed the Word of the Lord. If it is our desire to do what is good and to enter life, we must obey Him. “If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it” (Genesis 4:7 NKJV). “Now behold, one came and said to Him, ‘Good Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?’ So He said to him, ‘Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. But if you want to enter life, keep the commandments’” (Matthew 19:16-17). There is wisdom in obedience; wisdom that the Lord possessed in the beginning (Proverbs 8). “Surely I have taught you statutes and judgments, just as the LORD my God commanded me that you should act according to them in the land which you go to possess. Therefore be careful to observe them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in

the sight of the peoples who will hear all these statutes and say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people’” (Deuteronomy 4:5-6). “Now therefore, listen to me, my children, for blessed are those who keep my ways. Hear instruction and be wise, and do not disdain it. Blessed is the man who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors. For whoever find me finds life, and obtains favor from the Lord; but he who sins against me wrongs his own soul; all those who hate me love death” (Proverbs 8:32-36 NKJV). Wisdom allows us to find Christ through our obedience. For Jesus is the door, the gate, and the way (John 10:9 and John 14:6). We are Abraham’s seed, and God spoke of His confidence in Abraham to teach his children the way. “For I have known him, in order that he may command his children and his household after him, that they keep the way of the Lord, to do righteousness and justice, that the Lord may bring to Abraham what He has spoken to him” (Genesis 18:19). Jesus, the Way and the Life, stands at the door and knocks. A boldness for Him challenges us to answer His call by faithfulness and obedience. As Messiah said in John 14:15, “If you love me, keep my commandments.” “Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God but the ones that fell on good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience” (Luke 8:11,15). Blessed are You, O YAH our Elohim, who calls us to love you with all our heart, with all our soul, and with all our might. Help us to understand that this command can only be accomplished through obedience. Fill us with a desire to cleave to your way and truth so that we can see your light and be filled with life. May we come to the door and worship at your feet. Draw us that we may hear and obey. This is an insert from Chapter 2 of A Boldness for Him: Honoring God by Our Obedience by Kelly D. Vonner. The entire book can be found on Amazon.

How I Woke Up to My True

Identity Written by Brother Ma'uryahu

Photo by Sonya Langford on Unsplash

Like most awakened Israelites, I grew up in the Christian church. Both my mom and my grandma raised me, and they were devout Christians, so I was born and raised in the church. I remember attending various churches growing up but my parents (Mom and Dad) were only members of NonDenominational Churches; so I didn’t grow up with any of the traditional ideologies that other church denominations followed. The church I attended for the majority of my youth and teenage years was pastored by a close friend of the family; who stuck to the book as best as he could or as best as he knew how to. Therefore, I didn’t grow up heavily indoctrinated to believe one particular doctrine over another. However, I was never a fan of church as a youth. In fact, I hated church. The only thing I liked about going to church was that I got to see some of my friends as well as talk to some of the pretty girls that went there. Other than that, I never liked going to church because I felt like it was boring and depriving me of time I could be outside playing with my friends in the neighborhood. Although that’s a pretty typical mindset to have as a youth; I think the real

reason I was unattracted to the church was because nothing that was being preached was speaking directly to me – a young black man growing up in the hood in America. And I couldn’t wrap my mind around the whole White Jesus thing. So at the age of 17 I left the church; with the intention of never going back again. After leaving the church and later moving out of my parent’s house, I began to experiment with all of the pleasures of life that all my friends were doing as well as all the rappers that I listened to and admired. This led me down a path of drug dealing, drug using, extreme fornication, and all other sorts of sins. From age 17 to 24, I had sold weed and later cocaine, became gang affiliated (but didn’t join one), was a regular at the strip club, and had many run-ins with the law. I even became a rapper and put out a mixtape album and was heavily considering signing to a label. I had become a completely different person than the boy that was raised in church all of his life.

Letting Go of My Past But at the age of 24, I began to grow tired of living this life. It was getting very old to me and I wanted something better for myself. So I began to seek after ways to become a better person; which led me to reconsidering The Most High that I had abandoned in my youth. And it was at this moment in my life that The Most High showed up and protected me from the path of destruction that I was on. Let me give you a very brief description of how He did it: One day, I went to visit one of my friends that I sold drugs with after he was released from jail after making bond. As we were sitting down talking, he was complaining about how the police kept messing with him and giving him a hard time. He would always complain about this; but this time, he was overdoing it; he just wouldn’t stop complaining. So as I listened to him complain, a voice came to my mind and said something like “If you keep doing what you are doing, you are going to keep getting what you are getting”. When I heard this voice, it was like a light bulb went off in my head. I can’t really put it into words, but hearing that voice, changed my life! After that conversation with my friend, I decided to give up drug dealing. This turned out to be one of the biggest blessings of my life because months later, I was supposed to meet him somewhere to buy drugs from one of his new connects; and he ended up getting arrested. So the fact that I was supposed to be there and could have ended up in jail just like him, was a clear sign that The Most High was watching over me. However, I didn’t realize this at the time because I didn’t have a relationship with The Most High. It wasn’t until much later that I came to understand that The Most High had been protecting me my entire life, preparing me for what I am doing today. The Wake Up Anyways, around this time period, around this time or a short time later (I can’t remember), I decided to move back home with my parents so that I could get my life together. So I took a job at a graphic design warehouse, and it was there where I met Ashley, my now wife. Meeting Ashley was one of the best things

that ever happened to me. She was a Christian at the time and she was such a breath of fresh air from all of the foolish women I had dated in the past, that her companionship breathed new life into me; at a time when I needed in the most. One of the things that I loved about Ashley was her character. She was of the highest integrity, her word was her bond, and she lived in such a way that it inspired me to be a better person. The other thing I loved about her was that although she was a Christian, she didn’t try to make me one. She didn’t preach to me or try to change me. She just lived the bible as best she knew how; and that was what inspired me to change my life. So after less than a year of us dating, I decided to start attending church with her and shortly after converted to the religion of Christianity. After about 2 years of going to church and living the traditional Christian life, I proposed to her and we began planning our marriage. During this time frame, my wife began to discover more information about the different paganisms involved with Christianity and tried to share them with me. However, it went in one ear out the other for me because I was not an avid bible reader at the time and I figured my parents and everyone else in church can’t be in error. But one day as we were riding in the car together, my wife said something to me that sparked a fuse to begin not only researching Christianity; but also who we are as a people. As we were riding in the car, she said something like: “Babe, you know I think there is something special about our people.” And I asked her what she meant by that and she responded with something like: “Well you know all the stuff that we as a people have went through in regards to slavery and the racism we face, it has to be something special about us.” For some reason, when she said that, it wowed me so much, that I pulled over the car and began to ponder on what she just said. And as I was sitting down in the car, somewhat of a vision came to my mind of the 400 years of oppression that we have gone through. It was like a real quick flash of the slavery, the police brutality, and the racism that we had gone through. Like, I could literally see images of our people being in chains. So after this vision, me and my wife talked some more, and a spark was lit up in me to find out what was so special about us as 16

a people.

myself to keep my job.

We stopped going to the church we went to and got married a few months later. And during the 3rd month of our marriage, I saw a documentary on Youtube, called “The Curses” and it showed how all of the oppression that black Americans have gone through was a direct fulfillment of the curses prophesies in the bible and that we were the Israelites. This documentary completely blew me away; so much so that I just sat there in a chair for hours just thinking about what I just watched and telling my wife about it. And I didn’t even realize it until now, that the images of our people that I saw in the documentary was like the images I saw in the vision I had a few months prior.

As I continued to work for this Jewish company, one of my co-workers - an older Hispanic lady- asked me to be the face of that year’s upcoming Yom Teruah (Feast of Trumpets) celebration. She wanted me to be photographed by the team and have my image as the billboard for the feast day; and I told her yes. As they were dressing me in a tallit and other Hebrew garments and prepping me for the photograph, the Hispanic lady told me: “You know. You look just like the ancient Israelites.” I was like really? She said “Yes. You look just like King David or somebody like that.” I was like wow, this lady knows who we are. BUT after the Jewish bosses of the ministry saw the completed image of me, they rejected it and chose to pose a white person as the image. And about a month or so later, I was suddenly fired from my job. This confirmed to me that the Jews also knew that Black Americas were the true Israelites of the bible.

The Calling After watching that documentary, I began to go on a rampant research campaign; reading all kinds of history books and watching all kinds of history documentaries about us; to further connect the dots of us being the true people. During this time frame, I took a job as a website manager for a Jewish ministry/ production company. While working for the so-called Jews, I learned a lot from their teachers about the errors of Christianity as well as the Hebrew culture of the biblical Israelites. I also learned a lot about what The Messiah really taught as opposed to what the Church teaches about Him. And after just 1 or 2 months of being there, I had learned enough for me to completely denounce the religion of Christianity and no longer associated myself with the term Christian. From that point on, I began observing the Sabbath and the feast days and the rest of the requirements of the torah (law). I have to admit I learned a lot about the feast days and what they represent from the teachings of the Jews that I worked for. However, the one subject that the Jews would never teach on is the color or the race of the biblical Israelites. Not only that, but they would not even mention anything about black people at all in their messages. This didn’t sit well with me because by this time, I had done enough independent research on my own to learn that everyone in the bible was black; including The Messiah. So I began to become very angry at the fact that the people I had to work were imposters pretending to be us. But I kept quiet my beliefs to

After this experience, I wanted to share this info with the masses of Black America. During this time, I had a popular Christian blog online under the title of MauriceLindsay.com; and I was also in the process of having my first book published, W ake Up To Your True Identity, by a well-known book publisher. But after all of the information that I had gathered that year, I decided to put an end to those ventures and to start writing about the “Truth” that I had learned. So I wrote a blog post to my readers of MauriceLindsay.com telling them that I was headed in “a new direction” and starting a new blog titled, TruthOverTradition.com; to inform our people of not only the errors of Christianity, but who we are as a people. Then I told my publishing rep that I no longer wanted to publish that book, and was going to self-publish my own book instead. The interesting thing about this is that the original version of Wake Up To Your True Identity, that I wrote as a Christian; was done and ready to be published before I ever discovered who I was as an Israelite. There was a release date set for it but I never turned my final manuscript in because there was something on the inside of me that didn’t feel right about it. My conscious felt like something was missing and that it just wasn’t ready; so I never turned in the book. And about a month later when I was supposed to turn the book in to the publishers, I 17

saw the documentary called “The Curses” and discovered that I was an Israelite. After discovering my true identity, I immediately realized what was missing that my spirit wouldn’t allow me to publish that book. The Most High needed me to first wake up to my true identity as an Israelite in order to discover what my true purpose was in life, before I could then tell others how to do the same! So ever since then, I’ve been using my gift of writing to inform the masses of our people to wake up to their true identity and return back to the ways (torah) of Yah. Final Thoughts As I look back at the events in my life that led me to become the man I am today, it amazes to see how The Most High has been watching over me my entire life; even in my darkness. The Father’s patience and long suffering towards me is very humbling and inspires me to be that way toward others. Because when I look back and see all that YAH has brought me through, my soul cries out HALLELUYAH! I hope my testimony has been as much of a blessing to you reading it as it was for me writing it. And I hope that it inspires you to wake up to your true identity and surrender your life over to The Most High by following the example that His son, Yahusha, left for us! Shalom! Maurice Lindsay, now known as Ma’uryahu, is a social historian, writer and publisher. He is best known for his internationally-read blog, which features his essays on biblical and historical truths relating to the African Diaspora. He is also the author of the book series, Wake Up To Your True Identity. To connect with Ma’uryahu, you can follow him on Instagram @Ma’urYahu.

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