Restoration Times Magazine March-April 2018

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VOL. 8 | No. 2 | March-April 2018

A R T I C L E S

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3 | A Lesson in Faith from Capernaum

by Randy Folliard

12 | Coming: One Global Language

by Alan Mansager

7 | Understanding the Biblical Calendar 19 | Q and A

by Randy Folliard

11 | Cacophonous Confusion

by Alan Mansager

COVER: A pure language will soon encompass the whole world.

23 | Letters

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Restoration Times expounds the close ties between the Old and New Testaments.

We teach the continuity and harmony that extend from Yahweh’s actions anciently down through His present activity in Yahshua the Messiah. This was also the conviction of the early New Testament Assembly.

This publication is sent free of charge, made possible through the tithes and offerings of those who desire to see the truth of Scripture restored in our day. © 2018 Yahweh’s Restoration Ministry

2018 Biblical Observances at Holts Summit, Missouri

Passover Memorial: Evening of March 31 Feast of Unleavened Bread: April 2 - 8 Feast of Weeks: May 27 Feast of Trumpets: September 11 Day of Atonement: September 20 Feast of Tabernacles: September 25 - October 1 Last Great Day: October 2

Yahweh’s Restoration Ministry PO Box 463 Holts Summit, MO 65043 Telephone: 573-896-1000 Office hours M-F 8am-4pm

www.yrm.org info@yrm.org

A Lesson in Faith from

Capernaum

by Randy Folliard

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n this installment of the Holy Land series, we focus on Capernaum. Ancient Capernaum was founded in the 2nd century BCE by the Hasmoneans. They were the sovereign ruling party in the land of Judea that was established by Simon Maccabeus two decades after Judas the Maccabee defeated the Seleucid army during the Maccabean Revolt.

At its peak Capernaum had a population of about 1,500. It was considered middle to upper class. The main industry was fishing, as it was located on the Sea of Galilee or Lake Tiberius.

Ancient Capernaum

From archaeological evidence this site was also a producer of olive oil. Even today there is a large olive press dating back to the time of Rome. This site also contains several homes dating back to the first century. These homes were built of basalt, a dark volcanic stone.

One home in particular is significant.

According to the original Franciscan excavators this home belonged to the Apostle Peter. There is evidence to suggest this claim. Immediately after the death of Yahshua the Messiah, the purpose of this

home radically changed. It transitioned from a home to a meeting place. Also, the entire house received a new coat of plaster, which was uncommon for a home during this time period.

Everyday items such as cooking pots and bowls were removed and replaced with oil lamps and other items for communal meetings. There are also inscriptions in Greek, Syriac, and Hebrew referring to the Messiah. Based on the evidence it’s likely that this was the home of the Apostle Peter.

One the most impressive marvels at Capernaum is the ruins of a fourth century Restoration Times Magazine March-April 2018

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synagogue. Some believe it was built on the top of another synagogue that existed during the time of the Messiah.

As one of the oldest synagogues in existence it is based on Roman architecture.

The mammoth columns, the stone beams, the immense stones that make up the walls, the Greek and Aramaic inscriptions, and the ornateness are all remarkable.

This synagogue has two rooms – a prayer room and a smaller room on the northwest side. The prayer room measures about 60 by 80 feet. Some believe that the structure also had a second level where women would gather. Only men were allowed in the prayer room on the lower level.

In addition to the synagogue there are also remains of an octagonal church from the fifth century that was built by the Byzantines on top of Peter’s house. Today there’s a large Catholic church above both Peter’s house and the remains of this Byzantine church with the name Church of St Peter’s House.

Capernaum is mentioned only in the four evangels. We know that Yahshua taught and performed many miracles here. It also served as somewhat of a headquarters for His ministry. In Luke 4 He cleansed a demon-possessed man in the synagogue.

Also, according to Mark chapter 2, He healed a man here suffering from paralysis.

This is also where the Roman centurion came to Yahshua for the healing of his servant.

A City Cursed

In Matthew 11:23 we find that Yahshua also cursed this city: “And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to the grave: for if the mighty works, which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day.”

Capernaum suffered from a lack of faith. Even though the people witnessed Yahshua’s miracles many times and heard His teachings, many refused to believe in Him. If what He did in Capernaum was done in Sodom, Sodom would have repented from her sins, He said.

Defining Faith

Hebrews 11:1 provides a definition for faith. It reads, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good report. Through faith we understand that the Times Magazine 4 Restoration March-April 2018

worlds were framed by the word of Elohim, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.”

Two words are key here – “substance” and “evidence.” The word “substance” comes from the Greek hupostasis and refers to assurance or confidence. “Evidence” comes from the Greek elegchos and can also mean proof.

Faith is a belief supported by conviction.

Here’s how the NIV renders this passage, “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” Faith points to our confidence in our Heavenly Father, Yahweh.

It goes on to say that through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the Word of Yahweh. So through faith we comprehend that this vast universe with its billions of stars and numerous galaxies is not the result of random chance, but the power and Word of Almighty Yahweh.

This is one reason we reject the notion of Macro or Darwinian Evolution, which says the heavens and the earth came from nothing, without a Creator.

Faith is at the center of this debate, as it is through faith we believe that Yahweh exists and through Him all of creation came into being.

Having faith in Yahweh is crucial. Verse 6 states, “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to Elohim must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.”

Faith is our conviction, assurance or confidence in the One we worship. Not only must we believe that Yahweh exists but also that He’s able to reward those who follow Him. This is a reference to all the promises we find in His Word, including His promise of the resurrection. Consider the following question. Do we really believe in the resurrection? When Paul writes in 1Thessaonlians 4 that we’ll rise to meet our Savior in the clouds, do we believe in this promise? Faith is not only believing in Yahweh, but also in His power and provision.

James, in the first chapter of his epistle, also speaks about faith. He states, “But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of Yahweh,” verse 6.

If we desire Yahweh’s blessings, we

must believe in Him! Do we believe that Yahweh is able to heal our infirmities?

Do we believe that He is able to mend our relationships? Do we believe that He is in control of this awesome universe? Do we believe that He is able to offer redemption from our sins through His Son, Yahshua the Messiah? Do we believe that He is able to offer us everlasting life?

If we are going to receive Yahweh’s blessings then we must first believe that He is and is able to do all that He says in His Word.

Habakkuk’s Declaration

While many assume faith is only a New Testament concept, we find in one of the most unlikely books that faith originated in the Old. Habakkuk 2:4 states, “…but the just shall live by his faith.”

Faith is not only essential to the New Testament but also to the Old. Habakkuk confirms here the necessity of living by faith as do the just. The word “just” is from the Hebrew tsaddiyq and refers to a lawful or righteous man. “Faith” is derived from the Hebrew amuwnah and means firmness or steadfastness. In essence Habakkuk says that the lawful man will live by his devotion or steadfastness.

This connection between lawfulness and devotion shows that faith and obedience complement each other. We are justified not by what we say but by what we do. We show our faith not by confession alone but through obedience in a life of righteousness.

It’s sad that so many view obedience as a form of legalism and something to be avoided. Understood correctly, obedience is simply acting upon our faith in ways Yahweh expects. What’s amazing about this passage is that Paul quotes it in Romans 1:17 as a basis for faith in the New Testament.

Yahweh has always desired His people in both Old and New testaments to live by faith.

Salvation Not by Works

The Apostle Paul in the third chapter of Romans explains how faith works with salvation. He writes, “Whom Elohim hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of Elohim; To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Yahshua. Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but

by the law of faith. Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law,” verses 25-28.

In Greek the word “propitiation” refers to an atoning victim. Only through our Savior and His blood do we find redemption or justification from our sins.

Paul says that salvation is through faith.

To receive eternal life through the blood of Yahshua the Messiah, our Savior, we must believe and have faith in Him. This is why Paul says in verse 28 that we are “justified by faith without the deeds of the law.”

Because of Paul’s statement many believe today that the law is obsolete. The truth is, faith brings us to Messiah through

authority or force of anything.”

We are to sustain the authority of the Law. Why would he say this if the Law were no longer necessary? The answer is simple, the force of the Law was still in effect during the New Testament. The fact is, the commandments were never abolished.

Both Yahshua and the apostles were law observant.

What then is the purpose of the commandments? Paul explains in verse 20, “Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.”

Clearly, works do not justify a man.

Redemption or justification is not through

there would be no way to measure sin. For one to exist the other must also exist.

Faith Without Works

Like Paul, James defends the need for works with faith in 2:17-20, “Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.

Thou believest that there is one Elohim; thou doest well: the devils also believe and tremble. But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?”

James explains that we show our faith by what we do. Faith is an action. If we

Menorah (lamp stand) depicted on a stone capital excavated at the synagogue at Capernaum

baptism and the law then provides a path to righteousness. Once we’re justified we live a life worthy of His calling by obeying Him. John of Patmos in Revelation 20:12 confirms that we all will be judged on our “works.”

Upholding the Law

In numerous passages Paul speaks about the importance of obedience. In Romans 3:31 he asks, “Do we then make void the law through faith?” and replies, “Certainly not: yea, we establish the law.”

Not only does Paul not dismiss the law, he unequivocally states that we’re to “establish” it! This word is from the Greek histemi. According to the Thayer’s Greek Lexicon it means “to establish a thing, to cause it to stand, to uphold or sustain the

works or deeds but through the blood of Yahshua the Messiah. Though we are justified through the Messiah the law still has a purpose and that purpose is to define sin.

In the third chapter of his first epistle, John states that sin is the breaking of the law: “Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law,” verse 4. As Scripture clearly states, when we break the commandments we are guilty of sin. If we commit fornication or adultery we’re guilty of sin. If we commit murder we’re guilty of sin. If we covet or steal that which doesn’t belong to us we’re guilty of sin. If we break the Sabbath or annual Feasts we’re guilty of sin.

The fact is without the commandments

believe in Yahweh, then we’re going to do what is pleasing to Him. And as we find throughout the New Testament, we please Him when we obey Him.

The notion that faith eliminates the need to obey is simply wrong. It may sound right based on 2,000 years of church tradition, but it clearly contradicts Scripture.

Abraham’s Example

When it comes to faith and obedience a great deal can be learned from Abraham. In Romans 4:1-3 Paul says that Abraham was justified by faith. “What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found? For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before Elohim. For what saith the Restoration Times Magazine March-April 2018

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Looking out from the shore at Capernaum to the Sea of Galilee (Lake Gennesaret)

scripture? Abraham believed Elohim, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.

Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the wicked, his faith is counted for righteousness.”

Abraham believed in Yahweh and through that belief he was found to be righteous. So Abraham was not justified by works but through faith. However, this fact did not negate his obedience.

At Yahweh’s command Abraham left his family and traveled to a foreign land.

Consider the level of faith and trust this required. Not only was he leaving his country, but also his family and friends.

Except for his wife Sarah and nephew Lot he was leaving everything he knew behind.

Abraham’s act of faith was also an act of obedience. He believed and as a result he obeyed. So faith and obedience are not at odds, but are complementary. In addition to his acting on his faith, Genesis 26:5 states that he obeyed the commandments,

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“Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.”

Here is irrefutable evidence that Abraham obeyed the commandments. Even though he was found righteous by faith he was still obedient. If faith and law were in opposition, how is it possible that he had faith and also kept the commandments?

Faith and the law go hand-in-hand.

The belief that we are under faith alone could not be further from the truth.

Faith and obedience are not mutually exclusive. Abraham had faith and obeyed the commandments as well.

Faith at the End Days

Let’s bring this lesson back to Capernaum.

Yahshua reprimanded this city for not believing in Him. As the eleventh chapter of Hebrews states, it’s impossible to please Yahweh without faith.

We must believe that He accomplishes all things in His Word. This includes providing for us in times of need and protecting us in times of danger. As we

watch world events prophecy seems to be unfolding at a record pace. We are witnessing signs in the heavens, wars, and other events that are prophesied to occur before Yahshua’s coming.

If the Messiah returns in our lifetime we will experience events never seen before. According to Yahshua in the Olivet Prophecy and the prophet Daniel, the time before Yahshua’s coming will bring unparalleled tribulation. We will see worse atrocities than those committed during the Holocaust.

Scripture confirms that many believers will die as a testimony to their faith.

According to Revelation 20:6, some will even suffer beheading. What’s frightening is that we’re beginning to see these signs, especially in the Middle East with radical Islam.

For these reasons it’s crucial that we don’t repeat the mistake of Capernaum. We must maintain faith in our Heavenly Father, Yahweh, and Savior, Yahshua the Messiah, and realize that whatever we suffer is worth the destination.

Understanding

Biblical

the

Calendar

by Randy Folliard

between the biblical and Jewish calendar.

There are significant variances between the biblical and the modern Jewish calendar.

Examples of key differences include: • While the biblical calendar is based on observation, the Jewish calendar is based entirely on calculation.

• While the biblical calendar begins in the spring with the ripening of the barley, the Jewish calendar begin in the fall with the equinox.

• While the biblical calendar starts each month with the appearance of the new moon crescent, the Jewish calendar uses the conjunction, often called the astronomical or black moon.

• While the biblical calendar maintains the seasons through the use of agriculture, the Jewish calendar uses a man-made 19year cycle in which it adds a 13th month through calculated intervals.

Because the Jewish calendar diverges from the biblical calendar, we should avoid its use. The Bible does not provide license to change Yahweh’s Word. This includes how our Heavenly Father determines time.

In our journey to understand the biblical calendar, we will take a simple and pragmatic approach and begin with the concept of a day. Determining when the day begins is crucial and is the first step in comprehending how Yahweh marks time.

Meaning of ‘Day’

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ow important is it that you understand the inner workings of the biblical calendar? At Yahweh’s Restoration Ministry we believe it is vital to proper worship. And the reason is that the biblical calendar directly impacts the timing of Yahweh’s Feast days.

For example, how can we observe the

Sabbath, unless we understand when the day begins? Also, how can we worship Him on His annual Feast days unless we know how to begin the year and each subsequent month?

Now before we embark upon this journey, we need to dispel one common myth and that is there is no difference

To this point, the first and perhaps most important verse is Genesis 1:5: “And Elohim called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.”

In this passage we find two definitions for the word “day.” The first is found in the phrase, “and Elohim called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night.” Yahweh draws a distinction here between the day and night. In this context, the word “day” refers to the daylight portion only.

We also find a second definition for day in the phrase, “And the evening and morning.” In this example, evening came before morning. The word “evening” derives from the Hebrew ereb meaning, “dusk,” coming from the primitive root arab, meaning, “to grow dusky at sundown” (Strong’s).

This passage confirms two different definitions for the word “day.” One refers to the daylight hours only and the other to a 24-hour day, beginning at sunset.

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Additional evidence for these definitions can be found from Hebrew dictionaries and lexicons. The word “day” comes from the Hebrew yom. Strong’s defines yom as, “… from an unused root meaning to be hot; a day (as the warm hours), whether literal (from sunrise to sunset, or from one sunset to the next.”

As seen in Genesis 1:5, Strong’s verifies yom refers to the daylight portion of the day and to a 24-hour day, from sunset to sunset.

We find a second definition from Vine’s Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words: “Yom has several meanings. The word represents the period of ‘daylight’ as contrasted with nighttime…The word denotes a period of twenty-four hours…”

For one last reference, the International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia states: “(1) It sometimes means the time from daylight till dark. This popular meaning is easily discovered by the context… (2) Day also means a period of 24 hours, or the time from sunset to sunset. In Bible usage the day begins with sunset (see Lev 23:32; Ex 12:15-20; 2 Cor 11:25, where night is put before day).”

Let us now consider further examples of the word yom as it pertains to the day’s

beginning at sunset.

Biblical Examples of “Yom”

In addition to Genesis 1:5, we find several more examples in the first chapter of Genesis verifying that day is from evening to morning (note, the word “morning” comes from boqer and extends to the entire daylight portion of the day): • Gen 1:8 - And the evening and the morning were the second day.

• Gen 1:13 - And the evening and the morning were the third day.

• Gen 1:19 - And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.

• Gen 1:23 - And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.

• Gen 1:31 - And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

In all five examples, we see the same trend, i.e., the day begins with the evening.

Interestingly, this is also the same pattern we see at creation. Before light there was darkness.

In Leviticus 11:31-32 we find another example connected with the clean food laws: “These are unclean to you among all that creep: whosoever doth touch them, when they be dead, shall be unclean until the even.

d n a s t Twis s Turn -made an of the m

h s i w e J r a d n Cale

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And upon whatsoever any of them, when they are dead, doth fall, it shall be unclean; whether it be any vessel of wood, or raiment, or skin, or sack, whatsoever vessel it be, wherein any work is done, it must be put into water, and it shall be unclean until the even; so it shall be cleansed,” Leviticus 11:31-32.

Yahweh says here that if we touch an unclean animal, we’re unclean until evening.

Why do you suppose we would be unclean until evening? The obvious explanation is that evening or sunset begins a new day.

Leviticus 23:29-32 provides another illustration for the word evening: “For whatsoever soul it be that shall not be afflicted in that same day, he shall be cut off from among his people, And whatsoever soul it be that doeth any work in that same day, the same soul will I destroy from among his people. Ye shall do no manner of work: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations in all your dwellings. It shall be unto you a Sabbath of rest, and ye shall afflict your souls: in the ninth day of the month at even, from even unto even, shall ye celebrate your Sabbath.”

This passage is providing a description of the Day of Atonement or Yom Kippur.

The meaning of Yom Kippur is literally the

oday’s Jewish calendar is lunisolar, employing calculations based on the astronomical (invisible) conjunction (molad) of the moon and with seven leap years intercalated in 19-year cycles. Yahweh’s self-adjusting biblical calendar, on the other hand, is based on both agricultural and astronomical observation without need for complex calculations.

Hillel II in the fourth century promulgated the rules for establishing the Jewish calendar for Jews scattered in other countries so they would not neglect to keep the Holy Days. He also introduced postponement rules that have held constant ever since (Universal Jewish Encyclopedia, “Hillel,” p. 363; Encyclopaedia Judaica, “Calendar,” p. 43-46).

Hillel’s rules manipulate Yahweh’s commands for the sake of convenience and to ensure that all the added (halacha) laws concerning the Sabbath can be observed and preserved.

Rather than start at the beginning month of Abib as Yahweh commands, the Jewish calendar is calculated backward to prevent the Day of Atonement from falling on a Friday or Sunday, and the seventh day of Tabernacles from falling on Saturday. Rosh hashanah (Trumpets) would never fall on Sunday, Wednesday, or Friday. Other technical adjustments of purely human origin are also made.

In effect, Hillel added many human traditions to the Jewish calendar in order to safeguard existing human traditions.

With a calculated calendar the Jewish nation could function without the Sanhedrin, which was the court that confirmed new moon sightings for the proper, observable calendar. In doing so the Jewish calendar ignores the visible sightings of the new moon that the Word demands for establishing Yahweh’s calendar (Deut. 16:1). The calendar introduced

by Hillel II in 359 C.E. is one of convenience and represents another man-made tradition.

day of covering. It’s the day that Yahweh covered the sins of Israel through the use of the scapegoat.

Notice here how He defines the timing of this day. He says from the ninth day of the month at evening, from evening to evening.

In other words, the Day of Atonement begins at the end of the 9th day, at evening, and is from evening to evening.

How important is it to get the timing right for Yom Kippur? Yahweh says here that the person who does not afflict his soul on this day should be destroyed. Based on this, it’s crucial that we keep this Feast on the day that He’s appointed. This is one reason why it’s so important that we understand when these times begin.

We see another example of when the day begins from Judges 14:17-18: “And she wept before him the seven days, while their feast lasted: and it came to pass on the seventh day, that he told her, because she lay sore upon him: and she told the riddle to the children of her people. And the men of the city said unto him on the seventh day before the sun went down, What is sweeter than honey? and what is stronger than a lion? And he said unto them, If ye had not plowed with my heifer, ye had not found out my riddle.”

In this passage we find Samson making a wager with the Philistines. He told the Philistines that if they could solve his riddle within seven days he would give them clothing. What’s important to notice here is when they gave Samson the answer to his riddle. The men of the city answered him on the seventh day before the sun went down.

The emphasis “before the sun went down” confirms that sunset would have marked the end of that seventh day.

Let’s consider one more example in Nehemiah 13:19: “And it came to pass, that when the gates of Jerusalem began to be dark before the Sabbath, I commanded that the gates should be shut, and charged that they should not be opened till after the Sabbath: and some of my servants set I at the gates, that there should no burden be brought in on the Sabbath day.”

To prevent the people of Judah from breaking the Sabbath, Nehemiah commanded that the gates of the city be closed as it began to be dark before the Sabbath. He even threatened force on those who stayed outside the walls waiting for the Sabbath to end.

It’s crucial to notice that the Sabbath

was approaching as the gates of Jerusalem “began to be dark.” This passage not only verifies that sunset marks the end of one day and the beginning of another, but also begins the Sabbath.

We transition now to the month. As already seen, the biblical month begins with the observation of the new moon crescent.

Evidence for this is found in both Scripture and scholarship.

Deuteronomy 16:1 is one of the most important verses in the biblical calendar.

Not only does it provide weight to the use of the new moon, but as we’ll see later, it also confirms the method to start the biblical year. It begins with the phrase, “Observe the month of Abib.”

The word “observe” here comes from the Hebrew shamar. Strong’s defines this word as, “to hedge about (as with thorns), i.e. guard; generally, to protect, and attend to,” Strong’s. The primary definition of shamar is to guard. Guarding something normally requires the action of watching.

In addition to Strong’s, the Brown Driver and Briggs Hebrew Lexicon provides nine definitions for shamar: (1) to keep, to have charge of; (2) to keep, to guard, to keep watch and ward, to protect, to save life; watch, a watchman (participle); (3) to watch for, to wait for; (4) to watch, to observe; (5) to keep, to retain, to treasure up (in memory); (6) to keep (within bounds), to restrain; (7) to observe, to celebrate, to keep (sabbath or covenant or commands), to perform (a vow); (8) to keep, to preserve, to protect; (9) to keep, to reserve.

Month = New Moon

One of the common trends seen in the above definitions is the concept of watching. For example, as a guard within a correctional facility is to watch the inmates, we as believers are commanded to watch for the month, which begs the question, what is the meaning of the word “month.”

The word “month” comes from the Hebrew chodesh meaning, “new moon,” and derives from the primitive root chadash, meaning, “to be new or to rebuild” (Strong’s).

Based on these definitions, Deuteronomy 16:1 commands us to watch for the new moon crescent.

Some believe that the word chodesh or new moon refers to the conjunction or dark moon. As already seen though, the Hebrew shamar implies the act of watching. The conjunction is invisible and impossible

to watch for and verify. This obviously disqualifies it as the biblical new moon.

Remember, the Jews adopted the use of the conjunction through its rabbinical changes in the 4th century. The only phase of the moon that fits the scriptural definition of a new moon is the first visible crescent.

One of the first examples of the new moon is found in Exodus 12:2. It reads, “This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you.” The word “month” here derives from same word found in Deuteronomy 16:1.

Yahweh is literally proclaiming in Exodus 12:2: “This new moon shall be to you the beginning of new moons; it shall be the first new moon of the year.”

In addition to this chapter defining the first biblical month, it provides key information on the Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread. What would have happened if Moses had ignored this verse?

The firstborn from all Israelite families would have died. From this perspective, observing the proper biblical calendar is a matter of life and death.

Scholarship Supports a Crescent

In addition to Scripture, scholarship overwhelmingly authenticates the use of the new moon crescent. Consider the following sources: “The Hebrew or Jewish calendar had three stages of development: the preexilic, or Biblical; the postexilic, or Talmudic; and the post-Talmudic. The first rested on observation merely, the second on observation coupled with calculation, and the third on calculation only. In the first period the priests determined the beginning of each month by the appearance of the new moon,” International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia.

This reference confirms three stages within the Jewish calendar and that the first, i.e., biblical, trusted only in observation (agriculture and new moon crescent) and the last relied only on calculation (equinox and conjunction).

The New Unger’s Bible Dictionary states, “As the festivals, according to the Mosaic law, were always to be celebrated on the same day of the month, it was necessary to fix the commencement of the month. This was determined by the appearance of the new moon; for the new moon was reckoned not by astronomical calculation, but by Restoration Times Magazine March-April 2018

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actual personal observation. On the thirtieth day of the month watchmen were placed on commanding heights around Jerusalem to watch the sky. As soon as each of them detected the moon he hastened to a house in the city kept for this purpose and was there examined by the president of the Sanhedrin.

When the evidence of the appearance was deemed satisfactory, the president stood up and formally announced it, uttering the words, ‘It is consecrated.’ The information was immediately sent throughout the land from the Mount of Olives by beacon fires on the tops of the hills. The religious observance of the day of the new moon may plainly be regarded as the consecration of a natural division of time.”

This well-accepted dictionary validates not only the use of the new moon crescent, but also how it was used in ancient Israel. Once it was sighted and verified by the president of the Sanhedrin, they then communicated this through beacon fires.

The Encyclopaedia Judaica, one of the leading Jewish scholarly references, states, “Originally, the New Moon was not fixed by astronomical calculation, but was solemnly proclaimed after witnesses had testified to the reappearance of the crescent of the moon…

By the middle of the fourth century, the sages had established a permanent calendar and the public proclamation of the New Moon was discontinued.”

The Judaica is one of the most respected and trusted biblical sources available today.

It confirms that originally the month was determined by the appearance of the new moon crescent. It goes on to state that the use of the new moon was discontinued in the 4th century.

This is when the Jews introduced the modern Jewish calendar, replacing the new moon crescent with the invisible conjunction.

In one last reference, Philo of Alexandria states, “…at the time of the new moon, the sun begins to illuminate the moon with a light which is visible to the outward senses, and then she displays her own beauty to the beholders,” The Works of Philo, p. 283.

Philo, who lived between 20 BCE and 50 CE, was a Hellenistic Jewish philosopher who lived in Alexandria, Egypt. While we would not often refer to Philo, he provides invaluable firsthand eyewitness to the use of the new moon crescent during the first century. Incidentally, this would be the same time as Yahshua the Messiah.

Through these references, we find that the biblical month is based on the observation of

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the first visible crescent of the new moon.

Determining the Year

Let’s transition now to the final element of the biblical calendar and that is determining the biblical year. Unlike the Jewish calendar, which incorrectly uses the equinox, the Bible confirms the use of the barley. As a side note, although some try to support the equinox through Genesis 1:14 and Exodus 34:22, the equinox is not a biblical indictor and is of latter rabbinic interpretation.

As mentioned earlier, a critical passage in the establishment of the biblical year is Deuteronomy 16:1. We’ve reviewed the first part of this verse; let’s now review it in its entirety. “Observe the month of Abib, and keep the Passover unto Yahweh thy Elohim: for in the month of Abib Yahweh thy Elohim brought thee forth out of Egypt by night.”

As already explained, the phrase, “Observe the month,” literally means, “Watch for the new moon.” Reading on, we see the introduction of the word “Abib.” This word is key in understanding the first biblical month.

Therefore, here are several definitions from well-respected sources: “…from an unused root (meaning to be tender); green, i.e. a young ear of grain; hence, the name of the month Abib or Nisan,” Strong’s.

“Month of ear-forming, of greening of crop, of growing green Abib, the month of the Exodus and the Passover (March or April),” Driver & Briggs Hebrew Lexicon.

“…barley that is already ripe, but still soft, the grains of which are eaten either rubbed or roasted,” The Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament.

“The name of the month, so called because corn [grain] was then forming in the ear, a few weeks before harvest; falling somewhere about March or April; afterwards called Nisan, the first month of the Hebrew year,” Wilson’s Old Testament Word Studies.

From these references we find one undeniable fact – Abib does not refer to the equinox, but is tied to the agriculture, i.e., barley.

Therefore, plugging this into Deuteronomy 16:1, we literally read, “Watch for the new moon of young ears of grains.”

How do we biblically know that Abib refers to barley and not to another grain? Exodus 9:31 confirms this. It reads, “And the flax and the barley was smitten: for the barley was in the ear, and the flax was bolled.”

This passage describes the destruction from the seventh plague of Egypt. It states that the barley was in the “ear.” This word derived

from Abib. This passage literally reads, “…the barley was in Abib.”

Based on the chronological record, this plague took place just days before Yahweh marked the beginning of the biblical year, as seen in Exodus 12:2. Therefore, based on this record, the barley was in Abib by the new moon crescent of the new biblical year.

Therefore, the Bible provides two requirements to begin the biblical year – barley that is in the Abib stage (i.e., having sufficient dough to be roasted or parched) and the new moon crescent. Since the book of Exodus corroborates that the barley was in the Abib stage prior to the crescent, we require that Abib barley be present before the appearance of the crescent.

As a side note, since the barley is stationary and there’s a need to have one uniform year, YRM observes the barley as grown in Israel.

In addition to Scripture, scholarship also confirms the barley. The International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia states, “…Abib is not properly a name of a month, but part of a descriptive phrase, ‘the month of young ears of grain.’ This may indicate the Israelitish way of determining the new year (Ex 12:2), the year beginning with the new moon nearest or next preceding this stage of the growth of the barley.”

The New Unger’s Bible Dictionary corroborates: “The months began with the new moon, but the first month was fixed (after the Exodus and by the necessities of the Passover) by the ripening of the earliest grain, namely, barley.”

As we see from both Scripture and scholarship, the two requirements to begin the biblical year are confirmation of the Abib barley followed by the new moon crescent.

Understanding the biblical calendar is crucial in the observance of Yahweh’s appointed times. This includes His weekly Sabbath and annual Feasts.

Yahweh commands that we observe the Passover on Abib 14 and the Feast of Unleavened Bread beginning on Abib 15. He provides similar dates for His fall Feasts. It is not possible to follow these commands unless we understand His appointed calendar.

For this reason the biblical calendar is not a spectator sport, but one that requires full participation by all believers.

For a thorough study of Yahweh’s calendar for the truth seeker, request or read online our booklet, The Biblical Calendar. Access information is on this magazine’s back cover.

conversion “baptism of the Holy Spirit” is necessary, a notion Scripture nowhere suggests or supports.

Varied Manifestations

Speaking in Tongues: Cacophonous Confusion or Real Language?

A

by Alan Mansager

sk a tongues speaker what is the most important work of the Holy Spirit and he or she will invariably say, to speak in tongues. Besides misunderstanding what “tongues” is, this widespread belief takes an elementary view of the numerous ways the Holy Spirit works.

For many, the ability to speak in tongues is a rite of spiritual passage, a divine litmus test. To do it is to show that you have the Holy Spirit and that’s all that’s needed, they say.

The common notion of “speaking in tongues” trumps the real work of the Holy Spirit today. The dynamic work of the Spirit is to draw a believer to the truth, leading him or her to repentance and baptism, and then indwelling a changed heart. That is the true evidence and work of the Holy Spirit.

The Pentecostal, however, must continually prove that the Holy Spirit is in him by babbling unintelligibly during gatherings of his cohorts. The biblical “evidence of the Spirit” is a changed and righteous life focused on Yahweh.

Paul wrote in 1Corinthians 13:8 that tongues shall cease. We learn more in the Acts 2 account of Peter and the Feast of Weeks or Pentecost, which clearly shows that Holy Spirit power of tongues was not gibberish but real languages spoken by the disciples to the 15 nationalities gathered there.

The overriding reason for the gift of languages was to give “a sign, not to them that believe, but to them that believe not,” 1Corinthians 14:22. The Acts 2 manifestation revealed that all could come to salvation, Jew and Gentile alike.

The modern tongues movement has perverted the purpose for the Holy Spirit. It has developed an elitist belief that implies that those who can “speak in tongues” are on a higher plane of spirituality than others.

Implicit in this attitude is that repentance and baptism for the remission of sins into a new covenant and life has little to do with the Spirit, and that the Holy Spirit received by the laying on of hands at baptism is incomplete. Therefore, an additional post-

Let’s look at some ways in which today’s tongues message contradicts the Scriptures.

The Book of Acts nowhere maintains that the initial sign of a person’s receiving of the Holy Spirit was through an ability to speak in tongues, or even languages, which is what Acts 2 speaks of.

The Holy Spirit works in a variety of ways.

What we find is that the gift of prophesying (teaching) far outweighs speaking in languages, as do the other gifts, 1Corinthians 12:28-31. In this reference Paul tells us that not everyone has the same gift or gifts. There are many gifts, which are distributed individually however Yahweh desires. Today’s tongues message emphasizes only one gift, yet there are seven listed and tongues is listed last.

When the multitude heard Peter’s message in Acts 2 and asked what they needed to do for salvation, Peter responded, “Repent and be baptized in the Name of Yahshua for the remission of sins and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit,” verse 38. Repentance and baptism are prerequisites for the endowment of the Spirit.

All 3,000 who heard him were immersed and verse 41 says they then were added to the Body of Messiah. Paul wrote in 1Corinthians 12:13, “For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body...and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.” These 3,000 all had the Holy Spirit, yet we find no one speaking in unintelligible tongues.

The most common characteristic of the tongues movement is the way certain points are overemphasized to the virtual exclusion of other critical ones. Advocates use terms such as baptism of the Spirit, Full Gospel, latter rain, and second blessing.

The terminology itself suggests that the movement is far more interested in an extraordinary experience than in an unshakable foundation of truth based in solid, biblical teaching.

John tells us in 16:13-14 that the focus of the Holy Spirit is to teach of and to glorify Yahshua, not to put on attention-grabbing displays among believers. The modern tongues movement is wrong to magnify the (please turn to p. 18) Restoration Times Magazine March-April 2018

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Coming ...

One Global Language

by Alan Mansager

D

id you know that one day you as a believer will no longer speak English? One of the most eyeopening prophecies in Scripture is Zephaniah 3:9. It talks of a future time when this world will go back to the way it was before the Tower of Babel, when everyone on earth had the same worship AND spoke the same language: “For then will I turn to the people a pure language, that they may all call upon the name of Yahweh, to serve him with one consent.” The KJV does not bring out the essence of the Hebrew.

Two decisive clues are key to this pure language: • “Turn” is the Hebrew haphak (2015) meaning “to turn back, return, give back to,” as a principle meaning. “Restore speech of a pure kind,” according

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to Brown, Driver, Briggs, means a language that existed at one time in history and the whole world will return to it.

• With this language, the prophecy says, everyone can call on Yahweh’s Name.

The question has been raised by thousands of Bible students who have read Zephaniah 3:9 and wondered, just what is that pure language that will be spoken in the coming Kingdom? To learn that, we need to know the language of the Bible.

Ask any person professing faith in the Bible what that language is and threequarters would have no clue, while the rest would likely say “Greek” because of their New Testament-only orientation.

We find more about this language in Isaiah 19:18, another prophecy of the coming Kingdom: “In that day shall five

cities in the land of Egypt speak the language of Canaan, and swear to Yahweh of hosts; one shall be called, The city of destruction.”

This was written in the 8th century BCE, and the language of Canaan at that time was Hebrew because Hebrew-speaking Israelites conquered much of it and were at that time living there.

The Living Bible, among others, declares that this language of Canaan was Hebrew. The Companion Bible note supports this, as do other translations. The Jerusalem Bible says, “That day, in the land of Egypt there will be five towns speaking the language of Canaan and swearing oaths in the name of Yahweh Sabaoth.” It won’t be Greek or Latin they will be speaking.

Nor will it be French, German, Chinese or Russian.

The Encyclopaedia Britannica says:

deliver them. And Yahweh shall be known to Egypt, and the Egyptians shall know Yahweh in that day, and shall do sacrifice and oblation; yea, they shall vow a vow unto Yahweh, and perform it. And Yahweh shall smite Egypt: he shall smite and heal it: and they shall return even to Yahweh, and he shall be intreated of them, and shall heal them. In that day shall there be a highway out of Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian shall come into Egypt, and the Egyptian into Assyria, and the Egyptians shall serve with the Assyrians. In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, even a blessing in the midst of the land; Whom Yahweh of hosts shall bless, saying, Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel mine inheritance.”

Acts 3:20-21 is another key prophecy: “And he shall send Yahshua Messiah, which before was preached unto you: Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which Elohim hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.”

If most things will be restored (which speaks volumes for the importance of Old Testament teachings – the only teaching text and Bible Yahshua the Messiah and His disciples had), then “restore” also mandates a return to the language spoken before sin caused Yahweh to confound the languages at Babel.

Hebrew, Language of Scripture

“The language of the Canaanites may perhaps be best described as an archaic form of Hebrew, standing in much the same relationship to the Hebrew of the Old Testament as does the language of Chaucer to modern English.”

Even if the term “language of Canaan” meant the language of the Canaanites before the Israelites invaded, theirs was a Semitic language cognate to Hebrew.

Don’t count Egypt and Assyria out in this prophecy. We continue with Isaiah 19:19-25: “In that day shall there be an altar to Yahweh in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar at the border thereof to Yahweh. And it shall be for a sign and for a witness unto Yahweh of hosts in the land of Egypt: for they shall cry unto Yahweh because of the oppressors, and he shall send them a saviour, and a great one, and he shall

If you are thinking that “Hebrew” means only the Old Testament Scriptures, think

Hebraic idioms that do not exist in Greek and would never be used in a Greek original.

The text also reflects Hebrew grammar and syntax, like the waw consecutive, in which consecutive sentences begin with the word “And.” Matthew, Revelation, and Acts are filled with them. You see it in other books as well.

Parents Pass Their Language Down

Let’s go back now to the language that was spoken by Yahweh to Adam and Eve in the garden. Would Yahweh speak a different language to our first parents? Clearly not.

He would speak the same language that He Himself spoke, just as you do when you speak to your children, your offspring.

Whatever that language was, it was undefiled. Hebrew can be the only language to fit that definition because it was the one spoken by Yahweh.

One key reason for the pure language is so we can call on the Name of Yahweh with one consent. In other words, with everyone like-minded as to the proper name.What language could that be through which the sacred Name Yahweh has been transmitted?

Hebrew, of course!

Zechariah 8:20-23 tells us that all nations will come to Jerusalem and His Name will be one – not a differently named Mighty One in different languages because the universal, pure language will be Hebrew.

Zechariah 14:9: “And Yahweh shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one Yahweh, and his name one.”

Whenever celestial beings spoke to mankind, it was to those who understood

Zechariah 8:20-23 tells us that all nations will come to Jerusalem and His Name will be one – not a differently named Mighty One in different languages because the universal, pure language will be Hebrew. again. Solid evidence points to Hebrew as the original language of the New Testament as well. The text in the books of Matthew and Revelation has a clear Hebrew base.

Fact: The New Testament was written by mostly uneducated Hebrew disciples living in a Hebrew-speaking land who wrote in their native language to new-found Jewish assemblies all over Judea and into Macedonia. They would not be writing in Greek.

The New Testament is filled with

Hebrew. Angels did not speak in Greek, Latin or Arabic but in Hebrew to those who knew and spoke Hebrew.

We can back-link the Hebrew to Adam through the long lifespans of patriarchs. The name Hebrew derives from Eber. Eber was a Hebrew who spoke Hebrew. So did his great-grandfather Shem.

Back to the Language of Eden

Parents pass down their own native language to their children. Shem would speak the Restoration Times Magazine March-April 2018

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same language that his great-grandfather Methuselah spoke, with whom he shared 98 years of his life in the homeland. Methuselah would speak the Hebrew language that Adam spoke, with whom he shared 243 years of his life.

This is a family of patriarchs who lived in the same area. Not in other countries. Not even 200 miles apart. Judea is small.

Let’s see what language Yahshua used in communicating with Paul from the heavens in Acts 26:14 after he and his cohorts were knocked down on the Road to Damascus. “And when we were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking unto me, and saying in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.”

If Paul were the founder of churchianity’s Greco-Roman-enhanced faith, and if the Greek language were the dominant language in the Mideast as some say, why didn’t the risen Messiah speak to Paul in Greek?

What is significant is the fact that some scholarship has demonstrated that Hebrew is the mother tongue of all languages. Noah Webster, famed linguist, traced numerous English words back to the Hebrew language.

His etymologies were full of English words traced to “Shemite” sources.

This Noah Webster, who produced the famed Webster’s dictionary, was America’s greatest lexicographer. He mastered twenty foreign languages that included Chaldean, Syriac, Hebrew, Arabic, Ethiopic, and Persian.

Hebrew Was Once Universal

We’ve lost touch with the significance of Hebrew in our culture just as society is fast losing touch with the Scriptures themselves.

But it wasn’t always this way.

The American Pilgrims saw themselves as new Israelites in a Promised Land.

At the time of the American Revolution, interest in Hebrew was so widespread that certain members of Congress proposed that the use of English be formally prohibited in the United States, and Hebrew substituted for it.

Numerous colleges and universities were established under the auspices of various Protestant sects, like Harvard, Yale, Dartmouth (Puritan), and Princeton (Presbyterian). Harvard was named after a minister, John Harvard.

Columbia, Brown, University of Pennsylvania, and Cornell were begun as Times Magazine 14 Restoration March-April 2018

Yahweh’s Name Is Both His Identity and Declaration A

ll Hebrew names have meaning, as do many non-Hebrew names. Even without meaning, names serve to identify and often to define the individual. Names matter in many other ways, especially the Name of the One worshiped.

Consider: a man is called Johnson because he’s “John’s son”; in Irish O’Reilly is a contraction for “son of” Reilly.” In Arabic, “bin” Ladin was the “son of” Ladin. “Bar”abba was the son of Abba, which means “father” in Aramaic.

A person’s name often described his occupation. A man named Carpenter built with wood while Mr. Sawyer sawed wood. Mr. Shoemaker made shoes while Mr. Miller operated a mill.

Yahweh’s name also defines Him. It comes from the Hebrew verbal root of existence and means to cause to exist. He brings everything into existence. “God” is just a generic label for a category of being, not a name.

Yahweh communicated with Adam and Eve in Hebrew, which makes it the original human language. How can we know?

• because Hebrew is the earliest biblical language, being the ancient writing found in the oldest of biblical manuscripts; • because no other tongue but Hebrew is mentioned in Scripture as being spoken from on high; • because the descendants of Adam and Eve were of the Hebrew-Israelite line.

Which culture and thinking should prevail among True Worshipers today? Should it be of a Greco-Roman-gentile flavor adopted by churchianity, or the heritage of those grafted into the promise given to Israel, established by the Heavenly Father Yahweh Himself?

hwhy

training grounds for Christian ministers and missionaries.

The Bible once played a central role in the curriculum of these institutions of higher learning in America, as both Hebrew and the Bible were required courses. So popular was the Hebrew language in the 18th century that several students at Yale delivered their commencement orations in Hebrew.

All Harvard undergraduates, except freshmen, were required to study Hebrew.

Harvard assumed that no one could be truly educated unless he could read the Bible in its original tongue. The curriculum of Harvard was full of Hebrew, and an early graduate thesis at Harvard concerned Hebrew as the Mother tongue.

Many of these colleges adopted some biblical word or phrase as part of their official emblem or seal. Harvard’s original motto was, Christos et Ecclesie, “Messiah and Church” or called-out ones. Yale’s seal reads in Latin, Lux et Veritas, “Light and Truth.” Across the seal’s center are the words, Urim V’ Thummim, which were the stones from the breastplate of the Israelite High Priest.

Hebrew, the Perfect Fit

Girdlestone’s Old Testament Synonyms says, “The Hebrew language, though poor in some respects, e.g. in tenses, is rich in others; and probably no better language could have been selected for the purpose of preparing the way of Messiah.”

He points out the variety of the Hebrew language and gives examples, such as seven Hebrew words rendered black in the King James Version: there are eight words translated axe; 12 words for beauty, 12 for body; 14 for dark; 18 are rendered fear; 22 for branch; 26 for cover; 42 for cut; 60 for break; 66 for bring; 74 are rendered take.

Sadly, something is always lost in translation. In reading our English translation of the Bible we are missing much of the exactness of the original language.

The precise nuance is lost when 74 different words in Hebrew appear in English as the single word “take”! That is why we sometimes find misrepresentations in our English versions when the translators were not careful with nuances.

F o r e x a m p l e , l o o k a t t h e 3 r d Commandment: Thou shalt not take the

name of Yahweh your Elohim in vain…”

It doesn’t mean cursing on the golf course when you miss a putt.

“Vain” is the Hebrew shaw, from a root show. Its basic meaning is deception or lying, which ultimately results in making something desolate and useless. The New Strong’s Expanded Concordance says it figuratively reveals idolatry.

Substituting His name Yahweh with a heathen title amounts to a form of idolatry, a deception that causes His true Name to become forsaken and useless through abandonment and replacement. Where has His name been for the last two thousand years? Virtually unknown and untaught until the 20th century.

The first spoken command to mankind appears in Genesis 1:28, to be fruitful and multiply. Yahweh also warned Adam and Eve not to eat of the forbidden fruit (2:1617). He again spoke to them in chapter 3, and they understood and answered.

Language of Heaven

Because the wicked of Babel were conspiring against Yahweh, Yahweh took away their Hebrew, which removed the key link that bound them close to Him through the very language by which He transmitted His Name.

Yahweh communicated with Adam and Eve in Hebrew, which would logically be the original human language. How can we

meaning of existence itself.

Abram Was Nowhere Near Babel

But weren’t all languages confused at Babel, you ask? ` Abram was 48 years old at the time of the Tower of Babel; and because Abram was not living on the plains of Shinar toward Sodom and would never participate in the sin of Babel, his language remained pure and unaltered, Genesis 13:12.

This language spoken by Adam obviously was spoken later by his descendants, for “the whole earth was of one language and one speech,” Genesis 11:1. It had to be Hebrew. This was after the flood of Noah’s time, and the population had increased considerably. It was the time of the people’s journeying east into the land of Shinar where they decided to build a tower to make a name for themselves.

Abraham was a descendant of Eber, from whom the name Hebrew derives. Eber spoke Hebrew and as the great-grandson of Shem he was in the patriarchal line. This is a family speaking Hebrew.

The lineage of Shem is a key showing that Hebrew is the heavenly language. Shem means “name” in Hebrew and it was the Shemites (Semites) who continued with Hebrew as their language.

We find this confirming statement in The New Bible Dictionary, “Hebrew belongs to the western group of Semitic

Because Abram was not living on the plains of Shinar toward Sodom and would never participate in the sin of Babel his Hebrew language remained pure and unaltered. be sure?

• Because no other tongue but Hebrew is mentioned in Scripture as being spoken from on high.

• It is the earliest language of biblical communication.

• It is the language of the oldest manuscripts.

• All the individuals appearing in the early chapters of Genesis are Hebrew!

Adam’s Hebrew name means “red” or “ruddy.” Eve (Heb. Chavah) means “life,” or “lifespring.” Look at the names of other Old Testament personalities and you will see that they all have Hebrew meanings. Yahweh being the most important one, related to the

languages (the word Semitic is formed from the name of Shem, Noah’s eldest son),” p.

710.

In his blessing on Shem, Noah called Yahweh the “Elohim of Shem,” and said Yahweh would “dwell in the tents of Shem,” Genesis 9:26-27 Let’s take a look at the New Testament now. Acts 9 tells of the Apostle Paul’s being struck down on the Damascus Road while he was taking believers to Jerusalem to be punished. Recounting this experience to King Agrippa (Acts 26:12-14), Paul says of the heavenly voice of Yahshua: “And when we were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking unto me, and

saying in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks” (Acts 26:14).

Paul answered, “Who are you, Master?

And he said, I am Yahshua whom you persecute.” (v. 15) This was after Yahshua’s death and resurrection, and He was still speaking Hebrew, from heaven!

Hebrew is the only ancient language in history to be brought back from life support to become the official language of a modern nation.

When Yahshua returns He will stand on the Mount of Olives to deliver a nation that is already speaking Hebrew.

He will come again to His own, and this time they will receive Him. And the law will go forth from Zion.

We can pray to Yahweh in any language, any tongue, because He is not limited to speech as humans are. The One who made man’s tongue and ears can bypass speech itself and read our very minds, “I am He which searches the reins and hearts” (Rev. 2:23).

Romans 8:26 reads: “Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.” he Biblical Record Is Clear T But we must call upon His true Name when He reveals it to us. Clearly, the language spoken in Eden by Yahweh was Hebrew.

Here’s why: • The angelic beings continued to communicate with those who understood Hebrew.

• Yahweh spoke through prophets to those who understood Hebrew.

• The Old Testament and the New were written in Hebrew.

• In the New Testament, the angelic messengers spoke to Hebrew-speaking people exclusively.

• Yahshua spoke and read Hebrew in the synagogue. He spoke to Saul in the Hebrew tongue in the post-resurrection.

The Hebrews were largely an energetic, robust, and, at times, even turbulent people.

They were primarily outdoor folk: farmers, fishermen, tradesmen – who lived life to the full. For them, religion was not just a thought or emotion as it is presented today, but an experience to be lived, action to be taken, as in observing the Feasts. Even prayers are engaged with the whole body involved.

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The biblical writers often use vocabulary which is highly colorful, dynamic, and action-centered.

A careful study of the Hebrew language will reveal what even Martin Luther called a “special energy.” Luther concluded the following: “The Hebrew language is the best language of all, with the richest vocabulary.

It has therefore been aptly said that the Hebrews drink from the spring, the Greeks from the stream that flows from it, and the Latins from a downstream pool.”

The Hebrews were a doing and feeling people. To the Hebrews Yahweh is living and active. He required Israel to be enthusiastic and committed in worship and keeping of His laws. In stark contrast, today’s churchianity is passive – nothing to do but to rely on Yahshua who did it all for you.

That reflects a Greek approach with Greek passivity: “For all the Athenians and strangers which were there spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell, or to hear some new thing,” Acts 17:21.

That’s not the teachings of the Bible or the language Yahweh gave it in.

A Greek language reflective of Greek religion and philosophy would never be the language of inspiration in the New Testament.

Yahweh’s laws gave direction to Israel – and us – on how to relate to Him. Reflected in the Hebrew language, Yahweh requires action. His laws are action-centered, like the Hebrew language itself. It is a doing language and Yahweh is a working and doing Mighty One. Examples of Active Worship

When we see Israel of old we see a dynamic, doing people.

Joshua had to march around Jericho for a week before the walls fell flat. He didn’t sit and wait for Yahweh to send fireballs down on the Canaanites. All of Israel’s battles and victories are lessons for us. We have to be active movers and shakers in our faith.

When Israel was called out of Egypt they were to get up and go, and set up a Feast site in the wilderness. Lot had to leave the sin and false worship of Sodom and Gomorrah, not stay there and just think nice thoughts.

Yahweh’s holy days are marked by a coming out of the world. The weekly Sabbath is a time of rejoicing as Yahweh is celebrated as Creator (Isaiah 58:13-14; cf. Exodus 20:8-11). We come out on the Sabbath and worship and fellowship.

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New Testament: A Hebraic Book Written in Hebrew H

ebrew is the inspired language of the Old Testament. Solid evidence also points to Hebrew as the original language of the New Testament. Knowledgeable scholars attest that the four Evangels (Gospels), Book of Acts, Revelation and other books have a clear Hebrew language base, not Greek.

Church fathers of the early centuries also attest to a Hebrew original of the Book of Matthew. They include: Papias (150-170 CE); Ireneus (170 CE); Origen (210 CE); Eusebius (315 CE); Epiphanius (370 CE); and Jerome (382 CE).

Consider: the New Testament was written by Hebrew disciples who wrote in their native language in a country that spoke Hebrew and Aramaic (a Hebrew cognate). Aramaic was a language of the common people while Hebrew was the language of the Temple and worship. Many of Paul’s books were letters to newly-founded Jewish assemblies all over Judea and Macedonia that spoke Hebrew.

“…we must not forget that Christianity grew out of Judaism…The Pauline epistles were letters written by Paul to small [Messianic] congregations in Asia Minor, Greece, and Rome. These early [believers] were mostly Jews of the dispersion, men and women of Hebrew origin…The Epistles were translated into Greek for the use of converts who spoke Greek.” Holy Bible from the Peshitta, George Lamsa, p. xi.

The New Testament has many Hebraic idioms that would never be in Greek originals because they make no sense in Greek. For example, Yahshua said in Matthew 6:23, “If your eye be evil, your whole body shall be full of darkness.” In Hebrew, having an ‘ayin ra’ah, or evil eye, means being stingy.

The surrounding verses that speak of how one views wealth are consistent with this meaning of the Hebrew idiom (Jewish New Testament). Other Hebraic idioms include: “let the dead bury the dead” (Matt. 8:22); “for if they do these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry” (Luke 23:31); and, “thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head” (Paul in Rom. 12 :20).

The New Testament text itself reflects Hebrew grammar and syntax, like the waw consecutive, where successive sentences begin with the word “And.” Matthew, Revelation, Acts and others are filled with such sentences. This Hebrew stylistic device is seen in many Hebrew-based Old Testament books as well, but is lacking in Greek.

Other grammatical constructions in the New Testament do not befit good Greek either, but reflect excellent Hebrew grammar.

Hebrew word order is also obvious in the New Testament, with its verb-noun reversal common to Hebrew and Semitic languages.

The Companion Bible makes this statement about the New Testament: “The writers were Hebrews; and thus, while the language is Greek, the thoughts and idioms are Hebrew. If the Greek of the New Testament be regarded as an inspired translation from Hebrew or Aramaic originals, most of the various readings would be accounted for and understood,” Dr. E. W. Bullinger (app. 94).

Ya h w e h w a s u n d e r s t o o d l e s s philosophically than functionally. He is defined as doing, working, creating. The Hebrews primarily thought of Him in terms of personality and action. To express His active love the Hebrews would think of Him as a “loving Elohim.”

The Semites of Bible times did not simply think truth, they experienced it. For

these people dedicated to biblical faith, the creed always led to the deed. “Walking in the truth” (2John 4) and “living the truth” (1John 1:6) were of far greater import than passively thinking about the truth as the Greek philosophers did.

To the Hebrew mind everything is theological. Unlike today’s churchgoer, the Hebrews did not separate the sacred from

Many scholars agree that there is a Hebrew language basis for the New Testament.

Those experts include: • Edward Gibbon, History of Christianity, p. 185 • Dr. George Howard, The Tetragram and the New Testament in Journal of Biblical Literature, vol. 96/1 (1977), 63-83 • Dr. Alfred F. Loisy, The Birth of the Christian Religion and The Origin of the New Testament, pp. 66, 68 • D. Bivin and R. B. Blizzard, Understanding the Difficult Words of Jesus • Matthew Black, An Aramaic Approach to the Gospels and Acts, third edition • E. W. Bullinger, The Companion Bible, Appendix 94 • Dr. F. C. Burkitt, The Earliest Sources for the Life of Jesus, pp. 25, 29 • Prof. C. F. Burney, The Aramaic Origin of the Fourth Gospel, Dr. Frederick C. Grant, Roman Hellenism and the New Testament, p. 13 • Dr. Isaac Rabinowitz, Ephphata...in Journal of Semitic Studies vol. XVI (1971), pp.

151-156 • Dr. George Lamsa, The Holy Bible from Ancient Eastern Manuscripts, Introduction, pp. IX- XII • Ernest Renan, The Life of Jesus, pp. 90, 92 • Hugh J. Schonfield, An Old Hebrew Text of St. Matthew’s Gospel, (1927) p. 7 • Dr. Albert Schweitzer, The Quest of the Historical Jesus, p. 275 • R. B. Y. Scott, The Original Language of the Apocalypse • Prof. Charles C. Torrey, Documents of the Primitive Church • Dr. James Scott Trimm, The Semitic Origin of the New Testament • Max Wilcox, The Semitism of Acts (1965) • F. Zimmerman, The Aramaic Origin of the Four Gospels • Epiphanius, Panarion 29:9:4 on Matthew • Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History, III 24:6 and 39:18; V8:2; VI 25:4 The following Hebrew or Aramaic words are left unchanged in the Greek and into the English of the King James New Testament: Abba (“dearest father”); Messiah (“Anointed one”); Rabbi (“my teacher”); hosanna (“Save! We beseech”); Amen (suggests trust, faithfulness); talitha cumi (“maid arise”); ephphatha (“be opened”); corban (“a dedicated gift”); Sabbath (“repose”, “desist” from exertion); Satan (“adversary”); mammon (“riches”); raca (“to spit in one’s face”); cumin (herb); Maranatha (“Master, I pray you overthrow”); Passover (“pass over”); Emmanuel (title meaning “El with us”); Eli lama Sabachthani (“my El, why have you forsaken me?”).

Why would an original Greek New Testament use Hebrew words for terms that the Greek already had? Clearly Greek translators left these Hebrew words untranslated from the original Hebrew text.

the secular areas of life. They saw all of life as a unity. The Bible teaches that we are to have an awareness of Yahweh in all that we do, and it doesn’t stop when one vacates the pew.

Reflecting his strong Hebrew background (see Philippians 3:4-6), Paul writes, “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of Yahweh”

(1Corinthians 10:31; see also Colossians 3:17).

The Hebrew also understood his daily life of faith in terms of a journey or pilgrimage. His religion was tantamount to the way in which he chose to walk.

Even before the Flood, people such as Enoch and Noah “walked with Yahweh” (Genesis 5:24; 6:9). If a person

knows Yahweh, he daily walks in close fellowship with Him in life. Ceremonialism and ritualism do not satisfy Yahweh’s requirements (Isaiah 1:11-14; Amos 5:2123). It wasn’t the slaughtering of bulls and goats Yahweh wanted, but obedience.

It is the same today. Obedience is an action, not just a thought. “But those who act justly and love mercy and walk humbly with Yahweh do please Him” (Micah 6:8).

The essence of religion is relationship; it means actively doing, not just jawboning.

In the Book of Acts the believers were known as people of “the Way” (Acts 9:2; 19:9,23; 22:4; 24:14,22). It is a way of living and a way of behavior.

The Hebrew language was given to our first parents at Eden, and all who are found worthy will be speaking it again in the Kingdom. This language of action reflects the vigorous work of the Kingdom that Yahweh wants His people to start doing now and for a thousand years coming.

The weight of evidence shows the New Testament was first written in Hebrew and later translated into Greek.

Paul himself was Hebrew, not Greek.

Paul (Hebrew: Sha’ul) was a Pharisee, a Jewish sect firmly opposed to Hellenization.

He was of the tribe of Benjamin calling himself a “Hebrew of Hebrews” (Phil. 3:5).

The NIV Study Bible says, “Hebrew of Hebrews” means “in language, attitude and lifestyle.”

Paul was educated at the feet of Gamaliel, one of the foremost Hebrew doctors of biblical law, Acts 22:3. Although born in Tarsus (a city speaking mainly Aramaic), Paul grew up in Jerusalem, the center of Pharisaic Judaism (Acts 22:3).

The Bible Is Not Greco-Roman

Try as it might, churchianity has for millennia attempted to wrest the Bible completely free of its Hebraic roots and force-fit it into a Greco-Roman orientation, thereby making it more palatable to the Western mind.

It virtually ignores the fact that its Savior was Hebrew from a Hebrew family living and teaching in a Hebrew country.

It likes to think of its doctrinal champion, the Apostle Paul, as Greek-oriented from all of his letters to Greek-speaking countries.

But the believer knows that Yahweh made a covenant only with Israel, of which he or she can be a part through Yahshua and the faith He taught and practiced.

Restoration Times Magazine March-April 2018

17

Speaking in Tongues

2 s t Ac

(continued from p. 11)

Holy Spirit over the Heavenly Father and His Son. Doing so is to idolize the Holy Spirit, a violation of the First Commandment where Yahweh comes before all else in worship.

Must We Beg the Spirit’s Presence?

Wailing, swaying of the arms, uncontrolled gyrations in a confusion of voices – these are characteristic when glossalalists gather. It is a kind of self-imposed hypnosis.

Nowhere in Scripture did anyone work themselves up into a frenzy in an effort to call down the Holy Spirit. They never had to beg, plead, or cajole the Spirit to become manifest. The Apostles in Acts 2 were taken by surprise when the Spirit fell on their heads in fiery flames. (When has anything like that ever happened in tongues meetings?)

Today’s charismatic displays bear a close resemblance to spiritist gatherings, where adherents gather to pool their energies as trances render the participants mentally helpless and open to unholy influences.

“The glossalalist does indeed behave differently from ordinary language speakers,” one authority noted. “We may now suggest that glossalalia be defined as an event of vocalization while the speaker is in a state of disassociation termed trance,” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion.

We are warned in 1Peter 5:8 to be sober and vigilant because Satan the devil walks about, seeking whom he may devour. We must never “let our minds go” as we focus on a single word or phrase. This is a prime technique of the spiritists, and the method by which the mind is opened to the influence of the Adversary.

We are always to keep in control, 2Corinthians 10:5, Ephesians 4:27, and never open our minds to outside influences, whether through drugs, alcohol, seances or spiritist meetings.

Yahweh is not the author of confusion (1Cor. 14:33), which is common in tongues gatherings. Confusion tears down and destroys. A person who causes confusion destroys fellowship, and many groups have broken up over the tongues issue.

The nature of the Holy Spirit is to build up, to edify, to guide into truth, and to strengthen spirituality. It never instigates chaos or disorder, not collectively or individually. That is the work of the Adversary.

Times Magazine 18 Restoration March-April 2018

Charismatic displays purportedly get their legitimacy from the Pentecost account in Acts 2. But a close reading of the account discloses these revealing facts: • • •

• •

•

The gathering was to observe the Feast of Weeks or Pentecost, v. 1:1. In emulation of this Acts 2 observance do tongues speakers also observe the feast?

The disciples didn’t know exactly what to expect. They didn’t gather to receive the Holy Spirit. Yahshua simply told them they would receive power when the Holy Spirit came on them. When do tongues speakers have fire dance on their heads?

Sixteen nations were represented at the event in Acts 2 and they all heard the spirit-filled disciples speak in their own languages. They were given the ability to communicate in known languages not having learned them. This is how they became witnesses to the world, 1:8. Do tongues speakers speak these languages?

Is tongues-speaking the most important attribute in a believer’s walk? “He that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifieth himself; but he that prophesieth [speak under inspiration] edifieth the assembly” (1Cor. 14:4).

Paul wrote, “Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not love, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.” He also wrote, “Yet in the assembly I had rather speak five words with my understanding, that by my voice I might teach others also, than ten thousand words in an unknown tongue” (1Cor. 14:19).

“Have all the gifts of healing? do all speak with tongues? do all interpret? But covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet shew I unto you a more excellent way” (1Cor. 12:30-31).

Here is how the Scripture says we can see the Holy Spirit at work: “But the manifestation of the Holy Spirit...[is through] wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, miracles [stamina], prophecy [teaching], discerning of spirits, kinds of languages, interpretation of languages,” 1Corinthians 12:7-10.

After studying thousands of instances of glossalalia, one linguistic expert concluded that “speaking in tongues” reflects no known or understood language. “Glossalalia is indeed like language in some ways, but this is only because the speaker wants it to be like language. But glossalalia is fundamentally not language,” William Samarin, professor of anthropology and linguistics, University of Toronto.

Significant is Samarin’s observation that a person’s own linguistic background will influence the sounds he utters while speaking the “language of the Holy Spirit”!

Covet Only the Best Spiritual Gifts

Paul says in 1Corinthians 12:28-31 that each person in the Body of Messiah has a gift, and not all gifts are of equal importance.

“And Elohim hath set some in the assembly, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues. Are all apostles? are all prophets? are all teachers? are all workers of miracles?

Have all the gifts of healing? do all speak with tongues? do all interpret? But covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet shew I unto you a more excellent way.”

The ability to speak in languages is listed last in verse 28. He instead tells us to seek the “best” gifts.

Each gift is used to build the Body of Messiah, not to exalt self. That is done best through teaching Yahweh’s wonderful plan of salvation and obedience to His way of life.

That is the work of the Holy Spirit!

Q A

Please explain 1Corinthians 9:2021. Isn’t Paul saying he is not under the law?

Some use this passage to say Paul was against the law, ignoring everything else that he says to the contrary. Verse 21 clearly contradicts the notion he was antinomian. Many passages show Paul’s adherence to the law, including Acts 21:24; 24:14; 28:23; Romans 2:13; 3:31, and 7:1. All teachings must conform to the entire Word, not be based on one misconstrued passage. Reading the entire passage shows Paul’s effective diplomacy in teaching the Word. He said he puts himself in their place and goes from their perspective to convince them of the truth of Yahweh, which he also did with the Greeks on Mars Hill in Acts 17.

With those Jews who are under the law, likely referring to their added law as in the Talmud, he said I became sympatico to gain some of them. He also put himself in the place of those who say they are not under the law, using their ignorance as a launch pad to explain the actual truth of Scripture.

Q

I have three questions: How does the Bible define the truth? Why are you fixated on one particular expression of His awesome and wonderful name? Why do you observe days, months, times, and years that Paul said leads to bondage?

(Galatians 4)

A

The Truth is rather easy to discover.

Just look to Yahshua, as He is the embodiment of Truth. He came to show us how to learn, live, and teach the Word as given by His Father Yahweh. He is also the future Judge of whether we

personally receive salvation, a fact that increases the urgency about following His example. His teaching text was the Old Testament, which was the only Bible He and His followers had because the New Testament was not yet written. He never said anything about throwing out the Old Testament once He died. He never said the Old Testament was insufficient for today’s believer and was given only to ancient Israel, or that the New Testament shows us a different road to salvation. The need for obedience is found in 250 Old Testament passages and in 55 New Testament verses.

Yahshua spent His entire ministry quoting and referencing the Old Testament.

Why would He spend all that time and energy on teachings that would soon be obsolete? When did He ever tell His audiences that what He was teaching had an expiration date, and that after He died the law and the obedience He taught – and lived Himself – would be abolished? We need not search deeply to see that Yahshua was law-abiding and that His obedience is for us to follow. In John 14:15 He said if you love me keep my commandments, which are given by Yahweh, verse 31, and which Yahshua kept Himself, 15:10. Yahshua didn’t just think about the law, either, but actively lived it, John 14:31 and 4:34. Paul agreed in Romans 2:13. In Matthew 7:23 Yahshua said He doesn’t identify with those who practice lawlessness, let alone those who teach against obedience.

The New Covenant we are under today did not eliminate the Old Testament. As we find in Jeremiah 31, there is little material difference between Old and New covenants.

A main thrust of the New Covenant is that the law is put in our hearts, verse 33.

Putting something in your heart causes it to

be internalized and valued at the deepest and most profound level. That’s a far cry from ending it! See Hebrews 8:10 for a New Testament confirmation of this New Covenant re-emphasis and raising of the bar on the law.

Yahshua was without sin and by definition of sin in 1John 3:4 it means He obeyed the law perfectly as our example.

Yahshua told the lad in Matthew 19:17 that if he sought salvation he was to “keep the commandments.” In Matthew 5:17 Yahshua said He did not come to destroy the law, but to fulfill it. When you fulfill your duties you do what is required, you don’t ignore them.

Many would have us believe, however, that He said, “I did not come to destroy the law, but to destroy it.”

Being that many nationalities who gathered at Pentecost heard the truth in their own language, you asked why we are so fixed on a “particular expression of His awesome and wonderful name.” Your question is self-answering by saying He has an awesome and wonderful name. Apply your question to yourself: why are YOU so fixed on YOUR name? We are fixed on His Name because He is fixed on His Name.

What other “awesome and wonderful name” does Yahweh have? What other “expression” is acceptable to Him? He said in Isaiah 42:8, “I am Yahweh, that is my Name, and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images.” He can’t be clearer than that.

Psalm 83:18 tells us that Yahweh is His Name alone. He could not be clearer to eliminate all other names but His one true Name. He did not say, “I am Yahweh, that is one of my names so take your pick.” He has only one Name by which we shall be saved.

How is it a “fixation” to honor the True Father in heaven by the name He commands to honor Him by, and also not to mention any other name in referring to Him? Isaiah 42:8 says, “I am Yahweh: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images.” How can we call His name “God” and “Lord” when they are but faux names posing as real names and used for other deities?

Your reference to Galatians about new moons and Sabbaths is not addressing “Jewish” observances but pagan ones that the Galatians kept in their pre-conversion history and which they were dangerously reverting to. See 4:8-10. Galatians were former pagans from Gaul, or France, from which Galatia derives its name.

Q

Is hell a real place or just a pagan notion adopted by early Christianity?

Also, does the Bible show that the fallen angels go to hell?

Restoration Times Magazine March-April 2018

19

A

We believe that hell is a real place, but not as most believe. It’s crucial to understand a few Hebrew and Greek words found in the Old and New testaments.

The Old Testament contains the word “sheol.” It appears 66 times and is rendered in the KJV as, “grave, hell and pit.” It does not refer to a place of ever-burning torment.

The Greek equivalent to sheol is “hades.”

Even though both words originally referred to the grave or to the place where both the righteous and wicked go at death, hades took on a new meaning through Hellenistic influence to include concepts of a place of torture or imprisonment.

Authors Alan F. Johnson and Robert E. Webber explain this transformation in their book, What Christians Believe–A Biblical and Historical Summary: “In the intertestamental period there were significant developments in eschatological themes.

The first relates to the development of a compartmental view of sheol. When the righteous and the wicked die, they go to different places. This is to be contrasted with the Old Testament view that sheol is the place where both the righteous and wicked go. Under the growing influence of Greek concepts of a distinct body and soul, some Jews taught that after death ‘the immortal and perishable soul, once detached from the ties of the flesh and thus freed from bondage, flies happily upwards’ [quote from Flavius Josephus, The Jewish Wars, II, VII.2]…On the other hand the wicked go to sheol, which is now identified with the Greek hades. This region of damnation is also called gehenna, a place of eternal fire (originally the old rubbish heap and a place of child sacrifice south of Mount Zion in Jerusalem). It was known as the Valley of Hinnom,” pp. 423-424.

As this source confirms, sheol and hades originally both referred to the grave.

However, as Greek influence spread within the early church, these terms took on new meanings, including separate places for the righteous and wicked. In addition, the concept of an immortal soul was introduced, which is also foreign to Scripture. In fact, the

term “immortal soul” never appears in the Bible. Many scholars believe this notion of an immortal soul arose through ancient Egypt, which was later adopted by the Greeks and eventually introduced to the Church.

A third word associated with the concept of “hell” is the Greek “gehenna.” This term refers to the Valley of Hinnom, a large valley positioned on the south side of the city of Jerusalem. It was into this valley that Israel would throw their trash. For this reason, this valley was perpetually burning. This valley is also where Israel sacrificed their children to Molech. It is from this valley and practice where the concept of an ever-burning hellfire arose.

So while the Bible does confirm a place of fiery judgment, it is not a place of perpetual burning or torment. When the Bible speaks about someone suffering hell-fire or gehenna, it’s referring to their complete destruction.

There are a few key passages confirming that hell fire does not refer to an ever-burning or perpetual place of torment. For instance, Jude 7 states that Sodom and Gomorrah suffered the example of “eternal fire.”

Interestingly, Sodom and Gomorrah are no longer burning.

In 2016 when we toured the ancient site of Gomorrah, we found only stone ruins, ash, and scattered sulfur balls. Nothing else of the ancient city remained and nothing grew there.

A similar example is found in Jeremiah 7:20, where we read, “Therefore thus saith my Sovereign Yahweh; Behold, mine anger and my fury shall be poured out upon this place, upon man, and upon beast, and upon the trees of the field, and upon the fruit of the ground; and it shall burn, and shall not be quenched.” This passage is referring to Jerusalem’s destruction by the Babylonians.

As with Gomorrah, there is no perpetual fire burning today in Jerusalem.

The phrases “eternal fire” and “shall not be quenched” do not refer to a perpetual or ever-burning hell-fire, but to the totality of Yahweh’s destruction. No one would put

We can now be heard online from Hebrew Nation Radio. Listen to the weekly Sabbath teachings of Elders Alan Mansager and Randy Folliard on Saturdays at 10 am, Pacific; 12 pm, Central; and 1 pm, Eastern, at hebrewnationonline.com. The station is dedicated to the Hebraic roots of the faith, teaching both the Torah and the truth of Yahshua the Messiah.

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Restoration Times Magazine March-April 2018

it out until all had completely burned up.

Sodom and Gomorrah suffered complete annihilation by fire from heaven. In like manner Judah suffered complete destruction

by Babylon.

The concept of ever-burning fire is not biblical, but one that crept in through Greek teachings. It’s important to realize that many of today’s church teachings originated through Hellenistic influence in the early church, including other doctrines such as Sunday worship and many of today’s popular holidays.

The third word associated with a place of judgment is “Tartaros.” This word is mentioned only once, in 2Peter 2:4, and is associated with the place of judgment for the angels who rebelled. Greek mythology also refers to this place that resides under hades.

It’s important to realize that this definition is not based on Scripture, but on Greek myth.

The Bible itself does not provide a location for this place. It is also unclear from the Greek tense whether this is past or future.

Even though the KJV shows this is past tense, the judgment is likely future tense.

Q

A Karaite Jew has claimed to discover over 1,000 manuscripts with the pronunciation Yehovah.

Considering this newfound evidence, why do you continue to use Yahweh?

A

There are several facts to acknowledge regarding this “new” finding. First, all these Hebrew documents with the vowel points of Yehovah are from the 9th century or later and part of the Masoretic text. According to the overwhelming majority of scholarship, the Masoretes deliberately added the vowel points from Adonai to the Tetragrammaton, forming the hybrid Yehovah (also rendered Jehovah). In the history of this Ministry, we have never seen a single scholarly reference confirming the form Yehovah. Consider the following:

“In the early Middle Ages, when the consonantal text of the Bible was supplied with vowel points to facilitate its correct traditional reading, the vowel points for Adonai with one variation – a sheva (short ‘e’) with the first yod [Y] of YHWH instead of the hataf-patah (short ‘a’) under the aleph of Adonai – was used for YHWH, thus producing the form YeHoWaH. When Christian scholars of Europe first began to study Hebrew they did not understand what this really meant, and they introduced the hybrid name ‘Jehovah’” (Encyclopedia Judaica, vol. 7, p. 680).

“Jehovah, modern form of the Hebrew sacred name of God, probably originally ‘Yahweh.’ From c.300 B.C. the Jews, from motives of piety, uttered the name of God

very rarely and eventually not at all, but substituted the title ‘Adonai,’ meaning ‘Lord,’ the vowels of which were written under the consonants of ‘Yahweh.’ In the Middle Ages and later, the vowels of one word with the consonants of the other were misread as Jehovah” (The Collegiate Encyclopedia, vol. 9, p. 580).

“Jehovah….What has been said explains the so-called qeri perpetuum, according to which the consonants of Jehovah are always accompanied in the Hebrew text by the vowels of Adonai except in the cases in which Adonai stands in apposition to Jehovah: in these cases the vowels of Elohim are substituted. The use of a simple shewa in the first syllable of Jehovah, instead of the compound shewa in the corresponding syllable of Adonai and Elohim, is required by the rules of Hebrew grammar governing the use of Shewa” (The Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. VIII, p. 329).

Another issue with “Yehovah” is that there are other variants based on the vowel pointing within the Masoretic manuscripts.

“Jehovah, an erroneous pronunciation of the name of the God of Israel in the Bible, due to pronouncing the vowels of the term ‘Adonay,’ the marginal Masoretic reading with the consonants of the text-reading ‘Yahweh,’ which was not uttered to avoid the profanation of the divine name of magical or other blasphemous purposes. Hence the substitution of ‘Adonay,’ the ‘Lord,’ or ‘Adonay Elohim,’ ‘Lord God.’ The oldest Greek versions use the term ‘Kurios,’ ‘Lord,’ the exact translation of the current Jewish substitute for the original Tetragrammaton Yahweh. The reading ‘Jehovah’ can be traced to the early Middle Ages and until lately was said to have been invented by Peter Gallatin (1518), confessor of Pope Leo X. Recent writers, however, trace it

to an earlier date; it is found in Raymond Martin’s Pugeo Fidei (1270)” (Encyclopedia Americana, vol. 16, p. 8).

“The pronunciation you mentioned [i.e., Yehovah] is a mistake. The Hebrew consonantal text is YHWH and no one really knows how that was pronounced in Old Testament times. At a later date (the latter half of the 2nd millennium CE) Masoretes added vowel signs to the consonantal text.

Whenever the Tetragrammaton was written, they added the vowel signs of the word “Adonay,” which means “My Lord” – there was a taboo on pronouncing the Divine name and one was supposed to read the word “Adonay – my Lord.” Much later some started reading the vowel signs together with YHWH and came up with the nonsensical word Jehovah” (an email correspondence between Professor Fassberg and Pastor Randy Folliard). Note: Professor Fassberg, Ph.D., is one of the leading professors in the Hebrew language department at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

In addition to the fact that scholarship nearly universally confirms that the Masoretes added the vowel points from Adonai to the Tetragrammaton, another issue with “Yehovah” is that there are other variants based on the vowel pointing within the Masoretic manuscripts. For example, the Leningrad Codex contains at least six different spellings for the divine name.

Similar evidence can also be found within the Aleppo and other codices. The fact that we find different pronunciations within the Masoretic manuscripts confirms that they cannot be trusted.

The fact that we find different pronunciations within the Masoretic manuscripts confirms that they cannot be trusted.

Another issue with Yehovah and this claim of a thousand manuscripts is that the

pronunciation Yahweh is confirmed in Greek documents from church fathers and Gnostic writings 700 years before the Masoretic documents.

One such example from the Gnostic library is The Secret Book of John. This codex mentions the name Yahweh and notes, “Eloim and Yawe, two names of God in the Hebrew scriptures…. Yahweh is the name of God (based on the Tetragrammaton, the ineffable four-letter name)” (Dr. Marvin Meyer, The Nag Hammadi Scriptures, p. 127).

The pronunciation Yahweh is confirmed in Greek documents from church fathers and Gnostic writings 700 years before the Masoretic documents.

The Secret Book of John dates to the second century, as it was known to the church father Irenaeus. This was in the same timeframe as Clement of Alexandria, who also confirmed the name. Even though Gnosticism was rightly deemed heretical by the early church, it is yet another ancient witness to the pronunciation of Yahweh.

The fact that these groups were at odds, but agreed on “Yahweh,” is significant and adds credence to this pronunciation. It verifies that “Yahweh” was widely recognized as early as the second century.

Evidence for the short form “Yah” is also found in early Greek documents of the Septuagint, part of the Dead Sea collection, dating to 1 BCE.

Based on these facts, the number of manuscripts found with the vowel points of Yehovah is irrelevant. This “evidence” is nothing but smoke and mirrors designed to lead people astray from the correct pronunciation Yahweh.

For additional information read our online article, The Yehovah Deception, soon to be released in booklet form.

Outreach Program’s Current Partners We recognize our outreach partners for their outstanding dedication to the Truth in their effort to fulfill the Great Commission. If you are interested in becoming an outreach partner to help us spread the Truth, visit: http://www.yrm.org/outreach or call us at (573) 896-1000 during normal office hours (M-F, 8:00 am- 4:00 pm.) We willl explain how you can join this group committed to spreading the Good News!

Ricardo Angolano Angelina Brown Linda Cox Diane Crocker Buzz Davis Max Ervin Larry Godejohn John Ilgen

Robert W. Kountz H.C. Lockemy Linda Lowe Zipporah Mwangi David Nesta Mary Jo Shepherd Sharon Wilson Restoration Times Magazine March-April 2018

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resources for our Bible studies and spiritual walk with Yahweh and Yahshua. With that being said, I would like to begin tithing to YRM. I am enclosing three separate checks for the months of January, February, and March 2018, and will continue to support your ministry with that amount in the coming months. I thank you for the work you do and pray for continued blessings for the truth you aspire to deliver of our Father’s Word.” – PS

“I am very satisfied and so excited to have this wonderful Restoration Study Bible with the original Name of our Creator. Yahweh bless you all for the wonderful work you are doing for His glory.” – CC

“I can’t believe I have been living in the dark for so long. Thanks for your ministry. I have a long way to go.” – B

We would be blessed to hear from YOU about anything concerning this ministry.

– ED

Entry and 2nd floor stairs

Mechanical room

“I absolutely love The Restoration Study Bible! It has become my all time favorite study Bible and has so much information!”

– KN

Kitchen and dining area

Toilet stalls in bathroom

Showers in bathrooms

Feast Grounds Development Fund — UPDATE The plumbing and wiring have been installed on the lower floor, including restrooms and showers. The first floor rooms have been insulated for sound and temperature and the drywall is being installed on the entire lower floor. Several volunteers have been helping with most phases of the construction and several even joined in making bunkbed frames for the two dozen sleeping rooms. The activity building will not only provide space for indoor activities throughout the year, but also crucial meeting space and activities for Feasts and other events like future youth camps. We are already beyond capacity in our existing meeting hall for Tabernacles. The new center could serve as a future meeting room for Tabernacles with an approximate 350-seat capacity in the gym. Please consider helping YRM with this initiative to advance worship for Yahweh’s glory with facilities suitable for Feastkeeping.

Simplify Your Hectic Life You can now conveniently donate to Yahweh’s Restoration Ministry by automatic withdrawal from your bank account. Save time and effort. Go online and print and complete the Pre-Authorized Debit Authorization form and mail it to the address below. If you do not have Internet access, you can receive the form by calling (573) 896-1000. (US accounts only) YRM | POB 463 | Holts Summit, MO 65043

YAHWEH’S

Nonprofit Org. U.S. Postage PAID Holts Summit, MO Permit No. 463

RESTORATION

PO Box 463 Ministry Holts Summit, MO 65043 ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED

Can You Escape the Coming

Tribulation?

To order your free copy of Is There a Coming Rapture? see below Read online: yrm.org/is-there-a-coming-rapture

Here’s how to request the free literature offered in this magazine Online: www.yrm.org E-mail: request@yrm.org Phone: 1-573-896-1000

Mail: Yahweh’s Restoration Ministry PO Box 463 Holts Summit, MO 65043