This is part 2 of my study of Standing Fast/Firm.
Psalm 89:28
I (Yahweh) (guard/shamar) keep charge, watch, protect and preserve my (kindness/chesed) mercy, goodness and faithfulness to him (David and his house) (forevermore/olam) perpetually everlasting, always, indefinitely, unending and for eternity, and my (Covenant/beriyth) pledge, treaty, binding contract and agreement and is (steadfast/chazag) strong, firm, constant and established with him (David and his house)
Ps 11:part of 7 and 8
All Yahweh's (Orders/piqqud) commandments, precepts, mandates, statutes and law/Torah - instructions in righteousness are (sure/aman) to be supported, upheld, confirmed, nourished and established. They are (steadfast/samak) strong, constant, firm, and sustained (forever/ad) continually , eternally, lasting and without end. And they are (upheld/asah) performed, accomplished, done, attended to, observed, kept and committed to (truth/emeth) sureness, reliability, Divine instruction, stability, faithfulness, being sure and right and (uprightness/yashar) correct, straightforward, well pleasing and righteous
I find it rather interesting that Yahweh's Commandments and Torah are to be kept continually, eternally and without end. How can that be if Christianity as a whole believes the Yeshua Jesus came to fulfill and do away with the Commands and Torah. Yeshua is the Living Word. He is the Torah/ instructions in righteousness incarnate. He came so that His Commands and instructions in righteousness can go from the outward (written on stone tablets) to the inward (written on our hearts)
Yeshua said, if you love me, you will KEEP/DO my Commandments. The Torah in all that implies to us today are the details of how we KEEP Yahweh's Commandments. The Covenantal marriage constract He has with ALL who believe on Yehovah through His Son Yeshua. Guarding, keeping and doing Yahweh's Commands and Torah are by no the means the Way of salvation which comes through Yeshua Messiah alone. They are the very fruit of how we live are lives by the Holy Spirit to love Yahweh in Yeshua with all our heart, mind, soul and strength and to love our neighbor as ourselves. All of the Commandments and Torah are fulfilled by the these two GREATEST Commandments. If you truly Love Yah and your neighbor than you will obey Yah's Commands and Torah/instrustions in righteousness.
Jeremiah 46:14
(Declare/nagad) Make known, announce and proclaim in Egypt and let it be (heard/shama) summoned and sound aloud in (Migdol) the watch tower. Let it be (heard/shama) obeyed, give heed to in (Memphis/Noph) the capital city of Egypt and the city of taphahnes. (Say/amar) Utter, speak, command and charge, (Stand fast/ yatsab) station yourself, and remain. Be (prepared/kun) established, stable, determined and ready. For a sword shall (devour/akal) be destroyed and consumed all around you
Psalms 91:5-8 also fits in well with Jeremiah 46:14. The Way in which Yahweh Yeshua will protect and defeat our present day enemies when we daily draw near and close to Him, put our trust in Him and not in the arm of the flesh, stay the course and persevere in Yahweh Elohim
Ps 91:5-8
You are not to be (afraid/yare) frightened or terrified of the (terror/pachad) sudden alarm, great trembling and apprehending what is to come in the future that brings dread and a cause to be frightened by (night/lahyil) the twisting of darkness and evil, all that apposes and works against you and the gloom hovering in the shadows..nor the (arrow/chets) piercer, weapons and wounder that (flies/uph) hovers and covers like swooning darkness by day nor the (pestilence/deber)plagues, diseases and destruction that (walks/halak) moves, travels and traverses at (noonday/tsohar) the brightest part of the day. A (thousand/eleph) many troops and company of men under one leader shall (fall/naphal) fail, waste away, drop and be overthrown at our side and (ten thousand/rebabah) a multitude, and myriads at our right hand. It shall NOT come (near/nagash) approach, attack or overtake you.
1 Cor 7:37
He who (stands/hislemi) is firm, fixed and established (steadfast/hedraios) settled and immovable in his (heart/kardia) center and seat of your spiritual life, soul/mind - which is the fountain seat of your thoughts, desires, passions, affections and actions. Having no (necessity/anagke) advantage, calamity, distress or constraint...and has (authority/exousia) power, strength, influence, command and rule over his own (desire/thelema) will, choice, inclination, and pleasure..and has so (decided/krino) resolved, put asunder, approved, determined and judged/summoned to trial and examined his (heart/kardia) center and seat of spiritual life, soul/mind - the fountain seat of your thoughts, desires passions, actions and purpose..To (guard/tereo) attend to carefully, take care of, watch, keep ones eye on, maintain and protect his own (virgin/parthenos)
* Even though this scripture may be referring to the daughter virgin of her father, the word virgin can also apply to the deeper meaning of what this word virgin means in this greek definition..to abstain from all uncleaness, whoredom and idolatry...*
does (well/kalos) what is honorable, excellent, right, well spoken of and morally good
1 Cor 16:13
(Watch/gregoreuo) be cautious, take action, keep awake, vigilant/alert, aware and careful..(Stand- fast/steko) be stationary, persist, stand your ground, don't retreat or flee from the (faith/pistis) conviction and trust in the Truth in Yeshua and our relationship with Yahweh, the conviction of Yah's existence and ruler of all things, the provider who gives eternal deliverance from sin and our adversary through Yeshua Messiah..Be (men/andrizomai) brave and courageous. Be (strong/katraioo)
increased in strength, empowered, increase in vigor/energy,activity and the power of the Holy Spirit
I am presently doing a study on standing fast and firm. I will write and post the first part of this study here on my blogger page.
Philippians 1:27 and 4:1
Phil 1:27
Only *behave yourselves worthily- of the *Good News (Kingdom)- of Messiah Yeshua...that you *STAND FAST/FIRM - in *one spirit, with *one being, *striving TOGETHER - for the *faith (belief) of the *Good News (Kingdom)
Phil 4:1
So then my brethren (brothers and sisters in Yeshua) beloved and longed for, my joy and crown, *STAND FAST/FIRM in the Master Yeshua, beloved.
*Behave worthily/politeuomai - that your conduct, speech, and actions be in a righteous manner of living according to the moral laws laid out in the Covenant/ 10 Commandments and Torah.
*Good News/euaggelion - Good Message of the Kingdom of Yahweh in Yeshua
*Stand fast/steko -to be firm, fixed, unchanging, immovable, to stay the course, and presevere
*One/mia - singleness, undivided, not being scattered or fragmented
*Striving together/sunathleo - wrestling and laboring together as Yah's remnant of Israel's corperate body in Yeshua
*Faith/pistis - reliance, constancy, belief and putting your trust in
I will now write the two scriptures I studied out to give a fuller picture, fuller and deeper meaning of what is being said
Phil 1:27 (Expanded study added)
Conduct, speak and act in a righteous manner living according to the moral laws laid out in the Covenant of the Ten Commandments and Torah of the Kingdom of Yahweh in Yeshua...that you stay the course, stay fixed, unchanging, and persevere in singleness, being undivided in spirit. Being undivided, and unscattered in your being (mind and heart.) Wrestling and laboring together as Yah's remnant corperate body in Yeshua, for the reliance, constancy, belief and trust in the Good Message of the Kingdom of Yahweh in Yeshua
Phil 4:1 (Expanded study added)
So then my brothers and sisters in Yeshua, deeply loved and longed for, my joy and crown. Stay fixed, stay the course, remain unchanging, immovable and persevere in the Master Yeshua, for you are deeply loved.
As I was studying out these two scripture verses in Philippians, I immediately thought of Phil 4:8, which gives us the Way we are to keep our minds, hearts and actions fixed firmly on, as well as maintaining and conducting ourselves in a manner that is holy (kadosh) pleasing, and acceptable to our Yah. This will also bless and benefit all those around us, and to all of Yah's Remnant people. It's called, KINGDOM LIVING
I will write out the study of the key words in this scripture and post the full deeper meaning of this scripture as well
Phil 4:8
Whatever is *TRUE, whater is *NOBLE, whatever is *RIGHTEOUS, whater is *CLEAN, whatever is *LOVELY, whatever is of *GOOD REPORT, if there be any *VIRTUE/UPRIGHTNESS, and if there be any *PRAISE, *THINK on these things
*True/alethes - Not concealed, covered up, or hidden, sure, reliable, stable and certain
*Noble/semnos - Honest, having no guile or deceit, truthful, sincere, having high moral standards and principles
*Righteous/dikaios - Equitable, fair, impartial, balanced, just in actions and character, set apart
*Clean/hagnos - Pure, spotless, chaste, showing moral self control and restraint, modest and perfect
*Lovely/prophiles - Pleasing, acceptable, exquisitely beautiful, regarding and being in accord with the beauty of Yah's creation
*Good report/euphemos - Well spoken of, reputable, having a good, balanced and moral reputation, respected, reliable, dependable, being trustworthy/deserving of trust
*Virtue (uprightness)/arete - Excellence, praise, valor, brave, strong and courageous in battle, high moral standards and character
*Praise/epainos - Commendable, deserving of the highest praise (worship,) an admirable manner
*Think/logizamai - Meditate on, ponder deeply, keep your continual and constant focus on
Phil 4:8 (Expanded study added)
Whatever is * not concealed, covered up, hidden, sure, reliable, stable and certain
Whatever is * honest, having no guile or deceit, truthful, sincere and having high moral standards
Whatever is * equitable, fair, impartial, balanced, set apart and just in actions and character
Whatever is * pure, spotless, chaste, ie..showing moral self control and restraint
Whatever is * acceptable, exquisitely beautiful, regarding and being in accord with the beauty of Yah's creation
Whatever is * well spoken of, reputable, a good, balanced and moral reputation, respected, reliable, dependable and deserving of trust
Whatever is * excellent, exhibiting valor, bravery, strength, and courageous in battle
Whatever is * commendable, deserving of the highest praise (worship,) and an admirable behavior
Meditate, deeply, ponder and keep your continual and constant focus on all these things
YESHUA IS ALL THESE THINGS! And He is living by His Spirit in us. Meschiach in you, the hope of glory!
As He is, so are we to become like Him in this fallen world. Imitators of Elohim and a partaker of His Divine Nature.
Whatever we keep our continuous and constant focus on, that will reflect and become our living experience, actions and conduct by which we can stand fast, be afixed to, stay the course, be immovable and persevere in with each new day and breath of life our Av Yahweh gives us.
Malachi 3:5-7 USE98
“And I shall draw near to you for right-ruling. And I shall be a swift witness against the practisers of witchcraft, and against adulterers, and against them that swear to falsehood, and against those who oppress the wage earner in his wages and widows and the fatherless, and those who turn away a sojourner and do not fear Me,” said יהוה (Yehovah)of hosts. “For I am Yehovah, I shall not change , and you, O sons of Ya‛aqoḇ, (Israel) shall not come to an end. “From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from My laws (Commandments and Torah/Instructions in righteousness) did not guard them. Turn back to Me, and I shall turn back to you,” said יהוה(Yehovah) of hosts. “But you said, ‘In what shall we turn back?’
Malachi 3:16-18 ISR98
Then shall those who *fear יהוה (Yehovah) speak to one another, and יהוה (Yehovah) (will) listen and hear, and a book of remembrance be written before Him, of those who *fear יהוה, (Yehovah) and those who *think upon His *Name. “And they shall be Mine,” said יהוה of hosts, “on the day that I prepare a treasured possession. And I shall spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him. “Then you shall again see the difference between the righteous and the wrong, between one who serves Elohim and one who does not serve Him.
(Malachi 4: 1-6 is a prophetic Last Days Word in which we are presently in)
“For look, the day shall come, burning like a furnace, and all the proud, and every wrongdoer shall be stubble. And the day that shall come shall burn them up,” said יהוה (Yehovah) of hosts, “which leaves to them neither root nor branch. “But to you who fear My Name the Sun of Righteousness shall arise with healing in His wings. And you shall go out and leap for joy like calves from the stall. “And you shall trample the wrongdoers, for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day that I do this,” said יהוה (Yehovah) of hosts. “*Remember the Torah (instructions in righteousness and moral conduct) of Mosheh, My servant, which I commanded him in Ḥorĕḇ for all Yisra’ĕl (Who is all Israel? All the scattered tribes of Israel, Yehudah /Judah (Jews) believing in Yeshua HaMashiach, as well as all the gentiles believing in Yeshua Jesus who have been grafted into Isreal / For I speak to you, the gentiles, inasmuch as I am an emissary to the gentiles, I esteem my service, if somehow I might provoke to jealousy those who are my flesh and save some of them. For if their casting away is the restoration to favour of the world, what is their acceptance but life from the dead? Now if the first-fruit is set-apart, the lump is also. And if the root is set-apart, so are the branches. And if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive tree, have been grafted in among them, and came to share the root and fatness of the olive tree, do not boast against the branches. And if you boast, remember : you do not bear the root, but the root bears you!
Romans 11:13-18 ISR98)
I am sending you Ěliyah the prophet before the coming of the great and awesome day of יהוה. “And he shall turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with utter destruction .”
As I was praying this morning, Yahweh Yehovah led me to the above verses in Malachi 3
The scripture of the day that I subscribed to confirmed what Yah put on my heart which is Joshua 1:8 ~ “Do not let this Book of the Torah depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you guard to do according to all that is written in it. For then you shall make your way prosperous, and act wisely (The Torah does not save, but much of what the Torah says in the Tenak (First 5 books in the Bible) gives us detailed instructions in righteousness in obedience to the 10 COMMANDMENTS (THE COVENANT contract made to ALL Israel that Yeshua completed by writing the renewed Covenant written outwardly on stone onto our new and redeemed heart of flesh and inward parts by Yeshua's blood to be lived out by the power of the Holy Spirit )
There are 4 Words I studied out from the verses in Malachi 3
*Fear ~ Yare, meaning to revere, reverence, ie to be in awe of, worship, highly esteem; regard; respect and honor Yehovah God out of obedience to Him and His Word
*Thought/think ~ chashab which means to weave, regard, consider, esteem, find out, imagine, reckon (to conclude, to rely on)
*Name ~ shem, which means position, authority, character and renown (fame, condition of being known or talked about by many people)
*Remember ~ zakar which means to make, to keep, properly mark, mention, recount, call to mind and think upon.
What are we, Israel, prophesied in the last days called to *remember? The Torah ~ 10 commandments and instructions in righteousness given to Moses on Mount Horeb)
Matthew 5:16-20
“Let your light so shine before men, so that they see your good works and praise your Father who is in the heavens. “Do not think that I came to destroy the Torah or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to complete. “For truly, I say to you, till the heaven and the earth pass away, one jot or one tittle shall by no means pass from the Torah till all be done. “Whoever, then, breaks one of the least of these commands, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the reign of the heavens; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the reign of the heavens. “For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall by no means enter into the reign of the heavens. The point of Torah is found in Matthew 22:36-39 ~ "Teacher, which is the greatest command in Torah?" And Yeshua said to him, "You shall love Yehovah with ALL your heart, with ALL your being, and with a ALL your mind.' "This is the first and great command. "And the second is like it, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' "In these two commands hang the Torah and the prophets."
Matthew 6:13: “And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.”
I recently attended a Catholic mass where towards the end everyone recited the Lord’s prayer and we all said these words, “lead us not into temptation.“ I could not help but think how many others in that congregation wondered the same thing I did. Does God lead us into temptation such that we must pray and ask Him not to? Maybe you are ok with that, but I am definitely not. I mean does not James teach in 1:3, “Let no man say he is tempted of God.” So if God does not tempt us, why in the blazes do millions of people every week pray that God will not lead them into temptation?
Well, one thing about all this is that Yeshua Jesus spoke these words in Aramaic. Perhaps the Aramaic Bible, the Pershitta might help shed some light on this. By the first century the common language of the Jewish people was Aramaic. Greek was the vernacular of the West and the language of commerce for the West. Aramaic was the vernacular of the East and the language of commerce for the East. There were basically three different common dialects of Aramaic in the Middle East. These were the Western dialect (spoken around the old Babylonian area), the Northern Galilean (language that Yeshua Jesus and the disciples spoke) and the Southern dialect (language spoken in Judea and Jerusalem). Classical Hebrew was a dead language by the first century and used only ceremonially and in scholarly writings such as Latin is today. The synagogue readings and recitation of prayers were all in the Classical Hebrew during the 1st Century. Although Yeshua Jesus spoke Aramaic, some scholars argue that many of His teachings were in Hebrew as to retain an esoteric nature in His teachings. This becomes even more important with recent discoveries surfacing from the studies of the Dead Sea Scrolls.
One such very recent discovery from the Psalms Scroll sheds some light on this very troubling passage in the Lord’s Prayer, “Lead us not into temptation.” Why would Yahweh God lead us into temptation? If it was His divine will to lead us into temptation, why would we pray for Him not to lead us into temptation? Was Yeshua actually teaching us to pray and tell Yahweh God to back off? As mentioned earlier, is this in contradiction to the teachings of James in 1:3?
An identical phrase was found in the Dead Sea Scrolls written in Aramaic which matches that of the Aramaic Bible and follows a certain rhythmic pattern. Another thing to keep in mind about this culture is that they had no recording devices and most of what was taught by the rabbis was put to a sort of rhythm, meter or rhyme as a memory device. Although not poetry, it did form a good device to aid in memorization. This would very likely be the case with the Lord’s Prayer as it would be one that Yeshua wanted His disciples to commit to memory. We do the same when teaching children to pray: “Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep.” It is easier for a child as well as an adult to memorize something in rhyme. The rhythm and rhyme of the Lord ’s Prayer in Aramaic would be lost when it was translated into the Greek. However, when transposed into Aramaic and even Hebrew you recapture much of the meter. This is why you will find so many idiomatic expressions in New Testament. It can be difficult at times to express your thoughts in a rhyme and sometimes the only way to make a thought rhyme is to create an idiomatic expression.
This passage, “Lead us not into temptation” that has been found in the Dead Sea Scrolls which was written in Aramaic carries such a rhythm. When you transpose the phrase in the
Lord ’s Prayer and the passage in James to the Hebrew or Aramaic you get the same meter or rhyme as found with the identical phrase in the Dead Sea Scrolls. This helps to establish this phrase, Lead us not into temptation as an idiomatic expression.
The difficulty now lies in translation of the Aramaic word for temptation nesiona to the Greek word peirasmon. Nesiona in the Dead Sea Scrolls is found in the Hiphal form signifying a causative sense. Hence if we use the Dead Sea Scrolls as a guide we would find a more proper rendering of this phrase: Lead us not into temptation to be more like: Do not allow us to enter wrongful thinking or testing or even more accurately, keep us from being led into wrongful thinking or testing.
As the Lord’s Prayer is given by Yeshua Jesus we can assume it is an expression of Yahweh’s heart. Yahweh God wants us to pray that we do not enter into wrong thinking or wrong testing. I just wonder how many of my testing were brought on by myself or by my own lack of submission to God’s will or my own wrong thinking? Or how often do I allow the enemy to bamboozle me into wrong thinking or testing?
In my disability bus I recently drove an elderly lady to a Catholic mass. Due to a recent stroke she was very unsteady as she walked and I had to assist her to an usher who then assisted her to her seat. As I passed her off to the usher she momentarily lost her balance and accidently knocked over the holy water. She was absolutely horrified and the first words out of her mouth were, “Oh no, I’m going to hell.” We all, including a priest, tried to reassure her that knocking over the holy water would not send her to hell but she was not to be comforted. I knew later in the service she would recite the Lord’s Prayer where she would pray: “Lead me not into temptation or do not allow me to enter wrongful thinking.” The enemy can make us believe many lies, some not as ridiculous as going to hell for knocking over holy water. Some wrongful thinking can be more subtle like, “If only my church would play the old hymns and not this loud modern music, I could worship God better.” Worship comes from the heart, not your background music. We know that but we allow wrongful thinking to make an excuse for our lack of taste in music.
But wrongful thinking is even less obvious. How many of us live in wrongful thinking, thinking God is going to get even with us for the errors of our ways, thinking Yahweh is going to punish us if we do not come up to some standard, fearing we are not good enough to go to heaven when we die when the Bible clearly says that our salvation is not of works but simply the grace of God, Ephesians 2:8-9.
I know many of us recite the Lord’s Prayer on a daily basis. I do. If you find the rendering, “Lead us not into temptation.” a bit troubling, you might want to take advantage of the discoveries found in the Dead Sea Scrolls and offer an alternative rendering of “Don’t allow me to enter into wrong thinking or testing’s.” The fact is, God does no lead us into wrong thinking or testing, we do that ourselves or we allow the enemy to do it to us. In a very poetic way Yeshua taught us to pray using a Semitic idiom that is saying, “Protect us from ourselves and the enemy who will lead us into wrong thinking or wrong testing.”
I just got a new song recently recorded and downloaded on to my Reverbnation called, "Sing, Dance and Praise." I pray it brings encouragement and a blessing to all who take the time to listen to it.
