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Have you ever wondered why Adonai gave us the law, the commands, the rules? Why is the law even necessary?

One of the purposes of the law was to correct for the partiality of humans. The righteous man may have the righteousness of Adonai (Torah) substantially written on His heart. He desires justice most of the time, but his weakness is his family, his friends–his prejudices. Those “like” or “with” him.

The law of Adonai (not to be confused with the law of men) is without partiality. When applied as given by Adonai, the law achieves its purpose–it brings truth, fairness, and impartiality to the affairs of men. Nevertheless, man battles and harangues to insert his prejudices. This is at the heart of much of organized religion–it seeks to define lines for which a person is kept in or kept out. These lines are often drawn to keep out those who are “different” from the dominant group. However, in its pure state, the law of Adonai is sweet, pure and impartial. It invites the greatest of sinners to become as pure as the driven snow. It knows no unredeemable human.

Church of the Holy Sepulchre – Jerusalem

It is our desire to help you grow in your knowledge of Adonai and His Word. If you are looking for additional information and/or materials, please visit our website at RootedinHisWord.org and our Facebook page. 

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Matthew 26 (Part 4)

Read Matthew Chapter 26:47 to 75
1. To whom did they lead Jesus away to see according to Matthew 26:57?

2. Who was Caiaphas?

Going deeper: How did Caiaphas become the High Priest?

3. What was Peter doing according to Matthew 26:58? Why?

4. What were the chief priests, the elders and the council seeking with regard to Jesus according to Matthew 26:59?

5. What do you learn from Matthew 26:60-61?

6. What was the testimony of the witnesses? Why was it insufficient?

7. What is required under the Torah according to Deuteronomy 17:6 and 19:15?

8. What did the high priest say to Jesus in Matthew 26:62?

9. How did Jesus respond?

10. What did the high priest say to Jesus in Matthew 26:63?

Beautiful mosaic in the floor of the priestly mansion in Jerusalem

It is our desire to help you grow in your knowledge of Adonai and His Word. If you are looking for additional information and/or materials, please visit our website at RootedinHisWord.org and our Facebook page. 

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     I think the mistake people often make in thinking about God is to think of Him as linear, boxed in or predictable. No, He is not contained by the ordinary, the clear route, the short cut or the safe choice. The longer I walk with Adonai, the more I see He loves creativity, the path less traveled. He loves the winding country road lined with untrimmed trees guarding the edges of endless corn fields, stalks waving in the gentle summer breeze. He loves the walk by the surf listening to the waves crash against the sand, the wind and the spray. Mostly He treasures a day spent in thought of Him, a time like the Sabbath when He can speak into our rest–speak of His great love, provision and plans for us.
     Abba is never rushed with us. His limits, which he lovingly installs, keep us from harm and evil. Great is His concern for His children. He lovingly disciplines us when we require it.
     Coming to Abba is like eating from a bag of mixed jelly beans, different flavors continue to delight the palate–no way to know what flavor is coming next. I think this is part of His vision for our relationship with Him. Some parts worship, some parts petition, contrition, confession, rejoicing, abiding, adoration, but always open, honest, intimate fellowship.
We see a picture of this varied tapestry of prayer and worship–life with Adonai in the offerings described in the book of Leviticus. Some offerings are for unintentional sins, some for marking a new season of life, a healing from illness. Some mark an ending of a season or moed (appointed time). Some are just to sit with God and enjoy being with Him–to receive His shalom (peace).
The offerings remind us that God intends our relationship with Him to involve all the aspects of our life, e.g. beginnings and endings, successes and failures, as well as regular times of being in relationship with the Lover of our souls. The God who sees us.

It is our desire to help you grow in your knowledge of Adonai and His Word. If you are looking for additional information and/or materials, please visit our website at RootedinHisWord.org and our Facebook page. 

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Matthew 26 (Part 3)

1. Where did Jesus and the disciples go after the meal according to Matthew 26:31?

2. Where is the Gethsemane located in relationship to the Temple?

Going deeper: What does “Gethsemane” mean?

3. What does Jesus tell the disciples to do in Matthew 26:36? Why?

4. Who did Jesus take with Him according to Matthew 26:37?

5. What happens to Jesus according to Matthew 26:37?

6. What did Jesus say to them in Matthew 26:38?

7. What did Jesus pray in Matthew 26:39?

8. What did Jesus say to the disciples in Matthew 26:40-41 when He found them sleeping?

9. What does Jesus pray in Matthew 26:42?

10. What does Jesus find in Matthew 26:43?

11. After Jesus prays the third time, what does He say to them when he returns in Matthew 26:45-46?

12. Who comes with the betrayer Judas in Matthew 26:47?

13. What does Jesus do according to Matthew 26:48-49? Why?

14. What does Jesus ask him in Matthew 26:50?

15.What happens in Matthew 26:51?

16. What does Jesus say in Matthew 26:52-54?

17. What does Jesus say to the multitudes in Matthew 26:55-56?

18 What did the disciples do according to Matthew 26:56b?

It is our desire to help you grow in your knowledge of Adonai and His Word. If you are looking for additional information and/or materials, please visit our website at RootedinHisWord.org and our Facebook page. 

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Shabbat Shalom

Walking to Shabbat service in Jerusalem

Torah, what is it?

Torah, a.k.a. the Pentateuch, a.k.a. the Books of Moses, is so much more than “laws” or “statutes.” Torah is the wisdom of Adonai, the Most High God. He has given us a way to live, a path to greater fellowship with Him. His Word is our instructions for right living–a way to live that pleases God and allow approach to God. Salvation is just one part of that path–perhaps the beginning of the path or entrance way to the path.

It is foolish to think Torah and the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) have no relevance to new covenant living and belief. The prophet Isaiah who described Adonai as “wonderful in counsel and excellent in wisdom,” is quoted more than sixty times in the Apostolic writings, even by Yeshua (Jesus) himself. Surely, Isaiah’s assessment is relevant to new covenant believers.

Where are we to find this wonderful “counsel” and excellent “wisdom” of Adonai (the LORD)? In the Torah–Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. Taste and see! The LORD is good!

It is our desire to help you grow in your knowledge of Adonai and His Word. If you are looking for additional information and/or materials, please visit our website at RootedinHisWord.org and our Facebook page. 

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Matthew 26 (Part 2)

Read Matthew Chapter 26

1. What is His response in Matthew 26:18?

2. What does Jesus say when they were eating according to Matthew 26:21?

3. What was the response of the disciples in Matthew 26:22?

4. What does Jesus answer in Matthew 26:23-24?

5. What does Judas ask in Matthew 26:25?

6. What is Jesus’ response?

7. What does Jesus do according to Matthew 26:26? What does He say?

Going deeper: What is the blessing that Jesus would have said over the bread?

8. What does Jesus do next according to Matthew 26:27?

9. What does Jesus say in Matthew 26:27-29?

10. What did they do after the meal according to Matthew 26:30?

It is our desire to help you grow in your knowledge of Adonai and His Word. If you are looking for additional information and/or materials, please visit our website at RootedinHisWord.org and our Facebook page. 

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Training

We must be trained to receive the Word of God. It’s a lifetime endeavor and not one for the faint-hearted. The ground of our thinking must be tilled, the fallow ground turned over and exposed to the elements, and weeds must be removed. We must learn to understand the Word, trust the Word, and then use the Word until it becomes our daily sustenance–that from which we take our nourishment to live, to thrive–what we need to survive. We must pursue the Word of God until we pant for it as the deer pants for the water brook.

Then and only then can we increase in comprehension and retention. Only then can we live as though it were (because it is) the Words of the One True and Living God who desires relationship with us. The study of God’s Word requires a submitted heart and mind to flourish under its instruction as God intended.

Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. 2 Timothy 2:15

It is our desire to help you grow in your knowledge of Adonai and His Word. If you are looking for additional information and/or materials, please visit our website at RootedinHisWord.org and our Facebook page. 

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Midrash and Yeshua (Jesus)

     Midrash, according to Dictionary.com is “an early Jewish interpretation of or commentary on a Biblical text, clarifying or expounding a point of law or developing or illustrating a moral principle.”  It can be understood as an intensification of Torah and the prophets.

     If we examine the teachings of Yeshua (Jesus), we can see that Yeshua did not cancel or nullify the law by His teaching, rather He intensified Torah by His midrashic interpretation. For an example, we can look to  Matthew 5:21-22 where Yeshua says, “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.” We see Yeshua is taking the Torah (Exodus 20:13) and making application with intensification. Other examples can be found in Matthew 5:27, 33, 38 and 43.

It is our desire to help you grow in your knowledge of Adonai and His Word. If you are looking for additional information and/or materials, please visit our website at RootedinHisWord.org and our Facebook page. 

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Kinneret (Sea of Galilee) where Yeshua ministered.

Matthew 26 (Part 1)

Read Matthew Chapter 26
1. What does Jesus tell the disciples in Matthew 26:2?

2. What do the chief priests , the scribes, and the elders of the people do according to Matthew 26:3-4?

3. Where did they gather?

4. What feast are they referring to in Matthew 26:5? Why didn’t they want to take him during the feast?

5. Where is Jesus according to Matthew 26:6?

6. Who approaches Jesus according to Matthew 26:7? What did she do?

7. What was the response of the disciples according to Matthew 26:8-9?

8. What does Jesus say to them as a result in Matthew 26:10-13?

9. What do you learn of Judas from Matthew 26:14-15?

10. What do the disciples ask Jesus in Matthew 26:17? Why?

It is our desire to help you grow in your knowledge of Adonai and His Word. If you are looking for additional information and/or materials, please visit our website at RootedinHisWord.org and our Facebook page. 

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