“Why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say? Everyone who comes to Me and hears My words and acts on them, I will show you whom he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid a foundation on the rock; and when a flood occurred, the torrent burst against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. But the one who has heard and has not acted accordingly, is like a man who built a house on the ground without any foundation; and the torrent burst against it and immediately it collapsed, and the ruin of that house was great.” (Luke 6: 46-49)

“For here we are not afraid to follow the truth wherever it may lead, nor to tolerate any error so long as reason is left free to combat it.” (Thomas Jefferson)

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Facebook Group His Name is Yahweh:

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Email Distribution List:

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Websites you need to see:

Friends of the Israel Defense Forces
Israel: About Israel, The Israel Project, Tourist Information, the Holocaust, Israel map, Israel’s War of Independence, the Six-Day War, the Yom Kippur War, the First Intifada, the Second Intifada, Arab-Israel conflict, and anti-Semitism
The Temple Institute
Video: The Aaronic Blessing—This is a beautiful video rendition of The Aaronic Blessing (Numbers 6: 24-26) in Hebrew and English, but notice that the title Adonai is used instead of the Name Yahweh. That is in keeping with a Jewish tradition that dates back to the mid-second century B.C., but you can be certain about this fact. Yahweh’s Name is essential to The Aaronic Blessing and should be there.
Video: He is Yahweh

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SnyderTalk® Commentary:

Today I’ll show you where Yahweh’s Name belongs in Luke chapters 5 and 6. I’m skipping chapters because I’m addressing only chapters that include the Name Yahweh.

Luke 5

Now it happened that while the crowd was pressing around Him and listening to the word of God, He was standing by the lake of Gennesaret;
and He saw two boats lying at the edge of the lake; but the fishermen had gotten out of them and were washing their nets.
And He got into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little way from the land. And He sat down and began teaching the people from the boat.
When He had finished speaking, He said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.”
Simon answered and said, “Master, we worked hard all night and caught nothing, but I will do as You say and let down the nets.”
When they had done this, they enclosed a great quantity of fish, and their nets began to break;
so they signaled to their partners in the other boat for them to come and help them. And they came and filled both of the boats, so that they began to sink.
But when Simon Peter saw that, he fell down at Jesus’ feet, saying, “Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man!”
For amazement had seized him and all his companions because of the catch of fish which they had taken;
and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not fear, from now on you will be catching men.”
When they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed Him.
While He was in one of the cities, behold, there was a man covered with leprosy; and when he saw Jesus, he fell on his face and implored Him, saying, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.”
And He stretched out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” And immediately the leprosy left him.
And He ordered him to tell no one, “But go and show yourself to the priest and make an offering for your cleansing, just as Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”
But the news about Him was spreading even farther, and large crowds were gathering to hear Him and to be healed of their sicknesses.
But Jesus Himself would often slip away to the wilderness and pray.
One day He was teaching; and there were some Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting there, who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem; and the power of Yahweh was present for Him to perform healing.
And somemen were carrying on a bed a man who was paralyzed; and they were trying to bring him in and to set him down in front of Him.
But not finding any way to bring him in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down through the tiles with his stretcher, into the middle of the crowd, in front of Jesus.
Seeing their faith, He said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven you.”
The scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, “Who is this man who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God alone?”
But Jesus, aware of their reasonings, answered and said to them, “Why are you reasoning in your hearts?
“Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins have been forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’?
“But, so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins,”—He said to the paralytic—“I say to you, get up, and pick up your stretcher and go home.”
Immediately he got up before them, and picked up what he had been lying on, and went home glorifying God.
They were all struck with astonishment and began glorifying God; and they were filled with fear, saying, “We have seen remarkable things today.”
After that He went out and noticed a tax collector named Levi sitting in the tax booth, and He said to him, “Follow Me.”
And he left everything behind, and got up and began to follow Him.
And Levi gave a big reception for Him in his house; and there was a great crowd of tax collectors and other people who were reclining at the table with them.
The Pharisees and their scribes began grumbling at His disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with the tax collectors and sinners?”
And Jesus answered and said to them, “It is not those who are well who need a physician, but those who are sick.
“I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”
And they said to Him, “The disciples of John often fast and offer prayers, the disciples of the Pharisees also do the same, but Yours eat and drink.”
And Jesus said to them, “You cannot make the attendants of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them, can you?
“But the days will come; and when the bridegroom is taken away from them, then they will fast in those days.”
And He was also telling them a parable: “No one tears a piece of cloth from a new garment and puts it on an old garment; otherwise he will both tear the new, and the piece from the new will not match the old.
“And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the new wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled out, and the skins will be ruined.
“But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins.
“And no one, after drinking old wine wishes for new; for he says, ‘The old is good enough.’”

Luke 6

Now it happened that He was passing through some grainfields on a Sabbath; and His disciples were picking the heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands, and eating the grain.
But some of the Pharisees said, “Why do you do what is not lawful on the Sabbath?”
And Jesus answering them said, “Have you not even read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him,
how he entered the house of Yahweh, and took and ate the consecrated bread which is not lawful for any to eat except the priests alone, and gave it to his companions?”
And He was saying to them, “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”
On another Sabbath He entered the synagogue and was teaching; and there was a man there whose right hand was withered.
The scribes and the Pharisees were watching Him closely to see if He healed on the Sabbath, so that they might find reason to accuse Him.
But He knew what they were thinking, and He said to the man with the withered hand, “Get up and come forward!” And he got up and came forward.
And Jesus said to them, “I ask you, is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the Sabbath, to save a life or to destroy it?”
After looking around at them all, He said to him, “Stretch out your hand!” And he did so; and his hand was restored.
But they themselves were filled with rage, and discussed together what they might do to Jesus.
It was at this time that He went off to the mountain to pray, and He spent the whole night in prayer to God.
And when day came, He called His disciples to Him and chose twelve of them, whom He also named as apostles:
Simon, whom He also named Peter, and Andrew his brother; and James and John; and Philip and Bartholomew;
and Matthew and Thomas; James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon who was called the Zealot;
Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.
Jesus came down with them and stood on a level place; and there was a large crowd of His disciples, and a great throng of people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the coastal region of Tyre and Sidon,
who had come to hear Him and to be healed of their diseases; and those who were troubled with unclean spirits were being cured.
And all the people were trying to touch Him, for power was coming from Him and healing them all.
And turning His gaze toward His disciples, He began to say, “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.
“Blessed are you who hunger now, for you shall be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh.
“Blessed are you when men hate you, and ostracize you, and insult you, and scorn your name as evil, for the sake of the Son of Man.
“Be glad in that day and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven. For in the same way their fathers used to treat the prophets.
“But woe to you who are rich, for you are receiving your comfort in full.
“Woe to you who are well-fed now, for you shall be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep.
“Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for their fathers used to treat the false prophets in the same way.
“But I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,
bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.
“Whoever hits you on the cheek, offer him the other also; and whoever takes away your coat, do not withhold your shirt from him either.
“Give to everyone who asks of you, and whoever takes away what is yours, do not demand it back.
“Treat others the same way you want them to treat you.
“If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them.
“If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same.
“If you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners in order to receive back the same amount.
“But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men.
“Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
“Do not judge, and you will not be judged; and do not condemn, and you will not be condemned; pardon, and you will be pardoned.
“Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure—pressed down, shaken together, andrunning over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return.”
And He also spoke a parable to them: “A blind man cannot guide a blind man, can he? Will they not both fall into a pit?
“A pupil is not above his teacher; but everyone, after he has been fully trained, will be like his teacher.
“Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?
“Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother’s eye.
“For there is no good tree which produces bad fruit, nor, on the other hand, a bad tree which produces good fruit.
“For each tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they pick grapes from a briar bush.
“The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart.
“Why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?
“Everyone who comes to Me and hears My words and acts on them, I will show you whom he is like:
he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid a foundation on the rock; and when a flood occurred, the torrent burst against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built.
“But the one who has heard and has not acted accordingly, is like a man who built a house on the ground without any foundation; and the torrent burst against it and immediately it collapsed, and the ruin of that house was great.”

Commentary

Luke 6: 46-49 deals with obedience:

“Why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say? Everyone who comes to Me and hears My words and acts on them, I will show you whom he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid a foundation on the rock; and when a flood occurred, the torrent burst against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. But the one who has heard and has not acted accordingly, is like a man who built a house on the ground without any foundation; and the torrent burst against it and immediately it collapsed, and the ruin of that house was great.” (Luke 6: 46-49)

Obviously, obedience is crucial, but the obedience Yahweh wants is based on faith in Him. It is an act of love as much as obedience because it stems from a desire to please Yahweh by bringing our behavior into alignment with His Word. Take sexual promiscuity, for example. Exodus 20: 14 is the seventh commandment. It says “You shall not commit adultery.” An act of adultery is treachery because it’s the betrayal of an oath—the marriage oath. But it’s more than that. Adultery exposes you needlessly to sexually transmitted diseases that may threaten your life and the life of your husband or wife. An adulterous relationship can also result in an unwanted pregnancy and its attendant consequences, including the possibility of an abortion which boils down to taking the life of an innocent human being.

I hope you agree with me that adultery is a serious matter. That said, a person who commits adultery can be a child of Yahweh. Take David, for example. He committed adultery with Bathsheba and had her husband killed when she became pregnant. David committed a grievous sin, but he never lost his standing as a child of Yahweh. Far from it. Speaking on Yahweh’s behalf, this is what Samuel said about David: “But now your (Saul’s) kingdom shall not endure. Yahweh has sought out for Himself a man after His own heart, and Yahweh has appointed him as ruler over His people, because you have not kept what Yahweh commanded you.” (1 Samuel 13: 14)

Samuel is talking about David, and he calls David a man after Yahweh’s own heart. David committed other sins too, so he’s a great example for people like you and me. We’re not perfect any more than he was, but Yahweh looks at our hearts: “But Yahweh said to Samuel, ‘Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him (Saul); for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but Yahweh looks at the heart.” (1 Samuel 16: 7)

Yahweh didn’t overlook David’s sins, but He did look beyond David’s sins at the heart of the man. Yahweh looks at our hearts too, and He sees who we really are. If we have faith in Yahweh, He sees our Righteous Savior. That’s what the Name Yahweh Tsidkenu means. (Jeremiah 23: 5-6) Yahweh is our righteousness, and when we sin, He is our Advocate before the Father. He redeemed us. That means He paid the price for ours and saved us.

Salvation is by Grace or It’s Not Real

Paul explained salvation this way: “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.” (Ephesians 2: 8-9) God will not be our debtor under any circumstances. He set things up in the beginning so that our salvation can’t be payment for our good works. Our salvation is and always will be totally and absolutely dependent on His grace because even our faith is a gift from Him. We have absolutely no room for pride—none at all.

In Hebrews 11: 6, Paul goes even farther: “And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.” In a nutshell, when it comes to salvation, it’s either all Yahweh and none of us, or it’s all us and none of Yahweh. No matter how good we are, regardless of how hard we try to please Him, we simply can’t earn our way to Yahweh because we’re not perfect, and perfection is required—His perfection. That’s why He redeemed us Himself. Yahweh is our atoning sacrifice. He paid the price for our sins and declared us perfect, righteous, and holy. He covered us completely with His righteousness as a free gift.

Despite what the Bible says, some people can’t accept the fact that salvation is by grace through faith. They insist on believing that they can, that they should, that they must earn their way to Yahweh. It’s ironic because simply trying to earn your way to Yahweh is sinful. People who do it may as well stand on the rooftop and yell out as loud as they can, “I don’t have a clue what salvation means!”

Trying to earn your way to Yahweh is stumbling over the stumbling stone. (See Isaiah 8: 14-15) It’s unfortunate that the thought of earning salvation is so seductive and compelling. It makes sense from a human perspective because most of us think that no one would ever give us anything. But Yahweh isn’t like us. He loves us enough to die for us—to pay for the sins we’ve committed, and will commit, with His shed blood.

Paul wrote his letter to the Galatians because they had drifted into legalism. Below are a few excerpts from Galatians that illustrate the points I’ve been making:

“Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for our sins so that He might rescue us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father,…., I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel; which is (really) not another; only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed!…. For I would have you know, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ…. nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified…. For through the Law I died to the Law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly…. You foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified? This is the only thing I want to find out from you: did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?…. Now that no one is justified by the Law before God is evident; for, ‘THE RIGHTEOUS MAN SHALL LIVE BY FAITH’ (This is a direct quote from Habakkuk 2: 4)…. Is the Law then contrary to the promises of God? May it never be! For if a law had been given which was able to impart life, then righteousness would indeed have been based on law…. But the Scripture has shut up everyone under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.” (Galatians 1: 3-4, 6-8, 11-12; Galatians 2: 16, 19-21; and Galatians 3: 1-3, 11, 21-22)

Paul was furious because the Galatians had substituted obedience for faith. He said that whoever spread that nonsense was cursed. Paul even went so far as to call the Galatians “foolish”, and he asked them who had bewitched them. Any one of us can be deceived or seduced into believing that obedience makes us special in Yahweh’s eyes, but it doesn’t. The only thing that makes us right with Yahweh is faith in Him and the atoning sacrifice He made on our behalf. In a nutshell, legalism stems from pride, and it has no place in the life of a believer. In fact, legalism is sinful, and Yahweh paid the price for all of our sins, including legalism, if we have faith in Him.

I’m not condoning or advocating loose living, but I am saying this. No man or woman is good enough to earn salvation. All of us have sinned and we need a Redeemer. Yahweh is that Person.

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News Items of Interest:

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Climate Change Update:

SEPP (Science & Environmental Policy Project) SCIENCE EDITORIAL #1-2010 (Jan 2, 2010)

By S. Fred Singer, President, Science and Environmental Policy Project

[Note: This is the third of a series of mini-editorials on the “junk science” influencing the global warming issue. Other topics will include the IPCC’s Assessment Report 4, the UN Environmental Program and some individuals heavily involved in these matters.]

Junk Science #3: IPCC’s Third Assessment Report (AR-3, 2001): Hockeystick and ClimateGate (CG)

Has the Climate Really Warmed in the Past 30 Years?

Around 1996-97, while writing my book Hot Talk Cold Science, I had a chance to study some published tree-ring data [by d’Arrigo and Jacoby] and ice-core data [Dahl-Jensen et al] that showed essentially no warming since 1940. At the same time, the available satellite data also showed essentially no warming since 1979. But all of the surface data did show a warming, and while US temperatures did not exceed those reached in the 1930s, the global temperatures were very much higher. Something didn’t quite fit. Could it be that the global data were contaminated by urban heat island effects? Or perhaps by the fact that rural stations worldwide had been closed down after 1970? Could it be that just airports were warming?

It seemed important to me to check out the available proxy data. The 1998 “hockey-stick”paper by Michael Mann et al. seemed like a good place to start. But I noticed that his analysis of proxy data stopped at 1979, just when things became interesting. I e-mailed him and asked him if post-1980 data were available and why he hadn’t included them. He replied brusquely that suitable data were not available. I suspected then and I am more certain now that the reason he didn’t use post-1980 data is that they would have showed no warming – and that would have destroyed his calibration and the rationale of the “hockey-stick.” I have saved this exchange of e-mails.

Of course, the hockeystick graph (with proxy data stopping in 1979 and instrumented data showing a steep rise after 1979) became the ‘clincher’ in IPCC-TAR (AR-3): “The 20^thcentury was supposed to be the warmest in the past 1000 years.” Baloney! The ice-core data of Dahl –Jensen and ocean-sediment data of Keigwin clearly showed the Medieval Warming Period and Little Ice Age. The CG mafia jumped on Soon and Baliunas who had collected many references showing a MWP and LIA. Besides, there was historical evidence supportingSoon-Baliunas. All that was attacked as being purely ‘local’ but not global warming and cooling.

Craig Loehle has now published a definitive temp record from proxy data (but omitting tree-ring data) that clearly shows a global warming 1000 years ago, exceeding current temperature. Of course, there was nothing ever magic about ‘1000 years.’ Everyone agrees that much warmer periods occurred during earlier periods of the Holocene.

The CG mafia also attacked the satellite data – even after the researchers made minor corrections that produced hardly any change in reported temperature trends. Things looked good for the Hockeystick, and Michael Mann soon became the IPCC’s poster boy.

I took up the matter again in 2003 when McIntyre and McKitrick started to publish their critiques of the hockeystick. [I served as a reviewer of their first paper in Energy & Environment.] I corresponded extensively with Steve McIntyre in the hope of getting post-1980 proxy data, but he didn’t seem very interested. In pursuing the matter further, I came across an e-mail message from Chick Keller claiming to have such proxy temperatures. When I asked for them, he replied that they were not his and he couldn’t release them. I understoodthat, but asked for the source of the data so I could contact the source directly. After repeated attempts to get a reply from him, I concluded that he really did not have such data.

Five years later I’m still looking to collect more proxy data that would give post-1980 surface temperatures and allow a comparison with instrumented values and with atmospheric temperatures from radiosondes and satellites. Once the CG investigations get underway, we may finally find out how a warming trend was ‘manufactured’ from data that showed no such trend. Truly, we have ‘manmade’ warming after all; except it may all be fake.

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His Name is Yahweh:

There is a wealth of material available for free download on www.hisnameisyahweh.org including the book His Name is Yahweh. His Name is Yahweh is also available at Amazon on Kindle for just $5. If you haven’t read His Name is Yahweh, you should. The importance of Yahweh’s Name is becoming more apparent with each passing day.