“From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you shall surely die.” (Genesis 2: 16-17)

“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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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 where Yahweh’s Name belongs in Luke chapter 10:

Luke 10

Now after this the Lord appointed seventy others, and sent them in pairs ahead of Him to every city and place where He Himself was going to come.
And He was saying to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.
“Go; behold, I send you out as lambs in the midst of wolves.
“Carry no money belt, no bag, no shoes; and greet no one on the way.
“Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace be to this house.’
“If a man of peace is there, your peace will rest on him; but if not, it will return to you.
“Stay in that house, eating and drinking what they give you; for the laborer is worthy of his wages. Do not keep moving from house to house.
“Whatever city you enter and they receive you, eat what is set before you;
and heal those in it who are sick, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’
“But whatever city you enter and they do not receive you, go out into its streets and say,
‘Even the dust of your city which clings to our feet we wipe off in protest against you; yet be sure of this, that the kingdom of God has come near.’
“I say to you, it will be more tolerable in that day for Sodom than for that city.
“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles had been performed in Tyre and Sidon which occurred in you, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes.
“But it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the judgment than for you.
“And you, Capernaum, will not be exalted to heaven, will you? You will be brought down to Hades!
“The one who listens to you listens to Me, and the one who rejects you rejects Me; and he who rejects Me rejects the One who sent Me.”
The seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.”
And He said to them, “I was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightning.
“Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will injure you.
“Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven.”
At that very time He rejoiced greatly in the Holy Spirit, and said, “I praise You, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants. Yes, Father, for this way was well-pleasing in Your sight.
“All things have been handed over to Me by My Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.”
Turning to the disciples, He said privately, “Blessed are the eyes which see the things you see,
for I say to you, that many prophets and kings wished to see the things which you see, and did not see them, and to hear the things which you hear, and did not hear them.”
And a lawyer stood up and put Him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”
And He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How does it read to you?”
And he answered, “YOU SHALL LOVE YAHWEH YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND; AND YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.”
And He said to him, “You have answered correctly; DO THIS AND YOU WILL LIVE.”
But wishing to justify himself, he said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
Jesus replied and said, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among robbers, and they stripped him and beat him, and went away leaving him half dead.
“And by chance a priest was going down on that road, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.
“Likewise a Levite also, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.
“But a Samaritan, who was on a journey, came upon him; and when he saw him, he felt compassion,
and came to him and bandaged up his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them; and he put him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn and took care of him.
“On the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper and said, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I return I will repay you.’
“Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the robbers’ hands?”
And he said, “The one who showed mercy toward him.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do the same.”
Now as they were traveling along, He entered a village; and a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home.
She had a sister called Mary, who was seated at the Lord’s feet, listening to His word.
But Martha was distracted with all her preparations; and she came up to Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone? Then tell her to help me.”
But the Lord answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things;
but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”

Commentary

Legalists and Legalism

I think legalism is the biggest problem we face today as a body of believers in the Messiah. The prophets dealt with it too. Take a look at Amos 4: 4-5, Isaiah 1: 11-17, Isaiah 58, and Malachi 1-3 to see what I mean. In other words, this isn’t a new problem. Since the creation, legalists have been making the classic mistake of believing and teaching others that we need to earn salvation by doing good works. Typically, they take great pride in their piousness because they think it sets them apart from other less “devout” Christians.

Make no mistake. Legalists think they have a special place in Yahweh’s kingdom—i.e., that they’re better than everybody else and deserve special recognition from Yahweh. Their actions and the smug looks on their faces give them away. They remind me of a person that Ray Stevens sang about in his song Mississippi Squirrel Revival. Her name was Sister Bertha Better-than-you. If you’re not familiar with the tune, you can download it from the Internet for less than a dollar. You’ll be glad you did. When I hear those lyrics, I think about all the legalists I know and laugh. The Messiah gave a stern tongue-lashing to the most notorious legalists of His day—the religious elite. Read Matthew 23 and you’ll see what I mean.

Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden

In the Garden of Eden, there were many trees. Adam and Eve were free to eat from any of them—except one. Yahweh told Adam, “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you shall surely die.” (Genesis 2: 16-17)

“You shall surely die” did not mean that they would die immediately. Adam and Eve did lose the intimacy they had known with Yahweh instantly, but physical death would come later. That’s an important point because people tend to think that their actions have gone unnoticed if they don’t experience instant repercussions for their misdeeds. If you study the Bible, you will see that Yahweh is very patient. You can rest assured that our misdeeds do produce negative effects. The biggest mistake we make, and the one we need to deal with first, is lacking faith in Yahweh and going our own way.

Why did Yahweh tell Adam and Eve to avoid the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? The answer is so simple that it’s almost scary. He wanted them to have an intimate, personal relationship with Him and to follow Him. If they had obeyed Yahweh, they wouldn’t have needed the fruit from that tree because His path always leads to good. Yahweh wants us to follow Him. That’s what He’s wanted since the beginning.

Satan tempted Eve, and she took a bite from the apple and shared it with Adam. Their sin set in motion the rebellion against Yahweh that has continued to this day. And it all started with an “innocent desire” to know good and evil, right and wrong.

Do you get the point? Adam and Eve wanted to know all the whys and wherefores, but make no mistake. Eve’s desire wasn’t “innocent”. I’m sure you recall how Satan seduced her. He said, “For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” (Genesis 3: 5)

Eve wanted to be “like God”. That’s exactly what the Bible says. She didn’t want to be dependent on Yahweh and to follow Him. If you look at Jeremiah 23: 5-6 and Jeremiah 33: 15-16, you’ll see that one of the Messiah’s Names is “Yahweh Tsidkenu.” Tsidkenu is a Hebrew word that is typically translated as “righteousness.” The message in the Name Yahweh Tsidkenu is fundamental for people of faith. It declares that we have no righteousness apart from Yahweh.

Satan’s modus operandi hasn’t changed. He’s still trying to seduce us. Don’t be deceived by his evil ploys. No matter how good you think you are, you are not good enough. Everyone has sinned and all of us need a Redeemer and a Savior. Yahweh is that Person. Without Him we have no righteousness.

I feel compelled to point out, yet again, that I am not condoning loose living. I’m simply stating a fact. All the good works in the world and a sincere desire to avoid evil do not lead to salvation. Only faith in Yahweh leads to salvation, and the first step on the road to salvation is a heartfelt recognition that you need a Savior. If you think you’re a good person because you have never committed a serious crime, you are wrong. A convicted felon on death row for murder, who sees the error in his ways, repents, and turns to Yahweh is better off than a person who thinks Yahweh owes him something for all the good things he’s done. Yahweh is not and He never will be your debtor.

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News Items of Interest:

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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.