It’s Alive Part 4

Ha-Foke-Bah Hebrew

Ha-Foke-Bah English

It’s Alive

Introduction to Message

The Bible is alive because although it was not written to me it was written for me and it understands me.

We said the Gentiles came to the text because they became enamored with the Jewish Messiah and wanted to know the backstory of Yeshua. And, they found that backstory in in the Law, the Prophets, and the Writings.

The Law, the Prophet and the Writings

The Backstory of Messiah

We also said that the Jewish people who had the text were challenged to re:believe the ultimate purpose of the Law, the Prophets and the Writings as the backstory for the Messiah.To some in the first century Jewish world they thought this was a hijacking of the text and many feel this same way today. But, to those who believed, they thought everyone else was hijacking Moses and for the first time they understood Moses was just a servant pointing to the Son, Messiah Yeshua.

Re:Believe the TaNaK

The Backstory of the Messiah

The Problem & Solution

Unfortunately, very early on the Gentiles started to read the backstory about Yeshua and increasingly saw themselves as the “new Israel” and the “better” Israel and they started to write the Jewish people out of the backstory and put themselves in it. When they did this they started to call the Bible, “Christian Scripture.”

The Law, the Prophets and the Writings

Christian Scripture

They may have only had parts of the Torah, the Law, the Prophets, and some of the Gospels and Paul’s letters but now these were Christian Scriptures and not Jewish. But around 170 AD something happened that would forever change and influence how Christians felt about the Hebrew Bible.

A Jewish believer named Melito of Sardis who was the bishop of Sardis near Smyrna in western Anatolia, and a great authority visited Israel.

When he visited Israel for the first time as a Jew, he lived as a good Greek Jew in the diaspora, he visited the library at Caesarea Maritima, and Melito compiled the earliest known Christian canon of the Old Testament, a term he coined.He called it the Old Testament because he believed it had now been fulfilled and replaced by the New Testament. In a letter he wrote to Marcus Aurelius defending “Faith in the Messiah,” he likened the “Old Testament” to the form or mold, and the New Testament or New Covenant, which he likened to the truth that broke the mold. “His opinion of the Old Covenant was that it was fulfilled by Christians, whereas the Jewish people failed to fulfill it. The New Covenant is the truth found through Jesus Christ.”

Unfortunately, Melito had an elevated status and influence being a Jewish follower of Yeshua he spoke from that authority and his position in the community. He eventually constructed one of the most dangerous teachings in all of Christianity called the “deicide charge.”In a famous sermon about Passover, Melito formulated the charge of deicide, namely that Jews were responsible for the crucifixion of Jesus. He proclaimed that “God has been murdered; the king of Israel has been slain by an Israelite hand.” His preaching would later inspire pogroms against the Jews.

So by the year 170 at the latest the Bible was Alive only for Christians who saw themselves as fulfilling the backstory and living out the new front story.The Jewish followers of Yeshua and anyone who disagreed were given a label, “heretic” and forced to go underground and when Constantine became emperor, they were forced to flee into exile or face official church trials for “heresy.”

And, increasingly the major thought within much of Christianity was that the New Testament was alive and the Old Testament had died or became irrelevant. And more and more whether it was said overtly or explicitly the majority of Christian teaching thought like Agustine of Hippo, “The New Testament is the Old Testament revealed and the Old Testament is the New Testament concealed.” Sadly, the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament was thought of as obsolete, irrelevant and even harmful for modern life. Sadly, today many believe that the New Testament-the writings of the apostles-is what really matters; that the Old Testament was valid up until Messiah came, but at that time became old, outdated and even harmful for promoting true faith in Yeshua.

How can we get back to the the Bible being Valuable, Reliable, Inspired, Messiah Focused Sacred Scripture? So we must answer this one last question?

Is all the Bible alive, or only the part I like?

I know some people like to change the question to say, “Is all the Bible relevant not alive?” I would say the Bible has a funny way of being relevant. When we were reading through the genealogies in 1 Chronicles my 8 year old daughter said something amazing in response to the question, “What does this mean?” She said, “It is speaking to me about needing good friends because my friends will determine the quality and direction of my life.”

Relevancy happens for each of us at different times but the question I am asking is, “Is all the Bible alive, or only the part I like?” so that it can be relevant for me.

To my Christian friends and My Jewish friends I would say, “The authors of the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible reveal what the 29 writings in the Brit Chadashah say Messiah Yeshua Fulfills.”

Simpler: The Hebrew Bible reveals what the Messiah Yeshua fulfills as attested by eye-witnesses.

Simplest: The Bible is one unified story.

Before there was such a thing as the Gospels or the Letters of Paul or the division between the Old and New Testament, the original disciples who heard Yeshua teach recorded that the Bible is one unified story made up of a Part 1 the Law, the Prophets and the Writings and Part 2 which at that time was the growing knowledge of Yeshua’s teachings. That is what they had, just the teachings and sermons and conversation that they had with Yeshua.

Matthew, Mark and Luke all record this one interesting conversation Yeshua has with his disciples and the disciples of Yochanan the Immerser.

The Bible

“Then John’s disciples came to Him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?” And Yeshua said to them, “The guests of the bridegroom cannot mourn while the bridegroom is with them, can they? But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast. “And no one puts a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch pulls away from the garment and a worse tear happens. Nor do they put new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise the skins burst, and the wine spills out and the skins are ruined. But they put new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved.”” (, TLV)

Matthew 9:14–17 TLV

Then John’s disciples came to Him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?” And Yeshua said to them, “The guests of the bridegroom cannot mourn while the bridegroom is with them, can they? But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast. “And no one puts a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch pulls away from the garment and a worse tear happens. Nor do they put new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise the skins burst, and the wine spills out and the skins are ruined. But they put new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved.”

It is funny to me because each of the three Gospels that have this parable in them put a different twist on the ending of the parable.

Mark focuses on the negative consequence of trying to put the new in the old and he says,

Mark 2:22 TLV

And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins; and the wine is lost, also the skins. But one puts new wine into fresh wineskins.”

“And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins; and the wine is lost, also the skins. But one puts new wine into fresh wineskins.”” (, TLV)

“And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins; and the wine is lost, also the skins. But one puts new wine into fresh wineskins.”” (, TLV)

I would say that this is what happened when the Church started to read the Gospels and letters into the Hebrew Bible, they lost the Hebrew bible.

Dr. Luke agrees with both Matthew in preserving both, the outcome of mixture and then focuses more on what the human response is going to be when you offer the new wine in comparison to the old. His final word on the parable is this:

Luke 5:37–39 TLV

And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the new wine will burst the skins, it will be spilled out, and the skins will be destroyed. But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins. No man who drinks old wine wants new, because he says, ‘The old is fine.’ ”

Luke 5:37-

“No man who drinks old wine wants new, because he says, ‘The old is fine.’ ”” (, TLV)

“No man who drinks old wine wants new, because he says, ‘The old is fine.’ ”” (, TLV)

This reminds me of my Jewish step-father who one time told me, “Michael, I am glad that Yeshua has helped you out but don’t forget we are Jewish and don’t need him.” In other words, “the old is fine.”

Three Amazing Statements About The Scriptures from Three Different Authors. When we put these three statements together we find out why all the Bible is alive for some and why for other only part of the Bible is alive.

Slide Summing up the Three Statements

Matthew: Respecting both the Old and the New on their own merits is essential for the perseverance of both.

Mark: Putting the New Into the Old by some destroys both.

Luke: Rejecting of the New by some based on the taste of the Old is inevitable.

I thought to myself how in the world would I ever explain this to my diverse group of people in my life. Some of my friends are former self-harmers who became self-deniers when they encountered the grace of God in Yeshua. We did not call ourselves that but through our reckless living and abusive lifestyle we were by definition “self-harmers.” How would I explain this to my “bonus Jewish family.” - Bonus family is a new term I learned for referring to a family where at least one parent has children that are not genetically related to the other spouse. I like that term rather than blended family or step-family. - How would I explain this to my children? How would I explain to my former friends at seminary?

Setting

I could see us all at a nice wine tasting in one of these nostalgic wineries where they love to do all things old like they are new. Describer the wineskins and what they are made out of.

Characters Present and Conflict:

Roger the Self-Harmer: The New is just all right with me. I tasted the old once.

Bonus Family: No, thank you. I will just stick with the Old.

Jan and Tim the Seminarians: Pout the New in the Wine to get the flavor of both.

Children at the End: They want to know why some are destroying the Old? Why some are refusing the new. They would want to leave because of all the fighting, all the confusion, all the conflict.

Yeshua Walking In with Solution:

He would first of all address the children, he would say, “Please don’t let their fighting frighten you. I am here for you and I am here for them to. Let me help you understand why this has all happened. It is not the wine that is the problem but the mind. They are so closed minded to their own preferences that they can’t appreciate the old and the new together. Please, don’t think the problem is the old are the new wine, the old or the new skins, the problem is in the heart and mind of the guests.”

Roger: You are like a child that found a completed lego set and you love the completed lego set. I am glad you love the completed picture. I also love it. I know you are smart enough to know that the instructions were not written to you but they are written for you. Those instructions will help you understand why this completed lego set is so important to you. It is going to show you the backstory, it is going to show you my radical love to reach you, the work it took to get to this point and it is going to help you to live better, to get further faster than you could have ever imagined.

Roger, I love that you love me. I need you to love and respect my history. I know I am your front story and final story but I need you to know the rest of the story so you can live a better life story. I am fresh and powerful new revelation. But, The Old is also fresh and powerful revelation. When you become open minded and acquainted with the taste of the old you will also come to enjoy the taste of the new. The Old is so similar and needs to be respected on its own merits and the new needs to be respected on its own merits. It is not like the old is sour grapes and the new is sweet grapes. No, they are both sweet grapes and if you will come to respect both of them on their own terms. Can I tell you what you will be like? You will be like the owner of a great Winery who can bring out both new and old wine and appreciate the similarities and differences of both and help others understand the rich and beautiful subtle similarities and differences of taste between both.

He would go to Jan and Tim and say,”Hey guys your making a mess here. I don’t know if you realize the damage you are causing but by putting the new into the old like you are doing, no one is benefiting from either. I know you think that one of these old wine skins should eventually hold this new. You keep trying to put the new into the Tabernacle Skin, the High Priest skin, the Joseph skin, I thought your attempt to put the new into the old skin of the poles of the Tabernacle was, “interesting.” But have you noticed it only lasts for a little while and then bursts everywhere causing a mess and no one is enjoying it.” I can imagine him loving but firmly saying, “I want you to stop it. You are not just destroying the old skins, your also destroying the possibility of anyone drinking the new wine, me. Please stop for my sake and the sake of the Hebrew Bible.”

He would go to my bonus family and say, “I know we have never met but we are related.” And I am sure some of my bonus family would say, “That can’t be, your a Christian and I am Jew.” Yeshua would say, “If you check ancestry.com the have my genealogy there:

Show Matthew Graphic of Genealogy:

At which point my bonus family would say, “Take a seat, your mishpocha.” And I think Yeshua would say, “I know I don’t have to but I want to apologize for how arrogant Roger has been acting. I told him he is out of line and needs to appreciate the old along with the new. You can bet he is going to come over here to your table. He was pretty upset over the whole matter of thinking he only needed New wine. He is really sorry.”

My bonus family would say, “No worries. You tell Roger to come on over at any time.” And I think Yeshua would say, “You see Jan and Tim” and my family would say, “They have really caused a mess out of things! Wasted so many bottles of wine. Just utterly made a wreck out of this place. They have destroyed so much. I am surprised there is anything left at all.” Yeshua would say, “I know. I agree. I am grieved with Jan and Tim. I have talked with them and told them to stop this madness. I want you to know that their actions are there’s alone. I never sanctioned this. It is a horrible disgrace. I have encouraged them to respect the old and the new on their own merits and to quit all this novelty and to come to appreciate both. I don’t know what they are going to do. I fear they are so closed minded they will not even listen to me. I am interceding for them right now. It looks like they are kids restraining their real intentions while I am present but may go back to their old ways the minute I leave the room. I really hope not.”

My bonus family would say, “We agree and hope the same. What a shame it would be if they completely destroy all the old wine and even that new wine.”

Yeshua would say, “Do you mind if I drink some of the old wine with you.” Of course they would pour him a glass immediately. I could see Yeshua taking a long slow sip. Washing it around his tongue, letting it hit every tastebud from front to back. Saying, “It is such a great wine. So full of vigor and flavor. So full bodied.” I could imagine him conversing back and forth with my bonus family about the rich history, texture, and process this wine went through to become what it is today.

Then Yeshua would say, “Would you mind being open to trying some of this new wine?” Of course, I have heard you say the “old is just fine” and you are right it is so amazing and every sip keeps getting better and better, it really does. I would never dismiss it or get rid of it.

Wine Graphic

Did you know that this new wine brings out all the flavors of the old and that new wine is full of antioxidant that promote health in your body. You may not have known this but new wines are high in antioxidants which your body needs to be healthy and new wine is also high in Tannins. Tannins in wine come from grape skins, grape seeds and even the skins and are a there greatest levels when the wine is at its youngest age. The antioxidants decrease over time and so do the Tannins. Leaving a great taste and some great benefits but did you know that the new wine promotes immediate and great effects for you.” And Yeshua would go on and say, “I am not saying you have to stop drinking the old, or that it is not have some great benefits, of course it does. But, would you be open to at least trying the new. I will leave a bottle here for you and when you get ready try it.”

My bonus family would say, “Yeshua what are Michael’s children doing here?” And he would say, “Well you see, Michael did not invite his children here. I did. You see at home Michael has taught his children since birth that they are part of his bonus family.” And my family would say, “You better believe it and no one better say anything any different.” And Yeshua would go on and say, “He has taught them from a young age that the needed to always respect the old and the new. That his bonus father and your natural father showed him the riches and joys of Jewish life and the Hebrew Bible. How, he taught Michael the Alef Bet, the Shema and even was an example of God the Father’s radical and unrelenting love, some people thought he was reckless the way he loved Michael but that is okay people think the same of my Father too. Michael said that all of this helped him appreciate the new life he embraced when he met me as his Messiah and Savior. He has gone so far as to say that without the presence of his bonus father he may never have come to know the love of His Heavenly Father.”

I know that some of my family would say, “We will be open minded leave the new here and we will try it.” And there would be others who would say to Yeshua, “That is a nice story and I am glad for Michael’s experience but the old is all we really need or want. Thanks anyway.”

I think Yeshua would come back to my children and say, “I want you to know that the debate that has gone on here in this room between all these people” and my children will say, “Will it ever stop?” And he would say, “Not until I return as Master of the Winery. Until then, follow the lead of what your Abba has taught you not what you see in others. Respect and appreciate the old and the new. Work to to preserve the new on its own terms and the old on its own terms. You will come to find that the old reveals what the new fulfills. And if you do this, then the whole of the Scriptures will be alive for you and irresistible to others looking for life eternal.”

We see that if we want all the Scriptures to be alive: to be …. Sacred Scriptures:

Matthew: Respect the Old and the New on their own merit

Mark: Realize that putting the New Into the Old destroys both.

Luke: Accept that the rejecting of the New by some does not change its benefits for All.

Pray.