Sabbath Thoughts And Reflections

The Noahic Covenant: Humanity's Path to Redemption Greetings, saints of the Most High. Welcome to another installment of the Messianic Torah Observer. I'm Rod Thomas, coming to you on a beautiful Shabbat in the DFW area. I hope this message finds you and your loved ones well and blessed. Today, we delve into the Noahic Covenant, the second rung on Yehovah's ladder leading to our redemption. This covenant, established after the Great Flood, is foundational to our understanding of redemption and renewal. Our Torah Reading for this week is contained in Genesis 8.15-9.17, with the haftarah reading to be found in Isaiah 42.7-21, and the apostolic in 2 Timothy 2.8-19. I’ve chosen to entitle this post: “From Flood to Faith—The Enduring Promise of the Noahic Covenant – My Thoughts and Reflections on Torah Reading 7.” Key Concepts: Covenant (Brit): Yehovah's plan to redeem humanity. Renewal: The command to repopulate the Earth and renew the original Edenic/Adamic Covenant. Burnt Offerings: Noah's offerings on a re

The 9th Rosh Chodesh is upon us. Yet most Messianics/Netsarim are ignorant of the importance of this set apart day, while others simply reject the day because it's not a day that they are interested in keeping. In this post I make the case, based on the Torah Reading for the 9th Rosh Chodesh, for every elect/chosen of Yehovah to observe and keep the Feast of Rosh Chodesh each month.

This week's Torah Reading is the story of the saving of Noah and his family brought about through God keeping covenant and manifesting His righteousness. The spiritual and halachic principles embedded in this Torah Reading Discussion remain evergreen for us today in 2024.

Paul wrote to his young protégé Timothy that the End of Days would be the most perilous of times to have ever struck humanity (2 Tim. 3.1-5). In fact, our Master Yeshua Messiah declared that "just as the days of Noah were, so the coming of the Son of Man will be. We discuss what the world was like in Noah's day and how Noah pleased God/Yah despite him living in such difficult times.

This week's Torah Reading draws our attention to the realities of humanity's rebelliousness against Yehovah and His Ways, and rebelliousness mars the Creator's image in His human creation.

On Tuesday, November 5, 2024, many of the citizens of this nation will take part in the electoral process. For the Messianic/Netsari/Nazarene Israelite, the question they must answer is: Do they take part or not take part in the electoral process of this nation? In this installment of TMTO, we discuss the moral implications of believers taking part in Tuesday's election.

In this installment of TMTO, I give an update on the ministry and share my thoughts and reflections on our recent missionary-Sukkot trip to Kenya.

In this 148th Reading of our 3-Year Long Torah Reading Cycle, we learn of Yah's concern that we will abandon Him and His ways for the worship of Canaanite gods. He instructs Moshe to store His written Torah in the Ark of the Covenant to serve as a witness against our impending idolatry.

In this 142nd Torah Reading discussion, we are taught how to operate in certain domestic relationships that include relating the taking of foreign war brides unto our selves, treatment of the firstborn son in a polygamous relationship, how to properly deal with unredeemable rebellious children, proper treatment of executed criminal remains, and the proper handling of lost property.

In our Torah Reading discussion for this week, we find ourselves having to contemplate and determine the integrity of our covenant relationship with Yehovah. As well as we are moved to make a choice between being loyal to this world and the things of this world, versus being loyal to God and His ways. This is the 141st reading of our 3-year Torah Reading cycle.

In this 140th reading of our 3-year Torah Reading Cycle, the Most High instills in us our responsibility to adhere to the governmental structure He put in place for the Kingdom. Here we learn how the needs of the Levitical Priests were taken care of; the prohibitions against our adopting the religious pagan practices and ways of the nations we were dispossessing; how to discern and treat supposed prophets who claimed to be of God; a reiteration of the establishment of the Cities of Refuge once we settled in the Land of Promise; and the security that comes in knowing that our God will fight for us when we are obediently operating in His Will and Purpose.

In this fourth installment of our True Biblical Baptism series, we explore the next scriptural iteration of water immersion: John the Immerser's (aka John the Baptist's) water immersion. What was the meaning of John's water immersion? How, if at all, did it differ from the Hebrew water immersion of Torah? And how, if at all, does it differ from New Covenant, Messianic/Netsari water immersion that we all have been instructed to engage in as part of our discipleship journey in Yeshua Messiah?

With the Day of Pentecost or Shavuot being just a day away, it seemed good to discuss the immersions of the two Pentecosts or Shavuots. What were these two Shavuots/Pentecosts and how do they relate to immersion? These are the questions we aim to answer in this installment of TMTO.

In this brief installment of the Messianic Torah Observer, I explain why Messianics and our Orthodox Jewish brethren are keeping Pentecost -- Shavuot -- the Feast of Weeks on differing dates. This discussion is not a teaching. It is meant simply to inform and to hopefully dissuade any confusion or questions that Netsarim may have as it relates to when believers will be keeping the Day of Shavuot in 2024. Shavuot: One of the mandated Feasts of the LORD.

In this installment of TMTO, we return to the True Biblical Baptism series I began back in 2022. In this teachings we will examine various aspects of what is popularly referred to in our Messianic Faith communities as the mikveh. From our examination of the mikveh, we will recognize some similarities as well as some dissimilarities to true Messianic water immersion or baptism.   Invitation to Messianic Discipleship: Invitation to Messianic Discipleship-From the Sinner's Prayer to True Messianic Discipleship (themessianictorahobserver.org)

Instead of discussing Torah Reading 133, this Shabbat, I have been led to share with you seven reasons I stand with Israel. This is a controversial topic that few members of our Faith community will engage in. But it remains an elephant in the proverbial room that each of us in our respective walk in Messiah must deal with. I pray that this discussion will lead you to take a stand on the side of Yehovah our Elohim.

In this 132nd reading in our 3-year reading cycle, we come to terms as it relates to our forgetting about God and His ways. Here in Deuteronomy 8, God reveals to us that we cannot live by physical food alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.   themessianictorahobserver.org    

In this discussion on Yeshua's Passover, I explore the controversies surrounding what the Last Supper was and what it was not. We delve into some of the critical teachings Yeshua gave to His disciples during His last meal, as well as we consider what a meaningful Passover/Pesach may look like to us in 2024.

I have chosen to discuss the shadow picture of Yeshua that is embedded in the Passover and how He fulfills the role of our Pesach instead of discussing the elements of Passover and Unleavened Bread for Pesach 2024. In this discussion, we highlight the Torah instruction to select and take unto ourselves a perfect lamb to serve as our Pesach on the 10th Day of the Month of the Aviv and how Yeshua perfectly fulfilled that critical requirement of Passover.